Introduction
So, you may know the system of the particular fighting game you are playing, and you've become familiar with the basic command inputs. Now you must make the age-old decision, which character do I play? While it is perfectly reasonable to play a wide variety, or even all the characters in a particular game, for someone just starting out in fighting games, it is important to try to pick a specific character and really learn how to use them before venturing out to try to figure out the rest. Finding a character that works for you and appeals to how you want to play the game contributes a lot to your initial impressions of that game. Luckily, more often than not characters that fall into categories that more clearly define what their objectives are, i.e. what their strengths are. Knowing these can help you choose a character to focus on. Do you prefer an aggressive playstyle to overwhelm your opponent, or do you prefer a more methodical, analitical approach to outsmart your opposition? See which archetype of character most resonates with you! An important disclaimer, this is not a comprehensive list of character archetypes but these are among the most common. Furthermore, while some characters fit neatly into these archtypes, it's important to recognize that more often than not characters are more of a mix of these types so if several of these archetypes appeal to you, it's possible to find a character with both or all of those traits.
All Around
A playstyle that is wellrounded, suitable for any situation but not particularly powerful in any one aspect. You can play at a distance, or up close, or even in between. Usually have a fireball command attack and a dragon punch command attack.
Rushdown
A character that wants to get in your face and give your opponent no room to act. A hyper aggressive playstyle focusing on overwhelming the opponent. They typicaly struggle against projectiles because they have to work harder to get up close, but once they're in, they can do devastating damage
Grappler
A character that focuses on command grabs. Much like rushdown characters, they typically (though not always) want to get up close to the opponent so they can land their powerful grab attacks. They also tend to struggle against projectiles, but sometimes developers are generous and give the grapplers good tools to work around the projectiles.
Zoner
A character that can attack at a distance, be it with projectiles or simply long range attacks. They don't want to let you get close enough to land a hit. In exchange for their ranged attacks, they tend to be slow to act and react, meaning if they attack too carelessly, they could leave an opening for an opponent to get in and do their work.
Others
Naturally there are other archtypes, but these are the most common. Other types include puppeteer characters, which focus on controlling more than one character at the same time, and stance characters, who can drastically change their moveset based on specific inputs, almost like being able to change character mid battle.