How to Test:
1. Read through the questions, and score one point for every 'yes'
(unless otherwise stated).
2. Be hard. If in doubt, chose yes. Don't try to argue (Hmm...kinda
yes, but it's only in there because...), simply chose yes.
3. Draw into account every story the character is in, including those
you haven't written yet, but thought about.
4. If you want to test several of your original characters, score each
of them seperately.
I - At First Sight
1. Is the character female?
2. Is the character named after you? (Your first name, middle name,
nickname, or msg board name?)[Score two points if msg board name
applys.] Side note - if you answer 'yes' here, your character is a
Mary Sue. But continue with the test to find if he/she is a
problematic one. :-)
3. Does the character have a name you wish you had?
4. Did you spend more than one day looking for just the right name?
5. Have you considered naming your pet the character's name?
6. Does the character have the same ethnic background as you?
7. Is the character beautiful?
8. Does the character have unusually colored eyes?
9. Does the character have your color of eyes and/or hair?
II - Where've you been, kid?
1. Is the character the sibling/cousin/childhood friend of one of the
cannon characters?
2. Is your character the child of a cannon character?
*double points if its Jean-Claude's or Asher's
*Triple points if its the love child of Anita or Edward.
3. Is you character related to Van Cleef?
4. Is your character older then Mr. Oliver?
5. Is your character thousands of years old but NOT a vampire?
6. Is your character from Anita's future (like her daughter come back
to warn her about some terrible evil)?
7. Does your character not know where he/she's from because of amnesia?
9. Is he/she originally from a rich family?
10. Is he/she the only survivor of some catastrophe (train
wreck/fire/sinking ship/vamp attack/were attack/spainish
inquisition/french revolution) and left all alone in the world?
11. Is he/she the leader of anything, like the Queen of Nightmare's
personal guard, Dolph's replacement, a coven of witches, a new
pard/pack or other lycanthrope group new in town?
12. At the beginning of your story, is the character found beaten up
in an alley and brought to the Circus by a concerned were?
13. Is the character from France? Has the character ever been to
France? Or is planning to go there soon?
III - Able was I ere I saw Mary
* Can the character... (score one point for every 'yes'):
1. ...roll Anita?
2. ...has a more seductive voice then Jean-Claude?
3. ...a quicker draw then Edward?
4. ...shift one part of their anatomy at a time like Richard?
5. ...raise zombies and vampires...like a necromancer?
6. ...raise more zombies in one night then Anita can?
7. ...sing really well?
8. ...play an instrument?
9. ...write/recite poetry/prose?
* Does the character have... (score one point for every 'yes'):
1. ...a superb education?
2. ...a natural talent to talk to everyone and win their
trust?
3. ...a weapon Edward's never used?
4. ...any kind of supernatural ability besides being a Vampire or
lycanthrope? [Score two points if 'yes' here.]
5. ...some kind of talent/special ability that saves the day
in your story?
6. ...'connections', meaning he/she has a relationship with
anyone which saves the day in your story?
IV - You and Your Character
1. Do you think you'd be friends with the character if you met in real
life?
2. Do you think everyone who reads the story should automatically like
the character and want to be friends with the character?
3. If someone told you he/she doesn't like your character, would you
be offended? (Be honest!)
4. Is your character extremely good at something you'd like to be good
at, too?
5. Do you ever pretend, just to yourself, that you are the character,
with the same strengths and abilities?
6. In writing, when trying to decide how your character'd react to a
situation, do you think "What would I do?" more than "What would
she/he do?" ?
V - Love is All Around Me
1. Does the character become Jason's, Shangda's, Jamil's, Richard's,
Asher's, Jean-Claude's girlfriend?
2. Another character's?
3. Who is your favorite, or one of your favorites?
4. Do they marry in your story?
5. In a sequel (even if it's not written yet)?
6. Do they have children?
7. Does the character at the beginning of the story hate the
person/were/vamp she ends up loving?
8. Does the character have a hard time deciding which of two or more
cannon character she wants? (Exculding Stephen and Gregory if they are
the two)
9. Do you have more than one original character in one story, and they
become the girlfriends of several cannon characters?
10. Does the character think the Cannon character she loves would
never love her back?
11. Though he actually loves her all the time?
VI - What's Going On?
1. If you're honest, would you say that there is actually no
compelling reason in your plot why whatever your new character does
couldn't have been done by one of the original movie characters?
2. Does the character safe anyone's life? Or freedom (e.g., hide them
from a pack of roving were-hyenas)?
3. Does one fo the cannon characters save your character's life or
freedom?
4. Do the were/vamp/other and the character he saved/was saved by end
up as a couple?
5. Does your character become a close friend of the pard/pack/kiss?
6. Is your character a were/vamp, or does he/she become one during the
course of the story, or will in a sequel?
8. Is the character the main person of your story?
9. Is the story, or big parts of it, told from the character's point
of view?
10. In the first person? (Example: "I became a vampire shortly after
the the fall of rome...")
11. Is he/she introduced on the first page?
12. Does your character hate Anita, and do the pack/pard/Circus group
(or most of them) clearly like your character more than they like Anita?
How to Interpret Your Scores
To be entirely honest, I don't know for sure myself. The scoring is
still in the experimenting stage. If you want to help, I'd be really
grateful if you'd send me your character's score (plus the information
where I can read your story) at yamxx@t-online.de. (Also, if you have
suggestion for changes/additional questions, please send them.) I ran
several characters I know through it, and asked some friends to take
the test for me, but of course this can only give an idea. Nothing
written in stone yet. The basic rule, though, remains: The higher your
score, the more you must be sure you know what you're doing.
0 - 15 Developed character, probably no Mary Sue
16 - 20 'Mary Sueish' tendencies, could go either way.
21 - 28 Dangerous waters, kid. You sure you know what you're doing?
29 - 38 Are you absolutely sure? Really? You must be good to pull
this off !
39+ Find another way to tell the story. Please.