The Penultimate Peril characters

Appears from the start

The eldest Baudelaire, a fourteen-year-old inventor who ties back her hair to think. Still hunted and now working undercover for V.F.D., she leads her siblings through a vast hotel where allies and enemies are gathering.

Appears from the start

The middle Baudelaire, twelve, bespectacled, and endlessly well-read, whose knowledge guides the family. He tries to sort volunteer from villain among the many familiar faces converging on the hotel.

Appears from the start

The youngest Baudelaire, a small child who now speaks clearly and is a capable cook and helper. Brave and observant, she takes an equal part in the family's undercover work.

Appears from the start

The murderous actor who has hunted the Baudelaire fortune through the whole series, marked by his single eyebrow and ankle tattoo. He arrives at the hotel with his own schemes as the two factions of V.F.D. gather.

Appears from the start

Count Olaf's fashionable girlfriend and accomplice, vain and cruel, who continues to serve the villains' side as the factions assemble at the hotel.

Appears from the start

A member of V.F.D. and sister of the murdered Jacques Snicket, an ally of the Baudelaires who is expecting a child. She brings the children to the hotel and asks them to work undercover, observing the arriving guests to help tell the organization's friends from its enemies.

First appears in chapter 2

One of the identical Denouement brothers who manage the Hotel Denouement, run like an enormous library. Frank is said to be a loyal V.F.D. volunteer while his twin is a villain, but the two look and sound exactly alike, so the Baudelaires can never be certain which brother they are speaking to or whether he can be trusted.

First appears in chapter 2

One of the identical Denouement brothers who manage the Hotel Denouement. Ernest is said to be a villain while his twin is a loyal volunteer, but because the brothers are indistinguishable, the children cannot tell Ernest from Frank and never know which of them they are dealing with at any moment.

First appears in chapter 9

The kind judge who lived next door to Count Olaf when the children were first orphaned and tried to help them then. She reappears at the hotel as one of the three judges of the High Court, arrived to preside over a great trial meant to bring the guilty in the secret conflict to justice.

First appears in chapter 10

A secret third Denouement brother, unknown to almost everyone, who has devoted his life to compiling a vast hidden catalog of V.F.D.'s records, secrets, and evidence. Quiet and dedicated, he is a devoted member of the organization and close to Kit Snicket, and he holds knowledge that both factions would give anything to possess.