Are All Alicorn OCs Mary Sues?

[Midnight Gaze 131]

Isn't there any way for an Alicorn oc be a developed, legitimate oc, or will they always be a Mary Sue?

[Pat.Rio.T. 304]

Most are actually not Mary Sues, they are just either written badly, or quite simply, have no good reason for being an alicorn.

[Visual Spectrum 1,932]

Alicorns are known to have stronger magic and to be more powerful than other ponies. There are no canon alicorns who are not princesses as of right now. 

 

It is possible, though. I have an alicorn OC. She's a villain who became an alicorn due to dark magic. She could easily be defeated by one of the other alicorns, so she captured them before they had a chance to fight back. She was defeated. She mainly creates illusions. 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,151]

Well, just because there are alicorn OCs doesn't mean they are all mary-sues. I mean, when it comes to alicorns in general they are a touchy subject; understandably so. It just takes a bit of effort for such an OC to seem legitimate in the face of the established lore of the show & comics.

[Zygen 6,065]

The issue isn't really that Alicorn Oc's are always mary sue's, but they usually come off as still very powerful, or even a cop out. Because they are from what we've seen in the show, more powerful than the other races, and they also posses traits from all the other races, making it seem kinda like a cop out, because you couldn't pick Earth Pony, Pegasi, or Unicorn.

 

That, and with the current lore of the show, Alicorns seem to be quite rare, only seen in royalty. So many times Alicorn Oc backstories have really bad, or lore breaking reasons for being Alicorns. 

 

Technically, I suppose you could make a good Alicorn OC, but I feel like it gives this feeling off that says "My OC is better than yours" even if it isn't intended. 

 

Plus, I find it more fun to have single Race oc's, For instance, my OC use to be an Alicorn when I first made it, but it looked kinda ugly, so I just made him a regular Unicorn, and I like him better now.

 

So to answer your question, no, all Alicorn Oc's are not mary sues, but they are usually kinda badly made. There are exceptions i'm sure though, but generally they don't go over well.

[Dattebayo 2,850]

No exceptions. None whatsoever. At ALL.

 

Well, maybe if they're turned into one out of, like, a spell gone wrong or something. And then it drives you insane.

But if you were born one, then yeah, throw another bad cop-out oc in the pile.

Edited September 18, 2014 by Dattebayo

[Espurr 449]

No. They're not all mary sues. I have an alicorn OC even. She's still a work in progress and she's definitely not a mary sue. I wouldn't even know how to make one and even if I did, they're no fun to write stories with.

[Visual Spectrum 1,932]

Shadow Mane wanted to go to Princess Celestia's school for gifted unicorns, but she was denied enterence. Disappointed and resentful, she trained her magic until she met a dark unicorn who taught her about dark magic and how she could become so powerful she could overthrow the pricnesses and rule Equestria and have revenge on Princess Celestia. She trained with the unicorn until she became a dark alicorn. Her mane and tail turned to shadow, and she grew bat like wings. Her magic was more powerful. She decided to capture the princesses to rule Equestria. The rest of the Mane Six and Discord could not defeat. (Discord was too angry to actually focus.) However, Discord was able to free Twilight from the chains on the wall. Twilight was too weak, so she gave her magic to Rarity, the only unicorn present and not trapped. (only unicorn present, period, since the others were alicorns.) Twilight had Rarity use her element of harmony, and Shadow Mane was banished. (Rarity and not anyone else because I'm not sure if Twilight could give a non unicorn or alicorn her magic.) 

 

Is that too Mary Sue? If Discord wasn't angered by the fact that she almost killed Fluttershy, he would have defeated her. His anger clouded his thoughts. The alicorns could have stopped her if they knew what was coming.

[Lightning Bliss 1,674]

As Tommy Oliver stated with the definition of a Mary Sue that I intend to agree with...

 

"A Mary Sue is a character that is so perfect, they are never challenged by the events of the narrator"

                                                                                                           - Tommy Oliver

 

While the orginal definition of Mary Sue means that a character is perfect in everywhere, I intend to agree more with Oliver's definition because it points to the fact of a familiar alicorn character we all know, Twilight, is NOT perfect at all. She has her quirks still, and problems to work out, not to mention she's still challenged on a daily bases when it comes to her journey on understanding the magic of friendship and prospering in it while balancing being a princess of it.

 

Sure an alicorn OC can be Mary Sue in specifics like, powers, life span, body design, etc etc, but personality wise one must think of before automatically judging someone elses' alicorn OC.

 

It's easy to point out a bad alicorn OC based off design, and backstory if its not properly developed, but I wouldn't declare them Mary Sue till all the facts are laid out by their creator. For me that mainly means 'personality traits positives and negatives'. If there are no negatives in their personality, then they are Mary Sue to me.

