PlaneShift
Gameplay => General Discussion => Topic started by: Zan on October 25, 2007, 04:58:22 pm
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The Mary-Sue Litmus Test (http://www.onlyfiction.net/marysue2.html)
This is something I came across incidentally when browsing fantasy stories but I think it can be used to inspect our character's RP background and description. The test isn't completely accurate since it is meant to be used for written fiction, in all sorts of settings but I still found it useful to take.
For clarification ...
Mary-Sue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue) is a pejorative term that is used for some stereotypical fictional characters. It also means that the characters are usually unrealistic in terms of abilities and general personality. Either they are too black and white or they simply lack flaws/realism.
I took the test for one of my most used characters and scored a 46, which'd mean I still have some work to do with making him more unique and realistic :P And there I was thinking it was one of the better characters I made so I'd say the test is pretty critical.
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I think this is great, and more rpers should consider their characters more closely. \\o//
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I got a nine! Woohoo! I was really worried for a minute there.
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17 yay!!!! \\o//
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I did the test on Sarine Arquet, who has become my main character, she got a 16! woot :woot:
11-20 points: The Non-Sue. Your character is a well-developed, balanced person, and is almost certainly not a Mary Sue. Congratulations!
:)
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hmm 23 :(
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I got 11 for Hitancrias:
Is the character of above average intelligence?
Is the character related to royalty or nobility? (4 points)
Is the character rich or well-to-do, although she/he doesn't work?
Has the character traveled extensively?
Does the character have very little or no empathy for other people? (-1 point!)
Is the character, or was she/he ever...: An explorer (2 points)
Does the character possesses the following skills, with or without the aid of charms, spells, etc.): Healing (2 points)
Is the character someone you would want to be friends with, assuming she/he would be receptive to friendship with you?
c'est tout.
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Wow, I had pretty much the same thing except healing and with starving artist instead of explorer. We have so much in common :P
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Heh, I somehow have the feeling that a lot of PS chars are similar to quite a large extend.
Too bad the test didn't cover for things like: "came in from an other plane", "tragic past", "witnessed his parents/ village get killed", "raised by strangers". I think those things would be applicable for many PS chars. ;)
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I am on the border, 25 for me :'(
Doshot goes off and re-thinks some parts of his live.
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Too bad the test didn't cover for things like: "came in from an other plane", "tragic past", "witnessed his parents/ village get killed", "raised by strangers". I think those things would be applicable for many PS chars. ;)
Or was born during crystal eclipse, ravens on rooftop... :P
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Your Mary Sue Score: 4
This is probably because my character is very consistent and doesn't get murdered/kidnapped/drunken/love relation/destroy-the-world/super-lover/incredibly powers of doom/etc that do seem to bother other characters.
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I got a 29 (Borderline-Sue) for entering Chorval Steelteeth's stuff...
I'm satisfied...
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iirc one of moon's chars scored 146 on that
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Wow :D
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Whew.... 16. I knew I was just gunna be embarrassed for taking that test but it turned out ok. But we should think about compiling a list of questions more applicable to PS characters. Not about crystal eclipses or ravens on rooftops but about actual PS stereotypes that seem to always floating around, "Has your character ever participated in a Slavery RP?" Just an idea but if we got serious about it, we might be able to help out alot of people with their characters and improve the community.
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Thats a very good idea actually.
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On the other test I did a while back, yes, one of my story characters got a 138, but that was on another scale, and thus I had to redo the test for this one.
Ree'ann from CoS: Scored a 62 on this test. But I already knew that, and it was intentional. ;)
On another note, that last time I did one of these tests, my ingame character, Arnigus Feymore, also was scored as a Mary Sue. Therefor, I consider these tests to be rather invalid. If you know Arnigus, you will understand what I mean. Hyuken and Aeshion would likely have also has scored as Mary Sues.
Here is the old thread: http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=22071.0
Take note of this: http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=22071.msg242786#msg242786
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Parallo you sound so surprised! :P Should we start a new thread for it? I'm not very good at forum etiquette from lack of experience, so you guys decide how we should do it, but I will help out. I think it's a worthwhile project.
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Go for it! Get to work!
Edit!
Just did my first ever Planeshift character, Sacho and got -6. Wow.
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Just did Arnigus on this test. 26.
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Why does it ask if your character's name is Raven/Hunter? Or is that just random? And why Asians?
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Haha, 76 for Malkari. I thought I answered pretty good, too. =/
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And why Asians?
