Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 142 (click to see context) from:
** Of course. A member of a predator species killing a member of a prey species is simply nature at work; a member of a species killing another member of the same species is considered bad.
to:
** Of course. A member of a predator species killing and eating a member of a prey species is simply nature at work; a member of a species killing and eating another member of the same species is considered bad.cannabalism.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
**Of course. A member of a predator species killing a member of a prey species is simply nature at work; a member of a species killing another member of the same species is considered bad.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 309 (click to see context) from:
** Light zig-zags the trope in a rather complicated fashion: He objected strenuously to Misa murdering an innocent police officer who was only doing his job, but [[{{Hypocrite}} he had no problem doing the same thing to a bunch of {{FBI agent}}s.]]
to:
** Light zig-zags the trope in a rather complicated fashion: He objected strenuously to Misa murdering an innocent police officer who was only doing his job, but [[{{Hypocrite}} he had no problem doing the same thing to a bunch of {{FBI agent}}s.]]]] He also killed Lind L. Taylor early on for no other reason then the fact that Taylor had offended him (he was unaware of Taylor's convict status at the time).
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 86 (click to see context) from:
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: The {{FBI}} agents all have names that few Americans would have. Raye Penber is the one that is the most arguably normal, and even that tends to raise eyebrows. In DeathNote #13 (which is basically an encyclopedia about the series), the creator says this was intentional, as she wanted to use names that ''sounded'' realistic, but wouldn't actually exist. Apparently, she doesn't know that the names s/he picked ''don't'' sound realistic in the least...
to:
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: The {{FBI}} agents {{FBI Agent}}s all have names that few Americans would have. Raye Penber is the one that is the most arguably normal, and even that tends to raise eyebrows. In DeathNote #13 (which is basically an encyclopedia about the series), the creator says this was intentional, as she wanted to use names that ''sounded'' realistic, but wouldn't actually exist. Apparently, she doesn't know that the names s/he picked ''don't'' sound realistic in the least...
Changed line(s) 309 (click to see context) from:
** Light zig-zags the trope in a rather complicated fashion: He objected strenuously to Misa murdering an innocent police officer who was only doing his job, but [[{{Hypocrite}} he had no problem doing the same thing to a bunch of FBI agents.]]
to:
** Light zig-zags the trope in a rather complicated fashion: He objected strenuously to Misa murdering an innocent police officer who was only doing his job, but [[{{Hypocrite}} he had no problem doing the same thing to a bunch of FBI agents.{{FBI agent}}s.]]
Changed line(s) 923 (click to see context) from:
* YouWereTryingTooHard: Bit of a subversion; Light makes his life worse because he ''didn't'' give up. [[spoiler: Light kills FBI agent Raye Penber, eventually casting suspicion upon himself, not long after the latter judges him free of suspicion of being Kira.]] If he had simply done ''nothing'' L would not have managed to narrow the suspects down to him.
to:
* YouWereTryingTooHard: Bit of a subversion; Light makes his life worse because he ''didn't'' give up. [[spoiler: Light kills FBI agent FBIAgent Raye Penber, eventually casting suspicion upon himself, not long after the latter judges him free of suspicion of being Kira.]] If he had simply done ''nothing'' L would not have managed to narrow the suspects down to him.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Guise Will Be Guise was renamed to Emergency Impersonation, but doesn\'t look like an example - discussion
Deleted line(s) 427 (click to see context) :
* GuiseWillBeGuise
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** [[spoiler: Although one is forced to wonder how true that number could [[InformedAttribute possibly be]] when one considers there are at least enough names to fill the Death Note ''[[CrapsackWorld every day]]!'']] Not to mention countless criminals who [[KarmaHoudini aren't apprehended for their crimes, and/or are able to evade police]] You'd think Light, of all people, would be aware of that possibility.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Light zig-zags the trope in a rather complicated fashion: He objected strenuously to Misa murdering an innocent police officer who was only doing his job, but [[{{Hypocrite}} he had no problem doing the same thing to a bunch of FBI agents.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Examples Are Not Arguable, description of the trope: \"A woman is shown as weak, incompetent, and ineffectual in this trope unless she dresses and behaves like a man.\" The reaction of the fangirls have no relation with it.
Deleted line(s) 496 (click to see context) :
* InformedAbility: Light's cleverness could fall under this. Most of his plans only work because "killing someone by writing their name in a magic demon notebook" is absurd in the modern setting, blind luck and every other character getting the IdiotBall when his plans are flawed.
Deleted line(s) 710 (click to see context) :
* RealWomenNeverWearDresses: Even with all the flaws that the ladies have, it's very disturbing to see how they get slutshamed and hated to no end while the men can get away with all kind of horrible shit. I.e., when [[spoiler: Sayu was kidnapped and traumatised beyond belief]], misogynistic fangirls immediately dished out the slutshaming, the victim blaming, and the "how DARE you not be an ActionGirl, you stupid bitch".
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Changed line(s) 76 (click to see context) from:
* ApatheticCitizens: In the anime, Light's second victim was about to rape a woman in full view of a crowded street, and no one else seemed likely to do anything about it. Other instances include a man dying in a subway station and a woman being harassed on a train; and of course the argument can be made for the world as a whole regarding Kira's creation of a "New World."
to:
* ApatheticCitizens: In the anime, Light's second victim was about to rape a woman in full view of a crowded street, and no one else seemed likely to do anything about it. Other instances include a man dying in a subway station and a woman being harassed on a train; and of course the argument can be made for the world as a whole regarding Kira's creation of a "New World." train.
Changed line(s) 127 (click to see context) from:
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: If you see L's side as the good side, the ending is one of these because Light's defeat cost the lives of most of the people investigating him.]]
to:
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: If you see L's side as the good side, the [[spoiler: The ending is one of these because Light's defeat cost the lives of most of the people investigating him.Light.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Non-YMMV put back
Added DiffLines:
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: If you see L's side as the good side, the ending is one of these because Light's defeat cost the lives of most of the people investigating him.]]
Added DiffLines:
* InformedAbility: Light's cleverness could fall under this. Most of his plans only work because "killing someone by writing their name in a magic demon notebook" is absurd in the modern setting, blind luck and every other character getting the IdiotBall when his plans are flawed.
Added DiffLines:
* RealWomenNeverWearDresses: Even with all the flaws that the ladies have, it's very disturbing to see how they get slutshamed and hated to no end while the men can get away with all kind of horrible shit. I.e., when [[spoiler: Sayu was kidnapped and traumatised beyond belief]], misogynistic fangirls immediately dished out the slutshaming, the victim blaming, and the "how DARE you not be an ActionGirl, you stupid bitch".
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 467 (click to see context) from:
** Sayu catches Light reading a dirty magazine (it's a long story...) and Sayu says, "Hey, isn't that a dirty book?" Then, she [[LesYay picks it up and begins reading it, while smiling.]]
to:
** Sayu catches Light reading a dirty magazine (it's a long story...) and Sayu says, "Hey, isn't that a dirty book?" Then, she [[LesYay picks it up and begins reading it, while smiling.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 699 (click to see context) from:
* PublicSecretMessege: Misa is a Kira-fangirl, but doesn't know who he is. So she uses her own death note to kill people and force the news to send messages. Light is annoyed, since while people who don't know about the notes won't be able to figure out what they're talking about, it is still far too public for his taste.
to:
* PublicSecretMessege: PublicSecretMessage: Misa is a Kira-fangirl, but doesn't know who he is. So she uses her own death note to kill people and force the news to send messages. Light is annoyed, since while people who don't know about the notes won't be able to figure out what they're talking about, it is still far too public for his taste.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 135 (click to see context) from:
** Averted with Smith & Wesson and probably others.
to:
** Averted with Smith & Wesson Wesson, Mercedes Benz, Porsche and probably others.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Averted with Smith & Wesson and probably others.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** L first reveals himself to his Kira suspect at the Entrance Ceremony and L frequently meets with Light to discuss the Kira Case in public places on the university campus.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
* CruelTwistEnding: [[spoiler: "All humans, without exception, eventually die. When they die, they go to Mu (Nothingness). Once dead, they can never come back to life."]]
Deleted line(s) 661 (click to see context) :
* OuterLimitsTwist: [[spoiler: "All humans, without exception, eventually die. When they die, they go to Mu (Nothingness). Once dead, they can never come back to life."]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** By another way of seeing it if Raye Penber hadn't been assigned to investigate Light, hadn't decided to bring his fiance to Japan while on assignment or hadn't mentioned the bus hijacking to her then a ''lot'' of events later on would never have happened and Light might have avoided suspicion.
** Much later on Near and his allies learn a great deal because [[spoiler: Teru Mikami]] just ''happens'' to hear something that makes him wonder if it's [[spoiler: Ryuk]] and goes on to speak out loud about several points that they didn't know about. If he hadn't done this Near's investigation would have at least been slowed down.
** Much later on Near and his allies learn a great deal because [[spoiler: Teru Mikami]] just ''happens'' to hear something that makes him wonder if it's [[spoiler: Ryuk]] and goes on to speak out loud about several points that they didn't know about. If he hadn't done this Near's investigation would have at least been slowed down.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 36 (click to see context) from:
** And then there's [[EnsembleDarkhorse Matt]], whose hair came out dark greenish brown in the anime, was never established in the manga, and is bright red in most {{Fanart}}.
to:
** And then there's [[EnsembleDarkhorse Matt]], whose hair came out dark greenish brown in the anime, was never established in the manga, was blue in the official game, and is bright red in most {{Fanart}}.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** The manga notes "She arrested the perpetrator of the 'Los Angeles BB Serial Killings'"
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Deleted line(s) 564 (click to see context) :
* MakeABetterWorld: The stated ultimate goal of Light's crusade, which he shares with Misa, Takada, and Mikami.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 63 (click to see context) from:
* AlternateCharacterReading: The kanji for Light's name is "tsuki", meaning "Moon", but his parents opted for it to be read as "Light" (pronounced, in the Japanese version of the anime, as "Raito") instead. Misa, at least, thinks it's cool.
to:
* AlternateCharacterReading: The kanji for Light's name is "tsuki", meaning "Moon", but his parents opted for it to be read as "Light" (pronounced, in the Japanese version of the anime, as "Raito") instead. Misa, at least, thinks it's cool.[[AwesomeMcCoolname cool]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** Misa's and Takada's one time encounter on the other hand is almost a satire on this trope.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* EasilyForgiven: during the Yotsuba arc [[spoiler: L confines Light for over fifty days and then fakes having his father shoot him in the head. In the manga Light forgives L in the very next panel.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 583 (click to see context) from:
* MindRape: [[spoiler: Light does this to himself if TheScream when he's regaining his memories is anything to go by... and then there's the ending of the manga when Near exposes him as Kira; knocks him off his pedestal and forces him to face up to what he's done and what he's become; he is drawn as (symbolically) naked and traumatized.]]
to:
* MindRape: [[spoiler: Light does this to himself if TheScream when he's regaining his memories is anything to go by... and then there's the ending of the manga when Near exposes him as Kira; knocks Kira, knocking him off his pedestal and forces forcing him to face up to what he's done and what he's become; he is drawn as (symbolically) naked and traumatized.]]
Changed line(s) 585 (click to see context) from:
* MindScrew: The second opening. HOLY SHIT
to:
* MindScrew: The second anime opening. HOLY SHIT
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* MindScrew: The second opening. HOLY SHIT
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* FriendlyEnemy: Light and L. L calls Light his first ever friend and Light tells L he really missed seeing him at school. However WordOfGod suggests that they're ''both'' faking.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 67 (click to see context) from:
* AmbiguouslyGay: [[http://ultimatekai.deviantart.com/art/LxRaito-Yaoi-Moments-61837309 Arguably]] Light and L.
to:
* AmbiguouslyGay: [[http://ultimatekai.deviantart.com/art/LxRaito-Yaoi-Moments-61837309 Arguably]] Light and L.L]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Cross-wicking
Changed line(s) 382 (click to see context) from:
** LeeroyJenkins – Mr. Yagami, Matsuda, Matt.
to:
** LeeroyJenkins – – Mr. Yagami, Matsuda, Matt.
Added DiffLines:
* SelfDestructingSecurity: Light goes to great lengths to protect the Death Note. Not only is it hidden in his locked bedroom in a secret panel of his desk drawer, but opening the panel without first deactivating the failsafe will incinerate the notebook before it can be found. After all, if someone else takes it he's unlikely to get it back, and it links him to hundreds of murders.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
It started out as a manga.
Changed line(s) 1 (click to see context) from:
[[redirect:Anime/DeathNote]]
to:
[[caption-width-right:250: [[SarcasmMode The touching story of]] [[ABoyAndHisX a boy and his]] [[AGodAmI god complex.]]]]
->''"The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die."''
-->-- '''[[MagicAIsMagicA Rule #1]]''' of the Death Note
In the land of the dead, the {{shinigami}} Ryuk is bored out of his mind; in an attempt to create some entertainment, he takes a Death Note (a death god's notebook; "note" is simply what the Japanese call notebooks) and drops it into the human world.
In Japan, perfect student Light Yagami is steadily growing disgusted with the rest of the human race. One day, as he heads home from school, he finds a black notebook on the ground with the words "Death Note" written on the front cover. Thinking it's a joke, Light takes it home anyway. That afternoon, despite still thinking it's a joke, Light decides to give the Death Note a try. As he watches a news report about a criminal holding schoolchildren hostage, Light writes the criminal's name in the notebook. Forty seconds later, the man dies of a heart attack.
At first, the powers of the Death Note terrify Light, but then it hits him: this is what he's been looking for all along. With the Death Note, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans he can turn the world into a better place]] by weeding out the bad elements -- at least, that's how he explains things to Ryuk, as the shinigami has decided to keep a personal eye on the wielder of his Death Note.
As Light begins to put his plan into action (with Ryuk observing by his side), the sudden rash of criminal deaths -- credited to "Kira", an {{Engrish}} pronunciation of "Killer" -- has thrown INTERPOL into a frenzy. Given no other choice, INTERPOL accepts the aid of the master detective known only as L -- a young man with a mountain-sized sweet tooth, a bad case of insomnia, and incredible deductive abilities. The upside to L's involvement is that nobody knows his real name; Light discovers that without having L's real name to write into the Death Note, the notebook's power won't work.
After L reveals his involvement with the Kira investigation, Light and L enter into a cat-and-mouse game as Light keeps trying to find a way to dispose of L while also trying to keep the authorities from finding solid proof that he is Kira. More Death Notes fall into the mix and criminals apparently keep dying by Kira's hand, which all serves to help sum up Ryuk's assessment of the situation: "Humans are ''so interesting''!"
The anime series is based on the manga of the same name (which was written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata); it also has a series of AlternateContinuity live-action films based on, but slightly different from, the original manga.
There is [[Characters/{{Deathnote}} a set of character sheets]] and an ''extensive'' set of [[Headscratchers/DeathNote Headscratcher pages]].
These {{spin off}}s of the main series now have their own pages:
* ''Literature/AnotherNote'' -- A {{prequel}} LightNovel focusing on L and Naomi Misora
* ''DeathNotePilot'' -- An early--and very different--version of the manga
* ''Film/LChangeTheWorld'' -- An L-centric {{sequel}} to the Japanese live action films
* ''Literature/LChangeTheWorld'' -- The LightNovel adaptation of the film
----
!!''DeathNote'' provides examples of:
* TheAbridgedSeries: DeathNoteAbridged. TEN of them, actually, only in the page.
* AbsenceOfEvidence: One of Light's main advantages throughout the series.
* AbandonedWarehouse: The finale takes place in one.
* ActionGirl: Wedy. Naomi Misora in ''Another Note''. Also, Hal Lidner of the SPK.
* ActuallyIAmHim: L. Light also pulls this a few times, most notably, [[spoiler: and with the worse sense of timing, at the end.]]
