They Fight Crime



"He's a deeply religious gay barbarian possessed of the uncanny powers of an insect. She's a radical punk mermaid with an Evil Twin sister. They fight crime!"

- TheyFightCrime.org

Two very different characters are obliged to work together to solve a crime. The premise is very often, but not always, expressed in Trailers and pitches as "He's an X. She's a Y. Together, they fight crime!" So much that it's almost become a Stock Phrase. Expect lots of cultural clash humor arising both from different policing traditions and from general personal differences between the two characters. Sometimes the ante will be raised by making the crime-fighters from two groups that are actively antagonistic.

The story often (but not always) involves one character being on his own turf while the other character is a visitor. If there is a sequel, the character who was on his home turf in the first story will probably be visiting the home turf of the other character.

Can be the premise of a Buddy Cop Show, although then there usually needs to be some reason for the other cop to continue hanging around beyond the pilot.

They Fight Crime must use both Wunza Plot and Odd Couple. Please do not add teams of more than two characters, or single characters, no matter how quirky they are.

Advertising

 * He's a weed loving gangsta rapper. They're a large respected computer security company. They Fight (cyber)Crime! Seriously.

Anime and Manga

 * Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro: He's a demon from hell with an insatiable appetite for MYSTERY, she's a high school student with an insatiable appetite for FOOD. They fight crime!
 * Shakugan no Shana: She's a flaming Tsundere with a katana. He's a ghostly tactical power supply. They fight crime Demonic Invaders.
 *  QED  : He's a fourteen year old MIT graduate, she's a Police officer's enthusiastic daughter. They Fight Crime!
 * Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: She's a nine year old Earthling with insane magical abilities! He's a nine year old archaeologist who can turn himself into a ferret! They Fight Magical Crime!
 * Detective Conan: He's an age-regressed Sherlockian super-sleuth, she's his unwitting girlfriend/baby-sitter. They Fight Crime!
 * Every time Togusa is teamed up with Batou in Ghost in the Shell, their relationship fits this trope quite closely. While they have been working in the same unit for quite some time, Togusa is a cautious and serious family man who used to be a police officer, and Batou a former special forces soldier who regularly leaves a trail of destruction and badly beaten up suspects.
 * Yellow: He's gay. He's straight. They snatch drugs.
 * Tiger and Bunny: He's a down-on-his-luck veteran superhero that clings to his old ideals in a world of flashy antics and corporate sponsorship! He's a pretty-boy corporate darling with a mysterious past and a mercenary attitude towards superheroics. Together, they generate tons of homoerotic subtext... Oh, and fight crime.
 * Inuyasha: She's a modern-age high school girl with the powers of a Miko. He's a Feudal Era half-demon with a BFS. Together, They Fight Demons(and occasionally collect jewel shards)!
 * Cowboy Bebop: He's a laid-back ex-member of a criminal syndicate with a dark and troubled past. He's a former cop with a cybernetic arm and a tricked-out fishing boat. Together, They Fail To Collect Any Bountyheads.