People who make up fantasy characters can be highly influenced by anime, manga, japanese RPGs, and so on.
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12 for Maulus, though he is a long developed character.....
14 for Hovan....
Even though I scored well, i think the test is still a bit.....wrong... :P
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25? What is this witchcraft!?
But then I'm not sure how acurate these tests are. When I took this (http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm#Part4) test, I got a score of 1
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33 For Farren.... Only 8 more characters to go o.o
Thirteen on Suvok's link for Farren
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erm... 74 :o .... :'(
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.
well i can't say im surprized
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Quick self-test on "Gag Harmond": 20 = non / close... Yeah. That must be the reason for staying lonely: He is too believable, too uninteresting.
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7 for Mindari :innocent:
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:D 3!
But ehmm, Maybe that's because it's a "Average Joe" like character :)
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Eh I got a 38...thought I was doing so well because I answered such few questions. Its the ones when they ask about your characters past and your characters abilities that got to me. :P
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I got an 11 for Anarkia. :P
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I think what gets my character is being an assassin, member of organized crime (sorta), and a hero...I can't really explain them with checkboxes, I know they contradict eachother. =/
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Illysia is a 32. :)
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.
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Heh, I don't think that I did as well as I planned.
I got a 50. "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."
I'm a little disappointed, actually. Serq is very fleshed out, and by focusing on just one character, I have one set of emotions. Hmm, maybe I should start turning evil people, survive catastrophes, and quote the matrix. That might lower my score ;)
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*hopes Serq is being sarcastic*
And Duraza has a lower score than Hwnae, now I feel bad :P
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i got a -2 just because im new to rp and 'just a random guy' :P
not sure if i missed a question like -does your character share one or some of your real-life traits?
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*hopes Serq is being sarcastic*
And Duraza has a lower score than Hwnae, now I feel bad :P
;D Don't feel too bad. Xeonart did so bad that I'm ashamed to say his score :-X
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I feel very original right now.
-pats Xeonart on the back-
It's okay, buddy. We all know you're not a Mary Sue at heart... right?
-EXPLODES-
::|
Need food.
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;D Don't feel too bad. Xeonart did so bad that I'm ashamed to say his score :-X
Well, I don't think this test is very accurate for us since it is base on the assumption that you alone are developing the character and that some things are "out there" like having wings, or losing a close friend, or being a mage, etc... all at once. After all, Yliakum is supposed to be different than the world we live in and your character can be developed by actions you had no prior knowledge of or control over.
Try taking the Universal Mary Sue Litmus test for Xeonart and the score will probably be better. It takes into account RPG characters.
http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm (http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm)
For this one Illysia got an 6 which is:
0-16 Points
Most likely Not-Sue. Characters at this level could probably take a little spicing up without hurting them any.
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Scored a reasonable 25.
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I scored 28 on the new one.
Some definite Sue-like tendancies here. A little polishing might be in order to put original fiction and RPG characters back into the balance, especially if Kirking is involved. Fanfiction characters should probably have some work done.
That doesn't sound horrible to me. Of course, everyone still scores much lower than Xeonart regardless :P
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Sarine got -1 on this new one
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Sarine got -1 on this new one
See what I mean by everyone scores lower than me. Did I mention much lower :P
I guess with so many unique characters and mine being the only not unique one I'm still unique ;D
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This just further cements my unbridled hate for standardized tests. :P
In the "Original" test Marqsaynt didn't do so bad, high 20s... but, in Illysia's suggested one he skyrocketed into "Kill it dead" territory (guess Xenoart now has some company up there. :P)
I think the biggest problem is that the questions make way too many assumptions. Just because something falls into one of their categories doesn't mean that a person couldn't come along, take a known "cliche" and turn it on it's head. To be honest, there really aren't too many completely original things a person can do with a character just a lot of old things that can be done in a new way.
As a general rule of thumb, the most "real" characters are those that aren't average. If a character was completely non distinct and plain in every way they wouldn't seem remotely like a real person; even "normal" people aren't average. Unfortunately this test seems to penalize any attempt to make your person more "round" assuming that average, "flat" characters are somehow more realistic...
