Tropescilloscope: Cowboy Cop

A loose cannon cop who DOESN'T play by the rules! (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Morality Pet Ungrateful Bastard Funny Background Event Villain Protagonist Pragmatic Adaptation Toplessness from the Back Unusually Uninteresting Sight Reality Ensues Hair-Trigger Temper Darker and Edgier Empathic Environment Very Loosely Based on a True Story Slap-Slap-Kiss Ascended Extra Failed a Spot Check Taking the Bullet Ironic Echo Big Brother Instinct Jerkass Babies Ever After Distracted by the Sexy Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun "Shaggy Dog" Story Anyone Can Die Insistent Terminology Sadistic Choice You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Insane Troll Logic Television Movie Index Did Not Get the Girl Fiery Redhead Camp Gay Precision F-Strike All Men Are Perverts Bloodier and Gorier Break the Cutie Rule of Funny Death by Irony Needs Wiki Magic Love Reality Is Unrealistic Combat Pragmatist Sexy Discretion Shot Important Haircut The Chick Eyepatch of Power Even Evil Has Standards Smoking Is Cool Heel–Face Turn Unresolved Sexual Tension He Who Fights Monsters I Have Your Wife Pay Evil unto Evil Sir Swears-a-Lot Once More, with Clarity! Be Careful What You Wish For Up to Eleven Cruel and Unusual Death Evil Is Hammy Badass Bookworm The Brute Foregone Conclusion Guns Akimbo Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Would Hit a Girl Slasher Smile Authority Equals Asskicking It's Personal Suddenly SHOUTING! Pyrrhic Victory Creepy Child Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Affably Evil Black and Gray Morality A Date with Rosie Palms Face–Heel Turn Punch-Clock Villain Victoria's Secret Compartment Music Stories Everyone Has Standards Not What It Looks Like Evil vs. Evil Psychopathic Manchild Silent Movie Hoist by His Own Petard Vacation Films Eye Scream Gory Discretion Shot Deadpan Snarker Taking You with Me Chase Scene Really Gets Around Adaptational Badass "Awesome McCool" Name Body Horror Driven to Suicide Death by Sex Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Moment Killer Gorn I Did What I Had to Do Horror Films Only Known by Their Nickname Meaningful Name The X of Y Reckless Gun Usage 20 Minutes into the Future Pimped-Out Dress Obstructive Bureaucrat And I Must Scream Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Damsel in Distress Gold Digger Becoming the Mask Jump Scare Dramatic Irony Spiteful Spit Celebrity Paradox One-Man Army Immune to Bullets Dumb Blonde Destination Defenestration Dirty Old Man One-Word Title Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Genre Shift Spiritual Successor Death by Adaptation Developing Doomed Characters Redemption Equals Death Cluster F-Bomb Blackmail Gone Horribly Right Translation Convention Eureka Moment Unreliable Narrator Redshirt Army Disney Villain Death Bland-Name Product Roaring Rampage of Revenge Stock Footage Spell My Name with an "S" Contrived Coincidence The Vamp Calling the Old Man Out Stuff Blowing Up Sequel Hook Friend to All Children Death Glare Chiaroscuro Villainous Breakdown Five-Man Band As Himself Blood Knight Apocalypse How Villain Opening Scene Closed Circle Bunny-Ears Lawyer The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Parental Neglect No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Off with His Head! Dying Moment of Awesome Final Girl "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Evil Cannot Comprehend Good In the Back Malevolent Masked Men Sacrificial Lion Affectionate Parody The Starscream Psycho for Hire Obviously Evil Framing Device Actually Pretty Funny My Beloved Smother Death of a Child Dramatic Gun Cock Sassy Black Woman Deus ex Machina Kill It with Fire Corpsing Plucky Comic Relief Ambiguous Ending Wounded Gazelle Gambit Stealth Pun Big Damn Heroes Good Is Not Nice Chekhov's Skill Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Artistic License – Physics Military and Warfare Films Men Are the Expendable Gender Mundane Made Awesome Curb-Stomp Battle Reality Has No Subtitles Stylistic Suck Bait-and-Switch Wrong Genre Savvy Badass Boast Black Comedy The Film of the Book Broken Aesop Male Frontal Nudity Dark Is Not Evil Nice Guy Kick the Son of a Bitch Mama Bear Fish out of Water Fainting Artistic License – Law Freudian Excuse Meet Cute British Films Every Car Is a Pinto Badass Longcoat Auto Erotica Dwindling Party Undying Loyalty Aside Glance Kick the Dog timeperiod Scary Black Man Brother–Sister Incest Chekhov's Gunman The Load Dark Action Girl Man on Fire Cool Old Guy Exactly