While Mello is certainly a genius and more intelligent than most people, the concept of being only the second most intelligent person in Wammy's House, behind Near, fuels the inferiority complex that defines Mello's character. Mello verges on immorality in his obsession with being the one to take down Kira and is willing to do "whatever it takes," including kidnapping Sayu Yagami, the Japanese Police Director's daughter, and orchestrating the murders of most of the SPK members. In the manga, after Mello has successfully stolen a Death Note, he even goes so far as to attempt to blackmail the president of the United States into giving him funds and resources to aid his pursuit of Kira and to evade Near, threatening that if his demands are not met he will use the Death Note to force the president to launch the United States' nuclear missiles and start World War III. Arguably, Mello is not trying to defeat Kira out of a sense of "justice".
Speaks in sharp, fast bursts; mixes elegant logic with threatening understatements.
