Pop culture references to Sherlock Holmes
Encyclopedia
Many writers make references to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...

's famous literary creation, the detective Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...

, and these often become embedded within popular culture. While Holmes exists predominately in the context of Victorian-era London, he has been mentioned in such outre contexts as the 22nd century or hunting aliens or supernatural enemies. In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, publication of which began in 1999. The series spans two six-issue limited series and a graphic novel from the America's Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm/DC, and a third miniseries...

 comic book series it is revealed the alternate universe British Empire is falling apart without his skills, leaving only his brother Mycroft and the league to carry on his work. The versions of Holmes usually wear the deer-stalker hat shown only a few in the original Strand
Strand Magazine
The Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional stories and factual articles founded by George Newnes. It was first published in the United Kingdom from January 1891 to March 1950 running to 711 issues, though the first issue was on sale well before Christmas 1890.Its immediate...

 pictures, as opposed to the far more common top hat, and frequently they say 'Elementary my dear ' to another character.

Books

One of the first attempts was made in response to the 'Great Hiatus' (when Arthur Conan-Doyle decided not to write any more stories, to the dismay of his fans). Stepping into the breach, in 1897, John Kendrick Bangs
John Kendrick Bangs
John Kendrick Bangs was an American author, editor and satirist.-Biography:He was born in Yonkers, New York. His father was a lawyer in New York City....

 wrote Pursuit of the House-Boat
Pursuit of the House-Boat
Pursuit of the House-Boat is an 1897 novel by John Kendrick Bangs, and the second one to feature his Associated Shades take on the afterlife.-Plot summary:...

(a sequel to his A House-Boat on the Styx
A House-Boat on the Styx
A House-Boat on the Styx is a book written by John Kendrick Bangs and published in 1895.-Plot summary:The premise of the book is that everyone who has ever died has gone to Styx, the river that circles the underworld.The book begins with Charon, ferryman of the Styx being...

), in which a deceased-gentlemen's-club house-boat is stolen, whereupon Holmes arrives to help his fellow-deceased track down the boat by chartering a ship from Hades to London. Bangs' version of Holmes then comments to himself:

"For now," he said, with a chuckle, "I can get back to earth again free of cost on my own hook, whether my eminent inventor wants me there or not. I never approved of his killing me off as he did at the very height of my popularity."

However in 1894 Conan Doyle decided to return to writing, bringing Holmes back from the dead by claiming he had faked his death in The Empty House. While Bangs' attempt was reverential, Maurice Leblanc decided to write the short story "Sherlock Holmes arrive trop tard" ("Sherlock Holmes Arrives Too Late"). In it, Holmes meets the young thief Lupin for a brief time, unaware that he is, in fact, Lupin. After legal objections from Conan Doyle, the name was changed to "Herlock Sholmès" when the story was collected in bookform in Volume 1. Holmes returned in two more stories collected in Volume 2, "Arsène Lupin contre Herlock Sholmès", having opened the floodgates to less flattering versions of Holmes as we shall see. One of the more recent parodies in print is "The Lord Mike Saga", where 'Mycroft Miles' (née Mills) is the Holmes figure, with the titles reflecting the styles: "A Study in Varlets", "The Strange Case of the Moth-Eater of Clapham Common", "Happy Times and Places" and "A Cameo Broached". Miles refuses to talk of Holmes, referring to him only as 'the other chap'.

Frequent speculation as the 'real' Holmes has existed since publication, and Mark Frost
Mark Frost
Mark Frost is an American novelist, television/film writer, director, who is best known as a writer for the TV show Hill Street Blues and co-creator of the show Twin Peaks.-Personal life:...

's novels The List of Seven
The List of Seven
The List of Seven is a 1993 novel by Mark Frost. Though initially an occult murder mystery, the story brings in conspiracy theory, vendetta, horror, history, and Theosophy...

and its sequel The Six Messiahs
The Six Messiahs
The Six Messiahs is a 1995 novel by Mark Frost, a sequel to The List of Seven. The two main characters are real-life person Arthur Conan Doyle and fictional character Jack Sparks.-Summary:...

are merely the latest to put a spin on this. He has Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as its main character and tells the (fictional) story of how Doyle's Holmes was inspired by Johnathon Sparks, a mysterious man who saves Doyle's life from a mad occultist. The Wold Newton family
Wold Newton family
The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the science fiction writer Philip José Farmer...

 series connects multiple famous fictional characters together to a mail coach that passed a radioactive asteroid in the eighteenth century - Holmes is a descendant of one of the travelers in that coach

TV

Television was invented later than Conan Doyle's original writing, but the strength of Holmes has ensured that he has been referenced, or appeared in on TV in new forms. Naturally the original books have also been dramatised, notably the Granada Television adaptation.

