Death Note/Characters/Side Characters

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Sayu Yagami

Voiced by: Haruka Kudo (JP), Kelly Metzger (EN, pre-timeskip), Kristie Marsden (EN, post-timeskip)

Light's little sister, who has the bad luck of being a normal kid in this fucked up environment. She's completely unaware of her brother's occupation as Kira. After her horrible kidnapping by Mello, she ends up catatonic and in a wheelchair. Word of God says she's getting better at the end of the manga, though.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• All Women Love Shoes: According to the Guidebook.
• Ambiguously Lesbian: To recap: she first says that she "doesn't want a boyfriend." Then she exclaims that Misa is "my type!" And she smiles when leafing through one of Light's magazines. The ambiguity here is that she does fangirl over Hideki Ryuga (the pop star), so she might be Bi the Way if the fangirling is sexual in nature.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Though nowhere near as bad as other anime examples.
• Big Brother Worship
• Bound and Gagged: When kidnapped by Mello.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter
• Break the Cutie: The second part of the series is so damn cruel to her.
• Brown Eyes
• Damsel in Distress
• Fan Girl: "HIDEKI RYUGA!!!"
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Sayu and Light, though subverted once Light becomes Kira.
• Generic Cuteness: Aww, she's so adorable....
• Genius Ditz: Despite her rather dim disposition, her conceptualization power is apparently 9/10, the same as the genius who captured Kira, Near. Just look at the ease in which she manipulates Light into doing her homework for her... it must run in the family.
• The Ingenue: Sweet, caring, innocent, and doesn't seem very smart. Holy shit, it goes wrong.
• Morality Pet: She exists to give Light Pet the Dog moments and to be kidnapped. Complete with Lampshade Hanging:

Ryuk (to Light): I guess even you have a soft spot for your sister.

• OC Stand-In
• She's All Grown Up and Tall, Dark and Bishoujo: After the Time Skip. You can't blame Matsuda for crushing on her.
• Ship Tease: Sayu drools over Misa and she says she might consider going out with Matsu if he wasn't so old.
• Sweater Girl
• The Teetotaler: Word of God says that she dislikes alcohol.
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter

Sachiko Yagami

Voiced by: Ai Satou (JP), Saffron Henderson (EN)

Soichiro's wife and Light and Sayu's mother. Like Sayu, she is completely unaware of Light's identity as Kira.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Break the Cutie: Near the end, her husband's dead and her daughter been traumatized from the kidnapping. We see her alone in the dining room which was once so full of life from her family now completely empty. After a moment, she breaks down and cries. And of course, she still doesn't know her son is an infamous serial killer and by the end of the day's events, she's going to lose him as well..
• Brown Eyes
• Education Mama: Quite possibly. In one of her few appearances she gushes over Light's report card while Light himself looks rather depressed and anxious.
• Happily Married: To Soichiro.
• OC Stand-In
• Yamato Nadeshiko: She's a strong woman who does everything she can to keep the family from falling apart during the case.

Naomi Misora

Voiced by: Naoko Matsui (JP), Tabitha St. Germain (EN)

