James Moriarty

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This article is about the general character from Sherlock Holmes fandom. For the counterpart played by by Andrew Scott in Sherlock BBC, see Jim Moriarty.
Character
Name: James Moriarty
Occupation: Criminal Mastermind, Professor, army coach
Relationships: Sherlock Holmes (archenemy),
Colonel Sebastian Moran (sidekick, friend),
Colonel James Moriarty (brother), name unknown (younger brother)
Fandom: Sherlock Holmes
Other:
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Professor James Moriarty is widely considered Sherlock Holmes' archenemy in the Sherlock Holmes series, although he is only directly involved in two of the original stories. He is a popular antagonist for pastiches.

Canon

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.
- Sherlock Holmes on Professor Moriarty, The Final Problem by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Professor Moriarty is the antagonist introduced in The Final Problem as Holmes, who admires Moriarty's brilliance but is horrified by his crimes, is about to take down Moriarty's criminal empire. Moriarty is also referred to in The Empty House and has a key role in The Valley of Fear.

He is a "man of good birth and excellent education," a genius mathematician and author and described as "very respectable", although he was forced to resign his chair at an unspecified university due to "dark rumours" about him. He is pale, tall and thin and has a habit of "oscillating" his face from side to side. Moriarty's best known acquaintance is Colonel Sebastian Moran, his chief of staff and "bosom friend".

Moriarty appears to be partly based on various real people including the real 'Napoleon of Crime', fraudster, crime boss and art thief Adam Worth.

Other texts

Professor Moriarty is referred to or appears in a huge number of other texts by other authors and in numerous screen and audio adaptations. Some of the most notable or best known examples are given below.

Pastiches

Moriarty-centred, pastiche-style fiction has been produced by numerous professional authors. The most notable are probably:

  • John Gardner; The Return of Moriarty (1974) and sequels
  • Michael Kurland; The Infernal Device (1978) and sequels
  • Neil Gaiman; A Study in Emerald (2003); Cthulhu Mythos crossover novelette.
  • Kim Newman; Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles (2011. Collected Moriarty novelettes). Moriarty also appears as a vampire minor character in Newman's Anno Dracula (1992).
  • Alan Moore; The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (1999)
  • Vernon Mealor; The File on Colonel Moran Volume One: The Lure of Moriarty (2008) and The File on Colonel Moran: Sherlock Holmes Takes a Hand (2011)
  • Anthony Horowitz; Moriarty (2014)
  • Various authors, edited by Maxim Jakubowski; The Mammoth Book of the Adventures of Moriarty (2015)
  • Gareth Rubin; Holmes and Moriarty (2024)

Sherlock Holmes (1931 film series)

Moriarty is a recurring villain in the films with Arthur Wontner as Holmes, The Sleeping Cardinal (1931), The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935) and Murder at the Baskervilles (1937. Also called Silver Blaze), played by Norman McKinnel in the first and Lyn Harding in the second two films.

Sherlock Holmes (1939 film series)

Moriarty is the villain in three of the films starring Basil Rathbone as Holmes and loosely based on various canonical stories, played by George Zucco in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939), Lionel Atwill in Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1942) and Henry Daniell in The Woman in Green (1945).

The Adventure of the Final Problem (1955 BBC radio)

An episode of the British radio series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, produced by Harry Alan Towers and aired on the BBC and NBC radio. Moriarty (played by Orson Welles) and Holmes's relationship is portrayed as a cordial one with their interaction being polite and even friendly, both in Holmes's rooms and at the Reichenbach Falls.

Sherlock Holmes (Granada)

Moriarty's (played by Eric Porter) role was expanded on in this series, showing him involved in The Red-Headed League as well as in The Final Problem (1985), which also introduces a plotline about art theft and art forgery, possibly a nod to Moriarty canonically owning a valuable painting as well as him being partly based on Adam Worth. It is one of the few screen examples that shows Moriarty 'oscillating' his head.

Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

It is finally revealed at the very end of this film that the young Holmes's fencing instructor and one of the film's antagonists, Professor Rathe, is Moriarty. He is played by Anthony Higgins.

Bert Coules BBC radio series (1989-1998)

Moriarty appears in The Final Problem (1992), The Empty House (1993) and the two-part The Valley of Fear (1997) episodes of the BBC radio series starring Clive Merrison as Holmes. In The Empty House it is revealed that at the Reichenbach Falls Moriarty effectively asked Holmes to join with him, although Holmes turned him down. Moriarty was voiced by Michael Pennington in the first two stories and by Ronald Pickup (as 'the narrator') in The Valley of Fear.