Comic Books

 * Angel and the Ape: She's a gorgeous super-sleuth who speaks six languages and knows karate. He's a comic book artist who happens to be a talking gorilla. They Fight Crime!
 * Sam and Max Freelance Police: One's a dog. The other's a hyperkinetic rabbit-like... thing. They Fight Crime! Sometimes on purpose!
 * Power Man and Iron Fist: Luke Cage is an indestructible badass from Harlem. Danny Rand is a martial arts master CEO. They Fight Crime!
 * Cable is a telekinetic cyborg soldier from the future with a messiah complex. Deadpool is an insane mercenary who's in love with Bea Arthur and Chimichangas (and Squirrel Girl). They Fight Crime! Or cause it, it shifts.
 * Spider-Man had an issue where Mary Jane helps proposes the following TV pitch: "She's an actress. He's a super-hero. They solve mysteries. Think it'll fly?"
 * Booster Gold is a time traveling glory hound. Blue Beetle is a sarcastic inventor. They Fight Crime!
 * Green Lantern: Hal's an intergalactic cop with a nearly omnipotent ring. Ollie's a loud mouthed hippie with a bow. They Fight Crime!
 * Ray Palmer is a physicist, Carter Hall is a re-incarnated Egyptian warrior prince. They fight crime.
 * Birds of Prey: One is a hyper-controlling, bitter nerd recovering from physical and emotional trauma. The other is a broken down woman with a history of valuing her boyfriends more than herself. Together, They Fight Crime!
 * Tintin: One is a young, chaste, straight-edged reporter, the other is a middle-aged, foul-mouthed, alcoholic seafaring captain. They Fight Crime!
 * Quoth Matthew the Raven: "It was like a bad TV show. He's a reincarnated serial killer. His partner's a bird. They're cops."
 * Brodys Ghost: She's the ghost of a teenaged girl locked out of heaven. He's a self-pitying layabout playing guitar on the streets for tips. They fight crime!
 * The Tick: One's a Nigh Invulnerable escaped mental patient, the other's a nervous accountant with glider wings. They Fight Crime.
 * Quantum and Woody: One's a black military veteran armed with an arsenal of gadgets and a thirst for justice. One's a white street-savvy musician with a Zippo lighter and a pet goat. They fight crime!
 * Sin City: He's a private eye wanted for murder! She's a silent ninja assassin! They fight crime.
 * Batman and Robin: He's a dark, brooding millionaire using a bat-symbol to strike fear in criminals. He's a young, lighthearted, wisecracking teen acrobat. They Fight Crime!
 * And in the 90s: One's a crippled ex-superhero, the other's a brainwashed religious assassin! They Fight Crime!

Fanfiction

 * Kyon: Big Damn Hero: She's a wealthy Yakuza heiress, he's a role model for someone who might be God. They Fight Crime.
 * Later, there is also a Starfish Alien Humanoid Interface. And the mentioned God herself.

Film

 * The Kentucky Fried Movie: "She was six feet of black dynamite. He was a short Hassidic Jew!"...They Fight Crime!
 * Mystery Men: "I am Pencilhead." "And I am Son of Pencilhead!" "We erase crime."
 * Der Wixxer: He is a fat drunken Chief Inspector with a Freudian Excuse on That One Case! He is a Top Police Academy Graduate and yoyo-fighting inspector with Super OCD! They're British Coppers! They Fight Crime!
 * Last Action Hero: In the Parody-riffic Schwarzenegger vehicle, the audience gets a peek into how partners are assigned at the precinct. "Kowalski, you get the rabbi. Jenkins, you have the animated cat this week."
 * Wild Wild West. He's a Trigger Happy black U.S. Army captain who was raised by Native Americans! He's a US Marshal who's a Master of Disguise and a Gadgeteer Genius! They Fight Crime!
 * Bon Cop, Bad Cop: He's Ontarian! He's Quebecois! They Fight Crime!
 * Rush Hour. He's Chris Tucker! He's Jackie Chan! They Fight Crime!
 * Shanghai Noon. He's Owen Wilson! He's Jackie Chan! They Fight Crime in the old west!
 * Twin Dragons. He's Jackie Chan ! He's Jackie Chan! They Fight Crime!
 * The Thin Man series: He's a former private detective! She's a wealthy socialite! They Fight Crime! (Between drinking binges, that is.)
 * Osmosis Jones has this as a major plot point (between the titular white blood cell character and the cold pill Drix)
 * Nothing To Lose has the same concept of an Odd Couple who come together by circumstance: a disgruntled white executive and a black robber. Though instead of fighting crime, they team up to commit the crime of safecracking against the white guy's boss.

