Character Survey of Doom
Much of this is headcanon/popular speculation until horribly disproved at a later date.
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Sherlock stands just a little over six feet, and tends to look even more impressively tall to the casual observer due to his slender form, especially if he's not hiding it when wearing a thick coat. He's thin, but carries himself with enough fluidity that he doesn't seem lanky.
2. How old is he?
Very early thirties. (I'd like to say 33 maximum. Not a stretch for this version of Sherlock to be even younger than that, but many people believe that book canon Sherlock Holmes was 33 when meeting John soooo... it's easy to just go with that.) By rule of thumb, younger than John.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
He usually doesn't consciously think about it, but Sherlock carries himself well generally all the time. It's an old, left-over habit (a good one, though) from his highly upper-class upbringing; something constantly preached at/corrected for him while growing up in the Holmes household.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Sherlock's state of health is pretty tenacious most of the time, if one considers how he treats himself while on a case. If his mind is too busy occupied with other matters, his own health is the least of his worries, which is really the only time it's in true danger of decline. Yet even Sherlock's body can only take so much neglect; when he gets tired, he gets awfully horrible-looking and is generally unable to function.
He's fit enough to handle himself in a fight (as long as he's not ridiculously outmatched), but other than being fairly agile he's not taking credit for any physical triumphs any time soon. He probably has an unhealthy amount of nicotine running through his bloodstream at any given moment, but that can be considered much better compared to other chemicals in the not-so-distant past.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
As mentioned before, Sherlock is pretty fluid. I don't know if I'd use the word "graceful", since that implies a little bit of conscious awareness of movement (to me, at least), but he's definitely not clumsy. He has good reflexes and steady hands, and is fairly aware of his surroundings at any given time. The latter gives him a strong advantage when it comes to not tripping over furniture/bodies/flatmates and other objects that happen to get in his way.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
Sherlock is not your average-looking person, by any means. He isn't ugly, but he isn't a supermodel; he's got just enough interesting features to stand out from the crowd. After awhile, his general "look" tends to grow on people, and he seems attractive in his own odd way. (His cheekbones. Just look at those cheekbones.)
When Sherlock looks in the mirror, it's usually for personal grooming and not a quick judgement on whether or not he finds himself attractive. (The two can be mutually exclusive.) He probably doesn't consider himself physically stunning, but can be well-aware of the fact if others think he's handsome.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
His complexion is pale compared to most, and his skin is clear.
8. Describe his hair: colour, texture, style.
He has dark, curly brown hair that, while not exactly crazy-looking, sometimes lends to the whole "mad scientist" image.
9. What colour are his eyes?
Grey-ish blue.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
Like I mentioned before, he has very prominent cheekbones, and is rather tall and thin.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
Probably in the shoulders or in the neck. I only say this because when he's not complaining of boredom, he's usually researching or investigating. Which requires a lot of hunching over books, laptops, dead bodies, writing notes, etc that can affect that general area.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
Sherlock's choice in clothing is usually pretty high-end and expensive to match, but oddly enough he doesn't necessarily dress to stand out. Simple, a little elegant, but practical enough to do his job. He gravitates towards cool, darker colours. There always seems to be a hint of blue in whatever he's wearing.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
They fit him perfectly; Sherlock wouldn't bother wearing anything that he wasn't comfortable with. It would be too much of an annoyance to him.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
He basically created his job, so he dresses however he pleases when doing his bouts of investigations. Which means that no, he doesn't have a separate outfit for work by itself. He goes around in his "normal clothing", although if his free time consists of him being really bored, he'll just hang around the flat in his PJs. Complaining.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Boxers!
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Sherlock has a fairly deep voice, which hardly ever changes unless he's acting out a role.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
This depends. If he's unimpressed by something (which is almost always), he speaks in an even, monotone voice. However, he has the ability to speak very, very fast when he's explaining the details of a case or clue to someone; when this happens, it hardly sounds like he pauses to take a breath, and his sentences are short to reflect his thought. Which is really just a stream of consciousness that he assumes the listener can follow.
Sherlock hardly ever hesitates when he talks. He likes to think that he says what he wants and is to the point with it; worrying about semantics is a waste of time and effort.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Being from London, he has an English accent. No particular quirks, although if you're unlucky enough to be around him and misuse a word, he'll correct you on it. He's a bit of a grammar nazi.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
Obviously English. He's fluent in French and German. Any other languages in the surrounding area probably fall under the category of "not very fluent, but can understand enough to get by".
