This guide is simple and quick to see if one of your own,friend's,or even one of the people you rp with has made a Mary-Gary Sue. As an rp owner,this can be an important guide to see if a character you think is a Mary-Gary Sue really IS a Mary-Gary Sue,or if it's close to one or not.
What IS a Mary-Gary Sue?
Mary-Gary Sues (referred to in this guide is a MGS) is a character that is 100% or very close to perfect,or someone who is to general.
MGS often ruin rps. As they are perfect,they do everything just right,and have no struggles,personal problems,or challenges. They have everything they want,when they want it,and are often the more "popular" people/animals. They have a perfect relationship,and a perfect life.
The thing that's fun about rps is that you can be something you aren't. MGS just make it so much worse and ruin the experience with every time they step into something.
Ways to hunt out MGS
Names,grades,and ages
You can find a MGS right off the bat. Looking at names,ages,grades/ranks,you can tell if they are MGS.
How?
Take a look at the below application for a person and a wolf rp. These are just examples.
Human form
Name:Sarah Brown
Age:12
Grade:12th because she is super smart and skipped a lot of grades
Wolf form:
Name:Full Moon
Age:4 years
Rank:Second in command,she's super smart and got the rank a really long time ago. She's the youngest second in command!
Now,can you tell what's wrong?
Here are the forms again. Everything that indicates a MGS is in red.
Human form
Name:Sarah Brown
Age:12
Grade:12th because she is super smart and skipped a lot of grades. She even does advanced algebra!
Wolf form:
Name:Full Moon
Age:4 years
Rank:Second in command,she's super smart and got the rank a really long time ago. She's the youngest second in command in the entire pack.
Anything that seems TOO unrealistic like the above in red means that you pretty much found a MGS. Remember,as a role play owner,you can express your concerns to the person. You don't have to accept any MGS unless you want to.
Personality
Personalities are a big part of RP forms. Most role play owners have a section just for the personality. Here's another great way to quickly hunt out MGS.
1.Read the entire personality section ONCE. Just skim it.
2.If it's really long,it's more like a detailed history.
3.The personality should not contain three or more of the words (see below) in their personality. Some people list personalities their characters ARE NOT,so be careful.
Should Not Contain:
Popular
Beautiful
etc.
Can contain:
Harkworking
Quiet
Careful
Clumsy
Graceful
etc.
Description
The description usually can single out MGS very fast. But what crosses the thin line between MGS and near perfect?
Start by reading the description of the person. If it says words like,"curves in all the right places" or "flawless ___",that means you have a MGS on your hands.
Also be sure to look out for "perfect features" (if they list something like "perfect smooth hair/fur",it's up to you) and "good-looking" because this can indicate an MGS.
How to politely not accept someone
Start out simply. Quote their post if it isn't too long,and if it is,use the following:
Exampleusername,
Exampleusername-
@Emampleusername
Exampleusername:
and then greet them nicely.
@Exampleusername Hello!(Good)
@Exampleusername Hello you bad character maker,we need to talk.(Bad)
Continue from there. Use calm,polite words to tell them that their character is an MGS,and that it would be nice if they could remake. Remember to not be to harsh,but don't sugarcoat it.
How to make sure YOUR characters aren't MGS
*Make sure your character has a common weakness,not something tiny and specific,or more than one weakness
*Make sure your character doesn't have too much power by being very young
*Make sure your character is bad at least one thing ex:writing,fighting,remembering,etc.
*Make sure your character isn't perfect. No one is perfect.
*Make sure your character is BELIEVABLE for a certain series/book,or real life.
Sun May 20, 2012 11:38 pm