 Ohba did not initially develop Mello and Near 's personalities as he wanted to " reveal " them through their actions . He added the chocolate trait because he believed that chocolate " represented all sweets " and that the trait would fit with the story arc in the United States . Obata designed Mello 's clothing based on clothes he enjoys drawing , which includes " shiny " leather . At first , Mello 's hair was cut straight across ; Obata preferred Mello 's hair becoming messy , which occurred later in the story . Obata became grateful when Ohba added the scar since he felt that he could draw Mello " looking cooler " . Ohba added Mello 's scar to the thumbnails as the trait would give him " more depth " ; he further added Mello looks " more intense " and " more human " with the scar . After drawing Mello 's updated appearance with the scar , Obata " finally [ felt that he could draw Mello ] really well " . Obata said that the fact that Ohba and Obata did not regularly meet in person was for the best , because if Obata had told Ohba about his satisfaction with Mello 's new appearance , Ohba might not have killed Mello . However , Obata felt sad when Mello died in the story shortly afterwards . 
