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Mary-Sue Test


Stary Dreams

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Apparently, Nightfall is a 78...

Holy crap.

 

If the test were "perfect," I don't know where he would score, but I would like to think that it would be lower...

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First test:

 

0-10 points: The Anti-Sue. Your character is the very antithesis of a Mary-Sue. Why are you even taking this test?

11-20 points: The Non-Sue. Your character is a well-developed, balanced person, and is almost certainly not a Mary Sue. Congratulations!

21-35 points: Borderline-Sue. Your character is cutting it close, and you may want to work on the details a bit, but you're well on your way to having a lovely original character. Good work.

36-55 points: Mary-Sue. Your character needs some work in order to be believable. But despair not; you should still be able to salvage her with a little effort. Don't give up.

56-70 points: Über-Sue. You've got one hell of a Mary-Sue on your hands here, and it's not going to be easy to set things right. But do your best. There may be hope for you yet.

71 points or more: Irredeemable-Sue. You're going to have to start over, my friend. I know you want to keep writing, but no. Just no.

Again, keep in mind that the test isn't always correct. Morpheus from the Sandman Comics scored nearly 70 points, and yet we don't believe he's a Mary-Sue. He's well developed, suffers the consequences of several major personality flaws, and has very few powers or talents besides those necessary to perform the duties of his station. Of course, research, an interesting story, and good writing always help too. ;)

We hope this test has been some help to you. If you're looking for suggestions on how to avoid Mary-Sues and create original, developed characters, you might want to read this essay on Mary-Sueism, or the Occasionally Asked Questions about halfway down Dr. Merlin's Mary-Sue Litmus Test. Best of luck!

 

 

Meh, they called me a Mary Sue? Then I guess I am a Mary Sue, since every thing about Fireball Rush is based on me. I should feel insulted ('=')

 

Second test:

I am NOT happy with the results.

 

 

Fireball Rush is suspiciously similar to you as you'd like to be. She isn't really very cool: she blends into crowds, she hangs out on the fringes at parties, and wearing shades after dark makes her run into things. There's never been anything special about her that she could see; boy, is she in for a surprise. She's come in for her share of hurt, but gotten off with minor damage. And you've been sparing with the free handouts: whatever she gains, she's worked for.

In general, you care deeply about Fireball Rush, but you're smart enough to let her stand on her own, without burdening her with your personal fantasies or propping her up with idealization and over-dramatization. Fireball Rush is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of her.

 

 

They called me 'uncool'!

I think I'm going to go throw something.

Edited by ~Chaotic Fireball~
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I'll test it out with my best OC ever.
 
Result:
71 points or more: Irredeemable-Sue. You're going to have to start over, my friend. I know you want to keep writing, but no. Just no.
 
My character is not a Mary Sue, dammit.mlp-fstern.png

Edited by ѕнιғт
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I don't find the test very effective towards my OC because a lot of the questions are in the air or non-applicable. I guess that makes my character a completely non-Sue?

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This is what I got for Soren:

 

Soren is only a little like you. He isn't really very cool: he blends into crowds, he hangs out on the fringes at parties, and wearing shades after dark makes him run into things. He may have sometimes thought that he was special, or destined for greater things, but probably dismissed the idea as a fantasy. He's come in for his share of hurt, but gotten off with minor damage. And he's gotten no slack from you.

In general, you care deeply about Soren, but you're smart enough to let him stand on his own, without burdening him with your personal fantasies or propping him up with idealization and over-dramatization. Soren is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of him.

 

Score Breakdown
I Love Him, I Let Him Go 4
You Mean Plaid Is Out? 6
I'm Destined For What? 9
Can't Complain 6
Momma HATES Him! 3
Total: 28

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I got 34. New Moon is not a Mary-Sue...that's very good to know.

 

I sort of got 30, as there was a question asking if the OC had a birthmark (so, in our case, cutie mark). The question was worth 4 points, I believe.

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oh wait...was this an RP character test? cause I did it, based on my character from the Tangled fanfic I did up...tongue.png

 

 

 

I'll test it out with my best OC ever.
 
Result:
71 points or more: Irredeemable-Sue. You're going to have to start over, my friend. I know you want to keep writing, but no. Just no.
 
