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| “ | If only I could see death of the world. | „ |
| ~ Beyond Birthday |
Beyond Birthday (in Japanese: ビヨンド=バースデイ, Biyondo Bāsudei), also reffered to by his false name Rue Ryūzaki is the main antagonist of the 2006 light novel prequel to Death Note, Death Note - Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases.
He was the second child taken in at Wammy's House, in an attempt to create a successor for L, the mysterious and eccentric detective who works alongside Naomi Misora in the complex Los Angeles: BB Murder Cases, only to be later revealed as the architect behind this series of homicides.
Beyond Birthday has never appeared in the manga, anime, or film series to date, but the Los Angeles: BB Murder Case was briefly alluded to in both manga and anime.
Background[]
Little is known about Beyond's past, although it is said he was congenitally born with Shinigami Eyes, so he was able to see the names and lifetimes of the people around him, but until then he had never told anyone. It is unknown how a human can be born with the Eyes, but Mello theorizes that if a bored Shinigami can drop a notebook for a human to pick up, one may have dropped its eyes in the same way.
Beyond grew up as a strange child, likely because his eyes gave him a different perception of the world and his surroundings. During his childhood, he was picked up by Watari and taken to the Wammy's House orphanage since both of his parents had been killed; his father by a murderer, and his mother in a train crash.
Having an intelligence far above his age and superior to the other children in the orphanage, Beyond was later considered to be one of L's first potential successors, along with another child called A. However, A suffered under the pressure the orphanage put on them to succeed L, causing them to take away their own life, leaving Beyond alone for the job to replacement. Sometime later, Beyond grew to loathe L and his pride yearned to overcome him, causing him to run away from Wammy's House.
The Wara Ningyo Murder Cases[]
On July 22, 2002, a mysterious crossword puzzle had been sent to the Los Angeles Police Department. The mysterious sender apparently sent the crossword puzzle to tease the L.A.P.D with his intelligence and display of superiority, since they would never be able to solve the puzzle he had sent. As expected, none of the officers were actually able to solve the puzzle and simply discarded it. L, however, ends up recovering the crossword from a reliable source and then hands it over to his proxy, Naomi Misora. As it turned out, the riddle had been discovered; and hidden within it was the address: 221 Insist St. Hollywood, which would in future be the location of a grotesque crime scene for the 31st. This particular date is said to be chosen because it combines the number "1" with the number "3" to form the letter "B", giving a possible clue as to who had sent the puzzle.
On July 31, 2002, 44-year-old Believe Bridesmaid was murdered by strangulation.
Naomi Misora had been sent by L to analyze the crime scene. Believe Bridesmaid was found nine days after his death inside his own room, which for some reason was locked from the inside. His body with obvious strangulation marks on his neck was found lying on his back on his bed, and the bedroom's wall had four Wara Ningyo dolls pinned to it. Severe post-mortem cuts were seen on his chest, as well as his clothes having been altered leaving only a small amount of blood. During her review of the crime scene, she ends up meeting Rue Ryūzaki, who introduces himself as an "un-private" detective who was actually there long before her after being called by Bridesmaid's parents. After having unexpectedly met him, Naomi inspects the body more closely and points out that the cuts made on the Bridesmaid's chest, if seen closely, formed Roman numerals, as Ryūzaki agrees with her theory. The Roman numerals read "XIV (16), LIX (59), MCDXXIII (1423), CLIX (159), XIII (13), VII (7), DLXXXII (582), DCCXXIV (724), MI (1001), XL (40), LI (51), XXXI (31)."
Looking through Bridesmaid's manga collection, Ryūzaki and Misora realise that volumes nine and four of the Akazukin Chacha manga are missing, even though the shelf is full. Misora doesn't show much concern about this, and instead of thinking it was a theft committed by the murderer, she points out that perhaps Bridesmaid didn't have any ownership over them. In any case, Ryūzaki deduces that no one would read Akazukin Chacha out of order, strangely going so far as to say that it would pass as evidence in court. Misora simply derisively comments that Ryuzaki's assessment is biased.
