History Main / GreatDetective

Compare: HardboiledDetective and LittleOldLadyInvestigates. Will often be accompanied by TheWatson.

* NeroWolfe

* ''LightNovel/KamisamaNoMemochou'' gives us Alice, the GreatDetective for the NEET Detective Team.

* ''LightNovel/Kami-sama no Memo-chou'' gives us Alice, the GreatDetective for the NEET Detective Team.

* ''LightNovel/{{Kami-sama no Memo-chou}}'' gives us Alice, the GreatDetective for the NEET Detective Team.

* "LightNovel/{{Kami-sama no Memo-chou}}" gives us Alice, the GreatDetective for the NEET Detective Team.

* "{{Kamisama no Memouchou}}" gives us Alice, the GreatDetective for the NEET Detective Team.

* "{{KamisamanoMemouchou}}" gives us Alice, the GreatDetective for the NEET Detective Team.

* ''AgathaChristiesGreatDetectivesPoirotAndMarple'' is a recent (2004) anime teaming up HerculePoirot and MissMarple through the device of Marple's great-niece Mabel West. Aimed at older teens.

* The title character of the Literature/MediochreQSethSeries has 'being a Great Detective' as a ''superpower''.

* [[TheInspector Gregory Temple]] of JohnDevil by Creator/PaulFeval
* MonsieurLecoq created by EmileGaboriau who was a direct influence on SherlockHolmes
* SherlockHolmes, the TropeCodifier as far as modern audiences are concerned.
* ErastFandorin, the popular fictional Russian detective created by Boris Akunin. He is actually teamed with SherlockHolmes in one novella but [[spoiler:neither is able to "prevail" over the other]]. See TheOtherWiki for more information...
* ''Anyone'' in detective fiction from the time of Sherlock Holmes until the type was [[DeConstruction deconstructed]] in ''Trent's Last Case'' in 1913. Furthermore, in a genre-wide example of FountainOfExpies, such characters tended to be thinly veiled copies of Holmes.

* ''KamenRiderDouble'' is this in {{Toku}} form.

* {{Hellboy}} is described by many as "World's Greatest Paranormal Investigator."

* Erika Furudo from ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' is a parody of the archetype: a Great Detective with ten times the brainpower of ShelockHolmes and one-tenth the social graces of SherlockHolmes. So convinced is she that crimes will happen wherever she goes, that she actually begins her investigation into the murder before anybody has been murdered. In [=EP7=], however, Willard H. Wright is a truly great detective.

* Kyle Hyde from HotelDusk and its sequel LastWindow.

A staple of MysteryFiction and DetectiveFiction, the Great Detective relies on powers of deduction and educated thought to solve crimes. The Great Detective is usually an AmateurSleuth or a PrivateDetective (because PoliceAreUseless)[[note]]or maybe because the military-like discipline and strict bureaucracy of state police organizations restrict their means of action considerably[[/note]]. Some of these detectives will have an ArchEnemy that will be [[EvilCounterpart their equal, but in a different light.]]

In Japan, this type of character is called "Meitantei", and may combine the KidDetective with the GreatDetective.

* ''FabreSenseiWaMeitantei''

* Erika Furudo from ''UminekoNoNakuKoroNi'' is a subversion of this, since she's known to infuriate fans of the Golden Age due to how annoying she comes off as- [[ParodySue this is probably intentional]], and she's arguably a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the archetype. In [=EP7=], however, Willard H. Wright is a truly great detective.

[[folder: Real Life]]
* Speaking of Vidocq, there is a club aptly named [[http://www.vidocq.org/ The Vidocq Society]]. Made up of volunteers, they take on cold cases and many law enforcement agencies send them cases to review. Want to join? Well, you have to be an expert in some field of forensics to start off. Oh, and you have to be invited to join, pay $100 in member dues every year and attend at least one meeting yearly (meetings are every third Thursdays of the month, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).
[[/folder]]

* ''AgathaChristiesGreatDetectivesPoirotAndMarple'' is, of all things, a recent (2004) anime teaming up HerculePoirot and MissMarple through the device of Marple's great-niece Mabel West. Aimed at older teens.

* And thirdly, there's this faceless [[{{The Question}} guy]]. He's pretty much staight up ace detective and lacks the gadgets and powers of the two above. He's also been referred to as the world's second greatest detective.

* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', of course, being a modern update of SherlockHolmes.

** That's arguably a deconstruction, since Luke [[spoiler:explicitly states ''twice'' he felt himself so great he needed to deliberately create an adversary that could match him. But of course, he maybe was just an AttentionWhore.]]

** There's a reason the Miles Edgeworth game is called ''Ace Attorney Investigations'' when he's technically a prosecutor; all he does is detective about. He even has a [[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic1-030110.php special power]] that's basically making logical deductions by connecting known facts.