My character is not a Mary Sue, dammit.img-1383601-1-mlp-fstern.png

 

read somewhere, that this test isn't really accurate either, but I wouldn't take it too seriously. tongue.png mine said I've got one hell of a mary-sue...didn't realize that was considered a bad" thing really. I thought "Bah...walk a mile in his shoes, and you'll understand the full story. :P"

Edited by Avalionis
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Yeah, I remember taking this test before for one of my oldest OCs, and got a pretty high score. Given his multitude of flaws, I'd figured it would have been much lower. Of course, this test doesn't tell you any more about the quality of your characters than an online IQ test tells you about your actual level of intelligence, so I just took it with a grain of salt. Still, I'm always keeping conscious of ways that I can knock him down a few pegs, so to speak.

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...Hmm, so yeah i took the first test awhile ago and got like 34 on the same character but it didnt ask for any negatives to his powers so what.

 

Anyways this is the score for the second test

 

Ashwing is only a little like you. He isn't really very cool: he blends into crowds, he hangs out on the fringes at parties, and wearing shades after dark makes him run into things. He may have sometimes thought that he was special, or destined for greater things, but probably dismissed the idea as a fantasy. He's got no emotional scars to speak of. And he's gotten no slack from you.

In general, you care deeply about Ashwing, but you're smart enough to let him stand on his own, without burdening him with your personal fantasies or propping him up with idealization and over-dramatization. Ashwing is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of him.



Score Breakdown
I Love Him, I Let Him Go 8
You Mean Plaid Is Out? 4
I'm Destined For What? 9
Healthy as a Horse 0
Momma HATES Him! 0
Total: 21

 

I did not edit it, why would i, anyways i did know he was not a marry sue since his power can freaking kill him even if he just use it once, well if we dont use the powers i lay in him during RPs which dont help him at all, so lets just say... Good game, good game indeed.

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I guess I'm a Mary-Sue....ohmy.pngblink.png   I am not sure how to take that....got a 58

 

My character is pretty much a ponified "me" so i took the test as if I "am" that character.....well sorry I've seen more than my fair share of life....kind've angers me, just saying...

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This is a fascinating thread, I tried the first test with my twin OCs Sparks and Luciola and got a score of 24 (some of the criteria only applied to one of them, so the individual score if I separate them might be a bit lower). I'm pretty happy with my ability to make good characters.

I think this thread is perfect to discuss the finer points of character creation, if anyone has observations, tis and opinions on the subject, I'd love to hear them.

 

Also, I've noticed that several of the questions in the first test don't exactly work with pony OCs and can skew the results a bit. I made a review of the test so it can work better in the context of MLP.

 

 

I'll be quoting the test in blue

 

 

The Name

- Is the character's name a noun or adjective not normally used as a name?

- Does the character's name describe her/his personality? (e.g. Tristan means sad, Darcy means dark, Charity means charity, etc.)

Ponies in the show tend to have exotic names that reflect their personality, they don't follow the same naming conventions as humans. Leave these two blank unless you think there's a good reason to fill them.

 

Appearance

- Does the character have an unusual eye color, or otherwise exceptional eyes? 

            - And are these eyes a color that does not occur in nature? 
Pony eyes come in a wide range of colors, take a look at the most common ones before deciding whether or not to fill these criteria. Magenta is a normal color for ponies, colors like red or grey count as "unusual".
 
- Does the character dress in a manner you find particularly attractive, sexy, or cool? 
This applies not only to clothes, but mane, tail and coat as well. It's no secret that black and red OCs look Sue-ish.
 

More on Character

- Does the character have a special birthmark or other marking?

This is obvious. Cutie marks are normal among ponies, so they don't count. Only fill this one if your character is one of the following:

- Non-pony with a cutie mark or other marking that isn't typical for their species

- Extremely young foal that got his/her cutie mark prematurely

- Adult pony without a cutie mark (yes, lack of a cutie mark on an adult counts as an unusual marking).

 

- Does the character have wings (this counts even if she/he is an angel, only has wings sometimes, can't fly, etc.)

This is a tricky one, obviously pegasi are common, but pegasi Ocs are also trendy, so only fill it if:

- Alicorn

- Character who was born without wings (earth pony or other species), but eventually got wings.

- You made the characer a pegasus purely because you think pegasi are cool.

