These are recommendations made by Tropers for Death Note general fanfic, all of which have to be signed to stay on the page. Feel free to add a fanfic of your own finding to the list, but remember to use the template found here.
You can also add to the current recommendations if you want. Refrain from posting Conversation in the Main Page though; that goes in the discussion page.
Stories focused on the family and the friendly relationships of the cast. Plot-focused stories or light day-in-the-life stories. Pretty much anything that isn't focused on romance.
Am I Being Punished?
by theonlyone101- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: The Yagamis in church. Light wonders what he has done to deserve this...
2 ReviewsA More Plausible Ending for Death Note by Jason Elliott
- Recommended by: fanfictionlurker1
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Light prepares a little better for the final confrontation with Near.
Armageddon by Dont4get 2 Write
- Recommended by: A-Tisket,A-Tasket
- Status: Dead; last updated January 2015
- Synopsis: "''"And the notebook Aizawa brought down from the Japanese Investigation Headquarters. Are they real?"
The Art of Drowning by Quiet (TVTropes Page)
- Recommended by: Ninajsquirl, feral, Killing Curse Eyes
- Status: Possibly a Dead Fic. Hasn't been updated since 2010.
- Synopsis: Light isn't actually a Yagami, he's really Layfield whose parents were murdered in some sort of conspiracy, he got put in an orphanage with his best friend, who dies. Years later he realizes said friend hasn't stayed dead. Too bad the L/Light reunion gets cut off by a very old conspiracy.
AI: Alternate Incarceration by FFYP-det-Yagami
- Recommended by: Marlee Cross
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Misa gets some handcuffs. Light is unhappy about the situation at large. AU - contains ridiculous revenge, awkward situations, swearing, vague nudity, a love test, L in a suit, Misa, and the dreaded Ame-chan.
Ave Verum Corpus by Nardaviel
- Recommended by: Vash Ti
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: This short Kid Fic follows Light from early childhood right into canon. It's touching and sad, full of a child's fears and insecurities, dreams and nightmares, and the discomfort of being too smart for your own good.
CoffinSide by Ruin Takada (TVTropes Page)
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Pairings: Slight platonic Ryuk/Light
- Synopsis: Light dies and a funeral is held, yet Sayu cannot cry. However, when Ryuk grows bored yet again, the result is the screwing of the rules, in true Lazarean style.
- Additional Info: This is a competition fic, in which readers are invited to write a continuation/sequel of the fic to earn the title 'Official continuation'. This fic also comes with Death Note-style rules on Ruin Takada's profile page. The competition is considered still open.
Days and Nights by Monniemoo (crack, Mello/Matt hints)
- Recommended by: sauronlulz
- Status: Incomplete
- Synopsis: Matt quits his job at Gamestop and hitchhikes, not knowing the strange people he will meet on the way. AU crackfics with ensemble cast.
Death Note Crossroads by river-moonlight
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Dead; last updated July 2009
- Synopsis: Post-series mayhem. (Spoilers for the entire series). Ryuk drops another notebook and it's picked up... by Matsuda.
- Tags: Continuation Fic, Angst, Dark!Matsuda
Death Note Game Over by Ridler
- Recommended by: Timetraveller
- Status: Complete
- Sypnosis: A normal guy with a normal life finds the Death Note two months before Light Yagami is caught and killed. At first unwilling to use it, he slowly realizes he has to if he wants to maintain the peaceful world he'd lived in since Kira appeared.
Death Row by Leesy Metallium
- Recommended by: Dawnwing, Henry42
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: A one-shot from Lind L. Tailor's point of view. The day before L confronts Kira on television, Tailor is condemned to die, but L has a proposition for him...
Dust and Mirrors by Another Winter
- Recommended by: Pupa
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: A character study of Mello with particular focus on his strange connection with Beyond Birthday, a man he has never met yet who Mello sees as a kindred spirit. Easily one of the best character studies of Mello.
Evangelos by Bialy.
- Recommended by: Thinks Too Much
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Seven semi-happy moments in Mello's life. In the author's words, "Mello in seven kisses".
Falling to Pieces by Silver Pard
- Recommended by: Dame-Amaryllis
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Misa loves Light, even when she doesn't.
Fiend by Zanganito
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Roger finds Beyond's behavior disturbing.
Fragmentary Blue by The Carnivorous Muffin
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Pairings: past Light/Misa
- Synopsis: There is a shinigami in Misa's home, one she believes may have once been Light, and so she waits for him to come back. Sometimes she has doubts.
