Do we like them?

Do we like Count Olaf?

A character from A Series of Unfortunate Events (1999–2006)

Our score: 1 out of 10. Nope. He's a theatrical, cruel schemer who torments three kids for money, and he's only fun to watch from a safe distance.

Count Olaf is the main villain of Lemony Snicket's gloomy, darkly funny children's series. After the three Baudelaire siblings lose their parents in a house fire, they are sent from guardian to guardian. Olaf is always close behind, trying to get his hands on the family fortune.

Olaf is a vain, melodramatic actor who loves the sound of his own voice. He is also a master of disguise. In the Netflix adaptation, Neil Patrick Harris plays several of his aliases, including Shirley, Captain Sham, Stephano and Detective Dupin. The Jim Carrey film version is louder and goofier. Whatever the costume, you can always tell it's Olaf underneath.

We score him low because he never stops. He's a bully who treats children's lives as obstacles to his payday, and he cheerfully admits that he does it because it's fun. He's charismatic and he does make us laugh, but we would never back him.