Near

near, also known as byuu, full byuu san, was a non-binary furry fan, writer and software developer from the United States who lived in Arakawa, Tokyo, Japan.

Biography
Being non-binary, near identified themselves as they/them, with a INTJ-T personality, preferring to keep to their own spaces, generally not reaching out first to others, and mostly working on projects by themselves (although working at their best with friends around).

near was a C++ programmer with 23 years of experience whose specialty was reverse engineering hardware and software. They were best known for creating the bsnes and higan video game emulators, and producing Japanese-to-English video game fan translations. They were also active in music and writing internet communities.

They had made fan translations for Dragon Quest V and Der Langrisser, and had collaborated with other translators for their projects, including Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin's translation of Mother 3.

Prior to their passing, they were working on a fan translation for the Super Famicom tactical role-playing game Bahamut Lagoon, the main character of which is where their screen name comes from, in collaboration with Tom (RetroTranslator), who had previously done translation work for the fan translation group DDSTranslation.

Fursona
near's eponymous fursona is a fuzzy dragon/cat hybrid with white wings, dark-gray hair and blue eyes.

Death
near passed away on June 27, 2021, from an apparent suicide due to the perceived constant bullying and harassment they had received by users on Kiwi Farms, an American Internet forum dedicated to the discussion of online figures and communities it deems "lolcows" ("people who can be 'milked for laughs'.").

On their last social post, near made the point that, as of late, Kiwi Farms had upped the ante:

near would take their own life after this post.

Interviews/articles about

 * How SNES emulators got a few pixels from complete perfection article on Ars Technica
 * A 23-Year Perfectionist Journey to Localize the Obscure 'Bahamut Lagoon' article on Vice
 * The retro gaming industry could be killing video game preservation article on EuroGamer
 * After 25 years, this cult SNES game finally gets a proper English translation article on Input

Death

 * The Brilliant SNES Emulator Author Known As Near Has Died article on Kotaku
 * Near, creator of the higan and bsnes emulators, has died article on PC Gamer
 * Near, the Programmer Behind the Legendary BSNES Emulator, Has Died article on IGN
 * The Highly-Respected Emulator Developer Near Has Passed Away article on GameSpot
 * SNES Emulator Developer Takes Own Life Following Online Harassment article on GameRant
 * The Dev Behind One Of The World's Best SNES Emulators Has Taken Their Own Life article on Nintendo Life
 * Snes Emulator Author NEAR Death Reason : Snes Emulator Author Aka NEAR Has Died article on Get India News
 * Near, formerly Byuu, emulator developer, presumed dead from suicide following online harassment article on GBATemp
 * Fears grow for the security of the developer behind one of the best SNES emulators in the world article on NewsQuick24
 * L'auteur de l'émulateur Bsnes / Higan Near est décédé post on News (French only)
 * Crohhanca Cobaateab 3Mynatopob HIGAN n BSNES Henna article on ITBusiness (Russian only)
 * Near/Byuu, conocido desarrollador de la escena de emulación, se suicida a causa de bullying y acoso article on Tarreo (Spanish only)
 * 「最も正確なSFCエミュレータ」製作者、自殺か―海外有名フォーラムからの執拗な個人攻撃が決定打に…… article on Yahoo! Japan News (Japanese only)
 * The Worst Site on the Web Gets DDoS'd After Being Connected to Prominent Developer's Suicide article on Gizmodo
 * Tributes Pour In For Near, The Developer Behind One Of The World's Best SNES Emulators article on Nintendo Life
 * Near/Byuu Suicide entry on Know Your Meme