Death Note: 15 Details About L You'd Only Know If You Read ... - CBR

Death Note is a wildly popular series from the mid 2000's that shocked fans everywhere during its release and for many years afterward. This psychological thriller is a detective story about a mental battle between Light, a man endowed with a Death Note giving him supernatural powers, and L, the world's greatest detective. This internal chess match keeps fans at the edge of their seat the entire time.

RELATED: Death Note: 10 Things You Need To Know About L

When the anime adaptation came out most readers praised its faithfulness to the manga. Nevertheless, there are a few changes and details which are not found in the anime. There are 12 books and even a secret 13th book known as Death Note: How To Read which gives a rare insight into the story, characters and creative process of the series. Fans everywhere would love to learn more about the mysterious detective L, so let's look through these 13 books and find 10 details you would only know about L if you read the manga (spoilers ahead)!

Updated on August 23, 2021 by Kit Morris: L was always one of the most mysterious characters in the manga series. Despite being one of the main characters, there was so much that fans didn't know. Though the original 10 details in this list were great, there are so many other things that readers can learn about L, especially the things that were revealed in the 13th book.

15 L's Birthday

A lot of hidden information about the manga's characters was revealed in Death Note: How to Read. Though it's not important to the story, fans may find it fun to know some of these things, such as when the characters were born. L's birthday is October 31, 1979. Perhaps the reason he loves sweets so much is because he was born on Halloween.

14 L's Height & Weight

Along with his birthday, a couple of other things that was revealed about L, along with other characters, in Death Note: How to Read is his height and weight. Though it may not seem this way because he often slouches, L is five feet and eight inches. And despite constantly eating unhealthy things, L only weighs 110 lbs.

13 L's Requirements To Take On A Case

Throughout his prosperous detective career, L solved more than 3,500 cases and arrested over three times that many criminals. But this is the greatest detective in the world. He won't just take any case, so what had to happen for L to accept one? According to Mello, there would have to be at least ten victims or over 1 million dollars involved before the genius detective could be called to the case. The only exception to this was "The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases," but those were a bit more personal to L.

12 The Origin Of L's Nickname

When L introduces himself to the NPA, he urges them to call him Ryuzaki to further hide his identity. Throughout the series, he is referred to as both "L" and "Ryuzaki." So where did the he get this nickname from? The name Ryuzaki actually came from another child from Wammy's House, the orphanage that raises genius children and L's successors, Near and Mello.

RELATED: Death Note: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Light Yagami

A child named B was obsessed with beating L, and eventually begins a series of crimes in an attempt to outsmart him. During this case, detailed a bit in the 13th book and the Los Angeles BB Murder Case book, FBI agent Naomi Misora works with L to try to solve it. There she meets a man who calls himself Ryuzaki and L later adopts that name while working on the Kira case.

11 L's Real Name

In order to use the Death Note, the users must know their target's name and think about their face while they are writing it down. Knowing their face is important in case someone else shares the name of their target. Throughout the first half of Death Note, Light is trying to discover L's real name while L is trying to prove that Light is Kira. Even after L finally dies in the series, his name is not revealed. That was until the 13th book came out and with it came a special golden bookmark with a picture of L that read "L Lawliet."

10 The Great Detective War

The existence of two other master detectives known as Eraldo Coil and Deneuve are made known during the story. They are the 2nd and 3rd best detectives respectively, after L of course. However, when the Yotsuba Corporation acquires a Death Note and enlists the help of Eraldo Coil, it's revealed that they are actually separate aliases of L that he uses to trick people who are trying to find him. While this is a clever ploy, it is revealed later in the books that Eraldo Coil and Deneuve were actually real detectives that L beat in a detective war and earned their identities. Little else is known about this war, but it sure would make a great spin-off story!

9 L's Underworld Contacts

During the story, the government cuts ties with the task force. This enables them to use "less conventional means" to solve the Kira case, one of which involves bringing a con man, Aiber, and a thief, Wedy, to their team.

RELATED: Death Note: 10 Best Quotes From L

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In chapter 40 of the manga, when L is introducing them to the task force, he says "I also know of other criminals who could help us, if needed... This is a tactic I couldn't really use while we were connected to the police, but with the way things are now..." Here L shows that he has more tricks up his sleeve and apparently a decent list of competent underworld contacts ready for use.

8 Wedy's Secret Orders

During the Yotsuba arc in the series, Wedy is tasked with infiltrating the Yotsuba Corporation building and installing cameras to monitor them. However, in the manga, L gives Wedy another secret order. During chapter 45, L reveals that after the Yotsuba meetings, they have all the documents thrown into a shredder. When Wedy went to uninstall the cameras in the meeting room, L ordered her to "...take all the papers out and recreate the original documents." One can only imagine how long this must have taken but, thanks to L's orders and Wedy's hard work, the team was able to find a document titled "Rules of Killing." This information helps them use Misa to infiltrate the Yotsuba later on.

7 Aiber Owes L

As discussed above, Aiber and Wedy join L and the task force. But why would two professional criminals be working with the best detective in the world? Wedy is a mystery, but as for Aiber, it is revealed in chapter 43 of the manga that he actually owes L. In this chapter, he calls L to update him on his progress of infiltrating the Yotsuba Corporation. However, L shows concern for him and Aiber responds by commenting "I understand. But you've saved me more than once, L. And anyways, with the evidence you have on me, I'm looking at a life behind bars. This is a lot more fun than that." Apparently even this seasoned criminal couldn't hide from the gaze of the greatest detective, and in return for his freedom, L is able to enlist his help.

6 Near & Mello Were Originally Going To Be L's Sons

Near and Mello were L's successors after he died. Though the two were rivals that grew up in Wammy's House together throughout the majority of the manga, they put their differences aside and were only able to defeat Kira by working together, with Mello sacrificing his life in order to let Near solve the case. However, the two of them were originally going to be L's sons. If this had happened, the story would have been quite different and a lot of interesting things that expanded the world wouldn't have been introduced.