If possible a character that is able to find "alternative" sollutions to problems, i.e. a character that has a lot of social skills, hacking, lockpicking or whatever is appropriate for the setting. As for combat, I usually try to go with character types that don't have a whole lot of downtime, i.e I don't like to wait for mana/energy/whatever the game uses to fill up, so if it fills slowly I won't use characters dependent on such things. But I like character types that gives a lot of options, and I like "pet classes", so if I can get the option to have a pet, or a robot or something following me around, then I'll usually gravitate to that type of character.

I don't automatically trust an RPG to support playstyles other than "basic fighter" or "basic mage," and I often just play as vanilla and boring a character as possible on my first game so that I don't end up getting stuck or having a less-than-optimal experience. If I feel confident that I really can play whatever character I want, I usually like playing an agile sort of assasin guy, stealthy if possible. Basically, I like killing, but I like doing it in an elegant way. My least favorite archetype is probably the "heavy bruiser."

Ninety's RPGs have a lot more room for maneuver, Deus Ex comes to mind foremost, it had a ton of ways to complete the MQ, not just combat or persuasion into which most modern RPGs have evolved. Come to think of it, most old RPGs and new RPGs really don't have a lot of options other than combat and the occasional dialogue solution. It's like there was a golden era in the late 90s when devs were free to create and flower as they would. In most games I go for the stealth type character, always looking for advantages or ways to avoid direct confrontation. Thief was one of my favorite games as a young tyke and that mentality has rubbed off into RPGs.

Varies. Mostly the options the character creation system offer will decide what i feel like it'll be the most fun. In fact, if it's a game with expansions and such, I'll play one thing in the main game, then an entirely different thing on the expansion. I like to feel like I'm getting my money's worth by trying the different options. The only semi-constant is that I almost always play male. I've played a couple of female characters, but don't think I've ever finished a campaign with those. My first time character will always be a male with Elcaz as it's name.

Basically anything that let`s me avoid playing hack`n`slash. If it`s a party based RPG I usually prefer my character to be a healer or arcane spellcaster. If it`s a one man adventure, a stealthy thief/spy/sharpshooter sort of character. I also like to rely heavly on skills that are useful outside of battle situations. The alignment of my character changes on whim, depending what sort of alignment I feel like playing, but I go with either a chaotic good/lawful neutral/true neutral/lawful evil, or rarely, neutral evil type of character.

stealthy archer for me if I can. (im not very subtle an arrow in the head of a person in a crowd tends to cause alarm)