The Randimaxis Mary Sue Test

[Randimaxis 8,652]

MARY SUE TEST

 

Is your OC a “Mary Sue”?

 

A “Mary Sue” character is one that is technically invincible.  They have gobs of immeasurable power & knowledge, they can withstand any amount of damage, and they claim to be sought after/loved/feared by everybody.  Because of this, they tend to suck the fun out of any story for everyone else who isn’t playing one… and are loathed & hated by true role-players the world over.

Many people tend towards making a “Mary Sue” for their first RP characters, but only because they want to put all the cool stuff they want in one place.  They want their OC to be the be-all, end-all of whatever setting they’re playing in.  This is an understandable mistake to make, and REAL role-players will usually either end up changing them into actually playable characters or scrapping them altogether.

 

Are you worried that your precious character may, in fact, be a “Mary Sue”?  Well, just the fact you’re worried about it means you’re taking a step in the right direction – there are plenty of folks who never reach that stage; these people tend to be avoided like the plague by true role-players.  If you want to be certain your character isn’t one of these terrible game breaking bores, then take the test below & find out where the character in question stands.

 

This test is pretty universal, so feel free to use it for any role-playing system you would play.  Now, enough about the introduction: ON WITH THE TEST!

 

 

 

Answer the questions below about your character.  If any of the answers are “YES”, add the appropriate points as indicated, tally them up & find your OC’s rating at the end.

 

 

1. Does your character have a naturally unnatural hair/eye color?  [+2]

“I have silver eyes that shine like steel… for that steely glance.”

 

2. Did your character’s hair/eyes change color over time on their own?  [+3]

“My hair changed from blonde to jet black after I began training with the Master Of Demons.”

 

3. Does your character have any super/unnatural powers?  [+2 each]

“I discovered I had telepathy when I was seven, and used it to cheat off the other kids – that’s how I got my Bachelor’s Degree by age 12.”

 

3-A. If it's a world where many characters have powers, are your character's abilities stronger than all/most of the other characters?  [+2 each]

“My telepathy makes Professor X look like a County Fair weight guesser.”

 

4. Does your character have two (or more) people romantically interested in them?  [+2 for each one after the first]

“Lydia and Mianna are always at each other’s throats over me.”

 

5. Does your character have their own love interests in two (or more) people?  [+1]

“Although I love both Lydia and Mianna with all my heart, I’m glad they don’t know about my secret love affair with Helena.”

 

5-A. Are any of these love interests extremely powerful people?  [+2 each]

“So what if Lydia just happens to be a Royal Princess, or Mianna is the leader of an alien armada orbiting the planet, or Helena is a powerful Time Mage from 3000 years in the future?”

 

6. Is your character’s background:

A] Tragic, traumatic?  [+3]

“I was beaten about 20 times a day, and my entire family was ground into hamburger, which my captors made me eat.  Without a bun.”

 

B] Mysterious, unknown?  [+4]

“My history begins somewhere in the mystic lands of Kwahl, where a spell went off that removed it from the history books completely – therefore, no one knows it even existed… except me.”

 

C] “Top Secret” information?  [+5]

“Sorry; that’s CLASSIFIED.”

 

7. Was your character technically dead, but then managed to come back to life?  [+3]

“Wow – that was a good sleep… what are you all staring at?”

 

7-A. If the above is true, has your character died/come back more than once?  [+5]

“Heaven doesn’t have ‘Pearly Gates’ for me; it has revolving doors.”

 

8. Does your OC become the main character of the story (eschewing everyone else) once it's there?  [+6]

“Yes, yes… I know the story started with a fascinating group of misfits… but then I got here, and of course they bowed to my every whim.  Mostly so I wouldn’t crush them beneath my heel.”

 

9. Can your character fight down stronger enemies with little/no effort?  [+4]

“The entire Crimson Horde is on its way? *yawn* Relax; I’ve got this.”

 

10. Does your character have their own arch-nemesis or somebody very powerful after them?  [+4]

“Yeah, he’s still mad that I took his entire massive library of magical tomes – little bastard holds a grudge, doesn’t he?”