[Venomous 18,813]

No, not all alicorn OCs are Mary Sues/Gary Sues. They are seen this way because alicorns are associated with immense power.

[Snow Frostflame 3,567]

not necessarily most Alicorn OC are Alicorn just to be over powered but if they actually have a good background story on how they became an Alicorn then they aren't Mary Sue and being related to the Princesses isn't a good background story

 

personally I don't like Alicorn OC

[Invincible 2,090]

Not all, but definitely some. An Alicorn OC has some openings that can make it a mary sue... that's all. If an OC is not poorly written, then you'd expect these caveats to be covered.

[McFlurryMaddie 268]

Well, to me, an Alicorn OC isn't all that bad. (tbh, I've actually kinda developed a liking towards them) As far as I'm concerned, NO, not all Alicorn OCs are Mary Sues, and not most of them either.

I'd say 35% of them are generally good (this means they have all of these traits- a good colour scheme, a good backstory, and a good reason as to why he/she is an Alicorn), whereas 30% of them has either a good design and an unreasonable backstory/reason why he/she is an Alicorn or vice-versa. And the remaining 25% of them are right off the back Mary Sues (or Gary Stues, ehh.. whichever applies..), hey, but of course these are just from my perspective. And, yeah, I actually noticed many of my friends disliking Alicorn OCs, and the most of the reasons sounded more/less like this "Alicorn OCs are too perfect!" "Alicorn OCs are too pastel," "Alicorns have no faults!" "Alicorns are prettier than me!" (which, ofc means Alicorns are too pretty to be believable) "I HATE Alicorns!"

 

On 9/19/2014 at 3:52 AM, Midnight Gaze said:

Isn't there any way for an Alicorn oc be a developed, legitimate oc, or will they always be a Mary Sue?

YES! There IS a way for an Alicorn OC to be developed and reasonable (or, at least believable) It just depends on the creator in this case. As to how to write a good backstory for an Alicorn and how to make them look/visualize better/reasonably? Well, yeah, I dunno. But what I could do for you is tell a few traits of a good backstory and design for an Alicorn. There are no specific rules on creating an Alicorn, yet I'd still give out some advice so you'll get the idea.

 

A Good Design for an Alicorn Should:

 

- The colours shouldn't be too saturated or neon. They just hurt people's eyes and makes them want to turn away from your OC and never ever look at it again.

Here are a few examples of a saturated colour palette. They may look nice and vivid, but trust me, they DO NOT look good on ponies. Especially when the setting is in Equestria, where the colours are perfectly natural and welcoming, and not some kind of crazy whack-a-doodle Rainbow Land. I mean, rainbows on OCs could make a character look nice, but to my eyes, they just don't fit in nicely into the setting of the pony world. To a lot of people's unexpectedness, rainbows can be used on an OC, but make sure it's less saturated and used moderately. I've found a useful guide to selecting colour schemes for your character.

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

- They shouldn't look too majestic or godlike. Unless they're some kind of ruler royal extraordinaire, I don't think they should wear huge ballgowns wherever they go, nor dingly-dangly earrings that jingle too much, nor tiaras/crows too big or majestic that they could literally fall onto the Alicorn's face and blind them for ages yet to come. yep, I'm being sarcastic. Except on the part where I stated that they shouldn't overdress. Well, dressing your pony up is completely fine! yet, take it down a notch will ya? And don't make them wear ballgowns all day long. They'll be less likely (or not at all likely) to fit into the setting properly. Limit dressing to special occasions. And DON'T overdress

- No galaxies and sparklehoofs everywhere.  I've seen a lot of flowy glowy sparkly wavy galaxy hair before. Maybe too much that I'm about to gag out rainbows right now . I've seen some of them work out before , but most of them are just too unbelievable. Of course they're pretty, but in terms of possibility and believability, they're just nuh-uh. They look way to outworldly and uncanny, and too unique to be true. I'm not discouraging you to be unique here, but sometimes, it's better to lead a normal life. Well, that is, unless your character is some kind of majestica queen of the sky kingdom, then don't do it. Well, at least limit it. 

I personally think these definitely worked out: just tune down the colours a bit on the second one, and you're good to go!

Spoiler

 And these? Well, how do I put this... not so much.

Spoiler

- Don't make them overly tall or have uncanny large wings. These'll make your OC look godlike, and yet, Mary Sue-ish. and yes- outworldly, Unless they ARE from outer Equestria, that is.

Spoiler

I've actually found a photo of a good-looking Alicorn OC, and I think I should insert it here as well. Just don't right off copy it lol. Be creative!

Spoiler

 

Hmm.. I think that's all the key points regarding the visuals. Moving onto the next part!

