Pokémon Mary-Sue Litmus Test - Humans

Obligatory Question of Significance

1. The character is a major or main character in the story in question. The same character can work all right in one story but seem like a serious Sue in another just because he or she is a more important character there. If you are testing a character in general rather than just his or her role in some specific story, do check this.
   1. The character is the absolute central character of the story in question (Ash Ketchum importance, not Brock or Misty importance). If you are testing a character in general rather than just his or her role in some specific story, do check this.

Self-Insertion

1. The character shares at least three of the following with you: sex, eye color, hair color, name, basic interests, basic personality.
   1. The character shares at least five of them with you.
   2. These similarities are deliberate and conscious.
2. You do not, but would very much like to, share at least two of the following with the character: eye color, hair color, name, social status, significant other (if any), talents, Pokémon owned (if any).
   1. You would like to share at least four of them with the character.
      1. You would like to share at least six of them with the character.
3. You have used this character outside of the story to represent yourself, such as by depicting the character in avatars, using the character's name as an alias or any other form of self-representation.
   1. You did this before starting the story.
4. You frequently express your own opinion on various subjects directly through this character.
5. Redemption: The character's interests and personality are decidedly unlike how you perceive your own.
6. Redemption: You would hate to be this character and experience what he/she does in the story.

Favoritism

1. The character is one of your favorite characters in the story.
   1. The character is your very favorite character in the story, period.
   2. You would be ecstatic if the character existed in real life and you knew him or her.
      1. You would be romantically attracted to the character.
2. You have written at least two stories in all featuring this character in a somewhat significant role (i.e. minor cameo appearances do not count, but everything else does).
   1. You have written at least four stories in all featuring this character in a somewhat significant role.
3. The character has received undue attention in the story despite not being of importance that would warrant it (e.g. the character is a minor character but has nonetheless had several chapters centering around him or her that have no actual plot significance, the character is a major but not quite main character who has shoved the actual main character out of the spot light, or the character is the main character and gets literally all the spotlight in the story).
4. You have roleplayed this character.
5. You have created artwork of this character.
   1. You have created significantly more artwork of this particular character than any other character in the story (excused if that is only because this character is the easiest to draw by that large a margin).
   2. You have used this artwork to represent the story (e.g. on banners).
      1. You have done so despite this not being the main character of the story.
6. Redemption: You would strongly dislike this character if he or she existed.

Speshulness

Note that in this category, all "unusual" or "unheard of" or "special" is relative - if something is perfectly ordinary in the world of your story, then ordinary is what it is. Don't check "unusual hair color" if your character has blue hair but half of the world's population in your story also does - however, do be wary of cases where you "tell" that something is common but "show" that it isn't, so if you say that blue hair is common but the character is still the only person to appear in the story who does, you ought to check it anyway.

1. The character has unusual hair color.
   1. The hair color was in fact unheard of before your character came along.
      1. This is brought up frequently in the story.
   2. There is no particular reason for this, really - you just thought it would be cooler that way.
2. The character has unusual eye color.
   1. The eye color was in fact unheard of before your character came along.
      1. This is brought up frequently in the story.
   2. There is no particular reason for this, really - you just thought it would be cooler that way.
3. The character has a special "connection" with a particular Pokémon.
   1. The Pokémon is a legendary Pokémon.
4. The character receives an unusual, rare starter Pokémon or a shiny one.
   1. The story does not provide a clear reason why it would be logical for the character to receive such a starter Pokémon.
   2. The starter Pokémon is a legendary Pokémon.
5. The character has the ability to speak to Pokémon, which people ordinarily do not in your fic universe.
6. The character has psychic powers.
7. The character has other special powers (e.g. he/she has wings, or the ability to use Pokémon attacks).
8. The character is the Chosen One.
9. The character has a Pokémon with abnormally great powers for its species.
10. The character is friendly with a legendary Pokémon (and yes, if a legendary Pokémon is prepared to battle for the character, he/she counts as being "friendly" with it).
    1. The character is friendly with multiple legendary Pokémon.
11. The character is told of in old prophecies.
12. The character is sent on a mission by legendary Pokémon or other superior powers.
13. The character is immortal or becomes immortal during the course of the story.

