10 Smartest Anime Characters Of All Time

Love him or hate him, you can't deny that this pretty boy is a genius.

Light outsmarted the police, the FBI, and manipulated a literal god of death into killing his arch-nemesis. Even one of those feats is incredible. But all three? That's just insane. His analytical skills are so ridiculously over-the-top that it puts essentially puts him on par with a supercomputer.

Part of the reason Light was so successful surprisingly comes down to his complete lack of ethics. He knows exactly what he wants, and will do anything, no matter how vile, to achieve his dream. Whether it's his family or his girlfriend, he'll manipulate and use anyone he can get his hands on to build his idea of a perfect world. He's a master chess player, seeing everyone in the world as his pawns.

This however came at a price. His manipulation skills were a result of his blatant narcissism. Even though he pretty much achieved his goal of creating a world ruled under Kira, in the end, his ego caused his dream to meet the crushing reality that he was anything but a god. By underestimating the successor to L and overestimating his own abilities, Light all but ensured his defeat.