History YMMV / SherlockHolmes

** One of the signs that Dr. Grimesby Roylott in ''The Adventure of the Speckled Band'' is wicked is that...he's friendly with the local Roma, lets them live on his land and spends time in their camps. Helen Stoner and Holmes also immediately suspect them of being involved in Julia's death, on very paltry evidence, and Holmes only dismisses the thought when he learns there would have been no way for them to get into the house.

** One of the signs that Dr. Grimesby Roylott in ''The Adventure of the Speckled Band'' is wicked is that...he's friendly with the local Roma, and lets them live on his land.

** Holmes' stated lack of interest in women: is he gay, asexual, or simply straight but very repressed?

CompleteMonster: See [[Monster/SherlockHolmes here]].

* TearJerker: Employing Holmes on a case can’t always give happy endings. Sometimes, what he uncovers is tragedy that cannot be repaired.
** “The Cardboard Box”’s case may be the most tragic one in the bunch: a husband and wife’s marriage is wrecked by a jealous sister who tried to force herself on the husband and was rejected. The husband kills his wife and her lover, but is so broken with guilt over what happened that he confesses all and welcomes execution. Holmes at the end of the case somberly ponders the existence of life, and whether there can be any salvation for the pitiful.
** “The Five Orange Pips” has Holmes’ client John Openshaw get murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. The police didn’t take the threats to his life seriously, and when he visits Holmes (which Holmes says he should have done before) he is advised to be careful, a warning that comes too late to save him. Holmes is briefly devastated at the death he couldn’t prevent in time.
** “The Adventure of the Dancing Men” has Holmes LateToTheTragedy. He deciphers the titular code, but is too late to prevent the death of poor Hilton Cubit and his wife's AttemptedSuicide.
** “The Veiled Lodger” is less a mystery than a tragedy; of a young artiste married to an abusive husband, whose murder plot to free herself succeeded, but at the cost of her face. She was so maimed that she spent the rest of her life alone, and even had thoughts of suicide before her meeting with Holmes.
** “The Speckled Band” tells the tale of Helen Stoner, trapped by an abusive stepfather looking to gain her inheritance through murderous intent and has already slain her sister.
*** Furthermore, this case opens with Watson narrating that the case can be disclosed because Stoner has died. She was free from peril, but led a short life. Who knows if she never really got over the incident?
** “The Missing Three-Quarter” kicked off because a rich rugby player’s secret wife (they were married secretly because he’d have otherwise lost his inheritance) became fatally ill. Holmes tracks down the player to find him in tears at his wife’s deathbed.
** “The Three Garridebs” ends with Nathan Garrideb, who was deceived into thinking his unusual name would entitle him to a fortune, going mad on the reveal of the scam, and spending the rest of his life in a nursing home.
** In "The Devil's Foot" it turns out that Dr. Sterndale was in love with Brenda Tregennis (one of the initial murder victims) for years, and vice versa, but they couldn't marry because Sterndale was unable to divorce his current wife. When he learns that Brenda not only died in agony along with her brothers being driven insane, but the murderer used a poison stolen from him, he tracks him down and kills him using the same poison...but is left devastated at Brenda's death and with nothing left now except his work in Africa. Holmes and Watson are moved and let him depart.

** Watson's portrayal varies a great deal between adaptations. Apart from the fact that they portray him on a sliding scale of both competence and assertiveness, his original characterization can be interpreted in many different ways due to the fact that while Watson's narration often uses descriptors and adjectives and explanations to colour the readers' view of Holmes or of events where Watson is more of a passive observer, he usually simply reports his own actions with very little elaboration or descriptive flair, simply letting the actions stand on their own. Therefore, the exact flavour of his behaviour is in many scenes a mystery -- see his very short, prosaic descriptions of actions that could easily have been highly charged if he had phrased them differently, like responding to a villain's casual warning that he's armed by seizing a chair in order to beat him up, or dashing up to blow out an attacking dog's brains at close range without hesitation. People can (and have) characterized Watson's demeanour as anything from a quiet observer on the sidelines simply taking note of Holmes's actions, to an impulsive and hotheaded semi-bodyguard who enthusiastically sticks his nose into everything while taking stock.

* TearJerker: Employing Holmes on a case can’t always give happy endings. Sometimes what he uncovers is tragedy that cannot be repaired.

** “The Veiled Lodger” is less a mystery than a tragedy of a young artiste married to an abusive husband, whose murder plot to free herself succeeded but at the cost of her face. She was so maimed that she spent the rest of her life alone, and even had thoughts of suicide before her meeting with Holmes.

