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There are many similarities between the characters of Gregory House and Sherlock Holmes - whether this is accidental or deliberate is still speculative.
Arthur Conan Doyle's inspiration for Holmes came from a real life doctor at the time, Joseph Bell, who was a brilliant diagnostician, capable of making diagnoses without even talking to his patients. The character of House is also based on Joseph Bell.
Holmes can deduce a lot from just looking at someone - House can make character judgements and diagnoses just from observation.
Holmes solves crimes that baffle other detectives, House solves medical mysteries that other doctors fail to recognise.
Holmes is a cocaine addict, injecting it to avoid boredom. House uses Vicodin for the pain in his leg (and also, we suspect, for boredom or force of habit) and has been known to administer it in imaginative ways.
Holmes calls everyone by their last names, even his best friend, and so does House.
Both Holmes and House are extremely arrogant. Holmes has said that 'humility is a lie' and House has inferred this.
Both are lazy until they find a case
House plays the piano and guitar, Holmes plays the violin. Music is important to both of them.
Both Holmes and House keep everyone except their best friends at at a distance.
Holmes lives at 221b Baker Street, London. House lives at 221b (though we don't know the street name).
These are the main character similarities. If you think of any more, feel free to comment on the Limping Twerps page. An excellent resource for plot similarities and other similarities from each episode is available at http://www.housemd-guide.com/house-holmes/holmes.php
There are also some essential differences between the two characters:
Holmes is renowned for his courage, though House doesn't mind being called a coward.
Holmes hates guessing, and talked about never theorising before having all of the data, but House does a lot of guesswork (albeit deductive guesswork).
Holmes is an incessant pipe smoker, though we have only seen House smoke twice - once, in Paternity (S1E2) and also in Words and Deeds (S3E11).