Cartoons were quick to pick up on the potential, so Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...

 appear in both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an American animated television series produced by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson. The pilot was shown during the week of December 28, 1987 in syndication as a five part miniseries and began its official run on October 1, 1988...

, in the 1987 episode "Elementary, My Dear Turtle" and in the The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters
The Real Ghostbusters is an American animated television series based on the 1984 film Ghostbusters. The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television, DiC Enterprises, and Coca-Cola Telecommunications. "The Real" was added to the title after a dispute with...

episode entitled "Elementary, My Dear Winston", in which Holmes, Watson, and Moriarty are literally brought to life by a strong belief held in them by the world's population. Though not ghosts, they do not have physical bodies. The timing of both this episode and the above Ninja Turtles example may have been a factor in the brand war in which the two series were engaged, and alludes to the cultural power of Holmes as a character.

Even CSI
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...

got in the act, with a story entitled "Who Shot Sherlock?", where the crime scene investigators solve the murder case of a man who plays Holmes in a re-enactment club devoted to the character. Such references are not so overt however, and the medical drama House makes much of the fact that the protagonist, a brilliant doctor solving medical mysteries of his patients, has a drug addiction, a man named Moriarty shoots House in the second season, the name Adler appears frequently through the series, has a similar name to Holmes and that he lives at apartment 221B.

On Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Batman: The Brave and the Bold
Batman: The Brave and the Bold is an American animated television series based in part on the DC Comics series The Brave and the Bold which features two or more super heroes coming together to solve a crime or foil a super villain...

episode, "Trials of the Demon!" Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson appeared to meet Batman that Sherlock finished Jason Blood's magic spell that brought Batman to 19th century after the mob put Jason Blood a.k.a. Etrigan on the blame of "missing souls" of the women. After the rescue of Jason Blood, Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Batman and Etrigan hunt for Gentleman Ghost
Gentleman Ghost
Gentleman Ghost is a fictional character, a supervillain published by DC Comics publications. He first appeared in Flash Comics #88 , and was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert.-Fictional character biography:...

 who was responsibility for missing souls. At first, Dr. Watson suggests that maybe James Moriarty is responsible.

In the Prison Break (season 4)
Prison Break (season 4)
The fourth and final season of the serial drama television series Prison Break commenced airing in the United States on September 1, 2008. It consists of 24 episodes , 16 of which aired from September to December 2008...

episode entitled, Eagles & Angels (Prison Break)
Eagles & Angels (Prison Break)
"Eagles & Angels" is the 61st episode of the American television series Prison Break and was broadcast on September 15, 2008 in the United States on the Fox Network.-Plot:...

, Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell pretends to be Cole Pfeiffer, a top salesman for a corporation called GATE. He is assigned a corner office
Corner office
A corner office is an office that is located in the corner of a building. Corner offices are considered desirable because they have windows on two exterior walls, as opposed to a typical office with only one window or none at all...

with the room numbered 122B. The numbers 122 are the reverse of 221, a sly reference by the episode's screenwriters to T-Bag's Holmesian powers of reasoning and deduction, yet whose powers have been twisted and corrupted toward evil ends. Ultimately, T-Bag is a cleverly created anti-Sherlock Holmes, a stock character
Stock character
A Stock character is a fictional character based on a common literary or social stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes,...

whose personality is shaped (in certain key facets) to be the polar opposite of Holmes. Indeed, T-Bag is a modern-day descendant not of Holmes, but of Holmes archnemesis Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...

.

Cinema

Some of the earliest films use Holmes as a character, notably the early films of William Gillette, the American actor who played Holmes in various plays, and an early 'talkie' was produced in 1929 called The Return of Sherlock Holmes. During the Second World War American producers linked Holmes with the Allied war effort, defeating Nazi villains and Moriarty who sells his skills to the Germans, e.g. Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942). Later films would blur the lines between canon and non-canon however. In the sci-fi film Time After Time
Time After Time (1979 film)
Time After Time is a 1979 American fantasy film written and directed by Nicholas Meyer. His screenplay is based largely on a novel by Karl Alexander and a story by Steve Hayes. It concerns British author H. G...

