Ylanne S.
November 2009
In the year 2004, I created a character by name of Treali Storm. The name ‘Treali’ was not my own creation, but rather that of a Neopets user with the handle ridergirl333 who wrote a short fiction series appearing in the Neopian Times, the Neopets newspaper and literary magazine. I honestly do not recall where the surname ‘Storm’ was derived. Over the next four years, the character called Treali Storm became something of a ‘pet’ of mine, having many characteristics and attributes commonly considered to be signs of a Mary Sue.
In this case study, I will attempt to describe some of the factors that made Treali Storm a Mary Sue, why I made those choices, and why I finally decided I could no longer retain the character as she was – and what I did to transform my quintessential Mary Sue into a well-developed, unique, and dynamic character whose few Mary Sue vestiges are by far outweighed by the realism, or believability, factors.
A disclaimer: Not all of the characteristics or attributes defined herein can be considered to be necessary for a Mary Sue character, nor should their presence in one of your characters be construed to determine that that character of necessity must be a Mary Sue. Many of the factors can be found in very well-developed characters who are most certainly not Mary Sues. It is merely that OFTEN such characteristics are found in Mary Sue characters, and that many Mary Sue characters share many of these traits.
It is my hope that this analysis of one of my own characters (who, as you will find by the end of this case study, still exists, but in a far different form) will serve to assist and aid roleplayers and writers in creating well-developed, dynamic characters without creating Mary Sue characters. For an understanding of what a Mary Sue is, I refer the uninitiated to the Wikipedia article.
Without further ado, I present my five part case study report on Treali Storm.
1.) It is a common name spelled differently to make it more ‘unique’. For instance, “Raychelle” instead of “Rachel”, or “Raivynne” instead of “Raven”, etc.
2.) It has unnecessary punctuation, such as “M’chelle”.
3.) It is in fact more than one name with a hyphen to separate them: “Layla-Renee”.
4.) It is a noun, verb, or other word not normally used as a name, or with an alternate spelling as above.
5.) It is a name chosen specifically for its meaning: “Damien” means ‘dark’; “Deirdre” means ‘woman of sorrows’.
6.) It is the writer’s name, middle name, or online identity – whether the writer’s name is used as the character’s first, middle, or last name, or spelled differently, or ‘translated’ (for instance, “Mary” to “Miriam” or “Maria” or “Marie”).
7.) The character has more than one middle, first, or last name without any particular reason or logic. For instance, “Alexandra Raven Felicity Hope Bonhomme-Javier”.
8.) It is a name which is out of place considering the character’s nationality, place of residence, social status, gender, or language spoken, OR with the character’s universe altogether (particularly applicable in non-realistic story settings). For instance, a non-Japanese character with a Japanese name, or a medieval girl with a masculine name, etc.
In this case, the character Treali Storm had a name which was out of place considering her nationality, used a noun or verb not normally used as a name, and was my internet handle from 2004-2006. The character also had more than one middle name without any particular reason – in this case, she was born with one name and used another one throughout the rest of her life (discussed in another section of this case study report), and the original name was “Treali Ka’iimamao Ylanne Abdullah-Zhang”, which also used my name as part of her name (in another way!).
The name “Treali” is a constructed name, which is generally acceptable for characters in fantasy or science fiction settings. Her setting was neither. Furthermore, her nationality – deriving from Asia and the Middle East – would dictate a region-specific name. “Treali”, even as a constructed name, bears no linguistic or phonetic semblance to any names from Asia or the Middle East.
Treali Storm was, as mentioned, my own internet handle for a period of three years – I consistently used trealistorm or Treali Storm or a number of variants as my username virtually everywhere I went. Even here, my original username was Treali Storm, until two months ago, when I realized I could change it. The ‘original’ name too has my own name as an additional middle name for no reason, and Ka’iimamao is a Hawaiian name that I had chosen because of its meaning. (Go look it up yourself if you care that much. :) )
I will have the reader know, however, that at the time I created and used the character (through 2007), I did not consider that the name was a problem or even a major discrepancy – I have always thoroughly researched the law, procedure and decorum, and other minute details relating to the ‘realistic’ aspect of my work, which is primarily crime fiction, so that, while my characters and the incidents in which they are involved are fictitious, the setting and other proceedings are all as realistic as possible.
On a related note, a number of my characters have or had (since many underwent name changes in the past year or two) names falling under one or more of the above listed categories: Talia Solis, Dianna Somnium, Kaila Sol, Sabre, and Dono Xie, for example.
