Violet Baudelaire

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Violet Baudelaire, at 16 years old by the end of The End (she was 14 until The Grim Grotto), is the eldest of the three Baudelaire orphans. She loves inventing and is an expert at inventing new devices that are always helpful to the Baudelaires when they are in a dire situation. She has a younger brother, Klaus Baudelaire, and a baby sister, Sunny Baudelaire. She usually ties her hair up with a red hair ribbon to keep it our of her eyes when thinking of an invention. This sets the gear inside her head working at full force.

Violet is sixteen years old, however, she was fourteen until The Grim Grotto and the final chapter of The End. By 18, she would have inherit the Baudelaire fortune.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Inventions 2.1 Violet's inventions 3 Disguises 4 Behind the Scenes 5 References

[edit] Biography

When Violet was five year old,she was very happy that she won her first invention contest with an automatic rolling pin. She used a window shade and six pairs of roller skates. This invention won a gold medal. The judge commented that Violet could invent something with both her hands tied behind her back. Prior to the demise of her parents, she liked to visit the Verne Invention Museum and its many exhibits, including one of the mechanical demonstrations that inspired her to be an inventor when she was just two year old.

Violet once invented a device to soothe her sister's teething pains.^[1]

Violet skipped many rocks at Briny Beach, trying to invent a way to retrieve rocks after they have been skipped. Mr. Poe approaches the orphans, and sadly tells them that their parents have died in and enormous fire that destroyed their entire home including the library that was cherished by the children and their parents. This fire is believed to have been started by Count Olaf or another person on his side of the schism. Violet and her siblings are taken to Mr. Poe's house, where Mr. Poe lives with his wife and two children, Edgar and Albert, before being taken to Count Olaf's house. Violet and the other orphans are forced to do housework for the greedy Count while he waits to take over the Baudelaire fortune that their parents left behind. After realizing that the Baudelaire fortune will not come into his filthy hand for another few years, Olaf hatches a plan that involves him legally marrying Violet and convincing the audience that it is just a play.

Ensuring that Violet would agree to the arrangement, Sunny was hung in a birdcage from the tower. If Violet did anything to disrupt the play, Sunny would be dropped and surely not survive the fall. But Violet managed to make a grappling hook out of drapes and curtain rods. She managed to hook her invention to the tower room and climb up to Sunny. But unfortunately an associate of Count Olaf was waiting, and captured Violet and placed her in the tower room. By the time of the play, they could think of nothing to stop the evil Count. But in the nick of time, Violet signs the marriage contract with her left hand. With her being right-handed, the signature was not in her own hand and therefore null and void. Unfortunately, Count Olaf and his henchpeople escape in a black automobile before the authorities could catch him.^[2]

Violet and her siblings were then moved to the herpetologist Dr. Montgomery Montgomery's house, where a large amount of reptiles and snakes were kept. Since they were leaving for Peru in 10 days, they must prepare for the trip. Violet enjoyed fixing the cages in which the snakes would be transported. But when Uncle Monty's new assistant Stephano arrives, the orphans see that it is Count Olaf in disguise. Uncle Monty though, does not believe them. The next day he is found dead. Two bite marks are found, and the venom of the Mambu du Mal are in his veins. Violet then goes through "Stephano"'s suitcase and finds evidence that he killed Uncle Monty. Count Olaf then fled with his acssociate the hook-handed man.^[3]

The Baudelaires were sent to their next guardian, Aunt Josephine Anwhistle, living near Lake Lachrymose. This time Count Olaf disguises himself as Captain Sham, with an eyepatch, a beard, and a wooden peg leg which Sunny bites at the end of the book to reveal Count Olaf.^[4]

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are sent to live in the Lucky Smells Lumbermill where they are forced to work. In the middle of the book, Klaus breaks his glasses and has to go to Dr. Orwell and get them fixed. Violet and Sunny are worried about him, he does not return until after the girls have gone to bed. They realize Klaus has been hypnotized and Dr. Orwell is evil. After she hypnotizes Klaus for a second time Sunny battles her using her four sharp teeth, and Violet luckily saves Charles from being sawed in half (but Dr. Orwell is thrown into the dangerously sharp knife and dies. She is gone forever). Olaf's next disguise is Shirley, the receptionist of Dr. Orwell.^[5]

