There's a long history in DnD of pregen characters with personalities. It's not just limited to starter kits.
Several came with wonderful artwork depicting the characters, along with their backgrounds written out.
I daresay some of the best experiences have come from playing those characters. One of the joys is that the characters tend to be more complete than the typical blank slate a lot of the players come to the table with.
It's like acting. A good actor isn't necessarily a good writer, and so the actor can often bring the pre-written character to life better than they can create a character from whole clothe.
This doesn't really respond to the bulk of my post which focused on the differences between pregens and Origins. Again, even in these PnP pregens, their written backstories aren't as intrusive as Larian Origins who have more of a defined arc
during, not just before, the game. Larian Origin characters are made so you play through and experience their story (SH & Shar, Lae'zel and the gith, Gale and Mystra/bomb, Wyll and his devil), whereas pregens typically provide a starting point but then allow freedom during the game.
This is especially true for SH, who has an in-game backstory that you - the player - don't really even get to know. You discover it during the game, but this is again playing through SH's story and learning who she is, as opposed to making her character your own from a set starting point.
