Ken Sudō

Appearance
Aside from Ken's dyed red hair and an inappropriate hairstyle, he possesses an intimidating look, which makes it harder for others to get close to him.

His height of 183 cm combined with his sturdy, muscular physique easily leaves an impression of a competent athlete on others. His clothing style also portrays his wild and aggressive personality, as he lets loose of his upper shirt's buttons.

Personality
Ken puts very little efforts into his studies, which grants him the nickname with two other classmates the "3 Idiots of D-Class". He is always seen to sleep in class, and also once refused to join Suzune Horikita's study group for the sake of his grade.

He is known to be hot tempered, and quick to anger when people do what he deems to be pointless or insulting to him, showing how easily provoked he can be. When others attempted to help by stopping him, he exclaimed how he doesn’t need their help and would get angry at the person who he deems is underestimating him. Despite his perceived eagerness for a fight, he is shown to get easily scared whenever he is overpowered as shown in his confrontation with Kakeru Ryūen.

Ken enjoys basketball and wants to go pro, and is very committed to his dream as he became worried when Suzune mentioned he might not be able to play if he were to be expelled from the school.

During the cruise in Episode 8, he quickly asked Kiyotaka Ayanokōji about Suzune Horikita's first name and after being told, he got excited. He blushed while saying her name repeatedly, showing he has developed romantic feelings and a crush for her, despite their previous hostile interactions. Through this feelings, he has been able to transmit his hard working nature towards his studies and be recognised as the person with the most improved grades, astonishing everyone who previously doubted him.

Background
Ken's mother, who worked in the entertainment business, left him while his father spent every day living somberly as a mere janitor. Ken gave up on his studies and decided to enter the world of sports. Then his first encounter with basketball. Normally, he disliked playing with others as a team, but miraculously, he was able to make it work and his skill with the sport increased.

Ken even got a recommendation for the high school with one of the best basketball teams in the country. However, he got entangled in violent activities, and his application was rejected. Ken then enrolled at Advanced Nurturing High School, a place where he wouldn't have to pay money for education, and a dream school where even his future could be guaranteed.

Plot
Ken is first seen criticizing Yōsuke Hirata for proposing that the class introduce themselves, calling it childish. After he and the class were told about points, Ken was one of the most excited and during the month he used his points for trivial things while often hanging out with Kanji Ike and Haruki Yamauchi. He nearly got into a fight with students of C-Class but they decided to leave while mocking him.

Days later, he was approached by Kiyotaka Ayanokōji to join Suzune Horikita's study group but angrily refused, while afterwards Suzune herself met with him and made him think about his athletic career and how it could be at stake if he were to be expelled, persuading him to study. However, he left after Suzune insulted the idiots and is joined by Ike and Yamauchi. He is next seen getting into a confrontation with C-Class, being grabbed by two students of the class and intimidated by Kakeru Ryūen. He broke free and tried attacking Kakeru but the fight was broken up by Honami Ichinose and C-Class walks off, and when Ken tried to stop them, he was stopped by Kiyotaka. In a huff, he refused to rejoin the study group and went to basketball practice while his thoughts were filled with doubt of becoming a possible failure.

Afterwards, he is given the old test scores obtained by Kikyō Kushida and he is relieved to hear that there was a chance to pass the test.

While the whole class passed the test, Ken was the only one who didn't get a passing grade, being one point away due to the class average. He was told by Sae Chabashira that he would be expelled immediately, much to his dismay. Unbeknownst to him, Kiyotaka and Suzune came to his aid and sacrificed 50,000 points each so that he wouldn't get expelled. Later on, a celebratory party was thrown at Kiyotaka's room where Ken and some other students from D-Class came with him, relieved that he didn't get expelled. When Kikyō talked to Kiyotaka and hinted that he helped Ken out, the latter and the others stopped their activities and looked to see if this was true but Kiyotaka passed the credit to Suzune. A startled Suzune barely explained to a curious Ken that she did it for her own benefit.

Sometime later, Ken got into a fight with Daichi Ishizaki and other students of C-Class on the stairwell. He overpowered them which caused them to file a complaint against him, which again, could possibly lead to his expulsion. As a consequence, his class does not receive points, and Ken ended up being berated for his confrontation by D-Class, still insisting his innocence. When Kushida formed a group to prove his innocence, they met in Kiyotaka's room after their search for witnesses proved fruitless, before Suzune arrived and proclaimed that she found one. Suzune told them that Airi Sakura witnessed everything but did not want to come forward with her knowledge, much to Ken's annoyance.