* AdaptationDistillation: The LiveActionAdaptation streamlines the series a lot in order to fit the entire story into two movies, and in doing so jettisoned a fair amount of the excessive plot-and-counterplot (-and-countercounterplot-and-[[IKnowYouKnowIKnow countercountercounterplot]]...) that made the struggle between L and Kira look less like a series of carefully played {{Xanatos Gambit}}s and more like XanatosRoulette. Particularly by removing entirely the matter of [[spoiler: L's Heirs Near and Mello]].
* AdaptationDyeJob: Misa has black hair in the live-action movies, while Naomi Misora goes from having black hair to brown hair.
** And then there's [[EnsembleDarkhorse Matt]], whose hair came out dark greenish brown in the anime, was never established in the manga, and is bright red in most {{Fanart}}.
* AdaptationExpansion: The series is based on a short story about a schoolboy who finds a Death Note and mistakes it for a diary. As a result, [[spoiler:he accidentally kills his friends, until Ryuk helpfully gives him "The Death Eraser", which grants him the power to bring people back from the dead]]. Somewhere along the road to adapting it into a full series, the schoolboy became a mega genius with a [[AGodAmI god complex]], the boring {{Film Noir}}ish detective became a freakish mega genius with a sweet tooth, and the DeusExMachina ending was replaced with {{Xanatos Gambit}}s by the bucketload, and the rest is history. The short story, however, appears as the prologue to the manga it sprouted.
* AdaptationInducedPlothole: The anime omits several scenes from the manga, which while usually not problematic, have lead to plotholes. In the manga, it's explained that [[spoiler: SPK member Ill Ratt is actually a spy for Mello, which is how the mafia learned the SPK's names and were able to kill them.]] This is not explained in the anime, but in the Relight 2 special, [[spoiler: the mafia are cut, and Light blackmails the president to send their names to Kiyomi Takada. In this version, Light's meetings with her and Teru Mikami are moved to earlier than occurred in the anime, and ''they'' kill the SPK.]]
** However, while fixing one plothole, said special [[VoodooShark creates another]]: as [[spoiler: the mafia are cut, Soichiro making the trade for Shinigami Eyes and his subsequent death]] is omitted in the process, leaving plotholes regarding [[spoiler: Soichiro's absence]] as well as how Light was [[spoiler: able to acquire Mello's true name.]]
* AdrenalineTime
* AdultFear
** Look at the way Light exploits the public mood. All along, he plays on a reactionary tendency in public opinion -- people don't like crime, people don't like ''criminals'', and so if someone's killing off the worst ones, who's really going to disapprove? And then he pushes the envelope, making his brand of vigilante justice more and more mainstream. [[spoiler: [[TimeSkip Five years on]], the whole world is rapidly moving towards a police state under one man's control,]] and it's driven from the beginning by corrupting people's need for safety and justice. ''That's'' scary, because that mechanism plays out in less extreme form in the news every day.
** Powerful rich people like those of the Yotsuba corporation using the Death Note to kill off rivals for no other reason than personal gain.
** How about this, parents? Light finds the dangerous notebook ''in the schoolyard.'' And the guy who left it lying around so that someone - here, Light - would find it? ''He followed Light home.''
** Another one for the parents: imagine having to seriously sit and consider that all the evidence indicates that ''your teenage son'' is the terrifyingly merciless mass-murderer you've been hunting all along, and that he will get the death penalty if sentenced. Now imagine thinking about having to go home and explain this to your wife and daughter.
** The revelation that people who use the notebook can neither go to heaven or hell. [[spoiler:At the end of the manga series, a flashback to Light and Ryuk's first meeting reveals that all people go to "mu" (nothingness) when they die and that, after death, nothing can be done to bring someone back to life. In the anime, this is only shown in one of the eyecatches revealing the rules of the Death Note.]]
** Everyone who uses the Death Note tends to have their personal worst fears become true.[[spoiler: Misa ends up completely alone without anyone loving her, Mikami realizes he became what he hates so much, the vain Takada burns to death naked, Higuchi is humiliated in public and then dies like a dog and "god of the new world" Light has his philosophy coldly rejected by Near while the latter squashes an ugly doll of him and dies without his dignity and or a shred of respect.]]
%% NOTE: The above is all that needs to be said. Please do not insert YOUR personal opinions about religion and the purpose of religion into this article. This article is about Death Note, not an invitation to introduce your opinions with weasel words.
* AffirmativeActionGirl: Sanabi in the live-action movie.
* AllAccordingToPlan: Kira is quite fond of this phrase. L is, too.
* AllCrimesAreEqual: Light starts by punishing the worst criminals but later stoops to culling purse snatchers.
** Both L and Near direct this principle towards Kira himself and refuse to acknowledge him as a hero.
*** Justified given the above.
** Mikami plans to start killing people for "crimes" such as laziness and being disrespectful. [[NationalStereotypes How Japanese of him]].
* AllDeathsFinal
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Played 100% straight with Misa and Light, and later with Kiyomi Takada and Light.
** Averted by Raye and Misora, who did genuinely love each other.
*** Also Soichiro and Sachiko, and Aizawa and his wife Eriko.
* AllThereInTheManual: In the manga, you have no idea what happens to [[spoiler:Misa Amane]] unless you read the supplementary book, "How To Read". Averted in the movies and in the anime.
* AloneWithThePsycho: Happens to Naomi Misora in the manga/anime AND in the prequel novel.
** Towards the end of the series, Aizawa gets this feeling when he drives Light to Takada's hotel.
* AlphabeticalThemeNaming: Kira, L, Light, Mello, Near ...
* AlternateCharacterReading: The kanji for Light's name is "tsuki", meaning "Moon", but his parents opted for it to be read as "Light" (pronounced, in the Japanese version of the anime, as "Raito") instead. Misa, at least, thinks it's cool.
** [[spoiler: This is actually used by Light as a mechanism to attempt to gain the real name of Detective Raye Penber's girlfriend.]]
* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: [[spoiler:Played straight with [[HostageForMacGuffin Sayu]]. Rem forces Light to do this for Misa. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] ''hard'' with [[MoralEventHorizon Takada]] and with [[TwistEnding Shiori in the live-action movie.]]]]
* AmbiguousDisorder: L and his similarly brilliant/socially awkward/obsessive-compulsive/emotionally immature brethren, especially Near.
* AmbiguouslyGay: [[http://ultimatekai.deviantart.com/art/LxRaito-Yaoi-Moments-61837309 Arguably]] Light and L.
* AmnesiacDissonance: Averted in [[spoiler: Light's MemoryGambit in the anime. In relinquishing the Death Note, he loses all memory of ever being Kira and turns genuinely upstanding and moral; apart from, you know, not mass murdering criminals, he also refuses to manipulate Misa, in contrast to his Kira self where his manipulation practically defined their entire relationship. Upon regaining his memories as Kira, however, there's no apparent moral conflict between his "good/evil" personas, and he simply picks up right where he left off as Kira.]]
* AmnesiacLiar: Of course, before the MemoryGambit, both Light and Misa are liars. After this, they are very confused by what L tells them about the situation.
* AmoralAttorney: Subverted with Mikami Teru. He's ''very'' moral, technically, he's just an AxeCrazy KnightTemplar.
* AnimationBump: Various episodes, notably episode 25 and episode 37.
* AntagonistInMourning: In the anime, Light even goes so far as to hallucinate [[spoiler: L sitting next to him and talking to him. Or, well, mouthing words in his direction.]]
* AnyoneCanDie: Seriously, all bets are off.
* AnywhereButTheirLips: Misa kisses L on the cheek.
** Averted, when Light kisses Misa on the lips.
* ApatheticCitizens: In the anime, Light's second victim was about to rape a woman in full view of a crowded street, and no one else seemed likely to do anything about it. Other instances include a man dying in a subway station and a woman being harassed on a train; and of course the argument can be made for the world as a whole regarding Kira's creation of a "New World."
* AppealToAudacity: When Mello tells Near about the killing notebook and the shinigami, the SPK asks Near if he could really believe such a story. He says that if Mello were lying to them, he wouldn't tell such a ridiculous story, so it must be true.
* ArbitrarySkepticism: Various characters initially refuse to accept the existence of Shinigami even after accepting the existence of a magic notebook that kills people. And even before discovering the notebook, you would think people would be a lot more open-minded after it's been established that the killer can remotely induce heart attacks simply by learning the target's name and face.
* ArcNumber: FourIsDeath. The manga has [[OneHundredAndEight 108 chapters]]. [[ThirteenIsUnlucky Thirteen]] chapters in ''Literature/AnotherNote.''
* ArchEnemy: Light and L; Light and Mello; and Light and Near.
** Let's not forget Near and Mello.
*** Near and Mello are more competing [[WellDoneSonGuy WellDoneSonGuys]] to the extreme. They'll fuck anyone over as pawns, Mello more likely to than Near because of the type of company he keeps, but in the end [[spoiler: Near even says he needed Mello to take Light down, and Mello was only killed off because the writer thought he was more intelligent than the other characters]].
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "Tell me, Light, from the moment you were born, has there ever been a time where you've actually told the truth?"
* ArtEvolution: In ''How To Read'' Obata discusses how he got better at drawing Light as an evil bastard as the series progressed but then had to forget everything he'd learned during [[spoiler: the Yotsuba Arc.]]
* ArtifactOfDeath, ArtifactOfDoom: The Death Notes.
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: The {{FBI}} agents all have names that few Americans would have. Raye Penber is the one that is the most arguably normal, and even that tends to raise eyebrows. In DeathNote #13 (which is basically an encyclopedia about the series), the creator says this was intentional, as she wanted to use names that ''sounded'' realistic, but wouldn't actually exist. Apparently, she doesn't know that the names s/he picked ''don't'' sound realistic in the least...
** This is even worse in the prequel novel, where it broke the tension in the worst way possible, especially when Misora had to double-check whether anyone shared the name. In fact, the only realistic name in the novel is Blackberry Brown -- considering names such as Believe Bridesmaid, Backyard Bottomslash, Quarter Queen and ''Blues-harp Babysplit'' (that's S-P-L-I-T, which makes even less sense), "Blackberry Brown" really does sound normal in comparison.
* AssholeVictim: [[KickTheSonOfABitch All of Light's earliest victims]] are {{Anvilicious}}ly so. (The AttemptedRape [[ComesGreatResponsibility in clear view on a crowded street comes to mind]]. And keep in mind that the guy who was [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten holding a preschool hostage]] was stated to be a ''small fry'' compared to most of the people Light was killing that first week.) However, later, [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope fewer and fewer of them.]]
** Or rather, [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide more and more]] due to media support and [[VigilanteMan thorough judging]], but the percentage of true {{Complete Monster}}s among them drops, and [[KickTheDog the dogs get in the mix]].
* AttemptedRape: Light's second kill was a member of a scooter gang who was attempting to rape a bystander (in the anime; in the manga, they just harass her).
*** [[spoiler: [[strike:Mikami]] Takada]] kills a man who is harassing a woman on a subway, as a crucial part of Light's plan.
* AttentionWhore: Demegawa goes from merely praising Kira to ''actively using Kira to promote his own career.'' To no one's surprises, and to the joy of everyone both in and out of universe, Kira [[spoiler:(in the form of Mikami)]] eventually gets sick of this and kills him.
* AwfulTruth: Light is Kira, and no one who finds out [[{{MassOhCrap}} takes it well]]. [[spoiler: Especially not Matsuda.]]
* AxCrazy: Pretty much all the Kiras qualify when they're at their worst, but especially Mikami when he gets into "sakujo" mode.
* BackhandedApology: [[spoiler: at the culmination of Light's memory gambit, he has manipulated events so that not only do Light and Misa look innocent but then in order to maintain good standing with the police L has to apologize to Light, which he does. This trope comes into play when he arguably gets even later during the infamous rooftop scene where he [[PassiveAggressiveCombat insists "let me atone for this"]] [[FoeYay with a painful "foot massage."]]]]
* BadassMustache: Soichiro Yagami. (Except in the movie.)
* BadPowersGoodPeople: Misa and Mikami believe this. Misa once scolds Demegawa with something along the lines of, "You can't buy peace and love with money, you know!" when he [[spoiler: falls for Near's trick with the money]].
** Matsuda struggles with this idea a bit.
** Sochiro begins to believe this from the third volume onwards. L's response underlines it very well.
--> '''L:''' If Kira is an ordinary human being who somehow gained the power, he is a very unfortunate being.
* BadPowersBadPeople: L and the investigation team definitely believe this.
* BaitAndSwitchGunshot: [[spoiler: The mock execution]]
* {{Baka}}: "Matsuda no baka!" ("Matsuda, you idiot!")
** Light calls Misa this a few times as well, mostly in internal dialogue.
* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: When Light is incarcerated and loses his memory. He made elaborate plans that had to work correctly despite him not being able to make any adjustments for two or three months, or even make sure he carried out his part.]] In this, it's more impressive than a standard Batman gambit, since he wasn't able to actively manipulate anyone during that period. It doesn't count as a XanatosGambit because, while the plan was flexible, several aspects relied on people acting predictably.
** Light and L do this almost constantly, especially early on. Many of their most clever moves against each other rely on the other party being smart enough to figure out clues that the average person wouldn't even consider, then acting accordingly.
* BattleButler: Watari.
* BattleOfWits
* TheBechdelTest: Not that ''DeathNote'' is exactly the biggest champion of women on the market, but several of the plot points Rem and Misa discuss actually give the show a pass.
* BeingWatched: ''[[ParanoiaFuel Okay, there are 64 surveillance cameras hidden in your bedroom alone... now act normal....]]''.
** And how does Light pretend to act normal? [[{{Asexual}} Looks at porn]]. How does he find it? "Ugh, this is so boring."
** Later, L does this to Light and Misa 24-7: Misa complains about it briefly.
* BerserkButton: [[spoiler: Ties into BewareTheNiceOnes below: ''do not'' insult Soichiro Yagami's memory in front of Matsuda.]]
** It's also not a good idea to ever suggest that what Light/Kira is doing may be wrong. Look at how big he writes Lind L. Tailor's name!
** Light learns what Misa's BerserkButton is when he outlines his plan to date other girls to throw off suspicion. "NO WAY!" indeed.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: [[spoiler: On learning that Light is Kira and seeing him try to write down Near's name, Matsuda, who was by far the softest policeman in the series, flies into such a rage that he shoots Light to stop him, but it almost went to the point where nearly finishes him off.]]
** Misa herself embodies this trope. That cute, cheerful girl over there? Don't mess with her.
* BewareTheSuperman
* BigBad: Light. He just also happens to be the [[VillainProtagonist protagonist]].
** BigBadFriend: At one point, [[HeroAntagonist L]] says he would be disappointed if Light turned out to be Kira, because Light is one of the best friends he's ever had.
* BigBrotherIsWatching: "It is important to teach our children that Kira is good."
* BigDamnVillains: [[spoiler: B.B. is one of Kira's judgments.]]
* BigEater: L is almost constantly eating candy and sweets, yet stays in [[strike:excellent shape]] a state of gaunt sickly malnourishment. In the manga, he explains that his overactive brain uses up all the calories, while in the anime he claims that "if you do it right" you can eat whatever you want, effectively ''outsmarting his food''. Mello also seems to gobble down chocolate bars and stay rakishly thin.
* BigFancyHouse: The Wammy's House.
* {{Bishonen}}: Light, in a straight example. Near's also perhaps a good example. There's also Mikami (who even has long hair), Mello, Matsuda, Raye Penber, Gevanni, Namikawa and Midou.
* BlackAndGreyMorality: L, a detective who takes on cases because they're interesting and who is all too willing to use coldly ruthless tactics to win, goes up against Light Yagami, a serial killer acting as an avenging god on a mission to smite the world of all its sinners. It's arguably a matter of scale; Light is willing to kill those who oppose him (in the name of a better world, of course), regardless of their innocence (and to [[{{EvilGloating}} gloat]] about it, too); he is also willing to kill those of his supporters who fail him, and those whom he no longer needs. L, who had called Light's murder spree "unforgivable," is not willing to go to such extremes, although he ''was'' willing to let the Yotsuba Group's victims die for evidence against them and to have Misa tortured (in the name of catching Kira, of course).
