History YMMV / SherlockHolmes

** Doyle describes Holmes in "The Greek Interpreter" as "a brain without a heart". Playing this "brain" consumed Brett's life, as he was forced to hide much of himself (his {{Keet}} energy) in order to play Holmes, and other sacrifices, leading to his death of heart failure.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: Holmes is certainly very eccentric. The obsessiveness, antisocial personality and occasional strange or inappropriate behaviour (often commented upon by other characters) are seen as autistic traits by some readers; while his tendency to alternate between energetic and lethargic or depressed moods might suggest some form of bipolar disorder.

* HarsherInHindsight: It's much harder to enjoy "The Adventure of the Retired Colourman" after Auschwitz...

** The Agent - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; a reference to the LiteraryAgentHypothesis.
** The Master - Literature/SherlockHolmes.
** The Good Doctor - Watson. [[Series/DoctorWho No relation]].
** John "Three Continents" Watson - the three continents in question refer to the [[TheCasanova number and variety of the women he's sampled.]]

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Likely owing to his various ([[CaptainErsatz unofficial]]) crossovers with a certain [[Literature/ArseneLupin Gentleman Thief]], Sherlock has found himself a rather large Japanese fanbase, to the point where many Japanese works that pay homage to both him and Arsène often adapt details that are found in the original Doyle novels.

* SugarWiki/DevelopmentHeaven: Creator/JeremyBrett was determined to be the best Sherlock Holmes ever put to screen and threw himself into the role. He even created a 77-page "Baker Street File" on everything from Holmes' mannerisms to his eating and drinking habits.

** Mrs. Hudson is sometimes seen as Holmes's housekeeper, but in the original canon she wasn't any kind of servant; she ''owned'' 221 Baker Street, and rented 221B to Holmes and Watson. ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' even harps on this, with Mrs. Hudson insistently pointing out that she's their landlady, ''not'' their housekeeper. That being said, she is often mentioned as cooking for them (no doubt as part of their room and board) and she sometimes brought visitors/clients up to see Holmes and occasionally brought him cards or telegrams as well, so it's understandable why people would assume it was her job.

* This in turn often leads to some fans wondering just how accurately Watson portrays himself and Holmes, and whether he occasionally bends the truth in his stories.

** Though Holmes greatly admired Irene Adler's intellect, he was never in love with her, and they never had any kind of romantic relationship. "A Scandal in Bohemia", the only story that she appears in, actually ended with her running off to marry another man. However, because Adler is one of the most pervasive cases of PromotedToLoveInterest in literature, people tend to forget this.

** In a recent twist, the urge to dismantle the CommonKnowledge about Sherlock Holmes has led to the creation of an entirely new piece of CommonKnowledge - the portrayal of Literature/SherlockHolmes as a mentally disturbed emotionally crippled loner, solely devoted to the solving of puzzles - the portrayal seen in the Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Junior and Hugh Laurie adaptation portrayals. This is, however, an exaggeration of the books where Holmes is seen as being solitary, subject to occasional dark moods and occasionally tactless but is in fact warm hearted and sympathetic (even in the first adventure he takes his time to listen and understand Watson's horror over the murders) who absolutely hates any sort of cruelty or evil and fights tooth and nail for all of his clients.

** The titular "A Scandal in Bohemia" is the King of Bohemia's affair (back when he was Crown Prince) with Irene Adler, an opera singer whose career in the 1890s was one step at most above [[TheWickedStage being an actress.]] These days, when acting and opera singing are respectable and admired professions, readers may wonder why everyone is making so much fuss over a brief liaison that happened five years ago. ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' actually updated Adler to being a ''lesbian dominatrix'' in order to translate the scandal to the 21st century.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: The titular detective is popularly interpreted as autistic by a number of fans and psychologists, owed to his highly specialized knowledge in specific subjects, his prodigious logical reasoning, and his difficulties with social interaction. The interpretation has long been controversial for relying on stereotypes of autistic people, but a number of autistic fans embraced the theory to the extent of commonly applying it to later takes on the mythos. The headcanon of an autistic Holmes additionally had a run-on effect of creating an entire archetype revolving around detectives who implicitly or explicitly have various mental conditions that inform their skills.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: The titular detective is popularly interpreted as autistic by a number of fans and psychologists, owed to his highly specialized knowledge in specific subjects, his prodigious logical reasoning, and his difficulties with social interaction. The interpretation has long been controversial for relying on stereotypes of autistic people, but a number autistic fans embraced the theory to the extent of commonly applying it to later takes on the mythos. The headcanon of an autistic Holmes additionally had a run-on effect of creating an entire archetype revolving around detectives who implicitly or explicitly have various mental conditions that inform their skills.

