Is the player character a Mary Sue?

[Italianbaptist]

So I've been playing through Alpha Sapphire and made it through Omega Ruby as well, but I've really been analyzing the story I can't help but ask myself this question.

Obviously in every game your player character is the "chosen one" who encounters all kinds of legendary Pokemon. I never played Diamond and Pearl to know what the deal is with that one but there was a bit of this in Black and White in particular, being N's ideological opposite and all. But in this game:

You start out as Steven's, the champion of Hoenn's, right hand man but quickly switch roles as he gushes on and on about how great you are
You're also singled out at random by the Contest Master of Hoenn as the hot up and comer in the world of contests even though you'd never entered one before
Latias/Latios chooses you to be their trainer
In typical Mary Sue fashion, both evil teams have admins that gush about how great you are and give you gifts that they don't have much of a reason to give you (at least it's not a Master Ball...doesn't Cyrus of team galactic give you that in DP?)
Though the catastrophic consequences are major in helping them see the error of their ways, they give you just as much credit because of again, how great you are
And basically you save the world from total annihilation twice in epic fashion (I don't remember much from the delta episode so feel free to add things from that)

I don't remember it being so on the nose in the originals either. And let me make very clear that I really enjoy these games, this is just something that bugs me. It bugs me in the same way Ash is the chosen one in 2000 AND has aura abilities and gets into all the crazy shenanigans with legendaries in almost all the movies. And it really takes away from the feeling of Pokemon being a community because everyone is the "chosen one". That's just not how real life works.

 

[BCVM22]

The player character is you. You control everything the player character does.

Would you be made happier by a game where every NPC tells you that you're not actually that special and that you're probably destined for a dead end desk job somewhere?

 

[Italianbaptist]

Lol not really. I know I should've thought this out better but the game just feels inorganic to me. I'll word this out better later but it would feel more organic to not be the savior of the world for once. Like if I was one part of an elite team; if Steven, your rival, other npcs etc. werw more integral to the plot rather than just an expositor for how you're going to save the day. I felt that with the gym leaders in Black and White taking part in the fight against Team Plasma, for example.

Again, I don't wanna sound like a jerk who hates the games or anything. Mechanics wise, it's probably the best in the series and everything feels really good. I just feel the plot is worth analyzing in this way so we can better understand what makes storylines work.

 

[Cyclone]

I've never heard the term "Mary Sue" haha interesting....

Any kind of RPG fantasy quest, such as Pokémon tends to follow this formula. Especially in a game targeted for children, who in their own lives have no real power, tend to (as a whole) gravitate towards a storyline in which they feel like the "chosen one" that rises above everyone else. If you think about it, this is really an amazing concept: A young child rises up out of the ranks to conquer a whole world. It's the ultimate Hero's quest. Think Odyssey or Iliad. This type of formula has been used to tell stories for thousands of years. You may have a bias against the formula, and that's OK, but it really works for a wide audience.

 

[Case Azula]

I kinda see your point and I understand as well. I always feel special when playing these games, when I play I feel like the world actually cared about me and needs my help whether they know it or not. For once in my life I feel like a hero. I love rush of having rush of having the world on my trainer's pre-teenage shoulders! Feels so good!

 

[brilly]

One of the script flaws present in most Pokemon games, except maybe BW, is that no one do nothing while the main character save the world, as he or she was the only savior.

Some guys say that the playable character is a blank state, but I disagree. What you said in this thread tell a lot about how the protagonist handle situations and how people see him/her. Would be interesting if the player character be treated as the underdog once. But I think in oras, the developers tried a lot to flesh out the interatcions, without distorting the somewhat limited original content, so the relationship with Wally, Steven and even the villains teams was more developed.

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

Would you be made happier by a game where every NPC tells you that you're not actually that special and that you're probably destined for a dead end desk job somewhere?

You know, what if the games started out like that, with everybody doubting you and considering your first wins flukes, and you have to gradually prove them wrong? It'd be a nice change of pace.

 

[Zoruagible]

Not at all, every playable character has met a lot of legendaries. Most of them being in ORAS was a way for newer players being able to catch them without having to buy some older games and a second system to even be able to get them from gen 4 to 5. And story wise, it was Hoopa making them appear throughout the region(Would love for that to happen again actually but with the character actually meeting Hoopa at some point)

And it's virtually impossible for your character to lose the game, like every game out there. You just get teleported to the nearest Pokemon Center/hospital and start over what you were doing. The only thing you can lose lose is Contests and the Chateau

And Latios was a way of getting you your first taste of Mega Evolution like Lucario in X/Y as some people probably don't have something that can Mega Evolve yet.

 

[Alexander18]

I don't think so. Mary Sue sounds rude in my opinion. The player is basically you because you control the character and their actions (apart from Red in GSC and HGSS).

 

[Vroomer]

Not really a Mary Sue in the games. I say that because you can still biff the legendary encounters - not catch it - in some of the games and advance the story. If you were a complete and utter Mary Sue (*cough* Ash), you could throw a regular Pokeball and get the legendary on the first try.

 

[Pokemon Fan]

If you were a complete and utter Mary Sue (*cough* Ash), you could throw a regular Pokeball and get the legendary on the first try.

Why name Ash as such an example when he's never done anything like that? The closest thing to that are a few small town competitions he's won on the first try, which is pretty reasonable given most of his competitors are not as experienced as he is.

Ash is above all else a advertising tool for the games, how "good" of a character he is and how his abilities are treated being heavily dependent on the particular season of the show you are watching, or even the particular episode writer.

 

[Tangeh]

Can you really label a silent protagonist a Mary Sue...? I mean they're barely a character. They have no dialogue. They're just meant to be an avatar for yourself.

 

[Vroomer]

how "good" of a character he is and how his abilities are treated being heavily dependent on the particular season of the show you are watching, or even the particular episode writer.

OT: I loath the Pokemon anime because of Ash and the humans. Love the games and TCG.

On Topic: In ORAS, you are rewarded for completing the puzzles for the Regi Golems. You are rewarded with an encounter for leveling up Pokes with max EVs, level 100, two of a three for the third. In all these encounters, you are not guaranteed the prize. In a Mary Sue situation, you would be minding your own business when one of these would mysteriously fall from the sky and become bound to you or yours.

Agree with Tangeh - they're just an avatar for you.

 

[KoalaEnCocaina]

The player character is you. You control everything the player character does.

Would you be made happier by a game where every NPC tells you that you're not actually that special and that you're probably destined for a dead end desk job somewhere?

i think what he complains about is the way the sugar your ***....your rivals are supposed to tell you that your destiny is being a looser, to loose, or even to die/fail your mission....imho...but in oras, its true, its more like youre working together with the bad guys more or less. youre just following them, taking care, they dont destroy the world...mhm the Kindergarten Daddy?..lol

 

[shadow dawn]

I've noticed this more in the recent games, perhaps because the cultural trend has been towards extra-sugary children's material and the technology has made the games looks more like cartoons, but having everyone gush about how wonderful I (the player character) am for no particular reason seems to get more and more annoying. I find myself wishing for some, even contrived justification for why everyone in the game realizes I'm special. Since Gens I and II don't have "Save the World" plots, it's almost refreshing to have most NPCs be somewhat indifferent to my presence.