Ishmael is the facilitator of a small colony of island inhabitants and former member of V.F.D. He blames Count Olaf for the fire that destroyed his home to which Count Olaf claimed wasn't caused by him. Ishmael uses peer pressure and the sedative of fermented coconut cordial to influence the islanders. While claiming to be unable to walk, he often sneaks off to the island's arboretum writing diary entries and organizing shipwrecked objects. The Baudelaires, when on this island, discover that he used to know their parents and forced them off the island when their mother was pregnant with Violet. When they ask him why he keeps so many secrets from the islanders, he says that he is trying to keep them safe. He is last seen on a boat leaving the island, surrounded by poisoned islanders, although he previously consumed an antidote.