Literature
"Huey: You're an Oracular Cat, I'm an Oracular Hamster. We fight crime!"
 * The Bellmaker: He is a young novice mouse from Redwall Abbey. She is young warrior mouse and ex-resistance fighter. They team up with her Badass Pa and a militaristic hare To Fight Crime!
 * The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries: She's a luscious, highly desirable telepathic barmaid. He's a vampire suffering from anachronistic attitudes. They Fight Crime!
 * Skulduggery Pleasant: She is a teenage girl who inherited a mansion. He is a sixgun-toting skeletal-undead sorcerer detective. They Fight Crime!
 * Sherlock Holmes: He's a doctor scarred by the war in Afghanistan! He's a substance-abusing dilettante private consulting detective! They Fight Crime!
 * The Dresden Files: She's a cop who arrests her best friend every few pages. He's a wizard with trust issues. They Fight Crime!
 * The Caves of Steel: One's a human cop. One's an alien robot cop. They Fight Crime!
 * Snake Agent: One's a human cop with a patron Goddess. One's a demon from Hell with an unwanted conscience. Together They Fight Crime!
 * The Yiddish Policemens Union: One's a Defective Detective with massive Jewish Guilt (TM) . One's his sensible half-Jewish, half-Native American cousin. They're cops: They Fight Crime!
 * Blood Books: She's a former-cop-turned P.I. with a vision problem. He's the vampiric bastard son of Henry VIII. Together, They Fight Supernatural Crime! Now On TV!
 * Later, She's a former-cop-turned-P.I.  Together, They Fight Supernatural Crime!
 * The Blood Books spinoff Smoke and Shadows series: He's a gay Production Assistant and wizard-in-training. And he's still the vampiric bastard son of Henry VIII. They Battle Demons!
 * The Millennium Trilogy: He's a middle-aged journalist and chick magnet. She's a twentysomething bisexual ass-kicking computer genius who may have Asperger's syndrome. They Fight Crime!
 * Catopolis: Two household pets gain psychic powers, and one of them lampshades it.


 * Most any of the partnerships in the Lensman series, but in particular: One's the top agent of humanity. The other is a thirty-foot-long winged reptilian alien with multiple eyes on stalks. They Fight Boskone!

Live Action TV
"Phoebe: Hardass and wuss. We could fight crime!"
 * Blood Ties: She's a Canadian former police detective who is slowly losing her sight. He's a vampire. They Fight Crime!
 * On Friends, Joey got a starring role in 'Mac & Cheese', a show described as "One's a hard-bitten detective, one's a robot. They Fight Crime!"
 * Which may have been a shout-out to the 1976 show "Holmes And Yo-yo" (see below).
 * In another episode, Phoebe and Monica declare themselves to be a hardass and wuss, respectively.

"Booth: "Look, I'll do my street thing, you do your lab thing, alright? Together, we catch bad guys.""
 * Inspector Lynley: He's a Lord Peter Wimsey with a title and a complicated personal life. She's a cranky, foul-mouthed working-class junk food addict with massive class resentment issues. They're unlikely True Companions and Not Love Interests with a healthy helping of Unresolved Sexual Tension. They Fight Crime!
 * Castle: He's a bestselling mystery writer who doesn't play by the rules. She's a no-nonsense detective who'll do anything to bring a killer to justice. They Fight Crime! And Have Lots Of UST!
 * Automan: One is a police computer nerd who overclocks the computer and creates a Tron-like superbeing. The other is that self-same Tron-like superbeing. They Fight Crime!
 * Numb3rs: One's an FBI agent! The other is the Agent's nerdly math-professor brother. They Fight Crime!
 * Knight Rider: He's a man...who does not exist. It's a car holding plot-advancing gadgets with an entertaining A.I.. They Fight Crime!
 * Life: He's an Eccentric Millionaire who spent twelve years in prison. She's an ex-junkie with a kick-ass attitude. They Fight Crime!
 * Life On Mars: He's a time traveller/coma patient who's By-The-Book Cop, and may be going insane. He's an overweight, armed bastard, Cowboy Cop. They Fight Crime! (And jump over desks!)
 * Due South: One's a crude, rude American cop. One's a polite, soft-spoken Canadian Mountie. They Fight Crime!
 * Holmes and Yo-yo: One's a human cop. One's an experimental robot cop. They Fight Crime!
 * Simon and Simon: Even though they're brothers, Rick and A.J. have nothing in common. They're private detectives, so of course They Fight Crime!
 * Collector's Item: Vincent Price is an antique dealer. Peter Lorre... well, it's not entirely clear what he does. He's short and kind of creepy. Together, They Fight Crime.
 * Psych: One's a slacker with a photographic memory. One's a pharmaceutical rep with an acute sense of smell. They Fight Crime!
 * Covert Affairs: She's a CIA trainee suddenly promoted to field work. He's Mission Control, but he's blind. They Fight Crime!
 * Bones: One's a street-smart FBI agent. One's a socially-inept forensic anthropologist. They Fight Crime!