Maybe this test works sometimes, I don't know... but, I for one am not going to let some goofy test ever dictate how I create a character. (I mean, imagine what type of scores some of the most beloved characters in literature and film would have gotten on this test? *Charles Dickens burns Moby Dick after taking the test* *George Lucas tosses the script for Star Wars in a nearby trashcan after getting a bunch of 117+ scores* :P)
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The problem is probably things about Marq that aren't obvious when roleplaying but are there nevertheless. It's probably background stuff and not personality stuff that is sending the score up. If it wasn't for the De-Suifiers Illysia would have a higher score. And what is this? :D
this test seems to penalize any attempt to make your person more "round" assuming that average, "flat" characters are somehow more realistic...
Illysia is plenty unique and realistic, in spite of a certain someone calling her boring. :) Characters don't have to be dramatic to be realistic. It usually a matter of a character being too unique that is a problem. Not everyone has had their all their relatives and friends die in RL, but it is overly common in RP. It's the dramatic stuff that gets people on these tests. You only need a few things like that per character. Not that it can't be pulled off but most people can't do it successfully. :sweatdrop:
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Dramatic, no. Unique, yes. ;)
Illysia is hardly average though, she has a rather unique build (curvy and muscular for her race) and a miner turned poet hardly seems average to me. Could probably think of a few more examples but, I think it's safe to say that Illysia as a character is pretty "round" and not a dull 2d cutout of an individual.
But, I bet a person that had a character with a description like "Bob Enki is average height, average build, and average intelligence. He has never done anything special in his entire life and works as a miner. What you see is what you get... He is also fond of the color white." Would also have a pretty good score on that test. :P And in my opinion a character like that is somehow worse than a lot of the "cliche" hero/villain types running around... at least in most cases.
You are right about the background stuff though, it did definitely drive the score up a bit. Even though Marq actually had a pretty okay childhood (mostly happy and uneventful), the character creation options I incorporated did drive up the score a bit.
Also, I think maybe I should have left the attractiveness boxes blank since in the PS universe diaboli are supposed to be good looking just inherently so it's not really trying to be different.
Either way, I just hate standardized tests and nothing you can say will ever convince me that it's a better judge of character (pun intended) than a real person. :P
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Illysia is hardly average though, she has a rather unique build (curvy and muscular for her race) and a miner turned poet hardly seems average to me. Could probably think of a few more examples but, I think it's safe to say that Illysia as a character is pretty "round" and not a dull 2d cutout of an individual.
But most of that is not what Illysia started out as. A lot of that is based on her interactions with other people's characters and the PS environment, not what I original decided for her. You didn't know Illysia in the beginning. She was way different than she is now. But you are right, these tests aren't very good. There are many things that aren't taken into account. That is what Silavur's PS character test is a good idea.
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Muahahaha, it's all of us "Mary Sue" RPers corrupting Illysia's character with our insuppressible Mary-Sueness. :devil: :P
Yeah, I agree though, will be interesting to see how a PS based test turns out. :)
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(guess Xenoart now has some company up there. :P)
Yay ;D
Yeah, I agree though, will be interesting to see how a PS based test turns out. :)
I bet I can fail that one too :P
In all seriousness though I really doubt any test could actually tell you whether your character is cliche, unless it had like 500 questions....
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I bet I can fail that one too :P
It's not failing! Just going for the high score. :P
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I think the big problem of these test is that they arn't realy ment to be aplied to main or hero characters. I scorded borderline Sue on both tests for Hatchnet and every main charcter from my book collection I tested scored way in the red zone (This includes favorits like Frodo Baggins, Drizzt DoUrden, Connan extra.)
Here is what I use when creating a character http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/868960000 ; even when it's not D&D the tips it holds are extreamly useful.
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On the second test I got a 0 for Anarkia.
-pwnz u a11-
;D
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By reading a lot of character descriptions, I have found that many people write that they are strong, smart, tall, short (in the case of dwarves), and beautiful for their species. There is a distinct lack of ugly, stupid, average height people. I'm guilty of the exaggeration. Most of us are, in some way. If someone goes out and makes a character that is average in all aspects, or even undesirable, it is for role-play reasons.
And 50 is my score. I'm sorry, Serq just can't fly, doesn't keep a book of gothic poetry, and isn't asian. The few things that I could check off because they applied to him were all cliched horribly, such as stong, character flaws, was in love at some point... Serq is just different than the classic RPs, so a classic test didn't work so well. :'(
*Edit* I wanted to test it again. So I entered Harry Potter, and left the persnal feelings about the character part blank. You all know who Harry Potter is, right? I entered things like, survived calamity, last member of family, leader of resistence group, magical powers...
