History Characters / SteinsGate

* HateSink: He's a detestable bastard who thinks he's better than everyone and abuses his daughter just because he's jealous of her intelligence, and is revealed to be the one who brainwashes her into becoming a proud SERN scientist. He basically represents everything wrong with SERN as an organization. Furthermore, because the main BigBad FB/Yuugo is an AffablyEvil TragicVillain, Nakabachi gives the audience someone to hate. But in the manga version of ''Babel of the Grieved Maze'', he's much redeemable with more of his tragic backstory as his loyalty to Yukitaka and Suzu Hashida are shown more.

* UngratefulBastard: In the Beta worldline, when his daughter, Makise Kurisu, seeks him out, tells him about her time-travel research, and ''openly suggests that they share credit for it'', his only response is to throw her offer back in her face and try to steal her research all for himself. Even when Okabe tries to intervene and prevent his AttemptedMurder of her, Kurisu still takes a stab for him which kills her. [[KickTheDog He then tells Kurisu she got what she deserved and goes ahead with stealing her theory to take all the credit for her genius]].

* UngratefulBastard: Despite attempting to kill her for her time travel theory, Kurisu still takes a stab for him which kills her. [[KickTheDog He tells Kurisu she got what she deserved and steals her theory to take all the credit for her genius]].

* FauxActionGirl: Zigzagged. When we already know she's a [[spoiler:Rounder working for SERN as she's well-trained in combat especially with guns. Indeed, when TheReveal first happens, it's made abundantly clear that no one in the Future Gadgets Laboratory could possibly hold their own against her, and even Suzuha can at best merely distract her long enough for Okabe and Kurusu to start the time-leap. So you'd think she'd obviously kick Okabe's ass when he arrives at her apartment in another worldline to pry her phone from her hands, but instead Okabe gives her an instant and easy beatdown because she's in the middle of a mental breakdown, and more fixated on her phone instead of him]]. Completely averted in ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'', she can use her gun even when she's still under her civilian identity to help out against enemies.

* FauxActionGirl: Zigzagged. When we already know she's a [[spoiler:Rounder working for SERN as she's well-trained in combat especially with guns]]. You think she'd obviously kick Okabe's ass when he arrives at her apartment to pry her phone from her hands, but instead [[spoiler:she couldn't do better to retaliate back as Okabe gives her an instant and easy beatdown because she's fixated on her phone instead of him]] but in ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'', she can use her gun even when she's still under her civilian identity to help out against enemies.

* CryCute: Invoked, as said in CrocodileTears. [[spoiler:She gives a genuine one in her ending, when she realizes her boyfriend is [[AmnesiacLover never coming back]].]]

* CryCute:
** After Okabe yells at her for calling him by his real name, Kurisu acts fairly defiant at the perceived anger. When she realizes he's just being his usually goofy self, she's so relieved after the fright that she tears up a little. Despite her SuspiciouslySpecificDenial, he seems baffled as to why she's sniffling.
** PlayedForLaughs near the end of Faris's route in ''My Darling's Embrace'' when her professors and friends from America learn she's been working as a catgirl maid.

* NiceHat: His signature yellow cap with a printed-on question mark that he dons absolutely ''everywhere'', even at his own wedding. He's still wearing this as of 2036, just to show how fond of it he is. The only time he's not seen wearing it is during the events of ''[[VisualNovel/RoboticsNotes Robotics;Notes DaSH]]'', where he has a boonie hat instead.

* NiceHat: Almost always wears a wide brimmed, frilly looking blue hat.

* BrilliantButLazy: He's a programming and engineering genius, able to hack into a high-tech research organization and [[spoiler:build a working time machine]], but for the most part he'd rather spend him time playing hentai games or visiting the maid café.

* LargeHam: In similar fashion as Okabe's Hououin Kyouma persona, Faris enjoys her theatrics.

* ShesGotLegs: Understandable due of her athletic background, Okabe can't help but sneak glances at her legs.

[[index]]

[[/index]]

[[folder:Okabe Rintarou]]

-->See his page [[Characters/SteinsGateRintarouOkabe here]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rintaro_sg.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote: Click to see ''Zero'' appearance.]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rintaro_sg0.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote: Click to see him in the anime.]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ddc795bc_90d0_4987_87df_c501b60f5b44.jpeg[[/labelnote]]]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MamoruMiyano (JP), Creator/JMichaelTatum (EN), Aldo Ramírez (LA)
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Daisuke Watanabe (stage)

