The PR Mary Sue Litmus Test
Version 3.0
Adapted from the original by "Merlin Missy" Wilson and version 2.2 by Mandi Ohlin

Foreword from Mandi:

In light of a recent debate among Power Ranger fanfic authors as to what, exactly, constitutes a Mary Sue fanfic character, I attempted to post the original Mary Sue Litmus Test by Merlin Missy to help the debate. However, the test was generally concerned with Star Trek and Gargoyles fanfics, which didn't really work for PR fanfic, so the debate wore on. Chris Funaro commented that PR might need its own Litmus Test, and the semi-creativity demon started nagging me.

When I finally met the author of the original face-to-face at the Gathering convention in NYC in August 1998, I asked her permission to let me draft a version of her Litmus Test designed for Power Ranger fanfics. Missy agreed, so I started hacking away at this. This is my revised version, following version 2.1 that was posted on a.f.p-r a while ago. Seeing some of the responses, I made a few changes that were in order.

If you don't know what the heck a Mary Sue is, a good source for fanfic enlightenment is Dr. Merlin's Guide to Fanfic, again by the great Merlin Missy. (See Mandi plug. See Mandi plug again. See Mandi brown-nosing.) I don't explain it here.

I put my own original character, Olivia O'Connor, the Jade Ranger, through this sucker, and she turned out as a Mary Sue, so I'm not playing holier than anyone here. Of course, I was also brutally honest with myself, and you should be too. No ifs, ands, or buts. If you think "maybe" on a question, it's a "yes." If you find yourself hedging and trying to justify why your character did this, it's a "yes." If a question hasn't happened yet in your fics, but you were planning on it, again, it's a "yes."

And now.... on with the show.

End Foreword

How to play:

Pick an original PR fanfic character of yours to test, naturally. If you have stories brewing in your head about the character that have not been written or posted yet, take them into account in this test. What you have may not be much of a Mary Sue now, but you might want to catch yourself before you steer into trouble.

The test consists of a lengthy series of questions in separate sections. For every "yes," add a point to your tally. These are yes/no questions. Half points are not allowed.

To those who want to test more than one character: Score each character SEPARATELY. Even if they're twins who walk alike and talk alike to the point of cloning, score them one at a time.

    Part One: What's In A Name?

  1. Did coming up with the right name take some consideration?
  2. Is the character named after you? (Variations on spelling count.)
  3. Is the character related to an existing Ranger or recurring regular? (Long lost brothers like David Trueheart count.)
  4. Does the character have a nickname that you think sounds cool or interesting?
  5. Does he/she have an alias or nickname at all? (Names of past incarnations and names chosen to blend in to society count. Simple and common shortenings of names don't.)
  6. Is the name/nickname intentionally unusual? (ie, a made-up or oddly-spelled first or last name? Sorry, but alien names count too.)

    Part Two: Look in the Mirror

  7. Is the character the same gender as you?
  8. Is the character from the same racial group as you? (If he/she has alien heritage, answer "yes" to this question.)
  9. Is the character beautiful or handsome?
  10. Is the character a teenager or in her/his twenties?
  11. If not, does the character -look- like s/he is a teenager or in her/his twenties?
  12. If yes, due to magic or alien heritage?
  13. Is the character alien or part-alien?
  14. A mix of three or more alien races? (If yes, e-mail me and explain the logistics, just out of curiosity.)
  15. Is s/he the age you are OR the age you would like to be?
  16. Does one or more of the regulars find the character highly attractive?
  17. Do other regulars see him/her as a threat because of this? (Whether they act on it with jealousy or bury their feelings?)
  18. Does the character have an unusual eye/hair color?

    Part Three: Enter, Stage Right!

  19. Is your character introduced as a newcomer to Angel Grove OR is this the "alternate universe" scenario in which your character's been friends with the Rangers since the beginning?
  20. Is the character the long-lost child/descendent/sibling or old friend of a regular or recurring character who we've never heard of til now?
  21. Ditto for an original character you plan to introduce down the line? (who's special in some way?)
  22. Is the character introduced by walking into the Youth Center?
  23. If yes, do the Rangers notice the new kid right away?
  24. If yes, is s/he accepted by all the Rangers as a friend, at least by the middle of the first story?
  25. If yes, does it either happen fairly quickly, or do you tell instead of show? (ie, instead of letting it develop, you do a time lapse and say, "They all became fast friends" or something like that?)
  26. Does your character show a penchant for wearing a certain color?

