Lankester Merrin

Father Lankester Merrin is the tetartagonist of the 1973 film The Exorcist, a minor character in its 1977 sequel Exorcist II: The Heretic and the protagonist in the 2004 prequel Exorcist: The Beginning and the alternate prequel Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist. He played by Max von Sydow in The Exorcist and The Heretic, and Stellan Skarsgard in The Begining and Dominion.

He is a priest, but he is also an archaeologist and an exorcist, that exorcised before. He is recruited by the church to exorcise Regan with the help of Karras, another priest.

He dies of a heart attack caused by the demon Pazuzu, a demon he dealt with before, while trying to exorcise Regan.