So, if you are here reading this, I'm assuming you're here to run your characters through the test to see if they're the most dreaded self-insertion type known to online fandoms, a "Mary Sue". Mary Sue is perfect at everything she does, can take on Dragaunus, his henchmen and a small army of hunter drones on their own without breaking a sweat, is unbelievably cool, and all of the Ducks love her. This is why fanfic readers hate her, as they don't want to read about some girl or guy who makes the original characters look stupid and weak. As Mary Sues are often accompanied by bad writing and bad characterization, it makes them even more loathed in the eyes of the readers.

Rest assured, not every fan character is a Mary Sue, and we should be thankful for this. But, the Mighty Ducks fandom has lots of them and hopefully this might curb that trend! Answer each question YES or NO, and give yourself a point for each YES answer. Be honest and don't make excuses when doing the test; only by being honest about your character will you get an accurate score! If you're not honest, your character may still be a Mary Sue and people will still flame you . . .

Okay, let's get things started!
 

Section 1: The Name
 

Is your character named after you? (This can be your first name, middle name, or the nick you go by in cyberspace.) If so, stop now. Put down that pencil and stop the test already! But, having a nick based on your character's name after his or her creation doesn't count as a yes.

Is the character's name a cool name that you wish you had?

Does the name have any of these elements: -saber-; -light-; -night-; -blade-; -storm-; -fire-?
Does it have several of these elements?

Does the character have more than one name? (a nickname or a pseudonym counts, but shortened version of the character's name does not.)

Did you spend more than a day looking for just the right name?

Have you named or considered naming your child or pet the character's name?
 

Is the character the same gender as you?

Is the character from the same racial group as you? (If the character is a mutant, cyborg or any other super-human, answer YES to this question.)

Is the character a half-breed? (human/duck, duck/saurian, ect.)
Is his/her half-breed nature due to some kind of trauma?
A trauma you secretly think is cool?

Is the character a teenager?

Is the character not a teenager but looks like it anyway?
For a reason you're planning on using as a plot point later?

Is the character gorgeous or roguishly handsome?

Do one or more of the regulars find the character attractive?

Do the other regulars see him/her as a threat because of this?
Do you write Mallory as immediately jealous when meeting your female character?
Is Nosedive jealous when meeting your male character?
Does Duke and/or Nosedive put the moves on your character?

Does the character have an unusual hair or eye color for no apparent reason?
Will this be a plot point later?

Does your character dress in a fashion you'd never wear but you wish you could?
In spandex?
In leather?
In some type of super battle armor?

Does the character wear unusual jewelry?
That you wish you had?
That will be a plot point later?

Does the character have any scars?
That are reminders of their horrible past?
That may end up as a plot point later?

Does the character do any one thing better than the regulars? (Fighting skill, technological ability and such . . .)

Does the character do MORE than one thing better than the regulars?
Does your character out-fight Mallory and/or Grin?
Is your character better with technology than Tanya?
 

Is the character the long-lost child or descendant or sibling of a regular or recurring character?
Of Wildwing?
Of Duke?
Of Canard?
Of Drake Ducaine?

If the character is human, are they related to Phil?

If your character is related to one of the regulars do they:
Have the same job as the regular character?
Outperform the regular character at whatever it is they do best?

Is the character a member or a friend of a hitherto unknown special operations team from Puckworld?
And is the last surviving member of that team?

Did the character have an unusual birth?

Is the character an orphan?
Was this because of the Saurian Invasion of Puckworld?

Does the character have a twin, clone or sibling of the same gender?
About whom you plan on writing another story about later?

Does the character have a really good singing voice?
Do you wish you could sing well?

Does the character play a musical instrument very well?
The guitar, for instance?

Does the character have better taste in music than you do? (Does the character own CDs that you think cool people own, even though you've never heard the music yourself?)

Does the character do what you do for fun and profit? (This can be the same job as you, a job you think would be cool to have, stuff you do for a hobby like writing or RPing . . .)

Is your character from dimensional Limbo?
Does he/she claim to know things about limbo that nobody else in Puckworld/Anaheim could possibly know?

Is your character a thief? (from the Brotherhood of the Blade, for example?)
Is your character a thief because you think it's cool?

Does your characters insult the regulars constantly and/or show a blatant disregard for authority?
Do they get away with this crap?

Does everyone end up liking the character (among the regulars you like)?
In spite of their bad attitude?

Has the character experienced emotional traumas that you think are cool?
Dead parents?
Dead lover?
Dead friend?
Were they murdered?
Did they die in the Saurian prison camps on Puckworld?
Does your character feel guilty about this, even though they weren't responsible?

Does the character not reveal the trauma until the moment where it would have the most impact?
Does your character lose it and start screaming at the regulars?
And is immediately forgiven?
Does one of the male Ducks (Duke, Wildwing) immediately comfort her?

Do you not care about the other character's emotional traumas?
Do you think your character has a worse history?
Do you think this makes them cool?

Do you think the regular characters should care about your character because of their past traumas?
Does your character insult a regular for "not understanding" their terrible history?
Does said regular immediately apologize and/or suck up to your character?
 

The bad guys:

Is the character a previously unknown rival of Duke's?
Another Saurian who isn't working for Dragaunus?

Does the character work for Dragaunus?
Does the character want to upstage Dragaunus?
Do they succeed?

Is the character the child or long lost sibling of Dragaunus'?
Does the character not find out about this until the middle or the end of the story, or find out in a future story you already have planned?

Is the character a double agent like Lucretia DeCoy?

The rest:

Is the character, not being from Puckworld Special Forces or the Brotherhood of the Blade, have special fighting skills anyway?
Is he/she more skilled than Mallory?
Than Duke?
Do you write a scene where these skills are made evident?
Did you write it just to upstage one of the regulars?