 

11. Did your character kill anyone?  [+1]

“Thou art dead.”

 

11-A. Did your character kill a LOT of people?  [+2]

“… and thou… and thou… and thou… and thou…”

 

11-B. Did your character kill an entire planet/species/race?  [+5]

“Yeah, I took ‘em ALL out – NOBODY gives me a parking ticket!”

 

12. Did your character restore somebody's life?  [+1]

“Rise again, my friend!”

 

12-A. Did your character restore a LOT of people’s lives?  [+2]

“Easter for EVERYBODY!”

 

12-B. Did your character save an entire planet/species/race?  [+5]

“Address the thank-you notes to GOD; I’ll get ‘em.”

 

13. Does your character have unnatural features (like a cat tail, animal ears, claws, etc.)?  

[+1 point per unnatural feature]

“Meow!  Watch me chase my cute tail while my cute ears wiggle and my cute claws tear the carpet to shreds!”

 

14. Is your character a mix of races? (Vampire, mutant, werewolf, fairy, etc.)

[+2 points for every race after the first]

“My abomination Were-Vamp-Dalek-Orc thinks humans are boring.”

 

15. Do two (or more) organizations fight to get your OC join them?  [+3]

“Oh, if The Seventh Sons really want me, they’ll have to come up with a better freebie than The Order Of The Ruby Phalanx promised; I’m just waiting to see which one offers me my own country first.”

 

16. Is your character totally unaffected by the actions of other player characters?  [+5]

“Oh, isn’t that cute?  Your Decker just risked his life to save the entire party?  Well, I was perfectly safe, so… what?  You want a medal?”

 

17. Is your character extremely rich? [+3]

“I can hire people to build me an island out of solid platinum.”

 

18. Does your character have an endless amount of high-technology gadgets/magical relic artifacts at their command?  [+5]

“If the Dehydration Grenades don’t work, then we can use the Quad Laser or the Plasma Sword or the Death Ray or the Sonic Whip or the Atomic Man-Opener, or…”

 

19. Is your character always in full self-control, never losing their cool/temper?  [+4]

“Oh.  My entire family was just slaughtered on national television.  What’s for dinner?”

 

20. Does your character have ways of learning/knowing every other character’s deepest, darkest secrets?  [+5]

“If you don’t buy my gear for me, I’ll tell everyone about the one time you made whoopie with an owlbear cub, alone, in a cave, in the middle of the ocean, in that anti-magic zone, protected by wards versus scrying… because I know things.”

 

 

 

RESULTS:

 

0 - 10

This is a character that is a perfect example of how NOT to make a “Mary Sue”.  You’re well within the boundaries of fair role-playing, and there’s a good chance your fellow gamers will enjoy playing with your character time and time again.  Good job!

 

11 - 16

This character has a bit of spice to them, but is still well within acceptable parameters for a good OC.  A touch of “flavor” goes a long way, and there is a lot of potential here for a very memorable, enjoyable experience to be had by everyone in your party.

 

17 - 25

Uh-oh.  You’re getting into some very turbulent territory here… but it’s not a total loss.  Maybe you can tweak part of your storyline, reduce your power level and add a few flaws to this character that makes them more playable and less of a frustration to your fellow players.  Either way, you gotta work on it, friend – but it’s not irredeemable.  Yet.  

 

26 and above

Look, we need to talk.  What you have here is what we roleplayers tend to call a “Mary Sue”.  TEXTBOOK case.  I can help, though – and here’s how:  

 

1 - Take the character in your metaphysical hand.

 

2 - CRUSH IT MERCILESSLY.

 

3 - Start over, but this time avoid as many of those things that were mentioned above as possible.

Follow these steps, and your next character might actually be enjoyable for anyone else to play with.

 

[Mentis Soliloquy 3,025]

I asked all those questions about all my OC's, all nine of them and I totally scored an 8 for nine characters, I think I'm good

 

@@Randimaxis,

 

BTW that is actually an awesome reference I may link this to people, who ask these questions. 

