Line #143 Fridge/DeathNote


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4	* Consider the tonal dissonance between the first opening song ("[[https://youtu.be/D7MMMNTQ7H0 the WORLD]]" by Nightmare) and the second ("[[https://youtu.be/pN2UmX3Kmrs What's Up People]]" by Maximum the Hormone). The fact that the first one is a wistful, tragic-sounding yet defiant song desiring to change the world while the second one is a cacophony of cynical (if not despairing) criticisms of humanity in general may as well be illustrative of how the story follows the fall of a young man from WellIntentionedExtremist to AGodAmI.
5	* Why does the death note default to heart attacks? Well... how else would you simply stop living other than your heart stopping?
6	** A heart stopping is cardiac arrest which is similar to, but distinct from, a heart attack where blood flow to the heart is blocked.
7	*** Overruled. Ryuk's knowledge of human biology might have led him to describe it as a heart attack, but ICPO specifically named it cardiac arrest in the manga.
8	* Think about it - when did L's suspicions fall on Light specifically? When the cameras were placed in his house. When exactly is after Light reads those magazines but before school ends the next day. What happens in between? Light "studying" and Light mocking L's tactics. The studying didn't give anything away so it must have been the mocking of L's announcement. What gave it away? ''Light's comment'', because only Kira would be so arrogant, childish and intelligent as to insult L while not revealing anything.
9	* The two-week period of confinement where the killings stop? Two weeks amount to ''just over thirteen days.''
10	* The Shinigami eye deal. A Shinigami who loses their Death Note gets to steal half the Death Note user's remaining lifespan, guaranteeing that the notebook-less Shinigami will outlive the human using it.
11	* When L is staring at Misa the first time the two meet, he's pretty much only looking at her eyes. If you go with him being a huge fan, just holding eye contact seems a bit odd. Until you read about the BB murder cases. It's revealed in Another Note that [[spoiler: Beyond Birthday was born with the Shinigami eyes.]] Of course L would recognise Shinigami eyes; they aren't exactly inconspicuous.
12	** Wrong. Shinigami eyes are not only inconspicuous, they are ''completely undetectable'' by anyone other than the Shinigami who bestowed them, no matter what methods are used. It's only thanks to RuleOfPerception that the audience can see them.
13	* Light's DitzyGenius qualities and tendency to grab the VillainBall at times, may seem like FridgeLogic at first. However, when one realizes that Light's mission is little more than an ego trip and a means of seizing power, his VillainBall moments start to make a lot more sense.
14	** For instance, when Light internally called L's bluff on the thousands of FBI agents being dispatched only to immediately give L exactly what he was looking for by outwardly calling the bluff, Light was subconsciously doing it to mock L, since he can't seem to help himself whenever it comes to mocking his enemies. Or earlier, when he wrote Lind L Tailor's name in the death note for calling him evil. Light's ego has always taken priority in his mission to eliminate all criminals. That's what his whole [[AGodAmI God of the New World]] goal is ultimately about.
15	* People are upset with Near for being a "ripoff of L." That's the point. [[spoiler: He says so himself that he by himself is highly inferior to L but was chosen with Mello in order continue his legacy. Near being subpar to L on his own was done on purpose. In a way, that's sort of the point. Making Near clearly inferior to L both in and out of universe helps to highlight how truly exceptional and one of a kind L was.]]
16	* The scene where L falls out of his chair at the mention of Shinigami is a little [[{{Narm}} ridiculous]]. But look how Light is behind L when it happens. It [[spoiler: was foreshadowing for how his death would play out]].
17	* If you consider the idea, the plot starts as more or less a way of satirizing the idea of the death penalty. The two opposing sides are those that feel the deaths of the criminals is bad, and the other rides on the belief that they get what they deserve. This spoiler is lost over the course of the manga.
18	* At one point, Matsuda questions where L got the money to build the building used for the center of operations. Later, we find out Watari was an inventor who made a fortune and [[spoiler: opened Wammy's House to train L's successor.]] Is it any wonder where all of L's funding came from?
19	** During the Yotsuba arc, L gets them to pay "Eraldo Coil" 5 million dollars to feed them false information and get them closer to being caught. Considering he's the three smartest detectives in the world right now...
20	* Someone as [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation scary smart]] as Light [[StepfordSmiler attempting to conform to social norms]] (i.e. SurroundedByIdiots and [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters bastards]]) would have had [[BrokenAce serious issues]], maybe even the God complex to begin with, what with ''knowing'' he's smarter than everyone else and being excessively praised. [[TautologicalTemplar It would be]] ''[[TautologicalTemplar inconceivable]]'' [[TautologicalTemplar to him that he was in the wrong]] because he's ''never'' wrong. [[HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath That's why he yields to the power of the notebook so easily,]] [[ZerothLawRebellion what he's doing CAN'T be wrong, he's just come to the logical conclusion]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans on how best to protect humanity.]] Now compare with L who was raised at a school for super-geniuses. He is actually willing to listen to other people's ideas and consider other points of view (even if he thinks he's right and they are dumb). While he's arrogant he doesn't think he's infallible. If Light was raised at Wammy's [[FreudianExcuse instead of having a so-called "perfect, normal life"]] where he's unable to relate to the people around him he probably wouldn't have developed a God complex, have learned to self-reflect, and wouldn't have taken that [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope nosedive off the slippery slope]] if he ever came into contact with the Notebook... Probably.
21	** Light's delusions of "only I am right, only I am REAL" is {{Lampshaded}} within the show itself. You know the theme tune that plays when Light decides to become Kira? It's called "Low of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solipsism Solipsism."]]
22	* After Misa gives up her memories, she offers to kiss her captor/"stalker" on the cheek. Several episodes later, she actually does.
23	** [[ShipTease He could actually fall for her]].
24	** And he DID fall for her [[spoiler:as he was killed to save her.]]
