DEATH NOTE

Light Yagami is an intelligent young adult who resents crime and corruption in the world. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers the Death Note, a notebook that contains five written instructions:

 •The human whose name is written in this notebook will die.

 •This notebook will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

 •If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject's name, it will happen.

 •If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack.

 •After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

There are many other rules that are revealed as the story develops, usually in the form of sequence breaks in between scenes. After several experiments with the Death Note, Light realises the notebook's authenticity and encounters the previous owner, a shinigami called Ryuk. Light explains to Ryuk his plan of exterminating all the criminals in the world. Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and the world-famous detective, "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, publicly known as "Kira" (キラ?, derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the word "killer"), is located in Japan and can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realises that L will be his greatest nemesis, and begins a cat and mouse game with L.

Light attempts to create an alibi by helping L and his investigate team track down Kira. His plan is impeded by a second Kira, famous modelMisa Amane, and her shinigami Rem. Misa and Light meet and work together; they are increasingly suspected by L. To save themselves from execution, Misa and Light temporarily relinquish control of their Death Notes—erasing their memories of the shinigami and the notebooks—and are placed under constant surveillance by L.

During their detention, a third Kira under the employ of the Yotsuba Group appears. Light and Misa are freed when it becomes apparent that they are not responsible for the murders of Yotsuba's rivals. The investigative team infiltrate Yotsuba and discover the third Kira is Yotsuba member Kyosuke Higuchi and attempt to capture him. Upon Higuchi's capture, Light regains the Death Note "just as [he] planned" and kills Higuchi. He completes his complex plan by manipulating Rem into killing L. Light becomes the "new L" upon L's death, and continues a charade of searching for Kira.

The narrative continues four years later, with Kira attracting a large network of contacts and a swell of public support. Two children, Near andMello, raised by L's former guardian Watari to follow L's legacy, serve as antagonists to Light: Near as an independent detective; and Mello as a member of the Mafia. Mello's first action to oppose Kira is to kidnap the director of the NPA, and after his murder, Light's sister Sayu, to use as a bargaining chip to obtain the Death Note. Light's Task Force recapture Sayu and learn Mello's real name after Light's father Soichiro trades half of his remaining life for the ability to discover anyone's names, but Soichiro later dies of gunshot wounds.

Concurrently, Near and several members of the Task Force begin to suspect Light of being Kira. In response, Light persuades Misa to give up her Death Note and raises another Kira, Teru Mikami, a prosecutor and fervent supporter of Kira. Mikami kills Kira's former spokesman for being greedy and recruits Kiyomi Takada, a newscaster and Light's former girlfriend, to replace him. Mello returns and kidnaps Kiyomi, who manages to kill Mello with a hidden Death Note piece. Light then makes Kiyomi commit suicide to prevent her from implicating him, but Mikami, unaware of Light's actions, attempts to kill her with his own Death Note. Near reveals that Mikami's notebook is a fake, and is therefore able to prove Light is Kira. In desperation, Light uses the last Death Note piece in his watch to kill the rest of the Task Force, but Mastsuda shoots him repeatedly. On the verge of dying, Light begs Ryuk to write their names in his own Death Note. Realising Light has lost, Ryuk uses his Death Note to kill Light with a heart attack.

Light dies, and the Kira case is closed.

L

Main article: L (Death Note)

The main antagonist in Death Note, L is the world's top-rated detective who takes on the task of tracking down and arresting Kira. He often uses drastic strategies to confuse and force the hand of his opponents, and his disheveled appearance disguises his brilliance and genius. He enjoys sugar, and in nearly every scene including him, he is found eating cake or confectionery and drinking sweetened coffee. L often misleads people with his behavior as well as his appearance. He sits in an unusual position, and he always wears the same articles of clothing. He has a habit of chewing on his thumb and holds things delicately. Watari is the only one who is able to contact him. He has a few aliases, two being detectives Eraldo Coil and Denueve. Eraldo Coil is considered the second best detective in the world, Denueve being third. L has many aliases, though he acquired the ones Eraldo Coil and Deneuve in a battle between the real detectives. The two were defeated, and so L claimed their aliases. L always suspected Light was Kira, but his suspicions were not confirmed until his dying moment in the hands of Light. The L is not only an alias but also the first name and initial of the detective [L Lawliet].

