What is L Lawliet’s IQ?
No canon IQ for L Lawliet: one 8/10 guidebook rating, and fan guesses that run from 190 to 250.
L Lawliet has no official IQ: neither the Death Note manga nor its guidebook Death Note 13: How to Read gives an IQ score, only a 10-point character-sheet rating of 8 for intelligence, one point below Light Yagami’s 9. The fan figures of 190 to 250 come with no test and no method, and this page’s estimate of 178–195 rates the portrayal, not a person.
L Lawliet’s estimated IQ
- Earns perfect scores on the To-Oh University entrance exam, matching Light Yagami, who is the freshman class’s top student, while entering under the alias Hideki Ryuga.
- Uses a decoy broadcast to establish that Kira is in the Kanto region (anime episode 2, October 11, 2006), and deduces that Kira has inside knowledge of the police investigation led by Light’s father.
- Works under the aliases Eraldo Coil and Deneuve as well as his own name; those two names carry reputations as the second- and third-best detectives in the world.
- The guidebook rates his intelligence 8 out of 10, one point below Light Yagami’s 9, and Tsugumi Ohba is reported to have called him the most intelligent character in the series because “the plot requires it.”
L is only as clever as the plot requires: Tsugumi Ohba is reported to have given exactly that as his reason for making L the most intelligent character, while the guidebook’s own sheet rates him one point below Light. Read this range as a rating of the portrayal, not a person, and as overlapping Light Yagami’s range rather than sitting clearly above it.
- Introduced
- Death Note chapter 2, “L” (collected in Volume 1, April 2, 2004)
- Created by
- Tsugumi Ohba (writer), Takeshi Obata (artist)
- Real name given in
- Death Note 13: How to Read — not in the main 108 chapters
- Aliases
- Ryuzaki, Hideki Ryuga, Eraldo Coil, Deneuve
- Guidebook intelligence rating
- 8 out of 10 (Light Yagami: 9 out of 10)
- Canonical IQ
- None given anywhere in the source material
- Played by
- Kenichi Matsuyama (2006 films), Kento Yamazaki (2015 drama), LaKeith Stanfield (2017 Netflix film)
- Anime
- Madhouse, 37 episodes, October 4, 2006 – June 27, 2007
What an IQ of 178–195 actually means
Set the claim aside for a moment. If someone genuinely scored in this range, here is what that would represent.
Average is 100 by construction, and about two-thirds of people fall between 85 and 115. Take the test to place your own score on this scale.
| Score range | Classification | Share of people | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 – 114 | Average | ~68% | The range most people fall into. |
| 115 – 129 | Above average | ~13.6% | Roughly one person in seven. |
| 130 – 144 | Gifted | ~2% | The threshold most high-IQ societies use. |
| Above 144 | Highly gifted | ~0.1% | Figures above this range are extrapolated from the curve rather than measured. |
Percentages are approximate and describe a normal distribution. The same number means different things on tests with different standard deviations.
Thirty questions gives you a measured position on this exact scale — your score, your percentile and the ability breakdown behind it.
Find out in 30 minutes →Who L Lawliet is
Death Note was written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata and ran in Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 1, 2003, to May 15, 2006; its 108 chapters were collected in twelve volumes. Madhouse’s 37-episode anime aired on Nippon TV from October 4, 2006, to June 27, 2007.
L is introduced in chapter 2, titled “L,” as a detective who speaks to Interpol only through a computer and an electronic voice (anime episode 2, “Confrontation,” October 11, 2006) and who deals with the authorities through his handler Watari. He works under the aliases Ryuzaki, his main pseudonym during the Kira investigation, and Hideki Ryuga, the name he uses at To-Oh University, and also as Eraldo Coil and Deneuve; the Another Note novel says he won those two names from the original detectives in a “detective war.” His real name, L Lawliet, is revealed only in the guidebook Death Note 13: How to Read.
