Top 10 WORST Mary Sue Tropes (And I Draw Them All) || SPEEDPAINT + COMMENTARY

[@ameliaroseillustrations]

May I add, characters who've never fought/trained in combat ever in their life, and then suddenly become unstoppable fighting machines the moment they pick up a sword...

[@grahamdamberger7130]

Or any sort of weapon. Like a gun or weapon from a fantasy world. Or someone who never threw a punch or kick, or completed a takedown or submission before (maybe never even hearing of those terms before) suddenly winning tournaments in their weight division.

[@Agingglazer]

@@grahamdamberger7130 kobeni

[@biggierocc1935]

Link in the roughly 61% of Zelda games where he does not visibly recieve any form of sword training:

[@droolypurple]

​@@biggierocc1935 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA MENTIONED

[@darkbluemoon211]

May I introduce you to Frieza

[@Naruneyl]

I still think about how Saiki Kusuo was born with pink hair but instead of going through the hassle that would come with it he just used his psychic powers to convince everyone that having hairs in all colors is normal, so everyone in that world just dye their hair in all crazy colors and not care about it. I love Saiki K, man.

[@vixithespiderling]

saiki is an absolute ICON for that & i love him sm. he is a true aroace king

[@ChandlerManley]

Actually, not even just that. He straight up REWROTE EVERYONE'S DNA so that other people would have crazy hair and eyes like him.

[@lemooncs4353]

​@vixithespiderling Having a low key aro-ace character when I was younger was awesome for me Saiki truly is an icon

[@candlaze]

not just that, he literally edited people's genes so random hair colors were more common 😭

[@TrashyPeachy_]

Saiki is so based🗿

[@tangerine-chan2522]

Bold of you to assume that I wouldn't admire someone dressed as a cowboy

[@MalachiLabs]

Idk lady this dude and I seem to think the fella in the cowboy outfit is pretty cool.

[@GUILTY-b5b]

Same bruh

[@just_a_dude75]

Cowboys are always hot

[@zachwaters6433]

Same, it's bad ass as hell

[@SNOW_THE_WOLF]

wait my cowboy aesthetic has finally become cool!?

[@Kammi_thegreat]

6:08 as an ex gacha, HOLY MOLY. all of those "the hated child becomes the magical mythical hybrid lost princess" videos came back to me in an instant

[@RareAs_a_Ace]

Ah, a fellow gacha. Why hello, i hope you have a good day, good life. And if you need it, i wish you good luck! Goodbye and thank you for your presence

[@RareAs_a_Ace]

Ah, a fellow gacha. Why hello, i hope you have a good day, good life. And if you need it, i wish you good luck! Goodbye and thank you for your presence

[@Kammi_thegreat]

@V_VI4NA although i am an ex gacha (for personal reasons) i wish you the same.

[@yourrage3066]

This is EXACTLY what I thought about when she said that xD

[@MadzMi]

While you quite being a gacha kid I am still loyal to community

[@InmateOmighty]

“You know Amy, anytime someone calls attention to the breaking of gender roles, it ultimately undermines the concept of gender equality by implying that this is an exception and no the status quo.”

[@AutisticGastrodon]

-Knuckles

[@Mattchudon]

"...What? Just because I'm a meathead doesn't mean I'm not a feminist."

[@MightDeleteAcc]

I love sonic boom knuckles 😭

[@Sonataisbestdazzling]

BOOM KNUCKLES❤‼️

[@LoudandNoxious]

My favorite quote frfr

[@OnyxGalaria]

18:38 Turns out purple/violet eyes DO exist, but they are EXTREMELY rare and are often a result of a genetic condition or eye inflammation. In most cases, they come with health risks later in life. From ttdeye: If your violet eyes result from uveitis, inflammation can damage delicate eye structures, possibly worsening over time and leading to rare cases of vision loss. When the purple eye color is genetically determined, there are usually no direct health risks associated with it; however, the underlying genetic mutation may be linked to other conditions like lymphedema-distichiasis syndrome. If purple eyes are a result of albinism, it's essential to minimize UV radiation exposure to protect both your eyes and skin.

[@justsam4321]

Look. As someone who definitely had a violet eyes phase, trust me, all of us have googled this and were lowkey excited by this possibility

[@DogBat]

My mom knew someone with purple eyes, they had albinism

[@Q33Rwitch]

you can also get the allusion of having violet/reddish eyes if you have albinism. this is because the part of the eye that has colour is tranlucent and light reflects off of the blood in the back

[@SaromeGamer]

Whats uvetis and whats albinism?

[@emm724]

Uveitis is when your eye gets inflammation and albinism is when your skin , hair and eyes lack melanin ​@SaromeGamer

[@StrawberryNova]

"His temper is shorter than he is" I CHOKED at that, it caught me so off guard lmao

[@ZonicMirage]

I INSTANTLY heard him freaking out.

[@TruthKeepersOfficialHD2]

Lord Farquaad ahh character

[@3picscr4tchgam3r2]

That's some Vegeta type shii

[@w00rmz]

8:15 reminds me of assassination classroom, because why did this group of 14 year olds just readily accept that their teacher is now a bio-engineered octopus monster who can move incredibly fast and isn't affected by normal bullets or knives, so they had to make new ones for specially him, and they had to kill him by the end of the school year, and they accepted this so quickly, like it took them less than a week 😭😭

[@mf--]

Students pushed too hard are ready to accept anything.

[@beaclaster]

the sdf also took part pushing them

[@marbelezju]

they wanted extra credit so their parents would give them their extra $5

[@-Noodle-Doodle-]

Okay but what if they had simply cooked and ate him(i have no clue about the series/anime whatever it is i know theres a live action verson)

[@beaclaster]

@@-Noodle-Doodle- instant regen

[@Cakeisyummmyyyyy]

12:43 I remember that one scene where saiki basically says, “I had pink hair when I was born, so I just gave everyone unnatural hair colors so nobody questioned it”

[@soulfire900]

The fact that Alexandria's Genesis came from a Daria fanfic has never not been funny to me

[@lazerinth]

LMFAOOOO WAIT DEADASS??😭

[@soulfire900]

@ YYYUUUUUUUP

[@nyes4596]

Shut up???? No way ahhhhh 😂😂

[@genericname2747]

The author just wanted her oc to look unique, she didn't know what she had unleashed upon the world

[@Dark_Boba-chan]

Characters who WOULD date themselves: Izaya Loki Rick Sanchez John Constantine (because he's literally slept with anything) Light yagami Beth Sanchez (she literally has) Tengen uzui Adam (from hazbin hotel) Ainosuke "Adam" shindo Gilgamesh Literally any incarnation of Zeus Glen quagmire You're welcome. Feel free to add to the list if I missed any

[@boohawk659]

The MCU version of Loki has kissed a female version of himself.

