Sebastian Moran
Encyclopedia
Colonel Sebastian Moran is a fictional character, an enemy of Sherlock Holmes
and the villain of the Sherlock Holmes
short story The Adventure of the Empty House
. Holmes once described him as "the second most dangerous man in London"- the most dangerous being Professor Moriarty
.
in 1840, the son of Sir Augustus Moran, CB, sometime Minister to Persia.
He was educated at Eton College
and the University of Oxford
before embarking upon a military career. Formerly of the 1st Bangalore Pioneers
, he served in the Jowaki Expedition of 1877-1878 and in the Second Anglo-Afghan War
, seeing action at the Battle of Charasiab
, 6 October 1879 (for which he was mentioned in dispatches
); the Battle of Sherpur
, 23 December 1879; and at Kabul
.
A devoted sportsman and highly skilled shot, he was author of the books Heavy Game of the Western Himalayas in 1881 and Three Months in the Jungle in 1884, and reportedly once crawled down a drain after a wounded man-eating tiger.
He soon turned to the bad (Holmes attributes this to a hereditary trait), and although there was no open scandal he was obliged to retire from the army
and return to London. Outwardly respectable, with an address in Conduit Street, Mayfair
and membership of the (fictional) Anglo-Indian Club, the Tankerville Club and The Bagatelle Card Club, he nevertheless continued in his evil ways.
He was soon recruited by the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty
, and served for a time as his chief of staff. Maintained in a comfortable lifestyle by Moriarty, Moran soon came to be used solely for assassinations that required his peculiar skill with the rifle, including that of Mrs Stewart of Lauder
in 1887. On the break-up of the Moriarty crime ring in The Final Problem (early 1891), Moran escaped incrimination, and followed the Professor to Reichenbach Falls
. After witnessing his chief's death at the hands of Holmes, Moran attempted to kill the detective by rolling boulders down upon him, but Holmes escaped. Now left without employment, Moran earned a living back in London by playing cards at several clubs.
However one of the other players, Ronald Adair, noticed that Moran won by cheating and threatened to expose him. On 30 March 1894, Moran murdered Adair by shooting him with a silenced air rifle that fired revolver bullets. Dr. Watson and a returned Holmes took the case, and Moran, learning that Holmes was back in London, attempted to kill the detective by firing his air rifle from a vacant house across the street from Holmes' residence. However Holmes, who had figured out how Moran killed Adair, fooled the Colonel: what Moran ended up shooting was a wax dummy of Holmes while the real Holmes, with Watson and Inspector Lestrade
in tow, hid within the vacant house with Moran without the Colonel's knowledge. As soon as Moran fired, he was seized and arrested.
In The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
, Holmes mentions Moran as being still alive. This story is set in September 1902. Moran is also mentioned in His Last Bow
as an example of those of Holmes's many adversaries who have futilely sworn revenge against him. Colonel Sebastian Moran was also the villain in Doyle's Sherlock Holmes play The Crown Diamond written in the early 1900s but not performed until 1921. However, when this play was adapted as the short story The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
, Moran was replaced by Count Negretto Sylvius.
as Holmes) and, much more briefly, in the 1935 The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes
.
Moran appears as the main villain in the 1946 Basil Rathbone
film Terror by Night
.
Although he doesn't appear himself, Sebastian Moran plays a small part and is mentioned in the novel and Granada television series Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House
written by Gerald Frow (his non-canonical younger brother Jasper Moran does appear however).
He appears in the Granada television adaptation of The Adventure of the Empty House
opposite Jeremy Brett
as Holmes, here played by Patrick Allen
. In this Moran is shown in flashback attempting to shoot Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls, rather than rolling rocks upon him as in the original story. A similar event occurs with Moran in the Soviet television version of The Adventure of the Final Problem
.
Moran appears in the Flashman novella Flashman and the Tiger
, and as a boy in the novel Flash for Freedom!
, by George MacDonald Fraser
. (MacDonald gives him a birth-date of 1834, and the full name "John Sebastian 'Tiger Jack' Moran".) In Flashman and the Tiger
, during the battle of Rorke's Drift
, Moran demonstrates amazing speed and unearthly accuracy with a revolver.
In Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds, the Artilleryman from The War of the Worlds
is said to be Moran's son.
