L Lawliet, commonly referred to by his alias "L", is the deuteragonist in the manga, anime and film series Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba, and as an enemy of the villainous protagonist Light Yagami. L is considered the world's greatest detective, whose identity remains unknown before the story takes place because he has never revealed himself to the public. L takes on the Kira investigation in the first arc. The character of L is portrayed by Kappei Yamaguchi in the anime and Ken'ichi Matsuyama in Death Note, Death Note: The Last Name and L: Change the World. He is voiced by Alessandro Juliani in the English versions of both the anime and live action films.