Kenpachi is a tall, muscular Shinigami with a wild and aggressive appearance, which fits his personality. He has a long face with pronounced cheekbones, and pronounced, hairless brow ridges. He has green eyes and long, stringy black hair. A noticeable trait in his appearance is a long, thin scar running down the left side of his face and across his left eye, inflicted on him by Retsu Unohana while he was still a child.

In addition to the standard Shinigami shihakushō, he wears white bandages across his midsection and a sleeveless captain’s haori (which belonged to the previous captain and was taken after his defeat), which has a ragged look to it.[6] He styles his hair into stiff strands during his baths, attaching small bells at its tips, and wears a special black eyepatch over his right eye. During his first battle with Ichigo, the eyepatch is more elegant, having a gold-like lining and a chain as one of the straps. He also wore a black choker necklace. Later, he removed the choker and gave his eyepatch normal straps.