Death the Kid
Classification: Immortal, Shinigami, Meister
Death the Kid is the son of Shinigami and a fragment of his soul given form. He's a meister to the Thompson sisters—Patricia "Patti" and Elizabeth "Liz"—and one of the most powerful students at Shibusen, though his potential is constantly undermined by his own obsessive tendencies.
For most of his time at the academy, Kid was isolated. Other students kept their distance, intimidated both by his status as Shinigami's son and the general fear that being near him meant danger. That changed once Liz and Patti became his weapons. The three of them developed genuine camaraderie, and Kid found something he'd never really had before: friends who weren't afraid of him. He's genuinely grateful for that, and it shows in how much he cares about the people close to him.
Kid's defining trait is his obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, which manifests as an almost paralyzing need for perfect symmetry. Crooked picture frames, asymmetrical objects, anything out of balance—they can completely derail him mid-mission. He won't even fight if the battle conditions aren't symmetrical, which is part of why he needs two guns instead of one. His favorite number is 8, not just because it looks symmetrical, but because it divides evenly and maintains perfect balance when cut either way. He'll genuinely lose it over trivial asymmetries, but his biggest insecurity is the three white stripes on the left side of his bangs—a physical manifestation of his own asymmetry. He once tried to dye his hair to fix it, but his reaper body rejected the chemicals. The DWMA's Book of Eibon classified this obsession as the Madness of Order.
Weirdly, his father's completely asymmetrical cloak doesn't bother him at all. Love overrides the compulsion. Same goes for his martial arts stance, which requires him to hold his arms unevenly. There are limits to his fixation when it comes to people he cares about.
Outside of his symmetry hang-ups, Kid is remarkably composed and mature. He's calm, level-headed, and respects other people's choices even when he disagrees with them. The symmetry thing is really the only thing that cracks his composure—when it does, he can devolve into genuinely childish breakdowns. It's a stark contrast to his usual demeanor.
He's also notably unaffected by nudity, which has less to do with being a pervert and more to do with his maturity level. Given that Shinigami created both him and Asura asexually and shows zero interest in any gender, it tracks that Kid inherited that orientation. Where other guys his age would be flustered, Kid just looks vaguely disgusted and moves on.
As a meister, Kid is exceptionally skilled—so much so that he can sync wavelengths with two weapons simultaneously, something Maka notes is usually nearly impossible. Liz and Patti work with him so well because they have a strong bond with each other and genuine respect for Kid, who genuinely improved their lives. Shinigami mentioned that Kid doesn't technically need to collect souls since he's already a Shinigami, but Kid wants to craft a weapon to his own specifications. Since dual guns don't count as a matched set, though, he has to collect twice the usual requirement: 198 evil human souls and two witch souls instead of the standard 99 and one.
He has a competitive streak with Black★Star, and he's probably the stronger of the two. But Kid might be more vulnerable to madness. When the Madness of Order got him inside the Book of Eibon, he fell to it fast—faster than both Maka and Black★Star managed. Black★Star can snap himself out of it just as quickly. Whether that's because of his OCPD, his perfectionist philosophy, or something about being a Shinigami itself, it's hard to say.
Despite how often his symmetry obsession gets in the way, Kid's heart is in the right place. He wants to follow his father's example and create a world that's safe and peaceful, free from evil. His compulsions might hold him back, but his intentions are genuinely good.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
