- See
V.F.D. (disambiguation)for other uses.
Volunteer Feline Detectives (Panthera leo) were a pack of detective lions that once lived in the caves of the Mortmain Mountains.
History
The lions were once "noble" creatures trained by VFD Volunteers to detect smoke in the Mortmain Mountains,[2] such as Beatrice and Bertrand Baudelaire.[3] At some point, the fire-starting side of V.F.D. took control of the felines, as well as the V.F.D. Eagles.
The lions trained by either Beatrice or Bertrand were killed, and their heads mounted on Count Olaf's wall.[3]
After many years, the lions are loose in The Hinterlands, neglected and starved. Count Olaf and Madame Lulu capture and abuse the lions, with Olaf whipping them hard enough to leave scars. They are described as lethargic and malnourished, one having all its ribs visible. The lions were to be used as an attraction, where employees of the freakshow were fed to them, but due to some unintentional chaos, the lions instead ate Madame Lulu and the Bald Man with the Long Nose.
The lions left in the pit are killed in the Caligari Carnival fire; Lemony Snicket states that he later found their blackened bodies.[1]
The whereabouts of any potential remaining Volunteer Feline Detectives is currently unknown.
Trivia
- In the film adaptation, a photograph of Aunt Josephine taming a lion is seen. As she was a V.F.D. member it is quite possible that the lion was from this pack.
- One of Gustav Sebald's films is called Lions in the Mountains.[4]
- In the Netflix television adaptation of The Carnivorous Carnival, it is mentioned that the grounds near the Caligari Carnival are the haunt of starving members of the Volunteer Feline Detectives. In a video, Jacquelyn Scieszka mentions that the Volunteer Feline Detectives were lost after the death of their best lion tamer and her husband.
Appearances
Gallery
