Animation
Mastermind · Literature
Professor Moriarty
The original arch-nemesis, invented to kill off a hero
Attribute scores
Power38
Intellect97
Menace80
Fear factor66
Cultural impact90
Charisma76
Editorial estimates on a 0–100 scale, calibrated against every other character in the index. Not official canon.
Who they are
Moriarty appears in almost nothing. Conan Doyle created him in a single story specifically to have someone capable of killing Sherlock Holmes, and then described him as a mathematician who sits motionless at the center of a criminal web like a spider. That one image was enough. The entire modern concept of the intellectual equal-and-opposite villain descends from him.
Defining traits
Organized criminal networkMathematical geniusAbsolute deniabilityLong-range planningNever touches the crime himself
What makes them dangerous
He controls a criminal organization so well insulated that proving it exists is harder than solving any single case.
And what undoes them
His pride requires a personal confrontation, which is the only situation where he can be reached.
Things you might not know
- He appears directly in only one Holmes story and is mentioned in a handful of others.
- Conan Doyle invented him purely as a means of retiring Holmes, and public outrage forced the detective's return.
- The phrase 'arch-nemesis' in its modern popular sense is largely shaped by this single relationship.
Why number 8 in Smartest
The original criminal mind, defined by a network so insulated that proving it exists is harder than solving any individual case.
If you like this villain
Anime
Anime
Sōsuke Aizen
Bleach · 2001
The betrayal that was planned a hundred years before chapter one
Threat index 88