It's almost Christmas and as usual I don't really get into the "spirit" until after the semester's over. But once everything's been submitted, out come the Christmas tapes and CDs. The other day my dad and I were listening to an old Bing Crosby tape and we got to his version of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," the one with the falsetto backup singer singing a few verses as Rudolph. After hearing "Rudolph" singing "then how the other reindeer loved me" I caught myself, in a bout of good-natured sarcasm, mentally muttering "yeah, of course they all loved you, you little retcon Mary-Sue character." I was only thinking it jokingly, of course, I've always liked Rudolph and consider him an integral part of the Santa Claus legend (then again I am an EU fan). But wait a minute... Let's analyse this one.

The Santa Claus legend goes back centuries in one form or another. The modern image of Santa Claus began to coalesce into more or less its current form when the "The Night Before Christmas" was written in 1822. Therefore when "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" came out in 1939, the addition of a heretofore unheard-of red-nosed reindeer to the Santa Claus legend was retroactive continuity. (Of course, one could assume that Rudolph was born recently and therefore isn't a retcon, but that way lies the neverending back-and-forth of argument about what is and isn't retconning). In other words, Rudolph was retconned into a canon which was doing fine without him for over a century beforehand.

Now, what of the Mary-Sue issue? First off, Rudolph has a highly unusual physical trait that draws attention to him. Classic Mary-Sue. Also, he's named after that physical trait and his name appears in the title of the work. All of the other reindeer used to call him names and exclude him from their games. Doesn't that sound like a typical writing ploy to gain audience sympathy, another classic Mary-Sue trait? Now, the ultimate test of Suedom: A young, new character outperforms the canon characters and everybody loves them. Check. Rudolph saves the day because of his unusual trait and then "all of the other reindeer loved him."

And the retconned-in Mary-Sue gains such traction in the franchise that every sequel includes them? Absolutely, when was the last time you saw Santa's sleigh without Rudolph? In "Run, Run Rudolph" (1958) the first verse states that of all the reindeer, Rudolph is the "mastermind." Within twenty years it's a given that Rudolph takes precedence over eight reindeer who all have seniority on him? Sounds like a Mary-Sue to me...

No doubt about it. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer is more of a Mary-Sue than any Star Wars EU character (I name no names to avoid fan sensitivities)...

Anyway, I'm only joking, of course. But it's a point to consider before sounding off about an apparent "retcon" or "Mary-Sue."

Whatever, if anything, you celebrate, I hope all is well for you and those around you this holiday season.