[@Dark_Boba-chan]

@boohawk659 I rest my case

[@Sonataisbestdazzling]

JONHNY TEST OR SMTHIG

[@florofern6470]

narcissus

[@Varsayek]

Cell

[@_personified_lethargy_]

the one about genderbends gave me war flashbacks to my gacha phase.

[@Onyx_paws_13]

Almost all of these gave me flashbacks to my Gacha days 😅

[@Squishy_the_fox]

Same💀

[@KoalaOwlPaws]

Same, specifically for me my Roblox phase of making genderbent of myself.

[@girlpower_gacha]

And the hybrid

[@freakystrawberry]

Boys vs girls singing battle💀

[@nateunderwood7819]

I feel like you can use the unnatural hair/eye color as a world building thing. Like if most people have normal hair and someone shows up in green hair, people should react like “oh you must be magic/destined for greatness etc” kinda like red hair IRL in some cultures. Just once I want some anime character to ask why there hair is blue for no reason I use hair color in my D&D games as a hint for the type of magic people use. So this might be why I think this

[@ceinwenchandler4716]

Makes me think of the Stormlight Archive, where it's totally normal for random humans to have yellow eyes. Some ten percent of the main characters have purple ones. One guy's got orange. No one ever comments on this because like a third of the population has those eye colors.

[@Bubble-z6y]

Bruh I use crazy natral hair colours when my characters are alien immigrants from some other planet

[@someoneimsure]

I find it funny that people immediately jump to "special snowflake destined for greatness" instead of "oh, it's hair dye".

[@Bubble-z6y]

@@someoneimsure yeah maybe those types of stories have stupid people

[@yoshikatsu_kira]

This reminds me of Fire Emblem, where in one of the games, the most notable indicator of Dragon Blood (as a vague spoiler-free-ish term) is green hair and eyes.

[@juma8126]

12:26 I think the issue is usually the plauusibility, not something being realistic. If a show/game attempts to show consequences to actions, but refuses to show characters dismangled after a fught it breaks the illusion of the reality it's creating. I'm willing to believe anything a show throws at me as long as it's being at least a bit consistant. Buggs Bunny can come inscathed from being hit by an anvil, cause that's the rule of the show, but FMa characters cannot for the same reason.

[@rxndomfxndom7405]

What's FMa?

[@juma8126]

@@rxndomfxndom7405 FMA - Fullmetal Alchemist. I mistyped it by accident.

[@prettiest_boy_in_town]

That's because Buggs Bunny is a god /j

[@mjrino7225]

istg hearing alexandria's genesis activated a sleeper agent in my brain like i JOLTED

[@ethericcactus]

SAME LMFAO😭😭😭😭

[@Sci-Bax]

17:56 Who wouldn't want to walk around dressed as a cowboy tho? (Totally didnt buy a cowboy hat yesterday)

[@ninjabgwriter]

Agreed! Cowboys are awesome! I aspire to have a time traveler's wardrobe and am learning to sew to do so. I have already made a vest for fancy purposes and was so excited when I realized it would work for cowboy too. Maybe it's the novakids from Starbound. Cowboys made of literal stars who ride steam trains through space in the same world as Star Trek type technology and cultures have a very strong charm to them.

[@knucklepilled]

i agree, licorice cookie from the cookie run series

[@Sci-Bax]

@ninjabgwriter Starlo from Undertale Yellow made me appreciate cowboys

[@somecirclewithsunglasses3994]

​@Sci-Bax i see undertale yellow, i neuron activate

[@Sci-Bax]

@somecirclewithsunglasses3994 real

[@Loki-N]

Natural unnatural hair/eye thing is so real tho. Honestly I love how Saiki K handles these, the main character is op and was born with unnatural hair colour yet he wants to be normal. Did he change his own hair, maybe a desperate wig crisis? Nope! He manipulated everyones biology so now EVERYONE has the chance to have weird ass hair colours and eyes My main character also has unnatural "natural" hair and purple eyes but there's a lore explanation for it, people usually think he dyes his hair and unironically shames him for it and think he's cursed with those weird eyes (it's actually a curse, but a silly one like he can't EVER grow facial or body hair and his masculine ass hates it)

[@Loki-N]

The hair part is really complicated and confusing without giving away the lore itself, long story short primordial gods don't know hair dyes exist

[@treesgrowuphigh]

4/6 of my characters have unnatural hair colours and all of them have either their hair or eyes to be unnatural, all of them do have eye colours that are present in at least one species of animals, they have black, teal and blue, orange, blue, red, and green. For hair colours they have purple, teal, yellow/blond, black, red, and green. This just made me realise my last two characters are too similar and I clearly just gave up when creating them, they also both have freckles but they have different hair lengths, different genders, and different skin colours. And one has more autism.

[@spencerp6243]

Does your character have Alexandria's Genesis wtf 😭

[@Loki-N]

@@spencerp6243 lmaooo no 😭 it's a generational curse, some idiot tried to steal the guardians from the underworld and the queen was just mildly annoyed. So she cursed their lineage, their body will adjust to be the worst for their environment. Like you're in desert? Good luck, now you're gaining weight too quickly require more water and your body grows more hair. In cold environments the opposite, ect ect. The eye colour is part of it. Imagine how much your vision would suck with purple eyes

[@Loki-N]

@@spencerp6243 nah he's the only one with it, it's a generational silly curse that's meant to make your body terrible to your living conditions (purple eyes because imagine how terrible your vision would be with it)

[@Nepeese]

You are extremely pragmatic and your non-roast policy is great, not shaming people who wants to invent their own character and story you gained a subscriber

[@_greyjazz_]

Honestly, as an addendum to 12:37 (unquestitoned naturally occuring unnatural characteristics), I think the inverse is really cool. Maybe a green-haired elf blends in during modern times because hair dye exists but had to regularly hide their hair during historic times. Maybe a prehistoric fantasy character has to cover up unnatural eyes to blend in. Maybe a character has to dye their hair a normal hair color to blend in but has trouble with any color besides black because color theory is confusing. I have a certain appreciation for people who pay attention to that kind of detail in their "this character was born with rainbow hair" OCs.