Another oft-identified characteristic of the Mary Sue is a particularly tragic history or past, or a character that is full of angst, particularly if this tragic past has some direct bearing significance upon the character in the story, whether by affecting or influencing those around him or her, or being a cause for the character’s own actions or behavior, such as justifying a quest for vengeance, or a bloodthirstiness or otherwise unacceptable behavior excused by the character’s past.
This characteristic’s presence in a Mary Sue character will often lead the character to be dubbed the “Angsty Sue” subtype of the Mary Sue character.
Let us now consider the subject of this case study report. Treali Storm’s parents, in my original drafts, were wealthy heirs who fell in love by chance and happened to sympathize with the oppressed in Red China, resulting in their untimely deaths at the hand of Mao Tsetung shortly after Treali’s birth. Treali was raised by her aunt in extreme poverty in another country.
The typical characteristics of the Angsty Sue’s past present in our case study are being raised by a person other than the character’s parents, being raised in extreme poverty, and having had more than one loved one (family, close friend, romantic interest, etc.) die an unfortunate and undeserved (i.e. tragic) death. Other possible characteristics are having been tortured, abused, molested or raped, raised by a terrible type of person (the evil stepmother stereotype, though not necessarily restricted to a ‘stepmother’), the only person of a particular race or species or other group (especially a despised one), and having had loved ones die as a consequence of his or her own existence or other actions.
I loved this character and spent hours daydreaming that I was her – even though I knew I would never want to be in her position (you know, her being a murderer and all, when I’m a deontologist pacifist). I drew her all the time, the picture to the right having been drawn in 2007 (I can’t read the month, and I’m too lazy to dig out the original portrait from the dozens of boxes and folders in which I keep old and current artwork). If I was bored, or even just not paying attention to what my hands were doing, I would begin to sketch the face of Treali Storm. It got to the point where my parents and my friends and my neighbors and pretty much everyone I knew had heard of Treali Storm, even those people who had not the least interest in my writing.
This too is characteristic of the Mary Sue – a Mary Sue is very often an author’s pet, a character the author dreams about, idolizes, imagines him or herself to be, or is an idealized self-insertion. The author of a Mary Sue is almost in love with his or her character. There are a very few examples of Mary Sues (which, by the way, are almost always made unintentionally) where this is not the case.
The drawing to the right --> was drawn in 2007, and at the time I was extremely proud of it. I was so often tempted to write in purple prose (sometimes characteristics of a Mary Sue) about Treali Storm, and I felt that this drawing exemplified all of the beautiful 'prose' I was writing about her, and that it was emotional, and very realistic. . . HA. Not so. It's not that great. It's just here to illustrate this segment of my report.
Nevertheless, it would be hard to find or create a character which embodies nearly all characteristics considered typical or attributive of a Mary Sue character. Here, I shall proceed to discuss commonly construed attributes of the Mary Sue which are not applicable to our case study, Treali Storm.
With reference to our particular case study, Treali Storm was not the most talented or brilliant or adept in any field or art, nor was she recognized for any skill she did have (she had no valuable or interesting skills). As pertains to a Mary Sue, the Mary Sue is typically the most talented or brilliant or adept, or simply the best, in at least one (but sometimes several) fields, skills, or arts. For example, a Mary Sue might be the best swordsman in the world, or the smartest chemist. Typically, the Mary Sue is also well-known for his or her skill, and this causes other characters to envy him or her.
Neither was she particularly attractive, having relationships with any or all of my other characters, or desired romantically or sexually by the others. A Mary Sue often (but not always) is very physically attractive – and usually hated by many for this, and loved by even more; he or she may have a psychologically rooted inability to form a solid or steady romantic relationship, thereby having many flings with all sorts of romantically or sexually desirable others, and of course, falling in requited love with another character whom the author often writes as his or her own dream love interest.
Furthermore, Treali Storm shared only a few of my personal philosophical or political beliefs. She was not religious or even particularly spiritual, and I am very much a believer in a God. She was apathetic to the vast majority of political issues or controversy, whereas I am extremely involved politically and very active in that arena (I even write a politics/philosophy blog, which I should update very soon!). The Mary Sue typically shares most or all of the author’s beliefs in any or all of these areas, and often will prove them to be true, especially to characters who disagree with them.
Almost never will the Mary Sue character die (the god-modding Sue subtype is common among fighting roleplayers). If he or she does die, it is usually for the sake of someone loved, for some greater cause (and therefore a noble reason to die, as a martyr, so to speak), and oftentimes, the Mary Sue is immortalized (literally, or metaphorically), sometimes being brought back to life. This does not happen to Treali Storm. Originally, her death did involve her lover, but not in the typical Sue fashion. After reconstruction, it was much more realistic.