25	* Light believed that he would be punished by the owner of the Death Note for using it, that's why he did what no-one else had ever done and wrote so many names in such a short amount of time. He was (while he could) [[TheLastDance trying to do as much good as possible before the other shoe dropped.]] In fact, it's clear in his little speech in his head that he felt that whatever consequences came from using the note were worth it if he could kill some of the world's worse criminals before they could cause anymore harm, even if it cost him his very soul. This is a stark reminder that there was a good man if somewhat [[KnightTemplar knight-templarish]] man under the AXCrazy MagnificentBastard. You could argue that it was finding out there were no consequences (of a spiritual nature) to his actions that broke down the final wall to Light's dark side. When a supernatural being like a god of death tells you you can do whatever the fuck you want, what meaning do the rules of man have anymore?
26	* Misa proves quite the KarmaHoudini in the second live action film, as she is shown to be released from custody despite having killed Mogi, who here [[DeathByAdaptation dies in place of]] Ukita. But think about it: the police couldn't convict her without exposing the existence of the Death Note. Plus with the Note's destruction, she won't remember having ever been Kira, or having used the notebook.
27	* When Light does his potato chip trick, it seems awfully convenient that he's ambidextrous, able to write down math equations with his (seemingly dominant) right hand while writing down criminals' names (quickly, legibly, and without attracting any attention) with his left. But then you learn that, in Japan, most left-handed children are actually forced to use their right hands instead. So odds are Light is a natural leftie, but had to learn how to write right-handed to please his parents and/or teachers.
28	* How To Read 13 gives the timeline: 12/31/03 L meets the taskforce for the first time (this happens while Light meets Naomi Misora) and 1/21/04 [[spoiler: Beyond Birthday is killed by the power of the Death Note.]] Light must have come across the L.A.B.B murder cases while researching Naomi Misora (making sure there would be [[YouKilledMyFather no more avenging relatives calling for his head]]) but waited a month to [[spoiler: kill Beyond Birthday]] in order to deflect suspicion.
29	* L has made it clear that in certain situations, "If I die now, Light is Kira." Well, if an outsider was Kira, an invisible assassin that had access to top secret information and probably bugs all over the place, wouldn't that be the perfect time to kill L and frame Light for it? The fact that L hasn't been killed because he said that tips L off even more that Light is Kira. In short, he combined IKnowYouKnowIKnow with ReversePsychology to ensure that he lives long enough to confirm Light's identity as Kira. Brilliant!
30	* On its surface, Light seems to go from normal student to megalomaniac far too quickly. And yet, the God complex makes perfect sense if one looks at it as being a defense mechanism for Light as much as it is an expression of his arrogance. This is especially noticeable in the first chapter of the manga -- where Light's absolute shock at having killed Shibuimaru "simply" for harassing a girl makes him almost throw up and try to justify himself. The fact that he can't say that Shibuimaru deserves to die forces him to rationalize his actions -- and he does so under the premise that evil people need to be eliminated. But who has the right to judge others? Governments and societies (which Light can't feasibly utilize to justify himself) and...God, of course. This point is further reinforced by the fact that what makes Light snap at Lind L. Tailor is not that Tailor is going to try to catch him. It's when Tailor calls Kira evil that Light impulsively kills him which explains an other uncharacteristic lapse in judgement on cautious Light's part. In Light's own mind, he must be God, otherwise he's just another murderer and he isn't capable of living with that knowledge, having been "perfect" his entire life.
31	* Light being Japanese is Fridge Brilliance (although it's likely simply due to the medium itself). This is significant because Japan is the only developed country in the past twenty years that has actually increased executions. US executions have fallen by half and even the number of Chinese has dropped off. Moreover, over 80% of Japanese people support capital punishment, meaning that Light would likely have had enormous popular support in his home country as Kira (especially compared to the rest of the world). What initiated such strong support for the death penalty? The 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, which killed thirteen people, severely injured fifty and caused temporary vision problems for nearly a thousand others. Light would have been nine years old when this occurred and it probably would have been horribly traumatizing as it was the most serious attack in Japan's modern history and deeply affected the nation. Interestingly, the perpetrator of the attacks claimed to be Christ and said "his purported mission was to take upon himself the sins of the world." For anyone who remembers the attacks, Light would very well seem to have become the very thing he most reviled.
32	** Light's first victim, Kuro Otoharada, also took an elementary school hostage, reminiscent of the 2001 Osaka school massacre where 8 children were killed by a 37 year old man employed there as a janitor.
33	* An SPK member once used the alias John Mcenroe. It was hilariously blatant and he even pointed it out that it's an alias right after but one wonders why he didn't at least attempt to remain discreet and use a name that wasn't just ripped off a famous tennis player. Would it really hurt? Then you remember L introducing himself as Hideki Ryuga in order to leave a trap for Light. It's likely the SPK was using the same strategy against the Japanese police.
34	* Of ''course'' Ryuk [[spoiler:wrote Light's name in the Death Note. As the greatest mass murderer in existence, if Light wasn't executed for his crimes no doubt a vigilante would target him. Therefore, had Ryuk written everyone else's names down, he'd have been expanding Light's lifespan in the process, and turned to sand for violating one of the Death Note's rules. Unlike Rem, who did it to save Misa, whom she loved, Ryuk has no reason to sacrifice his life for Light's. Killing Light would be fair game though, since his death wouldn't directly expand anyone else's.]]
35	** Shinigami only die if they extend the life of someone they love, and thus this would only be accurate if Ryuk cared for Light.
36	** Another theory: you must know that you're violating Shinigami rules to die.
37	* Why does Light think getting in his way is worthy of death? They're rebelling against "[[AGodAmI God]]." With his view of himself, he likely sees that as being outright heretical.
38	* In the end Ryuk [[spoiler: kills Light with his Death Note after he's clearly beaten]], saying "who know's how long it will be before you die?" The thing is, with the Shinigami Eyes Ryuk already knows ''exactly'' how long it will be before Light dies (and always has), only now he realizes that it's not worth sticking around for.
39	* In one of the first episodes, L is seen being chauffeured by Watari. He doesn't have a Drivers License because that would have his real name. This doesn't explain how he can pilot a helicopter though...
