Death Note has always been famous for its incredible, genius plays. Yagami Light, also known as Kira, has been one of the philosophical anime antagonists in the anime world. Yagami Light was so successful with his plays that he could also fool the greatest detective alive, L. The path to success was looking bright for him, but he soon faced his downfall. Why?
As we all know, the serial killer was the most frightened criminal. Yagami Light was known for his incredible genius tactics. He even gave challenging times to the greatest detective alive. which shows how much qualification Yagami Light has. So, how did he reach his downfall?
Let’s take a look without doing any due!
Yagami Light’s Journey as Kira
Yagami Light was always successful with his incredible plans. Before making his plans successful, he applied those plans to his brain. I thought about every kind of possibility and outcome of the situation and made another plan. The light was always ready to face any difficulties and was always a step ahead of L, but that was still not enough.
Do you remember the time when Light first picked up the Death Note? since then, his future was already looking doomed. Light started to reveal his powers, and after five days, he found the Death Noite, he met with Ryuk the Shinigami. Ryuk explained the rules of the Death Note. He told him all the prominent rules and explained that the user of Death note could neither go to Heaven nor to Hell.
Yagami Light didn’t give a second thought about it and started to continue using the Death Note. He first, tested the Death Note to see if it was truly working or not. he used the Notebook for the first time to a serial killer that was broadcasted on television.
Death Note only needs the name of the person to cause death, and after he wrote the name of that serial killer, the killer got a heart attack and died, which was broadcasted live on television.
Then the journey of Yagami Light and his killing streak finally started. He started to kill all the criminals that were broadcasted on the news or took the documents from his dad, who was a police officer and started to write his name on his Death Note.
As time started to pass, he was known as Kira, which means killer. He became so famous that the whole world knew him, and his case was taken by the particular detective himself L.
L was knowns as the best genius detective known in the whole nation. There wasn’t any case that L couldn’t solve, and the ray of hope was once again rising in the nation. The duel between them started, and this duel is one of the most iconic duels known in the history of comics.
The duel was one of the epics because the battle wasn’t between power for strength. It was mind games. Whoever wins the duel will be the ultimate winner in life. This wasn’t any mind game. It was a contest of life and death. Know one knew that Light and L had a duel inside their minds
L was trying to figure out if Light was actually Kira by questioning him in unthinkable quests, and Light was thinking of every possible answer and outcome by living inside the mind of L and thinking his way.
There was a point where L almost figured out that Yagami Light was the real Kira, and he only had to prove that. As we know, if the owner of the Deth Note is isolated and if he can’t write names in the Death Note, then it will be proven who’s Kira. That’s the same thing that L did.
L convinced Light to be isolated and he didn’t have another choice but to agree with what he said. Light decided to be isolated in jail and was under surveillance of L for 24 hours. He stayed in prison for weeks, but still, the kills were happening, and many people were still dying.
Yagami Light outsmarted L in his trap by giving his Death Note to Misa. All the time Misa was making the kill for him, L was there witnessing the unpredictable even though L didn’t give up and did anything to prove that Yagami light was the Kira, but he was able to outsmart him all the time.
To escape from the suspicious list of L, he even gave up on the Death Note for a certain time. He threw his Death Note, and he was finally able to escape from L. Although he threw the Notebook, he received it in the end by gaining the trust of L. After then, he killed the greatest detective alive, L, by using Shinigami Rem.
Rem was another Shinigami who had fallen in love with a human, and that should never happen because whenever a Shinigami falls in love with a human, they often die. After knowing that Rem was in love with Misa, he used that information to blackmail Rem to find out the real name of L.
Rem didn’t have another option as L was threatening to kill Misa. Rem used its Shinigami eyes and revealed the name of L, and then the greatest detective of anime was finally killed. His name was written in the Death Note and he died because of a heart attack.
It might’ve looked like Yagamai light finally succeeded in his journey as a Kira, but then Near took the place of L, and that’s when his downfall finally started.
Light’s Downfall
L had finally died, the only ray of hope who could stop Kira now vanished from the world. Yagami Light had felt a little bit of relief after hearing L’s death news, but there were other thick layers of obstacles standing in his way, and they were Mello and Near.
Near and Mello looked like they were young kids about the age of being in a high school, but they were certainly much more than just high schoolers kids. Mellow was the second most genius kid, Near as the second after the death of L. Both of these kids were related to L, they were undoubtedly smart, just like L.
Although Mellow thought more about his pride and wanted to surpass everyone by capturing Kira, that became the biggest downfall for him. He exceeded limits and even stole the Death Note and caught the daughter of the Japanese Police Director, Sayu Yagami.
Mellow was the second smartest for a reason, and Near was the first smartest person for a reason. Near was able to outsmart him, and not only him, but he was also able to outsmart Yagami Light.