    Part Four: All's Fair in Love and...

  27. Does your character fall for a regular/recurring character on the show? (Movie characters count too.)
  28. If yes, one of the Rangers?
  29. If yes, a character who you personally find attractive?
  30. Does a regular/recurring character on the show fall for him/her? (Movie characters count too.)
  31. If yes, one of the Rangers?
  32. If yes, a character who you personally find attractive?
  33. If it's a villain, does the villain pursue your character actively?
  34. Does any said falling happen in the first story?
  35. If yes, instead of taking the time to develop it, do you "tell instead of show?"
  36. Is the love interest instantly attracted to your character? (Attracted, not in love with.)
  37. If yes, do you have to end his/her relationship with another regular to hook him/her up with your character? Or is this an alternate reality where the relationship never existed?
  38. If yes, does the jilted regular get jealous of your character?
  39. Does your original character fall for another original character who you would personally find attractive? (ie, your conception of an original character looks a lot like Matt Damon. You really like Matt Damon. So you have the character we're testing become involved with the Matt lookalike.)
  40. Does an original character who you would personally find attractive fall for this character?
  41. Do the lovebirds get married/engaged in your fics?
  42. If yes, does that in turn lead to kids?
  43. If yes, who have special abilities as a result?

    Part Five: Personal Traits

  44. Does the character have a good singing voice OR play a musical instrument amazingly well?
  45. Does the character do what you do for fun or profit? (This includes having the same job you have, or would like to have when you're older, or having a job that sounds like a lot of fun even though you know nothing about it. It can also mean RPing, computer programming, whatever.)
  46. Does s/he excel at things you'd like to do but have no clue about OR things you'd just like to be that skilled at doing?
  47. Does everyone end up liking the character (among the regulars you like)?
  48. Is your character a "genius" or extremely skilled in a certain area, which is stressed quite a bit?
  49. Would you like to be friends with the character if you met in real life?
  50. Do you get defensive if someone puts your character down?
  51. Do you try to explain that your character is not a Mary Sue? (Guilty!)
  52. Do you do it a lot?

    Part Six: Super Powers and Skills

  53. Is your character a new Ranger or Ninjetti or Ninja or whatever?
  54. If yes, do you see it coming a mile away? (Actually, this occurs with some of the best original Ranger fics, but it's still a Mary Sue trait.)
  55. If yes, is s/he already OR does it happen by the middle of the first story?
  56. Does s/he use special powers to take on the bad guys when the Rangers can't (or simply can't morph or get there in time)?
  57. Does your character beat on a major baddie or henchman?
  58. Does s/he appear early on, morphed, and the Rangers wonder for a while who the heck it is?
  59. Do they manage to figure out who the Rangers are even though the Rangers don't know who they are?
  60. Does Zordon (or whoever) encourage him/her to take on or keep the power?
  61. Does fate or destiny play a role in your explanation?
  62. Is your character the only one who can wield his/her specific power?
  63. If yes, because it is passed down through alien heritage?
  64. If yes, is it from a race of "superior beings?"
  65. Does the power come from a Morphin Master/Ninjetti/Zeo Guardian/Ranger mentor-type person?
  66. Does the character have abilities that none of the others do at the time?
  67. If yes, Ninja/Ninjetti abilities while the others don't?
  68. Does your character posess any psi-related abilities?
  69. If yes, does the character blantantly use them?
  70. Does explaining the character's powers require some retcon and/or continuity stretching? (ie, if the origin really happened in the series when and where you say it did, it should have at least been hinted at?)
  71. Does the character have special skills that lead to the Rangers getting new weapons/Zords/whatnot?
  72. Do you ever pretend, just to yourself, that you -are- the character, with the same strengths and abilities?

