This list will contain minor spoilers for all of the characters on this list(I’ll be explaining the plot/role of the character)So, if you don’t want any spoilers for a certain movie/tv show, I suggest skipping the paragraph.
For those of you who may not be familiar with Mary-sues/Gary stues this is a term used to describe a character that is treated perfect by the writer.
Now before getting into this list let’s make some rules:
*The character doesn’t have to be completely perfect in every way to make it in the list .They just have to have some characteristics of mary-sue/gary-stue to be consider one. (Plot armor,Op,No Flaws/No personality,Having everything going their way,etc)
*The characters on this list need to have 20 minutes of screen time
*One character per show/movie
10. Apple White from Ever After High:
Apple White is the daughter of Snow White in the world of Ever After High.The only thing she needs to do is sign the book of legends with the daughter of the Evil Queen,Raven then all of her dreams can come true. And….Well, Raven Queen does not want to sign. So the plot begins on how Ever After High will forever be changed, because of that decision.What’s really interesting about Apple’s character is that unlike most marry-sues; she’s actually an antagonist for Raven Queen to overcome, and is a symbolism for the weight and worries of this risk.Which gives Apple more of a point to her character rather than being just a 1D antagonist .You maybe asking yourself how is she a marry-sue if she’s an antagonist? Well..she’s popular, has little to no personality and constantly has everything in her favor. Overall, I might not exactly enjoy her character, but I feel like she is at least worth a mention and a spot on this list.
9.Gwen from Total Drama:
I was very hesitant about putting her on the list since there’s like only one thing pulling her into the title of marry-sue, but I did say that counted..so,sorry Gwen fans. I do have my reason though.If you really want to debate about it or want to see a detailed opinion on it; I’m just going to link you to my old comment on the same subject:
link
For those who want me explaining without spoilers or a long answer, I’m just going to summarize it.She’s a character that more often than not gets away with every single bad thing she does or is painted as the protagonist even when she is in the wrong. Okay now that I’m done with the negative, we can get to the basics.Total drama is about a group of 16 years old trying to earn 100,000 dollars by beating the game and wining the weird,dangerous and bizarre challenges that are set up by Chris and Chef.In a certain season we are following a couple groups of people.One of them being our antagonist i.e Heather and our protagonist Gwen.Gwen’s role as the protagonist is to complete the goals and wishes despite obstacles and yeah that’s basically it as far as basics go. As for the character herself,she does develop a bit and plays her role alright. Her sarcastic attitude is pretty funny at times and she is certainly very likable as a character.Not the best, but fairly likable.
8.Belle from Disney’s Beauty and The Beast(Major spoilers):
Okay I need to spoil things here, just because it’s hard to talk about her character without spoiling the movie.I won’t go over the whole movie or even most of it, but I’m still going to tell you her role through spoilers.Belle is known as the main protagonist that’s so nice and sweet, that she can overlook the beast’s appearance and seemingly rude attitude, because what really matters is the inside. Which is great and all, but that’s wasted development.It was never explained why she thinks that.If anything it should be the other way around.I would’ve liked it better if Linda(The writer of Beauty and the Beast) developed her that way. As it is though, her character is more of a role-model type character, so guess it’s forgivable, even if I would of preferred it the other way.Speaking of which let’s talk about why I even put her on this list.Her role model typed character is actually done well.This is by far why most people fell in love with her character. She is perfection at it’s best.Her character is well built. They build up her wishes, dreams and traits;The best part about it s how it was presented.Too bad that not much was done with it, but it was a nice setup.Overall, a good character with a lot of missed potential.
7.Barbie from every barbie movie ever:
You guys remember Barbie right? You know that iconic marry-sue that’s basically everywhere you go.She has long blonde hair,merchandise, dark blue eyes and perfect skin.She also has no flaws, overpowered, everything goes her way,she gets sympathy even when she’s in the wrong, and in her movies she is either; A. the misunderstood outcast that’s extremely talented and beats the generic villain,or B. someone that has high authority and is inhumanly talented, and finally C. both.Now what could possibly make me like such a big mary-sue? Well it’s actually quite simple. It’s how she is just the right kind of bland to make her iconic and memorable as a character.She isn’t so bland that it comes off as annoying and she is just bland enough to make her character unforgettable. It’s just so weird how iconic she has become to the point that every barbie doll somehow has a movie behind them. Sometimes even a sequel is granted to those movies.It almost seems like barbie has the longest trilogy ever, still nothing compared to Pokemon, but I digress.Barbie herself seems like a very nostalgia character for most 1990’s kids, and I have to admit she is certainly an iconic character that has a lot of fans.The ideal type of character to be called a marry-sue.
