History Series / DeathNote

->''"That's right this is a battle. I may not be able to do it but Kira can. Kira can change the world."''

* AlternateContinuity: [[CaptainObvious Of course]] But some notable changes include:

-->'''L:''' Although, as it happens, [[spoiler:Raye is not his real name]].
** Episode 8's [[spoiler:clash has Light beating up L for possession of the 'Death Note', with L remarking that Light cannot kill him, because of his real name being unknown]]. A text message is sent to Light's phone, who picks it up and laughs. [[spoiler:It's because L's real name was sent to him]].
-->'''Light:''' I... finally have it... Ryuga. No... L... No. ''(Shows phone to L)'' [[spoiler:L Lawliet]].

-->'''L:''' If you're viewing this second video, it means the investigation is proceeding, right?\\

** Another one in that same episode. [[spoiler:Light wrote Himura's name down, ordering her to give her the 'Death Note' and drive off to her fate]]. During the credits, we see what happens: Himura goes back to [[spoiler:Mello's hideout, covered with [[StringTheory pictures and strings about the Kira investigation]]. As Mello asks her what she's doing here, the latter reaches into her bag and pulls out a grenade. [[PsychicAssistedSuicide She ends up fulfilling the final part of Light's writing: to kill herself]] and destroy all evidence relating to Kira, much to [[OhCrap Mello's shock]]]].
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Death-Note-Main-Cast-001.jpg]]

!! ''Death Note'' contains examples of the following tropes:

** Episode 2 has Light attempt to kill Raye Pember after getting his name from the latter's badge in a busjacking. He writes that he goes to L, leading to an argument between the two that ends with Raye shooting L before dying himself. But later on, Light receives a phone call from L, who tells Light that Raye told light everything that happened on the bus, with one more tip.

** Episode 8's [[spoiler:clash has Light beating up L for possession of the 'Death Note', with L remarking that Light cannot kill him, because of his real name being unknown]]. A text message is sent to Light's phone, who picks it up and laughs]].

** The next episode after that has [[spoiler:L, victorious over Light by switching the notebooks, and at the husk of finally telling the Investigation Team about Light's betrayal. Suddenly, the heart attack sound effect is heard, and L can only collapse to the floor]].
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->'' "That's right this is a battle. I may not be able to do it but Kira can. Kira can change the world." ''
-->--'''Light Yagami'''

* AdaptationalNiceness: Most of the main cast. L and Light seem to be genuinely honest in their declarations of friendship, even after [[spoiler: L's death]], and Near is a lot more personable.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Our VillainProtagonist is brought down to AntiHero levels in the early episodes of the series. He deeply cares about his family (even though he has a strained relationship with his father), kills the murderer of Misa's parents on her behalf and actually saves people using the Death Note, like getting rid of JerkJock Sakota and saving his father from the criminal arguably responsible for the pair's strained relationship (Soichiro chose to book him instead of being at his wife's deathbed).[[spoiler:He does eventually lose sympathy by the end of the series, at which point Light has allowed his own father to commit suicide because he was, in Light's own words, "in my way".]]

* AdaptationExpansion:
** As opposed to how quickly the manga established Light as Kira, this first episode of this version spends a lot of time highlighting Light's life before he makes the decision to become Kira and his struggles with the morality of that decision.
** L is actually shown interacting with Near, properly setting up the notion of Wammy's House. He also takes action ''years'' before he did in the original.
** Teru Mikami's character before becoming the later AxCrazy [[TheDragon Dragon]] is explored from early on in the series.
* AdaptationOriginConnection: Kuro Otoharada, originally a minor criminal (and the first person Light kills when testing the notebook), is reimagined as a criminal who Soichiro himself brought to justice [[spoiler:at the cost of not being by his wife's deathbed. Light later kills Otoharada in the first episode, saving Soichiro who's being held hostage.]]

