History Main / SherlockScan

* Crosses into ChekhovsSkill in ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon''. The resident nerd, Fishlegs, has studied dragon stats so well that he can pull a scan on [[spoiler:the Green Death, a monstrous dragon that serves as the film's primary antagonist]].

'''Fenneko:''' If you do, just stay away from social media. ''(nonchalantly sips wine)''

* Reiji in the ''VisualNovel/KaraNoShoujo'' adaptation immediately deduces much about Touko's character upon first meeting. Probably for the sake of [[CompressedAdaptation compression]], as the trope was averted in the VN.

* "Franchise/{{Superman}}"

* In ''Film/MrHolmes'', the aged Sherlock Holmes is having serious memory troubles, but his continued ability to perform the Sherlock Scan is used (even in-universe) to show he's not become stupid.
** After he demonstrates the technique to his housekeeper's young son, the son stands in front of a mirror, wondering what kind of "tells" he's carrying around on himself;

** More details on the [[ColdReading Cold Read]] at that trope, but the quick version goes like this. The cold read is a Sherlock Scan where a magician or mentalist will make reasonable, high-probability guesses about a person based on what they can see and offer that information in vague but accurate-sounding snippets, then validate any positive feedback given by the listener. Claim to hear spirits whispering this information, and you have yourself a made-for-TV psychic.

* ''WesternAnimation/SherlockHolmesInTheTwentySecondCentury'', of course.
* Mocked on ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', when Stan tries to explain how John Edwards ("The Biggest Douche in the Universe") uses ColdReading to fake the ability to talk to the dead. Stan explains how he's doing it ''as he's doing it'' but, being ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', the adults think he's psychic anyway.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'', being an AffectionateParody of Literature/SherlockHolmes, also does this. Basil is able, for example, to deduce that Dawson is not just a doctor, but a surgeon that just came from military service in Afghanistan, all from merely glancing at the way he mended a rip on his coat[[note]]To elaborate, Dawson sewed it with a Lambert stitch, something only a surgeon uses, and the thread was a unique form of catgut with a distinguishing smell that's found only in the Afgan Providence[[/note]]. Basil also constantly mentions that Fidget has a crippled wing when trying to describe the bat, much to everyone's confusion. It plays no part until Fidget ends up tossed off a blimp shouting "I can't fly! I can't fly!"

** Superman's Telescopic and Microscopic Vision is basically a superpowered version of this, giving him the ability to notice clues that even some of the best detectives and journalists miss. Adding to the fact that his daily job being a investigative journalist at the Daily Planet as Clark Kent definitely requires him to have some sort of detective skills and keen observation.

* "Franchise/Superman}}"

** Made into an actual ''gameplay element'' ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney''- unsurprising, since the trope namer himself is a major character. Of course, since Herlock Sholmes is something of a CloudCuckoolander, he'll often look at the wrong details or draw the wrong conclusions, requiring Ryunosuke to correct him.[[spoiler: The final case implies that he's [[ObfuscatingStupidity doing it on purpose]] [[StealthMentor to teach Ryunosuke how to do it himself]]. When he's on a time crunch with his old friend Yujin, his deduction is perfect on the first go and Yujin just checks his work.]]

** Reconstructed in ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney: Adventures'' and its sequel, where Sherlock Holmes scans the crime scenes, but is somewhat off the mark with the details. He either correctly identifies important details but then draws the wrong conclusion, or he misses relevant details entirely, with either way making the scan useless. It's up to the main character to fix his mistakes and get to the correct deduction. Iris Watson, on the other hand, does a much better job at it.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':

** While he seems like he's off on one point, he technically isn't--Shepard is the only human Spectre, and as far as anyone knew was dead at the time (and in fact may not have had Spectre status reinstated at the time--and even if you ''did'' get reinstated, word of it probably didn't get from the Citadel to Omega by then).

* Fittingly enough, in Mark Frost's ''The List of 7'', a young Arthur Conan Doyle himself gets into a friendly scanning contest with Jack Sparks, an agent of the crown who rescues Doyle from a group of conspirators called The Dark Brotherhood and recruits him to help prevent a plot to assassinate Queen Victoria (and would later inspire Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes).

* Voltaire's ''Zadig'' has the main character doing this. And also its subversion, since the sultan thinks Zadig is pulling his royal leg, that probably he robbed his horse and puts him in jail.
** ''Zadig'' inspired Poe's Dupin, who inspired Holmes, inspiring all the subsequent detectives. So we have a genealogy tree.
*** The tree might even go OlderThanPrint, as the ''Zadig'' trick is inspired by an old Persian tale (first written down in 1302): ''The Three Princes of Serendip'' (which gave us the term "serendipity").

* Horatio Lyle lists a string of observations that would lead to the conclusion that the man he's speaking to is Lord Lincoln. However, he comes up with these ''after'' concluding that the man is Lord Lincoln, to avoid the true-but-unimpressive explanation of "inspired guesswork."
* Subverted in ''Dr. Hyde, Detective, and the White Pillars Murder''. A Sherlock pastiche performs the usual impossibly accurate predictions about the new client -- and then refuses to explain how he arrived at them. The Watson pastiche later realizes [[spoiler: that the deductions really were impossible; the Sherlock had met the client before and was actually the killer in the murder he was charged with investigating.]]

** (They were simply the features the relevant authority said a handsome horse ''should'' have. The same applied to the horse's name.)

