The Radical Shinigami Who Is Bored of The Shinigami Realm
Relations
Light Yagami, Misa Amane, Sidoh, Rem
Seiyu
Nakamura Shidō
English voice actor
Brian Drummond
Rank
6
Gender
Male
Likes
Apples, games
Dislikes
Boredom
Intelligence
5/10 (But he deceived the King to take a second notebook.)
Inquisitiveness
10/10
Initiative
9/10
Empathy
5/10
Kills
7/10
Ryuk (リュク Ryūku) is the main Shinigami of the Death Note series. Ryuk was bored with the activities (or lack thereof) of the Shinigami Realm, so he decides to obtain a second Death Note and drop it in the human world for someone to find, hoping to amuse himself from the boredom. He deliberately writes the instructions inside the front cover (in English, which he assumed to be the most popular language in the human realm) so people would understand its purpose. The Death Note is discovered by Light, and Ryuk follows him around for much of the series to see how Light uses it. Ryuk has a fairly humanoid appearance. His skin is a light grey, almost blue-ish color, his limbs are abnormally long and he has bulging yellow eyes with black (red at times in the anime) irises. He is voiced by Shidō Nakamura in the Japanese anime and live-action adaptations, while Brian Drummond voices him in the English dub.
Ryuk has a great fondness for Apples, stating the addiction to be an equivalent of cigarettes and alcohol for humans (Shinigami Apples are withered and taste like sand, as he shows Misa at one point), and suffers certain symptoms of withdrawal if he goes for too long without eating them. His withdrawal symptoms involve twisting himself up like a pretzel and doing headstands. He also states that he is shy around girls, which is revealed when Misa hugs Ryuk out of excitement in seeing him. In addition to Apples, Ryuk is fond of video games (much like Matt), first shown in the omake eight-panel comic series, where he asks for a Silver Game Boy Advance SP, originally published in Weekly Shonen Jump Volume 4-5 (double issue) in 2005. On another occasion, Ryuk asks Light if he wants to play Mario Golf (changed to "video games" in the anime), but receives no answer since Light's bedroom is bugged with microphones and rigged with cameras.
As Ryuk explains when he first meets Light, he will take Light's life when his time comes. In the manga, Ryuk does this after Light is shot several times by Matsuda. He desperately begs Ryuk to write the names of the investigation team and the SPK members in the Death Note, Ryuk apparently starts writing them down, but Ryuk reveals he simply wrote Light's name instead. He was expecting Light might have thought of some way out of his situation, but seeing as he was desperate enough to go to Ryuk for help, he decided it was all over for him. Ryuk then returns to the Shinigami Realm after killing Light.
In the anime, Light does not ask for Ryuk's help and manages to escape the warehouse thanks to Mikami's suicide distracting everyone else. However, his wounds are too severe for him to escape very far, and Ryuk, who is watching him from atop a pole, decides that following Light around during a prison sentence is not worth his time and thus writes Light's name in his Death Note. Light dies peacefully, with an apparition of L standing over him - mirroring Light standing over L on his death. In the Rewrite/Relight special, Ryuk is shown to have no pupils.
The second film ends in much the same manner as the manga, except Ryuk's silence leads Light to believe that he is willing to help. When Light learns differently, Light yells at Ryuk and jumps through him, trying in vain to stop his death before dying in his father's arms; before this, Ryuk takes this opportunity to reveal to Light that humans who have used the Death Note are unable to enter either Heaven or Hell regardless of their actions in life. In the spin-off L: Change the WorLd Ryuk offers L the Death Note, but when L refuses and proceeds to burn it, Ryuk moans about L being boring and disappears, returning to the Shinigami realm.
In the pilot chapter of Death Note, Ryuk is the master of two Death Notes that he dropped into the human world; Taro Kagami picks up the first one, and Ryuk talks to Taro. The other is picked up by Taro's classmate, Miura. The police burn Miura's book, not knowing of the existence of the first book. At the end of the chapter Ryuk follows an older Taro. Death Note: How to Read 13 describes the Ryuk of the pilot chapter as "really lazy" and "incompetent."
Ryuk in the yonkoma
Death Note: How to Read 13 describes Ryuk in the Death Noteyonkoma as, of the characters, one who "may" be the character most resembling the equivalent character in the Death Note series.