* TookALevelInDumbass:
** Light is noticeably stupider than his original counterpart. He yells at Ryuk to shut up while he's being pestered in class, he fails at trying to tell Misa that she will be killed without looking like a crazy fan, and it takes him a moment to realize that her security guard was supposed to be the one to kill Misa.
** Speaking of Misa, she's even stupider than her original counterpart. She messes up left and right as the Second Kira and almost reveals Light as Kira while there were still cameras and microphones set up in his room. It certainly doesn't help her character when she asks Rem what "paranoid" means while Rem was warning her the dangers of owning a Death Note and she only took the eye deal just to find out who Kira is and decided that she didn't want the eyes anymore after that.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Our VillainProtagonist is brought down to AntiHero levels in the early episodes of the series. He deeply cares about his family (even though he has a strained relationship with his father), kills the murderer of Misa's parents on her behalf and actually saves people using the Death Note, like getting rid of JerkJock Sakota and saving his father from the criminal arguably responsible for the pair's strained relationship (Soichiro chose to book him instead of being at his wife's deathbed).[[spoiler: This is eventually subverted by the end of the series, at which point Light has allowed his own father to commit suicide because he was, in Light's own words, "in my way".]]

* LighterAndSofter: Instead of Light's descent into madness being a complete bloodbath, he kills over fifty people within a month via heart attacks. Most of his murders in this version are just people dying of heart attacks, even when people dying of heart attacks is probably a dead giveaway.

* AdaptationalJerkass: L. Though not exactly a 'hero' (with WordOfGod admitting that he's a bit evil), he usually comes across as ALighterShadeOfGrey when compared to Light and a few spin-offs (namely the film ''Film/LChangeTheWorld'' and the light novel ''LightNovel/AnotherNote'') [[AdaptationalHeroism portray him more sympathetically]]. This series by contrast draws more attention to the amorality of his actions and he is generally far more smug and arrogant than most portrayals.

** While his actions don't really change too significantly, the narrative makes the amorality of a few of L's own actions much clearer. [[spoiler:This does eventually get subverted when he finds out that Light is Kira and wants him to atone for his crimes.]]

A live action series and the latest incarnation of the ''Manga/DeathNote'' franchise. The story follows Light Yagami, an ordinary college student with no ambitions beyond living a quiet life working for the government. One day after dealing with an old classmate known for harassing other people, a Shinigami named Ryuk drops a notebook called the Death Note in front of Light, with the notebook possessing the power to kill someone by writing their name down in it. While Light initially dismisses the notebook as ridiculous, when he sees his classmate is dead after writing his name down, Light begins to acknowledge its power is real. After being tempted to use the power of the notebook a second time in order to save his father, Light decides its burden is too much to bear but when Ryuk convinces him that the notebook could end up in the hands of someone evil, and that Light can use it however he wants, Light decides to use the notebook to purge the world of criminals becoming a SerialKiller known as Kira. When his activities catch the attention of a world-famous detective named L, an all-out battle between the two begins to see who can find the other first.

** While his actions don't really change too significantly, the narrative makes the amorality of a few of L's own actions much clearer.

** [[spoiler:In L's final confrontation with Light to force him to admit he's Kira, he breaks down and shows his true side after receiving a message from Mikami revealing L's true name, L. Lawliet, thus Light become the first to scrawl his name into the Death Note instead of Rem in the original. However, L didn't die, as the Note Light scrawled on was a fake. L was then killed by Mikami instead, who wrote his name into a scrap of Death Note he had as backup, preventing him from revealing the truth to the investigation team.]]

* TookALevelInJerkass: L, surprisingly. While he wasn't exactly pleasant all of the time in the manga, here he comes off as much more smug and condescending, only bothered being compared to Kira when Soichiro calls him out on how hypocritical the Lind L. Tailor stunt was.

* AdaptationalVillainy: [[VillainProtagonist Surprisingly not who you'd think]] but actually Ryuk. As opposed to his AllPowerfulBystander counterpart in the manga who just dropped the notebook into the human world at random and then proceeded to kick back, here he specifically makes sure it falls into Light's hands and actively goads him into continuing to use it when Light is initially fearful of its power.

