What is a Mary Sue Character And How Do You Avoid Writing One?

In recent years, there has been a lot of dialogue around who the term Mary Sue can be ascribed to and what constitutes it. But what, fundamentally, is a Mary Sue character? And perhaps more importantly, with it being seen largely as a negative trait for a screenplay, what can be done to avoid it?

In this article, we look into the meaning of a Mary Sue character and how you can protect against writing one in your screenplay. So, who is Mary Sue?

What is a Mary Sue Character?

A Mary Sue is a way of describing fictional characters lacking in any weaknesses and flaws, therefore deeming them unrealistic.

A Mary Sue is a character who seems unrealistically perfect; an idealized female character without demonstrable flaws, used as a kind of wish fulfilment for the author and audience.

Although this criticism is mostly associated with female characters, male versions have been referred to as a Gary Stu or Marty Stu.

The trope originated from Paula Smith, who coined it in “A Trekkie’s Tale”, a parody Star-Trek fan fiction. It was intended to mock authors whose characters were clearly based on wish fulfilment, self-inserts and idealized versions of themselves.

In fan fiction, the origins of the term Mary Sue are simple. They describe a character that has been added to an already existing fictional universe and:

1. Gains power/ becomes overpowered without any struggle or journey of earning it.
2. Gets attention from the original established characters (including those who it is uncharacteristic of eg. if they are anti-social, untrusting).
3. Resolves the entire conflict almost single-handedly, removing any obstacles.

Despite beginning in fan fiction, Mary Sue characters are visible in films and TV series of many kinds.