Teru Mikami

Teru Mikami (魅上 照, Mikami Teru), in the original manga and anime versions, is chosen as the new Kira by Light Yagami. When Light feels it is dangerous for Misa Amane to keep the Death Note any longer, he instructs her to pass the ownership of the Note to Mikami. Little is known about Mikami at first, except that he appears to be a supporter of Kira, and that he is a prosecutor. He also performs an eye trade with Ryuk, earning him the Shinigami Eyes. When Mikami's decisions reveal that he can follow the thoughts and ideals of the first Kira, as L could, Light wonders if Mikami will become much-needed help, or a new threat.

Mikami in the original manga
As the story progresses, it is revealed that Mikami has been bullied at school for his sense of righteousness and therefore wishes to punish those he considers to be evil. He is inspired by some incidents in his childhood, in which people he deemed to be "evil" died in mysterious accidents in which no innocents were harmed, seeing them reflected in Kira's acts of judgment. Because of his beliefs, he chose to become a prosecutor and worships Kira as God. He is also extremely bright just like Light, but he seems content to remain a loyal follower in Kira's kingdom, taking the initiative to ask Kira for direction when he does not receive direction, but also making decisions with Kira's ideals on his own. Compared to Light, Mikami also seems more psychologically unbalanced, muttering to himself "eliminate, eliminate, eliminate..."("delete" in the english manga) with fanatical glee, and a gleam in his eyes as he writes down names in the Death Note (in the anime version, he is depicted as jumping and making slashing movements with his pen, as if it were a sword). At other times, he seems merely intense and calm. Mikami goes beyond Light in his ambition, wishing to judge the unproductive and those who have committed crimes in their past, even if they have since reformed, which alarms Light. Light realizes how loyal he is to Kira when Mikami risks exposure by speaking on Sakura TV, publicly announcing that he will do anything Kira commands. Mikami's devotion to Kira leads to his and Light's deaths. When Kiyomi Takada is kidnapped by Mello, Mikami rushes to get his Death Note to write her name down in it to prevent her from being captured by the investigation team and forced to speak what she knows. Light had already written her name a minute before Mikami could. This action leads Near's team to his note's hiding place, foiling Light's plan to gather all of his antagonists in a same place (including Near) before Mikami for him to dispose of them. When they are finally cornered by Near, in the manga, an enraged Mikami starts to blame Light for putting them into their situation and claiming that Kira is no god, contrary to what he so fervently believed before. Ten days after he is captured and detained, he dies after going insane. Mikami's death leads Matsuda to believe that Near used the Death Note to control Mikami's actions, allowing Near to convict Light.

Mikami does not appear in the film versions of Death Note. According to How to Read 13, Mikami was born on June 7, 1982 and dies on February 7, 2010. He is 175 centimeters (5 feet and 9 inches) tall and weighs 56 kilograms (123 pounds). His blood type is A.

Mikami's character was modelled on Taro Kagami, the protagonist of the original pilot chapter.

Mikami's fate in the anime
In the anime version of Death Note, Mikami commits suicide with the fountain pen he used to write on the notebook, allowing Light to flee the warehouse (though it cannot be asserted whether he did so on purpose or out of desperation). In the Rewrite 2 special aired on Japanese television on August 22, 2008, Mikami and Takada are the ones to kill the SPK, rather than the mafia.