Original Characters in Fan Fiction

When to Break the Rules, and a Small Caution to the Reader

I know what you're thinking - those are a lot of rules, and that's a lot of stuff to keep in mind, plus, that doesn't work for the story I want to tell. Well, okay. Go ahead. Break the rules. Just make sure you can justify why you're breaking the rule within the context of the story.

Say you're dying to name Sherlock's half-sister "Sakura Holmes". Now, why would an English girl born about 1870 have a Japanese name? Perhaps she is of Japanese extraction; in this case, her father could be the very-English Mr. Holmes, and her mother from Japan. You'll have to come up with some backstory to explain how the two met, but with a little imagination and some research, you can definitely supply enough details to make it plausible to the reader.

As mentioned before, you can often get away with breaking one rule, especially if you justify it properly. But if you break rule after rule, eventually, your OC won't fit in with the canon characters and their world. Readers don't like that. So be careful.

A Note of Caution: Avoiding Mary Sue

The original Mary Sue was the protagonist of a short Star Trek fanfiction (1) published in and amateur fanzine in the early '70s. In that tale, Mary Sue was a 15 year old lieutenant who was good at everything, loved by everyone, and saved the Enterprise before dying artistically.

Generally, Mary Sue is an idealized author-insert character. She isn't always a girl (her male equivalent is sometimes called "Gary Stu" or "Larry Stu" or "Marty Stu"), but she is always very good looking. She often has an exotic hair or eye colour, and a flowery name. She is good at everything - she can do Tae Kwon Do, cook a turkey dinner, win the Nobel prize for literature, and tame the wild swamp beast, all before breakfast. Those who know her, love her, regardless of their sex. Those who don't know her, love her from afar, ditto. Well, unless they're evil - but even the bad guy usually has a sneaking admiration for Mary Sue. Worst of all, she has no real flaws and doesn't grow as a character during the course of the story.

Oh, her author thinks Mary Sue has flaws. She's clumsy - but her clumsiness has no impact on the story. She's stubborn - but who can blame her? She knows everything and therefore is right all the time. Or, most commonly, Mary Sue's flaw is that she's just so awesome that other people just don't understand her. It's lonely being that great (2).

If you're afraid your character is a Mary Sue, go through your story and reread it. Make sure that your OC seems like a plausible, realistic person, a person with uncertainties, fears, and flaws. If your OC has these characteristics, you're okay. You've avoided the dread Mary Sue.

1) Which you can read in all its Sue-ish glory here: http://web.archive.org/web/20100830041159/http://www.fortunecity.com/rivendell/dark/1000/marysue.htm

2) I have really and truly seen this idea being used in stories, and it is not a pretty thing.

So, there you have it. Go out there and write an OC that would make Shakespeare and Virgil proud!