Meet the characters of Death Note, from Light Yagami, the student who finds a notebook that kills, and L, the detective who hunts him, to Misa, Ryuk, Near, Mello and the Shinigami who watch it all. Every card lists the character's role and, where known, age and height, while the More facts button reveals the real name, birthday, first episode and the voice actors in Japanese and English. The most popular characters come first, and the filters single out the Kira users, the investigators, the Shinigami, Wammy's House, the Yagami family and the characters who appear only in the manga or the novel Another Note.
Updated November 2026 · Anime, manga and novel
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All Death Note Characters
#1
Investigators
L Lawliet
Also known as L and Ryuzaki
L is the world's greatest detective, a pale genius with a sweet tooth who sits with his knees pulled up and works under names like Ryuzaki and Hideki Ryuga. He suspects Light early on and even befriends him to watch him up close, until Rem writes L's name in her notebook to protect Misa.
Light Yagami is a top student and a police chief's son who finds the Death Note that Ryuk dropped into the human world. As Kira, he kills criminals to build a new world with himself as its god and outwits L, but Near exposes him in the end and Ryuk writes his name in his own notebook.
Misa Amane is a popular model who worships Kira for killing the man who murdered her parents. With the notebook Rem gives her and the Shinigami eyes, she becomes the Second Kira, tracks Light down and devotes herself to him, trading half of her remaining life for the eyes twice.
Ryuk is a bored Shinigami who drops a Death Note into the human world just to see what happens, then follows Light, who picks it up. He loves apples, never takes sides and, just as he warned at the start, writes Light's name in his own notebook when the story ends.
Near is the youngest of L's successors from Wammy's House, a pale, quiet boy who plays with toys and puzzles while he thinks. As head of the SPK, he figures out Light's plan, has Mikami's notebook swapped for a fake and proves that Light is Kira at the Yellow Box warehouse.
Mello grew up at Wammy's House as one of L's possible successors and refuses to work with his rival Near. He joins the mafia instead, has Sayu Yagami kidnapped to get a Death Note and later kidnaps Kiyomi Takada, who kills him with a hidden piece of the notebook, but that last move helps Near win.
Teru Mikami is a prosecutor who has hated injustice since childhood and sees Kira as God. Chosen to carry on Kira's work while Light is watched, he makes the eye deal with Ryuk and judges criminals himself, but one move he makes on his own leads the SPK to the real notebook.
Matt is a goggle-wearing gamer from Wammy's House who helps his friend Mello by spying on Misa. He sets off the smoke bomb distraction that lets Mello kidnap Kiyomi Takada, and her bodyguards shoot him as he surrenders.
Role
Mello's partner from Wammy's House
Age
19
Height
168 cm (5'6")
More facts
Real name
Mail Jeevas
Birthday
February 1
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
First seen
Episode 35
Japanese voice
Tomohiro Nishimura
English voice
Drew Nelson
#9
Shinigami
Rem
Rem is a Shinigami who brings Misa the notebook of Gelus, who died saving her, and comes to care about Misa deeply. When L gets too close to Misa, Rem writes the names of L and Watari in her own notebook, knowing it will kill her too.
Role
Shinigami who protects Misa
More facts
First seen
Episode 11
Japanese voice
Kimiko Saito
English voice
Colleen Wheeler
#10
Investigators
Touta Matsuda
Touta Matsuda is a young, impulsive member of the Japanese Task Force who poses as Misa's manager for a while and keeps rushing into danger. In the final showdown he is the one who shoots Light when Light tries to write Near's name.
Role
Task Force detective
Age
25 to 26 (30 to 31 after the time skip)
Height
174 cm (5'9")
More facts
Birthday
December 14
Zodiac sign
Sagittarius
First seen
Episode 2
Japanese voice
Ryo Naito
English voice
Vincent Tong
#11
Wammy's House
Beyond Birthday
Also known as B and Rue Ryuzaki
Beyond Birthday, or B, is a former Wammy's House child who was born with Shinigami eyes and appears only in the novel Another Note. To beat L, he commits a series of murders in Los Angeles, then joins the investigation as a detective named Rue Ryuzaki, until Naomi Misora stops and arrests him.
