Is this WWE smackdown or is this just a blog post about who has the better sleuthing skills between two ol’ classics—Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot?
It’s a great question, and obviously it’s a subjective one. But let’s dive in just for fun.
Sherlock Holmes
First off, we have the infamous Sherlock Holmes created by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887 when he first appeared in Doyle’s short story, “A Study in Scarlet” and then in four novels and 56 other short stories thereafter. He’s perhaps the most famous literary detective in history and, according to the Guiness Book of World Records, is the most popular fictional character to be portrayed in film and television.
The Victorian/Edwardian era Detective Holmes is known for his advanced logical and forensic capabilities—always turning to deductive reasoning and science to crack a case. This makes sense, because Doyle said that Sherlock’s character was based on real-life surgeon, Joseph Bell, who was known to be able to diagnose a problem after seeing only a few minute details of a patient’s case (fun fact: the character of Dr. Gregory House from the uber popular American medical drama TV series called “House” was based off of Sherlock Holmes!).
Holmes is particularly observant and astute, especially when regarding both his clients and his subjects—taking into account their physical appearances to include tattoos, cuts, marks on the skin, clothing type and style, dirt on boots, and more.
Forensically, Holmes identified key details that were almost before his time—like studying specific tire tracks, hoof prints, and shoe prints, and even using a microscope to draw conclusions from blood samples (like when looking for different poisons). He often referred to his brain as his “mind palace.”
The Sherlock Holmes novels are narrated by his trusty sidekick and partner, Dr. John Watson, with whom he shares a room after they fall into financial troubles at the famous address, 221B Baker Street. Interestingly, the popular phrase, “elementary, my dear Watson,” which is still used colloquially today, was actually never printed all together in a Sherlock Holmes short story or novel verbatim.
In addition to “my dear Watson,” opera singer Irene Adler appears as a secondary supportive character in Doyle’s first short story, “A Scandal in Bohemia.” Adler acts as sort of the female intellectual version of Holmes and later as a romantic interest in offshoot works. She only appears in the one short story, but she clearly made a mark on readers and on Holmes himself, as he often gushes over her unmatched wit.
The main villain Sherlock Holmes finds himself up against is Professor James Moriarty, who appeared in several short stories. Moriarty gives off slight Charles Manson vibes in that he never commits a crime himself per se (well, except for profiting monetarily off the crimes of others) but he instead lends his extensive mastermind knowledge to other players involved in the criminal network around him. Professor Moriarty seems like your standard evil genius—as he published several books on math and science related issues and is described as being tall, thin, and pale.
Hercule Poirot
Now for a Detective Hercule Poirot overview before we break it down between the two sleuths. This Belgian-born character was dreamed up by British author Agatha Christie, appearing in 33 of her novels and 50 short stories—the first of which was written in 1920 called “The Mysterious Affair at Styles.” Christie stated in her autobiography that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes character definitely influenced her portrayal of Hercule Poirot.
Poirot is described as being short in stature and rather OCD about his appearance—especially when it comes to his signature patent leather shoes and his perfectly-groomed mustache. He carries a pocket watch on his person at all times and thus is always on time for appointments.
Like Holmes, Poirot is known for his deductive reasoning skills but his detective work more so involves in-depth psychological methods. He knows how to “read” people and draw conclusions not just from what suspects are saying but how they say them. Always a talented conversationalist, Poirot pays attention to how subjects act and scrutinizes their body language to hone in on any parts of their story that didn’t add up. He’s less wrapped up in the forensic analysis side of the investigations but instead was what some might call a classic gumshoe detective. He often refers to his detective’s mind as his “little grey cells.”
Also similar to Holmes, Poirot had a trusty sidekick and partner named Captain Arthur Hastings who was a former Army Officer in the British military. Hastings is portrayed as being brave yet a little naive and maybe isn’t “the sharpest tool in the shed” but Poirot appreciates this while they’re investigating a case because Hastings often walks into verbal “traps” set by a subject which means Poirot is then able to spy the lie and solve the mystery.
Poirot’s secretary, Miss Felicity Lemon, plays the role of female supporting character in Christie’s mysteries. Miss Lemon is known for her exacting nature and often helps Poirot by doing side research for certain cases.
Stephen Norton is Poirot’s arch nemesis in Agatha Christie’s final Poirot novel called “Curtain” published in 1975. Again, quite similar to Doyle’s Professor Jeffrey Moriarty, bird watcher Norton never actually murders anyone himself. He basically conducts psychological warfare on people and manipulates them into committing the murders in his stead.
Interestingly, though Poirot was a huge hit with the public, author Agatha Christie ended up really not liking him as a character, but continued to write books about him and his investigations because she knew everyone else was so fond of him.
According to an article on RadioTimes.com with screenwriter Tom Dalton, he said that Christie ended up clashing with aspects of Poirot’s personality:
“You know, there were clearly things about this personality that she had created which really wound her up. He was petty and sort of egotistical – these things that make Poirot the great character he is. Because that’s the thing: what makes him such a good character are at the same time the things she really didn’t like about him.”
Someone on Quora posed the Hercule Poirot vs. Sherlock Holmes question to the internet and it resulted in some interesting takes.
One user named Jim Doherty said:
“I would say Holmes. Aside from his deductive genius, he is more of a man of action than Poirot. Further, his Boswellian partner, John Watson, is a more capable person than Capt. Hastings.”
Another user named Antonio Kowatsch argued that Hercule wins the battle between the two iconic detectives:
“Final conclusion: Is Sherlock smarter? No, not really. More intelligent, that's what he is, but not smarter. Hercule is smarter because he relies on lies to appeal to other people's emotions and by doing so retrieves crucial information to further his investigation. Now, that's what I call smart. Sherlock may be highly intelligent but he's definitely lacking in the empathy department. My vote goes to Hercule.”
Several users concluded that Agatha Christie wrote better mysteries over Sir Arthur Conan Doyle because the outcomes were more difficult to guess.
Arideep Chakraborty said:
“While reading Agatha Christie’s stories, it is very difficult to identify the culprit for the reader as Christie was an expert in playing hide and seek with her readers. In the case of Sherlock Holmes it is somewhere easier to deduce for the readers as to who is the culprit.”
And, since the cat’s officially out of the bag, we’re launching a brand new, all-in-one game in partnership with Agatha Christie LTD called “The Mystery of Hunter’s Lodge!” It’ll be available for purchase on Amazon starting October 25!
Here’s what our Agatha Christie game showrunner, Travis Madden, had to say regarding the Hercule vs. Sherlock debate:
My favorite thing about Holmes and Poirot is how long both characters have endured, despite the hatred that their respective creators ended up having for them. But in the Holmes-vs.-Poirot debate, I’d have to come down on the side of Poirot, and not just because I’m the showrunner! Hercule Poirot is always the smartest guy in the room, but the bad thing about him is he’ll always make sure everyone knows he’s the smartest guy in the room. That makes any case involving him really interesting and fulfilling from a gameplay perspective, crafting something intricate, but also solvable, so that members feel as smart as the world’s greatest detective.
We’ll leave the final answer up to debate, but it may not be too far-fetched to argue that Holmes and Poirot could have been friends in another life. Heck, maybe they could have opened up a private investigation agency together and worked side-by-side as partners. Some might be skeptical about that but it seems like what one sleuth lacked, the other made up for it with their specific skills.