He has a personality that leans toward negative thinking at every turn, frequently hinting at suicide. Ridiculed in the series as the "ultimate negative human," he constantly carries a kit of common suicide tools—briquettes, sleeping pills, ropes, and so on—and often attempts impulsive acts of self-destruction. ...However, since he always chooses highly visible locations to attempt it and gives up if no one stops him, these attempts are merely a pose; he doesn't truly want to die. If someone actually tries to assist his suicide, he gets angry, shouting, "What if I actually died?!" In fact, he is often described as having a "tenacious grip on life." Because of this, his students have begun to ignore him, calling his behavior a "pity party." While he hates having his name written horizontally (which makes it look like the word "Despair"), his students casually refer to him as "Zetsubou-sensei" (Mr. Despair) anyway. His pathetic and cowardly traits are prominent, and he is a self-admitted chicken. He is a natural gigolo; almost all the female students in Class 2-H have feelings for him, though he never intentionally approached any of them. If anything, he seems to find it a nuisance. He has even been stalked. He is an unconscious lady-killer. He is tall with a frail build. His features are reasonably handsome. He seems to have a particular taste in fashion, sticking to a retro Japanese style (while he appears to wear the same student-style outfit, a closer look reveals he wears a different kimono every time). He comes from a prestigious family that is apparently quite influential in his hometown.