6.Mr.Peabody from Mr.Peabody and Sherman:
Mr.Peabody is a very skilled dog that’s talented with well...everything.He is rejected as a pup because of his unusual ability to speak English. As an intelligent adult dog he decided to adopt a human boy. Now he’s the father figure of our second main protagonist Sherman. Somehow he made a time machine, a lot of pop culture references,world peace,and anything else that has a positive effect on mankind all in his spare time. Yeeeaaah, someone tell me he isn’t a stue of any kind.Plus get this his plot armor actually tries to hide itself as an unbeatable intelligence or something.I don’t know, I just love that about this movie. Even if It fails at hiding his Gary-sruedom, it makes Mr.Peabody pretty fun to watch!Watching him do the most unbelievable things in the most bizarre plot convince ever is surprisingly fun! I also enjoy his endless supply of talents that he has mastered.Every single talent is Peabody’s, and no I’m not over exaggerating he has all the talents in the world.Seriously any time he looks like he’s in trouble, he really isn’t. He’s a really fast thinker for coming up with these plans in under 3 seconds.Overall the weird nature on how his character is written makes it very convenient, and really entertaining to watch.
5.Tadashi from Big Hero Six:
Tadashi is the big brother for our main protagonist Hiro. Tadashi is also known as the plot device that made Baymax and also..well..um...no spoilers.Anyway Tadashi built Baymax a robotic nurse. Tadashi plays the role of someone who is a “perfect example” for the majority of the film.Not that he’s in most of it because something tragic did happen to him.Which btw is where Tadashi’s real role comes in.Tadashi’s “real role” is to set the major plot points for story, and to be the emotional drive towards Hiro’s actions.He also serves as an example for Hiro to develop from. This is a unique and effective way to make a title of sue work. They don’t need a good amount of screen time or a lot of focus just a strong foundation.This makes it an easy way of having your character get off the hook for not having much of a personality nor will the character be called “perfect”.Which is something that his character succeeds at. Overall, I like his character not my favorite,but none the less a good character despite not having much of a personality.
4.Kanade or in japanese writing 立華 かなで (just did that to be original) from Angel Beats:
Angel Beats takes place in a um...limbo I guess, or to be more specific at a school for the afterlife.Anyway, the general plot starts with the “Afterlife Battlefront”. The Afterlife Battlefront are a team of high schoolers who are against God for their past tragedies, and here’s when Kanade comes in;She’s the so called “angel” trying to convince the others to move on above the afterlife.As you probably already figured out the Afterlife Battlefront isn’t so welcoming or willing of this. So, our main protagonist Otonashi is helping Kanade to convince the others to do so.Along the way Kanade is one of our main protagonist that’s mysterious and emotionless with a bit of marry-sue in her.Which is honestly quite strange, but I actually do like it. It’s such a crazy mix that I think it works in a way.I also like how her character naturally fits the role that was written for her.She’s very nice and grateful while being a bit playful and mature. She probably doesn’t have much of a personality, but I really like the couple of traits that she actually does have.
3.Celestia from Mlp;fim(My Little Pony;Friendship is Magic):
MLP is about a group of six ponies named Fluttershy,Pinkie Pie,Rarity,Apple Jack and Twilight Sparkle. Oh yeah, and also Twilight’s assistant a dragon named Spike. We follow her and her five friends on adventures about life lessons usually centering around friendship.Our story starts off with Twilight way back when sent by Celestia to find friends.On the way we meet the five other ponies I mentioned earlier Pinkie Pie,Rarity,Fluttershy and Applejack.With that the pony on this list is sidetracked, Which means the only role Celestia has is to be the guardian/teacher of one of our main heroines,Twilight.Though she does have a brief story with her sister,Luna.Which is where most of her best moments come from.Celestia is her strongest when interacting with other characters rather than being an individual character.Which is what I believe makes her a strong character as a whole.She might be very stereo-typical on her own, but with other characters she seems complex and 4D. Even if she only got limited screen time and developed once. She still seems like a great character that needs more love.
