Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender/TV Series

## Unknown

"*I joined Count Olaf because I thought he could teach me things, like how to harness my natural charisma into a career in the performing art, but I'm beginning to question my life choices.*"
―Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender[src]
The **Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender**, nicknamed **You-Know-Who**, often going by the alias **Lucafont** and also referred to as a **person of indeterminate gender**, was an associate of the villainous Count Olaf and a member of the Count's original theater troupe. They were awkward and didn't seem to fit in with the other troupe members, seeming less generally "evil" than the others. They claimed to have joined the group because they thought he would teach them things, such as how to harness their "natural charisma" into a career in the performing arts. The henchperson of indeterminate gender was first seen by the Baudelaire orphans after Olaf adopted them and they served the count and his troupe pasta puttanesca for dinner as one of their many chores. The henchperson of indeterminate gender was in charge of events backstage during the troupe's performance of *The Marvelous Marriage*, a play which was actually a scheme of Olaf's to acquire the Baudelaire fortune through marrying Violet, the eldest of the three orphans. Though the children managed to expose his true intentions, Count Olaf and his associates were still able to escape thanks to another of his associates, the bald man, who switched off the lights at the last minute. After Olaf, disguised as herpetological assistant Stephano, murdered the Baudelaire's next legal guardian, Dr. Montgomery Montgomery, his associates were called to the scene, each disguised as police officers and detectives. In the case of the henchperson of indeterminate gender, they used the alias of Nurse Lucafont, being the first to arrive on the scene. When the Baudelaires managed to reveal Stephano's true identity to the executor of their family's estate, Mr. Poe, the latter ordered the so-called police officers to arrest him, only to realise that they were in on it too. But, as the troupe made their escape, Dr. Montgomery's reptile collection attacked them and they had to leave without the orphans. Later, when Olaf followed the Baudelaires to Damockles Dock where they were staying with their Aunt Josephine, his troupe accompanied him and disguised themselves as sailors.

The henchperson of indeterminate gender later aided Olaf in his scheme at Prufrock Preparatory School, the former disguising themself as a school nurse. Afterwards, the troupe followed the children to 667 Dark Avenue in the city where they disguised themselves as waiters and waitresses at Herring Houdini, planning to drug the orphans' legal guardians and capture the children. After this plan failed, the troupe pursued them to the Village of Fowl Ddvote where they disguised themselves as townsfolk and Heimlich Hospital where they disguised themselves as doctors and nurses. At the hospital, the henchperson of indeterminate gender re-used the alias of "Nurse Lucafont". After finding out that one of the Baudelaire parents may still be alive, Olaf burned down the hospital and his troupe barely managed to make it out with him. Before joining Olaf and the rest of the troupe, the henchperson of indeterminate gender attempted to stop the Baudelaires from escaping, chasing them through the chaos and eventually to the break room. They reached the locked door to the orphans' hiding place at the same time as the flames did, and tried to break it down. Just as they did, the Baudelaires leapt out of the window, and the henchperson of indeterminate gender was left within the burning hospital. They barely managed to make it out, before continuing to travel with Olaf.

The group then travelled to Caligari Carnival to see the fortune teller Madame Lulu to ask whether one of the parents was still alive. Lulu lied to them, saying it was true, and in exchange for the answer Olaf and his troupe had to perform a show with the *House of Freaks*. However, as a result of their visit to the carnival, Lulu was eaten by lions and the place was burned down, before the troupe continued travelling towards the Mortmain Mountains. On the way, Olaf sent a trailer containing Violet and Klaus Baudelaire over the cliffside, and he and his troupe, save for the henchperson of indeterminate gender, laughed maniacally as they continued driving up the mountain. At the mountain, the associates, along with a captive Sunny Baudelaire, set up camp, but were soon joined by the man with a beard and no hair and the woman with hair but no beard who had just burned down the headquarters of the Volunteer Fire Department and murdered carnival freaks Hugo, Colette and Kevin who had just joined the troupe. Ultimately, in an effort to impress the two visitors - his idols - Olaf demanded that two of his associates, the white-faced women, hurl Sunny over the cliffside, however they refused, as did the bald man and the henchperson of indeterminate gender when they were asked afterwards in turn. The four then left together and walked alone down the mountain, leaving their former employer alone with his two disappointed mentors. Eventually, the four former henchpeople became successful actors, at least for one night. Their further fate is unknown.

