[QUOTE=acsenray]
Then we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this point, because as I said before:
[/QUOTE]
Maybe. Mary Sue-ism and self-insertion are often intermixed, and I might be conflating them. Still, there’s a difference between characters reflecting facets of the author’s personality and a character who the author explicitly claims is his avatar in the world. Mind, I don’t begrudge Greenwood this, as I firmly believe the creator of a world can do what he damn well pleases with it. It’s just a very blatant example of self-insertion and self-idealization.
[QUOTE=BayleDomon]
Not at all. There’s an extremely high correlation, certainly, but abusing someone else’s canon isn’t a necessity.
In the Forgotten Realms series of books, Elminster is an extraordinarily powerful and intelligent wizard. I have yet to encounter anything that proves to be a stumbling block to him for more than a couple pages. He’s sensitive, smart, witty, strong, damn near omniscient, and despite being centuries old still gets play with sexy young women. Elminster is also the admitted self-idealization of author Ed Greenwood, who basically created the Forgotten Realms world. He’s a strong example of a Mary Sue, although I agree that putting a character like that into someone else’s canon would ratchet up the Mary Sue quotient by several notches.
[/QUOTE]
IIRC, I read an interview where Greenwood said that Elminster is not based on him or supposed to be him.
[QUOTE=Dr. Rieux]
IIRC, I read an interview where Greenwood said that Elminster is not based on him or supposed to be him.
[/QUOTE]
That so? I could have sworn I’d read as much in an afterword he wrote in one of his books. If that’s the case, I retract that argument entirely. 
[QUOTE=Dr. Rieux]
IIRC, I read an interview where Greenwood said that Elminster is not based on him or supposed to be him.
[/QUOTE]
Not to cast undue doubt, but that’s also exactly what a Mary Sue author might say if you asked them about it, to their face.
“He’s completely NOT based on me! He has BLONDE hair, and both of my parents are still alive!” 