Go through all the characters who look/sound interesting and pick who you have the most fun with. NOT WHO YOU WIN WITH.
For me, it was Viper. She’s just so different from the rest of the cast.
I chose Dudley as my main because he is so badass. I still suck at sf though so I don’t really choose one character all the time.
Yeah. Honestly, my best character is Ryu, even though I rarely ever play him. But when I do play him, I do really good and usually have a high chance of winning, compared to my main, Chun-Li. Ryu is boring to me though. He’s so easy to use. I mean I know I can probably get really far in a tournament using Ryu but I’d rather be known for using a more unpopular character.
I don’t know about you guys, but when someone wins a tournament with Ryu or Sagat, it’s just like, “Oh, okay”. That’s normal. But when Justin Wong won that Battlefield Arcadia tournament using Fei Long, or when Luffy knocked out Daigo in the World Game Cup using Rose and got third place, I was like, “What?! Really?! No way! I’ve gotta see this!” It’s more interesting to watch that and see how it all went down.
I play Chun in SF4. Why? I like pressing buttons. Some of her BnB piano input combos with lightning legs are very easy to do, and some are very complex with a steep learning curve but feel very rewarding when I successfully pull them off in a match.
She’s also very mobile on the ground and has some of the best normals of any character. Her floaty jump forced me to stop my bad habit of jumping in all of the time (thanks to the short time I mained as Honda), her low health forces me to stay patient and not be reckless, and her limited AA game has helped me train my reaction to jump-ins. And then there are those thighs…
The character I have the most success with is Balrog, but I find him too straight forward in his style of play for him to be my main. He’s nice to have as a secondary though.
I’ve finally narrowed it down, I think I’m ready to take on either Guile or Sim in super.
I chose Blanka because, i never really played SF2, was always too young to properly understand it. But 1 character always stood out for me, this green orange haired thing that screamed at me. So, in SFIV i tried a few characters, then i got nostalgia when i seen blanka. And have been playing him since.
As for Seth, i love flashy combos. Seth is full of them, and the flashy ones are mostly his most used combos. Legs to stomps, things that look awesome and go on forever.
Now, in SSFIV, im really considering using Guy. His target combos are fun to do, really easy to hit confirm and just look awesome when linked with an ender. I just like how he plays, i feel his design really suits how i want to play, but cant with Blanka and Seth. That is, rush down, do alot of damage. Another reason why im gonna give Makoto a try in Super.
I started off SF4 picking Sagat, because I love the Muay Thai style; but after a while I didn’t really like playing with him. Eventually I tried out every characters, even went through a Ken phase. Then one day I said lets pick the black guy why not, turns out I love Balrog and as for SSF4, Dudley is definitely my main. Just love the boxing types I guess 
I suck at Street Fighter.
So I picked Dan.
But seriously, I’m not really good at this game, and I never did like Ryu (who is the pick up and play). I always had this thing with Dan, I always thought out of all the characters, he was the most amusing.
For SF4, I started with choosing a character I was conformable using in other fighters which turned out to be Bison. However, I learned I was not a huge fan of how he turned out in this game, so I messed around a while looking for someone I felt comfortable with in terms of learning their play style and combos, but more importantly, a character I could win with. That turned out to Balrog, but I found him to be rather boring and too easy to win with online. Though, since I was winning, I stuck with Balrog for a few months learning as many new tricks I possibly could. I think a good 4 or 5 months later, I got really conformable with the game mechanics and decided to pick up a shoto. Turns out, I love playing with Ken. I tried shotos at the start, but I found it hard to win with them because I was not conformable with the game mechanics yet. After training with Balrog for such a long time, I found the transition to a character I found to be fun to be much easier. Basically, for me, it took some trial and error, but also experience with learning the game for me to able to land on a character I could play, find entertaining, and win with.
Back in the day I mained Blanka as he was (and literally is) a beats. Technical, different, etc
When SF4 came out I gave him a shot but it didn’t feel right. He had lost is little quirks here and there and gained really silly ones that didn’t sit with me well.
So I moved on to Boxer as I was always more of a charge kinda guy then qcf but I found him too easy…yes…I enjoy a good fight and Boxer was very VERY hard to beat the first few months.
