Character Creation

Characters are the foundation of role playing. If you don’t start strong in this stage of writing, then your role plays might just crumble into crap. Thus, I have put a lot of focus on the characters in the first half of this guide. Firstly, this is NOT the Character Policies and Guidelines thread. If you're new you should go there first. This is just a suggestion and advice thread.

I also suggest that you read Fairess’s Navi’s LISTEN!!! Thread, which is also about character creation/profiling. It’s also a good idea to look around at other characters in the EH to get some good ideas, as well as learning what are not good ideas. Don’t ever think that this is a noob/newbie thing to do. I still do this when I’m creating a new character. So feel free to look at any of the characters of the Councilors and any seasoned EHer’s around the block. Even some newbies have been coming out with good stuff lately.

Remember that to RP in the Escapists’ Haven you must have an approved character. Go to the Character Policies and Guidelines to see what is required for approval and then come back here for more advice.

One other thing I would like to mentioned before we dive into this: by rule of thumb, the stronger and more powerful and more skilled your character is the longer and more detailed the profile needs to be. You can't half-ass it because a Councilor will come along to approve it and tell you to add more details. This is to prevent intentional or unintentional godmoding. Not only that, but it's really helpful to anyone you may RP with.

So, if you're new RPing, I suggest starting with a weaker character just to make things simpler for you on your first few characters. Once you've seen other profiles and get the hang of this character thing, then it'll be easier to make more powerful characters. Not only that, but it isn't required for your character to be a battle character. We have combat and non-combat RPs here. So it's perfectly fine to make a character that would be useless in a fight.

Here is a basic template for a character and what you can do to start strong:

Name: Okay, the thing to avoid here are variations of your name, nickname, screen name, or any other name that has been applied to you. Not only is this done often, but it also implies self-insertion.

Avoid ordinary names that are spelled or changed to be more unusual. This has been done. A lot. Really, sometimes ordinary names are just better because no one uses them anymore. You don’t have to go out of your way to make it more interesting and unique. Boyish sounding names chosen for a girl have been done as well. Maybe try a girlish sounding name for a boy instead

Avoid using nouns and verbs not normally used for names, especially if they are related to nature, a weapon, a gemstone, darkness, or something mystical—spelled normally or not.

Avoid it being something your character chose for themselves or chosen specifically because you thought it had an appropriate meaning for your character, or taken from another fandom from a character that you liked.

However, if any of this is considered normal for the world, time, place, or ethnicity of your character, go on ahead. The point here is mostly to not go out of your way to make your character interesting and unique. You might notice that the things I have listed here come directly from the Mary Sue Test. The test is usually a good way to know how to avoid a Mary Sue just by looking at the questions it asks.

Nickname/Alias/Title: Don’t go out of your way to make up a kool nickname for your character. I’d even encourage you put a nickname that is not entirely flattering. We don’t all receive nicknames that we like. The same is for aliases and titles. Don’t make up a kool and unique title and then add something in their history so that it makes sense. Write the history first, and then if a title is called for, put it here.

Age: Do not be afraid to create a child or a senior (seniors who are 10,000 years old but look 17 do not count). They’re actually pretty interesting to do. Most people don’t want to do anything outside the teens to around thirty. This is either because it is not close enough to their own age or too old or too young to be sexy. Again, this is not about self-insertion. Nor is this about having an attractive character. Life does not stop being interesting after thirty! Kids are not just the end results of mom and dad loving on each other! My advice: get less shallow and think outside the box.

Don't make your character older than it needs to be and make sure you play your character according to its age. I’ve seen a lot of people do “10,000-700-years-old but looks 17”. The problem with this Mary Sueism is that people still play the character like they are still 17-years-old in mind as well. Here’s something to consider about that:

Originally Posted by Drammor

If I think about all of the things that have changed me over the years, and turned me into who I am now, and then recognize that most of those changes have only been in effect since I was 5, when I was still sheltered by the protection of my parents, and have only increased in frequency since I was 16, and therefore out of their protection, then I must logically realize that between now and 28 years from now, I will experience no less than as many changes as I have until this point. Some of those previous changes were pretty heavy, too.

There's just... no such thing as a year that goes by without impacting your life. That's why I have a hard time believing in characters who are 500 years old and haven't figured out how to pay their taxes, yet.

They must have gotten bored somewhere along the line, right?

And if you've been alive for ... heck, 10,000 years, give or take, then how experienced would you have to be, and how much stuff would you have amassed? How long would you have to live before you had collected everything you wanted to, and how long would it be before you got bored of those things and decided to replace them? How many times would you have gotten depressed and started over from scratch?

To summarize, more years means more experience, more growth, and more change emotionally as well as mentally. Just because the body stops doesn’t mean the head does too. So if you are going to do this, consider how you should play a character that has lived for so long and how this has affected their personality and behaviors, and more than just having an excuse to for them to have a ton of powers and abilities of epic proportions.

Race: If you pick your character to be a race like a Goron or a Deku Scrub, it’s pretty easy to avoid the Mary Sue issue. It’s easy because they are not really attractive to humans like us. It’s also harder to self-insert because they are not human-like, and more alien and harder for you to relate to.

However, a Mary Sue tendency here is to have some kind of cross-breed or hybrids of more than two races, and of very unusual kinds. They also tend to have all the strengths and none of the weaknesses of the races. Or they tend to be a genetically, scientifically, cybernetically, or magically altered/enhanced being with amazing powers and abilities.

Sex: Not a big issue, obviously, and it’s always fun to make a character the opposite sex of yourself. Though, the tendency here is also to make them attractive and the ideal lover. Try to avoid that.

Hair and Eye Color: Strange hair and eye colors can be fine, as long as they are considered normal for their world, time, place, and ethnicity. Again, try not to go out of your way to make them interesting and unique.

Height and Weight: The only issue here is finding the realistic measurements for the kind of physic you want your character to have. Firstly, consider that muscles weigh more than fat. So if your character is slim but athletic and rippled with muscle, they may weigh more than you think a slim person would. Here are some tools to help you calculate accurate measurement in both types of units: one for men and one for women. For safer measure, I would research more about body types.

I also suggest providing the units for both types, as in kilograms vs pounds and centimeters vs inches/feet. The tools above can also convert these measurements for you and you can keep the metric unit you are not familiar with in parentheses. Not all of us use the same metric units, and when I see 60 kg I go “I don’t know what it means!!!” because I’m an American, and I wasn’t paying attention in school when they went over both types of units in relation to each other.

