Do you think easier to use characters are weaker?

Okay, so this is probably a topic that falls into balance issues, and I should post there, however, I believe that what I ask is something different.
Ever since I've played Video Games, I always thought something that was more difficult to use, was better. It was the ultimate balance. An Easy to Use character meant a weaker character. A Difficult to use character was more powerful. I've always grown up thinking this, that an easier character shouldn't be used, because they are "cheap".
Case in point: When I first started Killer Instinct, I used Saberwulf. I'm pretty good at games, and I started beating my friend’s regularly. They all said that he was for Beginners, and didn't require skill. This prompted me to go online, with them in tow, and check to see the kind of character Saberwulf was.
He was listed as a Beginner to Intermediate character. After that, I started learning to use Riptor, Simply because Saberwulf was for "Newbie’s".
As I play Virtua Fighter 4, I'm using Lau. VF4 is the first of the series I've ever played. I really enjoy Lau, and I've read up on him. He has Great Custom Strings, wonderful Juggle combos.
But, he's fairly easy to use, he doesn't have Reversals or Low Throws. He doesn't need to worry about Long and Complicated Button inputs.
Now, maybe I'm missing something. Something that makes even the simplest characters hard to use. I don't really have good competition here. I can run over most other players in most games pretty easily. I'm trying to get some good players, but it's not easy. So, I don't really get to practice a whole bunch of advance techniques and such.
So, do you think that easier characters are "weaker" or "cheaper"? Take Lau, and compare him to Akira. Who is more powerful, overall? Who is more difficult overall?
I don't doubt I will be flamed for something like this... Not from what I've seen at the Message Board. Still, maybe we'll get some constructive discussion.

 

IMO vf isn't about character you use it's just your skill level i guess. But in the previous versions of VF tiers were stronger .

 

i started a post like this--& finally accepted that i was wrong. Lau is just as balanced as anyone else in the game, if ppl keep falling for you cheap tricks--then its their problem they can't counterattack or guard against it. The best thing to do would be a match against an expert player, you'll soon realize that if abuse a move over and over again, you'll probably get massacred (a la reversals, etc)

 

that pretty much should go for any fighting game unless that tactic is unstoppable /versus/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

Easy characters are not any weaker than their "harder" counterparts. Look at any balance discussion in VFDC and I don't think people rate Lau as a lesser character. He is always put in the most commonly used characters, (usually Kage, Akira, Jacky, Lau in no order) and ask any player whether they have trouble when playing against Lau and they will probably say yes.

As far as Akira vs. Lau goes, it's an even fight. In the balance threads on VFDC it seems that everyone can agree that an Akira vs. Lau fight is one of the most balanced fights. Again the difference in balance between characters is small enough that people can't always agree on various matchups. In the end if your character is an 'easy' character then you still have the same chance of winning. Jacky is an easy character but who hasn't lost to Jacky /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

 

My stance on this is that I think an underdog can go a far way. Even in Ver. C, when Shun sucked ass, I could still beat the shit out of some people b/c they had almost 0 practice against him. While Jacky and Lau are very scrub friendly, so many people play those two characters, so you know a lot of what to expect.