** Watson spent ''decades'' being imagined as a clumsy, boorish, dimwitted oaf. In reality, ''Doctor'' Watson was consistently depicted as quite intelligent in the original stories (he wasn't as smart as Sherlock, [[OvershadowedByAwesome but that's hardly a knock against him]]). After all, idiots generally don't become Army surgeons. He certainly wasn't physically incompetent either. "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" mentions that he used to play rugby union for Blackheath F.C., which is hardly something you'd expect from a wimpy klutz. While we're on the subject, Watson wasn't fat; in t he first story his friend remark that Watson, just back from the war, is "thin as a lathe and brown as a nut!" and the later stories consistently describe him as "[[HeroicBuild strongly-built]]". In fact, he was probably better-looking than Holmes. These misconceptions were probably the result of film adaptations making Watson [[AdaptationalDumbass dumber]], [[AdaptationalWimp less competent]] and [[AdaptationalUgliness less attractive]]. This is, however, starting to change, thanks to multiple recent adaptations that were TruerToTheText in regards to Watson.

** Watson spent ''decades'' being imagined as a clumsy, boorish, dimwitted oaf. In reality, ''Doctor'' Watson was consistently depicted as quite intelligent in the original stories (he wasn't as smart as Sherlock, [[OvershadowedByAwesome but that's hardly a knock against him]]). After all, idiots generally don't become Army surgeons. He certainly wasn't physically incompetent either. "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire" mentions that he used to play rugby union for Blackheath F.C., which is hardly something you'd expect from a wimpy klutz. While we're on the subject, Watson wasn't fat, and the stories consistently describe him as "[[HeroicBuild strongly-built]]". In fact, he was probably better-looking than Holmes. These misconceptions were probably the result of film adaptations making Watson [[AdaptationalDumbass dumber]], [[AdaptationalWimp less competent]] and [[AdaptationalUgliness less attractive]]. This is, however, starting to change, thanks to multiple recent adaptations that were TruerToTheText in regards to Watson.

** The culprit in ''The Adventure of the Three Students'' vows to lead a moral life, forfeits his position at the college, and joins a police force overseas. This is hailed by all concerned as his great hope for turning over a new leaf. The police force he enlists with? ''Rhodesia's'', which would be heavily complicit in the exploitation and brutalization of the native population for generations to come.

* FairForItsDay: Although Doyle often reflected the prejudices of his day (Wikipedia specifically contrasts it with the cowardly and brutish Steve Dixie in "The Adventure of the Three Gables"), he nevertheless occasionally displayed surprisingly liberal values, as in "The Adventure of the Yellow Face", in which [[spoiler:a husband immediately and without reservation accepts and loves his wife's mixed-race child from a previous relationship]].

* FairForItsDay: Although Doyle often reflected the prejudices of his day, he nevertheless occasionally displayed surprisingly liberal values, as in "The Adventure of the Yellow Face", in which [[spoiler:a husband immediately and without reservation accepts and loves his wife's mixed-race child from a previous relationship]].

* ValuesDissonance: Sir Arthur's depiction of the Mormons as a ReligionOfEvil in ''A Study in Scarlet'' was completely uncontroversial at the time, whereas his portrayal of the KKK as a murderous secret society in "The Five Orange Pips" was not. [[AcceptableTargets Nowadays, it's the opposite.]]

** In a recent twist, the urge to dismantle the CommonKnowledge about Sherlock Holmes has led to the creation of an entirely new piece of CommonKnowledge - the portrayal of SherlockHolmes as a mentally disturbed emotionally crippled loner, solely devoted to the solving of puzzles - the portrayal seen in the Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Junior and Hugh Laurie adaptation portrayals. This is, however, an exaggeration of the books where Holmes is seen as being solitary, subject to occasional dark moods and occasionally tactless but is in fact warm hearted and sympathetic (even in the first adventure he takes his time to listen and understand Watson's horror over the murders) who absolutely hates any sort of cruelty or evil and fights tooth and nail for all of his clients.

* NightmareRetardant: Adaptations of ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles'' often struggle to depict the titular hound and this was no exception. Here it's a Great Dane coated with phosphorescent material.

** [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade Colonel Dietrich]] is the King of Bohemia.
** [[Film/LethalWeapon Arjen Rudd]] is Edward Rucastle. Here, he doesn't resort to diplomatic immunity.

* FandomRivalry: ''Series/{{Elementary}}'' vs. ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' aside, you would see fans butting heads on each other regarding which actor played Sherlock Holmes the best. Usually, it would be Creator/BasilRathbone fans vs. Vasily Livanov fans vs. Creator/JeremyBrett fans. Then, toss in Creator/BenedictCumberbatch fans, Creator/JonnyLeeMiller fans and Creator/HenryCavill fans and it's an all-out war. The only thing that most fans agree on is that none of them like Creator/RobertDowneyJr's portrayal and only prefer him to his more iconic role as [[Comicbook/IronMan Tony Stark]] rather than Holmes.

