Characters You Forced Yourself to be Good With

[Randoman]

Has there ever been a character in a game that you sucked with at first even though you wanted to be good with them, and you were able to become awesome/good/decent with them in the end?

Marth and Ice Climbers in Melee were two of them for me. Marth, I didn't get how to play him at all (I didn't know how to use his specials properly and that I was supposed to stick with A moves and aerials) and Ice Climbers I always kept losing Nana and I didn't know how to effectively use their two-in-one properties. They ironically became my first and second best characters in Smash Bros. (with Mario and Luigi following them).

Dr. Stewart, Mr. EAD, and Blood Falcon I also really sucked with in F-Zero. Though they became much easier when I learned how to side attack turn and blast turn (repeatedly tapping A while turning) effectively. I also learned their turning trajectories and did turns in advance to compensate for their wide turns and low grip.

There's also Vega in Street Fighter. It took me a while to figure out how to do his specials, and even then I can't make good use of them besides his rolling claw. At least I've learned to take advantage of his long range and how to hide his charge for the rolling claw using repeated jabs.

[Original Alear]

In Melee and Brawl, I did a lot of this. I mean, I left out a few characters (both falcon and ganondorf, sonic) that I simply didn't like playing, but I played Brawl as just about every other character regularly. Also cut out luigi because it intensified a Mario VS Luigi matchup I had with someone else.

[Fei Mao]

[spoiler=Lots of Stuff]

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3: Phoenix Wright I like the Ace Attorney series and when he was in the game I had to use him, worst character to use in a tourney but I'm decent with him, people at my local remember me just for using him. Doom and Amaterasu since a friend of mine taught me a lot about those two at end I'm a decent Doom and Ammy player too.

Street Fighter: Gen, Ibuki, and E.Honda, I think Gen is a cool character, Ibuki since she's a ninja, and I like E.Honda's defensive play but since I don't play a lot of SF I'm still at a basic skill level with them.

Tekken: Yoshimitsu, Nina, Asuka, and Dr.B, I like their fighting styles and character but since not a lot of people play Tekken at my local I'm still at a basic level with them.

Soul Calibur: Yoshimitsu, Taki/Natsu, and Dampierre, Taki/Natsu same reason as Ibuki but I like Taki better, Dampierre's fighting style makes me laugh a lot. But just like Tekken no one in my local plays it so still basic.

Blazblue: Noel, and Rachel I like Noel's fighting style, appearance, and her JP voice is adorable imo. Rachel her fighting style is interesting plus she's voiced by one of my favorite VA Kana Ueda. Again no one plays it at my local and Arkys urge to release expansions so I didn't get to buy Extend so I think I'm basic with them.

Dead or Alive: Kasumi, and Kokoro I like their appearance and fighting style plus I like their VA's (Houko Kuwashima and Ayako Kawasumi). Just like the games above no one at my local besides friends play this so I'm still basic.

Smash Bros: Marth, Game and Watch, Snake, and Yoshi my favorite characters I play them decently.

Edited January 8, 2013 by Generic Operator

[Parrhesia]

I will force myself to be competent as Orcs in WC3 if it costs me my goddamn life.

[Ice Sage]

Dante and Doom in Umvc3. They were my fav characters in the game so i practiced using them. I'm decent with Doom and great with Dante now.

In Smash bros it was Ike, Snake and Link. I'm alright with them

[Gone2Ground]

RPG Example!

Dragon Age: Origins - Morrigan. I hate mages in that game with a burning passion, and she was one of the main targets. No matter what kind of role I gave her, it NEVER WORKED (Healer? Not enough starting points, Wynne does it better. Disabler? Dog's Dread Howl was more efficient all of the time. Damager? I was playing two-weapon soldier backed up by Bow!Leliana. I DO PLENTY OF DAMAGE.), but because I found her plotline intruiging I forced myself to use her every playthrough.

I finally managed to get her working as a damager while running a Dwarf Noble Defender warden. It took way too much effort to be good at using her though.

[Original Alear]

I will force myself to be competent as Orcs in WC3 if it costs me my goddamn life.

The last time I played, the secret was apparently blademaster micro. Well it wasn't really a secret...

