Dr. Watson (Character) - Comic Vine Dr. Watson The Dr. Watson wiki last edited by Rogo616 on 01/25/15 12:42PM View full history Origin Little is known about Watson's early life. He was born and raised in England , probably in or around London , and attended medical school at the University of London, graduating in 1878. Following his graduation he trained as a surgeon at Netley, eventually seeking employment with the British Army as a surgeon. He saw action during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. He was shot in the shoulder in Afghanistan during the Battle of Maiwand, and returned to London after suffering an illness. In London, he was introduced to Sherlock Holmes , with whom he became flatmates. He accompanied Holmes in the pursuit of one of his cases, and decided to publish Holmes' adventures after learning that Holmes was happy to allow the police to take credit for his brilliant work. Creation Watson was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle . He makes his first appearance in A Study in Scarlet. Major Story Arcs Sherlock Holmes Watson is the assistant and companion to Sherlock Holmes.

He accompanies Holmes on most of his cases, and offers assistance where he can, often in the form of medical expertise or back up. In most cases he is used as a sounding board, or left out of Holmes' deductions until the conclusion of the case, but occasionally he is instrumental in the conclusion. In almost all cases he later compiles the information into a short story narrating the events, which he has published. Powers and Abilities Watson is of above average intelligence, and a gifted doctor and skilled surgeon. He is a crack shot, and of fair physical strength; he is capable in unarmed fighting. Other Media Animation Sherlock Hound Watson appears in this anime as an anthropomorphic Scottish Terrier. He is voiced in Japanese by Kousei Tomita, and in English by Lewis Arquette. BraveStarr Watson appears in the episode "Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century Part 1". He is voiced by Peter Cullen. The Real Ghost Busters Along with Holmes and Professor Moriarty , Watson appears as a fictional character made manifest by belief in the episode "Elementary My Dear Winston". He is voiced by Frank Welker. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Watson appears in the episode "Elementary, My Dear Turtle".

He is voiced by Pat Fraley. Animaniacs Watson appears in the episode "Deduces Wild/Rest in Piece/U.N. Me". He is voiced by Jeff Bennett. Soul Eater Watson appears in two episodes in this anime series. He is voiced in Japanese by Tetsuo Goto, and in English by Chris Carson. Batman: The Brave and the Bold Watson appears in the episode "Trial of the Demon!". He is voiced by Jim Piddick. Film Watson appears in all or almost all film adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Notable recent appearances include the Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes films, where he is played by Jude Law. He has been played in other films by such actors as Nigel Bruce, James Mason, and Robert Duvall, among numerous others. Literature Sherlock Holmes Canon Watson was originally created for the Sherlock Holmes series of stories. He appears in 58 of the 60 stories in the canon, and is first person narrator of all stories less four. Sherlockiana Watson appears in most non-canonical Sherlock Holmes stories.

Notable appearances include Stephen King's "The Doctor's Case", Neil Gaiman's "A Study in Emerald", Nicholas Meyer's The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, Manly Wade Wellman's Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds, and Lyndsay Faye's Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr John H Watson. Television Watson appears in all or almost all television movies and television series based on Sherlock Holmes. Notable recent appearances include the modern adaptation Sherlock, in which he is played by Martin Freeman. He has elsewhere been played by such actors as Howard Marion-Crawford, Nigel Stock, and Donald Pickering, among numerous others. Radio There have been over 750 adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories to radio in English alone. Watson has been portrayed in these adaptations by such actors as Nigel Bruce, Ralph Richardson, Norman Shelley, Michael Williams and Chris Emmett. Video Games Watson appears in this game. He is played by Warren Green. Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Silver Earring Watson appears as Holmes' assistant. He is played by David Riley Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened Sherlockian.Net: The Case for the Real Dr.

Watson Sherlockian.Net: The Case for the Real Dr. Watson by Rod Starling (cardstar@ptd.net) The question as to the reality of Sherlock Holmes has remained unresolved for decades. However, if the reality of his biographer, Dr. Watson can be established, the reality of Sherlock Holmes may follow as a natural consequence. This paper will therefore set out the case for the reality of Dr. Watson. The stories of Sherlock Holmes, the world’s first consulting detective, come to us through the published writings of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sir Arthur was a physician who was also a prolific writer. His early works included short stories and historical novels, some of which were published before he ever wrote a Sherlock Holmes story. In order to develop what may have been the actual events that lead up to the publication of the Sherlock Holmes saga, it is necessary to note and consider the few salient points that follow. In the first place, it must be noted that the first Sherlock Holmes story was a full-length novel called A Study in Scarlet which was written in 1886 and published in 1887.

