Kira

Kira (考える) normally would refer to Light Yagami; however, Kira can also be used as a title to describe any human user of a Death Note, as well as the entity worshiped by some members of the public.

Public View of Kira
After Light Yagami begins killing criminals with the Death Note, the large number of deaths attracts attention from the general public as well as law enforcement.

As the deaths of criminals continues to increase, people begin voicing their opinions of the situation and dub these deaths as the work of "Kira", a play on the English word "killer". The word itself originates in Japan, but later carries throughout the world as Kira continues to gain fame.

As the number of criminal deaths rises and no reason for these deaths are found (the only connection between them being heart attacks), law enforcement begins to strongly take notice. A conference is finally held between the representatives of the world's law enforcement agencies (Interpol). The ultimate course of action decided upon is to bring in L, who is considered to be the worlds greatest detective, having solved over hundreds of cases.

L decides to address Kira through the media, hoping to gain a reaction and discover Kira's location. L uses a decoy named Lind L. Tailor, a criminal on death row. Tailor announces on live television that he is searching for Kira and that what Kira is doing is wrong. This causes Light to kill him in rage with the Death Note. Immediately after, the broadcast switches from footage of Tailor to display the letter "L". L addressess Kira and says that he now knows Kira's location, as Tailor's message was shown only in the Kanto region of Japan, despite being announced as a world wide broadcast. L says that he has also deduced that Kira needs a name and face to kill, as Tailor's information was kept hidden from the public. L begins to provoke Kira, telling him to kill him if he can, and after several seconds states that Kira can't kill him because he doesn't know his name and face. L announces that he "is justice" and he will find Kira.

Kira quickly becomes news, and various TV stations begin broadcasting anything related to Kira. A very notable station is Sakura TV, which airs the program "Kira's Kingdom".

Within the six years of Kira's existence, the public begins to take sides. Some view Kira as a murderer, while others think of Kira as "God". Kira becomes a religious figure to a large portion of the public. Many people who have been wronged by others largely view Kira as their savior and praise Kira, thanking him for bringing criminals to justice. Others view Kira as a criminal who has forced the world to live in fear of being killed for any perceived wrong doing.

After Light Yagami's death the Kira killings stop and the world seemingly returns to normal, however Kira worshipers remain. In the last chapter of the manga, a rather large group of cloaked worshipers is shown, each one carrying a candle. They are traveling through mountains, heading towards a place beneath the moonlight. As they reach their destination, a young woman emerges in the middle of the goup and comes to the front. Near the edge of a cliff, she kneels down and places a candle before looking towards the moon.

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

Light Yagami
Known As: Kira

Light was the first human to use a Death Note within the series. Soon after finding it he decides to use it to cleanse the world of evil. He begins killing off criminals with the Death Note, an act wich begins to draw attention from local law enforcement and later on, the world. The detective known as L begins a search for "Kira" and eventually suspects Light Yagami as the killer he is looking for. However, there is no phisical evidence to prove Light is Kira, a fact that keeps L from ever capturing Light. After L dies, Light assumes the title "L", and becomes virtually invincible for three years. Then when Near and Mello come onto the scene, their combined effort exposes Light as Kira. Light seemingly loses his sanity after Near tells him he has "lost", having to be shot several times by Matsuda. Light's name is then written by Ryuk in his Death Note, and he dies of a heart attack.

Misa Amane
Known As: Second Kira

Misa was the second human to use a Death Note, and obtained her notebook 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. She makes several attempts to communicate to Kira through the use of the media, and eventually tracks down Light Yagami by using her Shinigami Eyes. Misa begins to follow Light's orders after she reveals her identity to him, and becomes a tool to Light, losing her memory and making Kira's judgments many different times to draw suspicion away from him. Although she remains committed to the original Kira's goal, her devotion largely subsides in favor of simply helping Light Yagami, who she falls in love with. 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 notebooks, there was no way for her to ever regain her memories. In the manga, she commits suicide one year later, on Valentine's Day. In the anime's finale, Misa last seen standing outside the safety rail on the edge of a skyscraper looking into the sunset.

Kyosuke Higuchi
Known As: Third Kira or 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 due to the deal Rem was told to offer "kill criminals and you may write any other names you wish", 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.

Jack Neylon
Known As: Mafia Kira

Jack Neylon obtains the Death Note after the notebook is traded to the Mafia by Soichiro Yagami in exchange for Sayu Yagami. He takes orders from Mello, and eventually kills several SPK members.

Teru Mikami
Known As: Fourth Kira or X-Kira (by Near)

Mikami has always had a strong sense of justice and is the most understanding and committed to Kira's goals. After suspicion of Misa rose again, Light mailed Mikami her Death Note. Mikami carried out Lights orders as perfect as possible, seeing him as God. Despite this devotion, it was a mistake made by Mikami that exposed Light as Kira. In the manga he dies in prison, though in the anime he stabs himself in the chest with his pen and bleeds to death.

Kiyomi Takada
Known As: Fifth Kira

Kiyomi Takada never actually touched a whole Death Note, but instead was regularly given pages torn out of Mikami's notebook. She never had ownership of a Death Note, and was never possessed by any Shinigami. While Mikami was using a fake Death Note to keep the SPK and the Japanese Task Force busy, Kiyomi used the torn pages to carry out real judgments. After she is kidnapped by Mello, Light has her set herself on fire, thus destroying the pages and killing her.

Trivia

 * In the 6 years of Kira's existence, no one was ever convicted of being Kira. Although Higuchi, Mikami, and Light were arrested for their roles as Kira, they all died before they were officially sentenced.
 * First Kira, Light Yagami, is the only owner of a Death Note that never traded for the Shinigami Eyes.
 * 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 (but failed), 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 (under controlled by Death Note), though this was a Death Note-guided suicide rather than a voluntary one.
 * 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.
 * 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).