 * Another take on them: One's a devoutly religious Catholic who believes in chivalry. One's a rational atheist who believes in gender equality. They Fight Crime!
 * Parodied by Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Conan O'Brien is very tall, Robert Reich is a former Secretary of Labor and very short. They Fight Crime!
 * Frequently used as a gag on Mystery Science Theater 3000. For example, near the end of the first-season movie Robot Holocaust, Tom suggests a sequel: "He's a robot. He's a human. They're detectives!"
 * An educational short titled "Bodycare and Grooming" inspired the quip, "Body Care! And Grooming! They're cops!"
 * The Persuaders: One's a streetwise American self-made millionaire, the other is a daredevil English aristocrat. They Fight Crime!
 * Angel Summoner and BMX Bandit. One can summon angels, the other rides a BMX. They're a crime-fighting duo, d-d-d-d-duo, yeahh!
 * The X-Files: He's a misunderstood crackpot. She's a skeptical pathologist. They Fight Crime! (And Aliens!)
 * Past Life: He's an ex-cop whose wife died (who is totally not going to come up in the series eventually), she's a past life therapist. They fight reincarnation-based crime!
 * Big Wolf on Campus: He's a perky, easily frightened, goth with an encyclopedic knowledge of the supernatural; He's an easy going, football playing, werewolf with a secret identity and the ability to kick lots of ass. Together, they fight Monsters! With a Kickboxing, Totally Badass Normal, Action Girl
 * The Avengers: He's a suave English gentleman spy. She's an Action Girl Ms. Fanservice with a preference for catsuits. They Fight Crime, espionage, and unnatural weirdness.
 * Chuck: He's a Nerd with a Magical Database in his head. She's an Action Girl Ms. Fanservice with a thing for knives. They Fight Crime ... and Spies!! With their partner, who is a total Colonel Badass!!
 * Torchwood, by virtue of being a police procedural. He's an omnisexual reformed conman who can't stay dead. She's a tough-as-nails policewoman who keeps him sane. They fight crime!
 * The Sweeney: He's a tough, no-nonsense, bends-the-rules older cop who's quick-witted and with an eye for drink and the ladies! He's a younger, more inexperienced cop who wants to follow the rulebook yet respects his older partner! They fight crime!
 * Keen Eddie: One's a scruffy, accident-prone, idealistic detective from Manhattan, the other's a shallow London dandy with an addictive personality and an over-active libido. Together, they fight crime!
 * Rizzoli and Isles: One's a Hot Chick in a Badass Suit homicide detective with a dysfunctional family. One's a blueblooded medical examiner with No Social Skills and truth issues. They're Heterosexual Life Partners. They Fight Crime!
 * Dark Angel: She's a genetically-engineered super-soldier Half-Human Hybrid. He's an incredibly wealthy paraplegic who spends his spare time as a airwave-pirating cyberjournalist. Together, They Fight Crime! Although in season 2, she frees more super-soldiers and they stop fighting crime so much.
 * White Collar: He's a blue-eyed master criminal genius with a million dollar smile. He's a no-nonsense FBI agent who always gets the bad guys. They Fight Crime!
 * Dexter: He's a mild-mannered lab tech with a Dark Passenger. She's a tough, foul-mouthed cop with a heart of gold and a lot to prove. Together, they fight crime (in their own special ways)!
 * Supernatural: Two brothers--He's a pre-law student who just lost his girlfriend. He's a charming blue collar bum who can't find their dad. They fight monsters!
 * The Invisible Man: He's a recently reformed thief with an invisibility gland in his head. He's a jaded veteran and paranoid conspiracy theorist who's been fired from every other government agency in existence. They fight crime!
 * Campion. He's a disinherited member of the aristocracy. He's a former burglar turned valet. They fight crime!
 * Community episode "The Science of Illusion": She's a seriously cute recovering teen drug addict. She's a newly-single, single-mindedly Christian housewife and mother. They Fight Crime !
 * Sherlock. He's a high-functioning Sociopathic Hero with Insufferable Genius tendencies and a habit of leaving body parts around the kitchen. He's a snarky invalided army doctor who wants back in the action. They Fight Crime. and feed the subtext.
 * The Sentinel. He's a former Army Ranger turned cop with hyper-acute senses. He's a long-haired Anthropology student. They Fight Crime!
 * Hardcastle and McCormick: one's an ex-con turned race car driver. The other's a retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge. With their prototype sports car "Coyote X". They fight crime!
 * T. and T. She's a young crusading lawyer. He's Mr. T. Of Course they fight crime!
 * Doctor Who: He's a super-intelligent death-defying egotistical alien....
 * ...she's a sentient Police Box that can travel through time and is Bigger on the Inside...
 * ...she's a shop girl from the estates...
 * ...and her mechanic ex-boy-friend...
 * ...he's a rogue Time Agent and immortal ex-conman...
 * ....she's a medical student...
 * ...she's a plucky temp with flaming red-hair and a temper to match...
 * ...she's a red-headed kissogram and her Roman-Fighting-Nurse husband...
 * ...joined by  a mysterious time-traveler armed with hallucinogenic lipstick
 * Together, they fight aliens!
 * In "A Good Man Goes To War" we have: She's a lesbian Victorian silurain with katanas; she's her human butler and lover. Together, they fight crime! (Including eating Jack the Ripper)
 * Fringe: She's an FBI agent with a mysterious past, he's a brilliant ne'er-do-well with an even more mysterious one - They Fight Crime along with his father, who's a genuine Mad Scientist.
 * Heroes Volume 5: One's a mind-reading detective trying to quit the habit, the other's a mental fragment of a murderous supervillain trapped in the detective's head. They fight crime! ...Or not.
 * Kamen Rider W: He's a detective who wants to be hard-boiled but is too emotional; he's a walking search engine with poor social skills. Together, they fight Monsters of the Week!
 * I Spy: He's a white tennis pro! He's the tennis pro's black trainer! (That was terribly significant in 1965!) They Fight Crime!
 * Dragnet: He's an anal retentive stiff! He's his chatty partner! They Fight Crime!
 * Myth Busters: One's a Fun Personified redhead with a goatee and Nerd Glasses. The other is a bereted Deadpan Snarker with a walrus mustache. They Bust Myths.
 * Burn Notice: He's an out of work spy, she's his trigger happy ex-girlfriend. They Fight Crime along with his buddy who used to report on him to the FBI. And occasionally his mom.

