* Violet Baudelaire: The eldest Baudelaire sibling, known for her inventive mind and her love for creating inventions.
* Klaus Baudelaire: The middle Baudelaire sibling, a bookworm with a vast knowledge and a thirst for learning.
* Sunny Baudelaire: The youngest Baudelaire sibling, a baby who communicates through a series of unique and often unintelligible babbles.
* Count Olaf: The villainous, conniving, and greedy guardian appointed by the Baudelaires' parents to watch over them. He constantly schemes to steal their fortune, often disguised in a variety of ways.
* The Quagmire Triplets: The Baudelaire children's friends, also orphans who are frequently targeted by Count Olaf. They are composed of:
* Duncan Quagmire: The eldest Quagmire triplet, known for his love of books and his loyalty to the Baudelaire siblings.
* Isadora Quagmire: The middle Quagmire triplet, a skilled poet with a knack for rhymes.
* Queequeg Quagmire: The youngest Quagmire triplet, often seen with a stuffed animal.
While there are other supporting characters in the story, these are the main characters that drive the plot of "The Ersatz Elevator."