History Characters / SherlockJohnWatson

* AloofBigBrother: Inverted. Harry (older sister) is very supportive of John, but he's distant because he doesn't like her drinking.

* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: In "The Six Thatchers" he begins to grow bored with domestic life with Mary and Baby Rosie, and he can't solve cases with Sherlock on a regular basis anymore. So when a random woman on the bus gives him her number he keeps it rather than throw it away, all just to have a bit of excitement. They text a lot, but that's it. He eventually realizes it's wrong and break it off. It's still amazingly sweet for a disturbing reason; the woman wasn't random, she was Sherlock's ''long-lost sister'', who is every bit as smart as both her siblings. It took a female Sherlock to make him consider cheating]].

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/watson_john_8940.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"''How—'' oh, never mind."'']]

--> '''John:''' We'll see which of us is a soldier, and which is a drug addict!
--> '''Sherlock:''' You're a doctor.
--> '''John:''' I'm an [[CombatMedic Army doctor]]. I'll break every bone in your body while naming them.

-->'''Wiggins:''' Somebody hit me.
-->'''Mary:''' Huh?
-->'''Wiggins:''' Just some guy. ''(stares at Watson)''
-->'''John:''' Probably just an addict in need of a fix.
-->'''Sherlock:''' Yes, I think in a way, it was.

-->'''Sherlock:''' You've seen a bit of trouble too, I bet.
-->'''John:''' Of course, yes. Enough for a lifetime, far too much.
-->'''Sherlock:''' ...Want to see some more?
-->'''John:''' Oh, ''God'', yes.

-->'''John:''' We've only just met.
-->'''[[spoiler:Mycroft]]:''' And since yesterday you've moved in with him and now you're solving crimes together. Might we expect a happy announcement by the end of the week?

-->'''John''': I don't understand.
-->'''Magnussen''': You should have that on a t-shirt.

* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: In "The Six Thatchers" he begins to grow bored with domestic life with Mary and Baby Rosie, and he can't solve cases with Sherlock on a regular basis anymore. So when a random woman on the bus gives him her number he keeps it rather than throw it away, all just to have a bit of excitement. They text a lot, but that's it. He eventually realizes it's wrong and break it off.]]

* AdaptationalBadass: Conan Doyle's Watson was quite the man of action, but this John Watson isn't just Dr. John Watson he's ''Captain'' John Watson.[[note]] We don't know what rank Doyle's Watson held during his brief stint in the army, but he was most likely a Lieutenant or at the very least received a Lieutenant's pay grade.[[/note]]

* BigDamnHeroes: In the first episode, certainly.

* {{Handgun}}: He somehow managed to keep his service pistol, a [[CoolGuns/{{Handguns}} Sig-Sauer P226]], and is scarily proficient with it.

* MoralityPet: For Sherlock, letting him know whenever he's said or done something "not good".

* ShellShockedVeteran: Subverted. He looks like this in the first episode before it's revealed that he's not really haunted by the war, he misses it.
* ShipperOnDeck: For Sherlock and Irene. When he hears that Sherlock keeps in contact with her, he encourages that he pursue her because they both like each other and they're alive [[spoiler:unlike Mary. Likewise, at the end of season 4, when him, Sherlock, and Mycroft are debating who, "I Love You" is for, he initially proposes Irene.]]

* AdaptationalBadass: Conan Doyle's Watson was quite the man of action, but this John Watson ''Captain'' John Watson in the army.[[note]] We don't know what rank Doyle's Watson held during his brief stint in the army, but he was most likely a Lieutenant or at the very least received a Lieutenant's pay grade.[[/note]]

* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: In "The Six Thatchers" he begins to grow bored with domestic life with Mary and Baby Rosie, and he can't solve cases with Sherlock on a regular basis anymore. So when a random woman on the bus gives him her number he keeps it rather than throw it away, all just to have a bit of excitement. They text a lot and it's very ambiguous if the two ever got "physical" together. He eventually realizes it's wrong but he runs into the same woman when he tries to break it off. Mary never finds out and dies thinking John was the perfect husband.]]

* IncompatibleOrientation: He started to catch this from being around Sherlock; none of his girlfriends were able to put up with their adventuring for long. Fortunately, Mary adores Sherlock possibly even more than John does - but it's still unlikely they would have got to the point of marriage had Sherlock not been off the scene for a couple of years.
-->'''Jeanette:''' My friends were wrong, you know. You're a great boyfriend - and Sherlock Holmes is a very lucky man.

%%* TheLancer

* MysteriousMiddleInitial: In "A Scandal in Belgravia", John H. Watson finally reveals his much-speculated upon middle name: [[spoiler:Hamish]].
** Which of course lines up with Conan Doyle's canon. For even more speculation, see the pre-season-two debate on DI Lestrade's first name. Conan Doyle only gave an initial (G) which BBC expanded to [[spoiler: Greg]].

* YourCheatingHeart: [[spoiler: In "The Six Thatchers" he begins to grow bored with domestic life with Mary and Baby Rosie. So when a random woman on the bus gives him her number he keeps it rather than throw it away. They text a lot and it's very ambiguous if the two ever got "physical". He eventually realizes it's wrong but he runs into the same woman when he tries to break it off. Mary never finds out and dies thinking John was the perfect husband.]]

* HeroicBSOD: After [[spoiler:Mary's death]]

* {{Badass}}: We know (from a blog comment by Bill Murray, the nurse) that he's the recipient of at least one medal, and Sherlock refers to him as a "war hero" during the taxi drive to Brixton.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Though a friendly and laid back man, John is still an ex-soldier. He has no compunction about killing someone if they're putting the people he cares about in immediate danger.

* PintsizedPowerhouse: As seen in "A Scandal in Belgravia", where Sherlock learns it's not a good idea to hit him. John hits back. Hard.
--> '''John''': (has Sherlock in a headlock) You ought to remember, Sherlock, I was a soldier! I killed people!
--> '''Sherlock''': You were a doctor!
--> '''John''': ''[[CrowningMomentOfFunny I had bad days!]]''

%%* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Sherlock's blue.

* {{Handgun}}: He somehow managed to keep his service pistol, a [[CoolGuns/{{Handguns}} Sig-Sauer [=P226=]], and is scarily proficient with it.

* {{Tsundere}}: Towards Sherlock and their odd partnership. He constantly acts like he's being dragged into things by Sherlock when he could be doing something better with himself and says virtually everything that comes out of Sherlock's mouth includes the subtext of "punch me in the face", yet he can't separate himself from Sherlock in spite of it.

* FriendlySniper / ImprobableAimingSkills: Once shot a guy through ''two'' windows, in ''another building''. With a ''pistol''.

* IncompatibleOrientation / MarriedToTheJob: He started to catch this from being around Sherlock; none of his girlfriends were able to put up with their adventuring for long. Fortunately, Mary adores Sherlock possibly even more than John does - but it's still unlikely they would have got to the point of marriage had Sherlock not been off the scene for a couple of years.

* {{Foil}}: To Sherlock. Pretty much an obligatory aspect of his character.

* TheLancer

* RedOniBlueOni: The red to Sherlock's blue.