Video Games
"He's an amnesiac cybernetic soldier who doesn't know what to do! She's a megalomaniacal artificial intelligence dominatrix who's lost all their power! They Fight The Many! You and her versus the world. She really doesn't like that."
 * Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door referenced this trope during the Glitz Pit challenge. When Mario converses with a Spike Top at one point in the rankings, he talks about distinctive features, his being his spike and Mario's being his Badass Mustache. "Spikey Joe and Mustache: Together, they fight crime! That'd make for a killer TV show!"
 * Pretty much every Ace Attorney game.
 * Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: One's an idealistic rookie defense attorney. One's a logical, serious prosecutor. They Fight Crime!
 * Alternately: He's a smartassed defense attorney with terrible luck. She's an out-there spirit medium with a big appetite and equally terrible luck. You know the drill.
 * Ace Attorney Investigations has three different combinations of this. In all of them, the first person is the aforementioned logical, serious prosecutor. Depending on the case, the second person is either a lovable but dumb detective, a very young prosecutor with a habit of whipping anyone who annoys her, or a Highly-Visible Ninja alleged thief.
 * Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney: He's a greenhorn attorney. She's a teenaged magician. They Fight Crime!
 * Ghost Trick: He's a laid-back, aloof amnesiac ghost with a drive for justice and Cool Shades. She's an idealistic Cloudcuckoolander rookie detective who likes chicken and keeps getting killed... and again... and again. They solve mysteries, save lives, and (occasionally) fight crime! (or become criminals themselves).
 * On the other hand; He's the aforementioned laid-back amnesiac ghost. He's the ghost of a hyperactive puppy pomeranian who will do anything to protect his little miss. They fight crime!
 * This one gets even better once you beat the game and find out...
 * One's a serious, idealistic (and quite corpulent) detective who goes by the book and strives to give the best out of himself. The other is a stylish, cool-cat (and quite lanky) police inspector whose every move is literally a dance move and still climbs up the ranks because he's simply that good. They are best pals, and fight crime!
 * One's said lanky stylish police inspector, the other is a grumpy former forensic medic for the police who left his job to research a meteorite. They chase down vengeful ghosts!
 * In The Curse of Monkey Island, there is a book about ventriloquism which, although only needed for one puzzle, can be used on numerous objects and characters with amusing results. Using it on the head of a donkey costume in the local theater results in, "Hi. I'm Frank. I'm a talking donkey. I fight crime."
 * Professor Layton: One's a renowned archeology professor and detective (not) obsessed with brainteasers. The other's a very insistent mockney-spouting little boy who can talk to animals. They solve puzzles, drink tea and occasionally - just occasionally - they fight crime.
 * System Shock 2 as described here:

