Mello

Mello (メロ, Mero), real name  Mihael Keehl  (ミハエル・ケール, Mihaeru Kēru), is Near's rival. He is the older of L's two successors raised at Wammy's House—Watari's orphanage for gifted children—in Winchester, England. When it is decided that Mello should work with Near to capture Kira, he refuses citing an inability to work with somebody he is considered "second" to. He leaves the orphanage soon after, stating "I'll find my own way," and eventually seeks help from the Mafia. Mello has sometimes been known to use less conventional methods to achieve his goals, including kidnapping the Director of the Japanese Police. He also relied on information leaked from an informant (Ill Ratt) from the SPK in order to write most of the member's names in Sidoh's Death Note. Later, he also relies on Halle Lidner for intelligence about the connection between Kiyomi Takada and Light Yagami.

Similar to L's fondness for sweets, Mello is often seen eating bars of chocolate. How to Read 13 states that Mello has "an excellent mind" and that he "sometimes lets his emotions get in his way." The book cites his hatred of Near, which created a flaw in his personality. His birthday is December 13, 1989 (1992 in the anime) and he dies on January 26, 2010 (2013 in the anime). He is 171 centimeters tall (5' 7"), weighs 52 kilograms (115 pounds) and his blood type is A. He can usually be seen wearing black clothes and a crucifix which was altered to a red stick-shaped charm for the anime adaptation (erasing any evidence of Catholicism in Mello's personality).

Novel
Mello is the narrator of the Death Note spinoff novel, Death Note: Another Note - The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. In it, he states that he is only telling the story in order to flaunt his greater knowledge of L over Near. While narrating, Mello uses different techniques: he begins as a typical narrator, but drops it to acquire a way of speech that is usually associated with a live storytelling. The novel also switches from Mello's view and opinions to Naomi's point of view.

Music Video
In the music video for the song "Jump", Madonna is said to be cosplaying as Mello from Death Note. The video was shot in Tokyo, Japan while she was on the Japanese leg of her Confessions Tour. In it, Madonna is seen performing on a sound stage (wearing a short, platinum blond wig and black pants) while clips of dancers running through the streets of Tokyo are played. Visit the Myths page for more information.

[[Category:L]]