Also consider race in this factor. A Goron is probably going to be pretty heavy and big. You can still use the tools above to see what a normal person would weigh as a starting point to figuring out the dimensions of your non-human character. I encourage you to research if need be for characters based off animals and other things. Researching can be your biggest ally in making a character.

Appearance: I feel like I’m beating a dead horse with this one.

While attractive characters can be okay, because there are attractive people in the real world as well, most people just go overboard with it. They want all their characters to be sexy and hot. Try to avoid being attracted to your character and making them into your ideal sex partner. Try to avoid making them exceptionally cute, beautiful, or handsome.

Try to avoid scars or other small flaws that do not actually take away from their sexy appearance (perhaps even enhances it). Also, if your character has been in a lot of action and combat, it would not make sense for them to not have any noticeable scars to show for it. Unless, they have good reason for it, such has magical healers. Try not to forcibly input magical healers just so they can still have a fabulous body.

Try not to pick their clothes from your own wardrobe. This again, implies more self-insertion. Also avoid clothes you wished you owned or you wish you could wear in public. Try to avoid clothes that are specially chosen to make even more eye-candy out of your character. Or even more badass and stylish. This includes clothing that is realistically impractical or improper for the character’s situation.

Don’t be afraid to make an ugly character, or even an overweight character. Buckteeth, thick bottle-like glasses that make their eyes look magnified. They don’t even have to be particularly ugly or particularly attractive. Plain Jane’s. Or maybe your male character is a complete shortie and he has a complex because of it. It’s also preferable that they stay this way. No magical beautifying just so that you can get turned on by thinking about how hot they are.

I usually like to start with the head of my character in description, then move to their body, describing their physic, and then to their clothes and how they might wear their weapons on their person. If you have a picture of your character, please still act as if no one can see it and still give a summary of your character’s appearance in words as well. Most Councilors will ask for this.

And about the head and face, something I’ve seen a lot of people do, is just slap a description of hair style, eye color, apparent age, and “they’re very attractive” and that’s it. I know facial descriptions can be hard. Believe me, I know, that’s something I always struggle with when I’m making a character. It’s really important though to give us your best description of what their face really looks like. Heart-shaped? Oval? Strong square-like jaw? Androgynous features? Large forehead? Thick plump lips? Big ears? Round ears? Pointy ears? High cheek bones? Thick bushy eyebrows? Or very thin? How close are the brows to the eyes? Do they have big and innocent looking eyes? Or narrow and thin? Consider these features in detail when you’re writing your character’s appearance.

I, again, suggest that you read Fairess’s thread. She does a wonderful section on the appearances of characters. I will even use an excerpt from her thread because I know of no better way to say it:

Originally Posted by Fairess

In your browsing of other’s and your own characters, you’ve probably come to understand that appearance is one of the most important details for you and other RPers to know. Without it, there is no outward appearance accurate enough for other characters to find any meaning or value in.

Sensory Details: My comment here is not that I think most profiles are lacking in this area. While some are certainly far more detailed and valuable than others, they all serve the purpose of giving the reader a rough picture to form in their mind. My problem is that that’s all I see, a picture.

Have we forgotten that there is more than one human sense? There are in fact five: sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste. I see characters painstakingly described in the visual sense— I can picture their hair, clothes, and shoes, but I can’t smell them. I can’t hear what their voice might sound like, what their skin might feel like. I don’t know how my character should react to yours because I don’t know if they smell like a ripe monkey or a pungent flower. I don’t know if their voice is generally gruff or strangely soft.

Don’t underestimate the power of touching all of the senses. The more variety you have, the more detail and significance your character will have, and you will also provide other RPers with more deep, subtle details to cue reactions with. Even auras are significant: the kind of presence your character has due to magic or general abilities. We also have A LOT of aura sensers in the EH, and providing such detail (not just about how your character can hide their aura) will also allow other characters to perceive them at greater depths.

Implicit and Explicit Details: Now, this isn't a particularly awful issue that I see in profiles, but it is an issue nonetheless. It's somewhat bothersome to read profiles that blatantly state what you as the reader ought to interpret from the character. Take a look at this:

In those four separate sentances, I have managed to tell you absolutely nothing about Mary Sue. Instead, I have told you everything that I think your characters should think of her. Instead of listing details and leaving it for you to interpret and think about, I have blatantly ordered that Mary Sue be seen this way. If you were, in fact, to do an RP with this Mary Sue, about the only thing you'd be able to describe her as is... well, HOT.

What is HOT? Is hot being thin, or having voluptuous curves? Is a character beautiful if they are tall or short? Are blue eyes that sparkle prettier than green eyes that gently glow? What colors are the actual clothes that the character is wearing? What kind of clothing is it? What does all of this tell about the character in general?

This is where the difference between implicit and explicit details begin. An implicit detail is one carefully placed within the character profile, which says nothing as to whether or not the subject is "attractive," but provides the story behind what actually makes them that way. If I give you a list of small, intimate details that are meaningful to the character, suddenly you have a lot more material to work with. Your character can decide for themself whether they like the sparkling blue eyes or soft, peachy skin. Maybe they're a green skinned alien that thinks human hair is absolutely hideous. Whatever the case, it is no buisness of mine to tell you how my character is. My job is to provide the details that will lead you and your own characters to their own conclusions.

Explicit details are empty. Coming up directly and simply stating what I think will make for a very vauge character. Little details like the fabric the clothing your character wears can be significant. For instance, it doesn't make sense for a peasant to be waring a silk dress around, does it? Nor does it make sense for a 12th century character to be wearing a white T-Shirt. Take the time to put things into context, to consider the world your character lives in. Tiny, implicit details like this will serve to tell the story of your character, as well as provide a firm base for other characters to build an understanding of them.

