Ryuk's Lounge

One of interesting concepts in the popular manga and anime series Death Note is the idea of death gods as living breeding entities with their own personality and variations in appearances.

While Shinigami are generally inspired by the European character of the Grim Reaper, in Death Note they acquire very specific attributes and even a strict society, being demon-like characters who live in the Shinigami Realm. To increase their life-span, the Shinigami write the names of humans in their Death Notes, thus killing the human and extending their own life by the amount of time the human had left to live. However, because the Shinigami realm is incredibly dull, this act is usually laughed at, and thus done in privacy. Shinigami cannot be killed by physical methods, such as stabbing or shooting, and must follow a strict set of rules if they want to live without punishment.

 Armonia Jastin Beyondllemason

Calikarcha is considered strange-looking even by Shinigami standards, having eight eyes lined up two rows on each side of his head. He has a penchant for cherries but dislikes sunlight.^[1]

Dalil Guillohrtha is a female Shinigami who passes time by stacking human skeletons. She has a liking for gold but dislikes bright places.^[5]

Dellidubblly is a Shinigami who spends his time gambling. He is humanoid in appearance, but wears a bone mask over his face. He carries a scythe, making him thematically similar to the classical depiction of the Grim Reaper. He usually gambles with Gook.^[6]

Gook is a lazy Shinigami whose most prominent feature is his animal mask. Like Dellidubly, he too enjoys gambling. Despite gambling with Dellidublly much of the time, he is a poor gambler.^[7]

Kinddara Guivelostain

Kinddara Guivelostain is a female Shinigami with a fierce appearance, having a huge fissure jutting out of her head and sharp teeth. She enjoys violence but hates excessive thinking.^[1]

Meadra is a large, slug-like Shinigami with stubby limbs. Unlike most Shinigami, she doesn't wear any clothing or decorative elements on her body. She enjoys moist weather but loathes dry seasons. Her enormous size gives her a dominating presence.^[5] While she is a background character in the main series, a one-shot chapter set three years after Light's death focuses on her. In the chapter, Ryuk's actions have made apples a commodity among the Shinigami. Meadra uses this to bribe the Shinigami King into giving her a second Death Note, which she gives to a human in an attempt to replicate Ryuk's experience with Light. When the Kira-impersonator is brushed off by Near as "boring", he kills himself. Meadra tells Ryuk about this, and he relates Light's claim that someone must have strong spiritual strength and conviction to use the Death Note; Meadra simply picked a weakling. She admits that Ryuk is better at judging such things, then gives the extra Death Note to him.^[8]

Nu is a Shinigami whose body is covered from head to toe with eyes. Nu is second only to the Shinigami King in terms of power. She is very intelligent and likes the feeling of others' regret.^[1]

Unnamed Shinigami

An unnamed Shinigami debuted in the Director's Cut special of Death Note; like Ryuk, he too was bored with the Shinigami realm. This Shinigami has an eyeless skull for a head. He wears a coat, a pair of goggles, and uses a tie as a headband. He takes an interest in Ryuk's visit to the human realm, and gives Ryuk an apple in exchange for information about the human world and its entrance. Ryuk accepts, but instead recaps the story of Light Yagami, who wanted to become a God by using the Death Note. After meeting Ryuk, he ventures off to the human world.

Zerhogie wears a Native American headdress and has a hook in place of his left hand. He takes an interest in Ryuk's activities in the human world, and humans in particular after learning that Ryuk's Death Note is in a human's possession. Despite his feeble appearance, he has a highly inquisitive nature. His interests are in furry items and he dislikes moist temperature.^[

Ryuk (リューク, Ryūku^?) is the main Shinigami of the series. Bored with the activities (or lack thereof) of the Shinigami realm, Ryuk obtains a second Death Note and drops it in the human realm for someone to find, hoping to amuse himself. He deliberately writes the instructions on the front page (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. For a Shinigami, Ryuk has a fairly humanoid appearance. Though his skin is pale and his limbs are abnormally long and he has yellow eyes with red irises and no pupils, he otherwise looks ordinary. He is voiced by Shidō Nakamura in the Japanese anime and Brian Drummond in the English dub.

Ryuk is characterized by his constant amusement by, and apathy in regards to, Light's problems. He enjoys seeing Light overcome the various challenges put to him, and often waits until the worst possible moment to inform him of a certain aspect of the Death Note just to get a laugh. He is occasionally helpful if it serves his own interests, such as obtaining apples or furthering his own amusement, but for the most part will jokingly taunt Light about what his next move will be.

