Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Thanks to an intriguing premise full of twists and turns, Death Note quickly became a classic for many anime fans. It wouldn't have been possible without an incredible protagonist in the keeper of the Death Note himself, Light Yagami, who is often regarded as one of the most intelligent and cunning anime characters of all time. However despite his original good intentions for the Death Note, Light was not infallible.
While it is true that Light wanted to rid the world of wicked using the Death Note's power, he himself became corrupted in his own crusade. At the end of the day, the man who went by Kira was a serial killer, and his actions were morally questionable at best and completely horrible at worst.
10 THE LIND L. TAILOR DEBACLE
Early on in Light's career of killing, the bodies were stacked high enough for Kira to grab the attention of the genius detective known as L. Setting up criminal named Lind L. Tailor as his decoy, L has Tailor mock Kira on TV which provokes Light to write Tailor's name in the Death Note, killing him. L reveals that this was all a ruse and that thanks to Kira's impulsiveness, he now has an idea of where to start his investigation.
Light and L's first confrontation sets up their legendary battle of wits but also showcases how thin-skinned and quick Light is to kill others if he thinks it benefits himself.
9 THE THIRD KIRA
Under suspicion of being Kira, Light and his accomplice Misa are locked up. Fortunately, Light had a plan in place for such an occasion. Having Rem, Misa's Shinigami, surrender ownership of Misa's Death Note to Light, Misa's memories are erased making it impossible for her to confess. He then instructs Rem to seek out a selfish individual before erasing his own memories as well.
Rem finds just such a person, Kyosuke Higuchi, who ends up becoming the third Kira and the perfect fall guy for Light. Just as he planned, Higuchi uses the Death Note for his own ends while throwing suspicions off Light, eventually leading to his capture. Touching the notebook and regaining his memories, Light uses a scrap of the Death Note stored in his watch to execute Higuchi.
8 STAGING A HIJACKING
With the FBI beginning to close in on Kira, Light decides to test the powers of the Death Note even further while finding out the name of the agent tailing him. To accomplish this, Light writes down the name Kiichero Osoreda to make him hijack the bus both he and the agent are on.
The plan goes off without a hitch, Light learns the agent's name is Raye Penber, and drops a piece of the Death Note for the hijacker to find. Picking it up, Osoreda can see Ryuk and horrified of the Shinigami he tries to escape the bus only to be killed in an accident. Only Kira could make an entire hostage situation a mere stepping stone for his goals.
7 TERU MIKAMI, THE HAND OF KIRA
Kira's murders eventually became so famous that there were people who actually believed him to be a god. One such follower was Teru Mikami, whose fanaticism of Kira was used by Light to throw suspicion off himself. Mikami becomes "The Hand of Kira," a pawn that can act independently from Light, and uses Misa's Death Note to perform his kills.
Becoming more and more insane as time went on, Mikami finally mentally snaps when Light is exposed as Kira, finding out that his god was nothing more than a man all along. His madness boils over, and Mikami kills himself. Mikami's worship of Kira only led to his demise.
6 THE MIND GAMES WITH RAYE PENBER
Raye Penber was an FBI agent that was following Light and one of the first to suspect Light of being Kira. After learning the name of his stalker, Light enacted his plans to get rid of Penber and the FBI agents after him. Getting Raye to meet him while in disguise, Light convinces him that he is Kira and threatens to kill him and his loved ones if he doesn't follow his orders.
Raye had no choice to comply and is tricked into signing pages of the Death Note with the names of the other agents, sealing their fates. Light reveals himself as Kira, only seconds before Raye himself dies of a heart attack from his own name being written in the Death Note.
5 THE SUICIDE OF NAOMI MISORA
As if what Kira had done to Raye Penber wasn't bad enough he also kills Naomi Misora, Raye's fiancee for good measure. After Penber's death, Naomi starts investigating Kira herself. As she closes in, Light meets Naomi himself. Light convinces her that he's actually there to help and tricks her into revealing her name by exploiting her current mental state. Light then writes down her name in the Death Note.
Much like Raye, Naomi finds out that Light is Kira only seconds before the effects of the Death Note take hold and force her to kill herself. The exact details of Naomi's suicide are unknown, but her body was never found due to the manner of her death.
4 HIS MANIPULATION OF MISA
A model named Misa Amane became the second Kira when she found a Death Note of her own. Already a Kira groupie herself, Misa used the Death Note to carry out Kira's work until meeting Light, who tells her his true identity. Misa falls in love with Light instantly and Light is quick to take advantage of her feelings.
Light would go on to exploit Misa as his accomplice, having her kill for him and shorten her natural lifespan with the power of the Shinigami Eyes. It was clear from the very start that Misa was nothing more to Light than someone to be used and then thrown away once she stopped being useful to him.
3 LIGHT'S VICTORY?
Beginning his final face-off with Near, Light plants Teru Mikami to write down the names of all of Kira's enemies in the Death Note. Believing that he's won, Light declares victory. But this was part of Near's trap, Mikami's notebook was a fake, leaving Light exposed for what he really was.
At first, Light tries to deny it all, but with the walls closing in, Light breaks into mad laughter and admits to being Kira. Light then tries to justify that all of his horrible acts were for the greater good, but Matsuda angrily shoots him, leaving Light to slowly die. For all his talk of justice, at this moment Kira showed that he was just a killer with delusions of grandeur.
2 HE USED KIYOMI AND THEN KILLED HER
In need of someone who can spread the gospel of Kira, Light decides to call on an old flame of his, Kiyomi Takada. Using his charm, Light tells her that he's Kira and promises to make her the queen of the new world that he's making. Attracted to both Light and his ideals, Kiyomi accepts and becomes Kira's personal spokeswoman.
Eventually, Kiyomi is captured by Mello, one of L's successors, but she uses a scrap of the Death Note given to her by Light to write his name down and kill him. However, for all Kiyomi's efforts, Light had written her name down in the Death Note, forcing her to burn herself alive to erase all evidence that could lead back to him.
1 KILLING L
Light and L's rivalry was one of the greatest in anime history, but only one could come out on top. After the whole amnesia situation, Light moves in to end L once and for all. Using Misa as bait, Light has Rem under enough pressure where she's forced to kill L in order to protect her. The last thing L sees before dying is Light's smug grin, mocking L's failure to catch him.
With L finally gone, Light takes control of the entire investigation against him, taking L's name and rank. Using L's position, Kira was able to spread his killings even further and give one final middle finger to his long time nemesis.