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Ryuk

Ryuk (リューク, Ryūku) is a Shinigami who grows bored with life in the Shinigami Realm. Seeking entertainment, he steals a second Death Note and drops it into the Human World. The notebook is discovered by Light Yagami, who uses it to attempt to cleanse the world of evil and injustice. This decision ignites Light’s conflict with L, Near, and Mello, providing Ryuk with the entertainment he desires.

“
I Told You In The Very Beginning That I Would Be The One Writing Your Name In The Notebook When You Die.
 ”
— Ryuk

Appearance

Sultan Abdulmejid (left) with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Emperor Napoleon III of France

Ryuk’s appearance in anime.

Ryuk has a humanoid yet eerie appearance. He is extremely slim, with light-gray, almost blue-toned skin, spiky black hair, thin blue-gray lips, and sharp, pointed teeth. His limbs are unusually long, and he wears rings on his fingers. His most striking features are his large, round yellow eyes with bright red irises. Additionally, he has retractable, feather-like wings on his back, which enable him to fly.

Character

Ryuk stands apart from other Shinigami due to his desire to alleviate his boredom, rather than simply passing time in the Shinigami Realm. He is unaffected by the mockery he receives from other Shinigami for this outlook. His decision to drop the Death Note into the Human World was driven purely by the hope of witnessing something entertaining.

Ryuk finds Light Yagami “interesting,” particularly because of Light’s clever experiments and his discovery of loopholes in the Death Note’s rules—some of which Ryuk himself was unaware of. However, despite his fascination with Light, Ryuk remains indifferent to Light’s fate and does not offer him direct assistance. Ryuk often withholds crucial information unless it benefits him, and his primary motivation is simply to stave off boredom. He views Light’s actions and the human world’s reaction to the Death Note as a source of entertainment, and Light’s ability to quickly understand Ryuk’s desires allows him to manipulate the Shinigami with ease.

Ryuk has a notable fondness for apples, likening his addiction to them to human dependencies on cigarettes or alcohol. Shinigami apples are withered and tasteless, which is why he prefers the crisp apples of the human world. If deprived of apples for too long, Ryuk exhibits withdrawal-like symptoms, such as contorting his body or doing handstands. Despite his intimidating appearance, Ryuk has moments of shyness, particularly around girls, as seen when Misa regains her memories and excitedly hugs him.

Ryuk also enjoys video games, a trait first revealed in the omake comic series, where he asks Light for a Silver Game Boy Advance SP as a Christmas gift. He later suggests playing Mario Golf (referred to as “video games” in the anime), although Light, due to the microphones and cameras bugging his room, doesn’t respond.

Plot

Ryuk deliberately writes the instructions inside the front cover of the Death Note (in English, which he assumed to be the most popular language in the Human World) so people would understand its purpose. The Death Note is discovered by Light Yagami, and Ryuk follows him around for much of the series to see how Light uses it.

As Ryuk explains when he first meets Light, he will take Light’s life when his time comes. In the manga, Ryuk does this during the final confrontation between the Japanese Task Force and the SPK after Light is shot several times by Matsuda. Light, desperate and cornered, begs Ryuk to write the names of the investigation team and SPK members in the Death Note. Ryuk appears to write them down, but he reveals that he simply wrote Light’s name instead. Ryuk had expected Light to have devised some way out of his situation, but seeing Light’s desperation, Ryuk decides it’s over for him and returns to the Shinigami Realm after killing Light.

In the anime, Light escapes the Yellowbox Warehouse while Mikami’s suicide distracts everyone else. With his wounds too severe for him to escape far, Ryuk, watching from above, decides that following Light during a prison sentence waiting for his death is not worth his time. Ryuk writes Light’s name in the Death Note, giving Light his final words: “It’s been interesting.” Light dies with an apparition of L standing over him, mirroring the scene where Light stood over L when he died.

In Other Media

Relight Anime Films

The Relight films are a condensed version of the anime series, with the premise that Ryuk tells the story to another Shinigami. Sometime after Light’s death and Ryuk’s return to the Shinigami Realm, Ryuk becomes popular among other Shinigami due to his time spent in the Human World with Light. Eventually, Ryuk’s story catches the attention of an unnamed Shinigami, who visits Ryuk to hear it.

Live-Action Film Series

In the film series (Death Note,Death Note: The Last Name,L: Change the WorLd, andDeath Note: Light Up the NEW World), Ryuk’s role stays fairly true to the original canon. In the second film, Ryuk laughs alongside Light when the Task Force can’t shoot him through his incorporeal form. As in the manga, Ryuk writes Light’s name in the Death Note, and Light dies in his father’s arms. Afterward, Ryuk offers L the Death Note, but L refuses, prompting Ryuk to call him “boring” before flying away.

In L: Change the WorLd , Ryuk attempts to tempt L into using the Death Note, reminding him that Light became like a god with it. When L asks whether Light truly died like a god, Ryuk struggles to answer. L eventually burns both notebooks, sending Ryuk back to the Shinigami Realm.

Ryuk also briefly appears in Death Note: New Generation , where he seemingly delivers a Death Note to Kira-worshiper Yuki Shien, ending the episode with his signature laugh and saying, “Interesting.”

Netflix Film

In the American adaptation of Death Note by Netflix, Ryuk is voiced by actor Willem Dafoe. This version of Ryuk exhibits many of his core traits but with certain plot changes to fit the new adaptation.

Manga Pilot Chapter

In theDeath Notemanga pilot chapter, Ryuk is the master of two Death Notes, which he drops into the human world. Taro Kagami picks up the first one, and Ryuk interacts with him throughout the chapter. Death Note 13: How to Read describes the Ryuk from the pilot chapter as “lazy” and “incompetent” compared to his main series counterpart.