He can read/speak a few select words in Mandarin and Japanese.
Latin also falls under fluent languages. The dead language is still very useful in a scientific sense.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
If he situation requires it. If he needs to speak to someone in French, he'll speak to someone in French. He might accidentally utter a foreign word from time to time, if he's thinking really hard about something and his brain mixes up too many details, not bothering to worry about languages. Or he might do it just to flaunt his intelligence, which extends to knowledge of certain languages.
He can also fake accents very well, so that's another thing that he may do if he's "acting".
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
Although he may SEEM like an impromptu speaker with the rapidity of his explanations, I'd like to think that Sherlock runs everything through that brain of his before any words leave his mouth. The process moves so quickly that it's hardly noticeable. He is impromptu when it comes to sarcastic remarks or quips about someone's intelligence. Those come naturally to him.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Not really eloquent, but fluid in his words. Even when he's ranting about some missed clue, his short sentences are seamless. This will only change on the rare occasion that someone renders him speechless. A very rare occasion. This usually only happens when those inconvenient things called emotions get in the way, and he's gone off-track with his usually carefully planned routes of conversation. In this case, he'll try to pull things back into his favour, but there'll be a delay and maybe a repeat of words as he tries to find the other half of his sentence.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
This is Sherlock Holmes. He is obscenely intelligent, and will let you know it. The rate at which he retains details, facts, and can put problems together and somehow come out with a correct solution is probably illegal in some countries.
He is both book-smart and street smart (the latter coming mostly from his observations and interactions with others in the more shadier parts of London). However, there is one stipulation to this: Sherlock only bothers to store information he deems worthy or useful. If it isn't? He promptly forgets it.
In other words, he's 97% genius and 3% retard. (The earth goes round the sun? Who cares?) Pop culture references, unless extremely, extremely integrated into society, will completely escape him. His knowledge of literature, unless dealing with philosophical issues (and even then it's a little flaky), is pretty lacking.
And then there's his knowledge of human emotions and reactions, which are based purely on analytical observation. For instance, he may be able to tell you if a certain person is angry or the reasons behind it. But he may not completely understand why they have to react in such a way, because he's never felt that level of illogical involuntary response to anything.
Sherlock goes above and beyond everyone else's ability to reason, but in turn lacks a sense of... emotional development. In this sense, he's still pretty immature, and the fact that he can sometimes act like a little kid shouldn't surprise anyone who knows him well enough.
He's still learning, though. He'll get there. Eventually.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
The same with the speech aspect mentioned above. He thinks through almost all of his actions beforehand, but the process is so rapid that it seems impulsive. On the rare occasion where he literally cannot spare a moment, he goes with his gut instinct and will deal with the consequences later.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
Logical. All the way. This is really all he knows. He does possess a detective's intuition; he can tell if someone isn't telling the complete truth or is hiding something, like any good detective can. He's very practical and not very idealistic at all. He doesn't believe in heroes or doing things for the sake of them being the right thing to do. (This is slowly changing, however, after his meeting with John. Not that he's really aware of it just yet.)
4. What kind of education has the character had?
The best his family's money can buy. Private schooling all the way, maybe even a few private tutors at home. When he made it to the university level, he either attended Oxford or Cambridge. Popular Holmesian speculation (book-canonwise, at least) says that he might have attended both.
University wasn't difficult for Sherlock, but it was a part of his life that was filled with frustration. He didn't get along well with any of his professors and his fellow classmates didn't think very highly of him; he was too pompous and too nosy (always making frighteningly correct "guesses" about their person) for their liking. Most of his classes were boring, and he probably either constantly switched them out or dropped them all together.
The only thing that really kept him there until his graduation was his family's expectations. (AKA their hounding.) That and the fact that even though Sherlock didn't really need to be at uni, he didn't want to make it seem like he failed it. It was a challenge. A boring one, yes, but still a challenge. Dropping out would hurt the ego far too much.