The investigation becomes a direct contest with Light Yagami, run almost entirely on inference and on what each can know about the other. L establishes that Kira is in the Kanto region by using a condemned criminal as a decoy in a broadcast, deduces that Kira has inside knowledge of the police investigation that Light’s father leads, and recruits Light onto the Kira Task Force. That contest is the reason both characters appear in intelligence discussions at all.
L has been played by Kenichi Matsuyama in the 2006 Japanese films (the first opened June 17, 2006, directed by Shusuke Kaneko), by Kento Yamazaki in the 11-episode Nippon TV drama that began July 5, 2015, and by LaKeith Stanfield in the Netflix film directed by Adam Wingard (August 25, 2017). A live-action Netflix series was announced in July 2022. This page rates the character as Ohba and Obata wrote him, not any one adaptation.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed October 2026
L Lawliet: the documented record
The estimate above rests on this record. Every entry here is a matter of public fact, which is more than can be said for the number itself.
- 2003Death Note begins in Weekly Shōnen Jump on December 1, 2003.
- 2004Volume 1 (April 2, 2004) collects chapters 1–7, including chapter 2, “L,” where the detective is introduced.
- 2004Volume 3 (chapters 17–25, September 3, 2004) covers L’s meeting with Light Yagami at To-Oh University.
- 2006The serial ends on May 15, 2006, after 108 chapters in twelve volumes.
- 2006The first live-action film opens in Japan on June 17, 2006, with Kenichi Matsuyama as L.
- 2006The Madhouse anime premieres on Nippon TV on October 4, 2006; L meets Light in person in episode 9, “Encounter” (November 29, 2006).
- 2006Death Note 13: How to Read is published in Japan on October 13, 2006 (English edition: February 19, 2008).
- 2015A Nippon TV drama with Kento Yamazaki as L Lawliet begins on July 5, 2015 (11 episodes).
- 2017Netflix releases Adam Wingard’s film on August 25, 2017, with LaKeith Stanfield as L.
- 2022Netflix announces a new live-action Death Note series in July 2022.
Where the 190–250 figure came from
Following a claim back to its first appearance is the part almost nobody does — and it is what most people are actually asking.
The only number Death Note attaches to L’s intellect is a 10-point rating, not an IQ. The guidebook Death Note 13: How to Read (Shueisha, October 13, 2006; Viz Media, February 19, 2008) carries character sheets that rate intelligence out of 10, and both CBR (May 27, 2020) and EpicStream (January 23, 2023) report the result as Light Yagami 9, L 8. A creator’s rating on a short scale cannot be converted into an IQ score.
The IQ figures for L come from fan lists, and the pages that print them name no test, date or method. EpicStream (January 18, 2023, updated April 12, 2024) says some fans put L at around 210 and a few at 240, traces them only to “discussions in fandom wiki pages,” and adds that no such IQ has ever been recorded. Riot IQ (August 16, 2026) calls figures like 250 fan inventions. How numbers like these spread is the subject of where celebrity IQ numbers come from.
The figures also fail on arithmetic. On the usual scale, with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15 (see the IQ bell curve), a score of 210 is more than seven standard deviations above average, 240 more than nine and 250 exactly ten. Standard tests have no items that far out, so a figure like these is a label rather than a measurement; the IQ ceiling effect and the highest score a test can report explain why. Even this page’s own range sits above that ceiling, which is why it is labeled a rating of the portrayal.
L and Light Yagami are introduced as matched. Both earn perfect scores on the To-Oh University entrance exam, Light as the freshman class’s top student and L under the alias Hideki Ryuga, and in the anime they meet in person at the entrance exams in episode 9, “Encounter” (November 29, 2006). After that the sources split: the guidebook sheet gives Light the higher intelligence rating, 9 to 8, while Wikipedia reports that Ohba called L the most intelligent character in the series because “the plot requires it.” This site places L slightly higher because the investigation runs on his inferences, from the decoy broadcast that fixes Kira in the Kanto region to his choice to sit near Light and study him directly, but the two ranges overlap and the page does not claim L would outscore Light on a test.