Manga Yonkoma

In the Death Note yonkoma featured in Death Note 13: How to Read , Ryuk is portrayed humorously and is said to be the character who “may” most resemble his counterpart in the original series.

Musical

In Death Note: The Musical , Ryuk’s role is very similar to canon, though he interacts more with Rem. Ryuk is first introduced in the Shinigami Realm, where he complains to Rem about his boredom. He drops his Death Note into the human world, which is picked up by Light Yagami.

Throughout the musical, Ryuk watches Light with fascination, particularly during Light’s transformation into Kira. When Light appears to have won by defeating L, Ryuk reveals that he is writing Light’s name in the Death Note. Unfazed by Light’s desperate pleas, Ryuk grows bored of the human world and allows Light to die of a heart attack. Ryuk then rolls Light’s dead body over, finds an apple in Light’s jacket, and takes a bite.

Musical Songs Performed by Ryuk:
  • They’re Only Human– A song Ryuk and Rem sing about humanity.
  • Kira– Ryuk’s solo song when he first meets Light.
  • A Cruel Dream Reprise– A song Ryuk and Rem sing as Rem becomes emotionally attached to Misa.

Video Games

Jump Force

Ryuk appears alongside Light as a non-playable story character in the crossover video game Jump Force . In the game’s story, Ryuk loses the ability to use the Death Note to kill people due to the merging of the real world and the Jump worlds. Ryuk assists the J-Force, a team formed by heroes from otherJumpuniverses, with preventing the antagonists from fully merging the worlds.

Conception

Tsugumi Ohbamentioned that apples were frequently featured in the thumbnails because he wanted to create “the dying message that Shinigami only eat apples.” He simply needed Ryuk to hold apples, stating that “there’s no other reason.” Ohba chose apples because the red color “goes well” with Ryuk’s black body and complements Ryuk’s “big” mouth. When Takeshi Obata, the illustrator, pointed out that apples held symbolic religious and psychological significance, Ohba humorously admitted that he “did not think about that at all” and included them simply because he thought “apples are cool… that’s it. (laughs).” However, Ohba acknowledged that having elements like apples, which could be revisited as plot points, was beneficial. For example, apples were used as a tool when Light asked Ryuk to search for the hidden cameras in exchange for apples.

Takeshi Obatafaced challenges while creating Ryuk’s design. Initially, Obata imagined Ryuk as a “young man similar to Light” with black hair and wings, inspired by the idea of Shinigami resembling “attractive rock stars.” Obata, however, discarded this idea when he realized Ryuk might overshadow Light as the main character. Following advice from his editor that Ryuk did not need to appear human, Obata embraced a more “monster-like” appearance, which he liked for its ambiguity and the fact that “you can never really tell what he is thinking.” Obata admitted struggling with Ryuk’s bone structure in the early stages, particularly in the pilot chapter, but became more comfortable as the series progressed. The initial design varied from what appeared in the final series, and inDeath Note 13: How to Read, Obata floated the idea that Ryuk’s face might be a mask concealing an “attractive” face underneath.

When designing Ryuk’s Death Note, Obata contemplated how Ryuk’s handwriting would look. Ryuk personally wrote the words “Death Note” on the cover of his own notebook, and when he obtained Sidoh’s book, he inscribed the same on its cover as well.

Conception of Ryuk in the Films

Sultan Abdulmejid (left) with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Emperor Napoleon III of France

Ryuk as portrayed in the Japanese live-action adaptation.

In the Japanese live-action adaptations,Shūsuke Kaneko, the director, opted to create Ryuk using computer-generated imagery (CGI). He believed this approach would make Ryuk’s appearances to those who had touched the Death Note “believable” and convey that Ryuk, as a Shinigami, had “no real presence.” Kaneko felt that casting a human actor for Ryuk would have made the character too realistic, potentially undermining his supernatural qualities and leaving the audience doubting whether Ryuk was truly a death god, even for a moment. Kaneko instructed the CGI team to design Ryuk as if there were “an actor inside a rubber suit,” enhancing the otherworldly yet believable presence of the Shinigami.

Reception

Tom S. Pepirium of  IGN praised Brian Drummond’s portrayal of Ryuk in the English dub, stating that “Brian Drummond IS Ryuk.” Pepirium highlighted Drummond’s voice as “excellent” and found it “hilarious” to watch Ryuk’s “never-ending grin” and his amused reactions to the chaos he helped create.

Kitty Sensei ofOtakuZone, in an article published in  The Star, a Malaysian newspaper, shared her thoughts on Ryuk’s portrayal in the live-action films. She mentioned that Ryuk “looks a little artificial in the beginning,” but noted that she grew accustomed to the portrayal over time, ultimately enjoying “Ryuk’s gleeful chuckles and fish-faced grins.”

The  sfist  described Ryuk as the only “(potential) cheeseball factor” in the first live-action film, acknowledging that his appearance might be “difficult to get used to.” However, the article pointed out that Ryuk “adds” to the film for viewers who are willing to “let go enough to accept” his presence.

Trivia

    Sultan Abdulmejid (left) with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Emperor Napoleon III of France

    A Ryuk Nendoroid Petite figure.

    • Ryuk Nendoroid: Ryuk was one of the Death Note characters made into Nendoroid figures. Alongside Light, L, and Misa, Ryuk was part of the main lineup of Death Note Nendoroid figures. Additionally, these characters were also released as part of the Nendoroid petites series, which featured smaller versions of the figures.