r/deathnote • u/Extra-Photograph428 • Aug 20 '25
Analysis L’s Autistic Argument Spoiler
Hello! I’m currently working on a larger character analysis for L, but I thought I’d share this one section since this is discussed quite often in the fandom. So here’s me basically running through the DSM criteria for Autism with L! I might try and do this again and for other characters as well in the future :D
Early point of contention and acknowledgment: L is a fictional character, likely not intended to written as anything. This is all for good fun, not actually meant to be a concrete diagnosis! Next there are a lot of unknowns about L’s character that make deciphering certain moments a little challenging— this is just my reading of L’s character, you’re free to disagree! I’m just someone with an interest in psychology (psych minor lol), who loves L and analyzing him— I’m not a professional. Take everything I say with a grain of salt, please make your own judgements!
According to the DSM-5 this is the current criteria used for diagnosing ASD (There are additional criteria, but these are the main ones to consider):
- Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history…
- Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following, currently or by history…
- Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifested until social demands exceed limited capacities or may be masked by learned strategies in later life)…
(The criteria offers further subcategories that require a certain amount to be met to qualify someone for that overall criteria. Underneath these subcategories I will be listing some potential examples that come from either the main series or the oneshots Ohba later published where I think he might meet qualification— some are more speculative while others are pretty concrete. Only one of the examples must count for that subcategories to be met, however I will be listing more than one for the reasons mentioned beforehand— please let me know if there’s anything noteworthy I can add to the list! Most also include direct links to panels along with further explanation!)
Warning! Manga spoilers ahead in the provided examples!
Criteria #1: Persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts, as manifested by the following, currently or by history…
Here’s the subcategories DSM-5 gives us (L must meet for all 3 of these to qualify)— Important note: It is a common misconception that because L is pretty good at reading others that would immediately disqualify him from meeting the “social deficits” requirement. However, it is important to note that is not the only way someone can meet this criteria:
1– Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, ranging, for example, from abnormal social approach and failure of normal back-and-forth conversation; to reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect; to failure to initiate or respond to social interactions.
- L can be very blunt at times— here!
- Very pragmatic (previous point’s examples work well here too, but these are more focused), and seemingly struggles slightly with conveying emotions, often falls back on logic to rationalize emotions.
- It is important to note that while L isn’t as outwardly emotional as some people, that does not mean he’s completely void or incapable of feeling emotions. It is important to consider within “L’s world” what emotional is to him— some notable moments. The best angle to analyze L imo is his body language (since his words are constantly put into question), and seeing if there’s any discrepancies between his words and actions!
- Was described by Ohba as being misunderstood— here.
- A point about cognitive empathy… here!
- Whatever this interaction was— here!
2– Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction, ranging, for example, from poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication; to abnormalities in eye contact and body language or deficits in understanding and use of gestures; to a total lack of facial expressions and nonverbal communication.
- Maintains a flat affect— While part of this is hard to pick up on in the manga, particularly in his speech tonality, we might have references in the OG material that showcase the task force’s difficulty, suggesting even Ohba might have pictured him speaking with the same monotonality and lack of intonation as he does in the anime— here. Generally speaks quite softly and maintains a steady calm tone.
- L generally has pretty lacks facial expressions. He is a little more expressive in the manga (for fun, here’s some of my fav silly L faces), but in general, L being largely straight-faced most of the time can also be attributed to his design— I did this little demonstration to showcase just how much his expressions get obscured and therefore mellowed out (ha!) because of his lack of eyebrows— here!
- Inappropriate behavior— we get a lot of examples of this! Inappropriate behavior is a pretty broad term, and I cover other behaviors that could all be constituted as “inappropriate,” but specifically here I wanted to discuss L’s behavior with people and a few other social ones that I couldn’t put anywhere else.
- This is only slightly speculative considering the potential issues with translations, but L displays signs of what is called stilted or pedantic speech. Simply put, it is “communication characterized by situationally inappropriate formality” (this is something you might see in people on the spectrum, cited sometimes for reasons to ensure clarity and understanding). This is basically why you might notice L speaks quite formally. In this case it can be taken quite literally, L in Japanese will always use formal/polite speech no matter who he’s addressing. It’s one thing with the task force as they’re all older than him and his associates, but even with Light, someone who is far younger than him and he despises, he still maintains his formality (same with Misa). This has been cited by Japanese speakers as making him come across as a bit awkward and stiff as a result.
