Enoby/Enby/Ebony
“Hi my name is Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way and I have long ebony dark hair (that’s how I got my name) with purple streaks and red tips that reaches my mid-back and icy blue eyes like limpid tears and a lot of people tell me I look like Amy Lee… I’m a vampire but my teeth are straight and white. I have pale white skin. I’m also a witch, and I go to a magical school called Hogwarts in England where I’m a seventh year (I’m seventeen),” (Gilesbie).
Arguably the most famous Mary Sue comes not from Star Trek but from a Harry Potter fanfiction, My Immortal. Widely considered to be the worst fanfiction ever written, My Immortal, covers the adventures of Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way (a name frequently misspelled as “enoby” or “enby”), a vampire and witch who saves Hogwarts from Voldemort. Ebony, though seen as a prime example of a Mary Sue, is a very different version of this trope. Ebony is loved by everyone and seen as incredibly powerful and important to all characters; however, she is a character that very strongly aligns with the darker themes of the series. She is a Slytherin and falls in love with Draco Malfoy. Still, however, she saves the day by going back in time to seduce Voldemort and stop him from becoming evil through love. Throughout this story, all of the male characters fall in love with Ebony, including professors. All other female characters are shoved to the background including Hermione, who has also become goth and changed her name to Willow (Gilesbie).
Ebony isn’t a perfect character, according to the author. “Evony isn’t a Marie Sue ok she isn’t perfect shes a SATANITS! n she has problemz shes depressed 4 godz sake [sic],” she explains (Gilesbie). This statement, however doesn’t make Ebony any less of a Mary Sue, her depression is fashionable. Depression isn’t seen as a bad thing in the fanfiction, it’s seen as beautiful. “Draco leaned in extra-close and I looked into his gothic red eyes (he was wearing red contacts) which revealed so much depressing sorrow and evilness that I didn’t feel mad anymore” (Gilesbie). Gilesbie equates being goth with mental illness and mental illness, for her, is a fashion statement. It doesn’t get in the way of Ebony’s life, it just makes her a special character. The portrayal of depression is neither realistic nor healthy.
People love to hate My Immortal, hosting dramatic readings and creating comedic web series of the story. It’s not hard to see why the story has become such a rallying cry against the trope. Ebony is, admittedly, an intolerably annoying character, seeming to make the case that Mary Sues deserve all the criticism they receive. Despite being seen a prototypical Mary Sue, however, a good majority of characters that fit into the trope don’t look like Ebony, existing somewhere in between Gilesbie and Smith’s portrayals.
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