(Wasn't sure if this belonged here or in the Character Development. I know this doesn't pertain to my own writing, but it does involve writing) OK, this requires a hell of a lot of background information. In short, Caulifla is a character from Dragonball Super. This is her. She's a Saiyan from another universe and lately in the Dragonball fandom, she's gotten a lot of flak and is being accused of being a 'Mary-Sue'. Why? Well, back in Dragonball Z, the ability to transform into Super Saiyans and beyond (such as what you see here) was toted as something mythical, something that required years of training and a burst of emotional rage (such as when Krillin was killed by Frieza in the Namek arc) Yet in the span of a few episodes, Caulifla and her fellow Saiyans (Kale and Cabba) have, as far as some are concerned, diluted something that was so special to a mere "tingly feeling in your back". Not only that, but Caulifla is suddenly able to achieve Super Saiyan Grade 2 (which is what she is in the photo) and there are rumors that she's able to achieve Super Saiyan God, something that took Goku and Vegeta years of training, and some of it with the gods, to achieve. Nevertheless, some are citing that she's the one destroying Dragonball Super, that if she gets even more powerful, they're leaving the show forever. On my Facebook feed, there was a post that said that if she got stronger, she's officially a Mary-Sue. Hence the discussion for this thread. Now my understanding of a Mary Sue is someone who is utterly perfect in every way, can get stronger easily to an absurd degree with little to no training or explanation. In some ways, I can see why they'd be right -- there is little to no explanation as to how she's this powerful, but there is one caveat: Caulifla is from another universe; whose to say what works for her and her race is the same as what works for Goku and Vegeta? Plus, if they can accept Goku getting stupidly powerful to an absurd degree, why not Caulifla? This thread is just to discuss 'Mary-Sueism' in characters and whether or not she fits into that definition.
Sigh.... I can't believe I am entering into this thread, but... - No, she does not (She's arrogant not a Mary-Sue.) A Mary-Sue is someone who 'No matter what you've done in life, they've 'done it before and better than you ever will.' (Even though they are likely a basement dwelling troll.) Just consider a Mary-Sue a real life Troll. If Caulifia said 'Yeah, I defeated Hit, or and I rule over all Saiyans, or and I was able to turn Super Saiyan by the time I was Five, Oh and everyone who meets me Falls in love with me, Oh and I destroyed more planets than our God of destruction." Then She's a Mary-Sue.
Thing is, the other characters had to struggle for years and suffer huge emotional turmoil to get to this point. As far as we know, she never had to go through all of that. She just...gets it. That kind of screams 'Mary Sue' in my book.
Yeah I felt that way too when watching the show recently. I was bothered by how fast she got it and how much suffering Goku and Vegeta went through to get there. Maybe there will be an explanation up ahead in the story? I'm hoping so.
There's a very detailed "Mary Sue Test" that someone showed me years ago - you can take it for your character and it will tell you how bad they are on the MS scale, lol. I think generally there are two types of Mary Sues...the "too perfect and too adored" kind, and the "poor little victim who suffers needlessly and is hated by all for maximum reader pity" kind.
I'm going to disagree with you about that test. That test only tests tropes. I actually wrote a short essay about it because of how often this comes up. I'm going to post the link here. But I basically argue it all comes down to how the plot is structured, more than it is what traits a character has. https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3294809/1/What-is-a-Mary-Sue-and-How-to-Fix-Them
I'm a terrible person. All I could think of when I read the title to this thread was : Do they also have a character called Broccola? Mustardo? Cabbager? Kale-a? Brussel Sprog?
Interestingly enough, all Saiyan names are puns of vegetables. VEGETA - vegetable CABBA - cabbage KALE - kale KAKKAROT - carrot
Stop, stop, stop.... Before I dive deep into this, I want to say I admire the Dragonball series, and so should every writer out there. Rather you like the series or not, Akira Toriyama has created a story that has spawned, four Animes, movies, Video games, and a fan base that anyone would kill for; he knew how to capture the hearts of millions upon millions of people, and he capitalized on it to success some of us can't even dream of. With that said, Calafia is not a Mary-Sue, and some of you are forgetting the Canon that surrounded the Saiyans. Saiyans, a warrior race, have the ability to watch another fighter perform their fighting techniques, and after observing it for a while, are able to mimic their abilities (This is how Goku learned the Ka-Ma-Ha-Ma-Hah Wave, he watched Master Roshi perform it ONCE, and mimicked it to a successful first try. Vegeta does this when he learns how to sense energy while fighting the people on earth. Goten and Trunks became S.S with no effort at all, and turned were able to turn S.S 3 because they watched Goku do this, once.) In other words, she is no Mary-sue, she is a Saiyan, and is keeping with the Saiyan canon.
Seriously? Really? Fun.... My brain is now in useless overdrive. Kohlra. Snip. Lettu. Adish. Tato. Elery. Eek. Bora. Pe. Ean. Aspara. Sweepot. Quash. Cucu. Tom.
Wow. Haven't watched DBZ since I was a little snot. Would need to see for myself this Mary-sue-ness, but if she's like Miss-Perfect-Rey from that new Star Wars movie then yea, Mary-sue for sure. *shots fired* (?)