"Megaman: They fight netcrime."
 * The famously inept duo of guards from the Thief series: One's a constantly drunk Plucky Comic Relief ditz. One's a Street Smart Small Name, Big Ego Cowboy Cop. They're both ridiculously Genre Blindness. Together, they will never, ever succeed in catching the series' protagonist while he robs their charges blind under their noses!
 * Mega Man Battle Network: He's an elementary school student who is assisted by his A.I. program  in a world were almost everything is connected to a network. They Fight Crime!
 * Megaman himself describes official netbattlers as these.


 * Ratchet and Clank: He's a badass fluffy alien repairman with lots of huge guns! He's a clever, cutesy little robot! Together, They Fight Crime... !
 * Parodied in Grand Theft Auto Vice City in the Show Within a Show "Yuppie and the Alien". He is a tough cop transferred to a new precinct, his new partner is a space traveller with a passion for justice. Together, they fight crime in designer clothes, with a quarter-of-a-million sports car, and a UFO.
 * Dead Rising 2: Case West: He's an action photojournalist who's covered wars, you know. He's a former motorcross champion who needs to protect his daughter and clear his name. They fight zombies!
 * Tales of Vesperia. He's a Badass Anti-Hero who fights The Empire through questionable means. She's a Princess Classic whose world is out to break her in countless ways. They Fight Crime (and some Eldritch Abominations).
 * He's a male Meganekko with a passion for anime, a tragic past, poor people skills, and one of the finest scientific minds of his generation! He's a cloned Deadpan Snarker Super Soldier who likes cardboard boxes, smoking, sneaking, and dog racing! They Fight Giant Robots!

Web Comics
"He's a PONY, he's a COP, together they are PONYCOP!"
 * "Pony Cop" from Johnny Wander.

