Death Note Rules – Everything You Need to Know

In the Death Note series, the Death Note was brought to earth by supernatural beings known as the Shinigami. As time passes, the spirit will have to give the book to a human.

Humans can use this book to kill people. For this task, he writes the name of his would-be victim on the pages. After a certain period, the person dies.

Before making a successful kill, the holder of the Death Note will have to follow a set of rules. For avoiding mistakes, these instructions are listed on the book itself. Here are the death note rules featured in the anime and manga series.

Basic Death Note Rules

These are the main rules of the Death Note. They were the first set of rules that were listed on the Death Note franchise.

1. If a name is written in the book, the owner of the name will die.
2. As the assassin writes the name of the victim, it is important that they have a picture of the victim in their heads. By using this rule, they can avoid killing people that might share the same name as the intended victim.
3. To make a successful hit, the holder of the notebook will have to assign a cause of death within 40 seconds of writing the intended victim’s name.
4. The Death Note kills by causing sudden heart attacks. However, it kills with this method only if the holder of the book does not choose a specific cause of death for the target.
5. The details of the death should be written within 6 minutes and 40 seconds of writing the victim’s name.
6. The Death Note does not kill persons two years old or younger.
7. If the holder of the Death Note misspells a victim’s name (after four attempts), the Death Note will become useless.
8. If the owners of the Death Note lose the book from theft or loss, they will have to recover the item within 490 days of losing the Death Note. Failure to recover the item leads to a loss of ownership.

Other Rules of the Death Note

Apart from the basic rules, some Death Note rules are not listed on the Death Note series. However, they were revealed during several episodes of the anime and manga. Now here are some random Death Note facts.

• If a Death Note reaches Earth, it becomes a property of the human world
• After using a Death Note (for the first time), the Shinigami will appear to the holder of the Death Note within 39 days from using the book.
• The holder of the Death Note can use any instrument to write on the book. However, the writing must be legible before the book can claim the life of a person.
• The current owner of a Death Note can lend the book to another individual.
• Anyone that loses a Death Note will also lose memories of using the book.
• The Death Note Cannot be used by children of 6 years or younger.
• The Death Note cannot affect people of 124 years or older.
• The note has an unlimited supply of pages.
• The owner of the book can change the time and conditions of the death of a victim. However, the task should be carried out within 6 minutes, 40 seconds from the period when the first details were written.
• If you remove a piece of paper from the Death Note and write a name on it, the Death Note will affect the targeted victim.
• The Shinigami keeps a separate copy of the Death Note. But the human keeper of the note cannot use this copy.
• A Shinigami is not required to teach people how to use the Death Note.
• Humans can shorten or extend their lives by using the Death Note.
• A Shinigami can exchange Death Notes with another Shinigami.
• If the holders of a Death Note touch the Death Note of another individual, they will see the Shinigami of that person.
• The Shinigami must give a Death Note to humans within 82 hours of arriving in the human world.

People that the Death Note Cannot Kill

Although the Death Note can affect many humans, some people enjoy immunity from its deadly attacks. For instance, a Death Note cannot kill people with less than 12 minutes of life. Also, it does not affect people of 2 years or younger. On top of that, the book cannot affect people that are as old as 124 years or older.