Role
Killer from the novel Another Note
More facts
First seen
Novel, Another Note
#12
Kira
Kiyomi Takada
Kiyomi Takada is Light's former girlfriend from To-Oh University, where she was known as Miss To-Oh. Years later she becomes an NHN news anchor and Kira's spokesperson, kills Mello with a hidden piece of the notebook and dies in a fire after Light writes her name to cover his tracks.
Role
News anchor and Kira's spokesperson
Age
18 to 19 (24 after the time skip)
Height
166 cm (5'5")
More facts
Birthday
July 12
Zodiac sign
Cancer
First seen
Episode 14
Japanese voice
Maaya Sakamoto
English voice
Heather Doerksen
#13
Investigators
Naomi Misora
Naomi Misora is a former FBI agent and Raye Penber's fiancée who once helped L solve the Los Angeles BB murder case. After Raye's death she starts tracking Kira on her own, but Light gets her real name out of her and writes it on a piece of the notebook.
Role
Former FBI agent
Age
27
Height
171 cm (5'7")
More facts
Family
Raye Penber (fiancé)
Birthday
February 11
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
First seen
Episode 5
Japanese voice
Naoko Matsui
English voice
Tabitha St. Germain
#14
Investigators
Raye Penber
Raye Penber is an FBI agent sent to Japan to investigate people close to the police, and Light is one of the people he follows. Light uses a bus hijacking to learn his name, then tricks him into writing down the names of the other FBI agents in Japan before he dies at a train station.
Role
FBI agent
Age
28
Height
180 cm (5'11")
More facts
Family
Naomi Misora (fiancée)
Birthday
December 31
Zodiac sign
Capricorn
First seen
Episode 3
Japanese voice
Hideo Ishikawa
English voice
Michael Adamthwaite
#15
Investigators
Shuichi Aizawa
Shuichi Aizawa is a dedicated Task Force detective and family man who leaves the team for a while during the Yotsuba case. After the time skip he is the first on the Task Force to seriously suspect that the new L is Kira, and in the end he takes over Soichiro's old post.
Role
Task Force detective
Age
34 to 35 (40 after the time skip)
Height
183 cm (6'0")
More facts
Birthday
May 11
Zodiac sign
Taurus
First seen
Episode 2
Japanese voice
Keiji Fujiwara
English voice
Trevor Devall
#16
Wammy's House
Watari
Watari is L's elderly assistant and go-between, and his real name is Quillsh Wammy, the world-famous inventor who founded Wammy's House. He dies moments before L when Rem writes both of their names.
Role
L's assistant
Age
70 to 71
Height
175 cm (5'9")
More facts
Real name
Quillsh Wammy
Birthday
May 1
Zodiac sign
Taurus
First seen
Episode 2
Japanese voice
Kiyoshi Kobayashi
English voice
French Tickner
#17
Shinigami
Gelus
Gelus is a Shinigami who looks like a patchwork doll and spent his time watching Misa Amane from the Shinigami Realm. When a stalker was about to kill her, he wrote the stalker's name in his notebook, which saved Misa and turned Gelus to dust. Rem then brought his notebook to Misa.
Role
Shinigami who loved Misa
More facts
First seen
Episode 12
Japanese voice
Kenichi Matsuyama
English voice
Michael Dobson
#18
Idol
Hideki Ryuga
Hideki Ryuga is a popular idol and actor whose name L borrows when he introduces himself to Light at the To-Oh University entrance ceremony. The name works as a trap: if Light tested it in the Death Note, he would likely picture the real star's face, and the idol's death would point to him.
Role
Pop idol
More facts
First seen
Episode 8
Japanese voice
Kensuke Nishi
English voice
Paul Dobson
#19
Investigators
Soichiro Yagami
Soichiro Yagami is Light's father, a police chief who leads the Task Force and lives by the law. Blaming himself for losing the notebook to Mello, he makes the eye deal with Ryuk for the raid on Mello's hideout, is shot there and dies in the hospital, still believing that Light is innocent.
Kyosuke Higuchi is the head of technology development at the Yotsuba Group and the Third Kira, who uses the Death Note to kill the company's rivals for profit. L's team catches him after a car chase, and Light, his memories back, writes Higuchi's name on a scrap hidden in his watch.