What It Says on the Tin Romantic False Lead Kubrick Stare Lampshade Hanging Action Survivor Bowdlerise My God, What Have I Done? Scenery Porn Heroic BSoD Poor Communication Kills Sports Stories Genre Savvy Love Triangle Villain Ball Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Alpha Bitch Greater-Scope Villain Suspiciously Similar Substitute Not Quite Dead Blatant Lies Pre-Asskicking One-Liner As Long as It Sounds Foreign Plot Hole Historical-Domain Character Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Unwitting Instigator of Doom Big-Bad Ensemble Fun with Acronyms A God Am I Offscreen Moment of Awesome The Dreaded Science Fiction Films Rule of Cool Faux Affably Evil Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Japanese Films Villain with Good Publicity The Smart Guy A.I. Is a Crapshoot Bad "Bad Acting" A Father to His Men Betty and Veronica Peek-a-Boo Corpse Revenge Scenery Gorn Meaningful Echo Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Mind Screw Author Appeal The Smurfette Principle Serial Killer The Alleged Car Red Shirt Drives Like Crazy Blood from the Mouth All There in the Script Didn't Think This Through Only Sane Man Crucified Hero Shot Visual Pun There Is No Kill Like Overkill Broken Bird Evil Is Petty Get Out! Mythology Gag Double-Meaning Title Age Lift Rule of Three Papa Wolf Rape as Drama Double Entendre What You Are in the Dark B-Movie Belligerent Sexual Tension Names to Run Away from Really Fast Psychological Thriller Jitter Cam Grey and Gray Morality Anti-Hero Love at First Sight Extremely Short Timespan Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Dual Wielding Big Fancy House Fire-Forged Friends Match Cut Does This Remind You of Anything? Gender Flip Lock and Load Montage Romantic Comedy Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Fatal Family Photo Cool Shades Central Theme Big Applesauce The Stinger Shower Scene folderlabel War Is Hell Eagleland Brick Joke Imagine Spot Not So Above It All Large Ham Decoy Protagonist Fanservice Extra You Have Failed Me Establishing Character Moment Artistic License – Biology Cold-Blooded Torture Shipper on Deck Politically Incorrect Villain Deliberately Monochrome Flipping the Bird Catapult Nightmare Beware the Nice Ones Canon Foreigner Armor-Piercing Question Disappeared Dad Advertised Extra Disproportionate Retribution Shirtless Scene Fat Bastard Major Injury Underreaction You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Stealth Hi/Bye Those Two Guys Animal Title Index And Starring Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Captain Obvious Motor Mouth From Nobody to Nightmare Male Gaze Playing Gertrude Evil Plan Bare Your Midriff Obfuscating Stupidity Hero Antagonist No Antagonist Sole Survivor Green-Eyed Monster No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Parental Abandonment Artistic License – History Madness Mantra Adaptational Attractiveness Aluminum Christmas Trees The Alcoholic Asshole Victim I Need a Freaking Drink Loophole Abuse Arch-Enemy Too Dumb to Live Nice Hat Film Series Logo Joke Bullying a Dragon Never Trust a Trailer All There in the Manual Knife Nut Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Epic Movie Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Setting Update Homage Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Badass Grandpa Accidental Misnaming Vampire Fiction Animal Motifs He Knows Too Much Vomit Discretion Shot Dramedy Woman in White Instant Death Bullet Hope Spot Gratuitous English Beard of Evil Face Death with Dignity Race Against the Clock Older Than They Look Worthy Opponent Improbable Weapon User Thriller An Arm and a Leg Mistaken for Gay Bury Your Gays Fantasy Films Chewing the Scenery Air-Vent Passageway Took a Level in Badass Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Evil-Detecting Dog Award-Bait Song Wicked Cultured Evil Laugh Retired Badass Race Lift Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Retirony Amusing Injuries Documentary The Ditz Anachronism Stew Heroes Want Redheads Australian Movies Market-Based Title Anachronic Order Whole Plot Reference Adaptation Expansion Daddy's Girl As You Know The '50s A Minor Kidroduction Evil Brit Only One Name Missing Mom Smug Snake She Cleans Up Nicely Re-Cut Breaking the Fourth Wall Boom, Headshot! German Films Improvised Weapon An Axe to Grind Ambiguous Disorder Action Genre Badass Normal Insult Backfire Beta Couple Interrupted Suicide Sanity Slippage Sci-Fi Horror Bolivian Army Ending Hypocrite No Name Given Red Oni, Blue