The most popular fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, is different from the average human
being in many ways.
He describes himself as a sociopath, which implies his belief in having an antisocial
personality disorder and he lacks basic understanding of societal norms and values.
Such a person tends to excel in areas where empathy is not needed.
His memory is exceptional as he has mastered the technique of the “memory palace,”
a way of storing information in a familiar environment in his mind and being able to
readily access it at any time.
It’s no wonder he’s constantly called upon by the police to solve cases that others can’t.
Right from the first episode of the BBC series, we see Sherlock as incapable of showing emotions,
which fits the original descriptions of Sherlock as a ‘cold and precise reasoning machine’.
We also see a number of other unique traits: Sherlock is not polite when someone enters
a room.
He ignores everyone but will suddenly start a conversation about something causing everyone
around him to be confused.
In his first meeting with Watson, Sherlock barely acknowledges Watson but is able to
make a number of accurate predictions including Watson’s military background and injured leg.
Sherlock deduces that Watson was brought there as a potential flatmate for 221B Baker Street.
Similarly, when Lestrade enters the flat, Sherlock skips the formalities and goes straight
to the questions regarding the case.
Additionally, Holmes doesn't usually maintain eye contact when conversing with others.
He has very little regard for small talk and will demand clear responses to his straightforward questions.
He replies to people’s questions only when he wants.
When he doesn’t want to respond, he chooses to ignore them completely.
Poor Molly, his morgue assistant, has had a long time crush on Sherlock and is constantly
attempting to engage in small-talk with him, but he dismisses her and moves on to something
else that piques his interest.
Sherlock firmly believes that no one is better than him and will demonstrate this arrogance
through his actions towards others.
He has no problem making people feel stupid, and doesn’t understand why other people
are not as smart as him.
He doesn’t follow the same rules as everyone else and is willing to break them if he thinks
it will provide him with answers.
This can be seen when he takes Watson with him to the crime scene, and examines the body
even without having the approval of any authority figure.
Or when he keeps legal evidence in his own home.
This supports his belief that he is superior to the police and can solve any case.
Sherlock Holmes, as a result of his determination to uncover truths, has very little inhibitions.
He is able to whip a dead body, run in front of cars, steal police badges, and say anything
to get his way.
These actions reinforce how unordinary he is.
His mind is undoubtedly complex.
Sherlock's character is presented as having a dry sense of humor.
As Sherlock is about to leave Watson after their first meeting, he gives a charming wink
and a click of his tongue to leave an impression.
And in every scene with Philip Anderson, the forensics scientist that absolutely loathes
Sherlock, Sherlock makes sure to reinforce the mutual dislike with sarcasm and teasing.
Though the surrounding characters can’t stand him, it’s this aspect that TV viewers
love and can relate to.
Sherlock is a highly intelligent individual with an extraordinary deduction capability
– he is able to solve criminal cases by relying on it.
Thus, this is his signature skill.
At the beginning of the series, we see Holmes making a deduction on Watson in just a few
seconds, uncovering knowledge about his life, a thing that would be impossible to do by
the average person.
Sherlock's understanding is heavily dependent on evidence and logic.
He is dangerously obsessed with uncovering 'the truth'.
He seems to find murder cases thrilling and doesn't hold back his excitement.
We see him acting impulsively and in a childish manner.
His behavior changes drastically from the moments when he is bored because there are
no cases to work on => to when he is confronted with a seemingly impossible challenge or mystery.
Viewers can quickly notice how his voice is no longer dull or monotonous whenever an interesting
case comes his way.
It is his duty to get the right answers, and at the same time, make sure that he outsmarts everyone.
Sherlock manages to differentiate himself from regular people by labelling himself as
a “high-functioning sociopath”.
Sociopaths are characterized by having a weak conscience and exhibit signs of being emotionally
disconnected from other people.
They are incapable of forming deep connections with others, do not mind dishonesty to achieve
goals, have trouble understanding the perspectives of others and unable to put themselves in
people's shoes.
Sherlock acts very childish and lacks patience towards people even if they show him kindness.
The definition of a sociopath seems to fit quite well with the character of Sherlock Holmes.
