Raj Koothrappali

Rajesh Ramayan Koothrappali, also known as Raj Koothrappali, is one of the main characters from The Big Bang Theory series.
== Charactah Account ==
Raj is from New Delhi working in America on a visa as an astrophysicist. He is so shy around women, he is incapable of talking in their presence (even if not speaking to them, he can't talk if they are a part of the social group), eventually identified as Selective Mutism. The most consistent method of overcoming this is through alcohol, but he has tried several anti-anxiety medications with varying results.
Raj is slightly clueless about American culture and idioms, and dislikes Indian food and his home country. Sheldon even disputes his knowledge of Indian customs and Hinduism, and reveals Raj's native language is English, while he seems to speak fluent Hindi. Raj stated that the reason he puts up with Sheldon is so that he could be reborn as a "well-hung billionaire with wings", according to his Hindu belief of being rewarded after reincarnation for suffering willingly; to Raj, karma is "practically Newtonian".
On the rare occasions when he actually gets homesick, he picks up the latest issue of "Bombay Badonkadonks" and performs Bollywood dancing. He is hypocritically sensitive to others' racist jokes about India, though he is not above making derogatory remarks about India, or, in his view, "Gandhi-ville". Raj also claims he can hold out from noxious gases because he grew up in India. Raj likes to say that he comes from the "exotic" subcontinent of India and had to overcome poverty and prejudice, to make himself appear interesting and mystical, especially when he is womanizing. More often than not, he likes to be associated with Slumdog Millionaire, except when Howard's mother says it. Much like how Howard rarely follows kosher, Rajesh eats beef and believes that some of the Hindu Code of Manu is crazy. 
== Appearance ==
=== Cartoons ===
* LoliRock Season 2
=== TV Series ===
* The Big Bang Theory
* The Big Bang Theory Season 2
* The Big Bang Theory Season 3
* The Big Bang Theory Season 4
* The Big Bang Theory Season 5
* The Big Bang Theory Season 6
* The Big Bang Theory Season 7
* The Big Bang Theory Season 8
* The Big Bang Theory Season 9
* The Big Bang Theory Season 10
* The Big Bang Theory Season 11
* The Big Bang Theory Season 12
== Trivia ==
* Raj was the only one of the four (Howard, Leonard, himself and Sheldon) whose father appeared til Leonard's father debuted. Howard's father's only been mentioned and Sheldon's died before the start of the series (dying when Sheldon was 14) but Raj sees his father with his mother through his webcam. Once he visited Pasadena at Christmas time.
* He has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics.
* The baseball cap Raj wears in the Pilot bears the number 42 (the answer to life, the universe and everything) on it. This was Raj's only baseball cap appearance.
* Raj is 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) tall [1] and the height of Kunal Nayyar. This measurement is two inches above the average height for males in India, one-and-a-half inches below the average height for male private school students in India, and two inches below the average height for males in the US. In "The Transporter Malfunction", he states that, next to Howard and Bernadette, he looks 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall.
* Til season 10, He lives in an apartment, which he calls his "Raj Mahal" when Penny visits.
* Raj isn't at all serious about his Hindu faith and eats beef which is frowned upon by most Hindus.
* Raj calls his skin tone "Melt-In-Your-Mouth Caramel".
* Raj, much like Howard, despises many of Sheldon's antics and the two managed to get Sheldon on a date with Amy Farrah Fowler on a dating website in "The Lunar Excitation", much to Sheldon's dismay.
* Raj's case of selective mutism was first evident in the Pilot episode.
* "Rajesh" is a common given name in southern India; however Raj claims that he is from New Delhi, suggesting either that his family moved from their native area or ignorance on the part of the creators. His surname, "Koothrappali"; however is unheard of. This is most likely assumed to be a surname used in South India, particularly Tamil Nadu.
* Whenever Raj gets an idea or wants to say something slightly controversial in a conversation, he whispers it in Howard's ear if a woman is around. Howard never wants to say it out loud because he finds it stupid or offensive, but he ends up saying it anyway through scoffing Raj. Sheldon hates him talking in his ear altogether, though he does appreciate Raj's words.
* Raj says that he "struggles with Batman."
* He regularly communicates with his parents (V. M. Koothrappali and Mrs. Koothrappali) back in India via webcam. When they become meddling or judgmental, he often "brings his parents" into Leonard and Sheldon's Apartment 4A via his MacBook Pro, to seek his friends' support in the discussion.
* He has a mug that says 'World's Best Astrophysicist' given to him by Sheldon.
* His father is a gynecologist and drives a Bentley.
* Raj shares his interest in monkeys with Amy and Sheldon and trains with Sheldon.
* Rajesh often has married-couple-like arguments with Howard and when nervous, often whispers into his ear leaving him to translate to everyone else.
* As with Howard, the others in his circle of friends often refer to him by his surname. He frequently wears a purple jacket and a sweater vest. Amy calls him Rajesh.
