Professor James Moriarty

Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, serving as Sherlock Holmes's primary antagonist. Portrayed as an exceptionally intelligent and strategic criminal mastermind, Moriarty is often depicted as Holmes’s intellectual equal, running an extensive underground crime network. His brilliance and ruthlessness make him a formidable opponent, challenging Holmes’s deductive skills and providing a complex foil to his detective work. Moriarty symbolizes the darker side of intelligence—using genius for criminal purposes—and is a key figure in illustrating the theme of good versus evil in Holmes’s stories.