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* KarmaHoudini: He successfully makes his escape after killing Professor Cairns and never appears again afterwards.
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/moriarty_james_3139.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Every fairytale needs a good, old-fashioned villain."'']]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Every fairytale needs a good, old-fashioned villain."'']]
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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/9917015755d450d21b6ef6788ebb328f_james_moriarty_sherlock.jpg]]
The show's most prominent villain, and its only recurring one. A criminal genius and master of Britain's underworld, he is Sherlock's ArchNemesis and loves every second of it.
See his page [[Characters/SherlockJimMoriarty here.]]
The show's most prominent villain, and its only recurring one. A criminal genius and master of Britain's underworld, he is Sherlock's ArchNemesis and loves every second of it.
See his page [[Characters/SherlockJimMoriarty here.]]
to:
The show's most prominent villain, and its only recurring one. A criminal genius and master of Britain's underworld, he is
Sherlock's
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* AdaptationExpansion: The literary Professor Moriarty only appeared in two short stories, and his plans were relatively simple. This Moriarty is prominently featured in three out of four seasons, and he has many, many plans which are ''far'' more complex.
* AdaptationNameChange: Downplayed. Here he's called "Jim" Moriarty, which is probably short for the original "James".
* AdaptationOriginConnection: It turns out that, when they were both children, he committed the first crime Sherlock ever solved.
* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: From what we see, in the Doyle books Moriarty's attitute towards Sherlock was a mixture of annoyance at his interference and a cold WorthyOpponent respect. This Moriarty develops an obsession with Sherlock that is pretty much a creepy infatuation, and he treasures his rivalry with Sherlock above all else.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Mildly. Unlike Doyle's original character, this Moriarty is shown to commit crimes because he has an extreme aversion to being bored, and he seems genuinely upset when Sherlock "disappoints him".
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In Doyle's stories and accompanying illustrations, Moriarty was an elderly, skinny, bald man. Jim, here, is much younger and easier on the eyes...
* AdaptationalBadass: Compared to his literary counterpart, which had near-complete control of London's criminal underworld at the apex of his power, this one is shown to have a criminal network that encompasses the entire world, including [[UsefulNotes/NorthKorea North Korea]], mind you.
* AdaptationalJerkass: Far more depraved and ruthless than his literary counterpart.
* AdaptationalJobChange: This Moriarty isn't a professor, but works in IT as part of his cover.
* AdaptationalWimp: A downplayed case. Book Moriarity was described by Holmes as "the most dangerous man in Europe." Here, Sherlock and Mycroft play him with ease. Despite being played in the end, Sherlock still fears him.
* AdaptationalSexuality: See the entries for AmbiguouslyGay and DepravedBisexual below.
* AgeLift: Moriarty is traditionally 10-20 years older than Sherlock, though still physically close to his prime, to show that while he and Sherlock are equals in intelligence, Moriarty has the edge in experience and planning. Here, Moriarty and Sherlock are close in age (the actors born only months apart), but Moriarty has been engaged in organized crime for years longer than Sherlock's been investigating it. As well, he may have been murdering for longer than he looks, as exemplified in EnfantTerrible down below.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: As smart as Sherlock is, Moriarty is just as brilliant and has none of Sherlock's [[TheUnfettered self-imposed constraints.]]
** As it turns out, Mycroft and Sherlock were better than him. At least, until the reveal on his [[ThanatosGambit Final Problem...]]
* AmbiguousCriminalHistory: Played with. While we see him commit several crimes, they are just the tip of the iceberg to a long career of illegal activities, which we don't learn much about.
* AmbiguouslyGay: He claims he's not gay, but he ''delights'' in flirting with Sherlock regardless. In fact, when Sherlock first meets him, he deliberately leaves extremely subtle hints (of the sort only Sherlock would notice) that he's gay. It's unclear if it was just to mess with his head or if he gave away more than he meant to. The fact that his actor, Andrew Scott, is openly gay doesn’t help.
--> "I gave you my number...I thought you might call."
** He makes some sexually explicit comments about his bodyguards regarding their stamina and aftercare abilities, although then again he could be doing it ForTheEvulz.
* AMFMCharacterization: He's been shown to play both classical music and classic pop and rock on his Ipod, or whatever vehicle he's riding in, demonstrating his diverse tastes and his many unpredictable moods. His playing of the classical piece "The Thieving Magpie" from ''La gazza ladra'' while he robs the Tower of London also underscores the casualness and ease he feels while doing what for anyone else would be the crime of a lifetime. When he arrives at Sherrinford, he listens and dances to Music/{{Queen|Band}}'s "I Want to Break Free" and his ringtone is Music/TheBeeGees' "Stayin' Alive".
* ArchEnemy: Sherlock and Moriarty's relationship shows many traits connected with the trope.
** ItsPersonal between them? Check. Moriarty is obsessed with Sherlock and Sherlock [[spoiler:keeps his own version of Moriarty in his Mind Palace]].
** TheHero and his EvilCounterpart? Check.
** WorthyOpponent rivalry? Check.
** MirrorCharacter? Check. Moriarty is what Sherlock could become if he'd let his quirks, boredom and anti-social behavior overcome his mind and morality. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by their talk on the roof.
** Moriarty is the BigBad of Seasons 1 and 2, which makes him the most consistent enemy for Sherlock to fight -- another trait of the ArchEnemy which may explain why [[spoiler:Moriarty was teased to return in Season 4]].
** His ArchEnemy status is consistent with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.
* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: Sherlock's hallucination of Moriarty in "The Abominable Bride" yells at Sherlock that he will be there every time Sherlock stumbles or fails.
* AteHisGun: Puts a gun in [[spoiler:his own mouth and blows his brains out in "The Reichenbach Fall", ForTheEvulz.]]
* AxCrazy: Though more in the way of telling other people to kill people, rather than assaulting them himself.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Subverted]]. After being killed off at the end of Series 2, he seemingly reappears at the end of Series 3. [[spoiler:But it turns out to just be Eurus playing recordings of him made before his death]].
* {{Badass Bookworm}}: Just as much as Sherlock.
* BadassBoast: "The man with the key is king, and honey you should ''see me in a crown''."
** "Sorry boys! I'm ''sooo'' changeable! It is a weakness with me, but to be fair to myself... it is my ONLY weakness."
* BadassInANiceSuit: Westwood, to be precise. Which helps draw a sharp visual distinction between [[spoiler:his scrubs-wearing false identity and the real Moriarty]].
* BadBoss: He's willing to kill, betray, or mock his own minions if it furthers his own aims, or if he just feels like it.
* TheBadGuyWins: Destroys Sherlock's reputation in "The Reichenbach Fall", [[spoiler:forcing Sherlock to fake his own death for a full 2 years.]] Then [[spoiler: subverted, as Sherlock comes back and goes from strength to strength]].
* BaddieFlattery: He frequently tells Sherlock that Sherlock is the only one who is a mental match for him.
* BerserkButton: He gets quite angry whenever Sherlock refuses to play Moriarty's little games the way Moriarty wants him to. He also doesn't take kindly to having his time wasted with lies, as his threats to Irene Adler over the phone prove. He also really hates being laughed at or people not being impressed by his intellect.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Go ahead, laugh at him. See what painful punishment he comes up with.
* BigBad: The main antagonist of Series 1 and 2, and of "The Abominable Bride" in a roundabout way.
* BigBadWannabe: Of a sort; throughout Series 4 he was presented as the returning ultimate threat, but it was revealed that he was, in fact, still dead, and that Eurus Holmes was pulling the strings the whole time. Moriarty's presence came from recordings that had been made before his death, as he wanted to insert himself into the Holmes brothers' climactic deaths. But at the end of the day, all his recordings did was let him be little more than a taunting bystander.
** He thought of himself as being Sherlock's ultimate arch-enemy. Mycroft and Sherlock were three steps ahead the whole time.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: He first shows up as Molly Hooper's friendly, harmless boyfriend. He reveals his true colours to Sherlock soon enough.
* BoringInsult: Invoked. According to him, the most heinous insult to someone like him or Sherlock is to be "boring".
-->'''Moriarty:''' I'm disappointed, I'm ''disappointed'' in you, ''ordinary Sherlock''.
* BrainsEvilBrawnGood: Downplayed. He and Sherlock are both geniuses, but Sherlock is slightly taller and stronger than him.
* BreakoutVillain: While he was a prominent villain from the very start, he was such a success that the writers kept finding ways to work him in to the show even after he was KilledOffForReal, whether appearing in Sherlock's head as an ImaginaryEnemy or through schemes of his that only came to fruition after he died.
* BreakThemByTalking: Moriarty has developed this to an art form.
* CampStraight: Keeps up his {{Camp}} persona after [[spoiler:revealing his identity to Sherlock]]. Also delights in flirting with him, calling him "sexy" and "honey". As always, it's hard to tell what really motivates him.
* CanonCharacterAllAlong: Molly's colleague Jim at first seems like an ineffectual StraightGay background character, until it's revealed that his last name is [[BigBad Moriarty]].
* CardCarryingVillain: Is openly proud of being reprehensibly evil. [[spoiler:He even gave Sherlock his card.]]
* {{Catchphrase}}: He frequently alludes to "the final problem".
* ChallengeSeeker: This is the main reason that he's so obsessed with Sherlock Holmes. The detective is the only one who can be a proper challenge for Moriarty's intellect. When Sherlock seems to be anything less, Moriarty is bittely disappointed.
* CharacterExaggeration: The original Moriarty was amoral. This Moriarty is a total ''psychopath''.
* TheChessmaster: He's particularly good at playing Sherlock himself -- as illustrated to a devastating effect in "The Reichenbach Fall".
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: He has a habit of betraying his clients, employees, and allies in order to further his own private agenda, particularly whenever Sherlock Holmes is involved.
* CirclingMonologue: In the climax of "The Reichenbach Fall" he circles around Sherlock while explaining that Sherlock needs to jump off the roof if he wants to save his friends.
* CompositeCharacter: The version of Moriarty in Sherlock's hallucination in "The Abominable Bride" is a combination of Jim and the Professor Moriarty from the books.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Prior to his first appearance in Season 1, the two main protagonists had been 1) a cabbie driver who only killed because somebody paid him to do it, and 2) a gang of cold, impersonal criminals who killed to maintain their criminal activities. Moiarty, as opposed to them, happily kills and destroys [[ItAmusedMe just because he finds it fun.]] Also, he's a LargeHam when previous antagonists had been, at most [[ColdHam Cold Hams]].
* ConsummateLiar: To the point where he can claim to be the former host of a children's TV show, and have an astounding amount of evidence to back it up.
* TheCorruptor: Has shades of this; he shows delight when he sees how low Sherlock was willing to go to force him into calling his assassins off.
* CrazyPrepared: To rival the Holmes brothers. In the event that his main plans for Sherlock went south, he already had backup scheme set up with Eurus Holmes, which she out into action after his death. He went to the point of making multiple recordings of himself for Eurus to use in any event during her agenda.
* CreateYourOwnHero: The first crime he ever committed was also the first crime that Sherlock Holmes ever solved (even though no one believed him).
* CreepyChild: He committed his first murder at only twelve years old and got away with it.
* CreepyHighPitchedVoice: He frequently goes to a higher pitch in his ShiftingVoiceOfMadness.
* CreepyMonotone: He'll sometimes slip into this if he isn't being going all LargeHam or CreepyHighPitchedVoice.
* CrooksAreBetterArmed: Although he and Sherlock are pretty much equal in intelligence, Moriarty's criminal connections give him ''far'' better resources than Sherlock.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Does much worse things than his literary counterpart was ever shown to, such as child abduction, mass murder, and terrorism.
* DeadpanSnarker: When he's not giggling.
* DeathSeeker: Jim's excruciating boredom with the world leads him to try get Sherlock to kill them both at the end of series 1, simply because it'd be ''fun''.
* DecompositeCharacter: Certain traits of Moriarty from the books, such as the "Napoleon" nickname, his appearance and personality, and the events in his brief meetings with Sherlock were given to Charles Augustus Magnussen in the show. Some elements of the literary version are even given to Sherlock's mother, of all people, who got Moriarty's age, his mathematician career and his having written a textbook on dynamics (although hers is "The Dynamics of Combustion" whereas Moriarty's was "The Dynamics of an Asteroid")
* DenserAndWackier: Subverted. While this incarnation acts far sillier than Conan Doyle's, he is ultimately just as intelligent and even more dangerous due to his sociopathic cruelty.
* DepravedBisexual: Played with. He's had relationships with women and flirted with men, even hinting to have had sex with his bodyguards, but at least some of it was shown to be just another way he manipulates and toys with people.