Perfection

1. The character is a great singer, great artist or otherwise has a particular knack for some art.
   1. The character has such a knack for multiple unrelated arts.
   2. The character is widely recognized for his or her spectacular talent at this art.
   3. The character didn't learn this art; he or she just has natural talent for it.
2. The character is of notably great intellect.
   1. The character would be appropriately described as a genius.
3. The character is particularly good-looking.
   1. This is frequently commented on or noticed by other characters in the story.
4. The character has great physical strength.
   1. The character has been able to physically fend off a bigger and stronger attacker.
5. The character is very courageous and keeps his/her calm even in dire situations.
6. The character is notably very good at Pokémon battling, coordinating or whatever other profession the character might practice.
   1. The character has been able to defeat an older, much more experienced trainer/coordinator/etc. at this.
   2. The character wins at least one major tournament in this field.
      1. The character wins multiple such tournaments.
      2. The character also wins at least one major tournament in a different field (e.g. a Pokémon trainer focused on battling wins a Master rank Pokémon contest, or a coordinator becomes a local League Champion).
7. The character is always nice, caring and polite.
8. The character is witty and funny.
9. The character has a tendency to know better than the other characters and explain things they don't know in some particular field.
   1. The character has a tendency to know better than the other characters about just about anything.
10. The character is honest.
11. The character is liked by all the good guys.
12. The character is loved by his or her Pokémon for being a caring trainer.
13. The character is respected for being good at what he or she does even by the opposite side of the conflict.
14. Another character loves or has a crush on the character.
    1. That character is a canon character.
15. All characters who dislike the character are characters shown in a negative light in the story.
16. The character eventually succeeds on his or her quest.
    1. The character does this mostly using his or her own skills and abilities, without needing much help from other characters.
    2. None of the character's traits have majorly inhibited his or her ability to do this.
17. Redemption: The character has a flaw or many (e.g. is particularly bad at something, dim-witted, physically weak, prone to being too trusting, etc.) and this significantly affects the storyline to this character's (or his/her side's) disadvantage.
    1. This directly results in the character's death or permanent disability, ultimate failure on his/her quest or another protagonist/neutral character's death/permanent disability.
18. Redemption: The character is noted as being ugly, overweight or physically deformed, and remains so during the course of the story.
19. Redemption: The character is portrayed as an unlikable person (in your opinion).
    1. The character is disliked, for well-justified reasons, by at least one other character on his/her side of the conflict.

Luck

1. The character earns at least one Gym badge or corresponding certificate of some achievement without actually earning it the way it is meant to be (e.g. is given a Gym badge for helping ward Team Rocket away from the Gym without actually winning the Gym battle).
   1. The character earns multiple such certificates that way.
   2. The other characters do not comment on this, find it unfair or want the same rule to apply to them.
2. The character has a shiny Pokémon.
   1. The character has multiple shiny Pokémon.
3. The character has a pseudo-legendary or other extremely rare Pokémon.
   1. The character has multiple pseudo-legendaries or other extremely rare Pokémon.
4. One of the character's Pokémon has evolved just when it was most convenient for the character.
   1. The character's Pokémon routinely evolve at such moments.
5. The character routinely runs into objects, characters or Pokémon that were just what he or she needed, whether he or she knows it at the time or not.
6. Of all random people to run into and decide to journey with, this person runs into the future love of his/her life.
   1. They eventually admit their feelings to one another within the course of the fic.
      1. They live happily ever after together at the end.
7. Redemption: Pseudo-legendaries, shinies or other rare Pokémon the character may have are portrayed as more common than in canon for one reason or another, and to demonstrate this, multiple other trainers who have similarly rare Pokémon are seen within the course of the story.
8. Redemption: All of the character's Pokémon are common in canon.