[@dylanskruit249]

A WONDERFUL example of this idea is Mitsuri Kanroji from Demon Slayer. Her hair looks like a mfn watermelon, so in order to get a husband she had to dye it black until she chose to not do that in order to find REAL love (cuz weird hair in fudal era Japan is a BIG no-no). She also plays into a perfect example of the good kind of "could lift a truck, but has no visible muscle" design. Her INSANE strength and MASSIVE appetite are played up as bizarre and funny. She's a Mary-Sue type character in good and bad ways, and I love her for it.

[@PanConJamon-wr6pl]

Reminds me of Saiki K, he changed human genetics just so almost everyone has rainbow color hair and not only him

[@clinically_insane_]

prehistoric? like, before written history? elves in the paleolithic age?

[@Bromvolod]

I made a bright red haired character who had to dye his hair to blend in and be less noticeable. Fun t¨stuff to dicover when creating!

[@_greyjazz_]

@clinically_insane_ @clinically_insane_ Maybe I've been reading too many webtoons, but I've noticed some fantasy writers like to include elements of characters needing to seek out the truth behind events that predate recorded history for that fantasy world, usually by calling upon some immortal higher power. It can be interesting to see characters discover how their world developed, provided it makes sense to include in the story.

[@LadySkyLaaa]

The genderbent self-ship one is SO REAL. If I was in the same room as myself but with the opposite gender, first of all, I'm a lesbian, so no thanks. Second, I'd be so confused by their existence as a whole. It would feel so uncanny to me. 😭

[@soulfire900]

@@LadySkyLaaa I think I’m the funniest person I know, howeverrrrrrr I’m also the most insecure and stressed out. I couldn’t do it lol

[@Rick-tr7ul]

I basically already lived with one: it's called "my sister"

[@bluwekabluwe]

I'm slowly trying to process if your genderbent self would thereby be straight or gay lmfao

[@synthellaart1587]

I have a twin brother, I grew up with this 😂

[@Ledabot]

If I met somehow who was literally me but had boobs I'd wish them luck with their transition

[@CritterWithToast]

on the uniform one, i also think that it has so much potential! i'm in secondary school rn, and the school is trying to "limit any diversity in school uniform". they do this by banning accessories, having strict hairstyle and colour rules, banning this and that, but people still do things to their uniform to present their own style, and will no matter what. many students (especially the girls, as they have more "moving parts" to the girls uniform) have styles that are iconic to them. one always wears the school vest, another rolls up her skirt to artificially raise the hem. What i'm saying is it might be fun to think about how willing your character is to bend the rules for the sake of personalisation

[@jaslikeart]

I LOVE DOING THIS TO MY OCS!! one always prefers the long sleeved uniform option, one that refuses to wear the proper school uniform and only wears the PE uniform, one that always wears a long sleeved undershirt under the short sleeved uniform,, so many options

[@marcosgonzalez4207]

​@@jaslikeart only wearing the PE uniform was so common on my school

[@jaslikeart]

@@marcosgonzalez4207 same haha that's where I got the idea from actually (me being one of them..) eventually my school did mandate it because of the hot weather

[@Nothing-wf8hy]

The persona series does this thing, (although one could say they do it with much freedom lmao) and I personally like it very much

[@Jazt14]

I'm not gonna lie. This video definitely helped! It's given more inspiration for my oc!! I have a Gary Stu OC...THAT IS ACTUALLY a GARY STU!! However, my twist for him is that everyone around him knows he is a Gary Stu, but he doesn't. So he'd basically slowly develop thinking he is this "Perfect" Male figure, to then slowly realize that he isn't perfect and he was pretty much of a jerk to everyone around him, just because he is smarter, stronger, and more pretty than others. So basically, it's an idea when the Gary Stu, slowly starts to realize that he HAS flaws, like everyone else. Uhm, I hope you liked reading this comment and it gave you ideas for a oc! 😅

[@cosmic-p8o9x]

Do you think he would like the Patrick Bateman ‘literally me’ memes 😂😂I am so endeared by this concept

[@Jazt14]

@cosmic-p8o9x probably 😭

[@Nothing-wf8hy]

The thing about Gary Stu-es (?) and Mary sues is that for them to be properly that trope, the story and environment (and therefore, characters) have to treat them exactly like they believe, basically, for everyone to fawn over them, because if it's not like that, you just have a narcissistic or self-centered character (and also a clown in the perspective of the rest of the characters), it has to be that the story and characters treat them as flawless for them to actually classify as the trope, so your idea could be hard executing in a non-parody or non-comedic setting However, I'm not an expert or anything, it's just how I personally view things, do whatever you want, don't listen to me, just wanted to share my thoughts 😅

[@KiyoshiArts]

I honestly love when characters do have flaws or imperfections on themselves. There is beauty in imperfections

[@FairyMochi-ls1od]

You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to buy do you have any suggestions for flaws or imperfections? Im starting a webtoon alongside my friends and we need character ideas, I can add credit if you want aswell

[@Essentially_Nothing]

@ The channel Charo Lyn is really helpful for writing/character design questions! Though, some things I can recommend are 1.) Perfectionist 2.) Tries to act tough 3.) A slow learner 4.) Gifted, but apathetic 5.) Pessimistic 6.) Arrogance 7.) Difficulty accepting blame 8.) Insensitive 9.) Socially awkward 10.) Assumes all people are bad 11.) Assumes all people are good 12.) Sensitive 13.) Stubborn 14.) Short temper 15.) Too trusting 16.) Not trusting enough 17.) Paranoid 18.) Mental health issues 19.) Irritable 20.) Will do anything to protect loved ones (anything) 21.) Cynical 22.) Overly stoic 23.) Overly emotional 24.) Try to see flaws in other people and people around you. Put yourself or someone you know into the shoes of the character and how they'd develop in their world given the circumstances.

