DEATH NOTE is a story built around a notebook that can kill anyone whose name is written inside it.
So, unsurprisingly, a lot of people die.
But even among the major characters, it can be surprisingly easy to forget things like:
How exactly did L die? Who killed Mello? What happened to Mikami in the end? Did Misa actually die?
In this article, we go through the major deaths in DEATH NOTE in chronological order, focusing on when they died, how they died, who caused their death, and what happened in their final moments.
Needless to say, this article contains major spoilers all the way through the ending.
If you have not finished DEATH NOTE yet, proceed with caution.
※ Unless otherwise noted, this article follows the timeline and events of the original manga.
Death not shown in the manga / suicide is strongly implied
Looking at the list, one thing becomes obvious:
The survival rate for people closely connected to the Death Note is not particularly good.
Several characters believed the notebook would improve their lives.
Judging by the results, staying as far away from it as possible was probably the better strategy.
Raye Penber
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: December 27, 2003
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Killed by: Light Yagami
Death Note used: Yes
An FBI agent assigned to secretly follow Light Yagami.
Light approaches Raye without revealing that he is Kira and tricks him into using pieces of the Death Note to write down the names of the other FBI agents investigating Kira in Japan.
In other words, Raye unknowingly helps Light kill his own colleagues.
Once his role is finished, Raye himself dies of a heart attack.
Just before dying, he turns around and sees Light.
At this point, Light is still only a high school student.
From Raye’s perspective, being completely outmaneuvered by the teenager he was supposed to be secretly investigating was probably not high on the list of expected outcomes.
His job was to watch a suspicious teenager.
Instead, the suspicious teenager was several steps ahead of him the entire time.
In the Kira case, apparently even an FBI badge does not provide much job security.
Naomi Misora
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: January 2, 2004
Cause of Death: Manipulated into committing suicide through the Death Note
Killed by: Light Yagami
Death Note used: Yes
A former FBI agent and Raye Penber’s fiancée.
Suspicious of the circumstances surrounding Raye’s death, Naomi begins investigating the Kira case on her own.
With remarkably little information, she reaches an extremely important conclusion: Kira may be capable of killing people in ways other than heart attacks.
If that information reached L and the police, Light would have been in serious trouble.
Unfortunately for Naomi, she happens to encounter Light himself while trying to contact the Task Force.
She initially gives him a false name, but Light gradually gains her trust and convinces her to reveal her real identity.
He immediately writes her name in the Death Note and manipulates her into committing suicide.
Despite appearing for only a short time, Naomi gets dangerously close to the truth at an extraordinary speed.
Light’s greatest advantage here may not have been that he was smarter than Naomi.
It was that he happened to meet her before the police did.
There is also a useful real-world lesson here:
If a teenager you just met starts asking for your full legal name, perhaps do not immediately give it to him.
Normally the consequences are less severe, of course.
Jealous (Gelus)
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: March 12, 2004
Cause of Death: Disintegrated after intentionally extending a human’s lifespan
Human protected: Misa Amane
A Shinigami who watched Misa from the Shinigami Realm.
Gelus fell in love with her and saw that she was about to be murdered by a stalker.
He wrote the man’s name in his Death Note, saving Misa’s life.
However, Shinigami die if they intentionally use the Death Note to extend the life of a human they care about.
Gelus therefore disintegrated, and his Death Note eventually came into Misa’s possession.
Normally, Shinigami gain lifespan by killing humans.
But if they use that same notebook to save someone they love, they die instead.
Put simply:
The penalties for romance in the Shinigami Realm are extremely harsh.
And considering that Misa later used the notebook to search for Kira, Gelus probably did not imagine just how complicated the situation would become.
Hirokazu Ukita
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: April 18, 2004
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Killed by: Misa Amane, the Second Kira
Death Note used: Yes
A member of the Japanese Task Force.
When Sakura TV begins broadcasting tapes sent by the Second Kira, Ukita rushes toward the station in an attempt to stop the broadcast.
Unfortunately, his face appears on television.