Lab member 001 and the protagonist, an 18-year-old first year college student and leader of the Future Gadget Laboratory. Around a decade ago, in order to help Mayuri through a difficult situation he began styling himself as "Hououin Kyouma", an evil mad scientist, exasperating others with his {{chuunibyou}} antics. Despite his goofiness, he's actually pretty intelligent and has an intuitive grasp of much of what they're doing. He retains his memories when the past changes with complete clarity, an ability he calls the Reading Steiner.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Has a less gaunt figure and conventionally smoother face in the anime.
* AccidentalMurder: In his first attempt to save Kurisu, Okabe steals Dr. Nakabachi's knife and tries to stab him with it when he's attacking Kurisu. Unfortunately, Kurisu [[TakingTheBullet takes the stab to protect her father]] and bleeds to death [[DiedInYourArmsTonight in Okabe's arms]].
* AdaptationalNiceGuy: The anime softens his more abrasive traits considerably.
* AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome:
** Inverted in [[spoiler:the Faris ending/Omega timeline where, instead of being a scientific genius, he is a friendless professional Rai-Net Access Battlers card player.]]
** Subverted horribly in [[spoiler:the Gamma timeline where he is physically fitter, richer and more disciplined but this is a result of him willingly joining SERN as a Rounder, spy and researcher. This version of him ultimately becomes a member of the Committee of 300, and despotic ruler of Japan in 2036 under the name Hououin Kyouma.]]
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: When the choice between [[spoiler:saving Mayuri or saving Kurisu]] comes up, he admits that he honestly doesn't care that the latter involves allowing the world [[spoiler:to remain with SERN's dystopia]]. After making his choice, in the True Ending he's also completely unconcerned with the fact that [[spoiler:the future he's heading towards results in the near extinction of the human race. He's not going to allow Mayuri to die to save billions of people he doesn't know. Although in [[VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero the sequel]] this gets modified when he sees that future first hand making him understand how awful it is and that some of the people who die include his friends. After that he becomes more concerned with always saving ''everyone'']]. Later [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in [[{{TheMovie}} the noncanon movie]], where he becomes so jaded by his experiences that [[spoiler:he doesn't care whether he lives or dies, as long Mayuri and Kurisu are fine.]]
* AmbiguouslyBi: He only ever seems to be into girls, as he himself admitted, but it's suggested that he's also more interested in Luka than he'd be willing to admit. Usually, he'd try to brush these odd feelings off by reminding himself Luka is a boy and he doesn't swing that way, but [[StupidSexyFlanders looking at how hard he struggles to even think so in the first place]] does seem to imply a lot of things about Okabe's sexuality.
* AmnesiacLover: In the [[spoiler:Faris]] ending, Okabe's meddling with time results in a world line where he knows none of his friends except for her, who he's been in a long-term relationship with. Of course, since Reading Steiner only lets him remember his experiences on the ''previous'' world line, he has no recollection of this. [[spoiler:While this distresses Faris once she realizes he isn't play-acting as usual, they do agree to work towards starting a new relationship.]]
* AwesomeMcCoolName: His 'true name' of Hououin Kyouma is supposed to be ridiculously cool, though the point is that anyone over fourteen would giggle to hear it. The characters forming it mean Phoenix Temple Madness of Truth.
* BadassLabcoat: Deliberately attempts to invoke this trope with his wardrobe choices. Sometimes it even works. He's particularly thrilled when Kurisu starts wearing the one he bought for Daru that went unused.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Kurisu.
* BeneathTheMask: As noted in ObfuscatingInsanity below, Okabe tends to retreat behind his MadScientist persona when he's troubled, especially in front of Mayuri, but in Luka and Faris' routes he upsets them by acting more normal than usual. When he acts like the person they know, they're much happier and he's much less stressed out. Kurisu, in a different take, appreciates it most when he acts like Okabe Rintarou and will flat out ask him his opinion as Okabe and not Hououin, though the opinions are generally identical.
* BigBrotherInstinct: As Okabe admits early on, he basically adopted the Hououin Kyouma personality because he was worried about how flighty Mayuri is.
* BigThinShortTrio: He's the Thin of the original trio, with Daru being the Big and Mayuri being Short.
* BreakTheHaughty: While he's a genuinely good person whose mad scientist nonsense he invokes are explainable as he used it for Mayuri to help [[spoiler: snapped out of her grief over her grandmother's death.]] Okabe subconsciously turned it into his inflated ego over the years which bites him in his ass after he creates a small time machine from a phonewave with his labmemes together and plans to disclose it to the whole world. [[spoiler:SERN tracked them down in their apartment by hiring Rounders to do so, one of them, Moeka pretended to be one of Okabe's lab members as a mole and has them under the organization as their hostages with the exception of Mayuri whom she murders her in cold blood. Okabe escapes from their grasp and uses the time leap function of the machine to attempt to rescue Mayuri from her countless deaths which can't be averted since he's in the Alpha worldline. He finally learns from his mistakes as Suzuha reveals herself as John Titor points out the main cause of Mayuri's deaths and decided to undo all of the D-mails that he caused to save Mayuri but having also to sacrifice Kurisu's life as well which however can be averted thanks to his future self's NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech]]
* BreakThemByTalking: In the final arc before the True End begins, Okabe has to [[spoiler:undo the last D-mail, the one that Moeka sent]]. However, he doesn't know what mail he needs to send to do it. To get that information, he [[spoiler:forces Moeka to break by telling her how blatantly she's been abandoned in a way she can't fully deny]]. Oddly enough, though, this actually ends up being better for her psychologically. [[spoiler:Until she gets killed anyway, that is.]]
* CatchPhrase: "This is the choice of Steins Gate!", "El Psy Kongroo", among others.
* CelibateEccentricGenius: Okabe will have you know that he, like the great Sir Isaac Newton, is a virgin ''entirely'' by choice and [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial not at all out of]] [[NerdsAreVirgins social awkwardness or inexperience]].
* ChangeTheUncomfortableSubject: This is a character tic of his. Whenever confronted with an awkward or difficult question, Okabe would play up his Kyouma personality, or segue into a different topic to talk his way out of the problem. It becomes less effective as the series goes on and Kurisu and Daru start wising up to his antics.
* CharacterDevelopment: He starts out a somewhat {{Tsundere}} dork, but around the 13th he has to start growing up and becomes by turns rather clinical, depressed and frantic. By the very end he's found a happy (well, [[TheWoobie sort of]]) medium between these two points.