* The Bene Gesserit of ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' are capable of doing this due to their extensive training in minute observation (occasionally enhanced through psychoactive drugs) and, in the case of the higher ranking ones, assisted by access to their [[GeneticMemory ancestral memory]] (which will often include other Bene Gesserit). They are also capable of variations, such as being able to observe architecture and determine the intentions behind its design. Those who are unfamiliar with the Bene Gesserit techniques often assume their abilities derive from magic or trickery (a notion the Bene Gesserit do little to assuage). Their observational techniques are also less effective when employed against another who has been trained in them and knows how to conceal or mislead the observed factors.
** Also a staple of the Mentats in the series, both schools train extensively in observation, but the Mentats process data based more on statistics and probabilities. There are a few examples of individuals of both disciplines, such as Reverend Mother [[Literature/GodEmperorOfDune Anteac]] and Reverend Mother [[Literature/ChapterhouseDune Bellonda]].

* Done by Creator/OscarWilde '''constantly''' in Gyles Brandreth's murder mystery series. It makes sense, though, since the point of the stories is that Oscar is a kind of real-life Sherlock Holmes, which is why people go to him to solve mysteries. Bonus points for traveling with Arthur Conan Doyle during most of his investigations, and, while Conan Doyle does provide plenty of insight on the cases, he does not possess Sherlock Scan abilities himself.
* In Creator/PoulAnderson's "Queen of Air And Darkness", the detective Eric Sherrinford opens his first meeting with his client with this, though drawing on the details of what she had told him when making the appointment. Later, he explains that he actively drew on the psychological archetype of a detective with such tricks. (Sherrinford is implied to be a descendant of Sherlock Holmes himself.)

* Spoofed in ''TheMaskOfRa'' by Paul C. Doherty. Walking through the marketplace with an acquaintance, the detective points out a passer-by and lists off the man's occupation and family history. When the acquaintance expresses disbelief that he could have determined such details just by looking, the detective suggests he engage the passer-by in conversation and see if he's wrong. The acquaintance does, and learns that the detective's list was accurate in every detail -- and also that the passer-by is not a random stranger, but an old friend of the detective's whose occupation and life history the detective already knew.

* The Disney Channel comedy ''Bad Hair Day'' has cop Liz pressing teenager Monica on the whereabouts of a necklace with Monica mocking Liz being that good an investigator.

* The main character of ''Series/{{Forever|2014}}'', Dr. Henry Morgan, uses this and his position as an NYPD medical examiner to assist a detective in solving unusual murders. He developed this ability from observing human behavior for over 200 years (he's immortal). Morgan's coworker notes to Jo (the detective) that Morgan can sometimes tell what happened to a body before even cutting it open. But, as Morgan notes in his voiceover, he's had plenty of time to practice. In the second episode alone he uses it to rule an apparent [[AxeCrazy ax murder]] as accidental death and two apparent suicides as murders. Aside from having a long time to observe he's also had first-hand experience in dying. He can often tell at a glance what caused a death because he's probably been killed that way at least once.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'': In the FiveEpisodePilot, following Hakon's raid on Castle Wyvern, Hudson inspected the archers' bows and discovered they had been cut, leading him to realize somebody in castle betrayed the others to Hakon, which turned out to be the Captain.

'''Max:''' [[CatchPhrase Would you believe]] it if I took out the limp?

--->'''Atmey:''' [[CatchPhrase Zvarri!]] The truth has once again been elegantly revealed to me!

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'': Loid Forger aka Twilight frequently displays this skill throughout the series. From being able to track down a thief by his walking pattern to deducting that Yuri is a member of the secret police with just two sentences.

This is often cited as a demonstration of deductive reasoning (reaching a conclusion that is true by definition based on its premises) but is actually an example of inductive or abductive reasoning (reaching a conclusion that has some probability of being true based on its premises). In general, deductive arguments produce only trivial truths in a field like detective work, so induction is all you can use. Due to the laws of probability this means that a detailed scan should be extremely likely to err on a few details, but this almost never happens in fiction. You will, however, find that once a character begins a Sherlock Scan their vision magically adjusts to 20/20, so that they can pick up every visual clue and expound on it without an unsightly squint.

* ''Manga/GamblingEmperorLegendZero'': In The Anchor gamble, Koutaro shows Zero a handful of coins he dumped out of his wallet, and then turns the camera away from the pile. Koutaro then grabs one of the coins, and asks Zero which of the coins is in his fist. Zero uses a myriad of clues to deduce that it wasn’t a Japanese coin at all, but in fact an American coin, either a penny or dollar coin, that was hidden under the pile Koutaro showed him. [[spoiler:Zero then incorrectly guesses that it was a penny, when it was a dollar coin. Koutaro was still daunted nontheless.]]
* Victorique, one of the protagonists of ''Literature/{{Gosick}}'', is about as close to actually being Sherlock Holmes as a teenaged girl in a frilly dress can be, and as such is naturally prone to Sherlock Scanning. Perhaps more impressively, she's also capable of making these kinds of deductions based on details reported to her secondhand by her [[TheWatson Watson]], Kujo (since she rarely leaves the library in which she lives). And she's ''right'', despite all the potential for error in such a setup.

* Reiji in the ''VisualNovel/KaraNoShoujo'' adaptation immediately deduces much about Touko's character on first meeting. Probably for the sake of [[CompressedAdaptation compression]], as the trope was averted in the VN.