In Martin Powell's short story "Sherlock Holmes in the Lost World" (collected in Gaslight Grimoire
) Moran attempts to rebuild Moriarty's criminal empire after the latter's death, but is killed by Professor Challenger
.
In the film Without a Clue
, Moran (portrayed by Tim Killick
) appears as Moriarty's tall bodyguard and has a scar down one side of his face. His weapon of choice is a switchblade
which he uses to stab and cut his victims, and he is also a highly skilled knife thrower.
Moran appears in several works by Kim Newman
:
Moran appears in two stories in the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street
: "A Study in Emerald
" by Neil Gaiman
(reprinted in Gaiman's collection Fragile Things
) and "Tiger! Tiger!" by Elizabeth Bear
. In "A Study in Emerald
", a reimagining of A Study in Scarlet
set in an alternate world, Moran takes on the role of narrator usually given to Dr Watson, as he takes up residence in Baker Street with a consulting detective - although from then on events turn out very differently.
In the David McDaniel
's Man from U.N.C.L.E. novels, Moran is the founder of THRUSH
after Professor Moriarty's death at Reichenbach.
Moran appears as a minor character in Alan Moore
's comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I
, as an underling of Moriarty, where they are both secret agents who are assigned by MI5 to create a criminal empire through which the government can be in control of the criminal underworld.
In T. S. Eliot
's poem "Gus: The Theatre Cat
" (which became one of the songs in Cats
), it is said that Gus once played a man-eating Tiger pursued by an Indian Colonel down a drain.
In John Gardner
's novel The Return of Moriarty, Moran is stated to have taken temporary charge of Moriarty's organization while The Professor was away from London following the events at the Reichenbach Falls (which are explained as never having happened as Watson [and later Holmes] described them). The events leading up to and of "The Empty House" are told from Moran's point of view. Naturally, The Professor is not pleased to hear of Moran's actions and arrest, and has Moran poisoned while in police custody to prevent him from talking.
He appears briefly in Michael Kurland's
'Professor Moriarty' novel Death by Gaslight.
He appears in David Stuart Davies
's The Veiled Detective, a novel based mainly around a retelling of part of A Study in Scarlet
, in which Dr. Watson is planted in Holmes's life by Professor Moriarty in order to monitor and report back on him.
In the anthology My Sherlock Holmes edited by Michael Kurland, a collection of stories told from the viewpoints of minor characters from canon, A Study in Orange by Peter Tremayne recounts how Moran partly outwitted Holmes on a case. Moran also appeared in Tremayne's The Affray at the Kildare Street Club in The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures where he was foiled in a petty theft by a young Holmes.
He appears as a minor character in the clockpunk/steampunk novel Whitechapel Gods
by S.M. Peters (as does the blind mechanic Von Herder, the manufacturer of Moran's air rifle).
A female version of Moran appears in Liar-soft's 2008 visual novel
Shikkoku no Sharnoth ~What a beautiful tomorrow~ as one of the principal characters.
He is credited as having compiled the book The Moriarty Papers - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes's Great Nemesis which claims to give an insight into many of Professor Moriarty's plots and schemes.
Moran, played by Paul Anderson, will appear in the 2011 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
.
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
and the villain of the Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
short story The Adventure of the Empty House
The Adventure of the Empty House
"The Adventure of the Empty House", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Public pressure forced Conan Doyle to bring the sleuth back to life, and explain his...
. Holmes once described him as "the second most dangerous man in London"- the most dangerous being Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
.
Fictional character biography
According to Sherlock Holmes's index of criminal biographies, Sebastian Moran was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1840, the son of Sir Augustus Moran, CB, sometime Minister to Persia.
He was educated at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
before embarking upon a military career. Formerly of the 1st Bangalore Pioneers
1st Bangalore Pioneers
The 1st Bangalore Pioneers are a fictional regiment of the British Indian Army, mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes short story The Adventure of the Empty House by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The villain of the story, Colonel Sebastian Moran, formerly served with the regiment.In the essay "Dr...
, he served in the Jowaki Expedition of 1877-1878 and in the Second Anglo-Afghan War
Second Anglo-Afghan War
The Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the United Kingdom and Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the nation was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended in a manner...
, seeing action at the Battle of Charasiab
Char Asiab
Persian: چهار آسیاب Chahār AasiābChar Asiab, Chahar Asiab, Charasiab, Charasiah or Charasia is a town, ca. 7 miles south of Kabul in the Char Asiab District....
