Benio is nicknamed "Benibara" and "The Lady of the Red Rose." She immediately recognizes Haruhi Fujioka as a girl because, as she puts it, her "maidenly eyes." Along with her friends, Chizuru and Hinako, Benio is homosexual; all three maidens being militant about their sexual orientation and negative in their attitudes towards males.
Benio has a very large fan club devoted to her; so large that a "Benibara-sama's Guardian Club" has been founded at St. Lobelia's just to make sure she doesn't get mobbed when walking around campus. Benio's flirting with her fans makes them even more crazy for her and they are depicted, in the anime, as howling red octopi.  Although neither side would admit it, Benio and Tamaki have much in common: both being the presidents of their respective clubs, each flirting with ease, and each possessing over-confidence and melodramatic natures, to name a few.