Mary Sue:

Defining Mary Sue from the Character Specialist

Question:
OK, what would happen if the team went on a mission they required a speciality none of them had for? They would have to call in an expert, wouldn't they?, who might very well outshine them. but handled properly this would not be a Mary Sue, would it? Ronin

Well, Ronin, a Specialist does not necessarily have to be a Mary-Sue, just because you wrote it. But the word 'outshine' that you used says to me you need a little clarification. Let's face it, the Mary-Sue syndrome is extremely easy to fall into!

In BotP, they had experts come in and help the team (and sometimes try to kill the team!). But did you notice none of them were perfect? That in many cases, they had HUGE problems/attitudes/made mistakes/traitors? There's the key.

A Mary-Sue, by definition, is a perfect, more capable version of you. What makes a character NOT a Mary-Sue are the character traits, and the imperfect human flaws. All of us have them! None of us is perfect (though we strive to be ;P )!

So, how to handle it well? First off, you are talking about a Specialist. That is usually singular, as in, an expert in ONE THING. If you make this person a know-it-all, they are no longer a Specialist, they are a Mary-Sue. Heck, if they were all knowing, they could be a team-member, but that is for another post and an obvious trap for creating a HUGE OVERPOWERING Mary-Sue!

Secondly, the Specialist has come in to give advice or help with one aspect of the mission. Once they have done that, it is up to the Team to take that advice and information and do what they can with it. For the most part, the Specialist would not be the center of the action, although his/her expertise would make the mission work. If they become the total center of the action and story, you are entering the realm of a Mary-Sue.

The Specialist could very easily become overwhelmed with the situation (in the real world) in a mission of G-Force caliber. G-Force have to be experts in many fields in order to survive and accomplish their jobs. They could move quickly into arena's that our hypothetical Specialist would not be able to handle. If you DO make them able to handle everything thrown at them, they are a Mary-Sue. Although, you could make this go the other direction and still be a Mary-Sue, by having the Team always having to rescue said Specialist (along with other trapfalls, like attractions with canon characters, yaddayadda). If this Specialist starts doing a team member's job, he/she is a Mary-Sue.

One way to avoid the pitfalls is to give this Specialist flaws, conflicts (possibly with other characters), show their warts and all, as well as any limitations their knowledge might have.

Of course, any rules or guidelines can be broken if the writer is skilled enough, but it is very difficult to pull off even for the best of writers. The best advice is to avoid trying.

Julieann and Nanuk