Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a detective that resides in 1880’s era London. Referring to himself as a consulting detective, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science, and reasoning, which borders on the fantastic. He employs these skills regularly when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard.

A statement of Holmes' age in one of his cases, known as “His Last Bow" places his year of birth at 1854, making him 30 years of age. His parents are not publicly known, although Holmes mentions that his ancestors were country squires.

Holmes' brother Mycroft, seven years his senior, is a government official. Mycroft has a unique civil service position as a kind of human database for all aspects of government policy. Sherlock describes his brother as the more intelligent of the two, but notes that Mycroft lacks any interest in physical investigation, preferring to spend his time at the Diogenes Club, a gentleman’s club for liquor and intellectual discussion, or if he does show an interest in investigation, it’s usually only in the realm of politics and national security, as those are Mycroft’s forte. Additionally, while Sherlock hardly enjoys asking his brother to help him fund his detective agency, he does find the need to do so when times are rough.

Holmes first developed his methods of deduction as an undergraduate; his earliest cases, which he pursued as an amateur, came from his fellow university students. A faithful meeting with a classmate's father led him to adopt detection as a profession

In Holmes’s first major case, A Study in Scarlet, financial difficulties lead Holmes and Dr. Watson to share rooms together at 221B Baker Street, London. Their residence is maintained by their landlady, Mrs. Hudson. Watson would come to work directly with Holmes on most of his cases, while also recording their every adventure.

Most of the stories Watson would come to write are frame narratives written from Watson's point of view, as summaries of the detective's most interesting cases. Holmes frequently calls Watson's records of Holmes's cases sensational and populist, suggesting that they fail to accurately and objectively report the "science" of his craft.

Nevertheless, when Holmes tried to record a case himself, he was unable to do so, indicating that his personality isn’t fit for writing in a manner that would appeal to the public.

Holmes's friendship with Watson is the most significant relationship he has had in his life. When Watson was once injured by a bullet, although the wound turned out to be quite superficial. Nonetheless, after confirming Watson's assessment of the wound, Holmes makes it clear that the assailant would not have left the room alive if he genuinely had killed Watson.

Holmes' clients reflect his own expertise, and they vary from the most powerful monarchs and governments of Europe, to wealthy aristocrats and industrialists, to impoverished pawnbrokers and governesses. Also, Police both inside and outside London often ask Holmes for assistance if he is nearby.

The detective acted on behalf of the British government in matters of national security several times and even declined a knighthood "for services which may perhaps someday be described". Despite his sizable reputation, he does not actively seek fame and is usually content to let the police take public credit for his work.

As for his habits, Watson describes Holmes as "bohemian" in his habits and lifestyle. He is said to have a "cat-like" love of personal cleanliness, but at the same time, Holmes is an eccentric with no regard for contemporary standards of tidiness or good order.

While Holmes often appears dispassionate and cold, his obsession over an unfinished case can make him animated and excitable during an investigation, and he, much like a bloodhound, will follow the scent as far as he can until the case is solved. In this way, while he isn’t one to typically show his ability to care or emotionally connect with his clients, he will never leave their side until the criminal has been apprehended, and that in of itself is admirable, and the very reason why so many people turn to him. He also has a flair for showmanship, often keeping his methods and evidence hidden until the last possible moment to impress observers.

Holmes also isn’t completely on the side of the law, as he is willing to break the law as a means for righting a wrong, such as punching someone who has had too much to drink in a bar, or breaking down a door if someone has barricaded themselves or something inside.

Except for that of Watson and occasionally his brother, Holmes usually avoids casual company. Around the time of the “Gloria Scott” case, he tells Watson that during two years at college he made only one friend. The detective also often goes without food at times of intense intellectual activity, believing that "the faculties become refined when you starve them", much to Watson’s disapproval, hence his remarkably thin appearance. At times, Holmes relaxes with music, either playing the violin or enjoying the works of various composers.

Holmes occasionally uses addictive substances, most often tobacco, but sometimes opium or other similar illicit substances, especially in the absence of stimulating cases. As a physician, Watson strongly disapproves of this habit, describing it as the detective's only vice, and he is concerned about its effect on Holmes's mental health and intellect.

Despite this concern, both Watson and Holmes use tobacco in various forms. Although Watson does not consider Holmes's smoking a vice per se, he does criticise the detective for creating a "poisonous atmosphere" in their confined quarters.

Holmes is known to charge clients for his expenses and claim any reward offered for a problem's solution, though always on a fixed scale. Despite this, wealthy clients habitually pay Holmes more than his standard rate. Holmes overall, earns quite a good deal for his time, earning a £6,000 fee at a time where annual expenses for a rising young professional were in the area of £500. However, Holmes would refuse to help even the wealthy and powerful if their cases did not interest him.

Emotionally, Holmes is described as being as inhuman as a Calculating Machine and just about as likely to fall in love. Holmes says of himself that he is "not a whole-souled admirer of womankind"and that he finds "the motives of women to be inscrutable.” More so, Holmes states that "love is an emotional thing, and whatever is emotional is opposed to that true, cold reason which I place above all things.”

