<P> Obata stated that as he drew Near the concept of his immaturity became "stronger and stronger" as he believes that such traits are best revealed "gradually". Obata cited the fact that in the beginning Near's sole toy consisted of darts . He felt he could express "negative" parts of Near with the puppets . Ohba added that one could see "his dark side in his kind of puppets he used". </P> <P> Near is the youngest of L's two possible successors raised in Wammy's House, Watari's orphanage for gifted children, in Winchester, England . Of the successors, Near is more level - headed, calmly assessing the situation, while the other, Mello, is more emotional and quicker to act . Much like L, Near shows various odd behaviors during his normal life . He is usually seen hunched over rather than sitting . He also constantly plays with various toys, which he uses in his theories, as well as idly twirling or stroking strands of his hair . He shows a great respect for L, basing much of how he solves crime on L's methods, even to the point where he only takes cases that he is interested in rather than trying to pursue justice . The Kira case--as a case L died trying to solve--naturally becomes his first one . Near uses the Wedding text font "N" and "L" to represent himself and the fake L, respectively . In the aftermath, he used Old English MT font "L" like the original L did . </P> <P> Sometime after L's death, Near works for the United States under the SPK (Special Provision for Kira) team that is established to investigate Kira without the help of the new "L" Light Yagami . After already catching Light off guard by revealing the fact that he knows the original L is dead and unnerving him by reminding him of his former nemesis when they communicate, he soon manages to deduce that Light, posing as L, is actually Kira . After dismissing the outright capture or killing of Light as disrespectful to L's memory, he finds that Teru Mikami is Kira's proxy . Distracted momentarily by Mello, who kidnaps Kira's TV spokesperson Kiyomi Takada before being killed by her using a Death Note fragment, Near is able to switch Mikami's Death Note with a forged one, allowing him to set up a final confrontation that leaves Light exposed . Near admits that neither he nor Mello could have surpassed L alone (as he lacked "the action," and Mello "lacked the calm)", but have managed to do so by working inadvertently together . He rejects all of Light's ideals as a god of the new world who kills for the greater good and refers to the Death Note as "the worst murder weapon in all of history". Ryuk kills Light with his own Death Note soon after as a Death Note owner must eventually be killed by the Shinigami possessing them and with Light in prison he reasons he will be unable to satisfy his interest any further . Near then himself takes Light's L alias, keeping on the surviving members of the SPK as his subordinates with Roger, the head of Wammy's House, acting as the new Watari . In the epilogue of the manga, he is shown eating a bar of chocolate, as he pursues a new case, possibly in memory of Mello . </P> <P> In the L: Change the World live - action film, L gives a talented Thai boy, with a gift for calculations, the name "Near". L hopes for the boy, the sole survivor of a Thai village ravaged with a deadly disease, to succeed him as L, knowing that the rules of the Death Note will kill the experienced detective within a short period of time . Near does not speak much in the movie (during the movie, he only says numbers and letters) and when he does he speaks only in English . Like many of the characters during the transition from animation to live action, Near is portrayed with black hair instead of white hair as seen in the anime . Near is portrayed by Narushi Fukuda in the film and voice by Michael Strusievici in the English Dub . For unknown reasons, even though L was shown giving him the name of "Near", he was listed as "BOY" in the credits . </P>

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