Raye Penber's fiancee and former FBI Agent who worked under L in the L.A.B.B. murder case.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Action Girl: Of the Dance Battler variety, since she's well-versed in Capoeira and trains L in it.
• Alone with the Psycho: Twice!
• And I Must Scream: Experiences this when she realizes that Light is Kira and the Death Note takes effect.
• Ascended Extra: Both in the prequel novel and in the live-action movies
• Badass
  • Badass Biker
• Betty and Veronica: Though it's gender swapped with Beyond Birthday as the Veronica and Raye Penber as the Betty.
• Biker Babe
• Black Eyes
• Born Unlucky: Her "luck" rating is 1/10. Ouch.
• Capoeira
• Color Coded for Your Convenience: Official color seems to be blue.
• Driven to Suicide: "Written" might be more accurate.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: When she's Driven to Suicide.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
• Fair Cop
• Final Girl: Of Another Note but not in the main story.
• Genre Savvy: As she dated a policeman she knows a few tricks such as not to give away her real name at first until Light sweet talks her into doing so.
• Hell-Bent for Leather
• Horrible Judge of Character: Well, Light seems trustworthy enough...
• Just a Kid: She's had... trouble with this. In the novel, it explains that she had a traumatic experience with having faced down a gang member that was no more than a child. Then there's Light the mass murdering high school student...
• Mauve Shirt
• Names to Run Away From Really Fast: At the F.B.I. she was known as "Misora Massacre" for her Badassery.
• Never Found the Body: Afte Light writes her name down, she just walks off into the distance and is never seen again.
• OC Stand-In
• Oh Crap: The sheer amount of terror on the poor girl's face after learning Light was Kira was just heartbreaking.
• Properly Paranoid
• Real Women Never Wear Dresses: Word of God says that she dislikes skirts.
• Revenge: She wants to catch Kira to avenge Raye's death.
• Sacrificial Lion: Her purpose in the series turned out to be built up just so she could prove that Anyone Can Die.
• Snow Means Death
• The Stoic: Her emotional strength rating is a full 10/10.
• Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
• Too Dumb to Live: On one hand, she doesn't seem to realise that a creepy kid following her around asking Have You Told Anyone Else? is a bit off, not to mention the Plot Induced Stupidity and Idiot Ball. On the other hand, it was a Contrived Coincidence that she went to the police station when Light was there and L wasn't, Light's trustworthiness is backed up by another person and he comes off as a genuine member of L's team. Regardless of what side you're on, nearly all fans agree her death was pretty cheap.
  • Subverted in the live action film, wherein her role is notably expanded from the manga. She still dies, but it's more plausible and makes Naomi seem less like an idiot.
• Tsundere: this is Lampshaded in Another Note.
• Vasquez Always Dies: the most Badass female character on the show-and the first to die.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Dies too early in the manga to really establish her personality, but this was fixed in the prequel novel and the movies.
• What Could Have Been: She was originally supposed to have a larger role, but the author couldn't think of a way to keep her in the plot without her immediately blowing Light's cover, so she was turned into a Sacrificial Lion instead.
• Woman in Black
• You Remind Me Of L: Naomi says this to Light (Lampshading that they're Not So Different).

Raye Penber

Voiced by: Hideo Ishikawa (JP), Michael Adamtwaite (EN)

The FBI Agent who was tailing Light.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Alternate Continuity: Known as "Raye Iwamatsu" in the live action movie, though pretty much everything else about the character is the same.
• Badass: Credit where credit is due. He charges a dangerous criminal to save a bus full of people.
  • Badass Longcoat
• But Not Too Foreign: Although American, he is of Japanese descent.
• Death By Sexism: His Stay in the Kitchen line to Naomi was an Establishing Character Moment for Western fandom. It was only meant for the Kira case and he was just making sure she didn't get caught in the crossfire.
• Gray Eyes
• Incredibly Obvious Tail
• It's Probably Nothing: His reaction to Naomi's concerns about the busjacking.
• Mauve Shirt
• Morton's Fork: Follow my instructions or I kill you and your girlfriend. Guess what happens anyway.
• Stay in the Kitchen: To Naomi.
• Tall, Dark and Handsome
• Unwitting Pawn: Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, made you kill your coworkers.
• Zombie Infectee: Rather than acting completely Genre Blind, Raye acts like this about showing his name to a Kira suspect in the live-action movie.

Kyosuke Higuchi

Voiced by: Issei Futamata (JP), Andrew Kavadas (EN)

The third Kira and the main antagonist of the Yotsuba arc. He's one of the eight-member Yotsuba board and head of the technological development, but isn't very competent compared to the others, and is obsessed with gaining social status in addition to wealth. Light had Rem send the Death Note to him as part of a Xanatos Gambit to clear himself and Misa of suspicion. After his arrest, Light kills him to regain control of the notebook.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Ambition Is Evil
• Axe Crazy
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• Curb Stomp Battle: Really, he didn't stand a chance against L and Light's scheming.
• Dirty Old Man: Misa notes that he has a somewhat perverted interest in her. Even Rem is repulsed by this.
• Fail O'Suckyname: His last name means "fire escape" in Japanese. No one has normal names in this show.
  • Actually, 火口 means the caldera of a volcano - namely, he shoots his mouth off a lot.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Apparently, he was a rather unimpressive and unpopular figure in the corporation until he met Rem.
• Greed
• I Have You Now, My Pretty
• Jack the Ripoff
• The Kira Becomes the Killed
• NameDar: When cornered, he makes the eye deal.
• Person of Mass Destruction
• Serial Killer Kira
• A Sinister Clue
• Smug Snake: Enjoys insulting people despite his limited abilities.
• Stop or I Shoot Myself
• Too Dumb to Live
• Unwitting Pawn
• Villainous Breakdown: Loses composure more and more as he gets closer to being arrested.