Sayu Yagami is Light's cheerful younger sister, who looks up to her big brother and asks him for help with her homework. After the time skip, Mello's men kidnap her to trade her for the Task Force's Death Note, and the shock leaves her deeply traumatized.
Lind L. Tailor is a death row criminal who appears on live TV as L to test Kira. When Light kills him on the spot, L learns that Kira is in the Kanto region of Japan, since the broadcast was only shown there.
Role
Criminal posing as L on TV
More facts
First seen
Episode 2
Japanese voice
Yukitoshi Tokumoto
English voice
Matt Lagan
#23
Kira
Minoru Tanaka
Also known as a-Kira
Minoru Tanaka is a lazy but brilliant high school student from the 2020 one-shot a-Kira who gets a Death Note from Ryuk and never writes a single name in it. Instead, he sells it to the United States in a worldwide auction, until a new rule from the Shinigami King makes Ryuk write his name.
Role
Student who gets a Death Note from Ryuk
Age
16 or 17
More facts
First seen
Manga, a-Kira one-shot (2020)
#24
Shinigami
Sidoh
Sidoh is a timid, chocolate-loving Shinigami whose notebook is the one Ryuk took and dropped into the human world. He comes to Earth to get it back, ends up helping Mello's group and finally returns home with his notebook.
Role
Shinigami looking for his notebook
More facts
First seen
Episode 28
Japanese voice
Kazuki Yao
English voice
Sam Vincent
#25
Shinigami
Shinigami King
Also known as the King of Death
The Shinigami King, also called the King of Death, rules over every Shinigami and their notebooks but is never seen in the main story. He is first drawn in the 2008 one-shot C-Kira, and in the 2020 one-shot a-Kira he adds a rule that kills anyone who sells or buys a Death Note.
Role
Ruler of the Shinigami
More facts
First seen
Manga, C-Kira one-shot (2008)
#26
SPK
Stephen Gevanni
Stephen Gevanni is an SPK agent who follows Teru Mikami for Near. Overnight he and a fellow agent forge an exact copy of Mikami's real notebook and swap it in, so the names Mikami writes at the final meeting kill no one.
Role
SPK agent
Age
27
Height
182 cm (6'0")
More facts
Real name
Stephen Loud
Birthday
September 1
Zodiac sign
Virgo
First seen
Episode 27
Japanese voice
Hiroki Takahashi
English voice
Sam Vincent
#27
Investigators
Kanzo Mogi
Kanzo Mogi is a quiet, dependable Task Force detective who rarely speaks but always gets the job done. He takes over as Misa's manager during the Yotsuba case and stays with the Task Force until the end.
Role
Task Force detective
Age
30 to 31 (36 after the time skip)
Height
188 cm (6'2")
More facts
Birthday
September 13
Zodiac sign
Virgo
First seen
Episode 2
Japanese voice
Kazuya Nakai
English voice
John Murphy
#28
SPK
Halle Lidner
Halle Lidner is an SPK agent who once worked for the Secret Service and the CIA, and she becomes Kiyomi Takada's bodyguard to keep watch on her for Near. She also passes information to Mello and hands Takada over to him when he kidnaps her.
Role
SPK agent
Age
29 to 30
Height
180 cm (5'11")
More facts
Real name
Halle Bullook
Birthday
February 18
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
First seen
Episode 27
Japanese voice
Akeno Watanabe
English voice
Lisa Ann Beley
#29
Investigators
Wedy
Wedy is a professional thief and surveillance expert whom L hires to bug the Yotsuba Group's meetings, always hiding her eyes behind dark sunglasses. After L's death, Light writes her name, and she dies in a traffic accident in Colorado in the manga and on her motorcycle in the anime.
Role
Thief working for L
Age
30
Height
170 cm (5'7")
More facts
Real name
Merrie Kenwood
Birthday
November 2
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
First seen
Episode 18
Japanese voice
Miki Nagasawa
English voice
Venus Terzo
#30
Investigators
Hirokazu Ukita
Hirokazu Ukita is a young Task Force detective who rushes to Sakura TV to stop it from airing the Second Kira's videos. Misa kills him outside the station, which shows that the Second Kira can kill with just a face.