All this probably put a strain of his relationship with his family, but that's a different subject altogether.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Murders are Sherlock's business, or rather solving them is. Therefore he studies forensic science, creating ridiculous experiments to test so-and-so's reaction to this and that. Generally, Sherlock is interested in puzzles and problems, since his mind constantly needs something to do to avoid boredom.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
He's a natural introvert, but his need to constantly have something to do forces him to occasionally get out of his flat and annoy people find a challenge to tackle.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Sherlock has the mood swings of a pregnant woman. If he's on a case, he's generally very determined and content with the challenge. BUT if something on that case is stumping him, he can go back to being moody and snippity until he figures out what the problem is.
When he's bored, and I mean really bored, he goes into one of his black moods. That involves not speaking to anyone, possibly not moving from one spot for days, and stewing in his own thoughts.
Really, it all reflects the situation he's in. If his flatmate is amusing him, then he'll smile. If he says something idiotic the next moment, Sherlock will look exasperated.
He's really quite flexible, to many people's annoyance.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
New people and new situations are always of interest to him, since his mind automatically goes into "observation-mode", picking up anything interesting that he might need to store. From there, he either deems them a) boring, b) of worthy interest, or c) idiotic.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
During a case, he'll act. He doesn't like waiting around for a result, he likes to create it. But outside of cases is a different story altogether. He often sits around waiting for something interesting to happen to him. Even in a more general sense, he's more of an observer and people-watcher, which goes back to the introverted question above.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
If this is a literal question, then fight. He's often seen fending off people trying to kill him on several occasions. If this is a metaphorical question, then it's also fight. He's too egotistical to go the "flight" route, even if he should know better.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
Sherlock's humour is dry and often at the expense of others. He's very sarcastic, as that seems to be a Holmes family trait. He does appreciate that kind of humour if it's thrown back at him, but he may only look unimpressed. The ridiculousness of others is also a form of amusement for him.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
He calls himself a sociopath, although this is probably something he just likes to say. It's an easy excuse to why he doesn't completely understand the rationale behind human emotions; much easier than saying that he just doesn't understand because he doesn't bother to take the time to. He very much has his own emotions, he usually just ignores them if he can. But there are several instances where he seems to forget that he's a self-proclaimed sociopath; usually in highly stressful situations, or when John's life is being threatened.
As to how he "deals" with his lack of empathy, he just... does. He doesn't particularly care if others think he's a "freak" or a heartless bastard. He's accepted who he is and he's better, smarter, and more efficient than you.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
His time at University, no doubt, added a fair amount of disdain for the stupidity of the human race to his personality. However, as I mentioned before, Sherlock's emotional development hasn't exactly been astounding. In some ways he's remained just as childlike as when he actually was as child. This development is still being moulded; most notably by a Dr. John Watson's entry into his life.
14. What does he fear?
Nothing. Fear is illogical and gets in the way of proper deductive reasoning.
Is what he'd like to say, at least.
Sherlock has a very human fear, ironically enough. And that's losing what's important to him. His intellect, his audience, and John.
The number one reason why he hates boredom is because he fears it's going to drive him insane one day. (Intellect.) The reason why he needs to prove himself more clever than anyone around him is because he needs to believe it if he wants everyone else to believe. (Audience.) And John is his friend, his best friend, his only friend. If he loses John, he has a strange feeling that he'll lose not only his favourite audience member, but possibly might be driven mad. He's become much more reliant on his flatmate than even he wants to believe.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
All Sherlock wants to do is to solve interesting murders for the rest of his life. If he's granted this, then he can die a happy man.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
That despite his rants on how stupid everyone is and how epically superior his mind is in comparison to all,-
-he's easy to break. Like all geniuses, he's a mentally fragile man. Threaten to take away anything mentioned under the "fears" question, and Sherlock panics.
NO ONE WILL EVER FIND THIS OUT, THOUGH. HE WILL KEEP IT HIDDEN FOREVER UNDER A MASK OF :|||||
Except it's hinted that Mycroft probably already knows this fact, which might explain his constant hounding. How annoying.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
Currently amicable, but it wasn't always like that, especially while he was at university. He respects his father, Siger Holmes, and he thinks his mother Violet is both terrifying and the most patient woman on the face of the planet. (She did raise both him and Mycroft, after all.)
He still talks to them on occasion when he's not busy with work. He's under the impression that, like any good parents, they worry about him a lot, but he doesn't see why. He's doing just fine, after all. He's a grown man. They need to stop worrying.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
Oh, Mycroft. His eldest brother by seven years. He will always have a complicated relationship with him.