** Sherlock does one on John when the first meet to deduce he's a ReturningWarVet home from Afghanistan.

* ''Manga/VinlandSaga'': Askeladd can read a man, can tell if a man is brave, cunning or a coward at a single glance, after living forty years of a wicked life.

* ''ComicBook/BakerStreet'': As the setting's equivalent of Franchise/SherlockHolmes, Sharon Ford makes a habit of this. On her first meeting with Susan, she performs one very similar to the one Holmes performs on Watson on their first meeting in ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet''.

** When a detective in one storyline hired to (and long since defeated by) the task of finding the killer of the Waynes told Batman that after enough years on the force he can just look at a guy's face and immediately know that he's guilty, Batman said he can identify.

** In ''ComicBook/BatmanGordonOfGotham,'' Soong realizes a suspect is lying about never having had children when he sees that the home is installed with child proof outlets.

* ComicBook/CaptainAmerica is a SuperSoldier, not a detective, but this trope is used to establish his experience. He can "sum up a soldier in an instant", and he proceeds to do this to ComicBook/SpiderMan, and although the details aren't all right, he gets Spidey. Spidey then tries it, and doesn't do so well. Although technically he should, given his combination of 'thinking superhumanly fast', enhanced situational awareness (spider-sense), and 'being incredibly intelligent'. One supposes Spidey just doesn't have a knack for what he should be looking for.

** And yes, it really doesn't disguise his voice that well. Whenever Spidey phones someone who knows him as Peter Parker, they recognize his voice, but usually think he's come down with a cold.

* The Creator/VertigoComics incarnation of the ComicBook/HumanTarget "gets into character" by studying the person he's impersonating, and managed to put together the voice, appearance, and personality of a dead man after a very brief time in his apartment. He does, however, catch himself baselessly speculating when he examines a picture of the guy's girlfriend.

* Befitting his nature as a dual Creator/HumphreyBogart and Literature/SherlockHolmes homage, Nightbeat does a cold Sherlock Scan in the fifth chapter of ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron''... to [[ReligiousBruiser Cyclonus]]. He accurately picks out a dozen fine details calling back to Cyclonus' own history, up to and including his own complicated relationship with Tailgate, such as accurately calling out that the only reason Cyclonus replaced his damaged horn was because Tailgate made the replacement, and that he had donated innermost Energon in a vigil for a dying Tailgate, then scratched his own face to hold back from telling Tailgate that he was concerned about the Minibot's impending death by cybercrosis, ''then'' patched up those same scratches once Tailgate managed to recover from the cybercrosis. This pisses Cyclonus right off, and he responds in his own special way.

* In ''Fanfic/AllYouNeedIsLove'', a Sherlock Scan is performed by [[EnfantTerrible 4-year old]] Duck Sherlock Penber, deducing Kira's identity as Light Yagami via stuff like the way he writes and how he seems to be constantly protecting something.

* PlayedWith during [[EstablishingCharacterMoment Akio Sehei's introduction]] in ''Fanfic/AndrogyninjasADoseOfVenom''. The tailor immediately denies Sakura service based off the state of her clothes, noting that while her dress was well-made, she hasn't been taking care of it, noting the presence of old bloodstains that show no sign of her even ''attempting'' to wash them out. He attributes this to her being "yet another shinobi brat" who doesn't appreciate how much time and hard work goes into crafting clothes... while ignoring the fact that their village was recently attacked and she's likely been busy dealing with the fallout of that. This establishes that Akio not only has an eye for such details, he's also a {{Jerkass}} who's letting his own biases taint his assessment, showing NoSympathy for a girl who [[spoiler:recently lost her parents]].

* Amarillo Suadere from the ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' fic ''Fanfic/HoldingTheWorldOnTheirShoulders'' has a variant of this as his semblance. By gathering everything he knows for certain, he is able to see connections that would otherwise not be obvious, and predict future events with startling accuracy. Salem employs him for this reason, though he later uses it to deduce his employer's true plans. [[spoiler:[[HeKnowsTooMuch It doesn't go well for him]].

* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'' has Sonata, who pulls these off occasionally thanks for her talent of having a keen eye for detail. For example, she's able to tell quite of bit of both Phoenix's personality and his current situation by looking at him, and figures out Twilight is from Canterlot because she still carries over some of the smugness present in its inhabitants. [[spoiler:She made use of this ability to pull a productive blackmailing scheme with the case's victim.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'', being an AffectionateParody of Literature/SherlockHolmes, also does this. Basil is able, for example, to deduce that Dawson is not just a doctor, but a surgeon that just came from military service in Afghanistan, all from merely glancing at the way he mended a rip on his coat[[note]]To elaborate, Dawson sewed it with a Lambert stitch, something only a surgeon uses, and the thread was a unique form of cat gut with a distinguishing smell that's found only in the Afgan Providence[[/note]]. Basil also constantly mentions that Fidget has a crippled wing when trying to describe the bat, much to everyone's confusion. It plays no part until Fidget ends up tossed off a blimp shouting "I can't fly! I can't fly!"

* A villainous example is used in ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'', when Shan-Yu's generals are able to figure out that the Imperial Army was waiting for them in a village merely by examining a doll Shan-Yu's falcon brought back. This helps the Huns get the drop on the Army [[spoiler:and kill everyone, including Shang's father, General Li]].

