This had a lot to do with the question - and even if it didn't, as I keep saying (well, this'll be the third time, but whatever), I like having a lot of opinions; I think it makes it easier to learn, not just for the question-asker, but for everyone else who reads posts like this!

So...thankies for your input, sorry I didn't see it sooner, and try not to get too close to the balrog - you could get scorched!

I think that if you do it well (i.e., you don't write a Sue), you can have a pretty messed up character who eventually gets the guy/gal...after many, many chapters of evolving the characters and setting up a solid, believable bond that would likely manifest at or near the end as love.

Unfortunately, it's rather hard for a good writer to pull that off, so...-sighs-

Basically an anti-Sue is rather obvious (and a bit mistaken) attempt to be as much the opposite of a Mary Sue as the author can manage.

For example, if a Mary Sue is beautiful, wonderful with all living creatures, and perfects every skill within a matter of hours at most, an anti-Sue is hideous (for many reasons), hates all living creatures with a possible exception of a few people he/she respects, and fails miserably when trying to learn a new skill (and has taken literally years to learn to, say, tie his/her shoelaces).

From what I can tell, an anti-Sue comes from the mistaken belief that the opposite of perfection is perfectly opposite, rather than imperfect. I've seen one or two reasonable anti-Sues, but most of the ones I've come across are somehow even more annoying, as the canon still goes out of its way to make things easy for them, and despite the increased amount of wangsting, the canon characters are all still fawning over them.