* CompositeCharacter: Raye Penber is significantly more competent in this adaptation, and Naomi Misora was AdaptedOut in favor of... some girl. He pretty much inherits [[WakeUpCallBoss the surprisingly large deal of difficulty and cleverness]] she once had. [[spoiler:He would've taken Light down during the third episode if it wasn't for Misa.]]

* StalkerWithoutACrush: Ryuk follows Light around for a good chunk of the first episode and drops the notebook specifically behind him. This time, he ''meant'' for Light to pick it up.

* TookALevelInDumbass: Light is noticeably stupider than his original counterpart. He yells at Ryuk to shut up while he's being pestered in class, he fails at trying to tell Misa that she will be killed without looking like a crazy fan, and it takes him a moment to realize that her security guard was supposed to be the one to kill Misa.

* MissingMom: Light's mother Sachiko is dead in this incarnation and her murder puts a bit of a strain on Light's relationship with his father.

** Naomi Misora is replaced with someone else entirely as Raye Penber's fiancee.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Our VillainProtagonist is brought down to AntiHero levels. He deeply cares about his family (even though he has a strained relationship with his father), actually returns Misa's feelings and seems to be saving people using the Death Note (getting rid of JerkJock Sakota and saving his father from his mother's murderer).
* AdaptationalVillainy: [[VillainProtagonist Surprisingly not who you'd think]] but actually Ryuk. As opposed to his AllPowerfulBystander counterpart in the manga who just dropped the notebook into the human world at random and then proceeded to kick back, here he specifically makes sure it falls into Light's hands and actively goads him into continuing to use it after Light becomes fearful of its power.
** While Near was far from heroic in the original manga and anime, early promotional material describes this version of the character as "dangerous." [[spoiler:Turns out that Near himself is actually [[AdaptationalHeroism much more personable and friendly]] than before, while Mello is simplified into his SuperpoweredEvilSide.]]
** [[spoiler:Halle Lidner is TheMole for Mello's gang, which is in and of itself a much more evil organization here.]]

* AdaptationOriginConnection: Kuro Otoharada, originally a minor criminal (and the first person Light kills when testing the notebook), is the one who murdered [[spoiler: Sachiko. Light kills him in the first episode, saving Soichiro.]]

* AgeLift: Instead of Light being in his late teens, it's implied that he may be somewhere in his early twenties.
** One episode confirms that his birthdate is the same as the original incarnation (February 28th), but his birth year is 1995 instead of 1986 (1989 in the anime).

** Kuro Otoharada, originally a minor criminal (and the first person Light kills when testing the notebook), is the one who murdered [[spoiler: Sachiko. Light kills him in the first episode, saving Soichiro from him.]]

* AscendedExtra:
** Mogi goes from the least focused-on of the task force members to the most besides Soichiro, being an old friend of his who's apparently known Light and Sayu since they were babies. He even acts like a second TeamDad.

A live action series and the latest incarnation of the ''Manga/DeathNote'' franchise. The story follows Light Yagami, an ordinary college student with no ambitions beyond living a quiet life working for the government. One day after dealing with an old classmate known for harassing other people, a Shinigami named Ryuk drops a notebook called the Death Note in front of Light, with the notebook possessing the power to kill someone by writing their name down in it. While Light intially dismiss the notebook as ridiculous, when he sees his classmate is dead after writing his name down, Light begins to acknowledge its power is real. After being tempted to use the power of the notebook a second time in order to save his father, Light decides its burden is too much to bear but when Ryuk convinces him that the notebook could end up in the hands of someone evil, and that Light can use it however he wants, Light decides to use the notebook to purge the world of criminals becoming a SerialKiller known as Kira. When his activities catch the attention of a world-famous detective named L, an all-out battle between the two begins to see who can find the other first.

** [[spoiler:First, Raye Penber presents Light with a false ID of a businessman. This is quickly resolved, but then when Light writes his name in... It's not his name. Then, he figures out the scheme that killed him in the original and manages to confront Light, literally only failing because of Misa's unexpected interference. His fiancee is pretty much a non-entity.]]

** Due to changes in how Mello's character played out, Matt had no reason to exist.