At the beginning of the series, Shinichi is a 16-year old[2][8] (17, according to the anime)[3] student at Teitan High School. He is already well-known as a brilliant young detective, the "Savior of the police force", for solving many difficult cases that the professionals could not.[5]Shinichi was born to Yusaku Kudo, a mystery writer, and Yukiko Kudo, a former movie star.[9] He is extremely intelligent, and even from a young age, was very intuitive and observant. Due to the influence of his father and the general laissez-faire environment at home, he has long been an incessant and persistent reader, especially of mystery novels.[10] Yusaku started taking Shinichi to crime scenes as a child, which inspired him to be a detective.[11] Due to his genius and often blunt, informal approach, Shinichi can be rude and arrogant. However, he cares deeply about human life, unable to understand how any reason could be sufficient motive for murder,[12] and is convinced that driving a culprit to suicide is no better than murder itself. [13] The few times he has been too late to save a life haunt him throughout the series.
Besides his intelligence, Shinichi is an extremely skilled soccer player, having been professionally scouted at school but choosing to stay at the amateur level. He initially played to hone his reflexes and often juggles a ball to clear his mind, but he is also an enthusiastic fan of the sport in its own right.[5] Shinichi is also known for his inability to sing, but was revealed to have perfect pitch. [14] He is also shown to play the violin in Movie 12, taking after his idol, Sherlock Holmes. He is well-educated in English, as he once conversed with and translated for an American diplomat, and later solved a case in London without evidence of any language barrier.[15][16] Prior to his transformation, Shinichi enjoys being in the spotlight, reveling in making local headlines and receiving fan-mail, and has a flair for the dramatic like his mother that can be seen every time he sets out a deduction in pieces building to a climax. Throughout the series, Shinichi's predicament forces him to gain a sense of humility. Despite his popularity with the masses and his schoolmates, he has very few close friends — Ran, Agasa, Heiji, Haibara, and to some extent the other Detective Boys (and if you're really reaching, Kaitou Kid and Sonoko).