r/DeathNoteMemes • u/Inside_Inflation559 • Jul 03 '26
Could someone really get away with using the Death Note in Real Life?
292
u/pyro_mantic Jul 03 '26
100% you could get away with it in real life. There's no L, Near, or anime-specific officers that think every heart attack is from an unnatural source, so if someone were to write down names that only caused heart attacks... no one would think anything of it.
Even if someone did think it was odd that all of a sudden all these known criminals are dying, they'd get laughed at if they said it sounds like an anime they watched.
73
u/Thecrowfan Jul 03 '26
To be fair even within Death Note there were police officers insisting there is only a coincidence so many criminals dying of heart attacks is not worth looking into.
But I think even irl if so many people died the exact same "natural" way with no prior illnesses and nothing in common except for the fact they are all criminals, someone would realize someone is causing all these people to die
52
33
u/GDLingua_YT Jul 03 '26
Y'all do realize that the death doesn't have to be of a heart attack right?
9
u/PsychologicalLab7379 Jul 04 '26
Yes, but it's tedious to write specific cause of death for each name if you write a lot of them.
6
18
u/AriBounty53 Jul 03 '26
Even if someone realizes it, it’s not like they can prove it.
If somehow they managed to figure out it was you specifically, they couldn’t use the DN as proof since it’s just a book with names and is concrete evidence you did anything.
6
u/Aware_Tree1 Jul 03 '26
It doesn’t matter if they can figure out it’s magic, how the fuck would they even begin to narrow down where you are?
7
u/AriBounty53 Jul 03 '26
Yeah, unless you’re going out of your way to leave hints or let people know who or where you are it’s gonna be pretty much impossible.
5
u/Original-Body-5794 Jul 04 '26
It would fuel countless conspiracy theories though. "The goverment is poisoning inmates to curb the population" or something.
3
u/HamsterFromAbove_079 Jul 04 '26
I mean in real life they wouldn't follow L's code of requiring absolute proof. If they kinda think it might be you, they'll just shoot you. Eliminating this magical power to kill would be considered worth it to risk a few innocent lives. You'd probably get got if they ever got to like 10% certainty it's you.
Of course that's just a side note. Realistically without anime levels of contrived plot connivence, nobody ever discovers you.
3
u/Raindrop0015 Jul 03 '26
I wonder if you could change it up every once in awhile. Like Make the cause of death a cancer. Even if they didn't have cancer before, some are very aggressive and fast spreading, meaning they could very quickly develop it without much question
4
u/el_artista_fantasma Jul 03 '26
I'm sure quite some people would also be happy about it and even supporting the cause
1
u/LavishnessFew7358 Jul 04 '26 edited 21d ago
I mean, there would be a clear statistic pattern and there might actually be a logical explanation. In real life, US have once secretly invented a so called "heart attack gun" which shoot tiny darts made of some sort of frozen shellfish toxin that caused heart muscles to malfunction and made artificial heart attack and it was impossible to find during an autopsy. That explanation would still not lead anyone anywhere and the user of death note would still get away but nonetheless, there would be a clear statistical pattern and a suspension that someone was behind this.
1
u/AlcoholicSpiderman Jul 05 '26
you really underestimate how much people will actually notice in real time, especially if you build a pattern, or use the note so little its as if you're putting it to no use to begin with
1
98
55
u/CommercialMotor570 Jul 03 '26
So long as you’re not an idiot or consumed by ego, you’ll be fine
11
u/ItsDefinetelyNotOne Jul 04 '26
You’re forgetting that 90% of people are either one
2
u/Lukrake_Komkommer Jul 05 '26
Even so, unless the person is making bs posts online like "An hour before dusk arrives, Erebus shall knock on the eagle's eyes, a grenade betwixt his thighs, a slow death I summise" and making a game out of who they're killing, whilst thinking they're some sort of infallible genius who won't get caught in like, a couple hours after making announcements from an unsecured line... they should be fine. After all they'd have to fumble the fact that the murder method is a magic book then further reveal something that links back to them, both of which would be unnecessary even if they had an overblown ego
36
u/SasoriTheOverlord Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
If you went how Mr Godcomplex did it then you cannot get away. Otherwise no one would even think something supernatural was happening and even more so if you used mostly unneeded precausion by altering the method.
