History Characters / SherlockSherlockHolmes

[[Characters/{{Sherlock}} Back to Sherlock Character Index]]

!!William Sherlock Scott Holmes
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sherlockseries4.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"Who cares about decent? The game, Mrs Hudson, is on!"'']]
->'''Played By:''' Creator/BenedictCumberbatch

The main character and the "hero" of the story, Sherlock Holmes is handsome, brilliant and the world's greatest [[InsistentTerminology consulting]] detective. Unfortunately, he is also rude, impulsive, selfish, sees little need to observe social niceties he doesn't understand anyway, and is altogether insufferable. Everything changes for him when he receives a new flatmate in the form of John Watson, who keeps him grounded.
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[[folder:A-F]]
* AbsentMindedProfessor: He's brilliant, but is sometimes so focused on details that he misses obvious things, and needs John to fill in the common-sense gaps. He's also very bad at looking after himself, having to be reminded to do things like eating.
* TheAce: Like his Victorian literary counterpart, Sherlock has numerous skills, including deduction, chemistry, music and combat, with a highly regarded intellect, many of his skills contributing to his skills as a consulting detective. Unfortunately, he also has anti-social tendencies which stem from a low opinion of other people, a flaw he works to overcome over the course of the series.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In the books, Holmes is a tall scarecrow of a man with a beak of a nose. Creator/ArthurConanDoyle often complained that most illustrations of Holmes at the time made him too handsome. In the show, he's played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who has something of a female following (and indeed something of a male following). John expresses irritation that Sherlock cuts such a striking figure, what with his collar and cheekbones.
** In the books, he's also described as having a high-pitched voice, while Cumberbatch possesses a deeper voice.
* AdaptationalJerkass: Compared to his [[Literature/SherlockHolmes original literary counterpart]], this Sherlock has been [[CharacterExaggeration Character Exaggerated]] to be notably colder, haughtier, and more selfish. Interestingly enough, his CharacterDevelopment goes in the ''opposite'' direction of the original Sherlock Holmes, who famously TookALevelInJerkass after he faked his death -- this Sherlock TookALevelInKindness instead and warmed considerably up to people.
* AddictionDisplacement: He outright admits he solves crimes as an alternative to getting high in "His Last Vow".
* AllergicToRoutine: Sherlock has a need for intellectual stimulation that strongly brings to mind a drug addict's desire for the stimulant of their choice, and repeatedly goes to dangerous lengths in order to avoid becoming bored--a trait he shares with his arch-nemesis, Moriarty. However, possibly as a means to complement Sherlock, this particular version of John Watson is heavily hinted to be an adrenaline addict and a thrill-seeker.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: In addition to being hated by the entire police force sans Lestrade, in "The Blind Banker", it is revealed that all his classmates hated him back in school (specifically university) too.
%%%* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Plays this role to Mycroft throughout "The Empty Hearse".
%%* AmbiguouslyGay:
* AntiHero:
** Sherlock solves crime for fun and not justice. Lampshaded several times. Apparently Sherlock likes to use season finales to remind people of this.
*** In "The Great Game":
---->'''Sherlock:''' Don't make people into heroes, John. Heroes don't exist, and if they did, I wouldn't be one of them.
*** In "The Reichenbach Fall":
---->'''Sherlock:''' I may be on the side of the angels, but don't think for one ''second'' that I am one of them.
*** In "His Last Vow":
---->'''Sherlock:''' Oh, do your research! I'm not a hero, I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Merry Christmas! [[spoiler:''[shoots Magnussen]'']]
** On the other hand, Sherlock clearly has his own set of morals and ethics, and often is driven by his determination to save innocent lives and stop particularly loathsome criminals. He does good things when he needs to, but approaches his crime solving as a hobby.
--->'''Lestrade:''' Sherlock Holmes is a great man, and I think one day, if we're all very very lucky, he might even be a good one.
* AttentionWhore: Not as much as some other characters, but he does have his moments. As he himself says in the first episode, the frailty of genius is the need for an audience.
* AwesomeByAnalysis: the Mind Palace. Good God, the Mind Palace.
* BadassBookworm: In ''The Sign of Three'', Molly mentions that Sherlock is a graduate chemist. But he is a very good fighter, in no small part due to his intelligence. He even tries to take on the freakishly huge assassin The Golem during 'The Great Game'.
* BadassInANiceSuit: If not wearing his BadassLongcoat, he'll be seen wearing very stylish dark suits.
* BadassLongcoat: Sherlock sports a tailored, woolen one that costs [[http://style.bitchbuzz.com/how-to-get-sherlock-holmess-style.html £1,350]].
-->'''John:''' ''[to Sherlock]'' [[DiscussedTrope You...]] [[LampshadeHanging turning your coat collar up]] [[RuleOfCool so you look cool]].
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: His deep bond with Watson comes from the latter being genuinely impressed with his deductive skills and making an effort to befriend him.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Combines this with BewareTheSillyOnes. Sherlock threw [[spoiler:a captured CIA agent]] out of a window after beating him up for [[spoiler:attacking Mrs Hudson]]. He lost count of how many times.
* BigBrotherWorship: If Mycroft's appearances in the mind palace are anything to go by, Sherlock definitely [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter looks up to Mycroft intellectually]], although the way Mental Mycroft belittles his brother indicates that this coexists with a great deal of resentment.
* BreakTheHaughty: A recurring theme is Sherlock's ''need'' to show off how clever he is, coupled with massive self-assurance in his intelligence, gets him in serious trouble time and again:
** In "The Great Game", he responds to John [[WhatTheHellHero angrily calling him out on not caring for the victims' lives]] by coolly responding that caring about them won't help him save them, so he won't make that mistake. [[spoiler:Then [[OnlyFriend John]] gets kidnapped and put at risk... and [[ItsPersonal not caring suddenly isn't so easy]]]].
** In "A Scandal in Belgravia'' he [[spoiler:unwittingly foils one of Mycroft's counter-terrorism operations to impress Irene Adler.]]
** The entire plot of "The Reichenbach Fall", where Moriarty uses Sherlock's {{jerkass}} pride in his work to slowly destroy the detective's life.
** In ''His Last Vow'' he made the assumption that Magnussen had all of his blackmail material locked up in a private vault underneath in mansion. [[spoiler:So he makes a deal to exchange Mycroft's laptop for his file on Magnussen's file on Mary. When he finds out that there is no vault -- Magnussen keeps it all in his head in a variation of Sherlock's mind palace, and Magnussen just tricked him into committing treason, Sherlock takes it ''hard''.]]
** In "The Six Thatcher" [[spoiler:he gives a brutal BreakingSpeech to a [=MI6=] secretary who was a mole and was responsible for sabotaging a rescue mission Mary was on. To one up him, the secretary fires her gun at Sherlock only for Mary to [[TakingTheBullet take the bullet]] and die from the resulting injuries. This is what finally gets Sherlock to see how self-destructive his attitude really is.]]
*** On a personal level, his rivalry with Moriarty -- even though both Holmes brothers orchestrated his downfall, Moriarty's memory still haunts Sherlock to the point that [[spoiler:when Moriarty "returns" from the grave, Sherlock overdoses on Cocaine just to cope.]]
* BriefAccentImitation: One of Sherlock's minor specialties:
