More commonly referred to as “Dr. Nakabachi”, Shouichi Makise was a scientist researching the field of time travel, and is also Kurisu’s father. Jealous of his daughter’s academic success, Dr. Nakabachi attempts to murder his daughter in order to steal her research on time travel. Dr. Nakabachi’s popularity mainly lies in the fact that he is the main antagonist we the audience see in the series. However, compared to the other characters as well as his short screen time, Dr. Nakabachi’s popularity is pretty low. That being said, he does inadvertently play a key part in being the catalyst that helps bring Okabe and Kurisu closer together.

The owner of the CRT store below Rintarou Okabe’s apartment as well as Okabe’s landlord, Yuugo may have a small role in the story, but has a big impact overall. A big, muscular man, Yuugo earns himself the nickname “Mr. Braun” from Okabe due to his passion for CRT television, resulting in Yuugo often losing his temper with Okabe over his eccentric behavior as well as his “experimenting” in his apartment. Yuugo’s reveal of being associated with CERN and the action he takes once Okabe catches him, however, is pretty monumental, as we begin to see the first test for Okabe in terms of whether he can push through traumatic events in order to set things right. While he’s one of the least popular characters on the show due to his limited role, people still tend to enjoy Yuugo if not for his straight man attitude towards Okabe.

Moeka Kiryuu is quite the opposite of most of the other girls in the series. Unlike the others who are happy and vibrant, Moeka is very much stoic and takes matters seriously, almost dangerously so. Moeka also tends to be expressionless a lot of the time, which only adds to the accidental humor she portrays as she solely communicates to anyone via cell phone, even if they’re right in front of her. Because of her emotional walls, it takes some time before Okabe and the others understand why she acts this way. Moeka tends to be popular in the sense that she stands out from the rest of Okabe’s friends in terms of her personality. Fans can also relate to her preferred form of communication and the humor that results from that. Definitely one of the more unique personalities in Steins;Gate.

A close friend and classmate of Mayuri’s, Ruka tends to be very shy and outright feminine in terms of his interaction with others. Ruka’s story and character are different in the sense that while most of the others tend to wrestle with various terms of loneliness, Ruka struggles with his desire of wanting to be female instead of male. Okabe’s travel to different world lines actually makes this possible, resulting in Okabe having to acknowledge Ruka’s feelings toward him and how to further pursue their relationship. Ruka’s popularity tends to resonate towards those with similar feelings as well as being the subject of humorous misunderstandings Okabe and the rest of the group have with his appearance when they first meet him.

The most popular waitress at the maid café that Mayuri works at, Faris is actually very similar to Okabe. Both are characters who act a certain way in order to hide who they really are. In Faris’ case, her family is very wealthy due to them owning much of Akihabara; as a result, Faris felt that those who knew this would treat her differently, and has only confided this knowledge to those who she really trusts. Faris’ popularity lies in the “moe” personality she exaggerates while at the same time being more than just the façade she puts on. There’s definitely more than meets the eye when it comes to her backstory for those interested in mystery, and at the same time there’s a simple humor Faris portrays in terms of her interactions with Okabe and Mayuri.

Itaru Hashida aka Daru is Okabe’s closest friend as well as a hacker in various types of software. Daru also possesses an incredible amount of knowledge regarding otaku culture, making him have perverted tendencies. Despite these traits, however, Daru serves as the voice of reason in the group; it is because of his down to earth approach that he is able to keep Okabe (and sometimes Mayuri) in check whenever they get too excited about something. Daru’s popularity lies in being relatable to anime fans in terms of his style of humor as well possessing a similarity with many anime fans in real life.

First appearing as a part-time employee for Yūūgo Tennouji, Suzaha enters the series as a normal tomboy who enjoys riding her bike. As the series progresses, however, it is soon revealed how Suzaha is not only from the future, but that her father, who she spends a majority of the series looking for, is Daru. Suzaha is definitely popular in the sense that she’s quite mysterious; she keeps a polite distance from everybody and appears to be someone altogether when something catches her interest in regards to her mission to find her father. She also tends to be full of surprises in terms of her fighting ability, her mission, and her very identity.

A naïve and innocent girl considering her age, Mayuri is the childhood friend of Rintarou Okabe. Even though Mayuri can be a bit socially inept in terms of understanding the world around her (including her friends), Mayuri has an innocence about her that marks her as a kind of “moral compass” in the story. Mayuri plays a big role in the series in terms of being why Okabe is who he is as well as the decisions he makes later in the story. Many people like her mainly as being a very sweet person as well as having the type of humor younger fans of anime tend to enjoy. Even older fans who aren’t big fans of her humor can appreciate how Mayuri tends to instigate some of the other characters into their kinds of humor.

The main character of the series, Rintarou Okabe aka Okarin is a self-proclaimed mad scientist who is eccentric in every sense of the word. Constantly talking to himself, manically laughing at random moments, always on the lookout for the “Organization” that’s always after him… Okarin certainly seems to lead an interesting life to those who don’t realize he’s simply a university student who’s just a bit odd. The fact that he acts this way in order to make his Mayuri’s life more enjoyable, however, reveals the true character beneath all the bravado, and it’s just one of several key moments where Okarin’s true character is revealed. Many fans of the series like him not only because of his quirks, but also because when the moment really mattered, Okarin despite having his wildest dreams come true, chose to do whatever it took to make sure his friends would be OK, especially those closest to him. Even if you’re not a fan of his humor and awkward interactions with the other characters at the beginning, you find yourself rooting for him as he travels through the different world lines to save his friends from their fates.

Needless to say, Kurisu Makise is easily the most popular character, and for good reason. A beautiful young girl considered to be a scientific genius and quite mature for someone her age ends up spending her time researching time travel with some wacky offbeat peers (to say the least). Considering how easy it is for a fair amount of anime fans to identify with Okarin or Daru, it’s no surprise that seeing someone like Kurisu hanging out with them and revealing that she shares their interests can be welcoming to them. Add in the fact that fans feel that she’s a go-to example of a tsundere character, and you have yourselves a character that you’re constantly talking about. Kurisu does go through her own development just as much as Okarin does; by the end, she appears to be a lot more relaxed and even happier to be around people that care about her and who she can relate to. Without a doubt, Kurisu is the most popular character.