10 best anime characters like Rintarou Okabe from Steins;Gate

Rintarou Okabe is the eccentric, self-proclaimed "Mad Scientist" protagonist of the popular anime series Steins;Gate. With his over-the-top personality, signature lab coat, and delusions of grandeur, Rintarou Okabe has become one of the most beloved and recognizable anime characters in recent years.

For fans looking for other anime characters with similarities to Okabe, there are quite a few great options across various anime titles. Whether it's the lab coat, the wacky personality, or the brilliance masking inner turmoil, the following characters all have something in common with everyone's favorite Hououin Kyouma.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the writer's opinion and is not ranked in any particular order.

Senku Ishigami, Edward Elric, and 8 anime characters like Rintarou Okabe

1) Senku Ishigami from Dr. Stone

Senku Ishigami (Image via TMS Entertainment)

Much like Rintarou Okabe, Senku Ishigami fashions himself as a man of science, inventing creative contraptions and solutions with whatever limited resources that are available. He views the world through an analytical lens and relies on his vast scientific knowledge to solve problems.

After mysteriously awakening from a years-long petrification, Senku sets about trying to rebuild civilization and rescue humanity. His intelligence and innovative thinking allow him to recreate modern technologies despite being set back thousands of years technologically after the petrification event.

With his wild hairdo and makeshift laboratory, Senku shares some visual similarities with Okabe as well. While more grounded than the bombastic Okabe, Senku nonetheless approaches challenges with the same zeal and eccentric genius that Okabe displays.

2) Lloyd Asplund from Code Geass

Lloyd Asplund, an Earl and scientist in Code Geass, shares not only Okabe's fashion sense but also his flamboyant personality. With his white lab coat and green undershirt, Lloyd looks almost like he could be Okabe's long-lost twin.

And much like Rintarou Okabe, Lloyd is brilliant but decidedly odd. His intelligence is matched only by his eccentricity. Lloyd cares little for etiquette or social norms, preferring to focus his energy on his experiments and inventions.

While Lloyd uses his genius to design weapons like the Lancelot Knightmare Frame, many of the same personality quirks are evident between these two eccentric scientists. Fans of Okabe's unique attributes will certainly find a familiar spirit in Lloyd.

3) Stein from Soul Eater

Another character that shares Rintarou Okabe's affinity for lab coats is Dr. Franken Stein from Soul Eater. As a teacher at Death Weapon Meister Academy, Stein is known for his extremely unusual personality and unusual tendencies. Like Rintarou Okabe, Stein comes across as a mad scientist at times.

In addition to his stitches and giant screw protrusion, Stein can always be seen wearing a lab coat as he teaches students or carries out strange experiments.

While he is admittedly much darker in nature than Okabe, Stein still seems to take an almost giddy delight in his work that parallels some of Okabe's enthusiastic eccentricity.

4) Mayuri Shiina from Steins;Gate

What list of characters similar to Rintarou Okabe would be complete without including Mayuri Shiina, Okabe's loyal companion and childhood friend? Though not a scientist herself, Mayuri plays an integral role as Okabe's assistant at the Future Gadget Lab.

Always seen wearing vibrant cosplay outfits, Mayuri adds an air of whimsy and lightheartedness to balance Okabe's intensity. She goes along happily with his "Kyouma" persona and supports him unconditionally.

Though she lacks his genius intellect, Mayuri rivals Okabe when it comes to emotional intelligence and empathy. Much as Okabe anchors himself with Mayuri's presence, viewers can find themselves anchored by Mayuri's warmth and innocence amidst all the chaos.

5) Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

For a character similar to Rintarou Okabe in both personality and emotional depth, look no further than Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Despite being younger, Edward shares Okabe's traits such as arrogance hiding self-doubt, ambitious drive, and deep loyalty.

Both are ambitious prodigies in their fields, almost obsessively pursuing their research to achieve their goals. This single-minded pursuit of science links Okabe's desire to invent future gadgets with Edward's efforts to find the Philosopher's Stone and regain his arm and leg.

