He specifically stated at the beginning that he feared having to kill so many people but that he needed to do it to change the world. He continues to only kill criminals he considers evil, rather than just killing them all. He did become more and more obsessed with power but he was also doing it for the sake of justice and that never changed, nor is it suggested to ever have.
Spoiler : :
It's the opposite, actually. The entire time he was doing everything just to gain power and become the "god of the new world," and the beginning was when he was able to mask it the most with rhetoric, although as time went on his true motive became clearer.
That still doesn't explain why he'd specifically avoid well intended criminals or why his primary motivation for killing Mello and Near was stated to be, in an internal monologue no less, protecting the peace of the new world-not his position as God. And the two lines revealing these lines of thoughts both happened in the latter half of the series too, long into his career as Kira. Lines like those keep me from believing that he ever dropped his good intentions. Still, that might not entirely convince you. This could just come down to character interpretation.
Like I said, he does not actually follow the ideals he preaches... Besides, protecting the "New World" and his position as god within it are pretty much the same.
And when did he avoid killing well-intentioned criminals...? I don't remember any instances of him going "I'm not going to kill this guy because he's a well-intentioned criminal." He just killed the worst of the worst because it was the best way to achieve his goals; he didn't choose to spare 'well-intentioned criminals' because of justice or anything.
When Mikami took over for him, Light was bothered by him killing criminals who commited crimes without evil intent, so he made sure he only killed evil criminals.
Finished watching the entire series yesterday. Loved The ending.
Favorite moment: The ending.
Favorite character: Misa and Near.
Most attractive male: Matsuda.
Most attractive female: Near.
Saddest moment: Misa and Penbar's fiancee' killing themselves.
Ami wrote:Finished watching the entire series yesterday. Loved The ending.
Favorite moment: The ending.
Favorite character: Misa and Near.
Most attractive male: Matsuda. Most attractive female: Near.
Saddest moment: Misa and Penbar's fiancee' killing themselves.
I hope you know... Near is a guy
Yeah, those suicides were sad. Curse you, Kira, curse you!!
...
What? No, Near is female. She wqd voiced by a female actress whp didn't try to sound like a child, and was never referenced as male. She's just got a small cup size.
Although it would be cool if Near was female, judging by how everyone in the series refers to him as male, he is very much male. Well ok, maybe not very much. But still male.
Oh, okay. I guess he means stuff like vehicular manslaughter. (Or... is it any manslaughter? Hmm...)
Anyway, possibly part of it is making Kira consistent. But I think the main part is because he's trying to use his Death Note to commit people from committing crimes. But since you can't stop people without intent to commit crimes from committing crimes, well... there's no point, and it goes against what Kira is supposed to represent. (And the 'get people to not commit crimes' is part of his 'become god' plot; he forces them to do what he wants through his Death Note.
Also, don't trust inner monologues 100%; the author sometimes makes characters think something they wouldn't ACTUALLY think.
(Wasn't Takada doing all the Death Note-ing, anyway? Or did she start later... I never got that part completely)
Oh, okay. I guess he means stuff like vehicular manslaughter. (Or... is it any manslaughter? Hmm...)
Anyway, possibly part of it is making Kira consistent. But I think the main part is because he's trying to use his Death Note to commit people from committing crimes. But since you can't stop people without intent to commit crimes from committing crimes, well... there's no point, and it goes against what Kira is supposed to represent. (And the 'get people to not commit crimes' is part of his 'become god' plot; he forces them to do what he wants through his Death Note.
Also, don't trust inner monologues 100%; the author sometimes makes characters think something they wouldn't ACTUALLY think.
(Wasn't Takada doing all the Death Note-ing, anyway? Or did she start later... I never got that part completely)
Spoiler : :
Takada only started doing the killings some time after Light established communication with Mikami through Takada.