Mary Sueism
Mary Sueism is when a character is portrayed as 'more important' and 'better' than the other characters. This usually occurs when an RPer forgets that Role Playing is interactive and focuses only on the betterment of their character.
A Mary Sue can be nipped in the bud, however. There are key signs that can be found in a Mary Sue's character sheet, such as an angsty past, or very strong positive descriptors with a lack of negative ones, both in personality and appearance. However, you are definitely allowed to have an 'angsty' past, and only in combination with other signs does it expose a Mary Sue.
There are many things that Mary Sues often resort to.
Branching out on a personal storyline is a key factor in Mary Sueism. An example of this is when the characters are trying to follow a plot line, and the Mary Sue suddenly decides to do something drastic, in an attempt to draw attention to her or himself. While this is acceptable when the RP has no plotlines running, doing this while there is a plotline going on pulls the RPG away from that plotline and can seriously bother those who are working to a solution for that plotline first. Also, it can cause serious continuity problems; what happened to the kidnapped girl people were trying to rescue? They just abandoned her?
However, there is something worse than branching out. And that, my friend, is god modding.
I won't go into high detail with god modding here; to read that, go into the God Modding article. However, this is usually a direct effect of Mary Sueism and is among the worst of offenses in the Role Playing world.
What is god modding, you ask? Simple. God modding is to, within a fight or similar situation, act as if the character is stronger, faster, and better than everyone else, without an even amount of weaknesses. Not letting yourself get hit, automatically hitting other characters, and easily shrugging off hits are all examples of this.
God modding will easily grant you a suspension if strong enough.
Overall, Mary Sues, like god modding, are a darker part of the development of an RPer. They will branch out. They will break continuity. And yes, they will god mode. But in the end, they will, eventually, learn.
Related Topics:
God Modding