L is the primary ‘antagonist’ of the Death Note Manga, Anime, and other adaptations. Kept in shadows for the more than an entire volume, when we finally got to see him L proved to be something other than whatever it was we were expecting.

But the detective’s quirky nature did anything but repulse the fanbase. Loved by readers world-wide for his unique personality and amazing food-taste, L is definitely one of the most popular characters of modern fiction. This however begs the question: what exactly makes L… L?

His role in the story: Light's main adversary

In most fictional stories in which a detective goes after a serial killer, you would expect that the detective would be the hero/protagonist. As anyone who has watched/read Death Note knows, this isn’t exactly the case. In it, there is no set good guy or bad guy who the audience roots for. Whilst by the end of the series it is transparent that Light Yagami has long since turned “into the very thing he once fought against” (1), the conflict; dynamic between him and Ryuzaki is the definition of two sides of the same coin.

However, before I can touch on that, first I have to clarify some things:

• There are definite differences between Ohba’s Manga L and the Anime version
• These differences can be seen to change the relationship between him and Light

That said, it is undeniable that L is the unmovable object to Light’s unstoppable force, an inversion and reflection of him at the same time. When looked at through this lens, it becomes apparent that any other ending to Death Note would’ve been impossible. In an effort to avoid spoilers for the sad few who have not yet read the Manga, I’ll be sure to keep this vague. L’s entire character was designed to contrast with Light’s. His appearance, as well as lending itself to his more famous traits, is interesting in that it can be seen to represent the ‘justice’ L is believed to stand for. Easily disliked and ugly, perfectly comparable with the perfection of Light Yagami. It’s so easy to prefer Light, so why should anyone even think about L?

This is a part of their dynamic, how Kira is the easy option whilst the legal system can be so hated at times. How Kira can do things so easily, whilst the law can be so difficult. How Kira can be so attractive, and the law so repulsive.

In this regard, and in many others, L is Light's character foil.

I wanted L to be an extremely unorthodox character to contrast with Light, who is supposed to be a brilliant and outstanding student.

Tsugumi Ohba

From his debut, L establishes himself as Light's definitive opponent. That is, he shows himself to be the sole character in the story who is capable of not only disproving Kira's godhood, but is also very real threat to Light's survival. While L lives, Light cannot be the God he seeks to be.

However, it is necessary to appreciate that L is not the main character. If we go into an analysis of L with the belief that he is, and that the dynamic between him and Light is the main focal point of the Manga, then we’d be going in blind. For obvious reasons, this is not really the case. Although L plays a key role in many recurring themes, and his ideology as well as legacy are indeed the major opposition to Kira, AND his intellect has been confirmed by Tsugumi Ohba (him?)self to be the greatest in the series, the man himself is not the protagonist.

To repeat, L is the unmovable object to Light Yagami’s unstoppable force, but that in itself doesn’t make him on equal grounds with Kira in terms of the narrative. Whilst his role and legacy does achieve this, and L himself is Light's single main rival and equal, making the assumption that in the entirety of the Death Note series Ryuzaki himself is on par with Kira is a mistake. The cat and mouse dynamic between L and his legacy in relation to Light Yagami is what many believe to be the greatest part of the Manga, the former especially, but that particular section only spans half the plot. It’s important to note that whilst L and his personal hunt for Kira may be what makes people remember Death Note more than anything, making the claim that Ryuzaki was as much an antagonist as Light was a protagonist would only be true if the story had ended following the conclusion of that arc (also known as Episode 25 and Chapter 58). However, it didn't, and the story continued with new threats with new faces, and although they all link back to the same source in a thematically pleasing sense, Ryuzaki’s role wasn’t to be the equal character to Kira.

In my opinion, it was the role of L to parallel and personify different ideologies along with Light, acting as the other half of the same coin, as well as to demonstrate the evolution of Light’s god-complex; he provides an alternate to Kira’s justice. This can be seen as his more thematic duty, and duty from a story-telling perspective, but of course his character is loved for very different reasons.