Edited June 9, 2016 by Mentis Soliloquy

[DwhitetheGamer 867]

After a lot of beating down, finding out what my OC is, discovering the flaws about him, he gets a 12 from me(and this ain't counting Bangcolt Arena!).  If we're counting Bangcolt, though, it's a 16, because he can't control his power well enough... yet.

[Vulcan 3,254]

I feel having a score of 0-5 presents a whole different problem. X3

 

Anyways, back to the scoring, most of my human OCs are on the 10-20 range, though given they're usually used in the Super powered RPs I can sort of justify their abilities and kill count.

 

My pony OCs seem to all be within 5-15, which is kind of good.

[VengefulStrudel 1,486]

This is super useful, thanks! Even if I don't roleplay, I'm definitely gonna use this whenever I create a new character for whatever reason.

 

As a side-note, I like to imagine all the example quotes you've given are all from the same character, who is the ultimate mary sue.

[That Guy with the CMB 5,873]

Seven! Hoorah! I win the game.

[Phosphorous 136]

For my own OC, Shakila, I got 4! 

 

I tried it again on Batman, he got 27. I expected Batman to be more of a Mary Sue.

[Fhaolan 4,483]

I tried it again on Batman, he got 27. I expected Batman to be more of a Mary Sue.

 

 

Depends on the particular author. There's several writers who shove him right past Mary Sue so far he almost come out the other side.

[Mesme Rize 15,683]

Well, seems like Mesme Rize scored 15.

 

Mesme was always very unique from most OCs, but i think i kept him so much at bay, that he is still believable.

[TerminalObsession 250]

I'm apparently pretty good at making OCs. I took my most Sue-ish OC, was very loose about what qualified as Sue-ish, (calling a silver coat "unnatural", for instance) and she scored a 12. Yay for me!

 

You could improve this, though. For instance, prosthetic limbs (that come with powers) are a problem Mary Sues have. Or powerful and rare pets. How about events that conspire to make them as awesome as possible?

Edited June 9, 2016 by Amorphous

[cmarston1 5,959]

It turns out that my OC Meadow Leaf ended up with a 7.

Which is good because I tried to make him be a well rounded character with actual flaws and not be a mary sue.

[Stardust* 3,302]

Crap.... how did I score over 100??! 

 

I may have some issues here! 

 

LOL 

 

just kidding! I scored a big ol' 0! 

[Flamestreak1990 1,172]

All my ocs scored zero, I feel proud

[Passion 3,484]

According to Randimaxis, I have zero score.

 

Then again... ...the only OC I really care about is written to fit within show's canon pony society sooo... yeah. Didn't expect anything else, to be honest.

 

This test is not for OCs of my league

[Hypn0ticD 1,213]

I used my most developed character, Colette, and she only scored a 2, and that's because her past, whilst not overly tragic, isn't a bed of roses.

 

That all said, she could be considered a Mary Sue if she were put in the right scenario. This is true of any character, really!

 

All the same, awesome job, Randi!

[Randimaxis 8,652]

The quote from #14 is my favorite; when I came up with it, it made me laugh aloud, which scared my cat.

[Hypn0ticD 1,213]

A few of those rules made me laugh!

 

6-A, 7, all of 12, 13, and 19 especially!

[Taialin 217]

Randi. This. So much this. As you suggest, this litmus test has relevance in pretty much every instance where one would need an OC (roleplaying, writing, other applications). I am a writer, so if you don't mind, this is a little something I'll be referring other people to when they write about their OCs in their own stories. Of course, in that application, that brings to mind this point:
 

8. Does your OC become the main character of the story once it's there?  [+6]

This point seems awfully unfair to people writing stories about their OCs, right? And I see a lot of authors looking to publish stories on Fimfiction about their OCs. I mean, if you write about your OC, they're the main character of their story by default, right? And +6 is a pretty big penalty for that. Maybe this point should be waived for people writing stories about their OC and replaced with something more relevant . . .

 

Actually, no. For aspiring writers, Randi is completely accurate in his penalty. Especially for authors looking to publish to Fimfiction.