* DepravedKidsShowHost: One of these turns up in series 2. [[spoiler:Jim Moriarty's cover identity as 'The Storyteller' includes kidnapping children and slowly poisoning them.]]
* {{Determinator}}: He will do anything he has to in order to conquer and destroy Sherlock.
* DevilInPlainSight: On John's blog, he leaves several mysterious and ominous comments with an anonymous account. Nobody else comments on it.
* DiabolicalMastermind: He's a "consulting criminal" behind dozens of illegal schemes. He even has enough power and cunning to commit a crime in public, offer no defence at his trial, and ''still'' get off scot-free.
* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In the books, Moriarty dies plunging into Reichenbach Falls. This version shoots himself in the head as his final attempt to force Sherlock to kill himself.
* DiesWideOpen: Complete with [[spoiler:a ''seriously'' creepy smile after having supposedly blown his brains out]].
* DoingItForTheArt: InUniverse. Like his book counterpart, he orchestrates crimes to alleviate his own boredom rather than for material desires.
* DoNotAdjustYourSet: Takes control of [[spoiler:every TV set in Britain for his return at the end of "His Last Vow".]]
** Although far more likely he [[spoiler:took control of the transmitters and ground stations.]]
* TheDreaded: Everyone who knows of him is afraid of him. Even Mycroft is wary of him.
* DrivenToSuicide: Zig-zagged. Looks suicidal when he realizes that in destroying Sherlock, he's actually won, and now has nobody who will pose a challenge to him anymore. [[spoiler:Then changes his mind and says he'll manage. Unfortunately Sherlock then convinces him that as long as Sherlock has Jim alive, Sherlock can also stop Jim's plan. Moriarty promptly shoots himself in the head to make sure Sherlock can't beat him.]]
* EnfantTerrible: He's been murdering since grade school without anyone but Sherlock the wiser. And even then, with all his intelligence Sherlock couldn't solve the case until present-day, when Moriarty began taking prominence in his investigations, making you wonder how ''utterly demented and intelligent'' the younger Moriarty ''truly'' was.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He gets one where he isn't even seen or heard! In "The Great Game", Sherlock gets an anonymous phone call. It's a sobbing woman who is forced to say "Hello, sexy." She goes on to say the words Moriarty is typing for her, calling herself a "stupid bitch" and telling Sherlock that unless he solves a mystery within twenty-four hours, that she will be blown up with a bomb. Although Moriarty's only presence in the scene is the words that the woman is relaying, it chillingly establishes his sadism, sick sense of humor, obsession with Sherlock, and horrifying talent for what he murder and destruction.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: [[spoiler:Predicted Sherlock would shoot Mycroft in Eurus' DeadlyGame (he even made a specific message for that eventuality), but not that [[HeroicSuicide Sherlock would threaten to shoot himself]], or that presumably Eurus wouldn't kill Mycroft for Sherlock cheating.]]
* EvilCounterpart: To Sherlock. In this version, he lists his occupation as "Consulting Criminal", and his InsufferableGenius tendencies are played up just as much as Sherlock's. His goal, as it turns out, is to find [[spoiler:a perfect counterpart -- someone who ''is'' him]]. Sherlock indulges him, in the end, and admits as much.
* EvilGenius: He has intelligence to rival Sherlock and Mycroft, and none of their ethics.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: He cracks jokes at the most inappropriate (to anyone else) times.
* EvilIsPetty: He tends to mock those around him for various slight reasons.
* EvilMentor: He very briefly became one to Eurus Holmes, during a five-minute meeting where he instructed her how to get at Sherlock and what to do in the event of his death.
* EvilPlan: His crimes are often pretty random and impulsive, but in "The Reichenbach Fall" his plan is to manipulate the entirety of London in order to force Sherlock to throw himself off a building.
* EvilSoundsRaspy: One of the styles of speaking he alternates to is a raspy whisper.
* EvilWearsBlack: While he wears normal clothing when posing as a normal person, as "himself" he always wears dark suits.
* {{Expy}}: Aspects of Jim's personality are similar to that of Moriarty expy [[WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective Professor Ratigan]]. He also shares a lot of traits with Creator/JohnSimm's [[Series/DoctorWho Master]].
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Moriarty is unconcerned with his own life and is even willing to accept the possibility that he could die in the games that he’s made, especially if it allows him to win his game. This is shown in the season 2 finale where he willingly decides to kill himself to ensure that Sherlock will never be able to use him to call off his subordinates that were about to kill Sherlock's friends.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He puts on the facade of a soft-spoken gentleman, but it does little to disguise his sadism.
* FauxYay: He claims he was only pretending to be gay in his "Jim from IT" persona, but whether he's telling the truth is unclear.
* FlayingAlive: Threatens Irene Adler with this.
-->'''Jim:''' Say that again, and know that if you're lying to me, I will find you, and I will ''skiiiiiin'' you.
* FoeRomanceSubtext: Invokes it with Sherlock, every chance he gets.
* FoeYayShipping: In-universe, no less, judging by one of the members of Sherlock's fanclub who puts forward the theory that [[spoiler:Sherlock and Moriarty faked their deaths to run off into the sunset together!]]
* ForTheEvulz: Has no real reason behind his cruel EvilPlan except that he is a psychopath and he "got bored". [[MirrorCharacter Remarkably like our hero, in fact.]]
-->'''Sherlock:''' People have ''died!''\\
'''Moriarty:''' That's what people '''DO!'''
* FriendlyEnemy: With Sherlock. Each has the other in their line of sight, ready to kill each other, when [[spoiler:Moriarty asks to answer his phone. While he's talking,]] we get this gem:
-->'''Moriarty:''' [[spoiler:''[mouths]'' Sorry!]]\\
'''Sherlock:''' [[spoiler:''[mouths]'' It's fine!]]
* GambitPileup: He and Eurus Holmes concocted a plan to trick Sherlock and his friends into playing Eurus's cat-and-mouse game. However, Moriarty later enacts his own plan to try and manipulate Sherlock into killing himself, completely separate from, and mutually exclusive with, Eurus's scheme (presumably without Eurus's knowledge). Moriarty's plan fails, getting him killed in the process (although he was actually happy about that, for his own personal reasons). Eurus later enacts ''her'' plan, which is partially successful.
* GenuineHumanHide: Uses this as a threat. Given what we've seen of him, it's very likely that he wasn't simply being theatrical.
-->'''Jim:''' If you have what you say you have, I will make you rich. If not, I'll make you into shoes.
* GigglingVillain: His laughter is truly creepy.
* GoodHairEvilHair: His hair is usually much more slicked than Sherlock's messy locks.
* GoOutWithASmile: In his twisted attempt to beat Sherlock, Moriarty gives out a very disturbing smile before blowing out his own brains.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Most of the crimes in seasons 1 and 2 are connected to him in some way. He continued to be this even after he died. Sherlock's continual FakingTheDead in season 3 was due to him, as Sherlock spent the time dismantling his criminal network. In Season 4, while he [[spoiler:didn't actually return from the dead, as the vidoes of him seemed to indicate, the plot that Eurus Holmes carries out through the season had been partially orchestrated by him before his demise.]]
* HatedByAll: Despite the mind-boggling extent of his connections and organizations, no one actually likes him. The only positive references made to him are about how useful he is as a consulting criminal. He only gets along with people as [[VillainousFriendship evil as he is.]]
* TheHeavy: In the finales of seasons 1 and 2, he steps out of his shadowy role as GreaterScopeVillain to become this.
* HeroKiller: Subverted. It really seems like he has killed Sherlock, and everyone believed he had for two years. Then Sherlock revealed himself to be alive, first two the audience than to the other characters. Still, Moriarty got closer than anyone else to doing Sherlock in.
* HiddenDepths: While the Moriarty we know is never shown to give a single solitary flip about what other people think of him, when he was a little boy he murdered another little boy, apparently because the other boy laughed at him. So it's implied that he does have, or at least ''had'', a sense of self-consciousness and insecurity.
* HiddenVillain: Until the ending of Season 1, his identity was obscured as he connected with all the crimes Sherlock and John encountered.
* HotterAndSexier: He has AdaptationalAttractiveness, has affairs with women to further his goals, and makes several suggestive comments, particularly towards Sherlock.
* IControlMyMinionsThrough: Material benefits, such as money for Jeff Hope or valuable information for Irene Adler.
* ImaginaryEnemy: He appears as a malevolent hallucination to Sherlock several times. Once when Sherlock was unwittingly put under the influence of a hallucinatory chemical, once in Sherlock's mind palace when Sherlock was close to death, and once when Sherlock was having an extended drugs episode. While the former is too brief for Moriarty to say anything, the latter two times he pushes Sherlock to give up on survival.
* IncomingHam:
-->'''Jim:''' ''[said in goofy voice]'' I gave you my number. I thought you might call.
* UsefulNotes/IrishAccents: His normal speaking voice (when he's not shifting accents for no reason) is a ''very'' {{Camp}}, [[LargeHam hammy]] Dublin 4 (read: posh) accent.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He doesn't care about anything except alleviating his own boredom. His obsession with Sherlock stems from finally having a fun WorthyOpponent.
* ItAmusedMe: He clearly does the majority of what he does because it entertains him.
* {{Jerkass}}: Unless your name is Sherlock Holmes, he'll either be dismissive of you (at best) or take an interest in you only as another stupid normal person to screw over for fun (the more frequent option). This even applies to the people he works with.
* JokerImmunity: Subverted. At first, it seems like Moriarty is returning in Series 4, despite having been seemingly KilledOffForReal in Series 2. However, it turns out to just be Eurus Holmes enacting a plan that she and Moriarty had concocted before his death. Moriarty is still definitely dead.
* KickTheDog: His frequent unnecessary taunting and intimidation to both his victims and his own allies.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:No JokerImmunity for Moriarty. Despite a fair bit of speculation otherwise, this seems to truly be the case after shooting himself in "The Reichenbach Fall"]], as Sherlock finally seems to conclude for sure in "The Abominable Bride".
** Played with in "The Final Problem" where we see him alive and kicking with Eurus until it's revealed that the scene played out five years ago.
* KnightOfCerebus: The series was never the most lighthearted, but there was plenty of humour. When Moriarty enters as an indirect antagonist, the death toll escalates and the show gets darker. When he appears in person, things get seriously disturbing.
* LackOfEmpathy: He shows no interest in the feelings or well-being of others, except for how he can indulge his own depraved and sadistic desires.
--> '''Sherlock:''' People have died.
--> '''Moriarty:''' That's what people '''''DO!'''''
* LargeHam: His [[GigglingVillain high-pitched voice]] and [[PsychopathicManchild psychopathic mannerisms]] make him constantly appear on the edge of psychotic madness. He also changes his tone of voice and his mannerisms about every other line, rapidly going through affected personas and acting styles just to mock Sherlock. He's ''always'' hammy, though.
* LastNameBasis: Everyone calls him "Moriarty", the only time he goes by "Jim" is when he's pretending to be Molly's boyfriend.
* LaughablyEvil: He may be menacing and dangerous, but he's still quick to pull out a goofy voice, [[DeadpanSnarker make a snarky comment,]] and just be an all-around LargeHam.
* MadBomber: His chosen way of getting Sherlock's attention in "The Great Game" is to strap time-bombs to innocent people.
* TheMadHatter: He's out of his damn mind and proud of it.
* TheManBehindTheMan: Every major antagonist in Series 1 and 2 either answered to or was advised by him. In "A Study In Pink," [[spoiler:the killer was "sponsored" by Moriarty]]. In "The Blind Banker," [[spoiler:it's revealed at the end that he helped the [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Chinese gangsters]] that served as the episode's antagonists as well]]. Finally, in "The Great Game," [[spoiler:it's revealed that it goes so far back that Moriarty committed the first murder Sherlock tried to solve, all the way back when they were both teens.]]
** [[spoiler:He seemed back from the dead to return for Series 4, but in reality those were a bunch of recordings he made with Eurus.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: He is ''really'' good at this. His attempted ruination of Sherlock in "The Reichenbach Fall" is his crowning achievement. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for him, Mycroft and Sherlock are better]].
* ManOfWealthAndTaste
-->'''Jim:''' ''[straightens suit]'' Westwood!
* MasterActor: When he wants to, he can play the part of a normal person seamlessly. His "Jim from IT" and "Rich Brook" fake identities fool almost everone.
* MoodSwinger: ''Holy shit''. He goes from calm and collected to practically screaming in about two sentences. He even acknowledges it.
-->'''Jim:''' Sorry boys! I'm ''sooo'' changeable!
* MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning: "His Last Vow" ends with [[spoiler:his image appearing on every screen in the United Kingdom, suggesting he had plans in place even in the event of his death, if he even died at all]]. Then subverted, when it turns out that he really is dead.
* {{Narcissist}}: His only goal in life is to do what feels good to him, and he's only fascinated with Sherlock because Sherlock reminds him of himself. Tellingly, when he sees how far Sherlock is willing to go to stop his plan, Moriarty's joyful words are "You're not ordinary, no... you're me!"
* NervesOfSteel: Mycroft and the British government can put Moriarty through months of interrogation and torture, but if he doesn't want to do something, it will be no use. Moriarty even brags about it.
--> '''Jim Moriarty:''' "Sherlock, your big brother and all the king's horses couldn't make me do a thing I didn't want to."
* NonActionBigBad: He's never seen to actually commit violence or murder himself. Thanks to his extensive criminal network, there's always somebody to do it for him.
* NoodleIncident: We never find out the details of why his first ever murder victim laughed at him.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: He has no qualms about getting in Sherlock's face.
* MirrorCharacter: To Sherlock - they're both motivated by [[AllergicToRoutine a complete inability to handle boredom.]] It makes it ''very'' easy for people to start assuming Sherlock made him up.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: With a side of obfuscating sexuality thrown in. His obfuscating stupid/gay fake persona makes a seemingly pitiful attempt at obfuscating clumsiness. Which may make this a very rare case of Obfuscating Obfuscation.
* OffstageVillainy: He has an entire criminal empire that we only see just a fraction of.
* OutGambitted: Series 3 reveals that while he thought he was playing them, Mycroft and Sherlock played ''him'' in order to draw out and destroy him and his criminal network.
* OutsideGenreFoe: His first appearance is a stark departure from the subtler, more grounded villains that had thus far faced Sherlock and John. Moriarty's MO and mannerisms are more like a {{Supervillain}}.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He grins about pretending to be a stereotypical gay man in his "Jim from IT" persona. He also seems to have a misogynistic streak, tending to manipulate and gaslight women in his schemes with little necessity for it, and sexually intimidating a young female police officer when he's being prepped for his trial.
* PopCulturedBadass: He's a criminal mastermind who proves to be a match for the Holmes brothers, who listens to Music/TheBeeGees and Music/{{Queen|Band}}, and who references [[Franchise/StarTrek Klingons]], [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]], and ''Series/{{Glee}}''.
* PosthumousCharacter: In Series 3, he appears as a mental vision in Sherlock's mind, tormenting him further. He also appears in a few flashbacks or ImagineSpot moments. In Series 4 [[spoiler:it is constantly hinted that he may still be alive. Nope, he really is dead, but the new BigBad is using recordings of him, made with his consent, to troll Sherlock.]]
* PostMortemComeback: ''Maybe''. He appears at the end of "His Last Vow" [[spoiler:via [[DoNotAdjustYourSet mass broadcast around the UK]], but it's unclear if he's dead for real or not. It's eventually established that he is very dead and it's all part of a plan he set up in case he died.]]
* PracticallyJoker: He's an AxCrazy FauxAffablyEvil PsychopathicManchild [[EvilIsHammy hammy]] MoodSwinger GigglingVillain who commits crimes to [[ItAmusedMe alleviate his boredom]] [[ForTheEvulz with life.]] Little is revealed about his past, and his feelings towards Sherlock are a twisted combination of infatuation and a desire to break him, much like Mr. J's feelings towards Batman.
* PredecessorVillain: In Season 4, he is revealed to be the one who helped set up Eurus's EvilPlan, leading to her rising to the level of BigBad after his death.
* PsychoForHire: He acquired his wealth and connections by working as a "consulting criminal". Once Sherlock gets his attention, he's happy to cut loose several clients as part of the game.
* PsychopathicManchild: [[EvilIsHammy Flamboyant]], petulant, has a habit of using TotallyRadical slang, [[GigglingVillain prone to creepy, giggling laughter]], and without a shred of morality.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: When he appears as a hallucination in Sherlock's mind after Sherlock has been shot:
-->'''Moriarty:''' You always feel the pain, BUT YOU DON'T. HAVE. TO. FEAR. IT.
* QuizzicalTilt: Has a habit of doing this, which comes off as both twitchy and mocking.
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:His "resurrection" in Series 4 isn't his doing at all, but rather the work of Eurus Holmes.]]
* RedIsViolent: In "The Final Problem", the recordings of him are all tinted red, as he eggs on Eurus to torture her captives and delights in the idea of Sherlock shooting someone.
* RefugeInAudacity: A large part of how he gets away with his crimes.
* {{Sadist}}: He takes almost any opportunity to torment his victims, such as mocking their imminent death after strapping bombs on them, only feeding them chocolates laced with poison, or... well, almost anytime he interacts with Sherlock.
* SecretIdentityIdentity: Until he and Sherlock meet at the end of the first series.
* SerialKiller: He's definitely one. His first proper debut episode has him attempt to murder several people just to get Sherlock to play his game, he references other people he's killed several times, and he has a made a career out of assisting other criminals with their acts, including murder.
* ShadowArchetype: He's Sherlock if our protagonist had decided to commit crimes rather than solve them to pass the time, and didn't have the [[MoralityPet moral guides]] of John, Mrs Hudson, Molly, and Lestrade (plus the ones that followed as he TookALevelInKindness).
* SharpDressedMan: Unless he's living under a false identity, he takes pride in wearing his high-class suits.
* ShiftingVoiceOfMadness: One of his more peculiar habits is to sometimes change accents, from an Irish accent to an RP London accent to, most strangely, an American accent (he does this during his RooftopConfrontation with Holmes in "Recap/SherlockS02E03TheReichenbachFall").
* SiblingRivalry: Implied; Eurus's brother mentions that Moriarty's brother is a station master and speculates that Jim, who is no less than a criminal mastermind, is jealous .
* ASinisterClue: [[RewatchBonus If you watch closely]], when Sherlock hands him a cup of tea he gives it with the handle on the right side and Moriarty irritably turns it around to pick it up.
* SissyVillain: How Jim liked to portray himself to Sherlock, [[NotSoHarmlessVillain at]] [[KnightOfCerebus first]].
* SlidingScaleOfVillainThreat: He is at least a National Threat, with England being the main location of his criminal empire and having committed several crimes against the country, but there are indications that his reach extends far beyond the UK borders.
* SmugSnake: He makes no secret of believing that his genius makes him superior to everyone around him, except for Sherlock.
* SnarkyVillainEarnestHero: Played with. Jim and Sherlock are both snarkers extraordinare, but Sherlock has a point where he will drop the quips and talk seriously, whereas Moriarty seemingly doesn't.
* SneakySpider: During Moriarty's trial, Sherlock compares him running his empire of crime to a spider at the centre of a web.
--> '''Sherlock:''' James Moriarty isn’t a man at all – he’s a spider; a spider at the centre of a web – a criminal web with a thousand threads and he knows precisely how each and every single one of them dances.
* TheSociopath: A genuine example, unlike Sherlock. He views other people as toys or pets.
* SoreLoser: Inverted. In "The Reichenbach Fall", Moriarty gets moany and depressed when it looks like he has Sherlock beaten because [[VictoryIsBoring Sherlock wasn't enough of a challenge and proved to be "ordinary" in Moriarty's eyes.]] When Sherlock convinces Moriarty that Sherlock will do ''anything'' to stop him, Moriarty is gleeful that Sherlock is [[MirrorCharacter just like him]]. Of course, in the end, Moriarty, sort of "wins" in his own way by killing himself so Sherlock will have no options.
* SoundtrackDissonance: He (and by extension, the viewers) often listens to music that doesn't fit whatever he's doing, such as pleasant classical music while he robs the Tower of London[[note]]although the title of the piece, "The Thieving Magpie, is appropriate[[/note]] or Music/TheBeeGees' "Stayin' Alive" while meeting Sherlock on the roof for a big climactic confrontation.
* SpeakOfTheDevil
-->'''Jeff:''' There's a name no-one says, an' I'm not gonna say it either.
* StalkerWithACrush: His obsessive behavior towards Sherlock is reminiscent of this, even if the "crush" part isn't explicitly stated.
* StrawNihilist: He does a lot of moaning and whining about how the the worst thing in the world is "just staying" and that he and Sherlock need to do what they do to stave off sheer boredom, and that it's the only point to anything.
* SuddenlyShouting: Tends to shout certain words for emphasis when upset.
-->'''Sherlock:''' People have died.\\
'''Moriarty:''' That's what people '''''DO'''''!
* SuicideIsPainless: [[spoiler:Grins right before shooting himself in the head in "Reichenbach Fall".]]
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:"The Reichenbach Fall". To ensure that there is no way for Sherlock to stop his plan, he ''kills himself'', intending to force Sherlock to commit suicide to protect his loved ones... apparently all ForTheEvulz.]]
* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: He has few problems blending in and/or pretending to be a normal guy. When he puts on a jacket and baseball cap, hardly anybody gives him a second glance.
* TotallyRadical:
-->'''Jim:''' "Big G" mean "governor". Street speak. I'm a bit down with the kids, you know. I'm relatable that way."
* {{Troll}}: He ''loves'' to troll Sherlock especially. Notable instances are where he masquerades as Molly's gay boyfriend, and when he uses a cab ride to taunt him about his plan to ruin Sherlock's life.
* TheUnfettered: Ultimately a deconstruction. Having absolutely no empathy and no limits, Jim's one and only concern is to try and stave off his endless boredom... even if that means putting his own plans and well-being at risk to do it. Best illustrated in the second series finale [[spoiler:where Moriarty gleefully '''shoots himself in the head''' for no reason other than he thinks it's the best way to "win" his game with Sherlock.]]
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: He committed his first murder as a child and got away with it, establishing that he's always been sick in the head.
* UnknownRival: To Sherlock before he (and the audience) meet him face to face.
* UnseenEvil: For most of Series 1, while he has an effect on every case Sherlock and John tackle, he's never shown. He is finally revealed at the end the season's final episode, and revealed to be the "Jim from IT" character that had shown up a little earlier.
* UnwittingPawn: Makes one out of Molly Hooper, Sally Donovan, and [[spoiler:the entire British legal system and tabloid press in "The Reichenbach Fall".]] Such is his {{Manipulative Bastard}}y that he even makes pawns out of ''[[spoiler:the Holmes brothers themselves''. Although Sherlock claims in season 3 that Moriarty was the one being played all along.]]
* VictoryIsBoring: As Sherlock points out, there is nothing that Moriarty can't already steal or buy. No problem presents a challenge for him. And Jim absolutely ''can't stand'' it. (This is one of the creepy Holmes/Moriarty parallels.)
* VillainousBreakdown: In a strange flipping of the trope's normal use, he actually falls into a bitter despair when he's about to ''win'', as Sherlock disappointed him by not being a better challenge. He cheers up when Sherlock threatens him to gain the upper hand, and is totally happy to kill himself in order to have the best of both worlds by both beating Sherlock ''and'' being given the ultimate challenge.
* VillainousCrush: He seems to be attracted to Sherlock.
* VillainousFriendship: [[spoiler:With Eurus Holmes. They're both AxCrazy and obsessed with Sherlock.]]
* VillainousLegacy: Even after his death, he makes his mark in Sherlock's life, whether by appearing in hallucinations or via tapes he recorded when he was still alive.
* VillainousValor: Moriarty may be a sociopathic criminal mastermind, but he’s also shown to be extremely courageous to a very suicidal degree. Case in point: When Sherlock holds Moriarty at gunpoint, the latter merely expresses mild disappointment at the attempt while feigning surprise solely to mock Sherlock, and later gleefully shoots himself in front of Sherlock without an ounce of hesitation or fear so that Sherlock won’t be able to use him to save Sherlock’s friends. However all of these moments of bravery actually paints Moriarty as an even more horrific and monstrous villain; while Moriarty’s valor shows that he isn’t a coward, it also reveals that he has '''zero''' regard for human life, including his own, and will gleefully toss it aside if it means that he can alleviate his boredom, win his games and ensure that his opponents will suffer in the long run.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Despite being caught red-handed committing a crime, Moriarty is completely exonerated and later declared to not even exist. He receives widespread public sympathy as Rich Brook, the manipulated and pitiable minion of the real villain: Sherlock Holmes.
* VillainSong: He uses the already-existing song [[Music/TheBeeGees "Stayin' Alive"]] to explain his own hatred of boredom and monotony.
