

To kill a person using the Death Note, you are required to think of their face
while writing their name.

If the Death Note user last saw a person decades ago when he was a child, but
has no idea what he looks like now, can he kill the person by remembering the
childhood face?


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question
death-note
Can an adult be killed using the Death Note, by remembering their childhood face while writing the name?


This is never really explained, but according to the rules, you should be able
to kill that person, if you know their name and face.

> The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
>
> This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in
> their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same
> name will not be affected.
>
> — _Death Note, How to Use: I_


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This is not expanded on in the series just like many other rules regarding the
Death Note. I believe Ohba has not commented on such things either.

My opinion is: **No**.

I think a photo of a person's face can qualify as "has the person's face in
their mind" if (and only if?) that person's current appearance is _not too
far_ from how the person looks in one's memory or in a photo.

I doubt a baby picture of L accurately describes the current appearance of L.

A possibly relevant detail: I would say those drawings of Mello and Near would
be far superior to photos of them when they were younger. [Since those
drawings do not work for inferring names with Shinigami
Eyes](http://deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/Rules_of_the_Death_Note#How_to_Use:_XX),
I guess childhood photos also won't work when used for inferring names with
Shinigami Eyes and possibly the same for the scenario in the question.

However, if you were to kill someone (using a Death Note) who is about 13, and
you last saw them when they were 11, that may work.

So who judges "not too far"? I guess whomever invented Death Notes and their
rules in the first place or whomever is responsible for the Death Notes'
working. As Death Note is fantasy and not scifi, I think such question will
not have a precise answer.


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According to [Rule
XX](http://deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/Rules_of_the_Death_Note#How_to_Use:_XX):

>   2. If above conditions are met, names and life spans can be seen through
> photos and pictures, no matter how old they are. But this is sometimes
> influenced by the vividness and size. Also, names and life spans cannot be
> seen by face drawings, however realistic they may be.
>

If the Shinigami Eyes work through a picture no matter how old it is, this
would seem to take into account childhood photographs. The rules for using
Shinigami Eyes (actually seeing them) compared to using the Death Note
(remembering their face) are much stricter, so I would assume that, as long as
it was a clear memory, remembering their face would work.

Also, remember that the purpose of remembering their face is only to
distinguish them from people with the same name or to check that you know who
you are writing about. If the Death Note counts a child version as _definitely
that person_ , then it will work.


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