Reiji Namikawa

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima (JP), Ted Cole (EN)

A member of the Yotsuba Eight that Light sways over to L's side.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Bishonen
• Board to Death
• Color Coded for Your Convenience: Official color seems to be purple.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• Hazy Feel Turn
• Deadly Change-of-Heart
• Manipulative Bastard
• Mook Face Turn
• The Proud Elite: He is cold, calculating, and very intelligent. He is also quite attractive.
• Reverse Mole
• Smart People Play Chess: According to How to Read 13 he's an expert chess player.
• Tall, Dark and Snarky
• Unwitting Pawn
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness
• You Just Told Me: How he figures out that Higuchi is the third Kira.

Matt

Voiced by: Tomohiro Nishimura (JP), Drew Nelson (EN)

Mello's henchman, and a fellow graduate of Wammy's House. His real name is Mail Jeevas.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Badass
  • Badass Bookworm: He apparently hates going outside, according to Word of God.
  • Badass Driver
• Deadpan Snarker: His two canon lines are pretty snarky, and he's always portrayed this way in Fanon.
• Drives Like Crazy: the Chase Scene was pretty much his only scene.
• Famous Last Words: "You won't shoot..." Also qualifies as Tempting Fate.
• Fiery Redhead, Rose Haired Boy, or You Gotta Have Green Hair
  • His official artwork shows he's brunette.
• Goggles Do Nothing/Memetic Outfit
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Duncan? Is that you?
• I Surrender, Suckers
• Killed Mid-Sentence
• Mauve Shirt
• OC Stand-In: more he does have a character/personality (Word of God at least, although his function is to give Mello someone to play off), but his screen-time is so short you don't see enough of it to stop the fans from using every single interpretation possible whatever way they like (more OC Free for All).
• Odd Name Out / Plain Name: Of the Wammy's boys. You got L, Beyond, Mello, Near, and... Matt.
• One-Scene Wonder: He's ridiculously popular for only showing up in a couple of scenes.
• Parental Abandonment
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: he plays video games and he smokes... a lot. Considering that Wammy's House seems to exclusively rear genius eccentrics, the odds are good that that's his particular eccentricity (or addiction, depending on what you view of what L's sweet-devouring, Near's toy-obsession, and Mello's chocolate-violence as).
• Real Men Wear Pink
• Red Shirt
• Satellite Character
• Sidekick
• Smoking Is Cool
  • Must Have Nicotine: He's mentioned to be a chain-smoker.
• Spear Carrier
• Suck Sessor
• Teen Genius: he's the third most talented member of Wammy's House. Yes, Matt was third in line to be L after Near and Mello.
• Videogame Culture: Often known as the gamer guy in fanfic, since one of his few appearances shows him playing a video game, and it's mentioned on his character page in How to Read 13 that he enjoys video games.
• We Hardly Knew Ye

Hitoshi Demegawa

Voiced by: Chafurin (JP), Ward Perry (EN)

Demegawa is director of Sakura TV, a Japanese news channel that is notoriously unreliable, and he shamelessly seeks to exploit the Kira case. He is first seen attempting to broadcast the video tapes Misa sends to his network to get Kira's attention, although Soichiro puts a stop to that. After the Time Skip, he becomes Kira's supporter and self-appointed spokesman, creating and hosting the Show Within a Show Kira's Kingdom...until the incident mentioned below in You Have Failed Me....

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Attention Whore
• Expy: "I don't care what it takes, get me pictures of Spiderman! ...uh Kira."
• Fat Bastard
• Jerkass: Taken Up to Eleven in the second live-action movie.
• Karma Houdini: In the Live Action movies.
• Mouth of Sauron
• Meaningful Name: Actually a case of an ironic one; his given name is written with a kanji character meaning "benevolence."
• Only in It For the Money
• Politically-Incorrect Villain: In the second film, wherein he sexually harasses Takada.
• Spared by the Adaptation: He doesn't die in the second live action film.
• Strawman News Media
• You Have Failed Me...: Killed by Mikami for falling for Near's money bait rather than pointing his cameras at Near so Misa could have killed the SPK members as Light wanted, although also because he was being too much of a loose cannon in general.

