Post by Fritz on Nov 24, 2005 11:39:14 GMT -4
Since this recently came up on GBCentral
Modified from material previously posted
Avoiding the Dreaded Mary Sue
The most hated character in all fan fiction is Mary Sue, the annoying, shoe-horned in too perfect character created by the writer usually to either fulfill their fantasies or make the canonical characters look bad. (I think the name Mary Sue was first coined by Star Trek fandom...it was a perky ensign who slept with Kirk and saved the ship as I understand it...)
Well, how do you know if your character concept might be a Mary Sue?
The three biggest Ghostbuster Mary Sue Warning Signs:
1. The Character Is Named After and Based On You. This is bad news. But before all the GBI guys panic the exception to this rule is a whole team of fan fiction characters. It makes it more of a role-playing excercise than Mary Sueism, as long as due respect is given to the canonical characters of the GB Universe. See Warning Sign#2 below. Making a character based on yourself and having him be inducted into the New York team, on the other hand, is a Danger Sign.
2. Your Character Is Good At Everything...Or, At the Very Least, Outdoes one or More Original Ghostbusters In Their Area of Expertise Saying "My theoretical physicist is smarter than Egon" is a Danger Sign. "My theoretical physicist is smarter than Egon, more buff than Winston, and can out-wisecrack Venkman" is Danger Danger Danger. Run Will Robinson, Run!!!
The issue is respect for the continuity of the existing universe...it's generally accepted that the canon characters are to be treated as the Best of the Best, and trying to show them up leaves a bad taste in the mouths of most readers. I'm writing fan fics because I like the Ghostbusters, not because I want to make them look like incompetant weenies.
A subset of this is making your character a relative of an established character. While this can indeed be pulled off successfully (ie Jen Spengler of Nightsquad) it's a tricky thing, and all too often fails. This is a personal thing, but I try to avoid creating new relatives--I'll certainly develop ones that already exist (ie Victor Irwin) and give names to obvious ones that must exist (ie character parents, since everyone has them unless they're a clone) but take pains to avoid the parade of siblings and cousins.
Most new relatives I introduced tend to be the ones the characters create themselves the Old Fashioned Way (ie the Spengler Twins, Eric Stantz, Charlene Zeddemore, ect)
And here's the biggie...
3. Your Character Romances One of the Original Ghostbusters, Especially if They Have A Canonical Love Interest. Granted again, there are some degrees here. Here's the canonnical love interests according to the movies and animation:
Venkman: Dana Barrett. However, she is not in the animation and Venkman behaves like a tomcat both before he meets Dana in the movie and as much as Saturday Morning standards in the 1980's let him in the animation.
Ray: Either dreams about or has an intimate encounter with a female ghost in GB1. Elaine Fuhrman in "Look Homeward, Ray" Some leeway is allowed, however, as Elaine never made an appearance past that early episode
Egon: Janine Melnitz. This is in the first movie, and everywhere else except the second movie and Ghostbusters The Return. And it also seems to be the one most frequently abused. I'm going to go on a soapbox here, but as long and hard as Janine has to fight to get his attention (and does finally get it per "Janine You've Changed" and "Back In The Saddle") it is the height of Mary Suedom for some woman to come out of nowhere and turn his head instantly. Egon should either be alone or with Janine--anything else does not fit the character.
Janine: Egon Spengler. This is in the first movie, and everywhere else except the second movie and Ghostbusters The Return, where she's involved with Louis Tully. She's not totally above occassionally looking for outside attention ("Robo Buster", "The Crawler") but there's often a subtext of "I'm just doing this because I'm tired of Egon ignoring me"--it was explicit in "The Crawler" and read into her dalliances with Tully by the RGB writers.
Winston: Winston has a girlfriend mentioned in "The Devil To Pay", and is seen briefly in RGB#23. However, almost nothing is known about the character other than she's a museum curator--she doesn't even have a canonical name. It is recommended that she be developed to fit the writer's ideas, instead of dragging in a new character wholesale (ie Brian Reilly developed her as Kaila McMillan for the GBOT/Ectozone fan fictions)
Now, a couple of caveats:
Not every original character is a Mary Sue. Not even characters named after yourself. In addition to the GBI example above, I was approached by one writer on GBN who asked me if a character who appeared in his story, named after him, was a Mary Sue. The answer was no--he only appeared briefly, and certainly didn't get inducted into the Ghostbusters when it was over.
Good writing can triumph over the above rules. But it's rare. Two stories on GBN do, indeed, feature a character based on the writer joining the New York Ghostbusters. But it was framed with a fascinatingly intimate, warts-and-all portrayal of the writer's Real Life, and presented in a matter that made you question what was real and what was going on. But if you're going "MY character isn't a Mary Sue!!! I'm one of the lucky ones!!!' chances are...you aren't.