Using the Shinigami Eyes, Misa can see his name without needing to know it beforehand.
She kills him immediately.
Ukita’s death helps L realize that the Second Kira may be capable of killing a person simply by seeing their face.
Ukita was undeniably brave.
The problem is that in the world of DEATH NOTE, extremely high bravery can occasionally function like a death flag.
He rushed directly toward Sakura TV.
Unfortunately, he also rushed directly out of the story.
Kyosuke Higuchi
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: October 28, 2004
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Killed by: Light Yagami
Death Note used: Yes
The “Third Kira” during the Yotsuba arc.
Higuchi uses the Death Note for personal advancement and to benefit the Yotsuba Group.
Eventually, L and the Task Force identify and capture him.
When Light touches Higuchi’s Death Note, all of his memories of being Kira instantly return.
Light then secretly takes a piece of the Death Note hidden inside his watch and writes “Kyosuke Higuchi” using his own blood.
Higuchi dies of a heart attack shortly afterward.
From Higuchi’s perspective, things go downhill very quickly:
Captured → Explains the Death Note → Light regains his memories → Dies
There is barely enough time for a proper police interrogation.
More impressively, Light had planned this entire sequence before voluntarily giving up his memories.
He was not only manipulating everyone around him.
He was effectively using his future amnesiac self as another piece on the board.
Watari
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: November 5, 2004
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Killed by: Rem
Death Note used: Yes
The man who supported L for many years.
When L begins suspecting Misa again and plans to test the Death Note’s fake 13-day rule, Misa is placed in serious danger.
Rem decides that the only way to protect her is to kill L.
Before killing L, however, Rem also writes Watari’s name in the Death Note.
Even while suffering a fatal heart attack, Watari manages to delete all of the Task Force’s stored data immediately before dying.
He completes his job until the very last second.
Most people experiencing a heart attack would understandably stop worrying about office work.
Watari’s reaction is essentially:
“I should probably delete the classified data before I die.”
Inventor, millionaire, educator, sniper, technical specialist, and apparently emergency cybersecurity administrator as well.
Once again, this man had far too many jobs.
L
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Real Name: L Lawliet
Date of Death: November 5, 2004
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Killed by: Rem
Death Note used: Yes
The world’s greatest detective and Light’s greatest rival.
L never fully abandons his suspicion of Light and Misa.
Eventually, he decides to test the Death Note’s 13-day rule.
If the rule were proven false, suspicion would immediately fall back on Light and Misa.
Light therefore creates a situation in which Rem has only one realistic way to protect Misa:
Kill L.
Rem writes L’s name in the Death Note, and L collapses from a heart attack.
The last thing he sees is Light’s expression of victory.
L suspected that Light was Kira almost from the beginning.
And ultimately, his conclusion was correct.
The problem was that being correct and proving it were two very different things.
Even the world’s greatest detective eventually ran into one of the most frustrating phrases imaginable:
“Do you have evidence?”
Rem
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: November 5, 2004
Cause of Death: Disintegrated after extending Misa’s lifespan
Directly killed by another character: No
Immediately after killing Watari and L, Rem also dies.
A Shinigami disappears if they intentionally kill someone in order to extend the life of a human they care about.
Rem understands this rule perfectly well but chooses to protect Misa anyway.
Light’s plan can essentially be summarized as:
Light cannot kill L because he does not know L’s real name ↓ Rem can see L’s name ↓ Rem cares deeply about Misa ↓ Create a situation where L threatens Misa ↓ Rem kills L ↓ Rem also dies
The result?
Light eliminates his greatest enemy and a dangerous Shinigami at the same time.
From a purely strategic standpoint, it is terrifyingly efficient.
Rem is a literal god of death, yet in her final moments she seems considerably more human than Ryuk, who mostly watches everything happen because it is entertaining.
At this point, it becomes slightly unclear which Shinigami has the more normal personality.
Soichiro Yagami
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: November 11, 2009
Cause of Death: Fatal injuries sustained during the raid on Mello’s hideout
Killed by the Death Note: No
Light’s father and one of the central members of the Japanese Task Force.
