SHERLOCK HOLMES AND WATSON

Character created by the English writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who became the prototype for the modern mastermind detective and generated the most enduring tradition in detective fiction.

Though Holmes had been anticipated by Auguste Dupin, the creation od Edgar Allan Poe, Dupin remained an eccentric genius while Holmes made a signal impact on the popular imagination.

Doyle modelled his great detective on the methods and mannerisms of his former teacher in medical school Dr. Joseph Bell of Edinburgh.
His skill in surrounding the character of Holmes with a mythic environment -a world of London fogs and Victorian hansom cabs; a mastermind opponent Dr. Moriarity as dedicated to evil as Homes is to good, and a loyal friend Dr. Watson whose obtuseness is a foil to Holme´s brilliance -did much to enlarge his hero´s image.

Home´s character is many-sided.
He is the complete pragmatist.
He admits to Watson (in A Study in Scarlet) his ignorance of the Copernican theory but his knowledge of such things as chemistry, sensational literature and varieties of cigar ash is profound.
Holes is arrogant (he twits those not as observant as he).
Unfailingly chivalrous, but mistrustful of women (he is a confirmed bachelor).
Lovable (witness Watson´s lifelong devotion).
Artistically sensitive (he is a fine violinist and lover of opera).
And finally, eccentric (Holmes takes cocaine, keeps his cigars in the coal scuttle and when bored every so often shoots bullet holes in his wall in the shape of a patriotic V.R.

Holmes partner John Watson who shared with the reader dis delight and amazement at Homes´s ratiocinative powers is almost as popular as Holmes himself in his role as "the reader´s fried".
He is completely loyal to Holmes (though deserting him to the extent of marrying).
Courageous and tenacious as an English bulldog (a good example is Watson´s lonely vigil in a hut on the moor in The Hound of the Baskervilles).
And romantic (he takes notice of Holmes´s attractive female clients).