Shimoyama

Shimoyama is a character that appeared only in the chapter "Pandora's Box" of Steins;Gate 0 Visual Novel and also in chapter 28 & 29 of the manga adaptation. In his brief appearance, he interacts with Yuki, Fubuki, and Okabe.

Appearance
Despite being well-built, Shimoyama is noted to be very short, only around 150 cm in height. He wears a military outfit with a protective helmet.

Personality
Shimoyama is a brave soldier who fights for his country hoping that the war will one day end. His determination leads him to want to know more about the mysteries of convergence, the new encephalitis, as well as the recent fake news and information leaks. When Okabe was getting in the car with Hammond, Shimoyama warned him that he would die if he went with them, even while knowing that saying so would get him killed.

Background
Nothing is known about his past, it can be assumed that he was personally involved to investigate the Future Gadgets Lab for the Time Machine and the cases of encephalitis that could be linked.

Plot
After meeting up with Okabe, he and his military colleagues were tasked with escorting all Future Gadget Lab members to the SDF in Okinawa, except Suzuha and Daru (reported missing). However, Okabe finds himself with him and Yuki and Nakase get on his van. Before leaving, it is Shimoyama who confesses to having put three of them in their van in order to question them.

Shimoyama asks Yuki if she knows the position of Itaru Hashida, to which she denies, though it is implied that she is lying. He then asks Okabe if he is aware of the activities that Hashida has done and if he was involved. Okabe, having no memories of these divergences, talks about his first future gadgets built together with Hashida trying not to be suspicious. He then asks Nakase about her physical the previous week, where she seemed to show symptoms of the new encephalitis, in addition to 10 other patients already verified in Japan. What all these people have in common, is having memories of a worldline in which the USSR no longer exists, Puchin being the president of Russia and Goribachelv existing. He then receives a call on his radio and alerts Okabe they they will be bringing him to Kaneda Air Base instead of Okinawa and that he will be handed over to the American forces.

Shimoyama, having no recollection of the previous worldlines, asserts that a world in which the USSR dissolves is completely utopian. After leaving and arriving at the airport, he begs Okabe to tell him the solution to resolve the war, but Okabe confesses that he does not know how to fix things. When Okabe is about to get into the vehicle with Hammond, Shimoyama warns him that he will die if he goes with them to America, but is then gunned down by the US forces.