"I am a supporting actor, a shadow. But a shadow will become darker if the light is stronger and it will make the white of the light stand out. As the shadow of the main actor, I will make you, the light, the number one in Japan."
Tetsuya Kuroko is the main protagonist of the manga, Kuroko no Basuke. He was thePhantom Sixth Player of the Generation of Miracles. He specialises in misdirection and passes. He now plays as a regular with Seirin with the goal of bringing the team and Taiga Kagami to the top of Japan.
Kuroko has a fragile outlook and a very small build for a basketball player which is why he is usually seen passing. He has light blue hair that he styles to his left. His eyes are blue, and he has a blank gaze. His skin is fairly pale. He wears the white, black and red Seirin jersey with the number 11. He also sometimes wears black sweatbands. His basketball shoes are white with a blue streak.
When out of training or matches, he wears his school uniform: the standard Japanese gakuran. The top piece of agakuran is black, long-sleeved and has a standing collar which buttons from the bottom up to his chin. It has blue trimming on the sleeves and vertically in the middle. He also wears regular black pants. It has been noted that his bed-head is especially atrocious.
Kuroko has a deadpan and straight forward personality. He is very hard working and always tries to satisfy the needs of the team above his own. He is quite gloomy and unnoticeable, a trait that goes well with his misdirection. He has also displayed much respect towards fellow passionate basketball players and thinks that while senpais have pride, kōhais have respect. Despite his initial kind personality, Kuroko gets extremely furious at dirty play, when his teammates are threatened and already injured by foul methods in the Kirisaki Daichi game. His aura changes so drastically, that even Kagami gets scared when he sees him like that. When Kuroko gets angry, it gets very hard to beat him, as he is filled up with fighting spirit. Also when the situation worsens, he seems to turn talkative.
He has metaphorically referred to himself as a "shadow". With this he means that he is playing for someone else, and that he becomes stronger when the "light" is stronger. With the "light", he means the player he supports during a basketball game. During his Junior High school basketball career, his "light" was Aomine, and now it is Kagami.
Outside the court, despite his unnoticeable personality, Kuroko is very gentlemanly when dealing with women. Amongst his friends, Kagami, Aomine and Kise are really shocked to see how easily Kuroko can cheer up Momoi and even knows what to do on a date. Kuroko also lectures Kagami that he should deal with women more delicately.
Overall, he is a very calm, rational person, but it is shown that he also has his silly moments. In one omake he says that he can also become noticeable and does so by pulling his jacket over his head, making people automatically see him and laugh. There are times where he uses his misdirection ability to run away, and also a time where he was late for a game but pretends to have always been there from the start (until Kagami pointed out the sweat on his brow, indicating that he was actually late and had run all the way to school). While initially cold towards his teammates, he gradually warms up and starts to openly express himself more. It has been shown that he has a soft spot for cute animals, like kittens and dogs (Tetsuya#2).
