"What is a Mary Sue?" you are probably asking right now. Well, this test will kind of tell you that. Take it, answering the questions for the character you have written/are thinking about writing. But remember, not every Mary Sue character is bad. Read the section at the end of the test for more about this.
This test was designed by Aimee and Katta based on the Mary Sue Test for the Gargoyles fandom. Links to that test are at the end of this test. Check them out...there is a lot more fun stuff on that page, even if you have never even heard of Gargoyles! Section 1: The Name Game
1. Is the character named after you? (This can be your first name, middle name, or the name you go by in chat or irc.) If so, stop now. Put your pencil (mouse?) down and turn in your test.[10] 2. Is the character's name an unusual spelling of a more common name or word?[1]
3. Is the character's name unusual in another way? 4.Does the character have a really cool name that you wish you had?[1]
5. Is the character's name in the title of the story?[5]
6. Does the character have more than one name? (i.e. a nickname or a pseudonym that you use to refer to the character)[1]
7. Did you spend more than a day looking for just the right name?[1]
8. Have you considered naming your pet or child the character's name[1]
Section 2 - Physical Attributes
1. Is the character the same gender as you?[1]
2. Is the character from the same racial group as you?[1]
3. Is the character a cross-breed of any other type? (i.e. multi-racial, multi-clan)[1]
4.Is the character a teenager or in her/his early twenties?[1]
5.Does the character look like s/he is a teenager or in her/his early twenties for no apparent reason?[2] 6. Is the character the age you would like to be?[1]
7. Is the character beautiful or roguishly handsome?[1]
8. Does one or more of the regulars find the character highly attractive?[1] 9. Does the character have an unusual eye color for no apparent reason?[3] 10. Does the character have really nice hair that you describe more than once, or on the first page?[1]
11. Does the character have an accent which you do not share?[1]
12. Is the character a female that dresses in men’s clothes? [1] 13. Does your first description of your character sound more like poetry than a police description? [1]
Section 3 - Personal Traits
1. Is the character the long-lost child or descendent or sibling or best friend of a regular or recurring character?[1] 2. Is the character related to another original character for whom you intend to write another story or even another series?[1]
3. Was the character adopted or did he/she otherwise live with people who were not his/her parents as a child?[1]
4. Is the character a child of one of the riders named Ike/Isaac, James/Jamie, Noah, Hunter, Rachel, Louise, or Emma? [1] (one point for each character)
5. Did the character have a tragic youth? (For this, read abuse, neglect, abandonment, sexual trauma, second or third-class cultural status, slavery, extreme poverty, forced criminality, or being the sole survivor of any calamity. In short, did you get any ideas from V.C. Andrews?)[3] (Add an extra point for rape or other sexual abuse.)
6. Does the character suffer from guilt about something terrible that s/he did in the past?[1] 7. Does the character share your religious beliefs?[1]
8. Did the character have an unusual birth?[1]
9. Does the character have a twin, a clone, or a sibling of the same gender?[2] 10. Does the character have a very good singing voice?[2] 11. Does the character do what you do for fun or profit? (This includes having the same job you have, or would like to have when you're older, or having a job that sounds like a lot of fun even though you know nothing about it. It can also mean RPing, computer programming, whatever.)[1]
12. Is the character royalty of any type?[3] 13. Does the character make more wisecracks than Cody?[1] 14.Does everyone end up liking the character (among the regulars you like)?[1]
15. Does the character just "know things" for no apparent reason?[2]
16. Do animals (especially fuzzy ones) instinctively like the character?[2] (Take away two points if the only animals that like the character are non-butterfly insects and crawly lizard-types.)
17. "Does the character have a deep relationship with Indian powers?"[1]
18. "Can the character speak to the dead?"[1] 19. "Does the character know signs?"[1] 20. "Was the character raised by Indians?"[1] 21. "Does your character ride better than the regular characters?" [1] 22. Does the character express opinions that are unusually progressive
for the time? [1] 23. "Is the character forced to commit a crime by a villain?" [1] 24. "Does the character leave the riders because an original villain
threatens harm to the riders if the character doesn't come with him" [1] Section 4 - The Love Connection
1. Does the character fall in love with and/or have sex with Kid and/or Jimmy and/or Buck [2] 2. Does the character fall in love with and/or have sex with another recurring character from the show?[1] 3.Does the character fall in love with and/or have sex with another original character?[1] 4.Does the story end with the character's wedding?[2] Section 6 - The Real World and Your Character
1. Would you like to be friends with the character if you met in real life?[1]
2. Do you think everyone who reads the story should automatically like the character and want to be friends with the character?[1]
3. If someone tells you he/she doesn't like your character, do you take it as a personal attack on you?[1]
4. Do you ever pretend, just to yourself, that you are the character, with the same strengths and abilities?[1]
Section 7 - The Fiendish Plot
1. Do you introduce the character on the first page of the story?[2]
2. Do you tell the story from the character's point of view, all or mostly?[1]
3. Does the character meet the riders, and after a few tense pages of plot, become friends with them?[2]
4. Does the character manage to develop a friendship with an otherwise villainous character, and through this friendship, reform the other character?[2] 5. Does the character save the day and/or another character's life?[3] 6. Does your character live happily ever after on a ranch owned by Kid, Lou & Buck?[1]
7. Does the character end up living at the bunkhouse/in town?[2]
8. Do you plan to write many more stories revolving around this character?[1] Possible Points: 171 (assuming some questions obviate the rest) Preliminary testing suggests the following basic scoring scheme: Okay, so you've taken the test, and the character in question has failed miserably. You're stuck with a conundrum: should you write this wonderful story you have in your head? How can you do it without your character? I can't answer that for you. There are plenty of wonderful stories out there with characters who fit an alarming number of these traits, and still manage to be excellent fiction with interesting characters. The authors in question knew what they were doing when handling a character of this type, and pulled it off well. On the other hand, there are a disturbingly large number of stories in the same places with very painful examples of the above in them. Some of them helped inspire the test. In the end, your own common sense must be the judge.
