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Although they have been described as L's successors, L was significantly more intelligent than them, in my opinion.

No. The manga/anime states at the end that the two working together are still little more than equal to L on his own. Plus Mello and Near had hindsight to their favour, as L had done so much groundwork from nothing, all they needed to do was pick it up and bring it to an end.

I still like both characters alot though and they deserve alot more credit than they get.

It might just be my biased attitude then, since they really weren't represented as well as L, it seems as though the writers tried to create parts of L in both of them, but they seemed to not match up in my opinion, they seemed to just be a parody/copy of L

Absolutely not. Mello was just a pointless character who complained about not getting enough attention and Near was just some creep who wished he was as cool as L. You can't even compare them.

I don't think Near was like that. If you can recall, he said he didn't mind if Mello wanted to be the successor for L. As for Mello, yes, he complained, but wouldn't you be like that if you had a lot to live up to in life? Pressure makes people pissy.

I think L was the most intellegent one, Mello and near was same, second.
L is the best cuz he knew everything in only one look U___U

of course U_U

No L>Near>Mello

Near and Mello were meant to be together combined equals to L. You see this in their ticks, Mello's eating chocolate and Near posture, as well as it taking both Near and Mello to bring down light.

Well, the thing is, to me, Mello and Near are a bit like some of L's basic characteristics were split in two halves. Mello represents L's emotional and impulsive side while Near has his intelligence based only on logic.
I wouldn't say that any is more intelligent than the other. It is just that, in Mello's case, despite his intelligence, his emotions control his actions. Of course, L doesn't get as emotional as Mello, but he certainly does have moments when emotions get the best of him.
Near, though, almost never lets his emotions in when it gets important. He always keeps his calm and concentrates on thinking without his emotions getting in the way. That is his advantage towards Mello and L.
The reason why Mello and Near surpassed L in the end was that there was one person with a mind takes risks and another person with a mind that stays calm and thinks everything over easily, if you ask me.

L, Near, Mello>Light

I think killing off L and having his successors was just a silly way of prolonging the series :L Don't get me wrong, I love the storyline and extra depth added by this but...
I don't know. I think it was too early to kill of L, and Light's domination over the years was just sped through.
I WANTED MORE L vs LIGHT.
Not some weird knock-offs.

I think it goes like this!
L > Near
L > Mello
L = Mello & Near

I think its like this:

L > Near
L > Mello
L > Near & Mello
L = Light

Agreed?

Personally, I liked L more, but that is just a biased opinion. I guess it was because I fell in love with Death Note because of the battle of intelligence between Light and L. Not to say that I don't like Mello and Near, I do. Just for sentimental reasons, I like L better.