Ryuk has a great fondness for apples, comparing them to cigarettes and alcohol for Shinigami (Shinigami apples are withered and taste like sand, as he shows Misa at one point), and will go through a type 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. In addition to apples, Ryuk is fond of video games, 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 cameras.^[3]

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, but Ryuk just writes Light's name instead. In the anime, Light does not ask for Ryuk's help and manages to escape the warehouse thanks to Mikami's gruesome suicide distracting everyone. However, his wounds are too severe for him to escape very far, and Ryuk, who is watching him from atop a pole, writes Light's name in his Death Note. Light dies peacefully, with an apparition of L standing over him. The film ends in much the same way 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. Ryuk offers L the Death Note, but when L refuses, Ryuk moans about L being "boring".

Ryuk makes a guest appearance in the Death Note parody episode of Gin Tama, commenting on how silly humans are (Gin and his friends fighting over the beef in a hotpot).

Rem (レム, Remu^?) is the Shinigami who gives Misa her Death Note. Like Ryuk, Rem possesses two Death Notes; however, Rem did not get hers through trickery. The Shinigami Jealous, 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. Touched by this act, Rem delivered his Death Note to Misa, since it was her life he saved. Her 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. 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.

While Ryuk takes amusement in everything in the human world, Rem is almost the exact opposite. She views most humans with contempt, seeing Shinigami as the more evolved race. Also, while Ryuk is ambivalent to Light's success or failure, Rem actively assists Misa, having inherited Jealous' love for her. 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.

Light manages to trick 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.

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, Kal Snyder). 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, obscuring most of his features, and his head is wrapped in bandages. He is voiced by Kazuki Yao in the Japanese anime.

Sidoh has a great liking for chocolate, just like Ryuk does for apples, something he shares in common with Mello. He's also fairly timid, since he was cowed by Mello despite him being a mere human. Death Note: How to Read 13 describes him as unintelligent and forgetful, rarely remembering the names of other Shinigami.^[4] After Light regains the Death Note from Mello, he returns it to Shidoh to keep him from interfering.

Sidoh's name is written in English as "Shidoh" in Death Note: How to Read 13, but written "Sidoh" in both the tankōbon character introductions page and within the translated English manga.

A Timid Shinigami

Sidoh possesses a certain charm that makes him hard to hate. He is, unfortunately, cowardly and afraid of one particular human. Sometimes it's hard to believe he's really a Shinigami...

Deathnote - four panel comic 

 Shinigami vary widely in appearance, and their bodies are built in ways that would seem impossible by humans standards. Like humans, Shinigami also have varying personality traits and levels of intelligence.^[1] They all have retractable wings on their backs. Shinigami are, for the most part, invincible. No human weapon can kill them, as they are only solid when they choose to be, and they are immune to the powers of the Death Note.^[2] Only a few things are actually capable of killing a Shinigami. Should they disobey the rules of their realm, a form of execution exists. Failing to write names in the Death Note (or losing it, though they can receive another) would also result in eventual death. Finally, Shinigami can commit a form of suicide by purposefully using the Death Note to extend the life of a human they care about: the purpose of a Shinigami is to end life, not give it, and hence saving a human is contrary to their nature. Shinigami who die in this manner are reduced to dust, and their remaining lifespan is given to the human they saved.

The main thing all Shinigami have in common is the Death Note. This supernatural notebook allows them to end the lives of humans before their time, adding the human's remaining lifespan to their own (e.g. a man would have lived to sixty and is killed at thirty would add thirty years to the Shinigami's lifespan). In this manner, a Shinigami can extend their life indefinitely. To assist in this, a Shinigami's eyes allow them to see the name and remaining lifespan of a human simply by seeing their face. It should be noted that a human using the Death Note will not receive the same benefits as a Shinigami; while they certainly can kill people, they cannot increase their lifespan by doing so.

The Shinigami Realm is a desolate wasteland. Pools littered about the surface allow them to view the human world in order to take human lives, but this is viewed as something workaholics do, so it is done in secret. Shinigami usually pass the time by gambling with the only thing they have to trade: years of their life.

All Shinigami must possess at least one Death Note, a necessity to extend their lives. Should they manage to come across a second, it can be loaned to a human. The Shinigami must accompany the human until they die or the Death Note is willingly given back; should the human give the notebook to another human, the same would apply to the new owner. Shinigami can explain the purpose of the Death Note to the human, but this is done at their discretion. They can also offer Shinigami Eyes to the human at the cost of half the human's lifespan; however, a human with the Eyes can only see the lifespans of non-Death Note owners, themselves included. Likewise, Shinigami cannot see lifespans of other Shinigami. In addition, Shinigami are forbidden from telling the Death Note owner their remaining lifespan, both because it would cause confusion and because a human aware of their fate might react unpredictably (in a negative way). While in the human world, Shinigami are invisible to everyone except the owner of their Death Note and anyone else who has touched it. Other unrelated Death Note users can only see their specific Shinigami. The films and anime state that a human who uses the Death Note cannot go to heaven or hell, and instead is condemned to Mu ("nothingness"). In the manga, this is described as the fate of all humans regardless of their actions during life.