Death Note's Light Yagami Character Guide (2024)

Death Note

Death Note's Light Yagami Character Guide (1)

By Louis Kemner

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Death Note's Light Yagami Character Guide (2)

Even today, Death Note has a strong reputation as one of the most unusual, brilliantly written, and thematically deep shonen manga/anime series ever created. On the face of it, Death Note is a crime thriller with a supernatural edge as the genius Light Yagami uses the Death Note to kill criminals while the super detective L hunts him down. The mind games are indeed entertaining, but the real draw of Death Note is the grim humanity of this series, most of all with Light Yagami himself.

While it's great fun to study Light's unique tricks in the story to fool enemies like L, Mello, and Near, a deep dive in hsi character also involves who he is as a person and what the other people around him mean to him. Light isn't just Kira — he is a tragic and twisted human being who wanted to become a deity on Earth, and the consequences of both Light the human and Kira the pseudo-god are substantial. Every aspect of what makes Light who he is explains much about why Death Note's story was written the way it was.

What Are Light Yagami's Preferred Methods to Battle His Enemies?

He's a Puppetmaster With a Resourceful Mind and Solid Acting Skills

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Light Yagami plays god in Death Note, but is he actually the series' deadliest character?

Every major criminal and investigator in Death Note has his or her own methods and tools for getting the job done, ranging from Mello working alongside American crime families to Near aligning himself with the U.S. government and the SPK. Light Yagami, meanwhile, quickly developed his own style for killing criminals, testing the Death Note's powers, and most of all, fighting enemies like L, Mello, and Near. One of Light's biggest trademarks is his sheer resourcefulness, which includes using both people and items to get the edge on his enemies. Investigators like L and Near tend to rely on things like police investigations and surveillance recordings, while Light has used everything from orchestrated bus jackings and papers with slots in them to Misa's Shinigami eyes, prison inmates, and memory loss to fool his enemies time and again.

Since Light Yagami doesn't have any moral compunctions about using and discarding people, he has many resourceful options that the investigators do not. Light will gladly have innocent FBI agents or prisoners die just to secure one piece of information for him, and that sometimes means using those people's own skills, resources, and connections. A major example early on was when Light controlled FBI agent Raye Penber to arrange a meeting with him in the subway and kill him to keep him quiet about all this. Light even had Raye write down the names of other FBI agents and thus kill them with the notebook paper, while using slotted paper to hide the notebook paper's true nature from Raye. Light even arranged an entire busjacking just so he could create the context for Raye Penber showing Light his FBI badge and thus reveal his name, allowing Light to control him.

Between Light controlling FBI agents, prisoners, and even businessmen, Light can be called a puppetmaster, using people as tools while investigators like L and Near treat their allies valued and trusted assistants. However, Light makes sure to not act like the callous puppetmaster he is, instead presenting a charming and innocent face to everyone whom he meets. Light often pretended to be someone's ally and friend to their face, only to conspire against them behind their back. Outwardly, Light acted like the opposite of his true nature, easily fostering trust with everyone from his own father to Naomi Misora and Kiyomi Takada, the latter becoming Kira's key spokeswoman after the anime's time skip. Ryuk himself noted Light's impeccable acting skills, which often bought Light a lot of time to figure out how to take down anyone whom he just sweet-talked.

Light even took advantage of memory loss in the notebook, because he knew that even his superb acting skills had their limits. When Misa Amane got captured, part of Light's new plan involved turning himself in as a Kira suspect, and halfway through confinement, he gave up his memories of the notebook. That reverted Light to a previous state, and his genuinely innocent pleas combined with orchestrated Kira activity elsewhere to convince L to let both Light and Misa go. Light even used this trick on Misa herself in part 2, having her give up all notebook memories so the investigation against her would become a dead end. By that time, Light was done having Misa as his key ally, so in his eyes, it was just as well he cut her loose and robbed her of all Death Note memories.

What is Light Yagami's Relationship to L the Detective?

Light Feared Him, Respected Him, and Mutually Lied About Being His Friend

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Numerous characters die during Death Note, many of which completely change the course of Light Yagami's journey.

Light Yagami's single most consequential and popular relationship is that with his ultimate nemesis, the super-detective known only as L. It didn't take long for Light's killing spree to come to L's attention, and once L determined that Kira was a single person operating in Japan, L decided to dub his enemy Kira, or "Killer," and began the investigation in earnest. Light and L were also counterparts and mirrors to each other, since they were both highly competitive and would always retaliate when provoked rather than let insults or challenges merely slide. That set them up to be unfriendly shonen-style rivals, each determined to not just destroy the other, but prove the other's vision of justice wrong.

Light had many opinions and assessments of his new nemesis, including grudging respect for the only detective in the world who could actually stand up to him and the power of the notebook. More than once, Light grimly realized that he had underestimated L's intelligence and resolve in the Kira case, and even if Light didn't often compliment or praise L, it was clear that Light thought highly of him. By the same token, Light also greatly disliked L as the one who dared to get in the way of a new god's ascent, and Light totally opposed L's rigid, traditional vision of justice. In addition, Light feared L as a hunter who could easily corner and trap him, and Light was often stressed anytime he realized he was just one mistake away from falling into L's hands. L, for his part, had roughly similar feelings about Light/Kira in return.

