Death Note is a wildly popular series from the mid 2000's that shocked fans everywhere during its release and for many years afterward. This psychological thriller is a detective story about a mental battle between Light, a man endowed with a Death Note giving him supernatural powers, and L, the world's greatest detective. This internal chess match keeps fans at the edge of their seat the entire time.
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When the anime adaptation came out most readers praised its faithfulness to the manga. Nevertheless, there are a few changes and details which are not found in the anime. There are 12 books and even a secret 13th book known as Death Note: How To Read which gives a rare insight into the story, characters and creative process of the series. Fans everywhere would love to learn more about themysterious detective L, so let's look through these 13 books and find 10 details you would only know about L if you read the manga (spoilers ahead)!
Updated on August 23, 2021 by Kit Morris:L was always one of the most mysterious characters in the manga series. Despite being one of the main characters, there was so much that fans didn't know. Though the original10 details in this list were great, there are so many other things that readers can learn about L, especially the things that were revealed in the 13th book.
15 L's Birthday
A lot of hidden information about the manga's characters was revealed inDeath Note: How to Read. Though it's not important to the story, fans may find it fun to know some of these things, such as when the characters were born. L's birthday is October 31, 1979. Perhaps the reason he loves sweets so much is because he was born on Halloween.
14 L's Height& Weight
Along with his birthday, a couple of other thingsthat was revealed about L, along with other characters, inDeath Note: How to Readis his height and weight. Though it may not seem this way because he often slouches, L is five feet and eight inches. And despite constantly eating unhealthy things, L only weighs 110 lbs.
13 L's Requirements To Take On A Case
Throughout his prosperous detective career, L solved more than 3,500 cases and arrested over three times that many criminals. But this is the greatest detective in the world. He won't just take any case, so what had to happen for L to accept one? According to Mello, there would have to be at least ten victims or over 1 million dollars involved before the genius detective could be called to the case. The only exception to this was "The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases," but those were a bit more personal to L.
12 The Origin Of L's Nickname
When L introduces himself to the NPA, he urges them to call him Ryuzaki to further hide his identity. Throughout the series, he is referred to as both "L" and "Ryuzaki." So where did the he get this nickname from? The name Ryuzaki actually came from another child from Wammy's House, the orphanage that raises genius children and L's successors, Near and Mello.
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A child named B was obsessed with beating L, and eventually begins a series of crimes in an attempt to outsmart him. During this case, detailed a bit in the 13th book and the Los Angeles BB Murder Case book, FBI agent Naomi Misora works with L to try to solve it. There she meets a man who calls himself Ryuzaki and L later adopts that name while working on the Kira case.
11 L's Real Name
In order to use the Death Note, the users must know their target's name and think about their face while they are writing it down. Knowing their face is important in case someone else shares the name of their target. Throughout the first half of Death Note, Light is trying to discover L's real name while L is trying to prove that Light is Kira. Even after L finally dies in the series, his name is not revealed. That was until the 13th book came out and with it came a special golden bookmark with a picture of L that read "L Lawliet."
10 The Great Detective War
The existence of two other master detectives known as Eraldo Coil and Deneuve are made known during the story. They are the 2nd and 3rd best detectives respectively, after L of course. However, when the Yotsuba Corporation acquires a Death Note and enlists the help of Eraldo Coil, it's revealed that they are actually separate aliases of L that he uses to trick people who are trying to find him. While this is a clever ploy, it is revealed later in the books that Eraldo Coil and Deneuve were actually real detectives that L beat in a detective war and earned their identities. Little else is known about this war, but it sure would make a great spin-off story!
During the story, the government cuts ties with the task force. This enables them to use "less conventional means" to solve the Kira case, one of which involves bringing a con man, Aiber, and a thief, Wedy, to their team.
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In chapter 40 of the manga, when L is introducing them to the task force, he says "I also know of other criminals who could help us, if needed... This is a tactic I couldn't really use while we were connected to the police, but with the way things are now..." Here L shows that he has more tricks up his sleeve and apparently a decent list of competent underworld contacts ready for use.
