2. The Pattern Shoto.
Like most people, I started learning with the Shoto fighters. For me, I liked Ken. The slightly longer range on the DP worked for me. Also, he's probably one of the cheesiest characters out there. If you have decent reflexes and decent executions, a pattern Shoto can beat up most scrubs. In fact, many pattern Shoto fighters think they are really good because they are able to beat up a lot of scrubs.
My pattern Shoto was first broken by Honda. Honda typically has problems with Shotos. There is the typical fireball-sweep range. When I lost, I thought it was just an aberration. But then, the Honda player proceeded to beat a few more Shoto fighters. He finally got bored and switched to Boxer. Boxer was actually the guy's #1, and he proceeded to destroy all pattern Shotos.
At the height of my Street Fighting days, I used Ryu. I was still most comfortable with the Shoto moves, and Ryu was the more well-rounded character. Ken was still more fun, but Ryu is better for handling whatever may show up. I always wished I learned the other characters better, but by the time I realized how the game should be played, I had other things in my life to focus on.
I always judged a character (and player) by how they handled a pattern Shoto. If you ever played the game on the highest difficulty, a pattern Shoto has problems with certain characters. Two of those characters are Dee Jay and T. Hawk. If you totally zone them, you can win. But, if you actually try to fight them, it is much harder. For years, people said these characters were awful. However, I always had a feeling that they were good because they handled a pattern Shoto well. Of course, I couldn't argue against the people who said Dee Jay and T.Hawk sucked because I couldn't play them. Afters 20 some years, Dee Jay and T. Hawk strategies have been figured out.
These days, I am not so good at Street Fighter, especially the newer games. I stick to the pattern Shoto just for fun. That being said, I don't really like the newer games, but that's another entry for another day...