Rintaro Okabe

Rintaro Okabe (岡部 倫太郎, Okabe Rintarō?), often nicknamed Okarin (オカリン) or Hououin Kyouma (鳳凰院凶真, Hououin Kyōma), is a self-proclaimed mad scientist and the main protagonist of the Steins;Gate series. He lives in Ikebukuro, where he was neighbours with his childhood friend Mayuri Shiina, but moved into the Future Gadget Lab over the summer of 2011.

Appearance
Okabe is a lanky young man, with a square jaw and bony cheeks. His short black hair is swept back. He has a small amount of stubble on his chin and cheeks. His eyes are brown.

Okabe often wears a long white lab coat, over a plain white T-shirt (light gray in the anime), and khaki-colored slacks. The breast pocket of his lab coat has a red pen sticking out, and around his slacks he wears a black military-style canvas belt, with a gold-colored buckle. He has dark socks and wears green slippers when inside the lab.

In Steins;Gate 0, he is more professionally-dressed compared to his Steins;Gate counterpart, donning a black dress-shirt, blazer, and slacks held by a black belt with a metal buckle. His hair is more neatly combed, likely to follow university standards. He no longer wears his signature lab coat.

In the game, Okabe appeared much "dustier". His face was pale and unshaven and he seemed a lot more "messy" in contrast to his relatively "clean" appearance in the anime.

In the bonus episodes, when he was portrayed in 'model-like' clothing and poses, he was perceived as attractive. Mayuri Shiina said that "we cannot imagine Okarin without white clothes", indicating the changes of Okabe's appearance from Steins;Gate to Steins;Gate 0.

In some drama CDs, he is depicted to cosplay with handsome outfits.

Personality
Okabe is initially portrayed to have a severe case of Chuunibyou with eccentric and sometimes tsundere tendencies. As a self-proclaimed mad scientist, he often makes grand and long-winded declarations instead of getting to the point which annoys Kurisu.

He usually gives off the impression of being delusional and paranoid. He would talk to himself on the phone especially when he can't get his way and engages in fits of maniacal laughter.

He likes to pose as an agent working against a certain "Organization" which he suggests is always after him, as he believes this gives him a cool and mysterious aura. (Ironically, this false organizations would materialize in the form of SERN, Stratfo, DURPA, and Russian intelligence.) Despite claiming to be wary of spies sent by the "Organization", his loud behavior and lack of filter during normal conversations led several "outsider" characters to unwittingly overhear and find out about the nature of the lab experiments. Over the course of the story, he is forced to "induct" several characters as lab members so he could share "confidential" information about the full extent of his experiments.

Being melodramatic, he likes to introduce himself by his "true name" "Hououin Kyouma" (鳳凰院凶真, Hououin Kyouma). People ignore this alias and instead address him by his actual name or by 'Okarin' (his nickname), much to his chagrin. He is slightly hypocritical as he calls Kurisu a number of names that irritate her to varying degrees. On the other hand, there are some who like his nicknames such as Luka Urushibara with the name "Lukako"(るかこ, Rukako), which affectionately alludes to his feminine nature.

Okabe is socially inept and has poor social skills that Kurisu considers the childlike Mayuri to be normal by comparison. Although very intelligent, Okabe is also shown to be quite naive; when Kurisu sent him a D-Mail saying that he was an airhead, he bought her claim that it was a compliment, only realizing later that it essentially meant his head was full of air.

He lacks management skills and has no sense of priority often rushing headlong into things and cutting off others when conversations do not go his way. This is very evident in his first time leap where instead of telling everyone clearly about what happened and what would happen and coming up with a good plan of action, he kept everyone else in the dark by brushing off their questions of concern and started running around the city to look for Mayuri. For someone prone to using others to achieve his goals, up until that point he has always kept others away and never confide in them when it matters the most.

He does not care about anyone he considers as an outsider and blatantly ignores the messages, opinions and feelings of others which he considers irrelevant to the experiment. Nevertheless, he is not hesitant to lend a helping hand to people whom he had never met, as shown in his first encounter with Luka.