I have provided a list to help with clothing items that will better match medieval context:

Bodice- part of a woman's dress above the waist
Breeches- trousers ending above the knee
Coif- men's small, close fitting cap
Fouriaux- woman's silk sheath to cover hair that has been coiled or put up.
Girdle- a band of material around the waist and strengthens a skirt or trousers
Jerkin- a tight sleeveless and collarless jacket
Kirtle- knee-length tunic, or long dress worn by women
Smock(frock)- An outer garment (generally a dress) traditionally worn by rural workers (also attributed to females)
Tunic- any of a variety of loose fitting cloaks extending to the hips or knees (wordnetweb.princeton.edu)

There are many, many more specific clothing items to that time period- this is just to give a general overview. While you can get away with using things as vauge as "shirt," "pants," and "dress," do remember that the more detailed and specific you are, the more depth your character will have. And you are also welcome to add more items to this list ^^

Meaning: The more meaning you can apply to a character through the use of detail, the more profound their interactions will be with other characters. If I come out and blatantly tell you each physical characteristic of my character, you'd be able to easily picture them-- then promptly forget. Attaching meaning, history to the attributes of a character will make them deeper and more memorable. Take a look at this example:

If you look closely, you'll find that this sample of Khaz's profile not only provides a great deal of detail, but also a great deal of meaning. From this, we can draw that Khaz is athletic because he has recieved training as a warrior. These past battles, however, leave no trace on him because he was around healers like his sister when he lived with the Gerudo. Because of this, we see that his past directly affects his current body, and that even in his physical traits, there is a history. Details like this serve to tell you why Khaz is the way he is and how he lives and mantains that life. That means you've got a lot more material to use as your character interacts with him. How much more different would that be if Shrub had included only that Khaz was lean and athletic?

Weapons and Armor: I’m going to list some Mary Sue traits here. Yes, a weapon and armor can be Mary Sueish:

• Passed down by a parent or trainer.
• Given by some kind of spirit/magical being/means.
• Magical
• Unusually ornate and decorated
• From a different time, culture, or country than your character
• BFS: Big Fancy Sword. Often seen in Final Fantasy games.

Not all of these are bad things. That’s often an element of RPG’s, finding a magical weapon or shield or suite of armor during some quest and adventure that adds to your character’s combat abilities. It’s simply better to develop and gather these kinds of weapons and armor as you RP, rather than starting out with it. It’s more interesting and it’s more fun to write.

If your character is going to have a BFS, at least try to be realistic about it. It needs to either be made out of a material that is unusually light or your character must be a magical creature or magical enhanced person to be able to wield such a big thing. Some times both.

If your character must have a magical weapon or armor, please give detailed descriptions of the exact abilities of their powers and the exact limitation of their powers. If you have not been descriptive enough, a Councilor will ask you to add more. This is to prevent intentional or unintentional godmoding.

Besides the Mary Sue stuff, I, again, highly suggest researching weapons and armor. Just plug it into the Wikipedia and learn more so that you can describe it accurately and realistically. This helps add more depth and more visuals for the weapon/armor. Please include its dimensions.

If it is just a normal arming sword, plug it into Wiki and it’ll tell you the average dimensions for an arming sword. Include how long it is in a whole, and then how long the hilt is and then how long the blade is. Please also include both metric units so that everyone can understand how long and how wide it is. Don’t forget weight too. That’s something I often forget with my characters. Weigh influences how easily they are able to move around with their weapon. Length can also contribute to how much finesse it takes to wield a very long weapon, even if it is light and thin. Unusual shape and design of a weapon is also important to its usage.

If you have a picture of the weapon and armor, act as if no one else can see it and give a summary of its appearance.

Carried Possessions and Other: Here we go again with the Mary Sue list to start is off:

• Animal companions such as a wolf, bird of prey, big cat, or mystical creature (normal ones like dogs and cats don’t count)
• Instrument: guitar, harp, or flute of some kind
• Unique trinket that is magical and/or protects them from some kind of weakness, or has some kind of special significance (necklaces and other jewelry often passed down from parents or mentors)

This section can also include other kinds of helpful tools for the character. If so, be sure to describe them in good detail and give a good description of what it can do and what its limits are. Limits and good detailed descriptions of the tool’s exact capabilities are key. Councilors love that. Mostly because it’s very helpful for when other people read your profile and perhaps they need to know how this tool works exactly to be accurate with their responding post. This also helps prevent intentional or unintentional godmoding, as stated before and stated again for truth. So if yours is lacking description, a Councilor will most likely ask you to add more.

Here’s a good example:

Originally Posted by Drammor in Omentus Anima

Artifacts
Ash Doubter: This is an object more commonly referred to as a candle snuffer. It has a smooth wooden handle, a long, dark gray iron neck, and a pair of branches that reach off the end of the doubter. One of the branches curves into about a 90 degree angle and has a clapper-less bell attached to its end, which is used to snuff out flames by placing the bell over them. The other branch points in the opposite direction of the bell and is ended with a wick that is lit and used to light candles. There's a sliding button near the handle of the doubter that is used for pushing out or pulling in the doubter's wick by up to an inch.

The Ash Doubter's magic allows it to extinguish any fire the doubter's bell is cupped over, no matter of whether or not the fire is mundane or magical in nature, and the entire flame need not be so cupped. If the doubter extinguishes a fire spell in this way, then the wick can be lit and imbues the next candle lit with it with the power and effect of that spell, one of two ways, either the spell's effect is stretched out over the course of the candle's duration, or the spell is cast when the last of the candle's wick is burned. At any time, it can be commanded to forcefully expel a cone of warm ash and cinders from the doubter's bell, which varies in size based on how much fire the doubter has snuffed out since the last time it was commanded to gout ashes.

A good description of what it looks like and what it can do. It can be hard to tell sometimes if these are weapons or just tools. I think if it is not your character’s main weapon and if it has several other uses of non-violent means, then it should be placed here.

Now onto creatures and animal companions that may follow your character. Depending on how much they can do or how intelligent or magical they are, you can add a mini profile within your character’s profile. Otherwise you can just do a little description of them. For example:

Originally Posted by Drammor in Omentus Anima

Mockeries of Science and the Natural Order: Omentus is skilled in the art of fusing together two or more different species of creatures from the natural world into twisted animals of his own creation. He can also simply change the natural shape and function of a creature's body to a certain extent, and also its mind. He has practiced these magicks in order to produce his sword, shield and armor, as well as a few things that have yet to be mentioned. The creatures whose names are marked with an asterisk and detailed below are usually kept in vials of crystal glass and iron, which are physically too small to contain the vast numbers or size of creatures that are within them, but Omentus has magically augmented the vials to allow for this sort of storage without causing the death of a vial's occupants. He has done nothing, though, about the pain that would be associated with being crammed into such a tiny space.

Guren Hawks*
These insects are crossed between a tarantula hawk (a type of blue wasp with red wings that kills tarantulas to implant their eggs in them) and a box jellyfish. They appear much as tarantula hawks do, but for being covered in a light blue coat of jelly, with tentacles hanging down between their each of legs. They are about two inches and their tentacles can be as long as three inches. They can both fly and swim, and store bubbles of air in sacs to breath with when they go underwater. They attack other creatures by stinging them with their tentacles, biting them and stabbing them with their stingers. The poison of their stinger causes horrible pain that has been described as, "Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair drier has been dropped into your bubble bath."

