Application draft for exitvoid
player.
NAME/HANDLE: Waffle
PERSONAL JOURNAL: wafflepop
ARE YOU 16 OR OVER?: Yup!
CONTACT: aim: waffleroll, plurk: wafflepop
OTHER CHARACTERS: n/a
character.
CHARACTER NAME: Near (real name: Nate River)
SERIES: Death Note. (Info on Death Note series here and here! Info on Near here and here!)
CANON POINT: Chapter 80, right after Near runs out of the SPK building
AGE: 18
APPEARANCE: Lookee
Near has white hair, pale skin, round black eyes, wears a white button down pajama that's too large for him, and usually sports a rather bland expression (sometimes exchanged for a childish pout when upset or creepy smile when not). Although Near is 18, he looks like a little kid, standing at at 5'1 tall and weighing a whopping 88 lbs. He is almost always seen sitting, sometimes in a chair but much more frequently on the floor with one knee drawn up, immersing himself in toys, stacking things, or twirling his hair. He doesn't usually look up from his work, even when speaking to others.
But because of the point in canon I'm zapping him from, When Near arrives ingame, he will be wearing a full-body "riot squad" suit similar to what the SWAT team wears, helmet included.
PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY: n/a
PERSONALITY:
As a strategist:
Near is a strategist, a chess master. He is a genius, planning his moves two, three, four steps ahead and predicting his opponents' moves just as thoroughly. Brought up with the goal of succeeding the world's greatest detective (L), he thrives on solving puzzles and winning games, and he does it well.
Consequently, he treats everything like a game, even when lives are on the line. This does not, however, mean that Near doesn't value those lives, as he does express regret when key players die (such as most of the SPK members (his team) and Mello (his rival)). However, he is perfectly aware of accepting of the fact that sacrifice, though better kept to a minimum, is sometimes necessary, and all in all, it's the end result that really matters. We see evidence of this belief when Near declares L to be a loser for not being able to solve the Kira (Kira = the big bad of the series) case in time, even though he acknowledges L's contributions and later even admits to holding him in high regard. Also, at the end of the long battle with Kira, Near declares that he had “lost the game,” implying that, not surprisingly, Near had viewed the entire battle that had cost millions of lives as yet another game.
Because Near treats everything like a competition, given that it provides enough challenge to be worth his time, his motivation to catch criminals isn't exactly due to any strong belief in justice. He isn't above using underhanded means such as kidnapping (or “taking into custody,” as he calls it) and deceit in order to get what he wants. Although Near has expressed extreme disgust towards Kira's actions, this is most likely more due to the fact that he dislikes Kira, his opponent, himself rather than what he stands for (After all, the guy stole L's title that rightfully belongs to Near and spent 4 yours squandering his (aka Near's) fortune and making L look like an idiot, I mean c'mon!). Furthermore, although Near understands Kira's ideals well, he completely dismisses them when Light uses them as justification for his actions, calling him "just another murderer," showing that although he understands the logistics behind everything, he doesn't particularly care about Kira's ideals, only the opponent himself. In other words, only the game itself. He will, however, role play justice, but that doesn't mean he has to waste effort in actually doing it well (Near quote: "Of course saving lives is important, but our priorities are clear. He need to seize the notebook."), especially not when there are more important things to focus on.
Near is methodical, and he plans everything to death. In other words, he is not a risk taker. He has an extreme amount of patience and is willing to cover every last corner case of a plot if it means that this would optimize his chances of securing a win. He absolutely has to simply because Near doesn't lose. He never has and he cannot afford to as one loss can undermine everything the title of L stood for. He will wait until he is basically certain he can see his win to its conclusion. For instance, even after Gevanni (SPK member) confirmed that Mikami (Kira's lackey) had a Death Note on him, Near continued to have him tail the target for about 10 days until he's certain there was no Shinigami following Mikami. He then had everyone wait 24 more days to ensure Gevanni didn't die after touching the notebook. It's not surprising then that Near dislikes, well, surprises, especially those that interrupt his plans. He dislikes not being in control. Although when it happens, it doesn't take long for Near to recompute the next best strategy.
Part of how Near minimizes risks \is to first act as the observer before making any moves. Prior to relocating to Japan, Near basically sat back and watched the battle between the Japanese task force and Mello's mafia unfold. He left everything up to the task force initially, with ulterior motives of course,and when the director of the FBI asked if it's really safe to leave everything to an inept task force, Near responded that their ineptitude could give the SPK a chance to gain information and possibly snatch the notebook. He watches and analyzes things from a safe distance, in a way using the subjects as tools to gather information for him. However, Near is perfectly willing to cooperate and even be used as a tool himself when there is mutual benefit for both parties and as long as he can still win in the end. For instance, he allowed the Japanese task force to make full use of the SPK's resources when catching Mello and was perfectly willing to have Mello use him to wring information out of Mogi (task force member).
