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The Da Vinci Code
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Character List
Manuel Aringarosa -
Bishop of Opus Dei. Aringarosa is conservative in
his religious views and longs for the Church to return to strict
ways. He has affection for material things that represent the power
of his order. He is kind to Silas.
Sister Sandrine Bieil -
Nun and keeper of the Church of Saint-Suplice. She
favors loosening of church strictures and modernizing of the church,
and she objects to Opus Dei’s attitude toward women. She is murdered
by Silas while acting as a sentry for the Priory of Sion.
Marie Chauvel -
Sophie’s
grandmother and Saunière’s wife. A kind and smart woman, Mary Chauvel
is part of the Priory’s plan to keep the secret. She is a descendent
of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Jerome Collet -
An
agent with the French Judicial Police. In some ways the classic
bumbling police officer, Collet commits numerous errors during the
pursuit of Sophie and Langdon. His missteps contrast with Fache’s efficiency.
He believes in Sophie’s innocence, however, and proves himself to
Fache in the end.
Simon Edwards -
The
executive services officer of Biggin Hill Airport south of London.
Edwards is accustomed to fulfilling the every desire of the very
rich, as the airport serves the private business community.
Bezu Fache -
The
captain of the French Judicial Police. Nicknamed “the Bull,” Fache
is strong, strong-willed, and religious. He has great faith in the
use of technology in his work, which sometimes leads him down the
wrong road. Fache’s policing methods are a bit unorthodox, but he
is good at heart. The name Fache is very similar to fâché,
which is French for “angry.”
Jonas Faukman -
Langdon’s
editor. He is a classic New York publishing type. Faukman is eager
to make money, but he is also a cultured and classy man.
Pamela Gettum -
The
religious librarian at Kings College. A kindly soul, Gettum is willing
to help Sophie and Langdon in their search.
Claude Grouard -
A security warden at the Louvre. Grouard is a good
man who was a friend of Saunière’s.
Robert Langdon -
The male protagonist of the novel. Langdon, a professor
of symbology at Harvard, is honest and trustworthy. He is also an
extremely successful academic and the author of several books. Although
he studies religion, Langdon does not profess any particular religion
and prefers to remain an outside observer in matters of faith. He,
like Sophie, has a great affection for puzzles of all kinds.
Rémy Legaludec -
Manservant
to Leigh Teabing and participant in the plot to recover the Grail.
Rémy is a mercenary who gets involved in the plot only for the money.
Sophie Neveu -
A
cryptologist with the French Judicial Police, and the female protagonist
of the novel. Sophie, who is about thirty years old, is attractive,
single, compassionate, and very intelligent. She was raised by her
grandfather after her parents, brother, and grandmother died in
a car accident, and her grandfather instilled in her a love of puzzles
and codes. In her twenties, Sophie trained in Britain in cryptology. In
the novel, she is one of the major players who attempt to crack
her grandfather’s code. She is also a descendent of Jesus and Mary
Magdalene.
Jacques Saunière -
The curator at the Louvre, and Sophie’s grandfather.
His murder sets off the chain of events that takes place in the
novel. Saunière’s scholarly passions include Leonardo Da Vinci,
goddess iconography, and puzzles. He is also secretly the head of
the Priory of Sion, the secret brotherhood charged with protecting the
Grail, and a descendent of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Silas -
A
monk of Opus Dei, and the murderer of Jacques Saunière. Silas, an
albino, is motivated by the rejection and horror he has faced since
he was young. When he falls into the orbit of Bishop Aringarosa,
he finds religion and devotes himself to the strict Catholic ways of
Opus Dei. He is obsessed with self-punishment and celibacy, and
his goal in life is to aid the Bishop and Opus Dei.
Leigh Teabing -
An
historian and the antagonist of the novel. Sir Leigh Teabing is
a knight, a Royal Historian, and an extremely wealthy man. He is
crippled from polio and is not married. The Holy Grail has been
his one passion for years, and the search for the Truth, which he believes
to be present in the Grail, obsesses him. Eventually, his need to
know turns him into a murderer. He creates an alter ego, the Teacher,
who carries out his evil plot.
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