What is it that we love about Sherlock Holmes?

This topic is among the earliest addressed by Holmesians worldwide: W.S. Baring-Gould included an essay in his 2-volume Annotated Sherlock Holmes. Upon rereading it, though, I found it a bit lacking, focusing as it does mainly on Doyle's ability to convey the Victorian era so clearly. But isn't there much, much more to it? Therefore I would like to open the subject to a general discussion.

I propose ten points to consider:
1. For Holmes, intelligence triumphs. It is our naked human conceit that brainpower is all-important, and that it is the main thing that differentiates us from the lower animals. Naturally we humans relish this element of the Canon above all others.
2. Holmes maintains a sense of fairness always. In a world in which evil often triumphs over good and evildoers get away with more than murder, this ideal is a cherished one indeed.
3. Holmes is the Master puzzle-solver. Humans love puzzles, and solving them is an obsession for many. Holmes makes it a science and then reveals how he does it.
4. Holmes lives by his own rules. He 'created his own profession and is the only one in the world,' he crows. We admire this independent quality, when most of us are unfortunately frequently subject to the whims of others in order to survive.
5. Holmes is a believable superhero for all ages. His mistakes are few, and his successes frequent. He always works for the good of humanity. We can only aspire to such a goal in our own lives.
6. On the flip side, Holmes is a flawed person who overcomes his own foibles, and we can relate to this. He gnashes his teeth in indignation when he is bested. Who hasn't?
7. Holmes is the Master Teacher of human nature. His deep understanding of people of all classes, their strengths and weaknesses, also makes him extraordinarily kind. And tales of human nature never grow old.
8. Holmes has a complex personality. He's a workaholic, an aesthete, a storyteller, an actor, a drug user, and clearly somewhat bipolar. His uniqueness makes him unlike any other character in literature, a truly believable fellow. No wonder so many Victorians thought he was a real man when Doyle's tales first came into print.
9. Holmes leads us by the hand into armchair time travel. The immediacy of Doyle's descriptions of the place and time bring an earlier era into sharper focus, and we can actually feel as if we have entered another age with Holmes. And we learn that people haven't really changed over the years.
10. Holmes shows us life as we wish it could be. Would that all our own problems could be solved by this great intellect, or that today's crimes could be approached with such scientific diligence and care.

I could add his physical strength, his insouciance, and his way of playing to the gallery (well, to Watson, anyway) as well demonstrated when the brutish Dr Roylance tries to intimidate him in The Speckled Band by bending a poker with his bare hands. When Roylance leaves, Holmes straigtens the poker out again - a much more difficult task - with a laugh.

Yes, I remember that! Nigh impossible? But never for Holmes. That was Brian Blessed if remember correctly?

In many of the best of Doyle's stories Holmes is the master of analysing trace evidence, what is today called forensic science. At the time the stories were written this was a new concept for readers, and so it made Sherlock both unique and a genius.