Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender

"The one who looks like neither a man nor a woman." "That's the scariest one."

- Violet and Klaus Baudelaire

The Henchperson of Indeterminate Gender, also known as the Person of Indeterminate Gender and nicknamed Orlando , the one who looks like neither a man nor a woman , the largest associate or the big one , was a large and dangerous associate of indeterminate gender of the villainous Count Olaf and a member of the Count's original theater troupe. The henchperson was overweight and towered over the rest of the troupe, with fellow henchman Fernald referring to them as "the big one". They never spoke, only communicating in nods, grunts and, occasionally, a howling laugh. They helped Olaf in several of his schemes to steal the Baudelaire fortune from the orphans Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire, with Klaus finding them the scariest of Olaf's henchmen, though Violet disagreed, finding another, the bald man, the scariest. The henchperson first aided Olaf in his scheme at Damockles Dock near Lake Lachrymose, where they disguised themself as a guard at Captain Sham's Sailboat Rentals in order to keep an eye on the Baudelaire orphans while they were being cared for by their Aunt Josephine there. Their disguise was later revealed along with Olaf's, but the two were still able to escape. Later, the henchperson most notably disguised themself as a security guard at Heimlich Hospital and aided the rest of the troupe in performing the world's first cranioectomy on Violet, though the operation was thwarted by Klaus and the hospital was burned down by Olaf's associates. During the ensuing fire, the henchperson solely 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 was left behind inside the burning hospital. Their further fate is unknown.

Personality and traits
The henchperson was a large, overweight monster of a person who towered over all of the other members of Count Olaf's troupe. They did not talk, instead communicating through grunts, growls, groans and, occasionally, a howling laugh. They were not very smart, with even Count Olaf referring to them as a fool, and were willing to risk their life for their boss as shown when they charged through the burning Heimlich Hospital in order to catch Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire. Klaus found them the scariest in Olaf's troupe, but Violet disagreed, finding the bald man scarier.

During their time in Olaf's troupe, the henchperson used many different disguises and aliases during numerous schemes of Olaf's. At Damockles Dock, the Henchperson posed as a guard for Captain Sham's Sailboat Rentals, trying to catch the Baudelaires when they broke inside but ultimately failing. At Heimlich Hospital, while the rest of the troupe masqueraded as doctors and nurses, the Henchperson disguised themself as a security guard, and attempted to stop the Baudelaires from escaping the fire that destroyed the hospital, though their attempts proved to be futile and they were left behind during the fire.

When not in disguise, the henchperson wore a red robe and had curly brown hair, commonly applying makeup to their face. They were extremely overweight and therefore powerful, something they often utilised during Olaf's schemes.

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 was 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

 * The Bad Beginning
 * The Wide Window
 * The Vile Village
 * The Hostile Hospital
 * The Carnivorous Carnival