* Rajesh's selective mutism even applies in dreams. Most notable is with Siri. ("The Beta Test Initiation").
* Rajesh performs vocals when playing "Rock Band" (albeit extremely badly), which could possibly be a joke cause he suffers from selective mutism. Though in a Season 2 promotional photo, he's playing with a guitar controller, so he's either playing the bass or the lead.
* He despises "Guitar Hero" cause he feels it's lame though he plays it.
* Raj is considered the attractive one of the group because women find him foreign and exotic, plus his selective mutism makes him a very "good listener."
* He worked with/for Sheldon.
* He has been featured in People Magazine ("30 Under 30 to Watch!").
* He has a MySpace account.
* In seasons 1 - 6, he has issues talking to women unless he is drunk. In "The Porkchop Indeterminacy", he tried an experimental medication for his problem, but stopped taking it because of the side effects. In "The Wildebeest Implementation", he tried another medication he got from a friend at Caltech's school of pharmacology but gave up on it too cause it removed his social inhibitions to the point that he stripped naked in the middle of a coffee shop which should've gotten him arrested.
* Unlike the other guys, Raj has shown great interest in some non-geeky and sometimes feminine things, such as Grey's Anatomy, The Good Wife, Sex and the City, Bat Pray Love, Bridget Jones' Diary and John Grisham's novels. He also likes Archie comics along with Zack and likes Twilight.
* Raj is addicted to porn. However, Howard early on also has disturbing sexual obsessions. All 4 of the main characters, mostly Raj, have engaged in extremely inappropriate behavior.
* He dislikes Aquaman, as he is always chosen to dress as Aquaman when they have a costume competition and outside the comic book store to advertise the store while he was working for Stuart.
** He calls Scooter of the Muppet Babies "The Aquaman of the Muppet Babies"
* Raj often obsesses over almost-insignificant details in fiction, such as how toilets in Atlantis in Aquaman work, the possible symbolism of ponytails in Avatar, whether Wolverine's prostate is made of adamantium, what zombies would eat if humanity were exterminated, how vampires would shave themselves if they can't see their reflections etc.
* English is his native language, though due to being from India, he speaks fluent Hindi. Raj doesn't actually speak Hindi as mentioned in "The Cognition Regeneration".
* Raj doesn't need to be drunk to talk to women: he just has to think he is drunk (Placebo Effect), as shown in "The Terminator Decoupling".
* Raj takes Pilates classes and Aerobics and claims to, as a result, have "very well-trained abs".
* In one scene, when his parents arranged a blind date, he refused and Sheldon explains that Indian arranged marriages result in a peaceful bond. Raj then says "I know my own culture", leaving Sheldon silenced.
* In one episode, Sheldon joins Penny in jogging and Howard tells Penny that Raj always watches her from his car with binoculars.
** Though, this could have been Howard twisting Raj's words. Since Raj's mutism was still active during this time, he could have whispered in Howard's ear about Howard's own creepy deed.
* Like the common geek, Raj was bullied as a child. He once got a penis drawn on his forehead on his first day of cricket camp, with the testicles drawn around the eyes. One person who bullied him was Lalita Gupta, who used to kick him in the nuts and call him "untouchable." They dated as adults, where a drunk Raj insults her by saying she used to be so, so fat as a child.
* His favorite number is 5,318,008. The reason for that is that when entered in a calculator, turning the calculator upside-down will read "BOOBIES".
* Raj's terrified of bugs as he is women, Sheldon jokes that ladybugs must render him catatonic.
* He was mad when Leonard and Priya decided to date again which means he's overprotective towards his baby sister and is worried how terribly this could affect his friendship with Leonard.
* He is a fan of country-pop singer Taylor Swift and bought a jersey at her concert at the Staples Center.
* In "The Roommate Transmogrification", Raj had a drunken sexual encounter with Penny, which they both apparently regretted instantly. (It is later on revealed, in the premiere of Season 5, that it wasn't consummated.) This would later become the catalyst of conflict between Penny and Emily Sweeney.
* It is revealed in two episodes during Season 4 and the Season 5 premiere that Raj had a huge crush on Bernadette.
* Sheldon revealed that Raj's family's "Richie Rich" rich.
* He's afraid of spiders, revealed in "The Alien Parasite Hypothesis".
* Even though Raj does not adhere to Hindu dietary restrictions, he does take certain aspects of his religion seriously and has brought up Hindu gods more than once in a conversation.
* Raj's selective mutism doesn't seem to apply to his female family members such as his mother and his sister Priya.
* Raj is the group's "historian", being able to keep record of many actions - for instance, in "The Hawking Excitation", Raj was able to recount how many times Sheldon has begged in the past.
* Raj is addicted to pedicures.
* Raj has had one threesome in his life. It was with Howard and a 200-pound girl in a Sailor Moon costume during a trip to Comic-Con.
* According to Lakshmi, the woman Raj goes out on a date with in "The Transporter Malfunction", there is a rumor back in New Delhi that Raj is "comfortable in a sari" (i.e. he is gay).
