Light is the villain of Death Note, and a serious serial killer at that. But there are times when we still feel sorry for him.
Even newcomers to anime are well aware that Light Yagami, the protagonist of Death Note, is not a traditional villain. At times, he ruthlessly destroys his enemies and emerges as one of the most terrible villains. But at other times his iniquity seems justified. Simply put, Light is morally grey, and it is this moral ambiguity that divides fans into two groups.
10 Death Note Destroyed His True Potential
At the start of the series, Light is depicted as a hard-working young lad who is much smarter than his peers. He has a cynical view of the world around him, but he never shows his sociopathic tendencies.
But only when the Death Note falls from the sky and endows him with god-like power, he begins to change for the worse. If not for the Death Note, Light could have achieved greatness by using his intellect to good use. Given his deductive abilities and sense of justice, he could be a suitable candidate for a job in the police. But the Death Note ruined everything.
9. Nobody seems to really understand him
Even before Light gets his hands on the Death Note, he is very different from most other teenagers his age. He spends most of the day locked up in his room, preparing for the entrance exams. And despite being quite popular with girls and classmates, he avoids wasting time on unnecessary social activities.
This is partly due to the fact that his view of the world is very different from most people. Especially from those around him. His idealistic convictions make him attractive, but at the same time, it is these convictions that make him unapproachable.
8. His ego made him fall for L's lure.
Light could easily have avoided any trouble if he hadn't fallen for L's first bait. Extremely driven by his arrogance and god complex, Light continues to believe that no one can outsmart him. And it is this belief that makes him kill the very first bait that L.
Moreover, he begins to kill ruthlessly, believing that no one in the world can understand how he does it. But that is until L shows up and challenges him.
7. He did not know that he had been wrong all this time.
Throughout the series, Light takes extreme measures to enforce his twisted sense of justice. He destroys several innocent people, manipulates them ruthlessly for his own gain, and even fires his followers.
The saddest thing is that he does all this not in order to seem like an evil character, but in order to save the world. Or at least he thinks so. He even convinces himself that by destroying all evil, he is making the ultimate sacrifice to make the world a better place for those who are honest and kind.
6. Although he had good intentions at the beginning, he later lost control of the situation.
While it's debatable whether Light did the right thing in the first place or not, he appears to have had good intentions. He even divided his time between everyday teenage worries and criminal murders to bring more peace to the world. As a result of his actions, the crime rate in Japan began to decline.
But the more he uses the power of the Death Note, the more he loses his sense of morality and responsibility. The Death Note becomes a curse for him and completely removes him from good intentions. This is clearly seen when he temporarily loses his memory, refusing the Death Note. For a while, he becomes the compassionate teenager he used to be. But once he gets the Notebook, he becomes Kira again.
5. He would get along very well with L.
Light and L's relationship goes through a major catharsis throughout the series. At some point, they reach a stage where it seems that they could become good friends if not for Death Note. L, who is almost as stoic as Light, even claims that Light is the closest friend in his life.
In the manga, Light shows signs of a split personality where he even reconsiders his decision to kill L while being Light. But then he always goes back to Kira and convinces himself that he has no reason not to.
4. Of the billions of people in the world, he was the only one who was not lucky enough to receive the "Death Note".
As Ryuk confirms at the very beginning, the Death Note could have fallen into the hands of anyone. That Light discovered her was a matter of bad luck or just fate. Although Light considered it an honor to be endowed with the great power of the Notebook, it actually ruined his life.
If the Death Note fell into anyone's hands, Light would spend the rest of his life doing something more meaningful and putting his high intelligence to good use.
3. He cares about his family, but unknowingly puts them in danger.
There are times when Light puts the safety of his family first. For example, he stops his father from taking decisive action when his sister is kidnapped, even knowing that this will help Mello get the Death Note. But other times, Light unknowingly throws his caution to the wind and harms his family in the most horrific ways.
The fact that he doesn't even think about ruining his family's reputation after being caught shows just how nonchalant he can be despite his intelligence.
2. The death of his father
Light may not have directly contributed to his father's death, but his actions led to it. Many anime fans also believe that he was willing to kill both his father and sister. But no matter how he wanted to, he was clearly devastated by his father's death.
While it is doubtful that he truly loved anyone, he still felt responsible to his family. So, undoubtedly, the unexpected death of his father had a negative impact on him, but it was still not enough to make him reconsider all the decisions he had made.
1. His humiliating death
In both the manga and anime, Light's character ends up tragically. And although he lived a life full of atrocities, the viewer cannot help but sympathize with him. In the manga, he reaches out to all his allies, but realizes that none of them are anymore. He had coldly cast them aside when they needed him most, and now he was alone.
In the last moments of his life, he looks frightened and constantly repeats in his head: "I do not want to die." In the anime, he dies relatively peacefully, but is still sad when he thinks of L in his final moments.
