The influences behind Death Note

Following one thread, 3 works from Death Note to Monsieur Lecoq. Back to all 29 works

1. 

   1887

   A Study in Scarlet

   Arthur Conan Doyle

   Victorian. England. Written in English.

   First Sherlock Holmes novel, introducing the eccentric consulting detective and his chronicler Dr. Watson.

   What it handed down

   To Death Note (2003)

   Thematic kinship, probable.

   L is a reclusive genius detective with odd habits, deductive leaps and a contempt for ordinary police work, a type Doyle fixed with Holmes. L's aged assistant Watari, who handles his practical affairs, occupies a Watson-like position. The detective genre conventions reach Death Note through this line rather than through any stated debt.

   To Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes

   Direct source, well documented.

   Leblanc borrowed Holmes himself, with Watson, renaming them Herlock Sholmes and Wilson after Doyle objected. The book sets the master thief against Doyle's detective in a series of matched contests.

   Where it came from

   • Monsieur Lecoq, Émile Gaboriau 1869
   • The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Edgar Allan Poe 1841 follow this thread
   • Zadig, Voltaire 1747 follow this thread

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