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The Mary Sue as a Valid Trope
Mar. 2nd, 2005 03:24 pmIs it actually possible to write an anime Mary Sue?
The easy answer is, well, yes, of course it is. But it bears pointing out that almost all of the criteria for Sue-dom fit a sizeable category of the canon characters. While I can see the justice of readers becoming annoyed by a fan-made original character who takes over the story when the reader was expecting to read about the original original characters, I'm increasingly convinced that it's unreasonable to protest on most of the other standard Sue grounds.
Consider the common criteria sited. Funky hair/eye color or otherwise remarkable appearance. Completely unrealistic powers, possessed just because it's her/him. An equal degree of "endearing" clutziness or similar lack of some basic skill such as self-preservative instinct. Universally loved, despite immature behavior and somehow manages to be the center of the other characters' attention at all times. Either effortlessly sweeps to victory through overwhelming power or else falls into it by luck and the apparent blessing of chance at every turn. Instant love interest for any and all heros and villains, frequently both at the same time (if heros/villains are of the same sex, "obsession" may be substituted for "love"; it looks much the same). Usefully tortured past, or possibly present, that s/he has nevertheless managed to survive/overcome at completely unreasonable odds.
This is the basic profile of both the shounen and shoujo hero/ine.
Tsukino Usagi (BSSM); Yuuki Miaka (FY); Himura Kenshin (RK); Mutou Yuugi (YGO); Honda Tohru (FB); Utena (Utena); Shiro Kamui (X); Naruto (Naruto); Vash (Trigun); Sanzo (Saiyuki). Few of them meet all of the criteria, but it's close. Admittedly, the major victories won by these characters are rarely "effortless", but they are often a matter of uncovering a pre-existing inner strength and the catalyst for doing so is often external. That's what the main love interest, or, occasionally, the friend-group, is there for; to flip the switch for the hero/ine.
It may be worth noting, here, that I love most of these characters to pieces.
My point is, in order to fit new characters into an anime-based fanfic, they need extraordinary appearance and ability, and quite possibly equally extraordinary Murphy-baiting, Darwin-taunting behavior.
The complaints that I have some sympathy for are the ones pointing out that writing a replacement hero/ine turns the story away from the beloved original, and where's the point in either writing or reading that. And yet... I still find myself asking, where's the heinous crime? I don't exactly go out of my way to read Sue stories, both because it's generally an extremely personal kind of writing and because the technical ineptitude with which Sues are usually written gives me headaches. But if I want, say, a female character who can fight at the same level as the males of Rurouni Kenshin, I'm going to have to make her myself, because the mangaka sure isn't going to. (And, you know, I'd really like to read that.) If I want a character to come in and smack Naruto upside the head and talk some practical sense to him, s/he will have to come from outside Konoha to have an unencumbered viewpoint, and s/he had better kick ass and take names or Naruto would never listen. And if I want it right now, I'll have to make her/him up myself. And if I want more adventures of Sailor Moon and Co. I'll have to invent yet more villains, because she's vanquished all the pre-existing ones. And they'd better be super-duper villains, to be worth her time. And they almost have to fall in love with her, because that's practically an article of faith in that story's universe.
So, while I'm all for the idea of increasing one's technical skill, and staying true to the shapes of the characters and story, I think it may have been overlooked that a Sue is true to the shape of a large chunk of anime. The vituperation poured on her copper-tressed head seems disproportional and oddly angled. If the critiquers really dislike that particular character shape, why are they watching these shows to begin with?
The easy answer is, well, yes, of course it is. But it bears pointing out that almost all of the criteria for Sue-dom fit a sizeable category of the canon characters. While I can see the justice of readers becoming annoyed by a fan-made original character who takes over the story when the reader was expecting to read about the original original characters, I'm increasingly convinced that it's unreasonable to protest on most of the other standard Sue grounds.
Consider the common criteria sited. Funky hair/eye color or otherwise remarkable appearance. Completely unrealistic powers, possessed just because it's her/him. An equal degree of "endearing" clutziness or similar lack of some basic skill such as self-preservative instinct. Universally loved, despite immature behavior and somehow manages to be the center of the other characters' attention at all times. Either effortlessly sweeps to victory through overwhelming power or else falls into it by luck and the apparent blessing of chance at every turn. Instant love interest for any and all heros and villains, frequently both at the same time (if heros/villains are of the same sex, "obsession" may be substituted for "love"; it looks much the same). Usefully tortured past, or possibly present, that s/he has nevertheless managed to survive/overcome at completely unreasonable odds.
This is the basic profile of both the shounen and shoujo hero/ine.
Tsukino Usagi (BSSM); Yuuki Miaka (FY); Himura Kenshin (RK); Mutou Yuugi (YGO); Honda Tohru (FB); Utena (Utena); Shiro Kamui (X); Naruto (Naruto); Vash (Trigun); Sanzo (Saiyuki). Few of them meet all of the criteria, but it's close. Admittedly, the major victories won by these characters are rarely "effortless", but they are often a matter of uncovering a pre-existing inner strength and the catalyst for doing so is often external. That's what the main love interest, or, occasionally, the friend-group, is there for; to flip the switch for the hero/ine.
It may be worth noting, here, that I love most of these characters to pieces.
My point is, in order to fit new characters into an anime-based fanfic, they need extraordinary appearance and ability, and quite possibly equally extraordinary Murphy-baiting, Darwin-taunting behavior.
The complaints that I have some sympathy for are the ones pointing out that writing a replacement hero/ine turns the story away from the beloved original, and where's the point in either writing or reading that. And yet... I still find myself asking, where's the heinous crime? I don't exactly go out of my way to read Sue stories, both because it's generally an extremely personal kind of writing and because the technical ineptitude with which Sues are usually written gives me headaches. But if I want, say, a female character who can fight at the same level as the males of Rurouni Kenshin, I'm going to have to make her myself, because the mangaka sure isn't going to. (And, you know, I'd really like to read that.) If I want a character to come in and smack Naruto upside the head and talk some practical sense to him, s/he will have to come from outside Konoha to have an unencumbered viewpoint, and s/he had better kick ass and take names or Naruto would never listen. And if I want it right now, I'll have to make her/him up myself. And if I want more adventures of Sailor Moon and Co. I'll have to invent yet more villains, because she's vanquished all the pre-existing ones. And they'd better be super-duper villains, to be worth her time. And they almost have to fall in love with her, because that's practically an article of faith in that story's universe.
So, while I'm all for the idea of increasing one's technical skill, and staying true to the shapes of the characters and story, I think it may have been overlooked that a Sue is true to the shape of a large chunk of anime. The vituperation poured on her copper-tressed head seems disproportional and oddly angled. If the critiquers really dislike that particular character shape, why are they watching these shows to begin with?
