On the Origin of PCs: Major League

I've played a lot of Player Characters down through the years. Most were forgettable, and a few were downright lamentable, but some of them have stuck with me. This is my attempt to figure out what was so special about them.

I've chosen to break the PC pool down into three groups: Major League, minor league, and everyone else. Where each PC ends up depends on the answers to these questions:

How much work did I put into the PC? Did I craft an elaborate background? Did I write any fiction? Did I draw a portrait? Did I make a playlist of songs? Do I feel like that work paid off?

How long did I play the PC? What were the most memorable moments of the PC's career? Did the PC have a story, and was that story resolved to my satisfaction? Did the PC get converted when a new edition of the game came out? (Only characters that I actually got to play will be part of this process; PCs from play-by-post games are also excluded.)

How good was the campaign that the PC was part of? Was the PC fun to play? How did the character play off of the other PCs? Did I come to associate the RPG itself with the PC?

There are, at present, six PCs I would consider to be Major League:
Ilona Lorien, an elven cleric (AD&D 1st Edition)
Nicholas Sharpe, a human wizard (AD&D 1st Edition)
Sean "Trace" Kilbride, a street samurai (Shadowrun 1st Edition)
Aramis Shepherd, a human cleric of the Raven Queen (D&D 4th Edition)
Casidhe Fionnlagh, a human rogue and duelist (Dragon Age homebrew)
Quinn Mac Teague, a human paladin (Pathfinder)

Each of these PCs will get a post, then I'll do another one for the minor leaguers. My hope is that going through the stables will show me patterns that I can work with in the future.