Sebastian Moran

Sebastian Moran
Sherlock Holmes character
Colonel Moran is arrested in "The Adventure of the Empty House".
First appearance	"The Adventure of the Empty House"
Created by	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Information
Gender	Male
Title	Colonel
Nationality	British

Colonel Sebastian Moran is a character in the stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. An enemy of Sherlock Holmes, he first appears in the short story "The Adventure of the Empty House". Holmes once described him as "the second most dangerous man in London" - the most dangerous being Professor Moriarty, Moran's employer.

According to Sherlock Holmes's index of criminal biographies, Sebastian Moran was born in London in 1840, the son of Sir Augustus Moran, CB, sometime Minister to Persia.

He was educated at Eton College and the University of Oxford before embarking upon a military career. Formerly of the 1st Bangalore Pioneers (Madras), he served in the Jowaki Expedition of 1877-1878 and in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, seeing action at the Battle of Char Asiab, 6 October 1879 (for which he was mentioned in despatches); the Battle of Sherpur, 23 December 1879; and at Kabul.

A devoted sportsman and highly skilled shot, he was author of the books Heavy Game of the Western Himalayas in 1881 and Three Months in the Jungle in 1884, and reportedly once "crawled down a drain after a wounded man-eating tiger". Although there was no open scandal of his turn to crime, he was obliged to retire from the army and return to London. Outwardly respectable, with an address in Conduit Street, Mayfair, and membership of the (fictional) Anglo-Indian Club, the Tankerville Club and The Bagatelle Card Club, he was nevertheless recruited by Professor Moriarty, and served as his chief of staff; ultimately used solely for assassinations that required his peculiar skill with the rifle. In The Final Problem (early 1891), Moran escaped incrimination, and followed the Professor to Reichenbach Falls, where Moran attempted to kill Holmes by rolling boulders upon him. Thereafter Moran earned a living in London by playing cards at several clubs.