Rem

Rem's body is gaunt and bone-pale, built from long, vertebrae-like limbs that lend her a skeletal silhouette. Pale blue tracing picks out her hair and the markings across her face, a palette the anime shifts to purple while other versions keep the blue. She confirms to Misa that she is female, though the film Death Note: The Last Name leaves that question open.

Where Ryuk drifts through the human world purely for entertainment, Rem regards most people with disdain, an attitude that makes her no more a 'typical' Shinigami than he is. Her exception is Misa, whom she guards with genuine devotion and will defend to the death, openly warning Light that she will write his name the instant Misa dies ahead of her appointed span. She will even help Light on Misa's behalf, despite despising him. The supplementary guide notes she reportedly struggles to write in Japanese, and artist Takeshi Obata named her his favorite Shinigami, calling her a good person despite her nature.

Rem's bond with Misa begins with a death not her own. The Shinigami Gelus, smitten with Misa, spent his life to strike down the man fated to murder her and crumbled to dust, leaving only his notebook behind. Rem carries that Death Note down to the girl it saved and stays near her as a guardian, even sharing the grim secret of how a Shinigami can die: by killing to extend the life of a human it loves. When Light enters Misa's life and treats her as a disposable tool, Rem bristles, vowing to end him should he ever cause Misa's death.

Light turns that devotion into a weapon. Knowing Rem will do anything to protect Misa, he maneuvers her toward killing L, and despite her loathing she consents. The scheme stalls when L detains Misa as the suspected Second Kira; rather than grant Misa's plea to be killed, Rem strips her of the notebook and her memories. Pressured further, Rem passes the Death Note to the greedy Kyosuke Higuchi, possesses him, and comes to hate him while warming to Light. After Higuchi's capture and the task force's first contact with her, Rem reveals nothing that would damn Misa or Light. In the end Light corners her exactly as planned: forced to save Misa once more, Rem writes the true names of Watari and L, kills them both, and collapses into a heap of dust, her sacrifice fulfilling the very rule she once explained. The films and stage musical echo this fate, while the 2015 drama lets her live.