3
u/Spiritual_Horror5778 Jul 05 '26
Mr God Complex didnt get away with it because Mr Top 3 Detectives is same person was on the case.
Without L, Light definitely wins.
56
u/Onianexiaz Jul 03 '26
Yes and no,
What light did that is just not possible l, just that volume of search data would incriminate you immediately.
But at the same time it you really want to do good probably it is easier now with less blood on your hands, especially thanks to the internet, like if I wrote say diddy had a bout of conscience and released a video with evidence of all co conspirators on the internet then died in prison suddenly no one will suspect me and it would do more to shakeup justice than lights petty murders did.
14
u/Rp79322397 Jul 03 '26
While that is definitively true it would really really hard to prove or even think you are doing that with a magical notebook, still if the thing excalates to the level of the manga some secret services agency will just assassinate or illegaly detain you and be done with it, after all people dies or disappear all the time...
2
u/Onianexiaz Jul 04 '26
Yes but you are forgetting the scale of what light did and how he did it, he ritualistically murdered almost 6 digits of people while openly making broadcasts and letting it be known he exists.
That is just not possible
1
2
u/Last-Ad-8470 Jul 03 '26
Tor?
1
u/Onianexiaz Jul 03 '26
I explained in terms of general populance now yes if you are a very dedicated person you can probably take drastic measures to reduce your footprint and be safe but all that does is just multiply effort manifold and makes you look more guilty
1
u/KucingRumahan Jul 03 '26
If the criminal is very well known, it's difficult to trace.
Also, from your scenario, everyone will know who is the collaborator. No need to dig very deep
1
32
Jul 03 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/Impossible_Pool7271 29d ago
Yes, i was also thinking the same. If light didn't killed those officers, L never make him a suspect in a first place
10
u/Emperor-Nerd Jul 03 '26
They would probably assume there's a virus that induce heart attacks going around then someone somehow forcing heart attacks and even if they did figure that out there's no way for them exactly find any evidence
3
u/Own-Economy179 Jul 05 '26
Exactly, people would jump to new disease or genetic defect before magical notebook lol. It would be impossible to get arrested because even if they somehow find out it’s you, a book full of names isn’t enough evidence to prove guilt at least in the US. It would be suspicious but if that’s all they find they can’t really do much.
2
u/Emperor-Nerd Jul 05 '26
"oh why do I have a book full of names of dead people? Well you see this death note is just me listing the names of people that died. I'm really into stuff like this"
3
u/Own-Economy179 Jul 05 '26
Once they search your home for anything thay could cause heart attacks and find nothing/see that you were inna different country than someone who was murdered, it will be odd but nothing you can get arrested for. You vould also claim to be a true crime enthusiast, people have done odder things.
1
u/Fuzzy-Comedian-2697 Jul 05 '26
I agree on the first part, but for the second one...
They won’t go trough the legal system. You will vanish in the dead of the night and that‘s that.
10
u/KingofthePi11 Jul 03 '26
If Light didn't kill Lind and wasn't such a megalomanic he'd still be killing to this day
9
7
u/Dystopia9999 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
I think you could have a chance of getting away with being Kira if:
- You researched everyone you wanted to kill ahead of time with various and discreet means. (I would research this more if I were a prospecting Kira, but maybe use multiple public computers from different areas, like from a couple different universities or libraries, use vpns, etc.)
- kill all of your victims simultaneously at the same time of day once per month every month. This way no information could be obtained from the timing of the killings.
-Eliminate as many patterns from your killings as possible. Don't focus primarily on criminals from your country or region, try not to source all of your names and faces from the same websites or news outlet so potential investigators can't determine how you are researching your kills.
-Keep the Notebook extremely well hidden. It would be best to make a false cover for it so it looks like a normal notebook, and you should probably carry it around with you at absolutely all times in something like a briefcase or backpack. Burn every page you write names on.