** Sherlock does a dead-on impersonation of a metrosexual yuppie to fool a woman into thinking that he lived at a posh apartment complex and let him in.
** And then again in the third episode, he abandons his usual upper-crust tones for a more cockney accent, pretending to be a grief-stricken friend of the departed, but intentionally getting things wrong. He knows that people will automatically contradict any mistakes made by a stranger pretending to be a friend or relative, which means that she'll expose things that she wouldn't if he was actually an old friend of her husband.
** In "A Scandal in Belgravia," he changes his accent briefly again, taking leave of his brother and other government functionaries in a more common accent and slang ("Laters!") and later pretending to be a priest who has just been mugged.
** Toward the end of "A Scandal in Belgravia," Sherlock briefly adopts an American drawl to mock a CIA agent.
** [[spoiler:Moriarty]] seems to be putting on a generic English accent in the scene in "The Great Game" where he [[spoiler:meets Sherlock while pretending to be "Jim from I.T."]], but then reverts back to the actor's natural Dublin for when he reveals himself.
** He does it again in the "The Reichenbach Fall," switching from his Irish accent to an American one here and there, without much reason.
** "Doncaster" in Baskerville.
** Sherlock spoofs a generic French/Italian accent while [[spoiler:attempting his big reveal with John in the restaurant scene]] in "The Empty Hearse."
** Sherlock puts on a decent Scottish brogue when getting past security at Sherrinford, [[spoiler: his secret sister's prison.]]
* BrilliantButLazy: ZigZaggedTrope. If he thinks it's worth his while he'll run several blocks, break into private property, or lie and cheat to get information. If he doesn't, his level of laziness has to be seen to be believed:
** In "A Study in Pink", won't lift his hand about three inches to grab the phone John offers him, forcing John to actually place it in his palm.
** In "The Great Game", while fiddling with instruments, Sherlock asks Watson to hand him his phone, which is in his jacket. The one Sherlock's ''wearing''.
** In "A Scandal in Belgravia", gets John to Skype him a view of a crime scene because he doesn't want to get out of bed. Then can't be bothered to get dressed when summoned by the Queen.
* BrutalHonesty: Sherlock's M.O. Used for both comedy and drama: one time he might humorously extort someone with sensitive information, while another John might chew him out for being rude and tactless. From "[[Recap/SherlockS02E01AScandalInBelgravia A Scandal In Belgravia]]":
-->'''Child:''' They wouldn't let us see Granddad when he was dead. is that 'cause he'd gone to heaven?\\
'''Sherlock:''' People don't really go to heaven when they die, they are taken to a special room and burned.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Sherlock's behavior is very odd by most people's standards, but he's so good at what he does that most people put up with it.
%%* ByronicHero
* CantHoldHisLiquor: As shown at John's stag night. He had actually calculated a precise formula for alcohol intake to where both he and John would get reasonably buzzed through the course of the night but not stone-cold drunk. However John ends up derailing this by pouring more booze into their flasks when Sherlock wasn't looking, causing them to both get smashed.
* {{Catchphrase}}:
** "Obviously."
** "Not Good?"
** "The game is on!"
* CelibateHero:
** Sherlock considers himself [[MarriedToTheJob married to his work]].
** Moffat posits in an interview that Sherlock dismisses the charms of women because he finds them a distraction, and that he would not be living with a man if he fancied men (because it would also be a distraction).
--->'''Creator/StevenMoffat:''' It's the choice of a monk, not the choice of an asexual. If he was asexual, there would be no tension in that, no fun in that -- it's someone who abstains who's interesting. There's no guarantee that he'll stay that way in the end -- maybe he marries Mrs Hudson. I don't know! [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/jan/20/steven-moffat-sherlock-doctor-who (The Guardian, Jan 20th, 2012)]]
** Cumberbatch weighed in on the matter to the blog [[http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/05/sherlock-season-2-benedict-cumberbatch-and-martin-freeman-match-wits-with-lara-pulvers-dominatrix-irene-adler.html Zap2It]]:
--->'''Benedict Cumberbatch:''' For me, Sherlock's not gay. He's not straight, necessarily. He has a sexual appetite, but it's entirely swallowed by his work. He doesn't have time for it.
** Cumberbatch was also asked in a 2014 interview if he could see Sherlock having sex in the show, to which he more directly replied: ''"Oh, he has. He shagged Irene Adler, that night they had together when he rescued her from beheading."'' Seeing as Steven Moffat has a different idea about what happened, this remains unconfirmed.
** Magnussen's "file" reveals that he has a porn preference. It's apparently normal (though he was deep undercover by that point, so it is entirely plausible he completely fabricated said porn preference simply so Magnussen could find it.)
** In "The Final Problem", [[spoiler:Eurus deducts that Sherlock has had sex, although he neither denies or affirms it. Since her deductions are even better than Sherlock, it can be assumed by season 4, Sherlock has finally had a sexual experience and is no longer a virgin (according to Sherlock Holmes Wikipedia, Sherlock was born in 1983, so he was 35 when he lost his virginity.) And since she deducts it while Sherlock is playing Irene's theme, it was most likely with Irene Adler, who he is (presumably) later seen texting and may or may not be in a relationship with.]]
* ChallengeSeeker: He's always looking for dragons to slay, and seeks challenge in small things as well. When he goes to surprise John with his return, he distracts and steals things from people to obscure his identity instead of putting on a disguise in advance.
** Strong examples can be found in the first two episodes of the series: in the first Sherlock subjects himself [[spoiler:to a game that he knows has killed four people already at a point where he no longer has any reason to, yet does so in order to satisfy his own genius and his desire to prove it]]. During the second he turns down monetary compensation for looking into a mysterious break-in because if it's something that piques his deductive skills, he needs no "motivation" (John, on the other hand, is a normal person who needs income so he "holds" it on Sherlock's behalf).
* CloudCuckoolander:
** Owing to his not always paying attention to the world. In spite of his intelligence, he doesn't know who the Prime Minister is and even forgets that England has a queen instead of a king -- something he used to know.
** Despite being able to deduce an entire person's life with one look at them, he thought the morning tea that Mrs. Hudson would bring up for him "just sort of happened".
* CluelessChickMagnet: Molly Hooper, Irene Adler, Kitty Reilly and Janine all seem to think so. Although, in a blog post, John says that Sherlock recognized the sign of attraction in a woman because, per Sherlock, he's so used to seeing them directed towards him.
* ComplexityAddiction: Like in the series 2 finale he expects the other party to be more devious and circumspect than they actually are.
* ConsummateLiar: Demonstrates several times that he is a rather convincing actor, pretending to be various roles as the situation requires. At one point he's so convincing he even fools the ''audience'' for a bit, crying and breaking down before laughing his arse off that John fell for it.
* CrazyPrepared: Had 13 possible plans [[spoiler:to escape Moriarty on the rooftop. Faking his death was one of them, although it's implied that it was a last-ditch option]].
* CreepyGood: Owing to his sociopathic behaviour, even after it gets toned down significantly.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:His sister Euros was a CreepyChild who tormented her brother under the assumption he was enjoying it (how bad it was isn't elaborated on, but it got to the point young Sherlock would ''violently scream'' if he spent too much time with her). Then, she killed his BestFriend Victor by drowning him in a well and tormented Sherlock by making him solve the "riddle" of what happened to him, which most likely attibutes to Sherlock's obsession with solving puzzling cases. Then their family home was ''[[{{Yandere}} burnt down by Euros in an attempt to kill Sherlock]]'' and they were forced to move away. Sherlock was so traumatized that he completely locked the memories away and created his own story of what happened.]]
* DeadpanSnarker: Being a self proclaimed high functioning sociopath may make you seem like a massive jerkass, but Sherlock shows how brilliant his wit is.
* DefrostingIceKing: Sherlock's friendship with John helps him slowly learn to open up to the other people in his life. His priorities at the end of the second season are wildly different from those in the pilot, or even the end of the first season. [[spoiler:Hiding out for two years, separated from all of his friends, seems to have softened him up even more; in the third season, Sherlock is willing to sacrifice his own happiness so John can be a decent husband and father.]].
* DidTheyOrDidntThey:
