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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25229
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

So if I understand correctly, the claim is "men want admirable characters" and "women want (normal) relatable characters"?

**Short answer: I can't speak for men, but women definitely want both.**

I'm sure you're familiar with the concept of a Mary Sue, right? They tend to show up in amateur fiction written by young girls, and I think their existence proves that there is certainly some desire among women for _admirable_ relatable characters.

An experience that I (and many of my friends) had growing up was thinking, _"This series is so great... you know what would make it better? A character like [insert self] who's super cool and beautiful and [basically everything we wanted to be]..."_

Since we couldn't see ourselves in the characters already in the show, we would create Mary Sue characters to serve the roles we wanted to see in the story. And maybe embellish a bit in the process...

Now personally? As an adult female reader, I like characters that surprise me. They can surprise me by doing things that no ordinary person would do (quirky personality, aberrant behavior, strange reactions) or by relating to me on a level I didn't think was possible.

Original score: 4