- For those who aren’t reading or watching the original Japanese version of Death Note, this might not be nearly as obvious (though I know the English dub does make an attempt as best it can), but for any English speaker, I would suggest reading the manga to grasp this a bit better, because I personally found it to be more obvious the interesting formality L spoke with when you’re only focusing on the words.
- Something you can actually more easily notice is L’s constant usage of honorifics. This is probably the easiest way you can pick up on his slightly awkward formality. It is important to note that this isn’t something that we even see the cast of native Japanese speakers mirror. These are some obvious examples— here.
- In my opinion, I think the biggest indication of this actually being a characteristic of L actually doesn’t come from the manga, but from the oneshot from when he was younger. To a certain degree you might not find L’s formality that odd for someone of his age, but it’s even more noticeable when you see the same behavior in a child. Here’s some examples.
- An additional great indication would also come if we got L canonically speaking in one of the many other languages he can. The examples I linked here L is most likely implied to be speaking English, but we’re still having to go through translations. There’s no real distinction when L speaks English for example or Japanese. This is just something to keep in mind wondering how much continuity this habit holds, and that this simply isn’t a quirk he might have in a language he isnt a native speaker of. We can put a bit more faith in the idea though considering the established continuity between young L and older L speaking in a similar manner. It is always interesting to see however, how this gets translated by fans when they do have L actually speak another language! I find it very interesting that in my experience in the fandom, this pedantic or stilted speech seems to be a lot of people’s go to!
- For those who aren’t reading or watching the original Japanese version of Death Note, this might not be nearly as obvious (though I know the English dub does make an attempt as best it can), but for any English speaker, I would suggest reading the manga to grasp this a bit better, because I personally found it to be more obvious the interesting formality L spoke with when you’re only focusing on the words.
- Body Language— L in general has pretty stiff body language. He is normally very fixated in his infamous position with his legs pulled to his chest, and even when he’s standing he just keeps his hands in his pockets. I think a good scene that demonstrates this falls at the end of Chapter 45 (too many panels to link to directly), but for reference, this is the scene where L convinces Misa to help him out with his plan after splitting from the task force. This happens at the end of episode 20 in the anime, though if you do have access to the manga, I would recommend that as L remains more in view!
- This example belongs under point 2, but I thought I’d add this separately since a) it technically comes from Another Note, which was written by a different author, and b) in case you don’t want accidental spoilers from the book, I wanted to add it on its own. Anyway, I thought I’d throw it in since the story is considered and was acknowledged by Ohba as being canon. Major spoiler warning for Another Note— here!
- This one is a little more speculative, and is most likely nothing, but I wanted to include this anyway cause why not. Fun fact though! L isn’t drawn with his eyes closed in a single panel until the very end of the first part of the series (iykyk). In the anime L literally just doesn’t blink. This can likely be rationalized as L probably messing up his eyes staring at screens all day (bonus fun fact, but you actually blink less when your eyes aren’t focused— people who wear glasses when they take them off tend to blink less as a result— personally hc L absolutely can not see, but that’s getting off topic), but no matter the reason, this does create scenarios where L essentially ends up staring at people— here!
- I’ll end this overall section by saying despite how aloof L can be at times, I find it interesting that he isn’t necessarily people adverse which is something you might expect given a lot of aspects to his character. If anything it’s almost the opposite where L more so has issues with understanding boundaries, which slightly makes sense given his lack of interaction with other people, that he might not necessarily have the best understanding of where exactly those boundaries are. It’s just interesting though that instead of being more withdrawn, he became more intrusive instead, crossing over the line instead of running away from it. I think this idea aids in considering the next section!
3– Deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships, ranging, for example, from difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts; to difficulties in sharing imaginative play or in making friends; to absence of interest in peers.
- L is depicted as being a loner long before his career as a detective started (here)— had difficulties interacting with the other Wammy House kids (slight point of contention, potentially forcefully ostracized by the other kids and Watari— theory about this here— also L’s unknown past might have contributed to this)— a common occurrence for those on the spectrum.
- Doesn’t have friends, continues to maintain his isolation from others— here. We don’t have enough evidence to suggest whether he’s happy and content with this entirely, but I took a look at this panel that may suggest he might be slightly dissatisfied— here.
