OC (Mary-sues)

For those of you that don’t know:

• OC stands for “original character”

So why am I telling you this?

I read a lot of fanfics every day. I personally don’t care if the main character is an idol or an OC. Like I always say: if the plotline’s good, then I’ll read it. But sometimes while reading a story with an OC in it, I just want to flip the nearest table. Why?

Because the OC is a Mary-sue.

A Mary-sue (or Gary-sue for guys) is a character that is perfect in every way. When we think of Mary-sues, we automatically assume that they’re rich, pretty, smart, and popular. Those traits are the ones that you will typically see (about 87% of the time) in a Mary-sue. But nobody likes a Mary-sue, and authors know that.

So what do they do?

Easy. They use all of those traits and add in one or two bad traits (she’s mute or she’s insecure) and BAM! She’s no longer a Mary-sue! Congratulations!

NO

Just adding in one or two bad traits compared to the already perfect life they live doesn’t make your character not be a Mary-sue. Why would she be insecure if she’s smart, pretty, popular, and has money? That makes no sense. We read stories with OCs because we want to connect with them. How can we connect to character who doesn’t make sense?

Answer: We can’t.

Make your character realistic. Have more flaws than perfections. If she’s pretty, make it so where she’s obsessed with being perfect. If she’s rich, make it where she looks down on those who have less money. Readers are sadistic. They love tragically imperfect characters whose dreams and ambitions consume them until there’s nothing left but the empty shell of the person they use to be. Having a sweet, kind, yet rich girl who is friends with everyone? BORING. We want tragedy. We want heartbreak. We DON’T want our characters to have a walk in the park with life.

OCs are tricky. They can either make or break your story. Even if you’re story has an amazing plotline and all, if you’re character is a Mary-sue, then you’ve already lost majority of your audience. I’ve personally read some amazing stories in which I had to literally force myself to continue reading because, as much as I liked the actual story, the main character was a Mary-sue.

So how do you know if your character is a Mary-sue?

1. If your character has more good traits than bad ones, then no matter how bad her past is, she’s a Mary-sue.
2. If your character is rich, pretty, smart, AND popular, no matter how many bad traits you have, she’s a Mary-sue.
3. If you’re character is just generally unrealistic and majority of the world’s population cannot connect with her, then she’s a Mary-sue.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Mary-sues are annoying. They’re unrealistic, two-dimensional, and I hate them. I really cannot find any type of situation other than a crack fic or a parody in which they would be good to use. It’s sad when I read a story and I like everything about it, but the main character is a Mary-sue. In fact, in one of my favorite stories on AFF, the main character is a Mary-sue. It seems pretty hypocritical of me to bash on Mary-sues while I read stories about them, but hey, I’m a generally hypocritical and pretentious person myself.

What my Dad does when we're at the mall spending quality father-daughter time together -> hands me his credit card and then leaves.

RANDOM FACT: I like lychee (or taro) flavored bubble tea with two scoops of tapioca (or pearls, whatever you call it) and one scoop of rainbow jelly. (It costs me $4.73 each time.)