I got a 114: Irredeemable-Sue. You're going to have to start over, my friend. I know you want to keep writing, but no. Just no.
Sorry, but I just lost all faith in this test.
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This just further cements my unbridled hate for standardized tests. :P
Maybe this test works sometimes, I don't know... but, I for one am not going to let some goofy test ever dictate how I create a character. (I mean, imagine what type of scores some of the most beloved characters in literature and film would have gotten on this test? *Charles Dickens burns Moby Dick after taking the test* *George Lucas tosses the script for Star Wars in a nearby trashcan after getting a bunch of 117+ scores* :P)
I didn't put the test out here to control our character creations ... I just submitted them to make us think a bit more on our characters.
As for Mary-Sue's in roleplaying games, they can be enjoyable ... some of the characters like Arnigus, Duraza or Nurahk and my own guys Tyrnal, Thromdir, Zan ... they'd do badly on these tests but if they're being controlled by a good roleplayer that doesn't mean they need to change. Stereotypes can make things fun as long as they are balanced. Overstereotyped stereotypes who are usually revolving around a character being powerful, now those are the ones that I'd rather get rid of. :P
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Also, it should be noted that Frodo, Moby Dick, etc. are cliched because of the works they are in. They made the cliche. Thats the point. If you put in a famous character it certainly should not recognize him/her as unique. That would be a pretty crappy test.
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For clarification ...
Mary-Sue (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue) is a pejorative term that is used for some stereotypical fictional characters. It also means that the characters are usually unrealistic in terms of abilities and general personality. Either they are too black and white or they simply lack flaws/realism.
I didn't put the test out here to control our character creations ... I just submitted them to make us think a bit more on our characters.
As for Mary-Sue's in roleplaying games, they can be enjoyable ... some of the characters like Arnigus, Duraza or Nurahk and my own guys Tyrnal, Thromdir, Zan ... they'd do badly on these tests but if they're being controlled by a good roleplayer that doesn't mean they need to change. Stereotypes can make things fun as long as they are balanced. Overstereotyped stereotypes who are usually revolving around a character being powerful, now those are the ones that I'd rather get rid of. :P
If Duraza, Nurahk, etc. are so stereotypical than why aren't there dozens and dozens of other characters running around just like them? Seems that the only reason those characters would even be called a "Mary-Sue" is just from what some stupid test says, not from actual experience or reality. To lump them all into some lacking "flaws/realism" category just seems ridiculous.
Personally, I think the individual that wrote the original Mary-Sue test should have just stuck with reading her Gargoyle cartoon fan fiction (the original test was written exclusively for that) and kept her "expert" opinion on making great characters to herself... I know with having the amazing credentials of a couple years reading online fan fiction it'd be hard to do but, sometimes a "professional" just needs to know when not to weigh in with their opinion. [/end mean, sarcastic rant against perfect stranger that is most likely a decent human being and someone that was just trying to help.]
My whole point is this; if anyone says they have developed some rules that will guarantee a great book, screenplay, character, etc., they are completely and totally full of crap. Sure there are guidelines that can help with all of the above but, no rules that are unbreakable, and definitely no paint by number guides (or tests) to great characters/story.
Can you tell you've stumbled across a bit of a pet peeve of mine? :whistling: I know you weren't trying to dictate how people make their characters, or anything so sinister... But the whole test just annoys me on a level somewhere between none-seedless watermelon and a Robert Mckee book/lecture. :P
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Someone really didn't like their result :P
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Heh, actually I think it was seeing a few other people's characters being called Mary-Sues that pushed me over the edge. Marqsaynt probably does have a healthy dose of Mary Sue in him so, not really anything I didn't already know. :P
Throw in my general disdain for all standardized tests and the idea of a person promoting some blueprint to great characters and you've got the trifecta for my own personal rant post. :P
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Its not a blue print for a great character. Its a blue print for a character that isn't a Mary Sue. Thats all. Mary Sues can still be great characters, sometimes.
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Even just by that definition I think the test fails. I don't think it'd be too difficult to create a Mary Sue character that still got a good score. My whole point is that there isn't a blueprint that can realistically dictate all the aspects of something like character realism.
That being said, I'm still interested in seeing how the PS specific one turns out and think that it could be a helpful tool.
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Duraza, looking purely at the character, is your very stereotypical "Evil dark mage, who sacrifices everything and everyone for more power." Nurahk, looking at the character on the surface is your stereotypical "Bad boy with so much charisma he can get away with it and still get all the girls." (by the way I see a lot of similarities between him and Marqsaynt). Hence they score high on a test.