A Good Alicorn OC Backstory Should:

- Should NOT be OVER TRAGIC. I've seen too many of these sob stories before! Just ditch the idea already! It's not even an option! (unless you want your OC to be the worst in the universe, cuz I'm totally fine with that,) Most of the stories were like (Trust, me, you won't want to click on the spoilers. Unless you really insist) :

To my experience, I always rely on my dreams and daydream-before-bedtime to come up with a good backstory for my OCs. Well, a study from UCSB (University of California at Santa Barbara) indicates that there’s a distinct correlation between daydreaming and increased creativity. In fact, people who are more prone with daydreaming are typically skilled in being able to creatively generate new ideas. It seems that consciously paying attention to a problem isn't the best way to solve it— daydreaming and letting the mind figure it out on its own is.

Here are a few examples of sob stories for Alicorns: 

Spoiler

"My parents died before I got to know them and I got tortured for not having a family. The princesses saw some potential in me and made me an Alicorn. And I fight evil with my awesome magic and my super speedy flight and the love I carry with me everywhere I go, and after Celestia retired, I took over the throne, cuz I'm too pretty for anypony to handle, so they just gave me it. Also, I'm the smartest and wisest in the land, so my subjects were nothing compared to me," 

 

Spoiler

"I was born an Alicorn but my friends insulted me cuz I can't fly/use my magic. I was left out and eventually, I grew out of it, and I regained my magic for no reason and I became a princess,"

 

Spoiler

"I ran away from society and spent the rest of my life crying and sobbing on my bed while gazing out the window and looking at the stars every single night because I should be a princess but I don't want to be popular and loved, and there's only one person who I trust, who's the cutest and bravest stallion in Equestria and beyond, Prince Goody-Goody-Two-Shoes, oh I love him so much, "

And don't get me started on the rest lul. 

- Don't make them relatives of the existing princesses (Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight, and even Flurry Heart) e.g. don't make them Celestia's long lost sister who had sacrificed herself to stop a monstrosity from breaking Equestria apart. Trust me, you're way more creative than this. 

- Don't make them Alicorns for the sake of making them Alicorns. Don't make your OC an Alicorn if you simply don't know what species it should be. In other words, don't make them Alicorns without a reason, or for a reason so that they could just be the glue to stick everything together here. You MUST provide a reason as to why he/she is an Alicorn. What makes them worthy of Alicornship? What do they have in particular that could one day assist others. and I'm not taking "My OC is an Alicorn because her parents were Alicorns. And her parents were Alicorns because their parents were Alicorns," as an appropriate reason. Matter of fact, it shouldn't be a reason at all. If you're just gonna be that lazy, then don't even bother. Creating OCs is not to be satisfied by how quick the process was, but the quality of the final result.  

-Don't make their backstory too perfect. Make the backstory normal, with it's ups and downs, and that excludes the event where your OC became an Alicorn. 

- Don't make the ascension similar to the only known ascension-- Twilight's. Don't make the reason of how your character became an Alicorn was simply because she risked her life to save someone completely unknown, and in the end, both of them survived and they shed hugs and tears together, and BLAH! I'm so flippin' tired of it. 

- Try giving your OC as many flaws as possible. Alicorns themselves are way too OP for some people. So try to give them flaws very specific to them. (And this excludes the "I'm afraid to step into that puddle of mud," or "omagerd, am OCD," flaw.)Of course, you're character could have these, but be sure to add a few MAJOR flaws to them. So that readers know that you OC isn't a Mary Sue and won't ever be.

- Try making them a reformed villain. Folks, this is why the fandom had wanted Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer to become Alicorns so much. Because of the fact that they AREN'T Mary Sues. Villains appear differently on the eyes of viewers and readers. Readers tend to have more pity on reformed protagonists than protagonists themselves.

 

I'm not the ultimate Alicorn expert, so I'll end my post right here. Hope this'll help anypony who reads this. And ofc, more tips and tricks on how to create a good Alicorn OC can be found nearly anywhere! And don't forget to ask your family and friends as well! They might have a trick or two that they've been keeping to themselves for an eternity now. 

Edited June 8, 2019 by McFlurryHeart

[Sepul-Coloratura 756]

In theory, no. But statistically, yes.

[SBaby 660]

It depends.  My character is an Alicorn (though I don't consider him an OC as much as a Pony version of another fictional character I made a long time ago), but he has some very distinct limitations.

For one thing, he knows pretty much nothing about Equestria when he first gets there, since he isn't from that world.

Second, he doesn't get the lion's share of his powers back until about halfway through the 'story'.

Third, he doesn't even know how to fly when he first gets there.  It takes several 'episodes' for him to learn it, and even then he kind of has to be pushed into it.  For that matter, it takes him most of the first episode just to get used to walking around on four hooves.

