History Fanon / SherlockHolmes

* Irene "the Woman" Adler has a whole life outside her one appearance. Just about every non-Doyle author to write multiple Holmes stories will eventually buy into the idea that his relationship with Irene Adler was [[DatingCatwoman more than intellectual]], and that rather than the courtesan she is described as in "A Scandal In Bohemia", she was a much more [[ClassyCatBurglar modern]] and [[DarkActionGirl active]] kind of "adventuress". Common examples for this character alone include:

* Doyle's description of Moriarty's personal life was... [[ContinuitySnarl confused]], to say the least. In his debut story his brother is an army colonel named James, in "The Empty House" James has become the Professor's own name, and in a third story an unnamed brother is mentioned to be a humble country station-master. Some works [[CompositeCharacter declare the latter two to be the same person]], but others identify him as a third brother. Those stories almost always claim he is ''also'' named James Moriarty, making it a character point that all three brothers shared a first name.

* It's fairly established fanon that Holmes' parents were called Violet and Siger and that he at some point was part of a Shakespearean acting troupe that toured America. ("Siger" is a bit of wordplay Baring-Gould invented. Holmes spent part of his "dead" years as an explorer named Sigerson - Baring-Gould retroactively made it an IncrediblyLamePun that verged on HidingInPlainSight.)

* The third unnamed Moriarty brother who works as a station-master, is often identified as another James Moriarty to match the naming scheme of his two brothers the Colonel and the Professor.

* A very popular bit of fanon in the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' fandom is that Dr. John H. Watson's middle name is Hamish; this theory was first devised by Creator/DorothyLSayers in order to explain why Watson's wife calls him James in one story although his first name was previously stated to be John (Hamish is the Scottish form of James).

** That the "King of Bohemia" was actually the future Edward VII, and Watson is protecting his name. The real title of "King of Bohemia" was held by the Hapsburg Emperor of Austria, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria Franz Joseph I]], who was nearly sixty at the time of the story's publication. This one barely counts as "fanon", really, since the "King of Bohemia" would have immediately reminded readers of Prince Bertie and his many scandalous relationships with actresses and members of the ''demi-monde''.

* Holmes working on the UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper case is a perennial favourite. Common plots include [[TreacheryCoverup Holmes discovering the truth and being unable to reveal it]], Holmes [[MyGreatestFailure failing to solve it]], [[ADayInTheLimelight Watson solving it]] and at least one case of Holmes being the Ripper himself.

* For some reason, Holmes/Watson is so widespread, it's often mistaken for actual {{Canon}} by fandom newbies. Adaptations don't help. Is considered SeriousBusiness by some fans to the point [[http://www.nekosmuse.com/sherlockholmes/subtext.htm essays are written about the "subtext"]]. (In a series where [[HaveAGayOldTime "ejaculation" means "sudden exclamation" and nothing else]], at that.)

** Exclaiming "No shit, Sherlock" when someone [[CaptainObvious states the obvious.]]

* There's a long-running train of thought in parts of the fandom that either Sherlock or Watson (most commonly the former) is a {{trans|gender}} man. The earliest example seems to be Creator/RexStout's essay for membership of the Baker Street Irregulars, titled "Watson Is a Woman".

* The Master - SherlockHolmes.

* His older brother Mycroft is head of the proto British secret service. This sometimes assumes that the Diogenes Club is actually a front for some kind of spy organisation, an idea explored most deeply in a series of stories by Creator/KimNewman.

** That the "King of Bohemia" was actually Edward VII, and Watson's protecting his name. (The real King of Bohemia was also the Emperor of Austria, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria Franz Joseph I]], who was nearly sixty at the time of the story's publication.)

* Watson's appearance is never described beyond being "brown as a nut and thin as a lath" in ''A Study in Scarlet'', and ''that'' after having just returned from severe illness abroad. Later, Watson's description was given as " middle-sized, strongly-built, square jaw, thick neck, and mustached." Nowadays, though, it's generally accepted that he was blond - helped along, perhaps, by David Burke of [[Series/SherlockHolmes the Granada series]] and Vitaly Solomin of [[Series/TheAdventuresOfSherlockHolmesAndDoctorWatson the Russian series]], not to mention Creator/JudeLaw and Creator/MartinFreeman.

* Watson's war wound is inconsistent, with some stories claiming it was in the shoulder and others (the majority) in the leg. One piece of fanon that sprung up was that Watson was being very Victorian and delicate about where he was ''actually'' shot - in the buttocks.