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny meet Duncan and Isadora Quagmire at a boarding school they are sent to Prufrock Preparatory School. A close friendship between Violet and Duncan develops. In the tenth book, The Slippery Slope, she meets Quigley Quagmire, and they form a strong relationship. What will become of these relationships is still unknown, as Duncan and Quigley both disappeared into the "Great Unknown." Coach Genghis is Count Olaf's disguise in this book, and according to Carmelita Spats, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny have to run laps (Sunny crawls laps for she's a baby) to tire them out so they don't stop Olaf from getting the fortune, then killing them all.

One night, the Quagmire triplets took the Baudelaire orphans' place in disguise, allowing Violet and her siblings could continue studying for their exams. Violet invented a staple-making device so that Sunny could make the staples she needed to pass her secretarial test. Duncan and Isadora were not so lucky, and were kidnapped by Olaf, only able to shout one last thing to the Baudelaires: "V.F.D." Violet, Klaus and Sunny vowed to rescue the Quagmires.^[6]

Violet and her siblings were adopted by Jerome and Esmé Squalor[6]. Olaf came disguised as an auctioneer named Gunther this time, and the Baudelaires were able to locate where he was hiding right under their noses. This hideout was a secretly empty elevator shaft in the Squalors' apartment building. Violet invented a makeshift rope to climb down the shaft, where the orphans found Duncan and Isadora, trapped in a cage. Violet was able to invent welding torches so as to free the Quagmires, but when the Baudelaires returned to the cage, it was empty. Later, Violet, Klaus and Sunny were thrown down the shaft by Esmé, who was in cahoots with Olaf. Sunny saved them all, and the three discovered a secret passageway that led to the ashen remains of the Baudelaire mansion. Eventually, the Baudelaires made it to Veblen Hall, where Klaus had learned the Quagmires were to be auctioned off by "Gunther". The orphans bid on the wrong lot, however, and the Quagmires were carried away again. Instead of staying with Jerome, the Baudelaires decided to hunt down Duncan and Isadora.^[7]

Following the clue of V.F.D., Violet and her siblings decided to be adopted by the Village of Fowl Devotees, specifically a caring but skittish villager named Hector. Hector had a inventing studio and a library (in the barn right next to his house)which seemed to be very comfortable for the Baudelaires. There, the Baudelaires received coded poems from Isadora, via the migrating crows that lived in the village. Meanwhile, the villagers thought they had caught Olaf at last, but only Violet, Klaus and Sunny knew that this man was not Olaf at all. The Baudelaires tried to rescue the man, whose name was Jacques Snicket[7], from being burned at the stake, but were accused of the later murder of Jacques by none other than the real Count Olaf disguised as a Detective Dupin. All three Baudelaires were jailed by the village. In the nick of time, though, Violet invented a water pump to dissolve the mortar of the jail cell’s brick walls, which then served as a handy battering ram. After escaping, the Baudelaires rescued Duncan and Isadora from within a fountain, using clues in the coded poems. While Duncan and Isadora escaped with Hector, Violet, Klaus and Sunny were separated from the Quagmires by Esmé, who had disguised herself as the village’s chief of police. Thanks to the Daily Punctilio, the news of what the Baudelaires were accused of spread quickly. Thus, the Baudelaires fled from the authorities.^[8]

While running away from the authorities after being framed for murder, Violet and her siblings arrive at the Last Chance General Store to send a telegram to Mr. Poe seeking help. However, he doesn't reply before the delivery of The Daily Punctilio forces the reported murderers to flee once more. Afterwards, they were picked up by the Volunteers Fighting Disease. They arrived at Heimlich Hospital and obtained the thirteenth page of the Snicket File. Later, Esmé Squalor chased them for the file. Violet got caught when she is too big to escape up a chute.

