Rintarou Okabe

Living... in the Akihabara district of Tokyo which is famed for its abundant technology stores and a culture that loves anime and gaming. Rintarou lives in a rented room above a television shop, which he refers to as “the futuristic gadget research laboratory” – although its status as a true laboratory is a tad questionable.

Visiting... an alternate timeline. Through some mix of actual genius and dumb luck, Rintarou has managed to create a machine known as the Phone Microwave that can send text messages back in time. He has no idea how it works – or even that it works at all at first – but he has even less of an idea where and when this invention has fated him to go.

Profession... college student. But if you ask him, this is simply a cover for his true identity as “the crazy mad scientist Hououin Kyouma.” His friends, or “lab members,” humor what they call his delusions. But after he develops the Phone Microwave, some of his fantasies start to seem uncomfortably real.

Interests... in his own words: “I desire chaos and destruction!” However, these desires might belong more to the self-adopted persona of Hououin Kyouma than Rintarou himself, who seems to desire friendship and love just as much, or maybe even more, than seeing the world go down in flames of his own design.

Relationship Status... single. But he’s very close to lab member 002, his childhood friend Mayuri. It’s quite possible that they are just friends, but if they aren’t, the addition of the attractive genius Kurisu as lab member 004 could create quite an awkward relationship triangle. And as the lab continues to grow, Rintarou’s relationship polygon might see no reason to stop at three.

Challenge... creating gadgets that will “destroy the control structure of the world” while avoiding the malicious influence of “the Organization.” Rintarou believes “Organization” is a shadowy group that tries to maintain its grip on world power; or at least that’s what Hououin Kyouma would say. Still, making a time machine could indeed change the world, and if there does exist some organization working in the shadows, Rintarou’s words might be closer to the truth than he thinks.

Personality... blustery and eccentric, though much of that is for show. It can be hard to tell how much of the arrogance and insanity of his Hououin Kyouma persona is just an overly dramatic act. But it certainly isn’t all real, as Rintarou’s closest friends will attest that he really is a “good person” at his core. And should anything ever befall his friends he would tear himself apart to save them, even though he would never admit he actually cared for them that much.