| “ | 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. | „ |
| ~ James Moriarty. |
Professor James Moriarty is the overarching antagonist of Guy Ritchie's 2009 film Sherlock Holmes and the main antagonist of its 2011 sequel, A Game of Shadows.
He is an academic genius, a celebrated author, and a professor of mathematics at Cambridge University. In secret, however, he is a terrorist and criminal mastermind aiming to ignite a world war between France and Germany, which he can profit from. He is also Sherlock Holmes' archenemy.
In the 2009 film, he was voiced by the late Andrew Jack. In Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, he was portrayed by Jared Harris.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
Background[]
- Professor Moriarty sought to create a war between Germany and France that would lead to World War I in an earlier period, simply so he could profit from it on ammunition and bandages sales.
Sherlock Holmes (2009)[]
- Intimidated Irene and threatened her to help Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson fight Lord Henry Blackwood and steal his device when she was fleeing for her life.
- When Adler distracted Holmes and Watson and were defeating Blackwood, Moriarty disguised himself as an officer, killed another officer stationed there, and stole the machine.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows[]
- He coerced an anarchist group to make bombs for him to use across Europe in order to spark tension, ensuring that they would be wrongfully framed for any attacks that Moriarty would orchestrate.
- Blackmailed said group's leader by kidnapping his family, and in order for their safety, he ends up committing suicide.
- Fatally poisons Irene Adler, one of his employees, due to his belief that she was expendable simply because she fell in love with Holmes.
- He rejects Holmes' attempt to have Moriarty spare Dr. Watson due to his marriage with Mary, claiming that collateral damage is inevitable and bound to happen because of their conflict. Afterwards, Moriarty would attempt to arrange for the Watsons' deaths by having armed men disguised as British soldiers to gun them down.
- During his meeting with Holmes, he even taunted him about Adler's death.
- He ordered Sebastian Moran to assassinate Alfred Meinhardt to absorb his arms company, while bombing and detonating a hotel with assembled businessmen to conceal the assassination.
- He sadistically tortured Holmes when capturing the detective, broadcasting his pained screams across his factory and casually singing opera while doing so.
- He arranged for Simza's brother, René, to undergo plastic surgery and disguise himself as a French ambassador in order to assassinate a German leader at an International Peace Summit.
- Whether René succeeds or not, he had Moran assassinate him to tie up loose ends.
- While conversing with Holmes, he stated his intentions of killing Dr. Watson and his wife in creative ways in revenge for having his fortune stolen.
- During their final confrontation in Switzerland, Moriarty intended on brutally beating Holmes into submission using the injury on the shoulder he had, before killing him by pushing down the balcony and down towards the Reichenberg Falls. This, however never occurred since before he could attack, Holmes took advantage of his arrogant nature to end up sacrificing himself to presumably kill Moriarty.
Trivia[]
- He is one of the 3 versions of Moriarty to be Pure Evil, along with the BBC version and the The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen version.
- Lord Blackwood and Professor Moriarty are the only villains from the Guy Ritchie' Sherlock Holmes series to be Pure Evil. They are also the main antagonists of the first and second films, respectively.
External Link[]
- James Moriarty on the Villains Wiki
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 Pure Evils
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Movies BBC Moriarty the Patriot Others | ||
 Pure Evils
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Animated Features Live-Action Features See Also | ||