He is very forceful when it comes to proving a point as seen when he assaulted Luka in order to prove that Luka was a boy dressed up as a girl. He is never seen as remorseful for this and instead declared his punishment as "torture". He also once reduced Kurisu to tears by yelling at her for calling him 'Okabe' instead of 'Hououin Kyouma' but was baffled at her reaction.

It is later revealed that his 'mad scientist' persona is largely a façade he wears in order to make life interesting for Mayuri as well as a coping mechanism for embarassing or stresssful situations and he tends to drop it if the situation becomes serious. There are several occasions that the anime displays what goes on in his mind, portraying him as rational and possessing better situational awareness. After witnessing Mayuri's multiple deaths, Okabe drops his Chuunibyou façade completely, revealing a serious side of himself he has not shown for the first half of the story as he works hard to undo all the previous D-mails. As a result of going through dozens of time-leaps, he becomes rather cynical, depressed and frantic. He develops a guilt complex, believing himself to be responsible for everything that's happening and frequently blaming himself whenever something goes wrong, even when he had no control over it or could not possibly have seen it coming. An example of this is when he blamed himself for stopping Suzuha from leaving during the night of the storm, which resulted in the time machine being damaged leading to Suzuha's amnesia and her failure in finding the IBN 5100, despite Suzuha's insistence that the entire ordeal was her own fault for stopping in 2010 to find her father.

In the Suzuha Ending (of the visual novel), Okabe's personality becomes exceedingly warped and twisted, as a result of his numerous time leaps. He begins to lose his understanding of "consequences", adopting a "do as you want" mindset without regard for others. With this mindset, he nearly let Daru get hit by a truck just to see what would happen and even considered assaulting Suzuha, who then acknowledges that his soul was close to breaking. Despite this, he soon returns to acting like his old self upon being confronted by Suzuha. He has seemed to develop feelings for Kurisu, along with Faris, Luka, and Mayuri, although these are determined depending on the route chosen in the visual novel. However, he openly displays his affections for Kurisu near the end of the story, regardless of the route chosen.

After Kurisu's death in Steins;Gate 0, he becomes even more miserable, to the point of experiencing panic attacks from references to her and having to actively consume anxiety medications. Okabe had gradually wallowed in his own misery with his guilt complex weighing down on him, refusing to perform any more time leaps even with the knowledge from Suzuha of World War III's inevitable occurrence within the Beta Attractor Field should he remain aloof to taking action. This is due to his belief that not only is he incapable of changing the future, but as Kurisu sacrificed her life for that worldline, trying to change it is dishonoring her sacrifice. He had also abandoned the identity of Hououin Kyouma in its entirety, choosing to live as a normal university student, to great discomfort within his circle of friends. Over the course of the story, he regains the strong desire to see the future of the Lab Mems through to the end and returned to his former conduct; a notable feat is him having time-leaped over 3000 times backwards from 2036 to ensure it.

In the movie Load Region of Déjà vu, Okabe possesses a strong distrust for time travel in general. After his experiences, he believes that no one can alter the past without unintended consequences and would rather be erased from the worldline completely over letting Kurisu use time travel to try and save him.

Relationships
While "Christina" might seem like a nickname he gave her simply to get under her skin, he actually gave it to her as a way to hide his embarrassment, as she, as a genius and successful scientist, was what he strived to become.
 * Makise Kurisu

Okabe and Kurisu initially have an antagonistic relationship, with both of them having issues with each other's high and mighty attitudes. After he expresses that he will help her with her problems as a lab member, the two have a much more amicable relationship, though they still bicker often. After Okabe becomes depressed following his numerous attempts to save Mayuri, Kurisu is the first one to notice and successfully cheers him up and he confesses his troubles to her. From this point on, she acts as his reliable aid in his quest to save Mayuri, being the one person he can consistently depend on regardless of the worldline. After realizing that he could only save Mayuri by letting Kurisu die, he entered another depression as he was unable to make the choice between the two and ends up time leaping repeatedly in his indecisiveness. Kurisu, again, manages to catch on to his actions and confronts him, leading him to realize that he loves her and he agrees to undo the final D-Mail because it is what she wanted. Later on, when confronted by Suzuha, Okabe had no interest in trying to change the future until he learned that he could save Kurisu. He was even willing to kill Dr. Nakabachi to save her life.

