| “ | We know what happened that night at the opera. | ” |
— The Man to Olaf
|
The Man With a Beard But No Hair is a mysterious antagonist. He is so villainous that even Count Olaf fears him.[2] His name apparently brings such terror that it is never mentioned, but he is described as having a high, scratchy voice. He is known to have an associate that goes by the name of the Woman with Hair but No Beard that can be seen in both books The Slippery Slope and The Penultimate Peril.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Slippery Slope
He and Woman with Hair but No Beard appeared in The Slippery Slope where they set the fires that destroyed the V.F.D. Headquarters in the Valley of Four Drafts. Soon after, the two join Olaf and his troupe at the highest peak in the Mortmain Mountains, in order to congratulate Olaf on destroying the Caligari Carnival and present him with the coveted Snicket File.
The Penultimate Peril
In The Penultimate Peril, he later appears as one of the High Court judges that finds the Baudelaires guilty of murder and contempt of court. Dewey Denouement mentions that he and Kit Snicket searched the childhood home of the Man With a Beard But No Hair, though the purpose of their search is not revealed. Before the destruction of Hotel Denouement, he attempted to aid Count Olaf in the kidnapping of Justice Strauss. When the Hotel Denouement Fire was started, the Man With a Beard But No Hair was last seen on the first floor with his hand on Jerome Squalor. He secretly praises Count Olaf for starting the fire.
TV series
The Man with a Beard but No Hair and the Woman with Hair but No Beard are first seen in The Slippery Slope: Part One, chasing Kit Snicket around the top of Mount Fraught. After Kit jumps off, the pair runs into the carnival freaks, who they threaten with swords. It is later implied that they killed them.
When they visit Olaf, it is revealed they raised him as mentors. They don't congratulate him on his destroying of Caligari Carnival and reveal that it was them who burnt down the VFD headquarters while also being quite disappointed in his failures to capture the Baudelaires. Because of this, Olaf attempts to kill Sunny in order to gain their respect, but fails. They actually take a shine to Esme Squalor, much to Olafs envy.
Although they do not physically appear again until The Penultimate Peril, they arrange the boat that Olaf and his remaining team use to pursue the Baudelaires through the sea. They specifically had the boat arranged for Esme rather than Olaf, angering him further.
They later appear as Justice Strauss's fellow judges of the high court. Towards the end of The Penultimate Peril episodes, they belittle Olaf for not starting a fire, as he tells them that the smoke they can smell is coming from a barbeque. Olaf tells them this so that they can burn as revenge for how they’ve treated him. They are never seen again, leaving their fates unknown like in the books.
Behind the scenes
In the Netflix series, he is portrayed by Richard E. Grant.
Trivia
- His identity has been speculated to be the chaperone who tried to kidnap Lemony at the start of ATWQ (Gifford).
- Another is that he might be Stew Mitchum or Hangfire.
Appearances
Sources
Gallery