The book begins with a Part 1 that is stated as “ Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D., Late of the Indian Army Medical Department ”. Two things seem a little odd here. First, as will be shown later, referring to the book as a “Reprint” of something by John H. Watson, M.D. may have more significance than was originally realized by the initial reading public. Most of the early readers considered Sherlock Holmes a work of pure fiction but others considered him to be a real person right from the beginning. It will shortly be seen that there is something to be said in the stories themselves for both points of view. The second odd thing about A Study in Scarlet is that when Sir Arthur wrote it, he was only 26 years of age and yet both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson emerge as full blown characters and the stories were recounted with a certain maturity of style and content that one would consider to be quite unusual in such a young person. Creative genius is no doubt accountable to some extent. However, it must be remembered that Sir Arthur’s other works did not capture the attention of the public to anything near the extent to which the Sherlock Holmes stories did.

No, there was something special about the Sherlock Holmes stories and it is that “something” that can hopefully be identified as “reality”. Creative genius has shown itself before and since but no character, not even those of Dickens, Poe, Defoe or any others, has had the lasting impact of Sherlock Holmes. Walt Disney was a creative genius and yet his character, Mickey Mouse, did not come upon the world stage fully blown. Disney’s early efforts show the beginnings of Mickey in a character called “ Oswald”. Later, a closer character called “ Steamboat Willie “ appeared who finally evolved into Mickey Mouse. It was a gradual process. Not so with Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. They arrived on the scene fully developed. It seems very probable that there did in fact exist a real “consulting detective” who may at first have been a patient, and later a very good friend and room-mate, of a very real Dr. James Watson. That detective and Dr. James Watson evidently had a close relationship even to the point of working together on the detective’s cases, and the good doctor took to making notes about them. For some reason, Dr Watson never got his notes into story form and never published anything about the detective’s cases himself.

Sir Arthur and Dr. James Watson were friends and both were writers and members of the Portsmouth Literary and Scientific Society. However, when Sir Arthur joined the Portsmouth Literary and Scientific Society in 1883, having already achieved the status of a published author in his own right, it would appear that an arrangement was made whereby Sir Arthur would put Dr. James Watson’s notes into story form for publication. And so it came to be, three years later in 1886, that Sir Arthur wrote the novel A Study in Scarlet, the first of sixty Sherlock Holmes stories. For some reason, Dr James Watson did not want his true name used in connection with the stories, particularly since it was apparently also arranged that Sir Arthur would have permission to add fictionalized stories to the true cases. However, Sir Arthur’s attempt to hide Dr Watson’s name was not very serious. At first, he chose the name Ormond Sacker but apparently Dr. Watson was not happy with that choice. All that Sir Arthur did therefore was to change the doctor’s first name from James to John and to add a middle initial of “H” without ever disclosing what it stood for.

But even at that and as we shall see, Sir Arthur could not resist giving some hint that it was Dr. James Watson who was involved. Sir Arthur was born and raised in Scotland and there is a Scottish name “Hamish” which is the English equivalent of “James” It is therefore reasonably conjectured that the “H” in John H. Watson stands for Hamish, the English equivalent of James. In the Sherlock Holmes story entitled “The Man With the Twisted Lip”, published in 1891, Sir Arthur actually casts Dr. Watson as “James”, not “John”. Was that a slip of the pen or was it because Sir Arthur could not get it out of his mind that Dr James Watson was the real narrator with respect to the actual cases? It seems obvious that the latter is the case. To strengthen that belief, consider this: “ The Man With the Twisted Lip ” was annotated in the 1993 Oxford University edition of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, where it is reported that on March 4, 1908, seventeen years after publication of “The Man With the Twisted Lip”, Sir Arthur again referred to Dr. James Watson in a letter to the editor of the Strand magazine.

In it he stated that he could see no reason why he could not do an occasional story “…. under some such heading as “Reminiscences of Mr. Sherlock Holmes (Extracted from the diaries of his friend, Dr. James Watson)”!!! That would seem to be fair proof of where Sir Arthur got his factual Sherlock Holmes stories. Notice also that 22 years after he wrote A Study in Scarlet, which he prefaced as “Being a Reminiscence of John H.Watson, etc.”, he again referred to the fact that the further stories that he proposed to write would be taken from an independent source which in the first instance, A Study in Scarlet, he names as John H. Watson, M.D. and in the second, as Dr. James Watson. Many of the details of the Sherlock Holmes stories, including the factual and physical settings, the residence at 221 Baker Street and the various and numerous parties to the plots, are too convoluted to analyze in this paper for the purpose of confirming the reality of the stories themselves. It appears that some were based on carefully screened facts and that others were pure fiction.

