Darius (“Darioush” in Persian) is the novel’s narrator and main character. As the story opens, he is 15 and a sophomore at Chapel Hill High School in Portland. Darius resembles his Iranian American mother Shirin physically, with brown eyes and “black, loosely curled hair” (13); on his father’s side, he’s of European descent (presumably German, given his references to Stephen’s “Teutonic” looks). He is also somewhat overweight, largely as a result of taking antidepressants since he was 12; like his father, Darius is living with clinical depression.

Darius’s depression exacerbates the insecurity he already feels both at school and at home. His ethnicity and weight make him an outsider at school, where he’s also the frequent target of homophobic bullying (Darius’s sexual orientation is implied but not stated in Darius the Great Is Not Okay; in its sequel, Darius has a boyfriend). His life at home is also difficult because he feels that his weight, struggles with math, social awkwardness and shyness, etc. disappoint his high-achieving father. At the same time, Darius doesn’t feel Iranian enough to fit in amongst his mother’s family, in part because, unlike his younger sister Laleh, he speaks very little Farsi. Darius gains confidence in who he is thanks to the friendship he strikes up with his grandparents’ neighbor, Sohrab, during their trip to Iran.