Modified from material previously posted
Avoiding the Dreaded Mary Sue
The most hated character in all fan fiction is Mary Sue, the annoying, shoe-horned in too perfect character created by the writer usually to either fulfill their fantasies or make the canonical characters look bad. (I think the name Mary Sue was first coined by Star Trek fandom...it was a perky ensign who slept with Kirk and saved the ship as I understand it...)
Well, how do you know if your character concept might be a Mary Sue?
The three biggest Ghostbuster Mary Sue Warning Signs:
1. The Character Is Named After and Based On You. This is bad news. But before all the GBI guys panic the exception to this rule is a whole team of fan fiction characters. It makes it more of a role-playing excercise than Mary Sueism, as long as due respect is given to the canonical characters of the GB Universe. See Warning Sign#2 below. Making a character based on yourself and having him be inducted into the New York team, on the other hand, is a Danger Sign.
2. Your Character Is Good At Everything...Or, At the Very Least, Outdoes one or More Original Ghostbusters In Their Area of Expertise Saying "My theoretical physicist is smarter than Egon" is a Danger Sign. "My theoretical physicist is smarter than Egon, more buff than Winston, and can out-wisecrack Venkman" is Danger Danger Danger. Run Will Robinson, Run!!!
The issue is respect for the continuity of the existing universe...it's generally accepted that the canon characters are to be treated as the Best of the Best, and trying to show them up leaves a bad taste in the mouths of most readers. I'm writing fan fics because I like the Ghostbusters, not because I want to make them look like incompetant weenies.
A subset of this is making your character a relative of an established character. While this can indeed be pulled off successfully (ie Jen Spengler of Nightsquad) it's a tricky thing, and all too often fails. This is a personal thing, but I try to avoid creating new relatives--I'll certainly develop ones that already exist (ie Victor Irwin) and give names to obvious ones that must exist (ie character parents, since everyone has them unless they're a clone) but take pains to avoid the parade of siblings and cousins.
Most new relatives I introduced tend to be the ones the characters create themselves the Old Fashioned Way (ie the Spengler Twins, Eric Stantz, Charlene Zeddemore, ect)
And here's the biggie...
3. Your Character Romances One of the Original Ghostbusters, Especially if They Have A Canonical Love Interest. Granted again, there are some degrees here. Here's the canonnical love interests according to the movies and animation:
Venkman: Dana Barrett. However, she is not in the animation and Venkman behaves like a tomcat both before he meets Dana in the movie and as much as Saturday Morning standards in the 1980's let him in the animation.
Ray: Either dreams about or has an intimate encounter with a female ghost in GB1. Elaine Fuhrman in "Look Homeward, Ray" Some leeway is allowed, however, as Elaine never made an appearance past that early episode
Egon: Janine Melnitz. This is in the first movie, and everywhere else except the second movie and Ghostbusters The Return. And it also seems to be the one most frequently abused. I'm going to go on a soapbox here, but as long and hard as Janine has to fight to get his attention (and does finally get it per "Janine You've Changed" and "Back In The Saddle") it is the height of Mary Suedom for some woman to come out of nowhere and turn his head instantly. Egon should either be alone or with Janine--anything else does not fit the character.
Janine: Egon Spengler. This is in the first movie, and everywhere else except the second movie and Ghostbusters The Return, where she's involved with Louis Tully. She's not totally above occassionally looking for outside attention ("Robo Buster", "The Crawler") but there's often a subtext of "I'm just doing this because I'm tired of Egon ignoring me"--it was explicit in "The Crawler" and read into her dalliances with Tully by the RGB writers.
Winston: Winston has a girlfriend mentioned in "The Devil To Pay", and is seen briefly in RGB#23. However, almost nothing is known about the character other than she's a museum curator--she doesn't even have a canonical name. It is recommended that she be developed to fit the writer's ideas, instead of dragging in a new character wholesale (ie Brian Reilly developed her as Kaila McMillan for the GBOT/Ectozone fan fictions)
Now, a couple of caveats:
Not every original character is a Mary Sue. Not even characters named after yourself. In addition to the GBI example above, I was approached by one writer on GBN who asked me if a character who appeared in his story, named after him, was a Mary Sue. The answer was no--he only appeared briefly, and certainly didn't get inducted into the Ghostbusters when it was over.
Good writing can triumph over the above rules. But it's rare. Two stories on GBN do, indeed, feature a character based on the writer joining the New York Ghostbusters. But it was framed with a fascinatingly intimate, warts-and-all portrayal of the writer's Real Life, and presented in a matter that made you question what was real and what was going on. But if you're going "MY character isn't a Mary Sue!!! I'm one of the lucky ones!!!' chances are...you aren't.