History Characters / SherlockHolmes

* GoodIsNotNice: He's on the side of justice and the down-trodden, and he can be a perfect gentleman to his clients. However, Watson himself sometimes notes Holmes as an InsufferableGenius.

* SharpDressedMan: Holmes is a Victorian gentleman and dresses as such.
* SherlockScan: Holmes' trademark. He can tell a lifetime's worth of information about a person by just looking them over for a few moments which normally leaves everyone else in the room baffled. The original stories made a point of showing that this skill is not perfect as it is based around figuring out details and drawing conclusions rather than definitive knowledge, meaning Holmes can get details right but still draw the wrong conclusions, and he is not immune to making mistakes due to his own biases. Other stories also show that Holmes has to maintain this skill through long hours of intense study of extremely dull topics on the off chance that they might come in handy, even if they wouldn't be useful in anything but investigation.

* CharacterExaggeration: While Moriarty is undeniably brilliant and powerful, most adaptations tend to portray him as something closer to a supervillain with plans of world domination and influence and a cackling sociopath without absolutely no redeeming traits. By contrast, the original version portrayed him as simply controlling London's criminal underworld, which is certainly no small feat, and not having much interest in working beyond that. He was also portrayed as intimidating and evil but not without some positive qualities, genuinely respecting Holmes as an adversary and treats those who work under him quite well, to the point of some even trying to avenge him out of loyalty.

* BigbrotherWorship: While noting Mycroft to be slothful in attitude, Holmes still holds his brother in a very high-esteem, stating the latter to be smarter than himself.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Definitely eccentric, and can be oblivious towards Watson's feelings. However, despite moments of arrogance, Holmes is clearly a good man at heart and cares about others, especially Watson.

* MasterActor: Watson once notes that he could have done very well on the stage had he not decided to become a detective.

* SherlockScan: Holmes' trademark. He can tell a lifetime's worth of information about a person by just looking them over for a few moments which normally leaves everyone else in the room baffled. The original stories made a point of showing that this skill is not perfect as it is based around theorizing rather than definitive knowledge, meaning Holmes can get details right but still draw the wrong conclusions, and he is not immune to making mistakes due to his own biases. Other stories also show that Holmes has to maintain this skill through long hours of intense study of extremely dull topics on the off chance that they might come in handy, even if they wouldn't be useful in anything but investigation.

* CharacterExaggeration: Over time, incarnations of Watson made him obese and rather bumbling, despite the fact that Watson is portrayed in the stories as of around Holmes' build and extremely intellectual (he is a bit slow compared to Holmes, but virtually everyone is as well, and he is consistently depicted leagues ahead of most everyone else in the regular cast). 21st-century adaptations (film and live action TV) have [[TruerToTheText rectified this]].

* CharacterExaggeration: She's treated as a FemmeFatale in a DatingCatwoman relationship with Holmes in just about every appearance ''except'' her canonical one, where she loves someone else and her only "crime" is legally possessing a photograph an ex-boyfriend fears she will use to blackmail him (which she never does). Furthermore, while Holmes' admiration of her is genuine, it's clearly established to be purely because she is intellectually his equal and because he outsmarted her, not based on any romantic or sexual desire.
* HeroAntagonist: She hasn't actually done anything wrong in "A Scandal in Bohemia" other than possessing a photograph that the King of Bohemia would rather she did not (and it's notable that he only ''fears'' that she will use it against him; there is no suggestion that she actually has). Furthermore, her final letter makes it clear that she's only hanging onto it for insurance to stop being hassled by him and his goons. Even Holmes and Watson, who agree to help the King get it back, are inclined to view the King as being the bigger {{Jerkass}} in the whole situation -- Holmes himself only took the job for the money and the challenge.

* WorthyOpponent: To Holmes. She's the only person to outfox him and get away with it.

* HomeNudist: He thinks nothing of walking around his home completely naked and the non-reactions of Sherlock and Mycroft's servants show that they are used to it, implying he's been doing it for a while.

* TheShameless: Holmes' brother, Mycroft, [[NakedPeopleAreFunny casually struts around his home completely nude.]] When Sherlock takes Mary with him to visit Mycroft, she is profoundly embarrassed and averts her eyes, but Mycroft's servants aren't fazed at all so he obviously does this on a regular basis.

* ImpossibleGenius: Professor Moriarty is the DeconstructedCharacterArchetype of ImpossibleGenius, a genius so great that he surpasses the scientific community of his time: a mathematician whose last book, "The Dynamics of an Asteroid", is so difficult that nobody in the scientific press can critizice it.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Since his first appearance makes it a ForegoneConclusion he will die at Holmes' hand, later prequel stories and adaptations tend to emphasise his effectiveness as a crime lord by how often he squirmed out of justice up until his final stand. Dragged out especially by ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' where it is revealed [[spoiler: he is the alias of the killer of Holmes' childhood lover and many other associates.]]

