Recently, there have been several calls concerning the representation of women in fictional media. Usually, this means providing nuance to a female character’s personality and making them more than just an accessory to their male peers. However, with the rise to various ‘strong female characters’ appearing in new and established works, there has been a specific term whispered amongst critics to describe them: Mary Sue. A “Mary Sue” (M.S.) is a fictional character, typically a woman or girl, that exhibits no weaknesses, powerful capabilities (usually with little effort or training) and admiration from the rest of the cast. It can also be used to describe a character —again, usually a woman or girl-– that seems to act as a stand-in for the author in their fantasies, also known as a “self-insert character.” While this term seems to originate from the era of the internet as a buzzword, its origins actually dates as far back as the 1970s.

The term originates from a satirical work of “Star Trek” fanfiction, “A Trekkie’s Tale.” Written in 1973 by Paula Smith for a Star Trek fanzine, it was meant to parody other fanfictions; specifically, it parodied the plethora of female characters that were adored by the lead male characters, possessed special abilities and died a heroic death mourned by all who knew her. Smith’s story is extremely short, barely lasting a page; however, the name “Mary Sue” would somehow stick around for decades within fandom spaces. This was because many members of fandoms were typically girls or young women that were driven to create their own characters or stories for the first time, albeit based on pre-established works.

For young or inexperienced writers, there are bound to be mistakes. This can lead to a M.S. in the sense that the character is overpowered or has no weaknesses because the author does not know how to balance character traits and power scales. These novice writers may also be extreme fans of the media they are writing for, feeling a special connection to it or a desire to escape to its fictional world. Thiscan lead to a M.S. that is overly adored by the media’s characters or act as a self-insert for the author. However, the idea of having a M.S. was abhorred, so several anti-M.S. images and prevention guides were made on public websites such as DeviantArt and Tumblr –sites that were highly populated by fancreators. But by the late-2000s and the mid-2010s, there was an erasure of M.S.’s exclusivity to fandom spaces as the term started to be applied to characters in established media.

A major incident that saw the application of “Mary Sue” to an official female character was the controversy surrounding Rey, the protagonist of the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy. These accusations stemmed from the supposedly perfect fighting abilities that Rey possessed, despite being a novice in using a lightsaber. This would lead to responses from writers at magazines such as Vox and Forbes, and eventually from Daisy Ridley herself. These counter-arguments were similar: with many of the male critics criticizing Rey as “Mary Sue” – especially when comparing her to Luke Skywalker from the original trilogy – based on a gender bias against female protagonists. This bias against female protagonists having exceptional skills – in fighting, wisdom, or relationships – has been presented against other notable characters such as Arya Stark (“Game of Thrones”), Captain Marvel (MCU) and Naru (“Prey”). Noticeably, male protagonists with similar qualities are never called out by these critics.

In modern literature spaces, that term is now overused and has lost all meaning. What originally started as an inside joke within the “Star Trek” fandom has exploded into a scarlet letter that now barely holds any weight. While that is the case for characters in large-scale productions or series, the accusation can have an impact on teenage girls or young women trying their hand at writing for the first time. New female authors may just want to be able to write characters that are as wonderful and powerful as the ones they’ve read while also making these characters female to see representation of themselves in their work. The best way to move forward — as many other outlets say — is to abandon the “Mary Sue” title once and for all.

Written by Jordan Pierce, Photography: Quentin Deming, Social Media: Rosa Fernandez

The "Mary Sue" Issue