User blog:WaffleMinifigure/Waffle's Guide to Mary Sues and How To Prevent Them

Hey there, average fanfic writer, looking for a way to identify, distinguish, and prevent Mary Sues? Look no further! I'm here to help!

What is, and how to identify, a Mary Sue?
So, before we get started, we need to know what a Mary Sue is. The term "Mary Sue", was coined in the Parody Sue (see "Types of Mary Sues") fanfic, "A Trekkie's Tale", with the character Mary Sue, the youngest most beautiful Half Vulcan woman in Starfleet, born on Rigel XXXVII, where she performed a beautiful tragic death, and everyone wanted to bang her. A Mary Sue, simply, is a character which everyone loves despite doing horrible things, is beautiful beyond belief, has a really strong name, has a dramatic and/or tragic backstory, people that don't absolutely love her are considered evil and d-bags, Overpowered, and they are related or romancing an important character. (Note: Just having one or two of these traits do not usually make them a Sue unless they're written badly (Exception: Overpowered, that is almost always terrible))

Types of Mary Sues
Mary Sue Classic- Identified above.

Black Hole Sue- A Sue that steals the show.

God Mode Sue- A Sue that is basically Superpowered God.

Mary Tzu- A Sue that is a master strategist.

Jerk Sue- A Sue that's a bitch, plus everyone loves them.

Possesion Sue- A Sue that was a good Canon character, but was turned Sue in the fanfic.

Copy Cat Sue- A Sue that is a canon character copied and pasted, and then made Suelike.

Sympathetic Sue- A Sue that wants to be sympathetic.

Anti-Sue- A Sue that's actually useless, but everyone loves them.

Villian Sue- A Sue that's evil, usually never loses.

Fixer Sue- A Sue that "fixes" the canon story.

Parody Sue- A Sue, that well, is a parody, doesn't need to be fixed, unless, it actually becomes a Sue.

Self-Insert Sue- A Sue, while isn't usually in most lists, is a common one, a self insert, Sueded up.

How To Prevent A Sue
The Flaw Method- The Simplest, give them genuine flaws, not like "S/he doesn't like her appearance." when they're beautiful, a good one is like "Cowardly", "Suicidal", "Hates Self", "Insane" and "Antisocial".

The Failure Method- Give them failures, that's it.

The Death Method- Last Resort.

The Human Method- Make them humanized, a mix of The Failure and The Flaw Methods, make people dislike them, while still giving the dislikers their ups and downs. Make them Fail once and a while. Make them show their flaws once and a while. The best method.

If you're still not sure, take The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test. It'll help.