Oni Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Call-Back Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Covers Always Lie The Cameo Happily Married "The Reason You Suck" Speech Deconstruction Abhorrent Admirer Punny Name No OSHA Compliance Pretty in Mink Hong Kong Films Our Zombies Are Different Real Life Writes the Plot Pragmatic Villainy The Un-Reveal Wham Shot Overprotective Dad Trailers Always Spoil The Faceless Improbable Aiming Skills O.O.C. Is Serious Business Left the Background Music On Handicapped Badass The Ghost Extreme Doormat Same Language Dub Mystery and Detective Films Adaptational Heroism Dull Surprise Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Video Credits Heel Realization Manly Tears The Ace Superhero Posthumous Character Dutch Angle The Place Corrupt Corporate Executive Room Full of Crazy Adaptation Dye-Job Butt-Monkey World of Ham Cain and Abel Gilligan Cut Exact Words The Musical Easily Forgiven Genre Throwback Offscreen Teleportation Maybe Ever After Public Domain Feature Films Leave the Camera Running Grievous Bottley Harm Dropped a Bridge on Him Naked People Are Funny Bi the Way Does Not Like Shoes Rasputinian Death Guile Hero Even Evil Has Loved Ones Not Even Bothering with the Accent The Stoner Token Minority What Happened to the Mouse? Alas, Poor Villain Title Drop The Mafia Naïve Newcomer Bar Brawl Anti-Villain Parental Substitute Mugging the Monster The Big Guy As the Good Book Says... Sinister Minister Black Dude Dies First Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Karma Houdini This Is Gonna Suck The Lancer And the Adventure Continues Faking the Dead Historical Hero Upgrade Not So Stoic The Casanova Film Noir Index Works Set in World War II Artistic License – Gun Safety In Name Only Your Cheating Heart All for Nothing Demoted to Extra The Dragon Those Wacky Nazis Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Never Found the Body Epic Fail Properly Paranoid Ambiguously Gay Dogged Nice Guy Character Development Attempted Rape Black Comedy Rape Mercy Kill Artistic License – Geography Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Small Name, Big Ego Brutal Honesty True Companions Rated M for Manly Freeze-Frame Bonus Took a Level in Jerkass Ms. Fanservice Drugs Are Bad Biopic Manipulative Bastard Diabolus ex Machina Shown Their Work No-Sell The Power of Love Only a Flesh Wound Say My Name Show Within a Show Evil Counterpart Arranged Marriage Soundtrack Dissonance Only in It for the Money Overly Long Gag Abusive Parents Bring My Brown Pants Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Crazy-Prepared BFG Vitriolic Best Buds Enemy Mine Scare Chord Wretched Hive Manic Pixie Dream Girl Mighty Whitey Meaningful Background Event Silence Is Golden The Stoic All Just a Dream Well-Intentioned Extremist My Greatest Failure The '90s Narrator Hero of Another Story The Dog Bites Back Implacable Man Not Using the "Z" Word Defiant to the End Mad Scientist Expository Hairstyle Change Hollywood Darkness Break the Haughty Agony of the Feet Antagonist Title Mexican Standoff Zombie Stories Random Events Plot Police Brutality It Will Never Catch On Manchild Hypocritical Humor May–December Romance Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Fanservice Conspicuous CG Hate Sink Drowning My Sorrows Woman Scorned Bad Boss Bound and Gagged Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Rousing Speech Domestic Abuse Real Life Kids Are Cruel Annoying Younger Sibling Laughing Mad Big Bad Duumvirate Bond One-Liner Author Avatar Call-Forward Awesome, but Impractical Heroic Sacrifice Ominous Latin Chanting Cool Car From Bad to Worse Composite Character Vomit Indiscretion Shot Foil Together in Death Foreshadowing Pretty Little Headshots Book-Ends Lighter and Softer Danny Peary Cult Movies List Brainless Beauty La Résistance Hidden Depths Serious Business Fantastic Racism Christmas Movies Index The Cavalry Horror Comedy Reasonable Authority Figure Spanner in the Works The Quiet One Rewatch Bonus The Voiceless Catch-Phrase Outrun the Fireball Soft Glass All Girls Want Bad Boys Adult Fear Line-of-Sight Name Darkest Hour Expy I Want My Beloved to Be Happy The Bully Take That! Knight Templar Hollywood Law Hell Is That Noise Irony Informed Ability Rich Bitch Tranquil Fury French Films Bittersweet Ending Berserk Button Better to Die than Be Killed Cloudcuckoolander Unusual Euphemism Coming-of-Age Story Index of Film Westerns Made of Iron Recycled IN SPACE! Leitmotif Your Head A-Splode Here We Go Again! Refuge in Audacity After the End Disguised in Drag Twist Ending Mooks Jerkass