Lastly, while I often daydreamed about being the character or being in her position in various situations, I did not fantasize about being Treali Storm. She did not mete out justice to other characters inserted in the place of persons whom I despise (there are none), nor did she share any of my interests or passions (or particular skill or ability in any of them); there was never much to fantasize about. Many Mary Sue authors will fantasize quite often about being their character, especially for the reasons listed in this paragraph. This is, of course, not always the case, but often may be.
It is often an insurmountable challenge – if not entirely impossible – to reverse the slippery slope of a Mary Sue character; however, it can be done, and I believe it has been accomplished with finesse with the subject of this case study. This section will trace the steps I took to de-Sueify the character Treali Storm, addressing each of the aforementioned sections and their respective amendments and reconstruction in turn.
Since 2007, I began to recognize that at a minimum, the name Treali Storm was wholly out of place for realistic and modern settings (which is the setting that the character in question exists in), and started to entertain the idea of changing the name, a change to which I was at first extremely resistant.
In November 2008, I began to consider using the name Tirahali Yasfah – Tirahali was a transliteration of sorts of the name Treali (pronounced tree-AL-lee), and Yasfah is an alternate spelling of Asfah, the common transliteration of the Arabic for Storm. By December 2008, I had compiled a list of names as possibilities for the final and permanent name change (the first step in de-Sueifying the character), most of them phonetically based on the original name.
My final choice was Tahira Ali – firstly, the name is respective of the character’s national origin; secondly, when said quickly, it resonates with the original name, a throwback I much appreciate and enjoy in quiet moments of solitude, when this writer’s mind is off in la la land. It is also a much less ‘flowery’ or ‘ostentatious’ name, and in fact, if the reader Google searches Tahira Ali, he will find that there are several people with the name; one is a city leader in America and another is a Pacific Islander singer.
I also, for some reason I am not exactly certain, decided to keep the notion that Tahira Ali is not the character’s original name, and settled on Elan Tahera Almontaser as the original name. Here, I will concede that Elan is the typically accepted spelling of my own name; Ylanne being a deviant in and of itself by using a ‘Y’ and the French ‘nne’ type ending. Nevertheless, I did that because I happen to like my name – not because I view the character as a self-insertion or an alternate (emotional) version of myself – and it falls into the pattern of her brother’s name, David Basam Almontaser, which is a Hebrew forename and Arabic middle name.
Tragic History
Tahira Ali’s history is somewhat less tragic and more realistic than that originally written. She was born to a philosophy professor (her mother) and an ethnic minority journalist (her father) who met because of similar dissenting political views, and were forced to seek asylum in America because of upheaval in Red China (the cultural revolution hadn’t happened in the forties). This was around the time Tahira’s brother was graduating from a private high school in America. Tahira Ali was raised by her aunt, her father’s sister, not exactly in poverty, but in the same financial circumstances as her neighbors.
When she does die, as referenced above in section four, Tahira Ali is executed for crimes she did indeed commit (she was a murderer, and on the FBI Ten Most Wanted, a fact of which she is unaware until her arrest), and without any sort of Sue-ish reason. There is no dying for the sake of her lover or a greater cause. She is tried and convicted, sent to prison, and executed. Believable. Realistic. Not romanticized.
It is considerably less ‘angsty’ than perhaps it was before, the history perhaps much more readily accessible and believable, without as much a suspension of disbelief as might have been previously. This took some time to conceive, but was completed in the Spring of this year as the ‘canon’ history of this character.
Author’s Pet
Yes, I still draw Tahira Ali all the time – but to be fair, I draw all of my characters all the time, as can be seen on the drawings page of my writer’s website (which reminds me I have another 30 or so drawings to scan into the computer and upload to share with all of you lovely guests!). And yes, I still imagine that I am her from time to time (but to be fair, this happens with the vast majority of my characters), but I definitely don’t see myself in her shoes, or fantasize (and I never really did fantasize, per se).
I have gotten over the stage of trying to include some vague reference or mention to Tahira Ali in every significant literary work of mine – that ship has sailed. I look at each literary project on its own, and if a reference to one or another fictitious individual or incident is warranted, than it is included; however, if there is no need, then no reference ought be made. I do sometimes use Tahira Ali in roleplay around this website, particularly in roleplays where I believe her character might add something to the dynamic of the cast of characters, but I do not insist on using her in every roleplay or every story I write or participate in.