At the hearing, he was accompanied by Kiyotaka and Suzune as well as Sae. Things didn't go his way at first until Suzune (with Kiyotaka's help) spoke and delivered a speech which implied that the fight was a set-up. She further proved it by asking all three boys of C-Class why they were all present at the stairwell and why, with all their strength, they got injured while Ken remained unharmed. Ken was surprised to see that Sakura decided to come forth. He is further shocked when she provided proof of her presence with a picture of herself and a glimpse of the fight in the background. This was pushed aside as a minor detail, as it didn't prove who started the fight, but rather that she witnessed it, causing Kazuma Sakagami to propose a compromise. He suggested a three-week suspension for Ken while a two-week sentence for the students in C-Class, but Suzune refused it. She voiced her opinion of Ken where she criticized him, which riled him up at first, but she followed up stating that he was not at fault for this incident, much to his shock. Ken watched on as Suzune demanded the dismissal of the accusations towards him while also becoming amazed by her speech. He got into an argument with C-Class about his innocence but the argument was halted by Manabu Horikita who said he would give his verdict the next day.

A day later, C-Class withdrew their complaint against Ken, much to his joy. In the courtyard, he found and informed Kiyotaka of the news (not knowing that he was to be thanked for this act). Kiyotaka congratulated him and when the relieved Ken wondered if Suzune did something to help him, Kiyotaka again gave her the credit. After the brief celebration, Ken called Suzune amazing for her actions before leaving for practice as Kiyotaka looked on.

On summer break, the Idiots of D-Class, Hideo Sotomura and Kiyotaka planned to peep on the girls, inviting them to a day at the pool. After some unexpected events took place, Ike ended up being trapped in the women's locker room and a long line of people from other classes form wanting to get in caused the plan to force Ken to distract them. Ken is met with a problem when the student council President arrived demanding he move out of the way. Luckily, Sotomura had signaled Kiyotaka and he persuaded Suzune to distract everyone long enough for Ike to escape unnoticed. While the event took place, Suzune stole the memory cards for the peeping incident. Though the plan failed, Ken enjoyed his time at pool with his friends and classmates.

During the cruise, he quickly asked Kiyotaka over Suzune's first name and after learning it, blushed while saying her name repeatedly before leaving with the group. While getting lunch at a fancy area on the cruise, they were insulted by Yahiko Totsuka who berated them as trash, causing Ken to grab him but it was stopped by Kōhei Katsuragi.

During the special exam on the deserted island, Rokusuke Kōenji had ditched the exam, causing the class to lose 30 S-Points. Ken, like the rest of the class, was angered by this selfish act, cursing him out loud and this is followed up after D-Class had won the survival test, confronting Rokusuke about his decision and becoming worked up after he is met with an egotistical opinion from Rokusuke.

A certain day during summer vacation, Sudō was called to Kiyotaka's room as he was returning from club activities. Upon arriving there, Sudō was asked to help Katsuragi deliver a gift for his sister, considering Sudō would leave the school grounds for a tournament with his basketball club soon. After hearing that, Sudō rejected the proposal strongly and reason being that he wasn't obliged to listen to a request from Katsuragi. When Kiyotaka asked him about what kind of inspections the school performed, Sudō answered flippantly and said he had no idea. However, he began to give the proposal serious thought after Katsuragi offered a reward. Sudō then described all the checks the school performed. They would check students' bags in the morning before they got in the bus to head to the tournament. After that, they would confiscate their phones. In the changing area, there weren't any teachers around when they changed, but the teachers did keep a strict watch on the students, going as far as to provide separate bathrooms so the students wouldn’t be able to talk to people from other schools. When Kiyotaka asked if it was okay to bring food, Sudō nodded that it was allowed.

