Search results
Jan 13, 2017 · After meeting in school, Lemony Snicket and Count Olaf went on to work together as agents of the V.F.D. before becoming enemies. As Kit Snicket told the Baudelaire orphans in the twelfth book, The ...
- Ryan Britt
- Charlotte Ahlin
- Al Funcoot. When we meet Count Olaf in The Bad Beginning, he's working on the play The Marvelous Marriage by Al Funcoot. Of course, The Marvelous Marriage turns out to be a plot for Olaf to legally marry Violet and get his unclean hands on her family fortune.
- Stephano. Stephano is supposedly the new assistant working for herpetologist Montgomery Montgomery, but the Baudelaires recognize him at once as Count Olaf.
- Captain Julio Sham. Captain Sham is a sailor who wears an eye patch (conveniently hiding his eyebrow) and a peg leg (conveniently hiding his ankle tattoo).
- A Rabbi. Olaf very briefly disguises himself as a rabbi to get on a train and flee Lake Lachrymose.
Jan 13, 2017 · One such clue is an image that recurs throughout A Series of Unfortunate Events, an eye symbol that seems to be built into just about every surface in Count Olaf's decrepit estate. The mysterious ...
- Jack O'keeffe
Not only does he have an eye decorating his front door and a room filled with drawings of eyes, but he also has an ocular tattoo on his ankle. Check it: They could see, in the space of pale skin between his tattered trouser cuff and his black shoe, that Count Olaf had an image of an eye tattooed on his ankle, matching the eye on his front door.
- Overview
- Personality
- Biography
- 2004 Film Divergent Canon
- TV Series Divergent Canon
- Victims
- Physical appearance
- Disguises
- Associates[9]
Count Olaf is the main antagonist of A Series of Unfortunate Events. He is a criminal, mastermind and serial killer who leads various Fire-Starting members of the Volunteer Fire Department. He is the archenemy to the Baudelaires and plots to steal the Baudelaire Fortune from them.
He is the love interest for Josephine Anwhistle, Georgina Orwell, Esmé Squalor, Babs, Olivia Caliban (books only), and Kit Snicket.
He is identified by his unibrow, as well as his tattoo of the V.F.D. eye on his left ankle, although he is not the only one bearing these traits. He usually attempts to hide them in his disguises so as not to arise suspicion.
Count Olaf is claimed to be a distant relative of the Baudelaires (their third cousin four times removed or their fourth cousin three times removed). However, it is never revealed as to how he is related to Bertrand or Beatrice. It's also possible that this relation was a lie he fabricated so that he could adopt the Baudelaire orphans to get their fortune. In the Netflix series, this relation is never mentioned as he instead tricks Mr. Poe into making him the Baudelaires' guardian.
In The Bad Beginning, to obtain the Baudelaire fortune, he becomes the adoptive father of the Baudelaire orphans Violet, Klaus and Sunny after their parents' death in a mysterious fire which he may or may not have been involved in.
After he loses custody of the children when his "The Marvelous Marriage" play scheme fails, he begins to stalk and follow them everywhere, plotting complicated schemes to obtain the fortune, even if it means bribing and murdering them, their guardians and people nearby.
Olaf is greedy and he is obsessed with the Baudelaires' inheritance. He is a stalker who has followed them to their new homes, and even kills most of their guardians. In the TV series, he claims money is the most important substance on earth, apart from applause and lip balm. This opinion may be the result of him growing up in a society where money is everything, as the saying goes: "money makes the world go around." Later, it is revealed that Olaf was also an orphan, and his misfortunes throughout his life have shaped him into something grotesque, a cruel villain that wants revenge on certain people. At the end of "The Carnivorous Carnival: Part Two", Olaf comments that he knows what "a great deal of suffering and pain and then a long fall to rock bottom" feels like. He comes off as an extremely cynical and jaded realist who has come to accept that life is unfair. His behavior and mentality is likely the result of someone who has felt he has been "wronged" multiple times. For example, he was expelled from school because he did not do well in gym class, greatly hurting his dream of becoming a famous actor, as well as future job prospects and opportunities. While the books imply his parents were murdered, in the TV series, he lost his mother in a fire and his father was later killed by Beatrice, explaining his hatred for the Baudelaire children.
Olaf seems to be a misanthrope who has stopped caring about human society, which could explain why he is unhygienic as he seems to have stopped caring about what other people think of him or appealing to the standards of others. This contrasts him to Esmé Squalor who cares too much about what other people think of her. He claims he's not the only one in the world who runs around with their secrets and their schemes to outwit others and that "everyone" else is guilty of it, implying he views humanity constantly trying to control and manipulate others for their desires. Olaf dislikes pretentious people and know-it-alls like Klaus. Olaf also may be antinatalist; before he dies, he says, "Man hands on misery to man. It deepens like a coastal shelf. Get out as early as you can, And don't have any kids yourself" (quoting the poem "This Be The Verse" by Philip Larkin). In the TV series, he says the last part like a warning to the Baudelaires.
