Bald Man/TV Series

"Be good to Esmé."

- Bald Man to Olaf concerning Esmé Squalor

The Bald Man, also known as Baldie or Tocuna , was an associate of the villainous Count Olaf and a member of the count's original theater troupe. He was a tall, muscular man, with a bald head, often dressing in a long, black robe. The bald man 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 bald man helped out with 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 the bald man who switched off the lights at the last minute. After Olaf, disguised as 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. When the Baudelaires managed to reveal Stephano's true identity to 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 Damocles Dock where they were staying with their Aunt Josephine, his troupe accompanied him and disguised themselves as sailors.

The bald man later aided Olaf in his scheme at Prufrock Preparatory School, disguising himself as half of the school's mascot, a dead horse, along with fellow henchman Fernald. Afterwards, the troupe followed the children to 667 Dark Avenue 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 Devotees where they disguised themselves as townsfolk and Heimlich Hospital where they disguised themselves as doctors and nurses. 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.

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 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. His further fate is unknown.

Personality and traits
The bald man was perhaps the least active and quietist of Count Olaf's troupe. He would often stand at the back of the troupe silently while other members did the talking      , and seemed to be rather dim when he did speak  which may have had something to do with his common silence. He would often instead be used by Olaf for tasks such as heavy lifting, brute force or other such jobs, which he seemed to enjoy; when Fernald asked Olaf what the next step of their plan at Damocles Dock was, the bald man suggested brute force. The bald man would often work together with Fernald, a fellow member of the troupe, including during the troupe's scheme at the Village of Fowl Devotees when they worked together to make the village extremely dirty and the troupe's scheme at Lake Lachrymose when the two rowed the group's longboat together. He also had feelings for Count Olaf's girlfriend, Esmé Squalor, and was not afraid to openly admit this to his fellow henchpeople. He found her to be beautiful, and always took her side during arguments within the troupe. While aiding Olaf in his schemes, the bald man used several different aliases and disguises. At the scene of renowned herpetologist Montgomery Montgomery's death, the Bald Man posed as a police officer, carrying a box labelled "Crime Stuff" and dressed in a typical police uniform. At Damocles Dock, the bald man and his 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 Captain Sham's crew including the bald man who was stationed at the helm of Sham's ship.

At Prufrock Preparatory School, the bald man and Fernald worked together disguised as either half of the school's mascot, a dead horse. At Herring Houdini, the troupe's makeshift restaurant, the bald man and his 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 Esmé Squalor. Afterwards at Heimlich Hospital, the troupe were all disguised as doctors and nurses, with the Bald Man using the alias of "Dr. Tocuna" while assisting in performing the world's first cranioectomy on Violet Baudelaire. The bald man and his associates posed as carnival workers and snack sellers at Caligari Carnival during the House of Freaks and lion pit shows. While not in disguise, the bald man dressed in a long, black robe. He was tall and skinny, as bald as an egg and physically stronger than his fellow troupe members.

Behind the scenes
The Bald Man was portrayed rather differently in each adaptation of the books. In the non-canon film, he was portrayed by Luis Guzmán, and instead of being tall and skinny with a long nose, he was short, chubby and had a short nose. In addition, his personality was rather different: instead of being devious and cunning, he appeared to be rather dim, and more like a friend to Count Olaf than a henchman.

The Bald Man was portrayed by actor John DeSantis in the Netflix TV series adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events. He appeared taller and more muscular than in the books, and didn't have a long nose. He had an expanded role; in the books, he only appeared in The Bad Beginning, The Miserable Mill and The Hostile Hospital whilst in the TV series he additionally appeared in episodes of The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Austere Academy, The Ersatz Elevator, The Vile Village, The Slippery Slope and The End , never having appeared in the original books.

Strangely, whilst in the book version of The Miserable Mill the bald man disguised himself as Foreman Flacutono, in the series the alias was used by Fernald. In the books, he later re-used the alias of "Flacutono" whilst disguised as Dr. Flacutono at Heimlich Hospital, but in the series the disguise was once again instead used by Fernald, and the bald man disguised himself as " Dr. Tocuna", an alias originally used by one of the white-faced women in the books - the two sisters now went by the aliases of Dr. Flo and Glo, the former originally being used in the book and the latter being a new addition to the story. In the book version of The Bad Beginning the bald man threatened Violet, but this was omitted from the TV Series. Also, in the book the lights were turned off during The Marvelous Marriage by the wart-faced man, but in the series they were turned off by the bald man. In the series adaptation of The Reptile Room, the bald man was disguised as a police officer to aide Olaf. In The Wide Window, he and the other henchpeople were disguised as sailors. He disguised himself as half of the school mascot at Prufrock Preparatory School along with Fernald in The Austere Academy, a waiter 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 Carnivorous Carnival, the bald man fell into the pit of starving lions along with Madame Lulu, but in the series he survived and continued travelling with Count Olaf to the Mortmain Mountains. There, at Mount Fraught, he, along with the white-faced women and the henchperson of indeterminate gender, abandoned Olaf when asked to murder Sunny Baudelaire, a baby, by the count and his adoptive parents. It is later revealed that they had become successful actors, at least for a night. A running joke concerning the bald man introduced in the TV series was his attraction to Olaf’s girlfriend Esmé Gigi Geneveve Squalor.

Appearances

 * The Bad Beginning: Part One
 * The 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
 * The Carnivorous Carnival: Part One
 * The Carnivorous Carnival: Part Two
 * Slippery Slope: Part One
 * Slippery Slope: Part Two
 * The End (episode)