** With Irene Adler. Benedict Cumberbatch outright said that Sherlock and Irene slept together after "A Scandal in Belgravia" ended, while Steven Moffat on the other hand explained his idea of what happened which did not involve any sex between them. Fans might as well choose which statement they want to believe.
** Complicating matters further is the reveal in "The Lying Detective" that Irene still texts Sherlock sometimes, with Sherlock being visibly embarrassed that John finds out, who asks him if he and Irene meet up for the occasional "nights of passion". Sherlock at most admits that he does text Irene back sometimes even as he "tries not to". Then comes "The Final Problem" where [[spoiler:Eurus, who apparently rival Sherlock or even succeeds him in his deduction skills,]] hears him play Irene's theme and asks him "Oh, have you had sex?" Bottom line is we're probably meant to be as confused about Sherlock's relationship to Irene as his friends/[[spoiler:siblings]] are with no clear answer being given as to what really has occurred between them off-screen.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Irene Adler has this effect on him, to the extent he noticeably stumbles over his words at one point and unwittingly foils a highly top secret and clandestine government plan, all in an effort to ''impress'' her.
** However, it also gets [[NotDistractedByTheSexy averted]] when he appears to return her advances by holding her hand and staring deeply into her eyes, only to later reveal that he was taking her pulse and checking if her pupils were dilated (to deduct that she was genuinely interested in him).
** During "The Sign of Three", whilst working out a case in his head, he briefly gets distracted by the mental image of (a very naked) Irene Adler, when musing about the very few people aware of John's EmbarrassingMiddleName.
--->'''Sherlock:''' ''[annoyed]'' [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend Out of]] [[ThinkUnsexyThoughts my head]], I am ''busy''...
* DitzyGenius: Invoked. Sherlock only keeps important information in his "mental hard drive," which does not include tact, common sense or heliocentrism. He even deletes stuff he used to know, such as there being a queen of England as opposed to a king.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Appears to jump off a building to his death at the end of Series 2. Subverted soon after, when it turns out he faked his death instead.]]
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Eerie owing to his sociopathic nature, even after it gets toned down a lot.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Inverted. [[spoiler:Turns out his first name is actually William.]] Granted, it's a lot less catchy and unusual than "Sherlock".
* EpicHail: Sherlock's solution to getting the police to arrive ''quickly'' is to casually fire a gun into the air!
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: And also the lesbians.
-->'''John Watson:''' For the record, if anyone out there still cares, [[MistakenForGay I'm not actually gay]].\\
'''Irene Adler:''' Well, I ''am''. Look at us both.
* EveryoneHasStandards:
** Even Sherlock seems disgusted at the man who admits to murdering his girlfriend in Belarus, taking obvious pleasure in the fact he will likely get a death sentence.
** He's also appalled in 'The Empty Hearse' at a man pretending to be his stepdaughter's boyfriend to purposefully break her heart. [[YouBastard He even chews the guy out for it!]]
** He becomes personally invested in stopping Magnusson and [[spoiler:Culverton Smith]] as he finds their actions and modus operandi disgusting.
* ExplainExplainOhCrap: A PlayedForLaughs example. When John shoots the cabbie in the first episode, he tells Lestrade that he's looking for a crack shot with military experience, a set of morals, and NervesOfSteel... then notices John and quickly takes everything back.
* {{Expy}}: Given that Creator/StevenMoffat was the showrunner, it's not surprising that he occasionally resembles [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]].
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Faked his own death at the conclusion of "The Reichenbach Fall" to save his friends.]]
* FatalFlaw:
** His obsessive curiosity and constant need to not be bored leads him to irrational or cruel behavior that damages his relationships with his friends and sometimes even leads him to put his own life in danger.
** His pride and tendency to underestimate his foes also gets him into trouble.
* ForgetsToEat: Cumberbatch [[DyeingForYourArt purposefully lost weight]] to highlight this. From the unaired pilot:
-->'''John:''' Aren't you going to eat?\\
'''Sherlock:''' What day is it?\\
'''John:''' ...Wednesday.\\
'''Sherlock:''' I'm okay for a bit.
* FreudianExcuse: It's implied he had a ''very'' unhappy childhood:
** Attempts by his parents to socialize him and Mycroft with other children to make friends failed, miserably. Both Mycroft and Sherlock scoff at the idea years later.
** In Series 3, spending most of his development years with Mycroft is implied to have left a negative effect on his personality.
** Until he met other children he always assumed he was an "idiot" due to only having Mycroft as a companion.
** His mother by his own admission "has a lot to answer for" in regards to how her children turned out.
** [[spoiler:The death of his dog Redbeard hit him ''hard''.]]
*** Only, as it turns out, [[spoiler:it's even worse than that. Redbeard was not actually his dog. It was his childhood best friend's -- Victor Trevor -- pirate name. The two of them loved to play pirates together. His sister, Eurus, was so jealous that she outright ''murdered'' Victor, and then later set their house on fire. All the while, she drew disturbing pictures depicting Sherlock's death. All this happened when Sherlock was prepubescent, and she was a year ''[[EnfantTerrible younger]]'' than him. He was so traumatized by this that he erased all memory of Eurus from his mind, and made up memories of Redbeard being the family dog instead of his best friend.]]
* FriendlessBackground: It's ''strongly'' implied that John was Sherlock's first real friend. In ''A Study in Pink'', both Donovan and Mycroft point out that Sherlock isn't the kind of person who make friends.
** Turns out this isn't the case [[spoiler:as his childhood best friend was murdered out of jealousy by his little sister.]]
* FriendToAllChildren: In "The Reichenbach Fall", he's very concerned about finding the kidnapped children and is very disturbed when they react in fear at seeing him. In "The Sign of Three", he befriends Archie through BrutalHonesty--and a shared interest in bizarre murders.
-->'''Sherlock:''' You really do have to wear the outfit.\\
'''Archie:''' What for?\\
'''Sherlock:''' Grown-ups like that sort of thing.\\
'''Archie:''' Why?\\
'''Sherlock:''' [[SincerityMode I don't know. I’ll ask one.]]
* FunctionalAddict: An odd case. He claims he's one. Mycroft, John, and Molly don't buy it, and they all make various attempts to get him sober. There's evidence to support both sides of the argument; Sherlock doesn't take drugs ''recreationally'', and is more than capable of staying on the wagon as long as he isn't bored -- or stumped. Then he'll start taking anything he thinks can [[HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs break the mental impasse]]. Mycroft has a gentleman's agreement to keep him from being picked up in such cases as long as he's ''written down'' exactly what he's taken so he can be treated.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:G-L]]
* GeekPhysique:
** In the pilot, John discovers during the dinner stakeout that Sherlock [[ForgetsToEat does not eat]] when he's on the job and the pilot ends with him getting Sherlock to eat an actual meal.
** In "The Blind Banker", Sherlock tells Molly he doesn't eat when he's working, as digestion only slows him down.
** Cumberbatch appears to have put on those same few pounds he lost for the role between seasons to represent the fact that Sherlock now has a live-in physician. It also seems to track with the character becoming a bit warmer and more human-like, so the trope is currently [[PlayingWithATrope being employed in reverse]].
** Then in series 3, Sherlock seems to have gone back to more of a GeekPhysique again after his two years away -- contrast [[http://screencapped.net/tv/sherlock/displayimage.php?album=4&pid=38895#top_display_media the shirtless scene]] in "A Scandal in Belgravia" with [[http://screencapped.net/tv/sherlock/thumbnails.php?album=9&page=36 the hospital scenes]] in "His Last Vow".
* GeniusBruiser: While a more skilled combatant such as John can handle him, it's clear that this guy would demolish the average person in a physical fight.
* GladHesOnOurSide: His sociopathy, his despising being bored, and his being a MirrorCharacter to Moriarty are frequently brought up, as well as how awful of a prospect it would be if he stopped helping the police and ended up committing crimes for thrills himself.
** The writers speculate in one episode commentary that Sherlock stays on the side of the law as a self-imposed challenge: doing what Moriarty does would be too simple to stay interesting.
* GoodHairEvilHair: His hair is often much curlier and messier than his opponents'.
* GoodIsNotNice: As he tells Moriarty in "The Reichenbach Fall", "I may be on the side of the angels, but don't think for ''one second'' that I am one of them."
* GrammarNazi: Deliberately corrects the grammar of a prisoner in Minsk at the start of "The Great Game" to make the man confess to murdering his girlfriend.
%%* GreatDetective:
* GuileHero: Most of his fights are won through pure observation and intelligence.
