In 1893 the Final Problem by Arthur Conan Doyle released.In the story, Watson introduced a man named Colonel James Moriarty. He is defending the memory of his dead brother, Professor James Moriarty in the form of a letter. Then in The Valley of Fear in 1914, Sherlock and Watson reveal the existence of a younger brother. Throughout the years, people have wondered if these are two different brothers, or a retconned decision by Conan Doyle. Different adaptations of the Sherlock Holmes stories involve the mysterious brothers in different ways. Whether they don’t include the brothers at all, use only one, or use both brothers, They do not get much development as characters such as Sebastian Moran or Irene Adler.
Moriarty the Patriot, an anime made in 2020 did something different to other stories. They created two brothers older and younger and gave them personalities and importance into the overarching story.
Professor James Moriarty could have an older brother that is a colonel in the British military named James and a younger brother (Presumably also named James) that is a station master in the west of London. but the existence of both is not confirmed.
Writer Vincent Starrett suggested that Moriarty could have one brother (who is both a colonel and station master) or two brothers (one a colonel and the other a station master); he added that he considered the presence of two brothers more likely, and suggested that all three brothers that are named James.
Moriarty the Patriot uses the two brother theory for their story. They created two brothers for the professor based off of the two lines given to them in the Conan Doyle canon. All three brothers are given the name of James. Although in the anime their names are Albert, William, and Louis James Moriarty.
William in the show is a University Mathematics professor. Causing him to be our lead of the show and being based off of Sherlock’s enemy, professor Moriarty. Albert is inspired by the older Colonel Moriarty while also being a colonel in the show and the head of MI6. Louis is a different case where he is inspired by the younger brother that is a station master, but Louis himself is not employed until the manga where he takes over MI6 for Albert in the aftermath of the final problem.
Moriarty’s brothers were never developed into good characters. They were little facts we found out about the professor. Where we find information about them is best with Moriarty the Patriot. They get depth and development and are more than irrelevant characters. They are there to get more information on one man. They are their own characters with their own ambitions.
The two brother theory for the Moriarty’s impact other adaptations of the characters. Where Moriarty the Patriot uses it to develop a side story about love. while other adaptations either don’t have the brothers in it at all. They also use one of them in a very minor part in the story. The Moriarty brothers are a very mysterious part of the Conan Doyle canon that an anime almost 140 years later built upon and became a fan favorite part of Moriarty the Patriot.
