"Heroes don't exist, and if they did, I wouldn't be one of them," Sherlock Holmes a few days prior to his jump off a four story hospital to save the three people he cares for. In the BBC 2010 version of Sherlock Holmes's life, the great detective being played by Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock describes himself as a non-hero, yet non-villain human. He states that, "I am on the side of the angels, but don't think for one second that I am one of them," to Moriarty before his jump, more famously known as Recheinbach Fall. He doesn't see himself as someone who saves people because he feels the need to be a good person; he isn't a human with normal morals or a conscience. He also doesn't feel that heroes exist, that there are no people whom he can define as a hero in society today. However, I see heroes all the time with different personalities and varying degrees of sanity. I believe Sherlock Holmes is a hero because he sacrifices for others, he restores peace to chaos, and he helps people even if he doesn't mean to.
Sherlock Holmes is a selfless man when he acts out of interest and bravery for himself and his 'friends'. Whenever he is solving a case he is sacrificing time and effort to help his clients out, even if he does it just for the thrill of a puzzle. In a way, his life is a sacrifice; his job is to assist his city's inhabitants. His biggest sacrifice was his final battle with Moriarty, who advertises himself as Sherlock's 'nemesis', during this battle of wits Moriarty gives Sherlock a choice. If Sherlock's blood does not run in ribbons down his face and his head is not smashed into a lump of skin after his fall from a rooftop, his three 'best friends' get a bullet through the heart; if he does jump, his friends live without him and the knowledge that he sacrificed his life to save theirs. Sherlock chooses to jump. He sacrificed one life to save the three that he cared about the most, and he still considers himself someone who doesn't have a heart. The greatest sacrifice for someone is to give one's life, and that's exactly what Sherlock did to restore peace.
Another common trait of a hero is to 'save' the public, or bring order to the chaos in the city. Sherlock is constantly solving cases, putting criminals in their place, prison. Heroes 'vanquish' evil and help people out. Sherlock solves murder cases, which is how he helps people out, and finds the criminals, which could be seen as how he 'vanquishes' evil. This trait is what defines heroes for America, they are fairy godmothers who solve all our problems and make everyone happy. Even though they have amazing powers, they are outcast because if everyone knew who they really were, outside of their shiny superhero costume, they would just be an outcast, because they are different. Everyone sees that he is different from their idea of normal and sometimes they don't even see his caring side, as Lestrade, the chief of police for Scotland Yard, said, "Because Sherlock Holmes is a great man, and I think one day—if we're very very lucky—he might even be a good one." People do believe that Sherlock is a genius, but they have yet to see his caring side. Sherlock restores peace and ends chaos by helping people with their problems or solving cases and putting people in prison for the police.
Sherlock Homes is usually someone who doesn't believe in caring for a person because it creates weakness. On the other hand he jumped from a four story building to save his 'friends'. He doesn't see himself as someone who cares for other people like a friend, yet he does so unconsciously. He takes John Watson, his right hand man, out for meals even when he himself isn't hungry; he helps Lestrade out on a daily basis by solving cases that the police can't figure out; also he helped Mrs. Hudson, his landlady, get rid of her husband, whom we assume is an abusive man. He helps these people and sacrificed his life to ensure their safety. Through all these amazing feats of bravery and kindness he doesn't believe that he has a heart, he says "I've been reliably informed that I don't have one [a heart]." People see his caring ways though, because Moriarty responds, "But we both know that's not quite true." Sherlock doesn't consider himself someone who cares about other people, he thinks of himself as isolated from people as a whole, but he shows caring tendencies all the time whether he acknowledges it or not.
Sherlock Homes embodies my idea of a hero because he sacrifices himself for the lives of others, he brings peace to the city of London, and cares for/helps people that are close to him. Sherlock sacrificed his life for his 'friends' and constantly sacrifices time and energy to help people and solve problems. He also helps restore the chaos his 'enemies' put the city into by helping out the police and putting his life on the line constantly. Finally, Sherlock helps people when they are in need of someone who can solve their difficulties. In the words of John Watson, standing over Sherlock's grave, mourning the loss of one of his best friends, "You [Sherlock] were the most human…human being I've ever known," even though Sherlock Holmes didn't consider himself a hero, he was to everyone who had the chance of knowing him.