* ChickMagnet: Basically every female Labmem sans Suzuha is attracted to him in one way or another, and Luka counts as a "chick" as well under specific circumstances. While most of these romantic options are explored in the original game, Moeka's attraction to Okabe only becomes apparent in the ''My Darling's Embrace'' spin-off, where they become an official couple at the conclusion of her route.
** ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'' further adds Maho to the roster.
* ChildhoodFriends: He has been close friends with Mayuri since childhood. Mayuri is actually the one responsible for his MadScientist schtick: When she was depressed after the death of her grandmother and seemed to be wasting away, Okabe began to act cartoonishly and treat her as his 'hostage' to make her move on. Later in the story, when forced to choose between [[spoiler:the woman he loves and his little sister figure, he undergoes a sort of breakdown and is eventually compelled to save Mayuri anyway.]]
* {{Chuunibyou}}: Styles himself as a great and evil mad scientist fighting against a vague but presumably evil Organization. Mayuri isn't his friend, she's his hostage. And absolutely everything must be named in a foreign language or it just wouldn't feel right. His inner monologue admits that it's all a load of crap, but whatever, he's having fun. [[spoiler:It is eventually revealed that he isn't keeping up the charade for his own sake, but rather because it entertains Mayuri and keeps her mind off her immense grief over the passing of her grandmother. In chapter 10, when he finds Mayuri at her grandmother's grave, Okabe remembers that years ago when her grandmother passed away, she was standing in front of her grave grieving most of the time and unable to move on which the young Okabe decides to create his second personality inspired from a TV show about a mad scientist taking a hostage to help Mayuri cope with her death out of strong bonds as childhood friends. also, the Organization he is fighting against? It is real, in the form of SERN. Or rather, the Committee of 300 using SERN as a face to hide their true organization.]]
* CloudCuckoolander: He's a very goofy and over-the-top MadScientist who's too immature for his own good.
* ColdBloodedTorture: Both [[spoiler:SERN, in the Alpha world line, and [[VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero Stratfor]], in the Beta world line, subject him to this. Stratfor's torture actually puts him in a coma for 11 years, hence his "death" in 2025]]. Poor guy just can't catch a break.
* ConspiracyTheorist: He believes that there is a mysterious "Organization" that rules over humanity from the shadows, and that he is one of the few fighting against it. Naturally, over the course of the story he happens to stumble upon an ''actual'' global conspiracy (by [[spoiler:SERN, the European Research institute that built the Large Hadron Collider to produce micro black holes and use TimeTravel to enslave the rest of the human race). The real people pulling the strings behind them are the Committee of 300.]]
* {{Crossover}}:
** Okabe ends up meeting with Aoi Sena from ''VisualNovel/ChaosHead'' in a one shot story called "Chaos;Gate", as he was in Shibuya during the time of that entry's narrative.
** [[spoiler:He also appears in ''Robotics;Notes [=DaSH=]''.]]
* CrotchGrabSexCheck: How he confirms Luka has become a girl after the latter uses a D-mail to be born as a girl. He does it again after entering into a new Delta world line where he and Luka were a couple. Kurisu ends up clocking him over the head with a large book both times.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: In one ending, [[spoiler:he is tortured to death by SERN operatives in 2025.]]
* ADateWithRosiePalms: In the VN, he was tempted to do so after accidentally seeing Mayuri and Kurisu in the shower.
* DeclarationOfProtection: Swore to keep Mayuri safe and happy.
* DespairEventHorizon: Breaks down crying after countless failed time-leaps in order to [[spoiler:save Mayuri and is in such a state of desperation that he actually [[DrivenToSuicide attempts suicide]]. Of course, YouCantFightFate, and Mayuri's relief after saving him and finally being 'useful' only sends him further into despair.]]
* {{Determinator}}: He keeps putting himself through hell [[spoiler:to save Mayuri]], made worse by the fact that all the damage he does is known only by him. [[spoiler:He keeps it together until he has to sacrifice Kurisu to save Mayuri at which he grinds to a halt and completes his breakdown.]]
** [[spoiler:And then his future self eventually jumps back from that, using his failure to save Kurisu as motivation to perfect the time machine so that his past self could save her.]]
** In ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'', we get to see exactly what Future Okabe had to do to reach that point, which involved [[spoiler:time-leaping thousands of times to get from 2036 back to 2011, to save Mayuri and Suzuha and ensuring they enact Operation Skuld.]]
* DoNotCallMePaul: "[[InsistentTerminology Call me Hououin Kyouma!]]"
* EvilLaugh: As befitting a MadScientist, he has a particularly loud evil laugh.
* {{Expy}}: Dub-only, but J Michael Tatum's performance reinterprets his {{Chuunibyou}} antics and speech patterns to the point that he's basically a human version of [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]].
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:In VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero, 2036 Daru reveals to Okabe that he tricked the world into believing Okabe died in 2025 and hid his body until he woke up or could be woken up.]]
* TheFatalist: In ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'', without a future Okabe to explain how to save Kurisu, Okabe completely gives up on trying to change the past. He's convinced that no matter what he does, there's nothing he can do to defy fate and even if he does so, he would be risking going back to the Alpha timeline where he loses Mayuri. It takes Okabe facing that the Beta timeline will also end in tragedy for him to aim for Steins Gate timeline.
* ForcefulKiss: In order to stop [[spoiler:Moeka from screaming for help]] he forcefully kisses her until she gives up.
* FreakOut: After the 13th, his personality takes a sharp and unhealthy turn for the worse as he struggles to [[spoiler:avert Mayuri's death]]. After everything is said and done, he doesn't quite go back to normal, but he gets close. Depending on your ending, that is.
* FutureBadass: In the future Alpha timeline, he leads an international terrorist group against SERN. [[spoiler:In the Beta timeline, he creates an advanced version of the original Alpha timeline time machine.]]
* TheGadfly: He loves picking on Kurisu, usually by using nicknames that he knows she hates.
* GeekPhysique: Okabe is scrawny and unathletic. Even climbing up a few staircases is enough to exhaust him.
* TheGift: He has an ability he calls the Reading Steiner that allows him [[RippleEffectProofMemory to have continuous memories even when the past changes]]. While it's not entirely exclusive to him, it's much stronger for him than anyone else. It's implied that it came about as a result of a childhood fever that nearly killed him.
* GiverOfLameNames: It's noted that his naming sense is terrible, to the point the others flat out veto his proposed names for what eventually becomes the D-Mail.
* AGodAmI: Played straight in Suzuha's ending, and he often refers to his {{Sadistic Choice}}s as playing God. [[spoiler:Whenever he gives up, he usually mentions that [[AGodIAmNot he's tired of acting like God]].]]