** Watson's portrayal varies a great deal between adaptations. Apart from the fact that they portray him on a sliding scale of both competence and assertiveness, his original characterization can be interpreted in many different ways due to the fact that while Watson's narration often uses descriptors and adjectives and explanations to color the readers' view of Holmes or of events where Watson is more of a passive observer, he usually simply reports his own actions with very little elaboration or descriptive flair, simply letting the actions stand on their own. Therefore, the exact flavor of his behavior is in many scenes a mystery -- see his very short, prosaic descriptions of actions that could easily have been highly charged if he had phrased them differently, like responding to a villain's casual warning that he's armed by seizing a chair in order to beat him up, or dashing up to blow out an attacking dog's brains at close range without hesitation. People can (and have) characterized Watson's demeanor as anything from a quiet observer on the sidelines simply taking note of Holmes's actions, to an impulsive and hotheaded semi-bodyguard who enthusiastically sticks his nose into everything while taking stock.

** Most people "know" that Holmes's [[{{archenemy}} greatest nemesis]] is Professor Moriarty. If you've never read the original stories, it's natural to assume that Moriarty turns up often, either being faced directly or [[TheChessmaster chessmastering]] the scenarios Holmes finds himself in. In fact, he is featured in exactly two stories, and the first story in which he appeared was also the one in which he died. A full-length novel, ''The Valley of Fear'', was set prior to ''The Final Problem'' and is Moriarty's only other appearance. While Holmes does describe him as "the Napoleon of crime" and it's implied that he's at least as brilliant as Holmes is, at no point do any of the characters describe him as Holmes's greatest nemesis. In fairness, though, "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder" does heavily imply that he was behind many more crimes that Holmes never found out about, fueling much speculation.

* MagnificentBastard: "The Six Napoleons": [[WildCard Beppo Cicollini]] is an Italian craftsman and low-level criminal connected to TheMafia. When the Venucci family endeavored to steal the Black Pearl of the Borgias from the Colonna royal family, Beppo acted as a go-between for the family and the patriarch's daughter Lucrezia, who was a maid for the Princess of Colonna and whom Beppo had been courting. Obtaining enough information to steal the Pearl, Beppo covers his tracks well enough that Holmes himself is unable to find him. Fleeing into his workplace after a fight with Lucrezia's brother Pietro, Beppo [[HastilyHiddenMacGuffin hides the Pearl among a batch of six busts]] of Napoleon Bonaparte before being arrested. Released from prison a year later, Beppo sets out to recover the pearl. [[TheCharmer Charming his way]] into employment with seller Morse Hudson with the help of a cousin, Beppo systematically locates each bust and breaks them to find the pearl, taking careful measures to avoid being discovered. Killing Pietro when the latter accosted him outside one of the burglaries, Beppo [[NearVillainVictory nearly found the Pearl again]] before being arrested and executed for his crimes.

* NightmareRetardent: Adaptations of ''Literature/TheHoundOfTheBaskervilles'' often struggle to depict the titular hound and this was no exception. Here it's a Great Dane coated with phosphorescent material.

* FairForItsDay: Although Doyle often reflected the prejudices of his day, he nevertheless occasionally displayed ridiculously liberal values, as in "The Adventure of the Yellow Face", in which [[spoiler:a husband immediately and without reservation accepts and loves his wife's mixed-race child from a previous relationship]].

** ''The Disappearance of Lady Frances [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carfax_%28company%29 Carfax]]''.

* HarsherInHindsight: "The Dying Detective" takes on a whole new significance when you know that Creator/JeremyBrett died the year after it was filmed. (Also of note: The A&E Biography of Sherlock Holmes - featuring David Burke - aired the same day Brett died.)

* PeripheryDemographic: Both the producers and the star, Jeremy Brett, were surprised to learn that their TV series was very popular with kids, who seemed to see the lead character as a SuperHero. As such, Brett got permission from the granddaughter of Arthur Conan Doyle to have Holmes beat his cocaine addiction and bury his needle [[note]]Holmes actually did eventually give up drugs in the original canon, as was mentioned in an adventure that was never adapted to the screen (Missing Three-Quarter)[[/note]].

** [[Series/TheYoungOnes Neil]] as Inspector Hopkins.

** Poor Aggie in "The Master Blackmailer" fell in love with Holmes's false identity, and though she doesn't blow his cover, recognizes him when he shows up at Milverton's house as himself. Holmes is quite subdues and regretful at the end, as well, telling Watson he's not proud of some of the things he did for the case.

* DorkAge: Briefly, when the production team decided to retool the series from hour-long episodes to feature-length ones: "The Master Blackmailer", "The Last Vampyre" and "The Eligible Bachelor", the latter two bearing absolutely no resemblance to anything Conan Doyle ever wrote.

* SeasonalRot: Beginning with "The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes" the series began to decline, not helped by Jeremy Brett's ill-health. For the first few seasons, the production team had cherry-picked the best and most well-known stories to adapt, now they were left with average to mediocre ones. Special mention goes to "The Last Vampyre" and "The Eligible Bachelor" which were especially dreadful and bore little resemblance to anything Doyle wrote.