Talk:Rules of the Death Note/Manga Chapter Rules

How to Use: IX
2. The Death Note will be rendered useless if the victim’s name is misspelled four times.

If this is true, then how was Light able to kill that guy in episode 1 of the anime? He wrote the name at least eight times, and only one of those could have been right. Maggosh 15:20, 6 November 2008 (UTC) -Shibuimaru was Light's second casualty, and as such, he was not fully aware of all the Death Note's rules. Light used a whole page to kill Shibutaku, and probably wanted to ensure that the name was lined up with the cause of death properly. If you look closely, the names written down are all the same, not different.

-Mogturmen

Actually, he spelled the name differently because he was uncertain as to the ending. All this really means is that he guessed the correct spelling of the name within those four, making the Death Note still take effect. He might have even gotten it correct on the first try, if the name used the most common spelling.

Yes, he spelled it right before he wrote it four times. It says so in the "How To Read 13" book.

Where did these rules come from?
Having read the manga, seen the anime and even the supplemental pilot chapter of the manga and the "How to Read" supplement, I can honestly state that I have not seen most of these rules. There is no sourcing for any of these rules, and considering both that the offical website ( http://www.deathnote.com.au/rules/ ) lacks the vast majority of those written on this page, and the series itself lack mention of these, I have to question their validity. The best result I found for a preliminary search is a blog that claims to be of official rules from Ohba, but the version of the cited source (Death Note: How To Read 13) I have seen does not contain a ruleset like the one listed. Granted, however, I do not have access to a hard copy of it, so I might not have seen the relevant details. If anyone can more adequately confirm or deny the existance of this ruleset in the Death Note mythos, please do so. RadagastNyrr

Most of the rules can be found in the official replicas of the Death Note. To find one go to http://www.399animeshop.com or to a local anime shop to find one. they usually are priced anywhere from 10 to 35 U.S. dollars. Vladashram 01:09, 7 December 2008 (UTC) -As stated above, the complete list of rules has been culled from both the manga "eyecatches" and official replicas of the Death Note. Also, the validity of all the rules can be checked and double-checked. No rule that you see has been made up (except for, of course, Ryuk's fake rules). Thus, I can postively confirm that the rules listed are indeed genuine as well as canon to the series.

-Mogturmen

These can also be found in Death Note: How to Read. Mikazuki 23:50, April 13, 2011 (UTC)

Stupid?
Sorry but i watched the first episode after everybody telling me how awesome this anime is and how i HAVE to watch it... Well... reread one of the first rules of the death note:

How to Use: I

-This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.



<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This is a mistranslation of the rules, The original rules state that having to have a person's face in mind is to prevent people of the smae name from being affected.172.243.85.222 19:29, July 3, 2013 (UTC)

What if...?
<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What would happen if e.g. shinigami writes your name in Death Note and makes you die 20 years before your natural deathtime and someone(NOT Death Note) kills you before written time?

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I think it's impossible, since the Death Note is the only way to "overwrite" deaths. 71.157.172.69 22:22, July 8, 2010 (UTC)

Rule 40
<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is there one, or is it missing due to the whole 4/40/400 = death thing? 75.93.25.136 22:26, July 10, 2010 (UTC)

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Im going to assume no because i am yet to see a Rule XL anywhere Vladashram 12:10, August 9, 2010 (UTC)

Separate article for every rule
<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Is it possible to make an article about each rule (saving the list, naturally)? First, they could be categorized then, for example there could be caterogies "Rules about misspelled names", "Rules about shinigamy eyes", "Rules about note ownership", "Regulations and prohibitions" and so on (one article could belong to several categories, and categories could have subcategories). Second, every article could have some extra information about the rule: episodes and chapters where they were exposed, their using in the plot, the knowledge the heroes had about them and so on...