In the TV series, he called himself a "rebel" in school, likely due to his annoyance at all the rules set by those in power in society, and the often ridiculous pedantic following of them society is seen throughout the series. This makes him different than the many other adults in the series such as Mr. Poe and Justice Strauss who feel the constant need to follow the law, even to the point of absurdity. Olaf could also be viewed as a free thinker like the Baudelaires.
Olaf is shown to be rather intelligent. An example of this being how Violet thinks: "The really frightening thing about Olaf, was that he was very smart after all. He wasn’t merely an unsavory drunken brute, but an unsavory, clever drunken brute." He employs his acting skills and is a master of disguise, using various disguises in his plots. In the movie and TV series, he is shown to be talented doing accents. His disguises usually do little besides cover his eyebrow and tattoo, which is sufficient to fool most. The Baudelaires can recognize his other characteristics, such as his wheezy voice and shiny eyes, but others fail to notice these marks, and very few of them believe the Baudelaires' claims to recognize him.
As the main villain of the series, Olaf is violent and terrifying. He is a psychopath/sociopath involved with murder, kidnapping and arson. Apart from trying to kill the Baudelaires numerous times, he also once threatened to cut off one of Sunny's toes in The Reptile Room, teases that two of the Baudelaires will be burned to death at the stake in The Vile Village, and demands that Sunny be thrown off a mountain in The Slippery Slope. His eyes tend to become shiny the angrier he becomes and he is prone to rage when he loses his temper.
He is psychologically manipulative, uses gaslighting techniques and often plays the victim card. In the TV show he views the Baudelaires as spoiled rich kids who never had to work hard in their lives, even when they defend themselves by saying they help around the house, Olaf simply does not care, probably because he thinks mere house chores do not compare to his life struggles and hardships. He says he chose to offer his heart to the Baudelaires and they will not even serve him roast beef, and he blames them, despite that he never asked for it. However, this could just be his excuse to slap Klaus, as it seems that it was not the roast beef that set him off, but rather, Klaus reminding him that the Baudelaire fortune is not to be used until Violet is of age.
Early Life
Olaf said that when he was a child he loved raspberries. In The Wide Window, it is revealed that as a child, Count Olaf would torture and kill ants with a magnifying glass, as he would set them on fire. This shows early signs of Count Olaf's psychopathy and arson. The video game has a portrait of this in his house. In the TV series, he attended a boarding school with Lemony Snicket and Beatrice Baudelaire. At some point, he was recruited into VFD. A young Lemony, in a letter to Beatrice, mentions him 'filling his notebook with anagrams of obscene words" in class, and that he was tempted to talk to him, but was a bit reluctant to, after "the incident with the bottle of ink and the root beer float." When he noticed a map of the Mortmain Mountains in Madame Lulu's tent, Olaf referred to a coded stain spilt on the Valley of Four Drafts, stating that he was taught to use such stains to mark secret locations when he was a young boy. Olaf may have also gone to Wade Academy, as there is graffiti on the tower that bears his name which says he loves Guess Who, a board game about identifying people. This also implies he may have been raised in Stain'd-by-the-Sea. A letter written from Sally Sebald contains a picture of the young boy who was to play Young Rölf in Zombies in the Snow, a film directed by her brother Gustav Sebald. She says that she thinks his name might be Omar (a name that many confuse with Olaf). Olaf says that his acting career began when he was approached by Gustav Sebald (then a "young director") because he was the "most handsome fellow at school", which would make it a very old movie, since Count Olaf himself (disguised as Stephano) watched the film in theater with the Baudelaires and Dr. Montgomery. Since the film contains a Sebald Code message for Monty Montgomery warning him about Stephano, some argue that the film itself was shot decades ago, and that the Sebald Code was later dubbed into the movie when it was re-released near the events of The Reptile Room. Others argue that the young boy is Omeros and not Olaf. He was once accompanied with Beatrice Baudelaire to the edge of a strange wood.