[@st4r_truckk]

my character is a teenage male, with a very long scar going across his cheek and nose bridge, freckles all over his body, and heterochromia (direct cause of an external factor, not genetics). he hates his last name because of family issues, doesn't like looking at a reflection of himself too long (because he looks like his abusive father), and seeks revenge as a survival instinct. he has been genetically modified to be physically stronger and can't help comparing himself to his father because of it, being afraid of hurting the people he cares about. what do y'all think?? he's more complex than this but yk.

[@Essentially_Nothing]

@FairyMochi-ls1od I don't know how I'd do this, but I'd be more than happy to help you with character design and writing! What's the general genre you're thinking, or plot outline if you've made it that far?

[@FairyMochi-ls1od]

@@KiyoshiArts I just dumped my own insecurities and fears into an oc for a character :D(I can’t write good stuff help)

[@trashcan_skinty4057]

idk man, if I see a guy in full cowboy outfit, he's easily the coolest guy in town

[@lovi9258]

This is so blessed. I was always scared of making a self-insert oc cause I was surrounded by people who were not fun lmao. But now I'm taking those years back muahahaha love this celestia i love how ur just mathing everything out

[@FISHYCARP_TOASTED]

I have a self insert that plays a small role in the plot, basically Jack asks her to make him more popular while she is writing the story, the response he gets is just "nope"

[@MarzzRover]

Slayyyyyyyyy!!!

[@nekolamb]

14:30 I feel this so much. "So you're telling me she just walks around in high fashion clothes and doesn't confirm to dress code during extremely dangerous "private security" missions ? Without anyone saying a word anymore after she got away with it one time ?" "Yeah they just can't change it , they tried but she didn't let them" Me 😐

[@keshiaanders6452]

I have an OC who has purple eyes, but that's because of her electric powers (she's meta-human superheroine in a superhero genre show). Exposure to a lot of light can turn blue eyes into purple, and electricity is a source of light.

[@noelloveslemmons]

See, THIS is a clever and sensible way of doing it! You've thought it out scientifically and logistically!!! Huge props.

[@keshiaanders6452]

@noelloveslemmons Thank you.

[@Il1usi0n914]

I have an OC with purple eyes because…. I like the color purple and didn’t think too much of it 😅 However she does have the ability to absorb electricity to improve her strength for a time…. So I might use this for myself because this was well thought out and is a very cool detail. Very well done~

[@keshiaanders6452]

@@Il1usi0n914 Thanks!

[@hvbg]

Some of my ocs have purple eyes because of albinism and eye prosthetics, that's it

[@Vex-Trixztra]

12:19 there's expections to this like the person being abled to cast fire like it's genuinely a part of them. I would personally find to weird for a character to be hurt by their own element they are made out of or a part of lol

[@adamchiarazzo104]

The school uniform one is sooo real. Just look at fire emblem three houses and how every character wears the same uniform but in the way that reflects their own personnality.

[@micaehehe7158]

saiki being born w pink hair in a world where That's Not Normal so he just. rewrote the rules of his world so that it IS Normal, and people start having pink and blue and green and whatever else colour hair and its just. Normal. I like that :)

[@QueenMelody16]

1. Fairly Oddparents had an episode exploring this when Timmy wished for the perfect boyfriend for Vicky. He took advantage of her, robbing her blind, and left her for who he thought was a richer woman. 2. Just pick one. Can guarantee there is a specific one that fits the vibe you're going for. (Also, hahahaha at the note about the tail). 3. "Paulina's nearly flawless skin" "Nearly flawless?" "She has a mole. Isn't it obvious?" 7. Yusuke wearing a green outfit instead of the standard blue. 8. Side eyes Supergirl, Sakura, and Tsunade (even if there is an in universe explanation)

[@PriffyViole]

Didn't Yusuke specifically dye his uniform green, though? Pretty sure I remember another character mentioning it in regards to his delinquency, though tbf it has been several years since I last watched the show.

[@QueenMelody16]

@@PriffyViole he might've, I honestly couldn't remember exactly why his was green. I did neglect to add that it was done specifically because he was deliberately breaking the rules, however.

[@NanerBag]

Another great episode of Celestia going on a rant about how much she hates society disguised as an art talk

[@yamigoya8291]

Really? She seemed very nice to me, or maybe I'm just too used to people talking about Mary Sues with the hatred of 1000 burning suns lol

[@SomeBritishBanana]

12:28 in some video I watched a while back about writing good and bad horror fiction, the guy said something along the lines of "at the start of the story you set some rules, if you make clear that witches exist that's okay, but when the witch suddenly stops when the MC wants to write down their last message that's unrealistic, not because it's fiction, but because it's not realistic in you fictional story"

[@KaiTheTyrant]

The best part about creating your own stories is that you don’t have to listen to whatever everyone else says regarding advice. It’s your story and you are free to do whatever you want to it.

[@Thelittleprincess13]

11:33 an example of someone doing this correctly, is apothecary diaries. mao mao got hit by a club, and the wound swelled her face up like it would in real life. Instead of a little mark on her face.

[@therealprimogem]

MAO MAO IS MY SPIRIT ANIMAL

[@KittyNatiquinha]

The 7th one is an issue that i actually witnessed IN REAL LIFE. Almost. A girl in my class loved to attract attemtion to herself in all ways and for some reason no one talked about it. One of the ways she got her attention was by somehow breaking rules with no teacher complaining, or doing things other students wouldn't be allowed to. One day she came to school with some crock shoes intead of the standart black or white sneakers of the uniform because she had a foot injury. But the thing is, she stuck with that shoe waaaay after she was already fully recovered and nobody ever dared to question it. She never used acceptable shoes again until the literal end of the school year. I don't think i will ever understand how no one said a thing

[@GrandArchPriestOfTheAlgorithm]

Mary Sue tropes have a 99% overlap with protagonist tropes.