This too has taken much time and effort on my part, to let go of the character I once had an obsession with – to say “You are the author, and while your characters may be your ‘children’, they are tools with which to create literary masterpieces, not the focal point of writing”, despite the fact that my own writing now and forever shall be character-driven. (But more on that another day).
Recently, I ran the current character of Tahira Ali (along with several other characters of mine) through various Mary Sue Litmus Test websites, and all of them come up negative on Sue characteristics, even and especially when I am harshly truthful about her attributes. With luck and skillful writing, there is no more Sue aura lingering around this or any of my other characters.
I hope this case study report has been of some use to you in analyzing your own character creations. Any and all feedback is welcomed. It may also be that there are places where my line of thinking grew tangential or is otherwise obscured. . . obfuscated somehow; nevertheless, I hope this case study report will be of some value.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I am by no means an expert, just a writer whose work focuses primarily around character.
Blessings and peace,
Ylanne Sorrows
Mary Sue on Wikipedia
The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
The Original Fiction Mary Sue Litmus Test
The Writer's Mary Sue Test
Making Light: Namarie Sue by Teresa
Encyclopedia Dramatica: Mary Sue
The Mary Sue Manual by TA Maxwell
Teresa, Making Light wrote:MARY SUE (n.): 1. A variety of story, first identified in the fan fiction community, but quickly recognized as occurring elsewhere, in which normal story values are grossly subordinated to inadequately transformed personal wish-fulfillment fantasies, often involving heroic or romantic interactions with the cast of characters of some popular entertainment. 2. A distinctive type of character appearing in these stories who represents an idealized version of the author. 3. A cluster of tendencies and characteristics commonly found in Mary Sue-type stories. 4. A body of literary theory, originally generated by the fanfic community, which has since spread to other fields (f.i., professional SF publishing) because it’s so darn useful. The act of committing Mary Sue-ism is sometimes referred to as “self-insertion.”
Encyclopedia Dramatica wrote:Telltale signs of a Mary Sue include:
* Character is written as a relation to some canon character, long lost cousin, sister, or fan-created child of said canon character(s), etc.
* Fan uses a handle giving herself the surname of some canon character she likes
* Character has same last name as canon character the fan likes, giving away a fan-created familial connection to a canon character.
* Is written as sexually attractive or attracted to some canon character.
* Eyes that change color, hair that takes more than five words to describe.
* Speshul magik powers (even in fanons or games where magic doesn’t exist).
* Gigantic angel/devil/demon/dragon wings.
* Ability to master anything with ease.
* Common names with unusual spellings (i.e. Faery, Ravyn, Jennifyr, Aeris, Elizabetteth Honey Moon)
* Names that are overused or meant to describe an appearance or object in connection with the character - Raven, Ebony, Luna, Anya, Mia or Mia Mya, Canina, Felina.
* Names with 'k's and 'y's stuck in odd places.
* Names that are a combination of the above characteristics - Sylke, Kat.
* Cute baby version of an imaginary creature for a pet (baby ancient dragon, baby griffon, baby unicorn, baby great Cthulhu, baby goatse)
* The ability to make male canon (and original) characters fall instantly in love with them. Or, failing that, just simply having the author play god to force the story to bend for them.
* Sparkles where there shouldn't be sparkles.
TL;DR: A "perfect" character that supercedes everybody in looks, personality, etc.
Encyclopedia Dramatica wrote:Because so many self-enamoured gits write Mary Sues, there are many different kinds of Sues in the world. Trying to list them all would be impossible, but here are a few of the general categories into which a Sue can fall, to help you identify a canon-obsessed fan fiction nerd by his rants about them.
Helpful!Sue
This Sue is everybody's friend, and a natural savior of the day. She heals the hero's broken leg with her expert medical prowess (because at only seventeen she already has her MD), gently coaxes the token kid's cat out of a tree with her sweet singing voice, rescues innocent goats from cruel cashmere salesmen, and gives the canon gals a friendly shoulder to cry on - before, of course, eventually stealing away their boyfriends and pets with her bubbly personality and compassionate nature. But it's not her fault that everybody loves her! She's just written that way. Our pal Helpful!Sue is usually the antithesis of Angry! or Evil!Sue. Oftentimes writers will throw in one of those too, just to give her a nemesis, who she will either a) come out looking better than, or b) change for the better with her contrived fairy godmother ways. See Sonicrocksmysocks, Disneyfan01, and Chibi-kisame.