In Steins;Gate 0, her death is the main impetus for his depression, but his symptoms lessen after being able to speak to her once more in an Alpha worldline.

Mayuri is Okabe's valued childhood friend who he sees as more of a little sister due to her age. While he often seems dismissive of her, he actually cares for her a great deal and is willing to go to great lengths to preserve her happiness. Her death is what teaches Okabe about the dangers of their time machine and trying to prevent it is what motivates Okabe's actions for the latter half of the game. His desire to keep Mayuri alive leads him to erase the happiness of Faris and Luka and he only truly hesitates to save her when Kurisu's life is also at stake.
 * Mayuri Shiina

In Steins;Gate 0, he still shows great fear that changing the worldline would lead to Mayuri's death. When he first hears about Kagari Shiina from Daru, Okabe immediatly suspects that he is her father, showing that he can picture himself becoming romantically involved with Mayuri. In some Beta worldlines, he makes Mayuri's safety his only reason for living and dies saving her life. In the Alpha worldline shown in the story, choosing to save Kurisu over Mayuri is shown putting Okabe into an even deeper depression than he was in following Kurisu's death.

Daru and Okabe became friends in highschool. The two have a strong friendship with both being able to overlook the other's odd tendencies. Okabe has enough faith in Daru's abilities that he believed that Daru could have repaired Suzuha's time machine in just a few days.
 * Itaru Hashida

In Steins;Gate 0, Daru and Okabe's relationship is slightly strained due to Okabe avoiding the lab. Like the rest of his freinds, Daru is concerned about Okabe's depression, but unlike the others, Daru has full confidence that Okabe would eventually move past it and reach Steins Gate. Later on, when Okabe makes an insensitive comment towards Maho, Daru is the first to snap and him, punching him and voicing his thoughts that Okabe is using his pain as an excuse to be ungrateful for the work everyone else is putting into reaching Steins Gate.

Okabe initially meets Moeka by chance when they are both looking for the IBN 5100. While he is somewhat put off by her reliance on her phone, the two maintain an amicable relationship. However, after she kills Mayuri, Okabe becomes fearful and hateful towards her. Any trust he had towards her is gone and he sees her as nothing more then a threat to Mayuri. When he discovers that she commited suicide, he is less concerned with her death and moreso that he would not be able to locate the IBN. When he confronts her in her apartment, he quickly ascertains that she had been abandoned by SERN and after a struggle, is able to convince her of the truth. During this confrontation, most of his negative feelings of hatred towards fade away as he realizes that she was being manipulated. He later agrees to her helping him track down FB and when Moeka is dying, Okabe is able to forgive her as she and Tennouji were both pawns of SERN. By the game's epilogue Okabe once again considers her a proper Lab Mem and gifts her a Lab Mem pin.
 * Moeka Kiryu

In Steins;Gate 0 Okabe is still fearful of Moeka, but understands that she is not a threat under normal circumstances. In the Twin Automata route, he is able to trust her enough to allow her to save Maho, and in the anime adaption, he requests her help to prevent the destruction of the time machine.

"This is Luka Urushibara. The 'son' of this shrine's chief priest. Yes, a son. No matter how you look at him, he looks like a lovely girl, but... he's a guy. ...His voice and behavior makes him look like a female. Or more like, more feminine than a female. But he's a guy. Taller than Mayuri, yet oh so slender... But he's a guy. Looks stunning in shrine maiden clothing. But he's a guy. He's holding a broom, so I'm guessing that he was in the middle of cleaning. But he's a guy. It's so hot, even though it's almost evening. But he's a guy. Hell, cicadas won't shut up. But he's a guy."-Okabe about Luka Urushibara.
 * Luka Urushibara

While he is hesitant to admit it, Okabe is attracted to Luka despite his gender. Okabe sees Luka as Mayuri's classmate and his student in swordsmanship (though the latter is mostly Luka playing along with Okabe's delusions). When Luka is changed into a girl by his D-Mail, Okabe, under the impression that the D-Mail did not work, unintentionally sexually harasses Luka by grabbing her crotch in an attempt to prove Luka's gender. Even when Luka's gender is revealed to him, Okabe still thinks of her as a guy, and as a result does not know how to handle her romantic advances to him, becoming even more unsure upon learning that she had feeling for him even when she was male. When Okabe undoes Luka's D-Mail and reverts Luka to a guy, he asks Luka about his feeling for him, but notes how Luka avoids answering the question.