, H.G. Wells uses a time machine to go to 1979 America; he tries to use Sherlock Holmes as a false name, thinking that the literary character would be forgotten by then. From 1984 to 1985, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

's Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Tokyo Movie Shinsha
, formerly known as , is a Japanese animation studio, founded on October 1946. One of the oldest and most prominent anime studios in Japan, it has also produced numerous animated series airing in other countries such as France, the United States, and Italy. The company currently uses "TMS...

 and the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 TV station RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...

 released 26 episodes of Sherlock Hound
Sherlock Hound
is an anime television series based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series where almost all the characters are depicted as anthropomorphic dogs. The show featured regular appearances of Jules Verne-steampunk style technology, adding a 19th-century science-fiction atmosphere to the series...

, a show featuring anthropomorphic dogs in various roles in the Sherlock Holmes world. On July 2, 1986, Walt Disney Pictures released The Great Mouse Detective
The Great Mouse Detective
The Great Mouse Detective is a 1986 animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, originally released to movie theaters on July 2, 1986 by Walt Disney Pictures...

. where the character of Holmes is borrowed by a ... mouse. The name "Basil" is no mere coincidence: the actor Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...

 was one of the first to portray Holmes on film. Continuing the print tradition of good natured irreverence the 1988 comedy Without a Clue
Without a Clue
Without a Clue is a 1988 British comedy film directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley and Lysette Anthony.-Plot:...

presents the premise that Holmes was a fictional creation of John Watson's, who was the true deductive genius. Once the character becomes popular, Watson is forced to hire an out-of-work actor to play Holmes.

Other media

  • "Searchin'", a song recorded in 1957 by the R&B group the Coasters
    The Coasters
    The Coasters are an American rhythm and blues/rock and roll vocal group that had a string of hits in the late 1950s. Beginning with "Searchin'" and "Young Blood", their most memorable songs were written by the songwriting and producing team of Leiber and Stoller...

    , makes reference to Holmes and other fictional detectives.

  • In the anime Shaman King
    Shaman King
    is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiroyuki Takei. Shaman King follows the adventures of Yoh Asakura as he attempts to hone his shaman skills to become the Shaman King in the Shaman tournament....

    , the Character Lyserg Diethel's design is heavily influenced by Sherlock Holmes. In his debut, he is seen reading a book titled The Adventures of Warlock Holmes, a spoofed name of the book. He is also seen in his regular attire wearing a Sherlock Holmes Green-Plaid cape and desires to become the world's greatest detective. His father Liem Diethel is also seen to have the same look.

  • In the Dark Horse Comics
    Dark Horse Comics
    Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...

     two-issue mini series Predator: Nemesis, Sherlock Holmes is mentioned by his older brother, Mycroft Holmes
    Mycroft Holmes
    Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. He is the elder brother of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.- Profile :...

     in a cameo appearance. The Diogenes Club also makes an appearance, a fictional investigative agency that is a fixture in the Sherlock Holmes mythos. It is hinted at that the Diogenes Club and, (most likely) that Sherlock Holmes himself is aware of the existence of the Predator race
    Predator (alien)
    The Predator is a fictional extraterrestrial species featured in the Predator science-fiction franchise, characterised by its trophy hunting of other dangerous species for sport, including humans and its fictional counterparts, Aliens....

    , as Mycroft says "Besides, who else in the Empire has more experience of such creatures as the gallant Captain Soames?" Also, as the Predator's butchery is mistaken in the papers as Jack the Ripper
    Jack the Ripper
    "Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...

    's work, Mycroft states that "[the Ripper returning to his old haunts] is pure journalistic fancy", hinting that the Diogenes Club had dealt with the Ripper but did not elaborate on his identity.

  • Sherlock Holmes was spoofed in the Lozenge and Hampshire
    Lozenge and Hampshire
    Lozenge and Hampshire is a browser-based adventure game series for all ages.The game series was created by James Evans and is hosted at the site http://thrib.comyr.com/lozenge/ .-Series Description:...

     online adventure game series by James Evans.