8 Wedy's Secret Orders
During the Yotsuba arc in the series, Wedy is tasked with infiltrating the Yotsuba Corporation building and installing cameras to monitor them. However, in the manga, L gives Wedy another secret order. During chapter 45, L reveals that after the Yotsuba meetings, they have all the documents thrown into a shredder. When Wedywent touninstall the cameras in the meeting room, L ordered her to "...take all the papers out and recreate the original documents." One can only imagine how long this must have taken but, thanks to L's orders and Wedy's hard work, the team was able to find a document titled "Rules of Killing." This information helps them use Misa to infiltrate the Yotsuba later on.
7 Aiber Owes L
As discussed above, Aiber and Wedy join L and the task force. But why would two professional criminals be working with the best detective in the world? Wedy is a mystery, but as for Aiber, it is revealed in chapter 43 of the manga that he actually owes L. In this chapter, he calls L to update him on his progress of infiltrating the Yotsuba Corporation. However, L shows concern for him and Aiber responds by commenting "I understand. But you've saved me more than once, L. And anyways, with the evidence you have on me, I'm looking at a life behind bars. This is a lot more fun than that." Apparently even this seasoned criminal couldn't hide from the gaze of the greatest detective, and in return for his freedom, L is able to enlist his help.
6 Near & Mello Were Originally Going To Be L's Sons
Near and Mello were L's successors after he died. Though the two were rivals that grew up in Wammy's House together throughout the majority of the manga, they put their differences aside and were only able to defeat Kira by working together, with Mello sacrificing his life in order to let Near solve the case. However, the two of them were originally going to be L's sons. If this had happened, the story would have been quite different and a lot of interesting things that expanded the world wouldn't have been introduced.
5 Some Chapter Names Are References To L
While the anime episode names mostly come from the chapter names, there are 108 chapters and only 37 episodes. Obviously, many chapter titles are left out of the anime. However, every title has significance and the 13th book has a list of all 108 chapters and what they symbolize! Many chapters of the first half of the story represent L. For example, chapter 26 is called "Reversal," this refers to L falling out of his chair when he thinks about the existence of Shinigami actually being real. Similarly, the title of chapter 11 is "One" which the creator says symbolizes L and the police force becoming one entity. The second chapter is even titled "L".
4 L's Martial Arts Skills
During the Death Note series, Light and L get into many arguments and more than one fight, in which L shows off his fighting proficiency with his feet. As Light punches him in the face, he turns and kicks Light back. L is showing off his mastery in Capoeria, an Afro-Brazilian martial art style that was disguised as a dance and utilizes a lot of leg movement. While this became somewhat common knowledge to dedicated fans after awhile, what is lesser known is where L learned this martial art. In the 13th book it is revealed that the headstrong FBI agent Naomi Misora is actually the one who taught L this martial art after they finished the BB Murder Case together!
3 L Doesn't Have Any Friends
Though he didn't get along with either of them right away, L has called both Light and Misa "his friend" at some point throughout the series. However, he never actually meant it and thought very negatively about the two of them. In fact, L doesn't actually have any friends at all, even though there are people he cares about and works with, such as Watari, Wedy, and Aiber. It makes sense that L would be lying to Light and Misa, especially seeing as how neither one of them actually cared about him to begin with, but it's still unfortunate that there wasn't a small part of him that considered them to be friends.
2 The Day L Died
As the title of the manga implies, many characters died throughoutDeath Note. Due to how much fans cared about L, his death was one of the saddest. InDeath Note: How to Read, it is revealed that he was killed on November 5th, 2004. This means that he had just turned 25 when his name was written into the Death Note. For someone so young, he accomplished so much, and yet there wasn't any chapter of the characters around him celebrating his birthday.
1 L's Last Thoughts
When Light finally gets the best of L after their long mental struggle, L falls from his chair and Light holds him, looking down on his formidable but defeated foe with a giant smirk on his face. In the anime adaptation, when L falls from his chair, he dies in silence, just looking up blankly at Light. However, during the manga's death scene, he looks at Light and says to himself, "Light Yagami... I knew it... I wasn't wrong..." Manga fans have often wondered if L died with a bit a satisfaction, since he finally knew that he was right all along.
NEXT:Death Note: L's 10 Biggest Failures
