The supernatural crime thriller anime Death Note features a dazzling cast of characters, from the brilliant high schooler Light Yagami/Kira to the cold detective L to the fiery Mello and the bubbly young lady Misa Amane. Some characters meet a tragic end, either as victims of Kira, or getting burned when they fly too high to the sun.
The Yagami family is a tragic one, when Light became Kira and lost his life. Sayu was kidnapped and suffered mental scars, and the father, Soichiro Yagami, perished as well. But until then, Soichiro was a fine father and a skilled detective. What are 10 essential facts to know about the unwitting father of the world's biggest serial killer?
10 He's like Jim Gordon
If you think about it just right, Death Note is like a variation of Batman. L is described as being the "world's best detective" and has an old man as his assistant as they fight crime in a dark world. Soichiro, meanwhile, is like Commissioner Gordon step for step. He's uptight but fair, and he's a proud father who sometimes gets caught in the crossfire. They even look rather similar at times, down to the mustache, glasses, and suits. No Bat Signal, though.
9 He loses weight
What is it like, working as a police officer to pursue a mass murderer? Stressful. And how does it feel, having your beloved son accused of being said mass murderer? Very stressful! At first, Soichiro is rather heavyset, and he practically has a double chin. But as the series goes, he loses weight from the constant stress and anxiety, and his cheeks grow hollow and the cheekbones really stick out. He even suffered a minor heart attack from the stress.
8 He's stubborn and hates to lose
Children often take after their parents, and even Light Yagami and Soichiro are no exception to this rule. It's made clear early on that both Kira and L are stubborn, childish, and hate to lose. L realized that with the Lind L. Tailor incident. But Soichiro is this way too, such as when he threw himself into confinement to protest Light's. He was doggedly sure that Light was innocent, regardless of evidence. Aizawa and Matsuda noted their boss's extraordinary stubbornness out loud.
7 He died happy
Ultimately, this was a sort of empty victory for Soichiro, but at least he had some measure of peace when he succumbed to battlefield wounds. Soichiro obtained the shinigami eyes, and on his deathbed, he saw Light's face and noted that Light's name and lifespan were both visible. Based on the rules he learned from Ryuk, that meant that Light was not a notebook user. Viewers probably had conflicting feelings about this. Is it kind that Soichiro died happy, or was it cruel that he died believing a lie, and he never lived to see Kira arrested?
6 He's fearless
For the most part, Soichiro is a pencil pushing sort of detective, and he's middle-aged. But he still has an action hero streak in him that comes roaring to life more than one. During Misa's Kira announcement on TV, for example, Soichiro rose from his hospital bed and charged right into the Sakura TV headquarters with a bus! He also aided in the capture of Higuchi in person, and later, he led an assault team to capture Mello once and for all. In cold blood, he threatened Mello with mutual death if it meant ending Mello's Kira career. Talk about nerves of steel!
5 His natural hairstyle
This is a fairly minor detail, but it's an amusing one to note, even if its appearance was brief. Soichiro is a sharp dresser, and he grooms himself well with a neat mustache and slicked back hair for a professional look. During his confinement, Soichiro grew disheveled, and his hair came undone. In fact, after 50 days of this, his hair looked a lot more like Light's! Light Yagami's hairstyle is rather typical of Shonen leads, being a mop of hair that ends in tapered points. It seems that if Soichiro is separated from his comb, his own hair goes the same way. This makes him look oddly young, too.
4 He burns for justice
It's pretty much a given at this point that Soichiro is firmly a good guy, and wants to uphold the law against evil and cruelty. But as mentioned earlier, Soichiro is every bit as doggedly stubborn as his son is. More than once, he almost compromises the Yotsuba Kira investigation because he'd rather put an end to criminal deaths right away than wait and arrest Kira later, like L wanted to do. Not once is Soichiro ever tempted to allow Kira to roam free, and early on, he swore to his family that he would capture Kira even if it cost him his life.
3 He gets along with shinigami
This is an odd and amusing part of Soichiro's character. Even though shinigami like Ryuk and Rem represent the Death Note and all its horrors, Soichiro doesn't show much revulsion toward them. Yes, he was alarmed by Rem's presence at first upon capturing Higuchi. But soon, he easily accepted Rem into L's headquarters and conversed with her, and later, he had no issues including Ryuk on the mission to capture Mello. He even made the eye trade with Ryuk! Talk about fraternizing with the enemy!
2 He puts family first
Soichiro ultimately fights to protect all families from crime, but he's quite loyal to his own. Soichiro stubbornly refuses to believe that his son Light could possibly Kira, and this comes from not only his sense of honor as a police officer, but his intense love for family. This also motivates his protest confinement. Later, Soichiro even hands over the Death Note to Mello in exchange for Sayu's life, and he'd never let his children come to harm because of the notebooks. He'd be riddled with terrible guilt. And speaking of which...
1 He has a strong sense of guilt
Naturally, if Soichiro is such a strong upholder of justice and the law, then the inverse would devastate him. He feels awful just having his son suspected as being Kira, and the stress took a toll on him, as described earlier. And even though he didn't regret handing over the notebook in exchange for Sayu's life, he still had a terrible sense of guilt. Soichiro admitted out loud that he once considered taking his own life out of guilt. But instead, he took an active role and helped get the notebook back.