"I wouldn't say that we necessarily fight crime as we...take care of problems that need to be solved with violence."
 * Mr Square, Issue 177: "He's a chronically depressed loser with nothing to lose. He's a pathologically enthusiastic psychotic sheep who thinks he's an ex-cop. TOGETHER, THEY FIGHT CRIME!"
 * The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace as crime-fighting mathematical superheroes: She's the pipe-smoking, raised-by-mathematicians spawn of Lord Byron. He's an Absent-Minded Professor with a vendetta against street musicians. They Fight Street Musicians!
 * A Miracle of Science: He's an unorthodox thought-police officer with a dark secret. She's a quasi-telepathic autonomous operative of the Hive Mind that inhabits her home planet, who can fly and breathe in space. Together, They Fight Crime!
 * The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: He's an Irish ninja/doctor who wants to be Batman! He's a mustachioed, gunslinging 12-year-old! They Fight Crime!
 * The doctor himself has clarified that in point of fact,


 * Axe Cop: He's a cop with an axe! He's a dragon/triceratops/tyrannosaurus rex/ghost! They fight crime.
 * Those last two not awesome enough for you? They Team Up.
 * Registered Weapon: He's a Cowboy Cop with no regard for life, property damage or hygiene! He's a cash register that was rebuilt into a super-advanced robot! They Fight Crime!
 * Chirault: He's a demon employed as a demon hunter! She's a Catgirl who's accidentally been shrunk to a few inches tall! They fight demons!
 * Hanna Is Not a Boys Name: He's a 5'2", hyperactive paranormal investigator with a girl's name! He's a laid-back, amnesiac zombie with no name! They solve supernatural mysteries!
 * El Goonish Shive parodies this: see here.
 * He's the Half-Immortal son of the latest Big Bad. She's a shapeshifting squirrel girl who's also part alien. They Fight Crime!.
 * He's a ten-ton construction robot. She's a genetically engineered wolf. They fight crime! In Space!
 * Cloud's family in Sandra and Woo spends the second-longest story arc so far doing this in superhero garb.
 * A Girl and Her Fed: He's a 6'5" cyborg Federal agent with emotional issues stemming from brainwashing. She's an Ax Crazy judo master who sees ghosts and occasionally sets people on fire. They fight a government conspiracy! With the ghost of Benjamin Franklin and a superintelligent talking koala!
 * He accidentally enrolled in the police academy twice! They fight crime!

Web Original
""He's an ungodly Amish farmboy searching for his wife's true killer. She's a disco-crazy belly-dancing stripper who dreams of becoming Elvis. They fight crime!"
 * Played for laughs (while quoting Arthur, Lethal Weapon 2, and Field of Dreams) in the Abridged series None Piece:
 * Shanks: i am an alcoholic millionaire playboy, who is on the brink of an arranged marriage to a wealthy single woman.
 * Luffy: I am a young iowa corn farmer with an oscar winning wife, and paranoid delusional tendencies.
 * Shanks: And together we fight illegal narcotics and crime lords in the mean starts of LA.
 * See TheyFightCrime.org to get a randomly generated ridiculous-sounding permutation of that phrase.

"He's a short-sighted alcoholic vampire hunter with a passion for fast cars. She's a manipulative African-American Valkyrie on the trail of a serial killer. They fight crime!"

"He's a benighted crooked firefighter plagued by the memory of his family's brutal murder. She's a supernatural gypsy research scientist who hides her beauty behind a pair of thick-framed spectacles. They fight crime!"

"He's a time-tossed bohemian waffle chef with a robot buddy named Sparky. She's an artistic mutant museum curator who hides her beauty behind a pair of thick-framed spectacles. They fight crime!"

"He's an otherworldly shark-wrestling librarian in a wheelchair. She's a disco-crazy mute mechanic from aristocratic European stock. They fight crime!"

