Subject: Points to Kilik Rung from Soul Eater (nm)
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Posted on: 2017-07-02 16:56:00 UTC
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About people calling out Mary Sues by
on 2017-07-02 09:45:00 UTC
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I find that a lot of OCs in action fanfics are subject to this; does having a large number of techniques and/or use a couple of canon loopholes to have a plethora of abilities really indicate a Mary Sue? I personally think that this is only the case in certain genres of action because the concept of power works differently. However, I see a lot of people hating on characters because said character has a large arsenal of techniques. I feel that this is unfair to a lot of fanfic authors who have characters with a lot of skills without warping or breaking canon, stretching canon perhaps, but definitely not breaking canon. So, I wanted to ask the PPC community for your opinions on the matter.
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Another question I have been meaning to ask by
on 2017-07-04 16:17:00 UTC
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I have been reading the original series as well as a couple of other missions. Has there ever been an incident where an agent has been forced to use some non-canonical method of dealing with a sue? I only ask because some of the methods used to subdue a Sue before listing charges seems a bit forced. I don’t know, it just seems a bit un-canonical to be able to subdue Sues from certain continua using canon stuff. I’m not criticizing, it’s all very well written. This is just my personal opinion which is why I am asking.
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My two cents. by
on 2017-07-04 09:38:00 UTC
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The sign of an actual Mary Sue is that they face no real challenge. The plot, the characters, and reality itself is structured to benefit and glorify them, and even if they face an insurmountable enemy, said enemy only exists to make them look good. Basically, what matters is the execution.
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Don't forget to tell them the deal with the crossover. by
on 2017-07-03 17:41:00 UTC
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The fact that there's a crossover may change some people's opinions.
-Twistey -
It depends on how it is executed. by
on 2017-07-02 14:19:00 UTC
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One reason to call "Mary Sue" may be that the OC is assumed to be quite young (teenage self-insert) and cannot plausibly have the twenty years of training canon characters needed to master a similar large arsenal of techniques.
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And therein lies the problem by
on 2017-07-02 14:52:00 UTC
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Having characters master too many abilities is a bad thing for sure. However, "know" and "can use" is not the same as mastered; assuming the author meant mastered a technique when he says that a character simply knows said technique is fallacious, unless shown in the fanfic that the OC has indeed mastered it, though this is up for interpretation. Also, many people seem to equate number of techniques with power. Although this is usually true in a Magical Girl environment, it isn't the case in many other settings.
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A character's not a list! by
on 2017-07-02 15:27:00 UTC
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Funny thing you said by
on 2017-07-03 17:49:00 UTC
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"A Mary Sue has lots of techniques and powers essentially for bragging rights - you'll see a million Sues get bestowed heaps of abilities and powers which will get used once to show off and be forgotten, which aren't shown at all, or which are used but don't even affect the plot or anything."
*ahem* WinX Club.
-Twistey -
Another example is the more recent CoD games. by
on 2017-07-04 09:02:00 UTC
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You get a wingsuit... for one level. You get a climby sticky hand thing... for one level. You get a robot drone thing... for one level. See the problem here? Having loads and loads of abilities that are only used once and never spoken of again is not necessarily the hallmark of a Mary Sue, but it is bad writing.
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It's like "why didn't he use that thing he had earlier?!" (nm) by
on 2017-07-04 19:04:00 UTC
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I feel like something is off by
on 2017-07-04 15:00:00 UTC
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I agree with what you said, but I feel like there should be a distinction made between gadget based characters and ability based characters. Gadget based characters like spec ops soldiers or batman have external abilities. It's not exactly practical for soldiers to carry every single piece of military hardware available to them, they would only bring what is practical and relevant to the mission. So I think in CoD, this is sort of justified. Of course, if it was an ability based character, doing the same thing isn't good writing unless their powers are the "bag of tricks" type.
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Non sequitur: That'd be kinda fun to write an agent with... by
on 2017-07-04 19:18:00 UTC
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I know a character sort of like that by
on 2017-07-05 09:44:00 UTC
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Othinus from Toaru Majutsu no Index is omnipotent, her godhood gives her infinite possibilities. Unfortunately, infinite possibilities means infinite good and infinite bad possibilities. As a result, she had a 50 percent chance of absolutely succeeding and 50 percent chance of absolutely failing in whatever she tries to do using her powers.
Kite from Hunter×Hunter also had a dice based ability. He rolls a dice and gets whatever ability or tool he has linked to the number he rolled. 4 was a scythe, I think. -
Pretty cool. by
on 2017-07-05 21:52:00 UTC
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Not random - it's "exactly what she needs". (nm) by
on 2017-07-07 15:15:00 UTC
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Yeah, but still, it doesn't come with instructions. by
on 2017-07-17 23:59:00 UTC
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(You're referring to Ladybug, right?) She has to figure out how this item is going to fix the situation, which means she has to use her head a bit, which means brownie points in my book.
-Twistey -
Fairly certain that that's Eidolon from Worm's whole shtick. (nm by
on 2017-07-04 20:30:00 UTC
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Moderate amount is a bit subjective by
on 2017-07-02 16:04:00 UTC
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So basically what you are saying it that having a somewhat large moveset that does not defy canon is fine if it is used in the story, not plot breaking, and relevant? Would you consider it a decrease in character relevance if some techniques overlapped in usage (such as a character having both a fire fist and lightning fist attack)?
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A character continues to not be a list! by
on 2017-07-03 01:51:00 UTC
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I am not trying to turn a character into a list by
on 2017-07-03 04:46:00 UTC
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I only asked if you would consider redundant abilites bad even if it is plot relevant. So I will take that as a no. Don't get me wrong, I don't judge a character until I read the story; in fact, I am perfectly fine with having a lot of abilities, so long as it is consistent with canon and the character. We are actually in agreement here.
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Points to Kilik Rung from Soul Eater (nm) by
on 2017-07-02 16:56:00 UTC
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