Tropescilloscope: Cowboy Cop

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

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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