Army surgeon invalided home from Afghanistan who becomes Sherlock Holmes's companion, lodger, and chronicler. Steady, decent, and possessed of considerable courage, he serves as both the practical counterweight to Holmes's eccentricity and the reader's point of entry into a world that would otherwise be entirely alien. Narrator of the overwhelming majority of the canonical stories.

The world's only consulting detective, operating from 221B Baker Street, London. Possessed of extraordinary powers of observation and deductive reasoning, he applies a rigorous scientific method to criminal investigation while remaining largely indifferent to conventional social expectations. Capable of brilliant warmth and profound coldness in equal measure, his partnership with Dr Watson is the central relationship of the canon.

Scotland Yard's most prominent inspector in the canon and Holmes's most frequent professional contact within the official police. Tenacious and not without competence, but habitually out of his depth on the cases that matter most, he represents the institutional approach to detection that Holmes consistently outpaces. His relationship with Holmes evolves from grudging tolerance to genuine respect across the canon.