[@Alwaysjoel]

I like the weird hair trope when they explain it though. Two good examples (One well known, one not) are Saiki K, where the main character was born with pink hair, so changed the entire genetics code of the world human population to make people start having strange hair colors, and Darkhair Captured where the main character and his father come from our Japan and are in an alternate universe where they are considered to be weird.

[@dragodracon7785]

6:38 OBJECTION! At that age, I wanted to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Shunosaurus, or a Megalodon becuase they were COOL.(Shout out to Sea Monsters by Nigel Marvin for showing how badass Megalodon was.)

[@G4ckp0id]

AND THEY ARE‼️‼️

[@fireenderboy]

Nigel Marvin mentioned let's GOOOOOOO

[@alvianekka80]

I want to be oversized Liopleurodon from WWD

[@ScarlettxStarlett]

15:25 This is where I take a little bit of creativity to their outfits. A lot of times (and I feel like this is normal as seen in a lot of shows/anime/games where characters are in a uniform) when I draw characters that are in uniforms, I will give them different accessories that would make them stand out, while still being able to wear the uniform. When I have a character that doesn't wear the uniform or wears clothes that don't meet the dress code, I make it realistic to where they do actually get in trouble for not following the rules.

[@BowsandAros]

13:23 this rule does not apply to Saiki K. He's an outlier and should not have been counted.

[@The-one-and-only-Fruitcake]

And also he altered the entire human species to have wild hair instead of just. Dyeing his hair brown.

[@Rg4br]

HELP, From my pfp you know I was gonna comment that

[@someoneimsure]

Number 2: They are a shapeshifter. They aren't actually all these different creatures at once--the design just represents that they can turn into any one of these creatures whenever they want! Problem solved.

[@chessecontainment]

Please elaborate? Oh nvm i hadn't watched the video yet

[@andrewgreeb916]

Alternatively Chimera/homunculus. Chimera are a merge of multiple monsters. Homunculus are literally built out of the parts of different creatures allowing them to be made of many creatures.

[@lampoest]

I have a character who bleaches his hair and i kind of want to show his roots growing out further and further as the story goes on. also maybe writing a little one shot/doing a sketch of him absolutely botching the dye job once

[@peachyanna1906]

One of my fav things to draw is my OCs dyeing their hair together and botching it. I have one oc that has a gumi/Ramona flowers haircut SOLELY from a chemical cut 😂

[@lampoest]

@ lmao i love that

[@magicalmercy]

Funny thing about one of my characters. She has naturally blue hair in a world where that’s not normal. And she’s very well aware of how weird that is. So, she just tells everyone that she dyes it. She’s tempted, many times, to dye her hair a natural color, but she lives in a time period without access to ✨KZbin Tutorials✨ and she’s too socially awkward to ask her friend (who regularly dyes her own hair pink) for help 😅

[@Joseekins]

Haha, I’m also doing that with some of my ocs

[@Starry-Sparkler]

Wait a second!!! 0:58 Thats me!! :O :D

[@AndreW_vr_grumps]

Awesome

[@ShatteredCrystall-Tv]

👍

[@Luminar_Yurei]

19:14 Note that violet eyes do exist, just not through this fictional condition. Rather, people with albinism can have eyes that, while most commonly blue or gray, are in some cases pink or violet. I agree with this criticism about the false condition, just wanted to point that specific part out :) Albinism doesn't cause people to not have to shave or buy tampons though.

[@lawea1398]

Instead having those kind of eyes makes you sensitive to the light, plus another reason Is That In reality You Have blue eyes yet the color blue Is so deep That makes the ilusion of the color purple (Like Elizabeth Taylor plus the make up,outfits,etc, That makes outstand her deep blue eyes like purple ones) SO In My opinion basically does exist but with no powers lmao, And thanks to the light also

[@KaiTheTyrant]

@lawea1398 Every colour only exists because of light

[@marcosgonzalez4207]

You do not need albinism for violet eyes, they can be like that, but they are not healthier for that

[@ExtremeWreck]

@@marcosgonzalez4207 Honestly the idea of having violent eyes sounds like a disease to me.

[@Crazor2000]

a good example of a character with dyed hair is in My Hero Acadamia, which in honesty makes their design and story better, not worse. In my hero academia unusual hair colors aren't that uncommon, due to like 80% of the population having "quirks" (aka super powers). However we still see people dye their hair, and one of the main cast does this (spoilers up to season 4). in season 4, it is revelead where it is revelead that Kirishima dyes his hair red, despite having black hair naturally. Not only showing that dyed hair is still a thing in a world with crazy hair, but it ties in with his characterization. His red hair symbolizes his resolve to live like his hero and live his life without regrets, and it's an homage to the man that inspired him. this makes him much cooler.

[@vixithespiderling]

so true!! i immediately thought of kirishima when she mentioned dyed hair

[@Acornsgo]

Say it with me folks: "fantasy media doesn't need to be realistic it need to be *convincing*

[@OhCrapI_He]

My definition of Mary Sue may be a bit different from that of many others. Basically a character where the universe literally conspires to make them and them alone look good. If the story has interesting, well-fleshed-out side characters, that means the nain character is absolutely NOT a Mary Sue in my book. Yes, Luke Skywalker is literally George Lucas's self-insert OC, and he blows uo the Death Star in the end, but he couldn't have done that without support from his equally interesting allies (Han Solo saves his ass afterwards, and Princess Leia orgized the entire rebellion to make sure Luke could blow up the Death Star in the first place. Not to mention they're opposed by the iconic menace Darth Vader, who I'd say is just as interesting as (if not more than) the main trio

[@Aaa-vp6ug]

I agree on that one

[@a.w.4708]

True. That's why Gwen from Total Drama Island is Mary Sue in my book despite technically not being one... the game is literally rigged so she stays in it, and it would be fine if the narration would say it, but it doesn't. Also she is portrayed as this badass, cool and simultaneously good and doing no wrong girl despite doing things on par or worse than the assigned Mean Girl (who obviously hates her cause she got the hot boyfriend she was after). When she cheats on Trent with Duncan who doing so cheats on Courtney and then SHE is portrayed as the victim - that's the point I've stop watching. Sorry for the rant. But the narration clearly prefering the character does makes them Mary Sue, no matter how many flaws they have (and these flaws are usually just "mean, antisocial, too honest, shy, clumsy, mysterious and different")