There is, however, one observation that should be made in regard to the reality versus fictional aspect of the stories. In some, the fictional nature is obvious while in others there are many references to actual places, events and even people, although the exact identities of the latter are masked behind fictional names. Many times actual locations are referred to except with respect to places where the crimes or major action actually take place. Those locations are fictionalized which leads one to believe that in such cases, the stories are based on real events and thus the need to screen the actual locations. There are many instances of this in the stories and one particular case comes to mind that is illustrative of the point. In “ The Adventure of the “Three Gables”, published in 1920, reference is made to a certain professional gossip named Langdale Pike to whom Sherlock Holmes often turned for helpful information. That story informs us that Langdale Pike, obviously a fictional name, “spent his waking hours in the bow window of a St. James Street club” In the excellent book Sherlock Holmes in London by Charles Viney, there is a photograph, taken in 1907, of a Hansom cab standing outside Boodle’s Club in St. James's Street, London.

The photo not only shows what the caption calls “…..its famous bow window ” but also, upon close examination, a man standing in it! There were, at the time, four clubs in St. James's Street but only one had a bow window. Clearly then, Sir Arthur in 1920, was in possession of notes relating to a very real professional gossip who took as his vantage point the real bow window of the real Boodle’s Club and there is that photographic evidence of it taken 16 years before the story was published! Based on the above, it may be concluded that Dr James Watson, for reasons we will never know, chose to collaborate with Sir Arthur in the publication of notes that he made concerning his association with a certain real “consulting detective”. The name of that detective has come down to us, as Sherlock Holmes and we are unable to confirm or deny the accuracy of it. It is probably accurate. Sir Arthur considered trying to mask the first name as “Sherringford” but eventually decided against it. There is one final observation to be made in support of the contention that Sherlock Holmes was a real person.

In his Preface to The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur first explains that after the completion of the Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, he had determined to end the stories because at the time, he felt that his literary energies should not be directed too much into one channel. He then goes on to state, however, that he never regretted deciding, later on, to continue them. In particular, he said: “Had Holmes never existed I could not have done more, though he may perhaps have stood a little in the way of the recognition of my more serious work.” It seems very clear then that we have Sir Arthur’s own word for it that Sherlock Holmes did indeed exist! Fact or fiction, it has rightly been noted that Sherlock Holmes has been subsumed into the collective consciousness and someone else who wrestled with the question of his reality put it very succinctly: “Sherlock Holmes is a man who never lived and will never die,” and that is as much as any man could hope for and a happy note upon which to end this paper. Dr. John Watson in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes NEXT Character Analysis Poor Watson: he kind of gets the short end of the stick. The fuzzy end of the lollipop. A bum rap.

All twelve of these stories are told from his first-person perspective, and yet, when we look back at our "In a Nutshell" and "What's Up With the Title?" sections, we notice that we've barely mentioned his name. After all, these stories aren't called The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson; on the contrary, Watson is constantly building up Holmes's glamour at the expense of his own. Think of how many times Watson admits that Holmes seems to have solved the case without having any clue how Holmes has done so. Or how often Holmes asks Watson what he has observed of a visitor, only to find that Watson has missed every important detail. We can't help but cringe a little when Holmes says to him, "You did not know where to look, and so you missed all that was important" (Identity.83). Or when Watson gives up in the middle of "The Boscombe Valley Mystery," exclaiming, "What a tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was!" (Valley.104). The thing is, though, Watson is awesome in his own right. He was an army doctor in Afghanistan, and only came back to England once he got a rifle wound to the leg.

He's the one who always carries the gun in he and Holmes's most dangerous encounters (see the dealings with John Clay and "The Red-Headed League" or with Mr. Rucastle, the dog Carlo, and "The Copper Beeches"). What's more, Watson is actually able to sustain a job and engage in healthy human relationships with more than one person (we assume, what with him being married and apparently having non-Holmes friends here and there). He's played by Jude Law in the 2009 Sherlock Holmes movie, for crying out loud: he's fabulous. Can we get a little love for Dr. Watson up in here? So why is Watson so modest? Watson isn't just complimenting Holmes, as in, telling us how great he is. He's also complementing Holmes, or in other words, showing us Holmes's genius by providing a constant point of comparison. After all, Watson's a smart man – a medical doctor with a clear, cool writing style. He's someone we respect. And if Holmes is smart enough to make a war vet doctor feel dumb, well then, Holmes must be brilliant. Watson provides a foil for Holmes, but he's a sympathetic, friendly foil.

