While he is Death Note's protagonist, Light Yagami is not a heroic character. The story's perspective is fascinating in how it follows an everyday high-schooler on his path to becoming a diabolical villain and then to his final undoing by the heroic antagonists.

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Light is undoubtedly clever and intelligent, but his dismissive attitude and lack of empathy can make it difficult to find him truly likable as a person or a villain. But amid all of his megalomaniacal plans to rule the world as Kira, Light does have some moments that make him more bearable or at least show him in a different light than that of a mass serial killer.

8 He Doesn't Get Caught Until The End

Light's reign as Kira lasts the entire story with his identity as the serial killer only being confirmed to everyone at the final confrontation. This is because he missteps and assumes that he has won, not predicting Near and Mello's last move. Mercurial as Light is, he manages to get away with Kira's activities for years through acting and using other people as pawns even if he does make mistakes that foreshadow his future defeat.

He even causes the death of the great detective L Lawliet and, at the same time, gets rid of Ren, Misa's Shinigami. It is a relief that Light does not win the entire game, but he does come close.

7 His Initial Motivations With The Death Note Are Well-Intentioned Though Misguided

At the start of his ambitions with the Death Note, Light's goal is to rid the world of crime by writing down criminals' names in the notebook. While it is short-sighted and overly uses a black-and-white moral lens to view the world, it makes sense when considering it comes from the mind of a teenage high schooler.

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The Death Note's power and influence quickly go to Light's head and he becomes drunk off the terror and judgment he wields. Soon, he graduates from having an idealistic yet extremist goal to wanting to be the god of the entire world who views himself as being right in whatever he does.

6 He Shows Some Standards Over The Criminals He Targets

When Light orchestrates he and Misa losing their memories for some time, he unwittingly reveals some interesting factoids about the standards he formerly held as Kira. When assisting the Task Force, he points out that Kira never killed anyone who already served their prison sentences, had just cause for the crimes they committed, or expressed remorse for their actions.

This is an odd moral line considering what the viewer knows of Light-as-Kira since he is very cut-and-dry in his thoughts on criminality. But at the same time, it shows he does have standards on who he targets. Granted, it likely would not have lasted long since he continually goes off the deep end over the story's course.

5 He Becomes Genuinely Sweet & Heroic When He Loses His Memory

After his memory loss, Light reverts to, presumably, who he would be if not for the Death Note's appearance. The result is a genuinely wide-eyed and heroic young student who is horrified at the murders Kira commits and wants to assist the Task Force in hunting this person down.

He even plays the ironic role of a moral conscience to L at times, such as when L wants to manipulate and use Misa to aid their investigation. Former-Light regularly makes use of such tactics for his own cause since he only views Misa as a useful tool and doesn't care about her otherwise. But Light, after the memory loss, finds this manipulation to be morally objectionable.

4 He Tests Out The Death Note For A Sympathetic Reason & Has Second Thoughts

When Light discovers the Death Note, he tests it out on a rapist harassing a woman. In the anime, the way the shot is set up implies Light genuinely wants to help the woman, and not only that, he wants to test the Death Note. This is sympathetic in that the first person he singles out for a demonstration is one who definitely intends harm.

When the Death Note works, Light is at first overcome with panic at having the power to control people's lives in such a way. This quickly passes when he realizes the potential in tackling crime rates, but it is still a glimpse of any morality Light has at the start.

3 He Views L As A Worthy Opponent

Even in his role as Kira, Light holds odd regard for L Lawliet to the extent that he views him, and only him, as Kira's worthy opponent. This does not mean that any affection or friendship on Light's part toward L is genuine.

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In fact, he has a sinister excitement in outthinking L and takes great joy in nonverbally revealing his murderous identity to L when the latter lies dying when he can do nothing about it. But when he meets Near, Light's immediate reaction is that he comes nowhere close to equaling L, and he even seems insulted at the very notion of Near believing he is as shown by how freaked out he is by Near wearing a mask of L's face.

2 His Potato Chip Scene Is Iconic

This scene is frequently brought up as one of the anime's most memorable scenes for its theatricality. When L starts to suspect that Light may know something about Kira, he plants a camera in his room to catch him doing anything suspicious. Aware of this, Light pretends to be innocently doing homework and having a snack, but is secretly using a small TV sealed into his potato chip bag to watch the news so he can continue to write names of criminals into the Death Note.

Satisfied and proud of his plan to escape notice while still acting as Kira, Light's internal narration takes a turn for the dramatic as he consumes another chip.

1 He Lives A Moment Of Regret Before He Dies

Unlike in the manga, Light lives a brief moment of regret as he lies dying in the anime. After being unmasked as Kira, shot and rejected by Matsuda, and then forced to run away while he bleeds out, Light finally collapses on a staircase. Before Ryuk writes his name in the Death Note to effectively kill him, Light remembers the person he used to be before he discovered the Death Note, specifically the intelligent high schooler untouched by the darkness that the Death Note would bring.

This moment does not make Light a good person, but it does highlight the tragedy of the path he chose and what he may have become otherwise.