Shinigami (The Death Gods) Ryuk (リューク, Ryūku?)

Shinigami, or Death Gods, are demon-like beings who live in the Shinigami realm. Shinigami are functionally immortal, able to extend their lives indefinitely by writing the names of humans in their Death Notes. By writing the name of a human whose fated time of death has not yet come, Shinigami have their lifespan increased by the amount that human would have lived (e.g. a thirty-year-old who would have lived to the age of sixty would yield thirty years). As Ryuk describes it, life in the Shinigami realm is incredibly dull; Shinigami do little more than gamble constantly, and using the Death Note is considered something workahol

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The first shinigamiwho dropped a Death Note into the human world, which Light would pickup. Acting out of pure boredom, Ryuk begins the story of Death Note ona whim. It is stated that Ryuk obtained the second Death Note in the shinigamiworld from "tricking the old man" for another one. Ryuk is not Light'sally, and in fact declares in their first meeting that someday he(Ryuk) would write Light's name into his own Death Note. Ryuk oftenrefuses to aid Light and instead enjoys watching him struggle for hisgoals. He acts for his own interests and entertainment, and often failsto tell Light key details about the Death Note. However, Ryuk will aidLight if it serves his own goals, such as providing amusement orobtaining apples, without which he suffers a form of withdrawal symptoms.