22 Facts About Professor Moriarty

Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

Professor Moriarty was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could kill Holmes and end the hero's stories.

Professor Moriarty first appears in the short story "The Adventure of the Final Problem", first published in The Strand Magazine in December 1893.

Professor Moriarty plays a role in the final Sherlock Holmes novel The Valley of Fear, but without a direct appearance.

Professor Moriarty is a criminal mastermind who uses his intelligence and resources to provide criminals with crime strategies and sometimes protection from the law, all in exchange for a fee or a cut of profit.

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Professor Moriarty realizes Holmes is aware of his operation and confronts him in person, threatening death if further interference is done.

Professor Moriarty has a forehead that "domes out in a white curve", deeply sunken eyes, and shoulders that are "rounded from much study".

Holmes mentions that during their meeting, Professor Moriarty remarked in surprise, "You have less frontal development than I should have expected, " indicating the criminal believes in phrenology.

Professor Moriarty plays a direct role in only one other Holmes story, The Valley of Fear, set before "The Final Problem" but written afterwards.

Doctor Watson, even when narrating, never meets Professor Moriarty and relies upon Holmes to relate accounts of the detective's feud with the criminal.

Professor Moriarty has a marked preference for organising lethal "accidents" to befall his targets.

Professor Moriarty is responsible for stage-managing the death of Birdy Edwards, making it appear the man was lost overboard while sailing to South Africa.

Professor Moriarty is highly ruthless, shown by his steadfast vow to Sherlock Holmes that "if you are clever enough to bring destruction upon me, rest assured that I shall do as much to you".

Professor Moriarty is categorised by Holmes as an extremely powerful criminal mastermind adept at committing any atrocity to perfection without losing any sleep over it.

Professor Moriarty is a man of good birth and excellent education, endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty.

Professor Moriarty is the organiser of half that is evil and of nearly all that is undetected in this great city.

Professor Moriarty becomes a consulting criminal mastermind for various London gangs and criminals.

John F Bowers, a lecturer in mathematics at the University of Leeds, wrote a tongue-in-cheek article in 1989 in which he assesses Moriarty's contributions to mathematics and gives a detailed description of Moriarty's background, including a statement that Moriarty was born in Ireland.

The 2005 pastiche novel Sherlock Holmes: The Unauthorized Biography reports that Moriarty was born in Ireland, and states that he was employed as a professor by Durham University.

Professor Moriarty's younger brother is a station master in the west of England.

Writer Vincent Starrett suggested that Professor Moriarty could have one brother or two brothers ; he added that he considered the presence of two siblings more likely, and suggested that all three brothers were named James.

Professor Moriarty suggests that Moriarty, Ireland's Napoleon, represents the Fenian threat at the heart of the British Empire.