40	** This is actually explained in chapter 52: Intuition. L can pilot a helicopter simply because he worked it out. The full quote: "You don't need a license for this. You can pretty much figure it out with intuition. You could do it too, Yagami-kun."
41	* Misa's decision to make the shinigami eye deal for the second time may very well be the reason L made the decision to test the Death Note when he did. When the testing was to be completed, Light and Misa would be unmistakably proven to be Kira and the second Kira. This would have eventually resulted in Misa's execution, but [[spoiler: Rem's intervention]] prevented this from happening, and resulted in Misa's lifespan being extended [[spoiler: an additional 5 years]]. This also effectively voids the cost of both of Misa's eye deals.
42	* Light notes that he isn't pleased with Mikami killing people who commit crimes without evil intent, but Mikami is a prosecutor who obviously would punish criminals for manslaughter.
43	* At first glance the fake names the Task Force chooses to go by might seem pointless: Touta Matsuda to Taro Matsui, Aizawa to Aihara, and Light and Soichiro Yagami to Light Asahi and Yonjuro Asahi. More than a few of them sound phonetically and look similar to their real names in Japanese and when translated to English. Even when written in Japanese, a few of them share most of the same characters. But it all makes sense if one looks at L's real name: L Lawliet! L's alias is similar to his actual name, and not to mention it hides it at the same time! It makes sense for L to pick names that look like their actual ones since it's worked for him. Not to mention it ties into a certain saying: "The best lies are based on a piece of the truth", meaning that plausibility of it being true makes it easier to twist it and misdirect others.
44	* The drama series:
45	** How did Misa [[spoiler:get to where Light was being held at gunpoint by Raye Penber, and write the latter's name down to save her love's life]]? The answer is simple: ever since she saw a lack of Light's lifespan with her Shinigami eyes, she would never let him out of her sight. So, she has been stalking him.
46	** In the last episode, [[spoiler:despite fiery debris from the burning warehouse not hitting the original 'Death Note' at all, a camera cut later, why did the notebook suddenly ignite on one side]]? Because one episode ago, [[spoiler:Soichiro tried to destroy the 'Death Note' as his last act before he died of a self-inflicted heart attack, by splashing flammable liquid on it and attempting to set it on fire. Light stopped him, and rubbed off the surface liquid with his sleeve, but in reality, lighter fluid can still remain on an object long after it's washed, and is still flammable]]. So, it was easy for [[spoiler:that 'Death Note' to burst in flames: the hot environment ignited some of the lighter fluid residue]].
47	* The bit of L's interrogation of Light including a fourth fake message along with the other three is a good case of this if one considers the message itself. L had extended the message, "L, do you know? Shinigami love apples" and added in "and have red hands". Originally, Light sent the message to troll and humiliate L. But as we see in series, L had added in the fourth message not only give some evidence to Light being Kira (by making him respond in how there was only three notes), but also to troll and humiliate Light in return. Think about it: L made up the part of Red hands. What is a phrase associated with red hands? Getting caught ''red handed'', meaning catching someone doing something illegal. It both states L's intentions for Light and serves as a snarky response to Light's messages before.
48	* An observant viewer could be able to tell who wins in the end during the episode that proceeds it. When Near removes his L mask he begins to smile. It cuts to Light smiling slightly in return, giving the impression that it’s mainly about their showdown finally happening. However [[spoiler:Near always smiles like that when proven right about an assumption or theory. The reason why he smiles is that when he removes the mask he sees Ryuk - thus confirming to him that he does in fact have the real notebook on his person]].
49	* Takada was never told that she could control the person she was killing with the note, so she couldn't have made Mello drive into that space under the church before he died of a heart attack. So it seems likely that Near did it, since if Mello's name had been in Makami or Light's notebooks it would have been right before Takada's on the same day and Near would have pointed it out.
50	* If Soichiro had made the eye deal earlier in the day, he might not have made it to the raid. He gave up half his remaining lifespan at the start of the raid, which turned out to be a couple of hours, so if he had made the deal more than four hours before the raid he would have died before it started. And he probably knew that his time was likely to be short, since he insisted on waiting.
51	* The fact that Soichiro passed peacefully, Lind Tailor just slumped over, and everyone else who was killed by the forty-second rule also seemed to die without pain, but Raye Penber was in great agony after writing his colleagues names on the note, seems to confirm Ryuk's theory about misfortune befalling whoever uses the note. Light's death was quick when it finally came about, but he had suffered a lot since he started using the note.
52	** Well except that in the manga, Light's death wasn't exactly quick or painless.
53	* The reason Light lets Misa live, even though he doesn't particularly care about her, is that he figures there's a good chance another shinigami has fallen for her and would kill itself to save her, as two already have.
54	* While the story at its core is about justice it never takes an outright stand on whether Light's view of justice is correct, or L's (or Near's or Mello's). Despite the fact that the story is about the conflict between Light and L and it can only end with one of them winning over the other it doesn't even take a stand on the justice issue in that regard. [[spoiler: Light (and by extension his view of justice) wins over L when L dies, but L also wins over Light when Near and Mello, his desciples, defeat him at the end of the story. Both of them end up winning but they also both lose, and both die.]]
55	* It's noted in the trivia section that Mello and Near's designs were actually swapped around, and that 'Mello' was meant to be the calm, collected one and 'Near' was dangerous and 'drawing near', but even when swapped they still make sense if you consider their names as comparisons to L:
56	** Near is the one who actually succeeds L entirely, not only [[spoiler:catching Kira but just generally becoming the second L within the franchise. Between Mello and Near, Near was the 'nearest' one to being L]].
57	** Mello, on the other hand, was nothing like L at all. He was smart and ate sugary snacks, but he was impulsive, aggressive, loud and willing to [[spoiler:work with outright criminals like the mafia to stop Kira (which was mainly just to prove himself worthy of being the new L). All in all, in terms of comparing Mello to L, Mello was barely like him at all, as if his attempts to replicate L were only 'mellow' attempts]].
58	* If you focus on only the first and third syllables of Light's surname, "'''Ya'''ga'''mi'''", they spell "Yami", the Japanese word for "darkness". [[MeaningfulName This is very appropriate]], because LightIsNotGood.
