Doppo Kunikida

Appearance: Kunikida is a tall and slim young man with deep, green-grey eyes. His bangs are parted to the right and he had rather neat, but spiky golden-blond hair that ends in a long ponytail. He is always seen wearing his glasses. His attire consists of a beige vest over a black long-sleeved dress shirt, a red ribbon tied into a bow around the collar, beige pants, and plain brown shoes

Personality: As a member of the Armed Detective Agency, Kunikida is very professional and diligent when it comes to his job, because to him, the reputation of the agency takes precedence over anything else. He constantly feels the need to organize, gather, and schedule everything, which is why he comes off as somewhat strict and harsh during investigations. He is also practical to a fault, as he almost considered abandoning a kidnapped Atsushi Nakajima, because the boy's presence might implicate the Agency. He also once advised Atsushi to give up on the wanted Kyouka Izumi, lest his one-man boat might sink the both of them if he saves her, though he soon encourages Atsushi later on when the latter shows resolve to rescue her. Despite this, Kunikida is nonetheless a trustworthy and loyal detective upon whom many in the Agency rely on because of his authoritative capability and responsible nature, which is why he is deemed as the Agency's next-in-line to becoming its President. He is almost never seen without his trademark notebook, which he believed to be an "ideal" and guide to life. He utilizes it for several reasons, such as data-gathering, planning, making the world a better place, and most importantly, a medium for his ability, The Matchless Poet. Though he often appears calm and careful, Kunikida is also known for his exasperated outbursts, which are primarily caused by his partner, Osamu Dazai, who constantly vexes him with his suicidal attempts. However, Kunikida never genuinely disliked Dazai. He acknowledges Dazai's skill and knowledge when first working with him, and he entrusts much of the Agency's strategies to Dazai. Kunikida extends similar faith to Ranpo Edogawa, as Kunikida actively participates in letting Ranpo believe Ultra Deduction is a real ability, since Kunikida, like the rest of his comrades, respects Ranpo's detective prowess and its value to the Agency. Despite his well-rounded maturity level, Kunikida is also somewhat naïve and prone to easily believe Dazai's lies, including the "merit" of a noose when it comes to improving neck strength and that extreme shouting can cause hemorrhoids, which he later jots down in his notebook for future reference. Kunikida values human life, as he strives to save all innocent people during dangerous events in Yokohama. He sticks to this belief after seeing young people injured or killed in front of him. As a result, Kunikida never thought killing his opponents is the only option, and constantly looked to solve problems without bloodshed. Due to Kunikida's passion to try to protect the city and its people, Ranpo believes he is the strongest and most virtuous person in the Agency. This calm front begins to crack when he is forced to "bend the rules", resulting in a mental breakdown. Kunikida's mental state continued to deteriorate after the Cannibalism when being hunted by the Hunting Dogs, and he loses self-confidence and "the light he always sees on the other side of the mirror". His ideals were challenged by Jouno Saigiku, who calls them "big and lofty as a hot air balloon". He believes that Kunikida's ideals will disappear if his comrades die, and that he will feel "relief". Kunikida deeply thought about this statement, causing him to re-evaluate his ideals drastically, and he says that idealistic thought alone won't save lives and that they must choose to be more realistic. By the end, Kunikida made a self-sacrifice, sticking to his desire to keep his comrades alive and telling Tetchou Suehiro that he "won't let anyone ruin his plans" and that he shall let his ideals soar with his "life as fuel". From then on, Kunikida maintains his steadfast loyalty and faith in the Agency, more so when they reunited partially and fully to take on their formidable adversary together.

Background: Alongside working in the Agency, Kunikida previously worked as an algebra teacher at Shin-Tsuruya Institute twice a week. Because of Azure King case, he left his job at the Institute to devote himself entirely to the Agency. (Turns out the late Azure King was actually his younger brother, Shuji Kunikida. Guess that’s another reason why the incident affected him so badly).

Ability: Kunikida's ability, The Matchless Poet, allows Kunikida to make objects written on the papers of his notebook come into existence. However, it does not work on objects larger than the notebook. Such objects include wire guns, handguns, grenades, and flashbangs. He is shown to be able to use pre-written notes as a means for his object summons, which can be especially convenient if one of his hands is bound and incapacitated. Also, he is able to remotely activate his ability, transforming pre-written notes into objects, which come in handy when supporting other members from afar.

Fun facts: -Was a college dropout. -Has 58 conditions for an ideal partner, which spans eight pages and 15 topics written on the section titled "Spouse" in his notebook. Nobuko Sasaki was the closest person to fit all of his ideals. But his friend-of-ten-years, Katai Tayama is an exception to his ideals. -His watch uses specialized equipment to set itself to standard time every morning he wakes up, so the margin of error is always under one second. -Appears to know various swimming strokes, including freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly. -Has an anxiety disorder, depression, OCD, and PTSD. -Is omnisexual with a female preference and uses He/Him pronouns. -Has a tiny mole-like birthmark on his left cheek. -Has dimples on both sides. -His full name is “Doppo Patrick Kunikida”. -Is agonistic (Agnosticism, within a religious context, is the view that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is unknown or inherently unknowable. Agnostics do not claim to know for certain if a higher power exists or not, often positioning themselves between theism and atheism by suspending judgment.) -Is a secret super-nerd about marine stuff (plants, animals, history, etc.) -Calls Dazai twice a day to make sure he’s eaten, drank water, got enough sleep, and generally checking if he’s okay. -Isn’t very good with kids for the most part, but he tries his best. -His birthday is August 30th. -He did not have a good childhood, to say the least. He had a very VERY strict and abusive mother, Reiko, who is one of the biggest reasons why he developed such strict—and sometimes almost ridiculous—ideals and schedules. Reiko believed that discipline was the same thing as good parenting, and she had extremely high expectations for him. His grades, behavior, appearance, routines, and even the way he expressed his emotions were all things she felt entitled to control. If Kunikida failed to meet her expectations, she would make sure he knew how disappointed she was in him. His father, Masao, however, was WAY more kind, empathetic, and gentle than Reiko. He encouraged Kunikida to think for himself, valued his curiosity, and was much more interested in teaching him why something was right or wrong rather than simply demanding obedience. Unfortunately, Masao and Reiko’s completely opposite approaches to parenting eventually made their marriage unbearable. When Kunikida was 12, Masao finally divorced Reiko. Kunikida actually overheard his parents discussing the divorce in a hallway and quietly realized what was happening before either of them told him. Unfortunately, the divorce meant Masao had to leave without being able to take Kunikida with him, thanks to Reiko, leaving Kunikida stuck living with her for the next six years. Those six years were more than enough time for Reiko’s influence to overwhelm most of what Masao had taught him. The gentle lessons about self-compassion, flexibility, and understanding gradually became buried underneath years of being told that mistakes were unacceptable and that he needed to be better. By the time Kunikida left home for college at 18, he had essentially constructed an entire moral system around himself: schedules, rules, ideals, and plans that he could control. Ironically, although Reiko’s methods were the exact opposite of what Masao wanted for him, both parents left something behind in Kunikida—the belief that he needed a set of principles to live by. Masao taught him to care about what was right; Reiko taught him to be terrified of failing to do it. The adult Kunikida’s “Ideal” is essentially the collision of those two influences.