A
*clears throat*
A Mary Sue (male-term: Marty/Gary Stu) is commonly a character who is too perfect. While 'normal' characters have their ups and downs and flaws, such character only has ups. While not necessarily the best of the best at everything (though those are the pinacle of sue-dom) they are characters to always turn up on top.
When faced with someone better than them at something, expect them to do something to earn that person's deepest respect, as unspectacular as what they did might have been. If faced with a problem they couldn't possibly overcome with the abilities established so far they are likely to 'discover' that they can do something that'll get them out of the distress in a wink.
These are characters that rarely fail at anything. And even if they do it'll turn out their failure was the best thing to can happen. Flaws will be seen as lovable characterquirks and never really hinder them at anything, unless the story wants it that way, often just so another outstanding ability can be presented.
In short: The term, nowadays, refers to characters that seem incapable of failing.
for further info:
TvTropes' Entry
Mary Sue Litmus Test
Of course, everything is to be taken with a grain of salt.
And yes, the term is chucked around nowadays to denounce characters one doesn't like, fact is, these characters exist and are commonly a sign of bad/lazy/unexperienced/uncaring writing.
A Mary Sue (male-term: Marty/Gary Stu) is commonly a character who is too perfect. While 'normal' characters have their ups and downs and flaws, such character only has ups. While not necessarily the best of the best at everything (though those are the pinacle of sue-dom) they are characters to always turn up on top.
When faced with someone better than them at something, expect them to do something to earn that person's deepest respect, as unspectacular as what they did might have been. If faced with a problem they couldn't possibly overcome with the abilities established so far they are likely to 'discover' that they can do something that'll get them out of the distress in a wink.
These are characters that rarely fail at anything. And even if they do it'll turn out their failure was the best thing to can happen. Flaws will be seen as lovable characterquirks and never really hinder them at anything, unless the story wants it that way, often just so another outstanding ability can be presented.
In short: The term, nowadays, refers to characters that seem incapable of failing.
for further info:
TvTropes' Entry
Mary Sue Litmus Test
Of course, everything is to be taken with a grain of salt.
And yes, the term is chucked around nowadays to denounce characters one doesn't like, fact is, these characters exist and are commonly a sign of bad/lazy/unexperienced/uncaring writing.
