The hook-handed man
Fernald (usually referred to as the "hook-handed man") is a villain from Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. He is known for having two large and sharp hooks where his hands should be. In the movie he was portrayed by British actor Jamie Harris.
Biography[]
Before the series[]
The Hook-Handed Man is one of Count Olaf's original featured troupe member, and lasted the longest of his original henchmen established in The Bad Beginning.
His birth name is Fernald. His last name is unknown, but he stated that it differs from that of his stepfather, Captain Widdershins. Before joining with Count Olaf's theatre troupe, he and his sister Fiona lived with Widdershins on his submarine, the Queequeg. However, the two did not get along, causing Fernald to run away from home. It is unknown how or when he lost his hands. Throughout most of the series, he conspires with Count Olaf to steal the Baudelaire fortune. Olaf himself does not refer to Fernald by his proper name; instead, Olaf and Esmé call him "Hooky". On of his aliases is O. Lucafont, an anagram of Count Olaf.
In the series[]
In several books, he disguises himself to carry out Olaf's plans, covering his hooks with variations of a false hand.
In the second book of the series, The Reptile Room, he disguised himself as Dr. O. Lucafont and arrived at Dr. Montgomery's house after receiving a call that there had been an accident. In the end when Count Olaf gets caught he told them he would take him to jail. Soon Sunny realized why his hands were so strong and bit both of his fake hands off. The two men then fled.
In the sixth book of the series, The Ersatz Elevator, he disguised himself as the doorkeeper of 667 Dark Avenue. While holding the position, he bid on (and won) the statue in which two of the Quagmire triplets were hidden.
In the eleventh book of the series, The Grim Grotto, he is reunited with his sister Fiona, who was helping the Baudelaire children with their stepfather. After her stepfather mysteriously disappeared and the Queequeg was damaged, she considered her brother to be her only family member left, and pretended to join Count Olaf's troupe to stay with him.
Sometime later, Fernald and Fiona betrayed Olaf by stealing his submarine. They met with their stepfather again (who, in the words of Kit Snicket, "had forgiven the failures of those he had loved") along with Kit and Phil to help repair the Queequeg and aid the Quagmire triplets and Hector in their self-sustaining air balloon.
Unfortunatly tragedy struck, and trained eagles popped the hot air balloon, sending them crashing into the Queequeg. Stranded on the wreck, the mysterious question mark (an ambiguous shape that the Baudelaires had encountered on the radar screen that scared even Olaf) reappeared. Although Kit was terrified of what she referred to as The Great Unknown the others wanted to take their chances confronting it. The mysterious shape took Fernald and the others away, its intentions and results still undescribed.
Good or evil?[]
The Hook-Handed Man has shown remorse and doubt regarding his crimes, and states that there are no such things as good people or bad people, that every person is like "a chef's salad with good parts and bad" arguing that good people often do bad things while bad people may do good things. He has shown love for his sister.
Count Olaf says in The Penultimate Peril that "Hooky and Fiona double-crossed me yesterday". This implies that Fernald has left Olaf's troupe. Notably, he is the second-last of Olaf's assistants and conspirators to leave, the last being Esmé Squalor.
In an interview with author Daniel Handler[1], the interviewer inquired why, in the last couple of books, the line between the good people and more treacherous ones seemed to have become a bit blurred. Handler responded, "It's sad isn't it? I think the Baudelaires are getting older, and one of the sad facts about getting older is that you've always thought of yourself and people you know as righteous and true and the people you dislike as evil. The older you get the more muddy that water becomes".
Appearances[]
- The Bad Beginning
- The Reptile Room
- The Ersatz Elevator
- The Hostile Hospital
- The Carnivorous Carnival
- The Slippery Slope
- The Grim Grotto