* GoodIsNotSoft: He might be a purported mad scientist but he does consider his labmems his true friends. However, when [[spoiler:Moeka, was working for SERN all along, murders Mayuri in cold blood in front of him which he has to avert by time leaping back in time and undo all of the D-mails he sent which Moeka also done. As he confronts her at her apartment, he doesn't hesitate to give her a right hook punch to her face not only to let go of her phone she's gripping to undo the d-mail for her but in retaliation for playing the role in Mayuri's death.]]
* GratuitousEnglish:
** Styles himself a "Mad Scientist", spoken as is, following the Steins;Gate's choice. Kurisu notes in utter disbelief that the latter is actually half German. And on that note, one shouldn't forget "Christina", "Celeb Seventeen", and the myriad nicknames he cooks up for Kurisu throughout the series.
** On several occasions, mostly in the anime, where he's forced to speak English to foreigners. His "English" is so hilariously broken that the listener either ends up replying in Japanese anyway, or taking his "Mad Scientist" spiel too seriously and having him detained.
--->'''Rintaro:''' ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bf0aYBk0OQ Hey Mister, I'm Mad Scientist! It's so cooooool! Sonuvabitch]]...''
* GratuitousForeignLanguage: His other habit is to come up with Nordic mythology-themed names for his Operations at the drop of a hat. [[GiverOfLameNames Though seemingly ridiculous and random at first]], some of them do [[MeaningfulName make sense in hindsight]], however.
* GuileHero: Okabe's not a fighter by nature, so he relies on his wits and his inventions to get himself out of sticky situations.
* TheHeckler: Attends Dr. Nakabachi's and Kurisu's speeches at the beginning of the story and upon hearing something he doesn't like instantly begins heckling them. The difference between the two is obvious: His objections to the former are completely valid and is nearly escorted out before Kurisu pulls him aside, and the latter knows exactly what she's talking about, stops someone from removing him and turns it back around on him to make him look like a complete fool.
* TheHero: He is the main character, after all. And he's ultimately a good-hearted young man, albeit extremely hammy and eccentric.
* HeroesWantRedheads: Canonically (in the true end and Steins;Gate 0), he's the main hero and he falls for the redheaded Kurisu.
* HeroicBSOD: In the ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'' timeline, Okabe suffers a serious breakdown after he fails save to Kurisu and ends up accidentally killing her. He doesn't fully recover from it for a good portion of the game, literally having PTSD from the events of the previous game.
* HesBack: In ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'', [[spoiler:Hououin Kyouma makes his epic return after Okabe comes back from the BadFuture of the Beta timeline. And damn, it's awesome.]]
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: In universe: In one future timeline he's known as a terrorist against the SERN regime. It's even true, but the terrorists are basically the good guys.
* HitMeDammit:
** Okabe asks Suzuha to hit him for giving up in The Promised Rinascimento of ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero''.
** In the anime, he asks Daru to punch him [[spoiler:because that's what he needed to finally snap out of his funk and go back to being Hououin Kyouma.]]
* HonoraryUncle: In the Beta timeline, [[spoiler:Suzuha]] calls him Uncle since [[spoiler:this Suzuha did meet him in the future, along with her father Daru.]]
* HypocriticalHumor:
** He complains about how everyone calls him Okabe or Okarin instead of Hououin Kyouma like he'd prefer, but there's essentially nobody he calls by their proper names. He calls Kurisu in particular about half a dozen things that all irritate her rather than her actual name.
** After Okabe begins heckling her during the seminar, she quickly recovers and then addresses all stupid questions and reasons why time travel won't work to him directly. He thinks it's really rude and gets defensive.
** He's rather annoyed by the Viral Attackers "Black Peacock" shtick, despite his own [[{{Chuunibyou}} delusions]].
* IconicItem: His signature red flip phone. It's popular enough to warrant several manufacturers producing replica kits or custom cases to give normal phones the same look. He ditches it in ''0'' for a smart phone, however.
* ILetGwenStacyDie: ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'' has Okabe mourning and blaming himself for Kurisu's death in the Beta timeline, especially after his attempt to save her resulted in him killing her by accident.
* ImprobablyHighIQ: Okabe claims to have an IQ of a possible but ''very'' unlikely 170 - whether he's just making it up or not is up for debate, as he has demonstrated prodigious intelligence in several fields of science.
* ImStandingRightHere: One of his more frequent responses to Kurisu playfully and deliberately calling him names and such to the other labmems while he's standing right in front of her.
* InnocentlyInsensitive:
** He's emotionally dense and can piss people off even when he's not trying to, such as picking at Kurisu's statement about how she hasn't seen her father in years and saying Luka is a guy when he's already born as a girl in some worldlines when it already occurred causing her to break into tears.
** If you skip one of Mayuri's phone calls, he goes and talks to Moeka instead. Irritated at her sending him mails instead of talking even when face to face, he finally realizes that she's too socially awkward to speak, though he chalks it up to being scared of a super mad scientist specifically.
** Played more seriously in a scene of ''0''. Okabe's enraged bursting after [[spoiler:finding out that Daru and Maho had already remade the Time Leap Machine]] was accidentally overheard by the already saddened Mayuri just outside the lab, not to mention that his outbursts also inadvertently offended everyone's attempts to help Okabe. It takes Daru to punch him in the face and some verbal beatdowns from Maho to get Okabe calmed down.
* InSeriesNickname: Refers to himself as "Hououin Kyouma", though the only one to play along seriously is Faris. Mayuri and Daru call him "Okarin".
* InsistentTerminology: No matter the situation, no matter how much it is tweaked, the name of the [=PhoneWave=] (a cellphone connected to a microwave that can send mails to the past) remains "subject to change" to the end.
* {{Irony}}: Despite him fancying himself as a MadScientist whose crazy inventions will throw the world into utter chaos, Okabe spends most of the series trying to thwart the schemes of ''actual'' mad scientists and other evil-doers, thus averting the chaotic BadFuture and bringing about an era of peace through reaching the Steins Gate worldline, instead.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Very insensitive, arrogant, and slightly rude, but he's a good guy. He definitely likes to act hammy, kinda pretends to be 'evil', and bickers constantly with Kurisu and Faris, though the latter doesn't seem aware that that's how he views the situation. However, he's actually pretty concerned about Mayuri and Kurisu and even [[spoiler:forgives Moeka for murdering Mayuri]] after he understands the situation a little better.
* LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine: The uniform reserved for those who devote their lives to ''[[ForScience SCIENCE!]]'' He's thrilled when Kurisu begins using the other labcoat he got: Daru refuses to wear it.
