Editing Hercule Poirot (section)

=== Appearance and proclivities ===

[[Captain Arthur Hastings]]'s first description of Poirot:

{{blockquote|He was hardly more than five feet four inches but carried himself with great dignity. His head was exactly the shape of an egg, and he always perched it a little on one side. His moustache was very stiff and military. Even if everything on his face was covered, the tips of moustache and the pink-tipped nose would be visible.

The neatness of his attire was almost incredible; I believe a speck of dust would have caused him more pain than a bullet wound. Yet this quaint dandified little man who, I was sorry to see, now limped badly, had been in his time one of the most celebrated members of the Belgian police.{{sfn|Christie|1939}}}}

Agatha Christie's initial description of Poirot in ''[[Murder on the Orient Express]]'':

{{blockquote|By the step leading up into the sleeping-car stood a young French lieutenant, resplendent in uniform, conversing with a small man [Hercule Poirot] muffled up to the ears of whom nothing was visible but a pink-tipped nose and the two points of an upward-curled moustache. {{sfn|Christie|2011}}}}

In the later books, his limp is not mentioned, suggesting it may have been a temporary wartime injury. (In ''[[Curtain: Poirot's Last Case|Curtain]]'', Poirot admits he was wounded when he first came to England.) Poirot has green eyes that are repeatedly described as shining "like a cat's" when he is struck by a clever idea,<ref>E.g. "For about ten minutes [Poirot] sat in dead silence... and all the time his eyes grew steadily greener" {{harvnb|Christie|1939|loc=Chapter 5}}</ref> and dark hair, which he dyes later in life. In ''Curtain'', he admits to Hastings that he has taken to wearing a wig and a false moustache.<ref>as Hastings discovers in {{harvnb|Christie|1991|loc=Chapter 1}}</ref> However, in many of his screen incarnations, he is bald or balding.

Frequent mention is made of his [[patent leather]] shoes, damage to which is frequently a source of misery for him, but comical for the reader.<ref>E.g. "Hercule Poirot looked down at the tips of his patent-leather shoes and sighed." {{harvnb|Christie|1947a}}</ref> Poirot's appearance, regarded as fastidious during his early career, later falls hopelessly out of fashion.<ref>E.g. "And now here was the man himself. Really a most impossible person – the wrong clothes – button boots! an incredible moustache! Not his – Meredith Blake's kind of fellow at all." {{harvnb|Christie|2011|loc=Chapter 7}}</ref>

Among Poirot's most significant personal attributes is the sensitivity of his stomach:

{{blockquote|The plane dropped slightly. ''"Mon estomac,"'' thought Hercule Poirot, and closed his eyes determinedly.{{sfn|Christie|2010|loc=Chapter 1}}}}

He suffers from [[sea sickness]],<ref>"My stomach, it is not happy on the sea"{{harvnb|Christie|1980|loc=Chapter 8, iv}}</ref> and, in ''[[Death in the Clouds]]'', he states that his air sickness prevents him from being more alert at the time of the murder. Later in his life, we are told:

{{blockquote|Always a man who had taken his stomach seriously, he was reaping his reward in old age. Eating was not only a physical pleasure, it was also an intellectual research.{{sfn|Christie|2010|loc=Chapter 1}}}}

Poirot is extremely punctual and carries a [[pocket watch]] almost to the end of his career.<ref>"he walked up the steps to the front door and pressed the bell, glancing as he did so at the neat wrist-watch which had at last replaced an old favourite – the large turnip-faced watch of early days. Yes, it was exactly nine-thirty. As ever, Hercule Poirot was exact to the minute." {{harvnb|Christie|2011b}}</ref> He is also particular about his personal finances, preferring to keep a bank balance of 444 pounds, 4 shillings, and 4 pence.{{sfn|Christie|2013a}} Actor [[David Suchet]], who portrayed Poirot on television, said "there's no question he's [[obsessive-compulsive]]".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/may/19/david-suchet-poirot-agatha-christie|title=Poirot and me |last=Barton|first=Laura |author-link=Laura Barton |date=18 May 2009|work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=2021-05-06 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Film portrayer [[Kenneth Branagh]] said that he "enjoyed finding the sort of obsessive-compulsive" in Poirot.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/11/10/563378736/kenneth-branagh-on-his-meticulous-master-detective-role-in-murder-on-the-orient-|title=Kenneth Branagh on His Meticulous Master Detective Role In 'Murder on the Orient Express'|publisher=NPR |access-date=26 November 2017|language=en}}</ref>

As mentioned in ''[[Curtain (novel)|Curtain]]'' and ''[[The Clocks]]'', he is fond of classical music, particularly [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] and [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]].