Keehl, Mihael

A slender young man with straight golden-blonde hair worn in a bob, with a fringe hanging down past his eyes, and sharp, intense features. Almost always seen eating a bar of dark chocolate. Dresses in Gothic-style black leather — vests, trousers, boots — with a large silver cross necklace. After his hideout is destroyed late in the story, a large jagged scar covers the left side of his face and neck for the rest of his life.

Volatile and Competitive

Impulsive and driven almost entirely by a need to be “number one” — the total opposite of Near’s cold analysis. He treats the Kira case as a race he has to win, not a puzzle to be solved.

Ruthless

Perfectly willing to work with organized crime and use lethal force on anyone in his way, without much hesitation.

Loyal, in His Own Way

Despite everything, he stays genuinely close to his one real friend, Matt, and holds real respect for L’s legacy underneath all the resentment.

Defined by an Inferiority Complex

His entire drive comes from never quite beating Near at Wammy’s House — a wound that shapes literally everything he does afterward.

Raised at Wammy’s House alongside Near, Mello is consistently ranked the second-brightest student in the orphanage — always just behind his rival. When director Roger tells him and Near about L’s death in 2004 and asks them to work together, Mello flatly refuses, insisting he’ll find his own way, and disappears from the orphanage at age 14. Over the next four years he works his way into, and eventually up through, a Las Vegas-based mafia syndicate.

Taking Over the Mafia

By 2009, Mello has become the tactical advisor to syndicate boss Dwight Gordon, and orchestrates the kidnapping of NPA Director Takimura to ransom for a Death Note.

The Sayu Yagami Kidnapping

After Kira kills Takimura to keep him quiet, Mello kidnaps Sayu Yagami instead, forcing a tense exchange in the Los Angeles desert that successfully hands him the Task Force’s notebook.

Learning the Rules Are Fake

Confronted by the notebook’s original owner, the Shinigami Sidoh, Mello learns the “13-day rule” that cleared Light years earlier was fabricated — a discovery that will eventually hand Near everything he needs.

The Hideout Raid

In November 2009, Light traces Mello’s hideout using the SPK and executes most of his syndicate at once. During the Task Force’s raid, Soichiro Yagami sees Mello’s real name using the Shinigami Eyes but can’t write it in time; Mello detonates explosives to escape, surviving but permanently scarred.

Fugitive Alliance

Now operating independently with only Matt for support, Mello breaks into Near’s own headquarters — not to hurt him, but to retrieve his one surviving childhood photo — and hands over the fake-rules information in the process.

The Final Sacrifice

In January 2010, recognizing Near is close but still lacks proof, Mello kidnaps Kira’s spokesperson, Kiyomi Takada, to force a mistake. He lets her keep a hidden scrap of Death Note paper without realizing it — she writes his name, and Mello dies of a heart attack at 2:32 PM on January 26th, his death becoming the exact trigger that dooms Light.

Genius-Level Intelligence

Self-deprecating next to L, but still a world-class strategist capable of running international criminal operations.

Underworld Leadership

The charisma and ruthlessness to command a seasoned mafia syndicate as an outsider.

Bold Tactical Planning

Specializes in high-risk, high-reward moves — hostage exchanges, threatening the U.S. President, hideout infiltrations — that more cautious players wouldn’t attempt.

Information Networks

Relies on associates like Matt for technical surveillance and intelligence gathering.

vs. The NPA — The Sayu Yagami Ransom (Ch. 60–64)

Mello kidnaps Sayu and forces Soichiro to deliver the Death Note in Los Angeles — a clean win that strips the investigators of their weapon and establishes Mello as a global threat in his own right.

vs. Light and Soichiro Yagami — The Hideout Raid (Ch. 73–74)

The Task Force raids Mello’s base using a second notebook. Soichiro nearly writes his real name before being shot; Mello escapes by blowing up the building, losing the notebook and his power base but surviving with a permanent scar.

vs. Kiyomi Takada — The Final Sacrifice (Ch. 99)

Mello kidnaps Takada to disrupt Light’s communications and force an error. She kills him using a hidden Death Note scrap — a death that becomes the exact “missing piece” that forces Mikami to expose the real notebook to Near.

Major: Ch. 60–64, 67–71, 74, 76, 77, 85–87, 98, 99.

Minor: Ch. 103, 104, 108.

Mentioned only: Ch. 1, 2, 41, 59, 78, 83, 89–91, 108.3.

Near

His lifelong rival, who consistently outranked him at Wammy’s House. Mello hates him for it, refuses to work with him directly, and yet in the end their separate efforts are what actually beat Kira — a fact Near openly acknowledges by crediting Mello for the win.

L (Lawliet)

His idol. Mello’s entire criminal career is, at its core, an attempt to prove he was L’s true heir.

Matt (Mail Jeevas)

His closest friend and only real ally during his fugitive years, providing technical support until he dies covering Mello’s kidnapping of Takada.

Halle Lidner

An SPK agent who secretly feeds him internal information, believing his unpredictability is exactly what the investigation needs.

Light Yagami (Kira)

His target — the “final boss” he needs to beat for his own pride. Light, in turn, treats Mello as a dangerous, unpredictable obstacle to be removed.

“I’ll be number one.” — Chapter 61

“I’m not a tool for you to use to solve the puzzle.” — Chapter 77, to Near

“Then I guess I’m going to have to do it.” — Chapter 104, before kidnapping Takada

• His real name, Mihael Keehl, is only uncovered by Light after piecing together information from Sidoh and Wammy’s House records.
• His chocolate habit mirrors L’s sweet tooth and Near’s toy obsession — a recurring motif across L’s three successors.
• The single surviving photo of him from the orphanage is one he personally destroys after retrieving it from Near.
• Near explicitly says he “owed” his victory to Mello, since neither of them individually could have surpassed L alone.