* LargeHam: When he's acting out his Hououin Kyouma persona he tends to be [[NoIndoorVoice very loud]] and theatrical. When Okabe himself shines through, he's inclined towards gloominess and is actually fairly mellow.
* LastNameBasis: His given name, Rintarou, is almost never spoken by anyone. Daru and Mayuri call him Okarin and Faris calls him Kyouma, but not even the impolite Kurisu uses his first name. In a drama CD that takes place on a gamma worldline, Faris calls him Rintarou.
* LetThemDieHappy: In Mayuri and Kurisu's ending [[spoiler:he forgives Moeka so that she can die in peace]]. Even after this is inevitably undone by the course of the plot, he still keeps his word. [[spoiler:She's even invited to the club in the epilogue.]]
* LikeBrotherAndSister: He views Mayuri as a little sister figure and "precious thing to protect", though Mayuri herself seems to hover somewhere between utter devotion and a crush.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Mayuri is very dependent on Okabe after the death of her grandmother, but is beginning to feel like she's a burden on him. She also fails to realize that she's genuinely important to him and not just a thing to be taken care of. While this is mostly a worry of Mayuri's, very early on it does occur to him that perhaps the mad scientist game has kept her from growing up. Not that he'd say it in those terms, though.
* LoonWithAHeartOfGold: He's ultimately good-natured, but he's undoubtedly a hammy, eccentric MadScientist.
* LoopholeAbuse: The most notable example is him [[spoiler:deceiving his past self using a clever loophole devised by his future self.]]
* LoveEpiphany: When [[spoiler:Kurisu encourages him to delete the first D-mail even if that means she has to die]], Okabe realizes he is in love with Kurisu.
* MadScientist: He [[{{Chuunibyou}} views himself]] as a great mad scientist, the scope of which is basically renting out a tiny apartment, calling it a lab and using it as a clubroom where he occasionally builds weird gadgets and proclaims Mayuri to be his hostage. This ridiculous persona is actually [[spoiler:inspired by a television show that he and Mayuri used to watch during their childhood. Emulating this, he claims Mayuri to be his "hostage", to help her cope with her immense grief over her grandmother's death. It seems to be working fine and well, but after witnessing Mayuri's deaths multiple times due to the Alpha worldline convergence imposed on her, he stopped using it.]]
* ManChild: Often behaves like a melodramatic, socially inept and excitable child despite being age 18.
* MeaningfulName / PunnyName: Very early in the visual novel, Okabe mentions that he dislikes his real name, because it sounds like 'that elf boy's blue pipe thing', referring to the famous ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]''. What better way to signal to the audience that this is a story about time travel, than by naming the protagonist after a famous device used for such?
* MistakenForPedophile: Due to his... [[{{Chuunibyou}} questionable]] personality and [[LargeHam propensity for grandstanding]], young Nae is rightfully weirded out by him, which leads to Mr. Braun assuming he's up to no good with his little daughter and threatening to either busting his head in, or raising his rent.
* MistakenForRomance: A lot of people think he's dating Mayuri, but Okabe will correct them. [[LikeBrotherAndSister She's his little sister]] [[{{Protectorate}} and something to protect,]] not his girlfriend.
* MourningClothes: He spends most of ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'' dressed in black as he's still mourning Kurisu's death.
* MyGreatestFailure: [[spoiler:Accidentally murdering Kurisu and never regaining the motivation to save her. He manages to make up for this by sending a message to his past self to do what he could not and save her life.]]
* MyGreatestSecondChance: [[spoiler:After prioritizing Mayuri's survival over Kurisu's, Okabe doesn't forgive himself. But when Suzuha comes from the future saying she'll help him save Kurisu, he takes the chance without opportunity.]]
* NerdsAreVirgins: Nor has he had a girlfriend in his life. [[spoiler:He [[SexyDiscretionShot may]] have lost it in Faris's ending, though.]]
* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
** Allowing others to make D-mails causes [[spoiler:Mayuri's repeated deaths.]]
** The True Ending reveals that [[spoiler:his arguing with Kurisu causes her father to snap and murder her.]]
* TheNicknamer: Enjoys giving other people nicknames based on their deeds, except Mayuri, who already coined her own nickname "Mayushii☆" and Faris, who doesn't use her real name anyway.
** Daru's real name is Itaru, though it's rarely mentioned [[spoiler:apart from when the origin of 'John Titor' is discussed to be based upon a multilingual pun by translating his name into English.]]
** Kurisu gets the most nicknames: The Zombie for apparently coming back to life, Christina just to annoy her by getting her name ''almost'' right, Assistant to inflate his own ego as a MadScientist and a handful of others like Celeb Seventeen. Eventually he admits that he's too nervous to actually use her name.
** Moeka is Shining Finger thanks to her ridiculous typing speed.
** Luka is Lukako, which is putting a feminine ending on an [[GenderBlenderName ambiguous]] name that belongs to a feminine boy.
** Suzuha becomes the Working Warrior after she irritably tells Mr. Braun that she's a warrior, apparently unaware that this makes her stand out juuuust a little.
** Mr. Braun is itself yet another nickname to the landlord, Tennouji. His daughter Nae becomes Sister Braun. Nae doesn't really get why Okabe calls her father that. He also calls her Chipmunk sometimes.
* NobodyCallsMeChicken: Okabe is generally fine with whatever unflattering adjective people call him, if it's not coming out of Kurisu's mouth. However, he strongly dislikes being called a "chicken", "coward" or anything in that neighborhood.
* NoIndoorVoice: [[LargeHam HOUOUIN KYOUMA!]]
* NoSocialSkills: He's rather oblivious to how people are feeling a lot of the time, even when the spell it out for him. When he does notice tension he generally tries and fails to defuse it by going into his Hououin Kyouma shtick.
* NotHimself: Due to the effects of Reading Steiner, Okabe is able to retain his mind and personality regardless of which worldline he ends up in. This has the added effect of making himself look ''very'' out of character to those who are used to the way his counterparts behaved. Of particular note is during the Gamma worldline where "Okabe", who is supposed to be cold to and detached from everyone who knew him, even Mayuri, suddenly becoming considerate and kind once the "Prime" Okabe took over.
* NotSoStoic: Normally, Okabe would put up a calm and cool exterior, though if panicked or placed in an awkward situation he would start screaming in a very uncharacteristic high-pitched voice.
* ObfuscatingInsanity: When the plot takes a turn for the depressing, Okabe occasionally hides his true thoughts, goals and emotions by using his mad scientist schtick.
* ObliviousToLove: He's pretty dense when it comes to others feelings and love isn't an exception. [[spoiler:Faris and Luka are]] unable to get through to him without being really blunt about it. The latter came as a particular shock, causing quite a crash.
* OfficialCouple: After a lot of BelligerentSexualTension and WillTheyOrWontThey, there's finally a mutual acknowledgment near the end [[spoiler:before Kurisu dies.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** When he, for once, calls Kurisu by her real name, she immediately picks up on the fact that something bad is happening.
