Matt (マット, Matto) is Mello's friend lending Mello aid on the Kira case.
Appearance
Matt has brown hair and and wears white goggles with orange lenses. He is seen wearing a red and black striped long-sleeved top, and blue pants. His hands are covered with black gloves that reach just below the elbow, and he wears black boots. He also wears a cream-colored, sleeveless vest with a fur trim.
Character
Matt is extremely intelligent, known as the third smartest child at Wammy's House, though he was not a successor to L. His specialty is technology, and he is tasked by Mello to monitor the activities of Misa, Mogi and Aizawa.
He is shown to have a dry sense of humor; asking, "Since when were the Japanese allowed to have such big guns?" while standing at gunpoint. Matt is confident, and Death Note: How To Read 13 states that his cockiness while monitoring multiple computer screens at once is what leads him to make a few mistakes.
In the manga, Matt's hideout is shown to be littered with junk food and a box of cereal. Matt smokes cigarettes, and is seen doing so even while driving. According to Death Note: How To Read 13, Matt likes video games and dislikes going outside. Creator Takeshi Obata described Matt's concept as a "young man who loves gaming and doesn't really care much about the world."
History
Matt lived at Wammy's House when he was a young teenager, though it's unknown when he arrived. At some point, he left and began helping Mello with the Kira case.
Plot
Matt spies on Mogi and Aizawa.
Matt is first seen in the manga as Mello's accomplice in spying on Misa Amane[1], and later, Mogi and Aizawa. Matt follows Misa and observes her shopping with Mogi, then calls Mello with his cell phone. Matt describes Misa as "cute"[2] and states that her age appears to be anywhere from fourteen to twenty years old. Later on, Matt calls Mello again, having been watching Mogi and Aizawa via camera. He informs Mello that the two have come out of the building and are having what appears to be a serious conversation.[3] Matt makes another phone call to Mello after having let his guard down and losing track of Misa and Mogi who used a delivery truck as a disguise to sneak out of the building. Matt then follows Mello to Japan in their pursuit.[4]
Matt's death in the manga
He is only seen again during Takada's kidnapping, where he distracts her bodyguards with a smoke grenade launcher, allowing Mello to kidnap her.[5] When he was cornered, he tried to put up another smokescreen. Matt calmly surrenders but was shot multiple times.[6] In the anime, he hid a gun inside the back of his shirt which he tried to take out. The bodyguards later state that they never intended on bringing him in alive because of their belief and loyalty to Kira, claiming that Matt wouldn't reveal anything about the kidnapping and that death was the only punishment for his crimes against Kira. Mello later sees the news of his death broadcast on TV, and apologizes for having gotten Matt killed.[7]
Later in the manga, a TV broadcast reports that his identity is unknown, and that the bodyguards were forced to shoot because he was showing a dangerous and aggressive behavior.
Trivia
- Matt appears briefly in the Death Note One-Shot Special during Near's flashback. He is seen at Wammy's House, listening to L talk to the children.
- In the Anime and Manga, Matt is left handed.
- In the Manga, Matt's car is a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro. RS/SS. While in the anime, it is a modified 1968 Plymouth Road Runner 383 with the tail light panel from a 1969 Dodge Coronet 440.
- Matt's true name, Mail, is pronounced as "Mile" and not "Mail" .
- While Matt's official hair color is brown, fan arts often depicts him with a red hair color instead.
Quotes
- "Bored out of my mind!"
- (To Mello) "Anyway, it's too boring to keep watching something that has no movement."
- (To Mello, about Misa) "Then why don't we swap our jobs? Yours would be better, since you can listen secretly to a cute girl."
- "Since when were the Japanese allowed to have such big guns?"
References