The Street-Fighter Mary Sue Litmus Test
Caution: May be Slightly Tinted from Personal Experiences.

Created By:
Nicholas "Vidstudent" Eckert
Arthur "The Black Snotling" Monteath-Carr
The Darkheart One
A.o.D
Thomas "Wanderer" Wilde
Geson "Racewing" Hatchett

Archived Here With Permission

Find out why we hate Mary Sue and all her evil clan at:
http://www.dimfuture.net/elsewhere/mot.html

Score one point for every "yes" answer, except where noted...

Section One: The Basics

  • Does the character share the author's name? (This can be their first name, middle name, or the name they go by in chat or irc.) If so, stop now. Put your pencil (mouse?) down and turn in your test.
  • Does the character have a really cool name, like Hunter, Killer, or Defenestrator? (Two points if the name sounds like an AOL user nameor a fourteen-year-old wannabe hacker's handle.)
  • Does the character have more than one name (i.e. a nickname ora pseudonym)?
  • Does he have a name that sounds like an Occidental trying to sound Oriental or American Indian (i.e. "Midnight Tiger")?
  • Is he Japanese? If so, are you Caucasian? (2 points if "yes" to both)
  • Does he have a self-inserted sidekick that meets any of these requirements?
    • Is the character female? Two points if yes and the actual author ain't.
    • Is the character male? One point if yes and the actual author ain't.
  • Does your character know Street Fighter storyline information, such as:
    • Ryu and Ken having trained together? (0 points)
    • knowing Sagat, Balrog, and Vega all work for Shadoloo? (1point; Sagat and Balrog don't go around telling people that)
    • Dan having briefly trained with Ryu and Ken? (1 point)
    • Chun Li's father being killed by Bison? (1 point)
    • Blanka's childhood? (2 points; 4 points if this includes Blanka being Charlie)
    • Akuma's increasingly convoluted backstory? (4 points; 2 if the character is a Shotokan; 3 if the character wasn't trained by Gouken or Ryu)
    • something that you made up to fill a deliberately missing bit in someone's background (i.e. Cammy's childhood)? (6 points)
    • add one additional point for every one of these things you know after the first.
    • if your character knows all of it, just give yourself 10 points and call it a day.
    • double all points if your version of the Street Fighter storyline somehow involves one or more Marvel characters.
  • What does he do besides being a Street Fighter? Does he:
    • teach at someone else's dojo? (1 point)
    • own his own dojo? (1 point)
    • sit around all day and spend his immense fortune that he has for no good reason? (1 point)
    • travel the world Ryu-style? (1 point)
    • have a *whole lot* of dojos? (2 points)
    • hang out with characters from other games? (2 points)
    • work for a government agency? (2 points; 1 point if the Street Fighters are depicted as being some kind of international peacekeeping force, as in the USA cartoon)
    • kill people for money? (3 points)
    • live the exciting life of an international spy and rabble-rouser? (3 points)
    • have an established character (i.e. Sakura) as a student? (3 points)
    • hang out with characters from wildly different games/cartoons/movies/TV shows (i.e. Zoner blithely calling up Benton Quest in chapter3 of "Warrior's Legacy")? (3 points)