** Conversely, during ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'', because he's used the Kyouma personality so long some characters have trouble taking him seriously when he's actually trying to be serious.
* PermaStubble: Rather than looking [[{{Bishonen}} pretty]], he has a rather unshaven, sloppy appearance emphasized by his perpetual scraggly face.
* PhraseCatcher: "[[HypocriticalHumor You're the last person I want to hear that from!]]"
* PlatonicLifePartners: With Mayuri. They have known each other nearly all their lives, are like family to each other and one of Okabe's main motivations is to protect her at all costs. This comes to a head when Okabe finds himself being forced to choose [[spoiler:whether to save his little sister figure or his love interest.]]
* PolitenessJudo: Not wanting to carry a heavy computer back to the clubroom and hearing Kurisu's refusal to help, he gestures to Luka to get him to offer to help. Once Luka does, he politely refuses and says he'll do it all on his own while Luka repeats his offer until Kurisu hesitantly offers to help out too, at which point Okabe instantly agrees, much to her surprise and irritation.
* PornStash: He has one on his computer, as far as the ''Hiyoku Renri no Darling'' spin-off goes. Okabe went to the lengths of scanning and saving all of his NSFW materials in an encrypted folder specifically to prevent the scenario where someone barges into his room and finding this, which is to say Mayuri. Not that that stops Mayuri from finding the stuff he didn't scan yet, anyhow.
* ProperlyParanoid:
** Though deep down he's not serious, eventually he really is being monitored by an evil organization. [[spoiler:One that assassinates his best friend followed by kidnapping and enslaving his love interest, forcing her to work on time travel for them.]]
** At the beginning, after a huge satellite suddenly appears on the rooftop, Okabe wonders if the security guard woman trying to get people back to the conference is trying to cover up the apparent device. [[spoiler:It's beta line Suzuha, though this doesn't become clear until much later. The future of himself is also in there with her.]]
* ProudToBeAGeek: Okabe makes no effort to hide his questionable hobbies and passion for bizarre scientific endeavors. In fact, he plays them up in an effort to hide his true, socially awkward self.
* RebelLeader: In the future Alpha timeline, Okabe founded and headed the [[LaResistance resistance forces]] against SERN alongside Daru. Averted horribly in the Gamma world line where he's a willing member of SERN and the Rounders instead, and rules the dystopic Japan as a tyrant.
* RefusalOfTheCall: He spends most of ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'' trying to stay away from time travel stuff and refusing to prevent the BadFuture because he's way too traumatized by having seen both Mayuri and Kurisu die because of time travel.
* RetGone: In the movie, the side effects of his time traveling begin to catch up with him.
* RippleEffectProofMemory: His "Reading Steiner" ability gives him a continuity of consciousness whenever the world is changed, [[PowerAtAPrice but this means he has no idea how the current world works after changing the timeline]]. Thus, from the perspective of everyone else, Okabe just seems to spontaneously panic over the supposed disappearance of people that were never there or forgetting that Luka is and always was a girl. These tend not to go well for him, especially in the case regarding Luka.
* SadisticChoice: Fate gives him one towards the end of the series, when he's forced to choose between [[spoiler:condemning Kurisu or Mayuri to death. Thankfully, a [[TakeAThirdOption third option]] presents itself, but only after he's been forced to make the choice once.]]
* SanitySlippage: In the ending for [[spoiler:Amane Suzuha]] his mind starts to run ragged from [[spoiler:the sheer repetition]] and only [[spoiler:Amane herself]] agreeing on a way out helps him. [[spoiler:He goes from rescuing Daru from a truck to simply observing Daru nearly get run over with an intense level of indifference to contemplating incredible abuses with just a few repetitions, which horrifies him.]]
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Despite his baritone voice, Okabe is prone to high-pitched shrieking when he's startled, or when [[TheDreaded faced with]] [[CrankyLandlord Mr. Braun]]. The ''Hiyoku Renri no Darling'' spin-off provides plenty of these moments.
* SelfServingMemory
** After he and Kurisu finishing lugging a heavy computer back to the lab, he inwardly complains about how often she asked to take breaks and then out loud complains about her, after which she retorts that he asked to rest five times himself.
** More seriously, when Moeka [[spoiler:first assaults the lab and kills Mayuri]] he notices that she's upset, hesitant and shaking. As time goes on he slowly forgets this until in chapter 8 he remembers her being completely calm. Moeka is never like that [[spoiler:so presumably he's just trying to vilify her in his head in case he has to kill her.]]
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend:
** He has this with Kurisu, mostly from the Lab Members, who just assume that they have a thing for each other. Both Okabe and Kurisu are in denial about it.
** He also shares this dynamic with Mayuri in her routes.
* ShootTheDog: When having to fix events so that [[spoiler:Mayuri doesn't die]] he has to undo the happiness these events brought. Usually right in front of the person in question, who know what he's doing. [[spoiler:He has to sacrifice Amane's peace of mind and happiness, Faris' father, Luka's chance to live as the gender he identifies with, and finally Kurisu herself.]]
* ShroudedInMyth: In the future, Okabe is a legendary terrorist, but apparently not much about him is known. [[spoiler:This leads to Suzuha taking Okabe's nonsense utterly seriously in the present since she doesn't know that Okabe was actually just some dorky university student in 2010. It all sounds about right to her, after all.]]
* SmarterThanYouLook: He seems like an idiot, especially early on, but as the story progresses it turns out he has a really intuitive way of understanding things and finds it easy to explain them in simple terms. In the present, he and Kurisu handle the bulk of the theoretical work while Daru handles tech stuff. In the future, he even invents [[spoiler:a full time machine and a device to measure temporal deviations]]. Maybe his claims about his IQ were true after all.
* StableTimeLoop: [[spoiler:His Hououin Kyouma persona is created through one in the movie. Kurisu told a young Okabe about Hououin Kyouma, and that story inspired Okabe.]]
* StarCrossedLovers: With Kurisu. [[spoiler:In one timeline she dies just after meeting him and in the other they end up on opposing sides of global conflict]]. The only way for it to work [[spoiler:is to find the Steins Gate choice and remove both bad timelines from the equation.]]
* StepfordSmiler: In the second half of the story he often hides what he's feeling behind his normal LargeHam attitude.
* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: He quietly leaves the rooftop as ordered but definitely not because he was scared or anything.
* TakingTheBullet: One meant for Luka. This being the Gamma Okabe, who's on the cusp of his FaceHeelTurn, it's quite something.