Conception and design of Ryuk
Animated sprite.Tsugumi Ohba said that he always mentioned Apples in the thumbnails because he wished to use "the dying message that Shinigami only eat Apples." Therefore, he simply needed Ryuk to hold Apples and that "there's no other reason." Ohba also said that he specifically chose Apples because the red "goes well" with Ryuk's black body and that the apples "fit well" with Ryuk's "big" mouth. When Takeshi Obata informed Ohba that Apples held religious and psychological significance and that a person could "read a lot" into their inclusion and its Symbolism. When he assumed that was the reason why Ohba included the apples, Ohba said that he did not "think about that at all" and that he merely believes that "apples are cool... that's it. (laughs)" Ohba added that he felt including aspects that could become later plot points was beneficial, and the apples were used as a point when Light asked Ryuk to search for the cameras in exchange for Apples. Ryuk as he was depicted in the Japanese live action.
Obata said that he encountered difficulty in creating Ryuk. He said that his original idea of Ryuk consisted of Ryuk looking like a "young man similar to Light" with black hair and wings. Obata said that he had the idea of Shinigami looking like "attractive rock stars." Obata felt that if Ryuk appeared to be more attractive than Light he would "appear to be the main character" and "things wouldn't work as well." Obata said that he decided to erase the previous design and use the final design when his editor told him that Ryuk did not have to appear to be human. Obata said that he liked the "monster-like" appearance and added that, with his face, "you can never really tell what he is thinking." Obata said that he encountered difficulty while drawing Ryuk in the pilot chapter since he did not "have a good handle" on the "bone structure of his face." Obata said that during serialization he became "so used" to the underlying structure that he could visualize it. Obata describes Ryuk's face as appearing different between the pilot chapter and the actual Death Note series. In How to Read 13 Obata thought of an idea involving Ryuk's face being a mask, and under the mask would be an "attractive" face.
When designing Ryuk's Death Note, Obata thought about the appearance of Ryuk's handwriting. Ryuk wrote the words "Death Note" on the cover of his own notebook, and when he took possession of Sidoh's book he wrote the same words on the front cover. Shūsuke Kaneko, director of the films, said that he chose to create Ryuk with computer graphics as it would make the aspect of Ryuk only appearing to people who have touched the Death Note "believable" and that the audience could "tell instinctually" that Ryuk is a shinigami with "no real presence." Kaneko added that if a human actor represented Ryuk, the appearance would have been "too realistic," the actor may have impacted Ryuk's "presence," and the audience may have "doubted he was a death god, if only for a second." Kaneko ordered the graphics team to design the graphics as if it was an actor "inside a rubber suit."
Reception to Ryuk
Tom S. Pepirium of IGN said that "Brian Drummond IS Ryuk." Pepirium described Drummond's voice as "excellent" and that this makes it "hilarious" to watch "Ryuk and his never-ending grin giggle at the events he put into motion."
Kitty Sensei of OtakuZone had her opinions of the film portrayal of Ryuk published in The Star, a Malaysian newspaper. In it Kitty Sensei said that Ryuk "looks a little artificial in the beginning." but she eventually became used to the portrayal and loved "Ryuk's gleeful chuckles and fish-faced grins."
The sfist describes Ryuk as the sole "(potential) cheeseball factor" of the first film and that he may be "difficult to get used to"; the article stated that Ryuk "adds" to the film if the viewers "let go enough to accept Ryuk's presence."
Armonia Justin Beyondormason
Debut
Manga Chapter 2, Anime Episode 4
Status at Debut
The Shinigami Realm's Advisor
Relations
Shinigami King, Sidoh
Seiyu
Hideyuki Umezu
English voice actor
Michael Dobson
Rank
2
Gender
Male
Intelligence
9/10
Inquisitiveness
3/10
Initiative
1/10
Empathy
3/10
Kills
9/10
Armonia Justin Beyondormason, otherwise known as Justin the Jewel Skeleton, is a briefly-featured Shinigami who informs Sidoh that his Death Note was stolen by the Shinigami Ryuk. As his name suggests, Justin's appearance is that of a skeleton adorned with all manner of jewelry. Justin talking about Ryuk with other shinigami in the anime.
As described in How to Read 13, Justin is the right-hand man of the Shinigami King and sits on a throne. Highly intelligent, Justin knows everything there is to know about the Death Note. Obata describes him as "conceited." Justin provides Sidoh with several scrolls describing the various rules that Shinigami have for interacting with humans, which Sidoh uses to guide his interactions with Mello in the human world. The scrolls are not mentioned in the anime. In the Japanese version of Death Note his name is Armonia Jastin Beyondllemason (アラモニア・ジャスティン・ビヨンドルメーソン, Aramonia Jasutin Biyondorumēson). In the English-language manga his name is Armonia Justin Beyondormason.