When he's not watching other people duke it out or sending his own people out to do the dirty work for him, Near plays the manipulator, namely, he stirs up trouble for his enemies by turning people against each other, shaking them up, or simply pissing them off via snark, deceit, verbal abuse, and just all around cheeky behavior. Oh, Near loves making his opponents feel like crap. After Kira's failed attack on SPK HQ, Near sent a cocky message to the task force assuring them that the number to reach him had been re-established and that he would be waiting for their call, as though it's a given that one of them would betray Light and call him. Near's also not above lying in order to further his goals, and because he hardly ever changes his tone (usually monotonous) when speaking, it's hard to detect whether he's actually being truthful or not. He lies several times in order to rouse suspicion among the task force, even claiming that one of their members had died in order to motivate them to move in his favor.
Ironically, Near himself hates it when others lie to him, especially when they don't make any effort to hide it. At one point Light lied to him in such a bold, mocking manner that Near broke an action figure with one thumb. This is exactly what Near himself does to his opponents, showing just what a hypocrite he really is.
On social interaction (or lack of):
Near surrounds himself with allies (though not as much as he surrounds himself with toys). It's an absolute necessity, because as smart as he is, he is incapable of doing much of anything without others' help. He has little life skills and cannot really take care of himself if left alone. Therefore, he does treat his teammates with respect so long as they are competent at their jobs. By respect, I mean he is patient with them and willing to answer questions and explain everything in great detail when necessary. Even when not asked to do so, Near will often explain something if he thinks it's relevant to the current topic at hand. This is usually because Near at times will think out loud and as long as there's no reason not to share information, he won't mind those around him whom he trusts hearing and weighing in on it. He also asks people for there opinion on an issue, although whether or not he actually takes them into serious consideration is questionable. Near is, however, uninterested in small talk or anything that doesn't contribute to the current game at hand. He handwaved both Rester's and Lidner's apologies when they expressed disappointment at having failed in some aspect of their assigned tasks, preferring instead to focus on the next steps.
Unlike the way Near might treat those who he consider nuisances or enemies, he does not ignore his most trustworthy and useful allies or snark at them when displeased, at least not with the intention to insult. He might say cold things off-handedly, but that's because Near doesn't put much effort into trying to act nice, especially if he already knows the people will react the same regardless of his manners. For instance, when he thanked Mello for inadvertently helping him narrow down Kira's identity, the implication that Mello had been used as a tool led to a gun being pointed at Near's head. He also told Gevanni that he didn't have to touch a killer notebook if he's too scared, a rather condescending comment. It's unlikely that Near had actually meant to insult him personally, although he might have used that phrasing on purpose to push Gevanni into action. He pulls the "if you don't think you can do it" line more than once throughout the manga. Near's likely to be perfectly aware of how his stand-offish attitude comes off to others but just doesn't care under most circumstances.
And of course, nothing keeps Near from spewing out waves of orders and expect them to be followed like its a given, going so far as to ask Rester (SPK member) to fly all the way from Japan to the US and back just because he didn't want to fly on his own, as if he was asking someone to pass the salt.
Contrary to the way Near responds to those who are worthwhile, if people are useless to Near or aren't challenging enough to pose a threat, he will most likely ignore them or at most respond to the bare minimum in a bored manner. If asked a question, he'll likely just answer as long as there's no reason not to, but may not go into further details. When Near planned to have Mikami write everyone's names in the fake notebook in order to catch Kira, the task force yelled questions like "You mean some guy's just going to poke his head in and kill us all? And you just want us to sit back and watch?" To which Near replied nonchalantly "Yes that is correct, now listen carefully ..." and proceeds to give out further instructions, losing interest and focusing on his own thought process instead. Sure, he may answer, but he'll just give a yes or no response without explaining any further unless he finds something worth his time to explain. On that note, Near does not like explaining things more than once. If bothered enough, he will go from a state of boredom to exasperation and start ignoring some people completely. He is much more interested in continuing his own train of thought than to waste time explaining something twice, since hey, it doesn't take him more than once to soak a piece of information thoroughly. Other times, he'll just wave people off if he doesn't agree with what they have to say. When Gevanni started to doubt that Mikami is X-Kira, giving reasons as to why, Near's ignored them and responded with "No, there's a good chance he is. Keep tailing him."
When questioning people, Near will ask straightforward questions if he doesn't think they pose any challenge, such as with Soichiro Yagami (Light's father and task force member), but will try to fish for them or test his opponents if he does sense a challenge, such as with Kira himself. Although he appears aloof most of the time, Near does pay attention and adapts to the people he talks to accordingly. He is even able to think like them, a skill that comes in handy when trying to predict others' moves, although this doesn't evoke any form of sympathy on Near's part.
