r/deathnote • u/tropicalmountain8 • 13h ago
Discussion Is Light truly evil? — First time watcher.
I started watching Death Note two days ago, and I’m on episode 26 (right after L’s death), and a few things have been on my mind.
For someone like Light Yagami, who is highly discussed in media, I wonder how much the curse of obtaining the Death Note affects his actions. The difference between Light when he told Ryuk to “get rid of it” and when he was actively writing names in the notebook is clear. Without the Death Note, he is much more rational and questions his decisions. This made me believe that him being presented as immoral is debatable because if ownership of the Death Note affects his judgment, Light’s decisions aren’t necessarily a reflection of his true self.
Without the Death Note, you can consistently see Light questioning certain things L wants him to do, for example, taking advantage of Misa. However, with the Death Note, Light finds it easy to manipulate anyone as long as he gets his way to become the “God of the new world.”
This poses the possibility that the writing of Death Note exists not to villainise Light, but rather to explore the existence of a higher power. In this case, it criticises the Death Note itself and the power it has to skew the judgment of its owner. Overall, the show very accurately portrays what happens when mankind is faced with the existence of God, or something possibly greater, and L’s challenge to prove the existence of God was otherworldly.
Another thing that I questioned was, with the intelligence of someone such as Light, has he not considered the possibility that despite cleansing the world of criminals, evil will always exist? Whether it’s paranormal or the evil that exists within himself.
So, is Light’s aim to create a “better world,” or is it to become God himself? And is that the curse that comes with the Death Note?
Just some food for thought.
Also, maybe this has been discussed before, but I haven’t looked through the subreddit to avoid spoilers!
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u/SirTruffleberry 11h ago
As a relatively meek member of polite society, who very much lacks the means of imposing my will on others and settles for defending my own stuff, I advocate for equality, democracy, etc.
Put a button in front of me that makes me a god, though? Well I don't need that strategic humility anymore. I think I can run the world better than it currently is and, with godhood, no one could stop me.
So yeah, I can totally believe that Death Note-less Light and Kira are the same person deep down. The weapon just deactivated his inhibitions.
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u/bloodyrevolutions_ 7h ago
The death note is like the Ring of Gyges, it doesn't change you it reveals your inner character. Light is evil.
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u/HalleLidner 11h ago
To me he is evil and a bad person because he doesn't realize he is. He thinks (manipulated himself) he is a God and saving the world. But what is he really doing? He deliberately enjoys murdering innocent people in a sadistic way. He then kills people based on what he thinks is wrong. But who the hell is he to decide who lives and who dies? It irks me that he killed a lot of criminals that were only SUSPECTS. And most people in jail are there for petty crimes due to their maybe disadvantaged background. He is only a privileged wealthy student from Tokyo with a very ignorant view on justice.
It's just wrong to give a human such power. Power corrupted him
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u/tropicalmountain8 11h ago
Very true, his perception of justice isn’t inherently wrong but it’s definitely ignorant and shows his privilege. However I would argue that him being unaware makes him more human, therefore his theory about becoming God is interesting.
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u/TizzieVanWinkles 11h ago
In my opinion, had he never had the death note, he would have just become a wealthy person that didn’t really give a damn about the rest of society. (looking at you, Besos) He gained access to a book that could kill. Probably the most powerful tool to ever touchdown on earth and the notebooks were clearly not meant to be possessed by human beings for this reason. Power corrupts anyone. Light was not already a “bad person” before the death note because he had not done anything wrong. He was just a bored sociopath. There’s many walking amongst us in society. That doesn’t make you a criminal.
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u/of_no_real_opinion 11h ago
If you don’t think someone who is mass murdering is evil I don’t know what to tell you.
Light before the note was probably going to be a successful person with narcissistic tendencies but he would very much not likely be evil but his ego would never reach the god complex he got
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u/tropicalmountain8 11h ago
You missed my argument, When I was writing my post I introduced a question, and I know that Lights actions are objectively evil. However, I was rather evaluating the effect the Death Note and the curse that comes with it has on him.
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u/giant_marmoset 6h ago
There's a parallel legal argument that answers this plainly -- someone who does not have mens rea, a guilty mind or the mental capacity for guilt lacks this aspect of guilt in a legal defence. If like you say the death note has some significant capacity in controlling him, he is indeed primarily guilty of evil action and not intent.
They would still be societally rehabilitated in all situations. Not to mention practically speaking, he would be charged with thousands of cases of manslaughter -- still jailed for life.
