Companion

Character Role Analysis

Dr. John Watson

Dr. John Watson is the ultimate sidekick. He's the eternal wingman to Sherlock Holmes and he even stayed a sidekick when Holmes was off playing dead. Watson lets Holmes have the spotlight and the credit and seems content to follow his friend around on adventures, supplying backup when needed. What's interesting is that Watson is more of a dynamic, or evolving, character than the protagonist, Holmes, in these stories. Holmes is fairly flat, or unchanging, as a character. He remains his brilliant, difficult, and weird self in all thirteen of these stories. Watson, meanwhile, shows signs of having evolved and changed over the years. For instance, he is adept at understanding Holmes's weird statements and seemingly out-of-left-field conclusions. Watson indicates that he developed this understanding over a period of years.