Application for The Wake
Personal Information
Name: Lorie
Age: 31
Personal LJ: lorie_fan
Email / AIM / MSN: lorita4242@yahoo.com for email and AIM
Character Information
Character Name: L
Fandom: Death Note
Character History: As a young orphan, L is taken in by Quillsh Wammy and grows up in Wammy's House, an orphanage and school for exceptional children. Due to his great intelligence, he goes on to become the facility's shining graduate, showing amazing skill as a detective. In fact, the goal of Wammy's House turns to creating the "next L", grooming young geniuses to be his replacement. During L's investigations, Wammy uses the alias Watari and fills the role of assistant, butler, confidante and more; the older man is sometimes referred to as L's "handler".
L is considered the World's Greatest Detective, although in fact, he is actually the top three detectives in the world, using assumed names to solve cases that L would not handle. He chooses cases according to what is most interesting to him and what he feels will provide him with a proper challenge.
He enters the scene in Death Note after the appearance of "Kira". This mysterious figure is killing criminals, apparently without being anywhere near them. The truth is that Light Yagami has found a shinigami's Death Note that allows him to kill anyone whose name he writes in the notebook. He hopes to eliminate crime, mold the world in his image and become the god of this new world. This is clearly a case for someone of L's abilities.
L creates a task force of police detectives dedicated to solving the Kira case. He quickly comes to suspect Chief Yagami's son Light, engaging in a cat-and-mouse game with the teen. For the sake of not repeating the complicated plot of the series, including all of the back-and-forth between these two rivals, I will just present a few highlights.
It begins when L sits for the same university examination as Light. At their orientation, he throws down the gauntlet by telling Light that he is L. As they get to know each other more, L is quite open with Light about his suspicions that he is Kira. L goes to great lengths to try to prove it. He imprisons Light and Misa Amane, Light's girlfriend and a second Kira. In the case of Misa, his treatment of her comes close to torture. He requires that Light spend time handcuffed to him and forces him to live in a monitored environment, even though Light is an official part of the task force by this time. As part of Light's plans, L eventually learns about the existence of shinigami.
L dies before solving the Kira case. Through Light's machinations, the shinigami Rem writes Watari's and L's names in her notebook in order to protect Misa Amane. As he dies, he sees Light staring down at him with a look of triumph.
(Character Personality and Powers were copied from a previous application, if that's acceptable.)
Character Personality: L devotes himself to his work and shrouds himself in secrecy. He operates under a number of aliases, including Ryuzaki and Hideki Ryuga. He sleeps very little.
Although his line of work calls for a certain sense of caution, L can be downright paranoid. Before forming the task force to solve the Kira case, he refuses to show his face and speaks through a synthesized computer voice when working with the police. He asks the task force members to call him Ryuzaki. The one person he ever appears to trust unconditionally is Watari.
He calls Light his first friend, which is likely true. However, any feelings of companionship are second to his desire to prove that Light is Kira. L certainly doesn't trust him to any extent, as evidenced when he handcuffs himself to Light so that he can keep an eye on him at all times. He is friendly enough with Misa and the members of the task force, especially as it serves his goals, but there's an air of someone tolerating those who aren't really worth his time
In many ways, L lacks basic social skills, fitting the profile of the eccentric genius. There is a bluntness to his interactions. If he thinks you're a vicious mass murderer wreaking havoc among the world's criminals, he'll tell you to your face that you're the prime suspect in the case and let you know down to the percent exactly how sure he is of this fact. He can be downright offensive in his out-of-hand dismissal of people that he doesn't feel are useful or that he doesn't trust. It's possible that he has spent so much time in seclusion that he just doesn't have enough experience with human relationships, but it's much more likely that he just doesn't care.
L can be childish at times, exhibiting a stubborn attitude and a hatred of losing. However, these feelings can also be a great asset, leading to a dogged determination that allows him to go to great lengths to solve a case. The downside to this determination is that he will do almost anything if he feels it will bring him closer to solving a case. It doesn't matter who he may hurt or how many people he will have to manipulate. The investigation reigns supreme. For instance, when he imprisons Misa under suspicion of being the second Kira, he restrains her in a getup that's part straitjacket and part S&M and authorizes Watari to use light torture if necessary to get her to talk. When the task force is investigating the Yotsuba group, L appears willing to let them kill more victims if it means that he will then have concrete evidence of their guilt. Morals fall to the wayside for the sake of solving the puzzle.
L has a number of odd habits and mannerisms, such as always sitting in a crouching manner, refusing to wear socks, or grasping a cell phone by the edges with two fingers to hold it to his ear. In some cases, he claims that he does what he does in order to facilitate better thinking, such as the statement that his thinking decreases by 40% if he sits normally. He also has a dry sense of humor, maintaining a straight face while teasing Light or cutting down Matsuda. L loves sweets, and eating sugar is another thing that he claims increases his brain power because sugar will fuel the brain.
Powers: L does not possess any powers in the sense of having magical abilities or superpowers. His most noteworthy ability lies in his keen mind. He earned the title of World's Greatest Detective through superior skills of observation and brilliant deductive reasoning.
Despite his overall scrawny appearance, L is a capable fighter. During a fight in the series, L meets Light blow for blow. According to Death Note: How to Read, he is a master of Capoeira, explaining the sudden acrobatic kicks to Light's head.
Samples
First person: If there is anyone out there who can assist me, I would like to know the locations of this city's finest cake shops. General bakeries would also be acceptable, as would chocolate and candy stores.
From what I have heard of this "bending", I fully expect to be able to take care of my own dessert needs in the future, but I require sweets to facilitate the proper mental state for learning. It's an unfortunate Catch-22.
Third Person: L remembered dying. Watari was the first to fall, and then he followed soon after. It had all come crumbling down, a lifetime of work and careful planning and dedication to keeping his identity unknown, with what he imagined were a few strokes from a pen.
No, dying wasn't the important thing. In the end, death came to everyone. He remembered losing.
With his dying breath, he had seen the look on Yagami Light's face. At the time, he felt only a brief spike of pride in knowing that his deductions had been correct; Light was Kira. Not that he was ever wrong in matters like this.
Now, with an unexpected second chance at life and the ability to look back on those final moments, the losing ate away at him. He hated to lose. The thought of losing to Light was especially harsh. Without anyone of his caliber around to bring him to justice, Light would have continued his reign of terror as Kira unchecked. The police force could do nothing, especially when Light was working alongside them, with them.
Barring the sudden appearance of Light here (Which wasn't impossible. L was learning that there were few things that were impossible after dying at the hands of supernatural forces and then being resurrected by something similarly supernatural.), how could he redeem himself?
The only logical conclusion was to find a new case.
L turned to his laptop and began to scan the local network. He chewed on his thumb as he paged through recent posts, looking for incidents that might require the eye of a skilled detective or private investigator. There had been a petty theft at a store. Someone was missing a cat. A woman thought her boyfriend was cheating on her.
Unless he lowered his standards, this was going to be more difficult than he thought.