Outside the franchise the comparisons are opinion rankings, not measurements. ScreenRant’s “10 Smartest Characters in Anime History” (November 9, 2024) places Lelouch vi Britannia (Lelouch Lamperouge on this site) second, Light and L jointly third and Shikamaru Nara fourth, and CBR (July 10, 2026) includes L in a list of five anime characters it calls smarter than Sherlock Holmes. This site groups L with Sherlock Holmes because both are written as consulting detectives who work from inference rather than academic recall.
How we read a number →The source text, 108 chapters. Chapter 2 is titled “L”; Volume 3 (chapters 17–25, Japan, September 3, 2004) covers L’s meeting with Light Yagami at To-Oh University. No IQ figure for L appears in the text.
Official companion guidebook. Gives L’s full name, L Lawliet, and character sheets that rate intelligence out of 10 (L 8, Light Yagami 9, as reported by CBR and EpicStream). Contains no IQ figure.
Reports that Volume 13 rates each character’s intelligence out of 10: Light 9, L 8.
States that Death Note 13: How to Read measures Light’s intelligence as 9/10 and L’s as 8/10; gives no IQ for either.
Light as top student of the To-Oh freshman class with a rival who also got perfect entrance-exam scores; L introducing himself at the entrance ceremony; the Kanto decoy.
Ohba’s remark that L is the most intelligent character because the plot requires it (guidebook, p. 191, as cited); aliases and the second- and third-best reputations of Coil and Deneuve; the Another Note detective war; chapter, volume, episode, film and cast dates.
Opinion ranking: Ayanokōji first, Lelouch vi Britannia second, Light Yagami and L jointly third, Shikamaru Nara fourth. Gives no IQ figures.
Lists L third of five, for narrowing the Kira case by logic and studying Light directly. An opinion list, not a measurement.
Neither the manga, the anime, the guidebook (a 10-point rating only) nor any article above states an IQ for L as fact.
Reports that some fans put L at around 210 and a few at 240, citing fandom wiki discussions, and that no such IQ has ever been recorded.
Says L has no official IQ and that figures like 250 are fan inventions; reports the guidebook ratings of Light 9 and L 8.
L’s range overlaps Light Yagami’s and is grouped with the Holmes tradition of inference-based reasoning, on the grounds set out above.
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for L Lawliet, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
Fan estimates between 190 and 250 circulate. EpicStream reports fans putting L at around 210 and a few at 240, and Riot IQ (August 16, 2026) calls figures like 250 fan inventions; none of these pages gives a test result, a date or a method.
No IQ score for L appears in the manga, the anime or the guidebook Death Note 13: How to Read. The guidebook’s character sheets rate intelligence out of 10 (Light Yagami 9, L 8, as reported by CBR on May 27, 2020 and EpicStream on January 23, 2023), which is a creator’s shorthand, not a test result. The only other quantified trait attached to L is one he shares with Light Yagami: perfect scores on the To-Oh University entrance exam (CBR, September 8, 2020). EpicStream notes that no such IQ has ever been recorded, and Riot IQ (August 16, 2026) finds no manga chapter, episode or databook page behind the circulating figures.
Sixty points separate the lowest and highest fan figure, for a character whose only numeric rating in canon is an 8 out of 10. At 250, L would sit ten standard deviations above the mean of 100 on the usual 15-point scale, far past the ceiling of any standard test.
Want a number that does hold up? Every figure on this page is somebody’s claim. Take the 30-question test and get a percentile you can check rather than a figure you have to trust.
L Lawliet — frequently asked
What is L’s IQ in Death Note?
L Lawliet has no official IQ in Death Note: no IQ score appears in the manga, the anime or the guidebook Death Note 13: How to Read. The guidebook’s character sheet rates his intelligence 8 out of 10, a creator’s rating rather than a test result. The 190–250 figures online are fan guesses with no stated method.