Fourth, though his own powers do make him formidable, he doesn't use Unicorn magic.

Fifth, Twilight Sparkle is still more powerful than him overall, especially after a certain point in the story.

And sixth, he isn't royalty. 

Twilight:  <chuckles>  Not all Alicorns are royalty.  That's just a stereotype that was started because Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are seen in public so often.  It's like saying that all Earth Ponies are brainless muscleheads, or all Unicorns are stuck up snobs.

Edited June 11, 2019 by SBaby

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

I actually had an idea years ago for an Alicorn OC who couldn't fly at all and could barely use magic other than basic Telekinesis. The idea was they were born that way because they had a Unicorn for a father and a Pegasus mother who had earth pony in her family history, and it was a super rare birth defect that ponies could sometimes get, where they develop as an Alicorn, but because normal ponies weren't really suited to carry Alicorns, more often than not they came out with one or more of the traits underdeveloped. So he's basically just an Earth pony who can use telekinesis and has a pair of tiny useless wings.

 Never actually made him though, but he was supposed to go against the grain of super powerful Alicorn OC's.

[Goat-kun 2,498]

Alicorns are pretty darn weak though. Without the gods to armor their plots they just die to a few dark clouds and a bit of freezing rain. And all that shit with birth defects and magic nerfs just makes them even more pathetic than they already are. That's cutting it dangerously and unironically close to Sanic. Why are you running away from the core idea of the creature that made you want to create one in the first place? Don't you know the way to envision a healthy, functional alicorn with a good story?

 

P.S: My alicorn could beat the living rainbows out of all your alicorns. Just saying ᕦᕤ

[RDDash 18,861]

I won't know, but I'd imagine that the stereotype is common. Well guess what? They are supposed to be superior master race. Get rekt

Edited June 11, 2019 by R.D.Dash

[Cash In 21,503]

I wouldn't say so, but it really depends how the person in question chose to design said OC. Some like to keep things more controlled, so their character isn't eternally locked to point where they are effectively invincible. 

[Lunar Glow 674]

While I personally believe that they should be highly avoided, under the right management, they have potential to be...good.

I mean, if a genuine, creative reason was provided as to how they earned their wings/horn, that has...potential. Even still, though, I can't shake the feeling of actually having an Alicorn OC be one that I would be drawn towards.

The whole point of Alicorns is how astonishingly rare they are; look in Eqestira! There are only five, and they're all royalty! For the sixth to just be some accomplished pony from Anytown, I feel it's just drawing a lot of unnecessary and uninteresting attention towards them.

[Sherem 4,807]

they are not all like that, but it's needed work an planning to not become a mary sue or a gary stue...so no, not all are but it is hard to develop a background for them.

[Totally Nyx 35,496]

They're not necessarily Mary Sues, but it's super easy to let them slip into being one. Even among the ones who technically aren't Mary Sues, I've still never seen a well made one. And the whole "but it can't fly" or "it can't use magic well". Well if you want a flightless or magicless OC, we have some good options for you: unicorns and pegasi, or if you want both of those qualities then earth ponies.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

On 6/11/2019 at 4:53 PM, SBaby said:

Twilight:  <chuckles>  Not all Alicorns are royalty.  That's just a stereotype that was started because Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are seen in public so often.  It's like saying that all Earth Ponies are brainless muscleheads, or all Unicorns are stuck up snobs.

Hard to defend that when the only reason Twi is now a princess is that she got the upgrade.

And then we have Cadence, who is actually a really good example of a non-mary-sue alicorn (her powers are very limited, as can be seen in one of the comics where she is described as the "pretty princess"; her main accomplishments seem to be sorting out a few couples who have forgotten their love for each other, acting as a battery for shining armour's shield, and holding up a shield of her own over the crystal empire. the big reveal of her being the "crystal princess" was her using her wings and basic telekinesis after spike tripped over his own tail, and there it's surprising Dashie didn't beat her to it.

Mind you as a counter example, we DO have an alicorn stallion working air traffic control in las pegasus

Edited June 15, 2019 by CypherHoof

[SBaby 660]

11 hours ago, CypherHoof said:

Hard to defend that when the only reason Twi is now a princess is that she got the upgrade.

Actually, the Season 3 premiere implies that she was going to become a Princess regardless.  She just happened to become an Alicorn.  But not all Alicorns are royalty, and not all royalty are Alicorns.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

6 hours ago, SBaby said:

Actually, the Season 3 premiere implies that she was going to become a Princess regardless.  She just happened to become an Alicorn.  But not all Alicorns are royalty, and not all royalty are Alicorns.

The premiere implies that 'tia and luna know they are pushing her down the path her potential deserves.. but nothing there implies becoming a princess and becoming an alicorn isn't the same thing.