Unnamed Shinigami



An Unnamed Shinigami debuted in the "Director's Cut" one-shot special of the Death Note anime which only aired in Japan. Like Ryuk, he too was 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 skeletal object which he uses like a hammer. 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.

Members of the fan base have theorized that this Unnamed Shinigami may be the reincarnation of Light Yagami. This is largely due to fourteen pieces of evidence:


 * The coat he wears looks very similar to the one Light was wearing when he died.
 * He walks up stairs to meet Ryuk, which could be seen as a subtle reference to Light's death.
 * The way he tosses the apple to Ryuk, as Light did when alive.
 * A red tie (which looks like Light's) is wrapped around the Shinigami's head.
 * The Shinigami walks into a bright flash of light at the top of the stairs.
 * The fact that he inexplicably knows Ryuk's love for apples without asking the other Shinigami.
 * The fact that Ryuk says "Light" after the Unnamed Shinigami leaves.
 * The red eyes that in the anime shows Light's 'Kira' personality.
 * He carries a scythe, similar to how Light does in some pieces of artwork.
 * The limp displayed while walking up the stairs is similar to the way Light limped out of the warehouse.
 * The Shinigami's mouth is shaped like Light's "Kira" smile.
 * The Unnamed Shinigami does not stay to hear the end of Ryuk's story, yet he is very interested about the human world... If he is the reincarnation of Light, he knows how the story ends and does not want or need to hear about it.
 * Light is standing in the Shinigami Realm during the end of the second Intro.
 * The Shinigami sports a messenger bag almost identical to the one Light often carried with him in Season One.

The 'Light' theory is further supported by Ryuk's statement in his first conversation with Light:

"Do not assume that a human who has used a Death Note can go to Heaven or Hell."

This particular rule does not apply to being sent to Purgatory, also known as the Shinigami Realm. This would explain what happens after death to humans that have used a Death Note, as Purgatory (Mu) is neither good or evil. In this realm, 'living' means having an empty existence of nothingness amidst the grey, grunge and greed of the Shinigami Realm.

Also, this does not suggest that all Shinigami were once Humans. Instead, the intent could be that some Shinigami were once Death Note users.

However, it is never directly stated in Death Note whether or not the Unnamed Shinigami is the reincarnation of Light Yagami. In fact, the end rules of the notebook (volume 12) clearly state: "After death [of a human], the place they go is Mu (nothingness)." and "Once dead, they can never come back to life." These rules may only apply to the resurrection of a dead body (as in the eraser from the Pilot chapter).

Nevertheless, some have theorized that the 'nothingness' described in the final rule could be the Shinigami Realm for humans that have used Death Notes, and never coming back to life could mean being reincarnated as a Shinigami. Although Light may be the exception to these rules, further information has yet to be revealed by either Ohba or Obata.

Reincarnation hint in Manga
There is one more hint of Light's becoming of a Shinigami is briefly mentioned:

(Vol. 1, Chap. 6, Pg. 7)

[Talking about making Eye Trade]:

Light: "But you know what? If I did end up making those kinds of deals, I'd end up becoming a Shinigami just like you."

Ryuk: "There's nothing to worry about there. Light, you're already a fine Shinigami."

In addition, the fact that a new Shinigami who shares vast similarities to Light shows up unexplained in the Shinigami Realm, immediately after Light dies, is clearly more than just a coincidence.

Light Yagami's reincarnation exclusive to Anime
There is evidence that it is possible that the Death Note Anime and the Manga are two different realities. Comparing the Anime and Manga there are slight differences that suggest the makers of the anime wanted to adapt the Manga towards their own satisfactions. Satisfactions that wanted Light Yagami to have an Afterlife (as a Shinigami) unlike the nothingness explained in the Manga. The evidence for this belief is: These facts suggest that the Anime and Manga are different realities and can support the idea that Light Yagami could have indeed been reincarnated as the unnamed Shinigami seen in the film Death Note Re-Light 1: Visions of a God.
 * In the Manga ending Light’s death all takes place in the warehouse where he was finally unmasked as Kira, and it’s where Ryuk says to light that all Humans go to “MU (Nothingness)”. However in the Anime ending Light escapes the warehouse and later dies on a stairway and Ryuk’s statement of “MU (Nothingness)” was not said at all. This difference made was possibly because the Death Note Anime makers wanted Light to have an afterlife, so they ended it in a way that made the entire “MU (Nothingness)” irrelevant in the Anime therefore this could have lead to the existence of the Unnamed Shinigami.
 * In the anime ending episode of Death Note, L’s spirit is seen standing in front of Light as he is dying on a warehouse stairway, which suggests that there, must be a Heaven in that reality due to the fact that L has a spirit.
 * In the anime version of Death Note, Teru Mikami commits suicide with the fountain pen he used to write on the notebook and dies in the warehouse (it is seen that blood goes flying out from his chest) allowing Light to flee the warehouse. However in the Manga, Teru Mikami mysteriously dies in prison days after Light's Death.
 * And of course the unnamed Shinigami itself was only ever seen in the Death note Anime and never the Manga.