Kurou Otoharada

Kurou Otoharada (音原田 九郎, Otoharada Kurō) is a criminal and the first person killed by Light Yagami with the Death Note.

Appearance
Otoharada has a short crop of brown hair and small black eyes.

Plot
Kurou Otoharada killed and wounded six people before taking eight pupils and staff members hostage at a nursery school. These events are reported on Japanese television along with his name and photo.

At home, Light Yagami has only recently acquired the Death Note. Deciding to test it on someone who deserves to die, he writes "Kurou Otoharada" and waits 40 seconds. When nothing happens, he assumes the notebook is a fake. Moments later, the news reports that the hostages are leaving the building and police are entering it. Otoharada is soon reported to have died of a heart attack.

This confirms to Light that the Death Note is genuine and can be used to kill people from a distance. He thus undertakes to purge the world of evil, and before long dozens of criminals have died of heart attacks inflicted by an unknown force which the world soon refers to as "Kira".

When L announces to the ICPO that he is investigating the abnormally high number of heart attack deaths among criminals worldwide, he traces the first murder back to Otoharada, as his death was an unexpected heart attack that occurred just before the killings began en masse. Since the death was only reported in the Japanese media, L deduces that Kira is based there and sets up a broadcast featuring Lind L. Tailor exclusively in Kanto, Japan's most populous region. When Kira kills Tailor, L knows where to begin his investigation.

TV drama
Otoharada is a murderer and meth addict arrested by Soichiro Yagami 10 years prior to the start of the series. He was released on parole but fled, killing first a taxi driver and stealing his fares, then a police officer and stealing his gun.

He hides inside a private residence and takes the homeowner and her young daughter hostage. Soichiro trades himself for the girl, and as Otoharada prepares to shoot him, intending to take both their lives, Light writes his name in the Death Note. In the drama, Otoharada is the second life Light takes using the Death Note.

Musical
Kurou Otoharada, carrying a weapon, barricaded himself and eight hostages in a room of Shinjuku Kindergarten. An emergency broadcast shows his face and name to Light Yagami, who tests the Death Note using his information. Light wonders if the notebook can deliver the judgement he desires and eagerly waits for 40 seconds ("Change the World").

When the broadcast announces Otoharada's death and the hostages' safe extraction, Light realizes he has become a murderer and vows to sacrifice his soul to cleanse the world. ("Hurricane").