Professor Moriarty

For the others versions of the character, see James Moriarty (homonymy)

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Professor James Moriarty by Sidney Paget
Professor Moriarty
Informations
Sexe	Male

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“I am quite sure that a man of your intelligence will see that there can be but one outcome to this affair. It is necessary that you should withdraw. You have worked things in such a fashion that we have only one resource left. It has been an intellectual treat to me to see the way in which you have grappled with this affair, and I say, unaffectedly, that it would be a grief to me to be forced to take any extreme measure. You smile, sir, but I assure you that it really would.”
– James Moriarty to Sherlock Holmes

Professor James Moriarty, usually simply nickamed Professor Moriarty, is a character of original Sherlock Holmes book series. He is the main adversary of Sherlock Holmes in the short-story "The Adventure of the Final Problem", published in December, 1893. Moriarty was also the unseen threat in Sherlock Holmes final book, The Valley of Fear, published between September, 1914 and May, 1915 in the Strand Magazine.

He was a mathematician teacher, polymath and author, secretly a criminal mastermind who offered services for various crimes to the London underworld as well as the boss of former soldier, hunter and enforcer Sebastian Moran. A brilliant mind yet contamined by criminal provisions, Moriarty has come to propose organising the London underworld into a powerful and wonderfully disciplined force, working their schemes and protecting them from the law; his motivations being both intellectually challenging and purely financial. However, his activities, despite their most secretive nature, aroused the interest of consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, who set about patiently and painstakingly destroying his criminal web, and forcing the professor to engage in a silent intellectual duel at a distance with his enemy. Their struggle, despite Moriarty's attempts and threats against Holmes, moved to Switzerland, where the professor met his end by trying to end the detective's life with his bare hands at Reichenbach Falls.

Biography

Early life

To be added

Clash with Sherlock Holmes

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Anthony Horrowitz' sequel book

Main article: Professor Moriarty/Anthony Horrowitz)

Personality

While few to his personality was revealed, he was showed that Moriarty was an highly ruthless yet hidden in the shadows crime lord, organizing many crimes from afar and ready to do anything to guarantee his own security and the maintenance of his empire. It was also revealed that his purpose in establishing his activities was both intellectual stimulation and the more material desire for money, being apparently quite poor despite his status as a recognized academician; this could be a lie however, as Sherlock was revealed that although he came from an excellent family, he had a charged heredity and already well-established criminal instincts, this coupled with his unfortunate reputation at university due to unknown incidents. Moriarty has also been shown to be quite impulsive and vengeful, becoming angry at narrowly missing Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson at the train station and chasing them to Switzerland.

Abilities

Intelligence

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“He is a genius, a philosopher, an abstract thinker. He has a brain of the first order.”
– Sherlock Holmes about Moriarty

Professor Moriarty was a man of exceptional intellect, so extraordinary, in fact, that his brilliance was said to rival, and perhaps even surpass, that of Sherlock Holmes himself. A gifted mathematician and former academic, Moriarty’s early scholarly achievements earned him great respect.

Tactical skills

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“The greatest schemer of all time, the organizer of every deviltry, the controlling brain of the underworld, a brain which might have made or marred the destiny of nations—that’s the man!”
– Sherlock Holmes about Moriarty

Once referred to by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime," Moriarty’s most defining trait was his exceptional tactical and strategic intelligence. Holmes, a man of considerable intellect himself, spoke with unusual respect, and even fear, of Moriarty’s capabilities, recognizing in him a mind that rivaled his own, but one turned entirely toward criminal enterprise.

Moriarty's primary strength lay in his ability to plan, coordinate, and execute complex operations with extraordinary subtlety and precision. Unlike common criminals who acted on impulse or brute force, Moriarty operated as the central figure in a highly organized and extensive criminal network. The exact size and structure of this organization remain unknown, but Holmes believed it was responsible for nearly half of all major crimes in London. Despite this staggering influence, Moriarty maintained such a low profile that he was virtually invisible to law enforcement, a testament to the level of control he exerted over his network.

His ability to maintain this secrecy, while directing such a vast web of operatives, underscores the depth of his tactical skill. Every move was calculated, every action part of a larger strategy. Individuals within his network were often unaware of the broader organization, further insulating Moriarty from exposure and making him nearly impossible to trace. His role was not to carry out crimes himself, but to act as the guiding force behind them, a criminal mastermind in the truest sense.

Moriarty's reputation eventually extended beyond Britain. In the United States, a powerful secret society known as the Scrowlers sought his assistance in eliminating an elusive rival. They approached him because of his reputation for discretion, effectiveness, and strategic precision. He agreed to help, and successfully dismantled the opposition, further solidifying his international reputation as a master tactician.

The final chapter of Moriarty’s life is marked by his direct confrontation with Sherlock Holmes. Their conflict culminated in a tense and dangerous pursuit across Europe, ending at the Reichenbach Falls, Switzerland. There, Moriarty managed to corner Holmes, both physically and intellectually, through a series of calculated moves designed to isolate and eliminate him. The two engaged in a final, intense struggle. Even at the edge of defeat, Moriarty remained a threat, nearly overcoming Holmes in their final encounter.

Networking

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“He sits motionless, like a spider in the center of its web, but that web has a thousand radiations, and he knows well every quiver of each of them.”
– Sherlock Holmes about Moriarty

While his strategic prowess made him a master manipulator of events and outcomes, it was his extraordinary networking skills that truly set him apart and solidified his dominion over the sprawling web of illicit activity that pulsed beneath the city’s surface. Like a spider weaving an elaborate web, he ensured that each thread.

Through a combination of coercion, blackmail, reward, and mutual interest, he maintained unwavering loyalty and ensured operational efficiency throughout the network. In effect, Moriarty created a criminal architecture so vast and intricate that it became almost self-sustaining. His network spanned across London with precision, from back-alley dealings and art thefts to large-scale financial frauds and political manipulation. It was his seamless integration of tactical genius with exceptional social maneuvering that allowed him to reign over this empire with ghostlike invisibility.

Mathematical skills and polymathism

Moriarty was mathematician of exceptional talent. His most notable academic achievements was the publication of The Dynamics of an Asteroid, a work so advanced and densely mathematical that it was said to have baffled even the most learned scholars of the time. This treatise, while not widely understood outside elite academic circles, was praised for its groundbreaking treatment of orbital mechanics and the mathematical modeling of celestial bodies. The depth of knowledge and originality required to compose such a volume positioned Moriarty at the forefront of Victorian scientific thought.

Moriarty’s academic reputation extended beyond mathematics. He held a professorship at one of England’s leading universities, where his lectures were regarded as both intellectually demanding and profoundly insightful. His aptitude was not confined to a single discipline: Moriarty was also a gifted astronomer, contributing meaningfully to the scientific discourse of the time. His ability to operate fluently in both mathematics and astronomy marks him as a true polymath, a rare figure whose intellect spanned multiple branches of science.

Fighting abilities

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Quotes

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