* The entire cast of ''GuiltyParty'', though the most classically GreatDetective-ish of them is their patriarch, The Commodore/Dorian Dickens.

[[folder: WesternAnimation]]
* At the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode ''[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesTheClockKing The Clock King]]'' this trope is [[spoiler: exploited]] when Batman meet the ClockKing for the first time, and in less than five hours Batman tracks the villain to a TimeBomb, to a RoomFullOfCrazy Clocks, to a BankRobbery in a bank with a time lock (This villain {{idiosyncrasy}} is time). [[spoiler: The ClockKing is DangerouslyGenreSavvy and left all those clues as {{RedHerring}}s because he wants to get Batman LuredIntoATrap]].
[[/folder]]

* ''[[SherlockHound Meitantei Holmes]]'', a FunnyAnimal adaptation of SherlockHolmes (called ''SherlockHound'' in the US), created by (of all people) HayaoMiyazaki.

* At the ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode ''[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesTheClockKing The Clock King]]'' this trope is [[spoiler: exploited]] when Batman meet the ClockKing for the first time, and in less than five hours Batman tracks the villain to a TimeBomb, to a RoomFullOfCrazy Clocks, to a BankRobbery in a bank with a time lock (This villain {{idiosyncrasy}} is time). [[spoiler: The ClockKing is DangerouslyGenreSavvy and left all those clues as {{RedHerring}}s because he wants to get Batman LuredIntoATrap]].

* Shin'ichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa, of ''DetectiveConan''. Also, Heiji Hattori who is on pair with him. Both are considered as the "Meitantei of East and West", respectively. "The Sleeping Kogoro Mouri" is ''believed'' to be one, but it's actually Conan who solves the cases. However, the filler character Heihachiro Shiota was known as the "Legendary Great Detective" and was Kogoro's teacher.
** "The Gathering of the Detectives" arc introduced five other Meitanteis besides Shin'ichi/Conan/Sleeping Kogoro. One of them is [[Manga/MagicKaito Kaito KID's]] rival Saguru Hakuba.
** Other detectives like Sera Masumi and Tooru Amuro, [[spoiler:who is actually the Black Organisation member Bourbon]], are introduced late in the manga, but they are not on the same level as Shin'ichi and Heiji. That underlines these two as the real Meitanteis of the series. The only character who is shown to be greater than Shin'ichi is his father Yusaku. However, Yusaku does not work as a detective, he's instead a writer.

* Detective Lunge in ''{{Anime/Monster}}'' seems heavily inspired by Holmes. Working on cases seems to be his entire life and he is shown repeatedly to be unable to stop, even using his forced vacation to continue the investigation.

* Shin'ichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa, of ''DetectiveConan''.

* Simon Archard from ''{{Ruse}}'', who is best described as "''totally'' not Sherlock Holmes, honest."

* There's this [[{{Batman}} guy]]. Yes, he is a top martial artist. Yes, he is a great chemist. But first, he's the world's greatest detective.

* FunnyAnimal + DetectiveAnimal + EverythingIsBetterWithMonkeys + This Trope = [[TheDCU Detective Chimp]]. He likes reminding people that {{Batman}} is merely the world's greatest ''human'' detective.

* Peter Wickham, aka The Sleuth, in the {{Steampunk}} {{Superhero}} novel ''The Falling Machine'' by Andrew P. Mayer, is SherlockHolmes crossed with [[{{Batman}} Bruce Wayne]] without the bat symbolism.

* The title character of the Literature/MediochreQSethSeries pretty-much has 'being a GreatDetective' as a ''superpower''.

* Series/{{Sherlock}}, of course, being a modern update of {{Sherlock Holmes}}.

* Adrian {{Monk}} is one despite also being a DefectiveDetective

A staple of MysteryFiction and DetectiveFiction, the Great Detective relies on powers of deduction and educated thought to solve crimes. The Great Detective is usually an AmateurSleuth or a PrivateDetective (because PoliceAreUseless)[[note]]or maybe because the military-like discipline and strict bureaucracy of state police organizations restrict their means of action considerably[[/note]]. Some of these detectives will have an ArchEnemy that will be [[EvilCounterpart their equal, but in a different light.

A staple of MysteryFiction and DetectiveFiction, the Great Detective relies on powers of deduction and educated thought to solve crimes. The Great Detective is usually an AmateurSleuth or a PrivateDetective (because PoliceAreUseless)[[note]]or maybe because the military-like discipline and strict bureaucracy of state police organizations restrict their means of action considerably[[/note]].

Some of these detectives will have {{ArchEnemy}} that will be their equal but a different light. Some are {{Diabolical Mastermind}}, while others are professional {{Master Thief}}.

In Japan, this type of character is called "Meitantei", and the detective may combine the KidDetective with the GreatDetective.