** Whether Near and Mello fit this or EvilVersusEvil is another arguable matter. Mello is a ruthless mob boss willing to kill his underlings and those opposed to him, such as the SPK, and also to threaten innocents, [[spoiler: like Sayu Yagami]], with murder. WordofGod has stated that Near is the "more evil" of the pair. So make what you will of their battles with Light and each other.
*** Made even more ambigous as crime rises back to the level it had before Light entered the picture.
*** This is more a matter of a perspective - previously Kira had monopolized murder. It just didn't show in the criminal statistics.
* BlackAndWhiteMorality: How Light and his supporters view the world.
* BlandNameProduct: "Fanasonic."
** The anime also gives us the search engine "Gentle."
** And the array of computer hardware that was very close to perfect reproductions of contemporary Apple hardware... except for the logo.
* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Slightly subverted, as [[spoiler: Matsuda]] shoots his ''hand'' rather than the object; his target is also bleeding profusely.
** Also [[BattleButler Watari]] when he shoots a pistol out of [[spoiler: Higuchi's]] hand to keep him from killing himself.
* BlondGuysAreEvil: [[spoiler: Mello, {{mafia}} terrorist extraordinaire in his debut, described as having brought in the head of a mob boss to join the group, all while he was still in his teens.]]
* BloodFromTheMouth: [[spoiler: In the anime, Namikawa, during the Yotsuba Group's mass heart attack.]]
* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Whoever wrote out the rules that the shinigami live by believed that killing a human out of necessity, boredom, or malice was 100% acceptable, but to kill a human to extend another human's life out of love for that human was the ultimate offense, worthy only of death.
* BluffingTheMurderer: L tries this frequently with Light; later, [[spoiler: L, Light, Misa, and the task force do this to Higuchi]].
* BoardToDeath
* BondCreatures: The shinigami in the sense that they grant humans powers and may reject (i.e. kill) a human if they don't like them.
* BookAndSwitch
* BookEmDanno: Light volunteers for this as part of his plans.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: In the anime, Misa's cross necklace is replaced with a fleur de lis, and all crosses worn by Mello are removed. Interestingly, the cross is retained on the Misa collector's figure included with volume 5 of the DVD series, and she is also depicted with it in the first anime opening.
* ABoyAndHisX: A Boy and his Shinigami.
* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler: Poor Sayu.]]
** This is part of the backstories of both Misa and Mikami.
** Matsuda is a nice and naive person who has his self esteem and ideals destroyed over the course of the series.
* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler: Light, can't you keep it together for two more damned seconds?]]
** And of course the instant classic:[[spoiler: "I'm going to...die?...No!! I DON'T WANNA DIEEE!!!!"]]
** Also gets done to [[spoiler: Kiyomi Takada in her final moments, which she spends crying and terrified]].
* BreakingTheFourthWall: In the manga, Ryuk: [[WrongGenreSavvy "It's like living in a sitcom!"]]
* BruceWayneHeldHostage: [[spoiler: The busjacking is a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]]. [[CoverBlowingSuperpower "If he were Kira he could just kill this guy with a heart attack."]]]]
** Specifically, Light is exploiting this trope to deflect suspicion. ''And'' to learn the name of the man tailing him. [[MagnificentBastard He's good.]]
* BullyHunter: Teru Mikami, as a kid.
* BullyingADragon: L's main tactic to reveal Light as Kira seems to be to just keep annoying him until he slips up...
** Near has no problems with this strategy.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: L. Later, Near.
* BurningBuildingRescue: A skeptical Light tests the titular notebook on a criminal holding the children in a nursery school hostage.
* ButtMonkey: Matsuda
* ByTheEyesOfTheBlind: Only those who have touched the Notes can see the Shinigami.
* CanYouHearMeNow
* CapeBusters: The anti-Kira Taskforce.
* CaptainObvious: Of the Admiral Akbar kind [[http://www.macrochan.org/view.php?u=WIPXMFAKNFCFWMIH3OWFZK4XLFGLPZNC Trap! This is a trap!]]
--> '''Ryuk:''' The F.B.I agents aren't criminals.
* CassandraTruth: In the manga, [[spoiler: when the killings started, various tabloids put forward the CrackpotTheory that L was Kira, so it was harder for the SPK to seriously put this theory forward when it became true.]]
* CastFromLifespan: The Shinigami eye-trade deal.
* CatchPhrase: Ryuk's ''"Humans are... interesting!"'' ("Ningen-to omoshiro!"), appears at least twice in '''every''' version of the story -- the manga, the film adaptations, the TV series. Also, variations on "I am Justice" crop up a lot. Teru Mikami also says "sakujo!" ("Delete!") constantly while he is using the Death Note. He seems to get [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZFoO3HhcwE very excited]] while writing in the Death Note. Fans have called this a "sakujo-gasm".
** Rem makes a variant on Ryuk's statement later on. Instead of "Humans are... interesting!" she decides that "Humans are ... such ugly creatures."
** Let's not forget Light's "I will be the God of this new world!" ('''"Boku wa Shin-sekai no Kami da!"''')
** [[XanatosRoulette "Just as planned."]]
*** And conversely, (with a screenshot of him smiling upside down) "Not as planned".
* CavalierConsumption: L seems like he's doing this, but it's actually necessary to maintain his energy and intelligence.
* CessationOfExistence: "Don't think that anyone who uses the death note can go to heaven or hell." [[spoiler: In the manga, Light figures out this means there is no afterlife for anyone and all humans are equal in death.]]
%% NOTE: The above is all that needs to be said. Please do not insert YOUR personal opinions about religion, or the religious significance of these words into this article. This article is about Death Note, not an invitation to introduce your opinions.
* ChainedHeat: Light and L are handcuffed together for several episodes.
* ChainsOfLove: [[FetishFuel Or so some]] [[YaoiFangirl Yaoi]] {{FanGirl}}s [[HoYay would like]] [[FoeYay to think]].
** ThereIsOnlyOneBed: FridgeLogic pointed out by shippers everywhere-that chain isn't long enough.
* ChekhovsGun: "Hideki Ryuga." (The name but not the character.)
** Oh, and [[spoiler: Ryuk's personal Death Note in the climax. He only uses it once.]]
** And let's not forget that the only reason this series passes the BechdelTest is because two female characters spend volumes three through six hanging as many guns and/or pens over the mantelpiece as they possibly can.
** A strangely large number of potential guns, mostly involving the [[MagicAIsMagicA rules of the Death Note]], never get used. We're probably lucky that the rule about [[KudzuPlot six different notebooks all in the human world at once]] was never invoked.
* ChewbaccaDefense: Especially in the early interactions between Light, L and the Taskforce where Light deliberately stumbles on L's name: "Ryuuga, I’m sorry I mean ''Ryuuzaki''" to broadcast look L's using an alias, he's an outsider, he's not trustworthy. But Light as the [[{{Nepotism}} Chief's son]] and popular golden boy is. Therefore you lose.
** Later Light and [[spoiler: Near]] when Light says to the Taskforce "[[spoiler: Near]] [[WithUsOrAgainstUs really seems against us, doesn't he?"]] Light also points out how [[spoiler: Near]] associates with a known criminal [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and he's rude.]] This strategy works in discrediting his opponent-even when the Taskforce is at their most suspicious of Light they still don't trust [[spoiler: Near.]]
* ChildHater: Roger the Director of Wammy's House, [[AllThereInTheManual according to the manual.]] [[InformedAttribute This is never shown anywhere else.]]
* ChildrenRaiseYou: Maki and [[NoNameGiven "Boy"]] do this for L in ''L: Change the [=WorLd=]'' although he doesn't get to find true love.
** [[spoiler: At the end of the movie, L names the boy Near.]]
* TheChosenOne: Light thinks he's this in the first episode until Ryuk bursts his bubble.
** Depending on how honest he was in [[spoiler:his final HannibalLecture, Light might still think he was chosen to rid the world of evil---just not by Ryuk.]]
*** Lampshaded in the [[http://www.onemanga.com/Death_Note/1/08/ first chapter]]
*** Light also attributes his luck concerning [[spoiler: Penber's fiancée]] to this.
* ElCidPloy
* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Misa. To a degree, Matsuda. L has his moments.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: In the anime, whenever either L or Light are having inner monologues, they are dyed with a blue and red light, respectively. Matsuda turns out to be yellow, Mogi is a different shade of red, Aizawa is green, Misa is light blue, Naomi Misora is dark blue, and spoiler: Mikami is purple.
** In the final couple of episodes, Near's hair turns a light blue, [[spoiler: probably in emulation of his precursor, the deceased L.]]
** The LiveActionAdaptation features similar color coding: at the end of the first movie, as L and Light face each other in person for the first time, L is standing in a shaft of blue light, while Light is standing in orange.
** The live action movies have another, subtle example. In the first film Light for the most part wears casual brown clothing, switching to all black in the sequel as he has fully embraced his Kira persona. He goes back to wearing brown once he loses his memory, then starts dressing in black again once it's back. Takada also starts wearing all black once she actively starts using the death note.
* ComesGreatResponsibility: So in the first episode Light has an interesting moral dilemma. What's worse? To use the evil dark power to kill people or [[RefusalOfTheCall refuse the call]] and let the BusFullOfInnocents get killed when he has the power to stop it?
** Subverted when he decides that letting innocents die ''is'' his responsibility. [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans In the name of a better world, or course.]]
* ConspicuousCG: Cars in the Yotsuba arc.
** Shinigami in the live action films.
* ContrivedCoincidence: If Naomi Misora hadn't happened to go to the police station during the ONE instant that the entire Kira task force had left to meet L, and if Light hadn't been asked to deliver a package to his father at that same exact instant, and just happened to overhear what she was there for, or if Aizawa walked slightly slower, or faster, or didn't have an umbrella for the rain that ''came out of nowhere'', or if Misora had another alias, the manga would have ended at 2 volumes, with Light soundly defeated.
** Although when he discovers this coincidence, Light [[LampshadeHanging acknowledges]] how "another God" is on his side. Since WordOfGod and the manga universe have bent over backwards to say that there were no gods in the Death Note universe this means that it's just conjecture on Light's part, and the events fall in his favor by simple, improbable coincidence. (In [[AllThereInTheManual Volume 13]], Naomi is consequently stated to have the lowest possible score in the "luck" attribute.)
* ConsummateLiar: Light, all the way.
** L is also quite the liar. "Light-kun is my first ever friend," anyone?
* ContemptibleCover: The novelization of ''L: Change The [=WorLd=]''. If you wouldn't be caught dead with that book in public, you're not alone.
** Or the tankobons if you don't want people to get the wrong idea of why you're reading a book with a huge cross on it.
** Also the seventh volume of the Japanese DVD series' cover, which features [[spoiler: Light standing triumphantly over a dead L.]]
* ContinuityNod: To ''[[http://community.livejournal.com/death_note/1798147.html#cutid1 Another Note.]]'' [[spoiler: Beyond]] is also mentioned in ''L: Change The World''.
** Also (only in the anime) after Misora [[spoiler:is killed by Light]] L mentions that they worked together on the LA BB Murder cases.
* CoolGuns: All of the firearms shown in the manga actually exist. [[CaptainObvious And yes, they are cool.]]
* CoolOldGuy: Here, we get two: Soichiro Yagami and Watari. [[spoiler: Both meet untimely ends (only Watari in the movie)]]
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Yotsuba Group -- specifically, [[spoiler:Higuchi]].
* CosmicPlaything: Light ends up in possession of a Death Note because Ryuk was bored.
** Ryuk even [[spoiler: kills Light the moment he loses his entertainment value]].
* [[CouldntFindAPen Couldn't Find A Pen]]: [[spoiler:Light at the end. He gets shot in the attempt]].
** [[spoiler: And he actually pulls it off before then, too, writing Higuchi's name in blood]]
* CrazyConsumption: L's sweets, Mello's chocolate, Ryuk's apples, and Light's potato chips.
* CrazyPrepared: Light's three different ways to tell if someone was in his room, not to mention his PornStash just in case someone happens to be watching.
** The rigged desk has got to count as well.
** Near kept millions of dollars ready to be dropped from the top of a skyscraper at the press of a button, just in case a TorchesAndPitchforks mob attacks his secret hideout. FridgeBrilliance in that the SPK are a proscribed terrorist organisation by that point, so their bank accounts would have been frozen.
* CrapSackWorld: Light certainly thinks the world is one. And thus he feels that he needs to clean it up. One criminal at a time...
** Misa and Mikami believe it, too, willingly joining Light to "make the world a better place."
* CreepyChild and CuteShotaroBoy: Near. He gets extra points for being able to pull off CreepyChild despite [[OlderThanTheyLook not actually being one]].
* CreepyCoolCrosses: Misa's necklace and earrings, Mello's crucifix. The anime adaptation of the series, however, [[{{Bowdlerize}} changed Misa's crosses to FleurDeLis symbols while Mello's crucifix became a nondescript red stick.]]
** There is a distinct cross motif to the covers of the manga volumes as well, and the cross is retained on the Misa collector's figure included with volume 5 of the DVD series.
* CrimeAfterCrime: The cover-up killings of an agent and his wife narrowed L's attention on Light even more. It was after this L decided to reveal himself just to keep him closer.
* CrimefightingWithCash: L and Near.
* CriminalMindGames: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] -- the messages are solely to trick/irritate L. On the other hand, Kira does tend to take risks to show his superiority to a defeated opponent.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Misa, who can be quite devious.
** Matusda. Compare his inane comments early on with the time he [[spoiler: practically blows Light's hand away and then riddles him with bullets]].
* CryForTheDevil: Deserving or not, [[spoiler: Mello, Takada, Light, Mikami, and Misa all had very sad deaths.]]
* CueTheSun: In the first episode, it is stormy and raining when Ryuk first confronts Light. By the time Light has finished outlining his master plan and declared that he will be the god of the new world, the sun has come out and he has a halo of light at his back. [[BookEnds It all comes around]] back in the last two episodes - it's raining all throughout episode 36, but the sun breaks through the clouds in the beginning of episode 37 [[spoiler:the very moments after Light dooms himself by declaring his victory prematurely.]]
* CuriosityKilledTheCast: Light just wanted to see if the notebook would work. The same thing presumably happened to Misa.
* CuttingTheElectronicLeash
* [[MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal Daddy Didn't Raise No Criminal]]: Soichiro's reaction to L's suggestion that Light or Sayu could be Kira.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Light. He manages to anticipate and avoid just about every common villain pitfall.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Than most {{Shonen}} series, some even confusing it with {{Seinen}}.
* DarkMessiah: Light Yagami means to save the world by cleaning it with blood ...
* TheDarkSide
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Light pretty much completely abandoned his ideals over the course of the series.
** Abandoned... or ''embraced as never before?''
* ADayInTheLimelight: Episode 19 is titled "Matsuda". Guess who it's about.
** Misa gets one, too.
* DeadlineNews
* DeadlyUpgrade: Quite literal in that the shinigami can give a Death Note's wielder the power to see people's names and lifespans -- at the cost of half the wielder's remaining lifespan.
* DealWithTheDevil: The shinigami eye deal.
* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Mogi dies in Ukita's place in the LiveActionAdaptation, and Takada's death is hastened (granted, because the plot itself is hastened). L's death sort of counts as it's by his own hands instead of Rem's.]]
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: Demigawa: can you say "'''SAKUJO'''"?]]
* DeathIsCheap: Intentionally averted by Ohba who felt that [[PetPeeveTrope this trope had been overused]] in other manga.
** Played straight in the pilot chapter with the addition of the death eraser
* DeathWail: Light fakes one [[spoiler: when L dies]]. Good actor, that one.
