Found this really great comment that explains how much Light is actually smarter than L, which was also backed up by databooks from the mangaka. Wanna hear y'all opinions on it.
Light Yagami, without a doubt.
People who watch the series tend to overestimate the idea that L is smarter than Light solely based on the premise that Light had an advantage with his Shinigami powers.
That, however, does not factor into the equation, or the ultimate outcome. Just as Light had Shinigami powers, he had restrictions on him- He needed the a name and the face of the individual in order to kill somebody. Furthermore, since he wanted to live longer, he played the game of Shinigami in difficult mode, without being able to access one’s names and faces directly. L, on the other hand, had power over all the police in Japan,FBI, and such. In terms of research, investigation, espionage (cameras and bugging devices) and etc., he had quasi-omnipotent power to prove that Light was Kira. Therefore, if we consider things from this perspective, we will realize that L was not so poweless in comparison to Light, as even though Light had the powers of the Shinigami, he had restrictions on him which incapacitated him from killing L directly (which then would be a direct advantage).
L’s thought pattern which lead to Light being the only suspect was terrifying. His deduction that Yagami was Kira was based solely on the evidences that NO one else could have been, given how FBI characters were the ones being targeted.
However, even though he knew Light was Kira, let’s not forget how LIGHT plays out in all of this.
L, throughout the whole series, sets up traps and tests Light Yagami. He blatantly states that he is L in front of Kira in order to get a reaction, tests him in a tennis game, tells him to become the successor of L in case he dies, and such. With all these traps, he believes that he may reveal that Light is Kira.
Now, L is not only appealing to evidences and logic. He is appealing to see the micro expressions of the individual to his questions. That is something you barely can control, unless you are in the right mindset.
Therefore, in order to overcome the traps set up by a highly intelligent person, you would have to have equivalent or higher intelligence to not fall for those. Light did exactly that. Not only has he kept his calm, firm posture when being taunted to L (who was in a much safer spot to be himself and act as he wishes), but also answered the questions in a manner that would be impossible to say that he was Kira. With this in mind, we can not only deduct that Light is incredibly intelligent in its contingency planning, but emotionally as well.
Although he inevitably left clues that he might be Kira, he did not leave any PROSECUTABLE evidence that he could be Kira. In his room, he acted with perfection to show he was nothing but a student, utilized the death notes rules to its maximum extent, and so on. His execution was immaculate and PERFECT. To the point that not even L could prosecute him (as his plans were just too perfect, flawless, to leave a trace or clue of his endeavors).
Let’s not deprive the fact that Light was also capable of manipulating a Shinigami into working for him. Furthermore, the shinigami is not a dumb one. It is Rem. Light managed to maneuver Rem before it could even realize it was being manipulated. The second Rem realized that Light had already masterminded his death, he also understood how cunningly he had set up the trap so that both L (which is immune to Light since he does not possess the eyes to see his name) and Rem (who could kill Light at any point given that he is a shinigami) would exterminate each other, which were at the moment Light’s biggest threats. The only way to kill L without being suspicious would be to utilize the Shinigami. The only way to kill the shinigami would have to be forcing the Shinigami to die for someone else. Kira took advantage of both of these weaknesses to kill two birds with a single stone.
Furthermore, it would be ludicrous to not mention how he masterminded his plan to be seen as innocent.
To prove himself to be innocent, he realized that he would have to make himself literally innocent. How would he do that? Simple. By literally being innocent. By erasing everything he has done, and forgetting about it. So, he plans a few kills weeks before he erases his memories, tells himself that he will be locked up so that deaths will still occur while he is locked up (showing that he is not Kira), understands that L is really good at reading others people intentions and therefore would be fooled by the oblivious Light, instructs the Shinigami to give the book to a greedy, power hungry individual, predicts that Light himself will be freed of prison due to the lack of proofs by L, which therefore leads to himself assisting L in finding ‘’Kira’’, leading to the arrest of Higuchi, which means that the Death Note would be taken from him and therefore end up in L’s hand, which would therefore end up in Light’s hand, which then leads to him recovering the memories at the exact moment when Higuchi is being imprisoned, which leads to him predicting that he would utilize the same watch which would contain a piece of the death note that would allow him to kill Higuchi.
Not only he manages to predict how L and everyone else will react, he reads HIMSELF into the future, 100 steps ahead. There has no been any showcase that L has contrived as meticulously as Light has.
At the end of the series, it is also apparent how Light’s intelligence is superior to L.
When Light was exposed to be Kira at the end, Near said that himself plus Mello would be enough to pass L. This implies that Light was exposed due to intelligence of both, which if combined, were superior to that of L’s.
However, let’s not undermine the fact that Light’s plan, in its purest form, did NOT fail.
He predicted accurately what Near would do, exactly. Light, before Near himself thought about it, predicted that the latter would end up deducting that Takami would be the best fit to fulfill Kira’s wishes. Thus, realizing that Near was going to change the papers of the Death Note for fake ones, told him to create a fake death note and start annotating on it. All while pretending to not have realized that Light was aware of Near’s actions. How ridiculous that is?
Had Takami not acted on his own and killed the woman (which Light told him over and over not do), the SPK would have not realized that Light had created a fake death note and that would result in all members of the SPK and everyone else opposing Kira getting assassinated.
Light’s supreme, uncontested sagacity and ability to read into the future 100 steps ahead of anybody else, and into all all individuals minds, is unrivaled throughout the series.
The epitome of masterminding. Light Yagami, without a doubt, is the most perspicacious.