Guren Hawks are usually in groups of two to eighteen dozen when first released from one of Omentus' vials, and tend to angrily swarm the first thing within five feet of them before moving on to anything else nearby. They are especially resistant to fire and heat, but cold makes them sluggish and eventually fall dormant with freezing. If guren hawks are allowed to live in the natural world, they search out temperate to jungle regions and cities to build colonies near bodies of water, and have a hierarchy that consists of a queen, hunters and workers. They eat fish and small animals.

Powers/Magic/Skills: The EH is known for having a soft spot for powerful characters. So as long as they are given enough vulnerabilities and distinct limitations to their powers, magic, and abilities, then they will be approved by a Councilor. Though it is rather over done, thus a Mary Sue trait. The only Mary Sue-ing not allowed here is that which allows godmoding. You are not allowed to bend the limits of their powers here to make a fight go in your favor, or simply to make your character less vulnerable and more of a hero (for bending limitations to save another character or NPC). You must abide by the rules and limitations you have set for your character.

The character policies thread already gives a description of what you need here:

Powers/Magic/Skills: - Be pretty with details and explanations. List your character's current special abilities, be they magic or fancy sword styles. Where do the powers come from? Were they inherited, self taught, maybe forced upon your character? What do they look like in action? If your character doesn't possess any spells or other stuff we should know about, leave N/A here. If you plan on introducing magic/other special power to your character at a later point, please make a note here. Also make sure to include:
Limits: - What are the limits to your character's powers? How often can he/she use them, will they need to recharge afterwards and for how long? What's the reach of the power? All powers must have some sort of limit.
Side-Effects: - Visible aspects of your character's power, or other side effects. For example, a fire mage having a higher body temperature than normal, or a werewolf having yellow eyes even when not transformed. Be creative.

If there are not enough limitations and details given, a Councilor will ask you to provide more before approval.

The only other Mary Sue thing to mention here is the self-taught, the learning of abilities that should take your character years to master but is done in days, and being unusually talented at young ages. More on this in History/Biography. If taught these things in a school of combat of some kind, they are usually the top of their class. They also tend to be masters in skills and magics of several different areas. This can be known as Barbie Doll syndrome.

It is not really required to start out with a weaker character, but it does make it interesting to develop and grow your character’s abilities as you RP in the Crossroads and Battle Arena. If you start with a developed and strong character, please give a reasonable history for them being so talented and possessing amazing abilities and magic. Keep in mind it’s really hard to be a master of something you taught yourself, especially when at young ages. If it must be self-taught, at least give it a good long time of teaching yourself, and perhaps allow for them to not be considered masters without farther help from real masters and mentors.

And now here’s another example of a nicely described power/magic:

Originally Posted by Drammor in Omentus Anima

Seromancy: (Still working on it) A specialized form of magic with effects closely relating to blood, life, souls and biology. Seromancy spells are typically unusual but powerful in nature, being not completely straightforward or having restrictions on them not found in normal spellcraft. Seromancy magic is divided into three categories, based on the ease of casting and mana requirements. These categories are sorceries, spellcraft and thaumaturgy. Sorceries are like spell-tricks - they require very little mana, simple casting methods and their uses are very restricted but applicable in many situations. Seromancy spellcraft is the meat of the magic, being the actual spells cast by practitioners of the art - Bloodstar and Wound Transfer are both seromancy spells. Thaumaturgies are freeform ritual magics capable of a very wide range of things that the caster need not know about in great detail, which often require a lot of time to cast and have heavy mana costs attached to them, and are also limited by the possibility of spell failure. When a seromantic thaumaturgy fails, it may either fizzle and do nothing, do something other than intended, or explode violently.

Sorceries:
Bind Hellsoul
Mana Cost: 3
With this highly powerful sorcery, the seromancer plucks a tortured soul out of the Hells and instills it into their own body. As the hellsoul takes root, the seromancer's skin pales into ghostly white, while their veins turn black and stand out from the skin in a stark visual contrast. The caster's eyes turn a deep crimson color, which constantly and slowly weep silver tears until the hellsoul is unbound. To cast, the Bind Hellsoul sorcery requires the seromancer to trace a symbol of profane power on any solid surface.

While a hellsoul is bound the to seromancer, s/he becomes inured to all forms of physical, mental and spiritual pain, making them difficult to deter with mere force. Additionally, the caster gains a terrible endurance, able to be standing (and fighting) when other men would already be very dead. Finally, the hellsoul binder becomes immune to mind-affecting enchantments and charms.

Spellcraft:
Bloodstar
Mana Cost: 5
Omentus draws a dart-like construct of blood out of any fresh source, usually an open wound or syringe. The ‘star’ is about two inches long, the blood’s color and sharp on its edges. When cast, the star flies free of its caster and harasses a single target, inflicting small cuts on its victim as it flies around them. If the star is struck hard, it is broken and splashes apart. Casting the spell from a person’s injury will injure them further, and the star lasts for about half a minute after it is cast.

For skills like sword style or hand-to-hand/martial arts, I, yet again, recommend researching on the subject if that is your character’s main way of combat. Try to really give more details on their style if it’s their most important form of attacking and defending. This helps give you a better idea of how strong they are when it comes to sword fighting and also for anyone who might battle your character. Here’s an example:

Originally Posted by Shrub in Rontu Nyzento

Rontu's sword style is rather interesting. His main advantage is range and reach, because he has long arms and a long sword. Thus he does his best at keeping his enemies away from him and at mid-range combat. His style is often misleading as well. It's a very fluid style that seems to be constantly in flow and motion. It goes with the momentum and weight of his lengthy weapon. It's misleading because others often see it as slow. Due to the length of his weapon and the sudden speed-up due to going with the fall of his hefty katana, others are often struck before they realize what had happened. He reaches them with his blade much sooner than most would realize. Also because of the momentum, Rontu can keep swinging for much longer than others think. They often think they see an opening where they believe his combination should end and rush it. However, it doesn't end, and they are struck with the length and sudden speed-up again. This is also combined with openings Rontu leaves to draw his enemies in. This is where he'll insert sudden short-ranged attacks with his fists, knees, foot, and sometimes even his head.