This isn't a Holmes/Inspector Lestrade-style hostile opposition. Watson fills in gaps that Holmes lacks: he's the one who adds human interest to Holmes's stories, and who provides medical assistance that Holmes can't handle (see, for example, Mr. Rucastle in "The Copper Beeches"). Watson and "Tales of Ratiocination" Way back in "In a Nutshell," we mentioned that Conan Doyle based the Holmes/Watson dynamic on the earlier detective duo of C. Auguste Dupin and the unnamed narrator from Edgar Allan Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue." Poe describes his mystery stories as "tales of ratiocination," in which the reader is supposed to spend a lot of time picking up clues and solving puzzles. In other words, the story is supposed to be something like a brainteaser. For more on Poe's tales, check out our guide to "Murders in the Rue Morgue"; here we'll just say that the problem with making a story like a brainteaser is that, you know, a good game of Sudoku doesn't usually involve much character development.

If a storyteller emphasizes the rational solutions part of a mystery novel too much, it's easy to skip over what makes a tale compelling: people you can identify with. Here's where Watson steps in and makes Holmes the greatest fictional detective ever. Watson makes cold, calculating Holmes…human. Sure, Watson keeps mentioning that Holmes despises feelings and whatnot. At the same time, the clear bromance that ties the two guys together – their mutual friendship and respect – really speaks well of both of them as sympathetic, cool human beings. Watson also manages to bring out the passionate side of Holmes's supremely intellectual work. After all, all that social feeling that Holmes lacks has to go somewhere; he clearly puts it to good use when he's on the hunt for clues: Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent as this. Men who had only known the quiet thinker and logician of Baker Street would have failed to recognize him. His face flushed and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, while his eyes shone out with a steely glitter (Valley.130).

This thick description is, first of all, really evocative, and it adds a layer of linguistic pleasure to the whole let's-solve-crime! aspect of the detective story. But secondly, Watson makes this abstract process of intellectual reasoning seem, well – we'll just come out and say it – sexy. There's a point later on in the same passage when Watson describes Holmes's "purely animal lust for the chase." How can a reader not find a mental exercise appealing that makes the detective feel "animal lust"? Sign us up for solving crime if this is what it's like! And it's Watson's literary talents that bring about this interest on the part of the reader; Holmes, on the contrary, wants records of "that severe reasoning from cause to effect which really the only notable feature about [detective work]" (Beeches.3). Sounds dull as ditchwater to us – we'd take Watson's "colour and life" over Holmes's "severe reasoning" any day. Dr. Watson Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Dr. Watson Dr. John H.

Watson is a fictional character , the sidekick of Sherlock Holmes , the fictional 19th century detective created by British author and physician Arthur Conan Doyle . In the first Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet (published in 1887 ), Watson, as the narrator, describes meeting Holmes, their subsequent sharing of rooms at 221B Baker Street, his attempts to discover the profession of his taciturn companion, Holmes's eventual taking of Watson into his confidence, and the events surrounding their first case together. Watson describes Holmes and his methods in detail, but to Holmes's taste, in too romantic and sentimental a manner. Doctor Watson is a medical man of some experience. He had served in the military in Afghanistan , having been discharged following an injury received in the line of duty. In The Sign of the Four, Watson met Mary Morstan, who became his wife. Mary seemed a little less sure of her future husband, however, absent-mindedly calling him "James". Some have speculated that this is a wifely reference to Watson's unknown middle name, which could have been "Hamish". Watson gives two separate locations for the Jezail bullet wound he received whilst serving in the army.

In A Study in Scarlet he states "I was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery". However in The Sign of Four , Watson informs us "... [I] sat nursing my wounded leg. I had had a Jezail bullet through it some time before, and though it did not prevent me from walking it ached wearily at every change of the weather". The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor contains the only other reference to the injury. Here Watson is a little ambiguous he tells us "the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence". In Conan Doyle's original stories Watson is portrayed as a capable and brave individual -- "Quickly Watson, get your service revolver!". Watson's intelligence serves as a foil to Holmes's insight. Both are brilliant, and each is useful for their purposes, they are remarkably different in their function, a clever literary pairing.