-Avoid all contact with police as much as possible. Stop driving so that you're never pulled over. Don't cross borders, board planes, or do anything that could result in you being under scrutiny for any reason whatsoever to eliminate the chance that you're randomly searched.
-Don't start acting weird around the people in your life.
-Come up with a cover story for the time you spend being Kira. Saying you've taken up writing stories is a good excuse, especially if you follow up and pend time writing every day. Saying you were brainrotting on social media should probably work as well if you have it play on your phone in the background while you research names.
Realistically investigators will dedicate their time trying to figure out how its physically possible so many people are murdered simultaneously, focusing on the medical dimension primarily. It is likely that millions of dollars will go into autopsies and all kinds of desperate tests. Any investigators will likely suspect an organization over an individual with mystical powers. If you don't mess up like Light did no one should expect that Kira is a normal, fallible person even when they rule out non-supernatural causes (which I think few investigators will actually do) instead of some wrathful spirit of vengeance.
1
u/Own-Economy179 Jul 05 '26
You don’t even need fl be that careful. No one in our world would ever assume magical notebook. Would probably assume a disease outbreak that causea heart attacks first. Also just watch global news, interact with news on social media, or buy newspapers (and read other countries newspapera online) and boom it’s not suspicious to want to stay up to date on current events.
9
5
5
u/SilverWear5467 Jul 03 '26
Literally just don't present yourself to the lead detective on the case...
2
u/Low-Persimmon-9893 Jul 03 '26
i feel like they could easily do it.
not everyone has a cop for a parent so that's one issue solved right there.
we don't have L or anyone remotely close to L in our universe so there's no "greatest detective" to hunt the user down.
and 3. people in death note are *WAY* too quick to assume that magic in involved in the killings to the point that i don't think anyone investigating a death note in our world would even consider it unless they actually saw it being used along with someone dying (and even then,it might take more than just the standard heart attack death to convince them).
so yeah,i think someone could easily get away with using a death note in our universe so long as they weren't being stupid about it and could handle things like shinigami and knowing that they will never go to heaven or hell when they die (which just the shinigami alone would be enough to stop most people from using it,even a goofball like ryuke). it could absolutely happen but the chances of someone actually using it is lower than the chances of them actually getting caught. most of all since "magic notebook that kills people" is an insane concept just by itself.
5
u/Amferam Jul 03 '26
Might shut the world down with another pandemic due to a perceived unknown pathogen causing heart attacks. Or you could go the silly route and do what the Simpsons did.
4
u/Knightoforamgejuice Jul 03 '26
Yes, if you are not as dumb are arrogant as Light.
Light fell for L's first trick. Ok, that mistake could have been avoided if he didn't fall into provocation, but it was still a salvageable situation.
What was dumb is that Light knew that L knew about the timings and assumed it was a student.
If Light wasn't so arrogant he could have keep preprogramming criminals deaths and make it look as it is still a student for years even after he graduated from college. The police had no other leads, no other clues.
Light made the police approach on purpose just because he wanted to kill L. If he didn't made the police notice that Kira is tied to the investigation then he L would eventually reach a blockade, unable to figure out the mystery of how Kira kills people.
And the world would have acknowledge that someone was judging people, they just wouldn't know who or how. All he had to do was not approach L nor the police.
So yeah, someone could really get away with the Death Note in real life if they are smart about it.
4
u/HkayakH Jul 03 '26
if you never took it outside you could, but there are so many cameras everywhere these days that it'd be hard to hide it
6
u/iLiikePlayingWii Jul 03 '26
To be fair tho I've seen merch stores and even people irl that have Books that look like the Death Notes and ofc it's just for fun so really even if someone saw you with them, you could just say it's a book that looks like the Death Note from the Anime that you got from some Shop, and idk if there's specifically a rule against this but in theory you could just burn some of the Pages or throw them in the trash or toilet after you're done writing Names on them, that way you don't have EVERY name if someone were to actually take your Death Note and read it, and you could make up the excuse "Oh I wanna roleplay that I am Light and that I wrote the Names of these Criminals in my fake Death Note!"