* DebateAndSwitch: The series avoids answering the morality of ''Kira's'' actions by making ''Light'' [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope leap off the slippery slope]].
* DefectiveDetective: Everyone from Wammy's House.
* DeniedFoodAsPunishment: In the manga [[spoiler: during confinement the Taskforce comment on how Misa being denied water for three days was too much for a young girl to take.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: L, Near and/or Mello are the opposing deuteragonists to protagonist Light.
* DidYouJustScamCthulhu: [[spoiler: It's established that if a Shinigami uses its notebook to deliberately prolong a human's life by killing someone else (i.e. the human's murderer,) that Shinigami will die. Knowing this, Light manages to manipulate events so that Misa is about to be caught by L; forcing Rem to write L's true name in the Death Note along with Watari's in order to save her. This is even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Rem just before she writes their names in the Death Note and she curses Light for it.]]
* DidntSeeThatComing: How [[spoiler:Light met his end]].
** Played with in the manga (but not in the anime) with [[spoiler: how Near came very close to being killed by Light. Near looks completely shocked when Light pulls a hidden piece of the Death Note out of his watch. Light was only one letter away from taking Near down with him.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: With Kira as judge, jury and executioner, all crimes - even purse-snatching and embezzlement - qualify for the death penalty, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans for the good of the new world]].
** Lind L. Tailor [[spoiler: while posing as L]], tells Light over broadcast television "Kira, I think I have a pretty good idea of why you're doing this. But what you're doing ''is evil!''" Not the nicest thing to say, but at least he gives Light credit for trying to improve the world. Light's response is to kill him.
* DistressedDamsel: [[spoiler: Sayu]].
* DoesntLikeGuns
** Aiber.
** Light and his father: "Guns aren't allowed in Japan."
** Matt: "Since when are the Japanese allowed to carry such nice guns?"
* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Getting away with murder and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking eating potato chips]] has never looked so cool.
* DoesNotLikeWomen: Light doesn't really like ''[[HatesEveryoneEqually anyone]]'', but he explicitly doesn't like women because he thinks they're overemotional and weak.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Putting aside the religious and biblical context of it, the dialogue and quite a few of the actions during the foot massage scene between Light and L sound ''awfully'' kinky (and only existed in the anime).
** ...and the FantasticRacism against the Shinigami PlayedForLaughs:
--> '''L:''' Hey, you Shinigami, the white thing over there...
--> '''Matsuda:''' Er.. Ryuuzaki, should you really go around calling someone a white thing?
** [[SecretPolice The followers of]] [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny and the society built around Kira's New World...]]
* DontTellMama: Light is trying to keep his secret of being Kira from his parents and sister.
** Soichiro explicitly tells Light not to tell either Sachiko or Sayu where he's going when he agrees to help with the investigation.
* DontTouchItYouIdiot
* DoomedMoralVictor: [[spoiler: Years later legions of followers still mourn the loss of Kira.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Misa kills herself soon after Light's death.]] However, this isn't shown in the manga.
** This was also the method of disposing of [[spoiler: Naomi]] although L had doubts that it was done willingly. Some of the criminals killed when Kira was testing the Death Note's powers also committed "suicide."
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: Light, Misa, Takada, Mikami, [[spoiler: Higuchi]] ...
* DrunkWithPower: ... Light, Misa, Takada, Mikami, [[spoiler: Higuchi]] ...
* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler: the deleted scene of L's funeral]]- see also HighOctaneNightmareFuel.
** In the second arc, the taskforce decides to take on the task of capturing Mello in honor of [[spoiler: Soichiro Yagami, who died in their first attempt]].
* DyingLikeAnimals: Lemmings, mice, and snakes are all around. And Light himself is a mole.
* DysfunctionJunction: Wammy's House, though it's hard to find a character who ''[[ThereAreNoTherapists doesn't]]'' have some sort of obvious [[HollywoodPersonalityDisorders mental disorder]] or [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzZGqtqW5DQ&feature=related traits thereof.]]
* EarlyBirdCameo: Takeda, Mikami, Near, and Mello showed up in the 2nd openings even though it would be quite a few episodes (plus a timeskip) before their arc started.
* EatTheEvidence: In the manga it's explained that [[spoiler: Light swallows the Death Note scrap he used to kill Higuchi.]]
* EiffelTowerEffect: At one point in the anime, the Eiffel Tower and the London Eye are used as visual shorthand for Paris and London.
** ...and the World Trade Center for NewYorkCity, despite both the manga and anime taking place post-9/11.
* EmpathicEnvironment: The aptly titled episode "Overcast" features a brilliant and chilling example. [[spoiler: The year's first snowflake floats into frame and past Naomi Misora's drivers license a split-second after she lets it go, handing it to Light, thereby sealing her fate. Light reads the license and jots down her name in his Death Note. Less than a minute later, when Light reveals to Naomi that he's Kira -- and thus that she's about to die -- the snowfall is already heavy.]]
* EndOfAnAge: Depending on your views on Kira, [[spoiler: Light's death]] definitely counts.
* EnhancedInterrogationTechniques: Used by L.
* EnvironmentalSymbolism
* EpisodeTitleCard
* EurekaMoment: Naomi Misora gets a ''lot'' of these in the BB Murder Cases. [[spoiler: They were planted by Ryuzaki.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ryuk, an absolutely pitiless Death God, is still sometimes astonished by the depths Light will sink to; it's remarked several times that Light is worse than any Shinigami, something that amuses Ryuk to no end.
** In the second live action film, Misa stops her terrorist broadcast when Sayu calls her out for being a murderer (though she goes right back to killing once [[MadLove she meets Light.]] Toward the end of the film, she's horrified and begins to cry when Light [[spoiler: writes Soichiro's name in the Death Note]].
** Light is also dismayed when [[spoiler: Mikami's]] killing spree extends to [[spoiler: even elderly and sometimes innocent people]].
** The Death Note doesn't work on people [[InfantImmortality younger than 3 years old]].
** Rem is apparently fine with Light and Misa killing people so long as it makes Misa happy, but she's disgusted by Kyosuke Higuchi.
* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Misa Amane.
* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: Sparkle chips!
* EvilEye: The DeadlyUpgrade above involves trading for "shinigami eyes."
* EvilGloating: Light does this a lot. And well.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: The jokes of the Yotsuba group are pretty bad.
* EvilIsHammy: A lot of Light's evil gloating is pretty over the top. Ditto for Hitoshi Demegawa.
* EvilIsNotAToy:
--> [[spoiler: '''Ryuk:''' [[CallBack I told you in the very beginning that]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard I would be the one writing your name in my notebook when you die.]]]]
* EvilLaugh: Light has a few [[GigglingVillain evil chuckles]] scattered throughout the series, but there is a full-blown [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqy_4E09BWA evil laugh]]in the final episode, (at which point he's pretty much [[VillainousBreakdown gone off the deep end]]) that is extremely psychotic and creepy.
** Ryuk is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTBXvhUgKVE no slouch in the evil laugh department.]]
** Misa gets in a few giggles.
** [[spoiler: Beyond]] too, [[OverlyLongGag for like half a page...]]
** Not to mention [[spoiler: Higuchi's]], which is enough to scare ''Shinigami''.
* EvilTowerOfOminousness: The secret headquarters that L has built that towers over everything around it.
* EvilVersusEvil: [[spoiler: Mello going after the Death Note under Light's control.]]
* {{Expy}}: L's character is largely based on {{Batman}} and Watari on Alfred Pennyworth - making Yagami Light a typical supervillain in the story.
** Soichiro Yagami's character is very much like that of CommissionerGordon.
** Misa [[AxCrazy bears]] [[GirlishPigtails many]] [[BlondesAreEvil similarities]] [[GenkiGirl to]] [[MadLove Harley]] [[MsFanservice Quinn.]]
* TheExtremistWasRight: The news reports as the series progresses make it very clear the knowledge of Kira's existence dramatically reduces the worldwide crime rate, but there are some severe costs entailed when world justice is essentially dictated by one still-human person.
** Furthermore, it only worked in the short-run. When Kira went inactive or [[spoiler: was gotten rid of for good]], crime returned to its previous rate. Near says as much in the anime version.
* ExtremityExtremist: Among L's many curious habits is holding things only with his thumb and forefinger, letting them hang by his fingertips. Food, utensils, pens, phones, whatever. When he fights, he does it exclusively with his bare feet.
* {{Eyedscreen}}
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Whether a character can do this depends on their moral fiber. [[spoiler:Soichiro, the most moral figure in the series, goes out with the most, while L and Watari, who are noticeably greyer though still recognizably good, each die with some, and the VillainProtagonist, Light, dies crying, whining, and cursing in a puddle of his own blood.]]
** [[spoiler: Though Light probably had the hardest thing to face with dignity. Heart attack or a RasputinianDeath, which takes longer and gives more time for a breakdown?]]
* FaceFramedInShadow: Light gets many of these moments.
* FalseInnocenceTrick: [[spoiler: Exploited when Light asks to be confined, gives up his memories, begs to be let out and then the Taskforce gets mad at L for imprisoning him.]]
* FandomNod: The interstitial factoids in the manga.
* FauxActionGirl: Halle Lidner.
* FauxSymbolism: The apples. The artist assumed they were there for their religious significance, but the writer just put them there because he thought they were cool. [[WordofGod So he claims, anyway]].
** Not to mention the first opening credits [[BaitAndSwitchCredits that make us think that Light is going to do something really just and noble.]] Heck, the first time you see him he's reciting Scripture perfectly in class. Two episodes into the series, you know better.
*** Throughout the series, there a number of images that just happen to resemble crosses. And in the first opening credits sequence, Misora is seen holding [[spoiler: the recently killed]] Raye Penber's body, looking uncannily like [[PietaPlagiarism La Pieta art.]]
*** The first opening credits also shows a split-second image of Light laying on what appears to be a stained-glass window (in the second opening, this is repeated, only Light is shown more as a festering corpse).
*** Also in the opening credits is an image of Light handing Ryuk an apple, in what appears to be a crude mimicry of Michelangelo's ceiling painting of Adam and God (With Light as Adam, giving the apple more symbolism, and Ryuk as God, being flanked by Shinigami rather than cherubim). Also note how, in this image, Light has THAT chain handcuffed to his wrist, which leads off-screen. Is speculated to mean that the image may actually be larger, including L attached on the other end.
* FilkSong: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxK5cw0_2Go Shinigami]]" by MachinaeSupremacy is about Ryuk and Light.
** Also [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEXaNgn_wR4 Watch Out, You're Being Watched]] by Rachel Macwhirter.
** And from the not-actually-a-celebrity side of things (and with much more overt spoilers), [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzt3y1qIb8k The Tower Bells' Toll]] by Oriana Cope and an anonymous writer.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9kpmDexmEc "I Killed A Guy and I Liked It"]] Kate Perry parody.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOpOKe8d9Oc "Filling Out My Death Note"]] parody set to {{Eminem}}'s "Cleaning Out My Closet" Whole series spoilers and amateurishly done but the lyrics are funny as hell.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXt5Q4PCfUo Won't give the title]], but it's a humorous song intended to take the edge off the events of Episode 35/the beginning of Volume 12, to the tune of the [[DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog Bad Horse Chorus.]]
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R-rrn1O2hY The Omega Kawaii L Song]], based on [[FinalFantasyVII The Omega Kawaii Cloud Song]]. Contains spoilers for the whole series.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/user/kpts4tv#p/u/1/6fu2nykadfY This song]] from one of the AbridgedSeries, a parody of Ke$ha's "Tik Tok." Immature, yes, but also quite amusing.
* FiveManBand: The Japanese taskforce from part 1.
** TheHero: L
** NumberTwo: [[{{TheObiWan}} Soichiro]]
** TheLancer: Aizawa, and later Aiber and Wedy
** TheBigGuy: Mogi
** TheSmartGuy: L (again)
** TheChick: [[IdiotHero Matsuda]]
** TheMentor: Watari
** TheSixthRanger: [[MauveShirt Ukita]] and [[IneffectualLoner Ide]], and later [[spoiler: [[BigBadFriend Light]]]] and [[spoiler: Misa]]
* FleurDeLis: In the anime, Misa has her cross motif changed to this ... but it's upside down.
* FoeYay: Tons of it.
* ForDoomTheBellTolls: [[spoiler: L's death.]]
* ForGreatJustice: Both Light and L believe this.
* ForegoneConclusion: In ''The Los Angeles BB Cases'', the mysterious stranger who follows Naomi is obviously L because we've read the manga or watched the anime. [[spoiler: Except it isn't. In one of the best subversions of this trope ever, its not L but BB, the murderer suspected of the killings.]]
* FoundTheKillerLostTheMurderer: [[spoiler: At Higuchi's arrest.]]
* FourEyesZeroSoul: Mikami.
* FourIsDeath: The Death Note kills in 40 seconds, and if a cause of death is written, the user has 400 seconds to add details.
** Mikami, [[spoiler: whose screw-up finishes Light]], is the fourth Kira.
* FreakOut: [[spoiler: Light [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel at L's grave]]]] in the Director's Cut. Also [[spoiler: Light and Mikami]] in the finale.
* FriendToAllChildren: L and Watari are examples.
** Watari creates an orphanage for intelligent and gifted children. He is also L's assistant and [[ParentalSubstitute father-figure]]
** L, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1uSCnuCzwM in Relight 2, spends some time talking with the Wammy orphans, answering any questions they might ask]] and in L: Change The World [[TeamDad L has to take care of two children]] [[PapaWolf and is very protective of them.]]
* FriendlessBackground: WordOfGod says L has no friends. Light too, despite being very popular, is often seen eating his lunch alone. WordOfGod says he thinks he's above most people.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: Light and Mikami.
** To a lesser extent, [[spoiler: Higuchi]].
* FunctionalGenreSavvy: Strange how when people living in the same conditions all started suffering heart attacks, everybody started thinking "supernatural serial killer"...
* TheFunInFuneral: In a scene added for the ''Relight'' special, Light certainly looks like he's enjoying himself (''spoilers'') [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1pBEJAZ4Vc&feature=related]]
* FunnyAfro: Aizawa.
** The series may well have the least comical scene in which a guy with an afro falls on his butt.
** But he [[ImportantHaircut loses it]] shortly after the TimeSkip.
* GambitPileup: And ''how!'' The entire plot of the series is basically a sequence of overlapping gambits.
* GayMoment: The foot massage.
* GenghisGambit: The final episode revealed that [[spoiler:Near and Mello, who were individually trying to succeed where L failed, finally agreed to work together to defeat Kira. It works.]]
** The explanation is a bit different in the manga: [[spoiler:when Near credits Mello for creating the situation that allowed him to defeat Light, Lidner suggests that Mello realized the flaw in Near's plan (namely, that the notebook could have been fake) and kidnapped Takada purposefully to expose it. Near disagrees, saying that Mello believed he could surpass Near ''and'' L. Near continues that he always knew he wasn't capable of surpassing L alone, and neither was Mello--it was only by a combination of their two plans that they could win.]]
* GeniusSweetTooth: Mello is always eating chocolate, and L with ''any'' kind of sweet. It's a wonder how they stay so thin.
* GenreSavvy: Light: "I'll be killing her eventually. I can't develop feelings. That's how most idiots screw up." Sort of inverted since [[spoiler: he screwed up anyway. The genre-savvy knowledge did him no good.]]
* GeodesicCast - Several patterns keep cropping up:
** [[ActionGirl Action Girls]] / women that take risks for the sake of the NonActionGuy male [[TheChessmaster Chessmasters]] - Naomi and Wedy for L, Misa, Rem, and Takada for Light, Halle for [[spoiler: [[DoubleAgent Mello and Near]]]].
