Analysing 3 of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's best antagonists

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a true master of character design and his storytelling has captured the imagination of millions. Understandably, when people think of his stories they immediately think of our most beloved protagonist, Sherlock Holmes. However, a great protagonist is nothing without his nemesis and I think we all have a love/hate relationship with the infamous Moriarty. But what about the other villains Sherlock encounters on his adventures? When it comes to antagonists, the world of Sherlock Holmes is a rich tapestry.

Sir Arthur’s ability to explore morality and complicated social issues by using his villains is unrivalled. In this article we explore this and will be analysing 3 of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's best antagonists. Warning! There will be minor spoilers in this article, so if you haven't read through all of Sherlock’s tales yet, read at your own risk!

1. Professor Pressbury

One of Sir Arthur’s great skills as a writer was exposing human weaknesses through the despicable deeds of his villains. There is usually something relatable about the villain and Doyle writes in such a way that it is impossible to fully detach yourself from his villains at times, forcing you to contemplate the potential for evil and making mistakes in everyone. At the beginning of the story Professor Pressbury appears to be an upstanding academic.

Yet he develops an addiction for a drug which he thought would give him back his youth. This addiction was fueled by his pursuit of a younger woman who he had fallen in love with. Sir Arthur first introduces this character as an esteemed intellectual, but he is eventually reduced to a beast skulking around in the night on all fours due to the unforeseen side effects of his addiction.

Though the professor becomes a shell of his former self, his intentions were fueled by all too human emotions. You can almost sympathise with him. Through his ingenious story telling, Sir Arthur also makes us contemplate the consequences of playing god and meddling with nature’s course, making Professor Pressbury one of his greatest antagonists.

2. Culverton Smith

Unlike the last antagonist we discussed, this one has no normal human qualities that make him relatable. Culverton Smith is a classic villain, utterly despicable and someone we love to hate right up until our familiar hero bests him. Arguably one of the most notorious villains in the collective adventures of Sherlock, Culverton Smith is truly a character that we love to hate. To write a character like this, to produce a character that is not only hated, but that readers actively enjoy hating, is a prime example of Sir Arthur’s skill as a writer.

3. Irene Adler

Appearing in the very first of Holmes’ 56 adventures, Irene Adler is truly an iconic character. She is one of the only antagonists to earn Sherlock’s respect and she is also the only woman he ever develops romantic feelings for. One of the reasons Adler is such a great antagonist is that she is surprisingly likeable in some ways. In ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’, you could quite reasonably argue that she doesn’t do anything ‘evil’. Immoral perhaps, but she is not a villain of the same vein as Culverton Smith. In fact she is the opposite of Culverton in many ways, much more relatable and not quite evil enough that we really hate her, but morally ambiguous enough to make her interesting and exciting. Adler is a cunning character but she is also a master of extortion and leverage, making her the perfect introductory antagonist to Sherlock’s adventures and surely one of Sir Arthur’s best antagonists.

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