Is Anakin a Mary Sue?

now it may shock you to learn this but it turns out that disney star wars is kind of a contentious topic the fandom's been more or less divided between those who like the sequel trilogy and those who like good movies but both groups spend a great deal of time slinging [ __ ] at each other over every form of social media known to man and truly no battleground is more fiercely contested than the protagonist of each trilogy people who hate the disney trilogy tend to criticize rey for being an overpowered flawless perfect invincible and unrelatable character for whom everything just kind of happens with no real struggle or difficulty a mary sue if you will meanwhile supporters of the sequel trilogy are quick to leap to her defense usually with one of two potential counter arguments one you just hate strong women two so what if she's op as [ __ ] anakin skywalker from the prequels was a mary sue too and you don't criticize him you just hate strong women this argument was brought into sharp focus for me the other day when i was perusing twitter in search of calm logical rational discussion about the merits of the sequel trilogy and i chanced upon this little gem of a comments [Laughter] ah yes that famously perfect protagonist who wins everything always makes the right decisions has a selfless and compassionate personality and is universally loved and respected by everyone [Music] you're on this council but we do not grant you the rank [Music] i love you liar i killed them all well random twitter [ __ ] as it turns out i am ready to have that conversation right now so saddle up y'all because the drinker's here to round up this [ __ ] and put an end to this argument once and for all lets us journey deep into the world of the star wars prequels and see if we can figure out whether anakin skywalker really is a mary sue now in order to do this we have to nail down what exactly a mary sue is well according to the dictionary definition it's a term used to describe a fictional character usually female who is seen as too perfect and almost boring for lack of flaws originally written as an idealized version of an author in fanfiction now the finer points of what makes a mary sue can vary depending on who you talk to but after consulting multiple sources and drawing upon my own experiences as a writer there's a few common traits that i think most people would generally agree on one mary sues usually possess skills and abilities that are not consistent with their situation and personal history they can do stuff they shouldn't realistically be able to and they can do it better than anyone else two they usually possess flawless idealized personalities that no real person could measure up to they never give in to negative emotions like anger greed jealousy selfishness or arrogance three they're universally loved respected and embraced by every good character they encounter even when there's no logical reason for this to happen 4. they never get seriously challenged fail at anything or get beaten by anyone success and victory comes easily to them and 5. they always make good decisions and strive to do what's right in any situation so why is this actually a problem well i think the answer should be obvious mary sues are boring as [ __ ] if a character's got no flaws or weaknesses and never really gets challenged or tested by anything then what is there to get invested in it's the flaws and failings of a character that make them interesting in the first place and their struggle to rise above and overcome these flaws that make them so compelling if these things are missing from a character then there's nothing for the audience to latch onto or care about there's nothing to like or root for that's the essence of a mary sue and that's what we're going to be looking at here so with that in mind let's see how anakin stacks up against this list shall we point number one being overpowered and having abilities that he shouldn't now this more than anything else is what people tend to latch onto when they criticize anakin and who can blame them really on the surface it seems pretty ridiculous to see a nine-year-old boy doing stuff like this autopilot but let's put it into a wider context shall we when we first meet anakin in the phantom menace he's a slave living with his mother on tatooine he's spent most of his life salvaging junk and using it to make new stuff that can marginally improve their quality of life as a result he's become pretty good with technology well that makes sense i guess he's even applied these technical skills to pod racing where he's been fairly successful despite suffering at least one major crash that we know about again this kind of makes sense when you consider he's strong with the force which would likely give him heightened perception reactions and understanding of the world around him you know qualities that are important to high performance racing drivers anyway his racing abilities allow the main characters to win an engine part that they need to repair their ship as well as enough money to buy his freedom sensing his importance qui-gon jinn takes him under his wing and begins to teach him about the force remember when older mentor characters were allowed to teach the protagonist things i miss that he also takes part in a space battle that destroys an enemy mothership at the climax of the movie now as goofy as this scene is in its execution it's not actually inconsistent with anakin's abilities and experiences if you've worked around technology vehicles and ships your entire life and you can pilot a racing pod to a high standard then it stands to reason that you could probably operate other types of spacecraft as well particularly if you have a droid on board to manage most of the ship's systems for you however for the sake of argument let's concede the anakin in the phantom menace is indeed more skilled competent and capable than your average person so what kind of effect would this have on a young man from an impoverished background suddenly thrust into a much larger world of power politics and opportunity well that brings me neatly along to point number two mary sues are supposed to have flawless personalities never giving in to anger jealousy resentment vengeance or ambition all throughout the second and third movies in the prequel trilogy anakin displays an increasingly severe set of personality flaws that begin to undermine his position in the world and his relationship with other characters he's impetuous and hot-headed frequently rushing into dangerous situations without waiting for backup or considering the risk to himself particularly when someone he cares about is in danger keep that one in mind because it'll be important later he's