Kira

Kira (キラ) normally would refer to Light Yagami; however, Kira can also be used as a title to describe any human who uses 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", derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the 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 TV, hoping to gain a reaction and discover Kira's location. L uses a decoy named Lind L. Tailor, a criminal on death row, who 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.

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 group and comes to the front. Near the edge of a cliff, she kneels down and places a candle before looking towards the moon.

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 cleans the world of evil. He begins killing off criminals with the Death Note, an act which 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 physical evidence to prove Light is Kira, a fact that keeps L from ever capturing Light. After L dies, Light assumes the title "L", and his activities remain unchallenged for three years. Then when Near and Mello come onto the scene, their combined efforts expose 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 Forcebusy, 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. however, on the live action films, she takes on the roll of the Yotsuba Kira, being both a Death Note owner and trading for the Shinigami Eyes.

C-Kira
True identity never revealed, C-Kira appears in the one-shot set three years after the end of the series. C-Kira's Shinigami was Midora, and the origin of the Death Note which C-Kira used is unknown. C-Kira would kill the elderly, suicidal, immobile and any others who wished to die. C-Kira gained these sources via the Internet, and once on a live television program. C-Kira's reign was short, and after being talked down by L, writes down their name in their Death Note. The name of C-Kira was used by Near to mean "Cheap Kira," as Near has a very low opinion of the person.

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.