And then there can be other skills and abilities that are not exactly violent in nature. Such as alchemy, potion making, hunting, tracking, survival in the wilderness, smithing, sewing, cooking, etc. Just try to give us a good idea of exactly what they can do with these abilities and what they can’t do. Believe it or not, they could become important in a battle or role play. So be creative and descriptive. Here’s an example:

Originally Posted by Shrub in Leita Serwen

Skills/Magic:

• Leita is sensitive to auras and can often feel magic. She can sense when a spell is being cast and feels the flow of energy while the spell is in action. She’s good at analyzing the structure of the spells, so she can often understand how unfamiliar magics and spells work after seeing and feeling it done at least once.
  
  
• She’s a medic, skilled in treating a number of injuries and medical conditions. Leita is also experienced in assisting in child birth and child birth complications. She, surprisingly, doesn’t have a weak stomach and isn’t afraid to get her hands messy with blood and a number of other bodily fluids. She’s something of a doctor, but still somewhat primitive because she comes from a medieval kingdom. Her magic and potions are often combined in these skills, which makes it more effective than your average doctor. Leita is amazingly skilled in the arts of healing.
  
  
• Leita is very talented with potions and plants. With this knowledge she can create potions that can increase physical and magical abilities, have healing properties, and serve as antidotes for poisons. Of course, this is not something done in the mists of battle. They’re prepared before. She has basic knowledge of plants; this is for the use of her potions. Any plant or thing that is used for potions, Leita has knowledge of it: what it looks like, its properties for potions and other, how to use it in several ways, and where to find it. However, this knowledge is limited to the plants of her world: Hyrule.
  
  The potions listed below are those that Leita always makes sure she carries when she goes out. One must be careful when mixing potions. It’s best not to take more than one at a time. Taking a second while the first is still in affect will most likely cause the drinker to become ill and they’ll puke up both potions, disrupting their affects.

Health (5) – The famous blood red health potion. Leita always carries many doses of these. Her recipe is so affective that often it takes only one vial big enough to fit in one fist to heal. However, depending on how extensive the damage done to the body is, it may require more doses. It cancels out most poisons, drugs, and venoms, and returns their system to a normal state.

Mana (2) – The bright green potion is a restorative for Leita’s mana. She does not carry many of these because she is often the only Hylian mage in her group, and they work only for those who use the same type of mana as she. Hylian mana. Two vials are enough to restore all of her mana points.

Health and Mana (2) – This dark blue potion is a combination of a health and mana potion. These are mostly for Leita’s use, for its double use of restoring mana, though it still can be used as a health potion on others.

Liquid Courage (3) – The clear liquid of this potion often makes one question the truth of its nature. Any living creature that drinks Liquid Courage will find their health, their eyesight, their mental acuteness and willpower, their physical speed and strength—the limits of all of these things become nearly twice their norms. The affect of the potion lasts for five minutes.

Infinity's Favor (1) – The potion is silver and white, shimmering and swirling around each other. It enhances one’s chances. Suddenly everything seems to come together. They’ll know exactly the right thing to say at exactly the right time. Every concern and doubt will vanish of their mind. In fact, it’ll almost be blank. Blank enough to really see events as they happen. Their timing will always be perfect. They will have a trust in the universe’s ability to bring them what they need. There is nothing to fear when one drinks this liquid gold. They’ll be blessed with clarity of mind and luck. The universe will be on their side. It lasts for an hour.

Camouflage (2) – This potion is clear but always seems to glitter and move with colors of the rainbow. When one drinks this potion their body becomes like a chameleon’s, only better. They’re more see-through around the edges and take on all the colors around them perfectly. However, it does not do the same for their clothing. So one must be willing to go naked, otherwise it won’t be very affective. It lasts for two hours.

Flash (3) – This shimmering white potion is contained in a small vial. Once smashed upon the ground it creates a blinding flash, stunning most in the immediate area. It serves mostly as just a distraction to get away or gain an upper hand.

Smoke (3) – This whirling gray liquid is much like the Flash potion. It’s contained in a slightly larger vial. Once smashed open and the liquid touches the air, it instantly becomes smoke that spreads quickly through the air. It clouds vision, makes their eyes burn and tear up. If inhaled it causes much discomfort and heavy coughing. It also assaults the sinuses. It does not cause any lasting damage.

Knock Out (4) – This potion is a light and fairly translucent purple. Three of the four vials Leita keeps in her bag are much like the Flash and Smoke potions. They were brewed so that once they touch the open air, it become a light purple gas which causes those within range to faint within five seconds. It knocks them out for about an hour. The other vial is not reactive to the air. Instead, it can be applied to a cloth and pressed over another’s nose or dripped into their food and drink to have the same affect.

Sometimes it’s fine to just list the skills in this section and then go into more detail about them when in Strengths and Weaknesses to hammer out their limitations and reach. If a Councilor thinks it should stay in a certain section, they’ll let you know. But mostly this is for anything else about the power, magic, or skill that you can possibly think of.

Battle Strengths and Weaknesses: Everyone has them. This is where you put the limitations and flaws of your character and their powers when placed in a combat setting so that they aren’t a big fat Mary Sue. The biggest issue I see here is when people put down personality flaws rather than combat weaknesses. We have a personality section for that. If you put it here, a Councilor will tell you to put it in the personality and to give your character more weaknesses. Though, there is that thin line where a bad personality leads to bad combat. However, leave things like bad at lying and drinking problems in the personality section.

You may have noticed by now that the key to a good and useful profile is details. Describe how strong their strengths are. Use reference points to give us an idea of how strong your character is physically if that is a strength of theirs. The same goes for speed. How fast are they and for how long can they be that fast? Endurance is something a lot of people forget to mention or are very vague about. Try to keep in mind how fast combat and battles move, so to say they can keep swinging around their swords and weapons and fists for 24 hours is not very realistic for a character bound by human limitations.

Also try to keep them fairly balanced. Here’s an example:

Originally Posted by Shrub in Rontu Nyzento

Strengths:

• His sword style comes mostly from his mother, who had been one of the highest ranking assassins of the Drow Empire. Though, he has adapted it to fit a man of his strength and swiftness, for he is not quite as fast or agile has Karei Nyzento had been. It is a strong sword style, almost completely unrivaled by the highest assassins of the empire he had once served. His sword and experience makes up for the speed he may lack against faster enemies. Sheinron Beonzeluxae took up where his mother left off in his training. It was he who taught Rontu how to adapt his mother’s fighting style, because of that it does reflect some of Sheinron’s. His style is a mix between both warriors, who were famous for being the best of the entire imperial army. He is experienced for one still so young, since he had been street fighting since he was 14-years-old and his first training had begun even before then. Though, there are bound to be older and more experienced warriors than he.
  