* ''Film/AceVenturaWhenNatureCalls'', at the beginning of the film Ace deduces his client returned from a recent trip abroad, is a workaholic, and recently had a bad fall due to some poor masonry work. He's right on all counts. [[spoiler:Except one, actually; he deduces the cause of the fall as masonry work due to a white substance on his shoe that Ace thought was sealer. It wasn't, and when he realizes what it ''is'', it triggers an EurekaMoment.]]

* ''Film/TheAssignment1997'': As part of his training in espionage, the protagonist has to enter a room and work out from what he sees if the woman who owns it is having an affair. This becomes a ChekhovsSkill later in the movie, when he uses similar clues to establish that the woman he's meeting has slipped out to make contact with a hostile surveillance team.

* [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]] pulls this off when he steps onto a SHIELD elevator in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier''. The elevator fills up but just with what look like regular SHIELD personnel on everyday business. However, Steve takes a quick glance around and notices things out of place, such as tensing hands and sweat, as if the people in the elevator with him are expecting a confrontation. When they get in, they make sure to move around so he's surrounded. Moments later all hell breaks loose as the entire elevator attempts to subdue him (which they soundly fail at). Steve even offers them a way out as a way of demonstrating that he caught on before they realized it.

* Creator/VinDiesel seems to enjoy these roles. Riddick starts off ''Film/PitchBlack'' with a five minute Sherlock monologue, correctly deducing the types of passengers onboard the ship and (almost) the route that the ship is taking, ''while tied up with his eyes shut''. He gets something similar in ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'', accurately describing how the guards and mercs turned on each other before the former abandoned their posts to make it for the only spaceship even though he wasn't even in the room when all this happened, but then Riddick reveals that it was his original plan.

** In addition to putting it to its conventional use, Sherlock also weaponizes it, using it to [[SuperDetailedFightNarration meticulously plan]] out how he will [[CurbStompBattle thoroughly beat the crap out of someone]]. The fight is shown in BulletTime as he plans and then in a dizzying flurry of action in realtime when he follows through. Guy Ritchie calls this "Holmes-O-Vision". Witness it in action in the famous [[https://youtu.be/lLuhWLNqpiA?t=93 "Discombobulate"]] scene.
** He also uses it on Mary Morstan (at her eager request). His observations are bang-on, though unusually, he does make a slight mistake in guessing the age of Mary's male pupil -- rather than being eight years old, he's actually seven, but tall for his age -- right down to the tan-line on her finger speaking of a prior betrothal. When he [[HoYay rather cattily]] speculates that she broke off the engagement to find better prospects (i.e., Watson), she tosses her drink in his face. [[spoiler:Turns out, the guy died before they could marry.]] Earlier in the scene, when Holmes is alone at the table, it's implied that he suffers from hyper-awareness, [[NightmareFuel and can't turn it]] ''[[BlessedWithSuck off]]''.
** Dr. Watson has been working with Holmes so long, he's picked up on the talent himself. Holmes invites him to examine a pocket watch as evidence, to which Watson accurately deduces the previous owner was a drunk and bought it second hand from a pawn shop.

--> '''Stantin:''' I don't think [the intruders] were teenagers. What teenagers are going to drink just milk and cokes when when there's also beer in the refrigerator? On that side, the table and the utensils have been wiped clean. Over here, prints everywhere. Why? The suspect brought Sarah here. Rope fibers. He tied her to the leg of this table, sat over there where you are, and ate.
* Hannibal Lecter's guesses about Clarice's background and personality the first time he meets her in ''Film/SilenceOfTheLambs'' fits this trope, though he is a psychiatrist rather than detective.

* ''Film/XxXReturnOfXanderCage'' reprises it as Cage figures out he's being tested when a strange man sits by him at a village square and somehow knows Xander speaks English as he talks. Xander also notices a teenager wearing too expensive headphones, a woman running to a bus that won't leave for a while and a "cop" paying for a drink with foreign currency.

* A similar scene is done in ''Film/YoungSherlockHolmes'', when a school-aged Watson transfers to a new boarding school and meets Holmes for the first time. Holmes deduces Watson's name, home county, father's occupation, and Watson's love of writing and pastries. He only gets Watson's name wrong (he guesses James instead of John) because he only saw "J. Watson" on Watson's luggage and decided to go with a common name starting with J (John would have been his second guess). This is a reference to the fact that Doyle himself got Watson's first name wrong in some of the later stories, using James.

* The trope is played with in this joke: [[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson]] go on a camping trip. After a good dinner, they retire for the night, and go to sleep. Some hours later, Holmes wakes up and nudges his faithful friend. "Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." "I see millions and millions of stars, Holmes," replies Watson. "And what do you deduce from that?" Watson ponders for a minute. "Well, astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. Theologically, I can see that God is all powerful, and that we are a small and insignificant part of the universe. What does it tell you, Holmes?" Holmes is silent for a moment. "Watson, you idiot!" he says. "Someone has stolen our bloody tent!"