When Light and L met, with the latter going by Hideki Ryuga and Ryuzaki, the two of them did their best to act normal and not arouse the suspicion of the police or each other. That was where Light's acting skills came into play, because by being around L in person, the bitter relationship to them gained another layer. On the surface, Light Yagami and Ryuzaki were friends and fellow geniuses who wanted to take Kira down, and while Light was memory-deprived, his desire to aid L was genuine as they embraced a weird form of the power of friendship. However, it was all a lie on both characters' parts. Light and L stated that they were friends and enjoyed playing tennis together, but they did not feel true friendship by any means. It was an act for the benefit of everyone else around them, since Light and L probably saw through each other's outward gestures of "friendship." Light lied to many people, but he never lied more thoroughly than he did to Ryuzaki the friend.

What Are Light Yagami's Relationships With His Family Members?

He Tried to Love and Support Them, But Kira's Cause Usually Came First

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Why The Death Note Manga Ending Packs More Punch Than The Anime

Light Yagami's true tragic fall unfolds in the Death Note manga, which deconstructs his arrogant Kira persona in brutal detail.

Light's nuclear family is where this character shows his best side, but even then, Light's relations with his relatives are as dark as they are positive, if not more so. Light has the most innocent relationship with his mother Sachiko, who never once believed that her son could be Kira, a sentiment she shared with her husband. Also, Sachiko never suffered directly because of her son's antics as Kira -- that is, she never had her life threatened and never had her daily life disrupted. However, Sachiko did suffer immense grief when her husband died on Kira's account, and Sachiko was upset yet hopeful when her daughter Sayu was mentally traumatized from her kidnapping.

Light generally got along with his younger sister Sayu, who openly expressed her disgust about Kira but otherwise did nothing to interfere with her brother's activities. Sayu always deeply admired her genius brother and supported his burgeoning love life, and Light had a mildly positive view of his sister in return. The brother/sister bond was tested when Mello kidnapped Sayu early in part 2, when Light realized that he might have to kill both his father and sister to prevent Mello from getting the notebook. That was when Light showed his humanity and declined to make that move, clearly unable to stomach the idea of killing his sister and father. That fact was not lost on Ryuk.

The father/son bond among the Yagamis was the most prominent, interesting, and tragic of them all. Soichiro Yagami had immense pride for his brilliant and responsible son, and he never entertained the idea of Light being Kira. Soichiro had nothing but faith in his son and loved him dearly, but Light only weakly returned those sentiments. Since father and son were secretly enemies in the Kira case, Light often had to merely act supportive of his NPA officer father, while getting in the way of Soichiro's and L's investigation however he could. Light did admire his father's skills and prowess as a detective, and he was reluctant to personally attack his father, but Light's love for his father was limited beyond that. When Soichiro died, Light was upset not that he lost a parent, but that Soichiro had failed to take his last chance to kill Mello via the Death Note. By that point, evidently, family love meant nothing to Light Yagami any longer.

What Are Light's Relationships With His Girlfriends Like?

Light Gladly Took Advantage of Their Feelings For Him

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Light Yagami will say or do anything to rule the world as Kira, from mass murder to betrayal, lies, and manipulation, and no one can stop him.

For the most part, Light Yagami interacted with other men in the series, such as his father's fellow officers and even L himself, but he did have two girlfriends in the series. Light had a "lady killer" theme in the series, since he was outwardly charming and romantic to them, but only saw them as tools. This was when Light was at his cruelest and most exploitative, since he took advantage of the amorous feelings of not one, but two young women who wanted nothing more than to support him. Light did have a higher opinion of Kiyomi Takada than he did Misa Amane, but in the end, he saw them both as disposable tools who were easy to manipulate thanks to their romantic attachment to him.

When Light Yagami came into contact with his first girlfriend, Misa Amane, the tables were turned somewhat. Misa had the benefit of the Shinigami eyes, one of the strongest eye abilities in anime, so she actually had an advantage over Light while posing as a new Kira. For once, Light was bested in a mutual investigation and was found first, and fortunately for him, Misa wanted to aid him, not blackmail or attack him. Misa explained herself in Light's bedroom and made it abundantly clear how passionate she was for him, and Light immediately saw his chance. He feigned a personal interest in Misa and lied that he might eventually fall for her, which made Misa that much easier to control. Misa was even ready to die for Light, and would sooner do so than sell out his secrets to L while in captivity.

That led to a lopsided and deeply unhealthy relationship between Light and his new lieutenant, Misa Amane, though they did succeed in killing L with their combined resources. Later, as L's battles against Mello and Near heated up, Light realized that he couldn't get much more out of Misa, so he had her give up all memories of the notebook and asked her to marry him. Light wasn't interested in making it to the altar; he just wanted to keep Misa comfortable and prevent any problems with her before they could start. Around that time, Light reconnected with his college girlfriend, Kiyomi Takada, who had become a part of the media by then. Kiyomi became Kira's spokeswoman and, superfically, was also Light's new girlfriend.

Once again, Light had a woman wrapped around his little finger, using her without ever returning the affection he received. It's true that Light respected Kiyomi as a smart and capable person, which is why he discarded Misa in her favor, but by then, Light saw absolutely everyone as a tool and nothing more. That was why Light gladly had Kiyomi die when she killed Mello, tying up another loose end on Kira's quest to dominate the whol world.

Death Note's Light Yagami Character Guide (7)

Death Note (2006)

TV-14

Animation

Crime

Drama

Original title: Death Note: Desu nôto.
An intelligent high school student goes on a secret crusade to eliminate criminals from the world after discovering a notebook capable of killing anyone whose name is written into it.

Release Date
October 21, 2007

Cast
Mamoru Miyano , Brad Swaile , Vincent Tong , Ryō Naitō , Trevor Devall
Main Genre
Animation

Seasons
1
  • Anime
  • Death Note
  • anime

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