Differences between the Anime and Manga

Before we can develop why we adore him though, we must first develop the differences between the Anime L and the Manga L. This section will contain analysis of:

• L’s motivations
• the friendship between L and Light
• further thoughts on L’s role in the story due to the above points

Firstly, let’s examine L’s motivations.

In the Manga, they couldn’t be clearer, literally being spelt out for us:

It's not a sense of justice. Figuring out difficult cases is my hobby. If you measured good and evil deeds by current laws, I would be responsible for many crimes. The same way you all like to solve mysteries and riddles, or clear video games more quickly. For me too, it's simply prolonging something I enjoy doing. That's why I only take on cases that pique my interest. It's not justice at all. And if it means being able to clear a case, I don't play fair, I'm a dishonest, cheating human being who hates losing. (2)

Manga L

It is made perfectly clear that L doesn’t do what he does because he cares about justice. He does it simply because he enjoys it. That’s not to say, however, that he doesn’t care about justice at all. In my research for this analysis, one of the most frustrating elements was the supposed paradox. Going into it, I didn’t have any illusions about L’s motivations being what they were, seeing as how it wasn’t my first time reading the Manga. So, when I came upon Chapter 10 ‘Confluence’, I was momentarily stunned.

Kira… I think that right now, we’re even in how far we’ve closed the distance between us. But the clue I’ve managed to get was obtained by sacrificing the lives of 12 FBI agents. Twelve precious lives…

…

So I’ll do this. I’ll show myself to others as L for the first time… (3)

Manga L

Here we have it. Black and white, definitive proof that L does value the lives of others, at least to some degree. Obviously, L wasn't a knight in shining armour (truthfully, he was an arsehole), but he’s an arsehole who isn’t an entirely self-centred machine. He’s a human being, with his own set of morals just like the rest of us. My dilemma was the belief that those two parts of L -being a detective for fun, but also caring about justice- make him a literal paradox, because in my view it was impossible for both of those statements to be true. Evidently, this is not the case. There is no reason for those two characteristics to not co-exist. L is extremely realistic in that he has a moral compass, but that isn’t what drives him. Simple as that.

Also, although this has no real basis, I think there is more to the Wammy-house speech than meets the eye. Everything L says about himself, on some level, is true. However, we have to recognise the context in which L is giving his speech: in an orphanage, to children, who want to succeed him. Later on in this analysis, I'll hint towards how being L has absolutely consumed the character, until his entire life is 100% dedicated towards being the greatest detective in the world. I doubt that L, who does on some level care about justice and morals, would want anyone else to live that kind of life.

We know what happened to L's first successor and what his second turned into. It's highly likely that after these, L thought that the idea of having successors was horrifying for the successors in question (and likely his reputation). It's possible that L said everything so bluntly so that the successors who idolized him -who wanted to be him- would immediately go off the idea, and would go onto live normal lives. Only those children who didn't idolize L would, after such a bombshell, continue to want to succeed him. This could be an act of kindness on L's part.

...or maybe L didn't want any kids who didn't understand him to succeed him, and this was the best way to thin the herd of possible successors. Due to the first generation of choices I'm leaning towards the first interpretation, but in all honesty it's left to the reader.

Now, in contrast, the Anime:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnqSpbQ-quA

Kira… I’m going to hunt you down wherever you are hiding and I will eliminate you! I am… justice!

Following one of the greatest scenes in all of Anime history, L proclaims himself -with no one other than himself there- justice. Whilst in the Manga L proclaims himself to be righteous in front of the entire Kanto region (maybe to increase his popularity or to intimidate Kira, actually to have a badass scene and foreshadow the dynamic between him and Light), in this instance it is evident that L believes what he is saying. In other words, L believes himself to be justice, and as such it is fairly obvious that L does what he does for the sake of justice.

I personally like to believe that L’s character in this matter has been inverted, so whilst in the Manga he does what he does because he likes it, as well as caring about justice, in the Anime he does what he does because he cares about justice, as well as liking it. This would also explain why L “only gets involved in cases that interest him” (4) in both versions of the story, as one of his main motivations is the fun of it.

In the Manga, the dynamic between L and Kira took an interesting turn when L appeared to confess that Light was his first ever friend. This was, of course, a lie.

