L Lawliet

Lore & Background

Tsugumi Ohba, the writer of the series, created L as a young adult, since he believed the story would not hold much interest if L were significantly older than his opponent, Light. For L's name, he wanted to use a single letter with a lot of significance; he considered "I" and "J", but eventually chose "L" after careful consideration. Ohba left most of L's character design to manga artist Takeshi Obata. Obata asked Ohba if L should be "unattractive".

Afterwards Ohba included ideas in his thumbnails, including L's manner of sitting, "he's part English", and "he's listless". Ohba added details regarding L's mannerisms and his interests in sweets. Obata drew L as an "attractive young man" until chapter 11, when the character appeared in person. After chapter 11, Obata and Ohba agreed to contrast his appearance with Light's. When Obata's editor told him that he wanted L to have a face "looking cool based on the angle", Obata added black bags under L's eyes.

Obata cited Devilman's Akira Fudou when stating that he believed that black bags were appealing. The outfit Obata designed for L was a "simple" white, long-sleeved shirt and jeans, to convey that L does not put thought into choosing his clothing. Both Ohba and Obata chose L as their favorite character from the series, with the former noting him as the "strongest" character in the series besides Light, and the latter due to "appearance, personality, everything".

Reader's Guide

L Lawliet is the main antagonist of the Death Note manga series. He is an enigmatic, mysterious, and highly esteemed international consulting detective whose true identity and background is kept a secret. He communicates with law enforcement agencies only through his handler/assistant, Watari. Throughout the series, he observes and investigates the activities of the protagonist, Light Yagami, a high school genius.

L is a tall, disheveled and gaunt youth in his 20s with a pale complexion and visible dark circles around his eyes. He is a highly skilled, intellectually-astute and brilliant criminologist/crime investigator. He may come off as cold and cynical and often utilizes questionable methods and mostly takes up solving cases out of boredom rather than a sense of duty. However, he does have a strict moral code, is aware of his own flaws and shortcomings and is unwilling to cross morally repugnant standards, unlike Kira.

L has spent most of his life dedicating himself to solving crime cases, and hunting down and apprehending notorious criminals and felons around the world. It is implied that he suffers from loneliness, internal torment and low self-esteem, even calling himself "a monster" at one point. He also possesses an unusually high intellect and uncanny skills in strategy, deduction, observation, reasoning and profiling, which have given him a high reputation amongst law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Did You Know?

• L's real name, L Lawliet, is revealed in the manga (chapter 108) when Near states L's full name, as well as in the guidebook Death Note 13: How to Read.
• L's fighting style has been described as similar to capoeira, though Obata denied considering this when drawing L's fights.
• In the anime adaptation, L is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi in Japanese and by Alessandro Juliani in English.
• L is portrayed by Kenichi Matsuyama in the live-action film series, by Kento Yamazaki in the TV drama.