Interesting. On homework:
I'm sticking with Siegfried for SCV, but this time around I'm going to be much more open to picking up and using other characters at the same level.
Also, I have a list of other characters I use in
fighting games here...and there isn't really any central theme that they all share. In fact, it's pretty much all over the place. Of note, some characters, their playstyle emphases, and what they are in relation to me, color coded to match my strengths to complementary, and weaknesses to supplementary:
Soul Calibur - Siegfried:
Stance heavy. 50/50 mixups. Spacing. Complementary.
Tekken -Dragunov:
Counter-hit fishing. Insane oki. Slight grab emphasis (in Tekken lol) Complementary.
Virtua Fighter - Goh:
Parries. Throws. Mixups. Complementary.
SF - Dan Hibiki:
TAUNTS AND MANLINESS. SAIKYO-RYU IS NO NOVELTY ACT!
MK - Kenshi:
Rushdown. Zoning.
Complementary/Supplementary.
Dissidia - Emperor:
Trap based.
Turtle and punish. Novelty Act (he's bottom tier).
The reason for this is disparity between games is twofold. To start, I only play Soul Calibur competitively, at a high level. Therefore, I don't find a need to play high tier characters, or characters that supplement or compliment my playstyle, or whatever - I just pick who I want, stick with 'em, and start playing, even if I only picked them because she's a hot, sassy, dominatrix, or he's a psychic ninja. "But Heaton," I hear IdleMind already saying, "character loyalty is fucking idiotic and you won't be able to compete competitively like that at all!" And while he is correct with that statement, it has no moment for what I'm trying to accomplish.
To elaborate: I once heard from a certain E. Honda player that, when starting a new game, you should "play who you want to play, and make them work" (paraphrasing). Though this was said about MVC3, a very non-standard fighting game where character selection does not work as it would normally, the statement still applies for starting any new game. My reasoning behind this is that it makes the game easier to learn when you like your character - you enjoy seeing that character doing cool shit, and therefore you enjoy winning with him, therefore you want to learn how to kick ass with him. Sure, it's a very "casual" or "scrubby" reason, but this is applying only to the early stages of learning the game, not going to tournaments with intentions of bodying everyone.
If it makes me stick with the game and learn to play it well, or at a deep level, then it's fine by me, regardless of if it's because he's a deep character, or because he's just really cool looking - how much you enjoy the character matters for those early stages. Besides, if they end up being bottom tier, and I end up really enjoying the game, I won't have a (personal or ability-oriented) problem going to a higher-tier character anyway.
Laconically:
Pick who you like. The rest shall come with time and practice.