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| “ | Death plays no favorites. | „ |
| ~ Ryuk. |
| “ | Humans are so… interesting. | „ |
| ~ Ryuk's most famous quote. |
Ryuk is the deuteragonist of the Death Note franchise. He is a Shinigami who drops a Death Note into the mortal world to ease his boredom. It inadvertently finds itself in the hands of Light Yagami, who then begins his killing spree to cleanse the world of "evil" with Ryuk beside him.
He was voiced by Nakamura Shidō II in the Japanese version of the anime, and Brian Drummond in the English dubbed version (who also voiced Vegeta in the Ocean Dub).
Biography[]
Death Note begins with Ryuk and the other death gods in the Shinigami Realm. Ryuk was bored with the lack of activity, as all the death gods are relaxing. So, he decides to obtain a second Death Note by tricking the Shinigami King, before writing the instructions in English and dropping it into the human world. The plot of the series truly begins when Light Yagami finds the Death Note on his school grounds.
Five days later, Ryuk has a conversation with Light. The simple reason he gives about why he dropped the Death Note into the human world is that because he is bored. He then tells Light that, since he was the one who found the notebook, it belongs to him. If he does not need it anymore, he can pass it to anyone else. But when it is the time for Light to die, Ryuk will write his name down. Light then explains to Ryuk that he wishes to cleanse the world of evil criminals, and becomes the God of the new world. Ryuk tells Light that, if he were to do that, the only bad person left would be Light himself. Light ignores his comment, maintaining that he is entirely sincere. Ryuk then comments that humans are interesting.
The events of the show ultimately keep the death god entertained for six years.
At the end of the manga, Light was revealed as Kira after his plan to kill everyone present in the warehouse was foiled. He was then shot five times by Touta Matsuda when he attempts to write Near's name down. Light then asks for Ryuk to write his enemies' names down. The police open fire on the death god, to no effect. It turns out that Ryuk was actually writing Light's name down. During Light's pleading, Ryuk reminds Light about what he said earlier: that he would be the one to kill him, and that humans who used the Death Note would neither go to Heaven, or Hell, before returning to the Shinigami Realm. Light dies of a heart attack from Ryuk's Death Note while laying on the floor in front of the SPK police officers.
In the anime, Light does not talk to Ryuk, but manages to escape from the warehouse, due to Teru Mikami's suicide. Light runs as fast as he can, before eventually collapsing from the severity of his wounds. Ryuk, watching from a distance as Light hides in another warehouse, comments that Light has lost. He does not want to wait around long during Light's prison term, so he writes the latter's name down, just as he promised in the beginning. Light dies peacefully soon after.
Three years after the Kira case, the Shinigami Midora returns to the Shinigami Realm after having given her notebook to a human who ended up killing themself. Ryuk tells her she should find better humans while reminiscing on Light and how he reacted when he wrote his name in the Death Note.
Nine years after the Kira case, Ryuk is bored and looking for apples again. He finds a human boy named Minoru Tanaka who is just as smart as Light and gives him the Death Note. Minoru is shocked to learn the notebook was how Kira killed people and comes up with a plan to use it. He relinquishes ownership of the note and tells Ryuk to bring it back in two years. Ryuk does as he asked. With the note back in his hands, Minoru plans on selling it and orders Ryuk to carry around messages to Sakura TV which he uses to communicate the details of the worldwide auction for Kira's power to the public. Ryuk leaves the station by going underground afterwards so he can't be tracked. Eventually, the note is sold to the United States. Minoru relinquishes ownership and tells Ryuk never to contact him again. By the time Ryuk brings the note to Donald Trump, however, the Shinigami King had created a new rule that forbids buying and selling the note. This makes Ryuk have to kill Minoru once he withdraws his money. Ryuk tells Donald Trump about the new rule who chooses not to take the Death Note but tell the world he has it which Ryuk comments is shrewd.