[@r0semaryt3a]

I agree so hard on “strong but doesn’t look like it for attractive purposes” because in what world did we decide that women being buff and looking like she could snap me like a twig WASN’T attractive? One of my favourite ocs has went from a spindly, stick-like mirror of me to looking like she could carry two whole double decker buses and I will never understand it when people tell me it makes her look “man like” or “ugly” as if I’m meant to care. Like the “man-like” comment is always just confusing to me as muscles are obtainable by all just because it’s a common stereotype that men are buff doesn’t mean someone who isn’t a man having defined muscles is “man-like” (whatever man-like is even meant to mean). But, whenever someone tells me it makes my characters “ugly” I just have to sit and roll my eyes because that’s ugly to them. Not to me. I will have my buff, unnaturally tall, scar ridden, low-iron cursed, hood-lidded, tooth gap having lady and I will be very happy with her existence as my oc.

[@aliencatmeow]

we love buff women

[@natalimoina]

absolutely

[@st4r_truckk]

vi from arcane. I rest my case. (honourable mention: sevika and ambessa)

[@acedelta12]

I know a guy who is absolutely DOWN BAD for muscular women. He would agree with this 100%.

[@aliencatmeow]

@st4r_truckk absolutely vi!

[@kittygirlrachel]

16:01 I have a character that does this, having extreme strength despite being a 4'11 tall marshmallow with no muscle mass to her, but I have the lore explanation that her special, signature ability, is that any object she lifts, suddenly has the weight of cotton candy to her.

[@marcosgonzalez4207]

I remember writting a character like that, he was built like an average guy actual super strenght, but he surpassed that manipulating the weight of the objects

[@someguy3925]

Semi related id like to see it go the other way more often; This character was born with the debilitating genetic disease that makes characters unable to go outside, get exhausted walking down a short flight of stairs, and physically too weak to lift simple objects, built like a Baki character.

[@ghastlygavin]

I cannot relate to trope 9 because I know if I ever saw a random person dressed victorian or like a cowboy I'd just think "God I wish that were me"

[@Velvet_kangaroo]

Thank you for the kind way you worded this video I has helped me heal some damage to my artistic soul. I have been told not to give so many of my characters scars but I use it as a coping mechanism for my own scars

[@Tapood74]

I just finished watching arcane and its so cool seeing them use exactly what you day and MAKE. IT. WORK. For example jinx is wearing something completely different than the other zaunians because she is an outsider AND gets special treatment from silco

[@Paruparo-cl6cj]

This is why I love Saiki K lol. One of the characters, teruhashi, is LITERALLY blessed by god, and trying to make her look bad is a whole ass plot point 😂 plus theres a cannon explanation for colored hair

[@bassyxgrelle8659]

Duchess Celestia - Inkiio: advocating for self insert OC's 🤝

[@Shitennou3]

I totally agree with the uniform pet peeve, with one particular exception. Makoto from Sailor Moon has a valid excuse. She would have wanted to wear the school uniform, but couldn't, because there was none that fitted her. Also it feels less annoying with her, since she is not the main character of the series.

[@FourKingsOfHeaven]

And of course, Rei doesn’t go to Usagi’s school

[@Shitennou3]

@FourKingsOfHeaven Haha😄! Hello fellow heavenly king, with the same character on their profile picture than me. You are absolutely correct.

[@gummighost]

To be fair, NOBODY in My Immortal wears the school uniform. And they go in detail describing what the characters wear in every scene. Not once does anyone, included the antagonistic Britney, wear the uniform.

[@a.w.4708]

8:50 my "favourite" variant of this reaction is oc being bullied in school for having unique, supernatural traits, like color changing hairs or superpowers. Like, I get the validation factor, but I do not think the average kid reaction to their peer having supernatural traits or abilities would be "how lame!".

[@hiodfsanoaf]

the bullies are prob js jealous but you have a point

[@ExtremeWreck]

Ehhhh, personally that would be more like the bullies would want to exploit their traits for their own gain.

[@AtlasTheMilk]

I want to make a slice of life thing with an OC and everyone being super confused by a little guy with a top hat that looks like a human just with axolotl gills and a tail sounds hilarious

[@filipthunell8631]

Sounds like a splatoon background character

[@Nockgun]

that can be summarized as most of my ocs but replaced as other animals.

[@Rayno_Minior]

I call myself a Mary Sue advocate. I love mary sues, I make them on purpose and I want others to make them on purpose as well. I'm collecting them like cards and I will make a mary sue based on at least 3 of the points you mentioned in this video, just because I fucking can :D especially the second, and the sixth, seventh and ninth points. They sound like fun to do :D

[@AutisticGastrodon]

based You do you bro 👍

[@Sugarcoda]

Making Mary sues is FUN

[@Rayno_Minior]

@Sugarcoda After surviving the ages of 2012 - 2016 cringe culture internet era and growing with "Do's and Don't's when making ocs". It feels so cathartic to just do whatever the fuck you want because what the fuck are they gonna do about? Take away your oc licence? lmao

[@Sugarcoda]

@Rayno_Minior Right? I create what I want to make because it's fun, what's the point for me to make anything if I don't like it?

[@Rayno_Minior]

@Sugarcoda I was mostly active in a specific anime/manga and mlp fandom. And I personally believe both anime and mlp fandoms were one of the most gatekeepy communities at the time. creating these rules with what your oc is allowed and not allowed to have. Idk about your experiences but these were mine: "rules" like your oc cannot interact with the canon ever, your oc cannot be related to a canon character, don't you dare doing something just because it's fun. The last point being an overdramatized version of how these rules felt. making you question what the point of an oc is in the first place.🙄🙄 The ocs I make now are fully to spite these rules and people who tried to push them down our throats. Which is why I started making Mary Sues on purpose because I realized far too late "So what if I made a mary sue? What are they gonna do about it? realizing cringe culture cultist are literally powerless to what I want to make. Bc fr, what are they going to do? take **my** oc away from me? forbid me from drawing/writing **my** oc? I like to see them try.

