History Characters / DeathNoteShinigami

%% * HookHand

[[center: [-[[Characters/DeathNote Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/DeathNoteMainCharacters Main Characters]] | [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]] | [[Characters/DeathNoteLLawliet L Lawliet]] | [[Characters/DeathNoteNear Near]] | [[Characters/DeathNoteTaskForce Task Force]] | '''Shinigami''' | [[Characters/DeathNoteSideCharacters Side Characters]] | [[Characters/DeathNoteNovelPilotAndMovies Novel, Pilot, and Movies]] | [[Characters/DeathNote2017 Death Note 2017]]]]-]

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: ''Of course'' Shinigami have no problems killing humans or with humans dying. Shinigami take human lifespans for themselves. [[HorrorHunger Why should they care about the human world beyond it being their food source?]] In fact if a Shinigami ''does'' care about a human, that means they "failed as a Shinigami", and ''that'' kills them on the spot.

* TimeAbyss: [[ImpliedTrope Implied]]. The other Shinigami refer to him as "The Old Man." Kep in mind that these are beings who can live ''indefinitely'' as long as they remember to write down a name every once in a while.
* TopGod: He's the king of the Shinigami, though it isn't clear which variation of this trope he falls under.

%% * EldritchAbomination

* ActuallyIAmHim: Averted; while he is implied to be Light from the story Ryuk tells, he never flat-out says so at all, and the only hint we are given comes from Ryuk.

* BadassGay: Brings Light's scheming to a standstill more than once, and is in love with Misa.

* ObviousRulePatch: [[spoiler:To prevent more cases like Minoru from happening again, The King writes a new rule that prevents any further Death Notes from being sold by humans in their world. By killing both the buyer and seller in the transaction for accepting either the money or the notebook.]]

* ObviousRulePatch: [[spoiler:To prevent more cases like Minoru from happening again, The King writes a new rule that prevents any further Death Notes from being sold by humans in their world by killing both the buyer and seller in the transaction for accepting either the money or notebook.]]

* AxeCrazy: According to her character description.

* UltimateEvil: If the Shinigami can be regarded as truly evil.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: He's never shown in the manga or anime. The toy shown above finally revealed his appearance.

* BrilliantButLazy: All Shinigami have high-intelligence by nature. Even Ryuk, said to be one of the dumbest members of his race, is still smarter than even L and Light. However, due to their long lifespans they are all extremely lethargic, either spending their days sleeping or gambling. They're so incredibly lazy that even doing their jobs as gods of death--Killing humans--often warrants mockery from fellow Shinigami for working too hard. And while they have no restrictions that force them to stay in the Shinigami Realm, they rarely ever travel to Earth. Ryuk and Rem are notable as being the only ones to willingly want to go, rather than simply being forced to in order to shadow whichever human picks up their Death Note.

%% * AxeCrazy

The highest ranking Shinigami that resembles a rock covered with eyes. Only the King is more powerful than she is. She likes repentance and dislikes sound.

* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Despite appearing on the spine art of the final volume, Nu has never been featured at any point in the story, art or tie-ins.

%% * TheDreaded

** [[spoiler: In the 2020 one-shot he's agitated by the thought of humans pawning Death Notes and decrees that any human who engages in a Death note-related transaction will die of a heart attack, thus keeping the new Kira from reaping the benefits of his master plan.]]
* ObviousRulePatch: [[spoiler:To prevent more cases like Minoru from happening again, The King writes a new rule that prevents any further Death Notes from being sold by humans in their world. By killing both the buyer and seller in the transaction for accepting either the money or Notebook.]]

%% * TheGrimReaper
%% * HeWhoMustNotBeSeen

%% * UltimateEvil

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: She is portrayed as [[http://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/newsV2/images/16-04(175).jpg a much more beautiful character]] in the musical adaptation, to the point of her looking almost like a goddess.

* BlueAndOrangeMorality: ''Of course'' Shinigami have no problems killing humans or with humans dying. Shinigami take human lifespans for themselves. [[HorrorHunger Why should they care about the human world beyond it being their food source?]] In fact if a Shinigami ''does'' care about a human, that means they "failed as a Shinigami", and ''that'' is punishable by death.

* PunchClockVillain: It really is only their duty to take humans' lives, and they only truly qualify as "evil" insofar as the occasional decision to kill a human earlier than intended - and doing so to save another is an offense for which death is punishment.
** It's unclear if death is a punishment or it's simply what happens.
* RandomPowerRanking: All of the known Shinigami are ranked from 1 to [[ThirteenIsUnlucky 13]] (with the exception of the Shinigami King who doesn't have a rank). This could be subverted in that Ryuk is two levels below Rem, yet is shown to be more cunning and manipulative than her, not to mention he ends up outliving her.

%% * TertiarySexualCharacteristics

%% * CapeWings

%% * CombatTentacles

%% * ShootingSuperman

** Subverted perhaps because when he returns to his realm, he will have to [[YankTheDogsChain face the deadly consequences]] of killing humans WITHOUT a Death Note.

* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Even though it's against the rules for a shinigami to extend someone's life, he uses his notebook to save Misa from a demented stalker who would have killed her.

* DealWithTheDevil: Any deal made by a human with a Shinigami is going to end badly for the human every time. Is the death god offering you a Death Note to play with? You can be sure that the death god will write your name in his own notebook and steal your remaining years [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once he gets bored with you]]. Is he offering you Shinigami eyes so that you can use your death note without needing to find out your victims' names? Say goodbye to [[CastFromLifespan half your remaining lifespan]]. And the very worst part: using a Death Note even once will bar you from heaven or hell when you do eventually die and is a guaranteed one way ticket to CessationOfExistence. Hell, just finding a Death Note and giving it up without ever using it may well earn you an immediate death by the Shinigami just because you're boring for not playing his game. If you encounter a Death God at all, your only chance of not dying young is to be so impossibly beautiful that the Shinigami falls in love with you. At the very least, Shinigami are honest and up front about the price of what they offer.

* SpecialPersonNormalName[=/=]OddNameOut: His middle name 'Justin' stands out as one of the most normal names in the series.

* ThirteenIsUnlucky: The Rank 13 Shinigami. He has no friends and dies in his first appearance.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Combined with CleanDubName. As "Gook" [[UnfortunateImplications is a racial slur]], Viz went with spelling it out as the more literal "Gukku".

* OCStandIn: Most of the Shinigami who don't go down to Earth.

[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/death_note_unnamed_shinigami_4530.jpg]]

* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Despite appearing on the spine art of the final volume, Nu has never been featured st any point in the story, art or tie-ins.