Sherlock Holmes (Ritchie films)

In Guy Ritchie's 2009 film, Moriarty is a shadowy character manipulating Irene Adler. In the sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011), Moriarty is the film's main antagonist. He is played by Jared Harris and is one of the few portrayals to show Moriarty as a mathematics professor as well as a criminal mastermind.

Sherlock (BBC)

Jim Moriarty, played by Andrew Scott, is the main antagonist of the series. This depiction of Moriarty is possibly psychologically disturbed, and he plays a "game" with Sherlock Holmes where people die if Sherlock doesn't figure out a case in the allotted time frame.

Elementary

Moriarty's identity was important in the climax of the first season. A rare example of a female Moriarty, called Jamie. She initially poses as an art restorer who goes by the name Irene Adler.

Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century

In this the long-dead Moriarty is cloned and resumes his life of crime in the future, becoming the antagonist behind nearly all the crimes in the show and prompting Detective Beth Lestrade to resurrect Holmes to stop him.

James Moriarty, Consulting Criminal (2017)

An Audible audiobook written by Andy Weir and read by Graeme Malcolm. Similar in style to most of the original Sherlock Holmes stories, it includes three short stories narrated by Moriarty's friend and criminal associate Sebastian Moran, in which Moriarty solves cases for various clients. This started out as fanfiction posted on Weir's own website (see example fanworks).

Yuukoku no Moriarty (Moriarty the Patriot)

This manga (2016 onwards) and anime series (and 2 stage plays) effectively splits Professor Moriarty into three characters, brothers William James, Albert James and Louis James Moriarty, who together become the 'Lord of Crime', an apparent nod to Moriarty canonically having two brothers. William James is the actual Professor Moriarty who also works as a mathematics professor. Moriarty is shown as far younger than in most portrayals and much of the focus is on his antagonistic but also mutually respectful and friendly relationship with Sherlock Holmes which has made the Holmes/Moriarty or 'sherliam' pairing the main focus of much fan discussion and fanworks for this adaptation specifically, unlike with other adaptations involving Moriarty.

Genius (a dramatic podcast)

Genius (2019) is a 13 part dramatic podcast created and written by Tracey Houston, set in 2005 but with extensive flashbacks to the 1970s-1990s, in which the brilliant but reclusive Sabine Moriarty is caught between her estranged brother, Jim, and Sherlock Holmes. Moriarty is effectively divided into two characters, Sabine the 'genius' mathematician and Jim the ruthless criminal who is explicitly portrayed as queer but also as obsessed with his sister. Although the podcast is referred to as season 1, no further seasons have been released so far as of early 2025. Sabine Moriarty is voiced by Sarah Marchand and Jim Moriarty by Mitchell Cohen.

Moriarty (podcast)

A Treefort Media and Audible drama podcast created and written by Charles Kindinger with two seasons, Moriarty: The Devil's Game (2022) and Moriarty: The Silent Order (2023). It effectively reverses the usual narrative, portraying Moriarty (played by Dominic Monaghan) largely as an innocent man who is framed for murder and having Sherlock Holmes as the villain. It is a rare example of Moriarty being portrayed as a romantic figure and of him being in a heterosexual relationship.

Sherlock & Co.

In the Sherlock & Co. podcast, Professor James Moriarty has been briefly mentioned or alluded to a number of times across various episodes.

Influence

Macavity the Mystery Cat

Macavity is the antagonist in T. S. Eliot's book of poetry Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939) and also appears in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats (1981) and the feature film (2019), based on Eliot's book. He is a cunning criminal cat and is a clear allusion to Professor Moriarty in both his name and behaviour.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

A holographic version of Moriarty, played by Daniel Davis, appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Originally created to be a challenging holodeck opponent for Data, it gained self-awareness, built equipment to seize control of the Enterprise, and demanded its rights as a sentient being.[1]

Doctor Who

The Master was made to be the "Moriarty" to The Doctor's "Sherlock Holmes".

Basil of Baker Street

Moriarty's mouse equivalent, Professor Ratigan, appears in the Basil of Baker Street books by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone. Ratigan was changed into a rat in the Disney film adaptation, The Great Mouse Detective (1986).

The Librarians (2014)

In the second season of The Librarians the fictional sorcerer Prospero uses magic to summon Moriarty (David S. Lee) from a collection of Sherlock Holmes stories and bring him into the real world as his agent.

