James Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes movies)
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| " | Rest assured, if you attempt to bring destruction down upon me, I shall do the same to you. My respect for you, Mr. Holmes, is the only reason you are still alive. — Moriarty to Sherlock Holmes |
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Professor James Moriarty is the main antagonist of american movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) after appeared as a shadowy figure in the previous movie Sherlock Holmes (2009). He was a mathematics teacher, author, businessman and polymath, as well the boss of former military Sebastian Moran and an former ally of Irene Adler.
During Lord Henry Blackwood' schemes and battle of wits with investigator Sherlock Holmes, Moriarty manoeuvred in the shadows through Irene Adler in order to obtain a groundbreaking radio device, thus confronting Holmes for the first time and managing to get away with the machine when Blackwood dies. Some time later, Moriarty engaged in a lengthy intellectual duel with Sherlock Holmes, including the death of Irene Adler caused by his care and his threats to Dr John Watson and his wife, during which Sherlock Holmes deduced his intention to cause a third world war between France and Germany and to sell his weapons to the participants. Their confrontation culminated at the Reichenbach Conference where, after Holmes had beaten him at chess and revealed that he had robbed him of his fortune earlier, and after delaying his plot, Holmes chose to throw himself with him into the waterfalls surrounding the conference to protect John and his wife from the criminal's fury after realising that a physical fight could only end in his defeat, apparently killing Moriarty while Holmes survived on a respirator.
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
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Stealing Blackwood' machine[edit]
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Fight with Sherlock Holmes[edit]
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Personality[edit]
| " | Sherlock Holmes: The flourishes on the lower zone denote a highly creative yet meticulous nature. But if one observes the overall slant and pressure of the handwriting there is a suggestion of acute narcissism, a complete lack of empathy, and pronounced inclination toward... James Moriarty: No! Sherlock Holmes: ...moral insanity. — Sherlock Holmes about Moriarty' handwriting |
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Moriarty was a textbook psychopath with an highly sadistic and arrogant streak completed with intellectual brillance. According to Sherlock Holmes, while possessing highly creative and meticulous nature (which his showed by his immense talent for organizing highly developped and trim criminal activities and his declaration that he was going to kill Doctor Watson and his wife in the most inventive way possible), he also tended for acute narcissism, a complete lack of empathy, and pronounced inclination toward moral insanity. Despite this, Moriarty always exercised perfect self-control, even when furious, and always expressed himself with great politeness. He was also a master tactician and a highly respected academist, with some fame among the mathematic world.
Although he always maintained the facade of a polite and humble academic, his arrogance showed behind this mask on several occasions, underestimating Doctor Watson, for example, by deeming him incapable of displaying the same talent as Holmes, not even dropping his smile when war was averted and his fortune stolen by the detective. His sadism was also particularly evident, as when he mocked the death of Irene Adler caused by him and used it to threaten Sherlock Holmes further, and when he threatened the lives of Dr. Watson and his wife in retribution for the loss of his fortune. Despite his negative traits, he showed to appreciate music, especially Schubert (a trait he shared with his henchman Sebastian Moran).
Abilities[edit]
| " | The upwards strokes on the p, the j, the m indicate a genius-level intellect. — Sherlock Holmes about Moriarty' handwriting |
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- Genius-level intelligence: As noted by Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes, Moriarty was a genius, with formidable levels of intellect rivalising with those of the detective himself. He was both a highly gifted and famous academician (especially in mathematics), a master tactician extremely skilled for organizing criminal activites without ever revealing his identity and overall one of the most influentials intellectuals of the political world according to Mycroft Holmes, with extraordinary political ascendant and many high-ranking friends. At such, he was the greatest enemy of Sherlock Holmes, this latter being forced to recouring to more and more desparate measures to win against him, going so far to plunging with him in the Waterfalls surrounding the Reichenbach conference.
| " | My horror at your crimes is matched only by my admiration of the skill it took to achieve them. — Sherlock Holmes to Moriarty |
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- Master tactician: Moriarty was a extremely skilled and formidable tactician and strategist, which was also his main asset. He used the anarchists for uniting nations against each other then, by calculated buyings, complots and murders, he managed to anonymously infiltrate the private sector, including cotton, opium, iron, weapons and chimicals arsenal sectors and made sure to make all these products deliverable in a short period of time. The next step was to create supply by creating a world war using the disillusioned revolutionary René Heron, which was close to succeeding without the intervention of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson; he also managed to cover his tracks by ordering his henchman Moran in advance to kill René Heron if he failed, effectively leaving no trace of his involvement. Moriarty was also a very skilled chess player, which he showed in playing Sherlock Holmes and being close to defeating him to this game.
- Master businessman: Moriarty was an extremely skilled businessman, as he was able to manage all the companies he took over.
- Master mathematician: Moriarty was an extremely gifted mathematician, even writing a famous book with had many fans, showed by his dedicace seance. He was also a talentuous professor.
- Master author: Moriarty was also a talented author, showed by his ability to writing a mathematics book.
| " | Come now, you really think you're the only one who can play this game? — James Moriarty to Sherlock Holmes |
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- Predictive ability: Similar to Sherlock Holmes, Moriarty could predicting his foes movements and even, to a larger scale, events. He managed to predict that large-scale industrial warfare was inevitable, and intended to use this knowledge to provide the necessary equipment and increase his power, influence and wealth. He then used this ability to predicting the issue of his upcoming fight with Sherlock Holmes, arriving at the conclusion he would win in a hand-to-hand fight due to Sherlock' injured shoulder.
| " | Ah, there we find the boxing champion of Cambridge. — Sherlock Holmes to Moriarty |
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- Master martial artist: Moriarty, despite mostly reposing on his brains instead of brawns, is still an extremely skilled and formidable martial artist, enough for winning a boxing competition in his youth. During a simulation Sherlock Holmes and him made during their final confrontation, they both came to the conclusion that Moriarty would win in a hand-to-hand fight, although it should be noted that Sherlock was handicapped by his shoulder injury at the time.
Relationship[edit]
Sherlock Holmes[edit]
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Quotes[edit]
Gallery[edit]
References[edit]
| Sherlock Holmes Movies | |
|---|---|
| Movies | Sherlock Holmes (2009 movie) • Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows • Sherlock Holmes 3 |
| Main | Sherlock Holmes • John Watson • Mycroft Holmes • James Moriarty • Irene Adler • Mary Morstan • Mrs. Hudson • DI Lestrade • Lord Henry Blackwood • Lord Coward • Sebastian Moran |
| Actors | Robert Downey Jr. • Jude Law • Stephen Fry • Jared Harris • Rachel McAdams • Kelly Reilly • Geraldine James • Eddie Marsan • Mark Strong |