    Section Two: Ninja Skills

  • The character's chosen martial art (apply points for each that applies):
    • kempo, hapkido, jujitsu, judo, or something else that's fairly mundane and non-fanboy-ish (0 points)
    • Style? No time. Use Death Blossom. (0 points)
    • Shotokan karate (1 point)
    • jeet kune do (1 point)
    • Something-In-Japanese (usually something-hyphen-Ryu) Stylekarate (1 point)
    • If Shotokan, can they turn the Satsui no Hadou on and off like a light switch? (1 point)
    • capoiera (1 point)
    • ninjitsu (1 point; 2 if the character isn't Oriental)
    • generic back-alley brawlin' "that's jus' as good as yer kungfooey crap" (1 point)
    • Gendo Saotome's Anything-Goes Martial Arts (2 points)
    • Bison's style (2 points; 3 points if the character refers to it as Ler Drit, 'cause it sounds silly)
    • "professional wrestling" (2 points)
    • a fake martial art from another game, such as magatama orhakyokusaken (3 points)
    • a martial art that doesn't technically exist, or if it's his"own style" (4 points)
    • you took a cool verb, matched it with a cool animal, and addedthe words "kung fu" at the end (i.e. "Snarling Badger kung fu"; 4 points)
    • "your own style," which appears to be a slightly altered version of Shotokan karate (8 points; i.e. "Akai Shinkuu Hadoken")
    • Divide your points in half if your character's style is basedupon your own martial arts practice.
    • Double your points if your fight scenes sound like dial-a-combos off of a Vs. game.
    • Double 'em again if you just automatically started muttering a defense of the Vs. games to yourself.
    • Triple points, and bless your gods that I don't go higher, if you develop "your own style" after a week's worth of training.
  • Do you use some kind of weapon to fight? (Multiple weapons are cumulative.)
    • my own two fists (0 points)
    • something that's harmless, but in my hands it's a deadly weapon, like Rose's scarf (1 point)
    • I've *got* weapons, but they're only there for a victory pose (1 point)
    • a knife, stick, or a Vega-esque claw (1 point)
    • a quarterstaff or twin escrima sticks (2 points)
    • a sword (3 points; 4 if it's a really big sword)
    • a similar deadly melee weapon (3 points)
    • a gun (4 points)
    • explosives (4 points)
    • sporting goods (4 points)
    • magically conjured sporting goods (5 points)
    • a REALLY BIG gun (5 points)
    • a gun and explosives (6 points)
    • I don't lift a finger. I just use my INCREDIBUL CHI POWURZ (7 points).
  • Does the character possess/has survived the Raging Demon or an equivilent knockoff?
  • Does the character know something *even more* "powerful"than said technique?
  • Does the character keep Akuma/Zangief/Bison on a leash at home, untying them only to use them as training dummies? Do said training dummies enjoy it?
  • Has the author been spending far too much time with the WoD Streetfighter: The RPG book?
    • If your character is an up-and-coming World Warrior, take 2 points.
    • If he's already a World Warrior, take 4 points.
    • If he just pimpsmacked Ryu out of the #1 slot, take 8 points.
  • Do your normal moves look like an ordinary SFer's super moves?
  • Do you have a single goddamn thing to do with the Orochi? (4 points)
  • Does the character magically learn an opponent's moves (and/or how to counter them) just by looking at them being used? (One point for each one that applies.)
  • Did the character master their fighting style faster than Sakura?
  • Does the character no-sell everything that gets thrown at him, just 'cause?
  • Does your omniscient narrator spend a lot of time trying to explain*why* your character is no-selling like a bastard?
  • Does the character possess Dan-like ability, yet still no-sell everything that gets thrown at him, against all odds?
  • Does the character have really impressive sounding move names,such as "Blazing Super High-Speed Whirlwind Kick of Sudden Death?" And does he/she shout them out in full during battle? (Double points if movenames/shouts are in Japanese and your character's not Japanese. Points added at others' discretion if it's really poor, welfare, gutter Japanese that you learned from too much subtitled anime.)
  • Does the character happen to be or have been a student of one or more of the major (or even minor) characters in the series?
  • If your character has an established character as a mentor, are you deliberately mischaracterizing the mentor to account for her tutelage? (One point per teacher; three points if this includes the character actually having to not be dead, like Charlie.)
  • Does said teacher/teachers respect said student, or even consider hir their "successor" and/or newest "rival"? (One point (and one pint,too) per applicable teacher and quoted thingie that applies)
  • What other kinds of relationships does your character have with established characters, if any? Add the points up for each character who qualifies. Sexual relationships are covered in Getting Freaky, below.
    • I don't know him (0 points)
    • I saw him fight once (0 points)
    • an acquaintance (0 points)
    • a good acquaintance, not quite a friend (0 points)
    • a friend (1 point)
    • a good friend (2 points)
    • a childhood friend (2 points)
    • I'd take a bullet for him (2 points)
    • he'd take a bullet for me (3 points)
    • he *has* taken a bullet for me (4 points)
    • he's taken a bullet for me, the sucker (5 points)
    • a friendly rivalry (1 point)
    • a friendly rivalry that he's winning (0 points)
    • a friendly rivalry that I'm winning (2 points)
    • a bitter rivalry over a woman (2 points)
    • a bitter rivalry that will only end in one of our deaths (4 points)
    • look, the rivalry's bitter, okay? Don't ask why (4 points)
    • I...will...have...REVENNNNNNGGGGGGEEEEEEE!!! (4 points)
    • he respects my incredible kung fu ninja skillz (6 points)
    • we fought once, and:
      • I lost (0 points)
      • I won (1 point)
      • I lost, but it was a long time ago (1 point)
      • I lost very badly (0 points)
      • I lost very badly, just now (-1 point)
      • I won, just now (2 points)
      • I won, easily, and my opponent nearly died (3 points)
    • Triple all points for this section if your character is below the age of twenty. Sextuple 'em if he's below the age of ten. Keep sextuplin' 'em every time he beats up someone who's far older and more skilled.