"OMG Ron WTF R U TLKNG about I've been cutting since I was born see the scar OMGLOLZ!"
Angry!Sue
Sometimes referred to as a Bitchiwitch in the Harry Potter fandom, these Sues are typically rebellious, with some sort of angsty past, and known for wearing more black than should be humanly possible, especially Gawth! and PunkRawk! Sues. Often they are Warrior!Sues, capable of killing everything in their way in order to get revenge, or just because they can. (One of the best-known examples is The Bride, in the Kill Bill films by well-known Suethor Quentin Tarantino.) Only their "true love" can ease their angry, angsty angst, although this type typically plays hard to get, generally fangirling a rebellious or angsty male. See My Immortal.
Depressed!Sue
Depressed!Sue is filled with angst. Generally, this angst derives from some tragedy in her past (with the far-and-away winner being dead parents). She evokes the sympathy of at least one of the main characters (generally of the opposite sex) and develops a relationship based on crying about how hard it is to be an orphan. If her parents aren't dead, she's usually crying about how much they abuse her and won't buy her an iPod. She is also fond of trivialized rape and or suicide attempts as means of provoking sympathy. Depressed!Sue will generally manifest some great power once she believes in herself.
Evil!Sue
Behold, the queen of mary-sues!
An Evil!Sue is typically involved in some way with the existing villain of the fandom, whether it be as a relative, boyfriend/girlfriend, or any other relationship, but can sometimes exist by him/herself or replace the canon villain. This Sue type is characterized by the stereotypical villain behavior such as sadism, long bouts of insane cackling, and attempting to kill canon characters, usually punctuated by angst-ridden soliloquies. Another common element of the Evil!Sue is some sort of mysterious and/or abusive past, but this is often shared by the other categories of Sue. The only reason it's worth mentioning is that the sordid past is often pointed to in explaining and excusing/justifying the Evil!Sue's behavior, whereas with most other Sues a tragic past explains it all.
The patron saint of Marysues is clearly the unicorn.
Canon!Sue
Canon!Sue is a corruption of a legitimate canon character within the fandom to the point that they resemble the fanfic author itself. They may acquire new powers, undergo a makeover (including the dreaded Hot Topic punk variety), become good friends with canon characters the author loves, usurp the positions of-- or become enemies with-- canon characters the author hates, or just act completely out of character in a way that makes those familiar with the canon scream in horror. The Canon!Sue can be used as a self-insert in and of itself or in combination with an author's original character Sue.
Babies r' us!Sue
This is a common Sue. They simply hook up with one of the main character of the opposite sex and have 5d6 ugly kids. Oftentimes, this type of Sue may have more than one father or more than one boyfriend. They often get into messes trying to figure out if Draco or Harry is the father of their fugly child.
Clone!Sue
A common Sue that is almost an exact replica of a canon character, except that the gender is switched. Yet somehow the canon character completely overlooks this creepy coincidence and falls irrevocably in love with the Sue. Example: sonicshadowsilver. Clearly a female sue clone of Sonic the f***ing Hedgehog, her many fanfictions that never seem to end go on for practially 10 seasons of Epic Fail. Plenty of lulz material here, especially in her journals[[1]] Plz troll.
Furry!Sue
Perhaps the most cringe-makingly self-indulgent of the lot, Furry!Sue is a direct insert, not of the author, but of the author's fursona. Not only does Furry!Sue frequently turn up in settings where the presence of a bipedal purple wolf in a leather bikini is a trifle difficult to explain, but, furries being what they are, she has a truly horrifying tendency to morph into Raepist!Sue. Just try not to think about it.
Furry!Sue can be a subtype of Canon!Sue, in which case she is simply a furry version of a human character.
Anti-Sue
The most bearable out of all of them (or at least they would be if fanfiction writers knew how to write them correctly.) Anti-Sues are supposed to be the complete opposite of Mary-Sues, meaning that every character usually hates them, they don't hook up with anybody, hardly ever get the spotlight in the fanfic (this is rare), they're usually very ugly and weak, and have no desire to fight the bad guy, save the world, or sleep with every character. Usually Anti-Sues are created to piss off the creators of Mary-Sues. Either that or the author finally has realized that writing a Mary Sue is annoying as nails on a chalkboard. Most of the time, however, Anti-Sues are just as horrendous as their Mary Sue counterparts, made especially grating when all the other characters still love them to death.