* WickedCultured: He plays [[https://youtu.be/CJiiBq8UnIY?t=275 La Gazza Ladra]] by Music/GioachinoRossini on his [=MP3=] player when breaking into the Tower of London and he can tell anecdotes about Bach.
* WorthyOpponent: He views Sherlock as this, to the point where Sherlock is the only human beign worth his time at all, and he finds the idea of Sherlock not living up to his expectations quite upsetting.
* WouldHurtAChild: In "The Great Game", he straps one of his bombs to a boy and gives Sherlock ten seconds to prove the Vermeer painting is a fake, while the boy counts down to his own demise. In "The Reichenbach Fall", he poisons two more and almost kills them, as they could play into his plans well.
* YoungerAndHipper: He's definitely younger than in the books, and as for the hipper part... well, see the entry for Totally Radical above.
* YoureInsane: Sherlock says this to Moriarty in "The Reichenbach Fall".
-->'''Moriarty:''' [[CaptainObvious You're]] [[InsultBackfire just getting]] [[CardCarryingVillain that now?]]
* AdaptationNameChange: Downplayed. Here he's called "Jim" Moriarty, which is probably short for the original "James".
* AdaptationOriginConnection: It turns out that, when they were both children, he committed the first crime Sherlock ever solved.
* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: From what we see, in the Doyle books Moriarty's attitute towards Sherlock was a mixture of annoyance at his interference and a cold WorthyOpponent respect. This Moriarty develops an obsession with Sherlock that is pretty much a creepy infatuation, and he treasures his rivalry with Sherlock above all else.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Mildly. Unlike Doyle's original character, this Moriarty is shown to commit crimes because he has an extreme aversion to being bored, and he seems genuinely upset when Sherlock "disappoints him".
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In Doyle's stories and accompanying illustrations, Moriarty was an elderly, skinny, bald man. Jim, here, is much younger and easier on the eyes...
* AdaptationalBadass: Compared to his literary counterpart, which had near-complete control of London's criminal underworld at the apex of his power, this one is shown to have a criminal network that encompasses the entire world, including [[UsefulNotes/NorthKorea North Korea]], mind you.
* AdaptationalJerkass: Far more depraved and ruthless than his literary counterpart.
* AdaptationalJobChange: This Moriarty isn't a professor, but works in IT as part of his cover.
* AdaptationalWimp: A downplayed case. Book Moriarity was described by Holmes as "the most dangerous man in Europe." Here, Sherlock and Mycroft play him with ease. Despite being played in the end, Sherlock still fears him.
* AdaptationalSexuality: See the entries for AmbiguouslyGay and DepravedBisexual below.
* AgeLift: Moriarty is traditionally 10-20 years older than Sherlock, though still physically close to his prime, to show that while he and Sherlock are equals in intelligence, Moriarty has the edge in experience and planning. Here, Moriarty and Sherlock are close in age (the actors born only months apart), but Moriarty has been engaged in organized crime for years longer than Sherlock's been investigating it. As well, he may have been murdering for longer than he looks, as exemplified in EnfantTerrible down below.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: As smart as Sherlock is, Moriarty is just as brilliant and has none of Sherlock's [[TheUnfettered self-imposed constraints.]]
** As it turns out, Mycroft and Sherlock were better than him. At least, until the reveal on his [[ThanatosGambit Final Problem...]]
* AmbiguousCriminalHistory: Played with. While we see him commit several crimes, they are just the tip of the iceberg to a long career of illegal activities, which we don't learn much about.
* AmbiguouslyGay: He claims he's not gay, but he ''delights'' in flirting with Sherlock regardless. In fact, when Sherlock first meets him, he deliberately leaves extremely subtle hints (of the sort only Sherlock would notice) that he's gay. It's unclear if it was just to mess with his head or if he gave away more than he meant to. The fact that his actor, Andrew Scott, is openly gay doesn’t help.
--> "I gave you my number...I thought you might call."
** He makes some sexually explicit comments about his bodyguards regarding their stamina and aftercare abilities, although then again he could be doing it ForTheEvulz.
* AMFMCharacterization: He's been shown to play both classical music and classic pop and rock on his Ipod, or whatever vehicle he's riding in, demonstrating his diverse tastes and his many unpredictable moods. His playing of the classical piece "The Thieving Magpie" from ''La gazza ladra'' while he robs the Tower of London also underscores the casualness and ease he feels while doing what for anyone else would be the crime of a lifetime. When he arrives at Sherrinford, he listens and dances to Music/{{Queen|Band}}'s "I Want to Break Free" and his ringtone is Music/TheBeeGees' "Stayin' Alive".
* ArchEnemy: Sherlock and Moriarty's relationship shows many traits connected with the trope.
** ItsPersonal between them? Check. Moriarty is obsessed with Sherlock and Sherlock [[spoiler:keeps his own version of Moriarty in his Mind Palace]].
** TheHero and his EvilCounterpart? Check.
** WorthyOpponent rivalry? Check.
** MirrorCharacter? Check. Moriarty is what Sherlock could become if he'd let his quirks, boredom and anti-social behavior overcome his mind and morality. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by their talk on the roof.
** Moriarty is the BigBad of Seasons 1 and 2, which makes him the most consistent enemy for Sherlock to fight -- another trait of the ArchEnemy which may explain why [[spoiler:Moriarty was teased to return in Season 4]].
** His ArchEnemy status is consistent with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.
* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: Sherlock's hallucination of Moriarty in "The Abominable Bride" yells at Sherlock that he will be there every time Sherlock stumbles or fails.
* AteHisGun: Puts a gun in [[spoiler:his own mouth and blows his brains out in "The Reichenbach Fall", ForTheEvulz.]]
* AxCrazy: Though more in the way of telling other people to kill people, rather than assaulting them himself.
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Subverted]]. After being killed off at the end of Series 2, he seemingly reappears at the end of Series 3. [[spoiler:But it turns out to just be Eurus playing recordings of him made before his death]].
* {{Badass Bookworm}}: Just as much as Sherlock.
* BadassBoast: "The man with the key is king, and honey you should ''see me in a crown''."
** "Sorry boys! I'm ''sooo'' changeable! It is a weakness with me, but to be fair to myself... it is my ONLY weakness."
* BadassInANiceSuit: Westwood, to be precise. Which helps draw a sharp visual distinction between [[spoiler:his scrubs-wearing false identity and the real Moriarty]].
* BadBoss: He's willing to kill, betray, or mock his own minions if it furthers his own aims, or if he just feels like it.
* TheBadGuyWins: Destroys Sherlock's reputation in "The Reichenbach Fall", [[spoiler:forcing Sherlock to fake his own death for a full 2 years.]] Then [[spoiler: subverted, as Sherlock comes back and goes from strength to strength]].
* BaddieFlattery: He frequently tells Sherlock that Sherlock is the only one who is a mental match for him.
* BerserkButton: He gets quite angry whenever Sherlock refuses to play Moriarty's little games the way Moriarty wants him to. He also doesn't take kindly to having his time wasted with lies, as his threats to Irene Adler over the phone prove. He also really hates being laughed at or people not being impressed by his intellect.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Go ahead, laugh at him. See what painful punishment he comes up with.
* BigBad: The main antagonist of Series 1 and 2, and of "The Abominable Bride" in a roundabout way.
* BigBadWannabe: Of a sort; throughout Series 4 he was presented as the returning ultimate threat, but it was revealed that he was, in fact, still dead, and that Eurus Holmes was pulling the strings the whole time. Moriarty's presence came from recordings that had been made before his death, as he wanted to insert himself into the Holmes brothers' climactic deaths. But at the end of the day, all his recordings did was let him be little more than a taunting bystander.
** He thought of himself as being Sherlock's ultimate arch-enemy. Mycroft and Sherlock were three steps ahead the whole time.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: He first shows up as Molly Hooper's friendly, harmless boyfriend. He reveals his true colours to Sherlock soon enough.
* BoringInsult: Invoked. According to him, the most heinous insult to someone like him or Sherlock is to be "boring".
-->'''Moriarty:''' I'm disappointed, I'm ''disappointed'' in you, ''ordinary Sherlock''.
* BrainsEvilBrawnGood: Downplayed. He and Sherlock are both geniuses, but Sherlock is slightly taller and stronger than him.
* BreakoutVillain: While he was a prominent villain from the very start, he was such a success that the writers kept finding ways to work him in to the show even after he was KilledOffForReal, whether appearing in Sherlock's head as an ImaginaryEnemy or through schemes of his that only came to fruition after he died.
* BreakThemByTalking: Moriarty has developed this to an art form.
* CampStraight: Keeps up his {{Camp}} persona after [[spoiler:revealing his identity to Sherlock]]. Also delights in flirting with him, calling him "sexy" and "honey". As always, it's hard to tell what really motivates him.
* CanonCharacterAllAlong: Molly's colleague Jim at first seems like an ineffectual StraightGay background character, until it's revealed that his last name is [[BigBad Moriarty]].
* CardCarryingVillain: Is openly proud of being reprehensibly evil. [[spoiler:He even gave Sherlock his card.]]
* {{Catchphrase}}: He frequently alludes to "the final problem".
* ChallengeSeeker: This is the main reason that he's so obsessed with Sherlock Holmes. The detective is the only one who can be a proper challenge for Moriarty's intellect. When Sherlock seems to be anything less, Moriarty is bittely disappointed.
* CharacterExaggeration: The original Moriarty was amoral. This Moriarty is a total ''psychopath''.
* TheChessmaster: He's particularly good at playing Sherlock himself -- as illustrated to a devastating effect in "The Reichenbach Fall".
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: He has a habit of betraying his clients, employees, and allies in order to further his own private agenda, particularly whenever Sherlock Holmes is involved.
* CirclingMonologue: In the climax of "The Reichenbach Fall" he circles around Sherlock while explaining that Sherlock needs to jump off the roof if he wants to save his friends.
* CompositeCharacter: The version of Moriarty in Sherlock's hallucination in "The Abominable Bride" is a combination of Jim and the Professor Moriarty from the books.
* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Prior to his first appearance in Season 1, the two main protagonists had been 1) a cabbie driver who only killed because somebody paid him to do it, and 2) a gang of cold, impersonal criminals who killed to maintain their criminal activities. Moiarty, as opposed to them, happily kills and destroys [[ItAmusedMe just because he finds it fun.]] Also, he's a LargeHam when previous antagonists had been, at most [[ColdHam Cold Hams]].
* ConsummateLiar: To the point where he can claim to be the former host of a children's TV show, and have an astounding amount of evidence to back it up.
* TheCorruptor: Has shades of this; he shows delight when he sees how low Sherlock was willing to go to force him into calling his assassins off.
* CrazyPrepared: To rival the Holmes brothers. In the event that his main plans for Sherlock went south, he already had backup scheme set up with Eurus Holmes, which she out into action after his death. He went to the point of making multiple recordings of himself for Eurus to use in any event during her agenda.
* CreateYourOwnHero: The first crime he ever committed was also the first crime that Sherlock Holmes ever solved (even though no one believed him).
* CreepyChild: He committed his first murder at only twelve years old and got away with it.
* CreepyHighPitchedVoice: He frequently goes to a higher pitch in his ShiftingVoiceOfMadness.
* CreepyMonotone: He'll sometimes slip into this if he isn't being going all LargeHam or CreepyHighPitchedVoice.
* CrooksAreBetterArmed: Although he and Sherlock are pretty much equal in intelligence, Moriarty's criminal connections give him ''far'' better resources than Sherlock.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Does much worse things than his literary counterpart was ever shown to, such as child abduction, mass murder, and terrorism.
* DeadpanSnarker: When he's not giggling.
* DeathSeeker: Jim's excruciating boredom with the world leads him to try get Sherlock to kill them both at the end of series 1, simply because it'd be ''fun''.
* DecompositeCharacter: Certain traits of Moriarty from the books, such as the "Napoleon" nickname, his appearance and personality, and the events in his brief meetings with Sherlock were given to Charles Augustus Magnussen in the show. Some elements of the literary version are even given to Sherlock's mother, of all people, who got Moriarty's age, his mathematician career and his having written a textbook on dynamics (although hers is "The Dynamics of Combustion" whereas Moriarty's was "The Dynamics of an Asteroid")
* DenserAndWackier: Subverted. While this incarnation acts far sillier than Conan Doyle's, he is ultimately just as intelligent and even more dangerous due to his sociopathic cruelty.
* DepravedBisexual: Played with. He's had relationships with women and flirted with men, even hinting to have had sex with his bodyguards, but at least some of it was shown to be just another way he manipulates and toys with people.