* OlderThanRadio TropeNamer: Literature/SherlockHolmes does this. All. The fricking. Time. This trope became the abused rattle to Doyle's sugar high kindergartner -- but it's also been said to have been one of the reasons Doyle himself didn't like writing about Sherlock Holmes, since he thought it was a cheap gimmick. According to Holmes himself in ''The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier'', it's his personal marketing schtick which is great for impressing potential clients as to his skills.
** [[AloofBigBrother Mycroft Holmes]] can also do this, and as one might expect, he is better at it, correcting or expanding some of Sherlock's points. For example, where Sherlock says a man had a child based on the fact he has clearly just bought toys, Mycroft says ''children'', as no child is of the correct age to be given both a rattle and a picture book. [[note]] This was given a ShoutOut in ComicBook/ArchieComics, of all things, when Jughead determines that a nearby man has two children -- using the same rattle and picture book trick -- and that the man is in the military, based on his polished shoes and haircut. Reggie points out that he could be buying the books for someone else's kids, or likes coloring himself. And he could just be a shoe-polish freak. Then the man meets a friend, and talks about his military service and two kids. Jughead pulls this several times throughout the segment. Then it's subverted at the end, after Reggie makes [[BigEater the mistake]] of betting [[BigEater Juggie]] lunch that he can't tell the professions of the next three people who enter. The three people are a clown, painter (with overalls and ladder), and a cop. [[/note]]

** This trope was deconstructed (making it an UnbuiltTrope) in ''The Sign of Four'' when Sherlock deduces Watson's brother was a scoundrel only by studying his pocket watch. This is Watson's BerserkButton and accuses Holmes of knowing beforehand the sad story of his brother's destiny, and of using PhonyPsychic techniques to claim he deduced it from a simple watch. In a rare moment of humility, Holmes recognizes he is a InsufferableGenius and has hurt his friend's feelings doing the Sherlock Scan ForScience without thinking about the consequences.

* In Laurie King's ''[[Literature/MaryRussell The Beekeeper's Apprentice]]'', Holmes' female apprentice demonstrates her credibility to Inspector Lestrade by doing this to one of his officers. She and Holmes do it to each other when they first meet. She's at a disadvantage, though, because she's read all Dr. Watson's books -- which leaves her with nothing to deduce.

* In ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' (and the nearly identical ''Sherlock Holmes Returns''), the titular character, brought to the modern age via {{steampunk}} cryogenics, routinely attempts to use this ability, but constantly arrives to the wrong conclusion due to lack of modern references.
* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, Vimes complains about those a lot, as seen here where he takes apart a very specific instance from the beginning of ''The Red-Haired League''.

** In ''The Absence of Mr Glass'', some characters involve a brilliant criminologist in a domestic case, where he concludes with a sinister and dramatical interpretation of some facts. [[spoiler: Dramatic and totally false. The apparent killer is only a magician, so that the cards, the knives, the swords and the mysteriously large top hat have a very simple explanation]]. At the end of the tale, everyone (also the criminologist) is laughing.

* In Creator/AgathaChristie's short story collection ''Literature/PartnersInCrime'', which pastiches various detective stories and their tropes, Tommy Beresford makes a couple of attempts at this. In "The Affair of the Pink Pearl" he says to the client "You must find travelling by bus very tiring at this time of day", only to be told she came by taxi, and picked up a discarded bus ticket for a neighbour who collects them. In "The Case of the Missing Lady" he is able to "deduce" that the client has spent some time in the Arctic or Antarctic, by virtue of his distinctive tan. In fact, he was listening in when the man gave his name in the outer office, and recognised him as a famous polar explorer. (He also deduces that the man arrived in a taxi, adding to Tuppence afterwards "after all, it's the only reliable way of getting to this place.")

* Horatio Lyle lists a string of observations which would lead to the conclusion that the man he's speaking to is Lord Lincoln. However, he comes up with these ''after'' concluding that the man is Lord Lincoln, to avoid the true-but-unimpressive explanation of "inspired guesswork."

** Grand Admiral Thrawn, the titular character of ''Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy'', is able to look at a piece of artwork and gauge not only a lot about species' physical makeup (number of fingers, joints in the arm, etc.), but about their culture--and he can formulate strategies and tactics that take advantage of flaws in their psyches based on those. Very occasionally he drops hints about how he figured some of these things out. He can also make very good guesses about someone based on their tastes in art or how they regard it. His NumberTwo, Pelleaon, speculates that this may be done just to impress people, and he does his actual tactical analysis privately. Either way, it's still impressive.

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', wizard and OccultDetective Harry Dresden pulls these off, one of a number of indicators that he's smarter than he pretends to be, though they tend to be more subtle than most examples. For example, he's able to determine that a particular faerie queen was not responsible for a particular murder by simply analyzing her behavior and comparing it to details of the murder. Later in that same book, he's forced to reveal how he deduced the murder mystery, right down to the fine details of the methodology, and the participants. At one point in ''Literature/TurnCoat'', however, the scan is used to disturbing effect by Thomas, a [[SuccubiAndIncubi White Court vampire]], who has Harry do a few scans of some nearby human bystanders to see what he sees when he looks at them. Harry does so, providing detailed information on each group of people, at which point Thomas just points each group and says, "Food," one after the other, to demonstrate how different he is from Harry.
* Used briefly in Franchise/TheDarkTower novel, ''Literature/TheDrawingOfTheThree''. Upon being released from Airport Security for suspected drug smuggling, Eddy Dean knows that they will have people observing him and manages to spot one. Roland, riding along in his mind, takes one "glance" and spots another five, despite the fact that Roland comes from a completely different world. Later, we learn that part of Roland's training was to pick up on tiny details as as quickly as possible, although he mainly uses it to kill people.
* Done by Creator/OscarWilde '''constantly''' in Gyles Brandreth's murder mystery series. It makes sense, though, since the point of the stories is that Oscar is a kind of real life Sherlock Holmes, which is why people go to him to solve mysteries. Bonus points for traveling with Arthur Conan Doyle during most of his investigations, and, while Conan Doyle does provide plenty of insight on the cases, he does not possess Sherlock Scan abilities himself.

