At first I pick character's that look cool and have a story that I like. Usally there are of few of those and I see which one I like the gameplay of the most.

I almost always choose a character that nobody uses though. I like to find out their hidden potential it always throws people off online because they have never faced someone who's good with such an unpopular character.

In this game so far I am thinking of maining Bane because I like his character a lot and he seems like someone who will be ignored by most players.

I will have to wait and see how all the characters turn out first. I am also very interested in Ares but I am not a big fan of zoning characters.

It depends. If its a series im familiar with, ill go with the character im a fan of first, learn their ins and outs and then branch out and see if any of the other character catches my interest.

If its a new series, usually its the design that catches my eye(which honestly doesnt work out very often) and proceed from there.

I would say it's 45% design, 45% gameplay style, and 10% Tier ranking.

Stylistically, I love characters who are strong in the mid-range. Crunching the numbers, it looks like I'm gonna main Aquaman. He has great range, safe/low-risk offensive options, and a DAMN good anti-air.

Sinestro is a close second, but Arturo said he's all about zoning, and historically, I'm just not great with zoning characters. When playing offense, I feel a sense of momentum; when playing defense, I feel like the opponent is setting the pace of the match (because they are). Some people love that, though. Some people love watching people try to start their offense and then fail over and over again. That's not really me, though.

I don't often do heavy rushdown either. The style doesn't play on my strengths. Shifting between offense and defense constantly is what I liked about Smoke, and playing Rose ingrained in me the pattern of poke, bait, and punish.

I guess in a nutshell, my goal is to stand on the border of my opponent's personal bubble and be like "Yeah, bitch. What?"

However, tier is important too. If people find an exploit with Aquaman that makes him S-tier, and EVERYONE starts using him, some appeal will vanish. The reverse is also true. If I have to work five times harder than my opponent because the developers gave me crap options, I'm not going to stick with the character. Mid-tier is where it's at.

40% Design:
-This is what initially draws me into wanting to play the character, be it their looks, their powers, fighting style, or story.

60% Gameplay:
-This is what keeps me with a character. If someone is fun to play as, and fits my style of play, I will keep using them.

My pics goes by:

Looks- Someone who I can imagine playing as often
Familiarity- Is it a charcater I know of or heard of or interested to know
Playabilty- Does the character have moves I can familiarize well to be able to play w/o having to look at move list constantly

Check the girls out first. By looks and style. About sums it up for me.

If it's a franchise I'm familiar with I go by who I know and I hope I like what they can do. If I'm in unfamiliar territory then I try to pick someone who seems rush down-y and very combo-y. Some that seems fluid to me.

If they're wearing blue it's a plus lol.

Right now I really want to main Aquaman. Hes my second favourite Superhero after Superman.

With MK9 I played through the Story mode and picked my favourite character from that which was Jonny Cage, my favourite MK character all round. Before MK9 it was Raiden.

Sounds exactly like me.

or
DECIDE!


As for the topic, if I'm unfamiliar with the characters I'll go by the design first but if the gameplay sucks it won't keep me interested. For example, when I first played SoulCalibur III I was first drawn to Setsuka because I loved her design and how stylishly she pulled out her hidden umbrella blade in the intro movie. However, her gameplay didn't quite click with me, so I ended up playing Kilik the most 'cause I loved his gameplay and his design was also good and his story background solid.

When it comes to MK I always go for my favorite characters, regardless of their design and even stick with them if their gameplay is bad. It's similar for Injustice where Catwoman is by far my favorite DC character so I'll be playing her. Fortunately, her gameplay looks super fun and I love her primary costume, so I'm very pleased. Oh and... I love her shoes.

100% Psychological evaluation.

What makes them tick?
What elements of their ambitions or mind, do I admire?
Main focuses
Main Fears
Ambitions

I also factor in the hollywood factor. I will be using Batman, but he is not my main. I like Sektor because up until recently, there was only a handful of fans for him. Where as I seen all these very intriguing pieces to his existence and the telling of his story.

I believe player > tier. You can make any character work, with enough dedication. The question just becomes "why?".

I initially pick my characters based on fun they look to play, but for the long haul it usually boils down to how they actually play and how easy they are to play as.