, 6 October 1879 (for which he was mentioned in dispatches
Mentioned in Dispatches
A soldier Mentioned in Despatches is one whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which is described the soldier's gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy.In a number of countries, a soldier's name must be mentioned in...
); the Battle of Sherpur
Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment
The Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment was a battle fought in December 1879, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War.On 3 September 1879 Sir Pierre Cavagnari, the British Resident in Kabul, and his escort were massacred by mutinous Afghan troops, initiating the second phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.A...
, 23 December 1879; and at Kabul
Kabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
.
A devoted sportsman and highly skilled shot, he was author of the books Heavy Game of the Western Himalayas in 1881 and Three Months in the Jungle in 1884, and reportedly once crawled down a drain after a wounded man-eating tiger.
He soon turned to the bad (Holmes attributes this to a hereditary trait), and although there was no open scandal he was obliged to retire from the army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
and return to London. Outwardly respectable, with an address in Conduit Street, Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...
and membership of the (fictional) Anglo-Indian Club, the Tankerville Club and The Bagatelle Card Club, he nevertheless continued in his evil ways.
He was soon recruited by the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty
Professor Moriarty
Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and the archenemy of the detective Sherlock Holmes in the fiction of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Moriarty is a criminal mastermind, described by Holmes as the "Napoleon of Crime". Doyle lifted the phrase from a real Scotland Yard inspector who was...
, and served for a time as his chief of staff. Maintained in a comfortable lifestyle by Moriarty, Moran soon came to be used solely for assassinations that required his peculiar skill with the rifle, including that of Mrs Stewart of Lauder
Lauder
The Royal Burgh of Lauder is a town in the Scottish Borders 27 miles south east of Edinburgh. It is also a royal burgh in the county of Berwickshire. It lies on the edge of the Lammermuir Hills, on the Southern Upland Way.-Medieval history:...
in 1887. On the break-up of the Moriarty crime ring in The Final Problem (early 1891), Moran escaped incrimination, and followed the Professor to Reichenbach Falls
Reichenbach Falls
The Reichenbach Falls are a series of waterfalls on the River Aar near Meiringen in Bern canton in central Switzerland. They have a total drop of 250 m . At 90 m , the Upper Reichenbach Falls is one of the highest cataracts in the Alps...
. After witnessing his chief's death at the hands of Holmes, Moran attempted to kill the detective by rolling boulders down upon him, but Holmes escaped. Now left without employment, Moran earned a living back in London by playing cards at several clubs.
However one of the other players, Ronald Adair, noticed that Moran won by cheating and threatened to expose him. On 30 March 1894, Moran murdered Adair by shooting him with a silenced air rifle that fired revolver bullets. Dr. Watson and a returned Holmes took the case, and Moran, learning that Holmes was back in London, attempted to kill the detective by firing his air rifle from a vacant house across the street from Holmes' residence. However Holmes, who had figured out how Moran killed Adair, fooled the Colonel: what Moran ended up shooting was a wax dummy of Holmes while the real Holmes, with Watson and Inspector Lestrade
Inspector Lestrade
Inspector G. Lestrade is a fictional character, a Scotland Yard detective appearing in several of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle used the name of a friend from his days at the University of Edinburgh, a Saint Lucian medical student by the name of Joseph Alexandre Lestrade....
in tow, hid within the vacant house with Moran without the Colonel's knowledge. As soon as Moran fired, he was seized and arrested.
In The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
The Adventure of the Illustrious Client
"The Adventure of the Illustrious Client", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes.-Plot summary:...
, Holmes mentions Moran as being still alive. This story is set in September 1902. Moran is also mentioned in His Last Bow
His Last Bow (story)
"His Last Bow" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Scottish author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and one of seven collected in the anthology His Last Bow. Unlike most other Holmes stories which are written from the point of view of Dr...
as an example of those of Holmes's many adversaries who have futilely sworn revenge against him. Colonel Sebastian Moran was also the villain in Doyle's Sherlock Holmes play The Crown Diamond written in the early 1900s but not performed until 1921. However, when this play was adapted as the short story The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone
"The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes....
, Moran was replaced by Count Negretto Sylvius.
