Avoiding the Dreaded Mary Sue (or Gary Stu)
Firstly, you may be wondering what a Mary Sue is, as that's a term usually select to fandoms in which a canon character may be usurped by an abnormally superb interloper. In my opinion, Harry Potter in a Gary Stu. He is sparkly and nice and most everyone revolves around him.
According to Wiki: Typically, characters most commonly labeled as "Mary Sues" are set apart from others in the story by their unique and exceptional skills and traits. Mary Sues are extremely physically attractive, and their appearance may include an unusual "natural" hair or eye color. (Eyes may also be depicted changing colors according to time, place, emotion, or other causes.). Exotic names are not an unusual trait. They may be a race which is uncommon or unknown in the story's setting, or even a hybrid of two or more species. They may have unusual pets or magical possessions, often simply to increase their perceived specialness compared to the other characters.
Many Mary Sues have skills remarkably like the canon characters, often considerably more advanced than what would be expected of their age group in canon or the real world. These skills are usually received without need for practice or experience.
Tragic backgrounds are also common among Mary Sues, which frequently include family abuse or neglect. Mary Sue characters typically never display any of the dysfunctional psychological profiles often associated with tragic backgrounds. If these characters have flaws or limitations, they are either minor and/or endearing quirks (such as a fiery disposition), or yet another hardship for them to effortlessly overcome (e.g. paraplegia, depression, an eating disorder).
There are guidelines to a Mary Sue character to look out for, though most all of these are things are in bad taste and best to avoid anyway.
Physical Attributes. Anyone can have a physically magnificant character, and a lot of people do. It may be a fantasy game, but sometimes it's better to have something plain about your brain child. In a lot of clickies, people go on about how beautiful their characters are. In my experience, most of the people are either looking for cyber, just the regular perpetrators of the Mary Sue problem. Sometimes both.
Some people that I've talked to think that being modest about the character means making their character short, or maybe giving them some curves. Those traits definately are not shortcomings (pardon the pun). So try making their hair a bit fly-away, give them slightly uneven teeth, anything. Maybe even... gasp! A blemish. Trust me, the game is more interesting for everyone that way.
http://www.subreality.com/marysue/explain.htm
http://missy.reimer.com/library/marysue.html
According to Wiki: Typically, characters most commonly labeled as "Mary Sues" are set apart from others in the story by their unique and exceptional skills and traits. Mary Sues are extremely physically attractive, and their appearance may include an unusual "natural" hair or eye color. (Eyes may also be depicted changing colors according to time, place, emotion, or other causes.). Exotic names are not an unusual trait. They may be a race which is uncommon or unknown in the story's setting, or even a hybrid of two or more species. They may have unusual pets or magical possessions, often simply to increase their perceived specialness compared to the other characters.
Many Mary Sues have skills remarkably like the canon characters, often considerably more advanced than what would be expected of their age group in canon or the real world. These skills are usually received without need for practice or experience.
Tragic backgrounds are also common among Mary Sues, which frequently include family abuse or neglect. Mary Sue characters typically never display any of the dysfunctional psychological profiles often associated with tragic backgrounds. If these characters have flaws or limitations, they are either minor and/or endearing quirks (such as a fiery disposition), or yet another hardship for them to effortlessly overcome (e.g. paraplegia, depression, an eating disorder).
There are guidelines to a Mary Sue character to look out for, though most all of these are things are in bad taste and best to avoid anyway.
Physical Attributes. Anyone can have a physically magnificant character, and a lot of people do. It may be a fantasy game, but sometimes it's better to have something plain about your brain child. In a lot of clickies, people go on about how beautiful their characters are. In my experience, most of the people are either looking for cyber, just the regular perpetrators of the Mary Sue problem. Sometimes both.
Some people that I've talked to think that being modest about the character means making their character short, or maybe giving them some curves. Those traits definately are not shortcomings (pardon the pun). So try making their hair a bit fly-away, give them slightly uneven teeth, anything. Maybe even... gasp! A blemish. Trust me, the game is more interesting for everyone that way.
- Involvement. Your character, indeed, does not have to be the star of everything. Thankfully, not very people are guilty of this one.
- Powers and Attributes. Does your character have a stupid amount of power? Are they ancient for the sake of this power, yet rely on other's to lean on/do their bidding? Not good.
- If you've got it, flaunt it! Sit around in the tavern for a while, watch the actions of the folk in there. See how much interaction the characters who act with grace that would make Edwardian Royalty jealous, versus the "normal" folk, or better yet, somewhat clumsy, unrefined ones.
http://www.subreality.com/marysue/explain.htm
http://missy.reimer.com/library/marysue.html