* HeartbrokenBadass: During [[spoiler:John's wedding in ''Sign of Three'' when he begins to realize how the marriage will affect their relationship. It upsets him enough that he can't handle staying around for the reception.]]
* HeroesLoveDogs: He seems to have a soft spot for dogs, as interaction with Toby the bloodhound indicates. [[spoiler:As a child he had a beloved pet dog named Redbeard who had to be put down. It's still a touchy subject for Sherlock well into adulthood.]]
* HeroicBSOD:
** Appears to be struck by one ''twice'' in "A Scandal in Belgravia". Firstly, he drifts trance-like into Baker Street after the revelation [[spoiler:Irene Adler is, in fact, alive]]. Later, he seems stunned into inaction for a while once he realises that he has fallen for the [[DamselInDistress oldest trick in the book]].
** Freaks out in "The Hounds of Baskerville", when he experiences fear and doubt for likely the first time in his life.
** Played with in "The Sign of Three" where, after being asked to be John's best man, he stared at John for what is implied to be at least five minutes
** Between the revelation of the Appledore vaults and the arrival of the choppers in "His Last Vow," Sherlock is practically catatonic.
** [[spoiler:Mary dies in "The Six Thatchers" saving him. Having spent the whole episode proclaiming he was going to protect her he's left in shock as how let his arrogance lead to her death, while John has cut him out of life as a result.]]
** [[spoiler:Has two in "The Final Problem". The first when he realizes Eurus tricked him into forcing Molly Hooper to confess her love for him. The second when he breaks out of his trauma imposed amnesia to realize that his childhood dog Redbeard was actually his best friend Victor Trevor whose murder forced him into rewriting him as a dog to cope with the loss.]]
* HiddenDepths: During Watson's wedding he confesses to Janine, Mary's bridesmaid, that he loves dancing and has been waiting for a case that would let him show off his skills.
* HypocriticalHumour: During series three, episode three. He comes back to 221B and realizes that Mycroft is inside because the door knocker is straight, and says that he's OCD and straightens it without even realizing it. He then makes it crooked. Watson asks why he did that, and Sherlock's response is a genuine "Did what?"
* IconicOutfit:
** The deerstalker gets this treatment in-universe, to his exasperation, since he specifically grabbed it so he wouldn't be recognized.
--->'''Sherlock:''' Why is it always the hat photograph?
** Not to mention his popped-collared BadassLongcoat and ScarfOfAsskicking, which are iconic in-universe and out--to the point that when Lestrade asks him not to be as... Sherlock... as he usually is, he just un-pops his collar.
* InferioritySuperiorityComplex:
** Despite his apparent disdain for "normal people", Sherlock constantly feels the need to prove his brilliance to others.
--->'''Sherlock:''' That's the frailty of genius, John. It needs an audience.
** Goads Lestrade into admitting that Scotland Yard ''needs'' his detective skills.
** Explains every step of his deductions to John to prove they weren't a "trick".
** Plays the Cabbie's suicidal BattleOfWits just to prove how clever he is.
** Screws with Sebastian in "The Blind Banker" after Sebastian remarks that Sherlock's fellow students at university hated him.
** Is rather surprised to hear John call his deductions "extraordinary."
--->'''Sherlock:''' That's not what people normally say.\\
'''John:''' What do people normally say?\\
'''Sherlock:''' "Piss off!"
** May stem from his childhood with Mycroft, in which Mycroft's brilliance led them both to believe that Mycroft was "the smart one" and Sherlock was stupid, until they tried making "friends" with normal people.
* InSeriesNickname:
** Called "Hatman" by the press, due to wearing a deerstalker to hide his face.
** "The Reichenbach Hero" for his most famous case to date.
** "Sir Boast-A-Lot", which Moriarty alludes to while telling a fairytale. According to Irene, he also calls him "the virgin".
** "Shag-A-Lot Holmes" by a paper [[spoiler:who got a falsified scoop from the woman Sherlock was temporarily engaged to.]]
* InsufferableGenius: He really can't help himself, not even after getting tossed out of a courtroom where he's the star witness and into a prison cell for showing off.
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: ZigZagged. It's hard to say what came first, Sherlock's incapacity of social interaction, or his aversion of it. Although Mycroft seems to have encouraged distance to others, his friendship with John proves that he is neither above nor averse to relationships with other people as long as it does not hinder his work.
* ItsAllAboutMe: It's entirely likely that Sherlock didn't know the earth revolves around the sun because he thinks that it actually revolves around him.
-->'''Mycroft''': (about Watson) He has gone on with his life.
-->'''Sherlock''': What life? I've been away.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: In Series 3 with John. By the time of [[spoiler:"Sign of Three" Sherlock is well aware that things will be different with him and John since John now has a wife and unborn child to care for, but this doesn't stop Sherlock from doing whatever he can to protect the couple and their happiness. This culminates in him even willing to go off and die to protect John.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** Though he's undoubtedly an InsufferableGenius who starts out as more of a {{Jerkass}}, after he meets [[MoralityPet John]], he begins to [[DefrostingIceQueen warm up to the people in his life]]. By the later series, he makes sincere efforts to be nicer to others.
** In "A Study in Pink", Sherlock mistakes John's slightly awkward questions to determine his sexuality as John coming onto him. He is remarkably gentle and polite in trying to let John down easy. Keep in mind that this is the ''first'' episode of the whole series, where Sherlock's HiddenHeartOfGold was ''very'' hidden, and he still strayed well and frequently into {{Jerkass}} territory.
** While Sherlock seemed to realize that Molly had some kind of fondness/infatuation with him, he didn't seem to realize the depth of her feelings until he accidentally insulted her in "A Scandal in Belgravia". Since discovering these feelings, though he occasionally lapses back into being rude to her (as he does with everyone), he's done ''many'' [[PetTheDog sweet things for her]], including apologizing for his rude behavior, kissing her on the cheek on two different occasions, inviting her to be his assistant in case-solving for a day, and saying numerous nice things to her. ("You do count. You've always counted and I've always trusted you." "The one person he thought didn't matter to me was the one who mattered most. I couldn't have done it without you." "I hope you'll be very happy, Molly Hooper. You deserve it.")
** He was harsher towards Irene (who, to be fair, did [[spoiler:manipulate him, trick him into foiling an important government scheme, and have a couple of KickTheDog moments]]), and John believes that Sherlock "despised her in the end". Despite all this, he did [[spoiler:confirm that her feelings for him were real...and then he rescued her from her would-be executioners]].
** [[spoiler:Fakes his own death]] to protect Watson, Mrs. Hudson and Lestrade in "The Reichenbach Fall". Note that he does this by [[spoiler:''jumping off of a building'', likely using the same deductions he used to throw the CIA operative repeatedly out a window with non-lethal results on a larger scale. But he still fakes his death to save those he cares about by jumping off of a building, which still has the somewhat expected results of just nearly killing him instead.]]
** Acknowledges this himself in his best man speech at John's wedding, calling himself an "arsehole" but saying that John makes him better. As "The Last Vow" shows, he'll [[spoiler:get himself exiled on a suicide mission for his sake]].
* KaleidoscopeEyes: Creator/BenedictCumberbatch's glass eyes can appear icy blue, grey or slightly green depending on how a scene is lit. This is especially noticeable during his phone call with Mycroft in The Sign of Three, as he paces through several different lighting angles.
* KnightTemplarBigBrother: [[spoiler:When it comes to John and Mary's happiness. Unbeknownst to either of them, after deducing that one of her former boyfriends invited to the wedding was still madly in love with her, he took matters into his own hands. He confronted him with the evidence, announced that he'll be downgraded to casual acquaintance and only allowed three visits per year (with John's supervision) and that he will be monitoring him ''closely'']]. To say nothing of ''His Last Vow'', in which he [[spoiler:murders a man in cold blood so that John's wife will be safe.]]
* LackOfEmpathy: Subverted ONLY when it comes to his friends.
* LargeHam: Check out his flouncing and pouting during "The Great Game". Made better by the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch is fairly good at subtlety, as actors go.