Linda

Fan art of Linda (by teh-h), because you'd need a microscope to see her one official appearance at the back of a manga panel.

An artist and another of the Wammy orphans. She draws the portraits of Near and Mello that are seen in both the manga and anime.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Girlish Pigtails
• OC Stand-In
• One-Scene Wonder: She appears very briefly in the manga, and not at all in the original anime series. However, she makes a very brief appearance and has one line in Relight 2: L's Successors.
• The Smurfette Principle

Yamamoto

Light's school pal. He's joined the NPA by the epilogue.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Adjusting Your Glasses: the nose bridge push, see picture above.
• Adorkable
• Alone with the Psycho
• Brown Eyes
• Fan Boy: Either he or the other unnamed friend was a fan of the X-Men.
• Irony: Tells Light, "Be good, dude!"
• OC Stand-In
• One-Scene Wonder
• One Steve Limit: It's unclear if the Yamamoto in the first volume and the Yamamoto in the ending are the same character or not.
• Pals With Kira: In the manga Light is always shown walking home with the same two guys, Yamamoto and another unnamed friend.
• Right in Front of Me: When he and another unnamed friend are talking about Kira in front of Light.

Friend#2: I did some shoplifting back in grade school and I’m freaking out about it. Yamamoto: Hah, that's peanuts!

• Satellite Character: he gives Light and later Matsuda someone to interact with.
• Where Are They Now? Epilogue: In the last chapter Yamamoto has joined the NPA and is Matsuda's drinking buddy.
• You Will Be Spared: If it is the same Yamamoto then Light probably figured those crimes were too small to bother with.

Rod Ross

The boss of The Mafia that works with Mello.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Alliterative Name
• Bad Boss
• Bald of Evil
• The Dragon/Dragon-in-Chief: He's the boss of The Mafia. But he defers to Mello's plans because it's good business.
• Gonk
• Karmic Death: He and most of the other mafioso are killed by Kira when the Taskforce raids their hideout.
• The Mafia
• Perma-Stubble
• Villain Team-Up: With Mello.
• Walking Shirtless Scene
• You Have Failed Me...: He and Mello test the Notebook on their own henchmen. "That's what you get when you sell goods behind my back."

Nori

Misa's friend.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Agent Mulder: She's into the occult.
• All Guitars Are Stratocasters: she's got an electric guitar and some really big amps in her room.
• Body Double: Trades places with Misa so she can "go on a date."
• Brown Eyes
• Fall Guy: Misa sets her up so her fingerprints are all over the Second Kira tapes.
• Femme Fatalons
• Messy Hair
• OC Stand-In
• One-Scene Wonder
• The Quincy Punk: she's got like spiky maroon punk hair and a Union Jack on her wall.
• Rose-Haired Girl: or a maroon-haired girl
• Unwitting Pawn: to Misa.
• Wig, Dress, Accent: when doing the Body Double trick for Misa.

Ryotaro Sakajo

Misa's stalker, given a name in the live action movies. Killed by Gelus.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Alternate Continuity: In the manga and anime Misa's stalker is a crazed fan that she had never seen before. In the live action movies he is the assistant director of her TV program Misa-Misa's Happy Sweets.
• Attempted Rape
• Bald of Evil: in the live action movie
• Brown Eyes
• Collector of the Strange: In the live action movie he retrieves Misa's used tissues from the trash.
• Covert Pervert
• Crazy Jealous Guy
• Devil in Plain Sight: In the live-action movie.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: in the manga/anime.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: in the anime.
• Identical Stranger: In the manga/anime he looks vaguely like Mikami.
  • Sakajo?
• If I Can't Have You
• The Killer Becomes the Killed: he's killed by Gelus before he can finish killing Misa; which causes Gelus to crumble to dust as he is punished for interfering in human affairs.
• Loony Fan
• Murder-Suicide: When Misa rejects him "I'LL KILL US BOTH!"
• Stalker with a Crush
• Yandere

Yuri

Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu (JP), Lalainia Lindbjerg (EN)

The Girl From the Bus.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Brown Eyes
• Clingy Jealous Girl: "I've got you all to myself!" Also, in the manga she insists that she and Light still go to Spaceland after witnessing a gruesome death.
• Damsel in Distress
• Identical Stranger: It's been pointed out that she looks like Sayu.
• OC Stand-In
• One-Scene Wonder
• Shallow Love Interest: Light calls her up only because he needs her for his plan and he tries to ditch her immediately afterwards.
• Unfortunate Names: heh heh Yuri. Next we meet Light's best buddy Yaoi!
• Unwitting Pawn