When he told Light that Light was his first friend, it was a lie. L could never have a friend, as he found humans to be a very cunning species.”

Tsugumi Ohba

This raises an interesting point though. If I may go off on a tangent for a moment, notice how the quote says that L could never have a friend, due to that fact he finds humans to be a cunning species. This suggests that L always loves to be in control, a trait that can be found numerous times in the Manga, and furthermore always seeks to regain control when he loses it. It could therefore be possible that L hates competition, even though one of his main goals is to find it. Interestingly enough, this could be a correct element of the character. He is, after all, extremely childish and hates to lose, so why wouldn’t he desire to be in control, in all areas of his life? Of course, another interpretation is that he just wants to be the best, so he makes himself the best; the competition could just be a necessary step. In fact, this seems quite likely.

We know from the LA:BB novel that he won the identities of Eraldo Coil and Deneuve from the actual detectives in the ‘Detective Wars’, so the idea of L finding and eradicating competition in order to make himself the best does seem in line with his character.

Back on topic though, there were some visual ques that suggested in the original material that L was lying when he confessed. It seems that throughout the Manga you can tell when L’s planning something whenever we just see the back of his head. Although this obviously isn’t a failsafe method, there is a basis for it not being completely void. Prior to chapter 10, whenever we saw L it was at an angle: we never saw his eyes, only either the side of his face or the back of his hair. As well as setting up a badass character and expectations which were subverted, this also set up a recurring motif: whenever we don’t see L’s face, we know that he's planning something.

I mention this as it directly ties into the next element: the Anime’s Judas scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qrQ3d6OpsQ

For the most part, this scene serves just to build up the culmination of episode 25, and does a fine job of it in my opinion. Religious imagery is used to suggest that L does know what’s going to happen, and his dialogue and mannerisms also suggest that he knows why what’s going to happen will happen. It’s tragic. That said, aside from some additional moments, it seems as though nothing much has altered from the original. That is, until L says that he and Light will be parting ways soon, and that it’ll be lonely (supposedly, for the latter). Although there isn’t enough evidence for any definitive claims to be made, there is enough to suggest that L does see Light as a friend- someone who will miss him, at the very least. Certainly, he seems extremely distressed by what’s going to happen, in a quiet, mournful manner, not only about his own fate. He seems legitimately concerned for Light.

One of the reasons other for why I believe L could see Light as a friend would be the aforementioned ‘mystery motif’. When L says that everything seems to have worked out, we can’t see his face. This seems to be the final piece of evidence that L knows what’s going to happen (because obviously he’s lying to a degree), and that things have worked out- but not for him. This doesn’t really add anything other than what I’ve said in the previous paragraph, but I thought it would be interesting anyway.

I’m not going to act as though L seeing Light as a friend changes that many things. It could give the final episode’s final scenes a different impact than they would’ve in the Manga, but besides from that there’s little overall impact than a more emotional and metaphorical ending to Light the human (referring to the evolution of Kira’s character).

In any event, it's likely that Light and L saw in each other a sought of kindred spirit, and that they saw each other as equals- a kind of familiarity which transcends the lines of morality and any conscious liking or dislike.

Now that the glaring differences between Anime and Manga L are out of the way, I’d say that it’s time to examine one of the more stand-out parts of L’s character.

His appearance and mannerisms

L always dresses casually, has hair that’s never been combed, a complexion that could rival a vampire and bags under his eyes that are legendary. There are reasons for this design other than it just conflicting with Light’s however, as well as explanations which are different than being metaphorical for his version of justice.

Firstly, his fashion sense: L doesn’t give a damn about his physical attractiveness, something which is apparent to anyone who’s ever glanced at an episode or chapter. The white shirt and blue jeans are most likely the clothes he feels most comfortable in, so why should he have any variation? The same can be said for his hair; why should he comb it when he in doing do he’s wasting time, time that could be spent cracking a case?

His complexion is obviously a result of never going outdoors, and his bags are the result of never going to bed.

All of the aforementioned points link back to one main thing: if he spends any time changing any of them, then he’d be wasting time which could be spent on a case. His entire being is dedicated to what he does, his life consumed by his pursuit of justice. For someone like him, his appearance means nothing.