To those whom he dislikes wholeheartedly, he will make no effort to hide his distaste. He will also boldly share information with his enemies with a so-what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it kind of attitude (usually along with a crazy smirk that borders on creepy), such as when he admitted to Light upfront that he had taken Misa and Mogi into custody with their consent, or just to piss his enemies off. Near is pretty sure of himself when it comes to deductions, and he enjoys letting his enemies know it too, especially if it has the effect of making them feel uneasy. When Near states his assumptions, he usually states them as though they were fact. When it was revealed that a Shinigami was with the task force, Near immediately declared that the Shinigami was lying on Kira's behalf as though it was already proven (Near quote: "Investigations are about making assumptions. If you're wrong, you just have to say sorry"). If people question Near's deductions or appear skeptical, he'll sometimes get defensive about it and tack on at the end something along the lines of “I'm only saying it's a possibility” or “Well it's only so-and-so percent certain,” although he likely believes himself to be right anyway.
Finally, if he really looks down on someone, he will tell it like it is, making blunt insults (like calling the Vice President of the US "less than a maggot"). If he knows that they're already fully aware of some mistake they've made or of their own level of ineptitude, he won't hesitate to further rub salt into those woulds, such as when he chewed out Light and the Japanese task force for handing the notebook to Mello so easily. Just like in questioning others, Near tends to use more straightforward means of berating those whom he dislikes when he finds them incompetent. If a challenge is involved, he will use more subtle means of mockery via his cocky attitude and ways of wording things. This is seen in the way Near criticized Light outright upon first meeting him, believing him, as a fake L, to be inept. He then began to mock him in less direct ways after it became apparent that he, as Kira, was a worthy foe.
Although Near's tone is usually aloof or condescending, he actually uses polite words when speaking in general, addresses strangers by their official titles, etc, but does so in such a dispassionate way it's almost comical. He tacks on good manner phrases such as “please,” “thank you,” “it's a pleasure,” etc. without expressing any sort of actual gratitude in his tone, almost as if those words were just an afterthought. It's likely that while sometimes Near speaks politely in order to be sarcastic, oftentimes he just does it out of habit or for formality's sake.
Quirks:
Near is antisocial and withdrawn. He's often seen sitting or lying on the ground, playing with toys or stacking small objects into towers multiple tiems his height. Even when he talks with others, he does so while playing with his toys, at one point even having Rester hold the phone for him while he spoke because he was too busy opening boxes of die. He won't even bother to look at or face the people he's conversing with if he's preoccupied with something else. Near also uses these toys in order to explain his thoughts. This is particularly evident towards the end of the manga when he actually creates finger puppets in the likeness of the major players in the Kira case and uses them to model his plans and play out difference scenarios.
Although Near has a few toys he keeps around, such as robots and die, he generally has short attention span when it comes to trying out new kinds of toys and can be seen moving from one kind to another from chapter to chapter. Vol 13 lists up to 25 different types of toys and toy sets that Near's gone through over the course of the story. Oh, and Near has a huge hair twirling addiction.
Strengths:
First of all, Near is a prodigy. In addition, the guy is so emotionally stable, it's almost disturbing (When his team members are all dying around him, he basically just went “hmm” and observed. When the SPK HQ was in danger of being brought down by a mob, he takes the time to give a lecture first before carrying out plans for escape.). However, this trait allows him to remain calm and collected and think optimally even under pressure. His patience is quite impressive and is part of reason why he's such a skilled planner and strategist. Near wouldn't mind waiting weeks in order to fully polish a plan before making a move. He is also a top liar and will lie without hesitation. Unless he intentionally seeks to piss off his enemies, his deadpan expression and monotone remains the same regardless of lying or telling the truth, making it difficult to detect deception.
Weaknesses:
At 5'1” tall and weighing 88 lb, Near has an extremely poor build for a man his age (he's 18 and looks like a child). Intelligence is his greatest strength, but if you can't even win a fight against a park pigeon, it would probably do you no good when it comes to fending for yourself. Speaking of which, Near indeed relies on others to take care of him. Having always had everything done for him, Near has practically nonexistent life experience and is therefore almost completely dependent on other people to handle even the simplest of tasks. He has a sedentary lifestyle, rarely seen standing. If he gets any less active he'd be dead. It also doesn't help that Near has laughably poor social skills (he doesn't even look at people or bother to face them when talking), so unless there is some great motivator for those who bother to work with him, he's unlikely to make any allies easily as he is prone to the greater-than-thou attitude that is quite off-putting.
