Disclaimer: This fic is an analysis of the canon Harry Potter series. I own nothing that is mentioned here except my own opinions. This fic is not making any money. nor do I want it to.
Is Ginny Weasley a Mary Sue
Aurors of Olympus left me a review and asked my opinion as to whether Ginny Weasley is a Mary Sue. This analysis will also serve as an analysis of her character as well to a point. I may decide to do an actual analysis of her character overall later down the track.
"A Mary Sue (sometimes just Sue), in literary criticism and particularly in fanfiction, is a fictional character with overly idealized and hackneyed mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws, and primarily functioning as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for the author or reader. It is generally accepted as a character whose positive aspects overwhelm their other traits until they become one-dimensional. While the label "Mary Sue" itself originates from a parody of this type of character, most characters labeled "Mary Sues" by readers are not intended by authors as such. Male Mary Sues are often dubbed "Gary Stu", "Larry Stu", "Marty Stu", or similar names." – This comes from Wikipedia.
First of all, my opinion. No, I don't see Ginny Weasley as a Mary Sue. Why? Because most Mary Sues actually mean something to the plot of the story in some way. Ginny Weasley has never been a big part of the plot, even in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, where she was the love interest, she wasn't a big part.
I'll start with Ginny in general. She was brought up having six older brothers. As a result, she has become a rather tough and indemendent person. Some people see this toughness and independence as a Mary Sue-like quality, but I don't. If she just had it for no reason, then it would be. But as it stands, she has a reason to be this tough character and it works.
Ginny is described as an extremely pretty girl, another indication that people like to point out for a Mary Sue. What I would like to know is when it became such a bad thing to be good looking. Maybe it's just me but I don't really think her looks matter that much overall. She doesn't take advantage of them and it's really just a little bit of information included by J.K. Rowling to describe a character.
Ginny was introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. She had no part in that book. She was then subsequently in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and her character got a larger role, though it was still rather small. She was a fangirl and that really hurt her character.
But, at the same time, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets showed just how flawed Ginny Weasley is (remembering the definition above states "lacking noteworthy flaws" as a main part of being a Mary Sue). She was completely obsessed with Harry Potter to the point where she forgot common sense and allowed Tom Riddle to take her over using the diary. And yes this is a flaw. It shows that she is, in a lot of ways, mentally weak.
Now, a lot of people will argue that Ginny actually became a Mary Sue later in the series. But what a lot of people fail to see a lot of the time is that Ginny was a minor character in both Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. If she were a Mary Sue, she would have been dating Harry and helping him through everything that happened with him in those two years. Also, she would be involved in everything big that happened in each of those books. So, by this point Ginny Weasley is not a Mary Sue and we are four books into the series.
Now we move on to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This is where a lot of people would say that she became a Mary Sue. She joined Dumbledore's Army and discovered a proficiency in both the Disarming Charm and the Reductor Curse. People seem to think that this means that she was fantastic at magic in general. No, that isn't what that means. That's two spells, not an entire arsenal of spells if she had shown to be brilliant at everything, then yes she would be a Mary Sue. But she didn't so I don't see how that makes her a one.
Moving on to the Battle in the Department of Mysteries. Despite what you might think, Ginny actually did pretty badly there, as did all of the six that went. One of the Death Eaters broker her ankle and then she used a Reductor on a model of Pluto before going into shock and playing no other part in the battle. If she was a Mary Sue, she would have fixed her ankle, saved Harry from something at least once, stayed fighting until the end and perhaps even unknowingly kill someone. That's five books down.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, despite what a lot of people will say, Ginny was still not a large character. She was more involved than she had been in previous books, but she was still very minor in the end. She and Harry dated for a few chapters towards the end of the book but it wasn't a very long relationship because of the results of the book. Honestly, I don't think there is anything to say that she is a Mary Sue from this book. She didn't do anything remotely Mary Sue-ish in the whole book, apart from maybe being with Dean when she was falling for Harry.
During the battle in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, she duelled Amycus Carrow and came out uninjured. But this wasn't because of her skill, it was because she had used Felix Felicis to become luckier. Would she have gotten through unscathed otherwise? I don't think so. Artificial luck doesn't seem to me to be anything near a Mary Sue quality. Harry then proceeded to break up with Ginny, and she accepted his reasons. I'm not sure if this is something a Mary Sue would do, so please inform me if it is. But as it is, I don't think it makes her a Mary Sue.
Her role in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was minimal at best. She was around for the first few chapters and then nothing happened with her again until the battle began. During the battle, she openly defied not only her parents and other authority figures, but Harry as well, by fighting. Now this could be construed as her being a Mary Sue, but you have to look at her reasons. Her primary reason was because her whole family was fighting. It is a noble reason. If she had said, "But my darling Harry is out there, I must protect him," That would make her a Mary Sue. But that wasn't the case.
When Harry revealed that he was actually alive, Ginny went on to duel Bellatrix Lestrange. Not on her own, mind you. She fought Bellatrix alongside Luna and Hermione. If Ginny were a Mary Sue, she would have fought Bellatrix and destroyed her all on her own. Add to that, the fact that Bellatrix actually defeated her, Hermione and Luna before Molly went completely insane and killed her (which was GREAT by the way).
Now, I've been through every single book and told you why Ginny is not, in fact, a Mary Sue. But my closing statement on this is simple. Even if Ginny Weasley is a Mary Sue, does it really matter? J.K. Rowling is one of very few authors who can write a Mary Sue and make it believable. People like to say that characters are bad because they are Mary Sues. I have to disagree. Just because a character has a lot of good points, doesn't make them a terrible character. It just makes them exceptional. Jesus, for instance, could be considered a Gary Stu, or whatever you would like to call a male Mary Sue. Yet, he is one of the most celebrated people in the world, whether you believe that the Bible is true or not. My point? If Ginny Weasley is a Mary Sue, does it really matter?
Author's Note
I don't expect everyone to agree with this one at all, but I do firmly believe everything stated here. I honestly think Nymphadora Tonks is more of a Mary Sue than Ginny is. Maybe it's just me but I really don't care all that much if a character is a Mary Sue. As long as they're interesting, I'll be fine. That being said, my characters to my stories will almost always steer clear of being a Mary Sue simply because of my own characterisation.
Thanks to Aurors Of Olympus and lunalestrange4 for reviewing.
Thanks for reading and let me know what you think about Ginny Weasley being a Mary Sue.
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