When they were younger, they probably got along just fine, despite the occasional fight and argument. As Sherlock grew older, he became a little jealous at Mycroft's quick progress through society; already in the government? And his parents were so proud. (Government work sounded so boring, though!)
Sherlock will never admit it, but he knows that his brother is more clever than him. More socially stable, too; Mycroft can carry on a civil conversation with a stranger without angering them within the first five minutes. With Sherlock growing up, and more than able to observe everyone viewing Mycroft as the "perfect" son, he grew a little resentful.
He doesn't understand it though. Mycroft, to him, had always been so lazy. Sherlock was always looking for something to keep him interested. So what if that meant that he sometimes blew things up in the house, or nearly dropped out of university, or took up drugs? At least he had motivation. At least he wasn't content with sitting around all day, manipulating world politics with ease.
It's a personal rivalry he shares with his brother that he isn't sure he can win. And it's so irritating he could scream. And sometimes he does scream at Mycroft, when they're having a particularly nasty argument.
And yet despite all this, he's still his brother and somewhere (very very very very) deep down, Sherlock does care for him. He'd never wish any harm on him, though he does call him fat and other colourful things on occasion. Sherlock really wants nothing to do with him, but in the back of his mind he knows that if one day, absolutely everything goes wrong, he can at least count of Mycroft to get him out of a jam. He probably just won't be too happy about it.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
Probably. Everyone has that one relative that they hate visiting. Sherlock's family is probably pretty extensive, though, and I don't want to speculate too much into it.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
John is practically family at this point. They already act like a married couple, anyway. Sherlock's relationship with John is constantly growing, but it's already become closer than most relationships he has with members of his family. He trusts John enough to take him with him on his investigations; this alone is saying quite a bit.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
John Watson, the only person Sherlock can easily introduce as his "friend" and actually mean it. They met by chance, really. John was looking for a flatmate and so was Sherlock. They decided to move in together. Hilarity (and a friendship of epic proportions) ensued.
6. Does he have other close friends?
He has people he talks to ever once in awhile, yes. Friends? Not really. Which is why everyone always seems surprised to learn that Sherlock actually has a friend.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
...Lol. Sherlock always tends to rub people the wrong way, even if he doesn't mean to. So no, he doesn't make friends easily. See above.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
Sherlock would probably give his life to save either. Besides, John is basically family at this point anyway.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
Single. Marriage and dating are "not his area".
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
No. Again, not his area. BUT SEE BELOW.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
His first crush was science. They've been happy together ever since. His latest crush is more of a.... well, of an obsession. Which is his flatmate. He probably won't admit it, but John is a strangely fascinating man, despite being decidedly normal in comparison to himself. Hasn't quite figured that part out just yet, but he's working on it.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
He's... not looking, really. Romance is an ideal to him, and Sherlock just isn't very idealistic.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
No. He doesn't want any. He can't imagine having to take care of small children; it would probably drive him mad with responsibility he'll never quite be prepared for. Besides, children will just get in the way of a life of detecting. And we can't have that.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
Moriarty, of course. A man who is too much like himself for his own liking.
And Mycroft, who got his own paragraph a few questions above.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
Sherlock is work-sexual. He is married to his work. But on a more serious note, if someone got him interested enough in the idea, he wouldn't really care if it was a man or a woman. Gender is just a detail. He's an X on the Kinsey scale, or a 3 if someone manages to catch his interest.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Not very. Granted, he isn't an expert on the subject, since his experiences are rather lacking at best. Close bodily contact has always been a repellent issue to him, so even if he found someone who was willing to have sex with him with no strings attached, Sherlock would shy away.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Well. IF HE HAD ANY... he'd probably be really turned on by being able to take control of his partner. He loves being the center of attention, but also knowing that he can easily manipulate someone's reactions would be really appealing to him.
Weird bedroom habits? Can anyone say riding crop?
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favourite:
1. Color? Blue.
2. Smell? Creepily enough, the smell of either a science lab or a morgue.
3. Time of day? Late at night or really early in the morning.
4. Season? Winter. He can wear his coat and scarf all he wants.
5. Book?
6. Music? Classical. He thinks he old masters are geniuses in their own right.
7. Place? 221b Baker Street.
8. Substance?
9. Plant? Err... hahaha. Well, he doesn't have a favourite plant, per se, but he's rather familiar with cannabis.
10. Animal? None in particular, but if I were to liken him to an animal, I'd have to say cat.
END
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Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Sherlock stands just a little over six feet, and tends to look even more impressively tall to the casual observer due to his slender form, especially if he's not hiding it when wearing a thick coat. He's thin, but carries himself with enough fluidity that he doesn't seem lanky.