  • In the Italian comic book
    Italian comics
    Italian comics are comics made in Italy. They are locally known as fumetto – plural form fumetti – although this latter term is often used in English to describe a specific comic genre . The most popular Italian comics have been translated into many languages...

     Martin Mystère
    Martin Mystère
    Martin Mystère is an Italian comic book. Created by writer Alfredo Castelli and drawn by Giancarlo Alessandrini, it was first published in Italy by Sergio Bonelli Editore in 1982....

    and spin-off series Storie di Altrove/Stories from Elsewhere Holmes is a historical character. In late 1880s he worked on the case of Jack the Ripper
    Jack the Ripper
    "Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...

     and met professor Richard Van Helsing
    Abraham Van Helsing
    Professor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.Van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a...

    , a vampire
    Vampire
    Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...

     who destroyed Count Dracula
    Count Dracula
    Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...

    . Along with professor Challenger
    Professor Challenger
    George Edward Challenger, better known as Professor Challenger, is a fictional character in a series of science fiction stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...

    , Holmes visited a secret valley of dinosaur
    Dinosaur
    Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

    s in South America
    South America
    South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

     in 1896. The same year he worked with the American Secret Service "Elsewhere" to stop paranormal threats from another dimension. In 1910 he discovered a life extension
    Life extension
    Life extension science, also known as anti-aging medicine, experimental gerontology, and biomedical gerontology, is the study of slowing down or reversing the processes of aging to extend both the maximum and average lifespan...

     serum. At the beginning of World War I
    World War I
    World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

     he had a final confrontation with professor Moriarty
    Professor Moriarty
    Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...

    . After the war, he moved to Ukraine, giving Arthur Conan Doyle
    Arthur Conan Doyle
    Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...

     the task to convince everyone that he was just an imaginary character. With the help of his serum, Holmes prolonged his life for several decades. In 1990s he indirectly helped Martin Mystère to capture a villain who found a formula of his serum.

Characters modelled on Holmes

  • The long running Japanese manga
    Manga
    Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

     and anime
    Anime
    is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

     Detective Conan (released as Case Closed in English due to copyright issues) was also heavily influenced by Sherlock Holmes, with the main character himself taking after Holmes and giving himself a nickname based on Sir Arthur's middle name. In the movie The Phantom of Baker Street Conan goes into a virtual Victorian London a computer simulated Holmes and Watson don't appear due to working on another case (Hound of the Baskervilles) but Moriarty and Irene Adler do.

  • The main character in House M.D.
    House (TV series)
    House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

    , Gregory House
    Gregory House
    Gregory House, M.D., or simply referred to as House, is a fictional antihero and title character of the American television series House, played by Hugh Laurie. He is the Chief of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where he leads a team of diagnosticians...

    , is based on Sherlock Holmes, particularly with regard to drug use and his desire (and capacity) to solve the unsolvable. House uses Holmesian deductive techniques to diagnose his patients' problems. References to the sleuth range from the obvious (House's apartment number being 221B) to the subtle (his friendship with Dr. James Wilson
    James Wilson (House)
    James Evan Wilson, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. He is played by Robert Sean Leonard. The character first appears in the show's pilot episode when he introduces a medical case to Dr. Gregory House, the protagonist of the show. Wilson is Dr. House's only true friend,...

     and the similarities between the names House and Holmes, and Wilson and Watson). In the very first (pilot
    Pilot (House)
    "Pilot", also known as "Everybody Lies", is the first episode of the U.S. television series House. The episode premiered on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. It introduces the character of Dr. Gregory House —a maverick antisocial doctor—and his team of diagnosticians at the fictional...

    ) episode the patient's last name is Adler, and in the last episode of season two, a character named Moriarty appears and nearly kills House.

  • The characters and basic structure of the television series Monk
    Monk (TV series)
    Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...

    were inspired by the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. Adrian Monk
    Adrian Monk
    Adrian Monk is a fictional character portrayed by Tony Shalhoub and the protagonist of the USA Network television series Monk. He is a renowned former homicide detective for the San Francisco Police Department...

    's name is intended to be unusual like the name Sherlock Holmes. Other characters correspond to Holmes equivalents: Sharona Fleming
    Sharona Fleming
    Sharona Fleming is a fictional character in the award-winning series Monk. Sharona is a divorced practical nurse from New Jersey and a single mother with a young son named Benjy. She was played by Bitty Schram. Schram was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.-Biography:Sharona's...

     and Natalie Teeger
    Natalie Teeger
    Natalie J. Teeger is a fictional character on the American crime drama Monk. She becomes Adrian Monk's personal assistant midway through the third season of the show...

     are the equivalents of Dr. Watson; SFPD
    San Francisco Police Department
    The San Francisco Police Department, also known as the SFPD and San Francisco Department Of Police, is the police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California...