Watson occasionally attempts to solve crimes on his own, using Holmes's methods, however, because he is not endowed with Holmes's almost superhuman ability to focus on the essential details of the case, he meets with limited success, as Holmes remarks "Quite so... you see, but you do not observe." The introduction of Dr. Watson in the Holmes novels, was a precursor to other similar characters. In the words of William L De Andrea, Watson also serves the important function of catalyst for Holmes's mental processes. [...] From the writer's point of view, Conan Doyle knew the importance of having someone to whom the detective can make enigmatic remarks, a consciousness that's privy to facts in the case without being in on the conclusions drawn from them until the proper time. Any character who performs these functions in a mystery story has come to be known as a "Watson".

In 1929 , English crime writer and critic Ronald Knox ( 1888 - 1957 ) categorically stated as one of his rules for fledgling writers of detective fiction - the stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader". Many of the great fictional detectives have their Watson: Agatha Christie 's Hercule Poirot , for example, is accompanied by Captain Arthur Hastings. In a number of film adaptations, in particular those featuring the comic skills of the actor Nigel Bruce, the character of Watson becomes more of a caricature. Far from being the able assistant as presented by Doyle, Watson is portrayed as an incompetent fool. Modern treatments have returned the roots of Conan Doyle stories and have portrayed a more sympathetic and competent Watson. Various sources give Watson's birth date as August 7 , 1852 and his full name as Dr. John Hamish Watson. "[Holmes] was a man of habits... and I had become one of them... a comrade... upon whose nerve he could place some reliance... a whetstone for his mind.

I stimulated him... If I irritated him by a certain methodical slowness in my mentality, that irritation served only to make his own flame-like intuitions and impressions flash up the more vividly and swiftly. Such was my humble role in our alliance." External links Sherlock Holmes: Books, Characters & Author - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com Sherlock Holmes: Books, Characters & Author Watch short & fun videos Start Your Free Trial Today An error occurred trying to load this video. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. You must create an account to continue watching Register for a free trial Are you a student or a teacher? I am a student Start Your Free Trial To Continue Watching As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. Plus, get practice tests, quizzes, and personalized coaching to help you succeed. Coming up next: The Lord of the Rings: Themes & Analysis You're on a roll. Keep up the good work! Your next lesson will play in 10 seconds 0:01 Holmes/ His Personality 4:55 Influence of the Series 5:38 Lesson Summary Add to Add to Add to Want to watch this again later?

Log in or sign up to add this lesson to a Custom Course. Custom Courses are courses that you create from Study.com lessons. Use them just like other courses to track progress, access quizzes and exams, and share content. Teachers Organize and share selected lessons with your class. Make planning easier by creating your own custom course. Students Create a new course from any lesson page or your dashboard. From any lesson page: Click "Add to" located below the video player and follow the prompts to name your course and save your lesson. From your dashboard: Click on the "Custom Courses" tab, then click "Create course". Next, go to any lesson page and begin adding lessons. Edit your Custom Course directly from your dashboard. Personalize: Name your Custom Course and add an optional description or learning objective. Organize: Create chapters to group lesson within your course. Remove and reorder chapters and lessons at any time. Share your Custom Course or assign lessons and chapters. Teacher Edition: Share or assign lessons and chapters by clicking the "Teacher" tab on the lesson or chapter page you want to assign. Students' quiz scores and video views will be trackable in your "Teacher" tab.

Premium Edition: You can share your Custom Course by copying and pasting the course URL. Only Study.com members will be able to access the entire course. Create an account to start this course today Try it free for 5 days! Lesson Transcript Instructor: Francesca Marinaro Francesca M. Marinaro has a PhD in English from the University of Florida and has been teaching English composition and Literature since 2007. In this lesson, you'll learn about Sherlock Holmes, the brilliant, iconic sleuth created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and featured in many of his novels and short stories. You'll also get an introduction to Holmes's crime-solving associate. Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes is the fictional detective created by Scottish Author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle during the late 19th century. One of the most recognizable figures in English literature, Sherlock Holmes is a consulting detective who lives at 221 B Baker Street in Victorian London and assists clients privately with the help of his friend and roommate, Dr. John H. Watson. Whenever the police have difficulty solving a case, they come seeking Holmes's advice. Conan Doyle based the character of Sherlock Holmes on Dr.

Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, under whom Conan Doyle had worked as a clerk, though Bell is often quoted as having written to Conan Doyle that, 'You are yourself Sherlock Holmes, and well you know it.' Conan Doyle also drew inspiration from Sir Henry Littlejohn of the University of Edinburgh Medical School. As a police surgeon, Littlejohn created for Conan Doyle a link between the study of medicine and the study of crime. We know very little biographically about the character Sherlock Holmes other than the fact that he became interested in detective work during his college years, when most of his cases involved helping his fellow university students. Holmes's Personality Watson describes Holmes's personality as eccentric. He lives for his cases, and when he is working he will sometimes go for days without rest or food and drink. When not working on a case, he lapses into a state of depression, calming himself with drugs like cocaine. He sometimes goes for days without speaking, has a habit of storing tobacco in his slippers, and plays the violin. He organizes knowledge in his own mind so efficiently that he claims ignorance of anything that does little to help him in his work.

