For years this has been heated topic in discussion regarding who is better? Light Yagami or Lelouch vi Britannia? I have browsed through tonnes of sites, sadly there isn't a notable comparison between these fabled characters in the internet.
Well, this is what happens. When someone raises this question, fanboys and girls will voice out their favorite character without a proper understanding of the topic. Who can complain? They are just being fanboys.
And so as someone who loves thriller and has watched over 170+ anime shows, I would like to present an unbiased detailed analysis between these two characters and make justice. Note:- This obviously contains spoilers. And in later discussions i wont go in detail, since you already know it.
1. INTRODUCTION
I wasn't sure about this myself. So I made 8 of my friends watch this and recorded their opinions
1.1 CHARACTER INTRO
Light:- Starts off as bored high-school student who excels in everything well, there isn't anything he can't do. Quite interesting since it mostly focuses on Light and his ideals.
Lelouch:- Skips class, Gambles, Genius chess player. At the first look you deduce that he is a brilliant strategist but not someone of great intelligence. Strategist is a befitting title to this character,
Conclusion:- LIGHT WINS
1.2 POWER INTRO
Light:- Picks up the Death note dropped by deathgod on purpose. Conducts two experiments and then goes on Rampage. On top of this there are 4 epic musics throughout the first episode, which makes it memorable.
Lelouch:- Accidentally gets involved in huge mess and gains power from CC. " I Lelouch vi Britannia order you bastards to die". That was good quote, but not memorable.
Conclusion:- LIGHT WINS
Note:- All my friends 8/8 of them said that Death note's intro was Epic. As, it provided detailed and spoon fed info to the viewers. Whereas in codegeass, you are already placed in a world under transition and you have to sort things out. Not quite memorable as deathnote. Light wins hands down
2. CHARACTER DETAILS
2.1 ALIASES
Light:- Kira is somewhat unique, never herd it before though, and it was chosen by his fans. Still its not that impressive!
Lelouch:- ZERO ZERO ZERO! Whats up with these JAPS?! I have heard this name millions of times! Every Japanese wants their nickname to be '0'. Go marry Aryabhatta!
Conclusion:- "ZERO" POINTS to both of them!
2.2 AFFILATION
Light:- Kira is somewhat unique, never herd it before though, and it was chosen by his fans. Still its not that impressive!
Lelouch:- ZERO ZERO ZERO! Whats up with these JAPS?! I have heard this name millions of times! Every Japanese wants their nickname to be '0'. Go marry Aryabhatta!
Conclusion:- "ZERO" POINTS to both of them!
2.2 AFFILATION
Light:- Starts off as hero turns into dark hero, ultimately a villain
Lelouch:- Maintains his image as dark hero throughout the series
Conclusion:- LELOUCH WINS
2.3 ABILITIES
Mental assets
Light:- He is a mastermind, chess-player( I mean great strategist), James bond, and escape artist.
Lelouch:- He is just your chess-player
Conclusion:- LIGHT WINS
2.4 ATTITUDE/LIKABILITY
This is mostly at first glance. Not over a period of time
Light:- Will immediately win the hearts of people. FIRST IMPRESSION IS THE BEST IMPRESSION. People tend to like common man making the impossible, possible
Lelouch:- When I asked, why did't you like him, the common reply came was OVERACTING. Yes. its animated series, but that doesn't mean that you can do whatever you please! Its natural people will hate over-actors. Notable ex:- EP1: " I Lelouch vi britannia order you bastards to die"
Conclusion:- LIGHT WINS
2.5 BACKGROUND
Light:- A hard-worker in short.
Lelouch:- Fallen prince. He and his sister's story can be sympathized with.
Conclusion:- LELOUCH WINS
2.6 CONFIDENCE
Light, Lelouch:- Confident while not being overconfident. They make viewers to put themselves in their shoes. They carry out their task with utmost brilliance. Well, ITS OVER 9000!
Conclusion:- DRAW
2.7 CUNNING
Light:- Its Over 9000 again! An amateur mastermind tricks the greatest professional mastermind and detective in the world just by a simple potato chip trick! Even without his power, he can survive simply by tricking people. There are lots of mentions but notable episodes obtaining FBI investigator's name and his fiance's name. "Trickster who doesn't know loneliness".
