Characters in the World of Sherlock Holmes

Irene Adler – While Sherlock Holmes didn’t have any real romances, Irene Adler was able to earn his lasting respect.

To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.  – Dr. Watson in A Scandal in Bohemia 

The Baker Street Irregulars are street children that Holmes hires to help him with his cases.

“There’s more work to be got out of one of those little beggars than out of a dozen of the force,” Holmes remarked.  “The mere sight of an official-looking person seals men’s  lips. These youngsters, however, go everywhere and hear everything. They are as sharp as needles, too; all they want is organization.” – A Study in Scarlet 

Mycroft Holmes is the older brother of Sherlock Holmes.

Mycroft Holmes was a much larger and stouter man than Sherlock. His body was absolutely corpulent, but is face, though massive, had preserved something of the sharpness of expression which was so remarkable in that of his brother. His eyes, which were of a peculiarly light, watery gray, seemed to always retain that far-away, introspective look which I had only observed in Sherlock’s when he was exerting his full powers. – Dr. Watson in The Greek Interpreter

Sherlock Holmes is quite possibly the greatest detective of all time, known for his deductive powers.

While Sherlock’s birthday is never mentioned, his fans celebrate the event on January 6th.

“The only unofficial consulting detective,” he answered. “I am the last and highest court of appeal in detection.” – Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of The Four 

His very person and appearance were such as to strike the attention of the most casual observer. In height he was rather over six feet, and so excessively lean that he seemed to be considerably taller. His eyes were sharp and piercing, save during those intervals of torpor to which I have alluded; and his thin, hawk-like nose gave his whole expression an air of alertness and decision. His chin, too, had the prominence and squareness which mark the man of determination. His hands were invariably blotted with ink and stained with chemicals, yet he was possessed of extraordinary delicacy of touch, as I frequently had occasion to observe when I watched him manipulating his fragile philosophical instruments. – Dr. Watson in A Study in Scarlet 

Mrs. Hudson is the landlady of Sherlock Holmes.

Mrs. Hudson, the landlady of Sherlock Holmes, was a long-suffering woman. Not only was her first-floor flat invaded at all hours by throngs of singular and often undesirable characters but her remarkable lodger showed an eccentricity and irregularity in his life which must have sorely tried her patience. His incredible untidiness, his addiction to music at strange hours, his occasional revolver practice within doors, his weird and often malodorous scientific experiments, and the atmosphere of violence and danger which hung around him made him the very worst tenant in London.  – Dr. Watson in The Adventure of the Dying Detective 

Inspector G. Lestrade of Scotland Yard is an inspector featured in many Sherlock Holmes adventures.

A lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognizing Lestrade, of Scotland Yard.  – The Boscombe Valley Mystery

Professor Moriarty is the arch-enemy of Sherlock Holmes

“He is the Napoleon of crime, Watson. He is the organizer of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city. He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order. He sits motionless, like a spider in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them.” – Sherlock Holmes in The Final Problem

“He is extremely tall and thin, his forehead domes out in a white curve, and his two eyes are deeply sunken in this head. He is clean-shaven, pale, and ascetic-looking, retaining something of the professor in his features. His shoulders are rounded from much study, and his face protrudes forward, and is forever slowly oscillating from side to side in a curiously reptilian fashion.” – The Final Problem

Dr. John H. Watson is the friend and companion of Sherlock Holmes.  He narrates all of Sherlock’s adventures.

I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air — or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be. Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained.- Dr. Watson in A Study in Scarlet