The term “Main Character” refers 
to a fighting game character,
associated most often with a specific fighting game player.
And on paper, the main character is also thought of as the players' best character.
Throughout the short, but rich history of the FGC,
certain players have become almost synonymous with certain fighting game characters,
and be it tournament or casual setting, that tradition affected a major part of the FGC.
Which almost set a precedent for how matches were played.
However, like anything that sees tenure, change is inevitable, and FGC traditions are not immune from it.
Considering fighting games are predominately played in a one on one format,
factors such as respect, competitive edge, and of course pride,
play a huge deal in how matches play out regardless of personal skill or history.
Traditionally, when a player played a character he is known for,
his opponent knows that on paper, he is getting the best version of that player.
Which consequently sets the tone for the set as a serious one,
as well as a showing of  respect for the opposing player.
Rip: Get out of there!
Markman: He's waiting for it-
Rip: [Yelling]
Markman: Oh my gosh!
Markman: He cornered himself!
Rip: What the fudge!
Markman: Ooh! And the punish!
Markman: Is that going to be enough?
Rip: It hella is!
Markman: It should be.
Rip: Get outta here!
However, on the other hand, when a player selects a character,
that is not deemed their traditional
main, it could mean multiple different things.
Though, three reasons stand out the most.
The first possible reason for a player not wanting to play his main character,
is one that historically has surfaced in the FGC, and still does.
It is a simple test to gauge how skilled is the opponent in front of you?
Although it is often seen as disrespect,
veterans in the FGC on occasion will pick their secondary or tertiary characters,
often referred to as a sub character to get a measure of how good their opponent is.
Mike Ross: Ohh I'm doing it, whatever.
Mike Ross: Bring out your main chicken.
Mike Ross: This is my main.. [Sarcastic Laugh]
Mike Ross: Hold that.
The second reason, and perhaps the most common one for a player to switch away from his main character,
is the attempt to exploit a match-up, which is often referred to as something called counter-picking.
DC: 
Theres-the backdash on wake-up man, I don't know what Labrys can do about that.
It is not applicable in every game,
however, there are fighting games that have characters who on paper hold an advantage over another.
LegendaryMako: It's a perfect, it's a perfect counterpick.
LegendaryMako:
 Ricki Ortiz usually does the same thing.
Kreymore: Yeah.
LegendaryMako: Goes straight to Chun-Li.
Therefore, players who may be less familiar or comfortable with their counter-pick character,
but understand how to exploit a specific match-up,
will rely on the on paper advantage over the more comfortable pick of a main character,
and although it is seen sometimes as the “easy way out”, it is a strategy nonetheless.
Mike Ross: This is-this is my Hugo dog, like- 
[Pause]
Mike Ross: Oh. Gouken? Oh..okay. 
[Laughing]
Mike Ross: Okay..
[Laughing]
Mike Ross: Okay.. 
[Laughing]
Mike Ross: Alright.
Mike Ross: You know what's funny?
[Laughing]
Mike Ross: 
You know like you think you made this game?
Mike Ross: I'll give you the advantage.
[Laughing]
Mike Ross: 
Like you-actually you know what?
Mike Ross: I might be proving- going to be proving-
Combofiend: I got no honor!
Mike Ross: You know what? No no no no!
Mike Ross: You might say you have no honor.
Mike Ross: 
I might be proving that you did such a great job balancing this game when I beat your ass I'm gonna say every match-up is 5-5.
Combofiend: I know it's all fair man!
Combofiend: Everybody is capable in this game.
Mike Ross:
 Easy! Watch this light work guys. Watch this light work.
Mike Ross: Light work!
Mike Ross: Okay. Oh Jesus.
Lastly and the most interesting reason for players going away from their traditional main character,
has to do with what can best be described as lost confidence.
It is not easily broken down into specifics.
However, a player losing confidence in his character may derive from lackluster play, poor results,
or even unfavorable balance changes to the character.
Aris: TekkenMaster! ohh and Sonic-
Aris: Woaaaah!
UltraDavid: Woaaaah!
Aris: I don't think we've ever seen that before.
It has been exemplified by many players in the past, however, one of the more notorious ones,
was Daigo Umehara’s character carousel across the multiple versions of SFIV.
As he experimented with multiple characters before landing on Evil Ryu to end his SFIV career.
Mike Ross: Wow. Daigo sending a statement right now.
A similar pattern followed Daigo in Street Fighter V,
as his Ryu simply proved to not be as efficient of a pick,
compared to past iterations of the character in previous Street Fighters.
Which eventually led the switch to Guile upon the characters' release, with much more consistent results.
The Tekken scene has also experienced this with the release of Tekken 7,
as top players such as JDCR and Knee,
who customarily picked the same one character in previous versions of Tekken.
JDCR, who was an Armor King player in the more traditional 1v1 Tekken games,
was left without his legacy character upon release, as Armor King was not included in Tekken 7’s initial roster.
However, as opposed to playing a familiar face he had played with in the Tekken Tag games in 
Heihachi Mishima,
JDCR elected to play Sergei Dragunov instead,
citing that it is simply easier with regards to execution in a tournament setting,
especially considering Tekken 7’s severe input delay during the initial launch of the game.
[Answering on why he doesn't play Heihachi]
JDCR: Because the game is laggy so I dont want to play Mishima.
Knee, in a similar fashion also cited Tekken 7’s input delay,
however, his journey was much more arduous during the first competitive year of the game,
as he simply could not find his footing with his traditional main character in Bryan Fury,
nor did he have any sort of consistency with regards to picking another character.
Ryan Hart:
You-you know went through a period of losing
to JDCR and having difficult times,
Ryan Hart:
 versus Saint and stuff in tournament but now,
Ryan Hart:
you've kind of-you know you've been able to beat them this year.
Ryan Hart: 
What have you changed?
Ryan Hart:
Why are you able to win against them in tournament now in the way you are?
Knee:
Uhmm..
Ryan Hart:
Have you changed somethings?
Knee:
Last year, input lag is problem.
Knee: 
Yeah, input lag and..
Knee:
Because..
Knee:
Tournament..
Knee:
I remember a memory, JDCR, and Saint, Noroma,
Knee:
Many use grab,
Ryan Hart:
Yeah.
Knee:
Many use grab but I can't escape.
Ryan Hart:
You couldn't break them, I remember.
Knee:
Yeah, yeah so..
Knee:
That time I say: "Oh input lag is a problem, problem."
Knee:
But many players don't believe my talk. Yeah, yeah, so..
It is safe to say that perhaps in the early years of the FGC,
switching to another character after making a name for oneself with another, wasn’t seen in the greatest of light,
especially after experiencing adversity or struggling, however, as times change so do the circumstances.
The fighting game community has taken a part in esports,
and with that come higher stakes and simply more on the line,
and although grassroots values like counter-picking which was deemed distasteful,
and staying loyal to the character that brought you to the dance was highly respected,
those values were forced to see a change with the new age of fighting games.
As fighting game fans who support players from all over the world,
we always enjoy and celebrate their success and large victories no matter which character it is done with,
however, the fundamental values still very much lie within the FGC,
and whether a fan or not, there is a special somewhat honorable feeling,
when seeing a player sticking true to the one character they call their main character.
