Sherlock: The Abominable Bride - Characters & Cast

To solve the impossible mystery of how Moriarty could have survived shooting himself. He uses the unsolved Victorian case of Emelia Ricoletti, who also seemingly cheated death, as a mental blueprint to understand his adversary's methods.

Sherlock's arc in this film is entirely internal. At the start, he is exiled and desperate to understand Moriarty's posthumous return. He recklessly plunges into a drug-induced coma to solve a 120-year-old case, believing it holds the answer. Inside his own mind, he confronts his fear of Moriarty, his complex relationship with women, and his own self-destructive nature. By solving the Ricoletti case, he understands that Moriarty is truly dead but has left a network to carry out his plans. He awakens from his trance with a renewed purpose and a clear understanding of the fight ahead, having metaphorically conquered his nemesis within his own mind.

To assist Holmes in solving the Ricoletti case and, on a deeper level, to support his friend even within the distorted reality of Sherlock's mind. His motivation is fundamentally centered on his unwavering friendship with Sherlock.

As a character within Sherlock's Mind Palace, the Victorian Watson acts as both a chronicler and a grounding force. He is initially portrayed as a more traditional, slightly bumbling sidekick from his own published stories. However, as the fantasy deepens, he becomes Sherlock's anchor to 'reality' within the dream. In the climactic scene at the Reichenbach Falls, it is Watson who understands he is a mental projection and urges Sherlock to 'wake up' by leaping from the falls, proving his ultimate loyalty and importance to Sherlock's psyche.

As a mental construct, his motivation is to destabilize Sherlock, to prove that he is the one puzzle the detective can never solve, and to embody the threat that looms over Sherlock in the real world.

Moriarty in this film is not a physical character but a manifestation of Sherlock's deepest fears and intellectual insecurities within the Mind Palace. He appears to taunt Sherlock, representing the part of the puzzle that Sherlock cannot solve. His 'survival' after shooting himself in the head within the dream mirrors the central question Sherlock is trying to answer. Moriarty's final defeat at the Reichenbach Falls symbolizes Sherlock's mental victory and his acceptance that his nemesis is truly dead, even if his threat remains.

To assist Mycroft in managing Sherlock, and to independently investigate the strange occurrences, ultimately uncovering the feminist conspiracy at the heart of the mystery.

The Victorian Mary, much like her modern counterpart, is shown to be more than just Watson's wife. She is intelligent, resourceful, and operates with her own agency, working for Mycroft to keep an eye on Sherlock. She is the one who ultimately leads Holmes and Watson to the secret society of women, demonstrating her competence and key role in the investigation. Her character serves to highlight the film's feminist themes, representing a woman who operates effectively within the shadows of a patriarchal world.