* DepravedKidsShowHost: One of these turns up in series 2. [[spoiler:Jim Moriarty's cover identity as 'The Storyteller' includes kidnapping children and slowly poisoning them.]]
* {{Determinator}}: He will do anything he has to in order to conquer and destroy Sherlock.
* DevilInPlainSight: On John's blog, he leaves several mysterious and ominous comments with an anonymous account. Nobody else comments on it.
* DiabolicalMastermind: He's a "consulting criminal" behind dozens of illegal schemes. He even has enough power and cunning to commit a crime in public, offer no defence at his trial, and ''still'' get off scot-free.
* DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: In the books, Moriarty dies plunging into Reichenbach Falls. This version shoots himself in the head as his final attempt to force Sherlock to kill himself.
* DiesWideOpen: Complete with [[spoiler:a ''seriously'' creepy smile after having supposedly blown his brains out]].
* DoingItForTheArt: InUniverse. Like his book counterpart, he orchestrates crimes to alleviate his own boredom rather than for material desires.
* DoNotAdjustYourSet: Takes control of [[spoiler:every TV set in Britain for his return at the end of "His Last Vow".]]
** Although far more likely he [[spoiler:took control of the transmitters and ground stations.]]
* TheDreaded: Everyone who knows of him is afraid of him. Even Mycroft is wary of him.
* DrivenToSuicide: Zig-zagged. Looks suicidal when he realizes that in destroying Sherlock, he's actually won, and now has nobody who will pose a challenge to him anymore. [[spoiler:Then changes his mind and says he'll manage. Unfortunately Sherlock then convinces him that as long as Sherlock has Jim alive, Sherlock can also stop Jim's plan. Moriarty promptly shoots himself in the head to make sure Sherlock can't beat him.]]
* EnfantTerrible: He's been murdering since grade school without anyone but Sherlock the wiser. And even then, with all his intelligence Sherlock couldn't solve the case until present-day, when Moriarty began taking prominence in his investigations, making you wonder how ''utterly demented and intelligent'' the younger Moriarty ''truly'' was.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: He gets one where he isn't even seen or heard! In "The Great Game", Sherlock gets an anonymous phone call. It's a sobbing woman who is forced to say "Hello, sexy." She goes on to say the words Moriarty is typing for her, calling herself a "stupid bitch" and telling Sherlock that unless he solves a mystery within twenty-four hours, that she will be blown up with a bomb. Although Moriarty's only presence in the scene is the words that the woman is relaying, it chillingly establishes his sadism, sick sense of humor, obsession with Sherlock, and horrifying talent for what he murder and destruction.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: [[spoiler:Predicted Sherlock would shoot Mycroft in Eurus' DeadlyGame (he even made a specific message for that eventuality), but not that [[HeroicSuicide Sherlock would threaten to shoot himself]], or that presumably Eurus wouldn't kill Mycroft for Sherlock cheating.]]
* EvilCounterpart: To Sherlock. In this version, he lists his occupation as "Consulting Criminal", and his InsufferableGenius tendencies are played up just as much as Sherlock's. His goal, as it turns out, is to find [[spoiler:a perfect counterpart -- someone who ''is'' him]]. Sherlock indulges him, in the end, and admits as much.
* EvilGenius: He has intelligence to rival Sherlock and Mycroft, and none of their ethics.
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: He cracks jokes at the most inappropriate (to anyone else) times.
* EvilIsPetty: He tends to mock those around him for various slight reasons.
* EvilMentor: He very briefly became one to Eurus Holmes, during a five-minute meeting where he instructed her how to get at Sherlock and what to do in the event of his death.
* EvilPlan: His crimes are often pretty random and impulsive, but in "The Reichenbach Fall" his plan is to manipulate the entirety of London in order to force Sherlock to throw himself off a building.
* EvilSoundsRaspy: One of the styles of speaking he alternates to is a raspy whisper.
* EvilWearsBlack: While he wears normal clothing when posing as a normal person, as "himself" he always wears dark suits.
* {{Expy}}: Aspects of Jim's personality are similar to that of Moriarty expy [[WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective Professor Ratigan]]. He also shares a lot of traits with Creator/JohnSimm's [[Series/DoctorWho Master]].
* FaceDeathWithDignity: Moriarty is unconcerned with his own life and is even willing to accept the possibility that he could die in the games that he’s made, especially if it allows him to win his game. This is shown in the season 2 finale where he willingly decides to kill himself to ensure that Sherlock will never be able to use him to call off his subordinates that were about to kill Sherlock's friends.
* FauxAffablyEvil: He puts on the facade of a soft-spoken gentleman, but it does little to disguise his sadism.
* FauxYay: He claims he was only pretending to be gay in his "Jim from IT" persona, but whether he's telling the truth is unclear.
* FlayingAlive: Threatens Irene Adler with this.
-->'''Jim:''' Say that again, and know that if you're lying to me, I will find you, and I will ''skiiiiiin'' you.
* FoeRomanceSubtext: Invokes it with Sherlock, every chance he gets.
* FoeYayShipping: In-universe, no less, judging by one of the members of Sherlock's fanclub who puts forward the theory that [[spoiler:Sherlock and Moriarty faked their deaths to run off into the sunset together!]]
* ForTheEvulz: Has no real reason behind his cruel EvilPlan except that he is a psychopath and he "got bored". [[MirrorCharacter Remarkably like our hero, in fact.]]
-->'''Sherlock:''' People have ''died!''\\
'''Moriarty:''' That's what people '''DO!'''
* FriendlyEnemy: With Sherlock. Each has the other in their line of sight, ready to kill each other, when [[spoiler:Moriarty asks to answer his phone. While he's talking,]] we get this gem:
-->'''Moriarty:''' [[spoiler:''[mouths]'' Sorry!]]\\
'''Sherlock:''' [[spoiler:''[mouths]'' It's fine!]]
* GambitPileup: He and Eurus Holmes concocted a plan to trick Sherlock and his friends into playing Eurus's cat-and-mouse game. However, Moriarty later enacts his own plan to try and manipulate Sherlock into killing himself, completely separate from, and mutually exclusive with, Eurus's scheme (presumably without Eurus's knowledge). Moriarty's plan fails, getting him killed in the process (although he was actually happy about that, for his own personal reasons). Eurus later enacts ''her'' plan, which is partially successful.
* GenuineHumanHide: Uses this as a threat. Given what we've seen of him, it's very likely that he wasn't simply being theatrical.
-->'''Jim:''' If you have what you say you have, I will make you rich. If not, I'll make you into shoes.
* GigglingVillain: His laughter is truly creepy.
* GoodHairEvilHair: His hair is usually much more slicked than Sherlock's messy locks.
* GoOutWithASmile: In his twisted attempt to beat Sherlock, Moriarty gives out a very disturbing smile before blowing out his own brains.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Most of the crimes in seasons 1 and 2 are connected to him in some way. He continued to be this even after he died. Sherlock's continual FakingTheDead in season 3 was due to him, as Sherlock spent the time dismantling his criminal network. In Season 4, while he [[spoiler:didn't actually return from the dead, as the vidoes of him seemed to indicate, the plot that Eurus Holmes carries out through the season had been partially orchestrated by him before his demise.]]
* HatedByAll: Despite the mind-boggling extent of his connections and organizations, no one actually likes him. The only positive references made to him are about how useful he is as a consulting criminal. He only gets along with people as [[VillainousFriendship evil as he is.]]
* TheHeavy: In the finales of seasons 1 and 2, he steps out of his shadowy role as GreaterScopeVillain to become this.
* HeroKiller: Subverted. It really seems like he has killed Sherlock, and everyone believed he had for two years. Then Sherlock revealed himself to be alive, first two the audience than to the other characters. Still, Moriarty got closer than anyone else to doing Sherlock in.
* HiddenDepths: While the Moriarty we know is never shown to give a single solitary flip about what other people think of him, when he was a little boy he murdered another little boy, apparently because the other boy laughed at him. So it's implied that he does have, or at least ''had'', a sense of self-consciousness and insecurity.
* HiddenVillain: Until the ending of Season 1, his identity was obscured as he connected with all the crimes Sherlock and John encountered.
* HotterAndSexier: He has AdaptationalAttractiveness, has affairs with women to further his goals, and makes several suggestive comments, particularly towards Sherlock.
* IControlMyMinionsThrough: Material benefits, such as money for Jeff Hope or valuable information for Irene Adler.
* ImaginaryEnemy: He appears as a malevolent hallucination to Sherlock several times. Once when Sherlock was unwittingly put under the influence of a hallucinatory chemical, once in Sherlock's mind palace when Sherlock was close to death, and once when Sherlock was having an extended drugs episode. While the former is too brief for Moriarty to say anything, the latter two times he pushes Sherlock to give up on survival.
* IncomingHam:
-->'''Jim:''' ''[said in goofy voice]'' I gave you my number. I thought you might call.
* UsefulNotes/IrishAccents: His normal speaking voice (when he's not shifting accents for no reason) is a ''very'' {{Camp}}, [[LargeHam hammy]] Dublin 4 (read: posh) accent.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He doesn't care about anything except alleviating his own boredom. His obsession with Sherlock stems from finally having a fun WorthyOpponent.
* ItAmusedMe: He clearly does the majority of what he does because it entertains him.
* {{Jerkass}}: Unless your name is Sherlock Holmes, he'll either be dismissive of you (at best) or take an interest in you only as another stupid normal person to screw over for fun (the more frequent option). This even applies to the people he works with.
* JokerImmunity: Subverted. At first, it seems like Moriarty is returning in Series 4, despite having been seemingly KilledOffForReal in Series 2. However, it turns out to just be Eurus Holmes enacting a plan that she and Moriarty had concocted before his death. Moriarty is still definitely dead.
* KickTheDog: His frequent unnecessary taunting and intimidation to both his victims and his own allies.
* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:No JokerImmunity for Moriarty. Despite a fair bit of speculation otherwise, this seems to truly be the case after shooting himself in "The Reichenbach Fall"]], as Sherlock finally seems to conclude for sure in "The Abominable Bride".
** Played with in "The Final Problem" where we see him alive and kicking with Eurus until it's revealed that the scene played out five years ago.
* KnightOfCerebus: The series was never the most lighthearted, but there was plenty of humour. When Moriarty enters as an indirect antagonist, the death toll escalates and the show gets darker. When he appears in person, things get seriously disturbing.
* LackOfEmpathy: He shows no interest in the feelings or well-being of others, except for how he can indulge his own depraved and sadistic desires.
--> '''Sherlock:''' People have died.
--> '''Moriarty:''' That's what people '''''DO!'''''
* LargeHam: His [[GigglingVillain high-pitched voice]] and [[PsychopathicManchild psychopathic mannerisms]] make him constantly appear on the edge of psychotic madness. He also changes his tone of voice and his mannerisms about every other line, rapidly going through affected personas and acting styles just to mock Sherlock. He's ''always'' hammy, though.
* LastNameBasis: Everyone calls him "Moriarty", the only time he goes by "Jim" is when he's pretending to be Molly's boyfriend.
* LaughablyEvil: He may be menacing and dangerous, but he's still quick to pull out a goofy voice, [[DeadpanSnarker make a snarky comment,]] and just be an all-around LargeHam.
* MadBomber: His chosen way of getting Sherlock's attention in "The Great Game" is to strap time-bombs to innocent people.
* TheMadHatter: He's out of his damn mind and proud of it.
* TheManBehindTheMan: Every major antagonist in Series 1 and 2 either answered to or was advised by him. In "A Study In Pink," [[spoiler:the killer was "sponsored" by Moriarty]]. In "The Blind Banker," [[spoiler:it's revealed at the end that he helped the [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Chinese gangsters]] that served as the episode's antagonists as well]]. Finally, in "The Great Game," [[spoiler:it's revealed that it goes so far back that Moriarty committed the first murder Sherlock tried to solve, all the way back when they were both teens.]]
** [[spoiler:He seemed back from the dead to return for Series 4, but in reality those were a bunch of recordings he made with Eurus.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: He is ''really'' good at this. His attempted ruination of Sherlock in "The Reichenbach Fall" is his crowning achievement. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for him, Mycroft and Sherlock are better]].
* ManOfWealthAndTaste
-->'''Jim:''' ''[straightens suit]'' Westwood!
* MasterActor: When he wants to, he can play the part of a normal person seamlessly. His "Jim from IT" and "Rich Brook" fake identities fool almost everone.
* MoodSwinger: ''Holy shit''. He goes from calm and collected to practically screaming in about two sentences. He even acknowledges it.
-->'''Jim:''' Sorry boys! I'm ''sooo'' changeable!