I've stated before that Near's a skilled strategist, but he will sometimes get a little too absorbed in his own plans, pruning and polishing it until its perfect. Unless his tools teammates are incredibly patient as well, its unlikely that any of them will put up with Near for long. He can be a little too confident in his plans however, which was probably what led him to underestimate Kira and overlook the possibility of his enemy forging a notebook as well, almost leading Near to a loss.
He also sucks at darts.
ABILITIES: Near is extremely intelligent with the ability to somehow deduce a vast amount of information from a meager set of data (I'd like to call this the Psychic Wammy Effect). He consistently ranked first at Wammy's House, an orphanage that pruned some of the top child prodigies in the world, which shows just how hardcore the little freak really is. He has the ability to focus on multiple events simultaneously, evidenced by his ability to watch several different television screens (all airing different programs) at the same time while gathering information. He's also shown to be able to build impressive monuments out of small things like die and matches with little difficulty.
POSSESSIONS: White pajama shirt and matching pajama pants, full-body police suit, and five robot toys.
samples.
JOURNAL ENTRY SAMPLE: In which Near interrogates the shit outta everyone at badfic_manor. 8D
THIRD-PERSON SAMPLE: (Consider this sample a preamble to the fleshworms event :D)
He had considered this whole thing a joke upon first waking up, but here he was, lying on the ground clad in the same riot squad armor and helmet with a single robot toy still clutched in one hand. Now where are the four others? They better not have taken the rest. Or perhaps they had wanted Near to find and retrieve them. That was an irritating thought. He could tell that something was in his right ear. So who ever kidnapped him had removed his helmet, placed something on his person, then took the time to put it back on again. Clearly the organizers of this whole thing meant Near no direct harm, though to say the situation was "harmless" would be far from truth. But it was not in Near's nature to panic.
So the boy opted to turn his head to the side instead. A second robot toy greeted him. Good, they're still here. He reached over to pick it up, grimacing as it hurt to move. As a matter of fact, his entire back and upper right arm felt sore. Nevertheless, Near shrugged the pain off and continued contemplating the situation at hand. A game, is it? Except this time he was no longer the chess-master. Near gave his signature disgruntled pout. He disliked not having his ways, and irony of the whole thing rubbed him in all sorts of wrong ways.
Too bad his thought process was instantly interrupted at the sight of what was clinging onto the toy, his toy. Worms, vile little things squirming up the robot figure and trying to get onto Near's glove. He released the plaything instantly then instinctively looked down at his own body. Sure enough, there were more, and they were pasted in nauseating, writhing, thrashing clumps all over his body like living tumors. Near almost let loose a low growl as he got up and shook the tiny, disgusting monstrosities off him. Apparently, an adventurous few were actually crawling into his suit through the exposed crevice between the helmet and the body portion. Taking a deep breath, the boy raised a hand to brush away the worms congregating at the base of his neck. When he swiped them away, however, searing pain burst from where his hand came into contact with the skin of his neck. No, rather, from below it. He almost lurched at the sting. High pain tolerance was clearly not on the list of things Near could claim to possess. He touched his neck again, more gently this time, and only then did he notice the moving lump. His eyes went wide.
You have got to be kidding me. He's not sure if he's more pissed off or disgusted.
The parasite was hardly noticeable against the thick material of his glove, but he could definitely tell that his thumb and index had identified something, and that something was trying to escape. He tugged slowly on the creature, gritting his teeth behind pursed lips to withstand the new rush of pain. Once out, he held the little abomination in front of him. Half of it was shaded a sickly pale, creamy color. And half of it was soaked blood-red.
One quick gasp was all Near could allow himself to utter as instinctively recoiled in repugnance, flinging the offender to the ground and dropping his toy as well. They weren't just trying to sneak inside his suit. They were trying to drill into his skin. Those filthy, grotesque, parasitic things were actually burrowing inside his body. He could feel them now, every single last one of them, sliding through the back of his neck, along his back, and down his upper right arm, tucked cozily between skin and muscle, sending sharp pains and itches with each movement.
Damn it. If the sensation hadn't been consequential before, it was painfully obvious now, literally.
No. Near narrowed his eyes. He had to ignore it, he had to keep his mind on track and continue planning his next moves. If he got distracted now, he would lose for sure. Keep moving. The worms were trying to climb his boots but as long as he kept moving, he should be okay. First order of business, carve those parasites out. Without another stray thought, Near began pacing, stumbling every so often was as once in awhile, another turn by some worm would send sharp pain through the boy's body that tipped him slightly off balance. He ignored it the best he could, instead focusing on his thoughts. As Near walked, he surveyed the area around him, the people around him, the equipment they have, what clues their facial expressions revealed about their personalities, weighing his options and calculating next steps, like always.