  
• He's just as good with his sword as he is with his body. He does not need a weapon to cause damage or simple pain. So if disarmed, he still fairs very well and is able to carry on, even defeat his enemy, until he is able to collect his weapon again.
  
  
• Dark elf males are known for their strength. Rontu has the body for it. Strength is his best attribute in a battle. He could kill several people with the power in his muscles alone without a weapon by strangling, beating them, striking critical areas with immense pressure.
  
  
• Rontu is fast, for all assassins have been taught to be as quick as they are silent. His speed is surprising for a man of his height and muscle, but he knows well how to move swiftly and with accuracy. Of course, there are others faster than him. He is a large man after all. He will never have the agility that other smaller and lighter weight people will have. He’s incredibly fast for a man of his height and weight.
  
  
• He can move silently when he wishes, and most do not hear him unless he wants them to. He’s good at blending in with his background in the more rough and violent cities he might travel through. He fades perfectly into dark and gloomy settings. The dark elf knows how to disappear into these kinds of settings, since they are similar to his home city where he learned such techniques. This is how Rontu may quietly stock his prey. They will not notice him following him until he wants them to, and by then it may be too late.
  
  Of course, this relates to average warriors/people. If the person he’s stalking has heightened senses more than the average person, he will have more trouble staying unnoticed. This relates to the five senses, a sixth sense might be able to determine that he is following them, depending on what his intention is and what kind of sixth sense it may be. He will not always be stalking people to do them harm. Even with heightened fives senses, they may not notice Rontu because as said before, he blends in to these backgrounds, and knows how to look bland and inconspicuous. It takes a sharp mind for one to realize him for what he really is doing.
  
  
• Due to his long elven ears, he has sharp hearing. His hearing is very advanced compared to normal beings, such as humans. He can focus on certain sounds, pick up strange and usually unnoticeable noises, and then fade out of focus as to not damage his ears should there be a sudden din. This makes it nearly impossible for others to sneak up on him.
  
  
• He has very sharp eyes as well; because he has infrared vision the dark does not hinder his ability to fight at all. Even orbs of darkness, a spell often cast by other dark elves that blacks out both light and body heat, is ineffective toward him. He was trained to fight in darkness and shadows. He does not need his eyes to fight accurately; he can hear and sense where his enemy is and their attacks. He is still deadly without his eyes. They are also very observant; he is good at picking up small details and adding them to his memory for later reference. He has very excellent aim with crossbows, which he has some experience in using. The use of his eyes during battle makes him even deadlier.
  
  
• Rontu is accustomed to pain. It was part of his training as Scarlet soldier. In way, he has learned to block out most of it from his mind. It's not really something he does consciously. It was quite literally beaten into him by his mentor. One wouldn't say he's a master or even talented in this area. But he is certainly more experienced than most without any previous training.
  
  
• He has built an impressive resistance to many poisons and drugs. During his training with the Emperor Sheinron, he had been poisoned and drugged by his mentor many times in attempt to build his resistance to it. Very powerful poisons and drugs can still have an affect on Rontu. It may simply be more mild than it is for others, but certainly still able to kill him if he does not seek treatment within certain amount of time frames. Rontu just has a tendency to last much longer than others would, giving him better chances of survival.
  
  
• All dark elves have a little more immunity to black/dark/negative magic/energy/chi than other elves. It can still hurt them, but it takes the sharpest edge off the affects. For Rontu, a beginner’s dark magic attack might make him a little dizzy for a moment, but he’d brush it off after a few seconds and continue. Stronger more experienced dark magic is bound to have its initial affect on him, but the nasty part of it will be more dulled than it is for others.

Weaknesses:

• Rontu doesn’t know any magic consciously. So he does not have a way to counter it should he become a target of sorcery in battle. The best thing he can do is try to be faster than the magic being fired at him. Should he be struck, he is at the mercy of the magic user and their power.
  
  
• He is not quite as flexible or agile as others can be. There are plenty of others who can be faster and more graceful than he. As stated previously, he will never be able to be as or more agile or fast as those who are of lighter weight and size. So he can be at a disadvantage when battling those types of warriors.
  
  
• Cheerful and bright settings off set his ability to blend in with his backgrounds. He has dark features and a dark presence. Light surroundings make him stick out like a sore thumb. So he will lack the element of surprise most times in these kinds of settings. He is more likely to be noticed for what he really is: stalking. One does not even need heightened sense of any sort to notice Rontu in these kinds of settings. He will be painfully obvious to everyone.
  
  
• Though his sharp hearing is a strength, it is also a weakness. If a very loud noise were to occur while Rontu is listening so intently, honing his ears, it will hurt his sensitive ears, causing him to become disarmed and stunned for a rather long time. This pain is different from physical cuts and blows. Rontu cannot block out this kind of pain. It could even damage his ears permanently.
  
  
• Very experienced sword masters and experts, combined with a cautious and observant mind-set, may be able to spot vulnerabilities in Rontu's fluid sword style. Though he is very advanced for his age and experience, he is still young and simply has not lived as long as others might have. Thus, the older and more experienced and very talented would be able to challenge Rontu in ways most of others are not.
  
  
• His emotions of pain and self-loathing produced by memories of the past distract him. If he is encountered by a situation that triggers these memories, his concentration is greatly affected (speed and accuracy suffer). Sometimes, he may have been brooding before hand about an emotionally troubling matter. At times, it can also be triggered by being in the presence of certain people from his past.
  
  
• All dark elves are a little more prone to holy/light/pure/positive magic/energy/chi than other elves. It won’t do as much damage to, say, a demon or other very dark creatures, but they’re just sensitive to it, like an allergy. For Rontu, a beginner’s light magic attack might give him a sharper kick or bite than it would for a neutral creature. It would take him a few moments to recover, and even after he’d still feel a bit out of it for the rest of the day. Stronger more experienced light magic is going to have a nastier affect. It’s sharper and leaves a stinging ach lasting for days even weeks, depending on how strong it was. If strong enough, it could kill Rontu where others would have been mortally wounded but able to recover, like an allergy when they’re already close to death.

