A Guide To Redwall Mary Sue
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I'd like to dedicate this chapter to
all the writers at the Pit of Humans and various other fanfiction sites who have
come across problems of their own. You know the sort - writer's block, broken
spellchecks, computers crashing *just* before you save your work and, of course,
Mary Sue and Marty Stu. You're not alone, fellow fanwriters.
Names of Mary Sue
To open this chapter, here's an appropriate dialogue snippet from The Simpsons.
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
"Not if you called them stenchblossoms."
Mary Sues are never actually called Mary Sue. That would be too obvious. They
pick fancy codenames in the vain hope that we will not see them for what they
really are. Poor fools. Here are the types of names most often used. Pretty much
the same principles apply to Mary Sue's surnames.
(BTW, I may or may not have actually seen characters with the sample names used
here. I just made up some over-the-top Sue-sounding names. They're only to give
you an idea. Sorry if your character's name is in there.)
~Fancy names~
Favoured by Mary Sue Classic, and more accurately described as "unpronounceable
names". Mary Sue thinks these names sound very pretty, just like her (ugh, yucky
niceness again) and adopts them. I know some Redwallers have odd names, but
somebeast really ought to clue Mary Sue in that hers is causing tongue
injuries. And that Rhigielsilandrafoxglove Silverglade isn't actually that great
a name in the first place. (I am indebted to Psycho Violinist of Silentwood for
suggesting this name. Very Sueish - well done. Don't try and pronounce it,
please.) Usually contains unnecessary overuse of Y and H, and a lot of L, S, E,
R and, mainly in the case of vermin Sues, Z.
Samples: Seryssa, Lhyrenna, Zherallia (see what I mean?)
~Noun names~
Very popular; taken mostly from jewels, colours, seasons and plants. (Hey!
Laburnum comes under that heading! Why is my ff.net account named after a tree
when Mary Sue defames the plants-as-names tradition?) Other items can be used as
well. Although I have yet to see a character named Brick or Carpet. If you do
see one with a name like this, run as fast as you can; the author is obviously
unhealthily insane. (As opposed to healthily insane, like most of us.)
Descriptive names also come under this heading. Of course, Mary Sue's
descriptive names are always ridiculously OTT and either cheesily pretty or
pitiful attempts at sounding dramatic. I know nobody wants to give their weasel
character a "typical" vermin name, and dramatic names are cool in small doses,
but DON'T GO OVER THE TOP, PLEASE.
Samples: Rosepetal, Silverclaw, Darkstar
~Modern names~
Here's a more difficult area. This encompasses any name which is used as a name
among twenty-first century humans. It is a good choice for Human Sue, obviously,
and some vaguely Redwallish modern names are okay, but be careful which ones you
use. Things like Kyra (hi Roxeant! See, your fic isn't so bad!) and Zara are
okay, because they're reasonably canonical-sounding, but names like Linda and
Madison just do not fit. It is a good idea to remember that Redwall is set six
to eight hundred years before the present day, so do some research and try names
which were used then. Ones from the Bible are good. (Some pretty cool names are
in the Bible, and the stories in the Old Testament are good inspiration for a
backstory.) If in doubt, avoid.
Samples: Britney, Jessie, Claire (major apologies if your real name is
among these!)
~How to choose a good name~
Sometimes it's easy to pick a name. One just sticks in your mind as perfect for
that character, or you're only writing about canon characters, who are already
named. But sometimes you have difficulty, and here's where this section can
hopefully help.
Try a name generator for another fandom, like "Lord of the Rings" or "Star
Wars". Some of the names from these will be stupid, but keep trying and a gem
may pop up. Just type "name generator" into Google or whatever to find one. Or
you can use names of other fandom's canon characters, but be careful. I for one
could not take a story seriously if it featured a mouse named Galadriel or
Legolas.
Use random combinations of letters and scramble them around until they look like
a name. You can always say it's Juska for something.
Mix up relevant words to make a name. One of the most popular methods in the
Redwall fandom.
Try biblical or mythological names. A lot of the Redwallers are given biblical
names, which is kind of appropriate for an Abbey even if it has no apparent
religion. Naming a character after a similar personality in a legend is a good
idea - for example, a seer named Hecate, after the Greek goddess of witchcraft.
(Don't give her real magic, though. That's both canon damage and a one-way
ticket to Suedom. More on this in the "exorcism" chapter later on.)
If you're careful, you can use words from other languages as names. If you want
to do this, Latin and Gaelic are best for the Mossflower world. Japanese and
similar really wouldn't work unless your character was maybe born in the Redwall
world's corresponding country.
The best tip I can give you is; Make sure the name makes sense. It doesn't have
to be stunningly pretty or cool, but it must fit the character and fandom. If
you giggle every time you read it, or you have to put a note in explaining how
to pronounce it, it's a Very Bad name.
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The next chapter will be on how to write good parodies of Mary Sue. This is a lot harder than it looks.
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Questions? Comments? Email me at wordsmith101NOSPAM@btopenworld.com (don't forget to delete the NOSPAM first).