My least favorite thing about orc is trying to figure out what to do for a second hero.

Dragon Age: Origins - Morrigan. I hate mages in that game with a burning passion, and she was one of the main targets. No matter what kind of role I gave her, it NEVER WORKED (Healer? Not enough starting points, Wynne does it better. Disabler? Dog's Dread Howl was more efficient all of the time. Damager? I was playing two-weapon soldier backed up by Bow!Leliana. I DO PLENTY OF DAMAGE.), but because I found her plotline intruiging I forced myself to use her every playthrough.

I finally managed to get her working as a damager while running a Dwarf Noble Defender warden. It took way too much effort to be good at using her though.

Ya, I really don't like mages much either...takes too much brainpower to figure out what to do with all those giant AOE spells, and it was hard to figure out what would be best from reading the descriptions.

Edited January 8, 2013 by Mouse

[Esau of Isaac]

Makoto in SSFIV. She was probably the worst character in the game but her mechanics --specifically her Hayate links-- and ability to utterly shut players down intrigued the hell out of me. At one point I was up at the top in BP with her.

[BrightBow]

Currently I can only think of Ayane in Dead or Alive: Dimensions. But at least initially it was not so much that I wanted to be good with her, rather then that I kinda misjudging her.

Since I was a newcomer, I wanted to use the usual easy-to-start-the-game-with character, so I used Kasumi.

The problem that occurred with her was that her whole wardrobe was almost Awakening levels of awful, with each and everyone of them revealing her cleavage and her underwear. And her clothes look like they couldn't possibly stick to her body, which felt kinda awkward. So I abandoned her rather quickly.

I choose Ayane next because I thought that she would be the the Ken to Kasumi's Ryu and would therefore be just as easy to start with.

That assumption couldn't have been much further from the truth since that would require Kasumi to be the main character. In reality, she is probably one of the more difficult characters to get into, with tons of her moves exposing her vulnerable backside to the opponent.

Still, I decided to stick with her in the end since she actually wears pants (at least sometimes) and because it's always kinda funny when she responds with "looser" right after the announcer says "Winner!". (And because her fighting style seemed to be very effective to me, but by now I doubt that I will ever manage to fully utilize it.) And while I might not fit any definition of "good", I did play a few hundred matches with her. And I might be one of the best Ayane players online, thanks to the lack of competition.

Edited January 8, 2013 by BrightBow

[Ein]

Uh.... Platinum (BlazBlue) I guess.

Then again I never really practiced with her very much and she's far more difficult to use effectively than Ragna is.

Doesn't mean I won't try to improve in CP.

Then again she seems to be not good in CP and Amane is too fucking manly to not use.

[whase]

SSB.Brawl - Sonic, Zelda and ZS-Samus, still not that good with them, but they're okay for me now.

FE10:RD - Meg, she can be ridiculously fun to use in easy mode.

[Topaz Light]

This can apply to RPGs too, whee!

Um, after only ever playing as Luke in Tales of the Abyss, I was able to make myself fairly competent as Natalia in order to defeat the second phase of the Sword Dancer quest. (It really helps to have the one dying of melee strikes repeatedly not be the one you're controlling) I should try having her as my main for this New Game+ I'm doing now.

I guess you could say Archers in general in Fire Emblem, because in my experience Snipers are totally worth it.

Perhaps my ultimate Fire Emblem example, though, was during a sidequest run of Shadow Dragon, when I recieved my first batch of generics in Chapter 4, and of the 6~8 or so, exactly one was female, (Quatro) a Myrmidon. After doing some calculations, I found that I had just enough room to include her if I utilized the Aum staff to ressurect a deliberately-sacrificed teammate. I put way more effort into this one generic unit than any other team member, dedicating almost every stat-booster to her (to compensate for nonexistant growths) and using her as my staffbot for arena abuse, so she could gain levels safely. By the end of the game, she was an awesome Swordmaster with capped HP and high stats in many areas, save obviously for Luck. She was actually pretty darn awesome.

Edited January 8, 2013 by Starlight36

[Emeraldfox]

Litchi from the Blaz Blue games. If you know me you know why this is, now I'm still kind of bad with her. I'm still practicing. Tager from the same games too, but I'm half decent with him though.

