Writing Meta and pimpage

[winter]

First of all, two points of interest. One: guede_mazaka wrote a bijou Sin City/Constantine crossover. Go and bother her to write some more. Two: temve, quite apart from being a very good writer, makes customized Qui-Gon figures that had me in stitches. Go and marvel.

But it’s not all fun and games in Beth’s head today...


The curse of Mary Sue

Any fanfiction reader worth their salt knows the basic way to tell Mary Sues from legitimate original characters (OCs). They’re perfect and have the same – or better – powers as the main characters. They are or become best friends, relatives or romantic interests of the main characters. The story revolves around them.

The case in point: Will to Act (working title), also known as the Darth Qui-Gon fic. And the fact it now has a cast of three original characters, all of them Sith and (ex)apprentices to either Qui-Gon or Dooku, and all of them at some moments driving the story forward. One’s even female – if she weren’t African-Corellian, a manipulative bitch and asexual, I’d have no hopes of escaping the Mary Sue bashers.

The problem is that they’re all needed. Will to Act is a large-scale retelling of AOTC and follows its dual narrative structure, so Qui-Gon has to take care of Obi-Wan’s quest. Dooku’s too busy on Geonosis to go chasing after Anakin and Padmé. And if there’s no-one to interfere there, that plotline will take its AOTC shape, which will be boring. Then there’s a large plothole in the end that needs a Sith Infiltrator to plug it up. This means at least two OCs are needed, plus a third for Obi-Wan’s emotional reasons.

Beyond that, each of the OCs serves as a foil for a canon character. Ador is a counterpoint for Anakin and Padmé, the one who puts strange and dangerous thoughts in their heads. Damay lets Qui-Gon and later also Padmé shine: he asks them questions and gives them opportunities to articulate their own thoughts. Est... okay, Est is a pain in the arse, but a cute one. And he’s got a total of three scenes so far, in one of which he gets Dooku to open up, which alone is worth keeping him.

My question: is this too much? I’m not afraid of original characters, but out of an eight-strong main cast three are OCs. I’m wondering if it’s worth it to get creatively invested in something people will dismiss as weak origific or Sith Mary Sues.

(Even though the Qui-Gon|Obi-Wan|Anakin dynamic I’ve got set up is absolutely delicious. With lots of manly touching, natch. Am thinking of pawning Padmé off on Ador and pushing these three into bed together.)

Comments

[imadra-blue.livejournal.com]

Hee! I think I am looking forward to this AU of yours. Seriously.

And no, I don't think it's too much. I had to create three new villains for my WIP. I can say with some confidence none of them are Sues/Stus (though I am not so arrogant to say they're good OCs, just that they're not Sues/Stus). All three were necessary to the plot, and play off against the canon characters. As long as your OCs are there to bolster and help the canon characters shine, I think they're great additions. I love OCs.

Take the EU book, "Shatterpoint" by Matthew Stover, for example. I consider the EU to be published fanfiction. So their OCs are as closely scrutinized as ones I see fanfic. And in Shatterpoint, Stover has brilliant OCs. Chalk, a fierce girl with a larger gun. Nick Rostu, a young, smart-ass Han Solo-type. Kar Vastor, a vicious, snarling wild villain. I love them all, they help make Mace WIndu and Dep Billaba shine in the story. I especially like Nick. OCs are a good thing when done right.

So write what you think is necessary to the story, just be careful not to get carried away. And good luck. :D

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

Original characters who are *villians* should be interesting, while original characters who help the hero should just not be allowed to steal the spotlight.

Let Padme shine. She was still gutsy and sharp in AotC, even if Lucas can't write dialogue to save his life. I know that people like to slash Obi-Wan/Anakin, but really, Anakin has been fixated on her since he was *nine*; if he's going to be chasing Obi-Wan, it will be in addition to chasing Padme, not instead of chasing Padme.

[kyrre.livejournal.com]

I am so curious :) Eight characters are not too much as long they have each enough room for development. The question I ask myself if there is another existing character who can take over their plot tasks without much fuss. If yes, the particular character needs more depth or they should be merged.

[fyrie.livejournal.com]

Original Characters are definitely more than welcome in any story. If you need them, go fo it :) I trust you enough as a writer to definitely write non-Sue OCs :)

[shisakura.livejournal.com]

I guess it all depends on whether you can get the reader to like those OCs of yours and want to know more about them or not :x

[kiraboshi.livejournal.com]

There have been several fics or novels I've read with main OCs that help drive the plot that I've liked. I think you're going in the right direction -- if you develop them and give them a legitiment reason for being there, then they won't take over as mary sues tend to do. I'm reminded of Kit Fisto in The Cestus Deception -- he was an OC that drove half the book, but was enjoyable because him being there made sense.

Have I? I, too, always worry that OCs are becoming mary sues and often over-question their existance.

[atheva]

Having not read any of the other comments posted in response to this (yet), I would say that it's not too much. A well-written OC can be equally beloved as a canon character. OCs are, as you mentioned, also good for getting things done and plots moving that the canon characters are too busy or otherwise unable to do. Personally, I rather enjoy OCs.

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

I think 3 OCs is pushing it, but as long as you validate their existence in the plot it should read fine.

Be careful of the opposite of that: where an OC feels like it was created for the sole purpose of speaking one line or solving one plot knot.

If your fic is of reasonable length, you shouldn't encounter any of the above problems. I don't say write it well because I know how you write^_~

[merentha.livejournal.com]

Mary-Sues are reviled because they break canon, and I think the main issue with Sith OCs is that they invariably break canon. You know, something about having two Sith lords at any one time, and here you have three. My interpretation of SW is that a Sith doesn't just appear out of the blue but that the Sith Master has to groom his choice of pupil to be the next Sith lord. You'll need a good explanation why there are spare Siths running around the galaxy.

Anyhow, I think it's possible to have evil manipulative OCs in Star Wars canon without making them Siths as well, but that's your choice as the writer.