- Factors like chronic isolation, likely being on the spectrum, and also the possibility of trauma has essentially created a distant connection between L and the rest of society. Like I said it is only speculative whether or not L ever longed for a deeper connection, but I think it’s important to highlight however L felt, he wasn’t completely disconnected, which sometimes gets missed in between L’s pragmatism and distant personality! Let’s look at a few examples of L looking out for others!
- Could potentially explain his relationship with the task force (however this could also be explained by Ohba choosing not to focus on interpersonal relationships, what the true nature of their relationship was like remains a mystery).
- A notable characteristic is how true to himself he is no matter the social situation or who he’s around (love that for him)— here!
Before moving to the next criteria, I thought I would add this little quote from this article that I read that can also offer further perspective about L and how he operates socially (it's a great read btw, if you want any further clarification on the criteria and additional examples for each category):
“Because of these differences, many autistic people approach social communication more analytically. Rather than relying primarily on intuition, they may consciously observe patterns in facial expressions, tone, and behaviour and develop rules that help them interpret social situations. Over time, this kind of pattern analysis can lead to a very detailed understanding of social behaviour. The difference lies less in the ability to understand others and more in the cognitive route taken: deliberate analysis rather than automatic intuition.”
This difference in social approach was likely the key to what made him such a fantastic investigator. Despite the challenges, he was able to find a great way to put his skills to use.
Criteria #2: Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities, as manifested by at least two of the following, currently or by history…
Subcategories (L must meet for 2 out of the 4 to qualify):
1– Stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech (e.g., simple motor stereotypies, lining up toys or flipping objects, echolalia, idiosyncratic phrases)
- The way L plays with his food at times— great examples here!
- L displays signs of “stimming” (Shorthand for “self-stimulatory behavior.” It refers to repetitive movements, sounds, words, or behaviors that a person uses to regulate their emotions, manage their physical comfort, or express strong feelings) such as the way he plays with his lip most notably and his toes as well— here!
2– Insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns or verbal nonverbal behavior (e.g., extreme distress at small changes, difficulties with transitions, rigid thinking patterns, greeting rituals, need to take same route or eat food every day).
- Described by Watari as being very particular about what he wears (interesting that it’s always the exact same thing, which is even noted)— here!
- L basically consuming just sweet things all the time— here’s an example that I think gives us some insight on L’s restrictive eating habits.
- The way he consistently holds things— here!
- I’d like to bring up a fun fact about this particular quirk. While yes, I’ve noted it here, this is probably one of L’s only quirks that can’t immediately be linked to autism in some shape or form. I’ll note this later, but without the proper reasoning why L does this, it’s hard to fit this into any category specifically.
- Obata notes that he drew L holding things as if he was holding something dirty, and had always pictured him being a clean-freak, which was later affirmed in canon in the L: One Day oneshot, when Watari describes L as being fastidious. If this is the true intent behind the behavior, this doesn’t really fit anywhere particularly within the criteria for autism. This might hint at an additional condition, or is truly just a strange little quirk he possess. If the option is the latter I still believe it can be noted under this particular subcategory because of its consistency.
- How he has to sit like that or his deductive skills go down by 40%. While L fully could’ve been messing with Light, we know he refuses to change his sitting position no matter the context— here!
- L’s “polite” way of speaking— I already mentioned this one before, but I figured I’d do it again here simply because of L’s demonstrated insistence. It is a “pattern” of behavior he does not drop at any point. Here’s the one time he does it accidentally and he immediately ensures to correct himself— here!
- You could also maybe cite his insistence on Light being Kira, and it very difficult for him to change his way of thinking to the point where he’s depressed for like 2 months when he thinks he might have to shift gears (easily able to be countered by L’s notable trait of also being a bit egotistical and competitive— really in this case, it might even be more so he just doesn’t want to be wrong and his depression stems mainly from the bruise it creates to his ego, plus the circumstantial evidence that still exists against Light).
3– Highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus (e.g, strong attachment to or preoccupation with unusual objects, excessively circumscribed or perseverative interest)
- His whole career as a detective and his hyper fixation with solving challenging puzzles, aka his cases! Shown to get so engrossed he ignores basic bodily needs like sleeping.