Samurai Shodown: I have a lot of favorites, but I narrow it down to four(well five). Galford, I can use him decently. Cham Cham, I thought she was adorable as a kid. I can use her decently. Rimururu, cuteness at max. I can use her decently. Jubei, I like his eye-patch. I can use him decently. And finally J from Samurai Shodown Sen. Even though Sen felt easier to play than the 2-D games, I can use him decently too.

Oh hey, just decent whoop.

[BrightBow]

This can apply to RPGs too, whee!

Um, after only ever playing as Luke in Tales of the Abyss, I was able to make myself fairly competent as Natalia in order to defeat the second phase of the Sword Dancer quest. (It really helps to have the one dying of melee strikes repeatedly not be the one you're controlling) I should try having her as my main for this New Game+ I'm doing now.

Isn't the usual strategy to control the guy going into melee to distract the boss from targeting the casters? With the right configuration, the AI can cast from safety just fine but it can't control a melee character at all, which is why they keep dying.

Edited January 8, 2013 by BrightBow

[Rehab]

In Mount and Blade I took up horse archery basically just because the build guide I used called it the hardest-but-most-powerful thing available. I probably don't regret that, aside from that now I have like no points in footspeed so everybody is faster than me when I step off the horse, but that might be why the guide also recommended taking literally the longest sword in the game in that build, and preferably learning to sidestep=>parry in group fights. They called it Robin Hood. I call it ARAGORN

If I'd bought sf4 (any edition), I would've given Abel my best shot, though last time I tried I had no idea what to do with him. Fei is pretty tempting in AE, though

Even though I had not that many people to play it with (and therefore to get trounced by), I kind of abandoned doing the "play who you want no matter the cost" thing in Guilty Gear XX AC, in the case of Venom. I just did not know what the fuck. Even an easier character like Axel seemed plenty tough. I will accept the judgement I deserve

I swear to myself I would've played Litchi in the original Blazblue, even before she became too stronk, but I'm probably not fooling anybody. Yeah I'm one of those people, if you know what I mean

I also feel obligated to put Kim in all of my kof teams again, little as I actually play with other people or know what to do with him, or almost any straightup rushdown character (that isn't wario)

Edited January 8, 2013 by Rehab

[Komeiji Koishi]

Raphael in SC2. At first I didn't get his parry gimick, but after learning I can spam his forward vertical combo not to use those accidentaly, I got decent with him.

Guile in SSFIV. I didn't know how to use ANY of his Special (I couldn't even use a Sonic Boom with regularity) or Ultras or how to put on his glasses. After learning how to Sonic Boom, Flash Kick, use his 1 Ultra, and put on his glasses, I can comfortably say Guile is one of my regulars in that game.

[Shadow Mir]

Isn't the usual strategy to control the guy going into melee to distract the boss from targeting the casters? With the right configuration, the AI can cast from safety just fine but it can't control a melee character at all, which is why they keep dying.

You're right there. Though...

I main Natalia mainly beause I just don't think her AI is any good at all... so yeah.

As for Smash Bros., in Brawl, I can use a good deal of the cast relatively well.

Edited January 8, 2013 by Levant Fortner

[Esau of Isaac]

Even though I had not that many people to play it with (and therefore to get trounced by), I kind of abandoned doing the "play who you want no matter the cost" thing in Guilty Gear XX AC, in the case of Venom. I just did not know what the fuck. Even an easier character like Axel seemed plenty tough. I will accept the judgement I deserve

Getting good with Jam is probably the most fun I've ever had in a fighting game. I remember dicking around with friends playing Ky and Johnny, but...

Oh man, I want a new GG game so badly. ;__;

[Integrity]

I was awful at hammering in MHTri, and then I realized that the hammer is the mark of a hard man, so I taught myself to hammer everything.

NOW I am awful at hammering again. :(

EDIT: but man I hammered my way straight up to barioth and tried to hammer barioth and went "what the fuck" and my hammergame hasn't been the same since

Edited January 8, 2013 by Integrity

[Komeiji Koishi]

I was awful at hammering in MHTri, and then I realized that the hammer is the mark of a hard man, so I taught myself to hammer everything.

