Harry Potter, the Gary Stu.

Now, now! Don't get me wrong - I absolutely love Harry Potter - I have *just* recently caught the Potter fever again, around yesterday night, I believe.

I am, however, mainly a fan of the Marauders - especially of James Effing Potter. Yes, that jerk. That toe-rag. That egoistic James Potter. And I know that I am not the only one who absolutely loves the Marauders and the Marauders Era. I know it's just a sub-plot, but it's an awesome sub-plot, yeah? (Better than Twilight's main plot, by the way).

With that said, I might as well inform you that I am not quite a fan of fanfictions that are set in Harry's era. All the Harry Potter fanfictions I have read are a) Marauders-related (preferably, and almost always, James/Lily-related) and b) one-shots (except for highly well-written ones, and these are rare to come across, given how HUGE~ the HP fandom is).

Nonetheless, here I am, blogging about none other than Harry Potter himself.

I remember once ranting about Harry Potter to my roommate. It was late at night and I couldn't sleep, so I decided to list down reasons why I, err, sort of disliked Harry. Now, now - this was obviously an off day for me, because usually I don't have anything against Harry. He's a fantastic boy, a fantastic main character. I mean, JK Rowling is a fantastic author, no? :D

Anyway, anyway...on that night, I listed down reasons why I believe Harry Potter is a Gary Stu. From Urban Dictionary (because that's where the best definitions come from, lol):

Marty-Stu

1. Noun. Male counterpart to the Mary-Sue. Also called Gary-Stu and occasionally "Marty Sam". Often abbreviated to "Stu". An annoyingly "perfect" male fanfiction character. He is usually attractive, mistunderstood, agnsty, and often has some sort of tragic past. He is so perfect as to be nauseating. He usually winds up romantically involved with one or more of the author's favorite characters, saves the day, upstages all of the real characters, etc. Marty-Stus tend to be slightly less common than Mary Sues. Often involved in slash stories.

Now that we've gotten the definition of Gary Stu, I shall now proceed to recall those reasons I came up with that night when I couldn't sleep - the reasons why I believe Harry James Potter is a Gary Stu. I shall make another list as we go on - a check list, derived from none other than the above definition. Let us start.

Harry Potter is a Gary Stu because, in no particular order:

1. His name is in the title of the book, dammit!

So, of course, naturally, he is the lead character. But this is such a horrible reason - you can't simply say a character's a Gary Stu just because his name is in the title. He didn't ask for it!

Right. So. On to the next reason.

2. He is unique, different - even amongst his equals, the wizards and witches in JK Rowling's fantastically-written books.

Harry has a scar on his forehead that sets him apart from everyone else. This scar, a lightning-shaped scar (fancy that), was not any ordinary scar. He obtained it the night the Dark Lord tried to kill him. This scar also symbolises something else - hope for those going against Voldy, and perhaps fear for those supporting Voldy.

Unique stuff like these are usually the things that make up Gary Stus and Mary Sues. They are different. They are not ordinary.

Then again, it wouldn't be a story if it's ordinary, amirite? xD

3. He has natural, rare, even enviable, talents that others do not have.

Yeah, I'm talking about Quidditch! (But really, you can't blame him for having James Awesome Potter as a father, can you? xD)

Quidditch is an extremely famous sport in JK Rowling's universe - fourteen players on broomsticks, six tall hoops for goals (three on opposite sides of the oval field), and four flying balls (the Quaffle - these go through the hoops, and then points would be given to whichever team that puts the Quaffle through the hoop; the Snitch - a tiny, golden ball with wings, extremely fast, and would earn, if I am not mistaken, 150 points to whichever team that catches it first; and the two Bludgers - black balls that zoom around in the air trying to knock players off their brooms).

First-years weren't allowed to be on the Quidditch Team at Hogwarts, however, this was not the case with Harry. The moment he did that crazy diving thing to catch Neville's Remembrall, McGonagall had allowed Harry to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

What's more, even in the highly-famous sports, Harry had managed to get the most unique and difficult role: the Seeker.

If that doesn't scream, "GARY STU SPOTTED, OMFG!" to you, I don't know what will, lol!

Other that that, Harry is - sorry, was - also a Parselmouth.

This is a rare thing, if I recall correctly, because being one means you can understand and talk to snakes. What makes Harry's situation rarer is the fact that...well, he shouldn't be able to talk to snakes, because it is genetically passed down, and neither his parents or ancestors were Parselmouths.

He did, however, attain the ability to talk to snakes because Voldy had accidentally transferred bits of his soul to Harry when he tried to kill him...that git. (=..=ll)

4. He gets the rarest gifts from others.

First, the Invisibility Cloak.

Yes, it is his, no doubt about that - but the Cloak is a very rare thing. Again with the rare thing! He's one special snowflake, isn't he?

Of course the Cloak would be rare, because it is, after all, one of the Hallows - and this leads us back to reason number 2, he is unique. Harry is, after all a descendant of the Third Peverell brother - the one mentioned in the famous fairy tale.

Second, the Nimbus Two Thousand.

If I recall correctly, it is against the school rules for first-years to have broomsticks, but then again, Harry was an exception. What could make him more exceptional, you ask? Why, getting the latest model of broomstick, of course! It's only the fastest one, anyway!

Third, the Marauders' Map.

Now this one is quite a puzzle to me. I have been wondering about it since I've first finished reading the third book when I was eleven.