Role
Task Force detective
Age
26
Height
161 cm (5'3")
More facts
Birthday
November 9
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
First seen
Episode 2
Japanese voice
Hidenobu Kiuchi
English voice
Jeremy From
#31
Yotsuba
Reiji Namikawa
Reiji Namikawa is the Yotsuba Group's vice president of sales and the sharpest of the eight executives at its secret Kira meetings. He agrees to help when Light calls him as L, but about five months after L's death Light kills him along with the rest of the Yotsuba executives.
Role
Yotsuba executive
Age
30 to 31
Height
181 cm (5'11")
More facts
Birthday
August 3
Zodiac sign
Leo
First seen
Episode 17
Japanese voice
Hirofumi Nojima
English voice
Ted Cole
#32
Investigators
Aiber
Aiber is a charming con artist whom L hires to win the trust of the Yotsuba executives, even posing as the famous detective Eraldo Coil. After L's death, Light writes his name, and in the manga he dies of liver cancer in a Paris hospital with his family at his bedside.
Role
Con artist working for L
Age
35
Height
189 cm (6'2")
More facts
Real name
Thierry Morrello
Birthday
July 17
Zodiac sign
Cancer
First seen
Episode 18
Japanese voice
Takuya Kirimoto
English voice
David Orth
#33
U.S. President
David Hoope
David Hoope is the President of the United States in the manga, who approves Near's SPK and sends special forces against Mello's hideout. When the raid fails, he commits suicide, and Kira is said to be behind his death. In the anime, the president is George Sairas instead.
Role
President of the United States
More facts
First seen
Manga, Chapter 60
#34
Pilot Chapter
Taro Kagami
Taro Kagami is the hero of the 2003 Death Note pilot chapter, a bullied 13-year-old who mistakes Ryuk's notebook for a diary and accidentally kills his bullies. With Ryuk's Death Eraser he brings them back, stops a classmate who uses a second notebook and secretly keeps his own.
Role
Hero of the pilot chapter
Age
13
More facts
First seen
Manga, pilot chapter (2003)
Death Note manga posters
Light Yagami, Ryuk, L and Misa Amane star in our Death Note manga posters. Instant download, print at any size.
Death Note follows Light Yagami, a top student who finds a notebook dropped by the Shinigami Ryuk: anyone whose name is written in it dies. As Kira, Light starts killing criminals to build a new world, and the world's greatest detective, L, sets out to catch him. Misa Amane, the Second Kira, joins Light's side, while L's successors Near and Mello take up the hunt after the time skip.
Light vs L: Who Wins?
Light and L are the heart of Death Note: two geniuses who are each sure that they stand for justice. L suspects Light early on and even befriends him at To-Oh University to watch him up close, while Light plays the perfect son and student. Light wins the first round when Rem kills L, but L's successors finish the case: in the final confrontation, Near proves that Light is Kira.
Kira is the name the public gives to whoever is killing criminals with the Death Note. Light is the first Kira, but others take on the role over the story, some on his orders and some on their own.
Never writes a name and sells the notebook in an auction
No
Death Note Shinigami and the Shinigami Eyes
Shinigami are gods of death who live in a dark, barren realm and extend their own lives by writing human names in their notebooks. Anyone who touches a Death Note can see the Shinigami it came from.
Rules over every Shinigami and their notebooks; first seen in the one-shot C-Kira
A Shinigami can give the owner of a notebook its eyes in exchange for half of the owner's remaining life. With the Shinigami eyes, a person sees the real name and lifespan of almost anyone whose face they see (the lifespans of other notebook owners stay hidden), so they can kill with just a face. Light never makes the deal.
Ryuk wrote the basic rules in English inside the cover of the notebook he dropped, and more rules come out as the story goes on. These are the ones that matter most, in our own words:
The person whose name is written in the notebook dies. The writer must picture the person's face, so people with the same name are not affected.
If no cause of death is written within 40 seconds of the name, the person dies of a heart attack.
After writing the cause of death, the writer has 6 minutes and 40 seconds to add the details.
A Death Note that touches the ground of the human world belongs to the human world, and the human who picks it up becomes its owner.
Anyone who touches a Death Note can see and hear its original owner, the Shinigami it came from.
Giving up ownership of a Death Note erases every memory of using it, and touching the notebook again brings the memories back.