From then, Violet went under the name of Laura V. Bleediotie, and taken by the two white-faced women who led them to the hook-handed man and the bald-headed man. They took her to the operating theater and begin the operation to receive an unwanted "Crainioectomy". However, this operation was stalled briefly by the history of the long knife. Hal accused the Baudelaire children of setting fire, but Esmé showed up with the real white-faced women and "exposes" them, revealing that she had set fire to the Library.

They hid in another closet and then diverted the crowd of escapees outside to the unfinished half of the hospital by acting like the intercom system and telling them that the Baudelaires have been spotted there. They jumped out of the building, and hide in the trunk of Olaf's car.^[9]

From where The Hostile Hospital left off, Sunny, Klaus, and Violet hide in the trunk of Count Olaf's car. They overhear the conversation going on between Olaf and his theater troupe. They disguised themselves as "freaks" (Violet and Klaus as a two-headed person named Beverly and Elliot, respectively, and Sunny as Chabo the Wolf Baby) and get jobs at Caligari Carnival. At the end of the book they pretend to decide to join Count Olaf, although since Olaf knows they are the Baudelaires, unhooks the caravan Violet and Klaus from the one with him and his other associates (and Sunny, who Olaf kidnaps to get the Baudelaire fortune, and thinks he killed Klaus and Violet).^[10]

In the next book where The Carnivorous Carnival left off, Violet and Klaus begin their search for Sunny, who was kidnapped by Count Olaf in order to get his hands on the Baudelaire fortune. In chapter three we find out that Sunny is crying her little eyes out and doing stupid chores assigned by Olaf. Klaus and Violet disguise themselves as Snow Scouts and meets Quigley Quagmire who was thought to be dead in the fire that killed his parents, who Violet develops a romantic attachment with, and learns more about V.F.D.

Violet, Quigley and Klaus hatch a plan to lure Esmé to them and use her to bait Olaf into giving Sunny back. They dig a pit and light a Verdant Flammable Device next to it. Esmé sees some green smoke at the bottom of the slope. She goes down it, thinking the smoke is coming from the "in" cigarettes. The children realize that two wrongs don't equal a right and that there is a better way to rescue Sunny than kidnapping Esmé. When she reaches the bottom, she runs into three masked strangers (the Baudelaires and Quigley), and they help her climb back up the slope, hoping to get Sunny as a reward for their efforts.

Claiming to be Volunteers, Violet, Klaus and Quigley demand Sunny's return. Olaf refuses, until Violet pretends to know the location of a missing sugar bowl (of unknown importance) from Esmé's tea set. Olaf barters for the dish, but the Snow Scouts reach the peak. Klaus, Violet, and Quigley take off their masks to convince the scouts to run. Olaf orders the two white faced women to grab Sunny and throw her off the mountain, but they leave, quitting the troupe. As they leave, they tell Olaf that one of their siblings was killed when their house burned down. The scouts, except Carmelita, the freaks and the hook-handed man are captured in a net, and carried off by eagles. Carmelita is convinced to join Olaf and Esmé in their evil schemes. The Baudelaires and Quigley grab a toboggan and slide down the slope, but when they reach the bottom, the frozen waterfall shatters. In the ensuing flood, the Baudelaire siblings and Quigley Quagmire are separated. Quigley tries to tell them to meet him somewhere, but cannot be heard over the rush of the running water. ^[11]

Now lost in the water, the Baudelaires board the Queequeg, captained by Captain Widdershins, in the next book. In the beginning of the book, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny meet also Fiona, who has a romantic relationship with Klaus. Poor Sunny gets poisoned by the Medusoid Mycelium but luckily Klaus and Violet rescue her in the nick of time by giving her wasabi and horseradish. Violet also has her 15th birthday in this book but never knows it, it probably occurs when Sunny first breathed in the Medusoid Mycelium. At the end, Klaus has his first kiss with Fiona before they say good-bye before she goes to join Count Olaf with her brother Fernald (who happens to be the hook-handed man). Violet, Klaus, and Sunny make it to shore and realize they're at Briny Beach, where they first received the bad news about the Baudelaire fire. They get a message from Quigley Quagmire, telling them to go to the Hotel Denouement (continued in the next book). Mr. Poe finds them and tries to convince them to go with him. But they call for a taxi instead. The driver is Kit Snicket, the sister of Lemony and Jaques Snicket and she takes them away to the Hotel Denouement.^[12]