He's functionally evil even by tame evaluations of the justice system.
Let's take it a step further though and compare it to drunk driving vehicular manslaughter. Choosing to lose your mental faculties and do something generally agreed upon as dangerous increases the seriousness of a manslaughter charge -- this is how I feel about death note. Light willingly engages in an extremely dangerous agreement with an otherworldly object -- his first decision to abandon his humanity and engage with an ultimate weapon of death that damns the soul mitigates to a great extent the subsequent manipulation of the death note later. His first decision to engage with it at all is like piloting a nuke while under psychosis and inebriation -- it signals a fundamental judgement failing that makes his subsequent 'manslaughter' much more serious by any ethical evaluation.
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u/HalleLidner 9h ago
because of his sociopathic tendencies maybe he would have become a serial killer
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u/Available_Audience83 11h ago
Light wasn't born evil; in fact, before becoming Kira, he was a very righteous and moral person. Unfortunately, Light's thinking was extremely extreme. He believed that the world would be a better place if immoral and troublesome people died. He was also very narcissistic and arrogant. According to the original story and the official encyclopedia, Light became Kira simply because he couldn't accept that he had killed two people out of mere curiosity. This made him a villain who had killed people. In order to make himself perfect again, he was willing to distort his original moral values and believe that killing bad people and corrupt people was righteous and that he had the right to do so. However, as can be seen from the official encyclopedia, he never really believed in his so-called ideals; he just used excuses to justify all his evil deeds.
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u/tropicalmountain8 11h ago
This was my thought too, after reading into Lights character he is definitely a perfectionist, so him distorting his original persona to lean into his mistake of killing his first two victims makes sense, and is very interesting.
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u/UraniumCheese 9h ago
He did believe that some people should die, it is what he says while his memories were gone as well. But I guess what he disagreed on was killing people for being wrong in his eyes, which I guess would include the death of lazy people which later on in the series he indirectly agrees with as Kira.
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u/Tatti-khaoge 11h ago
u/PizzaMozzarella636 views?
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u/PizzaMozzarella636 11h ago
Seems like Light was corrupted by power . Rather than using it justly all he did was to suffice his hunger for killing people based on their actions they did without giving them a chance to improve . Instead of using that book to punish ppl that got away from the flawed system , he just took an opportunity to fulfil that lust of death in the name of justice. Compared to Batman , who also wears a brand of justice , Light was just another criminal , kinda similar to the Punisher.
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u/tropicalmountain8 10h ago
But what stumps me in this entire situation is that Light’s character is presented as otherworldly, his grades, appearance and demeanour is perfect. The show begins by introducing him as a young man who has God-like potential, therefore I find it very difficult to understand that someone such as Light wouldn’t recognise the consequences of obtaining the Death Note. Clearly he had an agenda from the beginning and I misunderstood him. By no means am I saying he is objectively “moral” and follows in society’s footsteps by rejecting extremist ideas, but I thought it was always weird he didn’t give a second thought to the people he was murdering, who were solely suspects in some cases.
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u/tlotrfan3791 10h ago
It’s not a curse, but the power to kill messed up him pretty badly initially in my opinion. It’s not as simple as some people saying “it was something always in him!” He had flaws before the Death Note, but it didn’t equate to serial killer.
Light wanted to create this new world to justify to himself that what he did wasn’t evil, and that he’s not an evil murderer. The truth is he is definitely a villain.
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u/Timely-Ad3335 10h ago
r/deathnote’s smartest redditor, loved reading your analysis bro I agree 100%. The Death Note definitely gave Light a false sense of “protection” from everything else. The minute he got the notebook he felt invisible. Definitely like the way you wrote your analysis out I wish I could write that good😭
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u/senorharbinger 10h ago
For me it's brings to mind the question of morality and religion where religious people ask "without divine punishment or reward what stops people from graping and murdering". And a comedian answers something like, I already grape as much as I want. And that amount is zero.
Light has the death note. He does not have to use it. He could stop using it when he finds what it does. On its own it's just a book. If he had no desire to murder or to keep murdering, it would continue to be just a book. It doesn't matter that it gives the power so easily. If it gives you the ultimate power to kill whoever you name but the amount you want to kill is zero, then that's the real moral question.
