But what about the male Mary Sue?

He's not only hot, athletic and super witty, he's completly charming and every female falls under his spell.

These types of guys are more predominant than the female Mary Sues' yet they're accepted more readily.

Is this an old case of guys can get away with what girls can't?

1) I think that the general population of this website may be leaning towards the female population. If there were more guys, then they might like reading about a Mary Sue, this beautiful drop-dead gorgeous girl whom they might be drooling over if she were real. But when more fanfiction.net/fictionpress.com writers are female, then I think the general reaction would be a rolling of the eyes and grumbling about some girl who makes the rest of us look bad.

2) It might not be as obvious, or it may be seen more in reality. Even in high school, there are certain boys whom the girls just fall all over for. I'm not saying that there aren't girls like that, but you usually hear about it less.

3) The readers. If someone creates a Gary Stu, then there are times that the female readers fall under his spell as well. If it's a Mary Sue, the female readers pretty much just want to whack her. As long as more females read a story with a Gary Stu, then the more likely it is that there will be people who fall under the Gary Stu's spell.

4) Blame the media, as usual. The media portrays images of handsome guys who are athletic and intelligent and stuff, and they just need a girl to soften them up. The girl is most likely a wreck until the guy comes into her life.

5) Maybe females don't mind a Gary Stu, because to her he's her dream guy, but they mind a Mary Sue because she's everything that they want to be. And maybe guys just don't care as much.

I also want to complain that male Mary Sues are rarely as witty as they claim to be.

In my story, Hurricane Wind, the main character Ryeja's biggest flaw is noticeable. And readers have some ideas as to what other characters' flaws, such as Jongsoo's and Roski's, are. Other characters' flaws, such as Lauryn's or Israel's, may not be as notceable. But they do have flaws. Yet, they're not Mary Sues despite the fact that their flaws are unnoticeable as of yet. My characters look like normal people, no one is falling all over them, and they're not super gracious or stuff. They're actually quite sarcastic.

What makes a Mary Sue or a Gary Stu is not always the lack of flaws. It's the perfection. Is a guy, "seemingly Asian, but at the same time, not exactly. Perhaps he was only part Asian. His neck-length black hair and brown eyes were most likely inherited from the Asian parent, whichever one that was," or is he, "an undefinable mixture of both Asian qualities and something else that gave him a charm that was his and his only. His hair was a dark ebony that stopped short of his shoulders and his chocolate brown eyes could make any girl melt"? What would he say if some freshman started annoying him? Would he jump out of his seat in anger and yell at the kid? Or would he smirk amusingly, shake his head, and say, "Whatever"? I'm sure you guys can tell which is the Gary Stu.

Most the writers/readers on this site are teenage females. We do share some standards about what makes a guy eww and what makes a guy HOTT. That's the only reason stereotyped characters fly. It seems almost every girl crushes on a tall guy; usually he's popular as well. Most the writers on this site grew up on fairy tales. In fairy tales the "damsel in distress" is saved by a prince who's perfect in every way, except occasionally a little daft.

Mary Sues and Gary Stus are like that because we tend to make characters what they need to be to either forward the story or attract more readers. They're perfect in every way because every reader wants something different in their main character. Some readers are attracted to sarcastic people, others to "almost siblings" stories, and still others to popular jocks or bad boys and not. If more people find your main character to be something they would want, you're going to be read and reviewed more. And everybody does lust after reviews.

I am quite annoyed with how many sarcastic characters there are. I know it's because they want the stories to be funny, but GAW. Why so mean sarcastic? It makes them seem...bitchy, inconsiderate, and a wannabe because they want to feel like they have power.

I like arrogant guys. They're fun to tease. So, are most Gary Stus...arrogant?

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