Light Yagami

## Voices

**Light Yagami** (夜神月, *Yagami Raito*) is the main protagonist of the Death Note series. After discovering the Death Note, he decides to use it to rid the world of criminals. His killings are eventually labelled by the people living in Japan as the work of "Kira."

## Appearance

Light is a young man, standing at above average height with light-brown hair and brown eyes. During Part I, when not wearing his school uniform, which consists of a tan suit and red tie, he dresses fairly casually, sometimes sporting a dress shirt underneath a jacket or a V-neck sweater with a collared t-shirt underneath. During Part II, if not wearing a similar style of clothes, he is seen wearing a suit.

He is considered to be quite handsome, a trait noted by Misa Amane and Kiyomi Takada, among others.

## Personality

Light is characterized as hardworking, talented, and a natural genius. Highly perceptive and good with problem solving skills, Light is a skilled planner and good at mapping out scenarios. Furthermore, Light is very popular among peers and adored by his family members. However, his high intelligence and constant praise from adults laid the foundation for an intense level of hubris which quickly took effect once he obtained the notebook.

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 power. 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 faltering one bit in his beliefs. Despite knowing the criminality of murder, Light would consider his actions the ultimate “sacrifice” to help the world.

Through use of the Death Note, Light quickly begins to develop a cold and ruthless nature. As a utilitarian, he will take any means in order to achieve his goals. However, though his actions do put his family in harm’s way, he continues 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.

Additionally, the series shows that Light was not born remorseless. After relinquishing the notebook and losing 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 ruthless Kira persona and remains that way until his death.

The degree of Light's hubris and ruthlessness varies by adaption. In the manga, Japanese films, musical and anime (at least before the final episode), Light is steadfast in his decisions as Kira and rarely 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 in spite of 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 did not pick up the Death Note.

Light's hubris and ruthlessness is especially downplayed in the drama and Netflix film adaptions. In these continuities, he presents as less confident, demonstrates hesitation with killing the FBI agents investigating him and even considers abandoning his mission when feeling cornered. Nevertheless, across adaptions, Light has consistently been portrayed as an idealist and as an individual who is willing to go to extreme measures in order to defend his idea of justice.