#But. Yeah. Characters of the 'deus ex machina' kind that are often keys to narrative (cough) plotholes are almost never killed off.

[heliomanteia]

I think Nico's ability to survive is less so about his will to live and more so about his refusal (less so personal and more so narrative-wise) to die. Nico, for the lack of a better word, is like a cockroach: you cannot kill him in a way that matters so he survives and keeps haunting the scene.

There was once a marvelous post on Nico's function as a narrative tool and it was so beautifully pointed out that he's a near-omniscient deus ex machina (to simplify) which cannot be overlooked when characterizing him. Nico carries so much narrative weight on his back (which arguably could be an example of either good or bad writing depending on your perspective) that he cannot just go and die.

His road towards healing (though definitely not walked alone/individually) is his own, that's his choice to make as a character, but his disposition as a guy that perseveres resides more within his function, in my opinion.

He's not the tragic prince doomed for self-destruction people often draw him out to be but his capacity for survival is also not a product of his continuous work as a character, at least not just that — but is rather a result of his narrative function. Simply saying, you cannot, narratively, kill off Nico di Angelo.

[robxstar]

Would you please explain why Starfire is not a Mary Sue? I do not think she is but I would like to be sure

Oh Force almighty, Mary Sue discourse jshhshhhfhkajhgggghhhhh.

Fandom has basically made the term “Mary Sue” lose practically all of its meaning, mainly by lobbing the label at every single usually female character that has ever existed ever, for various reasons that almost always essentially boil down to “I don’t like her.”

*creaky grandma voice*  In my day the only Sues running around were the ones in terrible fanfiction!

Okay, but to be serious, the way I learned it and the way I define it is basically a Mary Sue is an unrealistic idealized wish-fulfillment character, often a self-insert, around which the universe bends in order to accommodate and narratively reward.  The vast majority of the time they are fan-created, foreigners to and invaders of the universe they are thrust into.

There can be canon characters that have a lot of Suish traits and you’ll get people calling them Mary Sues based on that.  Personally I don’t consider those kinds of characters Mary Sues just… badly written wish-fulfillment characters.  For me, a Mary Sue is always going to be a character that does not belong in the narrative, but is shoved in there anyway and made to be the most important element over everything else.  Bella Swan is a boring shell of an MC but she still feels like she fits in the world of Twilight.  Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail pulls a Deus Ex Machina out of his ass almost every single arc but he’s so quintessentially Shonen Hero in a Shonen series that we as an audience just kind of accept, “Screw you I refuse to lose!” as sufficient justification.

So yeah, generally if you’re asking me if a canon character is a Mary Sue my answer is pretty much going to be no.

IN TERMS OF STARFIRE though, since that’s what you asked about (and I apologize for my tangent)…

About her only Suish traits are that she’s shown in-universe to be ridiculously attractive and that she’s also so genuinely nice and all-loving that people are naturally predisposed to like her.  She’s a better fighter than Wonder Girl but she also easily and realistically gets taken out by stronger or smarter opponents.  She’s proficient in a few key skills that contribute to the team, but is not a master of everything.  She has character flaws that are explored, but not glamorized, not excused or pardoned without justification.  In spite of her niceness, characters are still allowed to dislike her (or at the very least be annoyed by her) and they are not demonized for it.  She doesn’t suck all the narrative attention and focus and she doesn’t spontaneously develop new skills or powers that magically solve the plot.

Aside from her being gorgeous there’s really nothing Suish about her.