Baby!Sue
This form of Anti-Sue is the Raepist Mary Sue minus about five or ten years. She is the angsty eight-year-old who is most likely an orphan in search for her parents, who she insists are not dead. She may be said to have a disability in order to get the other characters feeling sorry enough for her to let her get away with atrocious behavior.
She is supposed to out-talk any grownup, making them appear bumbling and stupid next to her, which instead makes her annoying as f***.
Writers of the Baby and Raepist Mary Sues typically end up with the writers of other Sue types mad at them, leading to many stupid berating insults at both the Suethor and her characters. Protip: when your characters suck so hard even other Suethors put you in your place, become an hero.
Tell-tale signs that Baby Sue is growing into a Raepist Sue are the seduction or attempt to seduce a character, and further distortion of main characters to the point that it's sickening even to other Suethors– weakening them, dumbing them down to make them give in to Baby Marie or just to give her the most action and dialog.
Raepist!Sue
The Raepist Mary Sue resides in the writer's most carnal, self-serving mindset, with an addiction to sex, excessive luxury and power over others. This Sue is all hormones and will screw anything with legs, willing or not, and is always looking for more power to get more nookie.
Her writer is often obsessed with snogging canon characters and berates other writers for the same thing. Any good deed this Mary Sue performs is always motivated by self interest. Her life consists of self gratification, self-worship, and getting what she can out of those around her. This Sue is a home-wrecker if the established character already has a romance in a book or movie. If he doesn't, Raepist Mary seduces him anyway, along with any number of other characters. Hopping into the sack with one or more characters, even all at the same time is what this Sue is all about.
She uses her speshul magic powers to force characters not willing to do what she wants into catering to her every whim and thinking she rocks their world. She is quick to use characters' vulnerabilities against them for her own gain. Those she can't bewitch, she browbeats or guilt-trips until they give in to her. All the other characters may become jealous of one another over Raepist Mary. They all kill themselves trying to win or keep her affections; or rescue her from danger (not that she gives a fuck about them as long as she gets laid or gets rich). Everybody excuses her mistreatment of them because she looks so beautiful and/or has any combination of typical Mary Sue traits.
Where sparkling jewel-eyed, porcelain-faced, golden, flaming or raven tressed Mary Sue is too common and annoying as a result, Raepist Marie is as charming as a laxative. She is nothing short of hair tearing, tooth gnashing, stomach turning, nauseating ball of horny ready to Rape anything with legs. She is only welcome in parody writing, but all too often, she is stuck into what is supposed to be a serious non-Sue effort, marring it beyond redemption.
See Snapesnogger for more.
Gimp!Sue
Gimp!Sue has a tragic physical handicap or illness. By far the most popular are blindness and inability to speak, but Gimp!Sue has also been known to suffer from paraplegia, deafness, horrific facial scars and even hemophilia. Srsly. Although Gimp!Sue is impossibly perfect in every other way, her creator will insist that her "flaw" means she can't be a Mary Sue. Often she will "prove" this by citing her low (i.e. good) score on one of those online Mary Sue tests that subtract over 9000 Sue-points if you make your character a cripple.
Note that though Gimp!Sue's disability supposedly stops her being a Sue, it gets her the sympathy of all the good guys and doesn't make her any less attractive to the hero. It also gives her an excuse for endless emo wangst. In the worst cases the entire plot can be summed up as "ZMOG!!! I'M BLIIIIINNND!!! OH NOES!!!111!!!!" As with Depressed!Sue, Gimp!Sue's creator expects that readers will automatically love her character just because of her suffering, and may hint that failure to do so is a form of discrimination.
While Gimp!Sue is usually an original character, her male counterpart Gimp!Stu is often a Canon!Stu. He is, in that case, always a maimed version of the most hawt male in the fandom, which has led some authorities to theorize that a creepy fetish may be at work.
Ugly!Sue
Unlike the romantically afflicted Gimp!Sue, Ugly!Sue is honestly unattractive. She's overweight, has zero dress sense, her hair is stringy and her teeth are crooked. She's also totally untalented and has tons of perfectly genuine character flaws, like being selfish, tactless and whiny. Instead of saving the day, she constantly does stupid crap that actually gets her into trouble. All of this is quite refreshing for about three chapters– until it dawns on the reader, "Wait a moment. If I want to see a dumb, fat, ugly narcissistic loudmouth making a fool of herself, there's always MySpace. Why the hell am I reading this?"
That's right, authors– giving your character nothing but flaws is just as annoying as making her perfect– and it makes it even more ridiculous when the hero inevitably falls in love with her.