59	* At first, Ryuk loving apples just seems like a RunningGag revolving around him, but it actually makes total sense. When Misa [[spoiler:reunites with Ryuk after regaining her memories and]] brings him an apple, Ryuk gives her one from the Shinigami realm, which Misa notes that it tastes like sand. Ryuk doesn't just like Earth apples because it's treated as a GRatedDrug, but the apples in the Shinigami Realm are definitely not as good as on Earth
60	* One subtle indication of Light and L's opposition: Light uses a PC whereas L uses an Platform/AppleMacintosh.
61	* Minus Takada if you count her as the fifth Kira, the Kiras die in alphabetical order. Higuchi is killed by Light, Light is killed by Ryuk, Mikami dies by Near's actions (I follow the Near manipulated Mikami with the DN theory) and a year after Light's and Mikami's deaths, Misa commits suicide. H,..L, Mik, Mis... It's the same with L and his successors: L, then Mello, and eventually Near. So it's L, M, N.
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65	* Even though WordOfGod seems to flatly deny this, deep examinations of Light Yagami seem to suggest that he's a highly-functional {{sociopath}} '''[[EvilAllAlong from the very beginning]]'''. The claim is understandable, considering he seems to take very quickly to murder, is rather cold, and even Near states at the end that only a bad person would use the notebook in the first place.
66	** If this is true, these examinations make you wonder, ''why nobody noticed this from the beginning?'' Why were all the people around him so massively stupid? The fact that he gets bored easily, is narcissistic and CantTakeCriticism (despite being good at socializing) makes everything more jarring.
67	* When [[spoiler:L dies, Rem dies, therefore meaning it extended Light or Misa's lifespan, meaning L WAS GOING TO FIND OUT.]]
68	** How is this fridge? This was outright stated. [[spoiler:Light deliberately put L in a situation where he would be certain to find out about the 13 day rule being fake, all to back Rem into a corner where the only way to save Misa would be to break Shinigami Law and kill L]]
69	* [[spoiler:Even though Light Yagami has been defeated at the end of the story, there are potentially many horrors and loose ends. BigBrotherIsWatching constantly, the Kira {{Cult}} is everywhere, people go by fake names as a matter of course because they're so afraid of [[AllCrimesAreEqual being killed for the tiniest infractions]], and if anyone's angry with anyone or doesn't like them/their clothes/their lifestyle/etc., they'll "doxx" that person to Kira. Spouses are turned against spouses, friends against friends, parents against children, children against parents...no one trusts (or, indeed, ''can'' trust) anyone else anymore, even members of their own families. Presumably, a lot of HonorRelatedAbuse happened as well, and an easy means to get rid of anyone you don't like would no doubt disproportionately affect women, racial and religious minorities, LGBTQ+ people, disabled people, poor people, etc. In short, Light has made the world '''a worse place'''. Nice job, Light!]]
70	** One other nasty development coming, presuming Light actually was following through on his original plans for changing the world: from the beginning he intended most of his daily victims to not be known violent criminals but just ordinary people who fit his criteria as "unworthy of life", with their deaths set to not be heart attacks so people wouldn't start making that connection until they'd already accepted the obvious killings and were ready for the bar on survival to be raised. While the manga and adaptations immediately lose track of that (as it's the least likely thread to follow to him it's not plot-important), there should by this point be a statistical anomaly ending with his known death to show just who he believes should be removed from the world, and a whole lot of followers looking for guidance. Eventually these are bound to connect.
71	* There's an entire world of Death Gods that feed off human lifespans ALL THE TIME! Most of them just randomly kill whoever they happen to see. One could be cutting your life short right now...
72	* The Death Note itself is a whole can of FridgeHorror. As bad as Light was, what with his delusional quest to rid the world of "evil" and become "God", the book could've possibly ended up in the hands of ''anyone'', anywhere in the world; as there are of course many other villains out there, who are far '''worse''' people than he could ever be. The possibilities of ruining the world with just this one magic notebook are endless...
73	* [[EternalRecurrence Ryuk could be doing this again and again]] [[KarmaHoudini and never be punished for it]].
74	** [[ILied Ryuk might have been lying]] when he said this was all just an accident—he might have deliberately targeted Light:
75	*** WordOfGod calls Light the first "victim" of the Kira case.
76	*** Ryuk knew Light was "so smart" before ever meeting him.
77	*** [[ParanoiaFuel Ryuk has at least been watching him and followed him home]].
78	*** Ryuk wrote the instructions in English and dropped it outside Light's English class.
79	*** A teenager would be the most likely to use the notebook to try and change the world. Anyone younger would be too scared (i.e. Taro in the pilot chapter) and anyone older would use it to kill people they didn't like (i.e. Higuchi).
80	*** In the C-Kira bonus chapter Ryuk berates another Shinigami when she complains that [[spoiler:her time in the human world was short and boring]]; Ryuk suggests that the other Shinigami should have followed his example and ''choose carefully'' who they give a notebook to.
81	* Not only does Light manipulate Raye Penber into unwittingly killing his colleagues, but he does this with the Death Note, making Raye a Death Note user. Penber, an innocent, loses both his life and his afterlife to Kira.
82	** The end of the manga explicitly mentions that there is no heaven nor hell to begin with, just nothingness. So Penber would have never gone to an afterlife anyway.
83	* In the anime, when Light manages to dupe Naomi into giving him her real name, Ryuk bursts into a fit of wild and insane cackling. During his first watching of the scene for the first time, this troper assumed that Ryuk was laughing at how stupid Naomi was to trust Light carelessly. But, during a rewatch I realised that Ryuk got delighted at how screwed Naomi was, as he could see her lifespan vanish... ''in just a fraction of a second''.
84	* At a certain point, Light and his minions started killing people who had killed as recently as the day before, as soon as they were reported on the media. ''Sometimes the media and the police are wrong.'' What if later evidence was found that exonerated that person? What if they had been a victim of rape or abuse from the person they killed? What if the murder was later found to be a suicide? Kira could have killed hundreds or thousands of innocent people!