However you are absolutely right, such a test is limited. Because what makes Duraza and Nurahk unique is not the character so much, it's the player behind the character. Both of them are good roleplayers and I have respect for both, the same for you by the way. I know there are loads of 'kids' who try to make similar characters but they practically all fail miserably because, first of all they can't go up against the name of establised ones and secondly they simply lack the RP skills to pull it off.
Duraza's character is a stereotype but the player behind that character uses his stereotype to provide an entertaining villain. The player accepts it if Duraza gets his butt kicked and doesn't try to win every encounter.
Parallo is right, Mary Sues can still be great characters when they're governed by great roleplayers. And I agree, there is no blueprint that can dictate all the aspects of a good character.
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I think that what most people here are missing is:
- the test is supposed to evaluate characters in an RP world, not main characters in novels. A world where everyone has a personal history that is worth an epic novel is simply not believable. In the LoR universe there's only one Frodo, one Ring. It wouldn't be the same with a million frodos, and a million rings destroyed. That makes hundreds of rings destroyed every day, with hundreds of frodos (and gollums, and aragorns, and saurons) all queueing up waiting for their turn; :)
- the test is supposed to apply to the character background, that is, what happened before your RPing story starts. Are you sure that Frodo, or Luke Skywalker, would score high, at the beginning of their own stories? Frodo was just a hobbit (and stays so, btw). The nice thing about the hobbit characters is that none of them is 'special' in any way. Skywalker was a farmer (IIRC). He didn't know a thing about who he was.
The latter is the key point.
Just to stay in the LoR universe, compare Frodo with Aragorn. Now he's so interesting a guy (and knows it, from the start) that everything he does is quite boring in comparison (given who he is, we wouldn't expect less from him). That makes him a very bad choice for a character to RP (everything is already written for him, so to say). Given any situation, there's hardly any choice for his action. Would you expect the heir of Isildur to run from danger? Is he (or the player behind him) really given a choice about it? (Again, compare with Frodo.)
I think the point of the test is: if you want to really enjoy your char, reserve the amazing adventures for the time after your RPing experience starts, and not before. Also, let it surprise you: don't make it too similar to something you already know (eg. what you are or what you'd like to be).
Start with a common guy, and have him live the adventures of a hero. There's little point being an hero from the start (or an evil lord, or king, or mage (Gandalf-like) or whatever): it only means that your character lived the most interesting part of its life already. The most interesting part should be the one you (the player and the char) live together, instead.
I think that's the test suggestion. IMHO it was never meant to be a blueprint for all characters. And again, there's plenty of room for heros or kings or major villains in a RP world, just it's much better if they became so after the char creation, not before.
BTW, my old PS char scored 2. There are lots of interesting adventures for him, somewhere out there. :) Maybe he'll become a king some day. But I (the player) don't know now.
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@Zan
I definitely agree.
I also have a feeling that a specific PS test may prove to be a lot more useful than any of the more general ones, the scope seems to be just too large to really be of much use for PS character purposes.
Funny you bring up Duraza's ability to actually have his characters fail, that was one of the major things that came to mind when I was considering Mary-Sue-ness and one of the reasons I didn't really feel it completely accurate to categorize his characters as such. (but that's just really more a difference in semantics and not really anything to do with the actual discussion.)
You bring up an interesting idea though; that some characters that play stereotyped roles aren't necessarily unrealistic or non-unique as long as the person behind them is good at what they do. This idea would build in an automatic exception to any cliche test but, not necessarily invalidate the test's usefulness as a tool... assuming the test was actually capable of fairly helpful results. Which gives me pretty high hopes for any PS specific one that is created. :)
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Well maybe we could create a Roleplaying IQ test, specifically for PS, for the players :P
Combine that one with the PS Mary-Sue test we're working on and you might have a pretty good standard people can live up to.
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Well maybe we could create a Roleplaying IQ test, specifically for PS, for the players :P
Combine that one with the PS Mary-Sue test we're working on and you might have a pretty good standard people can live up to.
Oh you do not want to get me started on the subject of IQ tests... :P
*runs away before he starts any more rant tangents*
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Also, it should be noted that Frodo, Moby Dick, etc. are cliched because of the works they are in. They made the cliche. Thats the point. If you put in a famous character it certainly should not recognize him/her as unique. That would be a pretty crappy test.