I played this dude online and he was using Guile (who I have used here and there in sf2, WW, etc) but always thought he got nerfed very very hard in SF4.
Well, this guy owned me so hard, I had no idea what hit me (turns out he’s a high level Guile player…didn’t know that at the time).
I saw how technical Guile was in Sf4 and how important footsies and normals are with him so I gave him a shot and loved it. Easy entry learning curve, very hard to become an advanced Guile player and this caught my eye as it mean whatever I learn with Guile in terms of footsies and spacing would transfer well over to any character.
Thing is, I like the character and the playstyle so much, I haven’t looked back.
I still use Boxer as my second but only against very good Chun’s, Vortex Akuma’s and the Blanka players who can’t help themselves but Blanka Ball>Slide>Blanka Ball>slide…repeat.
Love going against good Sagats with Guile as it puts me at such disadvantage, it forces me to play almost perfect footsies, which is best practice you can ever have.
And if you win, you really worked for it and can be proud of your achievement.
Play around and see who you like playstyle-wise but keep in mind where you want to go with SF4/SSF4. Some characters are capable of utilizing everything the game engine has to offer (qcf characters) so time spent with them pays off faster.
If you want technical and force yourself to play better and better every time you fire up the game, pick a “low tier” character and have a blast.
Started with Gief, so that I could learn his foundation, and then teach myself the more technical aspects of the game while still being able to win because Gief is Gief. (I was at the G3 championship level and working up, mind)
A little while after I hit G1, I hit that relative skillcap that all Gief players hit. It’s the point where every matchup is either a thumb-twiddling poke fight or total domination by you or your opponent, and none of it really has to do with you. I wasn’t having fun anymore. So I wanted a character that was more fun and skill-intensive to play, that could win… and I decided on Rufus. I took him to Training Mode for a few days, got my ass kicked for the next week online, and now I play him while having a lot more fun and enjoying a lot more success than I did with Gief.
Plus, who doesn’t love Rufus? =)
i tried to most of the cast, made some searches at google and decided chun, she seemed one of those kind of chars that need some kind of effort to play( i like it)
i also picked up her cause she is always there in Sf games but i never played her, soi gave her a shot and i loved her!!!
I like green. so i chose Blanka
I went through a lot of the cast of Vanilla before settling with Chun. It’s just one of those things where you learn how you play and then you kind of find the character that plays just like you.
I started off with Sakura because I liked how easily she moved around, but I hated how little life she had. I later moved on to Honda and learned how to piano his hands, but I had a problem getting in on people. From there I went on to Boxer. He had a little of everything but I just felt like he was used by way too many people already, and I still felt that it was hard to get in on people. From Boxer I went to Vega. With Vega I liked his poking skills, his shenanigans, and how fast he moved. The only problem was he was easily dominated and had really hard links.
I settled into Chun after thinking about all the characters that I played. She had good foot speed and was able to move around the screen, she had more HP than Vega, she had really nice pokes, and most of the time people had to come to me instead of me trying to get in on them. She had piano techniques like Honda and charge moves like Vega, and she seemed to be very versatile. So it took awhile but I think I’m sticking with Chun for awhile.
The first thing I do is go into training mode and play with every character, trying out all their specials and some combos, and while doing so I make mental notes of the fighting styles that don’t suit me. Then, I go back and play through the roster again, this time skipping anyone I know I don’t like. Usually afterwards I can decide who my main(s) are and which compliment my playstyle the best.
I also tend to love shit tier characters because it’s fun to master them.
Pick a character that simply appeals to you. I started using Ken simply because I like his character design, and I found his moveset seemed very natural for my play style; up close mixups, pressure compared to Ryu’s zoning game.
I also picked up Zangief simply because someone was using him so well, it inspired me. I also think that he’s a funny character and the frustration he causes people when you grab them from miles away is also funny. I don’t main him though because he has a lot of bad matchups. I’m actually not too bad at his bad matchups, but I prefer a nice balanced character to invest my time in.