He’s not an idiot though. L would most likely change his clothing if in not doing so it would put his health at risk. For example, if he’s going into a room full of broken glass, he’s going to wear shoes. Doing otherwise would be a pointlessly stupid action, after all, and L is anything but stupid.

Now, to examine his quirks.

There’s no point examining all of them individually, they all boil down to the same causes as his appearance. His food, his way of sitting, the ways he walks: they all can be linked to L making himself the best detective possible. His sweet food to keep him wide awake, his way of sitting keeping his deductive abilities at their peak, walking with a slump so that he doesn’t waste energy standing straight. All of them link back to L being able to be at his best for what really matters to him.

Of course, there’s also the metaphorical reasons behind them, which can be summarised in this nice little passage from the ‘L, Change the World’ novelisation.

Who could comprehend the man who had lived his life, and had to live confronting all the lives ended prematurely, the tears of the grief stricken survivors, the devaluing of life as a daily reality. How was it possible to measure the pain of such a man? Was it a strain so heavy that L's back curved under all its weight? Was it an agony so terrible as to leave the indelible dark circles around his eyes? Was it a feeling so bitter that every bite he took needed to be coated in sugar? The chronically rounded shoulders, the inevitable dark circles, the eccentric tastes- L suppressed the pain of being a champion of justice, but the evidence of the pain was molded into his very body.

Of course, this is looking into aspects of the character that don't need explanation- his character was designed to contrast with Light, so he was made into a weirdo. The way he sits and the food he eats, both these aspects can be explained by him just wanting to do those things this way. In all honesty, these aspects likely didn't have that large amount of thought put into them by the Manga's creators; in the interviews they've given, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata have repeatedly said that they wrote Death Note from a lens of "let's make this something really enjoyable, and something that the readers will love!", not something that was meant to be put under a magnifying glass to the extent you would a Neil Gaiman comic.

His personality

It’s weird to think that I’m around 3000 words in, and I’ve barely scratched the surface of L. There’s so much to cover, so let’s get started with the meat of L’s character:

• Childish and hates to lose- stated by the genius himself numerous times, L isn’t the most mature detective. He has a habit of rubbing his victories into the noses of his enemies; following the Second Kira’s arrest, I can’t be the only one who found that L rubbed some salt into Light’s wound. There wasn’t that much of a reason for him to divulge the extent of his manoeuvrings to Kira in the Lind L Tailor broadcast after all, but to be honest I feel like very few of us would be able to resist either. There’s also the depression he underwent following the 50-day imprisonment; a melancholy attitude would be expected, but to be honest the phrase childish is the best description for how he was acting.
• Self-awareness- L is more than aware of who and what he is, and this often manifests in what seems to be arrogance. He knows his strengths, he knows his weaknesses, and he knows how to compensate for them.
• Emotional understanding- I use this term hesitantly, as L's understanding is more clinical than anything. He understands people have emotions, uses this to manipulate them, and to further his understanding of them. His knowledge and grasp is not something that’d fit a therapist. The perfect example: Chief Soichiro Yagami’s confinement.
• Pragmatic- it should be apparent that L does the bare minimum when it comes to taking care of his appearance and health, but he does so in order to make himself the best detective possible. This would suggest minimalism and lack of energy, but does this minimalistic attitude extend towards his detective work? Technically- L always solves his cases with hard evidence (5), securing that he emerges victorious. It’s likely he does whatever is necessary to achieve this; by his own admittance in his ‘One-shot’ speech, he will. However, when it comes to working with people in order to solve his cases, he doesn’t exert himself. He does whatever is necessary to secure the progress of the investigation, placing that above anything else in the big picture. Put simply, when faced with multiple options, he picks what he judges to be the best outcome. He chooses these options by looking at the big picture, as well as paying attention to the smaller details. Speaking of:
• Looks at the big picture, whilst paying attention to the smaller details- repeatedly in both Anime and Manga, L demonstrates being able to do this. You can see this, amongst other occasions, when L reveals himself to Light; he recognised there was a risk, but he used his knowledge of Kira to determine that it was a risk worth taking. Also:
• Takes risks, but not needlessly- as shown in the previous point, L takes risks when he believes it’d be the best choice of action from a detached, analytical perspective, but as evidenced in the Lind L Tailor broadcast he also takes precautions, and doesn’t do anything without just cause.