During the Final episodes of Death Note, the moment was shown where Near had outsmarted Light and finally revealed his true identity as Kira. Near revealed to Light that he had found who the honest Kira was, and he told him to meet with him at a warehouse named “Yellow Box.” Light is shocked to hear that, but he has already planned for his next move.
Light made a plan to kill everyone who was inside the Yellow Box. Mikami possessed the Shinigami Eyes, and he was assigned to take a peak at the Yellow Box and write the name of everyone inside the warehouse. His plan was perfect as everyone who knew the truth would’ve been dead, and the only alive would be Light.
Light’s plan started to work as he had thought. Mikami took a glance at the Yellow House and started to write the names of everyone who were inside there. As soon as he took a glance, Near noticed someone was there. It takes 40 seconds for someone to die after the name is written in the Notebook.
This was the longest 40 seconds in the series; 30 seconds had already passed. Mikami starts to count the remaining 10 seconds. The final countdown ends and then? We hear a voice. “I Win,” says Near. He calls out Makimi and says he has remained victorious in the finale. Everyone is shocked and is in commotion after seeing Makimi with a Death Note.
Light is questioning his plan after seeing that his plan has failed. He can’t believe in himself. He didn’t predict any of these and was unaware that the Death Note that Makimi was holding was the fake one and the real one was with Near. This is how the young boy has outsmarted the most significant criminals in the world.
Near takes the fake Death Note from Makimi, and finally, Yagami Light’s true identity is revealed. You might think how? Damn, the genius level that Near has is just too good. He reads the names that were written in the Notebook, and there are names of everyone in the Notebook except for one person, Yagami Light.
Near knew that there was no way that Kira would write his name on the Notebook and finally revealed that the infamous criminal, Kira was no other than Yagami Light himself. Light shouts that this was staged in his defense, but every little proof shows him as the Kira.
Light gets cornered, and there is nothing he can do. Then he makes his iconic evil laugh and accepts the truth that he is the real Kira. He states that he was the one that killed everyone, and the world needs Kira because he is the justice. He explains that the world needs to be cleaned from all the rotten criminals.
And then something unpredictable happens. Light takes out a piece of Death Note that he had put inside his watch. Matsuda tries to write their names but gets shot right in the arm. He still doesn’t give up and tries to write their words with blood, but he gets shot several times.
He makes an escape, which is one of the saddest parts of the whole series. Finally, Light dies, and the way that he dies is truly surprising. Although everything was looking suitable for Yagami Light, he faced a significant downfall in the end. Why did he have to face his downfall? Let’s look at some reasons.
Reasons behind Yagami Light’s downfall
Light faced death, and this was probably the most minor thing he accepted. But this was because of his own decisions. He didn’t make the wrong decisions in the end. His conclusions were very wrong from the beginning.
Refuse the Shinigami Eyes Deal
Shinigami Eyes is the ability that enables users to see the life span of everyone and read the name of every person. The owners of the Death Note had the chance to get these super eyes, but there was a catch. People who wanted the Shinigami Eyes had to sacrifice half of their life span.
Ryuk was offered the Shinigami Eyes, but he refused that offer. He didn’t want to sacrifice half of his life span. He wanted the Shinigami Eyes but wasn’t willing to sacrifice his life span, which became his biggest downfall in the anime.
If only Yagami Light had possessed the Shinigami Eyes, then he could have read the name of everyone, including L. if he knew the name of L, then he wouldn’t have to join the L investigation team. He could’ve killed him just by looking at the top of his head and writing his name on his Death Note.
Although he was successful in killing L, he failed to outsmart Near. Only if he had possessed the Shinigami Eyes, he could’ve killed Near as soon as possible, and he would’ve been simply impossible, the unstoppable criminal. He refused to take the Shinigami Eyes, and he needed the support of others, which became his biggest downfall.
Give up the Death Note and its Memories
“This was the best decision that Light had made” “How could he survive if he hadn’t used these super genius tactics” Yea, yea… this was one of the best decisions that Light had ever made. If he hadn’t made this decision, then he would have fallen in the hand of L, and he would’ve known his true identity.
Throwing his Death Note away and giving up his memories was truly one of the most intelligent plays by Light. With this move, he was able to escape from L’s suspicion and was also able to gain his trust.
He became the core part of L, and when he finally got his Death Note back, he got all of his memories back, which became the main reason for his downfall. After his memories returned, his personality returned to the chaotic killer he was.
If Yagami Light had given up on his Death Notes, then he wouldn’t have been the Kira anymore, and no one would’ve suspected him. Even if they had tortured Light, not a single piece of information would get leaked because he didn’t have a single memory about it, and he could’ve escaped from his downfall.
He escaped from his path but returned right back to it. This was the main reason why it became the main path to his downfall. Only if he had given up completely would he’ve been able to live a normal life, without any chaos.
Trust Teru Mikami
Light is the person that doesn’t put his trust in anyone else. He is a criminal that has the mind to outsmart anyone, and when a criminal like that teams up with someone else, things don’t usually go as they had planned on their mind. Was that the same case with Mikami?
