Death Note (デスノート, Desu Nōto) is a manga series created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata. The series centers around a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook that allows him to kill anyone by writing the victim's name while picturing their face.
An anime television adaptation aired in Japan from October 3, 2006, to June 26, 2007. Composed of 37 episodes, the anime was developed by Madhouse and directed by Tetsurō Araki.
Light Yagami is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.
He is portrayed as a brilliant but bored genius who finds the Death Note, an otherworldly supernatural notebook that allows the user to kill anyone by knowing their name and face, after it is dropped by the Shinigami Ryuk.
L Lawliet, known mononymously as L, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata.
L (エル, Eru) is a world-renowned detective who takes on the challenge of catching the mass murderer known as Kira. In his investigation, L becomes suspicious of Light Yagami and makes it his goal to prove that Light is Kira.
Ryuk (Japanese: リューク, Hepburn: Ryūku) is a bored Shinigami that drops a Death Note, a notebook that allows the user to kill anyone simply by knowing their name and face, into the human world in order to have relief from his boredom.
It is picked up by Light Yagami, a bright high school student who uses it in an attempt to create and rule a utopia cleansed of evil, with him at the helm as a "god".
A famous model, Misa seeks out Kira (Light Yagami) as she supports his cause to "cleanse the world of evil".
Using her own Death Note Misa does everything she can to aid Light. This includes shortening her own lifespan by half, twice, in order to receive the eyes of a Shinigami, giving her the ability to learn a person's name just by looking at their face. Although Misa fills the traditional role of the love interest, her relationship with Light is one-sided as he uses her simply for his own gains.
Teru Mikami (魅上 照, Mikami Teru) is a criminal prosecutor chosen as the Hand of Kira by Light Yagami. Mikami takes ownership of Gelus's Death Note after Light falls under suspicion of being Kira again, and needs someone to act as Kira without being giving every order.