Subject: I'm sorry, what?
Author:
Posted on: 2011-11-14 05:46:00 UTC

My reading of Aster's questions says nothing of the sort - she hits a few of the points that make the difference between a Suvian "Oh, I'm so awesome" fight scene and a real character. She doesn't bother to apply them directly to Astral's story, just leaves them as points to consider.

A Sue is not in what the Sue does, or can do, but in how she's written. Take, for example, character X. She's an elvish princess of considerable power. She flips off her uncle, one of the greatest leaders of elves and/or men ever. When he abandons her, she leads a host of her people across what is effectively Greenland - if Greenland was seismically active. She stands and fights -repeatedly!- against the greatest evil the world ever sees, rules her people wisely for thousands of years, and when she finally gets fed up with things, tears the fortress of the second greatest evil ever to walk the land apart with her own force of will.

Her name? Galadriel. She is not a Sue.

See also the Emo!Sue and the Anti!Sue, for examples of Sues who are not powerful, cannot do anything right, etc. Powers and Sueishness are not intrinsically linked. The only consideration is how well written they are; do they twist the story until it revolves around them, or no? Do they do things without explanation to make themselves look cool/powerful/wise/beautiful/pathetic/etc or no?

In general, Aster's point is that Agents don't have to be normal humans to avoid being Sues. You just have to think and write more carefully.

Reply Return to messages