On Fanlore, users with accounts can edit pages including user pages, can create pages, and more. Any information you publish on a page or an edit summary will be accessible by the public and to Fanlore personnel. Because Fanlore is a wiki, information published on Fanlore will be publicly available forever, even if edited later. Be mindful when sharing personal information, including your religious or political views, health, racial background, country of origin, sexual identity and/or personal relationships. To learn more, check out our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Select "dismiss" to agree to these terms.
Mycroft Holmes
| Character | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Mycroft Holmes |
| Occupation: | |
| Relationships: | Sherlock Holmes (brother) |
| Fandom: | Sherlock Holmes |
| Other: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Mycroft Holmes is a secondary character in the Sherlock Holmes books and appears in several of its adaptations. He is the elder brother of Sherlock Holmes.
Canon
Mycroft Holmes is the elder brother of Sherlock Holmes. In the books he appears in four stories, but is only part of the main action in two of them, Adventure of the Greek Interpreter and The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans.
Mycroft has appeared in several adaptations, sometimes his role will be increased or decreased depending on the adaptation.
Versions
Sherlock Holmes (Granada)
Mycroft was portrayed by Charles Gray in the series
Soviet Series
Mycroft was portrayed by Boris Klyuyev in the series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, in this case Mycroft was made the younger brother.
Sherlock Holmes (2009 films)
Mycroft is played by Stephen Fry in the second Robert Downey Jr film.
Sherlock (BBC)
Mycroft was played by series co-creator Mark Gatiss.
Elementary
Mycroft is played by Rhys Ifans in this series.
Mycroft Holmes is the older brother of Sherlock Holmes and the eldest son of Morland Holmes. He is a restaurateur who runs several successful restaurants through England and Europe, and later is revealed to be an operative for M16.
He and Sherlock have a terse relationship and previous to his appearance, has not talked to Sherlock in five years due to Sherlock's affair with his fiancé (who was a gold digger). Somewhere in that time, he was diagnosed with Leukemia and received a bone marrow transplant, and recovered from his illness, leaving him with an improved personal belief and attitude.
He and Joan Watson begin to form a relationship, which ends when he is forced to fake his death in order to protect himself, Sherlock and Joan.
Enola Holmes
Mycroft was played by Sam Claflin in these films.
Fandom
Pairings
Outside of BBC's Sherlock, which heavily features the Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade pairing, Mycroft does not feature in a lot of pairings overall. However, there will sometimes be some bleed over from BBC's Sherlock and have Mycroft paired with Lestrade in other adaptations. Mycroft often features in gen fanworks, which will focus on his familial relationship with his brother Sherlock.
Common Tropes and Storylines in Fanworks
- Backstory: information about Mycroft and Sherlock's childhood and upbringing is quite sparse in canon, so fans will often try and fill in the blanks. It is not unusual for Mycroft to play the role of protective older brother or mentor to Sherlock in these fanworks.
- Secondary Character: Mycroft is often a featured supporting character in stories focused on Sherlock and Watson. Mycroft's connection to the government can often be a helpful plot device in fics.
Fanworks
Meta
- I love the Holmes brothers so freaking much, Archived version by moroniccats (2025)
Example Art Gallery
Mycroft Holmes by L.A. Adolf for the Covenant zine (2012), this piece inspired by the Robert Downey Jr films.
Granada Mycroft by esuniwaya (2015), based on the Granada series
My fan work. Mycroft Holmes. by k612 (2021), inspired by BBC's Sherlock
late night sketches of my boy Mycroft by sygneth (2024), based on the books
Archives and Links
Resources