     Captain Leland Stottlemeyer
    Leland Stottlemeyer
    Captain Leland Francis Stottlemeyer is a fictional police officer played by Ted Levine on the American crime drama Monk. He is Captain of the San Francisco Police Department 's Homicide Detail, and a longtime friend of Adrian Monk from their days on the force together where he served as Monk's...

     is the equivalent of Scotland Yard's Inspector Lestrade
    Inspector Lestrade
    Inspector G. Lestrade is a fictional character, a Scotland Yard detective appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle used the name of a friend from his days at the University of Edinburgh, a Saint Lucian medical student by the name of Joseph Alexandre Lestrade....

    ; and Adrian's brother Ambrose Monk corresponds with Sherlock's brother, Mycroft Holmes
    Mycroft Holmes
    Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. He is the elder brother of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes.- Profile :...

    . It was even revealed in one episode that Adrian's detective skills were brought about from when his father read him Sherlock Holmes stories every night before bed when he was little. He was apparently able to solve the crime early on in the story.

  • The comic book character Batman
    Batman
    Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...

     was partially inspired by Sherlock Holmes. Over time the characters of the Batman family
    Batman Family
    The Batman Family was a DC Comics comic book series which ran from 1975 to 1978, primarily featuring stories starring supporting characters in the Batman comics...

     have started to assimilate certain characteristics of Doyle's characters. Batman resembles Holmes himself, making use of his wide knowledge of peculiar things in order to solve cases, as seen most prominently in Detective Comics
    Detective Comics
    Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...

    . Also like Holmes Batman has an immense knowledge in different hand to hand combat
    Hand to hand combat
    Hand-to-hand combat is a lethal or nonlethal physical confrontation between two or more persons at very short range that does not involve the use of firearms or other distance weapons...

     techniques that range from boxing to Asian martial arts. Alfred Pennyworth
    Alfred Pennyworth
    Alfred Pennyworth is a fictional character that appears throughout the DC Comics franchise. The character first appears in Batman #16 , and was created by writer Bob Kane and artist Jerry Robinson. Alfred serves as Batman’s tireless butler, assistant, confidant, and surrogate father figure...

     was retconned and now is a former British Army Medic who serves as Batman's confidant
    Confidant
    The confidant is a character in a story that the lead character confides in and trusts. Typically, these consist of the best friend, relative, doctor or boss.- Role :...

     in moments of doubt and in head-scratching cases, and in Superman/Batman
    Superman/Batman
    Superman/Batman was a monthly comic book series published by DC Comics that features the publisher's two most popular characters: Batman and Superman...

    it is revealed that he writes about Batman and his cases. Alfred also often shows concern for Batman's health. The character thus parallels Dr. Watson in many ways. Dick Grayson
    Dick Grayson
    Dick Grayson is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger and illustrator Jerry Robinson, he first appeared in Detective Comics #38 in April 1940....

    , the former Robin, was first conceived as Batman's "Watson" as then Batman writer and co-creator of Robin, Jerry Robinson, thought Batman "needed someone to talk to". The current Robin Tim Drake
    Tim Drake
    Timothy "Tim" Drake is a superhero who appears in comic books published by DC Comics and in related media. The character was created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick. From 1989 to 2009, he was known as Robin in the Batman comics, becoming the third character to take up the identity...

     was introduced as an amateur detective who emulates Batman's methods and wants to learn from him. In this Tim resembles Inspector Stanley Hopkins. However, Batman is his own character, and most of these similarities have come naturally rather than forced. Indeed the similarities between Batman and Holmes could be compared to the similarities between C. Auguste Dupin and Holmes.


General references

  • Adventure, mystery, and romance : formula stories as art and popular culture by John G Cawelti. Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 1976. ISBN 0-226-09866-4

  • Clap if you believe in Sherlock Holmes. Mass Culture and the re-enchantment of modernity c. 1890–c. 1940. Michael Saler, The Historical Journal (2003), 46: 599-622 abstract.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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