Light Turner is a character who appears in the 2017 live-action film adaptation of Death Note rather than in the original anime series, though he serves as an American reimagining of the original protagonist Light Yagami. In this version, Light Turner is a high school student living in Seattle whose mother has died prior to the events of the story. He lives with his father, James Turner, a police detective. Unlike the original character, Light Turner is depicted as a socially isolated and bullied teenager rather than a popular and accomplished honors student. He discovers a supernatural notebook known as the Death Note, which allows its user to kill any person whose name is written in it, provided the user knows the individual's face. After this discovery, Light forms an alliance with his classmate Mia Sutton to use the notebook to eliminate criminals, adopting the public alias Kira. His motivations are partly rooted in a desire to enact justice and to impress Mia, with her often driving the more ruthless decisions. Light's personality in this incarnation is less composed and more erratic than his anime counterpart; he is shown to be nervous, impulsive, and prone to petty acts of revenge, such as using the Death Note to kill a school bully in a gruesome manner. His first encounter with the shinigami Ryuk is played for slapstick comedy, with Light reacting with fear and clumsiness. Throughout the story, Light struggles to maintain control of the situation, frequently making mistakes that expose his identity and undermine his plans. He is far less calculating and strategic than the original Light Yagami, and his role in the plot is that of a flawed and increasingly unhinged individual who is outmatched by the forces pursuing him. His key relationships include his alliance with Mia Sutton, who pushes him toward more extreme actions, his strained relationship with his father who is part of the task force hunting Kira, and his uneasy partnership with Ryuk. Light's development over the film shows him becoming more desperate and reckless as his plans unravel, culminating in a confrontation that exposes his actions and leads to his downfall. He possesses some intelligence and resourcefulness, but his primary ability comes from the Death Note itself, which he uses to kill individuals by writing their names and specifying causes of death. Overall, Light Turner is characterized as a less competent and more emotionally driven version of the original character, whose journey reflects the corrupting influence of the Death Note's power on a vulnerable personality.