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sorry for taking your time, I could naturally have been doing anything more useful than placing unnecessary proposals, but I don't know English well enough to edit articles, and I have missed a place, where all the rules were systematized and all the info about them concentrated, since the time I saw the anime... Maybe, I'm not alone in this weird wish ) 217.19.209.175 12:58, December 21, 2010 (UTC)

Death leading to death
<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I read about an interesting idea once. According to rules, death by Note cant lead to another death. So, what about killing pregnant women? Are unborn alive to Note? Will mother just die from heart attack or will she live? 188.123.232.28 20:18, April 8, 2011 (UTC)


 * Heh, this question was raised in a doujinshi, and its answer was "she will live" (this plot instrument was used to "save" Misora Naomi). In fact there is no information in the manga which would reliably disprove this idea. There are lots of rules which redefine the borders of applicability for other rules, and slight contradictions between broad rules cannot be resolved without a non-existent specific rule... Because absolutely unexpected rules, which could not be predicted if guided by the trends of other rules, exist. But in fact such "guidance by the trends", if taken (inappropriately) into consideration, inclines to the thought, that the woman will die. Even born children are not considered equal to adult people in other rules, they cannot be neither owners or victims of the Note, and IMHO it's more likely to spring not from some special "care" of the death gods for children, but from the children's "inferiority". They are not full-value victims, their names and lifespans are not fixed yet, so their life and death does not count in the terms of the Death Note. Naturally, it is only my percepion, which can be totally wrong. *u_u* Ilanabendery 06:31, April 9, 2011 (UTC)
 * Relevant rule: How To Use XLI-
 * The use of the Death Note in the human world sometimes affects other human’s lives or shortens their original life-span, even though their names are not actually written in the Death Note itself.
 * Regardless if the death was intended for the mother alone, the unborn child will incidently suffer a shortening of his or her lifespan.


 * I think the rule of not allowing one death to cause another means you were to explicitly write "Joe Doe kills Jack Doe". Now, if John Doe's death merely shortened Jack Doe's lifespan rather than outright killing him, then you have a loophole to the rule. Terumikamilookalike 07:34, July 22, 2011 (UTC)
 * - is the answer yes or no ?

Mikami broke the rules.
<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogpHIvaO9_A

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">04:13

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">How to Use: VI The conditions for death will not be realized unless it is physically possible for that human or it is reasonably assumed to be carried out by that human.

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Since when was it physically possible for anybody to kill themselves by turning their head at a 360 degree angle? Yes, I know there are people out there with with abnormal flexibility, but that in no way looked very... natural. You could even hear faint cracking noises. Besides, he didn't even use his hands.

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">In summary, Mikami has defied logic and the rules of the Death Note. Big time.Terumikamilookalike 07:50, July 22, 2011 (UTC)

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Your discovery is interesting but this evidence you have is only from the Death Note anime, was this head twisting thing seen in the manga? You need to remember the anime was only an adaption of the manga so it’s possible the anime makers made a mistake or just included that small shot to make things seem more fun. - Kira4real 00:14, July 23, 2011 (UTC)

<p style="margin-top:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:30.0pt; margin-bottom:.0001pt;line-height:17.25pt;vertical-align:baseline">Regardless, the anime has always been a strict follower of the rules established by the manga. Otherwise, Light would have had no need to test the rules in episode 4 of the anime and made the discovery himself that you could not give someone an unnatural death.

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Also, I do understand that the anime does take certain "liberities" like Mikami's sakujo scenes or the constant reddening of Light's eyes despite not having the shinigami eyes purely for effect, but anyway you look at it, that man died from his neck being supernaturally snapped. You can't interpret that scene as merely a heart attack with an added effect. Terumikamilookalike 03:34, July 23, 2011 (UTC)

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Was this incident only seen in the death note rewrite film or was it also seen in one of the Anime episodes? If it was seen in one of the Anime episodes then I suggest you write about what happened as a trivia fact on the wiki page for that episode. If it only happened in the rewrite, then I suggest you state it on the Death Note Relight wiki page. - Kira4real 05:10, July 25, 2011 (UTC)