First of all, let us say that Sherlock Holmes fanon is SeriousBusiness, with the earliest examples dating to the early 1900s. The tradition of examining the stories as if they were ''really'' Dr Watson's accounts of true events, and trying to patch up his inconsistencies, anachronisms and evasions, is often referred to as "The Game". Aspects of Holmes' life that have been "deduced" by influential figures like Creator/DorothyLSayers, [[Main/FairPlayWhodunnit Ronald Knox]], [[Literature/SherlockHolmesOfBakerStreet William S Baring-Gould]] and Creator/NicholasMeyer have a tendency to show up in other people's Holmes pastiches. Some aspects have [[AscendedFanon ascended]] all the way to WordOfDante levels, being repeated without writers realising they're not part of the original Canon at all. (It should be noted that there is a theory that Knox and Sayers, in particular, started this kind of fan speculation initially as a parody of rationalist biblical criticism.)

Related to [[YMMV/SherlockHolmes YMMV]], except these particular fan-reactions and interpretations are quite widely entrenched and many have been around for upwards of fifty years and some close to a century.

* The eldest of the Holmes brothers is called Sherringford or Sherrinford Holmes (the name Arthur Conan Doyle gave to Sherlock in early drafts), a country squire. Many fans assume, based on minor hints in the stories, that Sherlock comes from the landed gentry. This would imply that as well as Mycroft the civil servant (a common job for second sons), there must be a third eldest brother looking after the ancestral land.

* Another piece of {{Fanon}} that's spreading is the given name "Geoffrey" for Inspector ''G.'' Lestrade. This originated with [[http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1460858/aragonite Marcia Wilson]] and has been picked up by an unknown number of fans, including [[Fanfic/DeliverUsFromEvilSeries Aleine Skyfire]] and [[Fanfic/AStudyInRegret Riandra]].

* MemeticMutation
** "You've never complained about my methods before." [[TheWatson "I've never complained! When have I ever complained about you...practicing the violin at three in the morning, or your mess, your general lack of hygiene, your experiments on my dog, or the fact that you steal my clothes?"]]
** "Get that out of my face." "It's not in your face, it's in my hand." "Get what's in your hand out of my face."
** Be...a lady...[[GroinAttack * oof!* ]]
*** [[FanService Madam, I need you to stay calm, I am a professional. Underneath this pillow lies the key to my release.]]
** [[HoYay "Don't get excited."]]
** [[NoYou YOU wear a jacket.]]

* A very popular bit of fanon in the ''SherlockHolmes'' fandom is that Dr. John H. Watson's middle name is Hamish; this theory was first devised by Creator/DorothyLSayers in order to explain why Watson's wife calls him James in one story although his first name was previously stated to be John (Hamish is the Scottish form of James).

* There's a long-running train of thought in parts of the fandom that either Sherlock or Watson (most commonly the former) is a {{trans|gender}} man The earliest example seems to be Creator/RexStout's essay for membership of the Baker Street Irregulars, titled "Watson Is a Woman".

First of all, let us say that Sherlock Holmes fanon is SeriousBusiness, with the earliest examples dating to the early 1900s. The tradition of examining the stories as if they were ''really'' Dr Watson's accounts of true events, and trying to patch up his inconsistencies, anachronisms and evasions, is often referred to as "The Game". Aspects of Holmes' life that have been "deduced" by influential figures like Creator/DorothyLSayers, [[Main/FairPlayWhodunnit Ronald Knox]], [[Literature/SherlockHolmesOfBakerStreet William S Baring-Gould]] and Creator/NicholasMeyer have a tendency to show up in other people's Holmes pastiches. Some aspects have [[AscendedFanon ascended]] all the way to WordOfDante levels, being repeated without writers realising they're not part of the original Canon at all.

* Many adaptations talking about Sherlock's family-life (''Film/YoungSherlockHolmes'', ''Literature/TheSevenPercentSolution'', ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'') seem to be agreed on the fact that a young Sherlock Holmes deduced that his father was having an affair, told his mother and ended up ruining the family. The earliest (and grimmest, given that it results in a murder-suicide) example seems to be Nicholas Meyer's ''The Seven Percent Solution''.

* Many adaptations talking about Sherlock's family-life (''Film/YoungSherlockHolmes'', ''The Seven Percent Solution'', ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'') seem to be agreed on the fact that a young Sherlock Holmes deduced that his father was having an affair, told his mother and ended up ruining the family. The earliest (and grimmest, given that it results in a murder-suicide) example seems to be Nicholas Meyer's ''The Seven Percent Solution''.

