Likes: apples, the human world, chaos, Misa
Dislikes: being bored, not having apples, relapse
Ryuk is the Shinigami who started everything by dropping the Death Note into the human world—mostly because he was bored out of his mind. He's obsessed with apples, particularly the red ones from the human realm, which is ultimately why Light ends up with the Death Note in the first place.
What makes Ryuk tick is entertainment. He's not Light's ally or friend, despite what Light might think. Ryuk acts entirely in his own interest, and that's the whole point of his character. He'll withhold crucial information about the Death Note if it suits him, and he gets genuine enjoyment watching Light struggle and scramble toward his goals. The guy's selfish through and through.
That said, Ryuk isn't completely unreliable. He'll help Light out if doing so happens to entertain him or gets him closer to his precious apples. But make no mistake—he's not invested in Light's success. He's invested in having fun. As long as the human world stays interesting and the apples keep flowing, Ryuk's happy to stick around and watch the chaos unfold.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