    Section Three: Plot Contrivances

  • Does the character save the world?
    • At the last minute?
    • Using a newly-developed move which "takes a lot out of them?"
    • Does he then proceed to pick himself up and repeat the move several times, taking less and less time to recover every time?
    • Is said move capable of smacking the crap out of a Street Fighter with one hit (i.e. would do 50% damage or more if it was actually in thegame)?
    • Was that "newly-developed move" literally thought of in the last couple of seconds?
    • Can you chain two or more "newly-developed moves" together in a single combo?
    • If not, have you been practicing the move in secret, something which you will inform us of just before using the move, and then proceed to get the move exactly right?
    • Does said move kill your character? If so, subtract a point. SIs ain't s'posed to die. Or something.
  • Is the character the son/daughter of a standard character? (one point for each. Double for Ryu/Chunners, pause to barf if Ryu/Sakky, pause to barf and kill if Zangief/Sakura). (2 points)
    • Is said child even better than their parents combined?
    • Twice?
  • Is your character a distant relative of an existing character (i.e. Brianna, Ken Masters' sister-in-law, the heroine of one of Bethany Cox's SF 'fics)?
  • Does the character fight/oppose Shadowloo?
    • And whoop them all with one hand?
    • Is the character openly contemptous of Shadowloo?
    • Do they refer to Shadowloo with a new and oddly spelled name? (Shadalu, Shoodoolaw, whatever.)
  • This time, is it personal?
  • Does the character refer to Gill or Dudley as their butler? And Urien (snicker) as their handyman? "Destroy!" "That's nice, Urien, now go clip the hedges." "... grrr."
  • Is said character somehow the one really responsible for that scar on Sagat's chest, or his eyepatch?
  • Does the character rehabilitate a villain?
    • Balrog, Vega, Sagat (1 point)
    • Bison, any Marvel villain (3 points)
    • Akuma, Demi Moore (8 points)

    Section 4: Narrative Technique

  • Is the story told through both first and third person techniques, without the excuse of being surrealist fiction?
    • In the same paragraph? (2 points)
    • Do you attribute this to "poetic license" (4 points)?
  • If the author delves into the elaborate symbolism inherent in, say, a banana, do they:
    • keep it relevant, brief and to the point? (0 points)
    • take several paragraphs? (1 point)
    • devote a whole chapter to the thing? (2 points)
    • muff it, revealing the author for a complete putz? (3 points)
  • Does your story stink of the goat ass so terribly that it rouses A.o.D, a noted cynic, out of his apathetic state to craft a personalized tirade designed to illustrate fully his contempt for your story, your grammatical skills, and your poor genetic makeup? (2 points)
  • Do you feel compelled to place shouted move names in their own paragraph?
    • In ALL CAPS?
    • BOLD, ITALICIZED, AND UNDERLINED?
  • Do you use 3133+ hAx0r 5p33K?
  • Do you possess the spelling and grammar skills of a rhesus monkey with brain damage?
  • Do you possess adequate spelling and grammar skills, but are otherwise as boring as white paint on a wall?

