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Age and build

Thin and bronzed from Afghanistan

“You are as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut” (A Study In Scarlet, part 1)

Medical professional with military bearing

“Here is a gentleman of a medical type, but with the air of a military man” (A Study In Scarlet, part 2)

Face and hair

Dark complexion from tropical service

“his face is dark, and that is not the natural tint of his skin, for his wrists are fair” (A Study In Scarlet, part 2)

Haggard appearance from hardship and illness

“He has undergone hardship and sickness, as his haggard face says clearly” (A Study In Scarlet, part 2)

Dress

Wears service revolver

“I have my old service revolver and a few cartridges” (A Study In Scarlet, part 5)

Voice and speech

The book is silent here, so we keep this plain and neutral.

Signature words

Expression of amazement

“How on earth did you know that” (A Study In Scarlet, part 1)

Rhetorical questioning

“What ineffable twaddle” (A Study In Scarlet, part 2)

Gait and mannerisms

Holds injured left arm stiffly

“His left arm has been injured. He holds it in a stiff and unnatural manner” (A Study In Scarlet, part 2)

Observant and analytical in manner

“I watched him I was irresistibly reminded of a pure-blooded well-trained foxhound as it dashes backwards and forwards through the covert” (A Study In Scarlet, part 3)

Strengths

Medical knowledge and training

“In the year 1878 I took my degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of London, and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for surgeons in the army” (A Study In Scarlet, part 1)

Military experience and courage

“I saw my own comrades hacked to pieces at Maiwand without losing my nerve” (A Study In Scarlet, part 5)

Observant and perceptive nature

“I had begun to realize, that Sherlock Holmes’ smallest actions were all directed towards some definite and practical end” (A Study In Scarlet, part 3)

Flaws

Weak health from Afghan service and enteric fever

“Worn with pain, and weak from the prolonged hardships which I had undergone, I was removed, with a great train of wounded sufferers, to the base hospital at Peshawar” (A Study In Scarlet, part 1)

Nervous condition from war experiences

“I object to rows because my nerves are shaken, and I get up at all sorts of ungodly hours, and I am extremely lazy” (A Study In Scarlet, part 1)

Financial difficulties upon return to England

“So alarming did the state of my finances become, that I soon realized that I must either leave the metropolis and rusticate somewhere in the country, or that I must make a complete alteration in my style of living” (A Study In Scarlet, part 1)

Loneliness and lack of social connections

“I had neither kith nor kin in England, and was therefore as free as air—or as free as an income of eleven shillings and sixpence a day will permit a man to be” (A Study In Scarlet, part 1)

Traits

Appreciative of Holmes' abilities

“My respect for his powers of analysis increased wondrously” (A Study In Scarlet, part 3)

Pragmatic and practical in outlook

“I should prefer having a partner to being alone” (A Study In Scarlet, part 1)

Sensitive to flattery and emotional responses

“My companion flushed up with pleasure at my words, and the earnest way in which I uttered them” (A Study In Scarlet, part 4)

Lines in their own words

Expressing surprise at Holmes' deduction

“How on earth did you know that” (A Study In Scarlet, part 1)