** The titular "A Scandal in Bohemia" is the King of Bohemia's affair back when he was Crown Prince with Irene Adler, an opera singer, a job which in the 1890s was one step at most above [[TheWickedStage being an actress.]] These days, when acting and opera singing are respectable and admired professions, readers may wonder why everyone is making so much fuss over a brief affair that happened five years ago.

** Mrs. Hudson is sometimes seen as Holmes's housekeeper. She wasn't any kind of servant, she ''owned'' 221 Baker Street, and rented 221B to Holmes and Watson. (''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' even harps on this, with Mrs. Hudson insistently pointing out that she's their landlady, ''not'' their housekeeper.) That being said, she ''is'' often mentioned as cooking for them, no doubt as part of their room and board, and sometimes brought visitors/clients up to see Holmes and occasionally brought him cards or telegrams as well.

** The titular "A Scandal in Bohemia" is the King of Bohemia's affair back when he was Crown Prince with Irene Adler, an opera singer, a job which in the 1890s was one step at most above [[TheWickedStage being an actress.]] These days, when acting and opera singing are respectable and admired professions, readers will often wonder why there's so much fuss over a brief affair that happened five years ago.

** Mrs. Hudson is sometimes seen as Holmes's housekeeper. She wasn't any kind of servant, she ''owned'' 221 Baker Street, and rented 221B to Holmes and Watson. (''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' even harps on this, with Mrs. Hudson insistently pointing out that she's ''not'' their housekeeper.) That being said, she ''is'' often portrayed as cooking for them, and sometimes brought visitors/clients up to see Holmes and occasionally brought him cards or telegrams.

** Mrs. Hudson is sometimes seen as Holmes's housekeeper. She wasn't any kind of servant, she ''owned'' 221 Baker Street, and rented 221B to Holmes and Watson. That being said, she ''is'' often portrayed as cooking for them, and sometimes brought visitors/clients up to see Holmes and occasionally brought him cards or telegrams.

** Mrs. Hudson is sometimes seen as Holmes's housekeeper. She wasn't any kind of servant, she ''owned'' 221 Baker Street, and rented 221B to Holmes and Watson. That being said, she ''was'' often portrayed as cooking for them.

** Mrs Hudson is sometimes seen as Holmes's housekeeper. She wasn't any kind of servant, she ''owned'' 221 Baker Street, and rented 221B to Holmes and Watson. That being said, she ''was'' often portrayed as cooking for them.

* EnsembleDarkhorse:

** The plot of "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" concerns an ImpoverishedPatrician who marries a wealthy American in order to offset his dismal financial situation. Where does his bride get her wealth? Her father owns a [[GoldDigger gold mine!]][[note]] This story was published in 1892 and GoldDigger didn't become slang for someone marrying for money until the 1920s.[[/note]]

** The plot of "The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor" concerns an ImpoverishedPatrician who marries a wealthy American in order to offset his dismal financial situation. Where does his bride get her wealth? Her father owns a [[GoldDigger ''gold mine!'']][[note]] This story was published in 1892 and GoldDigger didn't become slang for someone marrying for money until the 1920s.[[/note]]

** [[TVSeries/InspectorMorse Inspector Morse]] on the other side of the law as Jonathan Small - though he's kept his love of booze.

** Creator/JamesPurefoy as James McCarthy.

** [[TV/InspectorMorse Inspector Morse]] on the other side of the law as Jonathan Small - though he's kept his love of booze.

** [[Film/InspectorMorse Inspector Morse]] on the other side of the law as Jonathan Small - though he's kept his love of booze.