Fandom

Within the Sherlock Holmes fandom Moriarty is a character who, as Holmes's antagonist or 'nemesis' who was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for the specific purpose of killing Holmes off, is disliked by many Sherlock Holmes fans, or at least is the character who many fans love to hate. Some even appear to celebrate his demise, as demonstrated by the erection of a plaque at the Reichenbach Falls which commemorated the 100th anniversary of Holmes 'vanquishing' Moriarty there. Nonetheless he is one of the best known characters from the original Sherlock Holmes canon and despite actually being a very minor character there, he has been used time and time again in adaptations and pastiches and in other fanworks and still has a great many fans.[2] It can also be argued that most adaptations and pastiches that utilise the character are in themselves fanworks, since they were not created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and in the majority of cases were made only after Conan Doyle's death, often by creators who were or are obviously fans of the original stories. British film producer Lionel Wigram, responsible for the 2009 film, for instance is very obviously a fan of Sherlock Holmes[3], as is Mark Gatiss, co-creator of BBC Sherlock[4]. Director Guy Ritchie, who is famously such a fan that he themed his house after Sherlock Holmes,[5] has himself commented on the influence of Moriarty on fans and on wider popular culture despite the character barely appearing in the canon, saying that "I can't think of a super-villain in a sort of obvious commercial sense before Moriarty in literature," and "He really has become the most famous villain in literature" who is "an elusive character, really, and he gained his equity as much by being elusive as for being potent",[6] while actor Jared Harris who played Moriarty commented on how he likely influenced other villains such as James Bond's Blofeld[7], demonstrating how Moriarty, like Holmes himself, has had a huge impact on fandom more broadly.

The line between 'fanworks' and adaptations or pastiches also seems particularly blurry when it comes to the less mainstream or much lower budget media, such as self-published books, for example Kit Walker's Jay Moriarty series of ebook novellas, and independently produced podcasts, for example Genius. And while many Sherlock Holmes adaptations and pastiches are directly inspired by the canonical stories, many more are only loosely based on them or even often only use some details from the canon. Thus his continued appearances in both Sherlock Holmes adaptations and pastiches and in other media not directly connected to Sherlock Holmes (for example Star Trek or The Librarians) is a testament to Moriarty's continued influence on the fandom and his popularity amongst fans, whether those fans love him or love to hate him. He is still the canonical villain who is most likely to make an appearance in adaptations and pastiches, as well as appearing in one form or another in a large number of pieces of fanfiction, with over 16,000 works listing James Moriarty as a character on Archive of Our Own for instance. His usage in fanworks, both fanfiction and other types, is split between those using him as an antagonist or villain, often while the main focus is on Holmes and where Moriarty is a relatively minor character, and those where he is himself the protagonist or the main focus of the work. In fanworks of both kinds his character will often be developed or expanded on significantly from details referred to in the canon or is sometimes changed far more drastically depending on the story or the verse a particular work is set in. He appears in both gen fanworks and ones involving shipping him with another character. A variety of topics may be addressed in both such as his history or backstory, his sexuality, various crimes he has committed or his family. With the latter other characters connected to him such as the brothers mentioned in the canon are sometimes also given expanded characterisation and roles, or sometimes original character family members such as children appear. A lot of Moriarty fanworks will tend to be focused on BBC Sherlock's Jim Moriarty but many others for many other verses do exist.

Professor Moriarty is commonly viewed as not just the main villain or antagonist of the canon, hence his appearance in so many other texts, but also the narrative foil to Sherlock Holmes, his mirror character who is as Holmes might be if Holmes crossed the line into true villainy, even to the extent that he is seen as Holmes's only true intellectual equal and the only one who really understands him.

Shipping

Moriarty's most common parings are Moriarty/Moran and the enemyslash pairing of Holmes/Moriarty. Het pairings involving Moriarty are generally rare outside of BBC's Sherlock, which has the somewhat common Jim/Molly pairing, and some shipping of the character of William Moriarty from Yuukoku no Moriarty, with some of the few other Victorian-set fanworks to involve shipping Moriarty with a female character being based around the Moriarty (Treefort media and Audible) podcast in which Moriarty was given a female romantic interest. Moriarty is canonically unmarried which often forms the basis of him being portrayed as gay, asexual, aromantic or some combination of these rather than as heterosexual and sometimes his relationship with Moran in particular is portrayed more as queerplatonic rather than as a conventional romantic one.

