,Ohba, Tsugumi and Takeshi Obata. "Character File 2: L." Death Note: How to Read 13. Viz Media. 10. also known mononymously as L, Hideki Ryuga, and Ryuzaki, is the main antagonist of the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. He is an enigmatic, mysterious, and highly esteemed international consulting detective whose true identity and background is kept a secret. He communicates with law enforcement agencies only through his equally inexplicable handler/assistant, Watari, who serves as his official liaison with the authorities. Though his past is shrouded in mystery, he has gained a reputation as arguably the world's greatest detective.
Throughout the series, he observes and investigates the activities of the protagonist, Light Yagami, a high school genius. L attempts to expose and prosecute Light as the serial killer "Kira", who is responsible for killing criminals worldwide through supernatural means using a "Death Note". At the same time, he works to stop the killings and limit Kira's actions, acting as a direct counterforce to him. As the series progresses, the psychological conflict between L and Light intensifies, as each attempts to uncover the other's identity through increasingly complex strategies. L serves as an ideological and visual foil to Light.
Creation and conception Tsugumi Ohba, the writer of the series, created L as a young adult, since he believed the story would not hold much interest if L were significantly older than his opponent, Light. For L's name, he wanted to use a single letter with a lot of significance; he considered "I" and "J", but eventually chose "L" after careful consideration. Ohba left most of L's character design to manga artist Takeshi Obata. Obata asked Ohba if L should be "unattractive". Afterwards Ohba included ideas in his thumbnails, including L's manner of sitting, "he's part English", and "he's listless". Ohba added details regarding L's mannerisms and his interests in sweets. Ohba credits Obata for the character designs. Obata commented that L's thumbnails by Ohba had no bags under his eyes, and that he had a "plain face with no expression" which was very useful. Obata drew L as an "attractive young man" until chapter 11, when the character appeared in person. After chapter 11, Obata and Ohba agreed to contrast his appearance with Light's.
During the development of the early manga chapters, Obata feared L would appear "so suspicious that Light would know instantly it was L if they ever met". When Obata's editor told him that he wanted L to have a face "looking cool based on the angle", Obata added black bags under L's eyes. Obata cited Devilmans Akira Fudou when stating that he believed that black bags were appealing. In addition, Obata thought of a "dead eyes" concept, which involved L having "all-black eyes" and "mostly no eyebrows". Obata believes that black eyes usually makes a character goofier, but the bags "sharpen the character's gaze". Obata believes that the design evokes "a feeling of mystery" and that the reader cannot determine L's true thoughts. Obata also said that the bags under L's eyes were useful for inspiring speculation about his lifestyle and background. The outfit Obata designed for L was a "simple" white, long-sleeved shirt and jeans, to convey that L does not put thought into choosing his clothing. In Death Note 13: How to Read, Ohba presented an initial rough draft of L and said that, with a "cool expression" and without the bags under his eyes, L looked like a different person.
Obata stated that the peculiar traits exhibited by L are best revealed "gradually". Obata added that if he drew L eating "mountains of sweets" before revealing his face, he would not have "much credibility as a super detective" and people would ask if he was "crazy". Both Ohba and Obata chose L as their favorite character from the series, with the former noting him as the "strongest" character in the series besides Light, and the latter due to "appearance, personality, everything". Obata said that he could never have created a character like L and that he enjoyed drawing him. Obata added that because of this, L was not "real" to him and that he liked that aspect of the character.
L's fighting style has been described as similar to capoeira. However, Obata has denied considering this when drawing L's fights, saying that he was thinking of the most effective way to kick someone whilst handcuffed. He added that if the style resembles capoeira, then this "adds another element to it" and "that makes me happy". When designing color illustrations, Obata assigned specific colors to the main characters to help "get the atmosphere right"; gold was assigned to L.
In the process of adapting L into the anime, several plot elements were added to flesh out L's human aspects. Kappei Yamaguchi, L's voice actor, specifically requested certain lines be added to emphasize L's vulnerable side, especially in regard to his relationship with his handler and father figure, Watari. L's rivalry and potential desire for a friendship with Light was also emphasized in episode 25, the final episode where L appears, in which L attempts to "stab Light in the heart" with a final conversation in the rain.
Casting In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi in Japanese, and by Alessandro Juliani in English. He is portrayed by Kenichi Matsuyama in the live-action film series, by Kento Yamazaki in the TV drama, and by Lakeith Stanfield in the American film.
