Rajesh Ramayan "Raj" Koothrappali, Ph.D. is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists on the 2007-2019 CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by British-Indian actor Kunal Nayyar. He is one of four main male characters in the show, alongside Sheldon Cooper, Leonard Hofstadter and Howard Wolowitz to appear in every episode of The Big Bang Theory. Raj is based on a computer programmer that the show's co-creator, Bill Prady, knew when he was a programmer.