Other appearances
He appears as Moriarty's right-hand man in the 1937 film Silver Blaze (a.k.a. Murder at the Baskervilles) (starring Arthur WontnerArthur Wontner
Arthur Wontner was a British actor best known for playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master detective Sherlock Holmes in five films from 1931 to 1937...
as Holmes) and, much more briefly, in the 1935 The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes
The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes
The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes is a 1935 British mystery film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and based on The Valley of Fear by Arthur Conan Doyle.- Plot summary :...
.
Moran appears as the main villain in the 1946 Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
film Terror by Night
Terror by Night
Terror by Night is a 1946 Sherlock Holmes mystery film inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, loosely based on The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax and The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle. It was directed by Roy William Neill, and stars Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson...
.
Although he doesn't appear himself, Sebastian Moran plays a small part and is mentioned in the novel and Granada television series Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House
Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House
Young Sherlock: The Mystery of the Manor House was a 8-episode television series about the youthful years of Sherlock Holmes. The show was produced by Granada Television and premiered on 31 October 1982.-Cast:*Guy Henry as Sherlock Holmes...
written by Gerald Frow (his non-canonical younger brother Jasper Moran does appear however).
He appears in the Granada television adaptation of The Adventure of the Empty House
The Adventure of the Empty House
"The Adventure of the Empty House", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as The Return of Sherlock Holmes. Public pressure forced Conan Doyle to bring the sleuth back to life, and explain his...
opposite Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett
Jeremy Brett , born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, was an English actor, most famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series.-Early life:...
as Holmes, here played by Patrick Allen
Patrick Allen
John Keith Patrick Allen was a British film, television and voice actor.-Life and career:Allen was born in Nyasaland , where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada during World War II where he remained to finish his education at McGill...
. In this Moran is shown in flashback attempting to shoot Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls, rather than rolling rocks upon him as in the original story. A similar event occurs with Moran in the Soviet television version of The Adventure of the Final Problem
The Adventure of the Final Problem
"The Final Problem" is a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring his detective character Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in Strand Magazine in December 1893. It appears in book form as part of the collection The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes...
.
Moran appears in the Flashman novella Flashman and the Tiger
Flashman and the Tiger
Flashman and the Tiger is a 1999 book by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the eleventh of the Flashman books.-Plot introduction:Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully Flashman from Tom Brown's Schooldays...
, and as a boy in the novel Flash for Freedom!
Flash for Freedom!
Flash for Freedom! is a 1971 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the third of the Flashman novels.- Plot introduction :Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully Flashman from Tom Brown's Schooldays...
, by George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser, OBE was an English-born author of Scottish descent, who wrote both historical novels and non-fiction books, as well as several screenplays.-Early life and military career:...
. (MacDonald gives him a birth-date of 1834, and the full name "John Sebastian 'Tiger Jack' Moran".) In Flashman and the Tiger
Flashman and the Tiger
Flashman and the Tiger is a 1999 book by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the eleventh of the Flashman books.-Plot introduction:Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully Flashman from Tom Brown's Schooldays...
, during the battle of Rorke's Drift
Rorke's Drift
The Battle of Rorke's Drift, also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was a battle in the Anglo-Zulu War. The defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, immediately followed the British Army's defeat at the Battle of...
, Moran demonstrates amazing speed and unearthly accuracy with a revolver.
In Sherlock Holmes's War of the Worlds, the Artilleryman from The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
is said to be Moran's son.
In Martin Powell's short story "Sherlock Holmes in the Lost World" (collected in Gaslight Grimoire
Gaslight Grimoire
Gaslight Grimoire: Fantastic Tales of Sherlock Holmes is an anthology of short fiction combining the character of Sherlock Holmes with elements of fantasy, horror, adventure and supernatural fiction....
) Moran attempts to rebuild Moriarty's criminal empire after the latter's death, but is killed by Professor Challenger
Professor Challenger
George Edward Challenger, better known as Professor Challenger, is a fictional character in a series of science fiction stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
.
In the film Without a Clue
Without a Clue
Without a Clue is a 1988 British comedy film directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley and Lysette Anthony.-Plot:...
, Moran (portrayed by Tim Killick
Tim Killick
Tim Killick is an English television and theatre actor. He was educated at Bootham School in York and Nottingham University.He is the older brother of theatre director Jenny Killick and BBC's Cathy Killick....