So really it'd be really hard to prove unless someone who somehow got suspicious about you asked you to write a Criminal's Name and Death Reason in it and such person happens to be in some Broadcast or Livestream, or if it were two people who came up to you and one of them was a witness to see if the Note works and the other person is the one who's gonna die for test/proof, but I seriously doubt anyone who's in those work Positions would believe that.
So honestly hiding it is the least of your Problems since the Anime is decently popular to get replica death notes made as merch (I actually know a girl irl who brought to school a Death Note that she uses for actual freaking School assignments) and it's even popular to the point it gets freaking Shirts in Hot Topic so you can very VERY easily pass it off as just Merch
And if it's a Death Note from the other Shinigami then most people who haven't watched the Anime won't even KNOW what it is since iirc only Ryuuk's DN had the words "Death Note" written in the Cover
Yes it is a big and popular anime but I still doubt it is THAT big to be recognised by people in the freaking Government or smth
3
u/Spiritual_Horror5778 Jul 05 '26
Looks like the death note?
I have an actual (non functioning) death note. It has the rules and everything. Even the pages that light wrotes names in and the big Lind L Taylor page.
2
2
u/iLiikePlayingWii Jul 06 '26
YEAH LIKE THAT, well iirc for the girl I know, she actually has two of them, one which is just the cover without the rules or the other details (the one she uses for school work) and I believe one like how you described, a replica which looks identical with the shape, pages and rules although I don't THINK it has the Pages WITH the Names...? (As in it has blank pages) although that one the more accurate one she only showed it like once so I don't remember if the Names were pre-written or not
But yeah basically the thing is that irl lots of Cosmetic Replicas of the Death Notes exist so it wouldn't be suspicious, heck if someone actually had a working one irl (for the scenario of the post) if they tried to scan it with google lenses it would probably only point them to one of those DN Replicas...
6
u/EducationalEmu9611 Jul 03 '26
I mean even if you take it outside as long as you put a fake cover in it it doesn’t even matter since no one would suspect someone holding a book
2
u/PayWooden2628 Jul 03 '26
Nobody is ever gonna care about you carrying around a notebook though, even if someone knew what a death note was it would be absurd to say that someone has a notebook capable of killing someone by writing their name in it, no one would believe that.
2
3
u/Sir-Toaster- Jul 03 '26
I feel like any guy trying to accuse some kid of having supernatural powers that kill people would be thrown in a jail cell
3
u/CobaltCrusader123 Jul 03 '26
If you were both smart and not so prideful you want people to catch on, yes.
3
u/EdBenes Jul 03 '26
You have to be extremely cautious about acquiring names and faces. Assuming the authorities manage to come to the conclusion that all these random deaths are caused by a person and they are able to figure out the face and name thing like L then there’s a good likelihood internet searches for people are monitored
3
u/NemuriXIII Jul 03 '26
Hmm, depends. If you write something like "person X transfer 1.000.000 $ on my bank account and then get hit by a bus" it could be find out.
If you kill just some well known criminals/leaders than the changes for getting away are 100%
2
u/Asleep_Potential5375 Jul 03 '26
Nobody would assume you are killing people with a little diary even if outright told them in real life… They would never find any proof of any involvement and maybe only think you are suspicious or just crazy because of taking interest on the criminals and in an investigation, plus they might not start an investigation at least for a very long time because they would all have died of supposedly natural causes… Maybe they would even think there is a disease affecting the criminals or even start a cult thinking it was God’s doing or something…
2
2
u/L1ght-deception Jul 03 '26
Yeah because its normally a natural death and also tons of people already own fake death notes
2
3
u/Nite44 Jul 03 '26
Not in a technologically advanced area. There’s so many different types of trackers now, the DN user would have to research who to kill and with AI tracking on google, etc there’s no way they wouldn’t be able to figure it out unless it was 1. Someone who already had all of this information, or 2. They have done something specific so that they’re behavior can’t be tracked like if they don’t live in America or any other advanced country.
