History Characters / TheDaVinciCode

!!Robert Langdon
--> '''Played by:''' Creator/TomHanks
--> '''Dubbed by:''' Creator/JeanPhilippePuymartin (European French)

''Also see the [[Characters/AngelsAndDemons Angels and Demons character sheet]].''

A Harvard professor in symbology. He considers himself agnostic/atheist but is deeply fascinated by religious symbols from an academic point of view. During a visit to Paris, he gets called in by the French police to help to solve the murder of Jacques Saunière--not knowing he is the prime suspect.

* AdventurerArchaeologist: Well, symbologist, but he still fits the "adventurer" side of things.
* BadassBookworm: Robert mostly relies on his brains to get through things, but proves capable of some physical feats from time to time.
* {{Claustrophobia}}: Does not like tight spaces. This is introduced early in the book when he has to step into an elevator and asks to take the stairs. Later, the childhood trauma that led to his claustrophobia is explained.
* ClearMyName: How the plot kicks off, with Fache suspecting him of murder.
%%* MarathonMan

!!Silas
--> '''Played by:''' Creator/PaulBettany

A monk who adheres to a radical form of Catholicism and is a member of Opus Dei. He was born an albino, which led to him being abused by his peers and hated by his own father. He ran away until Bishop Aringarosa took him in and he found faith.

* AbusiveParents: His father killed his mother when he was young. Consequently, Silas murdered him and ended up on the streets.
* BlackCloak: Wears one, as a monk.
* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:In the film, he commits SuicideByCop after accidentally shooting Bishop Aringarosa]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: He sees Bishop Aringarosa as a father figure.
* FreudianExcuse: Everything going wrong in his childhood led to his imprisonment and eventually resulted in his becoming an assassin.
* HeelRealisation: [[spoiler: After shooting Aringarosa by accident, he realises that he has done wrong, carries his father figure to hospital and then dies praying for forgiveness.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: He believes himself to be a devout man, but he commits several murders through the movie, in violation of his religion's teachings. Sophie calls him out on his hypocrisy.
-->'''Sophie:''' You believe in God? Your God doesn't forgive murderers. He burns them.
* InTheHood: Wears a hooded robe.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: He killed his emotionally and physically abusive father.
* KnightTemplar: Seems to believe that everything he does is just and that his enemies are immoral monsters. He calls himself a "messenger of God" and genuinely believes he is committing murders in God's name.
-->'''Silas:''' Each breath you take is a sin. No shadow will be safe again, for you will be hunted by angels.
* MeaningfulName: He doesn't even remember what his actual birth name is by the time Aringarosa takes him in. Aringarosa thus renames him Silas, a name from the bible, of a man whose backstory is similar to his.
* OnlyAFleshWound: [[spoiler:He gets shot in the climax, but keeps fighting and only stops when he accidentally shoots Aringarosa. Deconstructed when he eventually bleeds to death]].
* PetTheDog: Years before, he saved Bishop Aringarosa from robbers who were beating him and stealing the church's valuables.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler: After getting Aringarosa to help in time and praying for forgiveness, he bleeds to death]].
* SelfHarm: Part of how he punishes himself. [[ATasteOfTheLash Complete with an added taste of religious fanaticism]].
* WarriorMonk: Both an assassin and a monk.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Zigzagged between this and KnightTemplar. While he believes his actions are just and that his enemies are all wrong, he also hates having to murder people because he knows it's wrong, and only the belief that it's for the good of the church keeps him going.
* WouldHitAGirl: One of his victims in the book is a woman.

!!Leigh Teabing
--> '''Played by:''' Creator/IanMcKellen

An affluently rich British aristocrat, living in France, who's obsessed with the legend of the Holy Grail. He's a friend Langdon turns to in his time of need.

* AffablyEvil: [[spoiler:All said and done, he actually is a fairly polite gentleman.]]
* BigBad: [[spoiler:He's the reason that Silas killed the Priory members and kicked off the plot.]]
* TheChessmaster: [[spoiler:He played everyone like a fiddle, up to and including his own manservant.]]
* EvilCripple: He walks on crutches and [[spoiler:is revealed to be the big bad.]]
* HandicappedBadass: Despite suffering from polio, Leigh essentially sucker punches Silas with his crutches.
* QuintessentialBritishGentleman: Polite, serves tea and loves his money.
* WalkingSpoiler: The sheer amount of blanked text should be a clue.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:His aim was to expose the Church as liars by exposing the truth about the Grail. To that end, he manipulated a man with a KnightTemplar assassin at his command.]]

!!Bezu Fache
--> '''Played by:''' Creator/JeanReno

A Paris police detective trying to solve the murder of Saunière. Since he's convinced Langdon committed the murder, he's determined to catch Langdon. He's also a devout Catholic and a member of Opus Dei.

* {{Determinator}}: With regards to his work. He goes to great lengths pursuing Langdon and Sophie, violating all kinds of police rules. In the movie, he even violently beats up an ATC employee who doesn't help him fast enough.
* InspectorJavert: To Robert Langdon, who he believes is responsible for the murder.

!!Bishop Aringarosa
--> '''Played by:''' Creator/AlfredMolina

* BigBad: The one ordering Silas around and kicking the plot off. [[spoiler:Except it's a lie. He was manipulated.]]
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Years before, he was grateful when Silas saved him from intruders, calling Silas an "angel". Afterwards, he took in Silas, mentored him, and treated him like a son.
* LargeHam: He's loud and dramatic when making a point. In one scene, he splashes wine on a table in anger.
* MeaningfulName [[spoiler: it means RedHerring- well more accurately "pink herring", but this is {{Dan Brown|ed}}...]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: His aim was to stop anyone finding out about the grail. He wasn't doing this ForTheEvulz, but genuinely believed it was misinformation that could damage the Church.