Fred and George Weasley had found the map, correct? It's an amazing device, the Map, because it shows where everyone in the castle is. All in all, it's something worth holding on to. If I were the twins, I would not have let the Map go.

But Fred and George had given the Map to Harry, tell him how to make it work and all, and say, "Hey, go ahead! Take it, it's only the awesomest map ever to exist! Why should we want to keep it?"

And mind you, at that point in the story, none of them knew that the creators of the Map were closely related to Harry rather than the twins, so they couldn't have the, "It belongs to you, anyway, Harry" state of mind.

Another thing that made me frown is: Why should the twins give the Map to Harry, when they had a younger brother who's exactly the same age as Harry, and definitely closer to them? Yeah, I'm talking about Ronald!

It's only fair, you know. Ron was their brother! But, of course, nooooo~ it's only logical that they give it to Harry, right? Right?

Fourth, the Firebolt.

When Draco Malfoy's dad bought the Nimbus Two Thousand and One (or was it Two? Meh...), of course Harry had to have the better model soon - no one deserves to be better than Harry Potter!

5. He gets the girls he likes.

Well, he did get Cho, after his rival had conveniently died. xD

And later, he got Ginny as well. I dunno, if I were Ginny, I'd make it harder for Harry to get me. Ginny had, after all, only been pining for him for...oh, I dunno, forever? And had Harry given her any thought before the sixth book?

Nope.

Then again, Ginny was ready to accept Harry. If I were her...I'd make it difficult. xD

6. He was Dumbledore's favourite student.

I mean, given the chance, Dumbledore would have made Harry prefect instead.

...What is it with people squashing Ron away?! He's an amazing character! D:

But of course Dumbledore would need to stay close to Harry, since he's the Last Hope and all. But. Meh. I mean, for all you know, Ron could be Dumbledore's favourite. Or Hermione - she's smart, right?

7. Of course, he has gold.

He didn't at first, living with the Dursleys and all that - but in the wizarding world, Harry was pretty well-off with the gold his parents had left him.

Why can't he be poor, like Ron? I wonder what would have happened then. It's almost too good to be true: being a special wizard, well-known to everyone, and rich! Isn't that what everyone wants to be? Magical, famous, and rich? lol.

(But alas, again, you cannot blame Harry for having James Awesome Potter as a parent who earned and inherited those gold for Harry~ :D)

---

And now, let us tick off the traits Harry Potter has that fit the definition of a Gary Stu, shall we?

[ ] Annoyingly perfect male

-Alas, this is not true. Harry is described as skinny with messy jet-black hair that never lies flat. Perhaps a feature that made him stood out, other than the scar, were his green eyes.

[ ] Attractive

-Again, he has never been described as 'handsome' like Cedric (No, Mr. Cullen, get back or I swear I'll hex you...) or Bill.

[/] Misunderstood

-This is true about Harry. He was misunderstood a lot of time, in my opinion, and right from the beginning, too: the wizarding world had been buzzing with excitement when Harry first arrived at Hogwarts. The Harry Potter, who survived Voldy's attack and all that - surely this was a powerful boy? Little did they knew that Harry was just as clueless as the rest of the first-years.

-He was misunderstood by a lot of different people on many different occasions: CoS, mistaken as the one who petrified the Basilisk's victims; GoF, jeered at for being the fourth and unwanted Champion; OotP - oh, especially in OotP - misunderstood even by Dumbledore himself, who was scared of the connection between Harry and Voldy; et cetera, et cetera.

[ ] Angsty

-This one is only true in OotP, when the connection between Harry and Voldemort was only starting to take shape. Thank God, Harry wasn't an angsty teen, or else we'll all be losing IQ points reading the books, just the way we'd lose IQ points by reading the Twili -- I mean -- a certain other book. c:

[/] Has some sort of tragic past

-This, of course, is true.

[ ] Perfect as to be nauseating

-Again, thankfully, Harry is not a perfect character.

[ ] Winds up romantically involved with author's favourite character

-We've been told that Hermione acts very much like JK Rowling did when she was young: a know-it-all. We also know that Harry did not end up with Hermione. Why am I saying all this? Because, well, in Twilight (if I may be so bold as to compare these two works), Edward, who is obviously Stephenie Meyer's favourite character, was definitely in love with Bella, who is obviously Meyer herself. But this is not the case with JK Rowling and Harry. ;)

[/] Saves the day

-Oh yes. Yes. All the time, yes.

[/] Upstages all of the real characters

-Well, no. Not really, right? While it is true that Harry shines brighter than Ron, survives Voldemort's attack when James and Lily didn't, lives while Dumbledore dies, triumphs while Voldemort falls, I do not think Harry upstages all of the real characters...OR DO I~?! XD

---

So Harry's score is... 4/9.

I think he did all right~ :D

---

There. I have had my ranting moment. But do you know why I pointed out all this? Because I don't feel that stinging annoyance one would usually feel upon meeting a Gary Stu or a Mary Sue in a book. Yes, it does appear to me like Harry sometimes lacks personalities, like he was too much of a goody-goody two shoes kind of character - but other than that, I really, really enjoyed following Harry's journey, despite everything I had pointed out in this post.

My main point here actually, is this: Harry is, in a way, a Gary Stu, but you can't feel that because JK Rowling is an amazing writer.

---

OMG I CAN'T WAIT FOR TEH LAST MOVIE ZOMG LOLOLOLOL!! D: XD T_T *goes back to reading fanfics*