Film adaptations Matsuyama had trouble portraying L and worried about his performance. He reasoned that L rarely interacted with others, and so portrayed him as if he did not "quite understand other people on an emotional level" and had trouble emulating L's postures."The stars ." The Star. Sunday October 29, 2006. Retrieved on December 3, 2009. He also ate sweets like those that L would eat, and considered the details of L's signature gestures."CAST." Sinchew. Retrieved on December 3, 2009. Matsuyama said that he and Tatsuya Fujiwara, the actor portraying Light, became "so immersed" in their character portrayals that they did not speak to one another while on the set; when filming ceased they conversed and "went out for a drink or two". Hideo Nakata, the director of L: Change the World, told The Daily Yomiuri that he wanted to exhibit L's "human side" that was not exhibited in the Death Note series.Kan, Saori. "23 days to live ." The Star. Sunday March 23, 2008. Retrieved on January 25, 2010.
Appearances In Death Note
L, who also uses the aliases , , , and , the latter two for which he has developed reputations as the second- and third-best detectives in the world, is a very discreet and secretive individual and only communicates with the authorities through his assistant/representative Watari. He never shows his face to the world, instead representing himself with a capital L in blackletter font. His real name, L Lawliet, is only revealed in the guidebook Death Note 13: How to Read.
L is introduced as an enigmatic, nameless, international consulting detective, renowned for his intelligence and success in solving cases. He is later revealed as a young man in his 20s, tall and gaunt, with a pale complexion and dark circles under his eyes. Socially awkward and reclusive, he exhibits several distinctive habits including holding objects between his thumb and forefinger, crouching rather than sitting, going barefoot, and scratching one ankle with the toes of the other foot. He is depicted eating primarily sweets, cakes, and other sugary or dairy based foods, a diet that does not seem to affect his health.
Despite his eccentricities, L is portrayed as a highly capable investigator who often employs unconventional methods and is motivated more by curiosity or boredom than by a sense of duty. He nonetheless adheres to a personal moral code, is self aware of his own flaws. and refuses to act in ways he considers morally unacceptable.
L has spent most of his life dedicating himself to solving crime cases, and hunting down and apprehending notorious criminals and felons around the world. It is implied that he suffers from loneliness, internal torment and low self-esteem, even calling himself "a monster" at one point. He also possesses an unusually high intellect and uncanny skills in strategy, deduction, observation, reasoning and profiling, which have given him a high reputation amongst law enforcement agencies worldwide. At the start of the series, L carries out his own investigation of a series of mysterious serial-killings across the globe, all of which are carried out by an apparent supernatural serial-killer known as "Kira", which is the Japanese transliteration of the English word "killer". After deducing that the serial-killings are all connected and perpetrated by a single mastermind and are sourced from Japan, L allies himself with the Japanese police force and assists them in investigating the murders. Although he strongly suspects the series' protagonist, Light Yagami, a high school genius and the son of detective superintendent Soichiro Yagami, one of the primary members of the Kira investigation allied with L, to be Kira's alter-ego, he is unable to prove his theory, due to lack of evidence, but nonetheless remains suspicious of Light and carefully observes him throughout the series.
The majority of the series' initial focus is on L and Light's complex, cerebral and intricate psychological mind-game of cat and mouse, as both use their wits and intellect in an attempt to outdo the other and expose them. Though L comes very close to exposing Light as Kira, he is eventually killed by Rem before he can do so, but before his death his suspicion is confirmed that Light is Kira. Although L's death regresses the Kira investigation's progress, he had prepared a contingency plan to ensure that someone would continue the work of hunting down and apprehending Kira, by selecting two gifted child orphans to be his potential successors, one of whom eventually succeeds in exposing Light as Kira. Although his true identity and birth name is obscured in mystery throughout the series, L utilizes a number of aliases to maintain his anonymity, such as "Hideki Ryuga" or "Ryuzaki", the latter of which he uses as his primary pseudonym throughout the Kira investigation. Ohba said that L is the most intelligent character in the entire Death Note series because "the plot requires it."
In film
L is portrayed by Kenichi Matsuyama in the 2006 live-action adaptation and its sequel, which was released on the same year. His performance and the characterization received widespread acclaim for being earnestly faithful to his original manga counterpart. In the 2008 spin-off, L: Change the World, which takes place in the 23 days that L has left before he dies, L decides to solve one last case, stopping a bio-terrorist organization led by "K" from spreading a deadly virus around the world. Along the way he meets a girl named Maki, FBI agent Suruga, and a boy whom he names Near. In the course of the film, L grew to have a close relationship with Near and Maki, and while he treats Maki like a younger sister, the girl seemingly became attracted to him. A day before his death, L made Near his successor and entrusted him to be taken care at the same orphanage where he grew up in.
In Death Note: Light Up the New World (2016), Kenichi Matsuyama reprises his role as L. He makes a cameo appearance with child Ryuzaki, who inherits his DNA, giving him a lollipop and telling him to not use the Death Note as Ryuzaki promises not to. He is also seen in a CG video that Ryuzaki created.