Death Note/Headscratchers/Characters' Actions: Difference between revisions

*** Every member of the task force has been killed besides Light. I'm sure that's going to go down well with the suspicions of anyone not in the taskforce.

*** {{spoiler|That was his plan at the end of the series though...}} He could fake his death or something and start over under a new name.

*** The legal system in Japan pretty much amounts to "if you're accused, you're guilty." And he's in Japan.

** It is explicity say in the manga that L showing his face to Light was basically his Life insurance. Why? Because only the task force, Watari and now Light, you know, L's main suspect, know that he is L. So if L happens to accidentally die within the weeks of investigation, wouldn't that look bad for Light? Why would anyone, other than Kira that is, kill him anyway? Nobady else know he is L and he is a secluded individual that only goes out to closely watch his main suspect, and I'm sure he doesn't go out without taking safety precautions. Yes, of course, accidents can happen but it would be suspicious at least. In fact, there is even a part when L is checking out the second Kira videos when L tells Soichiro that if he dies on the next days, Light is Kira.

** Anime only, it's "[[Rule of Cool]]"

** If it were live action they could probably pull off a similar red eye effect like you get with camera flashes, it's a little odd to hold a cartoon to a higher standard of realism

** [[The Corruption|Well when using a dangerous otherworldy artifact there might be some side-effects.]] (Side-effects may include insanity, death, and [[Red Eyes Take Warning|red eyes]].)

 

== Why does Light kill the FBI investigators? ==

* Why does Light expend so much effort on killing Raye Penber and the other FBI investigators? The only real benefit I can see from the killings is that they scared off the FBI for a while, and that would happen anyway if their investigation turned up nothing. The convoluted method Light uses to kill the FBI investigators makes it easy for L to narrow the search down to Raye's marks. Additionally, it brought Naomi Misora into the mix, a disaster Light only averted by chance; if anyone else came into possession of the knowledge Misora had and made similar deductions, he was done. OTOH, if he ''doesn't'' kill Raye, the FBI investigation turns up nothing. Light gets more time to establish plans of action; the FBI is discredited; the mistrust between L and the police builds as the mole isn't found; and everything generally goes more smoothly for Light. What, apart from Light's juvenile impatience and massive overconfidence, justifies his actions here?

*** It's less that he lacks proper planning skills, and more that he has a huge underestimation complex. After all, that's how {{spoiler|he dies}}.

** If I recall, what he thought was that if the FBI turned up nothing the first time, they would investigate everyone again, but more in-depth, and he'd be more likely to be caught. So it was a pre-emptive strike, basically.

== Why can't Misa remember an odd name like L Lawliet? ==

* When Misa gets her memories of the Death Note back, she says she doesn't remember L's real name because she only saw it once, months ago, and since she didn't know he was L at the time she had no reason to remember his name out of the hundreds of others she was seeing. Initially this makes perfect sense. But then you read the databook and find out that L's real name is L Lawliet. Just seeing a guy with the first name L should have at least gotten her attention. When that guy is hanging around with Light (and Misa ''did'' know that Light was in contact with L somehow, otherwise the "have Rem kill L" plan couldn't work) and going by an assumed name, it should probably have ocurred to Misa that this guy might be L. Her getting arrested by L immediately after meeting him should have turned that suspicion into almost a dead certainty. Some ditzy moments aside, Misa isn't actually dumb, just not a super genius like Light or L; she can still put some obvious clues together.

 

 

** Criminals live very stressful lives.

** [[Chuck Norris]]

 

 

* [[Foe Yay]] aside, Does Light like or respect L at all? I mean sometimes he talks like L is a pathetic worm beneath his feet, other times he looks back on him almost fondly, like with Near. Has there ever been [[Word of God]] on this? Or is there something I'm missing?

** Personally, I think Light gains a greater appreciation for L {{spoiler|[[Antagonist in Mourning|after he’s dead.]]}}

** Remember when Rem tells Misa when she wipes her memories that even though she won't remember being a Kira "those feelings will remain." Even when Light is Kira and hates L for getting in the way of his New World [[Worthy Opponent|he also admires him and enjoys playing against him]]-he's having fun pretending to be L's friend. So when Light wipes his memories he no longer has a reason to hate L and only knows that he admires L [[Becoming the Mask|and enjoys having him as a friend.]]

 

** The only problem? Naomi ''isn't'' Penber's girlfriend, she's his ''fiancee'' and the intonation was not ironic, he genuinely meant it as his girlfriend. (For that matter, Light assuming that a female loved one automatically means a girlfriend is kinda dumb in and of itself, when it could be a wife, sister, mother, daughter, etc). This should have been a MASSIVE clue that Light didn't really know about her or their relationship, but Penber ignores it like a champ! I mean, I'd hardly expect the guy to be infallible, considering he was assigned to such an important and dangerous case, I'd hope for a bit of competence!

*** Light looked Penber up in the FBI database. Presumably he found out all he could about his family and concluded that a girlfriend was the most likely candidate, which isn't that unreasonable. We know Penber has no wife and we can reasonably assume he doesn't have a daughter, and a grown man is more likely to be close to, and protective of, a girlfriend than a sister or mother. Besides which, a fiancee ''is'' a girlfriend, and will be until they either get married or break up. If Light had been talking about a girlfriend and they were ''already'' married, it would be a different story.

 

 

** Its hinted that even pre-series he wasn't interested in girls. That the girls keep asking him out and he keeps making up excuses not to go on dates. There's Yuri's (the spaceland girl's) line: "I thought you said you weren't going out until exams were over!" Also during the Yotsuba arc Ryuk's [[Slasher Smile|grinning face]] was nowhere to be seen. Sure he was chained to L which presents the same voyeur problem but even so Light shows absolutely no interest in Misa. When Misa is right out asking him for sex his response: "Whatever" *[[Ho Yay|talks excitedly with L.]]*

** Light had to ''buy porn'' [[Infraction Distraction|for his cover]] strongly implying he didn't have any already and he browses through it with such a ''bored'' look on his face...

** Also with Light's [[Narcissist|narcissistic]] tendencies he might be more interested in [[Screw Yourself|kissing his own reflection.]]

 

== L's name; or, WTF was he thinking? ==

* If "L" is, in fact, L's actual first name, why would he, the world's greatest detective, use it as an alias when there's even a remote chance of it being used against him?

** Because the best hideout is the one that is on plain sight.

 

== He took a potato chip...AND ATE IT!!! ==

* Is there a reason Light is so dramatic about eating a chip, or is he just thinking that line as he does it to say "See how much of a normal student I am"?

 

== How'd Light see the TV, and how did L MISS it? ==

** [[A Wizard Did It|Obviously they're magic potato chips.]]