** DefectiveDetective that hides behind a computer screen - L, Near, and Matt.
** NotSoDifferent [[EvilCounterpart Evil Counterparts]] - Light and L, Light and Misa (at first she is portrayed as Light's eviler counterpart), Light and [[spoiler: [[CompleteMonster Higuchi]]]], Light and Mikami ([[EvenEvilHasStandards it's too early to go to such extremes!]]), Light and [[ReplacementScrappy K]] in the [[{{Film/LChangeTheWorld}} movieverse]], L and BB, Mello and Near, Light and Mello, Light and Near, BB and Mello.
** LeeroyJenkins – Mr. Yagami, Matsuda, Matt.
** [[MoralityPet Morality Pets]] - Sayu to Light, Matt to Mello, [[spoiler: A]] to B.
** [[TheRival Rivals]] Light and L, BB and L, Light and Mello and Near.
** TheRenfield / [[spoiler: SpannerInTheWorks]] - Misa and Mikami to Light, Matsuda to L.
** Slightly creepy older companion that watches a protagonist's every move - Ryuk with Light, Rem with Misa, Watari with L.
** KidWithTheLeash where the human is actually scarier than the monster: Light and Ryuk, Misa and [[TokenGoodTeammate Rem]], [[spoiler: Mello and Shidoh]].
** Stalkers / Obssession - BB and Light for L, Mello for Near. Misa and Mikami for Light ("useful" stalking) and L, Mello, and Near for Light (dangerous stalking).
** [[{{Tykebomb}} Tykebombs]] - the Wammy's kids are all very similar.
* GhostPlanet: The Shinigami World.
* {{GIFT}}: In-story, Kira becomes an instant sensation on the Internet and ordinary citizens start making hit lists. ([[SubvertedInnocence Like that sweet-looking little girl texting "Kira, please kill them all."]])
** This applies to Light as well with the anonymous power of both the Internet ''and'' the Death Note.
* GilliganCut:
-->'''L:''' ''...And most importantly, we must ensure that the Yotsuba Group doesn't discover that we are investigating them.''
-->''* cut to Matsuda getting caught by the Yotsuba Group* ''
-->'''L:''' '' Please, just forget everything I said. We need to rethink our plan. Matsuda you idiot!''
* GirlishPigtails: Misa wears them, mostly in the first arc.
* TheGlomp: Not only the below quote, but in the manga at least, Misa does this to ''Ryuk.''
--> '''Misa:''' '''''[[NoIndoorVoice LIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!! THERE YOU ARE!!!]]'''''
*** It's in the anime too.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Light gets these when he's contemplating something particularly evil.
* AGodAmI: Light wants to use the Death Note to create a new world, with himself as... you guessed it.
* GodsHandsAreTied: If a shinigami uses the Death Note to extend the natural life span of a human (for example, stop an attacker), the shinigami dies.
* GogglesDoNothing: The Shinigami from ''Relight''.
* GoKartingWithBowser: L and Light throughout the first arc.
* GoodEyesEvilEyes: Used deliberately in the manga.
* GoodIsNotNice: One of the story's main themes, as whether ''anyone'' in the series can truly be called good is open to interpretation.
** Quick examples? #1: L, who is quite scheming and manipulative. #2: Soichiro. #3: Near. The list goes on.
* {{Gorn}}: Not in the original manga, but present in the anime's series finale. [[spoiler: Mikami attempts some kind of poor man's {{seppuku}}, either out of [[DespairEventHorizon despair]] or to distract the police so that Light can escape. Unfortunately for the audience, it works a little too well. Then again, if gore is your thing...]]
** In the Director's cut, the deaths of [[spoiler: three Yotsuba Group members, featuring a GrossUpCloseUp of Midou lying on the sidewalk after falling or jumping from a tall building]]
* GrailInTheGarbage: Light finds the Death Note in the [[AdultFear school yard.]]
** Light tosses out his expensive mini-TV with nary a wince.
* GratuitousEnglish: The Japanese title "Desu Noto" (Death Note), and "Kira" (Killer).
* GreenLanternRing: The Death Note, once Light figures out imaginative new ways to use it.
* TheGrimReaper: Ryuk and many other shinigami.
* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: [[TheDitz Matsuda]] [[EpicFail sneaks right by the Yotsuba security guard.]]
* GuiseWillBeGuise
* GullibleLemmings
* HackerCave
* HamToHamCombat: [[spoiler: Light and Mikami's shouting match in the GrandFinale.]]
** In the second episode / first manga, L's and Light's shouting match (directed, in both cases, to electronic screens) concerning Justice.
* HarassingPhoneCall: A certain anonymous individual [[spoiler: Near]] keeps calling up this one guy [[spoiler: Kira]] in the middle of the night promising that he has a very unpleasant fate in store for him. Alas there is no caller I.D.
* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: Light asks these exact words of Ray Penbar's fiancée Naomi, who is investigating Kira. [[spoiler: Unsurprisingly, she doesn't live much longer after answering no.]]
* HearingVoices: Anyone "possessed of a God of Death".
* HeartbeatSoundtrack: Expected in a series where many people die of heart attacks.
* HereWeGoAgain: [[spoiler: The end of ''Relight'' has a bored Shinigami ([[EpilepticTrees that is possibly Light]]) headed down to the human world to alleviate his boredom for a while...]]
** Matsuda and the taskforce when L deduces that there are other notebooks and other Kiras out in the world, [[spoiler: after Higuchi's death]].
* HeroAntagonist: L and [[spoiler:Near]] to some degree. The police for sure.
* [[spoiler: TheHeroDies]]: Though who it is depends on your interpretation.
* HeroicAlbino: Possibly Near, although you'd have to use the term heroic ''[[BlackAndGreyMorality very]],'' ''[[CrapsackWorld VERY]]'' loosely!
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Soichiro and Rem.]]
** [[spoiler: Mello, whose sacrifice ultimately saves Near, his crew and the NPA from death while confirming Near's suspicions of Light.]]
* HeroicSociopath: Light Yagami, with Misa Amane as his sidekick.
* HesDeadJim
* HeyYouHaymaker: When L is complaining that he's depressed and unmotivated with the Kira case now that [[spoiler: [[MemoryGambit it looks like Light isn't Kira]]]]. [[HilarityEnsues The following Ensues]]: Light gets L's attention, L turns around, Light punches him hard in the face.
-->'''Light''': [[SoftSpokenSadist Ryuuzaki...]]
-->'''L''': "Huh?"
-->'''Light''': *''PUNCH''*
* HiddenEyes: Light, frequently.
* HighPressureBlood: In the last episode of the anime, a fairly simple stabbing (with a ''pen'') initiates a fire-hose like blood jet.
* HiredToHuntYourself: Both main characters accomplish this. Light manages to land himself a spot on the anti-Kira task force and spends the majority of the series hunting himself, though not without being suspected by L [[spoiler: and later Near]]. L pulls it off when [[spoiler: The Yotsuba group hires Erald Coil to uncover L's identity, not knowing that they're the same person]].
* HoldingYourShoulderMeansInjury: In the final episode, [[spoiler:Light Yagami]] is shot in the hands, but he still holds his shoulder as he tries to escape.
* HollywoodPersonalityDisorders: Most of the main characters have a Flanderized one. Light is narcissistic, L and Near are autistic, Mikami is borderline and Misa is dependent.
* HollywoodSpelling
* HookHand: Zellogi, One of the minor {{Shinigami}}, has one.
* HostageForMcGuffin: One of these is used to begin the second major arc of the story.
* HowDareYouDieOnMe: Light when [[spoiler: his father dies]].
* HowDoYouLikeThemApples: [[ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin Ryuk has an addiction to them.]]
* HowUnscientific: When L finds out shinigami are real, he has [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEz78HwS7S4&feature=related an uncharacteristically]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSMtT5rQeQU&feature=related loud freakout.]]
** In the manga this was just him falling out of his chair. WordOfGod says that he was startled because of the way things came together, and that the manga-ka wanted to see L fall over.
* HumanityIsInsane: As viewed by Ryuk's perspective... but that's what makes us interesting.
* HumansAreBastards: "What's up people?!" [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope When you start judging where exactly do you draw the line?]]
* HumansKillWantonly: This is why Ryuk decides humans are fun.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Most characters, at some point. However, a notable example is when Light berates Misa for killing innocent people. In the manga, she meekly points out that: "To defeat evil, sacrifices have to be made. That's what you've done, right? I was only doing the same..."
* HypocriticalHumor: Any scene like this:
--> '''Light''' (shaking fist): Damn, damn you Kira! You bastard!
** Also: "I'm evil? I'll KILL YOU!"
--> '''L''': I hate it when people's cellphones go off when I'm talking. I find it very distracting... * ring* Excuse me, I have to get this.
** Sayu catches Light reading a dirty magazine (it's a long story...) and Sayu says, "Hey, isn't that a dirty book?" Then, she [[LesYay picks it up and begins reading it, while smiling.]]
** [[StalkingIsLove "Mr. Stalker?"]]
** [[ManipulativeBastard "Exploiting another person's feelings like that is unforgivable!"]]
** "[[NotSoDifferent Those people making lists for Kira...]] [[CompletelyMissingThePoint those are the people]] [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim who should be killed...]]"
** and:
-->'''Light:''' I can't take it anymore! How do you think it feels to be accused of being Kira!
-->'''L:''' It was the worst feeling ever. (Light suggested that L might be Kira earlier in the episode...)
** Leave it to Light to explain it:
-->'''Light:''' Remember what I told you [Ryuk]? Humans are foolish, two-faced creatures.
** Light's comment about Near's confidence in episode 28 fits this, considering his own ever-escalating arrogance and confidence.
* IAmTheTrope: "I AM JUSTICE!!!"
* ICantBelieveItsNotHeroin: Apples for Shinigami. Ryuk even suffers from ''withdrawal'' without them.
** Sidoh seems to have a thing about chocolate.
** Mello ''definitely'' has a thing about chocolate.
** And of course, L seems addicted to sugar.
* IfICantHaveYou
* IHaveComeTooFar: Light sincerely believes this.
* IHaveTheHighGround: The battle of wills between L and Light is often symbolically represented by them staring at each other on very, very thin skyscrapers.
* IHaveYourWife: Light successfully bluffs this to Raye Penber in order to ensure his cooperation.
** And Mello actually does this when he kidnaps [[spoiler: Sayu]].
* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: And how!
** Light and L rarely tell each other how much they know the other knows they know, because they don't want to give away how much they know what the other knows, or at least think they know but can't be sure of. And yes, there ''is'' a lot of internal monologuing in this series.
* IKnowYourTrueName: If you write someone's true name into a Death Note, they ''die''.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: When Higuchi is cornered and trying to kill himself, [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands Watari shoots the pistol out of his hand.]]
** Watari does this with a sniper rifle. Matsuda on the other hand seems to have an equally impressive knack for precise shots with a revolver. The movie at least features a throwaway like about him being a superb marksman.
* ImStandingRightHere
* ImYourBiggestFan
* InactionSequence: The anime; see Walls of Text below.
* InfractionDistraction: Light's porn stash is a cover for the death note.
* InnerMonologue: Yup. Light and L are the worst offenders.
* InspectorLestrade: Aizawa and the rest of the police.
* InterimVillain: The Yotsuba executives. Explanation can be found on the trope itself.
* InterrogatedForNothing: When Light and Misa are cleared and released from surveillance towards the end of the first arc, the scene seems like this to the police. The audience, of course, knows better.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Rem ({{Shinigami}}) and Misa (human). Rem develops a platonic love for Misa and is even willing to die for her. Light (human) and Ryuk ({{Shinigami}}) also fall under this having a few VillainsOutShopping moments together, though they are of a more [[VitriolicBestBuds vitriolic]] type.
* InterspeciesRomance: How to kill a Shinigami ...
* IronicEcho: Used in the GrandFinale (twice in the anime. One from Ryuk and one from Aizawa to Near.)
* {{Irony}}:
--> '''Desk clerk:''' Hi Light, remember me?
--> '''Light:''' Er... sorry. I'm really bad with names and faces.
** and (from the Director's cut):
-->'''Light:''' I swear right here and now--[[spoiler: [[HilariousInHindsight I will send Kira to his execution!]]]]
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: in the live action movie:
-->'''Lind L. Tailor:''' Kira you yourself are a hypocritical, vile, and immature criminal.
-->'''Light:''' Immature?
* ItAmusedMe: Ryuk set off the ENTIRE PLOT ForTheLulz. More information on the trope page.
* JerkassGods: Again, Ryuk.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk – Light (he really cares for his family... and really hopes he doesn't have to kill them), L.
* TheJimmyHartVersion: arguably, "L's theme A" is one for Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells". Well, the first part anyway, the one that was used as the theme of TheExorcist.
** Also, the tune that plays when Aiber and Wedy are introduced sounds suspiciously similar to the MissionImpossible theme tune.
* JudgeJuryAndExecutioner: "I AM JUSTICE!"
** All of the Kiras take this role.
* JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope: Light, Oh God Light.
** Light brought a ''sled'' so he could get down the slope faster. Second episode he decided an innocent man should die for calling him a murderer and declaring his intention to stop him. Oh, and most unforgivably for outsmarting him.
** Technically, Lind L Tailor was a death row inmate scheduled to die that day, which is why L used him. Light, however, didn't know that; to the best of his knowledge, the person he killed was innocent. That first episode, you could make the case that Light was a WellIntentionedExtremist waging his crusade against evil for the benefit of the world; his murder of Tailor, done to appease his pride, marks the point where he moves from AntiHero to VillainProtagonist.
* JustBetweenYouAndMe: Subverted -- Whenever Light reveals his identity to a rival, he is very sure they are already in their death throes or otherwise under the effect of the Death Note.
* JusticeWillPrevail: Sometimes played straight, and sometimes inverted, depending on whose side you take.
* KarmaHoudini:
** [[spoiler: Ryuk returns to the Shinigami world no worse for wear and there doesn't seem to be much of anything that can stop him from doing what he can to create another Kira and generally mess around on Earth.]]
** [[spoiler: Misa in the live action movies. The fact that the police let her go is a particular bad when you consider that she killed Mogi. Of course, it does make sense, as there's no way they could convict her without revealing the existence of a magic notebook that kills people, which they instead destroy, causing Misa to lose her memories of her crimes anyway.]]
** [[spoiler: And [[JerkAss Demegawa]] [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain in the live action movie.]]]]
* KickTheDog: Light is obviously all over that. But L also gets a turn when he [[spoiler:has Misa cold-bloodedly tortured, up to the point where she tries to kill herself to avoid revealing Kira's identity.]]
** In episode seven, light [[spoiler:tells Naomi she can call his dad if she likes after he tells her he's Kira, before she goes off to commit suicide.]] It's clear what [[spoiler:she]] realized had sunk in, so that really comes off as putting salt in the wound.
* KidWithTheLeash: Anyone possessing a Death Note and thus a shinigami qualifies, although Light is perhaps a subversion in actually being more dangerous than Ryuk.
* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler:L and Matt]].
* KillEmAll: How many major characters in a cast of around 20 survive? [[spoiler: Three of the original police task force, plus Misa, Ide, and Near.]]
** The companion book ''How To Read 13'' reveals that [[spoiler: Misa dies a year later from suicide.]]
* [[TheKillerInMe The Kira In Me]]: [[spoiler: Light bluffs this in order to convince the taskforce that he needs to be confined (for the sake of his XanatosRoulette.) ''[[CrowningMomentOfFunny "Another me could be killing while I sleep!!!"]]'']]
* KirkSummation: Near does this in the manga's final chapter.
* KnightTemplar: Any of the series' protagonists.
* LaughingMad: [[spoiler: Light, when he is cornered by Near and revealed to be Kira.]]
* LetterMotif: L, M, and N.
* LightIsNotGood
* LikableVillain: Light Yagami, Misa Amane, Teru Mikami, and Kiyomi Takada all have their fans, both in-universe and out.
* LineInTheSand: Souichiro Yagami draws one of these. Most of the police do ''not'' stay on his side.
