Backstory/Personality or usefulness in battle?

How do you decide whether you like a character or not? Is it by their personality or usefulness in battle? Discuss.

For me, its personality. I don't care if they get killed a zillion times if they have a decent backstory.

I like characters because of their character. Battle usefulness is only really applicable if I choose them for my main battle party. I like a lot of NPCs, who, by definition I guess, you never get to judge their battle usefulness, so I definitely like characters for their character :p

Well characters i like in personality i tend to use more often and therefore they level up abit faster, making them more useful in battle

i just prefer a mixture. Mixture's good.

I like both. If they're cool, but they're total wimps, I just watch them, and reverse. I still prefer both.

I'm always using the characters that have better personality, from my point of view ;)
Fighting is a bonus but it still counts.

I always use the characters who are more effective in battle, but that doesn't mean I don't like the other characters. If they have a good back story, I'll like them, but it doesn't mean I'll use them.

THE JACKEL

Why not have both?

Exactly.

both is fairly important to me. i will use the characters i like. but when it comes down to a difficult battle if one character clearly is better in battle then one i like i will use the better fighter.

The one that owns the most. He can either be a fighter, a magic user, or a plot-related awesomeness.

Anti-popularity, British accents, and underestimated-ness are my points.