Angels and Demons

Leonardo Vetra, an open-minded and intelligent Catholic priest and particle physicist, believes that God’s might is illustrated through the complexity and wonder of science; he considers himself a “theo-physicist” and does not abide by the traditional enmity between religion and science. He symbolizes the union of these two traditionally opposing belief systems and represents a more modern path forward for Catholicism, which many dismiss as backward and outdated.

Vetra’s research into the creation of matter and antimatter from nothing, which has profound scientific and religious significance, leads to his death. Carlo Ventresca believes that this discovery is blasphemous and threatens the sanctity of God and the Church. Vetra is branded with a symbolic Illuminati ambigram, and his death prompts Kohler to contact Langdon, setting the events of the story in motion.

Vittoria Vetra, the adopted daughter of Leonardo Vetra, is characterized as intelligent, capable, and beautiful. She is a bio-entanglement physicist who works with her father to develop the controversial antimatter samples. She is motivated to find the antimatter canister because she suggested creating the sample while her father was cautious about the potential danger, and she feels responsible for its potential detonation.

Vittoria’s calm and resourceful assistance to Langdon as he interprets the Illuminati map is invaluable, although the pair do not manage to successfully save any of the four cardinals. Vittoria is captured and threatened by the Hassassin, but she manages to escape the binds around her arms and legs through yoga. Once she escapes, she and Langdon push the Hassassin off the balcony of the Castle of the Angel, and she avenges her father’s death by blinding the Hassassin. Langdon and Vittoria increasingly rely on each other throughout the story, and their feelings become increasingly romantic. A sexual encounter between them is implied at the end of the story.

The Hassassin is an assassin who murders and mutilates Leonardo Vetra and the four cardinals. He also steals the antimatter canister from CERN. The Hassassin is a static character; he is sadistically violent and deeply misogynistic. His name and ethnicity are not revealed, and his villainous traits are hyperbolic and seem linked to his Middle Eastern ethnicity. Some readers may recognize this depiction as Orientalist or racist.

The Hassassin believes that the murders and thefts he is executing are on behalf of the Illuminati brotherhood. In reality, the Illuminati no longer exists, and he is being manipulated by Ventresca.

Carlo Ventresca is the Camerlengo of Vatican City during the timeline of Angels and Demons; he runs the Church between the death of the previous Pope and the election of a new Pope. Ventresca was orphaned when his mother was killed in a bombing. He was taken in by a bishop, who later became Pope. The late Pope, who is in fact Ventresca’s father, becomes Ventresca’s mentor. Ventresca murdered the late Pope when he admitted that he fathered a child (Ventresca).

Threatened by the power of science and angered by society drifting away from the Church, Ventresca manufactures a threat from the long-dead Illuminati, historical enemies of the Catholic Church. By demonizing and then defeating a force symbolizing scientific power, Ventresca hopes to reaffirm people’s faith in the power of God and the Church. As part of this ruse, Ventresca has four cardinals murdered as well as Leonardo Vetra. He also steals the antimatter canister and places it in St. Peter’s tomb under the Sistine Chapel, and then retrieves it after an apparent communication with God. Ventresca’s manipulation and deception are uncovered through Maximilian Kohler’s hidden recording device. Unable to endure a ruined reputation, he dies by suicide in the final chapters.

Maximilian Kohler is the director of CERN, a leading scientific institute in Switzerland. Kohler is taciturn and direct, and many find him intimidating and harsh. He values the logic of science and abhors religion. Kohler uses a wheelchair to get around; he has unspecified health issues that require constant medication, monitoring, and medical attention.

Brown evokes pathos for Kohler when it is revealed that he almost died when his parents refused medical intervention when he was sick as a child; they trusted instead in the power of God. This informs Kohler’s hatred and skepticism of religion. Kohler is presented at one point as the possible instigator of the Illuminati plot, but he discovers Ventresca’s guilt and reveals it to the world by surreptitiously filming his confession.