## Personality and traits

The henchperson of indeterminate gender was sarcastic, witty and rather strange, not really fitting in to Count Olaf's troupe. They certainly seemed less "evil" than the other members of the troupe; when Olaf murdered Josephine Anwhistle at Lake Lachrymose, they seemed to be upset; during the *House of Freaks* show, they did not participate in Olaf's mocking of the freaks like everybody else; when it was announced that a member of the *House of Freaks* was to be devoured by lions, they were the only troupe member who wasn't laughing; when the time came for someone to be thrown to the lions, they stated that they were morally queasy; when the Baudelaires were sent flying over a cliffside by Olaf, they were the only troupe member who wasn't laughing maniacally; and when Sunny Baudelaire was to be thrown over the mountain, the henchperson and their associates all refused.

They were also quite smart, often making remarks and comments that made them sound academically inclined in comparison to the rest of Olaf's henchmen: when the troupe prepared to perform *The Marvelous Marriage*, they complained that marriage was contributing to the economic juggernaut that was problematising a lot of genders; when "Stephano" declared that Dr. Montgomery Montgomery had been killed by the incredibly deadly viper, they remarked that this was the trouble with exotic pets and that maybe nature wasn't meant to be tamed; and when a freak was to be eaten by lions, they stated that they felt morally queasy. They also seemed to be rather inexperienced at times. When they were meant to be tying the *House of Freaks* trailer to Count Olaf's car, they could not do so and Violet Baudelaire - disguised as conjoined freak "Beverly" - had to take over after they admitted that they had no idea what they were doing. They often nearly gave away Count Olaf's plans and schemes, but always managed to twist what they'd accidentally said or done to sound better. The henchperson of indeterminate gender was at least slightly sensitive when genders came up in conversation, such as when Larry Your-Waiter mentioned that he identified as a man and they seemed insulted.

While aiding Olaf in his schemes, the henchperson of indeterminate gender used several different aliases and disguises. At the scene of renowned herpetologist Dr. Montgomery Montgomery's death, the henchperson posed as Nurse Lucafont, dressed in a nurse outfit with a pin reading "Nurse". At Damockles Dock, the henchperson and their fellow henchmen masqueraded as sailors from Lake Lachrymose, trying to convince Josephine Anwhistle to go out with Captain Julio Sham, who was really Count Olaf. Later, the group posed as his crew. At Prufrock Preparatory School, the henchperson pretended to be a nurse specialising in "interdisciplinary gender studies". At Herring Houdini, the troupe's makeshift restaurant, the henchperson and their associates masqueraded as waiters and waitresses, dressed in orange attire. At the Village of Fowl Devotees, they were disguised as civilians, attempting to convince the town to take a liking to their new chief of police, Officer Luciana, who was really Olaf's girlfriend Esmé Squalor. Afterwards at Heimlich Hospital, the troupe were all disguised as doctors and nurses, with the henchperson once again using the alias of "Nurse Lucafont" while assisting in performing the world's first cranioectomy on Violet Baudelaire. The henchperson and their associates posed as carnival workers and snack sellers at Caligari Carnival during the *House of Freaks* and lion pit shows.

## Behind the scenes

The Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender was portrayed very differently in each adaptation of the books. In the non-canon 2004 Brad Silberling film adaptation, they were portrayed by actor Craig Ferguson and were listed in the credits under "**Person of Indeterminate Gender**". Their role was significantly smaller in the film; the movie only featured the first three books, so their appearance in *The Hostile Hospital* was omitted, and they were replaced by the two white-faced women in the section based on *The Wide Window*. Therefore, they only appeared during the portion of the film based on *The Bad Beginning*. At the dinner at Olaf's house, they sat on the couch between the two white-faced women, wearing a costume identical to the one seen in illustrations of them in the books and clutching a beer bottle. They laughed and clapped when Olaf punished the children, but had no lines during these scenes including in extended parts; their role as a guard beneath Olaf's tower was also omitted. At the end of the film during *The Marvelous Marriage*, which in this adaptation is featured at the end of the story after the second and third books, they wore half of a dress, half of a suit and half of a moustache and walked Violet down the aisle at the fake wedding. After Olaf was arrested, they were never seen or mentioned again.

The Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender was portrayed by actor Matthew Richard Cardarople, as Matty Cardarople, in the Netflix TV series adaptation of *A Series of Unfortunate Events*. They appeared very differently from the books: instead of being overweight, feared and dim-witted, they were skinny, awkward and rather smart. They wore the same costume, but their personality was vastly different: this version of the character actually spoke, often delivering witty, comedic lines at moments of tension, sometimes breaking the fourth wall.

