Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov

Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov is the protagonist of Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky. He is also known by the diminutives Rodya, Rodenka, and Rodka. The name Raskolnikov comes from the Russian raskolnik meaning "schismatic".

He is an young student living in extreme poverty in St Petersburg. Many characters state that he is very intelligent, and Raskolnikov himself occasionally thinks of himself as a genius to compliment his theory (see below). He lives in a tiny garret which he rents (he claims the room aggravates his depression). He sleeps on a couch using old clothes as a pillow and doesn't eat much, although the landlady sometimes sends her servant in with food. Although frequently referred to as a student, no mention of any educational institution which he currently attends is ever made. In some translations, such as David McDuff's, he is described as an ex-student. An amoral psychopath, he is socially inept and neurotic about small things, such as crowded spaces. He is described by the narrator as "extremely handsome".

He murders a pawnbroker with an axe, with the intention of using her money for good causes and following the Nietzschean theory of an "superman" who is above morality. He has been contemplating this theory for months, only telling it to his fianceé (although he wrote an article along those lines in a journal). However, his plan goes wrong, and he kills the pawnbroker's sister to avoid detection. He finds only a little money, which he then hides. Tormented by guilt, he then suffers a mental collapse and confesses. He is spiritually transformed in exile in Siberia.