NAME/HANDLE: Waffle
PERSONAL JOURNAL: wafflepop
ARE YOU 16 OR OVER?: Yup!
CONTACT: aim: waffleroll, plurk: wafflepop
OTHER CHARACTERS: n/a
character.
CHARACTER NAME: Near (real name: Nate River)
SERIES: Death Note. (Info on Death Note series here and here! Info on Near here and here!)
CANON POINT: Chapter 80, right after Near runs out of the SPK building
AGE: 18
APPEARANCE: Lookee
Near has white hair, pale skin, round black eyes, wears a white button down pajama that's too large for him, and usually sports a rather bland expression (sometimes exchanged for a childish pout when upset or creepy smile when not). Although Near is 18, he looks like a little kid, standing at at 5'1 tall and weighing a whopping 88 lbs. He is almost always seen sitting, sometimes in a chair but much more frequently on the floor with one knee drawn up, immersing himself in toys, stacking things, or twirling his hair. He doesn't usually look up from his work, even when speaking to others.
But because of the point in canon I'm zapping him from, When Near arrives ingame, he will be wearing a full-body "riot squad" suit similar to what the SWAT team wears, helmet included.
PREVIOUS GAME HISTORY: n/a
PERSONALITY:
As a strategist:
Near is a strategist, a chess master. He is a genius, planning his moves two, three, four steps ahead and predicting his opponents' moves just as thoroughly. Brought up with the goal of succeeding the world's greatest detective (L), he thrives on solving puzzles and winning games, and he does it well.
Consequently, he treats everything like a game, even when lives are on the line. This does not, however, mean that Near doesn't value those lives, as he does express regret when key players die (such as most of the SPK members (his team) and Mello (his rival)). However, he is perfectly aware of accepting of the fact that sacrifice, though better kept to a minimum, is sometimes necessary, and all in all, it's the end result that really matters. We see evidence of this belief when Near declares L to be a loser for not being able to solve the Kira (Kira = the big bad of the series) case in time, even though he acknowledges L's contributions and later even admits to holding him in high regard. Also, at the end of the long battle with Kira, Near declares that he had “lost the game,” implying that, not surprisingly, Near had viewed the entire battle that had cost millions of lives as yet another game.
Because Near treats everything like a competition, given that it provides enough challenge to be worth his time, his motivation to catch criminals isn't exactly due to any strong belief in justice. He isn't above using underhanded means such as kidnapping (or “taking into custody,” as he calls it) and deceit in order to get what he wants. Although Near has expressed extreme disgust towards Kira's actions, this is most likely more due to the fact that he dislikes Kira, his opponent, himself rather than what he stands for (After all, the guy stole L's title that rightfully belongs to Near and spent 4 yours squandering his (aka Near's) fortune and making L look like an idiot, I mean c'mon!). Furthermore, although Near understands Kira's ideals well, he completely dismisses them when Light uses them as justification for his actions, calling him "just another murderer," showing that although he understands the logistics behind everything, he doesn't particularly care about Kira's ideals, only the opponent himself. In other words, only the game itself. He will, however, role play justice, but that doesn't mean he has to waste effort in actually doing it well (Near quote: "Of course saving lives is important, but our priorities are clear. He need to seize the notebook."), especially not when there are more important things to focus on.
Near is methodical, and he plans everything to death. In other words, he is not a risk taker. He has an extreme amount of patience and is willing to cover every last corner case of a plot if it means that this would optimize his chances of securing a win. He absolutely has to simply because Near doesn't lose. He never has and he cannot afford to as one loss can undermine everything the title of L stood for. He will wait until he is basically certain he can see his win to its conclusion. For instance, even after Gevanni (SPK member) confirmed that Mikami (Kira's lackey) had a Death Note on him, Near continued to have him tail the target for about 10 days until he's certain there was no Shinigami following Mikami. He then had everyone wait 24 more days to ensure Gevanni didn't die after touching the notebook. It's not surprising then that Near dislikes, well, surprises, especially those that interrupt his plans. He dislikes not being in control. Although when it happens, it doesn't take long for Near to recompute the next best strategy.
Part of how Near minimizes risks \is to first act as the observer before making any moves. Prior to relocating to Japan, Near basically sat back and watched the battle between the Japanese task force and Mello's mafia unfold. He left everything up to the task force initially, with ulterior motives of course,and when the director of the FBI asked if it's really safe to leave everything to an inept task force, Near responded that their ineptitude could give the SPK a chance to gain information and possibly snatch the notebook. He watches and analyzes things from a safe distance, in a way using the subjects as tools to gather information for him. However, Near is perfectly willing to cooperate and even be used as a tool himself when there is mutual benefit for both parties and as long as he can still win in the end. For instance, he allowed the Japanese task force to make full use of the SPK's resources when catching Mello and was perfectly willing to have Mello use him to wring information out of Mogi (task force member).
