Beyond Birthday, or BB, a character exclusive to the prequel novel, "", is a serial murderer bent on surpassing L - not by being the world's greatest detective, but by being the world's greatest criminal. The novel takes place in August 2002, over a year before Light became Kira. The only thing known about his past before going to Wammy's House is that his father was beaten to death by a thug and his mother died in a train crash. Like L, Mello, Matt and Near, he lived in Wammy's House and was known as B, which stood for "Backup." A, the original successor to L, was said to have killed himself years earlier due to the pressure of living up to L. Beyond had Shinigami eyes, so he could see when humans would die, and their names. Using his Shinigami Eyes, he would intentionally kill people on their destined day of death.