[OOC: Personality 'Analysis']
Warning that this may all be entirely BS. I wrote it for Psychology.
Light Yagami, of the anime/manga Death Note, is a young man from a relatively ordinary family, the son of the police chief of the Japanese NPA in the Kanto region of Japan. He is the older of two children (his younger sister, Sayu, is about three years younger). The storyline follows him from the end of his senior year in high school to age 23 in his quest to rid the world of evil and injustice through the use of a tool of a god of death called a Death Note. Generally speaking, Light is a highly intelligent (genius level) individual who tends to be easily bored and somewhat emotionally detached from most people around him, but a deep connection to humanity as a whole and a strong sense of justice and fairness. On the Meyers-Briggs test, Light typifies as an ENTJ (Extroverted Intuitive Thinking Judging). He prefers to rely on logic and external reasoning to make his decisions, but his intuition makes him highly gifted with people. However, ENTJs also have a low tolerance for error in those around them, as shown in Light with his impatience with his girlfriend, Misa Amane. Frequently exasperated by her impulsiveness and emotional outbursts, Light even confesses that Misa is the first person to make him want to hit a woman. The profile also describes ENTJs as somewhat detached or not naturally tuned into others’ feelings, but having “a strong sentimental streak. Often these sentiments are very powerful to the ENTJ, although they will likely hide it from general knowledge, believing the feelings to be a weakness.” Light says frequently that he cannot let his feelings for, for example, his family, get in the way of his murderous quest for justice; simultaneously, however, he feels so powerfully about his duty to ‘clean up’ the world that he demonstrates a willingness to sacrifice everything for his goals, even including his own life. Furthermore, ENTJs like nothing more than “a lively, challenging conversation” and “respect people who are able to stand up to [them] and argue persuasively for their point of view.” Light picks up the Death Note in the first place because of his boredom and dissatisfaction, and his constant disappointment with the people around him seems to indicate nothing more than a search for an equal to spar with. To isolate two traits from this model, then, Light is disciplined almost to the point of obsession, and powerfully independent as opposed to conforming. The discipline shows in the harsh standards that he holds himself to that have put Light at the top of the nation in his test scores, while his ruthlessness and lack of tolerance shows in the standards that he holds the world around him to, referring to it as ‘rotten’ and corrupted by the tolerance of evildoers.
The Freudian theory of identification might explain Light’s general discipline to the point of self-punishment and obsession. Identification is defined as the process of a child incorporating their parents’ values into their developing unconscious. Light’s father is a police chief, shown to be a workaholic often home late from his demanding job. His father’s dedication to the justice system and adherence to his strong code of honor that he refuses to compromise in the line of duty presents a role model for Light. Without his father at home, he may appear to a young Light to be without flaw, and therefore his father may inadvertently create a model of perfection for Light to strive for. Furthermore, from his father’s tireless example and workaholic habits may come Light’s own dedication to the tasks he takes on (including the one to eliminate all crime). In this way, Light may have unconsciously incorporated his father’s seeming perfection and dedication to justice into his own life, constructing for himself a need to be flawless with his own cause to cling to. In terms of his ruthlessness and intolerance toward flaws in others, however, it may have developed as a defense mechanism initially, again having to do with his father’s frequent absence. Defense mechanisms are another Freudian theory that have to do with the unconscious (by the ego) distortion of reality to cope with anxiety producing thoughts. It seems possible that Light may be, in his harsh judgments of the world, in fact avoiding confronting the real object of his resentment, his father - whom he can’t resent because of his seeming perfection as a distant idol. Therefore, Light has, under displacement, adjusted his resentment toward his busy father toward the criminals and ‘unworthy’ citizens of the society around him and in the world. Light’s father disappointed him as a child, perhaps, in not being there when Light wanted him to be, but unable to express that unhappiness to its true object, it has been redirected in adult life, to be manifested as an intense disdain for and even hatred of the people who Light may even perceive as having ‘stolen’ his father from him. In addition to these basic traits, however, Light exhibits some symptoms of a possible delusional disorder due to his grandiose delusions of himself as a god and his desire to “reign over a new world.” Light seems to genuinely believe in his own superiority and near-godlike status, and indeed states his aim to be a living god to the world he will create through the elimination of criminals.
I find myself drawn to Light most likely because I find myself uncomfortably sympathizing with his behavior and decisions. I'm by no means on his level of intelligence, but I feel the same kind of short-fused frustration with people around me when they do not meet my expectations, and I have a very strong desire for people that do wrongs to ‘get what they deserve.’ In this sense, I have been known to be a little bit of a barbarian - I am alone among my friends in supporting capital punishment. I can also relate to his obsessions and need for order and control over his surroundings. I tend to have extremely high standards for myself and hold the people around me to them as well - except for the exception, like Light, sometimes, for the people I like. None of this is particularly attractive, but I often find myself drawn to characters that resemble the worst sides of me, and hardly ever the best. Additionally, I just find him fascinating to watch as a character because of his intelligence and because of the sadness of his story to me - Light begins as a fairly normal adolescent, intelligent but bored, and takes a bad road downhill that he doesn’t seem able to escape.
