TheDeath Noteanime is a brilliant psychological thriller that follows the engrossing story of Light Yagami and L in their extraordinary tactical battle throughout most of the series. Light was the criminal mastermind, and L was the detective tasked with stopping him; this dynamic was made even more exciting by the astounding intellect both individuals possessed.
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Light, known by the public as Kira, was a cold-blooded murderer who took pride in actions justified by his loose sense of morality. Aided by the death note, a book that had the power to kill a person provided their names were written inside it, Light executed his malevolent plansin the most ingenious ways. Ideally, he claimed to have pure intentions, yet he was highly manipulative and never shy of murdering innocent people for the sake of his goals. As the anti-hero protagonist ofDeath Note, these are some of Light’s worst acts.
10Sending Rioters To Drive Near Out Of His Headquarters
Five years after L’s demise, his true successor emerged and actively began taking action against Kira. L’s successor, Near was raised in Wammy’s House, the same orphanage that oversaw L’s development. Not long into Near’s investigation, he soon suspected Light to be Kira, openly relaying his suspicion to the task force members, thereby complicating Light’s position.
In an attempt to sabotage Near and take care of him for good, Light indirectly organizes a mob of individuals devoted to Kira and has them destroy Near’s base of operations with the intention of killing him. Unfortunately for Light, however, his plan fails as Near dons a disguise and escapes the building using extremely clever tactics. This serves as a good example of Light’s potential for manipulation, clear murderous intent, and endorsement of violence whenever it favors him,
9Killing A Man He Believed Was Innocent
In the second episode of the anime, Light has hisfirst encounter with L, though only behind a TV screen. L, supposedly showing his face on live television and revealing his name to be Lind L. Tailor, declares his intention to catch Kira, proclaiming that Kira is evil. Light writes his name in the death note out of annoyance and anger, regardless of the fact that the fake L wasn’t a criminal.
Unlucky for Light, however, Lind L. Tailor was only a substitute for L and was used as a guinea pig to test the extent of Light’s power. He was a criminal scheduled to be executed that day, but since Light was unaware of his real identity, he had just tried to kill a completely innocent and lawful individual.
8Making Inmates Mutilate Their Own Corpses And Write Cryptic Messages
In the fourth episode of the series, Light is pictured to be troubled by the FBI agent following him around since he had no way of finding out his name, a crucial detail needed for him to kill. He then remembers the multiplerules of the death noteand realizes he hasn’t been using the notebook to its full potential.
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To understand the full range of the notebook’s powers, Light turns his focus to prison inmates closely being monitored by the police. Using the death note to control the inmates' actions right before their deaths, he toys with them, asking some to write coded messages and perform impossible tasks.
7Pushing His Father To Write In The Death Note On His Deathbed
In an attempt to recover the death note conceded to Mello’s group, the task force organized a raid on the mafias hideout. They were prompted to act by Kira, as it was Light’s plan to retrieve the death note while taking care of Mello simultaneously.
However, things didn’t go too well, as they managed to retrieve the notebook but at the cost of a severely wounded Soichiro. While at the hospital, in critical condition, Soichiro is visited by the remaining task force members, including his son, Light. Despite seeing his father in such a terrible state, Light shows care only on the outside so as not to arouse any suspicion. On the inside, however, he only wishes for Soichiro to write Mello’s name in the notebook, harboring no genuine care for his father whatsoever.
6Attempting To Kill Every Member Of The Task Force
Nearing the last episode of the series, Light gets ready for his final showdown with Near. Using his impressive insight and resourcefulness, he creates a situation where Near and his team have close to zero chances of survival. At the moment of truth, the deaths of Light’s enemies do not come, revealing he had been bested by the efforts of Near and Mello.
Following his defeat, it is apparent that Light is Kira, and all the task force members are present to witness it. This moment revealed that Light attempted to have them all killed along with Neark , showing the lack of regard he held for them since the start. Light was ready to dispatch every single member of the team he had worked with for over five years, and given the opportunity, he would most likely do it again.
5Killing Every FBI Agent Investigating Kira
Relatively early in the series, before Light was under any concrete suspicion of being Kira, he was constantly being followed by an FBI agent working with L. The FBI agent belonged to a larger team of officers tasked with catching Kira. Determined to get rid of this looming threat, Light devised an impressive yet cruel plan.
He took advantage of the death note’s convenient provisions and cornered one of the FBI agents, Raye Penber. Light gets Raye on a train and tricks him into writing the names of his remaining colleagues on a page of the death note. Upon leaving the train, Raye Penber collapses, as it is revealed he was also scheduled to die after following Light’s instructions.
4Constantly Taking Advantage Of Misa
For most parts of the story,Amane Misa wasLight’s main accomplice. She was dubbed the second Kira as she was also given a death note at some point in the series. She was madly in love with both Light and Kira, with her affection remaining even after her memories were temporarily lost.
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Light, however, only treated her well when it was convenient for him. He constantly took advantage of her love, making her do things she wouldn’t have done for him otherwise. He also planned for Misa to halve her lifespan despite her already halving it once before, and on one occasion, is even seen contemplating her murder.
3Emotionlessly Killing Takada Despite Her Feelings For Him
Takada Kiyomi served as Light’s second love interest in the series. She was introduced early on while Light was still a university student. However, she didn’t take an active role in the story until the later parts of the anime. As an adult, she worked as a reporter but later became Kira’s spokeswoman.
She greatly admired Kira, a feeling massively amplified after finding out Light was the one behind the alias.She developed romantic feelingsfor him and, much like Amane Misa, started taking orders from Light. Unfortunately, one thing led to another, and she was kidnapped towards the end of the series. Seeing as this development was unfavorable to him, Light decides not to take any risks. He removes a piece of paper from inside his watch and remorselessly uses it to end Takada’s life.
2Killing Misora Naomi
Misora Naomi was a former FBI agent and fiancée of the deceased Raye Penber. She was visibly distraught by the death of her lover, and she vowed to bring Kira to justice. As the first significant step on her quest to avenge her beloved fiancé, she visited the tasks force headquarters with extremely relevant information but was told the venue was empty. Even worse, it was there that she met Light Yagami.
After finding out she had important information related to the Kira case,Light resolved to kill her. Initially, she was on her guard, even using an alias during their introductions. However, she was continually deceived by Light, who posed as an innocent high schooler trying to catch Kira himself. Unfortunately for Naomi, she fell for Light’s act and opened up to him, revealing her real name in the process. Light wastes no time and writes her name in a torn page of the notebook, setting her up for suicide and taunting her as she walks away.
1Manipulating Rem And Killing L
Light and L developed an odd relationship over the course of their interactons in Death Note. L suspected Light to be the murderous villian he was tasked with apprehending, but on the other hand, Light was supposedly the first person L truly considered a friend. This feeling was openly communicated when L stated that he wished Light was not Kira.
Unfortunately for L however, Light never openly shared this sentiment, and this was made more apparent by the devilish grin on his faceduring L’s demise. To ensure L’s death, Light gave Misa a role that would eventually expose her as the second Kira, factoring in Rem’s protective nature. This resulted in Rem writing L’s name in her death note for the sake of protecting Misa, an action that resulted in both L and Rem’s deaths, just as Light had planned.