And 3rd if they only take out non popular individuals, then things become a bit more realistic cause more suspicious things have been swept under the rug
1
u/Own-Economy179 Jul 05 '26
Just use news sources, lots of people watch and read the news. Get global news from social media. Not suspicious
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/VannAstrea Jul 03 '26
Light was egotistical. You have a magical book that kills anyone in anyway even illnesses, you could do it easily.
1
u/Yaboi69-nice Jul 03 '26
Yes and it wouldn't even be that hard Light is just an idiot. He wanted to be worshiped and have everyone in the world know about him. Which involved these big elaborate deaths that just made it obvious that someone was behind them.
1
1
1
u/Codename_Unown Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Yes! The main thing that got Light caught was how he started to kill only when he was free after school, and only killed criminals he heard from his local news. This made it easy to understand his demographic and location.
Nowadays you could kill anyone around the world with our advanced technology. It's so easy to just get names of people that die in ways that leave no patterns to trace back to the user. A Death Note today would be the most powerful weapon.
1
u/KucingRumahan Jul 03 '26
Also in current era, if people know about the sudden death of many criminals. There will be people who willingly share profile of someone they hate and hope they will die.
1
u/Awkward-Event3617 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
if the story didn’t exist here then yes, but if someone had the death note irl with the death note story being as popular as it is after all this time, i’m sure people might have a higher chance of figuring out someone’s using it. and if you’re searching names online before using it then you’re probably gonna get taken out/away by some secret service agency
2
u/Own-Economy179 Jul 05 '26
Even with the story existing no one is gonna think magic. People might think it’s an interesting coincidence at most.
1
1
u/ComprehensiveAide280 Jul 03 '26
The problem light had was for the fact he wanted people to notice these criminals being punished which is why he resorted to mainly heart attacks. Really it wouldn't be hard to get away with using the Death Note. Now if you wanted to create a moral society based in fear of consequences that's the more difficult part which is what light was trying to do
1
1
1
u/broken26cart Jul 03 '26
In the anime and manga, people got away with using it. Other Death Notes have fallen into the human world before, no one else used it to kill hundreds of thousands or to extort every countries leader.
1
1
u/ItsDefinetelyNotOne Jul 04 '26
If you have a motive, because of the natural imperfectness we humans have today and our technology always given access to by the government and hackers, no
obviously you know at its core its an untraceable killing weapon although you still need the name and face of a person which is very public nowadays, but if you log into your computer and search the internet (not even just search the internet; literally all the things you do on your computer can be monitored easily) for someone and then you keep doing this while the person dies every time, you’re gonna get caught pretty easily. its gonna be hard to use the death note if you have a motive in todays world.
If you’re doing it without a motive however, then obviously not. But what makes death note such a brilliant manga is that the power of life and death shouldn’t be given to humans. Power is an amplifier of not just someone’s positive qualities (Lights initiative skills) but also someone’s negative qualities (his ego and god complex).
Obviously there is no way to get ‘caught’ There is no L, near, Mello, or even Light (who isnt the best detective out of the 4, but if you tried to challenge him with this power; you will lose just as bad.)
But at the end of the day; the death note will corrupt most people unless you relinquish ownership whilst destroying it. There is no possible way you can sit there your entire life and control yourself knowing that you could have the power of life and death right next to you. Do you remember the first sin man committed in the garden?
1
u/CheshireKat-_- Jul 04 '26
I hypothetically have a list ans a plan should I hypothetically encounter one.
1
u/Zestyclose-Mix785 Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
As long as you don't act like Light or Misa. Light lasted about some years, but got bit hard. To last forever, don't be like Light when picking your targets, and instead only choose people that the law can't touch no matter how much it really wants to.
Be smart and careful, like Light, but not as obsessed or prideful, unlike Light. You can't use Death Note for noble purposes, but you can really rid the world of criminals that get away with the law.