They also had an expanded role: in the books, they only appeared in *The Bad Beginning*, *The Wide Window* and *The Hostile Hospital*, also mentioned in *The Vile Village* and *The Carnivorous Carnival*, whilst in the TV series they additionally appeared in episodes of *The Reptile Room*, *The Austere Academy*, *The Ersatz Elevator*, *The Vile Village*, *The Carnivorous Carnival*, *The Slippery Slope* and *The End*, never having appeared in the original books. In the series, their role as tower guard in *The Bad Beginning* was omitted, with the character instead serving as a manager for *The Marvelous Marriage*. In the series adaptation of *The Reptile Room*, the henchperson replaced Fernald as Dr. O. Lucafont, instead referred to as Nurse Lucafont. In *The Wide Window*, they and the other henchpeople were disguised as sailors, with Fernald serving as the sailboat rental guard instead of the henchperson. They disguised themself as a school nurse at Prufrock Preparatory School in *The Austere Academy*, a waiter or waitress at Herring Houdini in *The Ersatz Elevator* and a villager at the Village of Fowl Devotees in *The Vile Village*.

Additionally, in the book version of *The Hostile Hospital*, they pretended to be a security guard and were ultimately left behind in the Heimlich Hospital fire, but in the series they were disguised as Nurse Lucafont again and survived and continued travelling with Count Olaf to the Caligari Carnival and Mortmain Mountains. In *The Carnivorous Carnival*, they posed as a carnival worker, whilst at the Mortmain Mountains in *The Slippery Slope*, they helped Olaf attempt to impress the man with a beard but no hair and the woman with hair but no beard and later abandoned Olaf alongside the bald man and the white-faced women; in the books, only the white-faced women did so, with the henchperson having been left behind at the hospital and the bald man having been eaten by lions at the carnival. They made one final appearance alongside the white-faced women and bald man in *The End*, where it was revealed that they had become famous actors, at least for a night, unlike in the books where the bald man died, the white-faced women disappeared and the henchperson was implied to have died.

## Appearances

* *A Bad Beginning: Part One*
* *A Bad Beginning: Part Two*
* *The Reptile Room: Part Two*
* *The Wide Window: Part One*
* *The Wide Window: Part Two*
* *The Austere Academy: Part One*
* *The Austere Academy: Part Two*
* *The Ersatz Elevator: Part One*
* *The Ersatz Elevator: Part Two*
* *The Vile Village: Part One*
* *The Vile Village: Part Two*
* *The Hostile Hospital: Part One*
* *The Hostile Hospital: Part Two*
* *Carnivorous Carnival: Part One*
* *Carnivorous Carnival: Part Two*
* *Slippery Slope: Part One*
* *Slippery Slope: Part Two*
* *The End (episode)*

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *A Series of Unfortunate Events* (TV series)
2. ↑ One of the white-faced woman called them this in conversation with Count Olaf.
3. ↑ The hook-handed man referred to them as such during the Heimlich Hospital fire.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 *The Bad Beginning: Part Two* Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; name "TBB2" defined multiple times with different content
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 *The Hostile Hospital: Part One*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 *The Hostile Hospital: Part Two*
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 *Slippery Slope: Part Two*
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 *The Reptile Room: Part Two*
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 *The Wide Window: Part One*
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 *The Wide Window: Part Two*
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 *The Austere Academy: Part One*
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 *The Austere Academy: Part Two*
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 *The Ersatz Elevator: Part One*
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 *The Ersatz Elevator: Part Two*
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 *The Vile Village: Part One*
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 *The Vile Village: Part Two*
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 *Carnivorous Carnival: Part One*
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 18.5 18.6 18.7 18.8 *Carnivorous Carnival: Part Two*
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 *Slippery Slope: Part One*
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 *The End (episode)*
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 *A Bad Beginning: Part One*
22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 **Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events* (film)*
23. ↑ *A Series of Unfortunate Events*
24. ↑ *The Bad Beginning*
25. ↑ *The Wide Window*
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 *The Hostile Hospital*
27. ↑ *The Reptile Room*
28. ↑ *The Austere Academy*
29. ↑ *The Ersatz Elevator*
30. ↑ *The Vile Village*
31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 *The Carnivorous Carnival*
32. ↑ *The Slippery Slope*
33. ↑ *The End (novel)*
34. ↑ *The Reptile Room: Part One*