2. How old is he?
Very early thirties. (I'd like to say 33 maximum. Not a stretch for this version of Sherlock to be even younger than that, but many people believe that book canon Sherlock Holmes was 33 when meeting John soooo... it's easy to just go with that.) By rule of thumb, younger than John.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
He usually doesn't consciously think about it, but Sherlock carries himself well generally all the time. It's an old, left-over habit (a good one, though) from his highly upper-class upbringing; something constantly preached at/corrected for him while growing up in the Holmes household.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
Sherlock's state of health is pretty tenacious most of the time, if one considers how he treats himself while on a case. If his mind is too busy occupied with other matters, his own health is the least of his worries, which is really the only time it's in true danger of decline. Yet even Sherlock's body can only take so much neglect; when he gets tired, he gets awfully horrible-looking and is generally unable to function.
He's fit enough to handle himself in a fight (as long as he's not ridiculously outmatched), but other than being fairly agile he's not taking credit for any physical triumphs any time soon. He probably has an unhealthy amount of nicotine running through his bloodstream at any given moment, but that can be considered much better compared to other chemicals in the not-so-distant past.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
As mentioned before, Sherlock is pretty fluid. I don't know if I'd use the word "graceful", since that implies a little bit of conscious awareness of movement (to me, at least), but he's definitely not clumsy. He has good reflexes and steady hands, and is fairly aware of his surroundings at any given time. The latter gives him a strong advantage when it comes to not tripping over furniture/bodies/flatmates and other objects that happen to get in his way.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
Sherlock is not your average-looking person, by any means. He isn't ugly, but he isn't a supermodel; he's got just enough interesting features to stand out from the crowd. After awhile, his general "look" tends to grow on people, and he seems attractive in his own odd way. (His cheekbones. Just look at those cheekbones.)
When Sherlock looks in the mirror, it's usually for personal grooming and not a quick judgement on whether or not he finds himself attractive. (The two can be mutually exclusive.) He probably doesn't consider himself physically stunning, but can be well-aware of the fact if others think he's handsome.
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
His complexion is pale compared to most, and his skin is clear.
8. Describe his hair: colour, texture, style.
He has dark, curly brown hair that, while not exactly crazy-looking, sometimes lends to the whole "mad scientist" image.
9. What colour are his eyes?
Grey-ish blue.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
Like I mentioned before, he has very prominent cheekbones, and is rather tall and thin.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
Probably in the shoulders or in the neck. I only say this because when he's not complaining of boredom, he's usually researching or investigating. Which requires a lot of hunching over books, laptops, dead bodies, writing notes, etc that can affect that general area.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
Sherlock's choice in clothing is usually pretty high-end and expensive to match, but oddly enough he doesn't necessarily dress to stand out. Simple, a little elegant, but practical enough to do his job. He gravitates towards cool, darker colours. There always seems to be a hint of blue in whatever he's wearing.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
They fit him perfectly; Sherlock wouldn't bother wearing anything that he wasn't comfortable with. It would be too much of an annoyance to him.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
He basically created his job, so he dresses however he pleases when doing his bouts of investigations. Which means that no, he doesn't have a separate outfit for work by itself. He goes around in his "normal clothing", although if his free time consists of him being really bored, he'll just hang around the flat in his PJs. Complaining.
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
Boxers!
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Sherlock has a fairly deep voice, which hardly ever changes unless he's acting out a role.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
This depends. If he's unimpressed by something (which is almost always), he speaks in an even, monotone voice. However, he has the ability to speak very, very fast when he's explaining the details of a case or clue to someone; when this happens, it hardly sounds like he pauses to take a breath, and his sentences are short to reflect his thought. Which is really just a stream of consciousness that he assumes the listener can follow.
Sherlock hardly ever hesitates when he talks. He likes to think that he says what he wants and is to the point with it; worrying about semantics is a waste of time and effort.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Being from London, he has an English accent. No particular quirks, although if you're unlucky enough to be around him and misuse a word, he'll correct you on it. He's a bit of a grammar nazi.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
Obviously English. He's fluent in French and German. Any other languages in the surrounding area probably fall under the category of "not very fluent, but can understand enough to get by".