In fact, Watson famously expresses shock that Holmes appears not even to know that the earth orbits the sun because he argues that such details take up unnecessary space in his brain. Characters The most significant character in the Sherlock Holmes stories is his friend and colleague, Dr. Watson. Watson is a former army doctor who has been sent home from the Anglo-Afghan War after being wounded in the shoulder. When Holmes and Watson meet in A Study in Scarlet, Holmes is looking for someone to share his Baker Street apartment because he cannot afford it on his own. Watson lives with Holmes until he meets Mary Morstan, Holmes's client in The Sign of the Four. The two fall in love and get married, but Watson continues to assist Holmes in his work and returns to Baker Street after Mary's death. Watson serves as the narrator of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Some of the other major characters include: Mrs. Hudson: Holmes and Watson's landlady Inspector Lestrade: a Scotland Yard detective who Holmes regularly criticizes and makes fun of Mycroft Holmes: Sherlock's mysterious older brother, who has a position in the British government and occasionally calls on Sherlock's assistance in top-secret work.

Holmes also occasionally employs a team of homeless street boys he calls the Baker Street Irregulars. The boys act as a team of spies for Holmes, running around London and gathering information while he's off pursuing other angles of a case. The most significant villain of the Sherlock Holmes stories is Professor James Moriarty, a brilliant foil for Holmes who turns his keen mind and deductive skill to committing crimes that are never traced back to him.

Books The Sherlock Holmes stories consist of four novels: A Study in Scarlet (1887) The Sign of the Four (1890) The Hound of the Baskervilles (serialized in The Strand Magazine from 1901 to 1902) The Valley of Fear (serialized in The Strand Magazine from 1914 to 1915) Conan Doyle also penned 56 short stories: that were originally published in periodical form and were later collected into five books: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (stories published from 1891 to 1892) The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (stories published from 1892 to 1893) The Return of Sherlock Holmes (stories published from 1903 to 1904) His Last Bow (stories published from 1908 to 1917) The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (stories published from 1921 to 1927) × John Watson | Baker Street Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit In the debut Holmes story A Study in Scarlet , Watson, as the narrator, describes meeting Holmes, their subsequent sharing of rooms at 

221B Baker Street , his attempts to discover the profession of his taciturn companion, Holmes's eventual taking of Watson into his confidence, and the events surrounding their first case together.

Watson describes Holmes and his methods in too romantic and sentimental a manner for Holmes' taste. In time, they become close friends. In The Sign of Four , John Watson met Mary Morstan , who became his wife. Mary seemed somewhat less sure of her husband, however, absentmindedly calling him "James" in the short story " The Man with the Twisted Lip ". This may be a simple typographical error, though some have speculated that it is a wifely reference to Watson's unknown middle name, which could have been "Hamish" (Scottish for "James") Dorothy Sayers, creator of the detective Lord Peter Wimsey, also wrote several essays on Holmesian speculation, later published this theory in Unpopular Opinions. Watson is a physician of some experience (as was Conan Doyle ). Watson had served in the British Army medical corps in Afghanistan , but was discharged following an injury Watson gives two separate locations for the Jezail bullet wound he received while serving in the British Army. In A Study in Scarlet he states "I was struck on the shoulder by a Jezail bullet, which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery." However in The Sign of the Four, Watson informs us "...

[I] sat nursing my wounded leg. I had had a Jezail bullet through it some time before, and though it did not prevent me from walking it ached wearily at every change of the weather". " The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor " contains the only other reference to the injury. Here Watson is a little ambiguous; he tells us "the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence." received in the line of duty during the Battle of Maiwand. Watson was almost killed in the long and arduous retreat from the battle, but was saved by his orderly, Murray. He was also struck with fever and was invalided out of the Army with a half pay officer pension of 11 shillings and 6 pence a month. When Watson first returns from Afghanistan, he is "as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut." His more normal appearance is hinted at in " The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton ": "... a middle-sized, strongly built man--square jaw, thick neck, moustache ...".