* UncertainDoom: Did he die for good at the Reichenbach Falls? Or did he survive like Holmes and went into hiding ? It's never brought up and we'll probably never know.

* KarmaHoudini: ''Possibly''. The penalty for murder in Victorian England was the hangman's noose (as Holmes mentions in ''The Empty House'', but in ''The Illustrious Client'', Holmes refers to him as "the living Colonel Sebastian Moran". So either he was somehow given a life sentence instead of the death penalty or never went to prison at all.

* TheBadGuyWins: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Defeating him seems so hopeless that Holmes hasn't even been hired to stop him -- he was hired to ''negotiate the best possible terms'', and even in that, he fails utterly. Holmes, for perhaps the first time in his career, has to go to highly unethical and outright illegal means to win, and even that only involves stealing back the incriminating letters, not actually trying to bring Milverton down. [[spoiler:His murder by a third party settles everything.]]

* CharacterExaggeration: She's treated as a FemmeFatale in a DatingCatwoman relationship with Holmes in just about every appearance ''except'' her canonical one, where she loves someone else and her only "crime" is legally possessing a photograph an ex-boyfriend fears she will use to blackmail him (which she never does). Furthermore, while Holmes' admiration of her is genuine, it's clearly established to be purely because she is intellectually his equal, not based on any romantic or sexual desire.

* SherlockScan: Holmes' trademark. He can tell a lifetime's worth of information about a person by just looking them over for a few moments which normally leaves everyone else in the room baffled.

* MysteriousPast: At least partially fits this trope, given that Watson comments more than once in the stories about how he knows virtually nothing of Holmes' past. All that is eventually revealed is that he's distantly related to a bunch of French painters, he attended university somewhere, he's descended from country squires, took up cocaine and morphine to fight off boredom, and he has an older brother who's even cleverer than he is.

* NonIdleRich: Holmes says that his ancestors were country squires, and he still managed to pay the bills while trying to establish himself as a detective. It's later said that he could have purchased 221B Baker Street outright from Mrs. Hudson. After The Great Hiatus, he also bought out Watson's old practice as an inducement for his old friend to move back in with him. Interestingly, this may have developed over the course of his career, as he and Watson first meet as neither of them can afford the rent on 221B Baker Street alone, indicating that Holmes' later wealth is principally a result of his detective career rather than family money.

* ChallengeSeeker: Only takes a case if it seems sufficiently interesting, and constantly bemoans the criminal classes' lack of ingenuity.
* CharacterDevelopment: If you pay attention, you'll notice that he becomes considerably less aloof and standoffish as the series goes on, and gradually becomes more open to a life outside detective work as he gains a greater appreciation for his friendship with Watson. Case in point: in ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet'', Watson notes that he makes a point of avoiding any academic subject that won't aid him in his detective work, meaning that he knows absolutely nothing about literature or philosophy--but he later quotes Goethe in ''Literature/TheSignOfTheFour'' and Shakespeare in "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange".[[note]]His famous quote ''"The game is afoot!"'' is actually taken from Shakespeare's ''Theatre/HenryV''.[[/note]] In ''The Sign of Four'', he explicitly says that Watson is his only friend, but later addresses his farewell note in "The Final Problem" to his ''"friends"'' (note the plural) who might be saddened by his departure. Interestingly, in the post-hiatus stories, he seems to have TookALevelInJerkass again, as he's becomes a good deal more deceptive and manipulative than before. The readers of the time picked up on this, most notably a Cornish boatman who once told Doyle that "When Mr. Holmes had that fall he may not have been killed, but he was certainly injured, for he was never the same afterwards."

* FreudianExcuse: Part of Holmes' disrespectful attitude towards Scotland Yard stems from how innocents suffer from their mistakes. At one point, he becomes outright angered when learning that they neglected to protect the client in "The Five Orange Pips".
* FunctionalAddict: He uses cocaine in the early stories, though he eventually kicks the habit.

* HiddenDepths: Many times, such as his regard for others. Holmes will likewise express remorse if having harmed an innocent.

** At times, Holmes will act more mature than Watson. A prominent example is "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor", in which Holmes alone emphasizes with their pompous client's anguish.

** On the flip side Holmes himself has admitted that his brother Mycroft is far better at deduction than him (without resentment: to him it's an established fact). Fortunately for him, Mycroft isn't a detective; his mishandling of a case almost gets an innocent man killed.