He then tells Misora that there are 192 and 184 pages of volumes 4 and 9 of Akazukin Chacha, which if added together make 376 pages. With that, Misora looks at the shelf intently and finds a book called Insufficient Relaxation, by Permit Winter. The book is exactly 376 pages long, and the Roman numerals seared into Bridesmaid's body are actually connected to each page, with Ryūzaki indicating that larger numbers may wrap around. Having read the first few letters of each page, Misora reads next:
- Page 16 - Quadratic
- Page 59 - Ukulele
- Page 1423 (wrapped around three times) - Page 295 - Tenacious
- Page 159 - Rabble
- Page 13 - Table
- Page 7 - Egg
- 582 (wrapped around a single time) - Page 206 - Arbiter
- 724 (wrapped around a single time) - Page 348 - Equable
- 1001 (wrapped around two times) - Page 249 - Thud
- Page 40 - Effect
- Page 51 - Elsewhere
- Page 31 - Name
Although all the words listed don't make any sense, the first initial letters of each of them form "Q-U-T-R-T-E-A-E-T-E-E-N", which would be an anagram for the second victim "Quarter Queen", only with the difference of missing four letters. In any case, Ryūzaki claims that the fact that the word has a third of its letters misspelled could be a mere coincidence. Misora says the opposite, believing it to be intentional, noting that all the letters which are wrong were for words that have wrapped around. Therefore, if a page wraps around once, the second letter is put to use.
- Page 1423 (wrapped around three times) - Page 295 - Tenacious
- 582 (wrapped around a single time) - Page 206 - Arbiter
- 724 (wrapped around a single time) - Page 348 - Equable
- 1001 (wrapped around two times) - Page 249 - Thud
In the end, "Q-U-T-R-T-E-A-E-T-E-N" is actually "Q-U-A-R- T-E-R-Q-U-E-E-N", the name of the second victim. It's a message from the killer, telling of his next murder. TBA
Appearance[]
Beyond distinctly mimics L's physical features. He is described as a tall young man with medium-length, messy black hair and shadows under his eyes. His clothing consists of a long-sleeved shirt of an unspecified color, in artworks it can be white like L's or black so as to distinguish between the two, and a pair of faded jeans. The color of his eyes is also unknown, but in artwork they appear red because of his Shinigami Eyes. However, given the fact that he imitates L, it's quite likely that he wears black or grey contact lenses to look like him. In addition to this, Beyond also uses makeup to enhance his resemblance to L.
Personality[]
| “ | If L's a genius, then B's an extreme genius. If L's a freak, then B's an extreme freak. | „ |
| ~ Beyond Birthday pridefully comparing himself to L. |
As a child, Beyond is described by Mello as "brilliant and deviant". His intelligence was arguably far greater than all the children in Wammy's House, hence why he was considered for L's succession. However, the idea of being only the second most intelligent meant that Beyond grew up strongly attached to and envious of L. Given his great obsession with L, he not only likes to imitate his appearance but his habits as well. The fact is, he doesn't adapt to this as a whole, as he has his own traits to differentiate him from L. Like his rival, Beyond casually behaves in a way that makes him seen as unusual or even rude, such as walking in public spaces without any kind of footwear, sitting in a position with his knees pressed to his chest and acting somewhat ignorant. His own habitudes is that he likes to eat strawberry jam without the use of cutlery, in preference to using his bare hands and that sometimes also having a habit of walking on all fours. He also likes to perform laughter as if it were a goal to fulfil, in order to find the "perfect laugh" for moments of triumph.
Despite his high intelligence, Beyond is an extremely compulsive and mentally unstable individual. He can be seen from a nihilistic perspective, as he values overcoming L as something greater than his own life and wouldn't mind killing himself if it meant fulfilling his goal. He is also a borderline psychopath and makes no distinction between his victims, be they children or adults. This is subtly evident when he appears barely bothered during his supposed investigation with Naomi Misora into the murder of Quarter Queen, to the point of defending a thesis that killing an adult is no different from killing a child.
