A Study in Scarlet Characters
Every major character in A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle, with a portrait, who they are and the chapters they appear in.
Joseph StangersonMajor character · 10 chaptersA Mormon elder and secretary to Enoch Drebber; suitor to Lucy Ferrier whose presence ties the Utah backstory to the London murders.
John H. WatsonNarrator · 9 chaptersAn army surgeon recently returned from Afghanistan who becomes Holmes’s friend, roommate, and the story’s observant chronicler.
Sherlock HolmesProtagonist · 9 chaptersA consulting detective in London whose acute observation and scientific reasoning solve baffling crimes.
Enoch DrebberAntagonist · 8 chaptersA wealthy Mormon elder whose forced marriage to Lucy Ferrier and past actions trigger Jefferson Hope’s long vendetta and his own violent death in London.
Jefferson HopeAntagonist · 7 chaptersA hard‑driving American cabman who murders two men to avenge the abduction and death of his love, Lucy Ferrier.
G. LestradeMajor character · 6 chaptersScotland Yard inspector who leads official inquiries, supplies evidence and arrests, and contrasts routine police work with Holmes’s methods.
John FerrierMajor character · 6 chaptersA tough, self-reliant frontier settler who adopts Lucy and resists Mormon demands, setting the novel's western tragedy in motion.
Lucy FerrierMajor character · 6 chaptersAdopted daughter of John Ferrier whose enforced marriage and tragic death set Jefferson Hope's long revenge in motion.
Brigham YoungMajor character · 5 chaptersThe stern territorial prophet whose authority over the Utah settlement forces choices that set the novel's tragedy and revenge in motion.
Tobias GregsonMajor character · 5 chaptersA Scotland Yard inspector who pursues conventional police leads in the Lauriston Gardens murders and seeks credit for solving the case.
Mike StamfordMinor character · 3 chaptersAn old medical colleague of Dr. Watson who reconnects him with Sherlock Holmes and sets their partnership in motion.
John RanceMinor character · 2 chaptersThe beat constable on duty who discovers the Lauriston Gardens scene and provides the essential eyewitness account.
All chapter summaries ›Characters ›
Read A Study in Scarlet illustrated
Every scene in these notes comes from the Book2Life reader, where the full public-domain text is illustrated as you read, with character portraits and narration. Free in your browser and on iPhone.
