Was Katara a Mary Sue?

Mary Sue. Repeats Marn Hierogryph's etymology of the term and also has a bunch of stuff that people who think Katara IS a Mary Sue will cite to say she is, while those who think she isn't can cite the exact same things to justify that she ISN'T.
 
First of all, they are NOT poorly written characters. The only "Mary Sue" Katara and Toph have in them is that they're overpowered, their personality is NOT Mary Sue, Katara is bossy, and Toph has some trouble with socializing. Metal IS from the Earth, so you would think it would be able to be bended. Toph isn't the girl to give up so easily, she would try to escape... She probably knew that metal COULD be bended.

Your accusations don't make sense...
 
It may be vaguely related to Earthbending, but the whole point is the ability is completely unique and special to only her, no other Earthbender has it despite having years more training and experience than her. When I mean "came out of nowhere" I mean it suddenly popped up as a plot device to resolve the situation she was in; not that it had no basis in context of some metal having earth in it. Had she heard about it in a scroll or from an old teacher, then decided to train in the ability to use it over the season, then finally put it to use in the season finale, it would have had some basis for it suddenly popping up.

Well, I feel being overpowered without any sort of good reason is poorly written; along with the various plot devices they tend to attract and special treatment they get. Despite how weak she was in season 1, I feel Katara was much better written back then then after the writers decided to make her a master-level bender who could take down legions of soldiers effortlessly and master techniques which took other people years to learn.
 
Yeah, metal is from the earth.... So is air. Same chemicals as found in rocks and soil--which are both earth-bendable. Bones have minerals in them, just like certain rocks. What kept Toph from bending those as well? And while we're at it, why can't water-bender bend the water-vapor in the air? Or airbenders bend the O2 and CO2 that's disolved in water?

My point to all that: elemental magic really only makes sense if you put limits on it. Marn's point was that the writers established those limits, and then broke them to make Toph seem cool. And that he judged as bad writing. I'm inclined to agree.

Some general thoughts on Toph, yes, she was way overpowered. But at least that came with *some* limits. Insecurity on anything that wasn't solid ground. An inability to read... And she didn't have quite the holier-than-thou attitude that made Katara that much more insufferable.
 
That's the definition, but I wouldn't call Superman a Mary Sue; the guy's got flaws and weaknesses. A bit corny, at times too trusting, a little straight-arrow, occasionally guilty of hubris, and he's very vulnerable to kryptonite and magic.

Supes has flaws and traits that people don't like, which instantly disqualifies him from being a Mary Sue (or Gary Stu, since he's a guy).

Similarly, Katara is not a Sue either, since she has flaws and shortcomings which she has been called on about.
 
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