Would the Death Note Work on a Dead Name?

[Winter]

I'm pretty sure most of us know Death Note even if you've never seen the anime or read the manga or any of the live-action adaptations of the Netflix film adaptation you know the series and you know the general plot. But something I wonder is if someone is trans and they have changed their name would the Death Note still work if the user wrote down the dead name or do dead names not count?

Would the notebook be rendered useless on this person unless the real name was written? Would be funny if it didn't work, like the villain gets the death note and writes the name in only for nothing to happen and then this happens.

[hammerofglass]

If I was writing it it would be whatever name the person calls themselves in their head. Gotta upsell those Shinigami Eyeballs contracts.

[ProfessorDetective]

If I was writing it it would be whatever name the person calls themselves in their head. Gotta upsell those Shinigami Eyeballs contracts.

So, Batman is just SOL, then.


youtu.be/5cmEzPl278Y

[hammerofglass]

If you knew to picture Bruce Wayne's face while writing Batman he was SOL anyway.

I did have that exact scene in mind when I phrased it that way btw.

[clearspira]

If I was writing it it would be whatever name the person calls themselves in their head. Gotta upsell those Shinigami Eyeballs contracts.

Edit: By coincidence I was writing this at the exact same time as the other Batman answer but I like it so I am keeping it

I have no problem with this idea on paper but there is a logical problem with it: Batman.

It is pretty well known at this point that Bruce does not think of himself as Bruce inside his head - he thinks of himself as Batman. But under ''whatever name you think of yourself as'' rules, then that means that writing ''Batman'' into the Death Note would kill him. I'm almost certain that this cannot be true under the rules of the existing Death Note magic system, but it is a serious flaw in the new one that we are creating.

Or what about someone like Neo from The Matrix? He does not go by Mr Anderson. He does not think of himself as Mr Anderson. No one but Smith calls him Mr Anderson. So which name would kill him? Mr Anderson or Neo?

Imo the answer to both questions in canon would be Bruce Wayne and Thomas Anderson - but if that's true then it is impossible to rename yourself as something else later. These are just my thoughts.

[hammerofglass]

If I was writing it it would be whatever name the person calls themselves in their head. Gotta upsell those Shinigami Eyeballs contracts.

Edit: By coincidence I was writing this at the exact same time as the other Batman answer but I like it so I am keeping it

I have no problem with this idea on paper but there is a logical problem with it: Batman.

It is pretty well known at this point that Bruce does not think of himself as Bruce inside his head - he thinks of himself as Batman. But under ''whatever name you think of yourself as'' rules, then that means that writing ''Batman'' into the Death Note would kill him. I'm almost certain that this cannot be true under the rules of the existing Death Note magic system, but it is a serious flaw in the new one that we are creating.

Or what about someone like Neo from The Matrix? He does not go by Mr Anderson. He does not think of himself as Mr Anderson. No one but Smith calls him Mr Anderson. So which name would kill him? Mr Anderson or Neo?

Imo the answer to both questions in canon would be Bruce Wayne and Thomas Anderson - but if that's true then it is impossible to rename yourself as something else later. These are just my thoughts.

So here's another variation riffing off that: if your parents picked a girl name and a boy name and when you transitioned you switched to the other one, so both names are the name your parents gave you, which name works? Do they both work?

[McAvoy]

I think that still follows the Dead name thing. I mean one is still the dead name and the other is a unused name now used. I think it doesn't matter where the new name comes from.

Neo and Mr Anderson I believe falls under the Dead name thing as well. Neo in the first movie said his name was Neo in his fight with Smith just when he was about to get run over by a train. A point where Neo was shedding his old identity and tapping in his ability to manipulate the Matrix. Just not there yet.