The most overpowered, overrated, insufferable Mary Sue in all of "Star Trek" is...

...Morn, from "Deep Space Nine."

1.) He is a unique species that no other character is
2.) Everyone on DS9 likes him
3.) He is Quarks's favorite customer
4.) Dax had a crush on him
5.) He was a badass thief who got away with the latinum
6.) Characters were always talking about Morn
7.) He got a whole episode to his own very self, making DS9 into the Morn Show.
8.) He took away time from more compelling and relatable characters like Wesley Crusher
9.) He has all these special powers: flying shuttles, latinum heists, drinking booze, playing sports, helping people wrap presents, and surviving getting tossed off of a chair by Worf

In all seriousness, the term "Mary Sue" used to mean something-- a specific type of over-the-top, gratuitous wish-fulfillment type of character, who lacked weaknesses and who other characters inexplicably gushed over. Now it's come to mean "any character I dislike, especially one who has any kind of superpowers, or just physically stands out in any way. (Even if her entire character revolves around her flaws and struggles, and even if the franchise is packed with characters just as powerful or more-so.)"

So let's play a game. Take your favorite character from "Star Trek"--or a generally beloved or iconic character--or just someone completely random--and tell us how they're a Mary Sue. Give us a long post on why Captain Kirk, Spock, Chief O'Brien, the Salt Vampire, Porthos the Beagle, Data's cat, or what-have-you is the worst Mary Sue in all of "Star Trek."

 

I like this idea. I like it very much. Unfortunately, I'm too much of a lazy bastard to actually play, at least not for the moment. Carry on, peasants!

 

...All female characters who display technical competence at something!

 

OH-ho, too non-conformist to go along with the sheep, eh? That's because you are a MARY SUE!

 

What?

 

...the Duras sisters. I'm treating them as a unit, but I may have a favorite

- Totally just a vehicle for some fanservice-y Klingon booby armor.
- Tons of other Klingons in the universe, but these traitorous glorified party girls barge in all the time...
- ...and they just get away with everything*? Dishonorable.
- Start a civil war and drag the Federation into it, but it's no big deal. Everything runs on their time.
- "Not like other Klingons!" Lursa is this genius mastermind, B'etor is a master seductress? Uh, ok. Real Klingons use bat'leths to get stuff done, girls.
- Get the best clothes for some reason
- Too cool for Klingon law
- Total millennials
- Cool enough to hang out with Picard
- Cool enough to hang out with Romulans
- Nobody else is cool enough for their Mean Girls Space Clique

*I know, I know. RIP, my would-be space BFFs.

 

Oh no, you've found me out! Sidebar, did you know that the term "Mary Sue" comes from a Star Trek fic published in a fanzine during the seventies? The more you know!

 

Yep!

EDIT: Wait, the '70s? That part I didn't know. I always thought it was from the early days of the Internet. Now I wanna look that up!

 

The Vger is a Mary Sue too. Because it sparkles and stuff.

 

The EMH IMHO.

 

Pfah! The entirety of Starfleet is a Mary Sue! All those noble 'do-good' evolved Humans working together in an idealistic organisation... that still manages to be the strongest kid on the block whenever the situation calls for it ....

 

Its cliche, but I gotta say Wesley Crusher immediately comes to mind. No character is so much "I'm always right" as Wesley Crusher. That is until he comes back from the Academy miserable; that's when he's allowed character flaws. And he literally is destined to be the Starchild McSpace Jesus of Star Trek, evolving into super-powered infinity over time and space with the Traveler. But this thread is probably not well served if every answer were Wesley Crusher.

Now you've forced me to think about who my favorite character is, before I can even Mary-Sue them...hmmm...

 

Lady Q! Annoys the hell out of Q. Has superpowers as long as they aren't taken away by other Q. Has the annoying penchant to appear as someone else: K'Ehleyr, Selar, an Andorian. Unable to raise a child (Q Junior is another special case).

 

Methinks you are biased....

 

So... Michael Burnham. Got it.

Sarcasm and snarky dismissals are not substitutes for arguments.

 

No, Michael Burnham is just a female who displays competence at something, who you happen not to like. There is a difference. Most people hate Michael Burnham to the point they blame her for the war, and she's only really good at a few things.

This sort of blanket Mary Sue accusation to any character you don't like is way more reductionist than op, and is the exact sort of thing op is making fun of.

There are a lot of people on the internet that when they see a character, especially a female character who rubs them the wrong way, they throw out the blanket 'Mary Sue' label to get around having to make a real argument against the character. Even when the character doesn't even come close to meeting some of the basic requirements of being a Mary Sue. For example, Michael Burnham is the exact opposite of everyone gushing over her. Everyone HATES her.

There are characters like Wesley who can legitimately be called Mary Sues, but the label gets thrown around so lazily just to mean 'Character I don't like who has some sort of skills in some areas' it's become meaningless.

A Mary Sue character is an idealized self-proxy for a writer, director or producer, and nothing else.

 

Not even remotely...seriously "Michael Burnham is a Mary Sue" has become a trope in its own right with pretty much no basis in reality.

 

Guinan.

- Well over 600 years old
- Met at least four Captains Enterprise: Harriman, Kirk, Garrett (in an alternate timeline), Picard
- Survived a Borg invasion of her homeworld
- Survived Q disagreement and may have weird special powers to defend against him
- Half exists in magical temporal Nexus
- Can see through time (either because of ^ or some El-Aurian thing)
- Caused Tasha Yar to be sent in to past and have a half-Romulan daughter
- Responsible for peace between the Klingons and Federation (by persuading Picard to send back the Ent-C)
- Casual factor in rise of Duras and Klingon Civil War because of Tasha's Romulan daughter
- Saved Earth from phase-shifting alien invasion in 1893
- Prevented Earth being destroyed by temporal explosion in 2369 (by ensuring Picard returned to the past so he could transmit message to Riker through morse code tapped in to Data's circuits)
- Survived being turned in to a 12 year old
- Is better on the phaser shooting range than Worf
- Never had pinkeye despite Inexplicably lacking eyebrows

 

Since I've never seen STD, don't care about Michael Burnam, and I find the idea of Spock having an adopted human sister we've never heard of tolerable at best, I'll take your word for it. I couldn't care less about Micahel at this point. (This thread was more inspired by Seven of Nine haters trying to label her a "Mary Sue" for her Borg superpowers, ignoring that her entire character revolves around her flaws and being corrected rightfully by the other characters.)

You forgot her funky hats, which are almost as much of an unforgivable Mary Sue sin as having cool-colored hair!

The guy in your avatar is a Mary Sue! He has a shinny shash and a snarky expression!

Yes! Tonks from "Harry Potter" is a Mary Sue for having cool hair that she can change at will, but the Doctor has to stand out even more than her, by having no hair at all! The nerve of those writers.

And I just feel like adding that, at this point at least, I have no opinion of it. I've never watched a full episode of "Discovery," and I am as interested in Michael Burnam as I am in learning a detailed history of my vacuum cleaner. (Nothing against Micahel or STD though.)