Mello (Death Note)

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Mihael Keehl
Death Note character
Mello or Mihael Keehl in the anime, prior to receiving the scar that is across the left side of his face.
First appearance	Chapter 60 : Kidnapping in 7th Volume, Zero
Last appearance	Chapter 99 : The Two in 12th Volume, Finis
Created by	Tsugumi Ohba Takeshi Obata
Voiced by	Nozomu Sasaki (Japanese) David Hurwitz (English)
Profile
Aliases	Mello
Age	14 at start[1] 20 at death [2]
Gender	Male
Species	Human
Date of birth	13 December 1989 [2]
Date of death	26 January 2010[2]
Occupation	None. Mello is a former resident of the Wammy House who has gone into hiding to investigate Kira

Mello (メロ, Mero^?), whose real name is Mihael Keehl (ミハエル・ケール, Mihaeru Kēru^?), is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Death Note.

Contents 1 Conception and development of Mello 2 Character 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Conception and development of Mello

Ohba said that he introduced Near and Mello together because L individually could not defeat Kira. Ohba felt that introducing one character individually would produce a "repeat" of the struggle between Light and L, so he instead wanted a story involving three combatants fighting each other. Ohba said that he let Takeshi Obata, artist of the series, create the character designs and asked him to make both characters look "a little 'L-ish.'" Ohba said that he "wavered" in their ages and considered making the characters the sons of L. Ohba added that he did not initially develop their personalities as he wanted to "reveal" them through their actions.^[3]

Ohba said that he added the chocolate trait because he believed that chocolate "represented all sweets" and that the trait would fit with the story arc in the United States. Ohba described the trait became "useful" during the discovery of Mello's base due to the discarded chocolate boxes.^[4] Ohba said that he added Mello's scar to the thumbnails as the trait would give him "more depth."^[5]

Ohba recalled that he considered having Mello be the character who ultimately defeats Light. According to Ohba, after the disappearance of Sidoh, the writer "struggled" with Mello's role. He added that the idea of Mello defeating Light was "strong in my mind" and that he thought about having Near as the "best" at Wammy's House and Mello being the final victor and that he decided against this as Mello "learned too much" about the Death Note and therefore Mello had to leave to "sustain the intensity of the story." As a result, Ohba did not give Mello a "large role" at the conclusion of Death Note and instead had Mello negatively affect Light "indirectly." Ohba gave Mello a "very plain" death, depicted in only one panel; he felt that if Mello had perished "dramatically" it would reveal the truth behind his death.^[6]

Obata said that, since Ohba wanted to "include a little L" in Near and Mello, he tried to keep "the weirdness and the dead eyes." He also added that since L was an important character, he felt that he made Near and Mello look too much like L. He described the character designs as "a major struggle." Obata said that, when he first heard about Near and Mello, he assumed that Near and Mello would join as a team and work together, so he envisioned the two as twins when he created the character designs. Obata said that at first he tried to depict Mello as having "more energy than Near." At first, Mello's hair was cut straight across; Obata said that he preferred Mello's hair becoming messy, which occurred later in the story. Obata said that he felt grateful when Ohba added the scar since he felt that he could draw Mello "looking cooler."^[7] In addition How to Read 13 described Mello as looking "more intense" and "more human" with the scar.^[8] Obata said that he felt sad when Mello died in the story shortly afterwards. Obata added that he designed Mello's clothing based on "what I like," meaning clothes he enjoys drawing and not clothes that he enjoys wearing; Obata says that he enjoys drawing "shiny" leather.^[7] At the point he created the pages featuring the reappearance of Mello with his scar, Obata said that he "finally" felt that he could draw Mello "really well." Obata added that "maybe" the fact that Ohba and Obata did not regularly meet in person was "best," because if Obata told Ohba that he felt that he finally drew Mello "really well" that Ohba may not have killed Mello.^[8] Ohba responded by saying that he probably would have cast Mello as "the hero" and that Ohba often asked the editor if Obata had "said anything" and the editor responded "No, nothing."^[9]

Obata added that the designs for the characters became switched at the design phase; the final Mello had Near's design and vice-versa. Obata said that when he created a depiction of the designs, his editor wrote the wrong names accompanying the designs; when Obata received approval he could not say that the labels were incorrect. Obata said that, for him, Mello was "more calm and feminine." He felt that "it's better" that the switch occurred.^[10]

[edit] Character

Mello is the older of L's two successors raised in Wammy's House, Watari's orphanage for gifted children, in Winchester, England, United Kingdom. When it is decided that Mello should work with the other successor, Near, Mello refuses, citing an inability to work with Near, to whom he is considered second. 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 Mello's "hatred of Near," which created "a flaw in [Mello's] personality." Mello's ultimate goal is to destroy the current Kira and obtain the Death Note so he can rule the world. The book states that "Mello is not purely evil."^[11] Tsugumi Ohba, the writer of Death Note, stated that Mello "works hard for everything." Ohba added that Mello's name "doesn't really stand for anything."^[12]

Mello is voiced by Nozomu Sasaki in the Japanese anime, and David Hurtwitz in the English version.