Adulthood
At some point in time, he met Kit Snicket and fell in love with her. He also became the acting teacher of Esmé Squalor. Duncan and Isadora Quagmire mentioned that they read about a man, with similar traits as Olaf, that strangled a bishop, escaped prison in just ten minutes, and threw a wealthy widow off a cliff. The Baudelaire children agreed that it sounds like Olaf and believed him to be the man mentioned in the articles (although this is never confirmed). In the books, Kit mentioned that she was able to smuggle a box of poison darts to the Baudelaire parents before Esmé Squalor caught her. Through a few subtle hints, it becomes apparent that Lemony Snicket was present as well. Olaf revealed that poison darts were the reason he became an orphan himself, which is confirmed in the TV series, where, after Lemony Snicket and Beatrice Baudelaire steal the Sugar Bowl, Beatrice throws a poison dart at Esmé, but, before it could hit her, Olaf's father accidentally walked in front of Beatrice, hitting (and killing) him instead, which could explain Olaf's hatred for the Baudelaires. The White-Faced Women hinted that Olaf may have been responsible for the fire that consumed their home and took the life of one of their siblings and perhaps the lives of their parents. It is strongly hinted and almost outright stated by Olaf that he burned down the childhood home of Dewey Denouement and murdered almost his entire family. Count Olaf mentioned that he saw Fiona when she was an infant and that he tried to throw thumbtacks in her cradle. In The End, Ishmael says that Olaf set fire to his home, murdered his parents and that he locked him in a birdcage (which Ishmael also does to him) though Olaf said that he did not set that fire to his home.
Role in the Schism
Olaf had something to do with the schism that separated V.F.D. This is hinted the most in a letter Jacques Snicket wrote to Jerome Squalor. The letter explained that a member which he only referred to as O was acting in such a violent manner that his actions have caused the organization to split in two. As the members of the organization often use the first letter of their names to talk about one and another, it is generally assumed O stands for Olaf. Many members of V.F.D., such as Widdershins, often use Olaf's name immediately when talking about the treachery of the fire starting side of the schism. This hints that Olaf has done a great deal of harm to V.F.D. more than most of the other villains involved have, furthering the concept of him being one of the leaders of the schism. However, it should be noted that Kit and Dewey claim the schism occurred when they were four years old; as Olaf is around their and Lemony's age, he would scarcely be old enough to begin the initial schism, though as an adult he could have advanced it. Olaf was involved with the organization for many years and knows many, if not all, of the secrets surrounding the organization that the Baudelaire children seek to know. He is also responsible for numerous fires and deaths of V.F.D., as mentioned by Lemony Snicket himself, and plans on gaining control of all the fortunes of the members in thirst of revenge. In a transcript of a VFD meeting, Olaf and Esmé arrive and threaten the Volunteers. It is revealed that he took over a VFD play, The World is Quiet Here, and he fired Beatrice from the lead role before renaming the play One Last Warning to Those Who Try to Stand in My Way and casting Esmé as the lead. Lemony Snicket wrote a scathing review of the play, and while that was taken down, this apparently caused Olaf to speed up his plans. He framed Lemony for several crimes, causing him to have to go on the run.
Olaf's role is mainly the same as the books. However, the children are taken out of Olaf's care after he nearly hits them with a train (he parked on the train tracks and left them there, locked in the car), and Mr. Poe takes them out of his care because Olaf "let Sunny drive".
When Count Olaf saves the children from the leeches they are placed back in his care and then are forced to participate in the play, The Marvelous Marriage, instead of how they left Olaf's care in the first place.
In this canon, Olaf burned down the Baudelaire mansion with a magnifying glass which can set fire at a distance using sunlight. In the books, this is something left ambiguous to the reader.
After Count Olaf's scheme is exposed, Mr. Poe, Polly Poe, and the crowd converge on Count Olaf who is then handcuffed by the Constable. Lemony Snicket stated that the judge's decree had Count Olaf suffering every hardship he has put the Baudelaires in before he can serve a life sentence. Before Mr. Poe letting the Baudelaires visit the ruins of their mansion, Lemony stated that Count Olaf vanished after a jury of his peers overturned his sentence.
Olaf's role is mainly the same as the books. However, there are more details to his backstory, and he also uses more disguises than the books.
It is revealed Count Olaf went to Prufrock Preparatory School with Lemony Snicket in his adolescence. Both of them were also part of their school's drama club. The school principal Ishmael made Olaf think poetry, books and learning would keep him safe from the horrors and treachery of the world, and recruited him into VFD.
Olaf claimed he was a rebel and girls were falling for him, and not just because he enjoyed tripping them. He was expelled from Prufrock because he flunked his physical education class since gym teacher evaluations are worth 51% of a student's grade.
At some point in time, Olaf fell in love with Georgina Orwell, but later left her to drown under a bridge, possibly a reference to the Chappaquiddick incident.