Their loyalty and love toward their female companions also run parallel, with Edward caring deeply for Winry Rockbell much as Okabe cares for Mayuri Shiina. These bonds give both characters an emotional foundation for their wild antics and bold personalities.

6) Kyouma Mabuchi from Dimension W

Oddly enough, Dimension W features a character who not only dresses similarly but even shares Okabe's alter ego name, Kyouma Mabuchi! This collector of illegal "coils" dons a black jacket and red undershirt highly reminiscent of Okabe's signature look. And Kyouma seems equal parts brilliant and eccentric as well.

Though initially colder than the bombastic Okabe, Kyouma shows that same ability to tap into extreme ambition and drive when motivated. He'll stop at nothing to collect the powerful Numbers coils.

Like Rintarou Okabe, his standoffishness eventually gives way to showing a very principled and caring person beneath the initial odd presentation.

7) Shintaro Kisaragi from Mekakucity Actors

The protagonist of Mekakucity Actors, Shintaro Kisaragi, may seem like just an ordinary NEET shut-in at first. But behind this unmotivated exterior lies a brilliant mind and a tragic backstory still haunted by loss and regret. Sound familiar? Okabe would feel right at home!

Shintaro’s genius IQ fuels an underlying arrogance not unlike Okabe’s that causes friction with other characters. But he places his greatest pride in his intelligence and technological skills. Even when not flaunting a lab coat, Shintaro seems like someone Okabe could relate to on an intellectual level.

8) Juuzou Suzuya from Tokyo Ghoul

Juuzou Suzuya (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Though on the darker side of the eccentric spectrum, Juuzou Suzuya from Tokyo Ghoul shares some striking similarities with Okabe. As an investigator Tracking down Ghouls, Juuzou pursues targets with a brilliant but decidedly odd and ruthless strategy.

Like Rintarou Okabe has Mayuri, Juuzou's partner Hanbee Abara helps ground some of his more violent tendencies with compassion. And Juuzou certainly gives off a bit of the mad scientist vibe, whether it's stitching together his own body parts or devising cunning traps for Ghouls not too unlike Okabe's gadgetry.

For fans who wish Okabe had more of an edge or showed more darkness behind his lab coat weirdness, then Juuzou may represent viewing that possibility to its extreme. But there's no denying their brilliant strategic minds working tirelessly for a cause have parallels.

9) Araragi Koyomi from Monogatari

The protagonist of the Monogatari series, Araragi Koyomi, shares Rintarou Okabe’s eccentricity and fervor along with a supernaturally-tinged story. After surviving a vampire attack, Koyomi finds himself involved in various mystical phenomena that he pursues with obsessive zeal despite the danger.

Much like Okabe’s Hououin Kyouma persona and elaborate backstories, Koyomi also crafts odd narratives and digs perhaps too deeply into supernatural mysteries. Their shared intensity and willingness to put themselves at risk for friends and loved ones, like Tsubasa Hanekawa for Koyomi, make them kin spirits.

10) Johnny Joestar from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

Johnny Joestar (Image via David Production)

Last but certainly not least, Johnny Joestar from Part 7 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure more than lives up to the "bizarre" descriptor much like Rintarou Okabe. After being shot and paralyzed from the waist down, Johnny discovers the power of the Spin technique that taps into a supernatural energy called the Golden Rectangle.

With this discovery, Johnny gains a newfound purpose and a relentless drive to master the Spin by embarking on a bizarre adventure across 1890s America to collect the scattered parts of the Holy Corpse. That degree of oddball determination has Okabe written all over it!

And Johnny’s outgoing and exaggerated personality coupled with his Growth ability to shoot his fingernails would certainly make even Rintarou Okabe pause and consider the bizarreness of it all.

Conclusion

Though no one can match the one-of-a-kind Rintarou Okabe perfectly, fans of Steins;Gate has plenty of similar oddball genius characters to appreciate across various other anime titles.

Whether it’s the lab coat and personality, level of brilliance, or relationships with friends, Rintarou Okabe contains a mixture of attributes readers will recognize in these 10 great characters worth checking out. There is something familiar there for every fan to enjoy while still offering their own twist on the mad scientist archetype.