Sir Leigh Teabing is the main antagonist of the 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code and its 2006 film adaptation.

He is an infamous historian who is dedicated to obtaining the Holy Grail and is more than willing to kill everybody who wants to keep its identity hidden from the public. He is also the archenemy of Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu.

He was portrayed by Ian McKellen, who also portrayed Magneto in the X-Men film franchise, The Toad in Flushed Away, King Richard III in the 1995 film adaptation of Richard III, and Kurt Dussander in Apt Pupil.

Biography[]

Sir Leigh Teabing and Robert Langdon have an academic history together, possibly from the same university. Sir Leigh introduced Robert to an interpretation of the Grail legend, where the Grail is a person, rather than a Chalice. Robert didn't believe him but Sir Leigh was determined to make the world believe his view and so he decided to hunt down and kill the members of the Priory of Sion, the protectors of the Grail. Sir Leigh got in contact with the Church, and hired a bishop named Manuel, as well as his servant, Silas, an assassin, whom Sir Leigh got to kill the Priory members for him.

He was successful in his first murders, however the murder of Jacques Sauniere, the final member, caused a problem. Sauniere managed to leave cryptic messages in his dying hour, and he left a message to his granddaughter, Sophie, to find Langdon. Unfortunately, the police believed Langdon to be the killer, and Sir Leigh orchestrated this, telling Manuel, the bishop, to tell the police Langdon had come to confession and told them of the murders. Langdon and Sophie escaped police and headed to Sir Leigh's villa.

Sir Leigh welcomed them (in an eccentric fashion, with "three questions of honour" i.e. whether to have coffee or tea) and then told Sophie about the Grail. Sir Leigh was shocked she didn't know the real story, calling her a "virgin" (a name amongst academics for individuals who don't know the truth). Sir Leigh pointed out the features in the Da Vinci painting The Last Supper, claiming that instead of John the Apostle, the figure on Jesus's right-hand side was Mary Magdalene. Sir Leigh argues that Mary Magdalene wasn't a prostitute, but Jesus's wife, and that she was pregnant with his child at the time of his crucifixion.

Having contacted Silas before, the monk appeared at the mansion at that moment, holding Sophie hostage and trying to kill Robert, but he was knocked out by Sir Leigh after some negotiation. Sir Leigh was about to call the police because his servant Remy saw Langdon and Sophie on a Most Wanted list, but Leigh stopped when Robert told him about Sauniere being Sophie's grandfather. Sir Leigh got them away from police and he drove out to his private jet to fly to London for the final clues.

In a church, Remy seemed to double-cross Sir Leigh and Silas attacked again, but Sir Leigh was thrown to the ground, kidnapped by Remy, and taken with Silas in his own car. There, Remy got a call from Teabing saying to leave Silas near the Opus Dei headquarters in London. Remy later conversed with the Teacher, and congratulated them both. The Teacher, however, poisoned Remy and left him to die, betraying him.

The Teacher ambushed Sophie and Robert at Westminster Abbey, revealing himself as Sir Leigh Teabing, to their amazement. Sir Leigh claimed he was honourable, and wouldn't kill them so long as they helped him open a cryptex which would lead him to the Grail's location. Sir Leigh says he wishes to stop the Church in their efforts to cover up the Grail, finally exposing the Church for their history of lies. Sir Leigh confessed to hiring Silas to kill Sauniere and the other four Priory of Sion members. Sir Leigh waited for Langdon to work out the cryptex, but Langdon, seemingly having failed, throws the cryptex into the air. Sir Leigh makes an attempt to catch it but in doing so drops his cane, losing balance and dropping the cryptex, breaking it. Police then arrive and arrest Sir Leigh.

As Sir Leigh is taken away to jail, he shouts madly at Langdon for breaking the cryptex. However, his rage turns to relief when he realizes that Langdon had actually solved the cryptex and had taken it out before throwing it in the air. He pleads for Langdon to kneel at Magdalene's grave and set her free as he is stuffed into the backseat of a police car and driven away.

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