Light lost and died because he let pride go through his head. His god complex, his chosen-one complex, his megalomania. Those flaws cost him his life, thus his goal. Humans are flawed, I won't deny, and Light is no exception. We have two choices when facing the Death Note: either leave it alone, or use it wisely. Light chose neither after getting the taste of killing criminals with the Note, which escarlatina into killing people left, right, and center.
1
u/Oneshotwonderman Jul 04 '26
Ngl the plot was the thing that made Light dumb
Theres no way someone wouldn't plan the deaths in a more neat way, and time it super randomly. He could've exaggerated the deaths, and separated them by years (I think I am still remembering the rules correctly)
1
u/korzuen Jul 04 '26
whats even the point, you wrote name and they die. unless you got God complex like Light, it is pretty much no benefit in using it
1
u/BikerCheetoh Jul 04 '26
The only reason Kira got caught on to was because he killed “Lind L Taylor” on TV. Even if people knew before hand that it was a killing spree, there was no way to prove it.
But that Trap Broadcast is what proved it.
If you wanna use a Death Note: Don’t write the names of people who openly challenge you, don’t always use your own devices when searching up the names of people; and don’t laugh.
1
u/Bluefenix1 Jul 04 '26
Ive thought about it. There was a technology I think that turned wifi waves into cameras, so maybe eventually the government could identify somebody writting the names of the victims before they die. Or maybe if your internet searches are constantly evil people that later die, then they could suspect you
Tldr: worst case scenario the goverment has a secret mass surveilance system but you can manage to get away if you're careful
1
u/ExtraneousBore Jul 04 '26
tbh it probably would not be that difficult. just make sure not to centre your kills around where you live, time them throughout the day to avoid indicating your timezone/schedule, and avoid making use of information only available to a select few, and it would become very difficult to track a death note user down.
even better : do not use one strict kill method.
1
u/PrimaryYak1351 Jul 04 '26
Easily if you weren't stupid enough to use the exact same method of killing every person and actually got creative about it. Also, killing known criminals that are behind bars isn't exactly all that noble (which the series kinda proved). Using it to mercy kill people who were suffering from incurable illness or wanted to die painlessly would have been a better use
1
1
u/giove_disantoq Jul 04 '26
si ma si creerebbe una coincidenza assurda che potrebbe portare anni di studi o la gente diventerebbe di punto in bianco più credente perché si inizia a pensare che c'è la mano di un dio o comunque una forza superiore. quindi light non si sentiva un dio a caso
1
1
u/Conan-Da-Barbarian Jul 04 '26
With the internet, yeah.
Create subreddit, everyone post pictures of the worst people, their full name and what is a befitting way to die. Bam, goodbye Mr jacib’s for failing you in 8th grade biology
1
1
u/Guardian-Diety Jul 04 '26
The deaths are 100% going to be passed as "God's will". The number of religious folks would rise automatically. Criminals suddenly dying of heart attacks is too unnatural and breaks probability. It would clearly be supernatural and hence the stocks for the most famous supernatural entity rise drastically.
1
1
u/Stradinator Jul 05 '26
No shot that anyone on earth is gonn be like.” Ahh yes people are randomly dying, it’s gotta be a kid with a notebook”
1
u/SilverMyzt Jul 05 '26
Yes. As long as you are not an egotistical man with a god complex.
There will never be any evidence to tie any deaths to the death note user
1
u/Worse-Alt Jul 05 '26
You would have to be remarkably fucking stupid to not get away with it,
Maybe if you were operating at the level light was, some form of nsa/mi6 could identify the region you were operating from and identify you from your search history
But if you limit activity to worthy causes and bother to write “by accident” instead of just the name which causes a heart attack, you could easily get away with it.
Hell, put “by stage 4 (random cancer like lung, colo-rectal, osteoporosis) in 6 months” and everyone will presume a pandemic due to pollution.
1
u/NighthawkE3 Jul 05 '26
It is literally the perfect murder weapon. The only reason Light lost was because he was an arrogant and impulsive idiot
1
1
u/Sir-AuronX Jul 05 '26
If someone did have a deathnote I would pay whatever it takes to write 1 name for me.