Obata said that for Justin's body he referenced Tibetan art that features skulls. He also used ideas stemming from Italian antique accessories that feature faces covered in jewels.
Sidoh
Debut
Manga Chapter 65, Anime Episode 28
Status at Debut
The True Owner of Light’s Death Note
Relations
Ryuk, Mello, Jack Neylon
Likes
Chocolates
Dislikes
Ghosts
Rank
8
Gender
Male
Intelligence
2/10
Inquisitiveness
8/10
Initiative
8/10
Empathy
3/10
Kills
2/10
Sidoh (シドウ, Shidō) is the Shinigami whose Death Note was stolen by Ryuk. By the time he realizes this, however, the note has already changed hands several times, ending up in the hands of Mello's gang (more specifically, Mello's subordinate, Jack Neylon). After repeatedly hounding Ryuk for its return, he tracks down the gang to get it back. In order to regain his Note, Sidoh agrees to help Mello's gang against Near's SPK and the Kira investigation team. He wears heavy clothing that obscures most of his features, and his head is wrapped in bandages. Obata states that Sidoh's "arms" can be described as insect-like in the way they fold into his body. Though he has "hands", there are only three fingers on each appendage. He is voiced by Kazuki Yao in the Japanese anime and Sam Vincent in the English dub.
Sidoh has a great liking for chocolate, just like Ryuk does for apples, something he shares in common with Mello. Sidoh is fairly timid, being intimidated by Mello despite the fact that Mello is a human. After Light regains the Death Note from Mello, he returns it to Sidoh to keep him from interfering.
Sidoh's name is written in the Japanese How to Read 13 as "Shidoh," and is written "Sidoh" in both the tankōbon character introductions page and within the translated English manga and the translated How to Read 13.
Obata described Sidoh as "very funny," citing the time when Sidoh becomes the first Shinigami to distribute flyers. Obata said he wished that Sidoh appeared more often in the story.
Tsugumi Ohba, writer for Death Note, said that he used Sidoh as another Shinigami appearing in the human world because he liked Sidoh's appearance; Ohba described Daril Ghiroza as a "candidate" and that he wanted a "pretty pathetic" character.
Obata said that when he discovered that another Shinigami would appear on Earth, he filed through designs and nominated Sidoh and Daril Ghiroza. Obata said that he believed that Ghiroza would be chosen and prepared for that decision; instead Ohba selected Sidoh. Obata said that he based Sidoh's design on the appearance of a bird with his mouth being based on a beak of a canary. Obata described Sidoh's foldable arms as more "insect-like."
Gelus
Debut
Manga Chapter 27, Anime Episode 12
Status at Debut
Death by Loving a Human Girl which is revealed to be Misa Amane
Relations
Misa Amane, Rem
Seiyu
Ken'ichi Matsuyama
English voice actor
Michael Dobson
Rank
13
Gender
Male
Intelligence
6/10
Inquisitiveness
5/10
Initiative
6/10
Empathy
8/10
Kills
2/10
Gelus appears in a flashback when Rem explains how to kill a Shinigami. He is a small, doll-like Shinigami whose appearance suggests that he was poorly sewn together from mismatched fabric. He only has one eye, despite having two eye sockets.
In the flashback, Rem recalls Gelus watching over a younger Misa Amane in the human world. Knowing that it was Misa's final day, she watches with him. Having fallen in love with Misa, Gelus uses his Death Note to kill Misa's destined murderer, against Rem's protests. Gelus is reduced to a pile of dust as punishment for extending a human life, leaving behind only his Death Note. In the anime, he is shown to drop the pen and start crying, before his eye disappears and he disintegrates. Rem delivers his Death Note to Misa because it was her that he saved as she thinks that was his final wish. In the film, she simply drops it and it lands near Misa. He is voiced by Ken'ichi Matsuyama in Japanese and Michael Dobson in the English dub.
In the Japanese version of Death Note: How to Read 13 his name is romanized as Jealous (ジェラス, Jerasu). In the English version of Death Note his name is romanized as Gelus.
Obata said that Gelus appeared to be "a really beautiful" Shinigami in the thumbnails but decided to use his concept instead; Obata designed Gelus with a patchwork body since Gelus is a "really pitiful character." Obata added the trait of Gelus having difficulty writing names into the Death Note. Obata said that he believed that readers could relate to him and sympathize with him more if he looked "pathetic" and "stupid" instead of "beautiful."
He also said that at first he placed "detailed patterns" on Gelus' Death Note. When deciding that the patterns looked "too pretty" Obata covered the patterns with black, leaving the white portions visible. The text of the notebook is in a "Shinigami language."
