I realize we have vastly different opinions on this, so I'll try to resist piping up in the future, but I wanted to answer this one. Because I agree that a lot of "Sue" accusations are slung at characters that don't deserve the label. And more, I don't think "Mary Sue" should be a pejorative. I have a lot of affection for the Sue I made up as a young writer, and for Sues in general.
I do want to make this point though. I think what people object to about "Sue" characters isn't that they're powerful, because like you say, heroes and heroines are often powerful.
I think what people criticize is that the special abilities that "Sues" have don't really seem to be there to make them powerful; they're there to make the "Sue" special. That's one of the main differences, imo, between characters that people tend to regard as heroes and characters that people tend to regard as Sues.
I find "Sues" endearing and fascinating, myself, and I've read a lot of stories labeled as Mary Sues, especially in Harry Potter fandom. It's remarkable how many of these characters have incredible abilities, which they usually show off once or twice... only to then settle down and befriend or date the canon characters. So often, the abilities don't empower the "Sue" to have adventures, they just earn her admittance into the story, which then tends to concern itself with her relationships or her taste in clothes and music, not her heroism. I don't think it's surprising that young writers tend to focus on the mundane over the heroic, though. After all, one of the pieces of advice young writers hear most is to "write what you know."
So many writers go through this process as they try to figure out how stories and characters work. I think it's amazing, and I wish there were more contexts to talk about it from a perspective of fascination rather than disdain.
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I do want to make this point though. I think what people object to about "Sue" characters isn't that they're powerful, because like you say, heroes and heroines are often powerful.
I think what people criticize is that the special abilities that "Sues" have don't really seem to be there to make them powerful; they're there to make the "Sue" special. That's one of the main differences, imo, between characters that people tend to regard as heroes and characters that people tend to regard as Sues.
I find "Sues" endearing and fascinating, myself, and I've read a lot of stories labeled as Mary Sues, especially in Harry Potter fandom. It's remarkable how many of these characters have incredible abilities, which they usually show off once or twice... only to then settle down and befriend or date the canon characters. So often, the abilities don't empower the "Sue" to have adventures, they just earn her admittance into the story, which then tends to concern itself with her relationships or her taste in clothes and music, not her heroism. I don't think it's surprising that young writers tend to focus on the mundane over the heroic, though. After all, one of the pieces of advice young writers hear most is to "write what you know."
So many writers go through this process as they try to figure out how stories and characters work. I think it's amazing, and I wish there were more contexts to talk about it from a perspective of fascination rather than disdain.