Tyro

Near's intelligence is shown to be above L's in Death Note volume 13. As is Light's.

Kurushimi

I didn't see that.

I'd say L was the better one in this case. Near started off with quite a bit of information and in the end won by mere luck. I also think I remember Light saying somewhere that he dulled over the years from meeting no opposition, like L.

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~ Credit to Ultimate_Gohan for the signature.

Masked_Felix

DESURU NOTORU STATSURU

Eru's Stats:
Intelligence: 8
Creativity: 10
Willingness to Act: 9
Motivation: 10
Social Life: 1
Love For Sweet Food: 10

Nearu's Stats:
Intelligence: 9
Creativity: 10
Willingness to Act: 6
Motivation: 10
Social Life: 1
Ability To Live Every-day Life (Different from 'Social Life' how?): 1

Merroru's Stats:
Intelligence: 7
Creativity: 7
Willingness to Act: 10
Motivation: 8
Social Life: 9
Inferiority Complex: 8


Raitoru's Stats:
Intelligence: 9
Creativity:10
Willingness to Act: 8
Motivation: 10
Social Life: 10
Acting Skills: 10


Looks to me that Raitoru and Eru are about even in the core stats, Nearu is a bit behind them, and Merroru is a fair bit behind them.

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Chibi Mystic Gohan

There are statistic charts for each character. He's saying Near got a higher intelligence ranking than Near (I'm too lazy to go find my book and compare).

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"Words don't exist so that we can tell the truth; they exist so that we can conceal the truth"
- ZOMBIEPOWDER. Volume 02

Nikushimi

Why does Near have the lowest "Willingness to Act" stat? IIRC, he chastised L for being too hesitant.

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Chibi Mystic Gohan

I doubt it. He said himself and Mello couldn't surpass L alone because Mello lacked calmness, while he lacked action.

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"Words don't exist so that we can tell the truth; they exist so that we can conceal the truth"
- ZOMBIEPOWDER. Volume 02

Nikushimi

Right, but he also said that L was too hesitant to adequately explore his "hunches". M i Raito? Something to that effect.

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Masked_Felix

Nearu explored his hunches more than Eru. However, he was still less willing to act on the information uncovered.

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Manic

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Chibi Mystic Gohan

Near collected all of his information on his own, and Mello discovered more about the Death Note than L ever would, because he tested it personally (instead of all that "let's get a death row inmate to try it out).

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"Words don't exist so that we can tell the truth; they exist so that we can conceal the truth"
- ZOMBIEPOWDER. Volume 02

Nikushimi

Hitsugaya? Pfft, it was the white hair, srsly. D:

I'm sorta with Chibi on this one. I think you're underestimating Near and Mello. They DID get much farther than L ever managed to.

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JAIF

Raito >>> Eru >>> Nia >= Merro

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Masked_Felix

Oh, come on. Merroru sucked.

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JAIF

Because Eru had already done most of the work for them? Because Mikami screwed up like an unstoppable moron? Because all these idiots were getting in Raito's way from the very beginning?

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Chibi Mystic Gohan

Not really, all he had was a suspect (Light, who Near suspected himself WITH NO INFLUENCE FROM L) and he knew of the Death Note (only because Light planned for them to come into contact with the Death Note. Hell, remember who first suspected the Yotsuba Group of having Kira in their numbers? It was Light, not L. So L never found out about the Desu Nooto on his own, it was all orchestrated by Light.

Near and Mello received none of L's data (it was deleted by Watari anyway), so it was stated that they had to gather all the data themselves. Mello, Near and L all found out about the Death Note because of the same incident, the Higuchi car chase thingy.

Light himself understood why Mikami made the mistake (because he followed orders perfectly, but he had two conflicting orders, which were to hide the Death Note at all times in the safe, and to kill people in Kira's place). Plus, Misa made mistakes, too. They were able to trace those tapes she sent to Sa