Risking your life and doing something that could easily rob you of your life are exact opposites. I understand your feelings, but please try to control yourself right now.

Manga L

• Mischievous, childish sense of fun- this was shown numerous times, my favourite example being Chapter 48, Give-and-Take, wherein Ryuzaki pokes fun at Light about why he’s not going to bed with Misa (6).
• Detached and analytical- whenever L is working on the investigation, he isn’t consumed by his emotions, instead viewing everything with an outsider’s perspective. This can be seen especially during the Second Kira’s broadcast, and the immediate aftermath. He wouldn’t let whatever he was feeling interfere with his logic, despite himself being in greater danger than ever before.
• Logical to the core- this shouldn’t require that much explanation. The reasonings behind this are identical as to those in the previous point; that said, L’s reaction to a certain trigger word suggests just how much this is the case (7), in both the Anime and the Manga. It seems as though his entire understanding of the world is shaken. He always refers to logic when working on a case, even if his movements can seem to be anything but logical (such as in Chapter 19, ‘Humiliation’ (8))
• Paranoid- I’d say that this is fairly obvious. Although his paranoia is very warranted, and it makes total sense for him to take these measure, it is undeniable that L is anything but trusting. In fact, the only reason that I’m including this is because it’s a key part of his life; from what we see in the source material, this is tied directly into L taking necessary precautions, and being logical in his reasonings. A passage in the LABB novel gets this point across amazingly:

For a detective of L's ability, self-preservation and the preservation of world peace were one and the same, and it would not be correct to describe his actions as cowardly or self-centered.

Mello

Intellect

Death Note is most famous for the cat-and-mouse between Light and L, and whenever someone thinks of the series this element is always one of the first to come to mind. That said, who really was the smartest character?

Before we can start on the actual Manga, something must be addressed: the 13th Volume, How To Read. In it, L's intellect is ranked as an 8, whilst both Light and Near are ranked as a 9. To be totally honest, I don't give these statistics that much credibility. Take for instance the intellect of Mello being equal to Namikawa and Takada, (7) as well as being less than Watari. Furthermore, the statistics say that Misa is less smart than Higuchi (a man she easily manipulates during the Yotsuba-arc). It's due to this that I hesitate to rely on these statistics at all, and instead look towards the original material for answers.

My personal opinion is that of Tsugumi Ohba's , in that L was the smartest character because “the plot required it” (something which is stated in the 'How To Read' encyclopaedia). It makes perfect narrative sense: Light has a magic weapon, so obviously L’s going to be smarter in order for him to close the gap between them. This intellectual superiority was required for the plot. Furthermore, throughout the series L outclasses Light in terms of intellect, and the most stand-out times that the opposite is true is when literal divine-intervention is incorporated; when Light had access to resources and information L never had. There is, of course, Light finding the Yotsuba-connection before L: in this instance, L was doing nothing. As seen in Chapter 38, the detective couldn’t be bothered to do anything productive. He was sat in his chair, staring at a wall, until Light uncovered that connection, at which point he gained motivation again. There’s a legitimate chance that if he wasn’t undergoing depression, that he would have found the correlation before his suspect.

As well as this, in regards to L saying that Light could succeed him, it’s a fact that he was lying. It’s apparent that L is merely testing Light, knowing that if he is Kira and is merely acting innocent, then he’ll definitely agree that he would be willing to; furthermore, he even confirms that he was testing Light when called out on it. There’s every chance that when L says that Light succeeded with the phone call better than L would’ve, that he was lying.

There is, of course, the fact that Light won over L. I'm tempted to say that this is less because of superior intelligence, and more the fact that Light was orchestrating supernatural events that L didn't even know existed, and despite his intelligence couldn't possibly hope to compete with. L's death at Rem's hands was not a result of inferior intelligence, but a lack of knowledge of supernatural events and Rem's own incompetence as a Shinigami.