I like lengthy combos and easy juggle combos, so in MK9 my mains where pretty much Raiden and Ermac. So far with Injustice Raven looks like she'll be one of my mains.

In an MK game it's mostly by how they play. I'll watch the gameplay videos before the game comes out and look for someone that looks fun to play.

In this game quite the opposite, i'm a huge comic book fan and Green Lantern is my favorite comic/hero so it will be straight to GL for me right out of the gate. He also looks awesome to play so, bonus!

1) Tits. This is very important.

2) Ease of use. I like a character that has a bit of a pick up and play vibe.

3) Throws. I like a grappler.

4) Tits. Again VERY IMPORTANT.

For me it's simple. Do I like the character and the playstyle they have? My future main, Grundy has both a character I like and a playstyle that I like. So he's an obvious go to character.

However, I fucking hate Batman and Superman. I can't stand those two. But if they have a playstyle that I like I just might negate the fact that I fucking hate them.

That was so passionate lol.

Thanks lol

That's completely true, however, a player using a low tier character would need to make a bigger effort to win. Low tiers tend to lack tools or good tools, that make them helpless in certain situations like escaping from pressure, approaching, pressuring, zoning, etc.

Someone using a low tier must truly love that character to make it work.

Two of my favorites. It used to be Mercury but recently I've been about the Pisces love.

Some of y'all get real deep picking a main.

Hmm, well, I do have a few certain types of characters I go for, but I've never really analyzed it. Let's have a look, shall we?

One of the character types I go for are the strong, female assassin types who have long legs and do some cool kicks, such as Nina from Tekken, Cammy from Street Fighter and Jade from Mortal Kombat. I guess, though she isn't an assassin, Orchid from Killer Instinct could fit under here too.

I also like ninjas, both male and female, such as Kasumi/Hayate from Dead or Alive, Taki from Soul Calibur and Kunimitsu from Tekken. Vega from Street Fighter would fit under here too.

I also have a thing for whips and whip-like weapons, like Ivy from Soul Calibur and Sofia from Toshinden.

Then there are the mystical sorcerer/-ess characters, like Ermac from Mortal Kombat and Violet from Soul Calibur.

And last but not the least, the hot guy with a bit of an alternative fighting style like Zwei from Soul Calibur, Remy/Cody from Street Fighter and Lars from Tekken.

When it comes to Injustice:
- Catwoman fits under the strong female and the whip type.
- Nightwing fits under the hot guy and maybe a bit ninja, though that could be argueable.
-and Raven who would fit under the mystical sorceress type.

I rarely like the big brutes, the grapplers or the little girls in fighting games. And I also rarely go for the stereotypical main characters.

quick, speedy zoners are my type. It's the reason I went for Kitana in MK9, she's so versatile.

Although as soon as Catwoman was announced in this I said "I'm maining her", regardless of her playstyle. I love the character too much not to main her.

i do that in everything! i wont buy a game with character creation unless it allows females. I only play as Jade, Kitana, Sindel, and Sonya in MK9. In Soulcalibur V its Ivy, Viola, Elysium,and Phyrra Omega. JIGGLY!

So many people here love the ladies. I prefer them in fighting games as well.

I think I go for the princess type.
Julia in Tekken
Sophitia in Soul Calibur
Kitana in Mortal Kombat

Oddly I'm not interested in Wonder Woman at all in this game.

For me, it honestly depends on the series.

I choose characters much differently in Soulcalibur than I do in Mortal Kombat.

In the case of Injustice, I'm choosing characters based on three key factors:

1. Do I Hate You? - If I didn't like the character before this game was announced, odds are I'm not going to play with them.

2. Is Your Gameplay Diverse? - I take this into account with most fighting games. I look for characters whose fighting styles are well deisgned for me to take on just about any character in any environment.

3. Can I Stand to Look At You for Long Periods of Time? - Appearance really doesn't matter to me too much in this game (it usually matters a great deal to me). Still, I don't like playing with a character whose appearance annoys the hell out of me.

BONUS: Are You A Villain? - For many fighting games, I seem to be easily attracted to the bad guys (and gals). Odds are, if the character is a villain, I'll give them a try.