Hook-handed man

Infobox character
colour = Green
name = Fernald


caption =
first = "The Bad Beginning"
last = "The Grim Grotto"
cause = swallowed by the Great Unknown
nickname = Hook-handed man
alias =
species =
gender = male
age = adult
born =
death =
occupation =
title =
callsign =
family =
spouse =
children =
relatives = Fiona, Captain Widdershins
residence =
episode =
portrayer = Jamie Harris
creator = Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler)

Fernald (known 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. He is a bilateral transradial amputee. In the movie he was portrayed by British actor Jamie Harris, son of the late Richard Harris.

Biography

Before the series

The Hook-Handed Man was one of Count Olaf's more prominently featured henchmen, and lasted the longest of the original group established in the first book, "The Bad Beginning".

His birth name is Fernald. His last name is unknown, but he has stated that it differs from that of his stepfather, Captain Widdershins. Before joining up with Count Olaf's villainous 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, sometimes under the pseudonym "O. Lucafont", an anagram of "Count Olaf." Olaf himself does not refer to Fernald by his proper name; instead, Olaf and Esmé call him "Hooky".

In the series

Fernald appeared in "The Bad Beginning", "The Reptile Room", "The Ersatz Elevator", and all the books from "The Hostile Hospital" to "The Grim Grotto". In several books, he is shown disguising himself in order to carry out Olaf's plans, covering his hooks with variations of a false hand.

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 joined Count Olaf's troupe to stay with him.

Some time later, Fernald and Fiona betrayed Olaf by stealing his submarine. They met up with their stepfather again (who, in the words of Kit Snicket, "had forgiven the failures of those he had loved") along with Kit to help repair the "Queequeg" and aid the Quagmire triplets and Hector in their self-sustaining air balloon.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck, and trained eagles popped the hot air balloon, sending them crashing back into the "Queequeg". Stranded on the wreck, the mysterious 'question mark' (an ambiguous shape that the Baudelaires had encountered on the radar screens earlier 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 is arguably one of the more complex villains in the series; he 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 also 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 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_5020000/newsid_5029000/5029046.stm] , 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".