River, Nate

ネイト・リバー

In Death Note, Near is the youngest of L's two successors raised in Wammy's House, Watari's orphanage for gifted children, in Winchester, England, United Kingdom. Among the successors, Near is the more level-headed, calmly assessing the situation, while the other, Mello, is more emotional and quick to act. Much like L, Near displays various odd behaviors in his daily life. He is usually seen hunched over rather than sitting. He also constantly plays with various toys, which he uses in his theories, as well as idly twiddling strands of his hair. He shows great respect for L, basing much of his crime-solving on L's methods, even to the point where he only takes cases that interest him rather than trying to pursue justice. Near uses the Wedding Text font "N" and "L" to represent himself and the fake L, respectively. But later in the aftermath, he used the Old English font "L" like the original L did.

Spoiler

Tsugumi Ohba, writer of Death Note, said that Near "becomes less likeable" as the story advances, citing Near's plan to take the notebook at a later point in the story. Ohba said that a negative reaction originated from "the difference in their attitudes" and that people may have viewed Near as "a cheat." Ohba added that Near's "cheeky behavior," intended to "reinforce his childishness," had been construed as "annoying."
In the final chapter Near brings finger puppets to the Yellow Box Warehouse. Takeshi Obata, artist of Death Note, said that Near first bought the Kira finger puppet and drew on it with a magic marker. Obata then said that Near must have created the other puppets afterwards. Obata views Near as not liking L much, so Obata had Near depict L as "ugly", and that Near "worked hard" on Mello's puppet as Near "liked Mello."
Obata said he enjoyed drawing Near and that Near is also one of his favorite and his least favorite characters, considering him to be the smartest character in the manga "because he cheats."
When asked about which character was most similar to himself, Ohba indicated Near and "maybe Light." Regarding Near, Ohba said that he does not leave his house often.

Details:

First name:: Nate
Last name:: River
Other names:: Near
N
Age:: First appearance: 13 years old
Birthday:: 24 August 1991 (1994 in anime)
Gender:: Male
Blood type:: B
Occupation:: Head of SPK (Special Provision for Kira), 3rd and final "L" in chapters 108 and aftermath
Species:: Human