"My heroes have to be Mary-Sues/Gary-Stus or they won't triumph over the villains!"

If non Sue/Stu characters triumph over the villain, then it makes it all the more satisfying to read/watch. When non Sue/Stu characters triumph, it's because they've learned to overcome or cope with one of their weaknesses that was holding them back, or win by sheer luck, which makes it all the more believable as well. But be careful you don't have them overcome all their weaknesses, because then they become Sues/Stus. Plus, what if the characters don't triumph over the villain? What if they lose once in a while? A bit more interesting, don't you think?


"My villains have to be Mary-Sues/Gary-Stus or my heroes defeating them won't be impressive!"

While a stronger, perfect villain may be harder for your heroes to defeat, it doesn't make for an interesting villain, and villains can be plenty strong without being Sues or Stus. If you don't give your villain any sort of relatable anything (i.e. Your villain abhors humans but can't stand to hurt fluffy bunnies), they will simply become a disgusting being that the heroes can throw rocks at. While they may be evil, they're human (or orc, or elf, or snake-man, or Dalek) too, so they're going to have flaws. Maybe your villain can't shut-up, and always gives away his plans, which are subject to change at the drop of a hat. Or maybe he's so quiet, his minions never know exactly how to carry out his plans. The possibilities are endless.

I got a review of one of my missions that I'd posted on the Pit long ago, asking that if I were going to write a mocking story about someone else's poor writing, then why hadn't I offered to be that author's proofreader beforehand?

I...really have no defense to this. She made a good point. Note that the badfic author saw my mission of her badfic and thought it was funny, but I don't know what to say to this other reviewer.

Or Frequently Stated, in this case? I'm not really in the loop, so I ask because I don't know. If you're proposing an addition to the FAQ, the addition should be, by definition, something that comes up a lot. If they do come up a lot, I'd be curious to see some examples in context.

~Neshomeh

There are plenty of ways to defeat a villain or challenge a hero without simply applying Suvian brute force to the issue. In most canons, the heroes are victorious because they either struggle to gain the power necessary to win, or because they outwit a stronger opponent. Similarly, while the villains are often dangerous not (just) because of superior power, but because of their cunning and ability to exploit the vulnerabilities of others. Moreover, if your hero is so overpowered, how did the villain come to power in the first place (or if your villain is so overpowered, how will the heroes realistically defeat him)?

This argument is especially annoying in fanfiction; the heroes of Lord of the Rings, for example, were perfectly able to defeat Sauron without the aid of Marisuviel the elf wizard princess and her unicorn companion in canon.

It's also important to distinguish between powerful characters and Mary-Sues/Gary-Stus. Being powerful is not enough to make a character a Sue - they must be powerful in uncanonical and/or Speshul ways, as well as possess other Suvian traits. While some people misuse the term Sue by using it to refer to any character with significantly-above-average capabilities, that alone is not what makes them bad writing; they are bad writing because they do not behave and are not treated in ways that are realistic or sensible for the narrative.