Mycroft Holmes

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Illustration of Mycroft Holmes in “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter” by Sidney Paget
Mycroft Holmes
Informations
Origin	Great Britain
Sexe	Male
Occupations	No informations

”

“You don't expect such energy from me, do you, Sherlock? But somehow this case attracts me.”
– Mycroft to Sherlock Holmes, “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter”

Mycroft Holmes is a recurring figure in Sherlock Holmes book series. He first appears in “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter”, a short story published in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes in 1893, and makes subsequent appearances in a few other stories, including “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans” and “The Adventure of the Final Problem”.

Mycroft Holmes is the older brother of Sherlock Holmes from seven years, work for the britannic government and is said to have superior powers of intellect than this brother. He is known for his sedentary and reclusive lifestyle, contrasting sharply with Sherlock's more active and adventurous approach to solving mysteries, and is one of founders of Diogenes Club, a club designed for people with misantropic tendencies.

Biography

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Physical appearance

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Personality

Aside from his extraordinary intelligence, Mycroft Holmes was most notably characterized by his profound laziness and general apathy. Although he possessed remarkable powers of observation and deduction, rivaling, and perhaps even surpassing, those of his brother Sherlock, he had little to no desire to test or apply his insights in any practical way, and showed particular disdain for field work. Unlike Sherlock, who thrived on active investigation, Mycroft preferred to engage with mysteries purely as intellectual exercises, showing little genuine interest in matters beyond his brother’s cases. Mycroft also led an extremely routine-driven life. He followed the same daily schedule with near-mechanical precision, a habit Sherlock once likened to living "on rails." This consistency bordered on rigidity, reflecting both his distaste for disruption and his preference for comfort and familiarity.

Despite this, Mycroft was not entirely incapable of action or initiative. He played a key role in the founding of the Diogenes Club, an exclusive establishment known for its strict rules on silence and solitude, often seen as a haven for misanthropes or those averse to social interaction. On rare but notable occasions, he even stepped outside his usual boundaries. During the case of the greek interpreter, he personally visited Sherlock at Baker Street to share vital information. He did so again in the Bruce-Partington plans's theft, showing a rare burst of energy and concern.

Abilities

Reasoning prowess

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“He has the tidiest and most orderly brain, with the greatest capacity for storing facts, of any man living. The same great powers which I have turned to the detection of crime he has used for this particular business. The conclusions of every department are passed to him, and he is the central exchange, the clearinghouse, which makes out the balance. All other men are specialists, but his specialism is omniscience. We will suppose that a minister needs information as to a point which involves the Navy, India, Canada and the bimetallic question; he could get his separate advices from various departments upon each, but only Mycroft can focus them all, and say offhand how each factor would affect the other. They began by using him as a short-cut, a convenience; now he has made himself an essential. In that great brain of his everything is pigeon-holed and can be handed out in an instant.”
– Sherlock Holmes about Mycroft' abilities

Mycroft Holmes was widely regarded as possessing remarkably broad and exceptional intellectual and mental capacities, so much so that, according to Sherlock Holmes himself, he actually exceeded his younger brother in these respects. While Sherlock was celebrated for his powers of observation, logic, and deduction, Mycroft was said to match, and in some ways surpass, him in these very abilities. He demonstrated a similar, if not superior, capacity to notice subtle details and draw accurate conclusions from minimal information.

In addition to his analytical mind, Mycroft was known for having an extremely systematic and reliable memory, allowing him to recall facts, figures, and events with impressive clarity and precision. He also had an innate aptitude for mathematics and numerical reasoning, which further contributed to his effectiveness in managing complex information.

These talents made him an invaluable asset to the British government, where he held a highly influential, though discreet, position. He was reportedly entrusted with overseeing the financial accounts of multiple government departments, but his role extended far beyond bookkeeping. Mycroft had a unique ability to synthesize disparate pieces of information from different areas, often recognizing connections between topics that appeared unrelated on the surface. This skill enabled him to uncover hidden relationships, trace lines of cause and effect, and support strategic decision-making at the highest levels of administration.

Quotes

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Gallery

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