What is L Lawliet’s IQ?
This site’s estimated IQ level for L Lawliet is 178–195, a character-analysis range built from what the story shows him doing, such as the decoy broadcast that places Kira in the Kanto region. It rates the portrayal rather than a person, it carries the weakness that L is only as clever as the plot requires, and it is not a test score.
How high is L’s IQ compared with Light Yagami’s?
Neither character has an IQ in canon, so any comparison is between estimates. This site puts L at 178–195 and Light Yagami at 170–190, so the ranges overlap with L slightly higher.
Is L smarter than Light Yagami?
The sources split, so there is no settled answer. Both earn perfect scores on the To-Oh University entrance exam, and the guidebook sheet gives Light the higher intelligence rating, 9 to 8, yet Tsugumi Ohba is reported to have called L the most intelligent character in the series because “the plot requires it.” This site places L slightly higher because the investigation runs on his inferences.
Where do the IQ figures for L online come from?
From fan lists and fan-wiki discussion, not from the work. EpicStream (January 2023) reports fans putting L at around 210 and a few at 240, and Riot IQ (August 16, 2026) calls figures like 250 fan inventions. None of these pages cites a chapter, an episode or a test, and EpicStream notes that no such IQ has ever been recorded.
L vs Ayanokoji IQ: who is smarter?
Neither has an official IQ, so the comparison is opinion. ScreenRant’s “10 Smartest Characters in Anime History” (November 9, 2024) ranks Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, the lead of Shōgo Kinugasa’s Classroom of the Elite light novels (published since 2015), first and Light Yagami and L jointly third. Any IQ figure for Ayanokōji is a fan estimate, as L’s are.
What is L’s real name?
L’s real name is L Lawliet, given only in the official companion guidebook Death Note 13: How to Read (Shueisha, October 13, 2006; Viz Media, February 19, 2008). It does not appear in the manga’s 108 numbered chapters.
What aliases does L use?
Ryuzaki, his main pseudonym during the Kira investigation; Hideki Ryuga, undercover at To-Oh University; and Eraldo Coil and Deneuve, names that carry reputations as the second- and third-best detectives in the world. The Another Note novel says he won those two names from the original detectives in a “detective war.”
How does L compare to Sherlock Holmes on this site?
L is grouped with Sherlock Holmes rather than with Light Yagami: both are written as consulting detectives who reason from minimal information, not from the academic and strategic excellence that defines Light’s portrayal. CBR (July 10, 2026) lists L among five anime characters it calls smarter than Holmes, an opinion rather than a measurement.
How does my IQ compare with L Lawliet?
You can find out in about fifteen minutes. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions, scored on the same 100-mean scale used throughout this page, so your result and the estimate above are at least expressed in the same units — one measured, one inferred. Once you have a number, the leaderboard shows where it would sit, and how we score and norm it explains the benchmarking.
Where does this estimate come from?
From the documented record rather than a test — the method is named above and set out in full under how we read a number. Compare it against the other fictional profiles, starting with Sherlock Holmes.
- Take the 30-question IQ test — get a measured score and percentile of your own
- Average IQ by country — how the scale behaves across populations
- How IQ Metrics scores its assessment — the method behind our own number
- More on how IQ testing works — reliability, error and what a score can and cannot say
- More fictional profiles — same field, same method
More fictional
Photograph of a cosplayer as Lelouch Lamperouge by Benlisquare, CC BY-SA 4.0. Lelouch Lamperouge is a character created by Sunrise, Ichirō Ōkouchi and Gorō Taniguchi. Cropped and with background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph of a cosplayer as Kakashi Hatake by big-ashb, CC BY 2.0. Kakashi Hatake is a character created by Masashi Kishimoto, from Naruto. Cropped and with background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph of a cosplayer as Reed Richards by William Tung (WonderCon, April 2017), CC BY-SA 2.0. Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic) is a character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics. Cropped and with background removed for the portrait above.
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