85	** Not ''quite'' as bad as one might think... Light admits that he is aware of this, and does research on the criminals before he kills them after he's aware of what he's doing. He admits that he doesn't kill those who have killed out of self-defense.
86	*** He believes, with some justification, that he's smart enough to not screw that up. That's why only he can do it...
87	** But what about people who turn rat? Many big time criminals use small to medium timers to do the killing for them. Some of these smaller guys offer to give out the higher ups. The police use the information these guys have to take out the higher ranks or for stings. Okay, but Light may not kill these people because they don't get mentioned as much, right? Well, Light had access to police records for much of the story. He could be killing criminals who are almost ready to sell out their accomplices and bosses and the cops will never have the opportunity to take down these people.
88	** There's also the issue of false confessions. It's a documented fact that people are sometimes more or less forced to confess to crimes they are innocent of, or manipulated into it. In the US at least there's also the issue of plea deals, people do sometimes agree to plead guilty to a lesser offense (say manslaughter) even if they are innocent, because they don't believe they will stand a chance in court or they might not be able to afford an experienced attorney.
89	* Who's to say whole thing (all the mass murdering that can occur with a Death Note) won't be repeated the next time Ryuk gets bored? Or if another Shinigami drops his/her notebook to the human world?
90	** At the very beginning of the series, before Light had rigged the Death Note to burn if anyone but him tried to retrieve it, he's casually talking to Ryuk about how it would be bad if anyone touched the note and saw him. Specifically, his line is "My little sister would have a heart attack if she saw you." He says it so casually that it just seems like a turn of phrase... until you remember how he typically kills people. And then you remember that like 40 seconds before this, he said "If Kira isn't careful, he'll end up killing his own family..."
91	* I can't be sure if this is a rather {{Knight Templar}}ish take on things, but after seeing [[http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=death%20note%20matt&order=9=48#/d3beafx this motivational poster]] (Warning: Spoilers!), I started to realize that ''every'' character in ''Manga/DeathNote'' who smokes ends up dying. [[spoiler: [[PluckyComicRelief Ukita]]]] was shown smoking once in the manga, [[spoiler: Wedy]] was a smoker, and, as the poster indicates, so was [[spoiler: Matt]]. A few others who I can't name also smoked, but...{{Anvilicious}} or mere coincidence? Seriously?
92	** Considering how many other people also die in ''Manga/DeathNote'', it's probably just a coincidence.
93	* One for ''Film/LChangeTheWorld'': L, YOU FOOL! YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL! [[spoiler: Ryuk being bored and having nothing better to do, has probably has been watching your last days alive and he no doubt has seen you [[SaveTheVillain save the crazy lady who wants to exterminate the human race]] and he's probably thinking something along the lines of ''That one will be damn entertaining if I can get my claws on another Death Note.'' [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice Job Breaking It L]], you should have killed her!]]
94	* This just struck me. During the Yotsuba arc, Team L use Sakura TV to broadcast Matsuda's expose of the Yotsuba Kira. This would have required the physical presence of some, if not all, of the team. This is the same station where [[spoiler: Ukita was murdered]] during the takeover of the Second Kira. Think of how L, Aizawa, Soichiro, Mogi, and Matsuda must have felt, stepping foot on, viewing, or even just knowing that they were using the place where [[spoiler: Ukita died]]. Damn. [[spoiler: It's especially jarring when you see Team (Amnesiac) Kira working alongside Team L and get smacked in the face with a very real reminder of the divide between the two.]]
95	** [[AngstWhatAngst Who's]] [[ForgottenFallenFriend Ukita]]?
96	* This is more like FridgeLogic turned FridgeBrilliance turned "Oh shit [[FridgeHorror that's bad]]" for me, but...remember the scene where Rem is telling Gelus's story to Misa? She mentioned something about how by using his Death Note to save her life, he extended hers beyond what it was supposed to be. [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse This is seemingly never brought up again]], if not altogether forgotten when [[spoiler: Misa kills herself]]. So I wondered why it was seemingly thrown away when she makes the Shinigami eye deal [[spoiler: not once but twice]]. Which would mean her life span is cut in half [[spoiler: ''twice'']]. In theory, if her life had been extended as Rem had said, it wouldn't be a problem (maybe), and Misa figured it was okay because of said extension of life. Then again, she probably would have made the trade regardless of life expectancy [[MadLove just because she loved Light that much]]. So how did [[spoiler: she die?]] It's actually more than likely that with [[spoiler: Rem dead]], and [[spoiler: Light and just about everyone else dead, Ryuk could have killed her]].
97	** One of the rules says that the use of the Death Note in the human world sometimes affects other humans' lives or shortens their original life span. It's more likely this is what happened to Misa.
98	* At the end of the manga, it's revealed [[spoiler: Teru Mikami died in prison after ten days.]] The thing is, it's never stated what [[spoiler: his cause of death is.]] What exactly happened in [[spoiler: those ten days, and ''what could he have died from''?]]
99	* Naomi Misora claimed to trust Light because he reminded her of L. She said that "From my perspective, both the police and the members of the task force were suspects. But I'm certain that I can trust L." A few minutes after that, [[spoiler: she was ''murdered'' by Light, the man she thought most similar to the person she trusted so much.]]
100	* For the fandom: L is often called [[FanNickname "Panda"]] by the fans, mostly because of [[CreepyShadowedUndereyes the shadows under his eyes]] and his [[BigEater eating habits]]. He has two successors he was supposed to choose from to be the heir to his title. Real-life pandas actually do something similar: if a panda mom has twins, usually only one survives. Mom selects the stronger of the cubs and the weaker one will die, presumably because she lacks enough milk to nourish them both. [[spoiler: In the series, one of L's successors after running away is forced to strike out on his own and does die in the end, and to the benefit of the other who has easy access to L's resources, including his fortune.]] Think about that next time the nickname comes to mind, fans.
101	* Soichiro trades half of his lifespan for the Shinigami Eyes [[spoiler:and dies not long after. If that was half of his original lifespan, that would mean he was not long for this world anyway!]]
