Klaus Baudelaire is the middle child of the Baudelaire orphans;
he has an older sister named Violet and a younger sister named
Sunny.
He is twelve years old at the beginning of the series and is
fourteen by the end of the series. Klaus is the "bookworm" of
the family, and his love of books has often helped him save
himself and his sisters from Count Olaf, the sinister villain of
the series.
Sunny Baudelaire is the youngest of the three Baudelaire orphans and is described as an infant through much of the series. Although Sunny cannot walk until the end of the seventh book and speaks in idiosyncratic baby talk, she repeatedly demonstrates advanced problem solving skills, motor dexterity, comprehension, moral reasoning, and intelligence.
Violet Baudelaire is the eldest Baudelaire sibling. She helps
her twelve-year-old younger brother Klaus and her baby sister
Sunny solve problems with her inventing skills. Violet is
fourteen at the beginning of the series and turns fifteen in The
Grim Grotto.
When thinking and concentrating on new inventions, Violet ties
her hair in a purple ribbon to keep it out of her face. Violet
is a brilliant inventor, inventing various items.
Arthur Poe is a banker at Mulctuary Money Management in charge of the Baudelaire and Quagmire fortunes and the Baudelaire orphans' guardianship. He is distinguished by a congenital cough, purblind demeanour, and general inefficacy in caring for the Baudelaire and Quagmire children. As executor of the Baudelaire estate, he interprets the will's instructions that the children "be raised in the most convenient way possible”.
Lemony Snicket is the author of the book series who has chronicled the lives to the Baudelaire children. He dedicates his books to his long lost girlfriend, Beatrice Baudelaire.
Count Olaf is the franchise' main antagonist and one of the primary characters. A failing actor (though he claimed to have been considered for major acting awards) who is after the Baudelaire fortune, Count Olaf follows the children with dogged determination to obtain their inheritance and kill them.