Shinigami (死神, Gods of Death), are a race of extra-dimensional beings who survive by killing humans to extend their own lives. Shinigami in this series are not responsible for every death that occurs; people will eventually die regardless of whether or not the Shinigami pay attention to them, but a Shinigami can end their lives sooner than intended to extend their own lifespan...
Shinigami vary widely in appearance, and their bodies are built in ways that would seem impossible by Earthly standards.
Although some Shinigami do not appear to have limbs capable of holding objects (such as hands, feet, etc.), all Shinigami are able to hold and write with a pen in order to use their Death Note.
Shinigami are capable of flight and use wings as a mode of transportation, especially in the Human World. When their wings are not in use, they retract.
Nature and Abilities
The Shinigami each have a unique personality and level of intelligence. Each Shinigami has his or her own written language, with some opting for letters and some opting for pictures. Takeshi Obata, artist of the series, said that he assumes that all Shinigami can understand the languages of one another. Some Shinigami can also speak, read and write in Earthly languages.
Shinigami have jobs, although they do not have a required amount of work to do. Their main job is to find humans they can take life from, and write their name in their death note. Some Shinigami tend to forget to write names down and some actually die because of this. Shinigami can save other humans they care about if that person is about to die. But the purpose of a Shinigami is to end life, not give it—any Shinigami who violates this nature will perish. Shinigami who die are reduced to dust, and their remaining lifespan is given to the human they saved. Under normal circumstances, a Shinigami will live forever.
Shinigami may be male or female. Shinigami cannot and are not permitted to have sexual relations with humans nor can they have sexual intercourse with each other. They also cannot reproduce. However, Shinigami may have emotions relating to the opposite sex. For instance, Ryuk feels shy and embarrassed when Misa Amane hugs him. In addition, humans cannot easily tell which Shinigami are male and which Shinigami are female, although Shinigami know each others gender instinctively.
While Shinigami possess senses of taste similar to those of humans, they do not need to eat food. This is because their organs have rotted—or perhaps evolved—to the point where they can no longer gain nutrition from what they consume. In addition, Shinigami do not need to sleep and will not die from a lack of sleep. Ryuk once said that Shinigami view sleeping as "evidence of laziness."
Shinigami can materialize and dematerialize their bodies at will, and are capable of walking through walls and other objects. The only humans that will see this phenomenon are the ones who have touched a Death Note (i.e. only cantact with a Death Note will allow you to see a Shinigami). Physical attacks are useless against a Shinigami, therefor attacking one with something such as a gun will have no affect; the bullets will go right through the Shinigami.
Death Notes and Shinigami Eyes
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 times, adding the human's remaining lifespans to their own. In this manner, a Shinigami can extend their lives indefinitely. To assist in this, their eyes allow them to see the names and remaining lifespans of humans by seeing the faces of their victims. They are able to give Shinigami Eyes to the human they posess, in exchange for half of that humans remaining lifespan (i.e. a human which is supposed to live 40 more years will lose 20 years of their life in order to recieve the Shinigami Eyes. The twenty years the human loses are given to the Shinigami that they are making the trade with). Shinigami give this ability to the human by placing their open hand above the humans head.
All Shinigami must possess at least one Death Note, a necessity to extend their lives. Should they manage to come across a second, it should—at least in principle—be returned to the Shinigami King. When a Death Note is dropped in the Human World, humans who pick up the notebook may use that Death Note to kill others. If a notebook ever reaches the human world and is picked up by a human, the Shinigami must accompany the human until they die or the Death Note is willingly given back. Shinigami can explain the purpose of the Death Note to the human, but this is done at their discretion.
Government
The Shinigami King rules and governs all Shinigami, and controls all "distribution" of each and every Death Note given to all Shinigami upon their "creation." Apart from this, it is unknown what, if any, other tasks he performs.
Shinigami have rankings, with the Shinigami King as having the highest ranking. How to Read 13 states that the rankings do not seem to affect the Shinigami's day-to-day activities very much.
Shinigami have an unknown number of laws that they follow. It is unknown who creates these laws, as well as who enforces them. If a Shinigami breaks a law, the Shinigami will face one of nine punishment levels. The severity is least at Level Nine and most at Level One, and a Shinigami will die if anything above Level Three is applied to him or her. Another level more severe than the rest, called the "Extreme Level" also exists. Shinigami may not kill a human in any manner outside of using a Death Note, and doing so merits "Extreme Level" punishment. However, neither the anime nor the manga goes into detail about this part of the Shinigami's lifestyle.
The Shinigami Realm is a barren, dry, and desolate land that is similar to Purgatory. The realm includes different landscapes and does not have human-like buildings. Shinigami tend to congregate in areas with bone and/or stone structures. There is at least one mountain or cave structure where Ryuk lives alone which is shown in the one-shot special of the anime.
The realm also includes deserts with various holes. The holes, which are shaped like concentric orbs, are littered about the surface. The artifacts have openings which let them see anywhere in the human world from a birds-eye view. These strange objects are what allow Shinigami to take human lives without traveling to Earth. The date that the holes were created is not known.
Conception and Developement
Takeshi Obata, the artist for Death Note, said that he had "a lot of fun" during the creation of the Shinigami. He also felt that the process was "very difficult" since he started "with nothing." He cited the difficulty in his creation of Ryuk as an example. Obata said that at first Shinigami appeared like "beasts" and that with later Shinigami such as Sidoh he designed them to look like crustaceans and insects because "it was easier." Obata said that he felt difficulty in basing characters on animal designs and keeping "the same feeling of the series." Obata said that he considered basing Shinigami on wizards but decided against the idea, and that the rags on some Shinigami serves as a remnant of that concept.