* There's a long-running train of thought in parts of the fandom that either Sherlock or Watson (most commonly the former) is a [[{{Transsexual}} trans man]] The earliest example seems to be Creator/RexStout's essay for membership of the Baker Street Irregulars, titled "Watson Is a Woman".

* There's a long-running train of thought in parts of the fandom that either Sherlock or Watson (most commonly the former) is a [[{{Transsexual}} trans man]] The earliest example seems to be Rex Stout's essay for membership of the Baker Street Irregulars, titled "Watson Is a Woman".

* ''The Exploits of Sherlock Holmes'', written by Arthur Conan Doyle's son, Adrian, and his editor, Creator/JohnDicksonCarr, is in [[SchroedingersCat an awkward place]] where [[BrokenBase half the fandom]] considers it fanon, and the other half considers it FanonDiscontinuity.

** That the "King of Bohemia" was actually Edward VII, and Watson's protecting his name. (The real King of Bohemia was also the Emperor of Austria, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria Franz Joseph I]], who was nearly sixty at the time of the story's publication.]]

Related to [[YMMV/SherlockHolmes YMMV]], except these particular fan-reactions and interpretations are quite widely entrenched and many have been around for upwards of fifty years.

* Irene "the Woman" Adler has a whole life outside her one appearance. Common examples include:
** That the "King of Bohemia" was actually Edward VII, and Watson's giving him some confidentiality.

* On the other hand, just about every non-Doyle author to write multiple Holmes stories will eventually buy into the fanon that his relationship with Irene Adler was [[DatingCatwoman more than intellectual]], and that rather than the courtesan she is described as in "A Scandal In Bohemia" she was a much more [[ClassyCatBurglar modern]] and [[DarkActionGirl active]] kind of "adventuress".

* For some reason there's a train of thought in parts of the fandom that either Sherlock or Watson (most commonly the former) are Female-to-Male {{Transsexual}}s.
** People who join the 'Baker Street Irregulars" have to write an essay. Rex Stout's was titled "Watson Is a Woman".
* Many adaptations talking about Sherlock's family-life (''Film/YoungSherlockHolmes'', ''The Seven Percent Solution'', ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'') seem to be oddly agreed on the fact that a young Sherlock Holmes deduced that his father was having an affair, told his mother and ended up ruining the family.

* It's fairly established fanon that Holmes' parents were called Violet and Siger and that he at some point was part of a Shakespearean acting troupe that toured America. ("Siger" is something Baring-Gould cheekily invented. Holmes spent part of his "death" years as an explorer named Sigerson - Baring-Gould retroactively made it an IncrediblyLamePun that verged on HidingInPlainSight.)

* The eldest of the Holmes brothers is called Sherringford (the name Arthur Conan Doyle gave to Sherlock in early drafts), a country squire. Many fans assume, based on minor hints in the stories, that Sherlock comes from the landed gentry. This would imply that as well as Mycroft the civil servant, there must be a third eldest brother looking after the ancestral land.
* More Sherlock Holmes fanon; Watson had three wives, Holmes and [[PromotedToLoveInterest Irene Adler]] met in Montenegro while he was [[FakingTheDead faking his death]] between ''The Final Problem'' and ''The Empty House'' and fathered a child who would grow up to be Literature/NeroWolfe, that the King of Bohemia was Edward VII, that Holmes worked on the UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper case (and it was Watson who secretly solved it), that Holmes's retirement to bee-keeping was in the hope of creating "royal jelly" (believed then to be a sort of FountainOfYouth) and that Holmes spent the last decade of his life fighting Nazis before dying at the ripe old age of ''90''. All of this is present in W.S. Baring-Gould's tongue-in-cheek "biography", ''Sherlock Holmes on Baker Street''.
* The idea that Watson had more than one wife comes from several stories. In "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier", Holmes, for once narrating a story, talks about Watson having "deserted me for a wife". The story is explicitly dated to 1903, well after the death of Mary Watson nee Morstan. "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Five Orange Pips" both briefly mention Watson being married before his canonical meeting with Mary. There is much fannish argument about who these other two (at least) might be.

* Watson's appearance is never described beyond being "brown as a nut and thin as a lath" in ''A Study in Scarlet'', and ''that'' after having just returned from severe illness abroad. Later, Watson's describtion was given as " middle-sized, strongly-built, square jaw, thick neck, and mustached." Nowadays, though, it's generally accepted that he was blond - helped along, perhaps, by David Burke of [[Series/SherlockHolmes the Granada series]] and Vitaly Solomin of [[Series/TheAdventuresOfSherlockHolmesAndDoctorWatson the Russian series]], not to mention Jude Law and MartinFreeman.