EDIT 3: 11/22/09 You guys are kidding me XD For goodness sakes, reaaaaad the liink here: [link] Every time I get a comment that reads "the one on the left is a Mary Sue because she has green hair and a power," I realize that they're not reading the description which contains this link: [link]
tl;dr: If 'special' traits fit in with the universe, it doesn't automatically make the character a Mary Sue. What if everyone else in Ami Machida's universe has green/blue/purple hair? What if everyone else has a cat power? Does that make her a Mary Sue? Not necessarily.
Please, spare me the time from having to point you BACK to the silly description and just take a minute to read the link. You know, the one I linked to a bunch of times up above. And the link here: [link]EDIT 2: 10/11/09 I suppose this is long overdue, but for those of you with confusion, here is an explanation on why I perceive the one on the left as not a Mary Sue: [link] For the love of god stop whining about it D:EDIT: 6/21/09 Okay, everyone, please chill with all the 'hay is my character a mary-sue!?11" questions. I get about 3 a day now and one thing you need to understand - I AM NOT AN AUTHORITY ON MARY SUES. This picture is a parody. Just for fun. The one on the right is obviously an extreme exaggeration of a stereotype and not the definitive definition for a Mary Sue. D:Please full view. You won't be able to read the text if you don't.
For those of you who don't know, a Mary Sue, in a nutshell, is a fanmade character that is usually extremely beautiful, powerful, smart, talented, and in plain words, perfect in every way.
These characters tend to be quite a bother in fanfiction and role playing, since they simply can't be beat, and thus become boring.
Have any of you ever been rping, and come across a character who is like, " oh, well, that planet in the way isn't a problem *blows it up*"
Or, is like, "well, Vegeta and Goten and Trunks and Goku ALL have a crush on my character"
Yep. That's a Mary Sue.
So, for people who still don't understand, I made this little picture/diagram. Usually, Mary Sues have TONS of talents and TONS of powers, and no weaknesses.
Enjoy ^_^
-Done in Copic Markers, with the background and text done on computer -
My best friend has like 10 Mary Sue OCs. I beta for her fanfiction. I am a really strict beta (don't get me wrong, though, I'm not terrible! I want to be fair, and I praise the good stuff) and whenever I point out one of the biggest flaws (for instance, she has a character that has wings, double eye colors, eVERY SINGLE BOY IS IN LOVE WITH HER, she's an alien but looks perrrrrrrrfectly human, and so on) she goes "It's an alternate universe, I can do anything."
She's been my best friend since 3rd grade and I don't want to make her feel horrible but I just..... 'Alternate universe' is not an excuse. 'It's my story' is not an excuse. I am a fanfiction writer and reader, and I know a Mary Sue when I see one. I want to be fair but at the same time I want to be clear that she canNOT keep on making Mary Sues or she will burn and crash in the fanfiction world.
Tsk.
Anyway, I really like your art! I can't believe it's so old. I might be getting Copic markers for Christmas.
Left: Huh, nice character you got there.
Right: OMFG, TOO MUCH COLORS! D:
Ami:
Mary Sue:
(it's a character with a tragic background, as much power as one of the most powerful man in the series, she is twelve, she wears really not child-like clothing, is immune to poison and joined a dangerous criminal group and is already skill full and clever as a grown up)