Hideki Ryuuga

A famous teen idol and pop star that Sayu fangirls over.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Brown Eyes or Eyes of Gold
• Chekhov's Gun: His name, not the character.
• Identical Stranger: it's been pointed out he kind of looks like Light.
  • It was also pointed out that in the manga he kinda looks like L.
• Idol Singer
• OC Stand-In
• Sharp-Dressed Man
• Ship Tease: With Misa. Misa looks very stunned when they're acting out a romance scene together but then suddenly objects to kissing him informing all that she already has a boyfriend.
• Shonen Hair
• Teen Idol
• Unwitting Pawn: To L. L gives Light his name as "Hideki Ryuuga" so if the real Ryuuga dies then Light is Kira.

Yoshi

Misa's original manager.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Bad Boss: Towards Misa. She is very scary, pushy, and controlling.
• Bifauxnen
• Brown Eyes
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: Maybe. L allegedly has her arrested for drug possession offscreen in order to hide the fact that he's detaining Misa from the general public. The show never goes into detail on whether L planted the evidence or not or even if she was really arrested and not just paid off.
• Fail O'Suckyname: She is not a certain dinosaur from mushroom land but she does wear green.
• Horrifying the Horror: Misa, the Second Kira, is very intimidated by her and even L and Kira seem a bit unnerved.
• Hot Chick in a Badass Suit
• Jerkass
• Meganekko
• No Sense of Personal Space: She literally grabs Misa by the wrist and pulls her off to work.
• OC Stand-In
• One-Scene Wonder

Anthony Rester

Voiced by: Masaki Aizawa (JP), Michael Adamtwaite (EN)

Commander of the SPK, Rester is an honest person who has Near's complete trust, so much so that he reveals some of his thoughts and plans to Rester only. He also helps Near with things he can't do for himself, such as booking a flight on a plane. Appears in the one-shot special in the manga along with Lidner.

His real name is Anthony Carter.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Action Survivor
• The Confidant: To Near.
• Expy: In a certain way, he acts as a Watari to Near. At least, until the end of the story, when Roger, Watari's friend and caretaker of Wammy's House, takes over the role.

Halle Lidner

Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe (JP), Lisa Ann Beley (EN)

A former Secret Service agent who works for Near as part of the SPK. She joined the SPK to avenge one of her relatives who had been killed by Higuchi at the time when he acted as Kira. She leaks information to Mello about the investigation, as she reasoned that Kira would be caught faster under their combined efforts. Later, she was chosen to infiltrate the bodyguard unit that protects Kiyomi Takada. In the one-shot chapter set three years after Light's death, it is revealed that she and Rester continue to work with Near.

Her real name is Halle Bullook.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Action Survivor
• Affirmative Action Girl: She is introduced after the Time Skip, making her the third action girl in the series and one of the few females in Death Note's predominantly male cast.
  • Action Girl: She still has the physical skills, and poses as Takada's bodyguard.
• Double Agent: Becomes something like this between Near and Mello.
• Dumb Blonde: Subverted, as she's one of the more competent women in the series.
• Eyes of Gold
• Go Through Me: Pulls one of these when Mello threatens to shoot Near. "If you shoot Near, we'll shoot you, if you both die here, what's the point? Only Kira would be happy with that."
• Het Is Ew: Probably a contributing factor for the lack of fanwork for Mello/Halle (or at least in comparison to other pairings with Mello).
• Revenge: She wants to catch Kira to avenge one of her relatives.
• Shower Scene: She gets her own right before being forced to go back to the SPK headquarters, by Mello.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's the only female member of the SPK.

Stephen Gevanni

Voiced by: Hiroki Takahashi (JP), Samuel Vincent (EN)

A member of the SPK, Gevanni is a skilled lock-picker, stalker and counterfeiter. He tails Teru Mikami when Near suspects him to be X-Kira and plays a vital role in Near's plan to beat Light once and for all.

His real name is Stephen Loud.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Action Survivor
• Butt Monkey: Of the SPK
• Minion Shipping: Often with Mikami again.
• Tall, Dark and Handsome
• Workaholic: He somehow makes a perfect fake copy of the Death Note with all the names written inside it a single night.