Subject: Speaking of the definition...
Author:
Posted on: 2013-07-24 14:13:00 UTC
I've been working on a re-write of the wiki article to make it less contradictory, because right now it really is, and that's not useful. This is the updated short-form definition I'm working from:
A Mary Sue is an unintentionally flat fictional character recognizable by a marked disconnect between what the narrative says about it versus what the narrative shows about it. The Mary Sue character is almost always the central focus of its story, and the plot serves it rather than itself serving the plot. It achieves its goals with minimal effort, out of proportion to what the audience would expect given the setting(s), culture(s), and other natives of the universe it inhabits.
I think that better supports the current primary traits, which I believe do add up to "poorly written"; how can a character that acts unbelievably, gets unbelievable treatment from other characters, and is doted on by the narrative without doing anything to earn it be anything but?
Also, I think it's worth noting that in the PPC universe, a character isn't a Mary Sue (thus qualifying for assassination) unless there are sufficient charges against it, and the charges almost always have to do with bad writing (throwing characters OOC, creating minis, creating Designated Bastards/Love Interests/etc., mucking with timelines, causing events to eventuate for the sole benefit of the OC without regard for the plot, etc.). The deck is pretty stacked here.
That's not to say people aren't allowed to enjoy Sue stories—nobody here has the authority to tell anyone else what not to like—but within the PPC universe, "good Mary Sues" don't make much sense. And hopefully, this definition actually separates those enjoyable, well-written characters from the kind the PPC goes after anyway, which I think is the ultimate goal here: to refine our definition until it only encompasses the objectively bad stuff, thus eliminating any potential doubt about whether we're targeting stories that don't deserve it. Because we shouldn't be targeting stories that are anything but objectively badly written. That should be plain. I aim to make it more so.
~Neshomeh