* ThisIsForEmphasisBitch: Loudly and melodramatically screams out bitch after accusing Kurisu of various vague crimes. Of course, it sounds absolutely ridiculous and unnatural.
* TookALevelInBadass: Okabe starts off as being an intelligent, but goofy guy roleplaying as a mad scientist. But as the story progresses, his determination to save Mayuri leads him to tracking down and beating [[spoiler:Moeka - a trained killer - both physically and [[BreakThemByTalking emotionally]]]]. By the end of the story [[spoiler:and with a pep talk from his future self]], he manages to find a way to TrickedOutTime [[spoiler:which involves stabbing himself to convince his past self that Makise Kurisu was murdered]] and find the Steins;Gate world line.
** This is taken even further in ''VisualNovel/SteinsGateZero'', which examines what happens in the Beta world line, where Okabe doesn't go back and save Kurisu. He may be fraught with fear, regret, and depression, but thanks to his experience with saving Mayuri, he is ''far'' more savvy at noticing and handling dangerous situations. The differences between how he reacts to being held up at gunpoint in the first series and the second are very telling.
** He's all too aware that [[spoiler:Tennouji and Moeka]] are Rounders. But instead of avoiding and fearing them, he ''recruits them'' to help defend the lab and figure out the mystery of Kagari's past.
** After he gets accidentally sent to the [[spoiler:BadFuture of 2036, he time-leaps thousands of times to get back to 2011]]. This would have been a grueling process under normal circumstances, but he'd been avoiding time travel for almost an entire year by that point.
** This process ends up causing him to revert back to his old [[HesBack Hououin Kyouma persona]]. Once he does, he becomes much, ''much'' more competent and proactive. In the anime, he utterly derails [[spoiler:Leskinen's]] master plan by preventing him from stealing Amadeus, using Faris's Akihabara connections to flush out the Stratfor operatives at the Radio Kaikan, convincing [[spoiler:Kagari to trust him]], having [[spoiler:both her ''and'' Moeka - two of his deadliest former enemies - as his backup]] in the final showdown, and ensuring [[spoiler:Mayuri and Suzuha make it to the past]]. When the smoke clears and he knows [[spoiler:the time machine has left]], he starts cackling and gives [[spoiler:Leskinen and the Stratfor operatives]] one of the most epic speeches in the series. This is the moment when Okabe stops pretending to be Hououin Kyouma, and truly ''becomes'' him. [[spoiler:Leskinen]] may be a brilliant and ruthless scientist, but he's no match for Hououin Kyouma, a ''mad'' scientist.
-->'''Hououin Kyouma:''' Listen well, you fools! Schrödinger's box has opened! The time machine you bastards sought to obtain no longer exists! It has gone through space-time and has completely disappeared! Writhe with anguish and tremble in fear! I, Hououin Kyouma... Against you fools and even fate, I will prevail! No matter what, I will find Steins Gate! That... is ''my'' choice!"
** On top of all this, he masterminds Operation Skuld and the events needed to make it happen, and eventually completes a time machine to [[spoiler:save Mayuri and Suzuha from being stranded in 18000 BC]]. The final scene in the anime has him show up and walk toward them with his hands shoved into his lab coat, bathed in a PillarOfLight, with a huge GrinOfAudacity on his face. Now, ''that'' is Hououin Kyouma.
* TrademarkFavoriteDrink: He considers Dr. Pepper to be the drink of ''science!''
* ATragedyOfImpulsiveness: The opening of the story is a FlashForward of Okabe cursing himself out for repeatedly acting without thinking with something as dangerous as time travel. He keeps sending D-Mails back even after the first big change caused by Moeka makes him realize that the world can change in massive and unexpected ways from the smallest of actions. After this, he allows the past to be changed three more times, each time vastly altering who is around him and how close he is to ensuring Suzuha's BadFuture.
* {{Troll}}: Occasionally pulls stunts that freak out the other Lab Members [[ItAmusedMe just for laughs]], usually with Kurisu as the main target. Special mention goes to the Drama CD where he pretends to have used the D-Mail to make himself a completely normal person.
* {{Tsundere}}: He hides behind his eccentricities when he's being nice to people because he's kind of awkward. He's not very subtle about it either. Even his internal monologue refuses to admit that he likes anyone. For example, the only time he notes that Kurisu is attractive is their first meeting when he's baffled as to why she's even talking to him. Also, his heart is beating fast from the sense of danger and ''no other reason,'' and that's a fact.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: It is because of his and Daru's accidental invention of a time machine in the form of the [=PhoneWave=] (name subject to change), that SERN (and later Stratfor) started targeting him and the Labmems for it, bringing about a multi-party conflict that gradually snowballs into World War 3 and eventually a BadFuture.
* WeirdnessMagnet: Lampshaded by many characters in both the original visual novel and ''0''. Okabe with his own wacky personality seems to have a knack for attracting equally-unusual characters to his lab, from perverted {{Otaku}} hackers, to [[TheDitz ditzy]] airheads, to a {{Chuunibyou}} CatGirl {{Ojou}}, and so on.
* WhatYouAreInTheDark:
** Kurisu suggests that if [[spoiler:Mayuri's life is at stake]] and time travel will revert any damages he causes, he could simply physically force Rukako to tell him her mother's old pager number or [[spoiler:kill Moeka to take her phone]]. He refuses. [[spoiler:This is one thing that sets him apart from Dr. Nakabachi, who was intending to undo the murder of his daughter with time travel if it came to it since he figured it wouldn't really matter in the larger scheme of things.]]
** Brought to a head in Suzuha's ending, where his thoughts get ''very'' dark, knowing that there's no way he can be punished for his crimes. Despite going through massive SanitySlippage (implied to partially damage from the Time Loop Machine) he never actually does anything wrong.
* WouldHitAGirl: [[spoiler:Despite his initial reluctance, when he deems it necessary he attacks Moeka, pins her and nearly kills her in order to take her phone and try to save Mayuri. However, eventually he's forced to admit that he needs to solve this problem with diplomacy rather than force and decides to break her by telling her she'll commit suicide in a few days because she thinks FB abandoned her.]]
* YourDaysAreNumbered: In the Alpha and Beta lines he's destined to die in 2025, not a day earlier or later. Until then he can't be killed, however, and it's implied that he can't be successfully detained for long in the Alpha line. If he were to be captured before his time, he couldn't fulfill his destiny of being an infamous terrorist. [[spoiler:Eventually, he escapes both lines and manages to reach the Steins;Gate choice to reach a third world where SERN does not take over, there is no nuclear war and Kurisu survives. His ultimate fate in this line is unknown, but this will at least be a far less dangerous world for him than the other two.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Makise Kurisu]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kurisu_sg.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[[labelnote: Click to see her in the anime.]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/875eaa8c_c174_495e_86b1_1f87b9f8a9e3.jpeg[[/labelnote]]]]