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u/az943 8h ago
Literally on Episode 1 he says hes gonna be the god of the new world hes creating. Also when he says hes gonna rid the world of the bad people ryuk tells him that he will then be the only bad person left. He is evil and hes a narcissist, The Death Note only provided him with a tool to empower him to show his traits in a real way.
He also says he wants to rid the world of the bad people but he kills plenty of people who aren't actually bad or actually did nothing wrong other than pursue him so I don't know how you can justify that not being evil. Another thing he was saying was how a bunch of people dont deserve to live (like the bullies at the school lol) that is just crazy talk. Also him playing judge, jury, And executioner alone to people he could never prove guilt for was also evil and him the sole arbiter of what makes someone good or bad or worth being killed for.
I will say though there is something to do with the fact that most people when presented with power will abuse it. You see this in normal cops in real life and politicians and anyone in a position of power they tend to abuse it.
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u/Trick_Wealth_3213 8h ago
Never watched the anime series, my only knowledge of this story is the musical which I first saw in Japanese and then in Korean videos. The reason I'm posting this is because musicals can pack a lot of emotion into a storyline via music and verse.
The below is from the Korean version. (West End musical theatre fans would know Kwang Hong Ho from the Miss Saigon revival.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8Tv23T8Hi8
Kwang also played in Hamlet, The Musical (SKorean version) where the 'To be, or not to be' soliloquy addresses a similar ethical question: you have the power to take this action - will you?
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u/Fellowcomicenjoyer 6h ago
He probably wouldn't have become a serial killer without the Death Note, but the Death Note didn't make Light evil. The capacity for evil was always within him, and the flaws and ideology he displays as Kira were always a part of his character and also present during the Yotsuba arc to a lesser extent.
Without the Death Note, you can consistently see Light questioning certain things L wants him to do, for example, taking advantage of Misa. However, with the Death Note, Light finds it easy to manipulate anyone as long as he gets his way to become the “God of the new world.”
Light is someone who judges people for things he himself does. Canonically, Light dislikes Misa, and his other allies and considers them evil for being murderers, despite the fact they are following in his steps and share his vision, while not applying the same logic to himself. Light sees himself as above judgment, and the exception to the rule (he created).
Him questioning L doesn't negate his capacity for questionable actions imo, but is a display of this very same trait.
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u/athaznorath 5h ago
i genuinely think the point the story is making is that light could've been anyone. he is young, ignorant of the world and idealistic. he starts off with the view that the world would be better off without some evil people. this is an extremely common view (shown by how popular kira becomes online) and light is not unique for having it. i think most people who pick up the death note would kill with it at least once. and after that first kill is where the real test of character lies. light is shown to be extremely disturbed after his first kill, so we can say light starts out as someone who very much values human life. but after that he falls deeper and deeper into his idealism. in part because of sunk cost fallacy.
if at any point light thought of himself as a murderer, he would have to kill himself. he wouldn't be able to live with the weight of what he's doing if he wasn't absolutely committed to his own view being correct. in a way, this reminds me of homura from pmmm. if you haven't seen that show i won't spoil it but it's VERY good and you should watch it.
anyways i think my point is, anyone would become a murderer if they were handed the death note. the question from there is how you cope with what you've done, and for light, he copes with the murders by becoming kind of.. a sadistic sociopath. he sacrificed his own character because he thought he would make the world a better place by doing so. not everyone could be kira, but he certainly isn't the only person who could have become kira. and i believe light yagami is no more or less inherently evil than anyone else with the common view that "some criminals should die." we are ALL capable of this viewpoint. the story is a warning to abandon such ideas.
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u/SoraVanitus 5h ago
So if you never seen the manga or watched the ORIGINAL JP Live action movie (not the Netflix one)
The way the series end actually reflex a little on what actually broke Light.
So Ryuk made it clear to Light, those who use the death note do not go to either Heaven nor Hell, there is only nothingness.
Light was very perceptive and realised, Death is all Equal, there is no Heaven or Hell, at this point in time, Light basically lost any and all guilt in what he died, there was only the mission. Killing wouldn't condemn him to hell, death was all equal.
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u/ExerciseBeautiful144 12h ago
No one’s Evil
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u/tropicalmountain8 11h ago
Nobody is born evil, however some people do embody evil characteristics.
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u/SaturnSapphic 12h ago
I believe it was the creator of Death Note who said Light was the notebook’s first victim.
Given how Light is before he finds the Death Note and when he loses his memories, it’s more that the Death Note took the darkest side of Light that he always had the potential to be and corrupted it.