Back on topic, in reference to Near, he himself said that working alone he wouldn’t be able to surpass L. Furthermore, Near fell, or would’ve fallen, for a trick that Light himself says L would’ve detected in a heartbeat.

As such, I feel confident in saying that L was the smartest character in both the Anime and Manga, superior to both Light and Near in this regard.

On another note, in the LABB novel, Mello, as the narrator, gives a bit of insight into L's intellect- it could be exaggeration, but it could also be cold, analytical observations.

By simple arithmetic, L's ability in 2002 was the equivalent of five ordinary investigative bureaus, and seven intelligence agencies (and by the time he faced off against Kira, those numbers had leapt upward several more notches).

Mello

Conclusion

Although L wasn’t the main character, he’s arguably the most loved. His personality and design have embedded him in the hearts of fans around the globe, and he is at least half the reason why Death Note is as loved as it is today.

He is the definition of a layered character, where a perfect grasp of him is nigh-impossible. Below, I’ll include a list of quotes in reference to L which I believe are helpful in order to understand him, as well as explanations in regards to the bolded numbers included throughout the analysis.

R.I.P. L, we will always remember you.

---

1) In reference to the blurb of the Black Editions- "Will Light's noble goal succeed, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?"

2) The Death Note One-shot Special, in which he addressed the orphans of Wammy's House.

3) Death Note, Chapter 10, L's narration as he considers why he's showing himself to the Japanese Taskforce.

4) Death Note, Chapter 2; a person at the ICPO conference suggests that L might not even want to take on the Kira case.

5) Death Note, Chapter 36, Father and Son, "L has always solved his cases with hard evidence.

6) Death Note, Chapter 48, Give-and-Take, "Don't be so shy, Light-kun... Why are you answering so seriously, Light-kun?"

7) Death Note, Chapter 26, Reversal, "Shinigami" [falls out of chair].

8) Showing himself to Light as L.

I’m going to find and dispose of you, if it’s the last thing I do!!

I’m righteous!!

Manga L

To me, Light is evil, L is slightly evil and only Soichiro is totally righteous.

Tsugumi Ohba

In the public record alone he solved over 3,500 difficult crimes, and sent three times that number of degenerates to prison. He wielded incredible power, was able to mobilize every investigative bureau in the entire world, and was applauded generously for his efforts.Mello, LABB novel

L, on principle, never got involved in a case unless there were more than ten victims or a million dollars at stake [...] the only exceptions to this were cases at difficulty level L (extremely fitting), or when L had personal reasons compelling him to get involved.Mello, LABB novel

Volume 13

Light Yagami

Intelligence: 9

Creativity: 10

Initiative: 8

Emotional Strength: 10

Social Skills: 10

Acting Skills: 10

L

Intelligence: 8

Creativity: 10

Initiative: 9

Emotional Strength: 10

Social Skills: 1

Sweet Tooth: 10

Mello

Intelligence: 7

Creativity: 7

Initiative: 10

Emotional Strength: 8

Social Skills: 9

Inferiority Complex: 8

Near

Intelligence: 9

Creativity: 10

Initiative: 6

Emotional Strength: 10

Social Skills: 1

Life Skills: 1

Misa Amane

Intelligence: 3

Creativity: 4

Initiative: 10

Emotional Strength: 6

Social Skills: 10

Charm: 10

Kyosuke Higuchi

Intelligence: 6

Creativity: 5

Initiative: 6

Emotional Strength: 4

Social Skills: 6

Integrity: 3

Reiji Namikawa

Intelligence: 7

Creativity: 7

Initiative: 6

Emotional Strength: 6

Social Skills: 9

Shogi Skills: 10

Naomi Misora

Intelligence: 7

Creativity: 8

Initiative: 7

Emotional strength: 9

Social skills: 6

Luck: 1

Kiyomi Takada

Intelligence: 7

Creativity: 5

Initiative: 6

Emotional strength: 7

Social skills: 8

Grace: 10

Watari:

Intelligence: 7

Creativity: 8

Initiative: 10

Emotional strength: 9

Social skills: 8

Versatility: 10