In the Japanese dub of the Anime, he is voiced by Kenichi Matsuyama - also known for playing L in the Deathnote film franchise.
His name is actually "Jealous," it was misspelled in the English manga, and it was not until the 13th manga was released, that it is revealed his name had been misspelled
Rem (レム, Remu) is the Shinigami who gives Misa Amane her Death Note. Like Ryuk, Rem possesses two Death Notes; however, Rem did not get hers through trickery. The Shinigami Gelus, who had fallen in love with Misa, sacrificed himself to kill her destined murderer. In doing so he was reduced to dust, leaving only his Death Note. Rem delivered Gelus' Death Note to Misa, since it was her life he saved.
Rem is voiced by Kimiko Saitō in the Japanese anime and Colleen Wheeler in the English dub. In the film, she is voiced by Shinnosuke Ikehata in Japanese, with Michael Dobson (who also voiced Gelus in the anime) replacing Wheeler in the English version.
Rem's appearance is quite skeletal, with long, spinal cord-like arms and bone-like skin. In the manga and anime, Rem tells Misa that she is actually a female Shinigami. In the second live-action film, this is not mentioned, leaving it ambiguous. She is also given a more masculine voice. L calls her "the white thing."
While Ryuk takes amusement in everything in the human world, Rem is almost the exact opposite. She views most humans with contempt. Also, while Ryuk is ambivalent to Light's success or failure, Rem actively assists Misa. This makes her equally as guilty as Ryuk of not displaying 'proper' traits for a Shinigami to have. She is even willing to sacrifice her life to defend Misa, as evidenced by her threat to kill Light should Misa die before her time. For Misa's sake, however, she still assists Light in his schemes. Death Note: How to Read 13 said Rem "supposedly" experiences difficulty while writing the Japanese language.
Light manages to force Rem into killing L for him by presenting a situation in which harm would come to Misa otherwise. As such, she dies when she writes L's name. In the second movie, Rem declares her love for Misa and her spite for Light moments before her death. While her Death Note is left behind in the manga and anime, she burns it in the film out of spite.
Obata said that Rem is his favorite Shinigami since she is "a good person", even though she is a shinigami. Rem as she was depicted in the live action.
Obata said that when he heard that Rem was female, he decided to create a design contrasting with Ryuk's design, using a white body with "rounder" lines. He says that he used fashion collections to create her motif. He described her resulting appearance as if she wore a "really bizarre suit." Obata said that Medusa inspired the design of Rem's head.
Zellogi
Debut
Manga Chapter 1, Anime Episode 1
Status at Debut
Interest in the Human World
Relations
Seiyu
Kibou Tokumei
English voice actor
John Novak
Rank
5
Gender
Male
Intelligence
5/10
Inquisitiveness
3/10
Initiative
4/10
Empathy
2/10
Kills
8/10
Unnamed Shinigami
A mysterious, unnamed Shinigami from the Director's Cut.
An Unnamed Shinigami debuted in the Death Note anime film Death Note Relight 1: Visions of a God which only aired in Japan, but was directly released on DVD overseas. Like Ryuk, he too was bored with the Shinigami Realm. This Shinigami has a skeletal figure, dons a coat, a pair of goggles, uses a tie as a headband and carries a large skeletal object which he uses like a hammer. The object was used to threaten the Shinigami Deridovely, Gukku and Zellogi into revealing Ryuk's location.
Taking an interest in Ryuk's visit to the human realm, the Shinigami finds Ryuk atop a mountain and offers the latter a ShinigamiApple in exchange for information on how to undertake passage into the human world. Although not completely satisfied with the apple's taste, Ryuk agrees to tell the story of Light Yagami's in regards to the Death Note.
Before Ryuk can finish the legend, however, the Shinigami, with his sights set on the Human World, begins his departure from the Shinigami Realm. As the Shinigami leaves, Ryuk remarks that although Light was "not actually a god back then" the Shinigami should try finding an "unbelievable guy" like he did in order to have an experience he will never forget.
The following information is fanon. As such, its relevance towards actual canon is disputed.
Some members of the Death Note fan base have theorized the shinigami to be the reincarnation of Light Yagami. Although just as many fans have debated the contrary, there has still been no conclusive evidence to confirm either stance and the matter is likely open to mere interpretation. It is arguably one of the most hotly debated topics amongst Death Note fans.
There are supposedly several pieces of evidence for this assertion:
Ryuk remarks that Light was not a god at the time before realizing that the shinigami had left. Ryuk does claim in the manga that shinigami are gods in a manner of speaking.