During the operation to recover the Death Note from Mello, Soichiro makes the Shinigami Eye deal and personally participates in the raid.
He sees Mello’s true name, Mihael Keehl, but hesitates to write it in the Death Note.
Soon afterward, he suffers fatal injuries during the gunfight and explosion.
He is taken to the hospital, where he eventually dies.
Even during his father’s final moments, Light desperately encourages him to write Mello’s name.
However, Soichiro dies without doing so.
There is one particularly tragic detail.
Because Light does not possess ownership of the Death Note at that moment, Soichiro can see Light’s lifespan with the Shinigami Eyes.
This convinces him that:
Light is not Kira.
Soichiro dies believing his son was innocent.
As Ryuk points out, that may have made his death peaceful in at least one sense.
If he had learned the truth, “peaceful” probably would not have been an option.
A father dies convinced that his son is innocent while the son beside him is desperately trying to make him kill Mello.
The Yagami family’s problems were far beyond anything covered in a normal parenting handbook.
Matt
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Real Name: Mail Jeevas
Date of Death: January 26, 2010
Cause of Death: Gunshot wounds
Killed by: Kiyomi Takada’s bodyguards
Mello’s ally and another former resident of Wammy’s House.
During Mello’s plan to kidnap Takada, Matt creates a distraction using smoke.
He is eventually surrounded by Takada’s security team and shot repeatedly.
Unlike many characters in the series, he is not killed by the Death Note.
Matt appears only briefly in the main story, but he is considered one of the most talented individuals from Wammy’s House after Near and Mello.
In other words, he was apparently extremely intelligent.
The problem was not a lack of ability.
The author simply did not give him very much screen time.
Even geniuses cannot control how many chapters they get.
Mello
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Real Name: Mihael Keehl
Date of Death: January 26, 2010
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Killed by: Kiyomi Takada
Death Note used: Yes
One of L’s potential successors.
Determined to defeat Near and capture Kira through his own methods, Mello kidnaps Kiyomi Takada.
However, Takada has a hidden piece of the Death Note with her.
Because Light had previously told her Mello’s real name, she writes Mihael Keehl on the piece of paper.
Mello dies of a heart attack.
At first glance, his final operation looks like a failure.
But the kidnapping causes Mikami to make an unscheduled trip to the bank.
That action reveals the location of the real Death Note to Gevanni.
And that discovery eventually leads directly to Light’s defeat.
So although Mello dies, his final action becomes the key move that allows Kira to be defeated.
Near himself admits that neither he nor Mello could surpass L alone, but together they could.
Considering that Mello spent most of his life trying to beat Near, he might have had mixed feelings about the phrase:
“We won together.”
Kiyomi Takada
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: January 26, 2010
Cause of Death: Manipulated into burning herself and her surroundings
Killed by: Light Yagami
Death Note used: Yes
A television news anchor who becomes Kira’s public spokesperson.
After killing Mello with the Death Note, Takada contacts Light and asks for help.
However, from Light’s perspective, she now knows far too much.
Using the piece of Death Note hidden inside his watch, Light writes Takada’s name and causes her to burn herself and the surrounding evidence.
Takada trusted Light and followed his instructions.
In the end, Light personally eliminates her.
At almost exactly the same time, Mikami independently reaches the same conclusion:
Takada must die.
He goes to the real Death Note and writes her name as well.
Light had written her name first, so Mikami’s entry has no effect.
But Mikami’s unexpected trip exposes the real notebook to Gevanni.
This becomes the critical mistake that leads to Light’s defeat.
Light and Mikami were simply thinking too much alike.
Both independently decided to kill the same person at almost the same time, and somehow their perfect synchronization destroyed the entire plan.
Excellent teamwork.
Terrible result.
Light Yagami
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: January 28, 2010
Age at Death: 23
Cause of Death: Heart attack
Killed by: Ryuk
Death Note used: Yes
The protagonist of DEATH NOTE and Kira himself.