102	* There may be rules that prevent directly causing death to people whose names / faces aren't known, or to high crowds of people at once (by example, trying to make someone detonate a bomb would fail and cause only that person to die of a heart attack), but as Light showed with the way he killed the FBI agents, ''there are ways around it''. Nothing is stopping some clever / insane person with a Death Note to come up with a plan that could plunge the world into WorldWarIII or worse (resulting in millions or even billions of deaths), just by controlling some high-ranking soldiers into assassinating a few key world leaders by writing both them and their "victims" in the Death Note with a detailed description and time of death.
103	* After killing the 12 FBI agents, Light mentions that he has to make sure no one knows he met Raye Penber. Remember that the girl he was with was right next to him when Penber showed Light his badge. Light may have killed her to cover his tracks.
104	** Except that there were others on the bus who could have connected him - such a mass murder and Light (and maybe the bus driver) being the only survivors would make it easy to narrow Light down.
105	* From ''Literature/AnotherNote''. A and B were the first generation of would-be successors to L. Mello and Near are the fourth. That means there were two other generations in between. It's not known what happened to them, but considering what happened to the [[DrivenToSuicide first]] [[StartOfDarkness generation]], it couldn't have been anything ''good.''
106	* Shouldn't Misa have gained Rem's lifespan? Making her total life span normal + Gelus' lifespan - 2 eye deals + Rem's lifespan. Ultimately pointless considering how supplementary material reveal her suicide, which could have just as easily been Ryuk or some other Shinigami claiming her lifespan.
107	** Actually, the only plausible explanation for Misa's death is killed by a Shinigami. Because we do know human's lifespan as described on the numbers seen by the Shinigamis pretty much controls that individual fate completely, as Misa survived his encounter with his stalker when her lifespan was renewed. Therefore, no matter how much she would've wanted to die after Light's dead, Misa would've had to live for at least another fifty to a hundred years, most likely rotting in prison all alone. If she's truly dead (something that was speculated but never confirmed), only a Shinigami could've released her from her torment before taking all those years in return.
108	** Another reasonable assumption is that she actually did get Rem's remaining lifespan. After her second eye deal, she was supposed to die by execution after L would have tested the Death Note. When Rem kills L, both Light and Misa's lifespans were increased by the same amount of time, around 5 years. Come to think of it, if Light hadn't been killed by Ryuk's Death Note, Light and Misa would have probably died at the exact same time.
109	** It's also important to note that one of the rules of the Death Note states that "The use of the Death Note in the human world sometimes affects other humans' lives or shortens their original life spans, even if their names are not actually written in the notebook itself. In these circumstances no matter the cause, the Shinigami sees only the original lifespan and not the shortened lifespan." It's likely that Ryuk using the Death Note to kill Light affected Misa's lifespan indirectly.
110	*** It's likely that ''Light'' using the Death Note an insane amount for ''years'' affected Misa's lifespan indirectly!
111	* When you think about it, it's no wonder the 'L is the father of Mello and Near' was never brought to canon ... considering everything that would bring up... let's say L was 25 when he died, and Mello and Near would have been 14 when that happened, that means L would have been around ELEVEN when he became a father! It's not the fact no one would sleep with a weird guy that's the issue there... it's the possibility of L having been raped by some psycho, pedo bitch!
112	* In the manga Mikami is said to have "gone crazy and died" ten days after his arrest. Do they mean he committed suicide or something? Went on a rampage and was killed by another inmate or the guards? Well, consider that in that version he saw his "god" get thrown aside by an actual god of death like he was a toy he no longer found interesting.
113	** Also consider that Mikami was a prosecutor. It's highly likely that he had to be segregated in prison for his own safety, meaning that he had all the time in the world to dwell on either how his god threw him away or that his god was just a psychopath with god delusions. On the other hand, it could have just been that [[TheDogBitesBack the prosecutor became the prosecuted]].
114	* Near wanting to "keep" Light...just WHAT did he mean by THAT !?
115	* The only true murderers in the Death Note setting are those using a Death Note because said ArtifactOfDoom is the only way to ScrewDestiny. If someone is predetermined by fate or an outside force to die at 13 years old, it's not your fault if you have repeatedly stabbed him, or abused him so badly he was DrivenToSuicide. In fact, taking this further, if someone commits suicide after you rape them, since that person were destined to die at this specific day, you are not responsible for your wrongdoings, destiny is. As a Death Note bypasses that, only people using one of those is ever truly responsible for anything.
116	* Sayu's kidnapping results in her becoming an EmptyShell. Just WHAT did the kidnappers do to her?
117	* The Death Note has some limitations relating to age or remaining lifespan. For instance, you can't kill someone less than 780 days old, someone 124 years or older, or someone with less than 12 minutes of lifespan remaining; and a Shinigami can't directly give a Death Note to a child under 6 years old. This is all fine and well, but it means that you ''can'' kill someone who's 781 days old (less than 2.5 years old), and that a Shinigami ''can'' give the Death Note to someone who's 6 or older. There's also no rule preventing a child under 6 from picking up and owning a Death Note that a Shinigami has dropped in the human world, as long as they don't give it directly to them.
118	* Normally, the time of death specified in the Death Note has to be within the next 23 days. But if you use a specific disease as a cause of death, and the disease's normal progression would take longer than 23 days, that rule doesn't apply, and they'll die in a natural period of time for that disease. So if you really hated someone and wanted them to suffer, you could give them a disease that causes a lot of pain or distress and takes a long time to kill you, like cancer (like Light did with Aiber), Alzheimer's disease, Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, AIDS, etc.
