An image of Professor Moriarty as a hologram
- For the sentient hologram based on this character, see James Moriarty (hologram).
Professor James Moriarty was a fictional character from the 19th century Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He was an adversary to Sherlock Holmes, a man with knowledge equal to Holmes'.
Katherine Pulaski read Sherlock Holmes novels in her youth, and was always frightened by the despicable Moriarty. A hologram based on Moriarty was created on board the USS Enterprise-D in 2365. La Forge asks the computer to create an adversary that can defeat Data, rather than Holmes. In so doing the computer creates a character that had Data's knowledge and became self aware. (TNG: "Elementary, Dear Data")
In 2369, when the holographic Moriarty appeared to gain the ability to exit the holodeck, Captain Picard warned him that the criminal behavior shown in the novels would not be acceptable in the 24th century. The holographic Moriarty assured him that he was not the same as the fictional character from the "scribblings of an Englishman dead for four centuries." (TNG: "Ship in a Bottle")