Near/Drama

Near is a main character in the 2015 television drama Death Note. Near is L's successor and joins the Task Force to help with the Kira investigation.

Appearance
Near is young, described as a child, although their age is not revealed. They have white-blond hair. Near wears loose grey clothes.

Early in the series, Near carries a puppet of Mello.

Character
Near has dissociative identity disorder, and while Near acts sweet and kind, their alter Mello is much more impulsive. When Mello is around, Near is willing to "cheat" to win and lets Mello commit violent illegal acts to catch Kira.

Near is fond of blank jigsaw puzzles.

History
Near was presumably orphaned early in life, and brought to the Wammy's House by Watari.

Plot
Initially operating from the United Kingdom, Near calls in with L several times during the Kira Investigation. Both personalities are interested in the proceedings, and almost immediately believe Light Yagami is Kira. Later, after Light loses his memory, they travel to Japan and assist the Kira Task Force in catching Higuchi.

After L's Death, Near is officially designated as his successor and takes over L's headquarters.

L
L and Near are close in this adaptation, with L acting as an older brother and mentor. They talk to each other often over the phone when L leaves to work on the Kira case. When Near joins him, they spend casual quality time together, such as working on Near's puzzles.

L actively encourages Near to grow into a detective and take over after him, even leaving instructions for it in the event of his death.

Character changes
Near never met L in person in the manga, unlike the drama in which Near and L spend a lot of quality time. Near is male in the manga, whereas Near's gender is canonically ambiguous in the drama. Mello is a separate character in the manga who is a rival to Near, but in the drama, his name is used for an alternate personality to Near. Near uses the alias "N" in the manga, but uses the alias "B" in the drama.

Trivia

 * After taking over L's headquarters, Near brightens the ambient lights to emphasize the white walls.