119	* Many of the Death Note rules are only applicable or relevant to ''human'' Death Note users. The rules about how a Shinigami can transfer a Death Note to a human (e.g. not to anyone under 6 years old). The many, many rules surrounding human Death Note ownership (the Shinigami who previously owned it has to follow the human owner; if a human loses ownership they lose their memories relating to the Death Note; etc.), to say nothing of the fact that humans can use or own Death Notes in the first place. The various consequences, restrictions, and allowances that apply only to humans and not to Shinigami. And the Shinigami Eye deal, which unlike most other rules exists purely to make it much easier for a human to use the Death Note. It's not known who or what created the Shinigami, the Death Notes, or the Death Note rules, but it's clear that they went out of their way to accommodate potential human Death Note users. Which means they not only anticipated, but ''wanted'' humans to use Death Notes, or at least wanted to leave the possibility open. Why? Is it a vestige from earlier times, when Shinigami were supposedly more involved in the human realm? Or was the rulemaker just bored and wanted to see what would happen, like a [[GreaterScopeVillain larger-scale Ryuk]]?
120	* The Death Note allowing you to specify the time and cause of death makes sense, because the Shinigami might want to make deaths look as natural or as plausible as possible. But the Death Note also lets you control the victim's ''actions'' to a certain extent, and allows you to schedule deaths up to ''23 days'' in advance. A Shinigami would have no legitimate need for such features, and a human would only have a legitimate need for them if they were embarking on a plan much like Light's. So regardless of ''who'' these rules were created for, they don't seem to serve ''any'' purpose apart from indulging or even ''encouraging'' sadism.
121	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUtsg8AlNxY Film Theory has an episode]] where they try to calculate an estimate of how many people were killed by the Death Note during Kira's reign (including all four Kiras in the count). They land on around 280 000. Just let that sink in, 280 000 people killed by four individuals (over 240 000 of them by Light alone) in just six years... Mikami had the Death Note for only about two months and his estimated kill count is over 27 000 people. Just imagine how many lives would have been lost if Light and Mikami had won over Near and gone on to kill indefinitely.
122	* The Death Note allows you to kill someone in a way that under almost any circumstances would be perceived as natural causes, and the notes have probably existed for a ''long'' time. It makes you wonder how many historical figures that died suddenly actually did so, [[FictionalizedDeathAccount or were actually murdered by a Death Note user]]. And conversely, how many historical figures had a Death Note at their disposal...at least they wouldn't have the information to reach anywhere near Kira's kill count.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:FridgeLogic]]
126	* The Sakujo scene where Mikami kills Demegawa and his followers. Knowing the modus operandi of Kira, why didn't Sakura TV stop the transmission with the first dead guy, instead of waiting for everyone to die? This might belong on the [[{{Headscratchers/Headscratchers}} Just Bugs Me]] page, but it was [[RuleofCool freaking awesome]].
127	** Because Kira was sending a message. He was already angry enough at what they had done that he felt it necessary to kill them on air. If they cut the transmission before he was finished, it might have only made him madder.
128	* [[HollywoodHealing Mello's hair is indestructable.]] But [[spoiler: [[TheGogglesDoNothing the face mask does nothing.]]]] [[http://witegots.deviantart.com/art/251-Death-Note-Matt-Speaks-71518083]] -- Tropers/{{feral}}.
129	** Also, his vision seems to be unaffected by the burn. By all logic, he should be blind in his left eye following that incident.
130	*** Well, he must have outsmarted the burn!
131	** And he should have suffered [[http://mrsjeevas.joharrington.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=352 some pretty severe (maybe even total) hearing loss]] from it.
132	* FridgeLogic for the layout of Volume 13, ''How To Read...''. If they wanted L's real name to be such a secret that it was included in its own envelope that had to be cut open, why was it also simply listed on his character page, where the authors gave more details on him?
133	** In case someone didn't want to know L's real name, and so they wouldn't be able to see it unless they really wanted to.
134	* FridgeLogic: The Death Note user needs a name and face to kill, right? Well, when Light wrote in Lind L. Tailor, it hit me; how could it still work even with an ObscureMiddleInitial? Does it require a ''full name'', or just a first and last name to work? And also...[[LoopholeAbuse wouldn't a legal name change count as effectively changing one's "real name", thus granting immunity?]] -Tropers/{{Stoogebie}}
135	** Same poster, with FridgeBrilliance: If there was a character with a [[MyNaymeIs really weird name]], they could have managed to defeat Kira by ''telling'' them their real name, and just wait for Light to misspell said name [[FourIsDeath four times]] before he drops dead. Or misspell it three times...anyway, the one character whose name comes to mind is [[spoiler: Mail Jeevas]], because [[spoiler: it's spelled "mail" but pronounced like "mile", and fans mispronounce it all the time]]. So in a sense, [[spoiler: Matt]] ''could have'' defeated Kira. Doesn't that mean he was TooCoolToLive?
136	*** Maybe the Note works properly with only first and last name? Light was still very inexperienced with the Death Note and was obviously excited/enraged over Lind's challenge.
137	*** You only die if you ''intentionally'' misspell a name four times. If you just don't know how to spell a name and accidentally misspell his/her name four times, that person becomes immune to death by the Death Note. This does provide another case of FridgeBrilliance: Light didn't know how to write the name of the second guy he killed, so he tried a few different ways. Since the guy died, one of the first four was apparently correct. But if the first four had all been wrong, Light would have thought that the Death Note is fake and thrown it away, and ''nothing would have happened!''
138	*** What about women with married names? For instance if Naomi got married to Raye and gave her name as Naomi Penber would she have been immune?
139	*** Since the Death Note works in Japanese and English, does it support transliterations? What about a name in a foreign language like Arabic that doesn't have a clear English translation?
140	*** What if you have identical twins with the same name? Or clones? Since the Death Note seems to have some magical mechanism against targeting multiple humans with the same name if you were to clone yourself would you be immune?
141	*** Of twins, that's what the face is for. Of clones... Probably same. The Death Note works by intent, like a BenevolentGenie.
142	*** What about a transgender individual?
143	*** "The names you will see with the Shinigami Eyes are the names needed to kill that person. You will be able to see a name even if it isn't officially registered anywhere."- Since this rule bypasses human legal and social standards, a transgender person will be dead named when killed by the Death Note, as the Death Note will treat their new identity as an alias, it wants the original.
144	** What if the owner of the Death Note happens to be TheIllegible? Would it still work?