At the Yellow Box Warehouse, Light confronts Near and believes that Mikami will write everyone’s names in the Death Note.
However, the notebook Mikami uses has already been replaced.
Nobody dies.
Even worse, Light is the only person whose name Mikami did not write.
At that point, Light’s identity as Kira becomes essentially impossible to deny.
Cornered, he attempts to defend his vision of justice.
Then he tries to secretly use the piece of Death Note hidden in his watch, prompting Matsuda to shoot him.
Even after being wounded, Light desperately tries to survive.
Ryuk, however, finally writes one name in his own Death Note:
Light Yagami.
This fulfills something Ryuk told Light near the very beginning of the story:
When Light’s time comes, Ryuk will be the one to write his name.
Light tried to become the god of a new world.
He judged criminals across the globe.
He defeated L.
And in the end, his life was decided by the Shinigami who had spent years standing beside him, mostly eating apples and watching everything for entertainment.
Becoming a global ruler by age 23 is certainly ambitious.
As a career plan, however, it is difficult to recommend.
Teru Mikami
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: February 7, 2010 in the manga
Cause of Death: Dies in prison after losing his sanity
Confirmed Death Note victim: Unknown
The “X-Kira” chosen by Light to use the Death Note.
At the Yellow Box Warehouse, Mikami writes everyone’s names in what he believes is the real Death Note.
Because the notebook has been replaced, nobody dies.
His actions instead help prove that Light is Kira.
In the manga, Mikami is arrested and dies in prison ten days later after apparently losing his sanity.
However, the manga leaves behind one important mystery.
Matsuda suggests that Near may have written Mikami’s name in the real Death Note and manipulated him into behaving exactly as expected during the warehouse confrontation.
Whether Near actually used the Death Note is never confirmed.
If Matsuda’s theory is correct, it would mean that the detective who defeated Kira did so by secretly using the Death Note himself.
But there is no definitive proof.
Even after the main mystery is solved, DEATH NOTE apparently refuses to let readers go home without one more theory to argue about.
The anime gives Mikami a different ending.
There, he takes his own life inside the Yellow Box Warehouse.
For a man famous for repeatedly saying “Delete,” Mikami eventually receives a particularly aggressive deletion from the story himself.
Misa Amane
Source: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, “DEATH NOTE”, Shueisha
Date of Death: February 14, 2011
Cause of Death: Not shown directly in the manga
Suicide: Strongly implied
This character requires an important clarification.
Misa’s death is not directly shown in the original manga.
However, the official guidebook DEATH NOTE HOW TO READ 13 lists February 14, 2011 as her date of death.
Tsugumi Ohba also suggested that Misa likely learned about Light’s death from someone such as Matsuda and then took her own life.
For that reason, the common interpretation is that Misa committed suicide after Light’s death.
The anime also shows Misa standing near the edge of a high building in the final episode, strongly suggesting the same possibility, although her death itself is not shown.
Her listed death date is also interesting:
February 14 — Valentine’s Day.
For someone who spent so much of her life devoted to Light, the date feels almost painfully appropriate.
Misa’s lifespan is also one of the strangest calculations in the series.
During the story:
Gelus saves her life
She receives the lifespan left behind by Gelus
She makes the Shinigami Eye deal
Rem later saves her
Rem’s remaining lifespan is added to hers
Misa makes the Shinigami Eye deal again
Her lifespan is repeatedly increased and cut in half.
At some point, even a Shinigami might need a calculator.
Despite all of that, if the official death date is followed, Misa ultimately survives Light by only a little over a year.
It is a remarkably ironic outcome.
Other Notable Characters Who Died
Many other characters also die during DEATH NOTE.
Here are a few notable examples.
Wedy
A professional thief hired by L.
After L’s death, Light uses the Death Note to eliminate her.
In the manga, she dies in a motorcycle accident.
Being talented enough to work directly for the world’s greatest detective is impressive.
Unfortunately, once Light knows your real name, professional skills become much less useful.
Aiber
A professional con artist who also works for L.