Lelouch:- Even this guy is cunning enough, he is not that great. ex:- He uses his maid to trick kallen to think zero is someone else.
Conclusion:- LIGHT WINS
2.8 LEADERSHIP
Light:- Seems he is good at it, since he can control his emotions very well and put up a facade. But there is no proof of his leadership other than managing a small "herd" of police force (as a good guy).
Moreover he has always been one man army.
Lelouch:- He has an army. Enough saiḍ
Conclusion:- LELOUCH WINS
2.9 LOOKS
Light, Lelouch:- Ouch! Burning hot! (Let us not consider the character design of Lelouch is that of a teenager and Light close to an adult.)
Conclusion:- DRAW
2.10 PHYSICAL ASSETS
Without supernatural abilities. I have always seen people discussing about this involving them in fistfight!
Light:- Son of Police Chief, knows martial arts and guns(becomes officer himself) very strong physique.
Lelouch:- Very weak, he was panting while chasing a cat for a short distance!
Conclusion:- LIGHT WINS
2.11 UPHOLDING IDEALS
Without supernatural abilities. I have always seen people discussing about this involving them in fistfight!
Light:- Son of Police Chief, knows martial arts and guns(becomes officer himself) very strong physique.
Lelouch:- Very weak, he was panting while chasing a cat for a short distance!
Conclusion:- LIGHT WINS
2.11 UPHOLDING IDEALS
Ideals are what defines a person. But how long can you stick to it?
Light:- Wants to make a world free of corruption and be god of the new world he creates. Awesome! anyone would love to see that. Who doesn't want to be a god? But practically he is going overboard!
Lelouch:- Wants to exact revenge, make his sister live peacefully and free the nation from the clutches of Britain. Doesn't mind labelled villain.
Conclusion:- LELOUCH WINS
3. RELATIONSHIPS
Both could have as many chicks as they wanted and a lovely harem. But no! They used them as their stepping stones to reach their goals!
3.1 COMRADES
Light:- Though he is a loner and one man army, he gathers few subordinates. Can't exactly call them comrades.
Lelouch:- Has plenty of comrades who put their trust in him as zero.
Conclusion:- LELOUCH WINS
4. POWER AND WIELDER
4.1 ADAPTABILITY/VERSATILITY
Death Note:- DEATH NOTE has the power only to kill and manipulate them for some time before their deaths. Though Light uses this trick in a brilliant fashion, it still has limits. Like you cannot shut your sister's mouth without killing her.
Geass:- GEASS has the power to manipulate anybody. That means you can kill them, manipulate them into killing someone else, rewrite their memories, You can literally do anything with the human brain.
Conclusion:- GEASS WINS
4.2 ABSOLUTENESS/PRECISION
Death Note:- The rules in the Death note is absolute. And its power to kill is far more superior than geass.
Geass:- Its shown that geass sometimes tend to fail.
Conclusion:- DEATH NOTE WINS
4.3 MANAGEABILITY
Death note:- Have you used death note? It draws lots of attention. It can be traced back at you! If you are not light, you will be sentenced to death within a week!
Geass:- The power of geass is imbued within your eyes. Who will know that you are using the power of geass? The most easiest power ever seen. You can stay in stealth mode for lifetime. You can still kill someone inside a jail, but takes time to do so.
Conclusion:- LIGHT WINS
4.4 KNOCK BACK
You might have to pay a price to use some powers.
Death note:- Use it and your soul shall be dammed forever. Pay half of your lifespan, and you shall get deathgod's eyes. There are too much risks involved in using these powers. Yet light successfully manages to pull out miracles!
Geass: None. Just don't overuse it.
Conclusion:- LIGHT WINS
4.5 DIFFICULTY
Death note:- Hard. You have to make sure you don't get caught, since its powers are limited to killing and short time manipulation, only geniuses may wield it.
Geass:- Easy. Any fool can use it. Eat pizzas and use geass on cashier. Easy life!
Conclusion:- LIGHT WINS
Note:- Light wins hands down in wielding and using the powers, considering everything.
5. DEATH
Light:- Pathetic death. Was seen as villain during his demise.
Lelouch:- Honorable death. Those who knew his identity, regarded him as hero.
Conclusion:- LELOUCH WINS
We are just watching the comment box
To make a naughty list for the future reference!
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