Arthur Poe

Arthur Poe (often referred to as Mr. Poe) is a fictional character in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events series. Mr. Poe is a banker in charge of the Baudelaire and Quagmire fortunes and the Baudelaire orphans' guardianship. He is distinguished by a congenital cough, purblind demeanor, and general inefficacy in caring for both sets of children.

Poe is the first to bring the news of Bertrand and Beatrice's death to the Baudelaire children. As executor of the Baudelaire estate, he interprets the will's instructions that the children "be raised in the most convenient way possible" as meaning they should remain within the city limits, and arranges for their distant cousin Count Olaf to take custody. When the Baudelaires contact Poe at his bank, Mulctuary Money Management, to report Olaf's abuse, the banker points out that Olaf is acting in loco parentis, and can raise them as he sees fit. However, when Olaf traps Sunny in a birdcage and attempts to force Violet to marry him, Poe invokes citizen's arrest just prior to Count Olaf's escape.