In the Link of Corruption and Rebirth ending, Okabe is unable to sacrifice Luka's happiness, even if it meant allowing Mayuri to die. While Okabe is initially depressed about Mayuri's death, Luka is able to help him move on and the two go on to have a child together. This route is unique as it is the only one where Okabe intentionally chooses someone else over Mayuri.

In Steins;Gate 0, Luka is one of the people concerned about Okabe's change in personality, though he is left in the dark about the true reason. Luka's death in 2036 is the final push Okabe needs to commit himself to achieving Stein Gate and preventing World War 3.

While he considers Faris a friend, Okabe is often thrown off by her antics; she is the only person who not only encourages his delusions, but even goes as far as to add new plotlines. Later on, he is willing to get beaten up by 4℃'s gang to protect her which leads to her developing feeling for him.
 * Faris NyanNyan

In Steins;Gate 0, she is the one person who he informs about time travel from before the events of the Visual Novel (Mayuri, Daru and Suzuha already knew). Later on, he has enough trust in her to let Maho stay at her apartment after her hotel room is ransacked.

For the first chunk of the game, Okabe sees Suzuha as little more than the strange part-tmer at the store, not knowing that she was John Titor and that the two had been communicating online. Upon Titor telling him that he was destined to save the future, Okabe immediately began writing him off as a sharlaton. After discovering Suzuha's true identity, he takes her words as truth and commits himself to helping her repair her time machine. Later on, after discoving that him stopping her from leaving led to her amnesia, Okabe feels an immense amount of guilt and was desperate to correct his action, even if it meant Suzuha would never know her father.
 * Suzuha Amane

In Steins;Gate 0, Okabe's relationship with Beta Suzuha is heavily strained due to his refusal to change the future. Her presence at the lab is the main reason he does not return to it. However, after reigniting his Hououin Kyouma persona, he moves past his fears and is willing to save Suzuha and Mayuri with the time machine, even if he loses his own life in the process.

After meeting, the two quickly bond over Kurisu and get closer as the story progresses, with Okabe eventually revealing the truth about the time machine to her. By 2025, the two are very close, with Okabe giving her the most heartfelt farewell of the group.
 * Maho Hiyajo

While initially hesitant to converse with her, Okabe steadily become more comfortable with [Kurisu] and the two bond over the course of the story.
 * Amadeus/Kurisu

Background
At the end of 1999, Okabe had a fever of almost 40 degrees Celsius while unconcious and tossing and turning. This fever lasted for about a month and he first recovered on New Year's, which was a miracle according to the doctors that were treating him, He was told all of this by his parents, as he he himself could not remember much of it. When Okabe's fever had gone down, he told a crying Mayuri, the first person that he saw, that he had felt as if everything was "blurry and twisty" and as if the ground shook while he was sick. Later, he suspects that his illness could have been a symptom of Reading Steiner activating.

After the death of Mayuri's grandmother, Mayuri entered a state of depression and, fearing that she would go away (commit suicide), Okabe embraced her and said the first thing that came to mind, which happened to be the ramblings of a mad scientist that he had seen on television. Proclaiming himself a mad-scientist, he stated that Mayuri was his hostage and as such, could not leave him. Mayuri accepted and this incident gave birth to his "Hououin Kyouma" persona.

In the Steins Gate worldline, before meeting Mayuri at the grave, he stops at the train station where he meets a time travelling Kurisu Makise who gave him the idea of Houoin Kyouma and who also takes his first kiss. In some Beta worldlines, he instead encounters a time travelling Kagari Shiina at the train station who gives him the inspiration for Houoin Kyouma and teaches him a song.

