God certainly values pure character. If a person is “saved” by faith alone, where does pure character come in?

Yes, God does want pure character. However, and this is crucial to understand, pure character comes after the personal relationship with God is established through faith (being born-again). Pure character does not come before that transaction. Once that transaction is genuinely accomplished through faith—each individual admitting their sin and submitting to Yeshua as their Savior and Lord—then God in the presence of His Holy Spirit indwells the person. The person is now cleansed of his previous sin-filth and is a fit vessel for God. The person becomes a “temple of God” (1 Cor. 3:16). Then God goes to work developing the character, purifying the character, from the inside out (Heb. 6:1, 13:5; Eph. 4:11-13; Matt. 5:48; Rom. 5:4 etc. etc). Pure character is one of the major themes of the Bible (Psalm 24; 51:6-7; Prov. 21:8; etc.). Maturing character is a life-long, growth process for the Believer that starts at the moment of salvation, not before.