 

Work and Play

- Does the character possesses the following skills, with or without the aid of charms, spells, etc.): 

             [...]
             - Are these skills considered normal in your universe?
This one's a bit complicated, since unicorn magic is commonplace. Some could be considered normal in-universe, others aren't.
These would be normal for unicorns, which might give you a justification not to fill them (remember, unicorn magic is related to their special talent, so your character shouldn't have more than one of these powers, that's Twilight's job):
-Teleportation 
-Telepathy 
-Telekinesis (more powerful than a normal unicorn)
-Pyrokinesis
-Healing
-Invisibility 
-Flight 
-The ability to pass through matter 
-General magic or sorcery 
-The ability to see auras 
-Summoning
-Super strength or speed
 
The rest follow the same criteria as with non-pony universes (they're either non-unicorn or powerful enough to enter Sue territory). Remember that some weird powers can work with cartoon physics, like Pinkie Pie.
 
Immortals, Gods, Fay, etc.
(This section only applies if your character is immortal, or of a species other than human.)
Replace "human" with "pony" obviously. That means any character who isn't a unicorn, earth pony or pegasus. If your character is something like an alicorn, griffon, changeling, etc. use your imagination and fill one of the vampire, angel, elf, etc boxes as a proxy for your species.
 
That pretty much covers it. Answer all the other questions as you would normally, this should give you a more accurate rating.

 

 

 

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This is what I got for my OC Cloud Puff.

 

 

Cloud Puff is only a little like you. She is not at all cool; in fact, she thinks cool is a temperature reading, and when she says "Oh, I just put on whatever old thing's lying around," she means "on the floor, where I threw it last night - but I turned the underwear inside out first." There's never been anything special about her that she could see; boy, is she in for a surprise. She's got no emotional scars to speak of. And she's gotten no slack from you.

 

In general, you care deeply about Cloud Puff, but you're smart enough to let her stand on her own, without burdening her with your personal fantasies or propping her up with idealization and over-dramatization. Cloud Puff is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of her.

 

Score Breakdown

I Love Her, I Let Her Go 8

She's The Anti-Cool 3

Plain Jane 0

Healthy as a Horse 0

Momma HATES Her! 3

Total: 14

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I'm going to say the major flaw in those tests is that they don't take setting into account. For example, many of the traits they consider sueiesh would be completely normal in the Highlander universe. Many of them can be red flags, but aren't sue traits in and of themselves if handled well. 

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I did it with all four of my OCs

 

Moraine is a 4, probably for being an earth pony who's kind of a misanthropic jerk. Vesta got a 2 (!) for somehow having barely any traits making the test, despite being probably the second most sue-ish on the surface. Bright Lights got a 22 for being a famous Trotway performer, but her childishness gets her into plenty of trouble, which docked some points. Silent Night got 35, which is actually lower than I expected for her because she seemed to be fit to check off  whole lot of boxes...

 

I also did it with Zuko, Azula, and Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender for kicks. Zuko was a 50, Azula was a 25, and Aang was just absolutely irredeemable at 74. WHAT A TERRIBLE CHARACTER AMIRIGHT?

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Angel Feather:

Angel Feather is only a little like you. She is not at all cool; in fact, she thinks cool is a temperature reading, and when she says "Oh, I just put on whatever old thing's lying around," she means "on the floor, where I threw it last night - but I turned the underwear inside out first." There's never been anything special about her that she could see; boy, is she in for a surprise. She's got no emotional scars to speak of. And she's gotten no slack from you.

In general, you've kept yourself a goodly distance from Angel Feather and given her plenty of room - maybe a little too much. Don't distance yourself so far from Angel Feather that you stop caring what happens to her.

 

Mystical Flow:

Mystical Flow is nothing like you. She is not at all cool; in fact, she thinks cool is a temperature reading, and when she says "Oh, I just put on whatever old thing's lying around," she means "on the floor, where I threw it last night - but I turned the underwear inside out first." There's never been anything special about her that she could see; boy, is she in for a surprise. She's come in for her share of hurt, but gotten off with minor damage. And she's gotten no slack from you.

In general, you've kept yourself a goodly distance from Mystical Flow and given her plenty of room - maybe a little too much. Don't distance yourself so far from Mystical Flow that you stop caring what happens to her.

 

Chamois Vine:

Chamois Vine is only a little like you. She is not at all cool; in fact, she thinks cool is a temperature reading, and when she says "Oh, I just put on whatever old thing's lying around," she means "on the floor, where I threw it last night - but I turned the underwear inside out first." There's never been anything special about her that she could see; boy, is she in for a surprise. She's got no emotional scars to speak of. And she's gotten no slack from you.

