Light Yagami

Light Yagami (Japanese: 夜神 月ライト, Hepburn: Yagami Raito) is the main protagonist of the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. He is portrayed as a brilliant but bored genius who finds the Death Note, an otherworldly supernatural notebook that allows the user to kill anyone by knowing their name and face, after it is dropped by the Shinigami Ryuk. Frustrated by the status quo and unfairness of the world, Light uses the Death Note to kill those whom he deems morally unworthy of life, masterminding a worldwide massacre as the vigilante Kira (キラ). Over the course of his efforts to create a world free of crime and evil, wherein he would rule and reign as a godlike figure, Light is pursued by a special task-force, headed by a consulting detective known as L; upon eventually befriending and murdering him, Light takes over as the new L. Despite his intellect and intentions, Light has an overwhelming sense of self-righteous pride, believing that only he can change the world and can never get caught. Eventually he becomes power-mad serial killer, having taken thousands of lives.

In the anime adaptation, he is voiced by Mamoru Miyano in Japanese and by Brad Swaile in the English version. In the live-action film series, he is portrayed by Tatsuya Fujiwara with Swaile reprising his role as his English dub voice; he is portrayed by both Kenji Urai and Hayato Kakizawa in the musical; in the TV drama, he is portrayed by Masataka Kubota; his counterpart in the American film is portrayed by Nat Wolff. Light's portrayal in the anime was met with praise from critics.