Kira

Kira normally would refer to Light Yagami, however, the title of Kira can also be used to describe any human user of a Death Note. The title or entity of Kira is one of the two opposing forces in Death Note, the other being L.

Personality: GOD
Most Kira in the series have a negative sense of "justice" and were usually supporters of the entity "Kira" before becoming Kira and using a Death Note themselves. Misa Amane and Teru Mikami, the Second and Fourth Kira, respectively, even went as far as to say they worship Kira. Kira also tend to have strong motivation and drive. To be called Kira, one must use a Death Note to kill. As such, most Kira are quite educated in the rules of Death Notes and Shinigami. Another trait many Kira have is having Shinigami Eyes, allowing all the information a person would need to kill using a Death Note.

List of Kira
This is the list of Kira, in order, with a description of their time as Kira.

Light Yagami - Known simply as Kira, Light was the first human to use a Death Note (excluding Kagami Taro and Miura from the pilot story) and holds the title of the First Kira. As such, he was the smartest and most committed to his goals in becoming "God of the New World". L was naturally Light's enemy, opposing his judgment of criminals. Light held the title Kira the longest, avoiding capture better than any other Kira. Even after joining the Kira Task Force, being imprisoned for 50 days and even losing (and later regaining) his memories of the Death Note, Light was still able to evade capture. After L Lawliet died, Light assumed the title "L", becoming virtually invincible for three years. Then, when Near and Mello came onto the scene, their combined effort was enough to expose Light as Kira. Light seemingly lost his sanity after Near told him he "lost", having to be shot several times by Matsuda. Light's name was then written in his Death Note by his Shinigami, Ryuk, and he died of a heart attack.

Misa Amane - Usually called the Second Kira, as her name implies, Misa was the second human to use a Death Note. Misa obtained her Death Note from the Shinigami Rem. Misa was initially an extreme Kira supporter, due to the fact that Kira passed judgement on a man who murdered her parents. Although she remains committed to the original Kira's goal, her devotion largely subsides in favor of simply helping try to achieve it by extension to her love of Light Yagami. As such, and because she is simply far less intelligent, Misa begins to follow Light's orders after she reveals her identity to him. All in all, she was merely a tool to Light, losing her memory and making Kira's judgments many different times to draw suspicion away from Light. She was aware of all of this, yet she did not care because Light was, according to her, a 'knight in shining armor'. Misa was the only living Kira after Light's death. She had relinquished her memories of the Death Notes shortly before Light died, and since the SPK was now in possession of both Notes, there was no way for her to ever regain her memories. Therefore, she was no longer Kira at all. Misa mourned Light's death for the rest of her life. In the manga, she commits suicide one year later, on Valentine's Day. At the anime's finale, Misa appears standing outside the safety rail on the edge of a skyscraper looking into the sunset dressed in Gothic Lolita clothing (which incidentally happens to be the same one from episode 25 which leads the viewers to wonder whether this had been a future reference), about to jump to her death.

Kyosuke Higuchi - Called the Third Kira or the Yotsuba Kira, Kyosuke is an executive of Yotsuba Corporations and the only person to hold the title of Kira who is in no way connected to the original Kira, Light Yagami. He obtained a Death Note from Rem after Light and Misa relinquished their Death Notes and their memories to avoid conviction. He only judged criminals for a short time, until Light and Misa were freed from imprisonment, He then used the Death Note for selfish reasons such as promotion and furthering the business of Yotsuda. He was caught shortly after, his identity uncovered by Misa Amane. After he was arrested, his Death Note was given to Light, which gave Light his memories back, and Light killed Kyosuke before he was even put in a police car. It is heavily implied that Kyosuke was not even aware of the original Kira's goal.



