3s; Sean, Alex, Hugo, Q, Ryu, Necro, Yun, Yang. (alot more narrow than I thought)
GGX2R; Sol, Ky, Dizzy, Potemkin, Chipp, Slayer, Eddie, Venom, Baiken, I-no, Zappa, Anji (EX) Axl, Johnny, Bridget, Robo-Ky. (basically anyone but May, Jam, Milia, Faust, Robo Ky.)
SC3; Nite, Sieg, YUNSEONG, Kilik, Voldo, Masked Avenger, Zas.
KOF; Kensou, and whoever else that is not a grappler that strikes my fancy.
By and large I would say I pick a large variety of characters.
Fabio uses any character that has some sort of fashion sense in gaming.
Particularly the metrosexuals:
3s: Yang
CvS2: Rock
KOF: K’, Ash, Duo Lon, Shen Long, Kyo, Iori, Benimaru…
Soulcalibur: Fabio only sticks with Kilik.
SC: Siegfried, Astaroth, Nightmare, Rock/Berserker
Tekken: Paul, Law, Heihachi
MK: Sub Zero, Scorpion, Johnny Cage (I’m great with him on MK:DA)
SF: Sagat, Bison, Akuma, Ryu, Chun Li
MvC: Spiderman, Ryu, Chun Li
SF3TS: Remy, Akuma, Yun, Dudley
KOF 2002: Seth/Orochi Chris/Terry
CvS2: Akuma(or Dan, depends)/Yun/Terry (N-Groove)
CFE: Yun/Jedah, Alex/Guy
SC3: Nightmare, Tira, Hwang, My CAS (fave disciplines are Iron Sword and Dagger)
Since I pretty much only play casually, I tend to pick random when and if they have it. Only because I beat up on everyone I play to the point that random makes it a bit more of a challenge. (I’m not claiming to be the best, just within the frineds I play I am.)
So random when it’s there, though I definately have characters I’d select if I was really playing people.
I usually stick with 2-3 characters per game, one of them being my main, and the other two being my secondaries I use to add some spice to my sessions.
SF3s: Alex, Remy, Chun
GGXX#r: Anji, Venom
VF4e: Wolf, Kage, Goh
T5: Paul, Jin, Heihachi
SC3: Taki, Seigfried, Cervantes
When I play SF3 I always pick hugo because I know that if I pick him it will be fun. Then I tell myself OK try someone else this time. But when I am another character I end up wishing I was hugo or ken again.
I tend to pick alot of characters in T5 and Marvel. In Marvel I pick a good character and play with other characters for tight situations.
Depends on who I’m playing with. If we’re playing for fun / just screwing around then I’ll pick just about anybody. If it’s high level comp / tourney play then I usually pick my best character who usually ends up being the annoying combo monkey ( Choi 
).
this is a good question. whenever i play fighting games, i stick to one character (or team) almost 99% of the time. i always look for someone who fits my fighting style, which is generally based around speed and mobility, and i stick with them. its funny, because when my friends and i play a game like 3rd Strike or Garou, mostly everybody will be using 2 or 3 different characters, while i am ALWAYS the same. someone i know will come up to us and see us playing and theyll ask, for instance, “Whos Akuma?” and then i will say “Me, of course” and theyll say “Oh, figures”
I always use grapplers, cause spd’ing people pisses them off, and i hate doing combos.
3s- Hugo(gold=fabio)
cvs2- geese, joe, zangief, ken, yama, raiden
st- Zangief, dee jay, vega
mvc2 - r4 mecha zangrief
Focused; up to 3-4 chars per game at most, especially some counter characters, 'cuz us American players love to abuse the “character change upon loss” option in tourneys. XD
I agree with you on that. 2d games have more diversity in character selection with the exception of shotos, that have depth. 3d you feel like some character are similar ala Tekken series the Mishima family, jack2, jack 3, gun jack, jack off:wonder: anna and nina.
When i’m playing an inexperienced friend on a console, i usually select a char that i’m either training with, or have decided in that instant to start training with. I’ll usually train with a character if i think they look cool, or if i like their background.
when it comes to fighters, I try to focus on one main character. Although I play other characters, I hardly ever use them in actual play. It works as a double edge sword. since you play one character people may actually figure you out quicker. And at the same time, this forces you to come up with better mind games with your character to try to fuck up the forecast.
some examples, I play.
SC3: Maxi
DOA3.0/1/(soon to be DOA4): Brad Wong
GG#R: Chipp
UMK3: Robo Smoke
3S: SA2 Q
T5: Steve(I was playin him since T4, such as cheap bastard to so many now):sad:
SSBM(back when I played): Link
I usually go for characters that already have it hard trying to win in tournament level or characters that suite my style of play which is usually fast or stylish characters. To me, its all about trying to make those attacks look flashy, regardless of risk.(Robo-Smoke, I have ALWAYS been a fan of the Robo-Smoke)
Used to be playing most of characters(random/rulette is the best option ever) in games until I got into EFZ/MBR. Near everyone except for like three I played in those scenes were specialists(one or two main chars), so I thought I should be playing like that too, just for those games. I see why now, it’s easier to see and remember the strats that work and don’t work, especially when games were being patched like once a month. It was easier to at least keep up with knowledges. Now, if we talk about actual skill, then it’s a whole different story. but ya, The downside is that the game gets boring fast.