The Best Fantasy Books With Gary Stu Protagonists

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5 books

My therapist would say my love of “Gary Stu” characters comes from a childhood of inadequacy. I was always smaller than the other kids. I was exceptionally awkward. Sports? Ha! When I read a book and become an attractive, smart, athletic pseudo-Ryan my inner child takes the wheel of a monster truck. And life is good.

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Free the Darkness

Rezkin is simultaneously the most competent and incompetent young man I’ve ever had the pleasure to read about. He’s a Gary Stu because he is basically a warrior god. A Gary Stu is the male counterpart to a Mary Sue (a character that is way better at everything than everyone else and can do no wrong.) His only weakness is his lack of experience in… everything else. (He does grow savvier as the series progresses, but until it he does, hilarity ensues.) This is definitely my second favorite book (very closely following The Name of the Wind.) I want to be Rezkin so hard. Until then I’ll have to be content reading the book over and over and over.

Mistborn

The Final Empire

Brandon Sanderson, 2010

This was the first Brandon Sanderson novel I read and it started my life-long love affair with him. That didn’t come out quite right… Kelsier is like Robin Hood and Spiderman combined. The only thing cooler and more perfect than him is the antagonist, who is basically a god, so you don’t get much more Gary Stu than that. The funnest part of Mistborn is watching Vin (the little orphan girl) become a Mary Sue in her own right. The magic system is almost as good as Rothfuss’s, and the Lord Ruler is officially the most bad@$$ villain ever… except maybe King Leck in Graceling… that creep gives me nightmares.

The Name of the Wind

Patrick Rothfuss, 2009

My friend said this was his favorite book. I thought it sounded lame. “The Name of the Wind?” What kind of poetic garbage is that? Then my cousin also said it was awesome. So reluctantly, I picked it up. The first 100 pages were pretty good. But then BAM - it was officially my favorite book of all time. How did that happen? Magic. Specifically, Rothfuss wrote such incredible detail and realism into the magic system it made me repeatedly try to perform it myself (after which I would become irritated and curse my mundane existence.) Also, Kvothe. He’s what many would (derogatorily) call a Gary Stu. Maybe it’s because I never really felt superior in anything growing up, but reading about Kvothe kicking the crap out of life makes me glow inside. The Name of the Wind is the closest thing I’ve found to Hogwarts. And if Rothfuss makes me wait any longer for book three, there will be words. Four-letter ones.

Adventure Time

Ryan North, Pendleton Ward, 2015

Okay, so Finn is an androgynous cartoon character but he’s the embodiment of childlike innocence, bravery, and self-sacrifice. I started with the TV series and fell in love with the characters and humor. (Ice King is my favorite and he’s basically the antithesis of a Gary Stu, so he balances Finn out nicely.) After finishing the 13 seasons on Hulu I started on the graphic novels. It’s definitely the weirdest cartoon around and the plot lines are kinda random, but there are so many gems. Watch the first season. If you don’t like it, then we can’t be friends. So don’t even try.

Matilda

Roald Dahl, 2020

Harry Potter would be the obvious choice for number five, but no one needs the recommendation to read that. Matilda by Roald Dahl was my favorite book growing up. She’s about as Mary Sue as you can get. Maybe it’s because I felt over-intelligent and under-appreciated as a child, but I read that book like it was cocaine. Brainpower conquers bullies! Every nerd’s dream. We’ll call Matilda “Matt” so it fits my list. Who knows, maybe she was a boy all along. Hard to tell with those Quentin Blake illustrations.