Jealous

Overview

Jealous is a fictional character featured in the manga series Death Note and its related media. Residing in the Shinigami Realm, he is a small-statured Shinigami who stands out from his peers due to his mild and kind-hearted nature. By observing a human from afar and sacrificing his own existence to protect her, he plays a crucial role in establishing key rules regarding the mortality of Shinigami.

Appearance

Jealous is a small-bodied Shinigami whose entire physical form is covered in patchwork seam marks and stitches. Although his head features two distinct eye sockets, he possesses only a single eyeball. His visual design conveys a frail, pitiable, and pathetic look.

Personality

Jealous has an exceptionally gentle and affectionate personality, setting him apart from most Shinigami. He harbors deep affection for the human Misa Amane—interpreted as parental love in the live-action movie adaptation—and constantly observes her from afar. Despite possessing a Death Note, he strongly dislikes the act of writing letters or words.

Abilities

As a Shinigami, Jealous owns a Death Note. By writing a human's name inside the notebook, he has the ability to end that individual's life. Under normal circumstances, the remaining lifespan of the human killed by the notebook is added to his own life.

Background

While observing Misa Amane from the Shinigami Realm, Jealous discovered she was fated to be murdered by a knife-wielding attacker. Ignoring Rem's warnings, he immediately wrote the assailant's name in his notebook to save her life. Because saving a human violates the fundamental law of the Shinigami Realm, Jealous instantly disintegrated into a pile of rust-like sand and died. His remaining lifespan and abandoned notebook were ultimately passed on to Misa through Rem.

Relationships

Jealous held deep affection for Misa Amane, willingly forfeiting his life to prevent her death. He spent time alongside fellow Shinigami Rem, who witnessed his sacrifice and subsequently learned the secret to killing a Shinigami. In the live-action movie adaptation, Jealous asks Rem to watch over Misa in his final moments.

Trivia

Manga artist Takeshi Obata originally planned to design Jealous as a handsome Shinigami. However, considering his tragic fate in the story, he altered the character's appearance to a pathetic, stitched look to evoke reader sympathy. Within the Shinigami hierarchy, he holds a rank of 13.