Nate River

Near is the younger of L's two successors raised in Wammy's House—Watari's orphanage for gifted children, in Winchester, England. Of the successors, Near is the more level-headed one, able to remain calm and calculated, while the other, Mello, is more emotional and quick to act. The two of them share a strong rivalry.

Near is very intelligent, although his childish appearance and demeanor can cause others to question his abilities. He has an obsession with solving complex problems and views an investigation as solving a puzzle. Despite his genius abilities, Near has low social knowledge and is bad at interacting with others. Much like L, Near shows various odd behaviors during his normal life, such as usually seen hunched over rather than sitting, and constantly playing with various toys, which he uses in his theories, as well as idly twiddling 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 with rather than trying to pursue justice.