History/Biography: I am addressing history first because it’s important to first hammer out your character’s past before going into personality. (However, I would place this very last in the submitted profile because it can be the longest section.) This is because like you, your character is a product of their past experiences. It has shaped and molded them into who they are … hopefully. There are many Mary Sue issues here. I, personally, see nothing wrong with tragic pasts as long as they have realistically affected your character, and not just pity and guilt factors for your flawless Mary Sue to cry about. Try to really put yourself in that kind of position and imagine how such events might actually change you as a person or what could and should happen to anyone else involved. Maybe your character wasn’t the only one to suffer from such a tragedy.

Not only that, but I would find it odd if a character didn’t have something that holds them back in life. Everyone has their “Vietnam”, so to speak. It may not be as traumatic or dramatic as others, but this has been a source of some amount of pain and suffering in a person’s life. Maybe it was just an absent parent. Absent not necessarily meaning that they left, but that they gave the character very little attention and love: paying the bills, obsessed with work, and simply making sure they have been fed and watered and have clothes on their child’s back. Or maybe they simply feel unfulfilled in their life. Maybe they had spent most of it living up to the expectations of others and not their real wants. There are actually a lot of people who feel that way even if there hasn’t been tragedy in their pasts. We underestimate the subtle things in life that cause unhappiness.

The golden rule for the rest of these, which I will emphasize for truth: Realism.

Rape/Sexual and Physical Abuse
This one has been over done a lot. I am guilty, myself, of using this one quite a bit. I have a morbid fascination with abuse. It might have something to do with my mother being a social worker and hearing about all the dark parts of humanity. I try to give them as realistic spins and variations as I can though, also try to back this up with good writing and realistic reactions and affects on the character. I frown upon using this just as a sympathy call, a reason to cry and create drama about sex between characters, and just a common angst-injection for good measure. My advice: don’t be an attention whore and work it out realistically.

There are other ways to produce mental and emotional abuse. Verbal abuse can be also just as extreme as the physical and sexual. We really underestimate the power of the spoken word by others. Whether it is screaming at each other, or just deeming quips added here and there and tucked into normal speech that eventually drives your character off the deep end. The same thing to avoid here though is for it to not have affect or changed your character’s personality and behaviors. These things that are known mental and emotional abuse are called such because they have a negative affect on the mind and emotional state. It could be beneficial to do research on such abuse to get a more realistic hold on it, if you are going to use it for your character’s history.

Parental Death or Abandonment
Done, done, and done again. Guilty here as well. Most of my characters are orphans or run aways. Most of my characters were originally created when I was fourteen, and I haven’t had the heart to change them much except to try to be realistic with what I have. This is mostly used to move a rape and sexual abuse plot along and/or for another sympathy call, or a reason for your character to go out and seek training in combat so that he/she can avenge their dearly departed parents and/or siblings. If done, note the golden rule: realism on what the affects of such things are and how it might really feel to have something like that happen.

Unwitting Murder
This is the accidental murder or slaughtering. Because your character is a victim of circumstances in which they lost control of their awesome powers and either killed one to several people to the whole damn village. *Eyes Fairess’s Leonna Fallenstar* We all have our Mary Sue qualities. This seems to be a favorite of most Gary Stus though. Needless to say, they are wrecked with guilt and ridden with self-loathing. Often driven away from their home by any survivors and/or guilt, or has left because they are the only survivor. The point here is that it allows for them to whine about how their hands are forever blood-stained, when they actually aren’t because it was not done intentionally. Everyone knows they’re really innocent. No real flaws in here for Mary Sue, except when they continue to whine and cry forever about it and continue to be angsty and annoying.

I think the best way to make this work well is the golden rule of realism of how this would really feel. Fairess manages to give Leonna a realistic personality and she also adds the realism touch to the story/history. Truthfully, it would be hard not to feel bad or guilty about this happening, unless you want to put a spin on it as your villain’s character evil beginnings. So no denying the guilt and self-loathing factor. Though the character interactions from here on out are a little predictable. They will have to come to know, usually through the help of other characters, that it wasn’t really their fault. I’m fine with that if they truly come to know and accept that it wasn’t their fault. I will vomit on them if they continue to hate on themselves just for more angst and for the sake of self-loathing. Characters that do not change or grow suck.

Last Survivor
Usually this is when your character is the only survivor of their race after some kind of mass genocide or cataclysmic happening. The point is that they are all alone and there is much angst to be had. They usually have some kind of trinket from their fallen people or now dead parents (combining the Parental Death with Last Survivor, and if you really want to get Sueish, add Unwitting Murder to the mix).

This can be done realistically as well. Just think long and hard on it and really develop it, and then learn to write it well, and you have something you can work with. Consider how this might change a person.

Instant Master
This goes with the amazingly talented at very young age. Top of the class in their battle school. The child prodigy and incredibly proficient at something or other. Usually some kind of fighting style or magic. There can be tutors and mentors, but often it is not mentioned all that they had to put aside to focus on becoming so amazing at these abilities. They simply are amazingly awesome at it with very little training.

I have to say that I am guilty of doing this as well. Only, Leita Serwen had become very reclusive and very focused on her studies to the point that she had very little to no social life. While she was naturally talented in magic, she did have to study and train a lot to get where she is. Bam! Golden rule of realism.

Conclusion: do not be an attention whore and use these as things that will make other people feel sorry for them and want to fix it by being their friend and telling them how awesome they are. Note the golden rule.

Also, something I have noticed is that some people hardly tell us anything about their childhood, or their family or friends of their past. It is important to start from birth to where they are at which point they have started to wander the EH. Try for at least two thick paragraphs. Some people like to get creative and write the important and pivotal scenes of their past in detail in this section as well. It is also encouraged to write a fiction for your character in the Character Fiction subforum, to help give your character chance for more development on their past.

Personality: Ah, personality, this is my favorite section. I usually start from the shallow levels and work my way to the deeper workings and layers of the character’s mind. Also, try to make them different from you and what your behaviors are. Make them their own person and be sure to really use the history for this.

First Impressions
Pretty simple to start with and the most helpful thing you can give another RPer when writing with your character. What is usually the first impression your character gives to others in most normal situations? Polite but awkward? Quiet and shy? Quiet and cold? Loud and obnoxious? Apathetic and rude? What is your character like on the surface levels of socializing?

Under the Surface
Perhaps your character is not all that they seem at first. Maybe though they appear apathetic and cold it is really because they are shy and sensitive creatures. Though the Mary Sue thing to do is make them dark and mysterious and cold and unfeeling on the surface, but really they have a lot of angst and a painful past *cough*Rontu*cough*. Or modest and kind and always trying to help others, like Barbie.

