As name calling on Rey is what started me on this path, I am going to begin this post series in the Universe of Star Wars. At the tail end, there may be spoilers, but at the moment, none of the caracters will be specified.
Now, I'm going to point out Star Wars is an inter-galactic multi planet universe. There are countless species, many humanoid, others resembling giant teddy bears, bipedal collie dogs, or gigantic green slugs. It is a scifi setting where robots are common place and hover craft and space ship serve as the public transit.
There are also space wizards who can use a magical energy called the Force to change the course of their future. Light Space Wizards who use their powers for the sake of others are called Jedi-they generally have green or blue laser swords. Dark Space Wizards who use their powers for self serving purpose are called Sith and generally have red laser swords.
So just a reminder, Wikipedia Identifies a Mary Sue or Gary Stu as
Young
Low Rank
Unrealistic Ability or Talent
I will be evaluating three characters from the Star Wars Saga.
Character A is young, of low rank, of extreme talent to being a repeated plot point, and saves the day repeatedly.
Character B is young and of low rank whe the story begins, exceptionally gifted, and does not actually save the day, though she does certainly assist in the saving of butts.
Character C is young and of low rank when the story begins, exceptionally gifted, and saves the day.
Which means by Wikipedia standards, all of these characters are Mary Sues.
Now lets go deeper, in the words of Inception.
With the handy tool of The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test from Springhole.net, I shall evaluate each character and list what they tick off and earn points with, and where they fall on the Springhole Scale.
Character A:
Character receives cybernetic enhancements.
Has unusually liberated views for time and place, which are diassproved by mostly older folks still caught up in hokey traditions.
Is openly defiant of authority figures and generally displayed as justified.
They are unusually talented for their age and experience in multiple fields.
The best at what they do, impressing almost everyone with their talents and abilities.
They can easily control a person with psuedo magic.
Most factions desire the character to join their side for their ability.
Most if not all challenges are overcome, which is to say, they succeed at all they attempt.
Frequently takes out a multitiude of enemies single handedly.
They are a prophecized chosen one to save the universe.
The universe literally brought them into existence.
Even those who don't always like them or approve of them give them a gruding respect.
Character is quazi adopted by other characters.
When character falls in love it is understood to be deep and profound.
Character is born into slavery and extreme poverty.
Unusual birth.
Wittnessed parental death.
Angsts over parental death.
A villain is obsessed over character because of what they are, not who.
Character saves the day repeatedly, far more often then others.
Has assorted lingerring doubts about his moralistic choices, is manipulated not through magical or special abilities but psychologically, and made a severe character judgement that ended in, well, a crap tone of death and destruction.
This character is evaluated by Springhole as having 45 points and being at a very high risk of being a Mary Sue.
Character B:
Picked up highly desirable abilities in unprecedented time, and other characters are impressed by their skill.
Has the ability to easily control another person without a sort of magic,
Occasionally "just knows thigns", ie how to do something without consequence.
While in a tight spot, character develops new ability to assist.
Character is bilingual.
Villain is envious because abilities are more then their own.
Wields a legendary weapon.
Another character would like to quazi adopt character.
Character was abandoned and lived alone as a child, raised self in extreme povery.
Villain is obsessed with character.
Character B ranks 30 points, which according to Springhole, is a high risk Sue.
Character C
Character name is a variant of the creator.
Many fights, few scars.
Character is cybernetically enhanced.
When character is defiant toward authority figures, they are portrayed as justified.
Character picks up skills in months that usually take years-and they are extremely desired skills.
Character is the best in their peer group, renowned for their ability, and impress even the jaded.
Has the ability to easily control another person without a sort of magic,
In general succeeds at everything attempted.
Uses a signifigant weapon.
A cosmic keystone, helping the universe by existing.
Extremely popular and liked by most characters they meet, even those who are not normally friendly and initially criticize them. Most of their friends lead exciting and dramatic lives.
Falls in love at first sight.
Through a bond with the character a villain reforms.
Character was not raised by parents, and a major villain was responsible.
Has lost close friends.
Angssts about dead family.
Major villain has obsession with character because of what they are.
Is spared by major villain despite causing them major losses.
Character saves the day with unforseen skill and almost dies.
A skilled assassin fails repeatedly to kill or capture the hero in a series of hilarious blunders.
There is no doubt that, according to Springhole, Character C is a Sue. They have secured 56 points, and anything over 50 points is most certainly a Sue, and ridiculously so.
So, to sum up,
Character A has 45 points on the Litmus test and is at very high risk of Being a Sue.
Character B has 30 points and is considered high risk of being a Sue.
Character C has 56 points and is thought to most certainly be a Sue.
Before I go into further analysis, let us consider.
One of these characters is Rey. You know, the leading lady and new generation Jedi of Episode VII.
For all the name calling and implying she is a sue and it might mean she is somehow a bad character
Rey is Character B. That's right, she scored the lowest.
Character A is Anakin Skywalker, as he appears in the prequel Trilogy. You know, the unusually young mechanical pod racing genius who built C3PO as a kid and has no father but came to be in his mother's womb simply because the Force wanted him to exist and be the Chosen One. (Seriously, check Wookiepedia). Lets not forget his angst over failing to save his mother, murdering the sand people, and his doomed forbidden romance with Padmae.
And Character C, the most certainly a Sue, who shares a name with his creator? Luke Skywalker. And yes he did fall in love at first sight, he just didn't know it was his twin sister right away. Han Solo is a completed jaded awkwardly not social jerk, if a lovable scoundrel, but he comes back for Luke when he was planning to leave Hoth prior to finding out he was in peril.