* MyDeathIsOnlyTheBeginning: "His Last Vow" ends with [[spoiler:his image appearing on every screen in the United Kingdom, suggesting he had plans in place even in the event of his death, if he even died at all]]. Then subverted, when it turns out that he really is dead.
* {{Narcissist}}: His only goal in life is to do what feels good to him, and he's only fascinated with Sherlock because Sherlock reminds him of himself. Tellingly, when he sees how far Sherlock is willing to go to stop his plan, Moriarty's joyful words are "You're not ordinary, no... you're me!"
* NervesOfSteel: Mycroft and the British government can put Moriarty through months of interrogation and torture, but if he doesn't want to do something, it will be no use. Moriarty even brags about it.
--> '''Jim Moriarty:''' "Sherlock, your big brother and all the king's horses couldn't make me do a thing I didn't want to."
* NonActionBigBad: He's never seen to actually commit violence or murder himself. Thanks to his extensive criminal network, there's always somebody to do it for him.
* NoodleIncident: We never find out the details of why his first ever murder victim laughed at him.
* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: He has no qualms about getting in Sherlock's face.
* MirrorCharacter: To Sherlock - they're both motivated by [[AllergicToRoutine a complete inability to handle boredom.]] It makes it ''very'' easy for people to start assuming Sherlock made him up.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: With a side of obfuscating sexuality thrown in. His obfuscating stupid/gay fake persona makes a seemingly pitiful attempt at obfuscating clumsiness. Which may make this a very rare case of Obfuscating Obfuscation.
* OffstageVillainy: He has an entire criminal empire that we only see just a fraction of.
* OutGambitted: Series 3 reveals that while he thought he was playing them, Mycroft and Sherlock played ''him'' in order to draw out and destroy him and his criminal network.
* OutsideGenreFoe: His first appearance is a stark departure from the subtler, more grounded villains that had thus far faced Sherlock and John. Moriarty's MO and mannerisms are more like a {{Supervillain}}.
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: He grins about pretending to be a stereotypical gay man in his "Jim from IT" persona. He also seems to have a misogynistic streak, tending to manipulate and gaslight women in his schemes with little necessity for it, and sexually intimidating a young female police officer when he's being prepped for his trial.
* PopCulturedBadass: He's a criminal mastermind who proves to be a match for the Holmes brothers, who listens to Music/TheBeeGees and Music/{{Queen|Band}}, and who references [[Franchise/StarTrek Klingons]], [[Franchise/StarWars Darth Vader]], and ''Series/{{Glee}}''.
* PosthumousCharacter: In Series 3, he appears as a mental vision in Sherlock's mind, tormenting him further. He also appears in a few flashbacks or ImagineSpot moments. In Series 4 [[spoiler:it is constantly hinted that he may still be alive. Nope, he really is dead, but the new BigBad is using recordings of him, made with his consent, to troll Sherlock.]]
* PostMortemComeback: ''Maybe''. He appears at the end of "His Last Vow" [[spoiler:via [[DoNotAdjustYourSet mass broadcast around the UK]], but it's unclear if he's dead for real or not. It's eventually established that he is very dead and it's all part of a plan he set up in case he died.]]
* PracticallyJoker: He's an AxCrazy FauxAffablyEvil PsychopathicManchild [[EvilIsHammy hammy]] MoodSwinger GigglingVillain who commits crimes to [[ItAmusedMe alleviate his boredom]] [[ForTheEvulz with life.]] Little is revealed about his past, and his feelings towards Sherlock are a twisted combination of infatuation and a desire to break him, much like Mr. J's feelings towards Batman.
* PredecessorVillain: In Season 4, he is revealed to be the one who helped set up Eurus's EvilPlan, leading to her rising to the level of BigBad after his death.
* PsychoForHire: He acquired his wealth and connections by working as a "consulting criminal". Once Sherlock gets his attention, he's happy to cut loose several clients as part of the game.
* PsychopathicManchild: [[EvilIsHammy Flamboyant]], petulant, has a habit of using TotallyRadical slang, [[GigglingVillain prone to creepy, giggling laughter]], and without a shred of morality.
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: When he appears as a hallucination in Sherlock's mind after Sherlock has been shot:
-->'''Moriarty:''' You always feel the pain, BUT YOU DON'T. HAVE. TO. FEAR. IT.
* QuizzicalTilt: Has a habit of doing this, which comes off as both twitchy and mocking.
* RedHerring: [[spoiler:His "resurrection" in Series 4 isn't his doing at all, but rather the work of Eurus Holmes.]]
* RedIsViolent: In "The Final Problem", the recordings of him are all tinted red, as he eggs on Eurus to torture her captives and delights in the idea of Sherlock shooting someone.
* RefugeInAudacity: A large part of how he gets away with his crimes.
* {{Sadist}}: He takes almost any opportunity to torment his victims, such as mocking their imminent death after strapping bombs on them, only feeding them chocolates laced with poison, or... well, almost anytime he interacts with Sherlock.
* SecretIdentityIdentity: Until he and Sherlock meet at the end of the first series.
* SerialKiller: He's definitely one. His first proper debut episode has him attempt to murder several people just to get Sherlock to play his game, he references other people he's killed several times, and he has a made a career out of assisting other criminals with their acts, including murder.
* ShadowArchetype: He's Sherlock if our protagonist had decided to commit crimes rather than solve them to pass the time, and didn't have the [[MoralityPet moral guides]] of John, Mrs Hudson, Molly, and Lestrade (plus the ones that followed as he TookALevelInKindness).
* SharpDressedMan: Unless he's living under a false identity, he takes pride in wearing his high-class suits.
* ShiftingVoiceOfMadness: One of his more peculiar habits is to sometimes change accents, from an Irish accent to an RP London accent to, most strangely, an American accent (he does this during his RooftopConfrontation with Holmes in "Recap/SherlockS02E03TheReichenbachFall").
* SiblingRivalry: Implied; Eurus's brother mentions that Moriarty's brother is a station master and speculates that Jim, who is no less than a criminal mastermind, is jealous .
* ASinisterClue: [[RewatchBonus If you watch closely]], when Sherlock hands him a cup of tea he gives it with the handle on the right side and Moriarty irritably turns it around to pick it up.
* SissyVillain: How Jim liked to portray himself to Sherlock, [[NotSoHarmlessVillain at]] [[KnightOfCerebus first]].
* SlidingScaleOfVillainThreat: He is at least a National Threat, with England being the main location of his criminal empire and having committed several crimes against the country, but there are indications that his reach extends far beyond the UK borders.
* SmugSnake: He makes no secret of believing that his genius makes him superior to everyone around him, except for Sherlock.
* SnarkyVillainEarnestHero: Played with. Jim and Sherlock are both snarkers extraordinare, but Sherlock has a point where he will drop the quips and talk seriously, whereas Moriarty seemingly doesn't.
* SneakySpider: During Moriarty's trial, Sherlock compares him running his empire of crime to a spider at the centre of a web.
--> '''Sherlock:''' James Moriarty isn’t a man at all – he’s a spider; a spider at the centre of a web – a criminal web with a thousand threads and he knows precisely how each and every single one of them dances.
* TheSociopath: A genuine example, unlike Sherlock. He views other people as toys or pets.
* SoreLoser: Inverted. In "The Reichenbach Fall", Moriarty gets moany and depressed when it looks like he has Sherlock beaten because [[VictoryIsBoring Sherlock wasn't enough of a challenge and proved to be "ordinary" in Moriarty's eyes.]] When Sherlock convinces Moriarty that Sherlock will do ''anything'' to stop him, Moriarty is gleeful that Sherlock is [[MirrorCharacter just like him]]. Of course, in the end, Moriarty, sort of "wins" in his own way by killing himself so Sherlock will have no options.
* SoundtrackDissonance: He (and by extension, the viewers) often listens to music that doesn't fit whatever he's doing, such as pleasant classical music while he robs the Tower of London[[note]]although the title of the piece, "The Thieving Magpie, is appropriate[[/note]] or Music/TheBeeGees' "Stayin' Alive" while meeting Sherlock on the roof for a big climactic confrontation.
* SpeakOfTheDevil
-->'''Jeff:''' There's a name no-one says, an' I'm not gonna say it either.
* StalkerWithACrush: His obsessive behavior towards Sherlock is reminiscent of this, even if the "crush" part isn't explicitly stated.
* StrawNihilist: He does a lot of moaning and whining about how the the worst thing in the world is "just staying" and that he and Sherlock need to do what they do to stave off sheer boredom, and that it's the only point to anything.
* SuddenlyShouting: Tends to shout certain words for emphasis when upset.
-->'''Sherlock:''' People have died.\\
'''Moriarty:''' That's what people '''''DO'''''!
* SuicideIsPainless: [[spoiler:Grins right before shooting himself in the head in "Reichenbach Fall".]]
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:"The Reichenbach Fall". To ensure that there is no way for Sherlock to stop his plan, he ''kills himself'', intending to force Sherlock to commit suicide to protect his loved ones... apparently all ForTheEvulz.]]
* TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse: He has few problems blending in and/or pretending to be a normal guy. When he puts on a jacket and baseball cap, hardly anybody gives him a second glance.
* TotallyRadical:
-->'''Jim:''' "Big G" mean "governor". Street speak. I'm a bit down with the kids, you know. I'm relatable that way."
* {{Troll}}: He ''loves'' to troll Sherlock especially. Notable instances are where he masquerades as Molly's gay boyfriend, and when he uses a cab ride to taunt him about his plan to ruin Sherlock's life.
* TheUnfettered: Ultimately a deconstruction. Having absolutely no empathy and no limits, Jim's one and only concern is to try and stave off his endless boredom... even if that means putting his own plans and well-being at risk to do it. Best illustrated in the second series finale [[spoiler:where Moriarty gleefully '''shoots himself in the head''' for no reason other than he thinks it's the best way to "win" his game with Sherlock.]]
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: He committed his first murder as a child and got away with it, establishing that he's always been sick in the head.
* UnknownRival: To Sherlock before he (and the audience) meet him face to face.
* UnseenEvil: For most of Series 1, while he has an effect on every case Sherlock and John tackle, he's never shown. He is finally revealed at the end the season's final episode, and revealed to be the "Jim from IT" character that had shown up a little earlier.
* UnwittingPawn: Makes one out of Molly Hooper, Sally Donovan, and [[spoiler:the entire British legal system and tabloid press in "The Reichenbach Fall".]] Such is his {{Manipulative Bastard}}y that he even makes pawns out of ''[[spoiler:the Holmes brothers themselves''. Although Sherlock claims in season 3 that Moriarty was the one being played all along.]]
* VictoryIsBoring: As Sherlock points out, there is nothing that Moriarty can't already steal or buy. No problem presents a challenge for him. And Jim absolutely ''can't stand'' it. (This is one of the creepy Holmes/Moriarty parallels.)
* VillainousBreakdown: In a strange flipping of the trope's normal use, he actually falls into a bitter despair when he's about to ''win'', as Sherlock disappointed him by not being a better challenge. He cheers up when Sherlock threatens him to gain the upper hand, and is totally happy to kill himself in order to have the best of both worlds by both beating Sherlock ''and'' being given the ultimate challenge.
* VillainousCrush: He seems to be attracted to Sherlock.
* VillainousFriendship: [[spoiler:With Eurus Holmes. They're both AxCrazy and obsessed with Sherlock.]]
* VillainousLegacy: Even after his death, he makes his mark in Sherlock's life, whether by appearing in hallucinations or via tapes he recorded when he was still alive.
* VillainousValor: Moriarty may be a sociopathic criminal mastermind, but he’s also shown to be extremely courageous to a very suicidal degree. Case in point: When Sherlock holds Moriarty at gunpoint, the latter merely expresses mild disappointment at the attempt while feigning surprise solely to mock Sherlock, and later gleefully shoots himself in front of Sherlock without an ounce of hesitation or fear so that Sherlock won’t be able to use him to save Sherlock’s friends. However all of these moments of bravery actually paints Moriarty as an even more horrific and monstrous villain; while Moriarty’s valor shows that he isn’t a coward, it also reveals that he has '''zero''' regard for human life, including his own, and will gleefully toss it aside if it means that he can alleviate his boredom, win his games and ensure that his opponents will suffer in the long run.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Despite being caught red-handed committing a crime, Moriarty is completely exonerated and later declared to not even exist. He receives widespread public sympathy as Rich Brook, the manipulated and pitiable minion of the real villain: Sherlock Holmes.
* VillainSong: He uses the already-existing song [[Music/TheBeeGees "Stayin' Alive"]] to explain his own hatred of boredom and monotony.