At some point, he started collecting black fingerless gloves to "seal the abomination lying dormant in [his] right arm" and ran around shouting "Burn!" and similar phrases. He stopped doing this after a while, though.

Okabe went to the same high school as Itaru Hashida, though according to Daru, they did not actually become friends until their final year. Following highschool, he and Daru both enrolled at Tokyo Denki University as engineering students. In March of that year, he established the Future Gadget Lab, a small homemade laboratory situated above Yugo Tennouji's CRT store, and dubs himself Lab Mem 001 (the first member to join the lab). After half a month, Mayuri began coming by and was made Lab Mem 002. About a month later, Okabe convinced Daru to join by telling him MayQueen was only a three minute walk away and he became Lab Mem 003. It is an area where he and his fellow Lab Mems create "Future Gadgets for the betterment of mankind".

Some time before the start of the series, he happened to see Luka Urushibara being harassed by some photographers in Akiba. He stepped in a shamed the men. When Luka was feeling depressed because of his gender, Okabe stated that it did not matter and took Luka to BladeWorks, where they purchased Samidare, leading to Luka becoming Okabe's disciple.

Alpha Attractor Field
In the Alpha worldlines, Okabe and Daru are destined to create the Anti-SERN resistance group, Valkyrie. Okabe dies in 2025 and, depending on the worldline, is captured and tortured by Nae leading up to it.

Beta Attractor Field
In the Beta worldlines Okabe and Daru are destined to create the terrorist group, Valkyrie. In most worldlines, Okabe dies in 2025 either as a result of protecting Mayuri or after being captured by Strategic Focus. In some worldlines, after being captured, he is not killed, but instead tortured to the point of becoming brain dead. He is later recover by Daru who lies about his death and keeps his body hidden.

Quotes

 * "Consider, can the universe be justifiably called infinite? Doubtful. It may not have a discernible end, but it had a beginning and its component parts definitely have a limited cosmological shelf-life. Splitting hairs or not, if history tells us anything, it's that scientists often make very poor poets. We're all just a ship of fools chasing phantoms, heedless of what really underwrites natural law." -Okabe's opening monologue (English dub)
 * "The universe has a beginning, but no end. — Infinite. The stars, too, have a beginning, but their own power leads to their destruction. — Finite. History dictates that it is the wise who are most foolish. One could call this a final warning from God, to those who can still resist." -Okabe's opening monologue
 * "It's the choice of Steins Gate." -Okabe's catchphrase.
 * "Theories are nothing more than words. Accept what you have seen!" -Okabe to Kurisu.
 * "I won't let you go. I won't let anyone take you. You're my hostage now. My guinea pig! There is no escaping me! Muhaha, muhahaha!" -Okabe to Mayuri Shiina.
 * "Uhh... Hey mister, I am mad scientist. It's so COOOOL! Sonuvabitch." -Okabe to badge maker, trying to speak English.
 * "It's an intellectual drink for the chosen ones." -Okabe about Dr. Pepper.
 * "I would say the person with the perverted imagination is the pervert." -Okabe to Kurisu.
 * "Is this the choice of Steins Gate. No, get out of your damn head! None of that stuff is real! Not Steins Gate, not the Organization, none of it!" - Okabe to himself
 * "No one knows what the future holds, that's why its potential is infinite. Just like what this reunion demonstrated." - Okabe to Kurisu during their reunion in the Steins;Gate worldline
 * "Alright! From now on, I am Mommy Uncle Okarin!" - Okabe to Nae Tennouji
 * "Seinem das Jede." - Okabe to Kurisu, Steins;Gate QNP Special
 * "''How much time have I lived through? Through how many world have I travelled? Numbers too great to count. So much that the sky and the stars became blurs. But no matter what, I always had you there with me. I always had your smile to reassure me. "I'm fine, so...". On that day, you smiled gently and left me with those words. An event so very, very long ago that it almost feels like a lifetime has passed. Those words rest with me even now. Not once have they faded from my mind. I knew all along. That was your gentle lie to me. A lie far too slefless. All so that I could continue onwards. I could tell even then that you were lying, but I clung to your words regardless. I placed everything on them. Night spent wailing with grief. Winters spent writhing in agony. No matter how the seasons passed, no matter how blessed I was by people's kindness, there forever remained one regret that would gnaw away at the back of my mind. Of course, I already know. I know that you'd never blame me for what happened. Even so, Within that endlessly repeating time, The weight of the sin that I bore... It never faded, not even for a second. But now... Now, having crossed through those innumerable worlds, I've finally become aware of their importance. Wandering blindly in the dark, Having lost my bearings, on a journey with an unknown destination... Those who stood by me and supported me through it all. My precious friends... And of course, you. Never fading, no matter how much time passed. My feelings towards you. Because everyone was always there for me, because "she" gave me a push on the back, and because "you" were right here with me too. These are the reasons that I'm able to move onwards once more. The "you" living on inside my heart gives me courage even now. "Pull yourself together already." I'm sure you'd be saying something like that right about now. I wouldn't blame you. After all, I feel the same way. But you need to understand. I can't bring myself to let go of those memories. All the tears that were shed, the blood that was bled, all those feelings left unsaid. I wasn't able to let go of a single thing... That's why I've decided to aim for it once more. Yes. The "Gate". The "Gate" which exists in the gap between past and future, between miracles and fate. It may well take me another few lifetimes in order to achieve this. It may be that I need to traverse countless more worlds. But I do not care. There's not an iota of hesitation left within me. I've steeled myself. No matter how many times it takes, no matter how many worlds I cross. I'll make it there for sure. I'll be able to "begin" once again. That is my... That is our choice. So I don't need your gentle lies anymore. Please, wait for me. Until the day that we can meet once more. Until the day that begins our new "past," and our new "future" .''" - Monologue Okabe in 2025, Drama CD Lyra of the New Dawn.

