Mary Sue Examples

But here's the thing they just use as an excuse to overpower these characters, give them traits and abilities they don't have, making them edgy and emo and making them all knowing.

The biggest example of this I have seen is Papyrus from Undertale.

In the original game he is lovable and enjoyable character. He makes mistakes but he always means well. He is naive, gullible and full of innocence. He works hard to become a royal guard and to try gain friends since he feels lonely. So when the time comes to stop a serial killer, he wants to stop them with words instead of using violence and obviously that gets him killed. He isn't aware of darker aspects in the underground like human corpses, science experiments and the timelines. So his brother and friends try to keep this knowledge away from him so he doesn't lose his innocence and for the most part they succeed.

In most fanfics, however he is apparently a god-like mary sue who knows everything about resets and the underground. He is emo and the nicest person at the same time so you "must" feel sorry for him apparently. He has better gaster-blasters than Sans, teleportation and in some fanfics he can even beat Omega Flowey with ease. This is a serious problem in the Undertale fandom. They took one of my favorite characters in Undertale and turned him into a cringeworthy Mary-Sue character.

Here's what these people don't seem to understand giving Papyrus all these traits and abilities he doesn't have is only making the situation worse. Its insulting to Papyrus' character. Similar to Deku from My Hero Academia, Papyrus works hard and trains for years to gain the abilities & skills he has. Giving him abilities he hasn't worked for or earned undermines all of that.

In some stories, likely inspired by an popular animation called Disbelief Papyrus. There have been several fanfics where Papyrus is in Judgement Hall instead of Sans. An interesting possibility for a story if done right. Sadly in most fanfics, it isn't. In most fanfics, Papyrus easily defeats Frisk/Chara with his godlike abilities. Apparently he only died all the other times because he was too "merciful". There are so many things wrong with that idea, that's it ridiculous. First off do you know who Chara fights before Judgement Hall besides Mettaton. Undyne the Undying, one of the most epic bosses in Undertale. Undyne comes back from the dead through sheer willpower and shows how determined monsters can be. Her determination and sacrifice making big impact on the player. So having Papyrus easily beat Chara with no effort is just insulting to everything Undyne stood for. She struggled over and over again to protect the underground after several years of training and preparation while Papyrus gets victory over Chara handed to him on silver platter with no effort or sacrifice. Having him beat up Frisk/Chara isn't cool. You are giving him victories he hasn't earned.

And don't even get me started on how ridiculous it is when people start having Papyrus defeat Omega Flowey with ease. So Omega Flowey a god tier character in Undertale with stats of 9999 across the board. Papyrus's HP is 680 with his attack & defence being 20. So obviously Omega Flowey should stomp right. Nope the fans declared Papyrus is god so in fanfiction Papyrus just outright one shots Omega Flowey. Usually after Sans & Frisk were easily defeated. Apparently in a shoe-horned attempt to make Papyrus look like a hero. Really people, really. First off that doesn't make Papyrus look heroic. It makes him look like a goddamn Mary Sue. Oh but Papyrus is sad that he had to kill Flowey so you should feel sorry for him. Nope that is incredibly bad writing. If anything these kinds of fanfics are really just an excuse for Papyrus fans to bash Sans and say "haha Papyrus beat Flowey and made Sans look weak". Its literally a glorified bashing fic. A confrontation between Papyrus and Flowey should be emotional and full of tension. Papyrus should be upset, feeling betrayed and disillusioned. This is someone he completely trusted, someone he thought was his best friend. It should be a moment where Papyrus learns that the world isn't as clean and happy as it looks. But no, no one wants to write a fic where Papyrus gets actual development. No instead Papyrus gets a cheap victory where he beats Omega Flowey with ease because fans want Mary Sue Papyrus. This is a textbook example of a completely unearned victory so the reader feels robbed since there is no tension, no development, no emotional moments. No, the fanfic has such a predictable and boring ending. Its just lazy writing.

He isn't using his own skills and ingenuity. No you are giving him god-like abilities out of nowhere. You know what would be really impressive. If you gave him the abilities he actually has so he can figure out clever solutions to his problems. Yes his abilities are limited but giving him Sans' traits and abilities makes Papyrus nothing more than rip-off. You aren't making him unique, you are making him a copycat of Sans. Have Papyrus learn and grow as a character. His ideals are flawed as well-intentioned as they might be. He has lot of room for growth and having him learn how to work around his limitations would make him for much interesting fanfic.