Mikami was truly another genius antagonist of the series. There was no doubt that he also had one of the genius minds like Yagami Light. He thought like Light and even planned like Yagami would’ve done. In some cases, it tends to appear that he was a great success for Yagami Light, but it didn’t take long for Mikami to be the reason for his downfall.
After one success, he started to put too much trust in Miami. Although at one point, he thought like Light, that wasn’t sufficient. Light began to put too much faith in Mikami, easily leading to his downfall.
He was putting all his faith and trust in a man he had never met. The man who always had several plans was actually helpless at this moment. He had put all his trust in Mikami, and without a plan B, he fell straight into the trap of Near and was defeated by him. Trusting a person he had never even met once doesn’t make sense.
Pride and Honor
The only person that Yagami Light was scared of was L. He was totally aware of his presence and his capabilities. He never let his pride and honor come between him when he had a great duel against L, but after his death, he didn’t care about the situation and environment he was surrounded with, leading to his downfall.
He started to achieve one thing after another. He was able to outsmart L and even trick him into believing that he was innocent by erasing his memory of Death Note. His ego started to become so big that he named himself the “god.” This ego for his pride and honor became so big that this became the main reason for his downfall.
Yagami Light started to think of him as a god and underestimated his enemies, which was why he didn’t have plan b when he went to Yellow House. You can even see how much Light was fed up with his ego when he stated that he was the Kiram which was unlikely of Light to do that.
He laughed and stated that he was Kira and the world needed him to eliminate the rotten criminals. He was desperate and took out the piece of Death Note that was hidden on his watch, but before he could write the name of that piece of paper, he got shot. You see, the main reason he revealed his final identity was that he was fed up with his pride, and in the end, his honor led him to death.
If Light wasn’t so desperate and didn’t underestimate his opponents, he could’ve won the battle and remained the ultimate victory of the series. His pride and honor came between his duel with the world. He names himself god, but in the end, even the ‘god’ had to face a hell of a time.
Underestimated Near
Defeating L was his main success and after his death of L he thought that he had conquered the world and there was no one to come between his work, but that wasn’t the case. Near was the successor of L and both of them were the most genius person in the nation. Near looked young and maybe not much bright as L. That’s what Light would’ve thought, which became his biggest downfall.
L and Near were always close. They used to talk about Kira most of the time, and when the time finally came, Near used the knowledge that was provided by L and took that as an advantage to capture Kira. Near was the successor of L, and it wasn’t a surprise that he could’ve used some big brain plays just like his former teacher.
In the end, Near made a solid plan and drove Light to a corner. Nera had already predicted the next movers of Yagami Light and even his second plans. He was so confident that Light didn’t find a room to escape for the first time and had to reveal his character, Kira.
He underestimated Near from the beginning and trusted Mikami to do his work against the successor of L. He might’ve won the duel against L, but ultimately, he lost the battle as he faced death against Near.
He picked up the Death Note
The main reason Yagami light had to fave his downfall was that he picked up the Death Note. The moment he picked up the Notebook his fate was already set, and as he kept moving on writing in that Notebook, his future was already looking dim.
Although it seemed like he was winning in the series and moving rapidly towards victory, he was slowly moving towards downfall. Ryuk had already explained the rule of the Death Note; he explained that the users would never go to Heaven or Hell. This describes how cursed the Death Note is. Once you use the Death Note, your existence will be erased in the end.
Do you remember the moment when Ryuk threw the Death Note on Earth? He did that because he was bored in his realm. He just wanted to toy with the humans using the Death Note, and Yagami Light fell straight into his trap.
It might have seemed like Yagami Light was a true genius with the Notebook, but he was just an entertainment platform for Ryuk. If we take a look at the series, then you can witness how much fun Ryuk was having. He was smiling, laughing, and entertained throughout the whole situation.
It wasn’t Light who was winning in the series; it was Ryuk. The moment he picked up the Death Note, his life was already falling into downfall. If only he hadn’t picked the Death Note, he would’ve been able to live a normal life like every other kid.
Experimenting With The Death Note
Yagami Light was the owner of the Death Note, and it would make sense that he wanted to experiment with his Death Note. He did many experiments, which became a prominent reason for L to look into a suspicious way of Light. This ultimately led him straight to his downfall.
Light wanted to know the limitations of the Death Note and wanted to learn more about it. Because of his careless experiment, L was able to know that Kira was able to control other people and cause their death. With such information, there was no way that L wasn’t suspicious of supernatural things.
L started to believe that some kind of supernatural forces were being used and Yagami’s coded message made his statement more correct. After being suspicious of this, L confronts Light and tells him about his evidence. Light makes another mistake, he points out that there must’ve been something missing, or maybe the words were just out of order, making L more suspicious.
He should’ve left the Death Note the way it was. If he hadn’t experimented with the Death Note and played the role of Kira, he might have survived his downfall.