* LimitedWardrobe: Black suit, grey coat, dark shirt, blue scarf, black leather shoes. And now, [[http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/style/articles/2010-08/04/gq-style-news-sherlock-holmes-bbc-get-the-look-clothes-watch a word from the fashion coordinator]]. Though it does expand to include the "[[MemeticMutation purple shirt of sex]]".
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple: Given that many people they know or meet assume John and Sherlock to be a couple and when Mrs. Hudson walks in on them arguing asking if they had “a little domestic,” I feel this fits.
* LoveIsAWeakness: Constantly espouses this, believing things like sentiment and emotional attachment cloud the intellect (and, in his words, a "dangerous disadvantage"). While there have been instances where he has demonstrated his point (particularly when it came to Janine where he [[spoiler:seduced her by faking a romantic relationship in order to gain access to her workplace: Charles Magnussen's office]]), he has proven he is still capable of having attachments.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:M-R]]
* MadScientist: He keeps a human head in the refrigerator and human eyeballs in the microwave, both of which are being used in "experiments". Enough said.
* {{Manchild}}:
** Especially when he's bored or irritated.
--->'''Sherlock:''' This is childish!\\
'''Lestrade:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Well, I'm dealing with a child. ]]
** Admits it during a conversation with a boy in John's wedding.
--->'''Sherlock:''' Grown-ups like that sort of thing.\\
'''Archie:''' Why?\\
'''Sherlock:''' I don't know. I'll ask one.
** Also from John's wedding:
--->[[spoiler:'''Sherlock:''' You'll be great parents. You've had lots of practice with me.]]
** In ''His Last Vow'', after John has [[spoiler:found him in a drug den.]]
-->'''Sherlock:''' I'm undercover!\\
'''John:''' No, you're not!\\
'''Sherlock:''' '''WELL I'M NOT''' '''''NOW!'''''
** [[spoiler:When Mary shoots him, he temporally regresses into a child inside his mind palace, when looking for a way to maximize his survival chances.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: He's a very good actor, he can cry on cue and he knows what parts he needs to play in order to get someone to do what he wants.
** He is rather shamelessly exploiting Molly's crush on him in "The Blind Banker" to prove a point to Lestrade's replacement for the the visible dots are used to intimidate the hostages.
** Tricks victim's distraught family members into giving him information, lies his way into locked apartments, and so on.
** A particularly egregious example is on his return in the third series. In the Underground below parliament he leads John to believe that [[spoiler:he can't stop the bomb, he hasn't called the police, and they will surely die]] He begs for forgiveness, complete with quavering voice and tears. And having received John's forgiveness as he reconciles himself to their deaths Sherlock [[spoiler:laughs and turns it into a DidYouActuallyBelieve moment.]].
** Another brutal example comes from "His Last Vow," when he [[spoiler:seduces and becomes engaged to Janine in order to get access to her employer, Magnussen.]]
** And again in "The Lying Detective" (note title). He desperately wants to see John, but John refuses to even see him [[spoiler: after Mary's death]]. So Sherlock wallows in drugs and lets his behavior get so out of control that poor Mrs. Hudson is terrified, and drags him off to see John begging for his help (Sherlock had already worked out the location of John's psychiatrist and the schedule for his appointments). Even when he's piteously desperate for forgiveness, Sherlock finds manipulating people much easier than simply approaching them.
* MarriedToTheJob: Celibacy aside, this is the reason he gives for why dating (or human social interaction in general) isn't "his area". You can count the number of people close to him in any sense on one hand.
* MirrorCharacter: Even ''Mycroft'' wonders if Sherlock's really that different from Moriarty; both near-peerless geniuses, insensitive as hell, and would rather be dead than bored. It's been suggested the key difference is that Sherlock is just a touch ''smarter'' -- being a detective is more challenging than being a criminal mastermind, especially as Moriarty can outsmart most anyone he confronts; Sherlock's insistence on challenging criminals [[SuperheroParadox draws strife and conflict right to him]]. Also, whereas Sherlock is exasperated by people in general, he doesn't draw any personal pleasure from others' pain; Moriarty is genuinely sadistic.
* MotorMouth:
** Whenever he goes into a SherlockScan. It's entirely possible that Cumberbatch doesn't need to breathe; for example, just listen to his explanation of John's phone or much of "Hounds of Baskerville". And whenever [[HeadTurningBeauty Irene]] [[TheTease Adler]] is around he somehow manages to go ''even faster''.
** In one interview, Gatiss comments on the extreme length of the deduction in Baskerville; apparently, on Cumberbatch's script he actually wrote "Sorry, Benedict" next to it.
* MustHaveNicotine:
** It's impossible to sustain a smoking habit in London nowadays, so Sherlock confines himself to patches. It just might end up being "a three-patch problem".
** Goes absolutely ''haywire'' in "Hounds of Baskerville" when he's detoxing, turning the entire flat upside down and outright ''begging'' John to give him a cigarette.
** Noted in "The Sign of Three" where a patch can be seen under his shirt.
** Not even hiding the fact that he's smoking [[spoiler:and doing other drugs]] as of "His Last Vow."
** After [[spoiler:Mary's death]] in "The Six Thatchers", [[spoiler:he's completely fallen off the wagon due to his shock and guilt from what happened and basically spends the entirety of "The Lying Detective" high on drugs. It gets to a point where ''Wiggins'', of all people, thinks he's going too far.]]
* TheNavigator: Has all the streets of London memorized and can predict a cab's likely path and come up with an intercept course in a matter of seconds.
* NightmareFetishist: He appraises things from a purely intellectual level -- not an emotional one -- and that can lead into this trope. Grotesque crimes are "interesting", "ingenious", or "elegant".
-->'''Sherlock:''' Four serial suicides and then a note! Oh, it's [like] Christmas!
* NobleDemon: Freely admits--in fact, [[InsistentTerminology insists]] -- that he's a "high-functioning sociopath".
* TheNoseKnows: Among other things Sherlock is able to detect that two different people are wearing the same deodorant or the same character wearing two different deodorants.
* NoSocialSkills:
** Insults his friends, gets on trains covered in pig's blood and holding a harpoon, and visits Buckingham Palace practically naked.
** It wasn't until "The Sign Of Three" that he realized that John actually thought of him as his best friend. And John had to ''tell him''.
* NotSoStoic:
** Whenever John is genuinely threatened or in danger. Stick him in a bonfire, strap a bunch of bombs to him or point a gun at the good doctor's head, and Sherlock's cool mask will evaporate in two seconds flat.
** Also two moments in "The Great Game": When the elderly blind woman begins to talk about the soft voice of the person who kidnapped her, Sherlock frantically warns her against it, knowing that the kidnapper will likely detonate the bomb he has strapped to her as punishment, which he does. Later on, when attempting to solve the riddle of how the painting was faked before the kidnapper blows up a child, he's clearly freaking out. Despite his supposed interest in puzzles over people, the prospect of these two lives being lost deeply disturbs him.
** When Mrs. Hudson is taken hostage, he rescues her, has Watson take her downstairs... and then proceeds to beat the crap out of her attacker and toss him out the window. Repeatedly.
** Is visibly shaken after his "encounter" with the titular creature of ''The Hounds of Baskerville", and even admits his fear to John.
* ObliviousToLove: Sherlock is mostly oblivious to Molly's crush on him, to the extent that he's convinced that she's dressed up for the Christmas party and has carefully wrapped a present because she must be off to see a new boyfriend. [[spoiler: At the same party, he finally learns the truth, directly after humiliating her, causing a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment.]]
* OddFriendship: On the face of it, Sherlock and John have absolutely nothing in common. However, their shared AllergicToRoutine tendencies end up making them rather inseparable.
* OminousAdversarialAmusement: In an interesting twist, he displays this, despite being the hero. In "The Reichenbach Fall" it seems like Moriarty has blocked all Sherlock's exits and left him with no choice but to kill himself in order to save his friends. Sherlock, seemingly in despair, asks for a moment, Moriarty walks away... and then hears Sherlock laughing. Laughing because he has just seen another way out.