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Yes, it does happen exclusively in the Rewrite, but I'd prefer to mention it on a trivia page here, on this article, since the Rewites are still as much of a part of the Death Note franchise as the regular anime and manga. -Terumikamilookalike 06:30, July 25, 2011 (UTC)

<p style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Perhaps the best place to state your trivia fact will in fact be on Mikami's page or the written rules page. I would put it there. - Kira4real 22:12, July 27, 2011 (UTC)

Last Rule
The last rule of the Death Note is that, <span style="background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: sans-serif; font-style: normal; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; ">'Once dead, they can never come back to life', but then in the pilot episode, there was this concept about the Death Eraser, which can bring the ones killed via the Death Note back to life... It's a little confusing; can anyone clear this up?

<p style="text-align: left;">Ikazuuyr13 18:03, March 2, 2012 (UTC)

<p style="text-align: left;">The pilot takes place in an alternate continuity, meaning that it's not related to the Death Note universe which contains Light, L, etc. It's an entirely different story. The Pilot is basically a test of sorts. The authors submit it for the magazine (Shonen Jump) and it's published. At this point, the Pilot of a series is just used to form the basic concept of the story to see if readers like it, If it gets good feedback, it gains a place in Shonen Jump as a weekly series. Typically, the pilot concept undergoes multiple changes as the authors begin thinking about how to expand the story for the magazine. It's not uncommon for Pilot chapters to be drastically different from the main series'. For example, the Pilot of Bleach and the Pilot of Naruto. <span style="padding-left:2px; color:black; background-color:skyblue; border-top-left-radius:1ex; border-bottom-left-radius:3ex;">MarleneZ.    Talk    23:49, March 2, 2012 (UTC)

<p style="text-align: left;">Ah, thanks for clearing it up! =)

<p style="text-align: left;">Ikazuuyr13 08:55, March 3, 2012 (UTC)

Contradictions with the series along with repeatings
Was reading the rules here. Why you ask? 'Cause I was bored (Not to the extent that I'll be like Light or Ryuk, mind you). And I found that so many of these rules contradict with things that happened in the series, and that there were so many rules that were repeated in it. In a different form, yes, but the same rule. X29 21:30, January 16, 2013 (UTC)

misalignment
according to this photo album:http://www.bebo.com/c/photos/view?MemberId=4059602878&PhotoAlbumId=4679438960&PhotoId=4679441497#photoId=4679533666

the rules on the wiki pg are not aligned they are missing the above pg which says:

DEATH NOTE

How to use it

XL

-Humans that have traded for theeye power of a god of death cannot see the name or lifespan of humans who have already passed away by looking at their photos.

Kuceez (talk) 22:34, May 21, 2013 (UTC)

Soichiro's Shinigami eyes
From How To Use XIII: "the borrower cannot trade the eyesight of the god of death." But Light's father didn't own the Death Note. An inconcistency? Will-O-Wisp (talk)

You don't have to be the owner to make the trade. Munchvtec (talk) 07:47, October 28, 2014 (UTC)


 * Actually, you do. Ownership was given to Soichiro so that he could make the Eye Trade.
 * StillAlive (talk) 11:39, October 28, 2014 (UTC)

Even if you do not actually possess the Death Note, the effect will be the same if you can recognize the person and his/her name to place in the blank.

I don't get this rule. I just don't get it. Can someone please explain this rule to me...?

How to use: XXXVII
I don't find the last sentence in the Death Note ("The whole Death Note it can not be a piece or a page."). Was it said that you have to touch the whole Death Note (or you didn't regain your memories after losing the Death Note)? Rule VII says a page or its fragment contains the full effects of the note, so I would say the sentence should be removed. Otherwise, it should be changed into a note. Havelock  ✍  22:43, March 5, 2015 (UTC)

Wrong rule images
Some of the rule images don't correspond with the given rule. If there are differences between rule versions (manga, How to read, stand-alone Death Note), all of them, or at least these differences, should be presented. I also think the image and the text should be from the same version. Havelock  ✍  22:56, March 5, 2015 (UTC)