Parallo I tested more than 30 characters; most of them from successful recent books such as the Wheel of Time series and Salvatore's work. See the thing is even though these authors created origional characters these same character types have been in use since at least the middle ages.
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these same character types have been in use since at least the middle ages.
And that makes them original how?
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It doesn't; to be perfectly honest there can be no origional character type anymore only origional characters. Yet because of the sheer volume of different characters even characters will have an extream time being origional. Hows that old saying go? "There is nothing new under the sun"
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I think you're creating a false dichotomy here that isn't even hinted at in the test. There are varying degrees of originality. Its not all in black and white and thats why different scores have different brackets and it doesn't simply say weather you are or are not a mary sue. Is there not also a saying that goes 'Every single person is unique'? Granted we may share some traits with other characters, its impossible not to, but we can still have original characters. I don't think character types is how you should look at it. Its kind of like classes in an rpg.
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Ahh but you see Parallo we are all a type of character (its not a class thing but a personality thing) and types of characters is exactly what these test pick up on. So if the tests author didn't like a particular type of character suddenly the traits for that type of character become bad.
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Well what is your definition of a Mary Sue?
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Well what is your definition of a Mary Sue?
Now there's a question that could probably spark it's own forum topic. :P
I actually agree with both you two (Parallo and Hatchnet). There has been so many characters made over the centuries that it is pretty much impossible to make a truly original character; anything a person can think of someone else has almost certainly come up with and used before. However, that being said it doesn't mean that a person can't create a character in an original way. Basically the idea of taking a typical type of character (since all characters to varying degrees have been "done" before) and making them unique by infusing them with your own personal style ("making them your own") is how I see originality in character creation.
Parallo also seems right to me when saying that there are varying degrees of originality amongst characters. Some characters created are going to be more believable, likable, creative, than others and that's just the way things work.
themule also made an interesting point, if a person only used this test as a guideline for newly created characters, it seems that it probably would be a bit more accurate. After all, someone that is new in town that walks in and states "I am a great mage! Where I come from people fear me and now I have come to take over Hydlaa with my super-magical waybread of dark doom!" would be showing some pretty serious Mary-Sue-ness and this is one of the reasons that the test has questions along the lines of, "Is your character a great ___?"
However, after a character has been RPed for awhile it actually becomes possible for a person's character to be one of the most respected/powerful mages, warriors, healers, etc. It just needs to be earned through RP. ;) For example, I don't think a character like Rongar would deserve a Mary-Sue point for being one of the realm's best fighters since that reputation was earned through RP/hard work, and isn't just some unfounded claim by a newbie that strolls into town. Same goes for a character like Nilaya, I don't think it is necessarily being a Mary-Sue to RP having expert healing abilities since those skills/reputation were earned through RP.
Maybe all of us are just using the test wrong to begin with by testing our long established characters, complete with already RPed experiences, instead of who they were back when they were first created and all our arguments are moot? :P
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Keep in mind that you have to take the character in context. Frodo and Harry Potter are fantasy characters, of course they are going be outlandish sounding in a test for a relatively "normal" story. Anything can be pulled off in the right context, but not every unique character fits in every context. So they may be a sue in another story but not in there own.
After reading everyone's post, I think it might be a good idea to only use the tests for stuff that you had made apart of the character from the beginning and not stuff influenced by others.
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I wanna know how I scored so fairly well on the test with blind guy who can still fight >.>
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Maybe all of us are just using the test wrong to begin with by testing our long established characters, complete with already RPed experiences, instead of who they were back when they were first created and all our arguments are moot? :P
That was exactly my point. It makes little sense testing book characters with all we know about them at the end of the book. If it was a good one, I expect something very interesting happened to the characters. :) The test makes sense on them at the beginning of the story. You'll see few are Mary-Sues from the start. The same applies to our chars here. Test their starting background, not what they became later by RPing.
Even Neo was 'average' (as far as he knew) at the beginning in 'The Matrix'. We have to draw a line, since we want to be all Neos here. That's the point, the RPing experience should be fun and interesting to everyone. We want to be heros, warriors, mages, hunters, leaders, kings... whatever. In the process, we'll earn some or many points of mary-sueness. Nothing wrong about that.
It think the test just stresses out that it's wrong entering the PS world as Neos from the start.
I don't think the point of the test is originality. I think the point is believability, and that is easily attained with a very 'average' background (in a way, that's the opposite of 'originality').
But from an average background you can grow a very original character.