Marty Stu: Difference between revisions

While once upon a time the Mary Sue would never be an active element, as [[Stay in the Kitchen|that was considered too masculine for a "paragon of female perfection"]], she has since been freed to actively participate in the plot. In contrast, the Marty Stu is almost never seen taking on his sister's old [[Purity Sue]] role; rarely is he depicted as a passive motivator of others through his purity, beauty and helplessness. When he is, it is almost exclusively as a [[Wimpification|weakened]] [[Possession Sue|Possession Sue]] in a [[Yaoi]] fanfic.

[[Marty Stu]] is devastatingly handsome (or if not, possessed of a strange, saturnine magnetism) and desired by all significant women, yes, but romance is not likely to be the main dish. He's an unstoppable fighter, a rogue agent, a fearless freedom fighter, a master of disguise. However, as times have changed, just as Mary's acquired a [[Jerk Sue|bratty temper]], Marty's had the occasional opportunity to show his [[Wangst|softer side]].

Once upon a time, [[Double Standard|Mary Sues were noticed and hated to a much greater degree than Marty Stus]]. <ref> Though, it ''does'' seem like [[Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls|there's a lot more Mary Sues than Marty Stus out there...]]</ref> It was almost as if male characters were forgiven for being implausibly plastic because they upheld stereotypically male virtues such as toughness, courage, and heterosexual promiscuity. And while men have finally begun to demand more realistic protagonists, making Marty Stu somewhat less acceptable it is still clear that Marty Stus still get passes far more frequently than Mary Sues resulting in quite a fair number of [[Canon Sue|male canon sues]] who conversely are praised rather than criticized. Part of this may be due to [[Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls]] as well as [[Most Writers Are Male]]. Both female and male writers for analogous but different reasons tend to like such characters.

As far as their traits go, Marty Stu incorporates most of the [[Common Mary Sue Traits]] while having quite a few general trends to differentiate him. While the textbook Mary Sue is generally made as a [[Purity Sue|pseudo-realistic ideal of feminine perfection]], [[Marty Stu]] tends towards taking the [[Rule of Cool]] '''<small>[[Up to Eleven|TO THE EXTREME!!]]</small>''' Due in part to the [[Double Standard]], Marty tends to be less of an emotional cornerstone and more just an embodiment of pure physical and mental awesome (ala [[God Mode Sue]]). He's the type that tends to be stronger than ''[[The Incredible Hulk]]'', faster than ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'', and have more MP than [[God]].

Obviously, neither of these traits are exclusive to Marty. There exist plenty of God Mode and [[Sympathetic Sue|Sympathetic Sues]]s, but in sheer percentage, it's more common on Marty. Since [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]], after all, increasing the [[Badass]] potential of a character has the secondary effect of making him more attractive to women without having to sacrifice any capability. Sometimes, this attitude goes just a little too far and creates [[Jerk Sue]].

Just like the [[Always Male]] category on this Wiki, there's painfully little that Marty does that Mary doesn't, generally being limited to sexuality-related things. Nonetheless, here's the little bitty list of exclusive [[Marty Stu]] traits: