Nate River

Origin and upbringing. Raised in Wammy's House, an orphanage for gifted children in Winchester, England. One of the contenders for L's place, he later became his heir.

Personality. Eccentric, withdrawn, and dispassionate, like L. Unlike the more emotional Mello, Near is more level-headed and calm. He often plays with children's toys, uses Lego figures and puppets to represent enemies, and sometimes builds houses of cards. Role in the plot. After L's death, Near begins his own investigation into the Kira case, adopting the alias N. Assembling a team of experienced detectives, he locates the Second L (Lita Yagami), who becomes his prime suspect. By replacing the real Death Note with a fake one, Near proves that Light is Kira during a meeting with Light.

After defeating Light, Near officially becomes the new L. The manga's epilogue shows him eating a chocolate bar while investigating a new case, possibly in memory of Mello.

After Kira's capture, Near decides not to reveal Kira's identity to the world or report the results of the investigation. This is because, despite the murders, Kira was able to change the world: crime dropped tenfold, and wars ceased. When heart attacks began to occur again en masse, and it became clear that someone had acquired a new Death Note, meaning a new Kira had emerged, Near appeared on television as L. He declared that he would not search for a new killer and refused to call him Kira, considering it disrespectful to the original adversary. He called this man "cheap Kira" or "C-Kira." Soon after, the new Kira committed suicide, and he simply disappeared from society.