The story of Death Note is a grim but thrilling tale of one high school student's quest to rid the world of crime and become the new god of justice. Light Yagami is now Kira, and he uses every trick he can think of to take on the super-detective known as L. He won, but that only made room for L's two successors.
Near and Mello arrived on the scene five years after the original L died, and Mello was the more proactive and resourceful of the two. He ruthlessly wanted Kira dead, and he underwent a few changes during his desperate hunt for Kira. How did Mello morph as a character overall, or not?
10 CHANGED: Getting Scarred
Mello suffered a few physical scars from his battle with Kira, and the Death Note creators even stated that they like to draw characters who gradually become more disheveled and rough-looking as time goes. Mello escaped his hideout when the anti-Kira police squad showed up, but Mello took a few hits.
After that battle, Mello suffered a burn scar over one eye, and his hair became messy, too. Earlier, Mello had had a neat look about him, but now the exterior matched the wild and unruly inside at last.
9 SAME: Being Proactive
Mello is the most reckless and gung-ho of the Kira investigators, or at least. He was much more prone to bold action than his counterpart. Near was. This was true from the time Mello stormed out of Wammy's House to make his own future, to his final moments.
It was Mello who took the major step of kidnapping Sayu Yagami to try and get the Death Note from the Japanese police, and he recklessly kidnapped Kiyomi Takada, later on, to try and get at Kira. He swiped her off the street and put her on his motorcycle as a sudden passenger.
8 CHANGED: Notebook Control
The killer notebook has many rules, and one of them concerns the ownership of the notebook. Each notebook has an official owner, and only that person can make the eye trade with a shinigami. Other parties can still touch it and see the shinigami, though.
Kal Snydar/Jack Neylon was a gangster in Mello's squad who used the Death Note on Mello's behalf, but after the police raid, Mello lost it, and he never got it again. He was forced to try and take down Kira without that terrifying power, a change that Mello did not welcome.
7 SAME: Feelings Of Rivalry
Mello has always been a competitive person, and at Wammy's House, Near/Nate River set a high bar for him to clear. Over and over, Near proved himself the most brilliant child at that orphanage, and Mello was firmly ranked second among the gifted children.
Mello didn't ever become Near's friend or trusted ally. In fact, the desire to outperform Near was half his motivation for catching Kira at all costs (the other half being the desire to avenge the original L by slaying Kira).
6 CHANGED: Cooperation With Near
That being said, Mello was still capable of assisting Near in a limited capacity since they did have some overlap in their goals and interests. Mello didn't become Near's friend, but then again, he did recognize Near as a fellow Kira hunter, and that was good enough.
After Mello lost the notebook, he started giving Near peripheral assistance to find Kira and expose Light Yagami as an outside party. Near even told Light that Mello's aid was a major reason Near had gotten this far by the story's end.
5 SAME: Short Temper
Mello neer had a very savory personality, and his short temper and confrontational ways partly fueled his competitive nature. He was a total contrast with the stoic and impersonal Near, and Mello was the type to shove his face right into someone else's and fuss at them (like he did with Roger when informed of L's demise).
When confronted or challenged or insulted, Mello is quick to strike back and threaten the other party, or at least try to save face. When he met up with Near and the latter said, "I made progress thanks to you," Mello took offense at once, since Near practically described him as a tool.
4 CHANGED: Relationship To Matt
Matt was a minor character in the second story arc of Death Note, and it is clear that he knew Mello from their Wammy's House days. Up to a point, Mello worked alongside American crime families to make progress, but then he decided to partner up with Matt to continue the case.
That showed how Mello had increased trust and respect for Matt, and Mello was careful to make sure Matt wouldn't get himself hurt. He also spoke more gently with Matt than he did with other people.
3 SAME: Using Vehicles
Overall, Mello seems to have a real fondness for vehicles, which was true for the entire time he was battling Light/Kira. Soon after Soichiro Yagami handed the notebook to one of Mello's thugs, that thug flew off in a helicopter that soon exploded. Mello also liked to be driven around in jeeps while he was with the mafia.
Later, Mello drove around in a fancy car while monitoring Misa Amane and Mogi with Matt, and he rode a motorcycle to kidnap Kiyomi Takada, Kira's spokeswoman. Finally, Mello drove Takada to a church in a delivery truck, and he died from Takada's use of the Death Note while the truck was parked.
2 CHANGED: Humility
Mello wasn't that humble at the end of his story arc, but he did seem somewhat mellower, living up to his name at last. At first, Mello was completely self-absorbed and wanted to be some huge crime kingpin, such as when he used the Death Note to prove himself superior to Near and become a crime boss in the United States.
Later on, though, Mello was perfectly happy to operate as a two-person team with Matt, trying to catch Kira simply so he could finish the case and avenge his fallen hero, L. He even apologized to Matt's memory when the latter lost his life to Takada's armed bodyguards.
1 SAME: Dark Clothing Scheme
Some of the characters of Death Note are more stylish than others. Light prefers business casual outfits and suits, while Near seems to wear white, long-sleeved pajamas. Mello, for his part, likes dark clothes with all kinds of features on them.
He first appeared with tight black pants and boots and a black vest for a lean, agile look. He later swapped for a dark coat that had a ruff, not unlike Ryuk's, and he still favored dark pants, gloves, and boots. He sure likes the Goth vibe.