(Sidenote: WHY ARE THE SKYWALKERS SHITTY AT KNOWING WHEN FAMILY MEMBERS ARE RIGHT THERE? More on this in Theory Tuesday. Not a new tradition. Just today's post.)
So Luke Skywalker is most definitely, by the Springhole Test and Wikipedia definition, a Mary Sue Gary Stu.
Anakin Skywalker is at very high risk on the test, and by definition a Mary Sue Gary Stu.
And new comer Rey is at high risk on the Litmus, and by definition a Mary Gary Stu.
Springhole.net has additional resources, expanding on the explanation of the test scores.
That said, it also sheds light on why Mary Sue is frequently declared with a bitter after taste.
"Very often, Mary Sues are created for the readers to admire, envy, or pitty rather then Emphasize with.
This is basically an offshoot of the "unearned respect problem-the writer/player expects everyone to think their character is awesome and worthy of admiration or respsect. This type of character is nothing new-Puritan Literature frequently features too-good-for-this-sinfuf-Earth Heroines who were created as role models to Puritan Children. You've probably heard the expression "Little Goody Two Shoes", which is frequently used to refer to someone who acts in a sanctimonious manner-this was originally the name of one of these heroines."
So while Wikipedia defines Mary Stu/Gary Stu as a very common trope, there is a bitter after taste that makes the term feared (which is often overlooked for characters who are identified as male).
Allow me to create and coin a new phraise.
Hairy Stool.
A Hairy Stool is a character who never faces consequences for their actions, who is unequestionably awesome and must be liked by all, regardless of the other characters previous connections or personality. Readers and or viewers are forced to face how awesome and special the creator thinks this character is, without any reason or development to make the character interesting or dynamic. They have romances that make no rhyme or reason with other characters because to be involved makes the other character out of character. They are the only central character and main focus of their story, with no feasible reason why.
A character is not a hairy stool because of any of the following:
They happen to be bad ass
They happen to develop extraordinary powers
They have love lives
They have a traumatic past
They are in general likable
They are prodigies.
They are the main protagonist of a story.
They are only these things if not written well to a point the audience can appreciate.
Example
Bella Swan of Twilight
Clumsy clutz but sort of a bad ass
Somehow immune to vampire mind reading
Is desired by virtually every single male in Forks, despite minimal if any personality and character development.
In general readers are not on good terms with her, or at best they accept her.
Is not just the main character, but the core focus of every single plot is around her.
Also note, Bella is not a Hairy Stool because of any single one of these-but because she is almost all of them.
Or shall we evaluate the Twilight Knock off, 50 Shades?
The Asshole I think. Christian Grey.
Considered to be a bad ass because he is loaded but in general never really earns the audience's awe. We're supposed to be crazy about him because the narrator is, though worth noting she is a 21 Year old hormonal, sheltered, and sexually frustrated virgin.
Not only does he have multiple fuck buddies/love interests, their obsessions with him are major fucking plot points. Two of them go crazy to get him back or seek revenge.
Character's traumatic past is ridiculously over the top and used as an excuse for their current horrible behavior.
He is not likable. You might have noticed I called him the asshole.
He kind of ticks off the prodigy marker, seeing as he's a grand 27 or 28 years old and is basically and independent multi-millionare of his own making. We are led to believe his wealthy adoptive family. Not to mention the piano thing. At least Edward Cullen had like a century to hone new skills.
For some reason he Co-Stars as the lead ot the 50 Shades of Fucked Up Saga (ACTUAL QUOTE HE USES TO REFER TO HIMSELF) with Anastasia Steele instead of a more interesting character like Kate Kavannagh or Jason Taylor.
Oh, and Anastasia Steele Herself?
Not a bad ass. Doesn't even try. Her clumsyness isn't really a plot device in my eyes. Just an inconvience, and not usually cute.
No special talents developed.
Yes she has a love life, yes there is one creepy rapey friend, and there is one slime ball boss, but they're not nearly as prominent as asshole's former subs. Wait, one former sub, one former dom.
No traumatic past. Multiple married mother, but thats not really that big a whoop.
I do think she is in general likable, if a naive summer child. Some wouldn't like her, some would.
She is the main character, but she is also the narrator. And unlike Bella her world does not have more interesting things going on like Vampires, Werewolves, and the Fanged Illuminati. So for her narrative to focus on her is pretty okay.
Okay but lets jump back to Twilight. If Asshole is a Hairy Stool, Edward has to be-right?
Bad ass. But point a not that uncommon in a world where vampires are a thing and he is one.
Technically a telepathic vampire, but the vampires of Meyers' world have powers of assorted forms. Its just common place.
Love Life. Adores Bella for some reason. Admired by some of the girls at school. Not so serious.
Traumatic past. He kind of has one with Scarlet Fever and all, but its not a seriously overdone past. Its just his past.
In general, is character likable? Arguable. Bella, the narrator is crazy about him. But other characters are generally super wary-the Sheriff, Jacob Black, kids at school.
Prodigy: No idea. I would need to know when he started playing Chess and piano. I mean, he has been around for a while he could have just developed and honed those talents.
Main Protagonist? Not exactly. He is a major character but in New Moon he's barely there, and in Breaking Dawn, Jacob got whole chapters.
Huh.
When you keep in mind that 50 Shades of Grey started as a Twilight Alternative Universe Fanficition called Master of the Universe, it is a little bizarre that where Bella is a Hairy Stool, her knock off character Ana Steele is not. Inversely, Edward Cullent does not qualify, but his alternate self Christian Grey definitely is a Hairy Stool.
WELP side note. Not only will I be evaluating characters on Mondays for their Sueness.
I WILL BE RUNNING THEM AGAINST THE HAIRY STOOL SCALE.