From the very first episode, viewers witness how many of the surrounding characters view
him: a freak or a psychopath.
Sherlock gladly corrects that person and indicates that he prefers being called a sociopath instead.
When it comes to Sherlock’s personality type, it seems there are many people on the
internet arguing that he is either an ISTP, or an INTJ.
But he’s neither of these two.
His personality type is INTP.
This is a really complex character.
He is selective about the cases he takes on and wants something as intellectually stimulating
as the quality of his work.
He’s not even interested in taking money for them.
Introverted Thinking: He’s the type of person who avoids uncomfortable emotions by focusing
on facts and logic.
Sherlock has a very good understanding of how reality works, so he thinks that if anything
doesn't fit into what he considers to be logical, then it can't be true.
Everything and everyone is like an experiment to him… even himself.
He doesn’t have many interests other than mind games and problem solving.
He lives in a messy flat and can stay alone for long periods of time with no issues.
He doesn’t seem to even care much about politics or finance and would rather fill
his brain with interesting information that is more useful for him.
Extroverted Intuition: He’s creative in thinking of new ways to approach a problem
in the external world.
He sees a lot of possibilities and is a huge fan of testing them out.
He doesn’t use it for efficiency.
He merely loves it as it is a way for him to escape boredom.
Ne helps him find patterns in his surroundings and in the present moment, while Ni, as a
comparison, causes its users to become more aware of themselves and their ideas over time.
Introverted Sensing: He has a photographic memory when it comes to recalling names and places.
Si saves facts and details for later in order to compare and contrast with fresh data or events.
For this to be possible, he must constantly store sensory data for future use.
Extroverted Feeling: Some of his biggest weaknesses are related to his lack of social skills.
He struggles in his relationships with the people he works with every day.
Even when he receives gifts, he is skeptical of the givers’ intentions instead of appreciating
the simple act of kindness.
He does occasionally build up suppressed emotions that can no longer be kept inside.
Sherlock uses Ne and Fe together to gather information in a chaotic and random manner,
and his Ti and Si are responsible for organizing that chaos.
Ne and Fe push him to get as much information as possible about everything, and Ti and Si
force him to stop for a moment and think.
How did Sherlock discover the location of the children in one of the cases when the
children were poisoned with mercury?
He went to his mind palace with only a small amount of soil left from the footsteps of
the kidnappers.
Based on the type of soil and the knowledge he had from the past, he analyzed all the
possibilities in his mind and identified potential locations that contained that type of soil.
Then he removed the locations one by one in his mind until he reached the main location
of the children with almost no solid physical evidence.
It was purely relying on his Extroverted Intuition, and considering the multiple possibilities,
he was able to solve the case.
In this BBC series, Sherlock is an INTP, while it can be argued that Sherlock in other series,
movies, or books could be an ISTP.
Some people consider Sherlock to be an ISTP solely because of his great observational
skills.
However, he clearly shows an intuitive side, especially in terms of his sense of direction
for the future.
Also, observational skills can be learned – Sherlock is capable of accomplishing what
he does because, after thousands of hours of practice, he has become a master at observing
and making accurate judgements about people.
Sherlock has never been an INTJ in any version be it a book, movie, or TV series.
It might be hard for INTJs to soak up the world around them because they are always
lost in their own thoughts.
That's why they try to keep everything as logically possible by making plans and following
through with them to stay in sync with the external world.
This does not appear to be Sherlock's case.
Ne, when coupled with Ti, can be mistaken for the INTJ’s Te.
While Sherlock likes being very logical, he is not always results-oriented.
He pursues knowledge that interests him and does not consider the minor consequences of
his actions leading up to the mystery being solved.
Anyway, we have to admit that sometimes fictional characters are harder to type since they can
be a bit of a mish mash of different types, and sometimes contradictory ones.
This is mostly because writers and actors are not required to create fictional characters
that fit within the parameters of a personality type.
It is especially clear that Sherlock makes some decisions or says statements that are
out of character because the story needs to progress in a certain direction.
This is what makes a good TV show.
No one wants to watch an INTP always ‘playing it safe’ and just being a ‘normal person’.
This is what makes Sherlock’s version of the INTP so entertaining to watch.