Story in short: The empire betrayed me and slammed me in some dungeon. After escaping I got caught and ended up in the cart to Helgen. I'm out for revenge, so following Ralof was the obvious choice.
Dunmer, I followed the Nord, due to the fact that we were "Brothers on the Block" as it were, and He treated me as an equal, but as far as Ulfric the coward (He shouted the King apart instead of honoring tradition in equal combat.) I don't think I'll join the Stormcloaks, unless, I can usurp that N'wah and replace him with a more honorable Nord in his place.
Argonian Warrior/Archer Followed Hadvar out, it was that annoying Captian i was pissed off at not the whole Legion Seemed nicer anyway, since he tries to reason with the Stormcloaks, whereas if you're following Ralof out its just KILL ALL IMPERIALS AARGH
I'm a female imperial, RPing as "trader" who can take care of herself by all means (and slay dragons quite easily, as it turned out), with all perk points evenly scattered around in smithing, speechcraft, one-hand, heavy armor, archery and blocking. I had no idea you could pick who to follow in the beginning, so I just followed whoever screamed at me to follow him. Turned out I followed an imperial soldier who later tried to talk me into joining the legion. At around level 18 I eventually did, but first I went on a tour through Stormcloak lands before I finally made my decision to head for Solitude (speaking to Ulfric was what got me to join the legion in the end).
I am an Orc warrior, I was on a journey to gain glory in battle, I was making the treck to join the imperial Legion when I heard the sounds of battle, I stumbled upon the Stormcloaks and the Legion doing battle, I decided to join the fray to prove my worth, only the Legion didn't understand I was there to help, they captured me along with the Stormcloaks and that is how I arrived at the chopping block. I escaped with the Legionare and along the way grabbed me some heavy armor and a two handed sword, we escaped the dragon and the Legionare said he would vouch for me to join the Legion. I am now on my path to glory for the Empire.
I followed Ralof and killed as many Legion as could; the N'wahs wanted to execute me! I was originally a Dark Knight from http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Blacklight, and was patrolling the Skyrim border when I heard a disturbance nearby. I crossed over into Skyrim where a group of Legion and Nords were fighting. I simply observed, wary if any of them should start heading towards Morrowind. And that was when someone hit me from behind. Being corralled along with revolutionaries and petty thieves did not win me any respect for the Imperial Legion.
Hulgar, Nord male specializing in one handed, smithing, archery, light armor, shield, sneak, alchemy with a touch of destruction, enchanting, and restoration. So kind of a ranger with a bit of magic. I'm a stormcloak. Next character will be sort of opposite, a female bosmer thief/assassin who will aid the imperial legion.
Male breton, spellsword-typeish (bound weapons, destruction, restoration, heavy armor). I followed Ralof.
On my first character I followed Hadvar though, because I thought you could only follow him. I was too excited and missed the quest thing that read to follow either of them. xD
My Redguard heavy armor/sword/shield dude went with Hadvar, and some other characters that I've deleted went with Ralof. I followed Hadvar the majority of the time though, I like him better than Ralof.