* LiveActionAdaptation: Two main movies, and one spin-off, to be precise.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Light to Misa, whether he wants to be or not. (It varies [[ManipulativeBastard depending on how useful it is at the moment.]])
* LivingWithTheVillain: Light and L not only go to the same college, but also work together on the team to catch Kira and spend quite a while ''chained together''.
** Also Light and his father... makes for some awkward dinner conversations.
* LocardsTheory
* LonelyAtTheTop
* LonersAreFreaks: Subverted and played straight.
* LookBehindYou - In the manga Light walks out on a [[ObliviousGuiltSlinging family meeting]] by [[ManipulativeBastard railroading the conversation to]]:
--> '''Light:''' Is that all the help you needed on your homework, Sayu?
--> '''Souichiro:''' Was your brother helping you with your homework ''again?''
--> '''Sayu:''' Gee, Light! Thanks for blabbing!
* LooksLikeCesare: L.
* LoonyFan: The StalkerWithACrush that tries to kill Misa.
** To a lesser degree, Matsuda acts like this towards L and Light.
** Also both Misa and Mikami, towards Light.
* LoveMakesYouDumb: Inverted. Misa is noticeably less "airheaded" when around Light, especially when she tries to manipulate things so that she can be with him. From tricking the third Kira to trying to find the first Kira.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: Misa's killing spree to get Kira's attention.
** Moreso in the manga, but in a couple of {{Motive Rant}}s Light mentions that part of the reason he's doing the mass killings of criminals is to [[KnightTemplarBigBrother to make the world a safer place for his sister]] ([[PoisonousFriend and stop the bad guys, just like daddy.]])
* LoveTriangle (type 3 TriangRelations). Takada and Amane are both after Light. Light is just using both of them. Pointed out by Near in episode 33, who deduces that Light "has" a love triangle. That is, a love triangle is among the things he happens to possess. "Near, please be more serious."
** Also type 11, ([[YourMilageMayVary YMMV]]) Misa is in love with and is obsessed with Light, Light is [[{{Subtext}} obsessed]] [[HoYay with L. L is obsessed with both Light]] [[BiTheWay and Misa...]], Misa [[{{Subtext}} teases (flirts?)]] with L.
** Another type 11 crops up later: [[spoiler: Takada is seeing both Light and Mikami, but Mikami is VERY loyal to Light...]]
* LudicrousPrecision: L and his constant revisions of the probability Light is Kira.
** Though in ''[[AllThereInTheManual How to Read]]'' [[spoiler: it states that whenever he gives a percentage he's lying... he actually suspects Light with a 90 to 100 percent certainty.]]
* MadeOfIron: Souichiro 1) rams a truck through a building while still recovering from a near fatal heart attack. 2) [[OnlyAFleshWound Shot in the shoulder]] while pursuing Higuchi.
** [[spoiler: Then there's Light's RasputinianDeath. It's implied he would have survived if Ryuk hadn't written his name...]]
* MadnessMakeover: Light and Mikami [[spoiler: in the finale.]]
* MadnessMontage: Light, Misa, and Mikami all get one.
* MagicAIsMagicA: The Death Note's rules apply strictly, although Light finds ways to stretch them to their limits in almost every storyline. [[spoiler:Light actually subverts this by creating fake rules to divert suspicion from himself.]]
* MakeABetterWorld: The stated ultimate goal of Light's crusade, which he shares with Misa, Takada, and Mikami.
* MakeRoomForTheNewPlot: How the Mello issue is resolved near the end of the story.
* MaleGaze: Yeah, that shot was definitely of a hidden sheet of the Death Note, not [[spoiler: Taki's breast.]]
** Misa's introductory shots feature an image of her breasts and waist on exhibit while she walks, before showing her face. This is definitely to show off her cutesy gothic clothing and therefore to establish her childlike-but-evil character. Definitely.
* MamaBear: Rem to Misa. Also, Sachiko to Sayu: "no way in hell!" is Sayu marrying a cop.
* ManChild: L and Near, to varying degrees.
* ManipulativeBastard: Light, who treats all those around him as tools for him to use, therefore making manipulation the dominating characteristic of every one of his relationships.
** L, mind you, also has no problems manipulating, or asking others to manipulate, people.
** Misa is also willing to manipulate people to get what she wants; her childlike charm is particularly useful for this.
* MassOhCrap: The taskforce members when [[spoiler: Light is outed as Kira in the finale. This is not helped when Light takes the opportunity to pack all the sheer, psychotic creepiness of the moment into one absolutely epic EvilLaugh.]]
* MeaningfulName: Done three times, ironically every time. Mello is a complete loose cannon, Near spends most of his time in another country from the protagonist, and [[IncrediblyLamePun Light Is]] (Probably) [[LightIsNotGood Not Good]].
** According to [[AllThereInTheManual Death Note: How To Read 13]], the graphic encyclopedia, Mello and Near were originally going to have regular Meaningful Names; Mello was going to be Near, since he was always close to but not at the other's level; and Near was going to be Mello because he was calmer. Ohba got the characters mixed up, so....
** Also BilingualBonus "Kira" [[JapaneseRanguage Engrish]] for Killer also means "sparkling," "shining," or "[[FailOSuckyName glitter]]" in Japanese.
** Yagami (夜神) means "Night god" or "Dark god", so his name is "[[OxymoronicBeing Light Dark God]]". But the important thing is the ''[[AGodAmI god]]'' part.
** One for the Shinigami- "Res", in Latin, is a feminine noun meaning 'thing' (well, 'thing' in this case means quite a lot, including exploit and advantage, but it'll get confusing, okay?). An accusative is when something is happening to it. The accusative for Res? Rem.
** Additionally, Misa comes from "Kuromisa", meaning "black Mass" (fitting with her [[{{CreepyCoolCrosses}} cross motif]]), and Teru Mikami's name means "illuminated."
* MemoryGambit: The "Exactly As Planned" XanatosRoulette.
* MessyHair: L and Near.
* MetalScream: The second opening begins with one of these.
* MightMakesRight
* AMillionIsAStatistic: Once Light goes all Machiavelli on everyone's ass, there's no turning back. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zeS5uavO8A]]
* MindRape: [[spoiler: Light does this to himself if TheScream when he's regaining his memories is anything to go by... and then there's the ending of the manga when Near exposes him as Kira; knocks him off his pedestal and forces him to face up to what he's done and what he's become; he is drawn as (symbolically) naked and traumatized.]]
* TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf: ''Relight'' features a scene where Light is walking along solemnly through a HallOfMirrors, pretending to [[spoiler: grieve for L]] while his reflection is smirking evilly.
* MoneyToThrowAway: [[spoiler: Near throws money out of the top floor of the SPK HQ to stop people from rioting.]]
* MoralityChain: [[spoiler: Two deaths [[ItGotWorse mark a visible decline to Light's remaining ethics and sanity.]] The first is after [[AntagonistInMourning he has L killed]]; the second is after [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes his father dies.]]]]
* MoralMyopia: "[[ThisIsUnforgivable Crime is out of the question,]] even if it's done on Kira's request. [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness Now isn't that convenient.]]"
* TheMovie: Two Japanese live-action movies based on the original comic (with [[RedHotChiliPeppers "Dani California"]] as the theme song) and one L spin-off.
** And WarnerBrothers bought the rights to remake the Live Action movie in America...
* MultitaskedConversation:
** Shinigami can't be seen by anyone other than the humans who have touched their Death Note. So when Light is under surveillance by the police, he uses his homework as a cover-of-sorts to carry on a conversation with Ryuk by saying things ostensibly to himself, like "I got this question right!" to indicate a "yes" answer.
** When the Yotsuba group catch Matsuda, he takes cues from L over the phone to let them know he's in trouble while making it sound to his captors like he's just turning down an offer to hang out with his friend.
* MurderIsTheBestSolution: Light believes this.
* MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning: Apparently, [[spoiler:L planned for Kira's capture even after his death by informing Wammy's house and setting certain events in motion that would prove Light to be Kira and solve the case]]. [[XanatosRoulette Probably.]]
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg:
--> '''Matsuda:''' Er ... I can't help but notice you forgot to mention my name.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Effectively executed in understatement during the ending credits of ''Relight 2'' when Matsuda and Aizawa discover Light's body.]]
** Light feels this way as part of his IgnoredEpiphany at the beginning of the story. He quickly talks himself out of it.
* MySisterIsOffLimits: The rest of the Yagami family does not seem too keen on Matsuda's interest in Sayu. Also there's an incident in the manga where Light ''screams'' when L suggests that Sayu could be Kira.
** Light didn't seem too worried about Sayu herself - he was more worried about the fact that L was mentioning this possibility in front of his ''recovering-from-a-heart-attack'' father.
** Amusingly, Light briefly considers offing his little sister, Sayu, to protect his identity as Kira. At least he showed some distress when the idea was considered.
*** "Ryuk, If Sayu were to see you, [[DoubleEntendre she would have a heart attack]]"
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Light's alias Kira is "Killer" made to fit into Japanese phonetics.
** Light's last name, Yagami, is written with the symbols for "night" and "god." Additionally, Misa's name comes from "kuromisa", meaning "black Mass."
* NationalStereotypes: Parodied, in ''L, Change the [=WorLd=]'', Suruga attempts to disperse a crowd surrounding the truck he's driving by showing his F.B.I. badge, but everyone thinks its fake because he's Japanese.
* NeatFreak: L and Light both exhibit mild OCD like tendencies.
** And Mikami.
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: Light will only kill unrepentant criminals... unless you get in his way. Then you're fair game.
* NextSundayAD
* NoBodyLeftBehind: Shinigami dissolve into "something neither sand nor rust" when they die.
* NoExportForYou: The one-shot chapter has never been released in North America.
** Also unreleased in North America are the three DS games produced by Konami, four of the DVD collector's figures (Soichiro, Takada, Mikami and the King of Shinigami) and the anime guidebook.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: If a shinigami uses a Death Note to save the life of a human, the shinigami will die and the shinigami's remaining lifespan will be added to that of the human they saved.
** [[spoiler: [[EvenEvilHasStandards Because Light can't bring himself to kill his sister]] Mello and Near learn about the fake rules.]]
** When Mello kidnaps Takada and orders her to strip, he offers her a blanket to preserve her modesty. [[spoiler: This, of course, gives her enough leeway to hide pieces of Death Note and a writing utensil. Guess what happens next.]]
* NoMatterHowMuchIBeg: Light, when submitting himself for imprisonment [[spoiler:as part of his memory gambit]]. L is more than happy to oblige.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: [[spoiler: Matt]]'s death involves No Nonsense {{Mooks}}.
* NoodleIncident: According to ''Another Note'', L claimed the names Eraldo Coil and Deneuve after winning "detective wars" against their original holders. We are never told what a detective war entails or how those two played out.
* NoSenseOfHumor: Light.
** [[EvilGloating But he]] [[GigglingVillain loves to laugh,]] [[LaughingMad doesn’t he dear?]]
* NotMeThisTime: [[spoiler: [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes when Light's dad]] [[{{Irony}} has a heart attack.]]]]
** Also [[spoiler: At the first appearance of the second Kira.]]
** And [[spoiler: when Mikami kills Demegawa.]]
* NotSoDifferent: One of the series' main themes -- Light and L are both {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s who believe that the ends justify the means. This is [[LampshadeHanging semi-lampshaded]] by Naomi, who points out that Light reminds her of L.
--> '''L:''' "Kira is childish and hates to lose."
--> '''Taskforce Member:''' How do you know this?"
--> '''L:''' "I am also childish and hate to lose."
** It's actually lampshaded several times in the series, and a particular example is [[spoiler: L's true name: Lawliet, which is pronounced like "low light."]]
* NotWorthKilling: [[spoiler: the Taskforce for most of the second arc.]]
* NothingButSkulls: On the manga coverart.
* NoYou: when L calls Kira "evil" his response is essentially "you're the one who's evil!"
* ObliviousGuiltSlinging: The interactions between Light and his father.
** Not that he seems to feel any guilt.
** There are hints here and there that he does. More than hints, if you read the manga leading up to [[spoiler:Soichiro's death]].
* ObviouslyEvil: Light in the live action movie.
* OddCouple: Light and L.
* OddlySmallOrganization: Semi-justified as nobody wanting to get killed by Kira and you only follow a small group in Japan, which isn't used to a bunch of murder cases.
* OffingTheOffspring
* OffModel: The one-shot "sequel" chapter smacks of this.
** In one scene in the anime when Misa appears in a {{Stripperiffic}} lacy pink dress the cops' faces disappear when they enter her apartment.
* OhCrap: A common reaction whenever a character's opponent gains the upper hand. [[spoiler:Light does this in absolutely epic style when he's exposed as Kira and eventually killed.]]
* OhNoNotAgain: Uttered by Matsuda [[spoiler: after the arrest / death of Higuchi and Light and Misa have been cleared of suspicion leading the Taskforce to believe they are dealing with yet ''another'' Kira.]]
** Also, Soichiro says this when the handcuffed Light and L begin their second fist fight.
* OldCopYoungCop: Sort of an aversion. Chief Yagami and Matsuda were first introduced like this, but were developed very differently, especially since Matsuda became a mere Comic Relief character.
* OlderHeroVsYoungerVillain: L is about seven years older than Light. Also Team Kira may [[RuleOfEmpathy garner a certain amount of sympathy]] from certain casual viewers who just see the [[DracoInLeatherPants pretty teenagers]] [[spoiler: being imprisoned]] by the middle-aged cops.
* OminousLatinChanting: Dies Irae being the most prominent.
* OminousMultipleScreens
* OneCurseLimit: In the films, a Death Note can't control someone whose name has already been written down.
* OneSceneWonder: This reporter:
-->[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome "As much as I fear for my own life in saying this...this is right. Alright, my name is..."]]
** Don't forget Matt's epic scene of Noble Self-Sacrifice. 16 panels in the manga, less than 2 minutes of screentime in the anime, and yet his character is one of the most popular in the fandom.
* OnlyFriend: L tells Light "I feel as though you're the first friend I've ever had" though WordOfGod says [[ManipulativeBastard it's a lie,]] [[FriendlessBackground that L]] ''[[FriendlessBackground has]]'' [[FriendlessBackground no friends.]] This hasn't stopped the fandom.
* OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent: Light is a perfect example of this trope, until it's [[PlayingWithATrope derailed]] by the fact that he's both incredibly smart and megalomaniacally insane.
** PlayedWith further in that it's established early on that he is not only intelligent, but very popular AND athletic. If anything he's a deconstruction of this trope.
** A better example would be Sayu, although she's in junior high in the first arc and college in the second.
* OuterLimitsTwist: [[spoiler: "All humans, without exception, eventually die. When they die, they go to Mu (Nothingness). Once dead, they can never come back to life."]]
* OutlawCouple: Light and Misa, much to Light's chagrin.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: To hear the fans talk, Misa is quite stupid. People seem to forget that ''she's only stupid from L and Light's perspective'' and outmaneuvers both Light and Higuchi quite easily when she sets her mind to it. In any other anime, Misa Misa could have been the ''iconic'' GeniusDitz.
* OvertRendezvous: Misa is trying to find Light, so she sends a diary page to the task force saying that they should "show off their notebooks in Aoyama" on a certain day. On that day, Light goes to Aoyama with Matsuda and meets friends whom he hangs out with expecting to perform this trope. Misa, however, finds him first and leaves before he can see her.
* PaperThinDisguise: Light wears a hoodie and bennie when manipulating Raye Penber which renders him unrecognizable to both Raye and the investigators that view the surveillance cameras.
* PartlyCloudyWithAChanceOfDeath: The episode appropriate titled "Overcast" comes to mind.
* PassiveAggressiveKombat: Light and L are masters at this. Later, Light and Near. Misa and Kiyomi's dinner conversation counts as well.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Kira's ideology holds that those who have committed crimes -- originally murder and actions equally as horrible -- must be killed.