I was also looking for a third and final character. I couldn’t decide on Ryu, DeeJay or Dhalsim. I’m not so good with charge characters because of the D-pad, not to mention that although DeeJay is cool, he didn’t really stick out to me. Ryu is similar to Ken, and I thought that spending time on Ryu might be a bit of a waste. I picked up Dhalsim in the end because I thought he was funny, and he’s really fun to play as with all his options, although it’s tough to be good with him.
I also considered Bison, but since he has no decent reversal, it makes it difficult if you get pressured. I don’t like that aspect of his gameplay, so I passed up on Bison (Dictator).
Finally I do pretty good as Chun Li, and even though she makes up for some of Ken’s weaker matchups (eg against Boxer), I just feel no intention to play as her. The character just doesn’t appeal to me.
So basically pick a character you like the look of, or you think is funny/cool. If you like that character, you are more likely to stick with them even in the bad matchups and become a good player with that character anyway. Then consider the matchups, and how the moveset works with your play style. If you are patient, you could make a good Honda or Guile player. If you rush down, Boxer may be for you.
Sonic boom was the first special move I ever performed in SF2 in snes when I was 7, and after that I only play characters who does sonic booms, they are my mains…
However I play other characters to get different experiences:
Abel: High damage, fail hit confirmers (F+mk is great though), slight space control.
I learned to make every hits counts, and never let a chance goes by.
Akuma: Low health, High in everything else. Along with more space control practice, I understand the importance of wake up positions and how dis/advantangeous for several characters, and how to play with minimal Ultra usage, giving value for every tool I have.
Gouken: I learned to be opprotunist, waiting for my chance to score hits. As in “Control and keep out” and “Seize the opening”.
Gen: I learned not to give up hard matches, and its never over till its over. Besides Mk -> Super -> Ultra is cool. Comeback potential.
Zangief: Patience, nuff said.
Now all these experiences is implemented on both Seth and Guile, except for the comeback potential for Guile.
But it is all in the SONIC BOOM!!!
Back when I had World Warrior and Hyper Fighting on SNES I picked Guile because my real name is Kyle and it rhymes (I was a kid). I used to use Ken as well 'cause he was the cooler Ryu. My cousin had New Challengers and I used to pick Cammy because I could abuse Cannon Spike.
I used Charlie in the Alpha games just because I was familiar with Guile.
I pretty much skipped the SF3 series but I occasionally play 3S in the arcade and I use Hugo. I suck though.
In HD Remix I started using Guile and Balrog, but Zangief is now my main in HDR (and ST). He’s low tier, but he can still win. That’s how low tier characters should be.
In SF4, I’ve had a lot of mains… I tried out Guile at first and didn’t like him at all, then I tried Ken and Akuma, but I find Shotos boring. I started to use Blanka because I could cheap out some easy wins against online players but I decided I hate Blanka 
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Bison was my main for a long time, but I eventually got sick of matches with good players boiling down to short scissors and roundhouse/forward pokes so I switched to Balrog. I would say he’s my main now but I rarely use him. I use Abel quite a lot, I find him really fun to use but I always feel like I’m fighting an uphill battle. I also use Seth and occasionally Zangief.
Non Street Fighter games…
I’ve always used Kazuya in Tekken, except Tekken 3 where I used Heihachi because Kazuya wasn’t in it.
I used to use Kano and Kabal in MK3 because I would spam Kabals run thing and piss my cousin off and I learned a combo with Kano from a games magazine .
Cinder, Glacius and Spinal in Killer Instinct. No real reason, I just thought they was cool.
The grey robot guy in Rise of the Robots because I had no choice unless I was player 2 (I actually owned it. Speaking of which a friend of mine owned Shaq Fu. We didn’t even know who Shaquille O’Neal was at the time.)
I think I used Blizzard in Primal Rage but I never understood that game.
I don’t generally play well with charge characters, and I’ve been picking Ryu since I can remember so it’s usually him as my go-to guy.
I picked viper because
- Her combos are so flashy
- She has some cool mechanics that no other SF4 character has.
- She has crazy good mixups
- She has a great rushdown game
- And there is no better feeling than having the opponent scared to do anything but sit at far side of the screen because you will seismo chained them to hell if they leave.