In The Hound of the Baskervilles he notes that he is "reckoned fleet of foot". By 1914 (in the story " His Last Bow "), he is described as "thickset". He is evidently not ill-favored, as Holmes several times jokes about Watson's success with women. Not very much is written about his family-his deceased father had the same initials as his son and was prosperous enough to own a 50 guineas watch; he had a elder brother also deceased whom Holmes after studying the heirloom watch deduces that although he was relatively prosperous he was also careless and was addicted to strong drink; pawned his heirloom watch four times (although he redeemed the pledges) and the reminder of his brother's life is a very painful subject for John Watson personally. By the time Watson comes back from India, he admits to having no living kin in England. Personality Edit Watson is not a stupid man (he is, after all, a medical doctor, and one whose talents Holmes holds in the highest esteem), but he does not have Holmes' insight. He serves as a foil to Holmes: the ordinary man against the brilliant, emotionally-detached analytical machine that Holmes can sometimes be.

With the two, Conan Doyle created a clever literary pairing: two vivid characters, different in their function and yet each useful for his purposes. Watson is well aware of both the limits of his abilities and Holmes' reliance on him: "[Holmes] was a man of habits... and I had become one of them... a comrade... upon whose nerve he could place some reliance... a whetstone for his mind. I stimulated him... If I irritated him by a certain methodical slowness in my mentality, that irritation served only to make his own flame-like intuitions and impressions flash up the more vividly and swiftly. Such was my humble role in our alliance." Conan Doyle portrays Watson as a capable and brave individual, whom Holmes does not hesitate to call upon for both moral and physical assistance: "Quickly Watson, get your service revolver!". Watson occasionally attempts to solve crimes on his own, using Holmes's methods. For example, in The Hound of the Baskervilles , Watson efficiently clears up several of the many mysteries confronting the pair, and Holmes praises him warmly for his zeal and intelligence.

However, because he is not endowed with Holmes's ability to focus on the essential details of the case, he meets with limited success in other cases, as Holmes remarks "Quite so... you see, but you do not observe." However, as a military man, Watson is the better strategist, besting his friend at chess, who prefers to observe. In the story " The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist ", Watson's attempts to help Holmes with an investigation prove unsuccessful because of his unimaginative approach, e.g. asking a London estate agent who lives in a particular country residence (according to Holmes, what he should have done was "gone to the nearest public house" and listened to the gossip). Watson is too guileless to be a proper detective; as Holmes observes in The Valley of Fear , he has a definite strain of "pawky humour", but he is naturally open and straightforward, while Holmes can be secretive and devious. Though initially their relationship was little more than vaguely acquainted roommates, the two became the very best of friends, almost like brothers. By the time they shared " The Adventure of the Three Garridebs ", Holmes had such an attachment to his friend that he nearly panicked at the thought that Watson had been shot.

Watson wrote: "It was worth a wound it was worth many wounds to know the depth of loyalty and love which lay behind that cold mask. The clear, hard eyes were dimmed for a moment, and the firm lips were shaking. For the one and only time I caught a glimpse of a great heart as well as of a great brain. All my years of humble but single-minded service culminated in that moment of revelation." Holmes returns to himself only when he is assured that Watson has been merely scratched by the bullet, adding to the perpetrator that "...if you had killed Watson, you would not have got out of this room alive." Though he never masters Holmes's deductive methods, Watson is acute enough to follow his friend's reasoning after the fact. In " The Adventure of the Norwood Builder ", Holmes notes that John Hector McFarlane is "a bachelor, a solicitor, a Freemason, and an asthmatic".

Watson comments, in his narratorial role: "Familiar as I was with my friend's methods, it was not difficult for me to follow his deductions, and to observe the untidiness of attire, the sheaf of legal papers, the watch-charm, and the breathing which had prompted them." Similar episodes occur in " The Adventure of the Devil's Foot ", " The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist ", and " The Adventure of the Resident Patient ". Watson is something of a ladies' man (boasting in The Sign of Four of "an experience of women which extends over many nations and three separate continents") and fans of the Conan Doyle stories have long speculated as to just how many times he was married. Watson as archetype of the sidekick Edit In Conan Doyle 's early rough plot outlines, Sherlock Holmes' sidekick was named "Ormond Sacker" before Conan Doyle finally settled on "John Watson". In turn, the introduction of Dr Watson in the Holmes novels proved a precursor to other, similar characters. Many of the great fictional detectives have their Watson: Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, for example, is accompanied by Captain Arthur Hastings. In the words of William L.

