Wish-Fulfilment Characters

Strong female leads or female characters with a lot of skills are often called a ‘Mary Sue,’ but this post is not about the Mary Sue. It’s about wish-fulfilment characters in general. The Mary Sue is one type, actually named for a parody of the over-candied characters fan-fiction writers were putting in their stories as their own representations. Wish-fulfilment isn’t limited to fan-fiction, though.

To a certain degree, an author puts some of themselves into every character they create - at least into every main character. Heroes, villains, foils, damsels, they all hold a little bit of the author who has created them. Not much in some cases, sometimes only an idea or a half-forgotten memory about another character of that kind the author has seen in a TV show when they were a little kid, but a bit.

So, wish-fulfilment for the author. But not only for the author, because the reader also has wishes to fulfil. It’s not a coincidence that heroic fantasy booms in times where people’s lives are boring. Men are looking to the fantasy heroes who bring down whole kingdoms and can have every woman they want. That’s escapism - and escapism is perfectly okay. One big problem is, however, that male heroes get away with that larger-than-life existence, but female heroes don’t. They get called ‘Mary Sue’ instead - but that is another story entirely.

We all have different interests and tastes, so different kinds of heroes are wish-fulfilment for us. The physically weak office worker looks at a muscled barbarian who easily defeats a whole army with his mystical sword in his large hands, swinging it with all the might of his bulky, strongly-muscled arms. The poor factory worker looks at a suave millionaire who simply can’t do wrong in business and leads a life of parties, women, and trips to exotic locations. The long-married wife looks at the good-looking, shirtless pirate the heroine of the newest erotic novel swoons against and will definitely end up in bed (or other comfortable places) with over the course of the book. The teenage girl with the overly-long limbs and the body which doesn’t really fit together looks at the similar girl in the romantic comedy who is transformed into a perfect princess who will end up with the best-looking guy in the whole book. It’s always a good dose of wish-fulfilment. And the author who writes about the muscled barbarian, the suave millionaire playboy, the immensely satisfied erotica heroine, or the little teenage duckling who is a princess swan also sometimes wishes to be those people, if only for a few hours. So, yes, a lot of literature is wish-fulfilment on both sides. And that’s perfectly okay - stories are for reading and enjoying, so whatever tickles your fancy when it comes to stories, it’s okay to read it and enjoy yourself.

A wish-fulfilment character who is too perfect and often doesn’t even allow for any tension or conflict in the story (because they can easily solve all problems) is definitely bad writing, though - not so much in fan-fiction, but if you really want to sell what you write.

Conflict is always an important point. A story needs conflict (which doesn’t necessarily mean violence, but something which needs to be resolved), because otherwise it’s boring. With a badass character who can do everything, that conflict is difficult (which is why it’s much harder to write an interesting Superman story than to write an interesting Batman story - Superman has too many powers and too few weaknesses).

It’s also, if you want to write several stories about that character, a question of stakes. You need stakes which are high enough to make things interesting (and the more competent the hero, the higher the stakes). For every new story in the series, you need new stakes. If the first story is about your character easily saving the world, what will your second story be about? The character saving the planet system? Number three will be about saving the galaxy, then, I imagine. After number four, where they save the universe, it’s over, because you’ve run out of more stakes.

Give your hero weaknesses, let them fail at some stuff. I know that’s probably not wish-fulfilment - because we all want to win. But failing at something doesn’t mean the end - it means that your hero will raise the stakes, will work on getting better and not failing again. That makes the win in the end earned and much better. We all want for our favourite character to win in the end, but to make the story interesting and to keep us invested, it can’t all be smooth travelling. There need to be bumps in the road. Even Conan the Barbarian gets defeated every now and again - just not for very long and it never ends well for his enemies.

When you’re writing a hero, there are a few questions you should ask yourself.

First of all, how does the hero fit with my story? Depending on how the story should run, a specific hero might not work with it. If you want for a story to be all about how intrigues and politics are played, a warrior will not make for a good main character, because politics and intrigues are not what they’re used to and can work with. They’ll be totally out of their element and it’s highly unlikely for them to master them to a satisfying degree. On the other hand, a long-term politician who is completely used to the whole situation won’t be a good main character, either, because they’re too good at it and have no more space for improvement.

Does my hero have appropriate weaknesses for the story? Let’s run with that political intrigue again here. Your hero is a member of a ruling family, so used to politics, but still very young. What weaknesses do they have? They’ll be inexperienced, because learning something in theory isn’t the same as practicing it. They won’t have a large network of favours they’re owed, so there’s not much string-pulling behind the scenes. Perhaps they’re a little too outspoken as well and find it hard to fit in perfectly. They’re not exactly a square peg in a round hole, but they’re a little egg-shaped and don’t fit the hole too well.

How can my hero improve? Again with that intrigue story. The hero will gain experience as they attend political meetings. They’ll meet people and start to network. Perhaps an old friend of the family will take them under their wings and teach them a little about the practical side and introduce them to a few key figures. They’ll learn to think before they speak eventually, after having destroyed a few useful alliances which need to be rebuilt.

Only if your hero fits with the story, has weaknesses which will show in the story (no ‘they can’t swim’ in a story without large bodies of water or suchlike), and can improve on those weaknesses, you have a character who will be interesting to read about. Sure, we all want for our characters to be the best of the best and do everything perfectly (because we know we can’t), but they will be more interesting, even during the writing process, if they’re not. Showing a badass character can scratch some itches, but showing a character become a badass is one of the best kinds of stories out there.

When you get the feeling that things are going too smoothly for your character, you should look at them closely and ask yourself whether you’ve written an idealized wish-fulfilment version of yourself or whether you’re missing a few bumps in the road for a character who can be bothered by them. Remember: wish-fulfilment characters aren’t evil incarnated, but they need careful guidance not to become boring.