Violet Baudelaire is the eldest of the three Baudelaire orphans and main protagonists of A Series of Unfortunate Events. She is the daughter of Beatrice Baudelaire and Bertrand Baudelaire as well as the elder sister of Klaus Baudelaire and Sunny Baudelaire.

Like her siblings, Violet is intelligent, charming, polite, kind-hearted and resourceful, but is most well-known for being an incredibly talented inventor. Lamentably, Violet is extremely unfortunate, a phrase which here means "having a continuous streak of bad luck." 

Violet is fourteen years old at the beginning of the series, turns fifteen in The Grim Grotto, and is sixteen upon leaving the Island during Chapter Fourteen. She would inherit the Baudelaire fortune upon her coming of age at 18.

Despite his best research, Lemony Snicket does not know what happened to Violet after the events of the final novel. Violet is an intelligent inventor whose wits and skills have saved her and her siblings countless times from death. She has a habit of tying her hair back with a ribbon when concentrating to keep it out of her eyes. Violet is possibly the greatest inventor of her time. Before the demise of her parents, she liked to visit the Verne Invention Museum and its many exhibits, including one of the mechanical demonstrations that inspired her to be an inventor when she was just two years old. When Violet was five years old, she won her first invention contest with an automatic rolling pin, which she made using a window shade and six pairs of roller skates. The judge praised Violet, saying she could invent anything with both her hands tied behind her back. When Violet was around ten, she invented a new kind of pencil sharpener. She also built a telephone from scratch and created a device to soothe her sister's teething pains. Her favorite inventor is Nikola Tesla.

Though she is incredibly bright and intelligent, many things modern 14-15 year olds would know are unfamiliar to Violet, mostly because the series is set in an era in which access to information is more limited than it is today. For example, in The Wide Window, Violet does not know what leeches are, likely due to her assumption that there was no need to read about them. Later, Klaus mentions there's "something funny" about Josephine's suicide note, but Violet misinterprets this as "humorous" instead of "odd" and tries to dismiss Klaus' point about a secret message in the letter (in the live-action versions, Violet catches on to his suspicions faster). During these moments, Klaus' passion for reading comes in handy since he shares his knowledge in a wide range of subjects, allowing his older sister to become more aware of the world around her. Despite such occurrences, Violet is still committed to learn about the world and is willing to admit she does not know much about something.

After her parents' deaths, Violet was forced to take charge. Though she often collaborates with Klaus, she always feels the weight of being the oldest sibling. Her parents said to her when Klaus was born, and again when they brought Sunny home from Pincus Hospital, "You are the eldest Baudelaire child, and as the eldest, it will always be your responsibility to look after your younger siblings. Promise us that you will always watch out for them and make sure they don't get into trouble." This is why she invents the grappling hook to free Sunny from the tower; she risks her safety and well-being to help her siblings and honor the promise she made her parents to always keep her siblings away from harm. This promise is mentioned in all thirteen books.

However, Violet occasionally struggles with keeping herself and her siblings safe. She can be reckless on occasion, even when there are more sensible and safer alternatives. For example, upon learning that Aunt Josephine was hiding in Curdled Cave, she sailed across Lake Lachrymose in the middle of a hurricane with her siblings instead of waiting for it to settle. What's more is that she wasn't wearing a life jacket. Another example is that after learning the Quagmires were trapped in a cage at the bottom of an elevator shaft, she decides to take her siblings with her down twice using a handmade rope (even carrying hot irons the second time), which Lemony Snicket notes is a three-hour climb. She also encourages Hector's idea of building and living in an mobile air house, despite all the risks involved. These instances of her impuslive behavior are likely due to her great distrust of adults and authority figures, as well as still being 14 years old. This was indicated when she almost threw a rock at Mr. Poe in The Bad Beginning because his approaching figure looked frightening in the fog.

Violet has a backbone, and can be stern and/or exhibit an attitude at times, especially when angered. For example, when Violet complains to Mr. Poe about how Count Olaf slapped Klaus' face and Mr. Poe could not care less, Mr. Poe says, "'Now, I hate to usher you out posthaste, but I have very much work to do. Posthaste means—' '—means you'll do nothing to help us,' Violet finished for him, shaking with frustration". When Aunt Josephine threatened to give her and her siblings to Count Olaf, Violet retorted, "You're supposed to be caring for us, not putting us up for grabs!" When Mr. Poe ordered her to come with him to the police station at the end of The Grim Grotto, Violet replied, "No," and walked away. She can also be very rebellious when faced with corrupt authority figures, often calling them out and refusing to go along with them, such as when she removed her blindfold during the trial in the Netflix series, saying, "Maybe this court deserves contempt." In the film, she interrupts Olaf just to call him "pure evil." As the series progresses, she questions others more and becomes more outspoken about her beliefs, and less being persuaded by adults and trying to avoid confrontation.While Klaus is brasher with his actions, Violet works in secret or tries to manipulate a situation to her advantage. For example, instead of refusing to star in The Marvelous Marriage, she suggests to Count Olaf that's she not that great of an actress. Violet said, "'Count Olaf,' and then stopped herself. She wanted to argue her way out of playing his bride, but she didn't want to make him angry. 'Father, I'm not sure I'm talented enough to perform professionally. I would hate to disgrace your good name and the name of Al Funcoot. Plus I'll be very busy in the next few weeks working on my inventions—and learning how to prepare roast beef,' she added quickly, remembering how he had behaved about dinner".