- Tags: Angst, Continuation Fic, Shinigami, Het
- Recommended by: KA
- Status: Complete
- Pairings: Implied Gevanni/Lidner
- Synopsis: "The year following Light Yagami's death, things begin to go wrong. Is it the house? Is it Near? Is it ever going to stop?" Seven chapters of psychological thriller detailing a haunted house, a descent into madness, the confusion as to which is which, and you don't truly know what's going on until the end.
The Golden Son, Light by Serria
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Sachiko recognizes changes in her son's behavior.
- Tags: Back Story, Angst, Alternative Character Interpretation, Depression, Family Drama
Grub by Zanganito
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Roger thinks of L, in insect metaphors.
Hindsight by Elizabeth Culmer
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: "No man creates himself in isolation, and no mother intends her child to be a monster. A story of the Yagami family."
- Tags: Back Story, Angst, Family Drama
Honey by Zanganito
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: L and Roger manipulate each other, and L tutors B.
- Tags: prequel, horror, sadism, drama
Hypocrite by Arysthae-niru (TVTropes Page)
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Pairings: slight Light x Misa and Light x L (Lampshaded Foe Romance Subtext)
- Synopsis: Those who forget their history are bound to repeat it. Stare into the abyss and the abyss will stare back. Light learns this too late to count...
Inhuman Resurrection by Lawliet Is Justice
- Recommended by: whatshisface
- Status: Dead
- Synopsis: L is returned as a Virtual Ghost 200 years after his death.
It Rains on the Living by Serria
- Recommended by orpheus-izanagi
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Sachiko finds out that Light is dead.
- Tags: Angst, Family Drama
- Recommended by: whiteladydragon 00
- Status: Dead (last updated December 2014)
- Synopsis: "Three days after the 1.28 showdown, word leaks out that Kira has been killed, and a whole new case begins, a race to stop the madman who plans to complete the creation of a perfect world. Blending angst and tension with humor and healing, this fast-paced story is told primarily from the perspective of Matsuda, and offers a realistic depiction of the survivors of the Kira case."
Kira is Justice by chihuahua0 (TVTropes Page)
- Recommended by: Chihuahua0, feral
- Status: Dead (discontinued)
- Synopsis: In the year 2014, a Shinigami named Landras drops a Death Note on Chicago, and it is picked up by a shy high schooler name Justin. History repeats itself, until more people get involved...
- Tags: Continuation Fic, Original Character, déjà vu, intrigue
L's Road Trip by Jackel Scribe
- Recommended by: Marlee Cross
- Status: Dead; last updated August 2008
- Synopsis: L, realizing that the Kira case may very well end in his death, decides to go on a road trip across America and drags Light and Misa along with him. Everything you'd expect to go wrong does.
- Tags: The Yotsuba arc, Alternate Universe Fic, W.A.F.F., Humor, Overreacting Airport Security, strip searches
Law Has Gone Away by chase glasslace
- Recommended by: fanfictionlurker1
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Maybe, just maybe, he wishes he had shot Near instead of Light that day.' Matsuda doesn't know what he wants anymore. He doesn't know what he believes anymore. Set during and after ch108.
- Recommended by: fanfictionlurker1
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Light accepts L's invitation to test a newly procured lie detector. What results is a conversation of carefully worded truths: as L noses for gossip and Light assesses the best way out of the situation. [Spoilers for Page. 31, volume 4]
- Comments: Interesting scene that would fit very well in canon. Doesn't have romance, excessive angst, or character bashing. It has what the Death Note was about, namely Light and L trying to outwit each other. Very Original Flavour.
Life After Death Note by Cameron Kennedy (TVTropes Page)
- Recommended by: Chihuahua0
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: (Spoilers) Light killed L on November 5, 2004. But then, 6 years later, L wakes up in a hospital bed. He quickly learns that Kira is dead, but as he knows from experience, dead things don't always stay that way...
The Life Script by MadxHatterxTeapot
- Recommended by: Mitis
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: The Life Script is a one-of-a-kind book that can bestow life on whoever's name is written in it, even undoing the power of a Death Note. Irritated from how Light seems to have all but forgotten Ryuk's existence, he steals the Script from where it's gathering dust and bestows it on another human. A new player enters the game, much to Light's ire.
- Tags: Alternate Universe
- Pairing: Ryuk/OC
Little Sister by Monniemoo
- Recommended by: sauronlulz
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: In the midst of her loneliness waiting for Light, Misa discovers a little sister.
