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Physical Appearance

In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes is described by Watson as having a "cat-like" love of personal cleanliness. This desire, however, in no way hinders his logical pursuit of his profession. For example, in the very first case written down by Watson, A Study in Scarlet, Holmes' hands are noted as being discolored with acid stains, and he often uses drops of his own blood to conduct experiments in chemistry and forensics.

That being said, Holmes could perhaps be considered as being a very attractive older gentleman (though, that also could potentially be attributed to the fact that his face is, admittedly, Robert Downey Jr.), but he tends to ignore certain rituals of hygiene whenever his mind is unoccupied by a case. He often neglects things such as shaving his face, bathing, or changing into clean clothes, and occasionally the only person who can coax him back into society with some kind of mentally stimulating activity is, in fact, Watson himself - usually with an invitation to dinner or a concert or even a case that Holmes has deemed in need of solving.

Mannerisms/Personality Quirks

Holmes is simultaneously a brilliant mind and an eccentric; Watson describes him as "bohemian" in habits and lifestyle, often with no regard for contemporary (this being Victorian-era London) standards of tidiness or good order. His personal living quarters are considerably messy, and Watson mentions coming across things in strange places, such as "tobacco in the toe end of a Persian slipper". What appears to others as chaos, however, is in fact the neatest system of order to Holmes. Throughout the chronicled stories, Holmes frequently dives into his apparent mess of papers, documents (he has a very strong aversion to destroying or throwing out anything) and artifacts, only to come up with exactly the specific item or paper he was looking for in the first place. Watson also makes note of Holmes' fluctuating eating habits. He is often described as starving himself at times of intense intellectual activity; in his more intense moments, he will occasionally avoid meals altogether.

Watson does not condemn Holmes' willingness to bend the truth or break the law on behalf of a client (e.g., lying to the police, concealing evidence or breaking into houses) where he feels it morally justifiable; in fact, Holmes does tend to solve cases in an overall morally gray method, but overall, he is portrayed as a patriot, acting on behalf of the government in matters of national security in a few of the stories.

Holmes has an ego that at times borders on arrogant, albeit with justification; he draws pleasure from baffling police inspectors (namely, the honorable few belonging to Scotland Yard) with his superior deductions. He does not seek fame, however, and is usually content to allow the police to take public credit for his work. It's often only when Watson publishes his stories that Holmes' role in the case becomes apparent. Holmes is pleased when he is recognized for having superior skills and responds to flattery, as Watson remarks as a girl does upon her beauty. Holmes' demeanor is presented as dispassionate and cold. Yet when in the midst of an adventure, Holmes can sparkle with remarkable passion. He has a flair for showmanship and will prepare elaborate traps to capture and expose a culprit, often to impress Watson or one of the Scotland Yard inspectors.

Holmes is a loner and does not strive to make friends. He attributes his solitary ways to his particular interests and his mopey disposition. Holmes also warns Watson, at their first meeting in A Study in Scarlet, that he gets "in the dumps at times," and doesn't open his "mouth for days on end."

Set of Skills

In A Study in Scarlet, Watson compiled the following list of Holmes' skills and the various degrees to which he possesses knowledge in specific fields. It will be copied here for my own convenience and record:

1. Knowledge of Literature — Nothing.
2. Knowledge of Philosophy — Nothing.
3. Knowledge of Astronomy — Nothing.
4. Knowledge of Politics — Feeble.
5. Knowledge of Botany — Variable. Well up in belladonna, opium and poisons generally. Knows nothing of practical gardening.
6. Knowledge of Geology — Practical, but limited. Tells at a glance different soils from each other.
7. Knowledge of Chemistry — Profound.
8. Knowledge of Anatomy — Accurate, but unsystematic.
9. Knowledge of Sensational Literature — Immense. He appears to know every detail of every horror perpetrated in the century.
10. Plays the violin well.
11. Is an expert singlestick player, boxer and swordsman.
12. Has a good practical knowledge of British law.

Powers of Deduction

Holmes' primary intellectual detection method is deductive reasoning of the solution to a crime. "From a drop of water," he writes, "a logician could infer the possibility of an Atlantic or a Niagara without having seen or heard of one or the other." Holmesian deduction appears to consist primarily of "drawing inferences based on either straightforward practical principles - which are the result of careful inductive study, such as Holmes's study of different kinds of cigar ashes - or inference to the best explanation".

Holmes' straightforward practical principles are generally of the form, "If p, then q," where p is observed evidence and q is what the evidence indicates.

Deductive reasoning allows Holmes to impressively reveal a stranger's occupation, such as a Retired Sergeant of Marines in A Study in Scarlet, a former ship's carpenter turned pawnbroker in The Red-Headed League, and a billiard-marker and a retired artillery NCO in The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter. Similarly, by studying inanimate objects, Holmes is able to make astonishingly detailed deductions about their owners, including Watson's pocket-watch in The Sign of the Four.

Once he has amassed a large body of evidence and deduced a number of possible explanations, Holmes proceeds to find the one explanation that fits all the facts of the case to produce a solution. As Holmes explains to Watson, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Canon Puncturing

As far as canon puncture is concerned, Holmes dealt with that a little in his Mixed Muses thread, but most people recognized the name and either a) didn't believe him and thought he was crazy or b) recognized the name and didn't really comment on it or show signs that it was familiar to them. However, there were one or two characters who visibly reacted to him being in the bar, but as far as movie canon is concerned, Holmes (and perhaps Watson, in smaller circles) is very well known in London for his detecting skills and his reputation among the intelligence of Scotland Yard, so if someone were to react to him in the bar, he'd probably assume they'd heard of him through word of mouth (I think he asked someone if they were a fan of his work?) and leave it at that.

As far as Watson's stories go, they haven't been published yet in the current point within canon, so I'm hoping someone won't present Holmes with a copy of them, but something tells me he wouldn't be offended in the slightest. At most, he'd probably be very flattered and simultaneously confused and fascinated by the whole thing.