Rules of the Death Note
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Within the fictional universe of the manga and anime series Death Note, a Death Note is a notebook held by a shinigami (or "death god") which has the power to kill people if certain conditions are met. All Death Notes follow a long set of specific rules, which, while not explicitly noted within the Death Notes themselves, were revealed through the course of the individual manga volumes and, in the case of the anime, via eyecatches.
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[edit] Written rules
Before the series begins, Ryuk writes instructions in English inside his Death Note with the belief that English is the most popular language in the world.
- The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
- This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
- If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack.
- After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
[edit] Fake rules
These rules were written in the Death Note to aid Light in a scheme he came up with to clear his and Misa's names. They were written by Ryuk but are completely false.
- If the owner of a Death Note does not use the notebook after 13 days time, he/she will die.
- If the Death Note is cut or burnt, any people who have touched the Note will die.
[edit] Other rules
Throughout the series, other rules are revealed, such as "When the same name is written on more than one Death Note, the Note which was first filled in will take effect, regardless of the time of death." A few of them match the rules Ryuk wrote inside the Death Note, but most of them are rules that are not known by humans and in some cases, even the shinigami.
[edit] Shinigami and Death Notes
A shinigami must own at least one Death Note. That Death Note may also be used and owned by a human, but only if the Death Note falls to earth and is found by a human. The shinigami have to keep using the Death Note to kill people in order to extend their own lives.
A pact exists between the human owner and the Shinigami who gave the human the Death Note. The pact is such that at the end of the owner's life, the shinigami has to write down the owner's name in his own note.
[edit] Special ability of Shinigami eyes
Shinigami eyes have the ability to learn the subject's natural life span and name by simply looking at the subject's face. There are some limits to this ability: if the face is covered or partially covered, the life span and name will not be seen. It is suggested that the possessor of the eyes only has to see enough of a person's face to know that it's them, or if the face is partially covered it may be that one must see the subjects eyes. The shinigami are not allowed to tell humans the names or life spans of individuals he/she sees.
A human with a Death note can gain this ability from a shinigami, with the price of having their remaining natural life span cut in half. The human with this ability cannot see their own life span or the life span of other Death Note holders. However, if they ever give away their Death Note, they will lose this ability, but will not regain their lost life span. Even if a human loses their Death Note and later recovers it, the shinigami eyes will not be reactivated. The deal must be done again in order to get the eyes back, again cutting their lifespan in half.
[edit] How to kill a Shinigami
Rem is one of the few Death gods to discover how to kill a Shinigami. Nothing mortal or otherwise can harm them unless they choose to let it harm them. However, if a Shinigami uses the Death Note to extend someone's life instead of taking life, they will die since they have failed their eternal mission of shortening human lives. Also, they must have some kind of emotional attachment to the person whose life span increases. This was stated by Rem when she claims she'd kill L for Light; she initially states that it'd make no difference as it was to protect Light, who she didn't particularly care for. However, since she then had such an attachment to Misa (who would inevitably die if L wasn't killed), she would die. Rem reveals this to Misa, who later reveals it to Light and Ryuk.
[edit] External links
| Main | Manga | DVD | Music | List of anime episodes | Characters | Plotline | |||||||
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| Concepts | Rules of the Death Note | Shinigami Eyes | |||||||
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