* WickedCultured: He plays [[https://youtu.be/CJiiBq8UnIY?t=275 La Gazza Ladra]] by Music/GioachinoRossini on his [=MP3=] player when breaking into the Tower of London and he can tell anecdotes about Bach.
* WorthyOpponent: He views Sherlock as this, to the point where Sherlock is the only human beign worth his time at all, and he finds the idea of Sherlock not living up to his expectations quite upsetting.
* WouldHurtAChild: In "The Great Game", he straps one of his bombs to a boy and gives Sherlock ten seconds to prove the Vermeer painting is a fake, while the boy counts down to his own demise. In "The Reichenbach Fall", he poisons two more and almost kills them, as they could play into his plans well.
* YoungerAndHipper: He's definitely younger than in the books, and as for the hipper part... well, see the entry for Totally Radical above.
* YoureInsane: Sherlock says this to Moriarty in "The Reichenbach Fall".
-->'''Moriarty:''' [[CaptainObvious You're]] [[InsultBackfire just getting]] [[CardCarryingVillain that now?]]
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-> '''Played by:''' Sian Brooke
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-> '''Played by:''' Sian Brooke
Creator/SianBrooke
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* EvenEvilHasStandards: A truly bizarre case as he draws the line at actually having anyone murdered and seems to believe that makes him morally righteous. Putting people in situations that would certainly result in death or destroying their lives to the point of suicide are fine in his view as long as he doesn't pull the trigger himself or ask someone else to do it.
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* EvenEvilHasStandards: A truly bizarre case as he draws the line at actually having anyone murdered and seems to believe that makes him morally righteous. Putting people in situations that would certainly result in death or destroying their lives to the point of suicide are fine in his view as long as he doesn't pull the trigger himself or ask someone else to do it. Exactly how he reasons this is anybody's guess.
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* LogicalWeakness: Having a magical mind palace where he stores all his information and draws it upon it as needed is certainly an impressive mental feat and protects him from having to use physical copies, removing the threat of it being stolen or destroyed. But it has the massive drawback of meaning all anyone has to do to stop him is simply prevent him from drawing upon said information. [[Spoiler: By murdering him.]]
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* LogicalWeakness: Having a magical mind palace where he stores all his information and draws it upon it as needed is certainly an impressive mental feat and protects him from having to use physical copies, removing the threat of it being stolen or destroyed. But it has the massive drawback of meaning all anyone has to do to stop him is simply prevent him from drawing upon said information. [[Spoiler: By Say, by murdering him.him as Sherlock does.]]
* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackUp: [[spoiler: He reveals that he doesn't keep information on a computer which can be hacked, stolen or destroyed or on physical copies which can also be stolen. He simply stores it all in his head. This means Sherlock can stop all his schemes by simply killing him.]]
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* OldMediaAreEvil: He's an international newspaper magnate who blackmails people as a sideline.
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* OldMediaAreEvil: He's an international newspaper magnate who blackmails people as a sideline.sideline and for his own enjoyment.
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* SayingTooMuch: [[spoiler: He gloats to Sherlock about how there are no copies of his blackmail information, it's all just in his head. Sherlock decides to solve the problem with his trusty mind eraser, also known as a handgun, and promptly decorates the terrace with Charles' brain matter.]]
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* DeadpanSnarker:
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* DeadpanSnarker:CutLexLuthorACheck: Averted. He's already extremely wealthy and powerful. He doesn't do what he does for any greater goal or profit but simply because he can.
* DeadpanSnarker: He has a lot of snide remarks which fit with his condescending nature and disdainful view of others:
* DeadpanSnarker: He has a lot of snide remarks which fit with his condescending nature and disdainful view of others:
* EvenEvilHasStandards: A truly bizarre case as he draws the line at actually having anyone murdered and seems to believe that makes him morally righteous. Putting people in situations that would certainly result in death or destroying their lives to the point of suicide are fine in his view as long as he doesn't pull the trigger himself or ask someone else to do it.
** Related to that is his sadism and petulance. Magnussen is obsessed with reminding everyone of the hold he has over them and treating them horribly for no other reason than that he can. This means that it's only a matter of time before one of his victims becomes desperate to fight back.
* LogicalWeakness: Having a magical mind palace where he stores all his information and draws it upon it as needed is certainly an impressive mental feat and protects him from having to use physical copies, removing the threat of it being stolen or destroyed. But it has the massive drawback of meaning all anyone has to do to stop him is simply prevent him from drawing upon said information. [[Spoiler: By murdering him.]]
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* TheSociopath: He likes to use blackmail to control others, and even if he doesn't kill them, he doesn't care at all about how his manipulation affects them mentally and emotionally. He is not shown to have any genuine good relationships at all, and views everyone around him with a cold and clinical LackOfEmpathy.
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* TheSociopath: He likes to use blackmail to control others, others simply for the thrill of having power over them, and even if he doesn't kill them, he doesn't care at all about how his manipulation affects them mentally and emotionally. emotionally or even if they die by suicide due to his actions. He is not shown to have any genuine good relationships at all, and views everyone around him with a cold and clinical LackOfEmpathy. LackOfEmpathy and regards human life and other people in general with a mix of disinterest and disdain. He also has terrible impulse control, never able to refrain from fucking people over even if it hurts him later, and is extremely arrogant, boasting about his mind palace to show his intellect.
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* OutsideGenreFoe: She acts more like supervillain from ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' than a Sherlock Holmes villain, being an inmate in a secure prison for all the worst people in the world whose incredible intellect allows her to predict what is going to happen years in advance while being able to bring people under her control by simply talking to them.
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* OutsideGenreFoe: She acts more like a supervillain from ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' than a Sherlock Holmes villain, being an inmate in a secure prison for all the worst people in the world whose incredible intellect allows her to predict what is going to happen years in advance while being able to bring people under her control by simply talking to them.
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[[folder:The Final Villain ('''ALL SPOILERS UNMARKED''']]
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[[folder:The Final Villain ('''ALL SPOILERS UNMARKED''']]UNMARKED''')]]
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* EvilIsNotWellLit: The only scenes he appears in are a dark tunnel and a planetarium during a show.
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* EvilIsNotWellLit: The only scenes he appears in are take place in a dark tunnel and a planetarium during a show.
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* AdaptationalNationality: In the original series, Adler is American, from New Jersey. In the new series, she's played by English Lara Pulver. They do allude to her original American background with [[spoiler:her going to America for witness protection, but really being captured in Karachi, and seemingly beheaded...]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original short-story, Irene just wanted to be left alone.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original short-story, Irene just wanted to be left alone.
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* AdaptationalNationality: In the original series, Adler is American, from New Jersey. In the new series, she's played by English Lara Pulver. They do [[MythologyGag allude to her original American background background]] with [[spoiler:her going to America for witness protection, {{witness protection}}, but really being captured in Karachi, and seemingly beheaded...]]
* AdaptationalSexuality: The original Irene Adler was straight, but this version identifies herself as a lesbian, attraction to Sherlock aside.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original short-story, Irene was guilty of nothing worse than owning a potentially inconvenient photograph and just wanted to be left alone.
* AdaptationalSexuality: The original Irene Adler was straight, but this version identifies herself as a lesbian, attraction to Sherlock aside.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the original short-story, Irene was guilty of nothing worse than owning a potentially inconvenient photograph and just wanted to be left alone.
* IfItsYouItsOkay: She describes herself as a lesbian but is attracted to Sherlock; she implies in a conversation with John that he's the exception.
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* KarmaHoudini: For all the havoc and damage she caused, [[spoiler:she still gets to survive in the end, albeit which her reputation destroyed and her "occupation" taken away from her]].
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* KarmaHoudini: For all the havoc and damage she caused, [[spoiler:she still gets to survive in the end, albeit which with her reputation destroyed and her "occupation" taken away from her]].
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** Ironically, his brother Creator/MadsMikkelsen is another tall, thin actor who is well-known for playing Le Chiffre, the villain of ''Film/CasinoRoyale'', who like Milverton is described as short and fat in the book in which he appears.
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** Ironically, his the actor's brother Creator/MadsMikkelsen is another tall, thin actor who is well-known for playing Le Chiffre, the villain of ''Film/CasinoRoyale'', ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'', who like Milverton is described as short and fat in the book in which he appears.
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* AdaptationalWimp: Irene Adler's original claim to fame was that she was the only character who managed to completely outsmart Sherlock and get away with her scheme with no strings attached. Though Irene here does have more time to show her stuff, she's also ultimately completely ''beaten'' by Sherlock, and even has to get rescued by him a few times.
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By TRS decision
Whip It Good is now a disambiguation page. Moving entries to appropriate tropes when possible.
Whip It Good is now a disambiguation page. Moving entries to appropriate tropes when possible.Changed line(s) 132 (click to see context) from:
* {{Troll}}: She loves to troll Sherlock, even altering his phone so that every time she messages him, it plays a [[ImmodestOrgasm soft, pleasured sigh]].
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* {{Troll}}: She loves to troll Sherlock, even altering his phone so that every time she messages him, it plays a [[ImmodestOrgasm [[TheImmodestOrgasm soft, pleasured sigh]].
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out what became of her after the events of "A Scandal in Belgravia", presumably she's in hiding in somewhere.
** [[spoiler:In "The Lying Detective," she is revealed to be in contact with Sherlock.]]
* WhipItGood: ''Introduced'' holding a riding crop, which features extensively in her website's photos, and [[{{Dominatrix}} uses it for reasons very different from Sherlock's]].
** [[spoiler:In "The Lying Detective," she is revealed to be in contact with Sherlock.]]
* WhipItGood: ''Introduced'' holding a riding crop, which features extensively in her website's photos, and [[{{Dominatrix}} uses it for reasons very different from Sherlock's]].
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out what became of her after the events of "A Scandal in Belgravia", presumably she's in hiding in somewhere.
**somewhere. [[spoiler:In "The Lying Detective," she is revealed to be in contact with Sherlock.]]
*WhipItGood: ''Introduced'' WhipOfDominance: She's a ruthless FemmeFataleSpy that is ''introduced'' holding a riding crop, which features extensively in her website's photos, and [[{{Dominatrix}} uses it for reasons very different from Sherlock's]].
**
*
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* AdaptationalWimp: His literary counterpart was an expert sharpshooter and former soldier who Holmes described as "the second most dangerous man in London", here he's never shown to have any of those skills.
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[[folder:Eurus -- '''WALKING SPOILER''']]
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* AxCrazy: The reason why she was locked away. She killed [[spoiler: Sherlock's best friend]] and then set fire to the house to kill her brother when she was younger, and she's only gotten worse in this regard with age.
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* AxCrazy: The reason why she was locked away. She killed [[spoiler: Sherlock's best friend]] friend and then set fire to the house to kill her brother when she was younger, and she's only gotten worse in this regard with age.
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* TheCorrupter: She is terrifyingly good at manipulating people to do as she says, to the point where a [[spoiler: psychiatrist sent to evaluate her ended up committing murder-suicide simply because she told him to]]. There is a reason why [[spoiler: Mycroft explicitly prohibits anyone from speaking to her without his personal supervision]] and [[spoiler: everyone is required to stay at least three feet away from her at all times]].
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* TheCorrupter: She is terrifyingly good at manipulating people to do as she says, to the point where a [[spoiler: psychiatrist sent to evaluate her ended up committing murder-suicide simply because she told him to]]. to. There is a reason why [[spoiler: Mycroft explicitly prohibits anyone from speaking to her without his personal supervision]] supervision and [[spoiler: everyone is required to stay at least three feet away from her at all times]].times.
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* DarkAndTroubledPast: We don't know the exact details, but apparently she became a "security risk", so Mycroft had her locked up or exiled. It's pretty much revealed that [[spoiler: she murdered Sherlock's friend Victor as a kid and ''then'' attempted to kill him by '''''burning down the first Holmes residence'''''; this resulted in her being thrown into a mental institution where she "died", when all Mycroft did was send her to Sherrinford]].
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* DarkAndTroubledPast: We don't know the exact details, but apparently she became a "security risk", so Mycroft had her locked up or exiled. It's pretty much revealed that [[spoiler: she murdered Sherlock's friend Victor as a kid and ''then'' attempted to kill him by '''''burning down the first Holmes residence'''''; this resulted in her being thrown into a mental institution where she "died", when all Mycroft did was send her to Sherrinford]].Sherrinford.
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* DisproportionateRetribution: "My big brother won't play with me. He's always hanging round [[spoiler: that boy.]] [[DeadlyEuphemism I suppose I must remove him from the equation...]]"
