Sherlock Holmes 
Early Life
Much of Sherlock's prior life is unknown, as the first story that we see him in is "A Study in Scarlet." Where he has already developed most of his impressive skills and meets Watson for the first time. Compared to other heroes of conventional or unconventional means, Holmes differs in that much of his early life was unknown.
Significant Events
Traits
Obstacles
Mentors
Observation
Deduction
Physical Strength
Knowledge in specific fields
Chemistry
Cigarettes
Criminal History
People with influence
Sherlock Holmes knows a lot of people around London with abilities in many different areas. For example, his brother, Mycroft Holmes, is in the government and has a lot of influence. He also knows a lot of people that have connections or owe him a favor.
Holmes knows a lot about seemingly mundane things like cigarette brands because small traces of things like this can help him narrow down a suspect in a crime scene.
Holmes knows a lot about chemistry, and depending on which version, the original Doyle version or more modern adaptations, his knowledge of sciences help him in areas of forensics, and he can use this knowledge to analyze things such as blood stains or fingerprints.
Being a Consulting detective, Holmes is one of the people that knows the most about his regional and in some cases international crime scene. He keeps a record of prominent criminals in the past and with his excellent memory he can make connections from new cases to ones in the past in order to solve them faster.
Holmes sometimes says to Watson that he only looks but does not observe, hence why he can not see the same things that Holmes does. By observing something carefully and then making deductions, Sherlock makes sure that every stone is turned and every evidence discovered.
One of his most impressive traits is his ability to look at a crime scene or hear a story and then use logic to deduce the most plausible scenario. One of the principals he abides by is that after eliminating all impossible scenarios, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the case.
Having been to many foreign countries before, Holmes has picked up on the martial arts of many cultures. He demonstrates his physical strength in one story when a man threatens him by bending a metal pole, but when the man leaves, Sherlock bends it back.
Just like with his early life, Sherlock's mentors are few and in between, and are mostly not described by the author. Some of the people that might have had important influences on his life are his brother Mycroft Holmes, who is said to possess an even higher degree of deduction abilities than him, and his parents, who are describes as regular people who does not share his own unique talents.
Enemies
Social Relationships
Others
In the first story, Sherlock wants to share a room with someone, which shows that despite his amazing skills, he is not a wealthy person, because he only charges what others can afford to pay.
Although not very highlighted in the original stories, Sherlock does struggle a lot with maintaining healthy social relationships. A lot of times, when he appears to be handling something very well, we later discover that he was using a person to his advantage in order to progress a case. This however, is difficult for him in the case of Watson, who he is not using but actually cares for to a unique level as a friend, which complicates the situation.
Sherlock has had many enemies, the most notable of which being Professor James Moriarty, a man Sherlock describes as one of the most powerful criminal masterminds in the world, having webs and connections everywhere. This however, was only mentioned in "The Final Problem," with no prior exposition to his character. He also shares enemies with a lot of other people, most notoriously criminals and in some cases members of the Scotland Yard Police department.
The Final Problem
A Study in Scarlet
The Adventure of the Empty house
The first every story by Conan Doyle with the character of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, published on a newspaper around two hundred years ago, first exposed readers to what would later become a milestone in literary and detective works.
Being frustrated with writing stories about Holmes and wishing to write about something else, Doyle kills off Sherlock at the Reichenbach Fall as he battles his nemesis Moriarty. However, the public outrage to this story led him to eventually write "The Adventure of the Empty House," bringing him back and revealing that he had not actually perished in The Final Problem.
Holmes is brought back to life by the author after many years of hiatus.
Depictions
Originally written as a series of stories by Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and his friend John Watson have been adapted into many different mediums, including countless tv shows, movies, and modern pastiches. The most prominent ones being the BBC show set in Modern London starring Benedict Cumberbatch, the trilogy of movies starring Robert Downey Jr and pastiches such as the Mary Russell collection.
Notable Characters
John Watson
Mycroft Holmes
James Moriarty
Mrs. Hudson
Inspectors of the Scotland Yard
Perception as a Hero
Holmes is in no way your conventional everyday hero. First of all, he does not have any supernatural skills, and the world in which he inhabits is that of a natural one, which makes his talents all the more incredible. Also, he is not a hero in that he is an all-good defender of justice. Although he fights against crimes and hates criminals who harm innocent people, he is still doing this for his own interest of stimulating his mind, and sometimes take deceptive methods to progress in his investigations. A good example to showcase this is the BBC series adaptation in which Sherlock says that he is on the side of the angels, but that he is in no way one of them, to professor Moriarty in the episode "The Reichenbach Fall."
Recognizable Symbols
Hat
Pipe
Spying Glass