* ThePenIsMightier: Light commits mass murder with a pen.
* PerkyGoth: Misa.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: The Kiras. ("The ability to commit mass murder at the wave of a hand?" Check.)
* PetTheDog: ''L: Change the [=WorLd=]'' consists almost entirely of this trope for L.
** D'awwww. Light takes a break from committing mass murder to help his little sister with her homework.
** Light gets a few of these, usually with his family. He volunteers to run an errand for his sister and compliments his mother in the first arc, and attempts to talk his father out of resigning from the police in the second arc.
* PhosphorEssence: A subtle example which crosses with RedOniBlueOni: when Light and L confront each other, or meet each other on the street, Light shines a deep, blood-like red, and L an almost naval blue. Sometimes it appears as a tiny aura around their bodies, other times their hair and eyes glow that color.
* PietaPlagiarism: Naomi with Raye, in the first intro.
* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: In many scenes with the Taskforce HQ in the second arc, [[spoiler: ''Light'' is the only one even ''pretending'' to work... So is it any wonder the Kira case stalled?]]
* PlayingDrunk: [[spoiler: Matsuda, after being caught by Yotsuba, pretends to be drunk so he can fake his death via falling.]]
* PlotInducedStupidity: Not one of the detectives including L could figure out [[spoiler:the last two rules were fake. Despite the fact that unlike the other rules, they sound like they were written from a human's point of view.]]
** To be fair, the first thing L wanted to do was test them.
** Possibly justified due to his escalating insanity, but Light's plans seem prey to this in the second arc.
* PoisonousFriend: Misa.
** Mikami counts somewhat, although he doesn't actually work with Light in person until the very end, he is VERY fanatically devoted to him.
* PoliceAreUseless: The public believes this more and more when Kira emerges and takes over.
* PolitenessJudo – so, so much. "Let’s do X, is that alright, Light-kun?" and of course Light has to agree or he'll look like he's avoiding L which makes him look like Kira.
* PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: Light himself is usually soft-spoken, courteous, and reserved, and to an extent Misa, Mikami, and Takada all share this. L and Near, however, are brutally honest and openly manipulative; Near in particular earned quite a lot of annoyance from Mogi and Aizawa for the way he treated them. Compare some of Light's and Near's conversations, where Light is accommodating and non-confrontational while Near says ''exactly'' what's on his mind in the most blunt manner possible.
* PoorCommunicationKills: [[spoiler: Part of Light's downfall, Mikami was told not to make a move before the showdown with Near. When Takada was kidnapped by Mello, he decided to be assertive and write her name down two minutes before Light did. Say the least it comes back to bite both of them in the ass later.]]
* PornStash: Light in order to provide an explanation why he locks his door all the time, ''gets'' a porn stash for his father (and the detective team) to discover.
* PowerWalk: One each in the second intro and outro.
** Also Light does one with the Taskforce in the finale (looking like ''TheSopranos'' in their business suits).
* PowersInTheFirstEpisode: Light picks up the Death Note very early on.
* ThePratfall: When discovering about the true nature of Kira, L is so surprised he falls out of his chair. WordOfGod confesses that this scene was drawn just for the visual image of L flat on his ass.
* ProductPlacement: The manga is crawling with it. L uses a Mac, Ryuk loves to play Mario Golf, Misa walks past a vey conspicous Tabasco clothing store and mentions in her fake diary that the PS2 will soon be released, Aizawa and Ide drink Pepsi.
* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Light is the protagonist who turns into a villain.
* PsychologicalHorror
* PsychoSupporter: [[spoiler:Misa Amane, Kiyomi Takada, and Teru Mikami]].
* PublicSecretMessege: Misa is a Kira-fangirl, but doesn't know who he is. So she uses her own death note to kill people and force the news to send messages. Light is annoyed, since while people who don't know about the notes won't be able to figure out what they're talking about, it is still far too public for his taste.
* PunchClockVillain: This arguably applies to most of the Shinigami. It really is only their duty to take humans' lives, and they only truly qualify as "evil" insofar as the occasional decision to kill a human earlier than intended - and doing so to save another is an offense for which death is punishment.
* PunchedAcrossTheRoom: Light does this to L, who promptly returns the favor.
* ThePurge: Light's main method of creating a utopia.
* PyrrhicVillainy
* TheQuisling: George Sairas (President Chicken-Maggot).
* RansackedRoom
* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler: Light.]]
* RealityWritingBook
* RecapEpisode: The first half of "Renewal".
* RedemptionInTheRain: Inverted. At the beginning, Light is heavily rained on as he resolves to save the world, er, turn to evil.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: The Shinigami Eyes. (Incidentally, Ryuk has red ''pupils.'')
** Not only that, but the anime seems to make a hobby out of catching Light's eyes just right so that they look red, and the opening and closing sequences make it even stronger as part of the red/blue motif.
* RedFilterOfDoom
* RedHerring: Many of the How To Use rules from the EyeCatch are never used.
* RedOniBlueOni: Light and L.
** Mello and Near fit the trope pretty well, except there it's Orange Oni Teal Oni.
* RedRightHand: By the end of ''Relight'' (everything after the [[spoiler: funeral]] scene) Light seems to be sporting ''fangs'' in addition to perpetually glowing red eyes.
* RedShirt: Most of the minor victim characters, the most notable being [[spoiler: Naomi Misora]], who originally was considered to have a bigger role before it was decided to kill her off quickly to prevent the story from becoming ''more'' complicated (or perhaps way too simple). And [[spoiler: Matt, the third-in-line to succeed L,]] who was given no backstory whatsoever and introduced solely to give [[spoiler: Mello]] someone to interact with before the author eventually killed him off after his sporadic appearances in 12 panels. Despite this, both characters have an insane fan following.
* RefugeInAudacity
* RefusedTheCall: Ide doesn't join L's taskforce because he doesn't trust L. He later joins after [[spoiler: L is killed and Light takes over]].
* ReplacementLoveInterest: After Misa Amane transfers her Notebook to Teru Mikami, Kiyomi Takada comes onto the scene as Kira's spokesperson and Light's new girlfriend while Misa just kind of fades out of focus. Like Misa, Kiyomi is a Kira-worshiper completely devoted to Light and willing to kill for him.
* {{Retcon}}: While ''How to Read 13'' states that the SPK [[spoiler: disbanded and returned to their old jobs]] after [[spoiler: Kira's defeat]], in the one-shot manga special released two years later, Lidner, Gevanni and Rester are shown to [[spoiler: still work with Near]].
** If the strongly implied rule that a shinigami must follow the owner of the Death Note was observed throughout the series, pretty much nothing after the Yotsuba arc could have happened.
* {{Retirony}}
* RevealingCoverup: [[spoiler: When Light kills Raye Penber and Naomi Misora it comes to L's attention to focus the investigation on the people Raye Penber was tailing.]]
** Also when [[spoiler: Yotsuba Corp [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney buys off the police and key government officials]] to stop chasing Kira.]]
** Also comes into play at the end. [[spoiler: The immediate cause of Light's downfall was Mikami going to write Takada's name in the Death Note. He only did that to prevent information from leaking, either to Mello (by Takada telling him) or Near (if SPK got ahold of her, Death Note pages and all.]]
* RevealingHug: There are a few scenes where Light and Misa embrace; Misa's expression is either lovestruck or tearful, while Light's is ... [[{{HighOctaneNightmareFuel}} not]].
* ReverseWhodunnit: The audience knows full well who Kira is. The fun is to see if L can figure it out, too.
* RewritingReality
* RightBehindMe: When Aizawa and Ide are discussing putting Light back under surveillance guess who should walk in at that very moment?
* RootingForTheEmpire: Light's followers and fans, both in-universe and out, count, especially considering the amount of antipathy some of the fanbase holds for Near.
* RousseauWasRight: Played straight with [[spoiler:Light, who reverts to an apparently genuinely good person on losing his memories.]] Averted with [[spoiler:Misa, who jumps at the chance to be useful to Light in any way, even if it results in someone's death.]]
* RuleOfEmpathy
* RulesLawyer: Light bends and manipulates the Death Note's rules like silly putty.
* RunningGag: in ''Another Note'' [[spoiler: L makes Naomi destroy her computer every time he contacts her.]]
* SarcasticConfession: Unintentionally done during [[spoiler: Light's MemoryGambit]]:
-->'''Light:''' ...to be L and have control of the police while being Kira in secret. It's ideal.
-->'''L:''' Well, it would be pretty stupid of you to do that after you told everyone your plan.
* TheScapegoat:
-->'''[[spoiler: Near]]:''' Actually [[spoiler: "L,"]] I'll let you have full authority on this...
* ScareChord: [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel Light's psychotic]] [[NightmareSequence daydream sequence]] in ''Relight 2''.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Soichiro's glasses often function this way.
* SchmuckBait: Pretty much what causes Light to pick up the notebook and cause the series to happen.
* ScholarshipStudent: Referenced and inverted. When L and Light both give the entrance ceremony speech, Light is said to look like a normal private school student, "pampered and brilliant." L is said to look like a "crazy genius," though one of the conclusions (based on L's physical appearance) is that he's a poor scholarship student. It's an inversion, because L is rich from all of the cases he's solved and received money for.
* SchoolForScheming: Wammy's House exists in order to find a successor to L.
* ScienceCannotComprehendPhlebotinum: In episode 24, [[spoiler:L and Light capture the Death Note. Light suggests analyzing it. L replies that the Death Note is the kind of thing that can't be analyzed, and is later confirmed when they do try to analyze it and are unable to determine what it is made of.]]
** It is stated in the rules at the end of a manga chapter that no scientific or clinical analysis can reveal if someone posseses the shinigami eyes.
** Averted, however, when Light uses his brain as opposed to gizmos to analyze the Death Note and determines what it can or cannot do. Ryuk wasn't even aware of some of these things.
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: L [[spoiler: "Shinigami? Am I supposed to believe that they really exist?"]]
** Light is no slouch in the girly scream department either.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveANuke: Or a Death Note.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers
* ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful
* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight
* SecretCircleOfSecrets: The Cult of Kira
* SeeYouInHell: Used effectively in the episode "Execution" (at least in the English dub).
* SelectiveObliviousness: Misa never seems to get a clue that Light hates her guts and just pretends to love her in order to use her. At one point, she even says she won't kill the girls Light has dated in the past because she knows "he was just using them and didn't really love them." [[HypocriticalHumor Er, Misa...?]]
** "My son is not capable of being Kira!"
** and
--> '''Ryuk:''' ...then you'd be the only bastard left.
--> '''Light:''' I have ''no'' idea what you're talking about Ryuk...
* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler: President David Hoope]] kills himself pre-emptively when he believes that [[spoiler: Mello will manipulate him into launching a nuclear weapon]]. What he didn't know was that the rules of the Death Note would have made this impossible anyway, making his noble self-sacrifice a pointless waste. Just to rub salt in the wound, [[spoiler: his replacement is a sniveling coward who surrenders the United States to Kira.]]
** Though it's teased at that Kira might have killed him.
* [[SerialKillerKiller Serial Killer Kira]]
* SheIsAllGrownUp: Sayu after the TimeSkip.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend
* {{Shonen}}: You would expect a crime story with a VillainProtagonist to be {{Seinen}} fare, but not here. It was published in ''ShonenJump''.
* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler: Light is killed by Ryuk, having been exposed as Kira, after so many people have been pointlessly killed. The world is rotten again, and nothing's been accomplished.]]
* ShortDistancePhoneCall: One of the turning points in the first arc, which leads to [[spoiler: Misa's capture and Light's MemoryGambit to save them both]].
* ShoutOut: Quite a few; they have [[ShoutOut/DeathNote their own page]].
* ShutUpHannibal: Near's rebuttal to [[spoiler: Light's MotiveRant at the end]].
* ShutUpKiss: Light: "Now be a good girl and go home." Misa didn't mind.
* SiblingYinYang: [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sayu.jpg Light and Sayu.]]
* SidekickExMachina And how!
* SideStoryBonusArt: The {{Omake}} in the manga includes a [[BeachEpisode day at the beach]] and a ChristmasSpecial.
* SinisterScythe: Light on the cover art of the manga [[spoiler: and as a Shinigami in the ''Relight'' movie.]]
* SinisterSubway
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: There should be no doubt in that this series is firmly on the cynical side.
* SlobsVersusSnobs: Has shades of this: L and Near are the slobs, dressed in rumpled jeans or pajamas, and Light and his allies all are usually impeccably dressed and groomed.
* SlouchOfVillainy: Mello.
** Light does this a few times, very early on. He seems to [[{{GenreSavvy}} grow out of it]].
* TheSlowWalk: The opening theme song of the second arc comes to mind.
* SmallNameBigEgo: L. See the main page's HypocriticalHumor entry to get an example.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Light and L in the live action movies.
* SnowMeansDeath: [[spoiler: Naomi Misora]]
* SocialEngineering: Most of the main cast are Social Engineering masters-Light, L, Mello, and Near. Aiber as well.
* SomebodyElsesProblem: As pointed out in ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g5C0EvT01k&feature=PlayList&p=03389DC24AABE458&index=6 Death Note Abridged]]'' "in this footage you can see various pedestrians who clearly don't give a $h!t that somebody near them just collapsed and died."
* SomeonesTouchingMyButt: Of course, in classic L fashion, [[spoiler:he was pretending to cover up for touching Misa's butt by saying it was an outrage, when in actuality touching her butt was a cover so she wouldn't notice him taking her phone.]]
* StopOrIShootMyself: [[spoiler:Higuchi]] after having been cornered as the current Kira, does this to keep himself from being caught. At some point he realizes it is hopeless and tries to pull the trigger. [[BadAssGrandpa Watari]] [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands snipes it out of his hands]].
* SpannerInTheWorks: Teru Mikami.
** Misa.
** Shidoh.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: In the LiveActionAdaptation, Ukita lives (with Mogi dying instead), Misa lives (without her memories of the Death Note), and Soichiro lives (and holds Light in his arms while Light dies).]]
** Also in the second Rewrite special, [[spoiler: Soichiro's death]] is not shown or even mentioned...leading to plotholes regarding [[spoiler: his absence]] as well as how Light was able to acquire [[spoiler: Mello's]] true name.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Putting so many "L" and "Th" sounds in a Japanese series was just asking for trouble.
** Light / Raito, L / Eru, Death Note / Desu Noto, Mello / Mero, and so forth.
* SpySpeak: L and Matsuda during the Yotsuba arc. Light and Ryuk get a moment early on in Light's conefinement.
* StalkerWithACrush: The obsessed fan that tries to kill Misa, Misa becomes one herself pursuing Kira/Light, and of course [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfbYuOMS1hw&feature=related L for putting 1 camera in every other room of the Yagami household and]] '''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfbYuOMS1hw&feature=related 64]]''' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfbYuOMS1hw&feature=related in Light's room.]]
** May be Justified, since Light was L's prime suspect as Kira, and thus the one he would watch the closest.
* StalkingIsLove: Misa believes this.
* StayInTheKitchen: [[AssholeVictim Raye pulls this on Naomi.]]
* StepfordSmiler: Light - a calm smile over a dangerously crazy self.
* StolenMacGuffinReveal
* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Light and L tend to finish each other's thoughts / inner monologues between cutaways.
** Light and Mikami.
* StrawmanNewsMedia: Type IV. You'd think that after the emergence of Kira that there would be a massive clampdown on broadcasting suspect's names... '''''WRONG!''''' Trial by media becomes execution by media: Here's the names and faces of people [[YouBastard our viewers want to die in a fire.]] [[IfItBleedsItLeads Let's hope they die on live TV!]] This is especially exemplified with [[AttentionWhore Demegawa]] and [[IntellectuallySupportedTyranny Takada.]]
