Death Note

Synopsis During just another normal day, Light Yagami stumbles upon a black notebook known as the Death Note. This notebook belongs to a shinigami, Ryuk, having the ability to kill anyone who has their name written in it. As the new owner of the Death Note, Light's true desires surface, yearning to cleanse the world of evil by murdering a large number of criminals. When the world begins to notice the existence of this unknown killer, legendary detective L is brought onto the case; starting a war between "Kira" and L. Whoever is able to find out the other's identity first will be the one to survive.

Main Character

Ryuk (リューク)

The original Shinigami who dropped the Death Note in the human world,and also love apples, which Light would pick up. Acting out of pure boredom, Ryuk begins the story of Death Note on a whim. Perhaps neutral by nature, Ryuk often refuses to aid Light and instead enjoys watching him struggle for his goal. The most important facet of Ryuk's character is that he is not Light's friend. He acts for his own interests and entertainment, and often fails to tell Light key details about the Death Note. Ryuk is selfish, however, and will aid Light if it serves his own goals, such as providing amusement or obtaining apples.

Misa Amane (弥海砂)

Misa, born on December 25, 1984 in Kyoto, has a height of 152 centimeters (4 feet and 11 inches) and a mass of 36 kilograms (79 pounds). Misa has a bust size of 76 centimeters, a waist size of 51 centimeters, and a hip size of 75 centimeters. Her blood type is AB.

Misa is a famous model, singer and actress and has an immense crush on Light Yagami. She usually refers to herself in the third person by calling herself "Misa-Misa" and tends to be hyperactive. She poses as the second Kira to attract the attention of the first Kira.

She decides to devote her life to Light because he punished the criminal that killed her parents when she was younger; a burglar killed Misa's parents in front of her eyes. Misa, unable to forgive the killer and wanting to kill the burglar herself, saw multiple delays in the killer's trial before Kira killed him. The Shinigami who follows her is Rem. Misa also performs two eye trades, cutting her lifespan in half twice; the first was with Rem, and the second with Ryuk.



According to How to Read 13, Misa falls into despair after learning of Light's death through Matsuda. Misa commits suicide one year later on February 14, 2011. It is also revealed that the cloaked woman who appears at the end of the manga is not Misa, but simply a follower of Kira.

At the anime's finale, Misa's suicide is neither mentioned nor seen. At the final credits, she is seen standing at the edge of a rooftop, with a sad face looking at the horizon.

L Lawliet (エル・ローライト)

Birthday: October 31, 1979
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 110 lbs.
Likes: Sweets
Dislikes: Wearing Socks

(Source: Death Note vol. 13 Profiles)

L, who also uses the aliases Hideki Ryuga, Ryuzaki, Eraldo Coil and Deneuve, the latter two for which he has developed reputations as the second- and third-best detectives in the world, is quite secretive and only communicates with the world through his assistant Watari. He never shows his face to the world, instead representing himself with a capital L in Cloister Black font. After meeting the Kira investigation team, he requests that the task force refer to him as Ryuzaki for discretion. The Kira investigation team never learns his true name. Ohba said that L is the smartest character in the manga because "the plot requires it." Ohba also said that he personally views L as "slightly evil"; for instance, in chapter 109, Near discloses the fact that L claimed to pursue cases out of personal interest with no great sense of justice.

When asked about L's nationality, Ohba responded saying "I think of him as a quarter Japanese, a quarter English, a quarter Russian and... maybe a quarter French or Italian? Something like that."

Tom S. Peperium of IGN described L's voice in the English anime version as "low monotone, while inspired by the original Japanese actor, sounds like a man deep in thought, a master detective on the hunt."

Ohba said that his favorite human character in the series was L as Ohba believed that L was the "strongest" character in the series "besides Light." Obata chose L as his favorite due to "appearance, personality, everything." Obata said that he could never have created L and that he enjoyed drawing L. Obata added that because of this, L is not "real" to him and therefore he likes that aspect of L. In response to the question "Who was the most fun to draw?" both Ohba and Obata answered "L."

