Light Yagami
From Death Note
Light Yagami is the main character of Death Note, a brilliant Tokyo student who finds a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it and becomes the unseen killer the world calls Kira. He is voiced by Mamoru Miyano in Japanese and Brad Swaile in English.
About Light Yagami
Light Yagami is a brilliant, bored Tokyo student who finds the Death Note, a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it. Convinced he can build a crime-free world, he becomes the unseen killer the public calls Kira. Charming on the surface and ruthless underneath, Light treats every investigation as a game he must win, whatever it costs the people around him.
Appearance
Light is a tall, slim young man with neat light-brown hair and brown eyes, usually dressed in tidy student clothes, blazers, shirts and pressed trousers that make him look every inch the model student. Teachers and classmates see a handsome, polite top scorer. Only Ryuk, and the audience, see the cold, calculating expression he wears in private when the Death Note comes out.
Personality
Light is intelligent, disciplined and utterly convinced he is right. Bored by ordinary life, he decides within days of finding the Death Note that he alone can judge the world and build a crime-free future with himself as its god. He is a gifted actor who can seem warm and dutiful in public while treating people as pieces in private, and his pride makes every challenge from L feel like a personal insult he must answer.
Background & Story
Light Yagami is a top student in Tokyo, the son of police chief Soichiro Yagami, when a black notebook falls from the sky into his schoolyard. It is a Death Note, dropped by the Shinigami Ryuk: write a person's name while picturing their face, and they die. After testing it, Light begins killing criminals, and the public names the mystery killer Kira. Crime rates fall, worshippers appear, and so does opposition. The genius detective L takes the case, and Light's double life begins: model son and student by day, hidden executioner by night, each man hunting the other.
Powers & Abilities
- The Death Note: A Shinigami's notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it while the writer pictures their face, by default, of a heart attack in 40 seconds.
Key Relationships
- Ryuk: The Shinigami who dropped the notebook and stays at Light's side as an amused spectator, helping neither side and asking only for apples and entertainment.
- L Lawliet: The detective hunting Kira and the one mind that matches his own; their rivalry is the heart of the series.
- Soichiro Yagami: His father, the upright chief of the Kira task force, hunting his own son without ever knowing it.
- Misa Amane: The second Kira, devoted to Light for killing her parents' murderer; he keeps her close for her Shinigami Eyes while feeling none of her love in return.
- Rem: Misa's Shinigami, who watches Light with open suspicion and warns him that Misa must not come to harm.
Quick Answers
How old is Light Yagami at the start of Death Note?
Light is 17 years old and in his final year of high school when he finds the Death Note. His birthday is February 28.
Why is Light called Kira?
Kira is the name the public gives the unknown killer of criminals, a Japanese pronunciation of the English word 'killer'.
Who voices Light Yagami?
Light is voiced by Mamoru Miyano in Japanese and by Brad Swaile in the English dub.
What is Light Yagami's IQ?
No official IQ score is ever published for Light. He is simply shown as a genius-level student who tops national exams and matches L deduction for deduction.
