LIGHT YAGAMI:The protagonist of Death Note, Light is an extremely intelligent, popular and athletic, but bored 17-year old student. When he finds the Death Note, dropped in the human world by Ryuk (a shinigami), he decides to use it to kill all criminals and earns the title Kira. His ultimate goal is to cleanse the world of evil to create a utopia and then reign over this new world as its god.

L:L is the world's top-rated detective, tasked with tracking down and arresting Kira. As such, he is Light's arch-enemy. His disheveled appearance masks his great powers of deduction and insight. L has many quirks, such as sitting in an odd manner, snacking on sweets constantly, and holding objects in a peculiar manner. He often takes drastic strategies to confuse and force the hand of his opponents. On several occasions he has willingly disclosed several of his weaknesses to Kira at the risk of his own life in the hopes that he would lure him into a trap.

MISA AMANE: A girl with an immense crush on Kira, Misa is a popular idol in Japan. She is immature and tends to refer to herself in the third person in an attempt to be cute. Misa is completely devoted to Light, and she once said that she loved him at first sight. Light, however, only views her as an asset to his plans because of her Death Note and her Shinigami eyes (that she obtained at the cost of half of her remaining life span, twice). Misa devotes herself to Light because he killed her parents' murderer after several trials had failed to convict him.

MELLO:Mello was an orphan who grew up with Near in Watari's shelter for gifted children. Like Near, Mello was one of the candidates to become L's successor. Similar to L's fondness for sweets, he is often seen eating bars of chocolate. Although Mello is quite intelligent, he often lets his emotions get the better of him. Mello wears leather most of the time, unlike Near or L. He also appears to be less secluded in terms of his friends and hobbies, and seems to be fond of biking.

NEAR:Near was a primary candidate to become L's successor and calls himself N during the course of his investigations. He shares a number of similarities with L. Much like how L plays with things such as sugar cubes and forks, Near is frequently shown playing with toys or his hair. Near also sits in an unusual manner similar to L, but with some slight differences. He offered to join forces with Mello to fight Kira, but Mello turned him down. Near then gained the support of the Government of the United States and formed the Special Provision for Kira (SPK).

TERU MIKAMI:Mikami is selected as the fourth Kira by Light, after Light decides that it is too dangerous for the Death Note to be near Misa or himself, since he and Misa are currently under surveillance by Aizawa and Mogi. A prosecuting attorney and adamant supporter of Kira, Mikami shares many of the same ideals, thoughts, and priorities as Kira, and is ecstatic when he discovers that Kira, his God, has chosen him, proving that God is on his side and watching. He is completely devoted and loyal to Kira, believing that divine justice must be brought down upon the people. Little is known about his personal life; he appears to have no hobbies or anything else of the sort. He chants "delete" with each name he writes down in the Death Note due to events in his past when he thought God was "deleting" the evil people in his life. He, like Misa, has made the exchange of half his remaining years for Shinigami eyes.

RYUK:A shinigami who dropped a Death Note into the human world, which Light would pick up. Acting out of pure boredom, Ryuk begins the story of Death Note on a whim. It is stated that Ryuk obtained the second Death Note in the shinigami world from "tricking the old man" for another one. Ryuk is not Light's ally, and in fact declares in their first meeting that someday he (Ryuk) would write Light's name into his own Death Note. Ryuk often refuses to aid Light and instead enjoys watching him struggle for his goals. He acts for his own interests and entertainment, and often fails to tell Light key details about the Death Note. However, Ryuk will aid Light if it serves his own goals, such as providing amusement or obtaining apples, without which he suffers a form of withdrawal symptoms.

REM:The female shinigami who first gives Misa her Death Note and trades her for the Shinigami eyes. Similar to Ryuk, Rem possesses two Death Notes; however, she purposely gives one of them to Misa Amane. Rem inherited her second Death Note from Gelus, another shinigami who died when he saved Misa's life, and thought it only right to pass it on to Misa. Rem inherits Gelus' love for Misa as well and is prompt to defend Misa even at the cost of her life. Rem shows this when she states that she will kill Light if Misa dies before her time.

SIDOH:The third shinigami seen in the human world, Sidoh is revealed as the original owner of the Death Note Ryuk dropped at the beginning of the series. Initially upon entering the human world, Sidoh relentlessly follows Ryuk, demanding the return of his Death Note. Ryuk eventually admits he has no knowledge of the location of Sidoh's Death Note, said note having been used as a bargaining chip by Light and fallen into Mello's hands. Sidoh eventually locates his Death Note, and, under questioning, reveals to Mello (who subsequently reveals to Near) that some of the rules written in the Death Note are fake.

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. Rem delivers his Death Note to Misa because it was her that he saved.

SIDOH: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, obscuring most of his features, and his head is wrapped in bandages.

Sidoh shares Mello's great liking for chocolate, similar to Ryuk's liking of apples. Sidoh is fairly timid; Mello frightens Sidoh, despite the fact that Mello is a human.Sidoh as unintelligent and forgetful, rarely remembering the names of other Shinigami. After Light regains the Death Note from Mello, he returns it to Sidoh to keep him from interfering.

ARMONIA JASTIN 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 names suggests, Justin's appearance is that of a skeleton adorned with all manner of jewelery.

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. 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.

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 blueberries but dislikes sunlight

DARIL GHIROZA:is a female Shinigami who passes time by stacking human skeletons. Known for her "goofy" laugh, Ghiroza has an "Asian" appearance. She has a liking for gold but dislikes bright places.

DERIDOVELY: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 Gukku.

GUKKU:is a lazy Shinigami whose most prominent feature is his animal mask. Like Deridovely, he enjoys gambling. Despite gambling with Deridovely much of the time, he is a poor gambler.

KINDDARA GUIVELOSTAIN: is a female Shinigami with a fierce appearance, having a huge fissure jutting from her head and sharp teeth. She enjoys violence but hates excessive thinking. She does not appear in the actual Death Note story

MIDRA: is a large, slug-like Shinigami with stubby limbs. Unlike most Shinigami, she does not 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. 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. Midra 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. Midra tells Ryuk about this, and he relates Light's claim that someone must have strong spiritual strength and conviction to use the Death Note; Midra simply picked a weakling. She admits that Ryuk is better at judging such things, then gives the extra Death Note to him.

Midra appears to have the same feeling toward bananas

NU:is a Shinigami whose body is covered from head to toe with eyes. Nu is "supposedly" the second most-powerful Shinigami, with the King of Death's powers eclipsing hers. She is very intelligent and likes the feeling of others' regret, but she dislikes sound.

KING OF DEATH:is the ruler of the Shinigami. An unseen character in the main series, the Shinigami King governs the Shinigami and controls distribution of the Death Notes. It is not made clear if he creates them or just has a certain supply, as he is unwilling to replace lost ones. It is also unclear whether the Shinigami King enforces the various rules of the Shinigami. The Shinigami King is regarded as a sort of father figure by lesser Shinigami, and is said to be almost immortal. the King as a large mass suspended in the air with chains. He has a skull for a head, which is surrounded by a larger, skull-like formation. He has four arms, each with only three fingers on the hands, which hang from his body.

ZELLOGI: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