Since we're all discussing our experience with fighters and such...
When I first played BlazBlue, it was over at a friend's house, and I was mashing random, and picked Noel when one of the better players picked Jin or Arakune. Had enough fun that day to keep the hype going until Christmas.
Later found out Noel's personality, after playing through her story mode... just couldn't play her anymore. The personality, goals, and values of a character affects how much I want to play them. If I don't like my character, it's like "Why am I even playing this character?".
Though I don't particularly care for A.B.A either, so it can be overridden, I guess.