2.Kirito from Sword Art Online:
Before getting into anything I’m just going to give a quick summary for who ever isn’t an anime fan, and doesn’t know anything about Sword Art Online.Sword Art Online is about a group of players getting stuck in a MMORPG(Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game).On top of that comes the stinger, if the players die in the game then they die in real life! Kirito’s role is to be the 14 year old boy who experiences the drama, and eventually becomes the hero of the story.Which I wouldn’t lie isn’t a bad idea at all.This gives him a very human role that can contain many emotional scenes. His character is actually painted quite well in that regard. He just acts so human for a stereo-type that’s been known for being inhuman, and too good to be true.Here though he acts just like a 14 year old.His character takes everything seriously without being too dramatic and gary-stueish. While at the same time his character is still emotional and realistic.One of the reasons I think that is because everything he seems to do is over emotion. This in turn makes his development really touching, even if there isn’t that much of it..I think another thing to admire about him is his determination.To me personally I do think he is overpowered,has a bit of plot armor and also has too much of a harem going on, but he does try his best not to be completely cliched. So I’ll give him credit for that also.Overall though, I think he has a great character despite a few flaws.
Honorable mentions:
Kuranosuke from Princess Jellyfish
Dora from Dora the Explora
Jem/Jerica from Jem and the Hologram
Tommy Pickles from Rugrats
Batman from Batman
Nina from Elfen Lied
Mami from Magica Madoka
Jessica from Firegirl
Arnold from Hey Arnold
Prince Eric from The little Mermaid
1.Edison from The House of Magic:
THM is about a stray cat finding a retired magician’s house.While in there our main protagonist is welcomed to the family, but sadly Edison was in a accident so he has to stay in the hospital for a few days.While in the hospital Daniel the nephew of Edison tricks him into selling the house.Now the stray cat has to try to stop Daniel from selling the house.Edison himself is our grandpa figure...I guess.To be completely honest I’m not 100% sure what his role is.This movie isn’t really popular in the USA, so I have little to no preferences here.The best I can describe is that he is very forgiven,ditsy,kind and is what’s the word?Um...Grandpa like;I guess if I have to tell you the best thing about him it would probably be his fun-loving personality.It’s just a good chunk of his charm that makes him so likable. I also like his attitude towards life.He seems very lively. Which makes him more tolerable than most gary-stues. Since this makes him feel a lot more human.Personally I don’t think there could've been a better choice for the number one spot on this list.
For those of you who may not be familiar with Mary-sues/Gary stues this is a term used to describe a character that is treated perfect by the writer.
Now before getting into this list let’s make some rules:
*The character doesn’t have to be completely perfect in every way to make it in the list .They just have to have some characteristics of mary-sue/gary-stue to be consider one. (Plot armor,Op,No Flaws/No personality,Having everything going their way,etc)
*The characters on this list need to have 20 minutes of screen time
*One character per show/movie
10. Apple White from Ever After High:
Apple White is the daughter of Snow White in the world of Ever After High.The only thing she needs to do is sign the book of legends with the daughter of the Evil Queen,Raven then all of her dreams can come true. And….Well, Raven Queen does not want to sign. So the plot begins on how Ever After High will forever be changed, because of that decision.What’s really interesting about Apple’s character is that unlike most marry-sues; she’s actually an antagonist for Raven Queen to overcome, and is a symbolism for the weight and worries of this risk.Which gives Apple more of a point to her character rather than being just a 1D antagonist .You maybe asking yourself how is she a marry-sue if she’s an antagonist? Well..she’s popular, has little to no personality and constantly has everything in her favor. Overall, I might not exactly enjoy her character, but I feel like she is at least worth a mention and a spot on this list.
9.Gwen from Total Drama:
I was very hesitant about putting her on the list since there’s like only one thing pulling her into the title of marry-sue, but I did say that counted..so,sorry Gwen fans. I do have my reason though.If you really want to debate about it or want to see a detailed opinion on it; I’m just going to link you to my old comment on the same subject:
link
For those who want me explaining without spoilers or a long answer, I’m just going to summarize it.She’s a character that more often than not gets away with every single bad thing she does or is painted as the protagonist even when she is in the wrong. Okay now that I’m done with the negative, we can get to the basics.Total drama is about a group of 16 years old trying to earn 100,000 dollars by beating the game and wining the weird,dangerous and bizarre challenges that are set up by Chris and Chef.In a certain season we are following a couple groups of people.One of them being our antagonist i.e Heather and our protagonist Gwen.Gwen’s role as the protagonist is to complete the goals and wishes despite obstacles and yeah that’s basically it as far as basics go. As for the character herself,she does develop a bit and plays her role alright. Her sarcastic attitude is pretty funny at times and she is certainly very likable as a character.Not the best, but fairly likable.
