This take is definitely too hot for a lot of fans but I’m gonna say it anyway: Sherlock Holmes is a canonically queer character. What type of queer he is is up to interpretation, but he is canonically, explicitly Not Straight, and people who write him as an allosexual hetero man are the ones who are actually projecting their own headcanon onto him.
I’m 100% serious. Here are the canonical facts we have about his feelings on sex/romance:
- He says multiple times that he is not interested in women. When Watson comments on the attractiveness of a woman, Holmes responds that he “didn’t notice”.
- He is uninterested in marriage and remains a bachelor his entire life, and never expresses any regret or sadness over this.
- He states that he has “never loved” (in this context it is implied that he is specifically talking about romantic love.) He repeatedly expresses disdain for romance in general.
That’s IT. That is ALL the canonical information we have about his sexuality. We know that he is capable of love in some sense, and Watson even explicitly says that Holmes loves him. But we never see any evidence that he has romantic feelings for women.
Any interpretation of Holmes as a heterosexual man directly contradicts all of the evidence we have about his sexuality. It assumes that everything he or Watson have ever said about his feelings on romance is a lie. The only interpretations of him that actually fit with all the facts are if he’s aroace, gay, or some combination thereof.
Anyway I’m going to start referring to straight interpretations of Holmes as “straight headcanons” now. Holmes is canonically queer.
75. Percabeth -64
Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase, the Percy Jackson universe
76. Hucklerobby
Dennis 'Huckleberry' Whitaker & Michael 'Robby' Robinavitch, The Pitt
77. Bunnydoll
Jax & Ragatha, The Amazing Digital Circus
78. Wangxian -25
Lan Wangji & Wei Wuxian, Mo Dao Zu Shi
79. Shadowpeach -19
Sun Wukong & the Six-Eared Macaque, Lego Monkie Kid
80. Eternalberry
Hollyberry Cookie & Eternal Sugar Cookie, the Cookie Run franchise
81. Odypen
Odysseus & Penelope, EPIC: The Musical
82. Mizisua
Mizi & Sua, Alien Stage
83. Sterek
Stiles Stilinski & Derek Hale, Teen Wolf
84. Shadowvanilla
Pure Vanilla & Shadow Milk, the Cookie Run franchise
85. Moshang
Mobei-Jun & Shang Qinghua, The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System
86. Spideypool
Spider-Man & Deadpool, the Marvel universe
87. Davekat 0
Dave Strider & Karkat Vantas, Homestuck
88. Heavymedic
Heavy Weapons Guy & Medic, Team Fortress 2
89. Lumax
Lucas Sinclair & Max Mayfield, Stranger Things
90. Sonamy
Sonic the Hedgehog & Amy Rose, Sonic the Hedgehog
91. Rookanis
Rook & Lucanis Dellamorte, Dragon Age: The Veilguard
92. Zoeystery
Zoey & Mystery, KPop Demon Hunters
93. Poolverine -90
Wade Wilson & Logan Howlett, the Marvel universe
94. Everlark -12
Katniss Everdeen & Peeta Mellark, The Hunger Games
95. Clois
Clark Kent & Lois Lane, Superman
96. Johnlock
John Watson & Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock
97. Agathario -21
Agatha Harkness & Rio Vidal, the Marvel universe
98. Stolitz -64
Stolas & Blitzo, Helluva Boss
99. Devil's Minion
Armand & Daniel Molloy, Interview with the Vampire & The Vampire Chronicles
100. Skystar
Skyfire & Starscream, Transformers
The number in italics indicates how many spots a ship moved up or down from 2024. Bolded ships weren’t on the list last year.
*And, it turnes out we love pure vanilla x shadow milk so much, our data actually pulled it twice. Woops! We hope you enjoy nonetheless, and thank you for understanding❣️
How did your ships fare this week? Did your faves make the cut? Any surprises? Tag your posts and commentary with #ships week 2026 to keep this party going. Thanks for joining us. Now, go forth and keep doin what you're doin tumblr <3