Common Tropes and Storylines in Fanworks

  • AU: Moriarty has often been placed into other universes, especially a modern day AU in some adaptations and in fanworks but he has also been put into various other AUs including some fantasy settings.
  • Backstory: very little is known about Moriarty's past, other than he was intelligent, well educated, was a mathematics professor and became a criminal mastermind. This leaves it open for fans to fill in the gaps of Moriarty's upbringing and rise to power however they wish in their fanworks, as well as expanding on the small details given about his family. His brother or brothers for instance, mentioned in the canon, feature in multiple fanworks.
  • Canon Divergence AU: Moriarty features often in fanworks that diverge from the canon to some degree, often to show him surviving when he supposedly dies canonically.
  • Darkfic: Since Moriarty is canonically the antagonist, many fanworks do involve him committing various crimes himself or causing them to be committed, including murder, and often employing Moran to kill people on his behalf.
  • Death: Moriarty does actually die in many fanworks featuring him, particularly those where Holmes is the protagonist and Moriarty the antagonist and often in works centred around Holmes/Watson where his death tends to be viewed as a 'happy ending' for the pair. However sometimes his death may only be assumed but not confirmed or sometimes he may be explicitly shown to have survived (see: Presumed dead, below). Death and death imagery is sometimes also a recurring motif or theme in relation to him (see: Recurring themes, imagery and plot elements, below).
  • Enemies to lovers: inspired perhaps by the apparently courteous and respectful way Moriarty and Holmes behave towards each other in the canon as well as in other portrayals in various adaptations, as well as the pair considering each other intellectual equals, Moriarty is sometimes shown developing a much more intimate relationship with Holmes.
  • Friends to lovers: based on Sebastian Moran being called Moriarty's "bosom friend" in the canon, Moriarty has also been commonly shown developing a romantic and/or sexual relationship with Moran.
  • Irish Moriarty: Moriarty is canonically described as an Englishman although his surname is of Irish origin so some fans portray him as English (though often with Irish ancestry), some as Irish.
  • Kink: within fanworks which pair Moriarty with various other characters, kink is fairly common, often involving some form of BDSM. One probable reason for this is Holmes's quote in The Valley of Fear that "Moriarty rules with a rod of iron over his people. His discipline is tremendous" which can be seen as suggestive of Moriarty being a Dominant person not only in general but also in a sexual or kinky sense.
  • Missing scene: fanworks often expand drastically on Moriarty's appearance in the canon, including showing him in scenes that may have been mentioned or implied by the canon but were not actually shown or were never witnessed by the canon's narrator Dr Watson. This may include covering some of Moriarty's other crimes, showing him as developing a relationship with Moran, or expanding on his encounter with Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls.
  • Moriarty isn't real: a storyline that has been used in multiple fanworks, including some adaptations and pastiches, it appears to play on the idea that Holmes and Moriarty are narrative foils or mirror characters and are the only people who truly understand each other but suggesting that this is because either Holmes made Moriarty up or Holmes is Moriarty, sometimes in the sense that Moriarty is another personality within the same body. Such ideas have been done in various different ways in various texts including in Michael Dibdin's The Last Sherlock Holmes Story (1978) and the play The Secret of Sherlock Holmes by Jeremy Paul (first performed in 1988) and in other fanfiction.
  • Name: Occasionally, primarily in some early film adaptations but also some later fanworks, Moriarty's first name is given as Robert, though this originates from the William Gillette Sherlock Holmes play (1899) created before Conan Doyle canonically gave Moriarty the first name James. He is also sometimes referred to as 'Jim' even outside of BBC Sherlock fanworks, and also due to Yuukoku no Moriarty, some fans more recently mistakenly seem to believe that Moriarty's first name is canonically William. In other works which change Moriarty more drastically, such as by genderswapping him for instance, the character will usually be given a different first name also (as Elementary's Jamie Moriarty is).
  • Obsession: Moriarty is commonly viewed in the fandom as being interested in Holmes to an obsessive degree, akin sometimes to a stalker even, and liable to choose death when he is effectively 'rejected' by Holmes. This idea appears to owe much to the BBC Sherlock portrayal in particular though probably also owes something to certain other notable adaptations such as the Bert Coules radio version. Even the Conan Doyle Estate have claimed that Moriarty is Holmes's "obsessive fan" and that he is a mirror of Holmes in an "eerily romantic" [8] way despite this being largely a fanon idea and not a storyline that was actually present in the canon.
  • Porlock: Fred Porlock is canonically the nom-de-plume of an unknown person within Moriarty's organisation who Holmes paid for information and who tries to break off contact with him when he believes Moriarty suspects him of betrayal. Porlock has rarely been used in adaptations aside from Yuukoku no Moriarty but he appears in a few pastiches and his real identity or his fate are sometimes addressed in various other fanworks. Sometimes in both meta and fanfiction it has been suggested that Moriarty is Porlock and has himself been the one feeding information (or misinformation) to Holmes.
  • Presumed Dead: Moriarty does presumably die in the canonical story in which he is introduced. However his death was never conclusively shown, leaving room for fans to be able to plausibly 'resurrect' him, either to have him as a recurring villain responsible for many more crimes or simply to further explore his character.
  • PWP: many fanworks focused on shipping Moriarty with another character (often Moran) are largely focused on smut.
  • Recurring Character: Moriarty only really features in one canon story, The Final Problem, although he does play a key role in The Valley of Fear and the remnants of his criminal network are a major plot point in The Empty House. Many fans will increase Moriarty's presence in their fanworks, having him become a recurring antagonist, either by increasing his involvement with Holmes before their fatal showdown at Reichenbach Falls, or by having Moriarty return somehow and have him be a repeated threat to Holmes and Watson.
  • Recurring themes, imagery and plot elements: Moriarty is canonically referred to by Holmes as "like a spider in the centre of its web" and this animal imagery is utilised in some fanworks, with him being called a spider or with spiderwebs being referred to or shown in fanart for example. He is also linked to death imagery or symbolism both within the canon and in adaptations and fanworks. These are amongst the topics discussed in the extensive meta essay The Mythology of Moriarty and Moran. His rivalry or his 'duel to the death' with Holmes is another theme or plot element that occurs repeatedly in fanworks, with this often being expanded on significantly from the canon and where also usually far more crimes are ascribed to Moriarty, often effectively making him a far greater villain than he ever actually was within the canon itself.
  • Vampires: vampire AU fanfiction exists for Moriarty and there are published texts which link him to vampirism. Some of this may be directly inspired by Holmes's description of Moriarty in the canon, where he is described as "pale" and with animalistic traits, suggesting that he is somewhat of an 'inhuman' figure.