If you see too many traits in common with your own character, can you change the character accordingly? Does the character have to be, or look, sixteen? Can you tell the exact same story with just the regulars? (You'd be amazed how often a little imagination can make this work, sometimes with even better results. Try it.) Does the character have to save the day? Must he/she be such an integral part of the story? Can you use the character instead as a means of examining the reactions of the regulars (to something other than the character's demise)? Can you give the character a major flaw? (Being unable to sing is not a major flaw. Being socially inept can be a major flaw.)
I have one piece of advice to impart. When creating a new character, at his or her most basic level, the character will be human, because the author will be human. The audience will also be human, and will relate to the character on those terms. Yes, your character might have wonderful abilities, and that is fun to fantasize about having for yourself. At the same time, your character also has fears, and wishes, and dreams, and s/he will make mistakes, sometimes painful ones. Not everything your character does can be perfect and good. Humans don't work that way. We say stupid things sometimes, and get wrapped up in ourselves, and we step on the feelings of other people whether we mean to or not, and we laugh at dumb jokes, and we smell bad when we sweat, and we drool on our pillows.
If you really want to make an original character, give him or her bad habits, and good ones, and thoughts you don't necessarily share. Have the relationship not necessarily work out, especially right from the start. Even Kid and Lou didn't completely admit their feelings until they'd known each other for a while. First and last of all, be real. The fantasy will make itself.
Don't worry if you answer yes to a lot of questions. Most people will, no matter how original the character. If your answer is "yes" count it. If the answer is "basically yes, but" count it as a yes.
DO NOT NAME YOUR CHARACTER AFTER YOURSELF.
DO NOT NAME YOURSELF AFTER YOUR CHARACTER.
I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR EXCEPTION IS.(actually, the exception in the TYR fandom would be when you are actually writing yourself into a story, and this is made clear at the very beginning of the story)
A female with a male-sounding name?[1]
A name the character chose for him or herself, because s/he "didn't want to forget"?[1]
A noun or adjective not normally used for a name?[1]
For a magical or special scientific reason?[2]
That you plan on making a plot point later?[1]
Do other regulars see him/her as a threat because of this?[1]
Will this be a plot point later?[1]
Because she wants to [1]
To hide from some dark secret in her past [3]
Of Teaspoon? [1]
Of a rider [2]
Of Kid[1]
Who won’t tell his real name[3]
Of Rachel or Emma [1]
A child of theirs [3]
Any other relative [1]
Do the other characters eventually convince her/him that it was not his/her fault?[1]
About whom you plan on writing another story later?[2]
Or play a musical instrument amazingly well?[1]
The guitar or flute, for instance?[2]
Actually listened to the music yourself?[1]
That she/he does not originally know about?[3]
Because Cody is your favorite character?[1]
"To relatives of the riders?"[1]
"To Ike and/or Noah?"[2]
"Does this ability help the riders emotionally?"[2]
"For no apparent reason?"[2]
"Bond with Ike because of this?"[1]
"Bond with Buck because of this?"[1]
Break Horses? [1]
Shoot? [1]
Is the character female? [1]
Opinions you share? [1]
"A villain we have met before?" [1]
"Do the riders forgive him/her?" [1]
"Do the riders bring the character back?" [1]
Because you want to have sex with Kid and/or Jimmy and/or Buck?[1]
With whom you would like to fall in love and/or have sex?[1]
With whom you would like to fall in love and/or have sex?[1]
As for wedding: "Is it attended by more than one guest star"?[1]
"By a guest star that is supposedly dead?" (Anyone who throws in Ambrose is dead meat:)[1]
Is the villain in question Frank James or Jed?[1]
Does the villain become evil again after the character dies, but retain some last vestige of goodness from his/her interaction with the character, evidenced in one selfless action at the end of the story?[4]
Through magical/mystical/Indian Spiritual intervention?[1]
Through dying? [3]
Through almost dying?[2]
Does everyone go into mourning?[1]
Does s/he end up being alive by the end of the story? (ie: they just THOUGHT s/he was dead)[4]
Will s/he end up being alive in the sequel?[4]
"Does the character go to prison for the riders?"[1]
"And is rescued?"[1]
0-20 Developed character, unlikely MS.
21-30 Borderline character. Characters in this range are potential MS's, who can go either way dependent on the author's skill.
31+ Mary Sue/Gary Stu. Proceed with greatest caution.
40+ Reconsider your character and plot. Please.
The Orignal Mary Sue Test