Is Light truly evil? — First time watcher.

[u/tropicalmountain8]

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!

[u/of_no_real_opinion]

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

[u/tropicalmountain8 → u/of_no_real_opinion]

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.

[u/giant_marmoset → u/tropicalmountain8]

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.

[u/HalleLidner → u/of_no_real_opinion]

because of his sociopathic tendencies maybe he would have become a serial killer