L (Death Note)

L Lawliet (Japanese: エル?ローライト, Hepburn: Eru Rōraito), known mononymously as L, Hideki Ryuga, and Ryuzaki, is a fictional character in the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. He is an enigmatic, mysterious, and highly esteemed international consulting detective whose true identity and background is kept a secret. He communicates with law enforcement agencies only through his equally inexplicable handler/assistant, Watari, who serves as his official liaison with the authorities. Though his past is shrouded in mystery, he has gained a reputation as arguably the world's greatest detective/criminal profiler. Throughout the series, he observes and spies on the activities of the series' protagonist, Light Yagami, a high school genius. L attempts to expose and prosecute Light as the infamous serial killer "Kira", who is responsible for massacring high-profile criminals worldwide through apparently supernatural means through a "death note". As the series progresses, the psychological mind-game between L and Light intensifies, and each becomes bent on uncovering the other's true identity through a series of intricate ploys and schemes. He serves as an ideological and visual foil to Light. Tsugumi Ohba, the writer of the series, created L as a young adult, since he believed the story would not hold much interest if L were significantly older than his opponent, Light. For L's name, he wanted to use a single letter with a lot of significance; he considered "I" and "J", but eventually he chose "L" after careful consideration. Ohba left most of L's character design to Takeshi Obata, artist of the series. Obata asked Ohba if L could be "unattractive". Afterwards Ohba included ideas in his thumbnails, including L's manner of sitting, "he's part English", and "he's listless". Ohba added details regarding L's mannerisms and his interests in sweets. Ohba credits Obata for the character designs. Obata commented that L's thumbnails by Ohba