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Sherlock Holmes says plainly that his brother is the better observer. Mycroft is the only character in this section whose limitation is stated by the text rather than inferred from it.
This is a fictional character, so the estimate reads an author’s intent rather than a person’s ability. Conan Doyle wrote Mycroft specifically to be Sherlock’s superior in analysis and his inferior in application, and the range reflects that design. It is not a claim about anything measurable.
Set the claim aside for a moment. If someone genuinely scored in this range, here is what that would represent.
Average is 100 by construction, and about two-thirds of people fall between 85 and 115. Take the test to place your own score on this scale.
| Score range | Classification | Share of people | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 – 114 | Average | ~68% | The range most people fall into. |
| 115 – 129 | Above average | ~13.6% | Roughly one person in seven. |
| 130 – 144 | Gifted | ~2% | The threshold most high-IQ societies use. |
| Above 144 | Highly gifted | ~0.1% | Figures above this range are extrapolated from the curve rather than measured. |
Percentages are approximate and describe a normal distribution. The same number means different things on tests with different standard deviations.
Thirty questions gives you a measured position on this exact scale — your score, your percentile and the ability breakdown behind it.
Find out in 30 minutes →Mycroft Holmes is Sherlock’s elder brother by seven years, introduced in “The Greek Interpreter” in 1893. He is described as large, indolent and precise, moving between his lodgings in Pall Mall, his office in Whitehall and the Diogenes Club, which he co-founded for men who dislike company.
His work for the government is deliberately vague and enormous in scope. Sherlock describes him at one point as occasionally being the British government itself — a central clearing house holding every department’s conclusions in one mind and finding the errors between them.
He appears in only a handful of stories and solves problems without leaving his chair. The character has since been expanded well beyond the canon in adaptations, but the original is a compact and pointed idea: enormous ability, entirely unexercised.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystThe estimate above rests on this record. Every entry here is a matter of public fact, which is more than can be said for the number itself.
Following a claim back to its first appearance is the part almost nobody does — and it is what most people are actually asking.
Mycroft exists to make a point about his brother. Conan Doyle introduces him in 1893 as a corrective: Sherlock’s gift is not unique, it runs in the family, and a version of it exists that is stronger still and produces nothing. The difference between the brothers is effort, not capacity, and the stories say so out loud.
That is why we place him at 185–205, above Sherlock at 180–200 and Moriarty at 175–195. It is the only ranking on this site derived from an explicit authorial statement rather than an inference from described feats. Sherlock, who has every reason to rate himself first, does not.
There is a reason this belongs on a site about IQ figures. Mycroft is a portrait of raw analytical power detached from application, and the stories treat that as a failure rather than a distinction. A number that measures only the capacity would rank him first and tell you nothing useful about what he did with it — which is close to the objection that Feynman’s documented 125 raises from the other direction.
How we read a number →Mycroft’s first appearance, and the source of Sherlock’s statement that his brother is the better observer.
Establishes Mycroft’s government role and his capacity to hold and cross-check every department’s conclusions.
Mycroft is revealed to have maintained Baker Street and assisted during Sherlock’s absence.
Our fictional rankings follow explicit textual statements where they exist. This is the only case where one is available.
The figures that circulate for Mycroft Holmes, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
Figures between 180 and 200 circulate, usually derived from Sherlock’s and pushed a little higher on the strength of the “better observer” line.
Unusually for this section, the circulating figures are roughly right — because the text supports them. Conan Doyle did not leave Mycroft’s standing to inference. He had Sherlock say it directly, twice, and built the Diogenes Club around a man who solves problems without moving. Where the figures go wrong is in treating a novelist’s deliberate construction as though it were a score.
For once the spread is narrow because the source is a text everyone has read, not a list everyone has copied.
Want a number that does hold up? Every figure on this page is somebody’s claim. Take the 30-question test and get a percentile you can check rather than a figure you have to trust.
He is fictional, so there is no measurable figure. On our reading of the canon he sits at 185–205 — above Sherlock — because Conan Doyle has Sherlock state directly that Mycroft is the better observer.
By the text, yes, in observation and deduction. Sherlock says so himself in “The Greek Interpreter”. What Mycroft lacks is energy: he will not take the trouble to verify or act on his own conclusions.
Because his standing is stated by the author rather than inferred from described feats. That makes it the firmest basis available in fiction. Sherlock and Moriarty follow.
Chiefly “The Greek Interpreter” (1893), “The Empty House” (1903) and “The Bruce-Partington Plans” (1908). He is mentioned in “The Final Problem”.
A London club Mycroft co-founded for men who wish to avoid conversation; talking is forbidden outside the Stranger’s Room. It is characteristic of how Conan Doyle draws him.
Not as measurements. They describe how an author built a character. That is a legitimate thing to discuss, provided nobody mistakes it for data — and unlike real people, no one is misrepresented by the guess.
You can find out in about fifteen minutes. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions, scored on the same 100-mean scale used throughout this page, so your result and the estimate above are at least expressed in the same units — one measured, one inferred. Once you have a number, the leaderboard shows where it would sit, and how we score and norm it explains the benchmarking.
From the documented record rather than a test — the method is named above and set out in full under how we read a number. Compare it against the other fictional profiles, starting with Sherlock Holmes.
Portrait © Matthew Yohe, CC BY-SA 3.0. The background-removed portrait above is a derivative work and is likewise offered under the same licence. · Portrait © Debbie Rowe / The Royal Society, CC BY-SA 3.0. The background-removed portrait above is a derivative work and is likewise offered under the same licence. · Portrait by Christopher Smith, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — a work of the U.S. federal government, public domain. Background removed for the portrait above.
Thirty questions, scored against general-population benchmarks. Your score, your percentile, your ability breakdown and a printable IIF certificate.
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