When he's not watching other people duke it out or sending his own people out to do the dirty work for him, Near plays the manipulator, namely, he stirs up trouble for his enemies by turning people against each other, shaking them up, or simply pissing them off via snark, deceit, verbal abuse, and just all around cheeky behavior. Oh, Near loves making his opponents feel like crap. After Kira's failed attack on SPK HQ, Near sent a cocky message to the task force assuring them that the number to reach him had been re-established and that he would be waiting for their call, as though it's a given that one of them would betray Light and call him. Near's also not above lying in order to further his goals, and because he hardly ever changes his tone (usually monotonous) when speaking, it's hard to detect whether he's actually being truthful or not. He lies several times in order to rouse suspicion among the task force, even claiming that one of their members had died in order to motivate them to move in his favor.
Ironically, Near himself hates it when others lie to him, especially when they don't make any effort to hide it. At one point Light lied to him in such a bold, mocking manner that Near broke an action figure with one thumb. This is exactly what Near himself does to his opponents, showing just what a hypocrite he really is.
On social interaction (or lack of):
Near surrounds himself with allies (though not as much as he surrounds himself with toys). It's an absolute necessity, because as smart as he is, he is incapable of doing much of anything without others' help. He has little life skills and cannot really take care of himself if left alone. Therefore, he does treat his teammates with respect so long as they are competent at their jobs. By respect, I mean he is patient with them and willing to answer questions and explain everything in great detail when necessary. Even when not asked to do so, Near will often explain something if he thinks it's relevant to the current topic at hand. This is usually because Near at times will think out loud and as long as there's no reason not to share information, he won't mind those around him whom he trusts hearing and weighing in on it. He also asks people for there opinion on an issue, although whether or not he actually takes them into serious consideration is questionable. Near is, however, uninterested in small talk or anything that doesn't contribute to the current game at hand. He handwaved both Rester's and Lidner's apologies when they expressed disappointment at having failed in some aspect of their assigned tasks, preferring instead to focus on the next steps.
Unlike the way Near might treat those who he consider nuisances or enemies, he does not ignore his most trustworthy and useful allies or snark at them when displeased, at least not with the intention to insult. He might say cold things off-handedly, but that's because Near doesn't put much effort into trying to act nice, especially if he already knows the people will react the same regardless of his manners. For instance, when he thanked Mello for inadvertently helping him narrow down Kira's identity, the implication that Mello had been used as a tool led to a gun being pointed at Near's head. He also told Gevanni that he didn't have to touch a killer notebook if he's too scared, a rather condescending comment. It's unlikely that Near had actually meant to insult him personally, although he might have used that phrasing on purpose to push Gevanni into action. He pulls the "if you don't think you can do it" line more than once throughout the manga. Near's likely to be perfectly aware of how his stand-offish attitude comes off to others but just doesn't care under most circumstances.
And of course, nothing keeps Near from spewing out waves of orders and expect them to be followed like its a given, going so far as to ask Rester (SPK member) to fly all the way from Japan to the US and back just because he didn't want to fly on his own, as if he was asking someone to pass the salt.
Contrary to the way Near responds to those who are worthwhile, if people are useless to Near or aren't challenging enough to pose a threat, he will most likely ignore them or at most respond to the bare minimum in a bored manner. If asked a question, he'll likely just answer as long as there's no reason not to, but may not go into further details. When Near planned to have Mikami write everyone's names in the fake notebook in order to catch Kira, the task force yelled questions like "You mean some guy's just going to poke his head in and kill us all? And you just want us to sit back and watch?" To which Near replied nonchalantly "Yes that is correct, now listen carefully ..." and proceeds to give out further instructions, losing interest and focusing on his own thought process instead. Sure, he may answer, but he'll just give a yes or no response without explaining any further unless he finds something worth his time to explain. On that note, Near does not like explaining things more than once. If bothered enough, he will go from a state of boredom to exasperation and start ignoring some people completely. He is much more interested in continuing his own train of thought than to waste time explaining something twice, since hey, it doesn't take him more than once to soak a piece of information thoroughly. Other times, he'll just wave people off if he doesn't agree with what they have to say. When Gevanni started to doubt that Mikami is X-Kira, giving reasons as to why, Near's ignored them and responded with "No, there's a good chance he is. Keep tailing him."
When questioning people, Near will ask straightforward questions if he doesn't think they pose any challenge, such as with Soichiro Yagami (Light's father and task force member), but will try to fish for them or test his opponents if he does sense a challenge, such as with Kira himself. Although he appears aloof most of the time, Near does pay attention and adapts to the people he talks to accordingly. He is even able to think like them, a skill that comes in handy when trying to predict others' moves, although this doesn't evoke any form of sympathy on Near's part.
