Character info

Character name: Light Yagami
Canon: Death Note
Canon point & release date: Yotsuba Arc, post-Higuchi-death (manga chapter 55, released Jul 2005)
CRAU (if applicable): Not applicable
Powers (no more than 150 words): Without items, he’s just a normal (albeit smart) human teenage boy

Personality

What is your character most afraid of? How are they defined by this fear? (100-300 words)

Light’s biggest fear is failure, especially public failure. Though he is completely and justifiably confident in his abilities, he is the sort of person who would rather kill thousands of people than admit to making a catastrophic mistake, even to himself. Of all the people he knows and cares about, the prospect of incurring his father’s disapproval scares him the most. Light is willing to go to great, self-destructive lengths to succeed at his goals, and he’ll lie to himself the whole time that any missteps along the way were actually for the best in the long run–which only increases his internal pressure on himself to succeed.

At the moment, the potential failure he dreads most is failing to eliminate the detective hunting him and being arrested as a mass-murderer. He avoids acknowledging to himself this is a real possibility.

What is your character's greatest desire? How are they defined by this desire? (100-300 words)

Light wants to convince everyone—including his family and friends—to accept Kira’s actions as morally correct. Succeeding in this mission will allow him to fully set aside any guilt he feels about his actions, because the end will be sufficiently good to justify any means he uses to get there. He has spent his entire life being praised and perceived as exemplary, and he sees his mission to end crime as a duty only he is capable of and thus an obligation he owes to the world. At the same time, the sheer enormity of the task has given him a real challenge for perhaps the first time in his life, and the thrill of being able to fully cut loose and wield real power is going to his head.

How will not having memories change your character? What core personality traits, if any, will change? How? (200-300 words)

At his current canon point, Light has only just gotten his memories of being a murderer back after self-inducing amnesia for about five months as a plot to “prove” his innocence. In canon, losing his memories of the murders strips him of the guilt that drove him to be Machiavellian–he’s still clever, but far less manipulative. (For example, while he has his memories, he’s more than happy to date Misa transactionally to convince her to follow his orders, but while amnesiac, he rejects a suggestion to play boyfriend to Misa to convince her to help him and L. Likewise, though he pretends to befriend L when he has his memories, without them he shows anger openly when L pisses him off—up to and including punching L in the face on a few occasions.)

In Wellstone, however, he’ll have vague memories of his first murder, just without enough context to justify it to himself or to be certain whether or not he’s being hunted. This memory loss will look outwardly similar to his canon amnesia, but his confidence and self-image will be deeply shaken. He’ll try to appear normal and well-adjusted and likeable, but inwardly, he’ll be watching his back at all times.

Memories

You have 10 memory points. How will you use them?
Type of regain: Minor memory, 1 point.
He remembers he is a college student, but not which university or what he’s studying.

Type of regain: Major memory, 2 points.
He remembers he killed someone, but not who, how, or why.

Type of regain: Relationship, 2 points.
He remembers that he has a girlfriend who isn’t a student, but not her name, face, or any details about her. She called him her knight in shining armor once. Thinking about any of this makes him uneasy and mildly irritated.

Type of regain: Relationship, 2 points.
He has visceral negative reactions to the capitalized letter L, voices that sound artificially altered, seeing too many desserts/sweets in one place, and handcuffs. He doesn’t remember why.

Type of regain: Skill, 2 points.
He's extremely good at tennis, but a little rusty. He remembers that he was a junior national champion a few years ago but has only played one set since. He doesn’t remember why he quit or who his more recent set was against.

Points remaining: 1