Like Wedy, he is eliminated by Light after L’s death.
Light causes him to die from liver cancer.
This also demonstrates how Light does not rely exclusively on heart attacks.
He sometimes designs deaths to look natural.
Even the administrative side of Kira’s mass murder operation is disturbingly thorough.
The Yotsuba Kira Group Members
Several Yotsuba executives involved in the secret Kira meetings are later killed by Light.
They simply knew too much about the Death Note and the Kira case.
In DEATH NOTE:
Knowing important information = an advantage
but also:
Knowing important information = a potential death flag
Being well-informed does not necessarily make life safer in this universe.
Characters Whose Deaths Differ Between the Manga and Anime
Some characters receive noticeably different final scenes in the manga and anime.
The two biggest examples are Light Yagami and Teru Mikami.
Light Yagami
Manga: Ryuk writes Light’s name while Light remains inside the Yellow Box Warehouse. Light panics and dies.
Anime: Light escapes from the warehouse before eventually dying quietly on a staircase after Ryuk writes his name.
The final cause is the same—Ryuk writes Light’s name—but the presentation is very different.
The manga emphasizes that Light, despite seeing himself as a god, is ultimately just another human terrified of death.
The anime gives him a quieter and more melancholic ending, including reflections on the life he might have lived.
Fans often have very different preferences between the two versions.
Teru Mikami
Manga: Arrested and later dies in prison after losing his sanity.
Anime: Takes his own life inside the Yellow Box Warehouse.
The location and circumstances of his death are therefore completely different.
The manga also preserves the possibility that Near secretly used the Death Note on Mikami.
The anime removes that ambiguity and gives him a much more immediate ending.
Misa Amane
Misa’s actual death is not shown in the original manga.
Her date of death is provided separately in the official guidebook.
The anime shows her standing at the edge of a high building, strongly suggesting suicide, but still does not explicitly show her death.
This is why discussions about Misa can become confusing when manga events, anime imagery, and guidebook information are mixed together.
Which Major Characters Died Without the Death Note?
Two particularly clear examples are:
Soichiro Yagami
Matt
Soichiro dies from injuries sustained during the raid on Mello’s hideout.
Matt is shot by Takada’s security team.
Because the series is called DEATH NOTE, it is easy to assume that the notebook solves every problem.
Apparently not.
The second half introduces organized crime, firearms, explosions, and armed security.
So even if you somehow protect your real name perfectly, someone can still simply shoot you.
It is not an especially comfortable universe to live in.
Conclusion
Looking back at the major deaths in DEATH NOTE, it is obvious that the Death Note itself is responsible for a huge number of them.
But something even more interesting is who causes whose death.
For example:
Light kills Raye Penber
Light kills Naomi Misora
Light kills Higuchi
Light manipulates Rem into killing L
Takada kills Mello
Light kills Takada
Ryuk ultimately kills Light
The relationships form a surprisingly complicated chain.
Light directly or indirectly causes the deaths of an enormous number of important characters.
But in the end, Light himself dies because of the very notebook he picked up at the beginning—and the Shinigami who originally owned it.
The story comes full circle.
And when you include L, Mello, Soichiro, Takada, Mikami, and Misa, many of the characters who became deeply involved with Light eventually died.
Meanwhile:
Near survives.
Matsuda survives.
Aizawa survives.
Mogi survives.
Ide survives.
Matsuda is particularly interesting.
Throughout the series, he repeatedly makes questionable decisions and regularly looks like the person most likely to accidentally get himself killed.
Yet somehow, he survives until the end.
If intelligence is represented by L and Light…
If bold action is represented by Mello…
And supernatural power belongs to the Shinigami…
Then perhaps the real secret to surviving DEATH NOTE is simply:
Live more like Matsuda.
Do not become the world’s greatest detective.
Do not try to become the god of a new world.
Do not join the Mafia.
Do not use the Death Note.
Make a few mistakes.
And survive.
When you look at the death list this way, Matsuda’s life strategy suddenly seems remarkably intelligent.
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