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Luis Avila is the main antagonist of Dan Brown's novel Origin. He is a former admiral in the Spanish navy who serves the Palmarian Church and seeks to destroy futurist and atheist Edmond Kirsch.
When he was a young man, he had a wife and child, however this all changed when a squad of terrorists slaughtered everyone in the Spanish church they attended. Luis survived by being hurled back against a wall in the explosion, and he crawled out yelling for his family. But he only found their strewn remains over the floor. He eschewed all faith in reason that day and vowed that he would kill the monsters responsible for this.
Depression[]
Luis became a drug and alcohol addict; and almost tried killing himself before his gun misfired and shot him in the leg. He became a paraplegic and was invalided in a hospital. Visited by a fellow paraplegic named Marco, who introduced him to the pope, Luis was astonished the pope was in Spain. But then Marco coyly revealed he'd deceived him by taking him to the Palmarian church where the Antipope resided. Marco apologised for deceiving Luis but said he would grow to love this new church.
Luis Avila became a reborn man, thriving with purpose and energy and no longer contemplating suicide. He then was met with a new mentor, named the Regent, and he was suddenly and mysteriously paid several thousand dollars for carrying out a mission to kill Edmond Kirsch, a renowned atheist, who, it was said, was the man responsible for igniting the passion of the terrorist who destroyed Luis' church. He was also ordered to kill Rabbi Yehuda Köves and Imam Syed al-Fadl.
Victory[]
Guided by the Regent, Luis abducted al-Fadl and left him in the Dubai desert, where he died of dehydration. He then broke into Edmond Kirsch's lecture hall, where he would be answering the fundamental questions Where do we come from and Where are we going? Luis actually was admitted as a guest as he had added his name last minute to an invitation. That's why the guards didn't look twice. In attendance were Professor Robert Langdon and the future queen of Spain, Ambra Vidal, and the security was ultra tight because of Vidal. Thus, Luis deflected all questions with "Sorry I don't speak English" (speaking of course in Spanish). Luis then went upstairs to the balcony, and shot Edmond dead just before his AI computer, Winston, alerted Langdon to the potential threat on his creator.
Luis Avila then successfully fled the scene and he hailed a taxi which supported the pope. The terrified driver had his life and family threatened by Luis, who guided him at gunpoint all the way to Rabbi Köves's location. Luis followed Köves to a bar, where he chased him into a toilet and attacked him. Köves attempted to fake his death by asphyxiating himself, but Luis saw through his ploy as he still had a heartbeat. He then killed Köves by snapping his neck. However, the Regent explained to Luis he was needed to tie up loose ends (kill Vidal). Luis explained to the driver he was not evil, despite what he had done, and he would forget the driver's address and family if all went to plan. Luis asked the driver to take him to the airport and they'd leave as friends.
Downfall[]
Luis Avila then scrambled to the cathedral to kill Langdon and Ambra Vidal. He ambushed two Royal Guard agents and broke their necks. In the struggle, Luis Avila met his match against Langdon, who broke Luis' ribs and forced the assassin down. Luis tried explaining Edmond deserved to die as he had killed Luis' family, but not being one to listen to madmen, Langdon grappled Luis in a headlock. Langdon pushed Luis away; and then Luis accidentally fell to his death several feet below.
After his death; it was revealed the mysterious "Regent" was in fact the AI; Winston. Winston had anticipated Edmond's death due to cancer; and he rationalised his creator would prefer an easy way out - ie an assassination; than a painful death through cancer. So Winston hired Luis to kill his creator, and fed Luis lies about Edmond's involvement in his family's death. He ordered him to kill Köves and al-Fadl because they knew of Edmond's discovery and planned to discredit it. Essentially turning Luis into a madman was not something Langdon sympathised with when Winston confessed to him before Winston's own self-destruct.
Personality[]
A tragic soul; Luis Avila was very similar to Michael from Fading of the Cries because Avila was simply a man looking for purpose in life after losing his family. But in seeking to avenge them, Avila became as evil as the terrorists who killed his family. Luis Avila was known for possessing a tattoo on his palm, given to him by the Palmarian church - the tattoo was VICTOR arranged in a circular system, much like elaborate signatures. Alongside his wealth and status as an Admiral, he would often use this tattoo to let his enemies know who they were up against, and he would use the tattoo to get out of trouble. He who fights monsters must make sure he does not become a monster. Although Winston wanted Avila captured, to explain the story to the police of Edomond's AI and cancer, Winston underestimated human capabilities and the assassin successfully escaped. Avila's ultimate death is a prime example of what goes around, comes around.