Lelouch vi Britannia vs Light Yagami: who is smarter?

Both are teenagers with a cheat code. Light has a notebook that kills at a distance, and Lelouch has a power that makes people obey. The interesting question is what each does with a tool that removes most of the risk, and both are cautious, methodical and hard to read.

Lelouch plans wars. He directs a small force against a much larger empire, improvises when the situation changes, and has to inspire people as well as outfox them. Light plans an investigation. His game is to stay invisible to a brilliant pursuer for years, with a single mechanism to work with. Lelouch shows more range of action, and Light shows more depth of concealment.

Both are undone by pride and by the people they care about. Light cannot stop himself from showing off to the one man who can catch him, and Lelouch makes his worst calls when someone he loves is on the board. On our evidence they are the closest pair we cover, and the tiebreaker is that Light is shown solving more problems by reasoning alone.

Lelouch vi Britannia

• The Narita landslide (Code Geass, Season 1)
• The Zero Requiem (Code Geass, R2 finale)

Full Lelouch vi Britannia profile

Light Yagami

• Turning an FBI agent into a weapon (Death Note, early Kira investigation)
• The memory-loss plan (Death Note, Yotsuba arc)
• Turning Rem against L (Death Note, Rem and L's death)

Full Light Yagami profile