* OneHeadTaller: [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/one_head_taller_crop_6549.jpg Sherlock and John]]. In "A Scandal in Belgravia", Sherlock lampshades this when someone remarks he looks taller in his photographs. He responds that he simply makes good use of "a good coat and a short friend". John seems unimpressed -- as if he's only just realised he's 5'7". Or like the thought had suddenly struck him that Sherlock only asked him to hang around in the first place because he would make him look tall and imposing by comparison.
* OneManArmy: [[spoiler:At the end of "A Scandal in Belgravia", he wipes out an entire terrorist cell ''single-handedly'', armed only with a [[CoolSword scimitar]].]] [[spoiler:"The Empty Hearse" reveals that after faking his death, he spent 2 years travelling the world to burn Moriarty's entire syndicate to the ground.]]
* PartTimeHero: Sherlock is known to "shutdown" and isolate himself from everyone if he's not his normal self.
* PetTheDog: His apology to Molly for verbally tearing her apart on Christmas, complete with a sincere kiss on the cheek.
-->'''Sherlock:''' Merry Christmas, Molly Hooper.
* PhoneInDetective: Well, Skype-In Detective, anyway. After achieving internet fame via John's blog, Sherlock decides he isn't leaving the flat for "anything less than a seven". John is left to do all the legwork, so that Sherlock can solve crimes that happened in rural locations without even having to put clothes on.
* PrayerPose: Sherlock uses this pose frequently, but as a sign of concentration while he's thinking, rather than any form of actual prayer or supplication. The books often describe Sherlock as sitting with his hands steepled below his chin.
* ProtagonistTitle: The show is simply called "Sherlock".
* TheProudElite: He's a tall, aloof, stylishly dressed InsufferableGenius who can be pretty offputting in how he relates to others, but there are people he [[MoralityPet genuinely cares for]].
%%* RedOniBlueOni:
%%** The blue to John's red.
%%** But the red to Mycroft's blue.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:S-Y]]
* SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining: Sherlock's brilliant deductive reasoning comes at the expense of common knowledge and ability to interact socially.
* ScarfOfAsskicking: Sherlock wears a blue scarf.
* SherlockScan: Naturally! John first endears himself to Sherlock by being audibly impressed at Sherlock's "trick".
-->'''John:''' ''Fantastic.''\\
'''Sherlock:''' ''[momentarily distracted]'' Do you know you do that out loud?\\
'''John:''' Sorry, I'll shut up.\\
'''Sherlock:''' [[NotSoAboveItAll No, it's... fine.]]
* ShootTheDog: The inevitable result of revealing to a high-functioning sociopath that [[spoiler:killing you is the only way to save his best friend's marriage (and his brother's ability to remain unbiased).]]
* SlasherSmile: Sports an ''[[http://24.media.tumblr.com/f9093afa4b038a0865e30d53502fa56f/tumblr_myywznQahC1spujl4o2_250.gif epic]]'' one when he's dealing with David in "The Sign of Three".
-->'''David:''' They're right about you. You're a bloody psychopath!\\
'''Sherlock:''' High-functioning sociopath. With your number. ''[grins]''
* SociopathicHero: Played with regularly. Sherlock has all the classic signs of a fictional sociopath: a general lack of empathy; self centred behavior; total disregard for laws; regular use of fake charm, lies and manipulation to achieve his goals; he even goes so far as to call himself one. Ultimately subverted however, since when push comes to shove [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Sherlock really does care about his friends.]] It's suggested that Sherlock has tried to mold his mind into sociopathic thought patterns in order to function better as a detective.
-->'''Sherlock:''' I'm not a psychopath, Anderson, [[InsistentTerminology I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research.]]
** In ''His Last Vow,'' this is averted in an IronicEcho:
--->'''Magnussen:''' No chance for you to be a hero this time, Mr. Holmes.\\
'''Sherlock:''' Oh, do your research. I'm not a hero, I'm a high-functioning sociopath. ''Merry Christmas!''
* TheSpock: John even calls him "Spock" in "The Hounds of Baskerville".
* StickyFingers: John's laptop, Lestrade's warrant card, an ashtray from Buckingham Palace, and ''Mycroft's'' clearance ID.
* TheStoic: Shows little emotion most of the time, especially compared to those around him at crime scenes or during an investigation.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Ice towards almost everyone, but sugar towards his friends, especially later in the series.
* SympatheticMurderer: Who cares if he [[spoiler:executed Magnussen]] in cold blood. He is Sherlock.
* TallDarkAndHandsome: Since he's played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Molly noticed.
* TallDarkAndSnarky: Compared to his GentlemanSnarker brother Mycroft.
* ThatOneCase: Moriarty. [[spoiler:His "return" from the grave freaks out Sherlock so much that in "The Abominable Bride" he OD's on cocaine and conjures up an alternate him in Victorian London in his mind palace just to cope and figure out how the hell Moriarty could've done it. He eventually concludes that Moriarty is truly dead and that he doesn't need to be afraid of a dead man any longer. [[ThanatosGambit Too bad he's wrong]].]]
* TooCleverByHalf:
** His need to be challenged gets the better of him sometimes and he ends up doing things any normal person would back the hell away from.
** This attitude also hampers his detective work, since his aversion to boredom means he prefers complex theories to how crimes are committed instead or more mundane ones, [[spoiler:and he's always caught off guard when the solution is ordinary.]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: In Series 2, [[spoiler:which comes back to bite him in the finale.]]
* TookALevelInKindness: Over the course of the series undergoes this due to John's influence. He's already become a little bit nicer from the beginning to the end of Series 1, and has changed ''a lot'' by the end of Series 2. By Series 3, he's a ''very'' different person; [[spoiler:spending two years alone on the run, separated from his friends (with half of them thinking he's dead) must have made him appreciate them all the more]]. He also becomes nicer to his clients, taking a case of a little girl's missing rabbit and showing some sympathy for the traumatized Henry in "Hounds", and sympathizing with a woman whose stepfather is manipulating her in "Empty Hearse".
* TranquilFury: You'll never realize he's angry until after he's beaten the crap out of you. [[spoiler:Or shooting you.]]
* {{Troll}}: Even when he's not bored out of his mind he can occasionally be an ass to get a rise out of people.
** Tells John in the first episode that he pickpocketed Lestrade's police badge just because Lestrade annoyed him, and further says he's done this many times and has several such badges in his flat.
** Fools John [[spoiler:into thinking that they're both about to die since he can't disarm the bomb ''and'' he hasn't called the police]] just to watch him freak out and finally come clean with his true feelings.
** On a similar level is him [[spoiler:using John to test a fear-inducing gas]].
* TrueCompanions: Sherlock with John naturally. Perhaps also throw Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson in the mix.
* UndiscriminatingAddict: In "The Lying Detective", it is revealed that when Sherlock Holmes needs to get really high right now he has no preferences, he will just take whatever he can get his hands on (when he's just casually using, he stick to nicotine patches). His brother Mycroft, knowing this fact and having no way to stop him, only asks Sherlock to keep a list of what he takes in case he ever needs medical assistance.
* UndyingLoyalty: To the Watsons. In particular John.
* TheUnfettered: Accused of being a psychopath by most of Scotland Yard. Also has no problem ignoring 90% of the laws if it'll help him solve a case or help a friend. [[spoiler:In order to protect John and Mary in "His Last Vow" he '''murders''' Magnussen in front of John, Mycroft, and three armed policemen.]]
* UnkemptBeauty: As Shezza, his underground drug addict persona.
* TheUnSmile: Invoked to scare the hell out of David. To the audience it's equally hilarious and unsettling.
* WhatTheHellHero:
** Gets called out a lot when he says or does cruel things to people around him, mostly by John. In fact he delivers one to ''himself'' in [[spoiler:his best man speech at John's wedding]], pointing out the sheer number of flaws and personality quirks that make him a ''terrible'' person and friend, but which John's patience has helped him to better overcome.
** He has one of these himself when Mycroft rudely tells Mrs. Hudson to "shut up".
--->'''Mycroft:''' Oh, ''shut up'', Mrs. Hudson!\\
'''Sherlock:''' ''Mycroft!''\\
'''Mycroft:''' ''[pauses]'' Apologies.
* WhoNamesTheirKidDude: Averted. [[spoiler:Sherlock is his middle name. His first name is William.]]
* YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry: He gets very irritable when he's high off drugs, best not to piss him off.
[[/folder]]
----