* In ''Literature/TheSecretsOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool'', Inspector Naisbitt does this to Amy, reeling off a detailed account of what she's been up to for the last few days. Naisbitt has SuperSpeed, which in her case includes an ability to observe and think quickly that she finds more useful than the usual running-around-quickly. It also makes her too impatient to explain the thought process behind her sherlock scans, so all we get is "Coats tell stories".

* DoubleSubverted in the first ''Literature/DrThorndyke'' novel, "The Red Thumb-mark". Thorndyke attempts to critique the trope to his Watson, Dr Jervis, by identifying a man on the street as a station-master based on Sherlockian clues -- before pointing out he might have any number of occupations that would lead to the same characteristics. Unfortunately, his assistant Polton actually knows the man in question ''is'' a station-master. [[SpringtimeForHitler Thorndyke is so good a detective he can't get it wrong even to make a point]].

* On ''Series/BreakingBad'' Hank begins to suspect Lydia's involvement in the meth operation when he notices she mismatched her shoes, suggesting that the investigation is causing her more stress than she lets on.

* Fitz displays an emotion-based version on this trope in ''Series/{{Cracker}}'', able to break down somebody's deepest neuroses very quickly. He occasionally displays a more traditional version of this too. Though Fitz's greatest fear is that [[spoiler:he was once wrong in his summation, possibly destroying a man's life and letting the murderer of a schoolchild get away.]]

* A rare ''audio'' version in the pilot for ''Series/Deception2018''. Magician Cameron and FBI agent Kay are called up by the mysterious woman who's been selling illusions to criminals. She gloats on how "the game is starting" and they have no idea where to start looking for her.

** Kay and Cameron are following a thief to a subway station, Kay saying it's just them. Cameron points out how the janitor seems to be avoiding actually sweeping trash; a teenager is clearly a guy in his 30s who's not really playing a handheld game; a "homeless" woman has a brand-new manicure; another woman is talking on her cell phone despite the fact the underground station has terrible coverage; and a woman in a fancy suit is pushing a cheap stroller. He can't quite figure why a suited man is staring at them until Kay states it's her ex-boyfriend and they've walked into a CIA sting.

** He goes very ''Sherlock'' on the Scrooge of the 2010 Christmas Special, "[[Recap/DoctorWho2010CSAChristmasCarol A Christmas Carol]]".

** At least for Frasiers Sr. and Jr. and [[Creator/LeslieNielsen Buck Frobisher]]. It's more of an ''arctic'' superpower that lead people to become Mounties.
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' uses this, as you'd except from a Sherlock Holmes adaptation. It's subverted in the first episode when he explains the intricate basis for several inductions in a row, ending with one that he simply knew beforehand [[CuttingTheKnot thanks to]] Website/{{Google}}.

** The series also includes the part of Holmes genius' for the stories that is often overlooked in adaptations; sitting around for hours looking for some critical detail in the evidence that'll break the case. One RunningGag is Sherlock waking Joan up in some amusing fashion after his sleepless night of such deductions.

** Notable is that Wells appears to figure out the secret identity of Cicada so the team arrest him. However, it turns out he's not Cicada and Sherloque was actually going off the fact that in 37 different Earths, Cicada was always the same guy.
** Sherloque has mentioned having seven ex-wives who are all other-Earth versions of Renee Adler. When he meets the Earth-1 version of Renee, Sherloque instantly figures out her past as a ballet dancer, her job as a librarian and more. Renee's reaction is to naturally assume he's been stalking her and warning him off.

-->'''Max:''' 99, these footprints were made by a man six feet two and a half inches tall, two hundred and twenty four and a quarter pounds, blond hair, blue eyes, a scar on his left cheek and walked with a decided limp.\\

** The judge version hangs a lampshade, as the judge had been skeptical of Monk's ability to Sherlock Scan a person. The judge made the mistake of having Monk turn around and being asked to describe his shirt. Monk proceeded to ask which one; the one he was wearing, or the one his court reporter was wearing. He proceeded to talk about his Sherlock scan, including the blouse of the court reporter being in her bag with a button missing, the cushion on the couch the wrong way in, etc. Plus, the judge ruled in his favor, having been completely satisfied of Monk's ability.

* ''Series/MurderRooms'' portrayed Joseph Bell, the real life inspiration for Holmes, as a reluctant detective with Arthur Conan Doyle as his Watson. He demonstrated the Sherlock Scan several times, including a version of the watch scene from ''Literature/TheSignOfTheFour''.

** Watson (whom Sherlock Holmes was supposedly based on) hints that he also has this ability, and it was the abnormal awakening which allows it.
** It's initially implied that Will's ability is the main reason Magnus hired him. Except later we learn that Will's IdenticalGrandfather, an army captain, saved her life during UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo at the cost of his own, so it's possible her hiring him is way to pay Captain Zimmerman back for his sacrifice.

* Parodied on ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' when JD deduces that Turk is naked over a watchie-talkie (a watch with a built in walkie-talkie) because his voice is always higher when he's naked. This immediately prompts Dr. Cox to remark on how disturbing it is that he knows that.
** In one episode, JD considers himself stronger in diagnosing than Elliot and tries to coach her on how to put clues together in this manner by using a nearby example on display. The example being an odd, precise stack of sugar packets on the floor, which JD deduced was a ploy by The Todd to get a nurse in search for sugar for her coffee to bend down and reveal her thong.