* GeniusSlob: Watson recounts that Holmes normally leaves everything but his mind untidy. Even though he is immaculately groomed he still writes on his shirt cuffs.

* GoodIsNotNice: He's on the side of justice and the down-trodden, and he can be a perfect gentleman to his clients but he's also an InsufferableGenius of the highest order.
* GoodOldFisticuffs: It's even lampshaded by a character in ''Literature/TheSignOfTheFour'' that Holmes would have had quite a career in the ring.

* IconicOutfit: Holmes is so closely associated with the specific ensemble of a deerstalker hat, Inverness cape, and Calabash pipe that they've become a shorthand for the GreatDetective trope as a whole. Ironically, only a handful of the illustrations for the original stories actually depict him wearing the hat and cape and he favours cigarettes and cigars over a pipe (though he does use one occasionally).
* IcyGrayEyes: Holmes is a stoic, logical man with a pair of penetrating grey eyes.
* TheInsomniac: Finds it hard to sleep when he's fixated on a problem. Also enjoys playing the violin or doing chemical experiments in the middle of the night, driving his landlady crazy.
* InsufferableGenius: Dear, god '''Yes'''. He even justifies it in "The Greek Interpreter" by saying since he's a logician he must see things exactly as they are, so to underplay his brain powers would be a departure from the truth. Although it's also played with, since he also follows the opposite logical conclusion that ''overplaying'' his powers is equally fallacious. He does at several times point out that his AwesomenessByAnalysis isn't a special superpower like Watson and others sometimes make it out to be, and that anyone could reach the deductions he makes if they just used their eyes and brains more.

* InvincibleHero: Surprisingly averted in "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "Thor Bridge", while in "Five Orange Pips", Holmes mentions that he has been defeated four times. Watson also notes a few times in his narration that he has records of several cases where Holmes straight up failed to find an answer but he doesn't tell these stories because they would be narratively unstaisfying.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Can be a bit of an arrogant asshole -- especially to rival detectives and his poor [[TheWatson sidekick]] -- but has an occasionally-revealed softer side. He often shows protectiveness toward his clients, especially the [[DamselInDistress female]] ones; and his affection for Watson is demonstrated in stories like "The Three Garridebs".

* RichBoredom: Holmes dreads this more than anything else. He openly admits that one of the reasons he pursues detective work is because he's attracted to the danger. When he has no case on hand, Holmes can be quite insufferable, and he uses cocaine to keep his mind stimulated. This becomes less of an issue over the years as Holmes' fame spreads and more and more people seek his help, and Watson persuades him to abandon the needle.

* UncertainDoom: Did he die for good at the Reichenbach Falls? Or did he survive like Holmes and went into hiding ? It's never brought up again.

* UncertainDoom: Did he die for good at the Reicenbach Falls ? Or did he survive like Holmes and went into hiding ? It's never brought up again.

* RecklessGunUsage: During his first meeting with Moriarty in "The Final Problem", he is fingering the trigger of a gun inside his pocket. Moriarty [[LampshadeHanging points out]] the danger of this and remarks that he expected Holmes to be smarter than that. And then there's the fact that he shot a patriotic insignia into the living room wall with bullet-marks.

* SignatureHeadgear: As a 19th century gentleman, Holmes owns an assortment of these, ranging from a bowler over a top hat to finally the famous deerstalker. While the latter is never mentioned by ''name'' in the books (the illustrator of the ''Strand Magazine'', Sidney Paget was the one to choose it), it is also the only period hat that fits the description in "The Adventure of Silver Blaze," "[an] ear-flapped travelling cap", and in "The Boscombe Valley Mystery", a "close-fitting cloth cap". The only time fashion-conscious Holmes is depicted with the deerstalker while being in the ''city'' is in "The Empty House", which is extremely unusual for Paget. And finally, he dons a Homburg hat in "His Last Bow", which hints at the changes in times and fashion.

* ArchEnemy: To Holmes, whom spent years trying to take down the professor .... and nearly got killed in the process.

* RememberTheNewGuy: Moriarty's influence is retconned in the stories post ''The Final Problem'' in order to make it more evident that Holmes was at least aware of Moriarty for quite some time before their ultimate showdown. And that Holmes was proactively foiling some of Moriarty's plans while keeping a low profile about it.

* VillainWithGoodPublicity: He is a well-respected professor who to, all intents and purposes, seems like a humble, soft-spoken man. Only Holmes knows that Moriarty is a crime lord, but he can't prove it. And when Sherlock Holmes can't prove something, you know the bad guy is very good at what he does.