In general, you've kept yourself a goodly distance from Chamois Vine and given her plenty of room - maybe a little too much. Don't distance yourself so far from Chamois Vine that you stop caring what happens to her.

 

Dawn Minuet:

Dawn Minuet is only a little like you. She isn't really very cool: she blends into crowds, she hangs out on the fringes at parties, and wearing shades after dark makes her run into things. She may have sometimes thought that she was special, or destined for greater things, but probably dismissed the idea as a fantasy. She's got no emotional scars to speak of. And she's gotten no slack from you.

In general, you care deeply about Dawn Minuet, but you're smart enough to let her stand on her own, without burdening her with your personal fantasies or propping her up with idealization and over-dramatization. Dawn Minuet is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of her.

YAY DAWN!

 


 

Okay, okay just two more I swear.

 

Daffodil Thorne (Human OC):

Daffodil Thorne is only a little like you. She is not at all cool; in fact, she thinks cool is a temperature reading, and when she says "Oh, I just put on whatever old thing's lying around," she means "on the floor, where I threw it last night - but I turned the underwear inside out first." There's never been anything special about her that she could see; boy, is she in for a surprise. She's got no emotional scars to speak of. And you've been sparing with the free handouts: whatever she gains, she's worked for.

In general, you care deeply about Daffodil Thorne, but you're smart enough to let her stand on her own, without burdening her with your personal fantasies or propping her up with idealization and over-dramatization. Daffodil Thorne is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of her.

 

Sunset (Non-Pony OC):

(This will not end well)

Sunset is nothing like you. She isn't really very cool: she blends into crowds, she hangs out on the fringes at parties, and wearing shades after dark makes her run into things. She may have sometimes thought that she was special, or destined for greater things, but probably dismissed the idea as a fantasy. She's had more than her fair share of hard knocks, and probably spends more time than she ought moaning about it. And she's gotten no slack from you.

In general, you care deeply about Sunset, but you're smart enough to let her stand on her own, without burdening her with your personal fantasies or propping her up with idealization and over-dramatization. Sunset is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of her.

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The trick to actually answering these things correctly is understanding the universe the character is meant for. Since we're dealing with ponies, obviously any instance of "human" must be replaced with "pony." Then remember the magic and flashy stuff that is commonplace in Equestria, and ignore the questions that ask if you have technicolor hair or use magic. Sueness is relative, as they say. ;)

 

And while I haven't taken the test mentioned in this thread, I have taken a similar test here:

 

http://www.springhole.net/writing/marysue.htm

 

I have a new OC whom I'm calling "Flaire," and she got a score of 14 on that one. That's in the top tier of not being a Sue. Apparently, I've gotten a lot better at writing than I used to be. :P

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Is it even possible to get a non-Sue rating on this test if your character has some sort of super power? Actually I'm going to extend this to any kind of genre: fantasy, sci-fi, romance, mystery, horror. Given the questions this test asks, I don't see how it's possible.

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I took the test and scored 21, I think that is about right for Frozen Mint, the only problem with this test is that is is not just for ponies, so if your OC is a pegasus you have to click flight, when on a normal person would be mary-sue aspect. Oh well I did okay on the test ;p 

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Here's a shorter test that's easier to fill out and will tell you if your character is a Mary Sue just as easily as the other test.

 

http://www.katfeete.net/writing/marysue.html

Ran all five main protagonists from my novel through that test. Not a single Mary Sue (YES!) but I did get one character perched precariously on the opposite end of the spectrum.

 

Probably doesn't help that I would have checked "He's a murderous sociopath" if I had the option.

 

Test results, for all who might care:

 

 

"Samuel Larson is only a little like you. He is not at all cool; in fact, he thinks cool is a temperature reading, and when he says "Oh, I just put on whatever old thing's lying around," he means "on the floor, where I threw it last night - but I turned the underwear inside out first." There's never been anything special about him that he could see; boy, is he in for a surprise. He's had more than his fair share of hard knocks, and probably spends more time than he ought moaning about it. And you've been sparing with the free handouts: whatever he gains, he's worked for.