    Section 5: Getting Freaky

    All point values for the following questions are doubled if the established character in question is either Karin or Sakura.

  • Does your character get freaky with one or more regular characters? (One point for each.)
  • If your character does get freaky with a regular, does that regular make the first move?
  • Does your character then profess their undying love for said regular, and are handily accepted into their lives?
  • Does the character make some kind of incredibly uncharacteristic proposal based upon his love for your character (i.e. Ryu wanting to settle down; Bison inexplicably *not* being a sadistic killer)?
  • Is your relationship with your favored character causing strife with that character's friends, obligations, and family? If not, *should*it be?
  • Is your character involved in a bizarre love triangle with two existing characters?
    • not deliberately (1 point)
    • deliberately (2 points)
    • I jus' play 'em off against each other to make myself look good (3 points)
    • Oh, yeah...but I thought you called those menage a trois? (4 points)
    • there's no love, there's just hot sweaty monkey sex (5 points)
  • Double points for the above question if the love triangle in anyway involves Lemon Cliche #37: all women become lesbians the moment they see another woman naked. Double 'em again if that cliche somehow causes a sex scene between two characters who hate each other (i.e. Karinand Sakura; Chun-Li and SFA3-personality Cammy).
  • Slap yourself if you're Racewing and you liked the sound of that last one.
  • Is your character's love somehow causing the character to act outside of his/her usual:
    • allegiances? (1 point)
    • friendships? (1 point)
    • established personality? (1 point)
    • martial-arts style, because s/he likes yours so much? (2 points)
    • country of origin? (2 points; I've seen it happen)
    • sexual preference? (3 points)
    • respect for the law? (3 points)
    • hey, usual what? I just created a whole new character and slapped an old name on it (5 points)
  • Who's your lady?
    • R. Mika (0 points; get yer head examined)
    • Chun-Li (1 point; been there, done that)
    • Rose (1 point)
    • Juni (1 point)
    • Juli (1 point)
    • Cammy (2 points)
    • Sakura (2 points)
    • Dark Sakura (1 point; she could kill you dead 'cuz she's EVILLLL)
    • Karin (2 points)
    • Sakura *and* Karin (6 points, you freak)
    • the Bison's Babes Three-Pack (the clone-a-licious Cammy, Juni, and Juli; 8 points)
    • the "Pants? What Pants?" Three-Pack (OG Chun-Li, Cammy, and Sakura; 8 points)
    • all of the above on a rotating basis by weekday (you're a Mary Sue, idiot)
  • Who's your guy?
    • Dan (-2 points for originality)
    • Ryu (0 points)
    • Ken (1 point)
    • Vega (1 point; 0 points for slash fics)
    • Zangief (1 point; double that if you use double-entendres based entirely upon Russian-flavored pidgin English)
    • Rolento (1 point)
    • Guile (2 points; he is married)
    • Dhalsim (3 points; you're a pervert, and he's married too)
    • E. Honda (4 points; ohdeargodsnopleaseno)
    • Akuma (5 points; uh-huh, really, right, sure -- MY ASS)

    Section 6: Dead Giveaways

  • Does the character stand up and say: "MY NAME IS SUE! HOW DO YOUDO?!" (Double if the character is a boy.)


    Add 'Em Up

  • If you've got a lot of points, you're a Mary Sue.
  • If your score seems a bit high, you're a Mary Sue.
  • If you were deliberately fibbing to lower your score, you're a Mary Sue.
  • If your answer to any question involves the words "yeah, but..." you're a Mary Sue.
  • Otherwise...we'll say less 'n' fifty points or so and you're still cool.

    This test is collectively copyright of us. Please don't use it without permission; we're irrationally violent yet somehow easy-going people who give permissions at the drop of a hat.


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