For example he struggles with using violence since he doesn't like hurting people. So that's a border he has to get over. His friends can help him get over his fears. He can create really large bones that possibly reach up several feet high, a trait completely unique to him. He has lots of stamina and physical training. Have him to plan around his strengths. And i mean his real strengths. Not abilities or traits that are ripped off Sans or made up. Now that would make him actually stand out. Have him actually earn those victories instead of making him into a mary-sue. However if you really don't like the idea of Papyrus changing his non-violence ideals fair enough. But don't make him out to be some ultimate warrior who could defeat anyone by blinking if he wanted to and can easily block or dodge any attack. He isn't and trying to make him into that kind of Mary Sue is just demeaning to the real Papyrus.

There is also Kairi. In a lot of stories they just randomly give her a keyblade much earlier than in canon and give her hundreds of abilities out of nowhere. They have Yen-Sid himself go all the way to the island to pick her up and teach her himself. You know, despite the fact Yen-Sid retired from keyblade wielding, he didn't show this same favour to Sora and Riku despite how important they are as heroes.

But no, the fandom demands Kairi must get special treatment and the literal red carpet to godhood. People I want to see Kairi joining the keyblade warriors just as soon as you do. But wow you are making the idea look cringeworthy. Sora and Riku worked hard through years of battle of experience. Having Kairi get handed down god like abilities on a silver platter with no effort is degrading to her character.

Mary Sue Syndrome

In canon, Naruto, Shirou and Ichigo's ideals of protecting others are admirable. They struggle, get beaten down and rise up again to protect the people they about. In fan made crossovers. This is ruined entirely. They go from the likeable characters that won hard fought battles through guts and determination to mary sues who win every battle with ease.

Examples of this trope:

A New Hero in a New Land

s/8273932/1/A-New-Hero-in-a-New-Land

Into the Realm of Magic

s/10585545/1/Into-the-Realm-of-Magic

A Magi's Tale

s/11054187/1/A-Magi-s-Tale

They turn likeable characters like Naruto, Ichigo and Shirou into dull and boring mary sues.

A Quincy's Fairy Tail

s/11682209/1/A-Quincy-s-Fairy-Tail

By comparison this story puts a lot of effort into introducing Bambietta into the new story and showing how she affects the ft universe. It shows how she struggles and adapts to the new universe. How everyone learns to cope with the new changes. That's how you make a good story.

Power Balancing

In most fanfic crossovers, Naruto is wanked to ridiculous levels and treated like a god while the main characters of the other series are pushed to the side and treated like fodder. In a crossover you have treat both series with respect. Otherwise its no different than a glorified petty bashing fic.

For example these two Naruto/Dragonball crossovers

Imperfection - s/8514514/1/Imperfection

What Lies Within - s/10120531/1/What-Lies-Within

Imperfection is a basically just another bland Naruto is overpowered fic whereas What Lies within uses a great premise. Having Naruto grow with Gohan. Developing his relationship with the Z fighters. Its pretty clear What Lies Within had a lot of effort and forethought put into it whereas Imperfection was just a rushed excuse to over-glorying Naruto with no real effort put into whatsoever.

You should focus on all the characters from both series and focus on developing their relationships. Not just wanking Naruto, Ichigo, Luffy or Shirou to ridiculous heights and making him out to be everyone's favorite guy. Then they are just a mary sue. You are ruining the characters and everything they stand for.

Series Bashing

I don't get why people make stories for sole purpose of bashing other series. e.g.

Beyond the Limits of Darkness and Light

s/12598617/1/Beyond-the-Limits-of-Darkness-and-Light

Fairy's Sin

s/11115730/1/Fairy-s-Sin

Redemption of the Dragon King

s/12487225/1/Redemption-of-the-Dragon-King

Escalation

s/10778150/52/Escalation

These fanfics are worst kind of stories you can write. There is literally no point to them. These horrible people are solely making these stories to bash another series.

The point of crossover is to make an exciting story between two different stories people enjoy. When you make a story solely just to bash a series. Then you are just wasting everyone's time. The story is worthless. There is no point to it. You aren't doing it to entertain people or for the sake of making a good story. You are literally just throwing a giant tantrum and wasting other people's time to do it.