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It was said that when a Shinigami saves a human with his Death Note, that Shinigami dies, and his remaining life-span is transferred to the human he saved.

But imagine the following situation, a Shinigami has accumulated 500 years of lifespan by killing a lot of humans. That Shinigami then kills someone for a human, to save his life, and dies.

Does that mean the human would gain 500 years to his lifespan?

Madara's Ghost
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3 Answers3

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The human would indeed gain 500 years to his lifespan.

Shinigami who die are reduced to dust, and their remaining lifespan is given to the human they saved. wiki

It is very unlikely to see that human live those 500 years though. Shinigami are lazy and don't want to be bothered with the human world too much, so the human would become an eagerly desired target for the other Shinigami. If they would kill that specific human they would be able to gamble for 500 more years without having to be bothered with writing some new names.

So basically he would gain a lot of extra lifespan, but it wouldn't make him immune to the power of the Death Note. An example of this was seen with Misa Amane. Despite having gained the lifespan of two Shinigami, she still only lived a couple of years after their deaths, because the Death Note had recalculated her lifespan over several occasions during the story.

As mentioned by Madara Uchiha, humans with a lifespan of 124 years or higher can indeed not be killed directly.

You cannot kill humans at the age of 124 or over with the Death Note. XXIX

They could be killed indirectly by killing people that would result in his lifespan being recalculated, but as I mentioned Shinigami are lazy, so they wouldn't bother to do so intentionally, making him indeed semi-immortal :)

Community
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Peter Raeves
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    Actually, if the human is 124 years or more the Death Note won't work, essentially making the person semi immortal if he manages to avoid the gaze of the Shinigami until he gets to that age :D – Madara's Ghost Aug 05 '14 at 14:25
  • @MadaraUchiha I never understood why that rule existed. I guess it is for situations like these xp – Peter Raeves Aug 05 '14 at 14:40
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    Better to close any potential loop holes with unnecessary rules :p – Thebluefish Aug 05 '14 at 19:48
  • No. It clearly says "You cannot kill humans at the age of 124 or over..." This means that you MUST be at the age 124 or over. Just because you have a life span of 124+ years does not mean that you ARE that age. lets say a shinigami dies to save ur life and u gain 500 lives like we stated before. Lets say you are 35. Now you have the potential to live to 535 (which probably wont happen). You can still get killed by the death note since you are STILL 35 and ur not over 124 YET. the death note can kill u, the death note simply states You cannot kill humans at the age. – Jack Bergeron Jan 19 '18 at 01:49
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Essentially yes, they will become semi-immortal. They will have a long, long natural lives but they'll still be vulnerable to death.

grasshopper
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    Not really, unless by "death" you mean "death by Death Note", they are not vulnerable to "death". We've seen lifespans ending with unnatural deaths too (like shooting in an ally). So if your lifespan gets extended, you won't meet that fate so soon. – Madara's Ghost Dec 11 '12 at 22:24
  • Yes I meant unnatural deaths – grasshopper Dec 11 '12 at 22:30
  • That's according to the rules of the Death Note - but below the surface the rules interfere with one another and cannot be consistent, so questions about the "Physics" of the world won't have very satisfying answers. – Arturia Pendragon Dec 12 '12 at 01:06
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    What I wonder is if they get subjected to geriatric conditions. A person 130 years old will more resemble a dessicated mummy than a human, and may not be able to perform basic life functions... – SF. Dec 12 '12 at 08:34
  • @SF. Unless the 130 year old person's body would work in a way similar to those who possess the ring of power in Lord of the Rings universe. – Hakase Apr 17 '13 at 09:46
  • FYI. If a person is over 124 years old or under 6 years old they are immune from the death note! – kaine Jul 16 '14 at 20:46
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I always wondered that.
My main thought is whether they continue to age normally or if their aging slows to match their remaining life span. I cant imagine a human who gains 500 years from the death of a shinigami could live for so long if aging naturally.
With some deductions, I have come to the conclusion that one who gains 500 years of life from a Shinigami would have to experience aging at a slower rate because their entire being has been extended in life by that 500 years. That means disease, accident oh, the shutting down of organs, could not lead to the cause of death until they used up those 500 years. So everything about that person would either be slowed or halted in time until they can naturally die after using the extra time. Aside from external factors such as usage of the death note before they hit the age of 124.

Kara Bell
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