* In "The Bakersfield Expedition", Raj dressed as the a Klingon from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
* Raj's drink of choice has remained the grasshopper since he was first served it in "The Grasshopper Experiment": he can be seen drinking one in numerous episodes thereafter.
* Raj owns a female Yorkshire Terrier named Cinnamon. She was given to him by Howard and Bernadette in "The Transporter Malfunction" to console him over his failed date with Lakshmi. Raj spoils Cinnamon terribly, feeding her elaborate home-cooked meals and pushing her around in a baby stroller.
* It is revealed that in "The Prestidigitation Approximation" that Raj keeps a Uhura costume on hand in his closet; a source of great shame for his family. "Leonard: Hypothetically, if I had access to a Lieutenant Uhura uniform, would you wear it? Priya: Leonard, it is a source of great pain to me and my family that my brother has that outfit in his wardrobe."
* Bernadette, Raj, Leonard, Penny and Amy are the only characters of the social group/main cast whose parents have both been seen on-camera - Sheldon's father died when Sheldon was a child, Howard's father abandoned him and his mother when Howard was eleven, Stuart's mother and father have been mentioned and are both alive, Emily's father has been mentioned and it is not known if he is dead or alive and there has been no appearance or mention of Emily's mother or Leslie's mother and father to date.
** However Sheldon's parents appeared in the prequel, "Young Sheldon".
* Raj is possibly the only member of the guys not to be arrested. Leonard nearly committed treason by nearly showing rocket fuel to Joyce Kim and blew up the elevator by accident with his rocket fuel along with speeding one episode. Howard destroyed the Mars Rover, not to mention other illegal activities such as using government property for his personal use. Sheldon was thrown in jail for insulting a judge in traffic court and has had several restraining orders filed against him by various celebrities (such as Stan Lee, Leonard Nimoy and Bill Nye etc.). In "The Convention Conundrum", it was revealed that Raj fears being arrested out of fear of being deported back to India. However Raj has had several incidents with Human Resources at Caltech and has committed enough crimes to be fired if not arrested.
* He drives a BMW with seat warmers.
* Regarding Bollywood actresses, Raj describes Aishwarya Rai as a "goddess" and prefers her over Madhuri Dixit.
* Raj, Leonard, Sheldon and Howard are the only characters of the current main cast who have appeared in every episode (not counting the Unaired Pilot).
* Raj may be an olfactophile which is shown in "The Gothowitz Deviation".
* Tighty-whities are his underwear of choice, as seen in "The Wildebeest Implementation" and "The Monster Isolation". He mentioned he wore Boxer Shorts in season 1 in "The Grasshopper Experiment", but you actually see him wear it.
* The only episode where Raj doesn't talk in at all is the Season 3 episode "The Maternal Congruence".
* In "The Allowance Evaporation", Raj's friends about talking about where he would live, if he had to move out of his apartment. He was the only person in the series, who lives alone. Howard and Bernadette don't want to live with him and neither does Leonard and Penny. Because he is too difficult to live with and he is a lot worse to live with than Sheldon Cooper.
* In season 10, "The Escape Hatch Identification" Raj moved out his apartment, since he can't afford to live there anymore since he cut himself off his parent's finances in "The Allowance Evaporation". Mostly he is staying with Leonard and Penny apartment temporary, until he can find a place to stay. Even though Howard and Bernadette and Leonard and Penny don't want to live with him, since he is difficult to live with, like living with Sheldon Cooper. One time, Leonard and Penny will let him stay with him temporary til he finds a place of his own.
* Raj's job earns average $55,000 to $93,000 annually in the US; therefore, it's unknown why he has to depend on his dad for money all the time. He has a very expensive lifestyle and beauty regiment.
* Raj is right-handed.
* Raj in season 11, had a good relationship with his parents when he was growing up. When he was an adult, mostly they have an estranged relationship and usually threatened to cut him off. Mostly they always trying to arrange an Indian girl for him to marry. In season 10, they gave up on finding him a girl.
* As of the series finale, Raj is the only main character who is single, as Stuart has a girlfriend Denise and the other guys are married to the girls in the group.
* In season 2, Raj couldn't stand living with Sheldon and wants him out of his apartment. In season 4, when he stayed with Sheldon he never complained or wanted to strangle him. Mostly I think Raj's personality changed in season 4 when he becomes needy, pushy and arrogant like Sheldon. He also makes many disturbing remarks.
== Gallery ==
File:Raj Koothrappali Render 01.png
File:Raj Koothrappali 01.png
File:Raj Koothrappali 02.png
File:Raj Koothrappali 03.png
File:Raj Koothrappali (LoliRock) 01.png
File:Raj Koothrappali Fan Art 01.png
File:Raj Koothrappali Fan Art 02.png
== External Links ==
* Rajesh Koothrappali at The Big Bang Theory Wiki
Category:Characters
Category:Males
Category:The Big Bang Theory