Ultimately, Holmes claims outright that he has never loved.

But while Watson says that the detective has an aversion to women, he also notes Holmes as having a peculiarly ingratiating way with them. Watson notes that their housekeeper Mrs. Hudson is fond of Holmes because of his remarkable gentleness and courtesy in his dealings with women. However, he did once become engaged under false pretenses in order to obtain information about a case, abandoning the woman once he had the information he required, which was a highly controversial decision on his part, and one he later regretted severely.

Despite his dislike of women, one has managed to best his intellectual skill, and that was Irene Adler, an retired American opera singer and actress, which he dealt with in his case known as “A Scandal in Bohemia.”

Despite having immense skill in detective work, Holmes also dabbles with various other fields of study, to limited success. According to Watson, who has attempted to assess his abilities, he is exceptionally good at chemistry, and has practical knowledge of British law, Botany, and Geology, but is utterly useless in the fields of philosophy, astronomy, or politics.

Speaking of astronomy, Holmes claims that he didn’t even know that the Earth revolved around the Sun until Watson told him, citing it as information he had no reason to know for his line of work.

He is also a cryptanalyst, being well aware of various forms of secret writing. Additionally, he has a fairly good understanding of psychology, being able to easily read people’s expressions and body language.For example, Holmes observes the dress and attitude of his clients and suspects, noting skin marks, contamination, emotional state, and physical condition in order to deduce their origins and recent history. The style and state of wear of a person's clothes and personal items are also commonly relied on. As an example, Holmes has applied his method to items such as walking sticks, pipes, and hats. During “A Scandal in Bohemia", Holmes infers that Watson had gotten water over his clothes lately and had "a most clumsy and careless servant girl". When Watson asked how Holmes knew this, the detective answered: “It is simplicity itself. My eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London slavey.”

Though Holmes is famed for his reasoning capabilities, his investigative technique relies heavily on the acquisition of hard evidence.

The detective is particularly skilled in the analysis of trace evidence and other physical evidence, including latent prints to identify actions at a crime scene, using tobacco ashes and cigarettes to identify criminals, utilizing handwriting analysis and graphology, comparing typewritten letters to expose a fraud using gunpowder residue, and analyzing small pieces of human remains.

Because of the small scale of much of his evidence, the detective often uses a magnifying glass at the scene and an optical microscope at his Baker Street lodgings. He uses analytical chemistry for blood residue analysis and toxicology to detect poisons. He even has a full blown chemistry set in his home that he regularly uses, something that Watson often claims to take up too much space, and to be too hazardous for a living environment.

Holmes also displays a strong aptitude for acting and disguise. In several cases, Holmes used disguises to gather evidence undercover, being so convincing that Watson failed to recognise him. In other cases, Holmes feigns injury or illness to incriminate the guilty. In the latter case, Watson says, "The stage lost a fine actor when Holmes became a detective.”

Most notably, Holmes once faked his own death to escape from his arch nemesis, James Moriarty, a criminal mastermind who is one of the very few people that can give Holmes a run for his money, and who had long since wanted to end the detective’s life. Watson himself was led to believe that his friend had perished the night Holmes and Moriarty confronted each other and fell down a waterfall, but Holmes showed up months later, proving that it had all been an act the entire time. Needless to say, Watson was greatly relieved at finding his friend alive, embracing him wholeheartedly.

The detective is described as possessing above-average physical strength, which often comes off as startling considering how slender he is on most days, and that he appears to be practically anemic due to a poorly regulated diet. For instance, after one of his clients fell into a rage, showing his strength by bending a fire poker in half, Holmes laughed, picking up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, straightened it out again.

Holmes is also an adept bare-knuckle fighter, having proven himself capable in multiple fights over the years. He also claims to be skilled in Baritsu, a martial art that supposedly combines jujitsu with boxing and cane fencing.

Appearance wise, Holmes is a tall, and rather slender man with almost tallowy pale skin. This paleness is accented by his cheekbones, which are primarily a result of him often neglecting his need for food. His eyes are just as cold and calculating as his mind, with them being a light blue in color. Despite being only around 30 years of age, he seems a good deal older, possibly due to his aforementioned neglect for his health. He also has short brown hair that is constantly kept neat and tidy.

For his outfits, he most commonly wears a victorian-era suit and top hat, but he is commonly seen wearing merely a dressing gown if he is in his home and lounging around, as he often does while not actively on cases, given that he is a night owl, and hates being arisen early from his slumber. Sherlock Holmes can simply be described as a man with a seemingly cold exterior, although he is someone who is actually incredibly empathetic. This confusion comes from his tendency to be able to handle almost every bit of news that comes his way without surprise or fear, something that many claim makes him appear borderline sociopathic. He’s also incredibly adaptable, while being highly attuned to any piece of information that could aid him in his quest to aid his clients.