L's disheveled and languid appearance masks his great powers of deduction and insight. He tends to second-guess everything he is presented with, and is extremely meticulous and analytical. He has several quirks such as preferring to crouch rather than sit, eating only sweet foods like desserts and fruits, and holding items very delicately. L stayed in England for five years, and during that time he was the champion in tennis for the England Junior Cup. L also secretly assumes the identities of the world's second and third best detectives, (Eraldo Coil and Deneuve respectively).

In chapter 38 of the manga, L suggests that even though he eats only sweet foods, he remains underweight because the brain uses the most calories of any organ in the body. He also says that if he sits normally, his reasoning ability would drop 40%.

Whenever L gives percentages to indicate how much he suspects a person of committing a crime, such as "five percent," in reality he means over 90 percent. Although L gives Light a low percentage indicating how much he suspects Light, in reality L is "pretty certain" that Light is Kira. Ohba said about L, "The truth is, he's a liar."

Nate River (ネイト・リバー)

Age: First appearance: 13 years old, Final chapter : 19 years old, Final appearance : 21 years old
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Date of birth: 24 August 1991 (1994 in anime)
Occupation: Head of SPK (Secret Provision for Kira), 3rd and final "L" in chapters 108 and aftermath
Blood type: B
Likes: toys and puzzles
Dislikes: Kira

In Death Note, Near is the younger of L's two successors raised in Wammy's House, Watari's orphanage for gifted children, in Winchester, England, United Kingdom. Of the successors, Near is the more level-headed, calmly assessing the situation, while the other, Mello, is more emotional and quick to act. Much like L, Near shows various odd behaviors during his normal life. He is usually seen hunched over rather than sitting. He also constantly plays with various toys, which he uses in his theories, as well as idly twiddling strands of his hair. He shows a great respect for L, basing much of how he solves crime on L's methods, even to the point where he only takes cases that he is interested with rather than trying to pursue justice. Near uses the Wedding Text font "N" and "L" to represent himself and the fake L, respectively. But later in the aftermath, he used Old English font "L" like the original L did. He is voiced by Noriko Hidaka in the Japanese anime, Cathy Weseluck in the English dub, and Bruno Coronel in the Latin Spanish version.

Sometime after L's death, he works for the United States under the SPK (Special Provision for Kira) team that is established to investigate Kira without the help of "L". He soon manages to deduce that Light Yagami, posing as L, is actually Kira. After he finds that Teru Mikami is Light's proxy and Mello kidnaps Kiyomi Takada, Near is able to switch Mikami's Death Note with a forged one, allowing him to set up a final confrontation that leaves Light exposed. Ryuk kills Light soon after. Near says that neither he nor Mello could surpass L alone, but have managed to do so by inadvertently working together. Near soon takes L's alias, and keeps on the surviving members of the SPK as his subordinates.

Tsugumi Ohba, writer of Death Note, said that Near "becomes less likeable" as the story advances, citing Near's plan to take the notebook at a later point in the story. Ohba said that a negative reaction originated from "the difference in their attitudes" and that people may have viewed Near as "a cheat." Ohba added that Near's "cheeky behavior," intended to "reinforce his childishness," had been construed as "annoying."

In the final chapter Near brings finger puppets to the Yellow Box Warehouse. Takeshi Obata, artist of Death Note, said that Near first bought the Kira finger puppet and drew on it with a magic marker. Obata then said that Near must have created the other puppets afterwards. Obata views Near as not liking L much so Obata had Near depict L as "ugly", and that Near "worked hard" on Mello's puppet as Near "liked Mello."

Obata said he enjoyed drawing Near and that Near is also one of his favorite and his least favorite characters, considering him to be the smartest character in the manga "because he cheats."

When asked about which character was most similar to himself, Ohba indicated Near and "maybe Light." Regarding Near, Ohba said that he does not leave his house often.