ambitious but also impatient feeling like he's been unfairly held back by other characters particularly obi-wan kenobi and this resentment causes a growing rift between the two men that eventually spills out into open conflicts rather than taking the longer and harder path to wisdom and understanding anakin wants everything right away he also cares deeply about people close to him and this attachment often manifests in explosive bites of anger and jealousy when he feels that they're being threatened like when his mother gets kidnapped and killed by tuscan raiders causing anakin to go on a violent rampage that escalates into wholesale slaughter afterwards even he's shocked by what he did and not just the men but the women and the children too or when he believes that padme was turned against him by obi-wan kenobi causing him to lash out violently against both of them you brought him here to kill me let her go anakin by this point he's been totally consumed by uncontrolled jealousy anger resentment and betrayal all of the emotions that lead to the dark side of the force the point here is clear if you [ __ ] with someone he cares about then mercy and compassion go right out the window all of his skills abilities and potential which seemed so overpowered and unnecessary in the first movie in fact serve a very important purpose for his character development they've generated a sense of superiority arrogance and overconfidence and a reluctance to listen to criticism or advice no matter how well intentioned they might be these are dangerous flaws in his personality all by themselves but combined with his overwhelming emotional attachment to people he cares about it creates a potent cocktail of reckless ambition and deep-seated insecurity that makes him uniquely vulnerable to manipulation something which will later prove disastrous because while mary sues are universally loved respected and trusted by everyone anakin certainly isn't in the first movie obi-wan kenobi mace windu and yoda are all against training anakin to become a jedi despite his obvious potential because they know he's already too old to be inducted this lack of early discipline in his life would leave a dangerous gap in his personality making him unpredictable and less able to control his emotions two factors which are extremely dangerous for jedi these misgivings would carry over to the next two movies where anakin is elevated to the jedi high council on palpatine's orders but the council itself refuses to grant him the rank of master because they feel he hasn't earned it yet you're on this council but we do not grant you the rank of master now a different man would see this as an opportunity to prove himself by working hard and earning their trust eventually winning them over and gaining the recognition he deserves but anakin takes this as a personal insult from the council which drives a deeper wedge between him and a jedi order which he believes will never truly respect or accept him wow it's almost like palpatine knew this was going to happen and engineered the whole thing to pull anakin closer to him portraying himself as the only one who can help anakin realize his full potential it's a surprisingly smart piece of characterization that's completely consistent with everything we know about both men the higher anakin rises the more it stokes the fire of his ambition and superiority and the more he comes to see anyone who doubts or cautions him as a threat to his success this arrogance and overconfidence also causes him to test himself against powerful opponents before he's actually ready for them and unlike mary sues who easily win every battle they have to fight anakin's recklessness causes an escalating series of losses like here where he tries to take on count dooku all by himself and it ends with anakin getting his [ __ ] arm sliced off but his desire for revenge against the man who defeated him ultimately causes a more powerful and better prepared anakin to execute him in the following movie again proving his willingness to give into vengeance and anger even against helpless opponents or here in his climactic confrontation with obi-wan where his enemy has the advantage but anakin presses the attack anyway and well i think we know how that turns out just as a side note i love how this carries over to return of the jedi obi-wan has taught you well see luke's taking the high ground here just like obi-wan did what we have here is a clear pattern of behavior from a man whose ambitions consistently outstrip his abilities rather than demonstrating patience and restraint and taking the slower and harder path to lasting wisdom and fulfillment anakin's inherent character flaws cause him to push himself beyond breaking point with increasingly disastrous consequences which brings me neatly along to the final points whereas mary sues consistently make good righteous decisions and always strive to do the correct thing anakin on the other hand demonstrates a consistent pattern of mistakes and misjudgments that ultimately cost him everything as i've already shown you the flaws in his personality are exacerbated by his powers and abilities making him easy prey for a ruthlessly ambitious man that knows exactly how to flatter his ambitions and prey on his weaknesses this eventually causes him to commit terrible crimes like murdering an entire tribe including unarmed civilians murdering children executing a helpless opponent helping to kill a jedi master trying to murder his own wife trying to kill his mentor and best friend joining forces with an evil dictator to overthrow the republic delivering this scene i don't like sand it's coarse rough and irritating [Laughter] what i'm trying to say with all this pish is that anakin skywalker is the very furthest thing from a mary sue that you can get trying to label him as a mary sue for no other reason than because he's good at lots of stuff demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of what a mary sue is and also of who anakin is the reality is that he's a powerful but deeply flawed man whose unique combination of circumstances and abilities have created a dangerous personality that's vulnerable to manipulation and corruption his greatest strengths ultimately proved to be his most terrible weaknesses with consequences that echo across the entire galaxy now i have my own thoughts on the prequel trilogy as a whole and i'd be lying if i said they were great movies but fundamentally i think the story they tell is actually pretty [ __ ] good and i'm just gonna say it anakin's rise to power and fall to the dark side is a damn good piece of character work that disney would have done well to pay more attention to anyway that's all i've got for today go away now

