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In Death Note, I am not aware of whether Light actually truly loved or cared about anyone although at the beginning of the series you could say he loved his parents perhaps. But it seems that he was at least shown to be as an intellectual person who just so happened to be bored or well tired with the way life was (e.g. criminals everywhere, continuous injustice that happened towards people etc.).

I may have missed something from the anime and I haven't read the mangas (so please correct me if I'm wrong) but did Light ever truly love anyone? I want a canon answer.

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  • From the episode when he killed Ray Penbar's fiancé I felt like he had lost all emotions he once might have had. So i doubt he loved anyone after he received the notebook Jul 11, 2014 at 0:41
  • Obviously not the point of the question but for the exact question "did Light ever truly love anyone?": he was not born a sociopath but arguable becomes one (obviously a monster but sociopath might just not be the right word). Therefore, we can safely assume that when he was a child he truly loved his family as almost every child does. This is largely irrelevant to he events in the show and, therefore, the answers posted.
    – kaine
    Jul 14, 2014 at 13:57

6 Answers 6

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Himself. And only himself.

Yagami Light truly perceived himself as a god where everyone else was a lower being. He explained in one segment that his lifespan is too valuable to make a deal for the shinigami eyes. Yet for even his closest allies (Misa) or even his family, their lives can be easily discarded. Light did not truly love anyone other than himself.

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Misa served as a tool; Takada served as a tool; and his family just shouldn't get in his way, otherwise he would have killed them.

But he reacted when Sayu got kidnapped by Mello.

I think that he only possessed a kind of responsibility-like feeling.

At a certain point in the manga, I don't think that he loved anyone anymore.

He was focusing on achieving his goal.

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This isn't really exercised in the show, we can't tell. All we see is Light being fed up with life until he gets the Death Note...

We can see that he didn't really love Misa though as he never actually expresses any feelings for her at all. As for this father, it looks like he is expressing genuine feelings for his father when he is dying in episode 29, however at the time he is only thinking about how important it is to kill off Mello.

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  • I always thought that it was all an act when his father died. He needed to be the one touching the notebook to regain ownership the moment his father died and he probably only wanted Mello dead for personal gain rather than revenge, because if Mello had died he had really become a God. Jul 11, 2014 at 0:38
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I think he loved his family. And I don't think he was just acting when his father died. He was just corrupted by the Death Note.

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  • No he does't love his family and in anime, he even ready to scarifies his sister too if something went wrong. Aug 18, 2014 at 19:19
  • he loved his family. but the death note corrupted him. remember when light lost his memories of the death note? this light loves his family.
    – DarkYagami
    Aug 19, 2014 at 10:49
  • He loves his family but he loves himself more then anyone. Its not death note which corrupted his memory but its his own priorities which changed him. Aug 19, 2014 at 14:17
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Himself.

As to the sociopath suggestion, it is generally thought that sociopaths are born that way. You don't just become one. Insane narcissist? Yes, he totally, but sociopath? Doesn't fit the bill.

A total narcissist loves only themselves, and might have emotion for others, but mostly just in how they help themselves feel good.

If you look at Light during the period of time where he forsakes the Death Note, he is actually a decent guy. Notice how his entire expression and tone are changed. (even when no one is looking) He is corrupted by the power of the Death Note, and becomes a figurative monster. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

On the topic of psychological issues: L is a textbook case of Asperger's Syndrome.

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About Sayu, the only reason he didnt kill her was that the only ones aware of these were them and Near's crew. Though he never really loved Misa, he did get involved with her as a couple

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    Might you be willing to clarify what you're referring to with "the only ones aware of these were them and Near's crew"?
    – Maroon
    Jun 24, 2015 at 3:18

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