 

PSA for all the negative two people out there who care: I've been around Fimfiction for a couple years, and it is a very unfriendly writing community to OC-centric stories (for good reason). If one is in a story, they better have a really damn good reason for being there, else no one will have reason to read it. They must have an interesting backstory; they must have something story-worthy to write about (and beyond "looking for friends"); they must have faults that do and don't get overcome; and they must—must—score 10 or below on this scale (with the +6 penalty included).

 

Yes, that's a harsh and judicious test to pass, but Fimfiction is a harsh and judicious place. The mere mention that your OC has a tragic (+2) and mysterious (+4) past in the description of a story is more than enough (12 total) to make a Fimfiction story uninteresting and poorly received. I don't want to be negative or pessimistic when I say many OCs here would be unfit for having stories written about them, but it is the truth. It's not a hard line that can't be crossed, but it must be crossed with extreme caution and ample justification for why.

 

Huff. PSA over.

[DND 2,355]

Oooh nice! I've taken a few Mary Sue tests very similar to this but they were quite long and arduous to power through. This was nothing close to that and I appreciate providing such a quick and easy MS test at my disposal.

 

9 - for a main protagonist in my personal series that revolves around their extraordinary will to mediate other's struggles. Tried very hard to mix and match amazing qualities with perfectly relatable settings, flaws, character development, and skillsets. I wanted to preserve their talents over their many redesigns and rehashes so that the series would still maintain powerful messages. I've roleplayed them before with different plotlines but I strayed away from discrepancies of the like.

 

6 - for ponysona I try to incorporate in RP contexts that revolve around secret organizations/underground operations. I'm naturally drawn to said RPs since they are of pretty big interest- they're the only "character shortcut" I can derive from your questions that makes RPing more enjoyable for me.

 

I'm pretty proud with my results! I've always loved a little spice and fantasy in characters. OCs are hardly new territory for me, being that I aspire to get into the animation medium, done quite a bit of research on talented/fantastic writing execution, and garnered info on successful series pitch bibles and what exactly makes a strong series or character stand out. I could try a round with my OCs that are almost always featured in slice of life settings/plots out of curiosity haha... although, I'm sure they'll get lower scores. Big MS-esque flaws/characteristics do tend to be fantasy themed.

[Deae Rising Shine~ 55,189]

Well, I think dark blue/Purple mane and tail arent unnormal by ponies

 

My OC is rich tough, hehe ... +2

 

He appears in 2 fics I wrote and s kinda a main character, but he is not THE main character. And in 1x1 RPs he is of coursea main XD

 

So yeah, if the two sentences still count I'm at 10

 

If only the rich part counts, I'm at 2

 

Either way, I'm out of trouble(Makes OC fitting all 20 reasons )

[Vulcan 3,254]

 

 

I tried it again on Batman, he got 27. I expected Batman to be more of a Mary Sue.

 

That is an interesting concept, I began to wonder which fictional character scores the highest on the RMST. 

 

So I tested some o-o

 

(Feel free to correct me if I miss count or forgot to add something) 

 

Saitama : 24

 

Luffy: 25

 

Edward Elric: 10 (I may have missed  something here )

[N.W. 3,619]

 

3-A. If it's a world where many characters have powers, are your character's abilities stronger than all/most of the other characters?  [+2]

“My telepathy makes Professor X look like a County Fair weight guesser.”

Nebula

 

This is pretty much the only one that applies, even then it is sort of a stretch.

He just kinda sits around unnoticed, quiet, laying under the radar.

Truth be told I've not done a whole lot with him, he has always just sat and existed and that's about it. 

He's a quiet, bland pony, not much else to say.

[Mand'alor Dash 2,224]

 

 

B] Mysterious, unknown?  [+4]

 

Do we get these points if they've simply lost their memory?

 

If not, I scored 9. If so, 13.

[Phosphorous 136]

Celstia has 27, she needs to be tweaked.

[Vulcan 3,254]

 

 

Celstia has 27, she needs to be tweaked.

 

Well ...Discord just got 64 O_O 

 

I rate it 5 discords.

       

 

No. 13 and 14 really did a number on his scoring