Metempsychosis by palant1r
- Recommended by: vividsonata
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: After the warehouse, Matsuda wakes up the next morning faced with a second chance. One day to fix everything, one day to build the January 28 he wants. And that day will repeat for as long as it takes to get things right.
Murmur in the Shell by Disguise_of_Carnivorism
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Nathan Rivers finds that the game board never runs out of pieces. Kira finds that justice falls from the sky.
One Small Detail by Wilwarin
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: When Ryuk goes home to the Shinigami realm he remembers one small detail that he had forgotten...
- Tags: Continuation Fic, Shinigami
Opposable Thumbs by Luc Court (rabbitprint)
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Set during L's time at school. Raito tries to figure out the nature of L's intelligence.
The Parameters of Ghosts by toluene
- Recommended by feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Light Yagami has defeated L. Everything is proceeding according to plan, until one night, the deceased detective reappears. Why does L continue to haunt him?
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Dead (last updated February 2010)
- Synopsis: A tale of suspense set in between the first and second seasons, a new threat to Kira's world arises—a terrorist is killing innocents and tarnishing Kira's "good name." Light's running low on pawns and the stakes have never been higher.
- Tags: Gen Fic, action-adventure, spy, intrigue
Playing The Adult by Lord Onisyr
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Pairing(s): L x nameless escort
- Synopsis: After accidentally getting more of a view into L's private life than he would have liked, Watari recognizes his teenage ward is no longer a child.
- Tags: strange things, Slash Fic, oneshot
Pure White by Aiden Dahlin
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: "After everything, despite his quirks, she was lucky to have such a brilliant child. He was any mothers dream, an angel-Light closed his eyes, trying to block out some of the sound."
- Tags: Back Story, Angst, insanity, Creepy Child, Family Drama
Redivivus by Silver Pard
- Recommended by: What The Spoot, feral
- Status: Dead; last updated February 2010
- Synopsis: "The most important thing Ryuk learned watching Light Yagami was how to follow the rules to the letter and still break them." Light is dragged into a Peggy Sue journey, much to his frustration. Minor implications of Lightx L.
- Recommended by: Binditheskunk
- Status: Completed
- Synopsis: Movieverse. Eighteen months after L's death, Soichiro receives an email from him asking for help. When he arrives, he finds L sick and sleeping rough on the streets of Aomori. Determined to help, Soichiro ends up taking him into his own home and, as L slowly begins to trust him, learning some shocking truths about the young detective's background along the way.
- Review: it's a very interesting piece with a sort of parental bond that grows between L and Soichiro and at some points you do wonder if he's looking at him as a simple replacement for Light....and Wammy's house is not seen in a favorable light..... but all in all it's worth the read and I could not recommend it more
Revenge by PurpleMoon3
- Recommended by: Lustheron
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Ryuk's point of view from when Light dies.
- Comments: An interesting glimpse into Ryuk's mind. Contains a highly unexpected ending.
Rules by Lady Karai
- Trope page here.
- Recommended by: Nyame
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: L is given a second chance at life, but there are certain rules he must follow. Such conditions would normally be hardly worth mentioning for the former detective, but an unwelcome person from his past quickly appears to test his resolve.
- Comments: A nice departure from all the Slash Fic, this story explores the growing friendship between Elijah McCormick, L's new identity, and Light Yagami. The sequel, Risk and Rewards, deals with Elijah trying to get Light to give up being Kira.
Ryuk Returns by Michaelmyersfangirl (TVTropes Page)
- Recommended by: Chihuahua0
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Five years after Death Note, Ryuk makes a bet with a Shinigami to give the Death Note to another person to see of that person will turn out better than Light. A Candaian girl named Scout Hemmings finds it. "hilarity and horrifics insue", as the review said. [sic erat scriptum]
Second Chances by Spades 44
- Trope page here.
- Recommended by: emilyperson
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: "Crime doesn't stop just because you're dead." L solves mysteries and faces his own humanity in the afterlife. Contains background Raye/Naomi, Matt/Mello, and "L/someone familiar."
- Recommended by: feral
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: "I will return," God promised, and they have been waiting ever since. Or: Light wins, and everyone else loses.
The Secret Rule by Marcus Absent
- Recommended by: Justafan
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Taro Kagami has spent his whole life trying to undo the destruction caused by the notebook. Now, he may finally get his chance. But the powers of evil are stronger than he thinks. Who will win? Who will survive? COMPLETE
- Comments: Make excellent use of the main character of the Death Note Pilot.