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny get in a taxi and as you know Kit Snicket is the driver and drives them to the Hotel Denouement, where the Baudelaires disguise themselves as concierges. They split up and meet familiar people they met in previous books. Later, when they try to stop Count Olaf from killing Dewey Denouement, the husband of Kit Snicket (possibly Kit Denouement) and the father of Kit's baby, Beatrice, the harpoon gun that they procure from Count Olaf slips from their grasp and it fires a harpoon, killing Dewey Denouement. They blame themselves for his death, even though it is not really their fault. At the end of the book they burn down the Hotel Denouement in order to send a message to cancel the V.F.D. gathering on Thursday of that week, and escape with Olaf in a boat which continues in the next and final book. ^[13]

Left off from the previous book, Klaus, Sunny, and Violet are stuck in a pirate ship with Count Olaf. They eventually wash up on an island (which Olaf names Olaf-Land, although it isn't really called that) and meet a little girl named Friday Caliban. She takes the Baudelaires with her but abandons Count Olaf on the coastal shelf. A few days later, after thinking it's Violet, Klaus, and Sunny's fault the Medusoid Mycelium (which poisons Sunny and almost kills her in book #11) came, they abandon the three of them on the coastal shelf with Olaf. The Baudelaires sneak back onto the island and forget about Count Olaf. Count Olaf eventually follows them, and everyone sees them all. Ishmael, the faciltator, takes the harpoon gun away from Olaf. Olaf was before disguised as Kit Snicket who is pregnant and put the helmet (formerly Sunny's in book #11) which contains the poisonous mushrooms, as his false baby. Ishmael fires the harpoon gun and everyone except Ishmael himself gets poisoned. Violet and Klaus think of a plan while Sunny looks around to help her siblings think of one. All three of them know why there are bitter apples on the apple tree...they contain horseradish! They each take a bite of an apple and try to get all the islanders to eat them. Unfortunately, the islanders are almost out of sight in a boat! At the end of the book, Kit Snicket's baby is born and the Baudelaires name her Beatrice after their late mother. Kit and Count Olaf both die as they were both infected. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny bury them at the shores of the island and have adopted little Beatrice. At the end of the bonus mini-book Chapter 14, Violet, Klaus, Sunny, and Beatrice Baudelaire leave.^[14]

As mentioned in The Hostile Hospital and The End, despite all of Lemony's research and hard work, even he still does not know the current location as of the events in Chapter Fourteen, position and status of the Baudelaire children. Their boat, the Beatrice sank when they were close to the mainland as the boat is seen torn up on some sharp rocks. As they waded to land afterwards, she, along with her siblings and maybe Beatrice, might have disappeared through the Great Unknown, as depicted in the last image of The End and Chapter Fourteen. It is possible that her entire estate, including the fortune, was ultimately destroyed. It is also possible that she is in the Great Unknown with Klaus, Sunny, Beatrice, Captain Widdershins, Fiona, the Quagmires, Fernald, and Hector, and/or was saved or destroyed.^[15]

It is stated in a special version of "The Bad Beginning" that Violet returned to Briny Beach a third time, implying her survival, so one can assume that she survives. It is also stated by Beatrice in the Beatrice Letters that Violet survived, so we can assume pretty confidently that she is still alive, despite no one knowing where she is, although she might be dead.^[16][17]

[edit] Inventions

While Klaus is the researcher, Sunny is the biter and the future chef, Violet is the inventor. The theme of children each having a particular skill that they are good at is also shown with other characters in the series. For example, with the Quagmire triplets, Isadora is a poet, Duncan is a journalist, and Quigley is a cartographer. The Baudelaires' volatile friend Fiona is a mycologist. Violet is depicted as being extremely skilled at inventing devices. She often invents devices to help herself and her siblings in dangerous situations, using only simple objects such as rubber bands and tin cans. Whenever Violet invents something, she ties her hair up with her ribbon to keep it out of her eyes.

