Guest Post by Oliver Greenwood, INTJ

Death Note

Dominant Introverted Intuition (Ni): As the number one detective in the world, L uses his Introverted Intuition first and foremost to solve a case, intuitively coming to a conclusion near the outset and afterwards spending time and effort to prove his impressively accurate hunches. In a ploy to determine Kira’s whereabouts, a ploy L is prepared to use worldwide, one zone at a time. L succeeds on his first try. When L states that he is 5% sure that Light is the real Kira, he is actually 100% sure (Ohba, Tsugumi (2008). Death Note 13: How to Read) but he lacks the proof to convince others. In spite of proof to the contrary, L continues to suspect Light when everyone else has moved on. L has a single-minded determination to catch Kira, putting other cases aside and going to extreme lengths to catch him, to the point that he has an entire skyscraper built to serve this single case. In general, his lifestyle is built around solving cases, and his surroundings are often Spartan despite his affluence. He tends to ignore his appearance, as well as the general perception people have of him, but he typically has an explanation for his odd behaviour (he claims his habit of crouching increases his mental faculties, and he continues in that posture even though Japanese culture highly values proper posture).

Auxiliary Extroverted Thinking (Te): L’s actions are calculated to provide him with information that is relevant to his goal. The countless traps, large and small, that he sets for Light are all centred on empirically proving what he already suspects to be true. L prefers to outsource field work unless it becomes absolutely necessary for him to be present. Although reclusive, L is capable of organising multiple task forces at once, without each group knowing of the existence of the others (and if the boots on the ground are unaware of his involvement, so much the better). He likes to keep his cards close to his chest (his identity is a total secret), but he is extremely blunt when he needs to be. L values people who make themselves useful, and he is often rude to those he sees as acting irrationally (e.g. Matsuda). His decisions are based on logic, and he repeatedly disregards the feelings of those he works with for the sake of taking the logical course of action; for this and other of the above reasons, L is alienated from many of those in law enforcement who worked with or for him.

Tertiary Introverted (Fi): L has a strong moral code that is hard for others to detect since he seems to show a disregard for the rules. In his pursuit of catching the real Kira, L pushes many boundaries that make those working with him uncomfortable, to the point that some abandon the case (or at least L’s part in it). While L’s actions can appear to stem from a cold desire for expediency, he indicates more than once that his motives are based on his own conception of justice, and there are some boundaries that he won’t cross. He occasionally breaks actual laws in his efforts to catch Kira, and he makes it clear, too clear on occasion, that he is willing to sacrifice his own life, and the lives of those who volunteer, for results. L is not particularly in touch with others’ feelings. He has few friends, the only people close to him being Watari and, in an ironic way, Light Yagami. However, even those team members who didn’t get along with L the best eventually earned a surprising degree of his loyalty once they had been around long enough (e.g. Matsuda).

Inferior Extroverted Sensing (Se): L’s Extroverted Sensing is relatively well developed (though not in every way). He is adept at tennis, has the surprising capacity to kick someone in the face while handcuffed to them, and can even pickpocket when the need arises. The room that L is first seen in seems to be designed to cut out as much distracting sensory input as possible; there is no light beyond that produced by his monitor, and there are no decorations or furnishings in sight. L is the first to suspect that there may be a supernatural element to the case, at which point he does not respond well (Ni), and when he actually meets with proof of a Shinigami (death god) he is mentally prepared to some extent and was among the quickest to accommodate this new way of thinking into his worldview. While L’s diet consists almost entirely of sugar and sweets, his food choices noticeably decline in nutrition and increase in amount and extravagance as the case becomes more and more gridlocks and leads to dead ends. As soon as the case makes a turn for the better, and L feels reconnected to his purpose, his diet markedly improves.

Additional Mental Health Factors: L is most likely on the Autism spectrum.