Tropescilloscope: Cowboy Cop

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

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