Kanzo Mogi

Kanzo Mogi (模木 完造, Mogi Kanzō) is one of the most dedicated members of the Kira investigation team, but also one of the most reserved. In the manga, he is originally ordered by L to investigate the Kitamura family, and to pose as L, since the family members were under suspicion of being Kira. Mogi rarely speaks, even when someone presents an opinion he agrees with. He is shown to be an excellent actor, becoming an excited and cheery manager for Misa on demand and in seeming contradiction to his usual demeanor. Mogi initially seems to serve as more of a field agent during early parts of the Kira investigation, not seeming to be present during most of the team's meetings in any of the various hotels they met in. Mogi is seen meeting with the team more often when the investigation team moves to their new headquarters, where L acknowledges him as being an invaluable asset in intelligence gathering. He is voiced by Kazuya Nakai in the Japanese version and John Murphy in the English dub.

Obata believes that Mogi's character design became not "very coherent" because Obata had not planned for Mogi to become a main character. He apparently did not draw Mogi as main character, and did not expect him to last through the whole series.

Ohba believes that, if Mogi became the NPA chief by the end of the story, he would "lean toward L's side," with Near as L.

Fate in the film
Although Mogi doesn't die in the manga or the anime, he dies in the film. He is killed by Misa early on in the second Death Note movie. In the film, he is played by Shin Shimizu.