8.Belle from Disney’s Beauty and The Beast(Major spoilers):
Okay I need to spoil things here, just because it’s hard to talk about her character without spoiling the movie.I won’t go over the whole movie or even most of it, but I’m still going to tell you her role through spoilers.Belle is known as the main protagonist that’s so nice and sweet, that she can overlook the beast’s appearance and seemingly rude attitude, because what really matters is the inside. Which is great and all, but that’s wasted development.It was never explained why she thinks that.If anything it should be the other way around.I would’ve liked it better if Linda(The writer of Beauty and the Beast) developed her that way. As it is though, her character is more of a role-model type character, so guess it’s forgivable, even if I would of preferred it the other way.Speaking of which let’s talk about why I even put her on this list.Her role model typed character is actually done well.This is by far why most people fell in love with her character. She is perfection at it’s best.Her character is well built. They build up her wishes, dreams and traits;The best part about it s how it was presented.Too bad that not much was done with it, but it was a nice setup.Overall, a good character with a lot of missed potential.
7.Barbie from every barbie movie ever:
You guys remember Barbie right? You know that iconic marry-sue that’s basically everywhere you go.She has long blonde hair,merchandise, dark blue eyes and perfect skin.She also has no flaws, overpowered, everything goes her way,she gets sympathy even when she’s in the wrong, and in her movies she is either; A. the misunderstood outcast that’s extremely talented and beats the generic villain,or B. someone that has high authority and is inhumanly talented, and finally C. both.Now what could possibly make me like such a big mary-sue? Well it’s actually quite simple. It’s how she is just the right kind of bland to make her iconic and memorable as a character.She isn’t so bland that it comes off as annoying and she is just bland enough to make her character unforgettable. It’s just so weird how iconic she has become to the point that every barbie doll somehow has a movie behind them. Sometimes even a sequel is granted to those movies.It almost seems like barbie has the longest trilogy ever, still nothing compared to Pokemon, but I digress.Barbie herself seems like a very nostalgia character for most 1990’s kids, and I have to admit she is certainly an iconic character that has a lot of fans.The ideal type of character to be called a marry-sue.
6.Mr.Peabody from Mr.Peabody and Sherman:
Mr.Peabody is a very skilled dog that’s talented with well...everything.He is rejected as a pup because of his unusual ability to speak English. As an intelligent adult dog he decided to adopt a human boy. Now he’s the father figure of our second main protagonist Sherman. Somehow he made a time machine, a lot of pop culture references,world peace,and anything else that has a positive effect on mankind all in his spare time. Yeeeaaah, someone tell me he isn’t a stue of any kind.Plus get this his plot armor actually tries to hide itself as an unbeatable intelligence or something.I don’t know, I just love that about this movie. Even if It fails at hiding his Gary-sruedom, it makes Mr.Peabody pretty fun to watch!Watching him do the most unbelievable things in the most bizarre plot convince ever is surprisingly fun! I also enjoy his endless supply of talents that he has mastered.Every single talent is Peabody’s, and no I’m not over exaggerating he has all the talents in the world.Seriously any time he looks like he’s in trouble, he really isn’t. He’s a really fast thinker for coming up with these plans in under 3 seconds.Overall the weird nature on how his character is written makes it very convenient, and really entertaining to watch.
5.Tadashi from Big Hero Six:
Tadashi is the big brother for our main protagonist Hiro. Tadashi is also known as the plot device that made Baymax and also..well..um...no spoilers.Anyway Tadashi built Baymax a robotic nurse. Tadashi plays the role of someone who is a “perfect example” for the majority of the film.Not that he’s in most of it because something tragic did happen to him.Which btw is where Tadashi’s real role comes in.Tadashi’s “real role” is to set the major plot points for story, and to be the emotional drive towards Hiro’s actions.He also serves as an example for Hiro to develop from. This is a unique and effective way to make a title of sue work. They don’t need a good amount of screen time or a lot of focus just a strong foundation.This makes it an easy way of having your character get off the hook for not having much of a personality nor will the character be called “perfect”.Which is something that his character succeeds at. Overall, I like his character not my favorite,but none the less a good character despite not having much of a personality.
