˙Light Yagami ˎˊ𖥔

Light Yagami (夜神月, Yagami Raito?) is the main protagonist of the series. He was the first son of Soichiro and Sachiko Yagami, and the older brother of Sayu Yagami. He was the owner of the Death Note.

Light finds the Death Note and uses it to kill criminals, primarily those featured in the news. He then begins killing criminals in general. He becomes known in Japan as Kira (キラ, Kira?), a name derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "killer"). He joins the police force to get closer to his enemy, L, and ultimately eliminate him. He is killed by Ryuk's Death Note on January 28, 2010.

Light was a young man of somewhat frail appearance, quite thin, weighing only 54 kg, and tall, reaching a height of 179 cm. He had brown hair, somewhat long and unkempt. His eyes were brown, and he had thin eyebrows. He considered himself very handsome.

Light is characterized as a bored, courageous, and intelligent young man. He is 17 years old at the beginning of the anime and manga, and despite his youth, he is confident in his own sense of logic and creativity, as well as in his interactions with others. At the start of the story, he is presented as someone who, despite his intelligence and good grades in school, is frustrated by the injustice in the world. Believing the world is "rotten," he desires a means by which he can enact his justice and purge the world of all evil. Light uses the Death Note with the sole purpose of cleansing the world of crime and injustice. Light's ultimate goal is to create a world free of criminals, populated only by people he deems responsible, hardworking, and good, thus becoming the "God of the new world." However, despite the nobility of his intentions, his methods are far from approved by society and the authorities, who consider him a maniacal and childish serial killer, driven only by his own ego.

Light is a determined and straightforward man, completely unconcerned about staining his hands with the blood of those he has killed. This ultimately demonstrates that he is capable of anything to achieve his goals, which is one of the main causes of his corruption as a person. As Light uses the Death Note more, he becomes more ruthless and twisted, to the point of not only lacking empathy, compassion, or love for others, but also developing a manipulative side to his personality, even going so far as to use his own family and people related to him to achieve his goals in what he considers the right thing to do.

Soichiro Yagami 「夜神 総一郎, Yagami Soichiro?」 is the husband of Sachiko Yagami, father of Light and Sayu Yagami, head of the NPC and the policeman who initially led the Kira Investigation Team.

Sachiko Yagami (夜神 幸子, Yagami Sachiko?) is the wife of Soichiro Yagami and the mother of Light and Sayu Yagami. She is unaware that her son is Kira or of the use of the Death Note.

Sayu Yagami (夜神 粧裕, Yagami Sayu?) is the daughter of Soichiro and Sachiko Yagami and the younger sister of Light Yagami. She did not play a significant role in the series until Mello kidnapped her to obtain the Death Note, leaving her disabled from the shock.

L (「エル, Eru?」), whose real name is L Lawliet (「エル＝ローライト, Eru Rōraito?」), is the mysterious detective who takes on the mission of capturing Kira. Although his face and name are initially unknown, throughout the series he eventually introduces himself to other characters, revealing his strange personality and becoming one of the main characters of the series. L is considered the world's greatest detective, having solved some of the most complex cases in the past, such as the BB serial killer case, and preventing the world from entering World War III. For this reason, the police decide to ask for his help in trying to solve the Kira case, although they warn from the beginning that L only participates in cases that personally interest him. Fortunately for the police, L is already aware of the case and has sent Watari to let them know that he is willing to solve it, but that to do so he will need all the cooperation the police can offer. Soon, he embarks on a clever strategy by which he manages to determine that Kira is in the Kanto region of Japan and subsequently declares war on him via television. Thus begins a battle of wits between Kira (Light) and L, which will become the main plot of the series. L is a 25-year-old young man, although he looks like a 17 or 18-year-old teenager.

He has black, very messy hair. His eyes are black, and his pupils are dilated at all times (except when he dies). His skin is so white it takes on a cadaverous hue. This may be due to his infrequent exposure to sunlight. His skin contrasts sharply with the deep, pronounced dark circles under his eyes, a result of his lack of sleep, which keeps him awake with the help of all kinds of sweets and caffeine, giving him a tired appearance. He is approximately 1.79 meters tall, but appears shorter due to his hunched posture.

Misa Amane (弥海砂, Amane Misa?) is one of the main characters of Death Note. Besides being a renowned idol, she is the "Second Kira" and Light Yagami's girlfriend. Misa is the first human in the series to use the Shinigami Eye Deal, which allows her to learn her victim's real name before killing them. She is a girl of average height with blonde hair styled in two pigtails and light brown eyes (though they sometimes appear blue) that turn red when she uses her Shinigami Eyes. She always dresses in black during the L arc, in a strongly defined Gothic Lolita style, but once it ends, she begins to wear brighter colors, more casual clothing, and lets her hair down. Thanks to her modeling work, Misa is able to completely change her appearance using wigs, contact lenses, and different clothes. Misa often displays a somewhat childish, naive, and impulsive attitude. She also has a strong temper, as seen in her jealous outbursts regarding Light and L's comments about her. When she speaks, she usually refers to herself in the third person.

She feels a profound devotion and admiration for Kira for killing her parents' murderer (which explains her devotion to Light). She is very sensitive, as seen in how she obtained her Death Note, feeling gratitude towards Jealous for sacrificing his life for her, believing that this is what love is. Due to these circumstances, Misa is easily manipulated by Light, who sees her merely as a tool in his own plans, mistakenly believing that Light is in love with her even though he feels the opposite.

She also has a fondness and friendly bond with L Lawliet despite calling him a "pervert", and a strong appreciation for Rem, whom she considers a great friend.

The Death Note (デスノート, Desu Nōto?) is a supernatural notebook with the power to kill anyone whose name is written in it. The original owners of these notebooks are the Shinigami (Death Gods), who use them to kill humans and thus sustain their own lives, but there are also exceptional cases where humans can use them, such as Kira. The notebook is primarily used to assassinate humans by writing their first and last name in it, provided the face of the intended victim is kept in mind so that others with the same name are not affected. Upon writing the intended victim's first and last name, they will die of a heart attack within the next forty seconds unless a cause of death is specified by writing the circumstances of the demise within the following six minutes and forty seconds. However, despite its relatively simple use, there are a number of rules and restrictions unknown even to the Shinigami themselves. The notebook cannot distort reality, as the person's death must be from a plausible cause. If the cause of death specified in the notebook is not met, the written cause of death is nullified, but the victim will still die of a heart attack. Furthermore, a person can only be manipulated to a certain extent before dying from the effects of the Death Note, with the limit being 23 days. However, it is possible to cause the death of a person from chronic diseases depending on the time they take to develop. When a Shinigami kills a human using the Death Note, the remaining years of that person's life are added to their own. Shinigami can lose their Death Notes in the Human World, though this is extremely rare.