Near

Near, whose real name is Nate River, is the younger of L's two successors raised in Watari's orphanage for gifted children and the more level-headed, calmly assessing the situation, while the other, Mello, is more emotional and quick to act. Much like L, Near shows various odd behaviors during his normal life. He is usually seen hunched over than sitting, and he also constantly plays with various toys which he uses in his theories. He shows a great respect for L, basing much of how he solves crime on L's methods, even to the point where he only takes cases that he is interested with rather than trying to pursue justice. Much like L, Near uses the Old English "N" to represent himself. He is voiced by Noriko Hidaka in the Japanese anime.

Sometime after L's death, he works for the United States under the SPK (Secret Provision for Kira) team that is established to investigate Kira. He soon manages to deduce that Light, posing as L, is actually Kira. After finding that Mikami is Light's proxy and Mello kidnaps Takada, Near is able to switch Mikami's Death Note with a fake one, allowing him to set up a final confrontation that leaves Light exposed. Ryuk kills Light soon after. Near claims that neither of he nor Mello could surpass L alone, but together have done so by inadvertently working together. Near soon takes on L's name, and keeps on the surviving members of the SPK as his subordinates.

In the one-shot taking place after the series, an adult Near (as the new L) tries to figure out what L would do, as a new Kira comes to light. Eventually, Near backs out of the case, saying that the killer isn't Kira and calling them a murderer (which leads to them committing suicide by writing their own name in their Death Note). It is revealed here that Near only came into contact with L once, having heard his speech to the children at Wammy's. While most of the children asked L questions, Near and Mello stayed silent, earning them L's favor as his successors.

Near is 155 centimeters tall (5'1), weighs 40 kilograms (88 pounds), and his blood type is B.

Appearance and Health
Because of Near's white hair and pale complexion, many fans speculate that Near is an albino. This could explain why Near never is shown outside, due to the fact that albino people are very susceptible to sunlight and UV rays. Near, on average, also does not look people in the eye, possibly due to impaired vision, which is another symptom of albinism. However, this has never been stated in any Death Note book, anime, or movie, and is simply a theory from the Death Note fanbase.

Interests
With extremely child-like likes, his surroundings always have toys strewn about. Even though he is only playing, piecing together an unpatterned puzzle starting out of nowhere and the like easily shows a sample of his abilities.

Normally, his fixation with toys is light, but he does seem to have things that he particularly likes, since he has taken these with him when he had to escape.

[[Category:L]]