** "[[Recap/SherlockS01E01AStudyInPink A Study in Pink]]" contains 3 different types of scans to [[EstablishingCharacterMoment establish]] just how crazy the titular detective is. Though in a bit of a departure from the usual trope, he's not always ''quite'' right -- when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EbhfRBAWwo he first meets Watson]], he deduces that Watson has an estranged alcoholic brother named Harry who has recently left his wife--then asks Watson which detail he got wrong, because it's impossible to pull this trope off perfectly. He's right about the troubled sibling relationship, the alcohol, and the break-up... but Harry [[spoiler:is short for ''[[TomboyishName Harriet]]''.]]

** Also subverted in "The Six Thatchers", when Mary goes on the run for ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies reasons and bases her entire route on die rolls, knowing that [[ConfusionFu not even Sherlock can predict total randomness.]] Sherlock shows up on her doorstep anyway, and makes a long-winded speech about how nothing is ''truly'' random and people always leave a string of psychological clues as to where they're going... before revealing that he was just [[TheGadfly making it up]] and he put a tracker on her.

-->'''Holmes:''' I assure you, Sir, that outside of the fact that you are a Freemason, a solicitor, a bachelor and an asthmatic, I know absolutely nothing about you at all.\\

* This is a talent of Ichabod Crane in ''Series/SleepyHollow''. In "The Sin Eater", from a quick study he is able to determine the surname of his captor, his lineage, his occupation, and that he is a Freemason.
* ''Series/Stalker2014'': In the pilot, Detective Jack Larsen, after making a poor first impression to his new boss, makes up for it by using this to great effect in noting a victim's anti-stalker measures in her home.
* In a ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode, Data solves three Holodeck mysteries in seconds while imitating a Sherlock Scan, but in reality he is simply recalling Sherlock Holmes plotlines that he has read. This prompts Geordi to ask the Holodeck to create a new Sherlockian mystery that will [[ExactWords challenge Data,]] with [[PhlebotinumBreakdown disastrous results]].

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Done once in season 10 by a member of the Stynes family when a "bad boy" tried to buliy him for being a nerd and calling him a virgin, he then turns it around and describes him perfectly: ''You look like the kind of dude who wants people to think he's hood, but, no. See, the $100 haircut, the hybrid keys? I'd say you grew up in a white-bread wonderland. Your dad's probably a dentist, your mom's mostly Botox, and they both bang the pool boy. Oh, and you like rap, but you're scared of black people, even Will Smith.''

** This is sometimes played straight by Mulder, who can sometimes tell that the person he's interviewing at the moment happens to BE the monster of the week. However, after years of getting shut down for his wild and crazy theories he's made a habit of being not always being so forthcoming to anyone about his actual deductions, and only ends up narrating his logic to Scully. It's sometimes forgotten that Mulder acquired his nickname of "Spooky Mulder" back at the FBI academy way before he got involved with the paranormal -- his skill at building quick and in-depth profiles was so good that people thought it was spooky. Senior FBI agents were already talking about him while he was still a cadet.

* ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme:'' Spoofed when a visitor is more impressed with Dr. Watson than Sherlock (who she has apparently never heard of), and refuses to be impressed by his cold reading of her. She then turns it around by performing one on him that drives him to screaming fury, and he insists that she must have been sent by an enemy to do so, since she can't ''possibly'' have deduced his supposed deficiencies on the violin from his clothes and appearance. She retorts that she deduced it from his manner, which was also how she deduced that his housekeeper is increasingly exasperated by him.

** Subverted in "The School Board's Pyschologist". Mr. Gibney, the psychologist, brags to Mr. Conklin about being able to be able to do a SherlockScan. He is, however, very wrong. Gibney, in the episode, was simply overworked (as he claimed), or incompetent to begin with.

* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in an episode of ''Radio/ThePennyDreadfulsPresent'': ''The Brothers Faversham''. Theseus Faversham (Victorian Britain's greatest detective) is apparently able to tell an amazing amount of detail from the point of impact of the pickaxe sticking out of a murder victims chest, including that the murderer was well-known to the victim, about 5'7'', had a slight limp, thinning red hair, and was missing the tip of his right ring finger, but:

** In part I: ''[[https://vimeo.com/160544306 Mrs. Hawking]]'', Mrs. Hawking deduces that Mary came from India by her dress, and that she has experience caring for an invalid by her skills.

* The ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' has a special version of Detective Mode in crime scenes for Batman to search for evidence. Some of discoveries are then used to create a trail to follow (for instance, ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' has Batman finding the tobacco dropped by Commissioner Gordon to follow, and traces of alcohol from a corrupt guard's breath).
* [[TheParanoiac Paranoid]] survivors in ''VideoGame/DeathRoadToCanada'' can tell all aspects of a survivor that you can recruit. ''All'' of them -- personality, physical condition and even skills.

