Mitch Wilkinson

Mitch Wilkinson is the main antagonist of National Treasure: Book of Secrets. He is portrayed by Ed Harris.

Wilkinson is a treasure-hunter who is descended from both a Confederate Army General and a conspirator in the Lincoln Assassination. When Ben Gates' great-great-great grandfather, Thomas Gates, is announced as a new addition to a Civil War Heroes exhibit at a Civilian Heroes conference for his involvement in keeping the map to Cibola, the legendary city of gold, from Booth and his associates, Wilkinson presents one of the missing pages of Booth's diary, which lists Thomas Gates as the architect behind the Assassination. In reality, this was fabricated so Gates could find Cibola as proof and so Wilkinson could take the credit for it.

Wilkinson begins to show his true intentions when he attacks Ben's father, Patrick Gates, and clones his cell phone in order to keep tabs on Ben during the hunt. He follows Ben and his friends Riley Poole and Abigail Chase through London and obtains one of the clues. He also discreetly follows them during Ben's kidnapping of the President and infiltration of the Library of Congress. Mitch then goes to Dr. Emily Appleton, Ben's mother and a college professor skilled in ancient Native American languages, and blackmails her into helping him find Cibola.

Mitch meets Ben and his friends at Mount Rushmore, where Cibola is supposedly located, and makes a deal with Ben to assist him in finding the treasure. Ben reluctantly agrees, and after travelling through several levels and chambers, they indeed locate the City of Gold, at which Mitch apologizes for slandering Thomas Gates' name and reveals his true intent. However, the city begins to flood. They manage to find a way out, but both Mitch and Ben get trapped in the heavy stone door. Realizing that the only way for anyone to make it out alive was for someone to stay behind, Mitch volunteers so that everyone else escapes, with Ben promising to give Mitch credit in the discovery. As eveyone else escapes, Mitch slips and is pulled under the water. The room soon fills up compleatly, and Mitch drowns.