Beyond is also arrogant, belittling those whom he considers to be below his or even L's level. But in any case, this is the worst thing he can do. Being overconfident didn't make him consider that Naomi Misora, someone he constantly underestimated by means of manipulation, would save him from his planned suicide, and that if it hadn't been for this one small carelessness he might have been able to achieve his goal and overcome L.
Victims[]
Believe Bridesmaid[]
Beyond Birthday's first known victim was the freelance writer Believe Bridesmaid, whom he killed July 31, 2002, after drugging him and then choking him with a rope. Four Wara Ningyo (straw dolls) were left at the crime scene, and in post-mortem mutilation, Bridesmaid's chest was slashed several times; the killer also took the time to re-dress him. When looking at the autopsy photos, Naomi Misora found that the wounds were made to resemble letters (in actuality, a Roman numeral code spelling out the name of the next victim).
Quarter Queen[]
The second murder happened four days later, on August 4. The victim, Quarter Queen (a 13-year-old girl), was also drugged before her death, the cause of which was blunt force trauma to her skull. Her eyes were also crushed in further post-mortem mutilation. Three Wara Ningyo were left at the scene of the crime.
Backyard Bottomslash[]
The third killing happened nine days after Quarter Queen's murder. Backyard Bottomslash was a 28-year-old bank worker who had also been drugged before her death, though her age fell in-between those of the previous two victims (44 and 13). This happened when Beyond Birthday wanted to find out if a human can die of an internal hemorrhage without rupturing any organs. Beyond Birthday conducted this experiment by drugging and then beating Backyard Bottomslash's left arm without breaking the skin. When this did not work, her death was caused by loss of blood, with her right leg and left arm cut off. The right leg was discovered in the bathtub later. The left arm was taken by Beyond Birthday for some unknown reason, with some theories heavily implying he may have eaten it. Two Wara Ningyo were found nailed to the walls in a similar manner to the other two cases.
Rue Ryūzaki[]
In conclusion, Beyond's last victim was himself; or his false identity, Rue Ryūzaki. By committing suicide, Beyond thought that the culprit behind his murders would never be found. He knew that in the end he would be identified as Beyond Birthday, thereby posing as another victim of the ‘B.B’ pattern of murders and that because he had never told Wammy's House his real name, he would never be identified as B. Beyond burns himself inside a hotel room to make his plan come true, but Naomi Misora manages to interfere by breaking down the door to the room and putting out the fire before he can die.
Artwork[]
An artwork from Another Note. Left: Beyond or L. Right: Naomi Misora.
Due to his resemblance to L, it is unknown if the artwork featured in Another Note is Beyond Birthday or L. Some fans believe it to be L, especially since he does not have red eyes, which the fans have begun to connect with Shinigami Eyes. However, it was mentioned in the manga that it is impossible for a human to see if another human has "The Eyes" or not, making Shinigami Eyes appear normal.
Others have pointed out that it is unlikely that there would be two protagonists in the artwork, as opposed to the protagonist as well as the antagonist. In addition to that, there is a distinguishable "B" in between the two characters, implying that the character may very well in fact be Beyond Birthday. However, there is no way of knowing until it is either confirmed or denied by Nisio Isin.
Trivia[]
- Beyond is considered by many the third most intelligent character in Death Note universe, only behind L and Light Yagami/Kira.
- In the movie L: Change the WorLd, when L is on his laptop and sending the message that Watari is dead to the members of Wammy's House, the letter B is seen on L's mailing list. It is currently unknown if this was Beyond or not.
- Beyond's nickname, Rue (ルエ) is an anagram for Eru (エル) which in translation would be L, referring to the fact that he went by L for the time he used that name.
- Ironically, L would later take Beyond's alias, Ryūzaki, to refer to himself.
- A popular theory suggests that Beyond Birthday was killed by Kira while he was incarcerated. His cause of death was a mysterious heart attack. The date he died was January 2004, which almost coincides with the date when Light Yagami found the Death Note, being November 2003.
External Links[]
- Beyond Birthday on the Death Note Wiki
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 Villains
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