Example Fanworks

Fanfic

Canon and Sherlock Holmes (Granada):

Rathbone films:

A Study in Emerald:

Ritchie Holmes:

Professor Moriarty: The Hound of the D'Urbervilles:

Moriarty (Anthony Horowitz):

Moriarty (podcast):

Meta

Podcasts

  • Dynamics of a Podcast - 'A podcast fangirling over the Napoleon of Crime himself, Professor James Moriarty'

Videos

Example Art Gallery

External Links

References

  1. ^ Moriarty (Hologram) on Memory Alpha wiki
  2. ^ "James Moriarty, despite being a villain, holds a special place in the hearts of many Holmes enthusiasts" - from In Memoriam Moriarty on Sherlockian.net
  3. ^ "Wigram, ever the fan of Sherlock Holmes, had been reflecting on new ways to depict his favorite literature character for modern audiences." from Sherlock Holmes at 15: The Story Behind Guy Ritchie’s Weirdly Fascinating Take on the Baker Street Super Sleuth, 2024
  4. ^ "The entire canon of Sherlock Holmes is fantastic and sales of the old stories have gone up and I couldn't think of anything more brilliant than for people to be pointed back towards Doyle, who is the well spring of all of this." Mark Gatiss in Interview with Mark Gatiss
  5. ^ "Guy Ritchie’s obsession with Sherlock Holmes has inspired the design of his £6 million home." from Ritchie’s £6 million Holmes makeover, The Standard, 6th March 2012
  6. ^ "I can't think of a super-villain in a sort of obvious commercial sense before Moriarty in literature," said Guy Ritchie, who directed 2009's "Sherlock Holmes" and the sequel. "He really has become the most famous villain in literature, for not doing a great deal, either, by the way. But it is interesting how he's carried so much momentum. He's an elusive character, really, and he gained his equity as much by being elusive as for being potent." from Moriarty: 'The grandfather of super-villians' by DAVID GERMAIN  |  Standard-Times, 2011
  7. ^ "You could say that Blofeld was a version of Moriarty in that he was created for the same reason by Ian Fleming," Harris said. "You have Superman, you have to create a Lex Luthor or you have to have a kryptonite. Otherwise, there's no jeopardy in your story." from Moriarty: 'The grandfather of super-villians' by DAVID GERMAIN  |  Standard-Times, 2011
  8. ^ "Sherlock’s number one nemesis and obsessive fan. Moriarty is the criminal mastermind who haunts Sherlock Holmes as the great detective hunts him during many of his investigative endeavours. Moriarty’s impeccable intelligence and wit make him a perfect mirror of Holmes, often in an eerily romantic way." on The Official Conan Doyle Estate - James Moriarty
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