Really, if you want to spice it up really, and make things less predictable. Maybe your character is two-faced. Kind, moral, charming, and sweet on the surface, but underneath they are really after their own self-interests and don’t care about how many people they have to use and hurt to get it.

This is the part where you really have to think deeply about all your character’s inner workings. This is where other characters start to really get to know your character past surface level impressions. Perhaps they have been through several adventures and horrors together by now. They should start knowing things that are truer and deeper about your character. Outline those things about them.

The Roots
This is where you explain the sources of your character’s behavior patterns, often from what they experienced in their past. Whether it was painful and traumatic, thus causing distrust in all people, or a positive experience in which gave them an entirely new and enlightened outlook on life. Really get to the core of what your character is about here.

Also, try to avoid black or white sort of characters. Not everyone is so clear cut that they’re either “good” or “bad” people. Explore the gray areas of humanity, but avoid Villain-Sue and Angsty-Sue.

Summarize and Conclude
Depending on how long it is, it might be good to summarize the key points of your character and end it with a nice conclusion about them. It might be important to remind the reader of the most important parts of the personality that they may have forgotten along the way. I usually like to mention key first impressions again as well.

Here’s an example of an awesome personality description:

Originally Posted by Altamira in Cadenza Madrigal-Valentia

Personality: The gypsy comes across as prideful and reserved, quick-witted and sometimes coldly indifferent. She’s very independent, and has confidence in her actions and choices, but that confidence is mired with the distrust of others, for she’s well aware of the fact that they affect the world she’s in, and can change situations dramatically if they choose to help or hinder her pursuit of her goals. This leads her to often weigh the pros and cons of a decision or situation, rather than jumping impetuously in.

Others often feel the need to be wary in her presence; with one of the brightest minds ever to have dived into the criminal world, and with the driving force of characteristic Rubatoian passion within her, it can almost never be known for certain if the woman will call you a friend or stab you in the chest. Her respect is hard-earned and doesn’t always soften the edge to her tough attitude—making it very difficult to understand how well she’ll take to you if you don’t know her well. Calmness and a thick-skin towards rudeness seem to have helped colleague Louis Fritz and others become friendly with her over time, even going so far as to become drinking buddies, sparring partners, and most important of all, dependable allies.

Cadenza has been described by some as a “real rough-and-tumble character who can still mellow out at times”—she tries to adapt the best she can to situations, determining what would be the best approach to them just as she once considered the best way to approach a crime. Still, she is not without a temper that can lead her to punch out innocent Dome messengers and not without nerves that can make her react in ways that are less-than-beneficial in the long view. Being a teacher of the Dome, she has seen much and is surprised by little; she quickly seemed to grasp the concept of the Dome’s sentience and the idea of there being different worlds.

In battle, Cadenza is a calm and calculating fighter, determined and resolute when victory is necessary or desired, and when survival is on the line. She’s fierce and relentless with her attacks, showing mercy only on the very young, the very old, or, due to her late husband Paris Valentia having been one, soldiers. She utterly despises all police and other law enforcers and isn’t terribly fond of most vampires.

Altamira manages to say a lot about her character in efficient but short phrasings. Thus, she is not very wordy to get her point across—unlike myself as you might have noticed already. She also starts with first impressions, moves deeper, and then summarizes and concludes.

It is also important to be consistent with their behaviors and try to avoid contradictory things. Like saying they’re this and “at times” they are that. “At times” is much too vague and then they could be “that” whenever the author feels like, thus making room for self-insertion and Mary Sueism. It makes it possible for the character to change to another character’s liking so that they can remain popular and liked by all characters. State what those “times” are exactly so that you can keep it consistent and avoid that issue. Don’t make a transparent character unintentionally for ego boosting via character.

Though, I think it could be interesting to have a character that actually does have issues with sense of self. So they change their traits to the liking of others around them because they are unafraid not being accepted by others. See? If done intentionally with self-control, these matters can be handled and made interesting. To give a character this kind of flaw is for them and not for getting attention from other characters.

Also consider that most people avoid talking about their issues if they don’t want to talk about it. Most of the time we don’t drop cryptic remarks about our dark and tragic pasts. People usually hide their darkness in the darkest corners of their minds and hope it goes away like a bad dream. That might be why these things are considered dark. The darkness is where you hide something you don’t want to see or acknowledge. So you wouldn’t drop cryptic attention needy remarks about something you don’t want to acknowledge. A good example of this would be my character: Khaz Serwen. Boy did I give that kid issues, but he doesn’t go around whining about it to anyone who’ll listen. He hides it under a charming smile.

Though I do think it would be awesome if someone made a character that was just so self-absorbed and attention needy that they make a drama show out of their past. Because, shockingly and sadly, some real people actually do that. What do you think reality TV shows and Jerry Springer is about?

Most importantly, be consistent and use clear terms to explain these character traits.

Last Notes on Mary Sueism in Profiles
Not all Mary Sue ideas are bad. In fact, if we didn’t have at least a little of them, characters could be very dull. They were first thought up because they were dramatic and perhaps interesting in the beginning, but after being over used and unrealistic, it got old fast. Sometimes these things can spice them up a bit, but only if the golden rule is followed, you add some of your own unique and creative ideas and twists, and you don’t over do it and have too many of them like:

"Mary Sue/Gary Stu accidentally killed their parents and the remains of their small ethnic group in a burst of uncontrolled of power that leaves them as the sole survivor, and then being kidnapped from the streets they roamed in desolation and prostituted by a brothel, thus being raped and physically beaten on a regular basis. And then escaping and being discovered by a master of some mystical martial art to be extremely talented. He takes them in and helps them to gain control over the awesome power that killed their parents and people, and are instantly amazing at this battle art with the aid of their mystical trinket or sword that was the last heirloom of their now dead family."

Too much. Don’t do it and don’t push it. If you’re new, start out with as little Mary Sue traits as possible. Mary Sue can get out of control if not handled with care, so get some experience under your belt before you handle anymore. As said before, some writers can make Mary Sue ideas tasteful but don’t assume you’re one of them. Some of you may not be new to the EH or writing at all, but still have problems with Mary Sue taking over your characters. Do the test on your characters to make sure it isn’t you.

Oh, and I would see Gohan-Uto Sensei for a good and intentional example of a Mary Sue.