He can read/speak a few select words in Mandarin and Japanese.
Latin also falls under fluent languages. The dead language is still very useful in a scientific sense.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
If he situation requires it. If he needs to speak to someone in French, he'll speak to someone in French. He might accidentally utter a foreign word from time to time, if he's thinking really hard about something and his brain mixes up too many details, not bothering to worry about languages. Or he might do it just to flaunt his intelligence, which extends to knowledge of certain languages.
He can also fake accents very well, so that's another thing that he may do if he's "acting".
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
Although he may SEEM like an impromptu speaker with the rapidity of his explanations, I'd like to think that Sherlock runs everything through that brain of his before any words leave his mouth. The process moves so quickly that it's hardly noticeable. He is impromptu when it comes to sarcastic remarks or quips about someone's intelligence. Those come naturally to him.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Not really eloquent, but fluid in his words. Even when he's ranting about some missed clue, his short sentences are seamless. This will only change on the rare occasion that someone renders him speechless. A very rare occasion. This usually only happens when those inconvenient things called emotions get in the way, and he's gone off-track with his usually carefully planned routes of conversation. In this case, he'll try to pull things back into his favour, but there'll be a delay and maybe a repeat of words as he tries to find the other half of his sentence.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
This is Sherlock Holmes. He is obscenely intelligent, and will let you know it. The rate at which he retains details, facts, and can put problems together and somehow come out with a correct solution is probably illegal in some countries.
He is both book-smart and street smart (the latter coming mostly from his observations and interactions with others in the more shadier parts of London). However, there is one stipulation to this: Sherlock only bothers to store information he deems worthy or useful. If it isn't? He promptly forgets it.
In other words, he's 97% genius and 3% retard. (The earth goes round the sun? Who cares?) Pop culture references, unless extremely, extremely integrated into society, will completely escape him. His knowledge of literature, unless dealing with philosophical issues (and even then it's a little flaky), is pretty lacking.
And then there's his knowledge of human emotions and reactions, which are based purely on analytical observation. For instance, he may be able to tell you if a certain person is angry or the reasons behind it. But he may not completely understand why they have to react in such a way, because he's never felt that level of illogical involuntary response to anything.
Sherlock goes above and beyond everyone else's ability to reason, but in turn lacks a sense of... emotional development. In this sense, he's still pretty immature, and the fact that he can sometimes act like a little kid shouldn't surprise anyone who knows him well enough.
He's still learning, though. He'll get there. Eventually.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
The same with the speech aspect mentioned above. He thinks through almost all of his actions beforehand, but the process is so rapid that it seems impulsive. On the rare occasion where he literally cannot spare a moment, he goes with his gut instinct and will deal with the consequences later.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
Logical. All the way. This is really all he knows. He does possess a detective's intuition; he can tell if someone isn't telling the complete truth or is hiding something, like any good detective can. He's very practical and not very idealistic at all. He doesn't believe in heroes or doing things for the sake of them being the right thing to do. (This is slowly changing, however, after his meeting with John. Not that he's really aware of it just yet.)
4. What kind of education has the character had?
The best his family's money can buy. Private schooling all the way, maybe even a few private tutors at home. When he made it to the university level, he either attended Oxford or Cambridge. Popular Holmesian speculation (book-canonwise, at least) says that he might have attended both.
University wasn't difficult for Sherlock, but it was a part of his life that was filled with frustration. He didn't get along well with any of his professors and his fellow classmates didn't think very highly of him; he was too pompous and too nosy (always making frighteningly correct "guesses" about their person) for their liking. Most of his classes were boring, and he probably either constantly switched them out or dropped them all together.
The only thing that really kept him there until his graduation was his family's expectations. (AKA their hounding.) That and the fact that even though Sherlock didn't really need to be at uni, he didn't want to make it seem like he failed it. It was a challenge. A boring one, yes, but still a challenge. Dropping out would hurt the ego far too much.
All this probably put a strain of his relationship with his family, but that's a different subject altogether.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
Murders are Sherlock's business, or rather solving them is. Therefore he studies forensic science, creating ridiculous experiments to test so-and-so's reaction to this and that. Generally, Sherlock is interested in puzzles and problems, since his mind constantly needs something to do to avoid boredom.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
He's a natural introvert, but his need to constantly have something to do forces him to occasionally get out of his flat and annoy people find a challenge to tackle.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Sherlock has the mood swings of a pregnant woman. If he's on a case, he's generally very determined and content with the challenge. BUT if something on that case is stumping him, he can go back to being moody and snippity until he figures out what the problem is.