** In the books, he's also described as having a high-pitched voice, while Cumberbatch possesses the BadassBaritone mentioned below.

* BadassBaritone: Benedict Cumberbatch's deep voice suits the character perfectly.

* TheAce: Like his Victorian literary counterpart, Sherlock has numerous skills, including deduction, chemistry, music and combat, with a highly regarded intellect, many of his skills contributing to his skills as a consulting detective. Unfortunately, he also has anti-social tendencies which stem from a low opinion of other people, a flaw he works to overcome over the corse of the series.

* AmbiguousDisorder:
** Sherlock's behavior alternates from episode to episode between classic UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome (difficulty understanding others' emotions, abnormally intense interests, idiosyncratic language) and classic sociopathy (disinhibition, lack of empathy, manipulation of others). John puts forth the former as a diagnosis, Sherlock insists it's the latter. [[http://io9.com/5933869/stop-calling-sherlock-a-sociopath-thanks-a-psychologist He may or may not be right]]. There's a moral dimension to which way one interprets the ambiguity, as an autistic individual is more likely to be able to ''learn'' acceptable social interaction than a sociopath.
--->'''Lestrade:''' I suppose he likes having the same faces back together. It appeals to his... his...\\
'''John:''' ''[snarkily]'' Asperger's?
** The sociopathic tendencies predominate in "A Study in Pink" (taking inappropriate pleasure in horrific but novel crimes), "The Great Game" (pursuing his goals without concern for the impact they will have on others), and "The Hounds of Baskerville" (shamelessly manipulating everyone around him, including John).
** Sherlock behaves more autistically in "A Scandal in Belgravia" (when he seems genuinely confused by Irene's complex feelings for him) and "The Sign of Three" (when he can't understand ''why'' everyone has started crying in the middle of his best man speech).