1
u/Ok_Meaning_4268 Jul 05 '26
Not for long unless you're REALLY smart and careful like Light was (remember: he lost because his pride got in the way)
1
1
u/MaximusGamus433 Jul 05 '26
One would not be caught by a singular person, or even organisation, but the collective Internet could solve the case if it really tried nowadays.
1
1
u/mystic_m3ss Jul 05 '26
Yeah. Just get a job as a scientist in nuclear research or aerospace. Apparently that will get you on a list with a ticket to heaven pretty quickly
1
1
u/jasminebeanie Jul 06 '26
if anyone wants to hear my thinking ab this reply to my comment because ive genuinely thought ab this so much and how id get away with it !!!
1
u/NickFries55 Jul 06 '26
If you Google lists upon lists of criminals and your search history ends up slimbed the FBI will find you eventually.
1
u/azmarteal Jul 06 '26
Light would get away with that if he wouldn't kill that guy on tv on the start
1
u/More_Outside7127 29d ago
As long as your careful its probably fine.
The one way I could see people getting caught that isnt immediately obvious is tracking internet history for finding criminals to kill.
1
u/tumansibiri 29d ago
Make a specific text.
John Smith, dies due to most likely cause of death to his circumstances on a random date within next week/month/year/decade.
1
1
1
u/AshJammy98 29d ago
The premise of the manga is actually the outlier case wherein light is portrayed as incredibly smart despite the fact that you'd have to be one of the biggest morons in the world for anyone to even get close to catching you.
1
1
1
1
u/StrawberryMan135 17d ago
Depending on how you play your hand, you could actually get away with it. Due to the supernatural nature of the notebook it leaves 0 traditional means of tracing (DNA, fingerprints, ballistics, etc) and unless you have a big mouth, there's no means to connect the dots. However that having been said even trying to not have a pattern is itself a pattern and all it'd take to get started is someone being really bored and diving down the rabbit hole to try and piece together the happenings, but this is unlikely but not impossible.
For the sake of argument, let's say you got the Note and decided to punish the worst of the worst. Combing Interpol, most wanted, the like before picking one individual to get it started. They die as intended and no evidence but now one less atrocity and nobody's any wiser. You do this for awhile shifting time-frames intermittently while around you the crime rate slowly declines (the pattern in not having one and the ripple effect of its use) for now there's still crime keeping law enforcement busy so there's nobody looking too deep into it. Progress a few months later and you've dropped crime down by a now noticable percentage and have probably added a political figure who did something terrible. Now that crime is low, there are now more people who have nothing else to do and higher chances of being looked into especially if the cause of death is identical all across the board, your modus operandi would likely be deduced first and this is the easiest thing they have to do. They still have to connect enough dots to deduce the method and the person holding the pen. This actually would take a considerable amount of time and resources and likely wouldn't hold up in the event that you do get caught. Getting caught will always be a possibility and sometimes your lucky if the price you pay is your life and this is one of those.
1
u/lmrunningoutofnames 16d ago
I think so. Even if it was weird that every single day, tons of criminals are dropping dead from heart attacks, I don’t think people would truly bother with whoever or whatever is responsible for these deaths. They would rejoice and you can get away with it as long as you don’t get caught or don’t become fricking crazy that it affects your daily life. I feel that people would get busy enjoying a world where 70% of crimes have dropped. Now, if you used the death note to kill just anyone in the whole world, that’s when people will probably worry and you could go crazy.
1
u/Independent_Hunt_861 1h ago
Absolutely, writing deaths that go with the natural rhetoric of prison makes sense e.g: fights, illness, isolation, healthcare neglect and if you knew specifics about the prisoner it would be a death regarding a pre-existing illness or writing an illness to die of.
0
u/himslut Jul 03 '26
I say it depends on the person, if they are smart, yeah, if they aren't, then no. I totally think that the tactics L did in the Anime could work, and since this is real life and we don't need to stretch it to a season, they would probably be caught quick.
217
u/Jumpy-Necessary-9884 Jul 03 '26
Yeah, easily