History Manga / DeathNote

* AmbiguousDisorder: L and his similarly brilliant/socially awkward/obsessive-compulsive/emotionally immature brethren, especially Near.
** A lot of the cast is subject to this trope. Mello has a HairTriggerTemper and is SourOutsideSadInside, Misa is over-dependent on the affection of Light, and Light himself has both immense delusions of grandeur and a sense of self-importance so large that he could be a candidate for medical narcissism.

** More so 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.]])

** (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, Misa is in love with and is obsessed with Light, Light is [[{{Subtext}} obsessed]] [[HoYay with L. L is obsessed with both Light]] 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...]]

* PoisonousFriend: Although he doesn't actually work with Light in person until the very end, Mikami is VERY fanatically devoted to him.

* PsychoSupporter: [[spoiler:Misa Amane, Kiyomi Takada, and Teru Mikami]].

** Misa does this twice, to the severe detriment of [[ALighterShadeOfGray both sides.]] Once, it's as a PoisonousFriend to Kira, [[spoiler:giving L physical evidence in the case of her sending the tapes]], and the other time, it's out of MadLove to same, [[spoiler:endangering her own life to the point that her shinigami has to intervene]]. For a fervent Kira supporter, she's really a loose cannon: she never fully appreciates her role in either disaster.

** Averted when Matsuda has an obviously crush on Sayu, Light's sister, after ShesAllGrownUp. Her parents Soichiro, who's Matsuda's superior, and Sachiko forbid her to marry a policeman beforehand. That's hypocritical, considering that Soichiro is a police officer himself.

* VillainousFriendship:
** Light and Misa begin as Type III, though seeing as [[spoiler: Light never does get around to killing her]], it is possible that they moved to Type I territory.
** Misa and Rem are Type III; Rem cares deeply for Misa, but Misa doesn't really care about Rem as anything more than a casual friend whose death she gets over pretty quickly.
** Mello and Matt are Type I, seeing how Matt is [[spoiler: the only person Mello shows remorse for having gotten killed]].
** Mikami and Takada are Type I, but [[spoiler:Mikami kills her anyway because his loyalty to his "God" trumps any feelings he has for her.]]
** Light and Takada are very much Type III. [[spoiler: Takada loves and admires Light, but when Takada [[YouHaveFailedMe has failed him]] by getting kidnapped, he [[PsychicAssistedSuicide makes her kill herself]] by SelfImmolation.]]
** Light and Mikami at first appear to be Type I but [[WordOfGod a diagram in the databook]] actually implies that Light and Mikami are more of a Type III: Mikami is honestly loyal to Light, but Light views both Mikami and Takada as murderers who aren't that much better than other criminals. He does, however, think that Mikami is useful. Mikami [[spoiler: swears absolute devotion to Light when Light entrusts him with the Death Note and in turn he was the only one Light [[YouWillBeSpared was planning on keeping around after he won.]] However, in the anime at the very end it turns into Type III. When his plan to kill Near and others fails, Light tries to save himself by sacrificing Mikami, claiming that he doesn't know him; Mikami, while broken by this rejection, [[UndyingLoyalty remains loyal to Light]] and responds to his call for help by killing himself, creating a distraction that allows Light to escape. In the manga they are not friends at all as not only Light abandons Mikami, but also Mikami responds to Light's call for help by yelling at him that he's not a god.]]
** Light and Ryuk are type IV, the evil VitriolicBestBuds variety, Light sees Ryuk as a buddy to brag to, and [[GoKartingWithBowser Ryuk likes playing with Light]], but in the end, Light only wants to use Ryuk as much as he allows it (e.g. making him find hidden cameras installed in his room [[spoiler:or add fake rules to the Death Note as a part of his MemoryGambit]]), while Ryuk sees Light as a shiny new toy [[spoiler:[[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness to be disposed of as soon as he gets bored]]]].
** Light and Rem are type IV, at first Rem ''hates'' Light for the way he [[ManipulativeBastard manipulates]] Misa but later [[spoiler: after spending time with Higuchi, Rem comes to sympathize with Light and his cause, finding Light to be "as pure as Misa."]]

* 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.]]

* IHaveTheHighGround: The battle of wills between L and Light is often symbolically represented by them staring at each other on very, very thin skyscrapers.

