Is Sophie A Mary Sue? (Essay)

3rd Sign: Destined

This sign is essentially the Chosen One trope-- an overused character in literature who is "destined" to do or be something (usually by a prophecy). While there are no prophecies in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, Sophie is a sort-of Chosen One, in her own subversive way.

She's unusual, for one, which is pretty tropey. The character who doesn't belong, or has some special power (or a unique amount of that power), is a Chosen One a lot of the time. I wouldn't call Sophie an outright Chosen One, but I do think she has some similar qualities that would verify someone else calling her that.

For one, she has a purpose. Not a self-imposed purpose, but a purpose determined by others. Chosen One purposes (or "destinies") commonly involve things such as saving the world or defeating the Big Baddie. Like I said earlier, usually these destinies come from prophecies—but in Sophie's case, her purpose comes from the Black Swan. That purpose is unclear—even to Sophie—and I don't think the Black Swan knows exactly what Sophie is supposed to do. They have hopes for what she might do, but she's her own person, and they're going to let her do whatever she will. Here's a couple quotes (simply for authenticity):

"'Does that mean you know what they're planning for me?' Sophie asked.

"'"Plan" is also the wrong word. I know their hopes—mostly because I share them'" (Neverseen, 117).

"The more she thought about it, the more she realized both sides had lost an important alternate perspective. And maybe that was what she was created for.

"A girl from both worlds, who'd seen the follies and triumphs of each side.

"And her job was to shake things up and do something new" (Neverseen, 377).

"'The entire reason I exist is so I can use my abilities to stop the Neverseen...I was created to do a job. A pretty important one, from what I can tell...'

"'The thing is, though, the Black Swan didn't make a gadget. They made a person... It's not your job to protect anyone, Sophie. No matter what you think—or how many abilities you have—or what plans the Black Swan had when they created Project Moonlark...'" (Legacy, 354-356).

The Black Swan's "plans" haven't exactly been revealed throughout the series, but my guess is that they simply have hopes versus plans, as Calla said in the first quote. However, in any case, this proves Sophie was made with a purpose in mind—after all, there would be no point in altering an innocent child's genetics for that child to grow up as a normal elf.

Does Sophie have a motive to defeat the Neverseen besides being born into the "good rebel group"? I mean... I think she's a good person, but she's also kind of a worrywart. I'm not sure if she would be involved with everything if she hadn't been placed in the special circumstances she was. That's just my opinion, though, and I'm not even positive I'm convinced of that. Simply some food for thought.