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* DisproportionateRetribution: "My big brother won't play with me. He's always hanging round [[spoiler: that boy.]] boy. [[DeadlyEuphemism I suppose I must remove him from the equation...]]"
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* DrivenByEnvy: She killed [[spoiler:Sherlock's best friend]] because she was jealous that her brother [[spoiler:played with Victor instead of her.]]
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* DrivenByEnvy: She killed [[spoiler:Sherlock's Sherlock's best friend]] friend because she was jealous that her brother [[spoiler:played played with Victor instead of her.]]
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* ForTheEvulz: She doesn't really have a true goal so far, other than causing hell for John and her brothers for little more than sick amusement. [[spoiler: Deconstructed; the reason she does these things is because she doesn't know how else to act, and mostly does vicious things in order to feel ''something''.]]
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* ForTheEvulz: She doesn't really have a true goal so far, other than causing hell for John and her brothers for little more than sick amusement. [[spoiler: Deconstructed; the reason she does these things is because she doesn't know how else to act, and mostly does vicious things in order to feel ''something''.]]
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* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Her first "unsettling" act was nothing short of [[spoiler:leaving her brother's best friend to die in a well.]] She followed this up with [[spoiler:drawing pictures of Sherlock's grave and burning down their house to kill him.]]
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* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Her first "unsettling" act was nothing short of [[spoiler:leaving leaving her brother's best friend to die in a well.]] well. She followed this up with [[spoiler:drawing drawing pictures of Sherlock's grave and burning down their house to kill him.]]
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* VillainousFriendship: [[spoiler:With Jim Moriarty. They're both AxCrazy and obsessed with Sherlock.]]
** She also mentions that she has one with [[spoiler:Culverton Smith. This allowed her to get enough information to impersonate his daughter and fool Sherlock.]]
** She also mentions that she has one with [[spoiler:Culverton Smith. This allowed her to get enough information to impersonate his daughter and fool Sherlock.]]
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* VillainousFriendship: [[spoiler:With With Jim Moriarty. They're both AxCrazy and obsessed with Sherlock.]]
Sherlock.
** She also mentions that she has one with[[spoiler:Culverton Culverton Smith. This allowed her to get enough information to impersonate his daughter and fool Sherlock.]]
** She also mentions that she has one with
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* NotTheIllnessThatKilledThem: [[spoiler:He confides in Sherlock that he has a brain aneuryism that could cause him to keel over and stop breathing at any second. He ends up being gunned down by Watson instead.]]
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* TooCleverByHalf: Culverton is exceptionally clever and cunning, but his FatalFlaw and his strong urges cause his downfall. [[spoiler:He was savvy enough to have SHerlock's possessions searched and all recording equipment found and disposed of, but never thought that Sherlock would hide a backup. Additionally, he's charming and charismatic enough for most people to dismiss him as just an odd (and more than a bit creepy) but decent fellow, but it's shown many times that his morbid fascination with death and serial killers is something he can't contain. Even John, despite being preoccupied with his own issues, does come to see that Sherlock had a point about his behavior and regards him with the appropriate caution and disdain.]]
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* TooCleverByHalf: Culverton is exceptionally clever and cunning, but his FatalFlaw and his strong urges cause his downfall. [[spoiler:He was savvy enough to have SHerlock's Sherlock's possessions searched and all recording equipment found and disposed of, but never thought that Sherlock would hide a backup. Additionally, he's charming and charismatic enough for most people to dismiss him as just an odd (and more than a bit creepy) but decent fellow, but it's shown many times that his morbid fascination with death and serial killers is something he can't contain. Even John, despite being preoccupied with his own issues, does come to see that Sherlock had a point about his behavior and regards him with the appropriate caution and disdain.]]
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* TooCleverByHalf: Culverton is exceptionally clever and cunning, but his FatalFlaw and his strong urges cause his downfall. [[spoiler:He was savvy enough to have SHerlock's possessions searched and all recording equipment found and disposed of, but never thought that Sherlock would hide a backup. Additionally, he's charming and charismatic enough for most people to dismiss him as just an odd (and more than a bit creepy) but decent fellow, but it's shown many times that his morbid fascination with death and serial killers is something he can't contain. Even John, despite being preoccupied with his own issues, does come to see that Sherlock had a point about his behavior and regards him with the appropriate caution and disdain.]]
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* VillainRespect: He treats [[NoRespectGuy John]] with a condescending and abrupt air, but he seems to genuinely respect Sherlock for his wit and brazen attitude. [[spoiler:When he tries to kill him, he shows obvious admiration at how Sherlock figured out how he got away with his killings and why the mortuary is his favorite room.]]
-->'''Culvertion:''' You're rather good at this.
-->'''Culvertion:''' You're rather good at this.
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Expanding on Culverton Smith's page.
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* {{Sadist}}: By his own admission, he doesn't kill out of hatred for anyone nor vengeance or any "dark" motive as he puts it. He kills because he ''enjoys it.'' He also admits he loves to watch it happen and forces them to maintain eye contact. He even seems to get off on making people show him how frightened they are to die before he kills them, if his AttemptedMurder of Sherlock is any indication.
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* {{Sadist}}: By his own admission, he doesn't kill out of hatred for anyone nor vengeance or any "dark" motive as he puts it. He kills because he ''enjoys it.'' He also admits he loves to watch it happen and forces them to maintain eye contact. He even seems to get off on making people show him how frightened they are to die before he kills them, if his AttemptedMurder [[SickbedSlaying attempted murder]] of Sherlock is any indication.
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Expanding on Culverton Smith's page.
* {{Hedonist}}: A very dark example. Culverton is a wealthy and successful philanthropist who indulges in his crimes at his own leisure whenever he gets the urge. He also uses his influence and resources to make sure he can get away with it for as long as possible, all the while satiating his compulsive need to confess using his memory altering drug room. He's essentially able to have all his sick needs met to the fullest and consumes his need to kill at every possible turn; his wealth is just another means to do it.
-->'''Faith:''' Ignorance is bliss...
-->'''Culverton:''' What's wrong with bliss?
-->'''Faith:''' Ignorance is bliss...
-->'''Culverton:''' What's wrong with bliss?
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** It has been speculated in ''The Guardian'' and elsewhere, that this version of Smith is based off disgraced BBC presenter Creator/JimmySavile, including using his influence to access restricted areas (including a hospital mortuary) and others being subtly complicit in his crimes thanks to his fame. The only difference is Savile was a serial rapist, not a serial murderer. He even inherits Savile's habit of SarcasticConfession in public. Steven Moffat has denied this however, claiming that Smith was meant to be an embodiment of the dark side of celebrity in general.
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** It has been speculated in ''The Guardian'' and elsewhere, that this version of Smith is based off disgraced BBC presenter Creator/JimmySavile, including using his influence to access restricted areas (including a hospital mortuary) and others being subtly complicit in his crimes thanks to his fame. The only difference is Savile was a serial rapist, not a serial murderer. He even inherits Savile's habit of SarcasticConfession in public. Steven Moffat has denied this however, claiming that Smith was meant to be an embodiment of the dark side of celebrity in general. Still, the parallels are unmistakable.
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* {{Sadist}}: By his own admission, he doesn't kill out of hatred for anyone nor vengeance or any "dark" motive as he puts it. He kills because he ''enjoys it.'' He also admits he loves to watch it happen and forces them to maintain eye contact. He even seems to get off on making people show him how frightened they are to die before he kills them, if his AttemptedMurder of Sherlock is any indication.
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* TheSociopath: Culverton has no real empathy for anyone. He's also highly manipulative, a master of the SarcasticConfession, has no issue threatening others (sometimes not-so-subtly) who cross him and he has a twisted compulsion to kill. He outright compares dead people to "things" and claims he likes killing because he likes making people into things so he can "own" them forever.
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* VillainHasAPoint: One thing that gave him an edge over John and Sherlock besides his double bluffs is that he's 100% correct that Sherlock is high as a kite for the majority of the episode. Culverton outright calls John's doctorate into question, claiming that if he ''were'' a real doctor, he'd know instantly that Sherlock was delirious from drug use and not in his right mind, since Culverton could tell straight away despite having no proper medical training.
-->'''Culverton:''' Either I'm a ''serial killer''... or Sherlock Holmes is ''off his tits'' on drugs!
-->'''Culverton:''' Either I'm a ''serial killer''... or Sherlock Holmes is ''off his tits'' on drugs!
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Ambiguous Disorder is not a trope anymore, but a redirect to a YMMV entry.
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* AmbiguousDisorder: The show claims she has psychosis, which is a pretty general term for being out of touch with reality. She doesn't seem to have an ability to distinguish emotions or even pain, and she quickly slips between being calm and screaming. It isn't helped that her sanity and/or conscience is represented as a child trapped in a malfunctioning airplane all alone.
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* FatalFlaw: '''Pride.''' He's arrogant enough to think he can do basically whatever he wants. Even after he nearly gets shot by a (retired) assassin who he's trying to blackmail. He knows John is Sherlock's "pressure point", but doesn't realize Sherlock is willing to kill for John.
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* InNameOnly: Even as far as many adaptations tend to depict the character as a more morally ambiguous and cunning character, the Irene Adler of ''Sherlock'' has little in common with the original stories other than possessing an incriminating photograph that Sherlock is hired to procure from her. In Doyle's writings, Irene was rumored to be a courtesan but was actually an opera singer, was somewhat sympathetic in her blackmail motives, and by the end of the story she escaped but had no intent to actually use the blackmail leverage she had; she just wanted to be left alone with her new husband. In the series, Adler is a professional dominatrix who caters to high-end clientele including royalty and military officers, steals sensitive information from her clients to use for criminal purposes, and [[spoiler:is working with Moriarty on a plan to fool the Holmes brothers.]]
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* AffablyEvil: Dr Frankland is very polite and friendly despite being a murderer involved in highly unethical scientific experiments.
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* AffablyEvil: FauxAffablyEvil: Dr Frankland is very polite and friendly despite being a murderer involved in highly unethical scientific experiments.
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Nice Hat is being dewicked
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* NeverSuicide: The entire plot of his episode, really. Though since these are "serial suicides" it's kind of obvious.
* NiceHat: Sports a nifty flat cap.
* NiceHat: Sports a nifty flat cap.
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* NeverSuicide: The entire plot of his episode, really. Though since these are "serial suicides" it's kind of obvious.
* NiceHat: Sports a nifty flat cap.obvious.
* NiceHat: Sports a nifty flat cap.
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Up To Eleven is a defunct trope
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* ShowSomeLeg: Calculates that showing some leg would simply be analysed for what it is by Sherlock. So she takes it UpToEleven.
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* ShowSomeLeg: Calculates that showing some leg would simply be analysed for what it is by Sherlock. So she takes it UpToEleven.up to eleven.
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Quoth Moffatt "Only in the sense of a general disquiet about how celebrity seems to erase all other sins — in that sense, I suppose, it's about the rise of celebrity. " "So I think the idea is that celebrity allows you to transgress in ways that normal human beings are not allowed to. " While Trump is may be said an example of this idea, this just means that Trump and Smith are the same sort of person in Moffatt's mind, not "This character is based on Trump".
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** Creator/StevenMoffat has even [[http://ew.com/tv/2017/01/16/donald-trump-election-biggest-mistake/ compared him]] to Creator/DonaldTrump.
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* {{Trumplica}}: Steven Moffat has stated that Smith is based on Donald Trump and like Trump, he is an entrepeneur who has used his financial success to gain media celebrity, as well as having a dark sense of humour.
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* {{Trumplica}}: Steven Moffat has stated that Smith is based on Donald Trump and like Like Trump, he is an entrepeneur who has used his financial success to gain media celebrity, as well as having a dark sense of humour.
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Fridge goes in the fridge section
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** It could be viewed as FridgeBrilliance by the writers: Magnussen saw Sherlock try to talk [[spoiler:Mary]] out of committing cold-blooded murder she thinks is justified, even with a gun pointed at him. A reasonable person would assume from that Sherlock isn't okay with murder in general, let alone okay with committing it himself. It's just Magnussen's bad luck John's happiness is Sherlock's blind spot and enough to drive him to act like the remorseless sociopath he claims to be but usually isn't.
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* {{Yandere}}: Towards Sherlock. She became obsessed with him as a child and her jealousy over his friend Victor drove her to murder and arson. The fourth series makes it clear her obsession with him ''never'' wavered and the entire reason for her horrific spree is to torment Sherlock, but it's clear that in her own twisted way, she ''does'' love him, but is too insane and sociopathic to actually recognize it. Sherlock threatening to kill himself is the only thing in the entire episode that caused her to [[VillainousBreakdown completely lose her shit.]]