2017 film[]
- Main article: Ryuk (Netflix's Death Note)
In the 2017 movie adaptation (which is loosely based on the original works), Ryuk appears as the overarching antagonist. His role is a lot smaller than it was in the anime, manga and original live action adaptations; however, he is still a prominent figure within the film and appears much more evil than in previous adaptations.
He was performed/voiced by Willem Dafoe, who also played Raven Shaddock in Streets of Fire, George Deckert in xXx: State of the Union, Armando Barillo in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Green Goblin in Spider-Man, John Geiger in Speed 2: Cruise Control, Rat in Fantastic Mr. Fox, Lord Cob in Tales From Earthsea, Nikolai Diavolo in 007: All Or Nothing, J.G. Jopling in Grand Budapest Hotel, Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire, and Eric Masters in To Live and Die in L.A.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Immortality: As a Shinigami, Ryuk has an infinite lifespan and is unaffected by disease and poison as long as he uses a Death Note to kill humans in order to take their remaining lifespan. He also can't be killed or injured by firearms, knives, or other weapons.
- Intangibility: Like all Shinigamis, Ryuk can pass through walls and matter, and can't be seen by human beings, except if they are in possession of a Death Note, or a fragment of it.
- Shinigami's Eyes: Ryuk can see the real name and the remaining lifespan of a human simply by looking at them. He can also make a deal with a human being possessing a Death Note by giving him the same ability in exchange of half of the remaining lifespan of the human.
- Flight: Ryuk possesses wings, which he uses to fly from one point to another.
Allies[]
- Shinigami King (boss)
- Light Yagami † (good friend, victim)
- Misa Amane †
- Rem †
- Sidoh
- Minoru Tanaka †
Quotes[]
| “ | Let's just say this: you will feel the fear and pain known only to humans who've used the notebook. And when it's your time to die, it will fall on me to write your name in my Death Note. Be warned any human who's used a Death Note can neither go to Heaven nor Hell for eternity. That's all. | „ |
| ~ Ryuk to Light about the consequences of using a Death Note. |
| “ | The human world is a boring place with boring people doing boring things. | „ |
| ~ Ryuk about the human world. |
| “ | I don't care if it is fortunate or unfortunate that Light picked up the Death Note. However… it is generally bad luck for a person to be followed by a God of Death. | „ |
| ~ Ryuk. |
| “ | There's no heaven or hell. No matter what you do while you're alive, everybody goes to the same place once you die. Death is equal. | „ |
| ~ Ryuk about death. |
| “ | You have lost, Light. Didn’t I say in the beginning, when you die, the one who’ll write your name down in a notebook will be me? That is the deal between the Shinigami and the first human to get their hands on the note in the human world. Once you enter prison, I don’t know when you’ll die. It’s annoying to wait. Your life is already over. You’ll die here. | „ |
| ~ Ryuk before killing Light. |
| “ | Once a name is written down in the Death Note, you can't do anything about it. You more than anybody else here should know that. Goodbye, Light Yagami. | „ |
| ~ Ryuk's last words in the manga. |
| “ | It was good while it lasted. We eased each other's boredom for quite a while. Well, Light, it's been interesting. | „ |
| ~ Ryuk's sympathetic last words in the anime. |
Trivia[]
- In the Volume Two Chapter "Handstand," Ryuk reveals he enjoys playing Mario Golf with Light, possibly Mario Golf 64 or Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour.
- In one of the four panel comics they appeared in for the Weekly Shonen Jump, Ryuk tells Light that he wants a Game Boy Advance SP for Christmas.
External Link[]
- Ryuk on the Death Note Wiki
- Ryuk on the Wikipedia
[]
 Villains
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Kira and his followers Shinigami Yotsuba Group The Mafia Criminals Others TV and film series | ||
 Fighting Game Villains
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Dragon Ball: Naruto: Bleach: One Piece: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Yu-Gi-Oh!: Fist of the North Star: Death Note: Hunter x Hunter: Yu Yu Hakusho: Assassination Classroom: Rurouni Kenshin: Original characters: | ||