De Andrea, "Watson also serves the important function of catalyst for Holmes's mental processes. [...] From the writer's point of view, Conan Doyle knew the importance of having someone to whom the detective can make enigmatic remarks, a consciousness that's privy to facts in the case without being in on the conclusions drawn from them until the proper time. Any character who performs these functions in a mystery story has come to be known as a 'Watson'." In 1929, English crime writer and critic Ronald Knox stated as one of his rules for fledgling writers of detective fiction as that the stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal from the reader any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly, below that of the average reader." Misconception of Watson as being a fool Edit In a number of film adaptations , in particular those featuring the comic skills of the actor Nigel Bruce , the character of Watson became more of a caricature. Far from being the able assistant as presented by Conan Doyle , Watson was portrayed as an incompetent fool. Modern treatments have returned to the roots of Conan Doyle stories and have portrayed a more sympathetic and competent Watson.

The most famous example of this restored image of Watson is the depiction played by David Burke and later Edward Hardwicke in the 1980s television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes , starring Jeremy Brett in the title role. At the end of the episode "The Empty House", Watson even speaks the lines (given to Holmes in the story) about the criminal's motives, and receives Holmes' warm praise for his acumen. Another well-liked depiction was by actor André Morell in the 1959 film version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. Other depictions include Donald Houston , who played Watson to John Neville 's Holmes in A Study in Terror (1965); a rather belligerent, acerbic Watson portrayed by Colin Blakely in Billy Wilder 's The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), in which Holmes was played by Robert Stephens ; and James Mason 's portrayal in Murder by Decree (1978), with Christopher Plummer as Holmes.

Ian Hart portrayed a young, capable and fit Watson twice for BBC television once opposite Richard Roxburgh as Holmes (in an adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles) and for a second time opposite Rupert Everett as the Great Detective in the new story Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking . Stephen King , the American horror novelist, wrote a short story called The Doctor's Case in the collection Nightmares & Dreamscapes, where Watson actually solves the case instead of an impressed Holmes. Holmes is also in "Hound of the Baskervilles" In the 1988 parody film Without a Clue the roles of a bumbling Watson and an extremely competent Holmes are reversed, in the film Holmes is an invention of Watson played by an alcoholic actor to allow Watson to work on solving cases behind the scenes. Cultural References Edit Microsoft Corporation named the debugger in Microsoft Windows "Dr Watson". In the television series House, the character of Dr James Wilson is meant to be a direct reference to Watson, (with House himself being a direct reference to Holmes).

In addition to the similarity of their names, Wilson serves in the show as House's only real friend and confidante, and occasionally assists him in solving particularly difficult cases (it should also be mentioned that in one episode House claims to live in 221B Baker Street ). Also, in keeping with Watson's role as a ladies' man, Wilson has been married several times and had multiple affairs. Sherlock Holmes (Character) - Biography biography from "Sherlock" (2010) The content of this page was created by users. It has not been screened or verified by IMDb staff. Warning! This character biography may contain plot spoilers. Visit our Character Biography Help to learn more. This Character Biography topic is currently locked Character Biography Discuss Sherlock Holmes is the legendary great detective who solves even the most baffling cases with astute observation, deductive reasoning and very little people skills. As a "consulting detective," he favors reason and logic above all else and makes very few personal attachments beyond those that benefit him. He calls himself a "high functioning sociopath" because he does not make friends or understand emotions very well, beyond what can be studied.

He would make a superior criminal if he were so inclined, but instead he assists the police, and Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade, on their most baffling cases. Because he has no interest in emotions, he makes no effort to protect those of other people and often comes across as rude, blunt or even cruel, especially to Molly Hooper, the coroner, who has a crush on him. In addition to Molly, the other people in the world he cares about are Mrs. Hudson, his landlady, who tolerates him keeping science experiments in the fridge and shooting holes in the walls; Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade with New Scotland Yard and Dr. John Watson, who starts out as his roommate and quickly becomes his assistant and chronicler on cases. Sherlock has a brother, Mycroft, from whom he is estranged. Mycroft goes so far as to refer to himself as Sherlock's arch enemy, yet they do help each other out when it is absolutely necessary. Sherlock's actual nemesis is master criminal James Moriarty, who is as intelligent as Sherlock, but uses his wits for crime. Sherlock doesn't have girlfriends, but is intrigued by Irene Adler, an intelligent criminal and high end escort.

Background: Lives at 221B Baker Street. In the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories Sherlock used cocaine, in this version his addictive vice is nicotine, which he is trying to give up, although he thinks it keeps his brain "active." Character Biography

Question: What is the first name of fictional character Sherlock Holmes friend and assistant Dr Watson?
Answer: John