Teru Mikami - The Fourth Kira, or X-Kira (what Near calls him) is Teru Mikami. Mikami has always had a strong sense of justice and is the most understanding and committed to Kira's goal, second only to Light. Mikami recieved the Death Note from Light. After suspicion of Misa rose again, Light gave Mikami the Death through Kiyomi. Mikami carried out Lights orders as perfect as possible. Mikami worshipped Kira even more than Misa, being the only person to address Light as "God". He was willing to be the scapegoat for Light and Kiyomi, carrying out judgments in a fake Death Note to keep suspicion away from Kiyomi, who was the one actually carrying out judgements. Despite this devotion, it was a mistake made by Mikami that exposed Light as Kira. Mikami stabbed himself in the torso with his pen and bled to death, though it is unclear whether he did so deliberately or out of desperation (in contrast to the manga, in which he mysteriously died in prison ten days after Light's defeat).



Kiyomi Takada - The Fifth Kira, Kiyomi Takada, never actually touched a whole Death Note, but instead was regularly given pages torn out of Mikami's Note. She never had ownership, and was never possessed by any Shinigami. While Mikami was using a fake Death Note to keep the SPK and the Kira Task Force busy, Kiyomi is using the torn pages to carry out real judgments. But ultimately, after she is kidnapped by Mello, Light didn't want her to be caught with the pages or try to explain Mello's sudden death, so Light killed her by having her set herself on fire, thus destroying the pages and killing her. Unlike Misa, Kiyomi is very smart, despite the fact that she never had the chance to apply her intelligence to Kira's cause. Also dissimilar to Misa, who was purely used by Light to further his ambition, Kiyomi was quite reluctant to join Light, having to be offered the position of "Goddess Of the New World".

Trivia

 * In the 6 years of Kira's existence, no one was ever convicted of being Kira. Although both Higuchi and Light were arrested for their roles as Kira, they both died before they were officially sentenced.
 * The order in which the Kira die in the manga is Third, Fifth, First, Fourth and Second.
 * The order in which the Kira die in the anime is Third, Fifth, Fourth, First and Second.
 * The order in which the Kira die in the films is Third, First and (possibly) Second.
 * The Fifth Kira, Kiyomi Takada, never actually owns a Death Note. It is not even confirmed whether she knows of the existence of Shinigami.
 * Five human characters make the 'eye trade': Misa Amane, Kyosuke Higuchi, Kal Snydar, Soichiro Yagami and Teru Mikami, only three of whom are Kira.
 * Ryuk and Rem both possess three Kira: Light Yagami and Misa Amane (both), Kyosuke Higuchi (Rem) and Teru Mikami (Ryuk)
 * Excluding the First Kira, Light Yagami, suicide is relevant to the fates of the others: Misa Amane attempted it in confinement and later committed it (not via Death Note, and implied in the anime), Kyosuke Higuchi attempted to shoot himself, only to have his gun shot out of his hand, Teru Mikami stabbed himself, resulting in his death (unlike in the manga, in which he mysteriously died in prison ten days after Light's defeat), Kiyomi Takada burned herself to death, though this was a Death Note-guided suicide rather than a voluntary one.
 * As the number of a Kira rises the average amount of time they spend in the role falls, with Light serving as Kira for over 6 years and Mikami and Takada for a few weeks.
 * The death of the Second Kira, Misa Amane, is the last of all characters in the main series.
 * The Second Kira, Misa Amane, is the only Kira whose ownership of a Death Note is not planned by Light Yagami, the First Kira during his lifetime.
 * All the Kiras interacted with at least one other Kira, with 2, 4 and 5 all meeting Light at least once in their time as Kira, and 3 meeting Misa.
 * All subsequent Kira were intended to be killed by the First, Light Yagami, after he no longer needed them.
 * The Kiras' creator, Tsugumi Ohba, stated that none of them was the most evil character in the series (Dwhite Gordon, leader of the mafia, was).
 * The Second Kira, Misa Amane, is the only Kira not to be present at the death of a Kira victim.
 * The First Kira, Light Yagami, is the only owner of a Death Note never to trade for the Shinigami Eyes.
 * For Light, Kira is also some kind of double personality entity.
 * Both the First and Second Kira gave up ownership of their Death Note twice: once while in L's confinement (both), in attacking the Mafia's Headquarters (Light), in order to give up ownership of the notebook to Teru Mikami (Misa).