The Mary Sue Test

[Gandalf]

The Priest and I scored an 8.

Woo!

[Skelron]

Okay not a character from a story but the King of one of my two nations in NS... Githras King of Giltheran.

The Mary Sue Litmus Test FOR FANTASY FICTION
--------------------------------------------

SECTION 1: What's In A Name

* Is the character's name an unusual spelling of a more common name or word? (1)
* Is the character's name unusual in another way? (1)

Well yes and no, since he founded the kingdom he is king of, it's named after him, so erm I'll give him 1 point from these two since it is a case of Chicken and Egg here.

SECTION 2: Here's Lookin' At You

* Is the character the same gender as you? (1)
* Is the character any non-human race? (1)

Same Gender yep, and he's a Gold elf so two points here.

* Is the character not subject to limitations normally put upon members of his or her species?
(i.e., a human who is immortal, a vampire who does not die at dawn, a fairy who is not vulnerable
to iron) (4)

I suppose he is a Gold elf with a Moonblade... I suppose I shall count that.

* Does the character LOOK like he or she is a teenager or in his or her early twenties, even though he or she is not? (2)

To humans yes, but then he is an elf with the whole ageless look still...

* Is your character the age you would like to be? (1)

Well if by that you mean would I like to be several hundred years old.... no I guess not

* Is the character beautiful or handsome? (1)
* Is the character plain? (-2)

He's an Elf to humans he might look good to his own people, he looks fairly average so do both count?

SECTION 3: History

* Does the character have a very good singing voice? (2)
* Or play an instrument amazingly well? (2)
* Like the harp, the dulcimer, or any other antiquated instrument? (2)
* Does the character have better (that is, more sophisticated) taste in music than you do? (1)

Well yes he's a Bladesinger of course for the time he comes from he dosn't play any antiquated instruments... but by todays standards he does...

* Is the character royalty of any description? (3)

It's good to be King....

SECTION 4: The Voodoo You Do

* Is the character any inherently magical race? (1)
* Is the character extraordinarily powerful for a member of this race? (1)
* Does the character come from a different world or dimension? (Heaven and Hell count.) (1)

Yep he's an Elf... Well orta powerful for his race, but he's not the most powerful in the nation... and not the most powerful in NS by any degree.

* Can the character fly? (1)
* Without the aid of wings? (1)

well if he casts the right spells...

* Does the character have a horse? (Substitute 'horse' for 'bird' or 'wolf' as needed) (1)

He's a King from a fantasy world of course he has a horse... he has an entire herd he use.

* A white horse? (1)
* A black horse? (1)

Some might be White, Some might be black, some might be grey, some brown.... What relevance would the colour of the horses have?

SECTION 5: The Love Connection
* Does the character get married at any point? (1)

Well he is a King at some point I assume I will have to marry him off and produce an heir... especially with my love of killing my national leaders

SCORING

0-22 points: This is not a Mary Sue.
22-33 points: Borderline; could go either way depending on the author's skill.
34-45 points: Mary Sue. Proceed with the greatest caution.
46+ points: Reconsider your character and plot. Please.

28 Points... and so is borderline not bad for my favourite national leader in NS, I tell you when eventually he meets his death it will be gut wrenching for me. My Eldar die with scary frequency but Githras will last a lot longer. (He already has survived longer than my first Farseer)

Of course I have a few problems with the test, it seems to be based around a modern setting etc, just about any Fantasy charcter would come out high in the test...

[NecronLord]

My Eldar die with scary frequency

All I can say is, bwahahah, ready the torture chambers. I alreay have designs on the next one.

For those wondering, NS is a vaguely freeform roleplaying thing on the net in which I've been hunting and persecuting Skelron for months.

[Rogue 9]

* Can the character heal with a touch or a thought? (1)
* Does the character have a horse? (Substitute 'horse' for 'bird' or 'wolf' as needed) (1)
* That she can talk to? (1)
* And it talks back? (1)
* Only to the character? (1)
* Telepathically? (1)
* Does the character have a perceptible aura of power? (1)
* Of goodness? (1)

So writing a story about a D&D style paladin is automatically 8 points (more likely 9 for the black/white horse bit)? Wow. I think my character in my last D&D campaign log is quite the Mary Sue, after tossing in accents, different race, and the bit about resurrection after heroic sacrifice.

[Crom]

SECTION 2: Here's Lookin' At You

* Is the character the same gender as you? (1)
* Is the character a teenager or in his or her early twenties? (1)
* Is the character beautiful or handsome? (1)
* Is this changed somehow by the end of the story? (3)

SECTION 3: History

* Is the character the long-lost child or decendant of anybody? (2)
* Was the character adopted, or otherwise not raised by his or her own parents? (1)
* Is the character the last surviving member of any species, organization, or family? (1)
* Add points for each aspect seen somewhere during the character's life:
- abandoned by caregivers (1)
- sole survivor of a calamity (2)
* Is the character royalty of any description? (3)
* And he or she doesn't know it? (3)

SECTION 4: The Voodoo You Do

* Does the character, not being inherently magical by species, have magic anyway? (2)
* Does the character just "know things?" (2)
* The best fighter? (1)
* That he or she was taken on by the super-talented master fighter? (1)

SECTION 5: The Love Connection

* Does the character fall in love with another character at some point in the story? (1)
* Does the character get married at any point? (1)

SECTION 6: The Real World

* Would you like to be friends with the character if you met in real life? (1)
* Do you ever pretend, if just to yourself, that you ARE the character? (1)

SECTION 7: The Fiendish Plot

* Is the character the main character of the story? (2)
* When the character is introduced, is he or she immediately, or after a few pages of tense plotting, admitted into the group of other characters? (1)
* Do you wish you could be transformed, for the neat powers? (1)
* Does the character save the day, or another character's life? (2)
* Through almost dying? (1)
* Do you plan to write more stories revolving around this character? (2)

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SCORING

0-22 points: This is not a Mary Sue.
22-33 points: Borderline; could go either way depending on the author's skill.
34-45 points: Mary Sue. Proceed with the greatest caution.
46+ points: Reconsider your character and plot. Please.

Fuck. I have a Mary Sue.