[edit] Violet's inventions

• In The Bad Beginning, Violet makes a grappling hook, from metal rods and torn clothing.
• In The Reptile Room, she makes a lockpick, from two prongs from an electrical socket, a thumbtack, and some soap.
• In The Wide Window, she makes a signaling device, from a piece of cloth, fishing pole, a metal bucket, and a burning hairnet.
• In The Austere Academy, she makes a staple-making device, using a small crab, a potato, metal rods, creamed spinach, and a fork. She also makes a few pairs of tap shoes by attaching pieces of metal to the soles of normal shoes.
• In The Ersatz Elevator, she makes rope out of extension cords, curtains, and neckties. She also makes welding torches, from heated fire tongs, and crowbars, from bent fire tongs.
• In The Vile Village, she makes a battering ram, using a wooden plank, water, and spongy bread. She also assists Hector in constructing a Self-Sustaining Hot Air Mobile Home using various mechanical devices.
• In The Hostile Hospital, she makes an intercom system, using an empty soup can with a hole. She also makes an escape device, from rubber bands.
• In The Carnivorous Carnival, she tries to make a cart as an escape vehicle, using vines, roller coaster parts and a piece of rubber.
• In The Slippery Slope, she makes a drag chute, using hammocks and a mixture of sticky condiments, and a brake, using a wooden table. She also makes climbing shoes using forks, fake fingernails, ukulele strings, and a candelabra.
• In The Penultimate Peril she makes a drag chute using dirty laundry sheets.
• In The End, Violet invents a water filter in order to make salt water drinkable. She also makes a sling for her and her siblings to use to carry baby Beatrice.
• In Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (video game), Violet invents various things, such as the Smasher, the Lobber, the Lockpick, the Sprayer, the Lever Yanker, the Reptile Retriever, the Brilliant Bopper (Klaus's weapon), the Fruit Flinger (her own weapon), the Baby Booster (which helps Sunny jump), the Steady Stilts (so that Violet can reach high places) and the Levitating Loafers (which can make Klaus fly).
• In The Dismal Dinner, Violet invents a very cold, very hard device made from a silver pie server and the ear of the snowman ice sculpture to lessen Sunny's pain from "teething" as soon as Sunny stopped looking out the window and sucked on it.

[edit] Disguises

The Baudelaire orphans were falsely accused of murder, and from this point on, they have no more guardians, and are on the run from the police. While running from the police, Violet assumed the following disguises:

• In The Hostile Hospital, Count Olaf disguises her as a patient so that he can conduct a fake operation and cut her head off. The name used in disguising her is an anagram, Laura V. Bleediotie.
• In The Carnivorous Carnival, Violet and Klaus dress as a two-headed freak. Her name used here was Beverly, and Klaus's is Elliot.
• In The Slippery Slope, Violet poses both as a Snow Scout and as a volunteer to use to save her little sister Sunny.
• In The Penultimate Peril, Violet disguises herself as a hotel concierge, same with Klaus and Sunny.

[edit] Behind the Scenes

• In the film adaptation she is played by Emily Browning.

[edit] References

1. ↑ The Dismal Dinner
2. ↑ The Bad Beginning
3. ↑ The Reptile Room
4. ↑ The Wide Window
5. ↑ The Miserable Mill
6. ↑ The Austere Academy
7. ↑ The Ersatz Elevator
8. ↑ The Vile Village
9. ↑ The Hostile Hospital
10. ↑ The Carnivorous Carnival
11. ↑ The Slippery Slope
12. ↑ The Grim Grotto
13. ↑ The Penultimate Peril
14. ↑ The End
15. ↑ Chapter Fourteen
16. ↑ The Bad Beginning: Special Edition
17. ↑ The Beatrice Letters