* Malachi Rector, the PlayerCharacter of ''[[VideoGame/{{Moebius}} Moebius: Empire Rising]]'', is capable of quickly identifying the materials any object is made of, which time period and country it is from, and finally what its estimated value is, leading him to have become one of the world's leading expert in antiquities. He shows off his skills by finding out in a matter of second that an supposedly antique chest to an asking price of 2 million euros, is actually a well-crafted forgery only worth about 5000 dollars. The seller angrily confronts him, saying that there is no possible way he could know all of that from just one look. In response, Rector smugly reveals that he has also been looking at the supposedly expensive gold-necklace adorned with emerald and diamonds that the seller's girlfriend wears, and reveals that it is made from cubic-zirconium, green glass and gilded aluminum and is with about 150 dollars. The seller's shocked reaction says everything he and the girlfriend needs to know, and Rector walks away very satisfied with himself, as the seller is being treated to a verbal trashing by his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend.
* Parodied in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' by the penguin-like detective Pennington. Despite the red clothes, the short stature and the red hat with a clear M upon it...he STILL mistakes Mario for Luigi.

** Ironically enough, she will later go on to criticize this entire trope down as unrealistic in the final investigation of the first game as she lays out her methods to the player.

* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', Dennis can tell that the story that Johanna’s been telling everyone about the protagonist’s whereabouts is a lie. He knows what the protagonist has really been doing during the spring, because he has access to his weekly gaming hours.

** Jigoro references this tropes, saying there was a time when you could tell a man's character just by a glance. [[FirstPersonSmartass Hisao, fed up with Jigoro's attitude, gives a snarky guess in his narration]].

* ''Webcomic/DailyGrind'': Howlett Creager deduces that a cup that a random customer ordered appraised is actually a test on how good Howlett's appraisal skill is, based on how the owner put it in a shoddy box but handled the cup with extensive care around the brittle white glazes. He then proceeds to deduce that a supposedly legendary $250,000 antique 11th-century cup is actually worth less than $80,000 based on the pattern of the white glaze -- nobody in the supposed age the cup came from used noncontinuous swirly strokes, but the fact that it's still so old (the noncontinuous pattern was popular in the 12th century and 13th century) means that the cup is [[http://pandora.xepher.net/daily/20051005.html worth a pretty penny]]. The owner is impressed and gives the cup to Daily Grind as a down payment for an even bigger job.

** The eponymous ComedicSociopath amorph demonstrates his keen observational ability [[http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2009-06-04 here]] with a scan of the circus manager he was talking to, using his ''really'' good sense of smell -- earlier stated by Kevyn to be superior to a Bloodhound's -- and combined this with some basic reasoning and experience dealing with humans. Later on, he determines the person he's speaking with has recording ocular implants based on the fact she came out of a room (where they were secretly implanted by nanomachinery) smelling like surgery, crying and corneas.

* Downplayed in ''Webcomic/TwoKinds''; Madelyn, a Basitin intelligence officer, immediately realizes that main characters Keith and Natani have gotten a RelationshipUpgrade to an OfficialCouple by spotting that Natani has looped his tail around Keith's. The rest of the cast don't figure it out until Natani gives Keith a SmoochOfVictory in front of them, several dozen comics later.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', Batman meets Sherlock Holmes thanks to TimeTravel, who manages to deduce just about everything important regarding Batman's status, personal history, and motivations, by a cursory glance at him. Amusingly, Batman manages to sort-of one-up Holmes, no doubt thanks to PopCulturalOsmosis being on his side.

* WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck tries to do this to impress the police or the victim, but he almost always arrives at the completely wrong conclusion. He usually replies with a "I knew that!" or "I was just testing your honesty."

* UnbuiltTrope: The character of Sherlock Holmes was partly based on Dr. Joseph Bell, a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh who was often able to deduce a patient's occupation and recent activities in this way, and one of his most notable students was Creator/ArthurConanDoyle. The example most prominently cited for Doyle's inspiration was when Bell was able to deduce a patient was a left-handed stonemason, based on the wear on the thighs of his breeches and the calluses on his hand. It's even said that Bell lent his hand in the search for UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper. Bell sent a letter to Scotland Yard with his opinion on the case. It is unknown who he named, if anyone, but it coincided with the last agreed upon murder.

** More details on the [[ColdReading Cold Read]] at that trope, but the quick version goes like this. The cold read is a Sherlock Scan where a magician or mentalist will make reasonable, high-probability guesses about a person based on what they can see and offer that information in vague but accurate-sounding snippets, then validate any positive feedback given from the listener. Claim to hear spirits whispering this information, and you have yourself a made-for-TV psychic.

* James Brussel, a psychologist called in to help in the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Bomber Mad Bomber]] of New York case in 1956 developed one of the first criminal profiles ever used to try and apprehend a suspect. In some ways, he was eerily correct. Based ''solely on his handwriting'', he was able to correctly determine that the Mad Bomber was a Slavic man living on his own who would be wearing a buttoned double-breasted suit when caught. Displaying how it can also fail spectacularly, Brussel missed the fact that Metesky was unemployed, sent the NYPD on a wild goose chase through White Plains and claimed that Metesky was an “expert in civil or military ordnance”; the closest he came was a stint in a machine shop. He also got the age wrong, as Metesky was over 50 when caught, when Brussel predicted he'd be between 40 and 50 years of age.

* Some ADHD and ADD individuals subconsciously develop this way of thinking to compensate for their short attention span, and use it to figure out what they've missed after zoning out at school or work. It will then likely bleed into other aspects of their life, resulting in people who can figure out someone's dinner plans with a single look to their fridge and who answer questions before they are even asked thanks to the bits of dialogue they heard coming from the next room.