1

2
Light Yagami
Similar to his father, Soichiro, Light has a strong
sense of justice, but this quickly becomes warped
after he becomes tainted by the notebook’s pow-
er. Believing the world to be “rotten,” he uses his
Death Note as a means by which he can enact
his will to rid the world of evil people. Light’s
main goal is to create a new world that is free
of injustice and populated only with people whom
he deems honest and kind, thus becoming the
“God of the new world”. Light is decisive and
driven to achieve his ambitions, without falter-
ing one bit in his beliefs. Despite knowing the
criminality of murder, Light would consider his
actions the ultimate “sacrifice” to help the world.
The degree of Light’s hubris and ruthlessness var-
ies with adaptation. In the manga, Japanese films, mu-
sicals, and anime (at least before the final episode),
Light is steadfast in his decisions as Kira and rare-
ly expresses any doubt in his actions. An example of
this is shown early on in the series when he resolves,
quickly and without hesitation, to kill FBI agent
Raye Penber for tailing him, despite Raye not being
a criminal. However, in the final episode of the anime,
Light, defeated by Near and in critical condition as
he tries to evade capture, imagines sorrowfully what
his life could have been if he had not picked up the

Additionally, the series shows that Light was not born

remorseless. After relinquishing the notebook and los-
ing his memories to temporarily avoid suspicion, Light
demonstrates compassion, a reluctance to manipulate
others, and an intense unwillingness to kill. Once his
memories return, however, he reverts back to his ruth-
less Kira persona and remains that way until his death.
Through the use of the Death Note, Light quick-
ly begins to develop a cold and ruthless nature.
As a utilitarian, he will use any means neces-
sary to achieve his goals. However, though his
actions do put his family in harm’s way, he con-
tinues to show love and genuine concern for
them. This is demonstrated when his sister Sayu
is kidnapped and held for ransom; Light prevents
Soichiro from taking drastic action in order to
keep Sayu safe, in spite of knowingly increasing
Mello’s chances of obtaining the Death Note.

3
Ryuk
Ryuk is different from most Shinigami in that
he does not want to simply pass time away in
the Shinigami Realm but find something to re-
lieve his boredom, and he is unaffected by the
mocking he receives from other Shinigami for it.
omake eight-panel comic series, where he asks
Light for a Silver Game Boy Advance SP for
Christmas.[3] On another occasion, Ryuk asks
Light if he wants to play Mario Golf (changed
to “video games” in the anime), but receives
no answer, since Light’s bedroom is bugged
with microphones and rigged with cameras.

Ryuk has a great fondness for apples, stat-

ing the addiction to be an equivalent of
cigarettes and alcohol for humans. Shiniga-
mi apples are withered and taste like sand,
as he shows Misa at one point, which is why
he prefers apples from the human world. He
suffers certain symptoms of withdrawal if he
goes too long without eating them, involving
twisting himself up like a pretzel and doing
handstands. He also states that he is shy
around girls, revealed when Misa regains
her memories and hugs Ryuk in excitement.

Ryuk regards Light as “interesting,” specifically due

to his experiments and the loopholes he discovers
regarding the Death Note’s rules and instructions,
occasionally discovering abilities of the notebook
even Ryuk did not know existed. Though he finds
Light interesting, he does not care whether Light
lives or dies and does not actively assist him. At times,
he withholds important information from Light and
only assists him when he has something to gain from
it. As his only purpose in dropping the notebook was
because he was bored, most of his actions are primar-
ily motivated by wanting to see something interest-
ing, as he sees Light’s use of the Death Note and
the way humans react to it as truly entertaining.
Ryuk is intelligent, but Light’s ability to understand
his desires easily makes him able to be manipulated.

4
5
6
L
L is quite secretive, and only communicates
with the world through his assistant, Wa-
tari. He never shows his face to the world
in person, instead representing himself
with a capital letter L drawn in "Old En-
glish MT" or "Cloister Black" typeface. It
is more likely to be "Cloister Black" as
Watari's "W" is different in "Old English MT."
L is very intelligent, though his disheveled and languid ap-
pearance masks his great powers of deduction and many ques-
tion his abilities upon viewing him. L tends to second-guess
everything he is presented with, and is extremely meticulous
and analytical. He is good at deceiving his opponents, and is
willing to take drastic measures to solve a case. Some of his
tactics are quite bold, such as having death row inmate Lind
L. Tailor pose as himself on live TV in order to draw out Kira,
while others seem bizarre to those involved, such as hand-
cuffing himself to suspected-Kira, Light Yagami. He is also
shown to have a dry sense of humor, and he isn’t above making
sarcastic remarks to people. Although he tends to be polite, to
some (such as Task Force member Shuichi Aizawa), L can seem
condescending at times.

Using subterfuge, misinformation, disinformation, and an an-

alytical knowledge of human nature to help lure a suspected
murderer into a false sense of security and possibly make him
carelessly over-confident, L sometimes gets what he wants
through abnormal or possibly criminal channels. Whenever L
gives percentages to indicate how much he suspects a person
of committing a crime, such as “five percent,” he may in fact be
over ninety percent convinced of their culpability. Although L
tells Light that he is among the least likely suspects with one
of the lowest percentages of probability, in reality L is “pretty
certain” that Light is Kira. As series writer Tsugumi Ohba said
laughing, making light of L’s tactics: “The truth is, he’s a liar.”

7
 See you again
Kira

Nguyeen Long Hung

SS180504
Zorrard113@gmail.com
8