Writing Tips and Reviews

Balancing Characters: Team Building

I won't be talking about balancing personality because that's debatable. Some people say an equal amount of good and bad traits and others say real people have a mix without a number count. Then there's the entire thing where some traits outweigh others and I don't care. I would rather talk about fantasy, weapons, magic, classes, Granblue Fantasy, Fate Grand Order, and my series. Things I want to talk about that don't take years of research, Kingdom Hearts, and don't make me lose hope in humanity, When the Stars Align I'm looking at you.

-Let's get some things out of the way first-

-What's a Mary Sue?

Mary Sues are characters in which the world bends over backward for them. Common traits are that they never face a consequence, are always better than everyone else, are stronger despite having a fraction of the experience, are always good, anyone who disagrees with them is always evil, can whine about "suffering" because they're always the victim, even though they probably started it, and they can't be talked down to.

Also, people like to make long essays about how they're not Mary Sues but they are because making a list of flaws and limitations means nothing when they're always right and whoever disagrees with them is always wrong. And cutting information just to say "she's the main character so of course, she has way more" helps nothing.

-What's not a Mary Sue?

What aren't Mary Sues by default are powerful characters, gods, child prodigies, female characters, and immortal characters. These characters are often called "Mary Sues" because they have a trait Mary Sues are commonly known for having. But it's like having a symptom of the disease, if you have a stomach ache, it doesn't automatically mean you have food poisoning. See the logic?

If they follow the rules of the world, then they're fine.

-Powerful characters

Powerful characters have the upper hand against others but they're not Mary Sues just because they're strong. Again, a symptom of the disease, if the world isn't bending over backward for them, they aren't a Mary Sue.

-Gods

Gods are beings who have authority over the world. You can't say "well to humans they're powerful so they're Mary Sues", because that's not how that works. Read above for why.

-Child Prodigies

Child prodigies typically fall into the category of "they can do it without effort so they're a Mary Sue" when people in real life can do it. Just because they can do it easily doesn't mean they're perfect at it, someone who's good at fighting can still get their ass kicked by a person of a higher level.

-Female characters (really?)

Female characters, it's gender, get over yourselves. All Greg's characters are male and are Mary Sues, quit limiting them to only females. It's more common with females, but they're not the only ones who can be Mary Sues.

-Immortal characters

If the reason isn't "so my precious character can't get hurt", then you're fine. CC from Code Geass is immortal but she's not a Mary Sue. She follows the rules of the world.

Now let's get into the part where I talk about balancing characters.

-Teams-

Teams are important for any fighting game, even those that are solo shooters have the option to play with others. You can talk to your friends and plan out who does what in the fight. The same goes for teams in stories.

-The elements

As someone who takes from Granblue Fantasy and the Tales series, I use elements, specifically, fire, water, wind, earth, light, and dark, with the subcategories being ice and electricity. Both coming from water and light respectively. These are the general elements in fantasy games, you could add things like rock, dirt, dust, or grass, but why would you when you can say "earth"? Unless you're Pokémon where earth and grass types have different abilities and counters.