[@HollowTree5]

12:40 a good example of this is a show called Hilda. It’s an animated show that I think was based on a comic or something? I don’t know, but it’s this girl who has bright blue hair, and it’s never explained at all. When the final season released, it turns out she was part fairy (it’s not as goofy as it sounds) and it actually has a mostly valid reason. This is what SHOULD usually happen in scenarios like you described

[@carendosagomi6440]

Please add a tag for spoilers

[@NightStarGamer]

That's funny. There is also a guy who walks around my town in Ontario in a full Cowboy outfit. So maybe it's a Canadian Cowboy uprising or something.

[@endergeek236]

5:57 So for some reason, genderbent you is ticking all the right boxes for me. Like, I am actually blushing irl looking at him. That man can get it.

[@SmileyEmps]

The uniform one can work, but only under specific circumstances, for example a rule breaker friend/ side character who just doesn’t care about the consequences of not wearing the uniform and is later shown getting chewed out by an authority for breaking the rules

[@ClaudeAcheron]

About number seven, there was this manga I read about this girl who had to wear this choker and she wasn't allowed to take it off, one of the first scenes was her running from the hall moniter to get to class so she wouldn't be dragged away and forced to take it off because it was against the dress code

[@henrycarr8714]

When it comes to oc hate, I have a quote I love to use, "Kill not the cringy part, but the part that cringes"

[@Nockgun]

just cut the cringe like its a branch. not the whole tree.

[@henrycarr8714]

@Nockgun I hate cutting out the cringe, cringe is often half the fun

[@Nockgun]

@@henrycarr8714 i kinda mean the cringe tree you cut the overgrowing branches of the cringe tree while sparing the tree.

[@t.r2603]

17:05 I believe the term your looking for is "Muscle Mommies"

[@Eeok]

Mmmm....sjsjsa

[@Synthc4t]

the unnatural hair colors one speaks to me when i watched bocchi the rock, and hitori's pink hair was something her entire family shared with her, and then other characters like kita, ryou, and kikuri were introduced, not once did i ever feel like the unnatural hair colors were jarring. even nijika's "radioactive blonde" hair felt perfectly in place. in fact, i loved how it was used as a way to highlight characters as important. background characters and other unimportant ones had not only blander, more natural hair colors, but the color was very muted and desaturated, which we commonly associate with being "bland". it's definitely something i wish more people would use as a worldbuilding or storytelling device, as it can be incredibly effective when done well.

[@diealive4179]

7:14 this was a problem I faced in my world’s building. Because chimeras can take dna from all species regardless of their origin before giving birth in my world there’s a small chance that a humanoid races can be mixed in and take a high percentage of the dna. But when designing them I ran into the problem of look when a large chimera is a mix of 6 different things it looks cool but on a person it looks like I tried to slam every single trait in. Because of that I ended up making a list of what dna takes what priority and then taking more features from the ones at the top till eventually the traits arnt even physically there but still included

[@PowerSpirit50]

I'm so jealous of how you draw hair and folds on clothes

[@Purplefox4000]

15:50 HELP MY IMMORTAL REFERENCE 😭😭😭 THAT FIC TRAUMATIZED ME AND I STILL HAVEN’T RECOVERED 💀💀💀

[@I-Have-Red-Shoes]

I've never heard of that fic, what's it about???????

[@Purplefox4000]

@@I-Have-Red-Shoes An emo goth vampire girl goes to hogwarts. Draco’s a softie (sometimes??), Harry’s emo and he goes by Vampire, Hermione’s B’loody Mary, and Ron’s named Diabolo?? I don’t even know how to summarize the plot, it’s all over the place. I don’t think the author had even read the Harry Potter books/watched the movies since they call some characters “Snap”, “Dumblydore”, and Avada Kedavra is “Abra Kedavra”. There’s also references to random bands like every chapter, and for some reason the bands have shows at Hogsmeade like every day?? And this is all just the tip of the iceberg. Honestly I’d recommend reading it, it’s so bad it’s hilarious.

[@I-Have-Red-Shoes]

@Purplefox4000 It sounds so bad it's funny I'll have to check it out. What's it on???????

[@Kinokoumori]

One of my characters was born with blonde hair, but a monster's attack cursed him to have blue hair, so at least my mans has a reason

[@SpookyGhostpeppers]

I personally hate characters who were solely made to be attractive due to my experience in Roleplay spaces- because the second you have another character not automatically attracted to them, they take it as a personal offense (this person who was cishet was constantly talking about how sexy their gnc fem gay man character was every other sentence and made everyone so uncomfortable with their "flirting") "Mary Sue" tropes are fine as a purely self indulgent thing, but the second you try to bring that into a collaborative space, you remember why these traits were so hated

[@desaug]

there are roleplays with like vampires and fairies and stuff and i HATE when people have "vampire and fairy hybrid/has all powers/invincible/can destroy the world/literally god, the creator of the universe" (ive seen these all separately in roleplays)

[@little-miss-horror6036]

Personally I find that funnier when one character denies their beauty XD Saiki K reversed that trope and made it a lot funnier

[@KaiTheTyrant]

To anyone feeling disheartened by this video, the best part about creating your own stories is that you don’t have to listen to every piece of advice you hear, especially on the internet. If you like one of these tropes, do it anyway. Screw what others tell you. It’s your story, do what you want.

[@thoughtfulravn]

Invoking Alexandria's Genesis launched me backwards in time to seeing it circulating on Tumblr at the time.

[@user-xr7fw4ks2n]

I feel like the "every fantasy creature at once" trope can be executed well, but usually isn't. I personally would lean into the idea of asymmetry and that being a curse. EX: A feathered wing on one side, and a butterfly wing on the other don't allow them to fly straight, if they can even fly at all.

