Changes

The Mello/Matt ship is the only popular ship where both participants are fully on the same side, and was almost unknown in the early days of Death Note fandom until it was popularized by [[doujinshi]] focusing on the pairing. This trend catapulted Matt from a minor canon character (only appearing in 18 panels of the original [[manga]]) to one of the most popular characters in Death Note fandom.

The Mello/Matt ship is the only popular ship where both participants are fully on the same side, and was almost unknown in the early days of Death Note fandom until it was popularized by [[doujinshi]] focusing on the pairing. This trend catapulted Matt from a minor canon character (only appearing in 18 panels of the original [[manga]]) to one of the most popular characters in Death Note fandom.

The B/L (B is a new character from the [[spinoff]] prequel novel) and Mello/Near pairings both rely on obsession and rivalry for their sizzle, while the Light/Mikami ship often has a [[D/s]] dynamic due to canon Mikami literally worshipping Light as his god.

The B/L (B is a new character from the [[spinoff]] prequel novel) and Mello/Near pairings both rely on obsession and rivalry for their sizzle, while the Light/Mikami ship often has a [[D/s]] dynamic due to canon Mikami literally worshipping Light as his god. [https://www.renai.us/game/Poisoned D.Nd: Poisoned] by Akane was a popular Mello/Near 18+ [[visual novel]] game with their rivalry the starting point of the game; it has an [https://allthetropes.fandom.com/wiki/D.Nd_:_Poisoned All The Tropes] page.

Because of the small female cast in Death Note and the minor roles assigned to most of them, there is a limited potential for het and yuri pairings. However, as Misa has by far the largest female role, the canon Light/Misa ship does draw interest, along with the L/Misa ship. When combined with the popularity of L/Light, this can lead to the series' most popular [[threesome]], an L/Light/Misa [[OT3]].  

Because of the small female cast in Death Note and the minor roles assigned to most of them, there is a limited potential for het and yuri pairings. However, as Misa has by far the largest female role, the canon Light/Misa ship does draw interest, along with the L/Misa ship. When combined with the popularity of L/Light, this can lead to the series' most popular [[threesome]], an L/Light/Misa [[OT3]].