Fans of Death Note are already aware of how complex and colorful the characters that inhabit its world are, and the most colorful of them all would have to be none other than the great and mysterious detective L. His quirky behavior and odd appearance combine with his insane intelligence and deductive skills, and are finely complimented by an adorable child-like sweet tooth that fans can't help but gravitate towards.
Of course, he also isn't a total cinnamon roll, as shown clearly throughout the anime and various other adaptations, and there are lots of little-known tidbits about his character.
10 Curiosity Moved The Pen
In the original anime for the series, L ponders over whether or not it's a good idea to test the notebook, especially after seeing the fake rules Light had written in them trying to make him seem innocent to force his release. Fans will know L never went through with it, but there's a variation where he actually does.
It's suggested at the end of the 2017 Death Note film that L had indeed used the book at one point, though we never get any super-specific details. Many fans don't see the Netflix adaptation as canon, either, but it's still an interesting fact worth noting.
9 Official Stats
While we were always aware of just how scarily intelligent L truly is, the exact specifics were never really stated in the anime or manga. Thankfully, the official wiki has canon statistics for all the characters, and L's are just about as superhuman as you'd expect.
His lowest number by far is his social skills, which sit at a mere one. His knowledge is an 8, which is just barely outdone by his initiative, which is a nine. His creativity and emotional strength sit at an astounding ten, as well as a cute little statistic titled 'Sweet Tooth' which only he has.
8 Deceptive Looks
L's appearance and typical posture make him come off as incredibly disheveled to other people, which causes them to doubt his intelligence and not take him seriously. This is seen both when the Japanese Task Force first meets L, and again when L is posing as a university student and the other students comment on his appearance.
What makes this interesting is that, with how highly intelligent he is, it's likely he made himself look how he does purposely so that others don't suspect him of being anything extraordinary- if anything, the opposite.
7 'Five' Percent Chance
Many times throughout the series, L states that the likelihood of Light really being Kira is only around five percent- but he always gives off the impression that's a complete lie. He plainly tells Light that he is among the least suspected suspects when in reality he's the only true lead, and he's around ninety percent sure that Light is Kira.
Ohba Tsugumi, series writer, noted that the 'truth about L' is that 'he's a liar', which adds an entirely new layer to all of his interactions throughout the series.
6 Prideful Sensitivity
Although L is renowned as one of the smartest and most brilliant detectives in the world, he holds a rather sensitive pride close that's very similar to Light's- it's one of the reasons Naomi remarks that the two seem so similar. This sensitivity is made evident in how willing he is to resort to drastic measures to prove his beliefs, even if they're untrue in the current moment, such as when he inhumanely detained both Light and Misa for an extended period of time while neither of them were current users of the notebook.
5 Hidden Athleticism
Since L only consumes sweets and sits around most of the time, it can be easy to think that he'd be lazy and incapable of most athletic feats, but this is far from the truth. After all, even just in the anime, we see him holding his own in a tennis match against Light, a former junior champion. L was actually a champion himself when he resided in England, and he's also adept at martial arts as seen during his fights with Light while the two were handcuffed together.
4 First Meetings
It's common knowledge that L tends to communicate to most others through Watari, as this is the only way we come in contact with him until he finally fully reveals himself to the Task Force. What's much less common is their backstory, as these two are some of the most secretive and deceptive of the entire cast.
When L was eight years old, he was found by Watari who took him to Wammy's House, the orphanage for gifted children that he built, and started assisting him in cases once he realized how intelligent he truly was.
3 Super-Attractive L?
It's interesting to think about what L might have been like if he was made to be incredibly traditionally attractive, much like Light is depicted to be in the series, and it turns out that before his initial appearance in the manga, he was actually supposed to appear this way!
Obata originally conceptualized L as a rather plain but still quite attractive man, and it wasn't until he was first going to appear in Chapter 11 that the writers thought it'd instead be a better idea to have his appearance contrast Light, rather than being somewhat similar.
2 Colorful Connection
While designing color book covers for the manga, Obata states that he assigned a color to each character in order to "get the atmosphere right" for each one. The color that was chosen for L is gold, which is the color associated with success, achievement and triumph- all of which certainly describe the detective quite well.
Gold can also be associated with material possessions and wealth, and considering L was able to build the incredibly large tower for all of the Task Force to operate in, and with enough room for plenty of people to live, it's evident he has wealth.
1 (Not) A Symbol Of Justice
Although L states that he is justice during his initial big speech about apprehending Kira to find out his methods and force him to face justice, he knows that in fact, he really isn't just in the slightest. Especially if one were to measure by society's standards, in order to solve most of the cases he has, L has resorted to committing quite a few crimes himself. He's also acutely aware of the fact that he only takes on cases that personally pique his interest to solve, much like clearing a challenging level in a video game, instead of seeing it as something to better the world.