One of the most interesting things about Death Note is all of the rules for using the eponymous notebook. The basic rule is that humans whose names are written in the Death Note will die. However, all sorts of additional rules to explain unique circumstances are introduced throughout the series. It's cool seeing Light Yagami learning about these hidden rules and loopholes and using them to his advantage. Thus, any adaptions or spin-offs of Death Note will usually have to be written with these rules in mind.

The Simpsons, on the other hand, took some creative liberties with their recent Treehouse of Horror parody of Death Note. Several changes were made to accommodate the show's colorful cast of characters and its comedic tone. They also made some notable changes to how their version of the Death Note works to better fit this new narrative.

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How Is the Death Tome Different From The Death Note?

Lisa from The Simpsons Death Note Parody

One of the biggest changes made to The Simpsons' Death Note, the "Death Tome," is how it kills people. The book will still kill whoever's name is written in it, but the writer has to specify a new form of death every time. No two people can die the same way. This was likely done so that The Simpsons could show all sorts of funny-but-gruesome ways people could die.

As interesting as this rule change is, it probably wouldn't work in the original Death Note anime. For one thing, Light was killing far too many people to come up with unique ways for every one of them to die. Having most of them die from a heart attack might have been simplistic and predictable, but it was also effective and necessary.

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The fact that people with unspecified or impossible deaths died from a heart attack also worked to Light's advantage. He wanted people to know that there was somebody out there killing criminals, which would have been much harder to figure out if they all died from different causes. Thus, death by heart attack became the calling card of the one the public knew only as "Kira."

It's also implied that The Simpsons' Death Tome can invoke improbable and even impossible deaths. This includes absurd things like Alligators or even lions jumping out of somebody's toilet and attacking them. In Death Note, if a specified death couldn't happen, the person would simply die of a heart attack; even Netflix's live-action Death Note specified that a person couldn't die from sharks jumping out of their toilet. This rule change was probably considered a necessary handicap so that the other rule change would be easier to deal with.

What Other Changes Are There to the Story?

simpsons death note parody lisa as light

The Death Tome also has the unique ability to kill Shinigami if their names are written in it. This was supposed to be impossible in Death Note as only humans could die by having their names written in the book; if Light could kill Shinigami this easily, he would have never had so much trouble with Rem. This change was likely made so that the story could have a quick and easy finish.

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Unfortunately, when a human kills a Shinigami with the Death Tome, they get turned into a Shinigami themselves. This ending to the Treehouse of Horror segment might be a reference to the fan theory that Light became a Shinigami after the events of Death Note. However, this theory was never proven in Death Note proper, so it's technically a rule change on The Simpsons' part.

The Death Tome may not act quite like its inspiration, but it works for what The Simpsons was trying to achieve. The goal was a short, simplified, and comedic adaption of Death Note's otherwise-complex narrative. If that meant taking some creative liberties with one of the most nuanced plot devices in all of fiction, that's completely fine.