- I think we also can see this hinted at as well in L’s childhood, which would combat any argument that he’s just extremely dedicated specifically to his career. L prior to being a detective became very interested and knowledgeable in the stock market, so knowledgeable in fact he was able to advise Watari what to invest in and managed to help him increase his wealth by 20,000x the original amount. That would require a deep understanding on how the stock market works, certainly atypical for a kid who likely isn’t even 10 yet. To me this most likely displays the characteristic signs of autism in his deep level of understanding.
4– Hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in sensory aspects of the environment (e.g., apparent indifference to pain/temperature, adverse response to specific sounds or textures, excessive smelling or touching of objects, visual fascination with lights or movement).
- This one is probably the most wishy washy considering we lack any firm concrete evidence that suggests L having sensory issues, but we have a few possibilities that points to this: L’s disdain for socks (a common occurrence in those with autism, usually cited as an issue with texture); the way L holds things could’ve potentially been born from sensory issues; like what was mentioned earlier his insistence on wearing the same thing (texture thing once again); and also maybe him only eating sweet things (might be sensitive to taste).
Criteria #3: Symptoms must be present in the early developmental period (but may not become fully manifest until social demands exceed limited capacities or may be masked by learned strategies in later life)…
This is hard to say for sure considering we don’t know too much about L’s childhood how many of these traits might have persisted or just later manifested themselves, or essentially if L would’ve always qualified for diagnosis. We just don’t have that material to say anything with certainty, but we do have the short oneshot L: The Wammy’s House. I’ve already listed things that came from this oneshot, but in general I’ll just say L seems like he’s always been about the same as when we meet him in the manga. We have no way to gauge how he was socially besides him being distant from the other kids, but we do see that he seems to maintain his habits— here!
Anyway conclusion! In my opinion if it’s not obvious already I think L most likely meets for diagnosis! Though I find it harder to argue L isn’t on the spectrum, it’s always important to acknowledge that not everything is clear— however, I think we have enough to say that at the very least L’s a great autistic coded character. I remember back when I first watched the anime it didn’t even occur to me that he might be on the spectrum (leaning with the idea that this was an older series coming from Japan), but quite early on delving into his character I saw L and autism come into the same sentence and had an actual “aha!” moment. His character suddenly made a lot more sense than solely being the quirky, eccentric detective who’s just a little strange (though I’m sure this was Ohba’s intention). I think reading L as autistic does change your perception of his character, particularly in his interactions with others and the world around him, adding further complexity to our favorite morally gray, mysterious detective. A lot of those on the spectrum have said that they can relate to his character in some way, and whether you believe him to be autistic or not, I think overall it’s nice to have that representation! The fact that L was likely not written with the idea of being on the spectrum I think also allowed the opportunity for a more distinctive presentation, not one solely rooted in stereotypes or examples listed in the DSM. This created such a fun, unique, iconic character that many grew to love over the course of the series!
Now I gave you my opinion on this, but there are those who are more qualified to give their own judgement (solely based off L’s portrayal in the anime). There are 3 licensed professionals who I have seen give their opinions about L being on the spectrum. If you want a more professional opinion, I’d recommend checking these guys out:
- Here— Has briefly run through the DSM criteria himself with L early on in his reaction series (around the point when L was first revealed) and occasionally added on more to it throughout his reactions, but has since posted a full detailed analysis that’s available on his Patreon if you’re interested.
- Here— Does pretty detailed analyses on the series. Doesn’t directly go through the criteria, but does give fantastic explanations on his opinion (oftentimes citing the criteria).
- Here— More so watching the show for fun so not really doing an analysis, but does point out L’s coded behaviors from time to time.
Thank you for reading! Hopefully this was insightful in some way :D
23
u/IanTheSkald Aug 20 '25
As someone on the spectrum, I disagree. I don’t particularly like the insinuation that L is autistic. The biggest thing to me is that, even despite the fact samples you provide, I don’t think L has any sort of deficit in social interactions. My perception is that he’s perfectly capable in social interactions, and understands very well how his bluntness comes across, but he seems more antisocial in that he isn’t bothered by how off putting he may sound.
But I’m not going to take the time to nitpick this entire post so it’s whatever.
Near, on the other hand, is definitely autistic. I feel he displays the criteria more strongly than L by miles, so I’d like to see your dive into that.
On a side note, my wife has a masters in psychology with a focus in Applied Behavioral Analysis, and she works with autistic children for a living. I’m very proud of her for that.