History Literature / AStudyInEmerald

** "[[spoiler: John]] (or perhaps [[spoiler: James]]) [[spoiler: Watson]]" is a reference to Arthur Conan Doyle's notorious inability to keep [[spoiler: Watson]]'s first name straight. Call it an incontinuity nod.
** Likewise, there's a similar nod to the text's disagreement about where on his body [[spoiler: Watson]] was injured in [[spoiler: Afghanistan]]. ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet'' placed it on his leg, later stories said his shoulder. In ''A Study In Emerald'' [[spoiler:Moran, i.e., the "fake" Watson, was wounded in his shoulder, while the real Watson was wounded in his leg.]]

** The [[spoiler: Sigerson]] alias was also used as such by [[spoiler: Holmes]] in the period between the events of "[[spoiler: Literature/TheFinalProblem]]" and "[[spoiler: Literature/TheAdventureOfTheEmptyHouse]]".

** This is also either a [[ContinuityNod Continuity Nod]] or [[MythologyGag Mythology Gag]], in that the line is originally used to describe Dr. Roylott in "Literature/TheAdventureOfTheSpeckledBand: "When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals."

* {{Expy}}: The Ancient Goat, Parent to a Thousand, of Lovecraft's Shub;Niggurath, MotherOfAThousandYoung

** [[DrJekyllAndMrHyde "Jekyll's Powders"]] will release the inner you.

* {{Expy}}: The Great One Parent to a Thousand, of Lovecraft's MotherOfAThousandYoung

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: All plays on the titles of Lovecraft characters. The Czar Unanswerable (The Unnameable), the Black One of Egypt (Nyarlathotep), Parent to a Thousand (Shub'Niggurath).

* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Queen Victoria. [[QueenVicky Not that one.]] She's called Victoria because [[EldritchAbomination she conquered Europe centuries ago]].

** [[spoiler: In Holmes' letter, he refers to the book "Dynamics of an Asteroid" which was a book written by Moriarty, mentioned in "The Valley of Fear."

''A Study in Emerald'' is a HugoAward-winning short story by Creator/NeilGaiman, essentially an IntercontinuityCrossover between ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' and the works of Creator/HPLovecraft. Written in the style of a classic Holmes pastiche, this story, roughly following the plot of the first Holmes novel ''A Study in Scarlet'', finds a brilliant consulting detective and [[TheWatson his new flatmate]] investigating the gruesome murder of a member of the royal family.

** The [[spoiler: Sigerson]] alias was also used as such by [[spoiler: Holmes]] in the period between the events of "[[spoiler: The Final Problem]]" and "[[spoiler: The Adventure of the Empty House]]".

** Likewise, there's a similar nod to the text's disagreement about where on his body [[spoiler: Watson]] was injured in [[spoiler: Afghanistan]]. ''Study in Scarlet'' placed it on his leg, later stories said his shoulder. In ''AStudyInEmerald'' [[spoiler:Moran, i.e., the "fake" Watson, was wounded in his shoulder, while the real Watson was wounded in his leg.]]

** This is also either a [[ContinuityNod Continuity Nod]] or [[MythologyGag Mythology Gag]], in that the line is originally used to describe Dr. Roylott in The Adventure of the Speckled Band: "When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals."

** The Sigerson alias was also used as such by Holmes in the period between the events of "The Final Problem" and "The Adventure of the Empty House".
** "John (or perhaps James) Watson" is a reference to Arthur Conan Doyle's notorious inability to keep Watson's first name straight. Call it an incontinuity nod.
** Likewise, there's a similar nod to the text's disagreement about where on his body Watson was injured in Afghanistan. ''Study in Scarlet'' placed it on his leg, later stories said his shoulder. In ''AStudyInEmerald'' [[spoiler:Moran, i.e., the "fake" Watson, was wounded in his shoulder, while the real Watson was wounded in his leg.]]

* AntiHero: [[spoiler: Rache, the real Sherlock Holmes and killer of royalty,]] is a Type III.
** AntiVillain: Or, alternatively, he's a Type IV.

* SerialNumbersFiledOff (InUniverse): The play they see concerning the girl who sells violets is ''The Little Match Girl'' by Hans Christian Andersen with a few details changed.
** [[spoiler: Which makes perfect sense, seeing as the "hero" of the third play gained his status by beating a Christian priest to death with a crucifix. The Great Old Ones are not in the slightest friendly to the old religions.]]

''A Study in Emerald'' is a HugoAward-winning short story by NeilGaiman, essentially an IntercontinuityCrossover between ''SherlockHolmes'' and the works of Creator/HPLovecraft. Written in the style of a classic Holmes pastiche, this story, roughly following the plot of the first Holmes novel ''A Study in Scarlet'', finds a brilliant consulting detective and [[TheWatson his new flatmate]] investigating the gruesome murder of a member of the royal family.

* TwiceToldTale: The ending can be hard to follow unless you're relatively familiar with the SherlockHolmes canon. (The story doesn't require a similarly close knowledge of the Cthulhu mythos, but it doesn't hurt.)
* TheWatson: Well, it's a SherlockHolmes pastiche, after all.

** "Victor's Vitae", manufactured by [[{{Frankenstein}} Victor von F.]], promises to restore life to the dead... nether regions.

* MedicalMonarch: Queen Victoria is able to ease the narrator's constant pain from a wound he received from an EldritchAbomination in Afghanistan.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Czar Unanswerable, the Black One of Egypt, Parent to a Thousand.
* NobleTopEnforcer: Lestrade, the detective, narrator and Prince Albert all seem like decent people.

** [[spoiler: Which makes perfect sense, seeing as the "hero" of the third play gained his status by beating a christian priest to death with a crucifix. The Great Old Ones are not in the slightest friendly to the old religions.]]
* SherlockScan: Mostly played straight with the Great Detective, but subverted/parodied in the scene where he recognises that the murder victim is a member of the German royal family... by the number of his limbs and the green shade of his blood.

* ThatsWhatIWouldDo: The detective tells the narrator that he figured out how the murderers got away based on the fact that he would have done the same thing.

And also just because it's [[CrazyAwesome awesome.]]

* DidYouJustRomanceCthulu: Victoria is not the same same species as Prince Albert in this universe.
* EldritchAbomination: The Great Ones, naturally, inclding Queen Victoria, the Black One of Egypt, the Ancient Goat and the Czar Unanswerable.

* HumanoidAbomination: Prince Franz Drogo of Bohemia. Well, he's got a few extra limbs, but he looks far more human than his aunt Victoria.

* ObliviouslyEvil: The protagonists and Lestrade.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Royalty is the product of intercourse between humans and Old Ones, producing something with green blood and a large number of limbs.

* HalfHumanHybrid: The royal family is all some fraction EldritchAbomination.

''AStudyInEmerald'' is a HugoAward-winning short story by NeilGaiman, essentially an IntercontinuityCrossover between ''SherlockHolmes'' and the works of Creator/HPLovecraft. Written in the style of a classic Holmes pastiche, this story, roughly following the plot of the first Holmes novel ''A Study in Scarlet'', finds a brilliant consulting detective and [[TheWatson his new flatmate]] investigating the gruesome murder of a member of the royal family.