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AsamiImai (JP), Creator/TrinaNishimura (EN), Camila Vázquez (LA)
-> '''Portrayed by:''' Erika Tonooka (stage)

Kurisu is an 18-year-old TeenGenius apparently killed at the very beginning of the story, only to appear both alive and confused at Okabe's assertion that she's supposed to be dead. She becomes the fourth and final of the primary lab members and does a lot of the work on the time machine. Despite her excellent skills in physics, she's actually a neuroscientist. More than that, she's also a ClosetGeek and noted to be quite the blatant {{Tsundere}}.
----

* {{Meganekko}}: Her glasses help her look withdrawn and timid.

* StaticCharacter: She starts sweet, slow and a little ditzy and ends sweet, slow and a little ditzy.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: In the VN, he was tempted to do so after accidentaly seeing Mayuri and Kurisu in the shower.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: She has long pink hair. Very animesque, so she might be dyeing it considering the otherwise natural hair colors of the rest of the cast, in order to enhance her maid cafe persona. Although, consider fellow Science Adventure entries such as ''VisualNovel/ChaosHead'' and ''VisualNovel/ChaosChild'' which take place in the same world and country also have characters with unnatural hair colors (fellow Pink haired girls as well as blue ones abound), it's possible this is just her natural hair color.

* BaldOfAwesome: With his physique and shaved head, he's definitely designed to have a manly look.

* ShesGotLegs: What more proof do you need after tight [[WhoWearsShortShorts short shorts]] and black, form-fitting stockings?

* WhoWearsShortShorts: She wears a pair of black shorts with black stockings underneath.