L: A Character Description

A lean guy in his 20s with pale skin, long and messy black hair, and dark circles under his eyes. Probably the description of many insomniac millennials these days. But no. I’m talking about the genius detective from the anime Death Note. His name is L. Also goes by the names Hideki Ryuga, Ryuzaki, Eraldo Coil, and Deneuve. He wears a white full-sleeved T-Shirt with blue jeans, and prefers to be barefoot even in public (of course, while not walking).

During the first few episodes of the show, we see him not communicating directly with anyone from the police academy, and the conversations are made through his assistant, Watari. He never shows his face to the outside world and whenever there is a communication portal open, we only see the letter L written in Old English MT or Callister Black. The first time people saw his face, even if they were only a few of them, was during the case involving the mass-murderer Kira. He began working with the Japanese Task Force for that case.

Though his looks may not suggest it, L is an intelligent detective, who is very meticulous and analytical and second guesses anything he is presented with. He is highly secretive, deceptive and is always willing to take drastic measures to solve cases. He uses subterfuge, misinformation and a false sense of security to lure the suspects into being erratic and overconfident, often giving themselves up in the process.

He has a few peculiar habits too. He prefers sitting in a squatting position (because, apparently, sitting in a normal position reduces deductive powers by 40%). He is always seen to be munching sweet food and has a habit of holding things only with his thumb and index finger. He is probably OCD about how his food is arranged too. Many of his habits may be considered rude or inappropriate, like biting his nails, chewing with his mouth open, or talking when his mouth is full.

However, with the title of being the best detective in the world comes a very sensitive pride. He is very afraid of being wrong in his deductions. And much as he may seem lethargic and lazy, he is very athletic. He was in England for five years, during which he was the English Junior Cup tennis champion. He is also adept in martial arts.

He is perhaps the top-notch opponent Kira deserves. L has always suspected that Kira is Light Yagami (Seriously, for a guy named Light, this dude is pretty dark). It is almost as if you can bring the Harry Potter quote here. “Neither can live while the other survives”. Though he is a detective, most of the things L does is not for a sense of justice but merely because he enjoys doing it, which makes most of the steps he takes very unorthodox. But the thing is, unlike Light, L is not truly self-centered. He has his own set of definite morals which he adheres to. But somehow, in a paradoxical way, both L and Light seem to believe that they are Justice.