Tenth Walker




 * The Company of the Ring shall be Nine; and the Nine Walkers shall be set against the Nine Riders that are evil. &mdash;Lord Elrond, FotR


 * I don't see the logic of nine. &mdash;Gwendolyn Elizabeth Huntington, LotR Mary Sue

The Tenth Walker is a type of Mary Sue found in the Lord of the Rings fandom. It is a subspecies of the type of Sue that joins the canon heroes in their work, mission or quest. This particular Sue inserts herself (or himself, but females are more common) into the Fellowship of the Ring, which canonically numbers nine, and travels with them. Agents Jay and Acacia referred to this situation as a "Code 10."

Fanfics in which more than one Mary Sue joins the Fellowship are less common, but certainly not unknown. Usually there is a main Mary Sue, and the others are just her followers. The largest Fellowship that has been recorded had nine Mary Sues, making it a "Code 18" Suefic.

Traits of Tenth Walker Fics
These fics tend to follow a distinct pattern. For example, the Mary Sue almost always falls in love with at least one member of the Fellowship. She may also have to prove herself to at least one Designated Misogynistic Bastard by showing off and talking smack, making him look stupid in the process. In badfics that include the movieverse scene where the Fellowship swears to help Frodo, it is common to have the Mary Sue swear last (or in the middle, or even first) and include a list of all of her abilities in the oath.

Many Tenth Walkers feel the need to steal the spotlight of other characters in critical scenes in order to give themselves something plot-relevant to do. For instance, the Mary Sue may be the one to provide Gandalf the clue to opening Durin's Doors instead of Pippin (or Frodo in movieverse), or even open the doors herself. She may take injuries in the place of others, giving herself an excuse to swoon into the arms of her Lust Object while everyone admires her strength and courage. Line-stealing is also common, as in any Suefic.

More variety is possible after the Breaking of the Fellowship, depending on her type and LO. The Sue may accompany Frodo and Sam to Mordor; or she might get captured by Orcs; or she might become one of the Three Four Hunters for the pursuit into Rohan, further mangling the canon's numerology.

Girl from Middle-earth
The Sue is an 'ordinary' Middle-earth girl who happens to have an extraordinary talent. She could be a great swordswoman, a healer, an archer, a powerful psychic, or anything else the author deems to be cool. She joins the Fellowship and becomes indispensable to them.

There are also fanfics where the Mary Sue is the last of a forgotten race or species, such as Wood Nymph or Moon Elf. She is often a person of enormous importance in Middle-earth and is therefore invited to the Council of Elrond, where, strangely enough, no one except Elrond or Gandalf knows about her. She often has bizarre Sue-per powers that are part of being her species. Being the last of her people also allows her to spend most of the story obsessed with revenge and/or angsting in front of a hot Fellowship member.

Elf
The Sue is an Elf. Elven Sues are beautiful, wise, talented, and graceful. They have names that are meant to be Elvish, but may be made up or taken from words used in the books without regard for their meaning. Elven Sues are noted for not being Elf-like at all, as they tend to have teenage mentalities that reflect the author's own personality. Also, as noted above, they may be a type of Elf that does not exist in canon.

Girl Falls into Middle-earth


The Sue is an 'ordinary' girl from the real world who somehow falls into Middle-earth. Often she has read the books in real life or otherwise predicts events that are going to happen. She often changes key plot points, for example, saving Gandalf from the Balrog or stopping Boromir from dying. She can always speak and understand Westron, despite not having learned the language or even knowing it exists.

The Tenth Walker in Parody
Lily Winterwood won 'Most Unusual' at the 2012 Mary Sue Problems Tumblr Writing Contest by parodying the Tenth Walker with a Sue who had a crippling case of the Atlantis Complex and needed to be the tenth member to satisfy said disorder. OFUM also makes an appearance.