Sherlock

Sherlock Holmes

 Sherlock Holmes (born William Sherlock Scott Holmes) is the world's only consulting detective, a profession he created for himself. He is based in London and often consulted by Greg Lestrade of New Scotland Yard, usually taking his best friend and former flatmate, John Watson, on cases. He has a keen interest in unusual or bizarre crimes, without which he rapidly becomes bored, relying on nicotine to keep his brain active, although in the past he has dabbled in illegal drugs such as heroin for entertainment.

Sherlock is a thinker and an observer; his incredible ability to notice and draw deductions from seemingly trivial details is his main tool for solving crimes he investigates. He also often utilises his "mind palace", a tool for remembering the smallest of details and organising his memories in a visual way. However, his unusual and somewhat anti-social personality has led to many in the official police force distrusting and disliking him.

Sherlock claims on more than one occasion to be a "high-functioning sociopath". However, according to Jim Moriarty, as well as Sherlock's own actions and displays of emotion and empathy, this may not be true. Sherlock does not seem to exhibit any of the symptoms of an anti-social personality disorder. John jokes once, in order to explain Sherlock's behaviour, that he might suffer from Asperger's Syndrome , a disorder on the autism spectrum , though this has never been confirmed.

Perhaps Sherlock's most noticeable trait is his proneness to boredom. He is constantly agitated by the lack of work, describing peace and quiet as "hateful". Even if a case is offered to him, he won't take it unless he finds it sufficiently interesting (though it is worth noting that he seems to significantly lower his standards as he gets more desperate). In the absence of case work that meets his criteria, he will go to extreme lengths to keep himself occupied, such as repeatedly shooting the wall of his flat with live rounds, and even turning to drugs in more extreme situations; he claims that he is a "user" of drugs on more than one occasion, which helps to increase his thought process. He even went so far as to accuse the criminal class of slackening, viewing that as the reason for his boredom.

Sherlock has a major manipulative streak and will often take advantage of people in order to get his way. For example, knowing Molly has a crush on him, he will occasionally flatter her in order to gain access to the morgue he would not otherwise have. John, on the other hand, is sometimes subject to experiments. In one particular instance, when Sherlock needs to test out a drug, he sneaks it into John's coffee. When John tries to say "I don't take sugar," Sherlock effectively uses a 'kicked puppy' look to guilt John into finishing the drink.

He seems to have a sense of humour, though it is very sarcastic and can be quite dark. Sherlock is amused, most notably, by the stupidity of others in comparison to himself. He also often makes quips at the expense of his brother, Mycroft, usually about his dieting habits or his posh job. He is incredibly unamused, however, by John's blog. He thinks the titles John gives their cases, such as "The Geek Interpreter", or "The Speckled Blonde", are ridiculous, and he finds the fame that comes with being an 'internet phenomenon' distasteful and ridiculous. He was also deterred by the prospect of having to wear his now-iconic deerstalker in public for the cameras. In "The Lying Detective."  he puts it on before heading out to have cake for his birthday, stating "I'm Sherlock Holmes. I wear the damn hat." 

  One quality that Sherlock lacks entirely is tact, which is one of the main reasons that he is disliked so heavily by so many people. He often doesn't notice when his accurate deductions about other people's personal lives offend them, including the implication that Anderson and Sally Donovan were having an affair - that being said, neither of them did anything to soften his opinion of them. He is incredibly antagonistic towards the officers at Scotland Yard, particularly Anderson and Sally Donovan, which is often relayed with a cutting remark from the latter. It does seem, though that, over time, Sherlock is becoming increasingly aware of his ability to affront, occasionally asking John "Not good?" when he does see that he has upset someone.  

  Although he puts forth a cold-hearted and abrasive exterior, Sherlock does have a kind, caring side. Despite telling John that not caring about people makes it easier to do his job, Sherlock clearly has concern for the people involved in his cases. During one of their earlier cases, when John's girlfriend Sarah was kidnapped by Chinese smugglers, Sherlock focused on saving her rather than catching the smugglers themselves, and comforted her gently while untying her, even though he had not seemed to like her much previously. And again, in one of his first confrontations with Moriarty , he seems very emotionally affected when he is unable to save the life of an old woman. A bit later, at Baskerville, he tries to talk Henry down from taking his own life. He reacted with compassion towards his younger sister,  Eurus Holmes upon learning the secret behind her childhood song. When Eurus became uncommunicative following their final game at Musgrave Hall, Sherlock visited her and played his violin for her, eventually eliciting a reaction from her. He continued visiting Sherrinford and playing for Eurus over the years, later able to hold a violin recital of the two of them for their parents and Mycroft, reflecting in Eurus some measure of mental recovery and also Sherlock's dedicated care to his newly learned sister, apparently forgiving her for her responsibility of Victor Trevor's death and the subsequent trauma. He also despises criminals such as Milverton, who disgusted him more than any criminal he ever dealt with, and described Culverton Smith as a monster.

Sherlock is the most protective towards the people he is close to, however. Even though it often seems like he takes Mrs. Hudson for granted, he is enraged when he finds that she has been roughed up by an American operative, going so far as to tie him up and throw him out the window - so many times he "lost count". Later, when John insists that she go stay with her sister for a while, Sherlock tells him that if Mrs. Hudson left Baker Street, "England would fall", while putting a comforting arm around her. This protective nature extends to all his friends, to the point that he is willing to fake his own death to save them.

John and Sherlock, however, share a unique relationship. Sherlock, clearly, cannot be considered a man with many friends; his attitude and cutting words often ward people away, but with John he makes an effort. John is intelligent, though not as intelligent as Sherlock, lacking Holmes' observational skills and his unique insight into crime. John however does have great insight in his analysis of relationships, which Sherlock may dismiss, though often does prove to come in handy. The pair seems to have very compatible senses of humor, and Sherlock does generally appear to appreciate John's love of danger and risk-taking, even confessing to John that he "doesn't have friends. [He] just has one". He never denies it when people incorrectly assume that they are romantic partners.

When John asks Sherlock to be his best man, Sherlock is stunned into silence. He later reveals, during a very long and touching speech at the wedding, that he'd never expected to be anyone's best man because he'd "never expected to be anybody's best friend."

Sherlock shares a somewhat complex relationship with his older brother, Mycroft Holmes. Mycroft does seem to worry a great deal about Sherlock, often rallying his younger brother's friends in order to ensure his safety (specifically to prevent an implied relapse), and attempting to protect Sherlock when they thought Irene Adler had died. While he does show, at times, childlike frustration with his elder brother, Sherlock never dismisses him as he does with clients or police officers he finds truly annoying or tedious. Mycroft also seems comfortable with the idea of going to Sherlock for help with issues of national security, showing once again an innate sense of trust in his younger sibling.

Though he was unaware of it, his younger sister, Eurus Holmes, had profoundly influenced Sherlock's person to the extent that, as Mycroft remarked, every choice Sherlock made, every path he ever taken, the man Sherlock is, is Sherlock's memory of Eurus. When Eurus made Victor Trevor, Sherlock's childhood best friend, disappear, Sherlock was so traumatized by the loss that he rewritten his memories of Victor and Eurus, remembering Victor as his pet dog Redbeard and forgetting Eurus entirely. Mycroft noted that, because of what Eurus did, Sherlock substantially changed in personality from the emotional child he was to the cold, deductive and logical man that he was introduced as in the series. 

Irene Adler deduces that he believes in a higher power which is himself, an assertion that Sherlock neither confirmed or denied.