Mello

Brena has wavy, straight, dark brown hair that goes down to her shoulders. She has dark brown eyes, white skin and an angelic face. Very young despite his age. His appearance greatly belies the figure of his age. Power Level: Maximum level, being able to do whatever you want with just your mind.

Mello: It's not just the notebook I'm after. I want to eliminate my competition. I'll be the best. I don't care what it takes. I'll defeat Near by any means necessary.

Mello is the eldest of L's successors, raised at Wammy's House, Watari's orphanage for gifted children in Winchester, England. When Roger asks Mello and Near to work together to capture Kira, Mello refuses, pointing out the differences between them. He leaves the orphanage soon after and eventually seeks help from the mafia.

Appearance Mello is a young man with chin-length blond hair and blue eyes. His bangs fall just above his eyebrows, and he is of average height. He later gains a large scar, which starts somewhere between his shoulder and waist and extends to between his nose and left eye, after starting an explosion at the Mafia hideout to escape capture. Mello is usually seen wearing dark leather clothing. The manga depicts him wearing a red rosary and a bracelet adorned with a cross. In the anime, however, the cross was edited to be a staff (the horizontal part of the supposed cross is missing). He wears a unique belt that has buckles in the shapes of crosses. He also carries a gun attached to the belt, which in the manga has a cross attached to a chain that hangs from its strap.

Character While Mello is certainly a genius and more intelligent than most people, the concept of being only the second smartest person in the House of Wammy, behind Near, fuels the inferiority complex that defines Mello's character. Mello borders on immorality in his obsession with being the one to take down Kira and is willing to do "whatever it takes", including orchestrating the assassinations of most of the SPK members. In the manga, after Mello successfully steals a Death Note, he goes so far as to attempt to blackmail the President of the United States into giving him funds and resources to aid in his pursuit of Kira and escape from Near, threatening that if his demands are not met, he will use the Death Note to force the President to launch the United States' nuclear missiles and start World War III. Arguably, Mello is not trying to defeat Kira out of a sense of "justice", but because capturing Kira will prove to the world that Mello is indeed L's worthy successor as the world's greatest detective and not simply a runner-up to Near. As Mello describes his goal in his own words, "I will become number one!"

Death Note artist Takeshi Obata points out in Death Note 13: How to Read that Mello's envy and hatred for Near are only one-sided and that Near "honestly liked Mello". The book states that Mello is not purely evil, citing his genuine care for Matt's well-being and his apology for Matt's death, as well as his apology to Soichiro Yagami for his responsibility for Soichiro's fatal injuries. The book also states that Mello has an excellent mind and that he sometimes lets his emotions get in the way. Tsugumi Ohba, the writer of Death Note, has stated that Mello works hard at everything, unlike Near, whose intellectual gifts come naturally.

Similar to L's fondness for sweets, Mello is seen eating only chocolate bars, even when he is talking. In the manga, he is seen licking the chocolate before eating it. Mello also has a habit of folding his right leg up while sitting, usually with his left leg turned outward. He tends to alternate between this pose and simply crossing his right leg over his left. Another trait of his that is comparable to L is his tendency to take drastic strategies to confuse and force the hand of his opponents, as well as his lust for victory and the need to satisfy his ego.