Kiyotaka then explained he would give Sudō a lunchbox and a water bottle, with the gift box and the bag hidden in them, asking Sudō to mail them through a post when he had the chance. Sudō retorted when Kiyotaka said it was an easy task, to which Katsuragi agreed because the risks were potentially great. To convince Sudō, Katsuragi told him that he would pay 100,000 points, making Sudō stiffened. For him, who struggled day to day on about 1,000 or 2,000 points, 100,000 was an incredible amount. But despite this magnanimous offer, Sudō became wary as he asked Katsuragi why he wanted to go so far to deliver the package. After listening to Katsuragi's story about his sick sister and how he was the only one who could celebrate her birthday, Sudō became sympathetic but still couldn't ignore the possibility that Katsuragi could betray him since he once had fallen into a trap and almost kicked out of the basketball club. To clear his doubts, Katsuragi said he would pay 20,000 points in advance and pay the remaining points as a reward after Sudō completed the task, which would prove that Katsuragi was complicit in their act and they'd both suffer the consequences if either party betrayed the other. Sudō finally agreed as it's hard to turn Katsuragi down after the story with his sister.

A week later, Sudō called Kiyotaka and invited him to a fortune-teller in Keyaki Mall, telling him that he got some extra cash from Katsuragi's payments so he would like to treat him. Sudō even had already planned out a schedule as he informed Kiyotaka about his plan to get there early around 9:30, so they wouldn't be waiting forever. Since the tournament had ended, tomorrow would be Sudō's day off. Sudō told Kiyotaka it was necessary to rest a little since his club had done nothing but train all this time. When Kiyotaka specifically mentioned a certain task, Sudō exclaimed it was difficult as the tournament's restrictions were very high, but he still managed to finish it. And he also made sure to delete the data before heading back and told him not to worry. When Kiyotaka asked Sudō if he got to play in the game, Sudō answered he was the only one out of all the first years to play and even scored, but they still lost in the end so he was not precisely that proud.

The call topic then went back to fortune-telling, with Sudō asking Kiyotaka to invite Suzune along as well, fully aware that if he invited her himself, his chances of success were rather slim. Kiyotaka, already grasped Sudō's true intention, said he would try but told Sudō not to expect too much. However, that answer didn't satisfy Sudō, reaasoning that if he couldn't invite Suzune out, there was no point since he had already planned on Suzune being there tomorrow. Later, Sudō received a message from Kiyotaka that Suzune refused to go, to which he disgruntled replied by telling him to forget about the plan.

Academic Abilities
Based on the school database, Ken's entrance examination results were the lowest on record for this school year. In fact, he had the poorest results ever seen since the establishment of the school and was the first one to fail and considered for expulsion before he was saved through devious means by his classmates. However, by being arduous in his work, he has shown great improvement in his grades.

Physical Abilities
Ken's athletic skills, especially in basketball, were evaluated highly since he was in junior high, when he was already considered to be as good as exceptionally skilled high school students. Even with the high competitive level of play on the courts this year; the school expects great things from him in the future. The other class leaders always ranks his abilities highly whenever they come up with their class strategy, admitting how he can sway many victories for Horikita if they plan inadequately.

Name Etymology

 * The name Ken consists of kanji that mean "healthy, strong" (健) (ken).
 * Ken's surname Sudō consists of kanjis that mean "ought, by all means, necessarily" (須) (su) and "wisteria" (藤) (tō/dō).

Trivia

 * In the light novel, Ken and Kiyotaka Ayanokōji are actually friends.
 * The anime has not fully developed their friendship yet.
 * As D-Class is for people with defective traits, Ken has a hot headed temper and low intelligence.
 * Ken has been at risk of expulsion twice in the series for two separate reasons that deal with a personality flaw of his where he was saved by Kiyotaka and Suzune Horikita in both times.
 * In Episode 3, his inability to study causes him to be the only student to fail but he is saved by Kiyotaka and Suzune sacrificing their points which caused the teacher to change the decision.
 * In Episode 5, his quick temper and eagerness to fight causes him to be accused of attacking and injuring three students of C-Class. At his hearing, Kiyotaka and Suzune come to defend him to prove his innocence in the terrible incident. In Episode 6, he was cleared of the incident due to C-Class withdrew their complaint against him after they realized they were recorded by a surveillance camera.


 * For the 2nd Year arc, when asked about his aspirations for the next year, he answered  'To balance Basketball activities with studying. I'm aiming for both literary and physical arts. After that... to prove myself in romance.'