Death Note fans have always debated the role of Light Yagami as a protagonist in the series. Some fans believe that his actions by the end of the series make him an antagonist, while others believe that he was still a good guy, but he got astray from his path and went on a killing spree to save himself, developing a God complex.
The creator of the series, Tsugumi Ohba, also thinks the same. In an interview, Ohba revealed that he refused to let Light Yagami become the bad guy, which is why the entire blame was put on Mikami for making a mistake. This way, even if Light became the villain of his own story, the blame would still land on Mikami rather than Light.
This was one of the series’ most shocking surprises, as well as a fitting conclusion to Death Note’s intricate plot, leaving fans to decide Light Yagami’s role as the series’ primary character.
Tsugumi Ohba Did Not Like The Idea of Light Yagami Being The Villain in Death Note
A transcript taken from an interview with Ohba was shared by Gaiaonline, where the creator talked about Death Note, the variety of characters, and the narrative of the series. When asked about the controversial ending of the series, Ohba revealed that he did not want Light’s failure to be the central plot of the conclusion.
Ohba stated:
“I did not want a plot told of Light’s failure because of his own mistake. I had to think extremely hard for a plot that relieved Light of most of the blame for his own failure. Hence, we had Mikami make the fatal error.”
Tsugumi Ohba explained that because Light was the protagonist, he did not like the idea of him taking the blame for all the terrifying things that had happened in the series. This is why he created a plot that would take away all the blame from the protagonist and relieve him of his failure. This would save Light’s image as the protagonist of Death Note.
Light Yagami Was Filled With Flaws By The End of Death Note
When the narrative of Death Note began, Light Yagami was an aspiring character who was not only a brilliant student but also a good human being. However, when he got his hands on the Death Note, he started developing a god complex because of the ultimate power to kill anyone by just knowing their name.
Although he started by killing the criminals, he got so invested in doing the “right thing” that it forced him to sacrifice some good people, too. Later on, his God complex became so big that it didn’t matter to him who he was killing, as long as it kept his identity as Kira hidden from the whole world.
While he believed that he was doing the right thing, in his heart he knew that the world wouldn’t accept his ideology because it was morally wrong to kill anyone, be it a criminal or a person of good character. Ultimately, his role as the main character (whether good or bad) of Death Note was left to the viewer’s interpretation.
You can watch Death Note on Hulu and Netflix.