To those whom he dislikes wholeheartedly, he will make no effort to hide his distaste. He will also boldly share information with his enemies with a so-what-are-you-gonna-do-about-it kind of attitude (usually along with a crazy smirk that borders on creepy), such as when he admitted to Light upfront that he had taken Misa and Mogi into custody with their consent, or just to piss his enemies off. Near is pretty sure of himself when it comes to deductions, and he enjoys letting his enemies know it too, especially if it has the effect of making them feel uneasy. When Near states his assumptions, he usually states them as though they were fact. When it was revealed that a Shinigami was with the task force, Near immediately declared that the Shinigami was lying on Kira's behalf as though it was already proven (Near quote: "Investigations are about making assumptions. If you're wrong, you just have to say sorry"). If people question Near's deductions or appear skeptical, he'll sometimes get defensive about it and tack on at the end something along the lines of “I'm only saying it's a possibility” or “Well it's only so-and-so percent certain,” although he likely believes himself to be right anyway.
Finally, if he really looks down on someone, he will tell it like it is, making blunt insults (like calling the Vice President of the US "less than a maggot"). If he knows that they're already fully aware of some mistake they've made or of their own level of ineptitude, he won't hesitate to further rub salt into those woulds, such as when he chewed out Light and the Japanese task force for handing the notebook to Mello so easily. Just like in questioning others, Near tends to use more straightforward means of berating those whom he dislikes when he finds them incompetent. If a challenge is involved, he will use more subtle means of mockery via his cocky attitude and ways of wording things. This is seen in the way Near criticized Light outright upon first meeting him, believing him, as a fake L, to be inept. He then began to mock him in less direct ways after it became apparent that he, as Kira, was a worthy foe.
Although Near's tone is usually aloof or condescending, he actually uses polite words when speaking in general, addresses strangers by their official titles, etc, but does so in such a dispassionate way it's almost comical. He tacks on good manner phrases such as “please,” “thank you,” “it's a pleasure,” etc. without expressing any sort of actual gratitude in his tone, almost as if those words were just an afterthought. It's likely that while sometimes Near speaks politely in order to be sarcastic, oftentimes he just does it out of habit or for formality's sake.
Quirks:
Near is antisocial and withdrawn. He's often seen sitting or lying on the ground, playing with toys or stacking small objects into towers multiple tiems his height. Even when he talks with others, he does so while playing with his toys, at one point even having Rester hold the phone for him while he spoke because he was too busy opening boxes of die. He won't even bother to look at or face the people he's conversing with if he's preoccupied with something else. Near also uses these toys in order to explain his thoughts. This is particularly evident towards the end of the manga when he actually creates finger puppets in the likeness of the major players in the Kira case and uses them to model his plans and play out difference scenarios.
Although Near has a few toys he keeps around, such as robots and die, he generally has short attention span when it comes to trying out new kinds of toys and can be seen moving from one kind to another from chapter to chapter. Vol 13 lists up to 25 different types of toys and toy sets that Near's gone through over the course of the story. Oh, and Near has a huge hair twirling addiction.
Strengths:
First of all, Near is a prodigy. In addition, the guy is so emotionally stable, it's almost disturbing (When his team members are all dying around him, he basically just went “hmm” and observed. When the SPK HQ was in danger of being brought down by a mob, he takes the time to give a lecture first before carrying out plans for escape.). However, this trait allows him to remain calm and collected and think optimally even under pressure. His patience is quite impressive and is part of reason why he's such a skilled planner and strategist. Near wouldn't mind waiting weeks in order to fully polish a plan before making a move. He is also a top liar and will lie without hesitation. Unless he intentionally seeks to piss off his enemies, his deadpan expression and monotone remains the same regardless of lying or telling the truth, making it difficult to detect deception.
Weaknesses:
At 5'1” tall and weighing 88 lb, Near has an extremely poor build for a man his age (he's 18 and looks like a child). Intelligence is his greatest strength, but if you can't even win a fight against a park pigeon, it would probably do you no good when it comes to fending for yourself. Speaking of which, Near indeed relies on others to take care of him. Having always had everything done for him, Near has practically nonexistent life experience and is therefore almost completely dependent on other people to handle even the simplest of tasks. He has a sedentary lifestyle, rarely seen standing. If he gets any less active he'd be dead. It also doesn't help that Near has laughably poor social skills (he doesn't even look at people or bother to face them when talking), so unless there is some great motivator for those who bother to work with him, he's unlikely to make any allies easily as he is prone to the greater-than-thou attitude that is quite off-putting.
