Light Yagami, who possesses a mystical book with the power to deal death, and the others who either help him or try to capture him—primarily L, Near, and Mello—are so smart that the story works. But the main question still remains who is smarter?
The protagonists in the series are renowned for their outstanding psychological abilities, such as their ability to plan ahead, manipulate others, and strategize their every move.
Note: Don’t expect Misa Amane or Kiyomi Takada on this list, they lost their IQ when they falled in love with Light Yagami.
11+ Other Death Note Brightest Characters Ranked [Except L & Light Yagami]
| Death Note Character Names | Status |
|---|---|
| Watari (Quillsh Wammy) | Dead |
| Near (Nate River) | Alive |
| Minoru Tanaka | – |
| Halle Lidner | Alive |
| Mello (Mihael Keehl) | Dead |
| Shuichi Aizawa | Alive |
| Naomi Misora | Dead |
| Reiji Namikawa | Dead |
| Teru Mikami | Dead |
| Rem Shinigami | Dead |
| Raye Penber | Dead |
11. Watari
If you think about this, Watari is actually the smartest and the best, his contributions as the founder of Wammy House, which spawned such outstanding investigators as L, Near, Mello, Matt, and Beyond Birthday, were overshadowed by his role as L’s butler.
Working as a go-between for L and the NPA, he gave them all the best training possible. Because of his money, Watari was able to furnish the SPK with whatever they needed to probe Kira. Throughout his entire life, he protected L’s anonymity and made sure that nothing happened to put their lives in danger.
10. Near
As far as brains go, Near is right at the top. Clearly more intelligent than his partner Mello & Light Yagami. He ultimately defeats L and Light, revealing himself to be Kira in the process.
In spite of his youth and out-of-the-ordinary interests, he successfully sets a trap for Light and the unknown operative.
When compared to the other characters in the series, however, Near isn’t the brightest. Only with significant assistance from L and his colleague Mello was he able to reveal Kira’s true identity.
9. Minoru Tanaka
In the Death Note: Tokubetsu Yomikiri One-Shot included a new character named Minoru Tanaka. Despite his poor academic achievement, he has proven to be quite intelligent and crafty and fans already loved him.
After obtaining Ryuk’s Death Note, Minoru carefully plotted how to resell it in a future where security and technology had advanced significantly. Near, who had previously been unable to locate Minoru, finally accepted defeat and commended his cleverness.
Even if Minoru’s strategy was flawless, he still had access to a wealth of data. Minoru, like Near after L’s death, was familiar with the entirety of Light’s backstory and used this knowledge to inform his strategy. He couldn’t have accomplished what he did without this.
8. Halle Lidner
Halle, a former spy for both the Secret Service and the Central Intelligence Agency, is one of the most astute female protagonists in Death Note. She wanted to discover that Kira was actually Kyosuke Higuchi, so she became a member of SPK. She was also familiar with Near and Mello.
She likes Near and Mello, but she doesn’t want to choose a side in their rivalry with Kira and competition with L.
Since she’s worked on so many difficult situations with Near, Halle has the greatest experience of everyone we’ve met thus far. She not only works for Near, but also informs Mello of key details, expanding the area in which she is surrounded by all the crucial data she could possible gather.
7. Mello
In addition to being a competitor to Near, Mello is also a business partner. He had the potential to succeed L in terms of intelligence. Unfortunately, the series concludes with Mello’s death.
Mello is crucial because without him, Near would be unable to expose Kira’s true identity. It’s safe to say that Mello isn’t the brightest bulb in the show. He lost his life due to a poorly thought-out strategy, despite the fact that he was of paramount importance.
6. Shuichi Aizawa
Aizawa is very serious about his profession, he does not tolerate any nonsense from his fellow NPA members or the Task Force (poor Matsuda). He is proud of his achievements and prefers to stay above board.
Aizawa was the first to assume that Light Yagami was actually Kira, but he dismissed the idea since he lacked proof. Aizawa’s intelligence and quickness of mind have earned him the reputation as the Task Force’s brightest mind.
5. Naomi Misora
When she became engaged to her fiance Raye Penber, Naomi decided to quit her career as an FBI agent. She is widely considered as one of the series’ smartest agents, and she got to help L Lawliet in The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. Naomi was extremely careful, remembering every detail, including the fact that disclosing her true identity was the direct cause of her fiance’s death.
She would have been the most valuable asset to the SPK if she hadn’t let her sadness cloud her judgment and prevent her from conducting effective investigations. Since she was familiar with L from their prior collaboration, the two of them could have thought of a more efficient plan to apprehend Kira.
4. Reiji Namikawa
Of the eight people who made up the Yotsuba Group, Reiji Namikawa stood out as the brightest. He moved to the States and studied at Harvard for six years. Moreover, he is a skilled Shogi player, having attained the 4 dan level.
Reiji’s extraordinary people skills allow him to glean information about his target that allows him to accurately assess his chances of success.
He even managed to fool the SPK’s mastermind, Light Yagami, into thinking that Kyosuke Higuchi was the major suspect by pretending to be L.
3. Teru Mikami
Light entrusted next Kira’s power to Teru Mikami when he saw that Near was closing in on him. Despite his devotion to the actual Kira, Mikami fiercely followed Light’s directives, making a target out of himself.
Although Light selected Mikami because of his dedication to Kira’s cause, the latter often found himself relying on the former’s wits.
His intelligence was marked by a passionate sense of justice, he was willing to kill innocents if it served the greater good. While posing as Kira, Mikami was so dedicated to filling at least one page per day that even Light called him “obsessive.”
2. Rem Shinigami
Rem uses her intelligence to find a way to save Misa. That’s why she gives Kira a pass at first. She had faith that Kira’s cunning strategy would save Misa from L’s brutal interrogation.
Unlike L and Kira, Rem isn’t a magician. But the sagacity of Rem is fascinating; she is the one who always makes sure the Kira Investigation Team doesn’t find out about the Death Note’s secrets.
1. Raye Penber
It was established early on in the program that FBI agent Raye Penber possesses a wide range of detective abilities, and we saw them in action as he followed Kira.
In my opinion as a fan, though, it was his intelligence in figuring out Kira’s objectives during the bus robbery that most effectively demonstrated his manliness and fearlessness.
Special Mention to Other Underrated Clever Characters with less Screen Time
There are also a lot of other fantastic characters in Death Note, but because they don’t get enough screen time and we don’t get enough information about them, we can’t properly grade them.
- STEPHEN GEVANNI
- ANTHONY RESTER
- AIBER
- KONZO MOGI
