(エル・ローライト Eru Rōraito?), commonly known by his given name alone, is considered the world's greatest detective. Through clever use of aliases, he's also known as the world's second and third greatest detectives, Eraldo Coil and Deneuve, respectively. When it becomes clear that the one known as Kira is responsible for the many heart attacks among the criminal population, L makes it his duty to bring him to justice. He is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi in the Japanese anime and by Alessandro Juliani in the English dub. In the live-action film, he is played by Ken'ichi Matsuyama. L was born on October 31, 1979 (1982 in the anime),[1] making him 25 when he dies on November 5, 2004. It is implied that L was a former resident of Wammy's House, one of Watari's orphanages, as well as a safe haven and educational facility specifically for intellectually-gifted children. L stayed in England for five years, and during that time he was the champion in tennis for the England Junior Cup. Ken'ichi Matsuyama as L Despite being about as tall as Light (179 cm), L only weighs 50 kg due to his eating habits, making him severely underweight for his size. Though outwardly appearing as disheveled and languid, L is a genius on par with Light. His powers of deduction and insight allow him to draw conclusions from the smallest of clues. Furthermore, L's reputation makes others take his conclusions seriously, even when based on a seemingly flimsy pretext. He tends to second-guess everything he is presented with, and is extremely meticulous and analytical. He has several quirks such as preferring to crouch rather than sit, eating only sweet foods like desserts and fruits, and holding items very delicately. He claims that his eating habits have not made him overweight because the brain uses the most calories of any organ in the body. Likewise, his explains that his odd sitting habits are a matter of necessity, as his reasoning ability would drop 40% if he sat normally. L is quite secretive and only communicates with the world through his assistant, Watari. He never shows his face to the world, instead representing himself with a capital L in Old English 5 Font. He only first reveals himself to the Kira investigation team, and has them refer to him as Ryuzaki (竜崎 Ryūzaki?) for discretion. When he attends Light's college, he takes the name Hideki Ryuga (流河 旱樹 Ryūga Hideki?), deliberately using the name of a popular singer to see if Light was Kira. Even the Kira investigation team never learns his true name. Once L begins investigating the Kira case, he quickly suspects that Light Yagami is Kira, but cannot obtain any concrete evidence. Even with Light's numerous successful ruses that seem to indicate he can't be Kira, L remains skeptical. Because of his suspicions, L decides to join To-Oh University, the university that Light attends. He reveals to Light that he is L; this, combined with his fake name, ensures that Light (if he were Kira) would never try to kill him for fear of quickly being discovered. Although L cannot shake the conclusion that Light is the first Kira, Light is the only person L had ever identified or connected with, and he openly states on one occasion that even though it would hurt his pride to admit that he has been wrong, he hopes that he would be. Despite Kira being L's opponent, at the core, Light and L share many traits, including extraordinary intelligence and strong opinions of what constitutes true justice. Light manages to kill L by manipulating Rem into killing L for him, making her believe that she must kill him for the sake of Misa's life. Since L's efforts at the time would have actually cast suspicion on Misa (again; Light's creation of a fake rule had cleared them both, and L was about to test it), this also kills Rem, as Shinigami cannot use a Death Note to extend the lives of others intentionally. L's last sight before death is Light triumphantly smiling over his defeated rival, and in his last moment L confirms to himself that Light is the first Kira. In the anime's finale, an apparition of L appears before the dying Light, who closes his eyes in the same fashion L does in the 25th episode. In the film, L's death is quite different. Having already written his name in Misa's Death Note beforehand, Rem's attempt to kill him fails (regardless of the time specified, the first Death Note used takes priority). Rather than Near capturing Light later on, it is his self-sacrifice that allows the investigation team to eventually apprehend Light. After Ryuk kills Light, Ryuk offers L the Death Note. L refuses, and Ryuk calls him "no fun" for it. Twenty-three days after writing his name in the Death Note, and after burning all the remaining Death Notes and having a conversation with Soichiro, L dies peacefully while eating a chocolate bar, with a picture of Watari lying right beside him. A third film is scheduled to premiere in February of 2008, titled L: Change the WorLd. It is a film spin-off which focuses on L's final twenty-three days of living after defeating Kira.