Ryuk allegedly addresses the shinigami as Light when he asks "Wouldn't you agree, Light?" at the very end of the special.
The coat he wears looks very similar to the one Light was wearing when he died.
He walks up stairs to meet Ryuk, which could referrence the fact that Light died on top of stairs in the anime.
He tosses an apple to Ryuk similar to Light did.
His red bandana could be a referrence to the red tie Light wore in high school.
The fact that he inexplicably knows Ryuk's love for apples without asking the other shinigami (though this can be disputed: if the shinigami had Light's old memories, then he would have had no need to speak to Ryuk in the first place).
The shinigami limps in a way Light did at the end of the last anime episode.
Light stands in the Shinigami Realm during the end of the second intro sequence- a possible foreshadowing of his reincarnation.
The Shinigami sports a messenger bag almost identical to the one Light often carried with him when he was in high school.
The King of the Hill, also known as the Shinigami King (死神大王, Shinigami Daiō), is the ruler of all Shinigami (gods of death) in the Shinigami Realm. Though he is only referred to in the third-person and is never seen in the main series, the Shinigami King rules and governs all Shinigami. He also controls all "distribution" of each and every Death Note given to all Shinigami upon their "creation." It is unknown from the manga whether or not he creates Death Notes or just has a certain supply of them, as he is unwilling to replace lost ones. It is also not known whether the Shinigami King actually enforces all the various rules of the Shinigami Realm. In the manga one-shot special (a.k.a. Chapter 109), it is revealed that the King of Death has a large, globe-like body mass which has (somehow) been suspended in the air with chains. He has a skull for a head, which is recessed within a larger, outer skull-like formation. He has four arms which hang from his body, each with only three claws on each of his "hands." He is regarded as a sort of father figure by all "lesser" Shinigami; and is said to be almost immortal. Many Shinigami refer to him as the "Old Man," and How to Read 13 says that he "must be very old" because of this. How to Read 13 adds that "not much else is known about him." Also, it is probable that the Shinigami King is impossible for humans to comprehend. Takeshi Obata once stated that he felt too afraid to design the King of Death; he said that he did, however, consider placing the Shinigami King on the book spine for Volume 12. He decided against it, as he felt that the spine would not have enough space to depict him. A figurine of the King of Death, included with volume 13 of the anime DVD in Japan.
The last volume (volume 13) of the limited-edition anime DVDs included a figurine of the Shinigami King, but this currently only applies to the Japanese version. North America will only have 9 volumes with figurines, as the American DVDs have 4 episodes (4x9=36+1=37), while Japan had only 3 for every volume (3x13=39+1=40). Time will only tell if America will distribute the last 7 figurines in future possible releases; Volume 9 has been confirmed to feature a Near figure. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/releases.php?id=12722) Despite following the American release in number of volumes the Australian release of volume 9 by Madman Entertainment includes the figurine of the Shinigami King and not Near.
One of the eyecatch rules given in the series states: extra Death Notes found by Shinigami are generally expected to be returned to the Shinigami King, though this is clearly a rule that Shinigami are not forced to obey. Likewise, lost notebooks must also be reported to the King. Very little information is given about the character itself, aside from Rem's assertion that the King is not easy to trick, an achievement which Ryuk accomplished successfully. On the other hand, he is quite easily bribed, as Midora was able to trade thirteen apples for a second Death Note.
Midora (ミードラ, Mīdora) is a salamander-like Shinigami that is only featured in the one-shot special of the manga. In the story, Midora bribes the Shinigami King with 13 apples taken from the human realm in exchange for a spare Death Note to drop on Earth. She is very short, perhaps 3 feet compared to Ryuk, who is over 7 feet tall. In the Japanese version, the name is spelled Meadra. This particular Shinigami is not as serious as Rem, but not as ditzy as Sidoh when it comes to current or past affairs in either realm. This is demonstrated by her laissez-faire attitude about giving the spare Death Note to some fool of a man whose identity is never revealed: C-Kira, or Cheap Kira, as he is named by Near. The fate of C-Kira is known, as Midora returns to the Shinigami Realm, stating that Cheap Kira "let out a squeal" and then committed suicide. Ryuk tells Midora something that Light once said: a human must have strong spiritual strength and conviction to use the Death Note properly.
Midora develops an addiction to Bananas, which is similar to Ryuk's love for apples. This is known due to the last panel showing C-Kira, in which Midora is eating a banana while surrounded by banana peels.
In the anime, Midora is shown briefly during the first title sequence in a group shot with several other Shinigami.
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