Live action TV
Description
Beppo is a male Shinigami created for the 2016 film Death Note: Light Up the New World and its prequel miniseries, Death Note: New Generation. As an original character not found in the original manga, Beppo is the Shinigami who originally owns one of the six Death Notes that are brought into the human world during the events of the story. His physical form is highly distinctive, as his entire body is composed of what appears to be gold, giving him the appearance of a living statue or a being wearing a golden mask. He is notably large, standing taller than a person of 189 centimeters, and has a unique physical trait of possessing six fingers on each hand. Beppo wears a frayed cloak around his shoulders, and his voice is accompanied by a faint, mechanical sound, as of metal clashing, when he speaks.
In the narrative, Beppo's primary role is to provide crucial information to the characters investigating the return of the Death Notes. Prior to the main film, in the New Generation miniseries, he is present with a human owner named Sakura Aoi, a mass murderer who uses his Death Note. After Sakura Aoi is killed during a rampage in Shibuya, her Death Note is secured by a new Death Note Task Force led by Detective Tsukuru Mishima and the detective Ryuzaki, L's successor. The task force members touch the notebook to see its attached Shinigami, which is when Beppo first appears before them.
Beppo's personality is not deeply explored due to his brief appearance, but he behaves in a manner consistent with other Shinigami in the series: he is matter-of-fact and does not display strong emotions or allegiance to the humans who wield his notebook. His motivation for being in the human world is implied to be part of a larger scheme by the Shinigami King, who is dying and has promised his throne to the Shinigami who finds the next Kira, leading to multiple Death Notes being sent to the human realm. When questioned by the task force, Beppo reveals a critical rule that defines the film's plot: only six Death Notes can exist and function in the human world at any one time. He also states that even the Shinigami do not know how many rules of the Death Note exist, and after imparting this knowledge about the six-note limit, he disappears from view. After this single encounter, Beppo does not reappear in the film, making his only significant contribution the exposition of this key rule. His notable ability, like all Shinigami, is to be invisible to anyone who has not touched his Death Note, and he can only be seen by those who have made physical contact with it.
In the narrative, Beppo's primary role is to provide crucial information to the characters investigating the return of the Death Notes. Prior to the main film, in the New Generation miniseries, he is present with a human owner named Sakura Aoi, a mass murderer who uses his Death Note. After Sakura Aoi is killed during a rampage in Shibuya, her Death Note is secured by a new Death Note Task Force led by Detective Tsukuru Mishima and the detective Ryuzaki, L's successor. The task force members touch the notebook to see its attached Shinigami, which is when Beppo first appears before them.
Beppo's personality is not deeply explored due to his brief appearance, but he behaves in a manner consistent with other Shinigami in the series: he is matter-of-fact and does not display strong emotions or allegiance to the humans who wield his notebook. His motivation for being in the human world is implied to be part of a larger scheme by the Shinigami King, who is dying and has promised his throne to the Shinigami who finds the next Kira, leading to multiple Death Notes being sent to the human realm. When questioned by the task force, Beppo reveals a critical rule that defines the film's plot: only six Death Notes can exist and function in the human world at any one time. He also states that even the Shinigami do not know how many rules of the Death Note exist, and after imparting this knowledge about the six-note limit, he disappears from view. After this single encounter, Beppo does not reappear in the film, making his only significant contribution the exposition of this key rule. His notable ability, like all Shinigami, is to be invisible to anyone who has not touched his Death Note, and he can only be seen by those who have made physical contact with it.