* EruditeStoner: Holmes's drug of choice is cocaine, no less, which he says he indulges in to keep his mind active when he's not on a case. He eventually kicks the habit, thanks partly to Watson's disapproval.

* MysteriousPast: At least partially fits this trope, given that Watson comments more than once in the stories about how he knows virtually nothing of Holmes's past. All that is eventually revealed is that he's distantly related to a bunch of French painters, he attended university somewhere, he's descended from country squires, took up cocaine and morphine to fight off boredom, and he has an older brother who's even cleverer than he is.

** One of the more famous among the fanbase (particularly Holmes/Watson fans) is Holmes's reaction to Watson being shot in "The Three Garridebs". He gently helps the doctor to a chair and [[TranquilFury coldly]] tells his attacker that he's lucky he didn't kill Watson or it would have been his death as well.

* TheStoic: Mary seems to have died sometime between Holmes's disappearance and return. Watson doesn't talk about it and Holmes doesn't press the issue, implying that he probably maintained a StiffUpperLip despite his loss.

* FakeUltimateHero: Takes the credit for many of Holmes's successes and gets glowing reviews in the press -- Holmes doesn't hold it against him in fact he encourages it.

* BreakoutCharacter: She's one of the most famous of Holmes's opponents despite appearing in only a single story.

* CharacterExaggeration: She's treated as a FemmeFatale in a DatingCatwoman relationship with Holmes in just about every appearance ''except'' her canonical one, where she loves someone else and her only "crime" is legally possessing a photograph an ex-boyfriend fears she will use to blackmail him (which she never does). Furthermore, while Holmes's admiration of her is genuine, it's clearly established to be purely because she is intellectually his equal, not based on any romantic or sexual desire.

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: He's ''almost'' as good as Holmes, but not quite. For all Moriarty's skill, Holmes remarks that there are limits to his intelligence. At some point, he made a very small, but ultimately fatal, error that allowed Holmes to bring down his entire empire (although Holmes's description suggests that it was so minor a "trip" that it was only a problem for Moriarty in this case because Holmes was already looking into his criminal associations).

* CharacterDevelopment: If you pay attention, you'll notice that he becomes considerably less aloof and standoffish as the series goes on, and gradually becomes more open to a life outside detective work as he gains a greater appreciation for his friendship with Watson. Case in point: in ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet'', Watson notes that he makes a point of avoiding any academic subject that won't aid him in his detective work, meaning that he knows absolutely nothing about literature or philosophy--but he later quotes Goethe in ''Literature/TheSignOfTheFour'' and Shakespeare in "The Adventure of the Abbey Grange". [[note]] His famous quote ''"The game is afoot!"'' is actually taken from Shakespeare's ''Theatre/HenryV''.[[/note]] And in ''The Sign of Four'', he explicitly says that Watson is his only friend, but later addresses his farewell note in "The Final Problem" to his ''"friends"'' (note the plural) who might be saddened by his departure. Interestingly, in the post-hiatus stories, he seems to have TookALevelInJerkass again, as he's becomes a good deal more deceptive and manipulative than before. The readers of the time picked up on this, most notably a Cornish boatman who once told Doyle that "When Mr. Holmes had that fall he may not have been killed, but he was certainly injured, for he was never the same afterwards."

* DistinguishedGentlemansPipe: Not as commonly depicted the curved "calabash" style[[note]]This is an artifact of stage performances of Holmes plays where this large brightly coloured pipe was easier for the audience to see[[/note]], Holmes would have used a less ostentatious straight or slightly curved stem pipe with a small bowl.

* NonIdleRich: Holmes says that his ancestors were country squires, and he still managed to pay the bills while trying to establish himself as a detective. It's later said that he could have purchased 221B Baker Street outright from Mrs. Hudson. After The Great Hiatus, he also bought out Watson's old practice as an inducement for his old friend to move back in with him.

* NamesTheSame: As his own brother. In his debut story, he is only referred to as Professor Moriarty, and Colonel James Moriarty is his brother. Only in later stories is he referred to as James.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The character is based on criminal mastermind [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Worth Adam Worth]], who was likewise called "The Napoleon of Crime" (in his case partly because of his [[TheNapoleon actual short stature]]) and ran a vast, international empire of crime with virtual impunity from London to all over Europe. Unlike Moriarty, however, the real Adam Worth was famous for an aversion towards violent crimes and lacked the academic credentials of the gifted Professor (posing himself as a dignified aristocratic businessman, Henry Raymond). Doyle himself admitted this to friends, according to biographers.

* WorthyOpponent: Holmes admits that "My horror at his crimes was lost in my admiration at his skill."