Nate River (Japanese: ネイト・リバー, Hepburn: Neito Ribā), universally referred to by the mononym Near (ニア, Nia), is a fictional character in the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Near is the younger of the two successors of L who was investigating the methods and identity of Kira, the in-universe name given to the mysterious serial killer who murdered criminals by means of the eponymous Death Note.