    Part Seven: The Plot Thickens

  73. Do you introduce the character in the first few pages of the story?
  74. Do you tell the story from the character's point of view, all or mostly?
  75. Does the character save the day and/or another recurring character's life?
  76. If yes, the character s/he is involved with?
  77. If yes, through dying or apparent death?
  78. If yes to the previous, does everyone go into mourning?
  79. If the character dies, is s/he resurrected somehow OR turn out to have miraculously survived?
  80. Does he/she pull a Ranger's (or Rangers') fat out of the fire more than once?
  81. When there's a team fight, does your character end up fighting the head bad guy?
  82. If yes, because s/he's the only one who can take on the new threat?
  83. If this is a series, does your character tend to save the day in most of the stories?
  84. Is s/he elevated to the leader of the team?
  85. Do the bad guys attempt to turn your character evil?
  86. If yes, does it prove ineffective or impermanent because of your character's force of will or special abilities?
  87. If they succeed, does the character s/he is involved with try to talk your character to his/her senses?
  88. Does/would your character turned evil take out the Rangers easily fighting alone?
  89. Do the bad guys focus on your character in their attacks?
  90. Do you plan to write many more stories revolving around this character?

Scoring

To determine if your fanfiction is a Mary Sue, hit the submit button above, or count up the number of boxes you checked and divide that number by 90. Multiply the decimal by 100% and you will obtain your Mary Sue Corruptness Value. This is indicative of how much you need to change your writing.

  • 0-5%
  • 6-20%
  • 21-35%
  • 36-50%
  • 51-65%
  • 66-100%
  • Why are you writing fanfiction? Change the Saban names and submit to a publisher.
  • Developed character. Unlikely to be a Mary Sue.
  • Borderline Mary Sue character. Can go either way depending on author's skill.
  • Danger! Danger, Will Robinson! (Still kind of iffy, but seriously leaning in a Mary Sue direction.)
  • Definite Mary Sue character. Consider some changes.
  • Reconsider your character and plot. This fic will get a lot of negative feedback.

Please send any and all comments to Brian "Death" Rowe.

Special thanks go out to Missy Wilson for the original Litmus Test concept, Mandi Ohlin for the original PR version of this test, and the great gods at Microsoft who invented Notepad (which this document was written in.)

Postword from Mandi:

Okay. Forget scoring. Say your character is without a doubt one heck of a Mary Sue. What this test can't measure is the true likability of your MS, just the number of characteristics. Mary Sue-ism is not automatically a bad thing. It just increases your character's potential for cliche and/or negative feedback. I know a few definite Mary Sue fanfic characters who don't grate like Mary Sues are supposed to, and still others who are likable, fleshed-out characters thanks to the author's skill.

So if you're really worried about it, pull some edits. Drop a few of your character's many skills. Give him/her some flaws or some quirks. Or just change the characteristics. Does the character *have* to be a teenager? Does he/she have to get involved with the Ranger of your dreams, or if you won't change that, make them squirm for a while. Show us where the relationship's coming from.

Scarier yet, can you tell the same story with just the regulars? Usually, the answer is a resounding "No." But even so, does your character have to be the central element? For instance, in Ellen Brand's Personality Conflicts series, when Jamie Zedden was introduced, the plot of her story revolved around that and the looming possibility of Jason dying.

Above all, there is one thing you should keep in mind with your character. No matter if he/she is Eltarian, Triforian, Aquitian, Kerovan, or whatever, at the core, your character must be human on the most basic level. Sure, he/she might have wonderful powers, which are fun to dream about having yourself. But, both the author and the reader are human. We want to read about characters we can identify with, who have that human element somewhere. Humans aren't perfect; we sometimes say stupid things, become sheep to the media, make mistakes that are sometimes irreversible, have bad hair days and bad moods. If you really want your character to be original, give him/her habits, moods, attitudes that are all their own.

I'm quoting Missy here because she said it so perfectly in the original: "First and last of all, be real. The fantasy will make itself."

Merlin Missy's Home Page - The author of the original Litmus Test.
The PR Mary Sue Litmus Test - Version 2.2, the predecessor of this document.