) appears as Moriarty's tall bodyguard and has a scar down one side of his face. His weapon of choice is a switchblade
Switchblade
A switchblade is a type of knife with a folding or sliding blade contained in the handle which is opened automatically by a spring when a button, lever, or switch on the handle or bolster is activated A switchblade (also known as an automatic knife, pushbutton knife, switch, Sprenger, Springer,...
which he uses to stab and cut his victims, and he is also a highly skilled knife thrower.
Moran appears in several works by Kim Newman
Kim Newman
Kim Newman is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's Dracula at the age of eleven—and alternate fictional versions of history...
:
- He appears as a vampireVampireVampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
character in the alternate history horror novel Anno DraculaAnno Dracula (novel)Anno Dracula is a 1992 novel by British writer Kim Newman, the first in the Anno Dracula series. It is an alternate history using 19th century English historical settings and personalities, along with characters from popular fiction...
. - In the short story "The Man Who Got Off The Ghost Train", Richard JepersonRichard JepersonRichard Jeperson is a fictional 1970s psychic investigator created by British horror / fantasy author Kim Newman. He appears in many of Newman's short stories as both a central and background character, and is the focal point of a collection of short stories entitled The Man from the Diogenes...
is dispatched to investigate a decades-old mystery in which Colonel Moran played a brief but memorable part. - The short story "A Shambles in Belgravia" is a parody of "A Scandal in BohemiaA Scandal in Bohemia"A Scandal in Bohemia" was the first of Arthur Conan Doyle's 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories to be published in The Strand Magazine and the first Sherlock Holmes story illustrated by Sidney Paget....
" featuring Moriarty and Moran in the Holmes and Watson roles and Anthony HopeAnthony HopeSir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope , was an English novelist and playwright. Although he was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels, he is remembered best for only two books: The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau...
's RuritaniaRuritaniaRuritania is a fictional country in central Europe which forms the setting for three books by Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda , The Heart of Princess Osra , and Rupert of Hentzau...
in place of Bohemia. - In the short story "The Red Planet League" (a sequel to "A Shambles in Belgravia", collected in Gaslight Grimoire), Moran helps Moriarty carry out a hoax that becomes the inspiration for H. G. WellsH. G. WellsHerbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
' "The Crystal EggThe Crystal Egg"The Crystal Egg" is a science fiction short story written by H. G. Wells in 1897.The story tells of a shop owner, named Mr. Cave, who finds a strange crystal egg that serves as a window into the planet Mars....
" and The War of the WorldsThe War of the WorldsThe War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...
. - In the book The Hound of the D'Urbervilles, which collects together A Shambles in Belgravia, The Red Planet League and five other stories about Moriarty and Moran, including The Hound of the D'Urbervilles itself (a parody of The Hound of the BaskervillesThe Hound of the BaskervillesThe Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four crime novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country and tells the story of an...
) and The Problem of the Final Adventure (based around the canonical The Adventure of the Final ProblemThe Adventure of the Final Problem"The Final Problem" is a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring his detective character Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in Strand Magazine in December 1893. It appears in book form as part of the collection The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes...
). In this collection of related stories Moran, nicknamed 'Basher', is portrayed as debauched, violent and as something of an adrenaline junkie but also as educated and not entirely without morals.
Moran appears in two stories in the anthology Shadows Over Baker Street
Shadows Over Baker Street
Shadows Over Baker Street: New Tales of Terror! is an anthology of stories, each by a different author and each concerning an exploit of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes set against the backdrop of H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos...
: "A Study in Emerald
A Study in Emerald
"A Study in Emerald" is a short story written by British fantasy and graphic novel author Neil Gaiman. The story is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche transferred to the Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. It won the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Short Story. The title is a reference to...
" by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
(reprinted in Gaiman's collection Fragile Things
Fragile Things
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders is a collection of short stories and poetry by English author, Neil Gaiman. It was published in the US and UK in 2006 by HarperCollins and Headline Review....
) and "Tiger! Tiger!" by Elizabeth Bear
Elizabeth Bear
Sarah Bear Elizabeth Wishnevsky is an American author. Writing under the name Elizabeth Bear, she works primarily in the genre of speculative fiction, and was a winner of the 2005 John W...
. In "A Study in Emerald
A Study in Emerald
"A Study in Emerald" is a short story written by British fantasy and graphic novel author Neil Gaiman. The story is a Sherlock Holmes pastiche transferred to the Cthulhu Mythos universe of horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. It won the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Short Story. The title is a reference to...