When designing the Shinigami Realm, Obata said that he used "no real design motif" and that he never settled on any concrete appearance. He described the Shinigami Realm as changing appearance in each instance in Death Note, with it sometimes appearing to be a dry field and sometimes appearing to be a room full of bones. Obata says that he likes to think of it as "an abandoned building with chunks of steel sitting around."
Ryuk is the main Shinigami of the series. Bored with the activities (or lack thereof) of the Shinigami realm,Ryuk steals Sidoh's Death Note and drops it in the human realm for someone to find, hoping to amuse himself, because the Shinigami Realm "bores him." He deliberately writes the instructions on the first page so that people would understand it's purpose. The Death Note is discovered by Light, and Ryuk follows him around for much of the series to see how Light uses it. Ryuk has a fairly humanoid appearance.
Rem 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 Gelus, 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 Gelus's Death Note to Misa, since it was her life he saved.
Gelus 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. 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 original owner of the Death Note that Ryuk drops in the Human World. He comes to the Human World to obtain his notebook again from Ryuk. Ryuk explains that he doesn't have it, or know where it is. Sidoh finally locates it in the possession of the Mafia, and later receives it from Light Yagami after the Task Force obtain it. After getting his Death Note, he returns to the Shinigami Realm.
Minor Shinigami
Armonia Justin Beyondormason
Armonia Justin 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 jewellery. 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. However, these scrolls are never 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 direct sunlight.
Obata said that he based Calikarcha's design off of Balinese bird masks.
Daril Ghiroza is a female Shinigami who passes time by stacking human skeletons. She has a liking for gold but dislikes bright places.
Obata described her as "more of an Orthodox-looking Shinigami." Obata said that since Obata designed her at the same time as his design work for Sidoh for use as a new main character he gave her some contrast with Sidoh's design. Obata said that he based Ghiroza on Ryuk's design and tried to make her appear "higher-ranked." Obata said that when he discovered that another Shinigami would appear on Earth, he filed through designs and nominated Sidoh and Daril Ghiroza. Obata said that he believed that Ghiroza would be chosen and prepared for that decision; instead Ohba selected Sidoh. Obata said that the reason why Sidoh was chosen is that Ghiroza attained a high Shinigami rank and therefore would not fit the role of a Shinigami being "pushed around" by a human being. Obata said that he was glad that Ghiroza was not selected since her design included many details that he felt would have caused "real trouble" if he tried to draw her in every chapter.
In the Japanese version her name is Dalil Guillohrtha.
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 Gook and Ryuk. His Japanese voice actor is Tetsuo Goto and his English voice actor is David Pettitt.
Obata said that he based Deridovely on a "gross-looking transparent insect." Obata believes that the bandages aid the design.
In the Japanese version his name is Dellidubbly.
Guuku
Guuku is a lazy Shinigami whose most prominent feature is his animal mask. Like Deridovely, he too enjoys gambling. Despite gambling with Deridovely much of the time, he is a poor gambler. He is voiced by Takeharu Onishi in the Japanese version and by Lee Tockar in English.
Obata said that, as Guuku appears in the first chapter, he wanted for Guuku to look like a monster to keep it simple. Obata decided to use a cattle skull in the design as he felt that using a regular skull would be boring.
Kinddara Guivelostain is a female Shinigami with a fierce appearance, having a huge fissure on her head and sharp teeth. She enjoys violence but hates excessive thinking. She does not appear in the actual Death Note story, but does appear on the spine of Volume 12.
Obata said that, since the final volume release pended, he wanted to create a new Shinigami to appear in the volume.
Midora
Midora 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 and loathes dry seasons. While she is a background character in the main series, a one-shot chapter set three years after Light's death focuses on her. Midora appears to have the same feeling toward bananas, as seen in one panel of the one-shot when she is in the new Kira's room, she is eating a banana while lying amongst an enormous pile of banana peels. Obata said that he liked Midora's design as she appears more like a salamander and has a vastly different design than the other Shinigami. Obata also said that her skin feels moist like amphibian skin.
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. Obata described Nu as like "a giant rock covered in eyes that sticks out of the ground." Obata said that Shinigami like Nu exist and are rare.
Shinigami King
Shinigami King, also known as the 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. Many Shinigami refer to him as the "Old Man", and How to Read 13 said he must be very old due to this. Chapter 109 depicts 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.
Unnamed Shinigami
An Unnamed Shinigami debuted in the Director's Cut one-shot special of the Death Note which was both aired in Japan and North America, but their titles were different.The North American release was named, "relight" yet the Japanese version was, "rewrite". Like Ryuk, they too were bored with the Shinigami Realm. This Shinigami has a skeletal figure and dons a coat, a pair of goggles, uses a tie as a headband and carries a large weapon. He takes an interest in Ryuk's visit to the human realm, and bribes Ryuk with a shinigami apple in exchange for information how to undertake passage into the human world. Ryuk accepts, and begins to tell the story of Light Yagami's legend in regards to the Death Note. Before Ryuk can finish, however, the Unnamed Shinigami is gone, leaving the Shinigami Realm with his sights set on the human world.
Zellogi
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 humidity.
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