145	** Speaking of names-Light's name would have afforded him some protection [[EvilVersusEvil if he ever went up against another Kira without the Shinigami eyes.]] If the other Death Note user only heard Light's name spoken aloud they wouldn't have guessed how to spell it (with "Light" written with the character for "moon") and would have tried various combinations of "Light" or "Raito" or the character for "light" (Hikari? Hikaru?) until all four tries were used up. The other Kira then would no doubt start screaming "WhyWontYouDie" as Light calmly penned his[=/=]her name down and informed them that "[[CharacterCatchphrase I am]] [[AGodAmI God.]]"
146	** In the case of Lind L. Tailor, there's no way Light would or could have misspelled it; in the television broadcast L set-up with the inmate actually named Lind L. Tailor, there was a clear sign on the desk in front of the man on television with his name on it. As for Light's second victim (the guy on the bike), Light luckily got his name right on the very first try. Also, not everyone in the world has a middle name, so perhaps middle names don't necessarily have to count, otherwise Light and all of the other Kiras would have had to include them every time they wrote a person's name in the death notes.
147	* FridgeLogic[=/=]FridgeHorror[=/=]([[YouDoNOTWantToKnow probably digging too deep here]]): Alright so Shinigami eat for recreation (apples, chocolate, etc.) but what about it, you know coming out the other end? Are there like invisible piles of Shinigami poo around the Yagami residence? Or if their organs have degraded and their digestive system has shut down are they like binge eating to throw it up later or something? (Meaning invisible puddles of Shinigami vomit). You'd think L would be clued in by the smell...
148	** Shimigami don't eat for recreation, they kill for it using the Death Notes. Were the food goes after Ryuk eats it is anyone's guess because we don't know what the insides of a Death God are like.
149	*** [[EpilepticTrees Maybe they can convert the entire apple to energy or whatever, which is something they can usually do with air?...]]
150	*** Maybe the shinigami digestive system converts the skin of the apple into more paper for the Death Note?
151	** In the anime (at least) Rem says that a shinigami's internal organs have evolved or degraded to the point of withering, so they don't have functioning stomachs or other digestive organs. Ryuk also says that apples to him are like cigarettes and alcohol to humans; he doesn't need them, but he craves them nonetheless. Perhaps after trying them the last time he was in the human world, he got addicted to them? Plus the fact shinigami apples are black, withered and (according to Misa) taste like sand, human world apples look so much more appealing to Ryuk.
152	* Light's desk trap. What if you like just... tipped it on its side?
153	** If the fake bottom to the drawer fell out - if it hadn't been fitted properly - there'd be nothing stopping the conductors from touching still, and it would go up in flames.
154	* The investigation team puts 64 cameras in the Yagami house but they don't go through his trash? You'd think L would be mighty interested in [[MundaneMadeAwesome those potato chips, all things considered.]]
155	** Light made sure that the bag (including the television) made it to the trash truck with nobody seeing it. Ryuk even makes a comment about it.
156	* Mentioned in a joke on the main page, but seriously--L and Light are chained together for several episodes/chapters, and Light appears to have changed clothing during that time period. How could he change shirts/jackets without un-handcuffing? (unless L let him take it off while L was still watching him carefully). L on the other hand probably just kept his clothes on.
157	** Maybe L got him some custom shirts with velcro or hidden zippers that could be taken off around the cuffs?
158	** It isn't too difficult to work fabric underneath handcuffs. Not only that, but fabric under the handcuff would be desired as a shield against chaffing.
159	* Here's some meta FridgeLogic: with the splitting apart of certain Death Note media, why isn't there a page for the LiveActionAdaptation? Sure there's one for Film/LChangeTheWorld, but none for The Last Name or the first movie.
160	** THANK YOU. I've been wondering that myself, especially since we could finally acknowledge the actors/actresses in those movies by making a separate character page for the movieverse.
161	* I always thought that L's true name being L was one of the smartest ruses in the franchise - everybody, including Light, assumes that "L" is just like "Ryuzaki", a code name, a pseudonym. Light gives Misa's shinigami eyes a few tries in order to find out L's full name - not his last name, his full name, which means he, too, fell for it... because there is NO WAY that his ''real'' name can actually be the letter "L" is there?
162	** Also explains why he asked the NPA members to call him 'Ryuzaki' at all, rather than them continuing to refer to him as 'L'.
163	* Also the fact that his birthday is on [[SignificantBirthDate October 31]] highlights the image of his character being "creepy" and his love for sweets.
164	* Why do Shinigami even exist? The manga confirms that [[spoiler: there is no after-life]], so maybe they exist simply to feed of off human beings and screw around royally with the Death Note.
165	** This troper doesn't consider this a question, at least within the manga. If we consider true that [[spoiler: there is no after-life]] and we apply the question 'why does X exist?' to humans, you will get the same answer as you do when X is shinigami and when X is [[spoiler: the after-life]]: 'mu'. That is, Shinigami exist simply because they exist. Humans exist simply because they exist. [[spoiler: There is no after-life because there is no after-life]]. The answer is 'mu' because the question is based on the flawed premise that there was a purpose to begin with.
166	** In short: Shinigami simply are. Humans simply are. [[spoiler: The after-life simply isn't]]. We ask if the Shinigami ought to have a purpose because we assume that humans ought to have a purpose. You know, just as Light assumes that he has a purpose, just as Mikami assumes everyone has a purpose and deserves to die for wasting theirs.
167	* Where did Takada hide her second cell phone when she was stripped naked? The Death Note paper was in her bra but what about the phone?
168	** Also, presumably, in her bra. The fact Mello never saw her holding it after she took her clothes off is another mystery, as there would have been no way to conceal it in just one hand. She was holding the crumpled piece of the Death Note in one hand as we saw, but she had no other way - other than carefully hiding it under the blanket she was wearing afterwards - of concealing it.
169	** Didn't she steal Mello's phone to make that call? She is specifically shown bleeding after having broken the glass window of the truck's cabin, so this troper assumed she took the phone from there.
170	[[/folder]]

Context Fridge / DeathNote