Mello decides to find Kira his own way by joining the Mafia. After obtaining one of the Death Notes from the Kira investigation team by kidnapping Sayu Yagami, Light Yagami sets up a raid that leaves Mello badly scarred and his real name in Light's hands. After learning that Light is Kira and Near was going to attempt to apprehend him, Mello kidnaps Kiyomi Takada, but is soon killed by Takada's hidden pages of the Death Note. This action causes Teru Mikami to expose his own Death Note to kill Takada, eventually leading to Light's defeat.

Mello is the narrator of the spinoff novel Death Note - Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases.

Mello was once one of the candidates to succeed L. He lived at the Wammy House Orphanage, which was an orphanage for extremely gifted children, such as Matt, Near, and once, L. Mello always felt inferior to Near, and continuously competed against him to become L's successor. Upon learning that L had died and not chosen a successor, Mello left the orphanage when it was suggested that he and Near work together on the Kira case, saying that Near could succeed L because he would "solve the puzzle calmly."

Four years later, after destroying all photos of himself and hiding all records of his real name, Mello joined the Mafia in an attempt to capture Kira before Near. When he learned about the existence of the Death Note, Mello kidnapped the Deputy Director, Kanichi Takimura, and demanded that the Deputy Director would be returned to the NPA in exchange for the notebook. The Deputy Director was killed by Kira, resulting in the kidnapping of Light's younger sister, Sayu Yagami, who would be returned to the NPA for the Death Note.

The exchange succeeded, and Mello was in possession of the Death Note. The shinigami Sidoh, who was the original owner of the Death Note Mello possessed, traveled to the Human World to retrieve his notebook before he could die. Mello learned from Sidoh, that the 13-Day rule written in the back of the notebook was a fake.

The NPA attempted to retrieve the notebook from Mello, and tracked him down with the help of Near. The Mafia members were killed by Soichiro Yagami--who had performed the eye trade with Ryuk--during the raid on Mello's hideout. Mello demanded over a loud speaker that one member of the Task Force enter the room he was hiding in and hand over the second notebook in exchange for their lives. Soichiro confronted Mello, who threatened Soichiro with a bomb if he did not hand over the second notebook and his gas mask.

Soichiro used the Shinigami Eyes to real Mello's real name as Mihael Keehl, and threatened that he would write Mello's name in the second Death Note he had if he did not surrender and return the first notebook. Mello stalled for time, while one of his men, José, who had played dead, pulled a gun on Soichiro, shooting him multiple times. Mello grabbed the mask to hide himself, and tried to get the notebook from Soichiro, who had fallen on top of it. The remaining Task Force members entered the room, killed José, and tried to kill Mello, who escaped by detonating a bomb, blowing up the entire hideout. The explosion left Mello with a burn scar covering the left side of his face.

Mello then proceeded to track down Halle Lidner, the only female member of the SPK, forcing her to take him to Near. Upon meeting Near again, Mello demands that Near hand over the photograph he left at the orphanage, which Near hands over without a fight. Once he obtains the photo, Mello relays the truth about the 13-Day rule. Near angers Mello, who pulls a gun on him, saying that he is "not a tool for you to use to solve the puzzle", threatening to kill Near, until Lidner tells Mello that "if you kill Near, you won't be able to solve anything."

Mello then tells Near that he has no intention of helping him in any way, before leaving. Mello then tracks down his friend from the orphanage, Matt, who was the third candidate to succeed L. Mello selects a new base and begins working alongside Matt to find Kira. Mello and Matt spy on Misa Amane, who was formerly the Second Kira. Upon learning that Kiyomi Takada had a connection to Kira, Mello created a plan to find Kira through Takada.

Two days before Near and Light were scheduled to meet each other, Matt approached the NHN building in a red sports car, and threw a smokebomb at Takada and her guards when they arrived at the building. Mello rode up to Takada on a motorcycle, telling her that she would be safe with him. Lidner, who was accepted as one of Takada's guards, assures Takada that she will be safe. Takada gets on the back of the motorcycle. The guards followed Mello, who was following Matt, in an attempt to save Takada. Mello escapes the guards by turning down an alleyway so he cannot be followed. The guards corner and kill Matt.

Mello drives the motorcycle into a shipping truck, and demands that Takada remove all her clothing and place it inside a carboard box, so the tracker on her cell phone will not lead the guards to Mello. Mello dresses in a truck driver's uniform, and drives the truck to the storage building, where he leaves the box with Takada's clothing.

Upon returning to the truck, Mello locks Takada in the back of the truck, and drives to Nagano. On the way, Mello sees Matt's car and body on the screen in the driver's cab, and apologizes to his friend by saying, "Matt... I never thought you'd be killed.... Forgive me." Upon arriving in Nagano, Mello parks the truck inside an abandoned church. He is then killed by Takada, who used a scrap of the Death Note she had hidden in her bra. Takada is then killed by Light, who writes that Takada would commit suicide by setting fire to everything as well as the paper Mello's name was written on, so it wouldn't be found.

When Near confronts Light about being Kira, he credits Mello for helping Near discover Light's plan and therefore able to thwart Light.

[edit] See also

• List of Death Note characters

[edit] References

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