In "The Vile Village: Part One", just before Jacques Snicket and Olivia Caliban break into the saloon where Count Olaf is hiding himself, Olaf looks at a heart carved into the counter with three female names: Georgina Orwell, Josephine (possibly Aunt Josephine) and Kit. It implies he visited the village saloon with all three of them, and shows the chronological order of his relationships. Why Josephine never mentions a previous relationship with Olaf is unknown.
In "The Slippery Slope: Part One," it is revealed the Man and Woman are his adoptive parents and mentors. A flashback reveals they recruited Olaf to the fire-starting side of the V.F.D. when he was a young man, shortly after the murder of his parents.
Confirmed murders include:
•Gustav Sebald
•Montgomery Montgomery
•Captain Sam (in the film)
•Josephine Anwhistle (in the film and Netflix series, ambiguous in the books)
•Jacques Snicket (in the Netflix series, he is beaten to death by Olaf with a crowbar)
Olaf is described as very tall and very thin with bony hands and pale skin. His angular face is unshaven as he has a goatee beard and large sideburns. He has a long unibrow and gray-white receding hair. He has a prominent hooked nose. He has a little chest hair, as shown by one of the illustrations for The Vile Village.
His eyes tend to gleam and shine when he asks serious questions in a sarcastic, mean manner, as if he is telling a funny joke, which frightens the Baudelaires. His features could be interpreted as unusual, as if animalistic or demonic. Violet remarks that she cannot picture Olaf as a child — all his features seem to be those of an adult.
He has a tattoo of an eye on his left ankle which is a mark for members of VFD, the organization to which Olaf belonged before becoming what he describes as "an individual practitioner."
Clothing-wise, he meets the Baudelaires dressed in a gray suit with many dark stains on it.
Olaf wears a new disguise and alias of someone who works under the guardians or works near the area, usually murdering the person who had the occupation previously, that usually fools everyone but the Baudelaires. One or two of his henchmen, also usually disguised, accompany him and aid him in executing his schemes. The following is a list of his primary disguises.
•Yessica Haircut (The Bad Beginning, TV series) - Count Olaf used this improvisational disguise to convince Mr. Poe, whom incidentally had a haircut scheduled, that the Baudelaire children should be given to him.
•Al Funcoot (The Bad Beginning) - An anagram for and used by Count Olaf (the playwright of The Marvelous Marriage).
•Stephano (The Reptile Room) - Dr. Montgomery's assistant herpetologist with a long beard, no hair, and no eyebrows. He had powder covering his ankle tattoo.
•Captain Julio Sham (The Wide Window) - A sailor with an eyepatch to hide his one eyebrow and a wooden leg to hide his left foot. The real Julio Sham is captain of the Prospero.
•Rabbi - (The Wide Window, book) - Count Olaf disguised himself as a rabbi in order to board a train to flee Lake Lachrymose's proximity.
•Bald Man with the Long Nose- a member of Count Olaf's acting troupe who is eaten by lions at Caligari Carnival (books)
•White-Faced Women- written as "powder-faced women" in the list of Count Olaf's associates in Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, they are also members of Count Olaf's acting troupe and assist in various schemes to steal the Baudelaire fortune. Despite this, they refuse to throw Sunny Baudelaire off of Mount Fraught in defense of their deceased sister. (TV series)
•Hook-Handed Man- yet another member of Count Olaf's acting troupe who has some old connections to V.F.D. and sometimes questions his loyalty. (TV series)
•Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender- simply listed as "person of unknown gender and great girth" in Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, this person is a member of Count Olaf's troupe and always remains silent (books) which often causes the children to shiver.
•Assortment of people the children could not see- these people are unnamed and only referenced briefly in The Bad Beginning. It is listed that there are approximately seven of them.
•Ivan Lachrymose- Not much is known about Ivan Lachrymose aside from the fact he was a lake explorer and probably worked for Count Olaf for a time.
Count Olaf is the main antagonist in A Series of Unfortunate Events. Olaf is described as a tall, thin, unkempt and often dirty man. Lemony makes frequent reference to Olaf's poor hygiene. In The Slippery Slope, Olaf mentions that he often goes ten days without a shower. His lack of personal hygiene worsens as the books progress, although in the same book Sunny Baudelaire is shocked to see ...
People also ask
Does Count Olaf have an eye?
What are Count Olaf's disguises in a series of Unfortunate Events?
Who is Count Olaf in a series of Unfortunate Events?
Why does Count Olaf have a tattoo on his ankle?
How is Olaf portrayed in 'it's the Count'?
Does Count Olaf wear a disguise?
Jan 4, 2017 · Jan. 4, 2017. On Friday, January 13, the Netflix TV adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events drops. There’s lot riding on the success of the new streaming series, and it would seem the bulk ...