P.S. Light is lacking questions on his formspring. Go bother him.
Light Yagami, of the anime/manga Death Note, is a young man from a relatively ordinary family, the son of the police chief of the Japanese NPA in the Kanto region of Japan. He is the older of two children (his younger sister, Sayu, is about three years younger). The storyline follows him from the end of his senior year in high school to age 23 in his quest to rid the world of evil and injustice through the use of a tool of a god of death called a Death Note. Generally speaking, Light is a highly intelligent (genius level) individual who tends to be easily bored and somewhat emotionally detached from most people around him, but a deep connection to humanity as a whole and a strong sense of justice and fairness. On the Meyers-Briggs test, Light typifies as an ENTJ (Extroverted Intuitive Thinking Judging). He prefers to rely on logic and external reasoning to make his decisions, but his intuition makes him highly gifted with people. However, ENTJs also have a low tolerance for error in those around them, as shown in Light with his impatience with his girlfriend, Misa Amane. Frequently exasperated by her impulsiveness and emotional outbursts, Light even confesses that Misa is the first person to make him want to hit a woman. The profile also describes ENTJs as somewhat detached or not naturally tuned into others’ feelings, but having “a strong sentimental streak. Often these sentiments are very powerful to the ENTJ, although they will likely hide it from general knowledge, believing the feelings to be a weakness.” Light says frequently that he cannot let his feelings for, for example, his family, get in the way of his murderous quest for justice; simultaneously, however, he feels so powerfully about his duty to ‘clean up’ the world that he demonstrates a willingness to sacrifice everything for his goals, even including his own life. Furthermore, ENTJs like nothing more than “a lively, challenging conversation” and “respect people who are able to stand up to [them] and argue persuasively for their point of view.” Light picks up the Death Note in the first place because of his boredom and dissatisfaction, and his constant disappointment with the people around him seems to indicate nothing more than a search for an equal to spar with. To isolate two traits from this model, then, Light is disciplined almost to the point of obsession, and powerfully independent as opposed to conforming. The discipline shows in the harsh standards that he holds himself to that have put Light at the top of the nation in his test scores, while his ruthlessness and lack of tolerance shows in the standards that he holds the world around him to, referring to it as ‘rotten’ and corrupted by the tolerance of evildoers.
The Freudian theory of identification might explain Light’s general discipline to the point of self-punishment and obsession. Identification is defined as the process of a child incorporating their parents’ values into their developing unconscious. Light’s father is a police chief, shown to be a workaholic often home late from his demanding job. His father’s dedication to the justice system and adherence to his strong code of honor that he refuses to compromise in the line of duty presents a role model for Light. Without his father at home, he may appear to a young Light to be without flaw, and therefore his father may inadvertently create a model of perfection for Light to strive for. Furthermore, from his father’s tireless example and workaholic habits may come Light’s own dedication to the tasks he takes on (including the one to eliminate all crime). In this way, Light may have unconsciously incorporated his father’s seeming perfection and dedication to justice into his own life, constructing for himself a need to be flawless with his own cause to cling to. In terms of his ruthlessness and intolerance toward flaws in others, however, it may have developed as a defense mechanism initially, again having to do with his father’s frequent absence. Defense mechanisms are another Freudian theory that have to do with the unconscious (by the ego) distortion of reality to cope with anxiety producing thoughts. It seems possible that Light may be, in his harsh judgments of the world, in fact avoiding confronting the real object of his resentment, his father - whom he can’t resent because of his seeming perfection as a distant idol. Therefore, Light has, under displacement, adjusted his resentment toward his busy father toward the criminals and ‘unworthy’ citizens of the society around him and in the world. Light’s father disappointed him as a child, perhaps, in not being there when Light wanted him to be, but unable to express that unhappiness to its true object, it has been redirected in adult life, to be manifested as an intense disdain for and even hatred of the people who Light may even perceive as having ‘stolen’ his father from him. In addition to these basic traits, however, Light exhibits some symptoms of a possible delusional disorder due to his grandiose delusions of himself as a god and his desire to “reign over a new world.” Light seems to genuinely believe in his own superiority and near-godlike status, and indeed states his aim to be a living god to the world he will create through the elimination of criminals.
I find myself drawn to Light most likely because I find myself uncomfortably sympathizing with his behavior and decisions. I'm by no means on his level of intelligence, but I feel the same kind of short-fused frustration with people around me when they do not meet my expectations, and I have a very strong desire for people that do wrongs to ‘get what they deserve.’ In this sense, I have been known to be a little bit of a barbarian - I am alone among my friends in supporting capital punishment. I can also relate to his obsessions and need for order and control over his surroundings. I tend to have extremely high standards for myself and hold the people around me to them as well - except for the exception, like Light, sometimes, for the people I like. None of this is particularly attractive, but I often find myself drawn to characters that resemble the worst sides of me, and hardly ever the best. Additionally, I just find him fascinating to watch as a character because of his intelligence and because of the sadness of his story to me - Light begins as a fairly normal adolescent, intelligent but bored, and takes a bad road downhill that he doesn’t seem able to escape.
P.S. Light is lacking questions on his formspring. Go bother him.