Background

1. The character is the son or daughter of a canon character.
   1. The character is the son or daughter of a major canon character.
2. The character is the long-lost sibling/cousin/other relative of a canon character.
   1. The character is the long-lost sibling/cousin/other relative of a major canon character.
3. The character is friends with at least one canon character.
   1. The character is friends with at least one major canon character.
4. The character is descended from some sort of royalty or upper class.
   1. The character was orphaned for some reason and brought up in poverty despite his or her royal or noble background.
      1. The character finds out about his/her ancestry for the first time during the course of the story.
      2. The character eventually restores his/her position as royalty or upper class.
5. The character has a dark, tragic past...
   1. ...namely, his/her family was murdered when he/she was young.
   2. ...namely, he/she was brutally raped.
   3. The tragic past is his/her deep dark secret until some chapter when it is finally revealed despite the character's reluctance to speak of it.
      1. After this chapter, it is brought up repeatedly to evoke the reader's sympathy.
      2. The tragic past has not had a permanent, lasting effect upon the character's personality or this effect is spontaneoulsy cured by (sex with) the character's True Love.
6. The character is a criminal or ex-criminal in a "cool" way (such as an assassin, but not for example an eBay scammer or common burglar who steals TVs) or otherwise "badass".
   1. The character quit because he/she realized that what he/she was doing was wrong and is now fighting the organization/group/cause that he/she used to work for.
   2. The character, despite this, is portrayed as sympathetic, justified and moral in his/her actions - he/she only murders people who abuse Pokémon, say, or steals from the rich to give to the poor, and the story treats this as justification for the character's actions.

Holier than Thou

In this category, it is assumed that the character is a protagonist in the story, as generally antagonists are not the moral icons. If you happen to be writing a story in which this is the case (although I can't quite imagine what sort of story that would be), just switch "protagonist" and "antagonist".

1. The character obtains at least one Pokémon through saving it in one way or another (e.g. saving it from an abusive trainer, adopting it when it's been abandoned, saving a wild Pokémon's life, etc.) such that it agrees to go with him or her afterwards.
   1. The character obtains multiple Pokémon in this way.
   2. The character obtains a legendary Pokémon in this way.
2. The character regularly preaches about morality to other characters in the story.
   1. The character preaches to other protagonist characters, because he/she is morally superior even to the rest of his/her own side of the conflict.
   2. At least one of those characters genuinely takes it to heart.
      1. Such a "redeemed" character becomes the character's partner on his/her journey (and perhaps starts preaching morality as well).
      2. In the end, the character makes the main antagonist (or one of the main antagonists) of the story see the light. (Note that this is only to be checked if the character him/herself directly convinces the antagonist to switch sides, and not if the antagonists decides so him/herself.)
3. One of the principal differences between the character and the antagonists of the story is that the antagonists behave in notably immoral ways (e.g. they abuse Pokémon, steal for their own gain, or routinely murder innocents for the heck of it), in stark contrast with the character, who does no such thing.
   1. The character decided to fight them because he or she witnessed some of this and decided they had to be stopped, rather than because the antagonists actually did something to the character him/herself.
4. The character sacrifices his/her own comfort and safety to save other characters.
   1. The character eventually sacrifices his/her life to save other characters.
      1. This results in an emotional scene where everybody cries and mourns.
      2. This results in a main antagonist seeing the light upon realizing the character's selflessness.
   2. The character is even prepared to make sacrifices to save the antagonists.
5. A point is made of how "pure of heart" the character is.
6. Redemption: The character is decidedly immoral.
7. Redemption: The character is (intentionally) a hypocrite, e.g. he/she tells people off for abusing Pokémon but in fact treats his/her own Pokémon in a not-so-stellar way.