Trivia

 * In the Gamma worldline, Okabe is a collaborator of SERN, member of the Committee of 300 and becomes the dictator Hououin Kyouma, ruling over Japan with an iron fist.
 * Okabe loves to drink Dr. P but in the Gamma worldline, his favorite drink is Mountain Dew.
 * The reason Okabe barely calls Kurisu Makise by her real name, but instead with the various nicknames, is because he was too embarrassed to call her by her real name.
 * The actions of the Committee of 300 of the Steins Gate worldline fit Okabe's delusions almost to the letter.
 * Okabe claims he has an IQ of 170. For reference, 145 is considered the genius level of intelligence.
 * In the events of Deja Vu, Kurisu Makise is the one who gives Okabe the backstory and name of Hououin Kyouma.
 * His catchphrase, "El Psy Kongroo" means something like "The Mind Agrees" or "The Mind is Congruous" and is supposed to be Latin, but the grammar is not correct.
 * Rintaro Okabe is also playable in the game #COMPASS.
 * Okabe calls his favorite order at Kitchen Jiro "Mad Menchi Katsu Curry" which is curry with two pieces of menchi katsu as toppings.
 * Okabe does not have his driver's license.
 * Okabe dislikes eggplants.
 * Okabe had a hard time noticing when Moeka is in the room, frequently getting surprised that she is behind him.
 * A nickname for the Okabe in Steins;Gate 0 that fans of the series have given him is "Sad scientist" as opposed to "Mad scientist".

Etymology

 * The name Rintaro means "ethics, companion" (倫) (rin), "thick, big, great" (太) (ta) and "son" (郎) (ro).
 * Rintaro's surname Okabe means "ridge, hill" (岡) (oka) and "part, department, category, section" (部) (be).

Alias

 * Hououin means "phoenix/phoenix bird" (鳳凰) (houou) and "hospital, institution/Inst., temple, mansion, school" (院) (in).
 * Kyouma means "bad, misfortune/mischance/miscarriage, ill luck/unluck, fail, muff, overshoot, fiasco, baffle, calamity, affliction, disaster, catastrophe, cancer, plague, distress, harm, poor crop/poor harvest/scanty harvest/lean harvest" (凶) (kyou) and "real, genuine" (真) (ma).