Death Note premiered in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 2003, created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata. The anime television series produced by Madhouse and directed by Tetsuro Araki ran from 2006-2007, while Netflix's live action adaptation released in 2017.
In this rundown, we'll take a look at how dangerous the Death Note stars are, mostly based on their intellect and cunning. We'll also take into account their motives and how psychologically misguided they really are, along with their powerful potential. There are humans and Shinigami alike to cover, so let's dive in.
10 Aiber
Thierry Morello (a.k.a. Aiber) is a con artist employed by L. His alias under L's employment is Eraldo Coil. He's dangerous due to his skills and status in Death Note. First, since Aiber is a criminal, he's known in that community, therefore he is able to obtain any and all criminal information. Second, he's "good with women," so he's able to easily get information out of the opposite sex.
Having the ability to hide under more than one name is good for evading enemies. Aiber's understanding of more than one language is also beneficial to him, since he could, hypothetically, infiltrate a range of locations and gather information while remaining undetected. Of course, his greatest advantage is being a criminal, as his connections in this underworld were invaluable to L.
9 Watari
Watari has known L for the longest time in the series. Known under the alias, Quillish Wammy, he's owner and proprietor of Wammy's House for gifted orphaned children located in England. Aside from this innocuous pursuit, Watari is highly skilled in espionage and marksmanship.
Watari being a spy and skilled marksman is enough to bring shivers up and down your spine, plus his alias is perfect. Who would suspect Quillish Wammy to be a spy? Only those with otherworldly abilities to read people, perhaps.
8 Ryuk
Our favorite Shinigami, Ryuk, is one of the series' most dangerous characters too. First, Ryuk gets bored of the mundane Shinigami life and decides to trick and manipulate the Shinigami King into providing him a second Death Note. He also finds humans amusing, despite his apathy towards them. Ryuk show his interest by always questioning Light's next moves and why he does certain things. Lastly, he controls Light's lifespan, so he ultimately decides when Light's life come to an end.
The idea of Ryuk dropping a Death Note in the human world is kind of baffling, but more so, dangerous. Leaving this incredibly powerful artifact for somebody to stumble upon? The consequences of this reckless act could be catastrophic. Light uses the Death Note to try and cleanse the world of crime as a small dictatorship, or as a madman who declares himself to be almost a "God." This is Ryuk's subtle way of being a huge danger in the Death Note world: first by playing this a game of chance, then by motivating Light as he continues his quest.
7 Rem
Rem is an interesting Shinigami in Death Note. After trying to save her friend, Gelus, from committing a fateful mistake (he broke Shinigami law by intervening to save a human's life), Rem decides to give the Death Note to Misa, the girl Gelus saves. Rem has opposing views on humans: where Ryuk finds them amusing, Rem finds them to be an inferior being, worthy of contempt.
What makes Rem so dangerous is that she is very active in the decisions that Misa makes. Rem even goes as far as to guard and protect Misa until the bitter end. To have a Shinigami on your side like that, in turn, makes you a more powerful character, as we'll see next.
6 Misa Amane
Our famous model "Misa Misa," better known as Misa Amane, is a fairly dangerous female in the Death Note series. As we've mentioned before, Misa receives a Death Note from Rem, after Gelus sacrificing his life to save Misa. After Light takes brutal revenge on the burglar who killed Misa's parents, she falls in love with the protagonist. Her blind adoration spurs her on to do anything and everything she can for Light's purpose of cleansing the world of evil.
Misa's a dangerous character because she is a blind and devoted follower of Light. She also trades parts of her lifespan with Rem and Ryuk, in order to obtain Shinigami eyes (allowing her to view the lifespan and identity of others). As with the Shinigami, she herself makes Light an even more threatening character in turn, but we'll get to him later.
5 L
The mystery man himself, L, successfully uses his many names and his intellect to avoid suspicion from Light for such a long time. L kept Light on his toes using his formidable skills as a super detective. Throughout the series, L continues to devise plots and schemes to determine Light's true identity, even as Light does the same.
L is the original catalyst for finding Kira, yet he died trying to put an end to the chaos. The most truly dangerous aspects of the character are his dead pan face, personality and quick reasoning and problem solving. He's a genius, one of the most dangerous and unpredictable opponents any hero can face.
4 Near
Nate River (a.k.a. Near) is the successor to L. He was raised in Wammy's House and is the leader of the Special Provision for Kira, the organization that's hunting down the Kiras. Near eventually discovers that Light is the original Kira.
Near is a dangerous character because his abilities are even more formidable than those of L before him. He was a greater danger to Light, eventually working together with his childhood rival Mello to bring him down.
3 Mello
Mihael Keehl (a.k.a. Mello) is the second heir to L, and he decides to hunt Kira with a different approach. Mello takes a criminal path by joining the mafia. By so doing, he meets Sidoh, a Shinigami. He obtains a Death Note, but he doesn't opt to use it on Light.
Mello is dangerous because he's a trained killer, and an incredibly impetuous one to boot. His mafia ties certainly help when it comes to causing destruction, but they also proved to be his downfall. Using Mello's connections, Light discovers his name and has Kiyomi Takada destroy him with her Death Note.
2 Light Yagami
Our favorite evil high school genius, Light Yagami has to be one of the most dangerous characters in Death Note. Light starts out as a bored high school student, who decides to essentially play God and eradicate crime from the world after obtaining a Death Note. He manages to evade and deceive L and Near alike, which attests to his potential and abilities.
He can easily manipulate others (most significantly Misa), and when you couple that with his ambition and the fact that he possesses the power of the Death Note, you've got a real powerhouse on your hands.
1 Teru Mikami
The most dangerous character in Death Note is the unhinged criminal prosecutor, Teru Mikami. Teru becomes the fourth Kira and worships Light as a god. He follows Light's path, but he also ruthlessly destroys people that he views as "lazy," as well as those who are reformed criminals.
Teru is dangerous because he has no mercy or empathy, yet wields the power of the Death Note. Add this to his unwavering commitment to Light's cause and you can see the true dangerous potential here. Teru even steals Misa's Death Note to become the fourth Kira, which shows that he'd stop at absolutely nothing.