I've stated before that Near's a skilled strategist, but he will sometimes get a little too absorbed in his own plans, pruning and polishing it until its perfect. Unless his tools teammates are incredibly patient as well, its unlikely that any of them will put up with Near for long. He can be a little too confident in his plans however, which was probably what led him to underestimate Kira and overlook the possibility of his enemy forging a notebook as well, almost leading Near to a loss.
He also sucks at darts.
ABILITIES: Near is extremely intelligent with the ability to somehow deduce a vast amount of information from a meager set of data (I'd like to call this the Psychic Wammy Effect). He consistently ranked first at Wammy's House, an orphanage that pruned some of the top child prodigies in the world, which shows just how hardcore the little freak really is. He has the ability to focus on multiple events simultaneously, evidenced by his ability to watch several different television screens (all airing different programs) at the same time while gathering information. He's also shown to be able to build impressive monuments out of small things like die and matches with little difficulty.
POSSESSIONS: White pajama shirt and matching pajama pants, full-body police suit, and five robot toys.
samples.
JOURNAL ENTRY SAMPLE: In which Near interrogates the shit outta everyone at badfic_manor. 8D
THIRD-PERSON SAMPLE: (Consider this sample a preamble to the fleshworms event :D)
He had considered this whole thing a joke upon first waking up, but here he was, lying on the ground clad in the same riot squad armor and helmet with a single robot toy still clutched in one hand. Now where are the four others? They better not have taken the rest. Or perhaps they had wanted Near to find and retrieve them. That was an irritating thought. He could tell that something was in his right ear. So who ever kidnapped him had removed his helmet, placed something on his person, then took the time to put it back on again. Clearly the organizers of this whole thing meant Near no direct harm, though to say the situation was "harmless" would be far from truth. But it was not in Near's nature to panic.
So the boy opted to turn his head to the side instead. A second robot toy greeted him. Good, they're still here. He reached over to pick it up, grimacing as it hurt to move. As a matter of fact, his entire back and upper right arm felt sore. Nevertheless, Near shrugged the pain off and continued contemplating the situation at hand. A game, is it? Except this time he was no longer the chess-master. Near gave his signature disgruntled pout. He disliked not having his ways, and irony of the whole thing rubbed him in all sorts of wrong ways.
Too bad his thought process was instantly interrupted at the sight of what was clinging onto the toy, his toy. Worms, vile little things squirming up the robot figure and trying to get onto Near's glove. He released the plaything instantly then instinctively looked down at his own body. Sure enough, there were more, and they were pasted in nauseating, writhing, thrashing clumps all over his body like living tumors. Near almost let loose a low growl as he got up and shook the tiny, disgusting monstrosities off him. Apparently, an adventurous few were actually crawling into his suit through the exposed crevice between the helmet and the body portion. Taking a deep breath, the boy raised a hand to brush away the worms congregating at the base of his neck. When he swiped them away, however, searing pain burst from where his hand came into contact with the skin of his neck. No, rather, from below it. He almost lurched at the sting. High pain tolerance was clearly not on the list of things Near could claim to possess. He touched his neck again, more gently this time, and only then did he notice the moving lump. His eyes went wide.
You have got to be kidding me. He's not sure if he's more pissed off or disgusted.
The parasite was hardly noticeable against the thick material of his glove, but he could definitely tell that his thumb and index had identified something, and that something was trying to escape. He tugged slowly on the creature, gritting his teeth behind pursed lips to withstand the new rush of pain. Once out, he held the little abomination in front of him. Half of it was shaded a sickly pale, creamy color. And half of it was soaked blood-red.
One quick gasp was all Near could allow himself to utter as instinctively recoiled in repugnance, flinging the offender to the ground and dropping his toy as well. They weren't just trying to sneak inside his suit. They were trying to drill into his skin. Those filthy, grotesque, parasitic things were actually burrowing inside his body. He could feel them now, every single last one of them, sliding through the back of his neck, along his back, and down his upper right arm, tucked cozily between skin and muscle, sending sharp pains and itches with each movement.
Damn it. If the sensation hadn't been consequential before, it was painfully obvious now, literally.
No. Near narrowed his eyes. He had to ignore it, he had to keep his mind on track and continue planning his next moves. If he got distracted now, he would lose for sure. Keep moving. The worms were trying to climb his boots but as long as he kept moving, he should be okay. First order of business, carve those parasites out. Without another stray thought, Near began pacing, stumbling every so often was as once in awhile, another turn by some worm would send sharp pain through the boy's body that tipped him slightly off balance. He ignored it the best he could, instead focusing on his thoughts. As Near walked, he surveyed the area around him, the people around him, the equipment they have, what clues their facial expressions revealed about their personalities, weighing his options and calculating next steps, like always.