NOW I am awful at hammering again. :(

EDIT: but man I hammered my way straight up to barioth and tried to hammer barioth and went "what the fuck" and my hammergame hasn't been the same since

I'd just "standard attack->standard attack-> level one charge-> standard attack" everything to oblivion when I use hammers, but I get what you mean.

While we're talking about MHTri, Great Swords. When I started using them, I thought "WTF, TOO SLOW!" After I got used to it's painfully slow attacks, I more or less started maining GSs now. Now to learn how to use Lances and Bowguns..,

[Loki Laufeyson]

Fighting Game Example:

Wayy back in the day..im talking the year 1990 or so. I was pretty good with Blanka at Street Fighter II. But Dhalsim had this epic reach and teleport spam. Dhalsim users were the only ones who could whoop my ass as Blanka in that game. So i figured i should try to be good with Dhalsim. I got really freaking fantastic with him. Chun Li was my non-Blanka main, but Dhalsim owned junk. Arcade version for the win! Sadly, its been so very long and i am no longer good at that game at all.

Mewtwo at Melee. I saw my friend being such a spammer with him so i vowed to be decent. It was a success. Peach was my main and i whooped serious ass. But Mewtwo dodges all the things!

RPG Example:

Riki in Xenoblade. Tough little shit, that Riki. I thought him kinda meh because his damage output was much lower than guys like Reyn and Dunban. But really, Riki rules now that i have learned the tricks to Debuff Plus gems and his debuff moves. And his awesome Topple move. Riki sneaky indeed.

[Aizenberg]

morrigan from marvel vs capcom

im just not good at that game and morrigan and wolverine are the only 2 characters i use

[Parrhesia]

The last time I played, the secret was apparently blademaster micro. Well it wasn't really a secret...

My least favorite thing about orc is trying to figure out what to do for a second hero.

I generally go Tauren Chieftain, but I think Shadow Hunter is favoured.

And generally when I'm Blademastering, I can't balance microing him with paying any attention to the base. I can't multitask... so I prefer Farseer, though I'll agree BM is generally considered better.

And I'm playing w/o FT for the time being, and I generally favour early expansions. Given that I've been playing without the option of a Tiny Great Hall, or repairing as a human, I get the feeling I'll do a lot better in FT.

[Original Alear]

I generally go Tauren Chieftain, but I think Shadow Hunter is favoured.

And generally when I'm Blademastering, I can't balance microing him with paying any attention to the base. I can't multitask... so I prefer Farseer, though I'll agree BM is generally considered better.

And I'm playing w/o FT for the time being, and I generally favour early expansions. Given that I've been playing without the option of a Tiny Great Hall, or repairing as a human, I get the feeling I'll do a lot better in FT.

Shadow Hunter? That's interesting. For a second I thought you meant people were now favoring SH as first hero.

I can actually multitask between harass and base pretty well. I don't know if it really paid off, but I was at least alright. And I generally found other human players to be weaker against BM harass prep than I was - probably because I was overly fixated on it, because I thought it was funny and fun.

But I'm not that good at microing BM in a fight, or microing in battles in general. Usually if I fought a vaguely decent opponent (compared to me) and won, it's because I was really aggressive about scouting, expanding, creeping, and raiding, and the thing is that I'm just not that used to scouting with orc, unless I did go farseer (I'd usually actually get farsight, level 2 and 3 are pretty powerful).

And I didn't remember that humans couldn't repair...I can't believe I'd ever say this about Warcraft III, but that's wild!

[Life]

League of Legends: Singed and Olaf. Now I can zone top all day long.

Tales of Vesperia: Karol easy.

Ninety Nine Nights: Klarran even though this was a few years ago.

Borderlands 1/2: Both Sirens (Lilith and Maya). Both have specials that look weak and yet, they're actually overpowered as shit (seriously, if Zer0's special didn't have a 15 second cooldown and was more like 30+, Maya would be the only broken character in Borderlands 2). Took me a while to get used to them and figuring out how to build (Lilith builds mostly Elementalist while Maya needs Harmony until Life Sap and then Cataclysm).

Final Fantasy V: Blue Mage job. 'nough said.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Am Yisrael Chai