Why do we fall down, Master Bruce?

So we can get up again.

That was a line from Batman Begins, back in the day, that the movie made sure to put out there multiple times. It was an important theme they wanted to hit in that story. It's an ...

The sheer power of a good team is so defining that it's a trope. Some of the most iconic characters and beloved personalities have emerged from stories featuring teams of main characters.

Each of them are vital to the story, each of them contribute both in terms of the ...

One of the most frequent ways to make characters stand out in fiction or myth is to give them a staggering, amazingly powerful ability. Something that mere talent doesn't give you. Something miraculous, larger than the largest life, unique and insurmountable:

Like a dude that can part an entire ...

The term “Mary Sue” became a lot more mainstream a few years ago - but around comic book websites like ours, and circles that were into writing and deeper fandom have been well versed with this for much longer.

The Mary Sue is a character who has abilities or positive qualities ...

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Character design is a fun process but not without its challenges. Do you design the character or their story first? I've followed both of those approaches ...

I was reading a critique of a series, a successful series, of novels. I think it's an urban fantasy/horror thing where the main character has a specific paranormal ability, limited, but useful in her detective work. She had a love interest, who was maybe on and off, but ...

Okay, this is a semi-rant and train of thought post, because I've had a couple whiskey and I'm Having Thoughts About Things. You have been warned.

There was one thing that always bothered me in villains that monologue in movies (I also see it in how social media ...

No, this article isn't about the mythological beings. I wouldn't want to steal any single one from Andreas Helixfinger's awesome Sunday article series.

What I want to talk about is the metaphorical unicorn: a character that is too good to be true, too unlikely to be found ...

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We've done a few Quackcasts about how terrible Mary Sues are… well this is the opposite! Tantz postulated that they can be likable and GOOD for ...

Big, big, Mary Sue-sized kudos and thanks to dpat57 and Ironscarf for their Mary Sue contributions! Both of these august individuals are very important to the Duck (even when it's only April!)

Head on over to the new Mary Sue - The Comic to see the full sized pages!
http ...