4.Kanade or in japanese writing 立華 かなで (just did that to be original) from Angel Beats:
Angel Beats takes place in a um...limbo I guess, or to be more specific at a school for the afterlife.Anyway, the general plot starts with the “Afterlife Battlefront”. The Afterlife Battlefront are a team of high schoolers who are against God for their past tragedies, and here’s when Kanade comes in;She’s the so called “angel” trying to convince the others to move on above the afterlife.As you probably already figured out the Afterlife Battlefront isn’t so welcoming or willing of this. So, our main protagonist Otonashi is helping Kanade to convince the others to do so.Along the way Kanade is one of our main protagonist that’s mysterious and emotionless with a bit of marry-sue in her.Which is honestly quite strange, but I actually do like it. It’s such a crazy mix that I think it works in a way.I also like how her character naturally fits the role that was written for her.She’s very nice and grateful while being a bit playful and mature. She probably doesn’t have much of a personality, but I really like the couple of traits that she actually does have.
3.Celestia from Mlp;fim(My Little Pony;Friendship is Magic):
MLP is about a group of six ponies named Fluttershy,Pinkie Pie,Rarity,Apple Jack and Twilight Sparkle. Oh yeah, and also Twilight’s assistant a dragon named Spike. We follow her and her five friends on adventures about life lessons usually centering around friendship.Our story starts off with Twilight way back when sent by Celestia to find friends.On the way we meet the five other ponies I mentioned earlier Pinkie Pie,Rarity,Fluttershy and Applejack.With that the pony on this list is sidetracked, Which means the only role Celestia has is to be the guardian/teacher of one of our main heroines,Twilight.Though she does have a brief story with her sister,Luna.Which is where most of her best moments come from.Celestia is her strongest when interacting with other characters rather than being an individual character.Which is what I believe makes her a strong character as a whole.She might be very stereo-typical on her own, but with other characters she seems complex and 4D. Even if she only got limited screen time and developed once. She still seems like a great character that needs more love.
2.Kirito from Sword Art Online:
Before getting into anything I’m just going to give a quick summary for who ever isn’t an anime fan, and doesn’t know anything about Sword Art Online.Sword Art Online is about a group of players getting stuck in a MMORPG(Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game).On top of that comes the stinger, if the players die in the game then they die in real life! Kirito’s role is to be the 14 year old boy who experiences the drama, and eventually becomes the hero of the story.Which I wouldn’t lie isn’t a bad idea at all.This gives him a very human role that can contain many emotional scenes. His character is actually painted quite well in that regard. He just acts so human for a stereo-type that’s been known for being inhuman, and too good to be true.Here though he acts just like a 14 year old.His character takes everything seriously without being too dramatic and gary-stueish. While at the same time his character is still emotional and realistic.One of the reasons I think that is because everything he seems to do is over emotion. This in turn makes his development really touching, even if there isn’t that much of it..I think another thing to admire about him is his determination.To me personally I do think he is overpowered,has a bit of plot armor and also has too much of a harem going on, but he does try his best not to be completely cliched. So I’ll give him credit for that also.Overall though, I think he has a great character despite a few flaws.
Honorable mentions:
Kuranosuke from Princess Jellyfish
Dora from Dora the Explora
Jem/Jerica from Jem and the Hologram
Tommy Pickles from Rugrats
Batman from Batman
Nina from Elfen Lied
Mami from Magica Madoka
Jessica from Firegirl
Arnold from Hey Arnold
Prince Eric from The little Mermaid
1.Edison from The House of Magic:
THM is about a stray cat finding a retired magician’s house.While in there our main protagonist is welcomed to the family, but sadly Edison was in a accident so he has to stay in the hospital for a few days.While in the hospital Daniel the nephew of Edison tricks him into selling the house.Now the stray cat has to try to stop Daniel from selling the house.Edison himself is our grandpa figure...I guess.To be completely honest I’m not 100% sure what his role is.This movie isn’t really popular in the USA, so I have little to no preferences here.The best I can describe is that he is very forgiven,ditsy,kind and is what’s the word?Um...Grandpa like;I guess if I have to tell you the best thing about him it would probably be his fun-loving personality.It’s just a good chunk of his charm that makes him so likable. I also like his attitude towards life.He seems very lively. Which makes him more tolerable than most gary-stues. Since this makes him feel a lot more human.Personally I don’t think there could've been a better choice for the number one spot on this list.
