Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The first question that must come into your mind is, "Addie, what tf is Hamartia and how do I get it?"
Answer to question number one: Hamartia is a word derived from Shakespearan writings, and it means the one fatal flaw in a person, that leads to their tragic downfall, or so our English teacher told us.
Answer to question number two: You don't need to get Hamartia, you already have it. It's the OP Mary Sues/Garty Stu's/Gary Sues that need to get one.
Since the beginning of times in the era of fanfictions, I assume, there have been OCs that are totally overpowered, and we call these OCs by various names that are totally not insults. The most common one we use is 'Mary Sue', since Wattpad is surprisingly over-flowing with female OCs.
The term Mary Sue means a female character who is shown or depicted as unrealistically lacking in flaws or weaknesses, and on Wattpad, they're mostly overpowered too. For example, Raven Aqua Hydrogenalia Manganese Lina Potter Jackson, who will probably sound something like this:
"HELLO EVERYONE! I AM RAVEN AQUA HYDROGENALIA MANGANESE LINA POTTER JACKSON, THE SISTER OF PERCY JACKSON, DAUGHTER OF POSEIDON, JAMES POTTER, LILY POTTER, AND SALLY JACKSON BECAUSE THAT IS TOTALLY BIOLOGICALLY POSSIBLE! I'M A WITCH AND A DEMI-GOD AND AN ELF AND A PART OF THE AVENGERS!! I HAVE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, CURLY, BLONDE HAIR; BLUE ORBS, AND A CURVACEOUS FIGURE!! MY SKIN IS SO SMOOTH AND WHITE THAT APHRODITE AND APOLLO ARE JEALOUS OF ME!! I AM SO, SO UGLY! NOBODY LIKES ME, THEY ALL HATE ME! MY FRIEND WHO TOOK AN ARROW FOR ME AND SACRIFICED HER LIFE FOR ME WAS MY FAKE FRIEND. I AM SO PATHETIC! EVEN NICO, DESPITE BEING GAY, HAS A CRUSH ON ME!! LET'S NOT EVEN TALK ABOUT PERCY AND JASON AND LEO, WHO ALL DUMPED THEIR GIRLFRIENDS FOR ME AND ARE TRYING TO WOO ME, BUT I LOVE ALL THREE OF THEM! AND I HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THEM!"
( te-hee-hee, my mind me coming up with crap circa 2008 )
No. Please. Nico is GAY. Do you not understand the meaning of that? HE. IS. NOT. INTERESTED. IN. FEMALES. Don't you get that? ( Honestly, I think not. Wattpad is overflowing with Nico x Fem!OC stories, and has a surprising lack of good Solangelo stories or Nico x Male!OC stories, since of course, homophobia is a must. )
And let's not even address how this character is so over-powered and self-absorbed, but the author somehow still wants to make them humble.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Dude, you do realize that you are legit making your characters go on and on about how great they are, and then making them contradict it all?
It makes no sense. None at all.
I also wonder how books with such characters have any reads at all, let alone the fact that they go into millions in terms of reads.
Well, I blame Wattpad's beginner-unsupported algorithm for that.
We're done with the rant part, let's move on to how to improve this:
1. The Name:
Don't give your character some ridiculously long name, like a name that has five different names. Give a first name and the last name, and if you really want to increase the length, use a middle name. I'll do another chapter on names, it's already been requested, so you can look for ideas there.
2. The looks:
I've sufficiently covered this in the last chapter, but no looks of a supermodel. That's a BIG no unless it's a crackfic.
3. Character flaws ( AKA the flaws in their character or Personality ):
For the love of god's sake, don't make them have a perfectly clean slate. When I look at the protagonist, the good person of a story, I expect to see at least one fatal flaw, one characteristic that is dark. As in, don't make them completely inhuman. Give them insecurities, flaws, and one thing that makes readers be confused on which 'side' they're on.
Similarly, when I see a bad character, I want to see one redeeming characteristic. Now, I don't mean that you have to make them angelic, but is giving them one redeeming characteristic so bad? It will only make your readers sympathize with them, and make them, like I said, more human.
