- ⧽ Ahsoka Tano, by the way, is annoying. She bats her grapefruit-sized eyes at Anakin and offers suggestions that invariably prove her right and her teacher wrong. At least when we first met Yoda, he was offering useful advice.
- —Roger Ebert on Star Wars: The Clone Wars
A canon Sue, also rendered Canon!Sue, is a canon character that possesses qualities normally associated with Mary Sues either naturally (canonical Sue) or due to the manipulation of a fanwriter (possession/character replacement Sue).
Canonical Sue[]
Not everyone agrees that Mary Sues can exist outside of fanfiction, but our definition allows for it. Characters who breeze through their stories with no meaningful conflict, receiving unreasonably good or bad treatment from the people around them and collecting special traits, powers, and items as the plot demands, turn up quite regularly in published fiction. A perfect example of this is that famous Gary Stu, Drizzt do'Urden, from the Forgotten Realms universe. He is unmatched in swordsmanship, has "special" violet eyes, is the only virtuous dark elf living, possesses a Cute Animal Friend, has corny magical jewelry, sooper speshul abilities (levitation, faerie fire, globes of darkness), legendary weapons, an angsty/tragic past, and of course can do no wrong.
The Protectors of the Plot Continuum, being what they are, will never assassinate the likes of Drizzt, because he is a canon character and as such has the right to exist in his own universe. A canon Sue, created along with the rest of its world, is so entangled with its home continuum that it would be impossible to kill the Sue without destroying the continuum. In any case, our job is to protect canon, not destroy it. However, PPC members generally strive to avoid creating canon Sues in their own original works, because they are a mark of poor writing.
Differences Between Canonical Sues and Fanfiction Sues[]
- The population of canon Sues has been fairly constant over the years, while the population of original character Mary Sues in fanfiction has increased explosively over the last few decades.
- Canon Sues almost never invade other continua, and their influence over their home continuum usually stays constant rather than expanding and causing canon breaks. However, an OOC canon Sue can be especially destructive, beyond the point that OOC canon characters usually are, because her influence over her home continuum is so extensive.
- Canon Sues, as part of original and often published works, are less likely to wield the destructive power of horrible writing, since authors of original fiction have gone through the editing process to get their works published.
- Canon Sues may occasionally be well-written enough not to annoy the reader; fanfic Mary Sues almost never are.
- The PPC does not kill canon Sues.
Examples of Canonical Sues[]
Yes, they glitter; no, you are not allowed to kill them.
- Alice, Resident Evil movies
- Angel and Dylan, Maximum Ride
- Ayla, Earth's Children series
- Many versions of Batman and Superman
- Bloom, Winx
- Both Bella and Edward, Twilight
- Delphi Diggory, Harry Potter
- Drizzt do'Urden, Forgotten Realms
- Eragon, The Inheritance Cycle
- Jaenelle, Black Jewels Trilogy
- Jean Grey, X-Men, post the original Phoenix saga and getting worse after her first resurrection
- Jonathan Levinson, briefly; Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Matilda Wormwood-Honey, Matilda
- Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog (all continuities)
- Hazama Honoka/Yuuki Terumi, Blazblue (More of a Villain!Sue, really.)
- Venus de Milo, Ninja Turtles: the Next Mutation
- Phryne, the Phryne Fisher Mysteries
- Rachel Berry, Glee
- Sakamoto, Haven't You Heard? I'm Sakamoto, who differs from most examples due to being intentionally written as a Stu for comedic purposes.
- Talia, Valdemar
- T'Challa in Marvel's "What If... T'Challa Became a Star-Lord?"
- Wesley Crusher, Star Trek: The Next Generation
- A lot of the heroes from Redwall
- Many historical Sues
- Evangeline St. Clare, Uncle Tom's Cabin
- Sir Galahad, in most versions of Arthurian legend
- Natty Bumppo, subject of a historical sporking by Mark Twain
- Sara Crewe, A Little Princess
Debatable Canonical Sues[]
These characters have many Sue-ish characteristics, but are less commonly accepted to be canon Sues. You be the judge.
- Some or most Disney princesses
- Jason Grace and Piper McLean, Heroes of Olympus
- Kes, Star Trek: Voyager
- Max, Maximum Ride
- Minerva Paradiso, Artemis Fowl
- Kimihito Kurusu, Monster Musume
- Rey, Star Wars
- River Song and Clara Oswald, Doctor Who
- Sabo, One Piece
- Shadow, Sonic the Hedgehog
Possession/Character Replacement Sue[]
Just as not all Mary Sues exist in fanfiction, not all fanfiction Sues are OCs. To avoid confusion with canonical Sues, this type of Sue is better referred to as a character replacement or possession Sue, as the circumstances warrant.
Possession Sue[]
- Main article: Possession
Possession Sues happen when a fanwriter takes a canon character and decides they aren't special or romantic enough as they are and gives them an "upgrade" by injecting them with a dose of Sueness. The character is usually still recognizable as his- or herself, but they are possessed by a Sue-wraith that acts as a puppeteer, forcing them to do things they normally wouldn't, such as getting a makeover or snogging their worst enemy. The wraith also exerts Suefluence on the characters around it, forcing them to react unusually to the possessed character for the sake of the story. Possessed characters tend to exhibit high levels of OOCness when studied with a Canon Analysis Device.
Cases of possession can be dealt with by exorcising the wraith. Victims of particularly strong or offensive wraiths may need a trip to the Department of Fictional Psychology for further help.
Character Replacement Sue[]
- Main article: Character Replacement
Character replacement Sues happen when everything that makes the canon character who they are is tossed out the window while the story continues to insist they're the same person. Character replacement Sues can often be distinguished from cases of possession by a name change and/or a complete moral transplant. A Canon Analysis Device or Character Analysis Device will identify them as non-canon, Mary Sues, and/or character replacements.
They can be dealt with by assassination, like OC Sues. The actual canon character will need to be retrieved from whatever plothole they were dropped into by the replacement. They may also require neuralyzation or a visit to FicPsych, depending on the situation.