A Shinigami can give the owner its eyes in exchange for half of the owner's remaining life.
A Shinigami who kills someone to save the life of a human it cares about dies itself.
Two rules written in the notebook are fake: that an owner dies after 13 days without writing a name and that everyone who touched the notebook dies if it is destroyed. Light had Ryuk add them to clear himself and Misa and to keep the police from destroying the notebook.
L's Successors and Their Real Names
L grew up at Wammy's House, an orphanage for gifted children founded by Quillsh Wammy, the man known as Watari. Its brightest children were raised as possible successors to L and known only by aliases, so even their real names stayed secret: Near and Mello were next in line, and Matt and Beyond Birthday grew up there too.
Light's father, Soichiro Yagami, leads the Japanese Task Force that works with L, and Light himself joins it. After the time skip, the SPK (Special Provision for Kira) takes up the case in the United States under Near.
Death Note does not hold back: most of its main characters die before the end. Here is who dies, how and when, by anime episode, or by manga or novel for the characters who are not in the anime.
Heart attack after Ryuk writes his name under the Shinigami King's new rule
Manga, a-Kira one-shot
Death Note Ages, Heights and Birthdays
The story begins when Light finds the Death Note at 17 and jumps ahead about five years after L's death, so most characters have two ages. The anime sets the story three years later than the manga, so most birth years move by three, but the birthdays stay the same.
The Death Note anime ran for 37 episodes from 2006 to 2007. Mamoru Miyano voices Light and Kappei Yamaguchi voices L in Japanese, while Brad Swaile and Alessandro Juliani lead the English dub.
Death Note has been adapted for live action several times: the Japanese films Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name (2006), the spin-off L: Change the WorLd (2008), the sequel Death Note: Light Up the NEW World (2016), a Japanese TV drama (2015) and the American Netflix film (2017), which renames Light, Misa and Soichiro as Light Turner, Mia Sutton and James Turner. In the TV drama, Near and Mello are two sides of one character.
Are you a mastermind like Light, an eccentric genius like L or a devoted fan like Misa? Answer a few questions in our Death Note quiz and find out which Death Note character matches your personality.
Our popularity ranking combines two things: how often people search for each character and your votes. The ranking is updated every month, and the Fan Favorites list changes every day. The first-seen line on each card shows the episode where the character first appears, or the manga or novel for characters who are not in the anime.
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Light Yagami, a top student who finds the Death Note that the Shinigami Ryuk dropped and starts killing criminals as Kira. The story follows his battle of wits with L, the detective who hunts him, and later with L's successors Near and Mello.
What is L's real name?
L's real name is L Lawliet. The story itself never says it: it was first revealed in the official guidebook Death Note 13: How to Read. During the investigation he goes by L, Ryuzaki and Hideki Ryuga.
How old is Light Yagami?
Light is 17 when he finds the Death Note and 23 at the end of the story, after the time skip. His birthday is February 28, and he is 179 cm (5'10") tall.
How old is L?
L is 24 to 25 during the Kira case and 22 in the novel Another Note. His birthday is October 31, and he is about 179 cm (5'10") tall, the same height as Light.
Who kills L in Death Note?
Rem kills L. Light sets things up so that L is about to expose Misa, and Rem writes the names of L and Watari in her own notebook to protect her, which kills Rem as well.
Does Light die at the end of Death Note?
Yes. After Near proves that he is Kira, Matsuda shoots him, and Ryuk writes Light's name in his own notebook, just as he said he would at the start. In the anime, Light first escapes the warehouse and dies in another one nearby.
Does Misa die in Death Note?
Her death is never shown. The anime ends with Misa standing on the edge of a tall building after Light's death, and the guidebook Death Note 13: How to Read says she died about a year after Light, on Valentine's Day.
Who plays L in the Netflix Death Note?
LaKeith Stanfield plays L in the 2017 Netflix film, with Nat Wolff as Light Turner, Margaret Qualley as Mia Sutton and Willem Dafoe as the voice of Ryuk.
How can I vote for my favorite character?
Press the heart button on any card. You can vote for every character once a day. The Fan Favorites box shows the most voted characters, and your votes count toward the next monthly update of the ranking. While the page is new, the KuroKoma team also adds a few votes every day.
#1