When he's bored, and I mean really bored, he goes into one of his black moods. That involves not speaking to anyone, possibly not moving from one spot for days, and stewing in his own thoughts.
Really, it all reflects the situation he's in. If his flatmate is amusing him, then he'll smile. If he says something idiotic the next moment, Sherlock will look exasperated.
He's really quite flexible, to many people's annoyance.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
New people and new situations are always of interest to him, since his mind automatically goes into "observation-mode", picking up anything interesting that he might need to store. From there, he either deems them a) boring, b) of worthy interest, or c) idiotic.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
During a case, he'll act. He doesn't like waiting around for a result, he likes to create it. But outside of cases is a different story altogether. He often sits around waiting for something interesting to happen to him. Even in a more general sense, he's more of an observer and people-watcher, which goes back to the introverted question above.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
If this is a literal question, then fight. He's often seen fending off people trying to kill him on several occasions. If this is a metaphorical question, then it's also fight. He's too egotistical to go the "flight" route, even if he should know better.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
Sherlock's humour is dry and often at the expense of others. He's very sarcastic, as that seems to be a Holmes family trait. He does appreciate that kind of humour if it's thrown back at him, but he may only look unimpressed. The ridiculousness of others is also a form of amusement for him.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
He calls himself a sociopath, although this is probably something he just likes to say. It's an easy excuse to why he doesn't completely understand the rationale behind human emotions; much easier than saying that he just doesn't understand because he doesn't bother to take the time to. He very much has his own emotions, he usually just ignores them if he can. But there are several instances where he seems to forget that he's a self-proclaimed sociopath; usually in highly stressful situations, or when John's life is being threatened.
As to how he "deals" with his lack of empathy, he just... does. He doesn't particularly care if others think he's a "freak" or a heartless bastard. He's accepted who he is and he's better, smarter, and more efficient than you.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
His time at University, no doubt, added a fair amount of disdain for the stupidity of the human race to his personality. However, as I mentioned before, Sherlock's emotional development hasn't exactly been astounding. In some ways he's remained just as childlike as when he actually was as child. This development is still being moulded; most notably by a Dr. John Watson's entry into his life.
14. What does he fear?
Nothing. Fear is illogical and gets in the way of proper deductive reasoning.
Is what he'd like to say, at least.
Sherlock has a very human fear, ironically enough. And that's losing what's important to him. His intellect, his audience, and John.
The number one reason why he hates boredom is because he fears it's going to drive him insane one day. (Intellect.) The reason why he needs to prove himself more clever than anyone around him is because he needs to believe it if he wants everyone else to believe. (Audience.) And John is his friend, his best friend, his only friend. If he loses John, he has a strange feeling that he'll lose not only his favourite audience member, but possibly might be driven mad. He's become much more reliant on his flatmate than even he wants to believe.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
All Sherlock wants to do is to solve interesting murders for the rest of his life. If he's granted this, then he can die a happy man.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
That despite his rants on how stupid everyone is and how epically superior his mind is in comparison to all,-
-he's easy to break. Like all geniuses, he's a mentally fragile man. Threaten to take away anything mentioned under the "fears" question, and Sherlock panics.
NO ONE WILL EVER FIND THIS OUT, THOUGH. HE WILL KEEP IT HIDDEN FOREVER UNDER A MASK OF :|||||
Except it's hinted that Mycroft probably already knows this fact, which might explain his constant hounding. How annoying.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
Currently amicable, but it wasn't always like that, especially while he was at university. He respects his father, Siger Holmes, and he thinks his mother Violet is both terrifying and the most patient woman on the face of the planet. (She did raise both him and Mycroft, after all.)
He still talks to them on occasion when he's not busy with work. He's under the impression that, like any good parents, they worry about him a lot, but he doesn't see why. He's doing just fine, after all. He's a grown man. They need to stop worrying.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
Oh, Mycroft. His eldest brother by seven years. He will always have a complicated relationship with him.