!!Sophie Neveu
--> '''Played by:''' Audrey Tautou

A woman working for the Paris police as a cryptologist. She was brought up by her grandfather, Saunière, after her parents died in a car crash. She's been fascinated by cryptology since early childhood, mostly because it was so important to her grandfather. She later had a falling out with him and hasn't been in contact with him for over a decade by the time he is found murdered.

* BrainyBrunette: In the movie, she's a brunette [[note]]Originally, in the novel, she was a redhead, though just as smart[[/note]] who shows herself to be intelligent and clever throughout the story. An upbringing full of puzzles, courtesy of Saunière, may have sharpened her intellect.
%%* DamselInDistress
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Her parents were killed in an automobile accident when she was a child. Afterwards, Jacques Saunière raised her.
* HotScientist: She has a graduate degree from a U.K. university and now works as a cryptographer at the French equivalent of the FBI and is noted to be good at that job, so she's clearly well-educated and smart. She's also described as physically attractive, to the point that Fache actually is so much annoyed by her attractiveness distracting his male colleagues, that he doesn't care about her intelligence at all.
* RoyalBlood: She is a descendant of [[spoiler:Jesus of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene.]] Though not a king in the secular sense, He certainly is [[spoiler:religiously, often even referred to as "the King of Kings"]].

!!Jacques Saunière
--> '''Played by:''' Jean-Pierre Marielle

A Frenchman who works at the Louvre and brought up his granddaughter Sophie after her parents died. He also secretly is part of a pagan coven, and [[spoiler:leader of the Priory of Sion]].

* CouldntFindAPen: Invoked Trope--in his last moments before his death, he writes a message not with a pen, but with a special marker the writings of which only show up in UV light. Justified, as he didn't want just everyone reading that message, but only the Paris police, and specifically his granddaughter Sophie.
* DyingClue: He manages to leave a message for his granddaughter Sophie in his dying moments. It tells her to find Robert Langdon [[note]]though unfortunately, Saunière doesn't realize this is interpreted by the police as him accusing Langdon of his own murder[[/note]] and helps her [[spoiler:find the key and bank account number that lead to the Grail]].
* ParentalSubstitute: He raised Sophie after her parents' deaths, and he's the only parental figure she knows.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Because of his death, Langdon and Sophie meet and start finding out his backstory, which sets the plot in motion.
* PosthumousCharacter: He is only featured very shortly in the brief first scene of the film / prologue of the book. He's dead throughout the vast majority of the story otherwise, but he still plays an important role, seeing how he set the plot in motion, and he's frequently thought of by Sophie, and we get to know him better, despite him having died already, through Sophie's memories of him.
----

* {{Tykebomb}}: Everything going wrong in his childhood led to his imprisonment and eventually resulted in his becoming an assassin.

* MeaningfulName / GeniusBonus [[spoiler: it means RedHerring- well more accurately "pink herring", but this is {{Dan Brown|ed}}...]]

A monk who adheres to a radical form of Catholicism and is a member of Opus Dei. He was born an albino, which led to him being abused by his peers and hated by his own father. He ran away untill Bishop Aringarosa took him in and he found faith.

* MeaningfulName / GeniusBonus [[spoiler: it means RedHerring- well more accurately "pink herring", but this is Dan Brown...]]

* {{Claustrophobia}}: Does not like tight spaces.

* {{Determinator}}: With regards to his work.

* RoyalBlood: She is a descendant of [[spoiler:Jesus of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene.]]

%%* DyingClue

* PosthumousCharacter: He is only featured very shortly in the brief first scene of the film / prologue of the book. He's dead throughout the vast majority of the story otherwise, but he still plays an important role, seeing how he set the plot in motion, and he's frequently thought of by Sophie, and we get to know him better, despite him having died already, through Sophie's memories of him.
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Because of his death, Langdon and Sophie meet and start finding out his backstory, which sets the plot in motion.

* BrainyBrunette: She's a brunette who shows herself to be intelligent and clever throughout the film. An upbringing full of puzzels, courtesy of Saunière, may have sharpened her intellect.

%%* [[HotScientist Hot Cryptographer]]
* RoyalBlood: [[spoiler:She is a descendant of Jesus of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene.]]

%%* PosthumousCharacter
%%* PlotTriggeringDeath

%%** CouldntFindAPen
* ParentalSubstitute: To Sophie. He raised her after her parents' deaths.

* EvilAlbino: Unstable assassin, KnightTemplar, and albino, Silas ticks the boxes (despite numerous inaccuracies on albinism in the book).

--> '''Played by:''' Jean Reno

* [[spoiler:RoyalBlood: She is a descendant of Jesus of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene.]]

* SelfHarm: Part of how he punishes himself.
** ATasteOfTheLash: Complete with an added taste of religious fanaticism.

* {{Badass}}: Fights off numerous policemen in the climax.

----
<<|CharacterSheets|>>

* KnightTemplar: Seems to believe that everything he does is just and that his enemies are immoral monsters.

!!Aringarosa

%%* BrainyBrunette

%%* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest

%%* [[spoiler:RoyalBlood]]

!!Jacques Saunière

%%* ParentalSubstitute: To Sophie

<<|CharacterSheets|>>