 

In general, you care deeply about Samuel Larson, but you're smart enough to let him stand on his own, without burdening him with your personal fantasies or propping him up with idealization and over-dramatization. Samuel Larson is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of him. "

 

"Alex Marshall is only a little like you. He isn't really very cool: he blends into crowds, he hangs out on the fringes at parties, and wearing shades after dark makes him run into things. There's never been anything special about him that he could see; boy, is he in for a surprise. He's come in for his share of hurt, but gotten off with minor damage. And you've been sparing with the free handouts: whatever he gains, he's worked for.

 

In general, you care deeply about Alex Marshall, but you're smart enough to let him stand on his own, without burdening him with your personal fantasies or propping him up with idealization and over-dramatization. Alex Marshall is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of him."

 

"Veronika Ivanova is nothing like you. She is not at all cool; in fact, she thinks cool is a temperature reading, and when she says "Oh, I just put on whatever old thing's lying around," she means "on the floor, where I threw it last night - but I turned the underwear inside out first." There's never been anything special about her that she could see; boy, is she in for a surprise. She's come in for her share of hurt, but gotten off with minor damage. And you've been sparing with the free handouts: whatever she gains, she's worked for.

 

In general, you care deeply about Veronika Ivanova, but you're smart enough to let her stand on her own, without burdening her with your personal fantasies or propping her up with idealization and over-dramatization. Veronika Ivanova is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of her. "

 

"Karl Gottlieb is only a little like you. He is not at all cool; in fact, he thinks cool is a temperature reading, and when he says "Oh, I just put on whatever old thing's lying around," he means "on the floor, where I threw it last night - but I turned the underwear inside out first." He may have sometimes thought that he was special, or destined for greater things, but probably dismissed the idea as a fantasy. He's come in for his share of hurt, but gotten off with minor damage. And you've been sparing with the free handouts: whatever he gains, he's worked for.

 

In general, you care deeply about Karl Gottlieb, but you're smart enough to let him stand on his own, without burdening him with your personal fantasies or propping him up with idealization and over-dramatization. Karl Gottlieb is a healthy character with a promising career ahead of him."

 

"Maxwell Harding is only a little like you. He is not at all cool; in fact, he thinks cool is a temperature reading, and when he says "Oh, I just put on whatever old thing's lying around," he means "on the floor, where I threw it last night - but I turned the underwear inside out first." He may have sometimes thought that he was special, or destined for greater things, but probably dismissed the idea as a fantasy. He's got no emotional scars to speak of. And he's gotten no slack from you.

 

In general, you've kept yourself a goodly distance from Maxwell Harding and given him plenty of room - maybe a little too much. Don't distance yourself so far from Maxwell Harding that you stop caring what happens to him."

 

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Is it even possible to get a non-Sue rating on this test if your character has some sort of super power? Actually I'm going to extend this to any kind of genre: fantasy, sci-fi, romance, mystery, horror. Given the questions this test asks, I don't see how it's possible.

 

Well, I did with my unicorns and pegasi, so I suppose it works. On the other hand, characters with unique abilities? Yeah, they are totally going to be Sues...

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Well, I did with my unicorns and pegasi, so I suppose it works. On the other hand, characters with unique abilities? Yeah, they are totally going to be Sues...

 

Unique abilities have nothing to do with Mary Sues! The original definition only dealt with self-inserts and unrealistically over-powered characteristics in fan fiction. I don't think there's a single super hero who could pass this BS test. It barely even accounts for character flaws which balance out those unique abilities. By this test's standards great non-Sue characters like Doctor Manhattan would be branded with high scores, and that just doesn't sit well with me.

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I did it with all four of my OCs

 

Moraine is a 4, probably for being an earth pony who's kind of a misanthropic jerk. Vesta got a 2 (!) for somehow having barely any traits making the test, despite being probably the second most sue-ish on the surface. Bright Lights got a 22 for being a famous Trotway performer, but her childishness gets her into plenty of trouble, which docked some points. Silent Night got 35, which is actually lower than I expected for her because she seemed to be fit to check off  whole lot of boxes...

 

I also did it with Zuko, Azula, and Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender for kicks. Zuko was a 50, Azula was a 25, and Aang was just absolutely irredeemable at 74. WHAT A TERRIBLE CHARACTER AMIRIGHT?

If the test wasn't so horribly long I'd run some Highlander characters through it, most of them would probaly get a horrible sue rating. 

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