When they were younger, they probably got along just fine, despite the occasional fight and argument. As Sherlock grew older, he became a little jealous at Mycroft's quick progress through society; already in the government? And his parents were so proud. (Government work sounded so boring, though!)
Sherlock will never admit it, but he knows that his brother is more clever than him. More socially stable, too; Mycroft can carry on a civil conversation with a stranger without angering them within the first five minutes. With Sherlock growing up, and more than able to observe everyone viewing Mycroft as the "perfect" son, he grew a little resentful.
He doesn't understand it though. Mycroft, to him, had always been so lazy. Sherlock was always looking for something to keep him interested. So what if that meant that he sometimes blew things up in the house, or nearly dropped out of university, or took up drugs? At least he had motivation. At least he wasn't content with sitting around all day, manipulating world politics with ease.
It's a personal rivalry he shares with his brother that he isn't sure he can win. And it's so irritating he could scream. And sometimes he does scream at Mycroft, when they're having a particularly nasty argument.
And yet despite all this, he's still his brother and somewhere (very very very very) deep down, Sherlock does care for him. He'd never wish any harm on him, though he does call him fat and other colourful things on occasion. Sherlock really wants nothing to do with him, but in the back of his mind he knows that if one day, absolutely everything goes wrong, he can at least count of Mycroft to get him out of a jam. He probably just won't be too happy about it.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
Probably. Everyone has that one relative that they hate visiting. Sherlock's family is probably pretty extensive, though, and I don't want to speculate too much into it.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
John is practically family at this point. They already act like a married couple, anyway. Sherlock's relationship with John is constantly growing, but it's already become closer than most relationships he has with members of his family. He trusts John enough to take him with him on his investigations; this alone is saying quite a bit.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
John Watson, the only person Sherlock can easily introduce as his "friend" and actually mean it. They met by chance, really. John was looking for a flatmate and so was Sherlock. They decided to move in together. Hilarity (and a friendship of epic proportions) ensued.
6. Does he have other close friends?
He has people he talks to ever once in awhile, yes. Friends? Not really. Which is why everyone always seems surprised to learn that Sherlock actually has a friend.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
...Lol. Sherlock always tends to rub people the wrong way, even if he doesn't mean to. So no, he doesn't make friends easily. See above.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
Sherlock would probably give his life to save either. Besides, John is basically family at this point anyway.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
Single. Marriage and dating are "not his area".
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
No. Again, not his area. BUT SEE BELOW.
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
His first crush was science. They've been happy together ever since. His latest crush is more of a.... well, of an obsession. Which is his flatmate. He probably won't admit it, but John is a strangely fascinating man, despite being decidedly normal in comparison to himself. Hasn't quite figured that part out just yet, but he's working on it.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
He's... not looking, really. Romance is an ideal to him, and Sherlock just isn't very idealistic.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
No. He doesn't want any. He can't imagine having to take care of small children; it would probably drive him mad with responsibility he'll never quite be prepared for. Besides, children will just get in the way of a life of detecting. And we can't have that.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
Moriarty, of course. A man who is too much like himself for his own liking.
And Mycroft, who got his own paragraph a few questions above.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
Sherlock is work-sexual. He is married to his work. But on a more serious note, if someone got him interested enough in the idea, he wouldn't really care if it was a man or a woman. Gender is just a detail. He's an X on the Kinsey scale, or a 3 if someone manages to catch his interest.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Not very. Granted, he isn't an expert on the subject, since his experiences are rather lacking at best. Close bodily contact has always been a repellent issue to him, so even if he found someone who was willing to have sex with him with no strings attached, Sherlock would shy away.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Well. IF HE HAD ANY... he'd probably be really turned on by being able to take control of his partner. He loves being the center of attention, but also knowing that he can easily manipulate someone's reactions would be really appealing to him.
Weird bedroom habits? Can anyone say riding crop?
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favourite:
1. Color? Blue.
2. Smell? Creepily enough, the smell of either a science lab or a morgue.
3. Time of day? Late at night or really early in the morning.
4. Season? Winter. He can wear his coat and scarf all he wants.
5. Book?
6. Music? Classical. He thinks he old masters are geniuses in their own right.
7. Place? 221b Baker Street.
8. Substance?
9. Plant? Err... hahaha. Well, he doesn't have a favourite plant, per se, but he's rather familiar with cannabis.
10. Animal? None in particular, but if I were to liken him to an animal, I'd have to say cat.
END
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