[@saix_unicorn]

the thing w tropes is that imo, there is always a good way to use them. Even clichés that a lot of peoples hate can be used in interesting ways

[@emptybliss304]

I come back to these videos from time to time, words do not describe how happy I am to have constant reminder of what and what not to do, I think you've saved a few of my character designs because of your advice, W video❤

[@thatonewitch]

6:54 Id like to add that there's some mythical creatures that are literally combinations of other animals, such as the manticore or chimeras. *But I don't see how a combination of mythical creatures would be on the same as those two, and thats coming from someone who made up a manticore related hybrid.*

[@Deadly_Ducky123]

Also, characters that are way too humble and refuse to listen to any compliments like The Mary Sue: *paints the starry night but better* this sucks imma rip it up and never try art again Hoard of admirers: noooo we like it The Mary Sue: you guys are just making it up to make me feel better And no matter how many compliments the Mary Sue gets, she’s is still %110 convinced that she sucks.

[@panda.with.a.pencil]

Honestly the guy who thinks it's stampede year round sounds pretty cool LOL. My neighbourhood has a guy who walks around with a cloak and a wizard staff,

[@marcosgonzalez4207]

My city has a guy that usually walks on a pretty detailed predator cosplay

[@Im_just_a_Maaan]

12:33 This reason is why I love Saiki k, He lived in a world where pink hair is unatural and instead of going with the typical of him just being different and no one questioning it, they actually put an explanation (being that he changed the worlds DNA to having Colourful hair) which is unique and actually makes sense for the character

[@WellThinkOfATitle]

i really like the Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way mentions also i wanted to chime in and say that i have one oc in my oc lore who has natural blue hair and purple eyes but the joke is that that's just perfectly normal where he's from in the lore

[@pantherflambee]

ok for the multi-creatures at the same time part I'll admit that I am guilty of doing something similar but not as in they're the fusion of multiple creatures, more as in they're a specific creature, fey in that case, but they have multiple pairs of insect wings, multiple tails, at least two pairs of arms, horns, claws, pointy teeth, long ears, colorful skin and hair. before you ask I've designed them as such recently and purposefully, because in the universe they're in they're meant to be some really weird kind of creatures that are born from magical flowers that were fertilized by angel's blood. they represent the unpredictability of magic, as they're purely made from it, they are however extremely rare and persecuted because in this day and age in most of the world magic is seen as dangerous and untrustworthy, making them more mythical than ever. edit : also PALIA MENTIONED, LEZGOOOOO

[@Nockgun]

i probably would call them a chimeric Nephilim a nephilim is made with angel and demon or human idk while chimera is a mishmash of animals

[@blokvader8283]

13:13 One of my all time favourite scenes from the One Piece live action is Zoro's flashback when he's attending Kuina's funeral and everyone else has normal hair but Zoro stands out with his toxic waste pistachio green hair

[@gemmacruz6356]

Im so used to it now that it took me a moment to think about it. It should be sad, but it's kind of funny thinking about Zoro being the only one with green slime hair while the others are all black. It doesn't help Zoro and Franky are the only ones of the main cast with odd hair 😂😂😂

[@Ac3øfSpades30]

Fr 😂😭

[@r0is_wrld]

SCOTT PILGRIM THUMBNAIL RUAHH ‼️

[@lucysmith6365]

Honestly, like she said, I prefer that when characters to have unnatural hair/eye colors that it be a normal thing in their setting and not a "OH WOW I'M SPECIAL" thing.

[@MarzzRover]

This is the first video of yours that I've seen, and I absolutely love your commentary! You're great ! I'm also quite glad that my current OC squishy only loosely fits one of these tropes. My relief is immeasurable!

[@lianasmith3161]

I have a character with purple eyes, but I never knew about that "mutation". Never heard of it. I just thought purple eyes would be cool 😎 His (my little guy is a dude so automatic "no need for tampons" 😂) peepers have nothing to do with any bodily functions though, don’t worry.

[@BlindStarLily]

The genderswapped one made me laugh at myself because I realized that, while the OC involved in my current hyperfixation selfship isn’t a GS version of their love interest, they are very much similar to said canon character’s ex boyfriend. I did this completely unintentionally, but now my girlfriend and I joke about the love interest having a very obvious type-

[@WisdomPossum]

18:25 Murdoch Mysteries? In my Duchess Celestia video? It’s more likely than you might think

[@mercurbee]

dude this is the first video if theirs i've seen and my jaw dropped i fucking love murdoch mysteries i can't believe im seeing it mentioned in the wild

[@52flyingbicycles]

The sight of a mythical creature causing an existential crisis in the protagonist is what HP Lovecraft did. While cosmic horror is interesting, it is a very distinct genre from everything else, so it’s best not to wade into it unless you want to go swimming.

[@Frongo]

for a character to undergo ugly circumstances and be ugly in those moments only makes them more attractive when they have the chance to be so I'd also argue 12:12 what you're talking about isn't realism. it's believability. I can believe in vampires and werewolves if you allow for your world to comprend them even tho it's totally unrealistic in the actual world. I cannot believe someone could look gorgeous after crossing the pontine marshes.

[@TheCoffeeCrow]

16:56 I think my favorite example of this done right is the kid vampire series, we're basically all the characters are done in this cute little stick guy style, And one character (who is a vampire) is like "it's okay guys, I'll open these *prison bars* with my vampire strength" And can't pry them open, And then this small cutesy little girl is like "it's okay guys. I'll use entrepreneur strength!" And prys them open like it's nothing😂

[@SaromeGamer]

Tbh i had a purple eyes oc in my head but she had purple eyes bc she originally had blue eyes and her eyes got damaged and the blood mixed with the blue eye turned it into a purple eye

[@SerialSnowmanKiller]

"I don't understand the criticism of 'it's unrealistic for them to be both a vampire and a werewolf." True. In fact, the original Dracula novel depicted him as being both at once. Being able to transform into a wolf was one of his powers.

[@bigfeller2936]

15:59 i have an oc thats the opposite muscular but has that EDS one punch and skin tears go crazy 😭😭

[@the10000thspoon]

See this is why encanto is my favorite movie cause isabella is the "beautiful" one yet still looks unique and the girl who can bench press a house actually looks like she can

[@Xherion]

6:30 this is literally my first ever gacha oc 💀While gacha characters are more limited back then, i remember she was like "Half demon, angel, cat, wolf, vampire, dragon, fairy, etc, etc" you get it. And i remember her having like 200+ different forms 🙂... I plan to redesign her and i'm just gonna make her into a dragon instead.

[@hajime31]

omg i love your art style