* WellIntentionedExtremist:
** Light starts out by killing prominent murderers, but then [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope jumps off the slippery slope]] by the second chapter and kills anyone who gets in his way -- whether or not they qualify as "immoral", "criminal", or anything else. After the time skip, he considers eventually targeting ''lazy'' people.
** This 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 unseen Death Note writer in the manga sequel who kills adults over the age of 70 [which he later drops to 60] in order to unburden the youth of Japan).]]
** While L serves as TheLeader of the good guys [[spoiler:while he's alive]], he does some morally dubious things during his quest to stop Kira.
** [[spoiler:Mello, who wants to be L's successor, ends up joining the Mafia, kidnapping Sayu, and indirectly getting Soichiro killed; his actions are so ruthless that he's not much better than Light.]]
** 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. Series artist Takeshi Obata also states that Near is a "cheater" and less innocent than he seems compared to Mello.]] He 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.

* ImaginationBasedSuperpower: Once Light figures out imaginative new ways to use it, the The Death Note can do more than ''just'' kill people.

Originally a PsychologicalThriller manga with supernatural elements, ''Death Note''--written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata--soon developed into a multi-media franchise of [[SpinOff Spin-Offs]] and adaptations. See ''Franchise/DeathNote'' for a list of works.

* AmbiguousSituation: A little less than two weeks after [[spoiler:Light's death, Mikami dies in his cell under mysterious circumstances, and Matsuda confronts Near with the theory that Near used the Death Note on him to ensure Light's defeat and killed Mikami once he no longer had use for him. Near doesn't say anything before Matsuda walks off in disgust, and apart from WordOfGod saying "Near cheats", it's never explicitly confirmed nor denied]] (only in the manga; the anime removes this ambiguity by having [[spoiler:Mikami kill himself on the spot during the final confrontation]]).

** When the Japanese police decide to stop pursuing the Kira investigation, L lets all the police officers decide whether to stay on the task force or keep their jobs in the police before [[spoiler:it is revealed that he had already planned for such a possibility and set aside money for them]]. Aizawa is outraged by the manipulativeness of it.

** [[spoiler: It is hinted that they are regularly having sex, this is shown in scenes where Light fixes his tie while Kiyomi makes him coffee, and when he says he's busy, Kiyomi is disappointed and asks if that means he won't
stay with her until morning.]]

* 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.

** Light, as part of his misogynist attitude, blatantly favors Mikami over his other allies, Misa and Takada. [[spoiler:In the end, Mikami's massive screw-ups lead to Light being exposed and killed]].

** Not one of the detectives, including L, could figure out that [[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.]]. [[JustifiedTrope Understandable]] considering they have no idea how the Death Note works and further justified by L's desire to apply UsefulNotes/TheScientificMethod. [[spoiler: This triggered Rem to kill him to save Misa.]]

* 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.]]

* SexyDiscretionShot: [[spoiler: Light is heavily implied to have slept with Kiyomi as a way of convincing her to join him. He invites her to a hotel room, gazes into her eyes while taking off her coat, and the next scene cuts to him walking down the streets with an unbuttoned suit jacket.]]
** [[spoiler: It is hinted that they are regularly having sex together, this is shown in scenes where Light fixes his tie while Kiyomi makes him coffee.]]

** Raye Penber, an FBI agent sent to Japan [[spoiler:to aid in the investigation of the Kira case]], does not want his fiance, [[spoiler:ex-FBI agent]] Naomi Misora, to get involved in the Kira case. Unfortunately for him, she was the better detective between the two. If he had let her get involved, the series would be one and a half volumes long, and both of them would [[spoiler:still be alive]].

** L's method for determining if Light is Kira is via profiling. He doesn't look for elaborate evidence or find the one thing that can prove Light is Kira. Instead, he looks for telltale signs that Light matches Kira's psychological profile. Sure enough, Light ticks all the boxes for L's profile of Kira: he has access to police information (his father is a police officer), he has a huge ego (he's a valedictorian and a notable sore loser), he's incredibly smart (he gets top score in the Japanese national tests), and he's very idealistic (which fits Kira's methodology of targeting criminals). All of this causes L to finger Light as Kira very early on in the story, and the only reason Light manages to evade capture is because L extends the case. This is because L enjoys spending time with Light and [[HiddenDepths deep down doesn't want to believe that his friend is a serial killer.]]

** [[spoiler: Mello tells the story in ''Another Note''.]]

* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: Higuchi]], both to L's plan and to Light's master plan.

* MistakenForGay: [[spoiler:When L chains himself to Light and says it's 24/7]], Misa makes a passive-agressive remark that he's into Light.