Sins of the Father and Under One Roof by Sarapsys
- Recommended by: Lady Lucy, lilzebub
- Status: Complete
- Pairing(s): OC/OC.
- Synopsis: Sins of the Father, in the author's own words, depicts the House and L's successors, from the perspective of the man who raised them. "You can't protect your children from everything, especially when they don't want your protection." This story is followed by "Under One Roof", again in the author's own words, Wammy's House, in 60 patchworked ficlets from the perspectives of students and staff. Interquel of Sins of the Father.
Something Near the Truth by darkhelmetj
- Recommended by: Alanna Mo
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Halle never thought of herself as a puzzle person. There was, however, one puzzle which she could not bring herself to leave unfinished. SPK Fic. Post-Chapter 107. Entire Series Spoilers. One-shot.
The Story of L by animeperson798
- Recommended by bloodyangelwings
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: As the name implies, this story is about L. It mainly focuses on his childhood, and his relationship with Watari. Other Wammy's House children have also made appearances. Does have minor (one-sided) Bx L.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Tiny Octopus
- Recommended by: The Bookworm, Ragnar The Semi Green, Pigeonbrain
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: A girl who took high school philosophy with Light Yagami recounts the story of the rise of the god of judgement and the trail of corpes left in his wake. [sic erat scriptum]
- Comments: Interesting philosophical debates as well as an OC that feels unintrusive. No one is OCC and the story potrays Light's character exceptionally well.
- Comments: Seconded. The tone of the story is very subdued, yet when the story reaches its conclusion it will amaze you.
Up In Smoke by Argella
- Recommended by: sauronlulz
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Near would rather forget the last charred fragments of his childhood. Short oneshot.
We Fat Ourselves For Maggots by visszater
- Recommended by: aimsme, feral
- Status: Complete
- Pairings: Minor Sachiko/Soichiro
- Synopsis: Ryuk watches over his family.
- Tags: Family Drama, Shinigami
Welcome to Wammy by Mikanis
- Recommended by: Cassius
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: It is about Mello's life pre-DN continuity.
White Note by esama
- Recommended by: feral, Coffeemocha
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: At the age of five, L came upon a Death Note.
Year of the Dragon by Prince Darcy
- Recommended by: chiaroscurololita
- Status: Complete
- Pairings: Mild (past, one-sided) Light/Yamamoto
- Synopsis: It's been two years since Light Yagami's death and Kira's disappearance. An old friend pays respects to his memory.
God of the Machine by The Carnivorous Muffin
- Recommended by: Kthe Cloud
- Status: Dead; last updated January 2018
- Synopsis: "Upon entering the world of Death Note Anna Jones considers her survival and the prices she is willing to pay."
- Comments: An OC who doesn't read as a SUE, and a fairly realistic look at how the world changes from her presence, as well as lack of change.
We Will Stumble Through Heaven by susieboo
- Recommended by: Adele Potter
- Status: Dead; last updated August 2016
- Pairing(s): Misa/Sayu
- Synopsis: "A single choice can set your whole life off-course forever. For fifteen year old Sayu Yagami, that choice was picking up the notebook she found outside her English class one day. Too afraid to let the Shinigami that owns the Death Note kill her, she decides to use her newfound power to do some good, in hopes of keeping Ryuk entertained and herself alive. But Sayu soon finds she can't handle her new position alone, and decides to confide in the person she trusts the most: her older brother, Light. Unfortunately, she may have put her faith in the wrong person." An AU where Sayu picked up the Death Note instead of Light.
- Recommended by: Lyra_Dhani
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: Almost two years after the arrest of Kira, Near has finally succeeded L, but his reign hasn't gone unchallenged. Faced with an unsolvable string of murders threatening both his position and his life, the third L must seek help from an unlikely (and unlikable) source: his imprisoned predecessor, Light Yagami.
Darkness (is the absence of light) by ante__meridiem
- Recommended by: artemisMoon
- Status: Complete
- Synopsis: L wins and try to get over Light and the Kira case. Character Study.
- Pairing(s): L/light (can also be read as a platonic relationship
- Tags: Character Study, Relationship Study, L wins, Angst.
We All Need a Hero by The White Death
- Recommended by thaines27
- Status: In Progress
- Pairing(s): Sayu/Misa
- Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Light Yagami is destined to change the world someday. Everyone knows that. And Light’s little sister Sayu will make sure he gets his chance, no matter what it takes. An AU where Sayu finds the Death Note instead of Light.
- Now with a TropesPage