", a reimagining of A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introducing his new character of Sherlock Holmes, who later became one of the most famous literary detective characters. He wrote the story in 1886, and it was published the next year...
set in an alternate world, Moran takes on the role of narrator usually given to Dr Watson, as he takes up residence in Baker Street with a consulting detective - although from then on events turn out very differently.
In the David McDaniel
David McDaniel
David Edward McDaniel was a US science fiction author, who also wrote spy fiction, including several novels based upon the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E..- Biography :...
's Man from U.N.C.L.E. novels, Moran is the founder of THRUSH
Thrush
-Birds:* Thrush , any of the many birds in the Turdidae family* Antthrush, any of a group of birds within the Formicariidae family* Dohrn's Thrush-babbler , a species of bird in the Timalidae family...
after Professor Moriarty's death at Reichenbach.
Moran appears as a minor character in Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics. It is the first story in the larger League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series...
, as an underling of Moriarty, where they are both secret agents who are assigned by MI5 to create a criminal empire through which the government can be in control of the criminal underworld.
In T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
's poem "Gus: The Theatre Cat
Gus: The Theatre Cat
"Gus: The Theatre Cat" is a poem by T. S. Eliot included in Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. Known as "The Theatre Cat" due to his career as an actor, Gus is an old and frail, yet revered, cat, who "suffers from palsy, which makes his paws shake." His coat is described as "shabby" and he is...
" (which became one of the songs in Cats
Cats (musical)
Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot...
), it is said that Gus once played a man-eating Tiger pursued by an Indian Colonel down a drain.
In John Gardner
John Gardner (thriller writer)
John Edmund Gardner was an English spy novelist, most notably for the James Bond series.-Early life:Gardner was born in Seaton Delaval, Northumberland. He graduated from St John's College, Cambridge and did postgraduate study at Oxford...
's novel The Return of Moriarty, Moran is stated to have taken temporary charge of Moriarty's organization while The Professor was away from London following the events at the Reichenbach Falls (which are explained as never having happened as Watson [and later Holmes] described them). The events leading up to and of "The Empty House" are told from Moran's point of view. Naturally, The Professor is not pleased to hear of Moran's actions and arrest, and has Moran poisoned while in police custody to prevent him from talking.
He appears briefly in Michael Kurland's
Michael Kurland
Michael Joseph Kurland is an American author, best known for his works of science fiction and detective fiction....
'Professor Moriarty' novel Death by Gaslight.
He appears in David Stuart Davies
David Stuart Davies
David Stuart Davies is a British writer. He worked as a teacher of English before becoming a full-time editor, writer, and playwright. Davies has written extensively about Sherlock Holmes, both fiction and non-fiction...
's The Veiled Detective, a novel based mainly around a retelling of part of A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet is a detective mystery novel written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, introducing his new character of Sherlock Holmes, who later became one of the most famous literary detective characters. He wrote the story in 1886, and it was published the next year...
, in which Dr. Watson is planted in Holmes's life by Professor Moriarty in order to monitor and report back on him.
In the anthology My Sherlock Holmes edited by Michael Kurland, a collection of stories told from the viewpoints of minor characters from canon, A Study in Orange by Peter Tremayne recounts how Moran partly outwitted Holmes on a case. Moran also appeared in Tremayne's The Affray at the Kildare Street Club in The Mammoth Book of New Sherlock Holmes Adventures where he was foiled in a petty theft by a young Holmes.
He appears as a minor character in the clockpunk/steampunk novel Whitechapel Gods
Whitechapel Gods
Whitechapel Gods is a 2008 Canadian Clockpunk/retro-futuristic novel written by S.M. Peters. It is a dystopian industrial alternate history of Victorian London.-Plot summary:...
by S.M. Peters (as does the blind mechanic Von Herder, the manufacturer of Moran's air rifle).
A female version of Moran appears in Liar-soft's 2008 visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
Shikkoku no Sharnoth ~What a beautiful tomorrow~ as one of the principal characters.
He is credited as having compiled the book The Moriarty Papers - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes's Great Nemesis which claims to give an insight into many of Professor Moriarty's plots and schemes.
Moran, played by Paul Anderson, will appear in the 2011 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is an upcoming 2011 British-American action mystery film directed by Guy Ritchie and produced by Joel Silver, Lionel Wigram, Susan Downey, and Dan Lin. It is a sequel to the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes, based on the character of the same name created by Sir Arthur...
.