About Sherlock

"I'm a consulting detective. The only one in the world. I invented the job. "

He has a keen interest in unusual or bizarre crimes, without which he rapidly becomes bored, relying on nicotine to keep his brain active, although in the past he has dabbled in illegal drugs for entertainment, such as cocaine. Sherlock is a thinker and an observer; his notable ability to notice and draw deductions from seemingly trivial details is incredible and that is his main tool for solving crimes he investigates. He also often utilises his "mind palace", a tool for remembering the smallest of details and organising his memories in a visual way. His unusual and somewhat anti-social personality has led to many in the official police force distrusting and disliking him.

Sherlock claims on more than one occasion to be a "high-functioning 
sociopath". However, according to Jim Moriarty, as well as Sherlock's own actions and displays of emotion and empathy, this may not be true. Sherlock does not seem to exhibit any of the symptoms of an anti-social personality disorder. John Watson mentions once, in order to excuse Sherlock's behaviour, that he suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, a disorder related to autism.

"Brilliant, aloof and almost entirely lacking in social graces. Sherlock is a unique young man with a mind like a 'racing engine'. Without problems to solve, that mind will tear itself to pieces and the more bizarre and baffling the problems the better. He has set himself up as the world's only consulting detective, whom the police grudgingly accept as their superior."

Sherlock has a profound aptitude for deductive reasoning. Upon meeting a person, he will often "scan" them, using elements of their appearance to arrive at astonishingly accurate conclusions about their past or personality. However, Sherlock is not infallible as he admits "there is always something" that he misses or misinterprets (the first time he said this, the thing he missed was that Harry was short for Harriet, as he originally thought that Harry was John Watson's brother; in fact, she is his sister).

Sherlock uses a memory retrieval technique called the "method of loci". He refers to this system as his "mind palace". John explains this technique as the storing of memories by plotting them on a map of a familiar location, and retrieving those memories by finding the way back to them, so as to theoretically never forget anything. To use this skill, Sherlock requires silence and space to himself to reduce outside interference, however he has shown to be able to use it under stressful situations, or when he have to think fast.

Sherlock has a manipulative streak, and in multiple instances has used this ability to his advantage. There are moments when Sherlock does not seem to realise that he occasionally upsets people with his accurate deductions about their personal lives, most often delivered quite tactlessly. When he pointed out to Molly that her boyfriend was gay he seemed surprised when she ran away upset, stating that he had just been saving her time, thinking it was kinder than letting her find out the hard way. Although most times Sherlock seems inhuman and cold, he does know how to appreciate or acknowledge. For instance, although he retorted to John that he did not care about astronomy, he later comments on the beauty of the night sky when investigating the whereabouts of the Golem.

John and Sherlock share a very unique relationship. Sherlock, clearly, cannot be considered a man with many friends. His attitude and cutting words often ward people away, but with John he makes an effort, and when upsetting him, apologises. Over the course of their friendship, Sherlock becomes more caring about John and develops a slight sense of humour. He became very worried when he rescued John from a bonfire. Sherlock states, both implicitly and explicitly, that he has no friends, except for John.

The Science of Deduction