Channel: The Critical Drinker

Views: 1,125,197

Rating: 4.9340496 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: GSj6wEm4zZY

Length: 15min 4sec (904 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 23 2020

Reddit Comments

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[u/Roykka]

What's interesting here, is how PT showed where Anakin's hubris came from, how it shaped him, and what it caused. Compare that to Jake who just suddenly finds himself above his nephew, touching his lightsaber inappropriately, and ponders sticking it in, and when it all goes ploin-shaped blames having done the opposite with Vader, and the Jedi tradition that told him not to do that.

[u/9BitsDelta]

It's a great video, I've just watched it a few minutes ago. The Drinker knows his writing!

[u/OldestStarWarsNerd]

No.

[u/Wrighted-2000]

No he isn't. From the movies alone, this can be refuted. He is shown to occasionally be reckless & impulsive. He doesn't follow orders to the letter. His viewpoints conflict with the values of the Jedi Order & he is swayed towards the Dark-Side for these reasons. Not everything went exactly his way, regardless of how he felt about the situation. He actually receives efficient Jedi Training within a reasonable time-span; They couldn't have shown him dedicating a decade of his life to Jedi Training & still suck. That's absurd. He is lectured, frequently, by Obi-Wan & not everybody adores him e.g. Mace Windu. Clearly, there a wider variety of reasons as to why he isn't but these are the basic ones.

Rey, clearly, is a Mary Sue unlike him. I can understand her piloting skills. She is the same age as Luke was in the Trilogy, but they could've given us a reasonable explanation as to why she can fly. Maybe change her backstory, like she was raised by pirates or something similar to Star-Lord from Marvel. However, everything else about her makes her a Mary Sue. She learns things too quickly & easily for the audience to digest, for someone who supposed to be a complete newcomer to the Force in general.

Key Note: I know Critical Drinker & knew this was a Rhetorical Question. He's always sarcastic & rhetorical (I was stating my opinion on the matter).

[u/MyLittlePuny]

No. end of discussion.

[u/globaljustin]

No absolutely not. Vader is one of the best villains in all fiction in human history.

Rey and Jyn Erso are Mary Sues because they represent their "creator's" idealized self image...how Kathleen Kennedy sees herself.

Important are the historical and visual similarities, the longer, straight brown hair and the "I need help from no man, I owe nothing of who I am to any man" certainly hits home if you look at how KK got her start in the business (Speilberg's personally chosen assistant).

If Vader was a "Marty Sue" for George Lucas here's what Vader's backstory would have to be like:

A young boy in a middle class home on an unremarkable planet in the SW galaxy gets picked on for being nerdy and unathletic, but his interest in D&D type games causes him to unlock a secret level in a game that conjures a space wizard who tells him he is the chosen one, showing his nerdy non-athletedom can be a strength.

Like "The Last Starfighter" only pre-video game.

With Luke, there's just not enough key similarities to reasonably argue that Luke is a 'marty sue' for George Lucas, just to get that out there.

[u/Mundingburrasaurus]

He is not a mary sue. He failed many times and was defeated several times in combat after biting off more than he could chew. In the end, and although he was a good person, he succumbed to his pride and selfishness, and as punishment for his dark deeds he was burned alive and confined to a suit for the rest of his life.

[u/SWPrequelFan81566]

I have a bit of beef with the Drinker, so I'm not willing to watch his video right now.

Can anybody summarize his arguments for me?