THE DEATH GODS

“Humans are so interesting,” said Ryuuku.

Shinigami literally means “death god” in Japanese language. In the series, the shinigamis live in their own world watching the humans and choosing which human name should they write on their own Death Note and die. It’s their job or a boring job (as Ryuuku mentioned).

Each of them possessed their own notebook of death and also they have their own rules to abide in order to keep themselves alive. One of those rules is continue writing names on the Death Note which extend their life span. Any shinigami who didn’t write names on the notebook of death for a long period of time will surely die.

There were at least four shinigamis introduced in the series. Ryuuku is the first, a bored shinigami who dropped his Death Note on the human world and picked by a bored genius named Yagami Light (Raito Yagami). He is the shinigami who love apples. As Light become the owner of the Death Note, Ryuuku became his companion and partner in crime.

The other was Jealous, a death god who had fallen in love with Misa Amane and therefore sacrificed his life to save Misa when she was in terrible danger. A shinigami may die if he/she extend human life whom he/she had fallen in love with and it is done willfully by a shinigami—a sacrifice.

Rem, another shinigami did the same thing as Jealous. She was a female death god and tricked by Light by bringing Misa to danger where the only way left to save her is Rem to write the true name of L and Watari on her Death Note and kill them instantly. But the price to pay is her dear life which she offered willfully just to save Misa.

Shidou is the chocolate-loving shinigami introduced in the series. He was the true owner of the notebook which Ryuuku dropped and picked by Light. The notebook of death which Shidou really owned was now in Mello’s use but later returned to the shinigami who really owned it (Shidou) after raiding the Mafia headquarters which believed to be the hiding place of Mello. The raid was led by Light who succeeded L. However, the terrible price paid in the raid was the death of Souichirou Yagami, Light’s father.

On my next post, I'm going to expose the main character of the series, Yagami Raito (Light).