** The cops actually consider a media clampdown as soon as L points out that Kira is killing by reading names of criminals out of the newspaper; however, L shoots the idea down, on the grounds that he reads Kira as a PsychopathicManchild who would just start killing anyone he ''thinks'' is guilty, and blaming any innocent deaths on the police for instigated a media clampdown. He's probably right.
* StronglyWordedLetter: Not explored in depth, but one of these might be something to fear if it's out on the Internet and Kira agrees with the writer. In a way, Light and Mikami used the death note as this.
* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: In TheMovie, an actual American played Lind L. Tailor ([[spoiler: L's decoy]]). The news broadcast had a Japanese voiceover, but his [[DeepSouth Dixie]] accent was still clearly audible.
** The rules are written in English because it's a "universal" language. 95% of the time, it's near perfect, with minor exceptions like "looses" and one "bictim". Then again, Ryuk doesn't seem like the type to have pefect spelling
* SurroundedByIdiots: Both L and Light feel this way from time to time.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: [[spoiler: Near]].
** Some consider [[spoiler: Mikami]] to be this, given that not only does he physically resemble Light, but his name is basically Light's backwards.
* TailorMadePrison: [[spoiler: L has a couple of [[SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere custom holding cells]] for confining [[PersonOfMassDestruction Kira and the more dangerous Second Kira.]]]]
* TakeCareOfTheKids: L:Change the world consist of this entire trope
* TalkingToTheDead: [[spoiler: [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel Light does this at L's funeral]], complete with loads of TrashTalk and EvilGloating.]]
* TalkToTheFist
* TallDarkAndBishoujo: Naomi Misora's pretty decent-looking. As is Takada and post-timeskip Sayu.
* TautologicalTemplar: BOTH team L and team Kira.
* TeensAreMonsters: Light and Misa. Though with their faces, you'd never even suspect at first without being like L.
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler: Light's rival L]] pulls one of these off when he uses a dead-man's drop on his computer to send a message to Wammy's house, telling them of his death, if for some reason he doesn't check in every day or so. He knows this will [[spoiler: set Near and Mello to task with catching Kira,]] and he probably knew that they would [[spoiler: race each other to catch Kira and that Near especially was almost but not quite as smart as he was.]] It's not too much of stretch to say that he planned on [[spoiler:Light catching on to this and on Near and Mello inadvertently cooperating (without Light realizing it),]] leading to the showdown in the warehouse and [[spoiler:Ryuk's writing Light's name in his death note.]] Just before he dies, in the anime (but not the manga or films), [[spoiler:Light sees L (whether its a hallucination, vision, or ghost is left for the audience to decide) standing over him much the same way he, years before stood over L when the latter died (also killed by a shinigami with a death note.]]
** At the end of the live-action movie, [[spoiler:L writes his own name in the Death Note to die 23 days in the future to protect himself from Rem when he confronts Light. Watari still dies but Light and Misa are caught red-handed.]]
* ThatsWhatIWouldDo: Light explains this to L regarding a theory of his about Kira and the second Kira. Soichiro is a bit freaked out.
* ThemeTuneCameo: Misa and Matsuda both have the first ending song as their mobile phone ringtones, and the 2nd ending theme is used in the Director's Cut of the car chase in episodes 22 & 23.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Grief counseling for Misa could have solved a lot of things. Also, Light comes across in that first episode as rather depressed.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: [[spoiler: happens to Matt and Light.]]
* TheyFightCrime: Yep, [[LightIsNotGood they all do.]]
* TheThirtySixStratagems
* ThisCannotBe
* ThisIsUnforgivable: [[spoiler: Matsuda]] has had enough of [[spoiler: Light]] at the time of [[spoiler: the final confrontation with Near]]. The results are quick, well-deserved, and quite scary. [[spoiler: Ryuk]] almost couldn't keep up with him.
* ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil: Happens to Light, Misa, and Mikami, and to a lesser extent Takada and [[spoiler: Higuchi]]. The differences between their non-Kira selves and their Kira selves are striking.
* ThreeYay: First arc: Misa-Light-L and Second arc: [[spoiler: Misa-Light-Takada / Light-Takada-Mikami]] and in the prequel novel ''Literature/AnotherNote'' Raye Penber-Naomi Misora-Ryuuzaki
* TimeSkip
* TomatoInTheMirror: [[MemoryGambit Kinda]]... [[XanatosRoulette sorta]].
* TooDumbToLive: Naomi, the former F.B.I. detective who figures out crucial information on the Kira case and then decides to trust Light after he's been acting creepy, following her around, and asking "HaveYouToldAnyoneElse?" As mentioned below, though, according to WordOfGod she's less stupid than about as lucky as Near is socially skilled -- i.e., not at all.
** If you think about it, her big "mistake" was going to the police station at absolutely the wrong time -- the one time when no one working on the case was available and '''also''' when the real Kira (who, bad luck for her, was the son of someone working on the case) was also arriving. Well, that, and succumbing to Light's explanation. She had every reason to be convinced -- not least because she implicitly trusted L, and Light reminded her of L (which also lampshades that they're NotSoDifferent).
** Demegawa. Someone who uses the name of Kira to pad his own pockets, knowing that Kira is a vengeful god of justice without much sense of mercy. Demegawa? Can you say "SAKUJO"?
* [[spoiler: {{Tragedy}}]]
* TragicHero: Light pretty much fits into the Shakespearian mould for a tragic hero exactly. For example compare him to the classic tragic hero character of Macbeth.
* [[spoiler: TreacheryCoverUp]]
* TropeOverdosed
* TrouserSpace: In the second arc, Light's new Death Note hiding place. [[http://deathnotefansite.deviantart.com/art/Death-Note-Lights-Hiding-Place-257199331]] He did it in an earlier scene in the manga too...
** And in the manga [[PantsPositiveSafety this is where Mello keeps his pistol...]]
* TryNotToDie
* {{Tsundere}}: It's mentioned in ''Another Note'' that Naomi tries not to be seen as one during her time in the FBI. The definition given in-text matches up with Type A.
* TwistEnding: The second Death Note movie, where the audience expects [[spoiler: L to die just like in the manga and anime. Instead, surprise! L is alive (for 23 more days) and Light is utterly screwed.]]
* TykeBomb: Arguably, the Wammy's kids.
* {{Ubermensch}}: Light is a textbook case. ''Or'' nothing more than a sociopath with a serious god complex, [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation it all depends on your viewpoint]].
* UnflappableGuardian: Watari.
* UnholyMatrimony: Light and Misa, whether Light likes it or not. They were both villains in their own right before joining forces.
* UnintentionalBackupPlan: Light [[OutGambitted OutGambits]] Near by [[spoiler:fooling him into stealing a fake Death Note]]. However, because of Mello's own unrelated failed IndyPloy to kidnap Takada, [[spoiler:Near realizes the note is fake and is alerted to the location of the real Death Note, which he also steals and replaces with his own fake, allowing him to outwit Light]].
* UnmovingPlaid: In the manga, some very noticeable shortcuts were taken when depicting plaid or striped clothes. Sayu's pajamas come to mind.
** Soichiro's suits are especially this.
* UnreliableNarrator: [[spoiler: Mello tells the story in ''Another Note''.]]
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee: Usually we don't see Light writing his more complex death plans into his diary before they happen.
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: Higuchi]], both to L's plan and to Light's master plan.
* UrbanFantasy
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Light's motivation.
* VictoriasSecretCompartment: [[spoiler:Takada kills Mello with pages of the Death Note hidden in her bra. Shouldn't have let her have that blanket, huh?]]
* TheVillainMakesThePlot
* VillainousBreakdown: Light's is certainly one of the more famous ones, and has become somewhat of a MemeticMutation in its own right.
* VillainousFriendship:
** Light and Ryuk are Type II. Light seems to see Ryuk as a buddy to brag to but Ryuk just sees Light as a shiny new toy [[spoiler: [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness to be disposed of as soon as he gets bored.]]]]
** Light and Misa begin as Type III though it is possible that they moved to Type I territory [[spoiler: seeing as Light never does get around to killing her.]]
** In the second arc [[spoiler: Mikami and Takada]] are Type I [[spoiler: but Mikami writes her name anyway because his loyalty to his God trumps any feelings he has for her.]]
** Mello and Matt are Type I. [[spoiler: Matt is the only person Mello shows remorse for having gotten killed.]]
** Misa and Rem are Type III. Rem cares deeply for Misa but Misa doesn't really care about Rem.
* VillainProtagonist: Light.
* VillainSong: Misa sings one when Light chooses her [[spoiler: to act as Kira in his place]]. "Ki wo tsukete, Kami-sama wa miteru..."
* VillainWorld: [[spoiler: During the second arc, crime has dropped virtually to zero, many countries have declared their support for Kira, and he's got multiple TV spokesmen.]]
* VisionaryVillain: Light.
* VoodooShark: In the second rewrite special, the mafia are cut and [[spoiler: Mikami and Takada kill the SPK in their place]], with Light's meetings with them moved to earlier than occurred in the manga. This fixes a PlotHole present in the original anime, wherein SPK member Ill Ratt is never realed as a spy for Mello (providing no explanation for Mello's crew [[spoiler: knowing their names and thus able to kill them with the Death Note]]), but with the mafia plot's removal, another is created: Soichiro Yagami [[spoiler: making the trade for Shinigami Eyes and his subsequent death]] are also omitted, leaving [[spoiler: his absence]] and [[spoiler: Light's knowledge of Mello's true name]] without explanation.
* WallSlump: [[spoiler: Light, at the end.]]
* WallsOfText: The manga, partially because of the very nature of the story, partially because Ohba made sure it had [[OneHundredAndEight 108]] chapters.
* WeirdMoon: It seems any time Light goes out walking at night the moon is always full.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Light who starts out with killing only prominent murderers, but then [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumps off the slippery slope]] and begins killing anyone who gets in his way. Though he ''does'' state his intention to get around to killing people who harass others or are 'immoral' in the first episode.
** Also applies to Kiras [[spoiler:X-, a lawyer who not only kills criminals but extends his punishment to people who have atoned for their crimes and "those who do not use their potential" -- that is, lazy people]] and [[spoiler:C-, the aforementioned unseen Death Note writer in the manga sequel who kills adults over the age of 70, later 60, in order to unburden the youth of Japan.]]
** Also, while L is the leader of the good guys [[spoiler:while he's alive]], he does some morally dubious things during his quest to stop Kira.
** And then there's [[spoiler: Mello, who wants to be L's successor in the worst way. His actions (which include joining the Mafia, kidnapping Sayu, and indirectly getting Soichiro killed) are so ruthless that he's not much better than Light]].
** And then you have the debate over whether [[spoiler: Near controlled Mikami with the Death Note or not, based off of Matsuda's theory in the final chapter. WordOfGod also states that Near is a "cheater" and less innocent than he seems compared to Mello.]]
*** Near treats detective work as a game, and will try to "win" the game by any means necessary. He has no emotional attachments or morals to distract him.
* WeNeedToGetProof: L and Near suspect Light almost immediately, and though they're both willing to play fast and loose with ethics to solve a case, Near says ''ex post facto'' justification (like killing Light and seeing if the murders stop) is intolerable for either of them.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] on occasion -- writing in a notebook deserves amplification when it kills someone forty seconds later.
** Near's house of dice collapsing in the anime.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPoQmytWvIQ "SAKUJO!"]]
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaoy1QKxGQs "I'll take a potato chip... AND EAT IT!]]
* WhatIsThisFeeling
* WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: The Death Note kills people. Light quickly finds ways to make it do... [[BatmanGambit more]].
* WhosLaughingNow: This is [[spoiler: Mikami's]] FreudianExcuse.
** In The GrandFinale [[spoiler: [[BewareTheNiceOnes Matsuda]]]] is done with being the ButtMonkey...
*** Some food for thought- Light was seriously considering the [[JerkJock school bully]] for his second kill despite how it might implicate him to kill someone he knows.
*** And Taro Kagomi from the pilot chapter.
*** Kiyomi Takada in the live-action movie.
* WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief: Invoked by the Death Note. If a victim's description of death has them writing "death gods love apples" before dying, they'll just die of a heart attack without fulfilling the description, because the victim would have no way of knowing that. What they can do is write an ordinary suicide note that ''just happens'' to spell "death gods love apples" if you take the first letter of each line.
* WithDueRespect: Aizawa says this to L [[spoiler: when convinced of Light and Misa's innocence.]]
* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: To the nth degree.
* WorthyOpponent: Light toward L. [[spoiler:Particularly after L dies.]] Light's inner resentment of Near wearing a mask of L seems pretty genuine.
** Near, for his part, subverts this towards Kiras(s). In the final volume he tells [[spoiler: Light]] how it is: [[spoiler: [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome "You're just a crazy mass murderer."]] ]]
** Also subverted in the oneshot chapter set after the manga, [[spoiler: When Near [[DriventoSuicide drives cKira to suicide]] by telling cKira that he isn't worth Near's time.]]
* WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide: Kira prefers the term "Justice."
* WrittenByTheWinners: A discussed trope.
-->'''Light''': ''If [[HiredToHuntYourself we]] catch Kira, then Kira is evil. If Kira takes control of the world, then Kira is Justice.''
* XanatosRoulette: Light.
* XanatosSpeedChess: L is a master of it.
* {{Yandere}}: Let's have Misa explain it: "If I see you with another girl, then I'll kill her!". Quintessential yandere.
* YankTheDogsChain
* YouAreWhatYouHate
* YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm: The Shinigami King, [[AllThereInTheManual so says the manual.]]
* YouDidntAsk: In the live action movie this is Ryuk's explanation for why he hadn't told Light why, if you have a Death Note, your lifespan is hidden from a human who has traded for Shinigami-sight (which allowed Misa to discover who he is).
** This is his explanation in the manga as well. In addition, one of the rules of the Death Note as presented in "How to Use" is that the Shinigami is not obligated to tell the holder of the Death Note anything, even if the holder asks.
* YouFool: Light says it a couple of times in the English dub.
* YouGetMeCoffee: L pulls this on ButtMonkey Matsuda when he asks how he can better pull his weight.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Light does this all the time, as does Mello. [[spoiler:Ryuk returns the favor to Light at the very end]].
* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Invoked word for word.
* YouJustToldMe: ''Light'' of all people falls for this and accidentally [[spoiler:outs Higuchi as Kira to Namikawa.]] Made even funnier by the fact that he's using L's name at the time.
-->'''Misa''': "Wow! [[spoiler:Namikawa]] is really smart to have figured that out!"
-->'''L''': "No, that's just because Light messed up."
* YouKillItYouBoughtIt
* YouMeddlingKids: [[spoiler: Light would have gotten away with it too (or at least had been able to realistically argue his innocence)...''if he had waited two freaking seconds!!!'']]
* YouWereTryingTooHard: Bit of a subversion; Light makes his life worse because he ''didn't'' give up. [[spoiler: Light kills FBI agent Raye Penber, eventually casting suspicion upon himself, not long after the latter judges him free of suspicion of being Kira.]] If he had simply done ''nothing'' L would not have managed to narrow the suspects down to him.
** [[TheDeterminator Light never gives up]] because [[IveComeTooFar he's come too far]] to stop now. It would mean forfeiting his pride and admitting he was wrong-something he will never do. For instance after the [[spoiler: Yotsuba arc if he hadn't accepted back his Kira memories he could have remained as L's partner-there was insufficient evidence against him, Misa was currently "safe" and he could have just forfeited his memories again. In the manga that scene plays out where he is ''really'' wishing that [[HoYay he had more time with L]] (you know, just to gain his trust and all) but ultimately decides, no it has to be now.]] For Light the Kira-mission is more important than ''anything'' else.
* YoungConqueror: All of the four main characters have the mental qualifications to be this, but only Light is idealistic enough to follow this route.
* YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle: Lind L. Tailor.
* [[YourDaysAreNumbered Your Seconds Are Numbered]]
----
->''[[AllDeathsFinal Once dead, they can never come back to life.]]''
----
