Light Yagami is the brilliant but bored protagonist-turned-villain of the supernatural thriller anime and manga series Death Note. Originally an exemplary, hyper-responsible Japanese honors student destined for a high-ranking career in law enforcement like his father, Light's life changes drastically when he discovers the "Death Note"—a supernatural notebook dropped into the human realm by the Shinigami (death god) Ryuk that grants the power to kill anyone whose name and face are known. Witnessing the rampant injustice and flaws of human society, Light tests the notebook on criminals and quickly suffers immense psychological cognitive dissonance. To shield his fragile, moral ego from the reality of committing double homicide, his psyche fractures into a grandiose delusion: he decides to systematically purge the world of crime and declare himself the supreme "God of the New World" under the global, vigilante alias "Kira". This triggers a legendary, high-stakes psychological game of cat-and-mouse with the enigmatic master detective L Lawliet and the Japanese police task force.