Has a Point Totally Radical Chekhov's Gun Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Sequel Escalation You Killed My Father Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Costume Porn Would Hurt a Child Last-Name Basis Martial Arts Movie Bloody Hilarious Product Placement Downer Ending The Reveal Made of Explodium Monumental Damage Dirty Cop Red Herring Mr. Fanservice Police are Useless Determinator The Chessmaster Cool Guns Actor Allusion Storming the Castle Alliterative Name Let's Get Dangerous! Children Are Innocent Humiliation Conga Bald of Evil Daylight Horror Jerk with a Heart of Gold Training Montage Loads and Loads of Characters NO INDOOR VOICE Sealed Evil in a Can Ax-Crazy Intergenerational Friendship Artistic License – Military Yandere Early-Bird Cameo Intrepid Reporter Cat Scare Take a Third Option Eldritch Abomination Adorkable Leaning on the Fourth Wall I'm a Humanitarian Famous Last Words Crazy Jealous Guy Ship Tease Broken Pedestal Impaled with Extreme Prejudice The End... Or Is It? Dissonant Serenity Straight Gay Big Eater The '80s She's Got Legs I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Self-Deprecation Death Seeker Almost Kiss Jerk Jock Facial Horror The Lost Lenore Henpecked Husband Honor Before Reason Anguished Declaration of Love Word of God Dressing as the Enemy Gainax Ending Historical In-Joke In Medias Res For the Evulz No Ending Protagonist Title Ripped from the Headlines Creator Cameo Mood Whiplash Animated Credits Opening Groin Attack Adapted Out Rule of Symbolism Early Installment Weirdness For Want of a Nail Deliberate Values Dissonance What the Hell, Hero? Russian Films Fatal Flaw Red Eyes, Take Warning Four-Temperament Ensemble Bavarian Fire Drill Those Two Bad Guys Married to the Job Star-Crossed Lovers Casting Gag Card-Carrying Villain Fourth Date Marriage Noodle Incident Ghost Fiction Action Prologue Never My Fault Curse Cut Short Adaptation Name Change The Oner Neck Snap Getting Crap Past the Radar Department of Redundancy Department Make It Look Like an Accident Not So Different Demonic Possession Pet the Dog Shell-Shocked Veteran Idiot Ball Depraved Bisexual Tagline Humans Are Bastards Put on a Bus Non-Indicative Name It Can Think Comically Missing the Point Disney Death Crapsack World Bloodless Carnage Arc Words Neck Lift Running Gag Wham Line Ass Shove Action Girl Parental Incest Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Pre-Mortem One-Liner Defrosting Ice Queen One Steve Limit Time Skip Earn Your Happy Ending Film Noir Eiffel Tower Effect Tempting Fate Due to the Dead Villain Song Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism Tap on the Head Laser-Guided Karma Shut Up, Hannibal! Femme Fatale Cowboy Cop The Sociopath Bottomless Magazines The Remake Super Strength Unspoken Plan Guarantee Have a Gay Old Time Evil Sounds Deep Fingore Our Vampires Are Different Half the Man He Used to Be Throwing Your Sword Always Works The Hero Slashed Throat Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Historical Villain Upgrade Bond Villain Stupidity Novelization Flashback Slasher Movie Big Bad The '60s Deal with the Devil It's All About Me How We Got Here No Celebrities Were Harmed Beauty Is Never Tarnished Adaptation Distillation Killed Mid-Sentence Determinator aka: The Determinator '80s Hair The Bad Guy Wins Nothing Is Scarier Stalker with a Crush Based on a True Story Paper-Thin Disguise Camera Abuse Accidental Murder The Atoner MacGuffin Car Fu Cassandra Truth The '70s Badass in a Nice Suit More Dakka Spared by the Adaptation Fate Worse than Death The Mole Creative Closing Credits Hooker with a Heart of Gold Cool Old Lady Country Matters Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Mr. Exposition Off-into-the-Distance Ending An Aesop Retcon Kill 'em All Captain Ersatz Back from the Dead Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Amoral Attorney Drill Sergeant Nasty Stepford Smiler Light Is Not Good Funny Foreigner Canadian Movies Dark and Troubled Past Batman Gambit Fan Disservice Continuity Nod The Great Depression Adaptational Villainy Karmic Death Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Red Right Hand Adults Are Useless Dark Reprise The Hero Dies N-Word Privileges Skewed Priorities Cat Fight Riddle for the Ages Big "NO!" Dirty Coward Credits Gag Black Best Friend Truth in Television Dies Wide Open Suspiciously Specific Denial Shout-Out Italian Films Bilingual Bonus Heterosexual Life-Partners Frame-Up Shoot the Shaggy Dog Fake Shemp Despair Event Horizon "Well Done, Son!" Guy Oh, Crap!