Had the author not decided that his evil endeavors would have to end, he would have certainly lived and reigned as Kira.
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Light Yagami, without a doubt.
People who watch the series tend to overestimate the idea that L is smarter than Light solely based on the premise that Light had an advantage with his Shinigami powers.
That, however, does not factor into the equation, or the ultimate outcome. Just as Light had Shinigami powers, he had restrictions on him- He needed the a name and the face of the individual in order to kill somebody. Furthermore, since he wanted to live longer, he played the game of Shinigami in difficult mode, without being able to access one’s names and faces directly. L, on the other hand, had power over all the police in Japan,FBI, and such. In terms of research, investigation, espionage (cameras and bugging devices) and etc., he had quasi-omnipotent power to prove that Light was Kira. Therefore, if we consider things from this perspective, we will realize that L was not so poweless in comparison to Light, as even though Light had the powers of the Shinigami, he had restrictions on him which incapacitated him from killing L directly (which then would be a direct advantage).
L’s thought pattern which lead to Light being the only suspect was terrifying. His deduction that Yagami was Kira was based solely on the evidences that NO one else could have been, given how FBI characters were the ones being targeted.
However, even though he knew Light was Kira, let’s not forget how LIGHT plays out in all of this.
L, throughout the whole series, sets up traps and tests Light Yagami. He blatantly states that he is L in front of Kira in order to get a reaction, tests him in a tennis game, tells him to become the successor of L in case he dies, and such. With all these traps, he believes that he may reveal that Light is Kira.
Now, L is not only appealing to evidences and logic. He is appealing to see the micro expressions of the individual to his questions. That is something you barely can control, unless you are in the right mindset.
Therefore, in order to overcome the traps set up by a highly intelligent person, you would have to have equivalent or higher intelligence to not fall for those. Light did exactly that. Not only has he kept his calm, firm posture when being taunted to L (who was in a much safer spot to be himself and act as he wishes), but also answered the questions in a manner that would be impossible to say that he was Kira. With this in mind, we can not only deduct that Light is incredibly intelligent in its contingency planning, but emotionally as well.
Although he inevitably left clues that he might be Kira, he did not leave any PROSECUTABLE evidence that he could be Kira. In his room, he acted with perfection to show he was nothing but a student, utilized the death notes rules to its maximum extent, and so on. His execution was immaculate and PERFECT. To the point that not even L could prosecute him (as his plans were just too perfect, flawless, to leave a trace or clue of his endeavors).
Let’s not deprive the fact that Light was also capable of manipulating a Shinigami into working for him. Furthermore, the shinigami is not a dumb one. It is Rem. Light managed to maneuver Rem before it could even realize it was being manipulated. The second Rem realized that Light had already masterminded his death, he also understood how cunningly he had set up the trap so that both L (which is immune to Light since he does not possess the eyes to see his name) and Rem (who could kill Light at any point given that he is a shinigami) would exterminate each other, which were at the moment Light’s biggest threats. The only way to kill L without being suspicious would be to utilize the Shinigami. The only way to kill the shinigami would have to be forcing the Shinigami to die for someone else. Kira took advantage of both of these weaknesses to kill two birds with a single stone.
Furthermore, it would be ludicrous to not mention how he masterminded his plan to be seen as innocent.
To prove himself to be innocent, he realized that he would have to make himself literally innocent. How would he do that? Simple. By literally being innocent. By erasing everything he has done, and forgetting about it. So, he plans a few kills weeks before he erases his memories, tells himself that he will be locked up so that deaths will still occur while he is locked up (showing that he is not Kira), understands that L is really good at reading others people intentions and therefore would be fooled by the oblivious Light, instructs the Shinigami to give the book to a greedy, power hungry individual, predicts that Light himself will be freed of prison due to the lack of proofs by L, which therefore leads to himself assisting L in finding ‘’Kira’’, leading to the arrest of Higuchi, which means that the Death Note would be taken from him and therefore end up in L’s hand, which would therefore end up in Light’s hand, which then leads to him recovering the memories at the exact moment when Higuchi is being imprisoned, which leads to him predicting that he would utilize the same watch which would contain a piece of the death note that would allow him to kill Higuchi.
Not only he manages to predict how L and everyone else will react, he reads HIMSELF into the future, 100 steps ahead. There has no been any showcase that L has contrived as meticulously as Light has.
At the end of the series, it is also apparent how Light’s intelligence is superior to L.
When Light was exposed to be Kira at the end, Near said that himself plus Mello would be enough to pass L. This implies that Light was exposed due to intelligence of both, which if combined, were superior to that of L’s.
However, let’s not undermine the fact that Light’s plan, in its purest form, did NOT fail.
He predicted accurately what Near would do, exactly. Light, before Near himself thought about it, predicted that the latter would end up deducting that Takami would be the best fit to fulfill Kira’s wishes. Thus, realizing that Near was going to change the papers of the Death Note for fake ones, told him to create a fake death note and start annotating on it. All while pretending to not have realized that Light was aware of Near’s actions. How ridiculous that is?
Had Takami not acted on his own and killed the woman (which Light told him over and over not do), the SPK would have not realized that Light had created a fake death note and that would result in all members of the SPK and everyone else opposing Kira getting assassinated.
Light’s supreme, uncontested sagacity and ability to read into the future 100 steps ahead of anybody else, and into all all individuals minds, is unrivaled throughout the series.
The epitome of masterminding. Light Yagami, without a doubt, is the most perspicacious.
Had the author not decided that his evil endeavors would have to end, he would have certainly lived and reigned as Kira.
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