Was your character kicked out of the Brotherhood or Special Forces?
For "trouble dealing with authority"?
Because some other character saw your character's abilities as a threat?

Does the character have any psionic abilities, (telepathy, telekinesis, empathy, precognition, ect.?) even if only with a sibling or a lover?

Can the character use magic?

Does your character just "know things" for no apparent reason?

Can the character fly?
Without the aid of a vehicle?

Can the character heal with a touch or a thought?

Do animals instinctively like the character? (If the character has animal empathy, answer YES.)

When the character argues with the regulars, does he or she always win?
Was he/she in the right?
Do you write the regulars as unreasonably 'in the wrong' just so your character can have the moral upper hand?

Do you write the regular character you like the least at odds with your character?
Is a regular character acting out of character, just so that he/she can give your character a hard time, thus garnering sympathy for your character?
Does Mallory or Nosedive go postal on your character for no apparent reason? (This is more than just 'feeling jealous')
Does everyone else in the Pond side with your character?
Feel sorry for him/her?
 

Does the character fall in love with and/or have sex with one of the regulars?
Like Duke?
Like Mallory?
Like Nosedive?
Like Wildwing?

Does the character fall in love with and/or have sex with another recurring character?

With whom YOU would want to fall in love with and/or have sex with?

With another original character?
Who you find as the 'ideal mate'?

Does the story end with the character's wedding?
Does everyone in Anaheim attend?

Does the story end with the character getting pregnant or getting another character pregnant?
Is your character going to have twins?
Do your character's children have the same 'special powers' as your original character?
 

Would you want to be friends with the character if you ever met in real life?

Do you think everyone who reads the story should automatically like the character and want to be friends with them?

If someone tells you (like me, the fic reviewer of doom, for example) that he/she doesn't like your character, do you take it as a personal attack on you?

Do you ever pretend, just to yourself, that you ARE the character, with the same strengths and abilities? (RPs and story plotting don't count, private fantasies of you being the character in THIS reality do.)
 

Do you introduce the character on the first page of the story?
Before any of the regulars appear?

Do you tell the story primarily from the character's point of view?
Do the regular characters' thoughts and opinions not matter to you?
Do you look for ways to write the regulars out of the scene just so you can keep writing about your character?

Does the character somehow get through the Ducks' previously unbreakable security system?

Does the character meet the Ducks, and after a few tense pages of plot, become friends with them?

Do the Ducks get into a battle with Dragaunus shortly after your character's arrival in Anaheim?
Does the character immediately display his/her awesome fighting and/or magical skills and singlehandedly drive the Saurians back to the Raptor?
Would the battle have been lost without your character?

Does some part of the character's traumatic past come back to bite them in the tailfeathers?

Does the character manage to develop a friendship with an otherwise villainous character, and through this friendship, reform the other character?

Is the villain in question Dragaunus or Chameleon?

Does the villain become evil again after the character dies, but retain one last shred of goodness from their relationship with the character, as proven by one selfless action at the end of the story?

Is your character a member of the Brotherhood?
From a branch of the Brotherhood previously unheard of?
Was the character running the Brotherhood in Duke's absence?

Is this an alternate reality where your character has always been in Anaheim/with the Ducks/on Puckworld?

Does the character save the day and/or another character's life?
Do they HAVE to save everyone?
Is this through magical intervention?
Through superior fighting skills/firepower?
Through dying?
Does everyone go into mourning?
Does he/she miraculously return from the dead by the end of the story? In the sequel?

Does the character end up living at the Pond?

With one of the other regulars?
On a permanent basis?

Do the regular characters go out of their way to accommodate your character and make him/her comfortable?

Do you plan on basing all your future stories on the character?
Are you phasing out the regular characters in your series to focus on the children of your new character?
 

0-20  Wow, you've got a well developed character . . . well done!

20-30  Borderline character. It's a potential Mary Sue, but could go either way depending on the skill of the writer. Poor writing skills plus bad character ideas equals bad fanfiction, so be careful!

30+  You've got yourself a Mary Sue! Be really careful here . . . some skilled writers may be able to do something with this, but if poorly handled it'll be just another drop in the endless sea of Mary Sues.

40+  I suggest you give serious thought to reconsidering your character and plot. Please, for the love of God and my sanity!!
 

All right, so you've run your potential new character through the test and they've failed miserably. But wait, there's still hope, my friend . . . all you have to do is read just a little bit more. That and check out the fanfiction resource links I'll be providing below!

Should you go ahead and write the great story you have in your head? Can you do it without your character? You're the only one who can really answer that. There's a lot of stories out there with characters that fit a lot of these traits, but still manage to be good fic with interesting characters. Then again, the authors in question knew what they were doing with said characters, and there's just as many examples of phenomenally BAD fics with characters like these.

Can you change things about your character so they don't have so much in common with you? Can you tell the story without the character? Do they have to save everyone? Do they have to have the phenomenal cosmic powers or kickass fighting skills?

In conclusion, only you can decide on what you do with your characters once you create them. This is just here as a help, or as a source of humor . . . I can't tell you not to write that Mary Sue fic if you really want to write it.
 

So, here are those links I told you about . . .

Dr. Merlin's guide to fanfic-- This belongs to the author of the original Mary Sue litmus test, and is a fairly good guide regarding the mysteries and intricacies of fanfiction.

Mary Sue DeVille, and Why She Must Die Too-- by Alara Rogers. Not all Mary Sues have to be heroes . . .

The List-- more based on ReBoot fics, though there is a section with other fanfiction resources.