Sherlock: 10 Most Outrageous Fan Theories

3. Andrew Scott Is Not Moriarty

Moriarty is the character who apparently captures fans' imaginations the most as many of these theories revolve around him. Yet, to quote that paraphrased meme, what if we told you that we haven't even met the real Moriarty yet?

This idea is based on the fact that Doyle's Moriarty is a figure who loves to work in the shadows, only revealing himself to Sherlock when it was absolutely necessary - which is in sharp contrast to Scott's Jokerish version who is known worldwide as the Criminal of the Century! According to the theory, Scott is an actor hired by Moriarty to play him, similar to the Richard Brook storyline in The Reichenbach Fall.

Another idea, so that we can continue to have Scott as Moriarty, is that the character we have seen him play previously was the real Moriarty's twin brother. This might seem far-fetched but it is based on the fact that, in the Doyle stories, Moriarty has a brother also called James (Doyle had seemingly forgotten that he had used the name before). So the idea that there are two Moriartys is actually canon already.