KIRA / LIGHT YAGAMI

Main article: Light Yagami

The main protagonist in Death Note, Light is an extremely intelligent, yet bored 17-year old student who is not satisfied with the current justice system. When he finds the Death Note intentionally dropped in the human world by the shinigami Ryuk, he decides to use it to kill criminals. He earns the title Kira, the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "killer". His ultimate goal is to cleanse the world of evil and create a world without criminals. He intends to reign over this new world as its "god". He is finally killed when Ryuk writes his name into the Death Note after Near proved to everyone that Light himself is Kira. In the Japanese version of the anime he is voiced by Mamoru Miyano and in the English version by Brad Swaile.

Mello

Main article: Mello (Death Note)

Mello, a character present in the anime and manga versions, was an orphan who grew up with Near and Matt in Wammy's House, Watari's shelter for "gifted" children. Most people believe Mello has "feelings" for Matt. Like Near and Matt, Mello was one of the candidates to become L's successor. Similar to L's fondness for sweets, he is often seen eating bars of chocolate. Although Mello is quite intelligent, he often lets his emotions get the better of him. His goal in life is to surpass Near. Mello was also killed by minor character Takada Kiyomi. The light novel "Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases" is written out of his view. His real name is Mihael Keehl.

Near

Main article: Near (Death Note)

A calm and stoic character that appears in the second half of the series. He subtly represents an albino-like figure with his white hair, and plain white clothes. In the anime and manga versions, Near is a primary candidate to become L's successor and calls himself N during the course of his investigations. He shares a number of similarities with L. Much like how L plays with things such as sugar cubes and forks, Near is frequently shown playing with toys or his hair, and he is constantly shown sitting in an unusual manner. Also, like L, Near likes to stack objects such as dice, while L likes to stack sugar cubes. If you compare the two, you can see they bear some resemblance in appearance as well. After L's death, he was asked to join forces with Mello, who refused (it is explained that Near lacks the emotional insight to beat L, while Mello is too emotional and impulsive). In the manga, Near accepts the fact neither Mello or himself can surpass L, saying that perhaps he lacked dynamics while Mello lacked composure. Near then gained the support of the Government of the United Statesand formed the Special Provision for Kira (SPK). In the 'extra' manga story, set after the end of the series, Near states that, while he respects Light's drive for justice, he can never find his 'Kira' actions excusable. His real name is Nate River. In the film L: Change the World L gives the name "Near" to a Thai boy who is a mathematical genius; L intends for Near to succeed him.

Matt

Matt (マット Matto^?), whose real name is Mail Jeevas (マイル・ジーヴァス Mairu Jīvasu^?), is a cohort of Mello's. A character in the manga and anime versions, Matt was also a former resident of Wammy's orphanage; Ohba described him as the "third most talented member" of the house.Matt is Mello's helper as Matt performs espionage work and acts as an accomplice in Takada's kidnapping, which results in his death when he is shot by Takada's bodyguards. He is voiced by Tomohiro Nishimura in the Japanese anime and by Drew Nelson in English dub.

According to How to Read, Matt enjoys video games and is not outgoing. He also seems to be a chain smoker. He uses his last breath to smoke his cigarette. He is also directly behind Near and Mello in succeeding L.

Ohba said that he created Matt because when Mello started to act alone Ohba believed that he would find difficulty in advancing the story unless Mello had a character to interact with. Ohba said that to a reader Matt may appear to play video games and have no other actions, but he said that Matt's existence was "important" in the story.^[5] In response to a question inquiring about which characters the creators had the most difficulty creating, Ohba cited Matt and said "I didn't even know what kind of person he was!"

Obata said that he did not receive advance notice regarding Matt, who had the character concept of "a young man who loves gaming and doesn't really care much about the world." Obata said that he remembered seeing the thumbnails and asking his editor "Who's this character?!" The thumbnails gave Matt a bowl haircut and goggles; Obata instead drew "what I liked." Obata added that he could "create Matt naturally" as he had a "he probably won't do much" mentality regarding characters introduced in the Near and Mello arc. His birthday is February 1, 1990.