Ryuk’s original concept art. Takeshi Obata wanted to design Ryuk as an “attractive rock
Ryuk’s original concept art. Takeshi Obata wanted to design Ryuk as an “attractive rock star”, but scrapped the idea at the thought that Ryuk shouldn’t be more attractive than the main character, Light. In How to Read 13, Obata states that Ryuk’s current grotesque face could be a mask to hide his “real” face, and therefore Ryuk may still technically look like this in canon. -- source link