Shinigami (Death Note)

The Shinigami, also known as Death Gods or Gods of Death, are the overall central antagonists of the entire Death Note franchise. The Shinigrami are an extra-dimensional species within the Death Note universe who survive by having humans killed to extend their own lifespans, granting them practical immortality. They accomplish this by passing down the titular Death Note into the human world and allowing it to fall into the hands of a random human in hopes that they will use it to kill other people with Light Yagami being the most notable example.

Appearances
The Shinigami have varied appearances with their phyiscal appearances being made of elements deemed unnatural in the human world. Since each Shinigami posses their own Death Notes, they are able to carry them around and use both them and a pen despite some of them lacking any limbs (hands, feet ect.). Shinigami also posses wings which are vissible when used in flight, especially when flying in the Human World, but will retract when not in use.

Nature and Abilities
The Shinigami themselves are very intelligent creatures to the point that they each posses their own written languages that they can understand even if they don't write or speak it. The series creator, Takeshi Obata, also said that the Shinigami can understand Earthly langauges as well such as Ryuk writing a copy of the Death Note in English. Each Shinigami is assigned a job, but the amount of work they have to do is never stated and their true job is to find humans and make them die earlier to extend their overall lifespans.