Do we like Light Yagami?
A character from Death Note (2006–2007)
Our score: 1 out of 10. Brilliant and charming, but he kills anyone who gets in his way and calls it justice. We'd enjoy watching him, and we'd never back him.
Light Yagami is a top student in Japan, popular and gifted, and deeply bored. He is also frustrated by how rotten the world seems. One day a bored death god, Ryuk, drops a black notebook into the human world. Light finds it. The rules inside say that anyone whose name is written in it will die.
Light tests it, is shaken at first, and then decides to use it to wipe out criminals and build a new world of people he considers good. The public starts calling the mystery killer "Kira". Some people cheer, and others are terrified. Light's father, a police officer, is among those hunting him. So is L, a reclusive genius detective who is just as sharp as Light.
The story is a cat-and-mouse thriller, and Light is the most compelling person in it. He is smart, patient and always several moves ahead. That is exactly why he scores so low. He doesn't need to be cruel, but he chooses to be. He lies to his family and friends and treats them as pieces in his plan. He is also willing to let innocent people die if they stand between him and his goal. He starts out with real ideals, but he slides quickly into believing that he is a god and everyone else is expendable.
In the end his cleverness and his pride catch up with him. He doesn't get the god-like victory he wants, and his story ends in defeat. The creator has said that he personally sees Light as a very evil character.