** Sherlock behaves more like an autistic in "A Scandal in Belgravia" (when he seems genuinely confused by Irene's complex feelings for him) and "The Sign of Three" (when he can't understand ''why'' everyone has started crying in the middle of his best man speech).

** Called "[[NiceHat Hatman]]" by the press, due to wearing a deerstalker to hide his face.

* NiceHat:
** Sherlock's stolen security guard hat.
** The deerstalker in "A Scandal in Belgravia", which also doubles as a MythologyGag.
** Steals and wears a Royal Guardsman's bearskin in "The Sign of Three".

* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:His sister Euros was a CreepyChild who tormented her brother under the assumption he was enjoying it (how bad it was isn't elaborated on, but it got to the point young Sherlock would ''violently scream'' if he spent too much time with her). Then, she killed his BestFriend Victor by drowning him in a well and tormented Sherlock by making him solve the "riddle" of what happened to him, which most likely attibutes to Sherlock's obsession with solving puzzling cases. Then their family home was burnt down and they were forced to move away. Sherlock was so traumatized that he completely locked the memories away and created his own story of what happened.]]

* GladHesOnOurSide: His sociopathy, his despising being bored, and his being NotSoDifferent from Moriarty are frequently brought up, as well as how awful of a prospect it would be if he stopped helping the police and ended up committing crimes for thrills himself.

* NotSoDifferent: Even ''Mycroft'' wonders if Sherlock's really that different from Moriarty; both near-peerless geniuses, insensitive as hell, and would rather be dead than bored. It's been suggested the key difference is that Sherlock is just a touch ''smarter'' -- being a detective is more challenging than being a criminal mastermind, especially as Moriarty can outsmart most anyone he confronts; Sherlock's insistence on challenging criminals [[SuperheroParadox draws strife and conflict right to him]]. Also, whereas Sherlock is exasperated by people in general, he doesn't draw any personal pleasure from others' pain; Moriarty is genuinely sadistic.

* SociopathicHero: Played with regularly. Sherlock has all the classic signs of a fictional sociopath: a general lack of empathy; self centered behavior; total disregard for laws; regular use of fake charm, lies and manipulation to achieve his goals; he even goes so far as to call himself one. Ultimately subverted however, since when push comes to shove [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Sherlock really does care about his friends.]] It's suggested that Sherlock has tried to mold his mind into sociopathic thought patterns in order to function better as a detective.

* {{Adorkable}}: When John arrives at 221B while Sherlock's parents are there, Sherlock's attempts to get them out and his attempt at casualness afterwards are hilariously awkward. Taken up to Eleven in "The Sign of Three", both as John's best man, and the de facto wedding planner.

* IconicOutfit: His coat, he makes a point asking for it in "The Empty Hearse". His blue scarves count as well.

* TheProudElite: he's a tall, aloof, stylishly dressed InsufferableGenius who can be pretty offputting in how he relates to others, but there are people he [[MoralityPet genuinely cares for]].

* CatchPhrase:

** In The Final Problem, [[spoiler:Eurus deducts that Sherlock has had sex, although he neither denies or affirms it. Since her deductions are even better than Sherlock, it can be assumed by season 4, Sherlock has finally had a sexual experience and is no longer a virgin (according to Sherlock Holmes Wikipedia, Sherlock was born in 1983, so he was 35 when he lost his virginity.) And since she deducts it while Sherlock is playing Irene's theme, it was most likely with Irene Adler, who he is (presumably) later seen texting and may or may not be in a relationship with.]]

'''Sherlock:''' [[SincerityMode I don’t know. I’ll ask one.]]

* TheAce: Like his Victorian literary counterpart, Sherlock has numerous skills, including deduction, chemistry, music and combat, with a highly regarded intellect. Unfortunately, he also has anti-social tendencies which stem from a low opinion of other people, a flaw he works to overcome over the corse of the series.

* TheAce: Sherlock has numerous skills, including deduction, chemistry, music and combat, with a highly regarded intellect. Unfortunately, he also has anti-social tendencies which stem from a low opinion of other people, a flaw he works to overcome over the corse of the series.

* TheSociopath: Played with regularly. Sherlock has all the classic signs of a fictional sociopath: a general lack of empathy; self centered behavior; total disregard for laws; regular use of fake charm, lies and manipulation to achieve his goals; he even goes so far as to call himself one. Ultimately subverted however, since when push comes to shove [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Sherlock really does care about his friends.]] It's suggested that Sherlock has tried to mold his mind into sociopathic thought patterns in order to function better as a detective.

-->'''Creator/StevenMoffat:''' It's the choice of a monk, not the choice of an asexual. If he was asexual, there would be no tension in that, no fun in that -- it's someone who abstains who's interesting. There's no guarantee that he'll stay that way in the end -- maybe he marries Mrs Hudson. I don't know! [[http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/jan/20/steven-moffat-sherlock-doctor-who (The Guardian, Jan 20th, 2012)]]

* CloudCuckoolander: Owing to his not always paying attention to the world. In spite of his intelligence, he doesn't know who the Prime Minister is and even forgets that England has a queen instead of a king -- something he used to know.

* CluelessChickMagnet: Molly Hooper, Irene Adler, Kitty Reilly and Janine all seem to think so.
** Although, in a blog post, John says that Sherlock recognized the sign of attraction in a woman because, per Sherlock, he's so used to seeing them directed towards him.

-->'''Sherlock:''' ''[annoyed]'' [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend Out of]] [[ThinkUnsexyThoughts my head]], I am ''busy''...

* EveryoneHasStandards: Even Sherlock seems disgusted at the man who admits to murdering his girlfriend in Belarus, taking obvious pleasure in the fact he will likely get a death sentence.

* FatalFlaw: His obsessive curiosity and constant need to not be bored leads him to irrational or cruel behavior that damages his relationships with his friends and sometimes even leads him to put his own life in danger.

-->'''Sherlock:''' Why is it always the hat photograph?

-->'''Sherlock:''' That's the frailty of genius, John. It needs an audience.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy:
** In Series 3 with John. By the time of [[spoiler:"Sign of Three" Sherlock is well aware that things will be different with him and John since John now has a wife and unborn child to care for, but this doesn't stop Sherlock from doing whatever he can to protect the couple and their happiness. This culminates in him even willing to go off and die to protect John.]]

* LimitedWardrobe: Black suit, grey coat, dark shirt, blue scarf, black leather shoes. And now, [[http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/style/articles/2010-08/04/gq-style-news-sherlock-holmes-bbc-get-the-look-clothes-watch a word from the fashion coordinator]].
** Though it does expand to include the "[[MemeticMutation purple shirt of sex]]".

-->[[spoiler:'''Sherlock:''' You'll be great parents. You've had lots of practice with me.]]

-->'''Sherlock:''' I'm undercover!
-->'''John:''' No, you're not!
-->'''Sherlock:''' '''WELL I'M NOT''' '''''NOW!'''''

* WhatTheHellHero: Gets called out a lot when he says or does cruel things to people around him, mostly by John. In fact he delivers one to ''himself'' in [[spoiler:his best man speech at John's wedding]], pointing out the sheer number of flaws and personality quirks that make him a ''terrible'' person and friend, but which John's patience has helped him to better overcome.

* AmbiguouslyGay:

--->'''Sherlock:''' Don't make people into heroes, John. Heroes don't exist, and if they did, I wouldn't be one of them.

--->'''Sherlock:''' I may be on the side of the angels, but don't think for one ''second'' that I am one of them.

--->'''Sherlock:''' Oh, do your research! I'm not a hero, I'm a high-functioning sociopath. Merry Christmas! [[spoiler:''[shoots Magnussen]'']]