Shuichi Kitaoka is thirty years old. But he's not going to make it to thirty-one unless his birthday comes around soon. He is a "Super Lawyer", arrogant, self-centered and assorted other words when we first meet him. But only the Super Lawyer part is entirely true. This is not to say the other words don't describe him. We don't know how Shiro Kanzaki chose him to be a Kamen Rider. He'd been one for a long time. Though he fought the monsters and did not seem to actively seek out other riders, he knew and lived by the terms Kanzaki had explained to him. Why? Because if he wins, he wants to live forever. As he said when pressed by Ren, "I can have anything I want. I can do whatever I want. What else would I fight for?"

Various incidents that show his character are the fact that men on the wrong side of the law frequently get pissed at him. After having made his career defending such people, now he won't take their cases if he knows they are guilty. He has the luxury of not having to pretend he believes their innocence. He liked Shinji when they first met, but then almost let his true feelings slip, and so froze the boy out of his life. When he found out Shinji was a Kamen Rider, he almost managed to get the boy put in jail even though he knew Shinji was innocent. A little girl had to do the right thing and tell the police that her father, now vanished (gobbled up by a Mirror Monster), had been the perpetrator of the crime Shinji was arrested for. Her father was trying to get the money for the operation that would save her mother's life. Kitaoka donated those funds, then cleared out before anyone could nag him about it. He also got his secretary, Goro, involved in a scam on Shinji. They pretended Goro was Zolda and that Shinji as Ryuuki had killed him. Perhaps he would have felt guilty if he knew Shinji almost committed suicide over that, but all he thought was that the boy would quit being a Kamen Rider. Kitaoka is a ladies' man, or he was. He's taken a fancy to Reiko because she is such a strong, courageous woman, and he is courting her but she wants nothing of him.

He is not as small as he so often seems. Shuichi Kitaoka has been diagnosed with inoperable cancer. He is rapidly running out of time. The occasional fainting spells and weakness he suffers, his faithful secretary Yura Goro covers with skill. Goro blames himself for not having noticed Kitaoka's illness early enough to save him, but his boss will not allow him to take the blame. He was the one who'd been feeling ill and had not thought to go to the doctor. They have the most fascinating relationship. Goro will do anything for Kitaoka. However, he WILL also make his displeasure known when he disagrees with something his boss is doing. The time Goro slammed the door in his face, Kitaoka's expression was just precious. On the other hand, Goro looked pretty shocked with himself. Then there was the time Asakura kidnapped him and tried to make Kitaoka come to fight him. Kitaoka got guilted by Ren until his resolve broke and he was just racing to the door to help, when Goro got home acting as if nothing had happened (clever man, he'd freed himself). He is just about the only person whose opinion Kitaoka really gives a damn about.

Shimada and Megumi learned about Kitaoka's cancer, and they thought it the reason he'd been so secretive. Goro made them promise not to tell Reiko, but they began strongly supporting Kitaoka's suit of her. He actually decided to stop fighting as a Kamen Rider, then decided it was his responsibility to stop Asakura. But he couldn't....

Talk about boys and their toys..!