"He's an otherworldly one-eyed master criminal from the 'hood. She's a mistrustful tempestuous socialite living homeless in New York's sewers. They fight crime!""

"Rorschach: "How the hell did I end up being the good cop?""
 * The Long Armagedon of the Law. He's Jesus, he's the devil. They Fight Crime!
 * Unskippable, in the episode on Onimusha 3: "One's a Frenchman. One's a samurai. They're cops."
 * Rorschach and Deadpool: He's a psychopath.He's also a psychopath. Together, they fight crime!
 * Intended as a one off joke but "because our theme song became a minor internet meme" it's become a real Buddy Cop segment on the It Just Some Random Guy YouTube channel.


 * This discussion starts off with this concept for a Prototype/Warhammer 40000 crossover before changing it to the more appropriate "They fight Heresy".
 * "HE'S An Inquisitor held back from promotion due to his radical ideas of fairness, equitability, and investigating before Exterminating! HE'S a two-legged biological killing machine which consumes men to gain their skills! Together THEY FIGHT HERESY."
 * Blamimation: He's a Renaissance trout! He's a modern-day hawk! They fight crime! But only above water...

Western Animation
""A fugitive, semi-aquatic special forces amateur stage magician, framed for a crime he didn't commit, the 1865 assassination of Abraham Lincoln, joins forces with a rogue-trillionare inventor-extreme fighting champion from the future. Together with the aid of "R.I.C.K.", their super crime-fighting talking high-tech rickshaw, they'll bring hope, justice, and varying degrees of aquaticness to a Tri-State Area in peril. Together, they are...Doof 'n' Puss!""
 * An episode of Family Guy played this as a joke, with the newest cop show, where the hardened cop got paired with a kid from the streets, a robot, and a couch To Fight Crime!
 * Or the Stewie/The Rock buddy-cop cutaway. "One's a BABY, the OTHER'S...black? Filipino? Some kind of Spanish?"
 * Kim Possible: She is the popular cheerleader. He is the under achiever who has no friends and a naked mole rat. They Fight Crime! And she'd better be home before 10.
 * Parodied on The Critic, when Clint Eastwood played a cop partnered with a woman, a cute little kid, an ugly old dog, a dinosaur, and a leprechaun. Later, Arnold Schwarzenegger shows up partnered with a pig, an alien, Siamese twins, a sofa, and a second-rate mime.
 * Bonkers. One's a By-The-Book Cop who aspires to be promoted. The other is an out-of-work toon actor bobcat. Together, they fight crime!
 * Later on in the show: She's a tough, savvy beat cop, he's an out-of-work toon actor bobcat. Together, they fight crime!
 * Sharky and George He's a shark. He's a fish. Together, they fight crime!
 * Dynomutt Dog Wonder: He's a Batman rip-off. He's an idiot robot dog. They Fight Crime!
 * Super Chicken: He's a wealthy socialite chicken with a Super Serum. He's a talking lion Butt Monkey. They Fight Crime!
 * Parodied on Phineas and Ferb, when Doofenshmirtz tries to pitch a Buddy Cop Show staring himself and Perry the Platypus in "Nerds of a Feather":

"Homer:One of you ate tin cans, one of you ate health food. How you solved crimes, I'll never know."
 * Gargoyles: She's an NYPD detective. They are winged beasts of the night who spent the last thousand years in an enchanted sleep. They fight crime.
 * Played with on The Simpsons, with a two headed goat.


 * He has working legs. He doesn't. They fight crime! ...well, not really
 * Batman Beyond: He's an old, bitter ex-vigilante. He's a young, reckless ex-con. They fight crime.
 * Season two was more: He's a kid with the world's greatest afterschool job. She's a Sassy Black Woman Teen Genius with a Magical Computer. They fight crime.
 * Robot Chicken has paired Oprah with Doctor Phil and Bruce Willis with a pair of pants.

Other

 * The BouncingCow screensaver: "A Cow. A Trampoline. Together, they fight crime."
 * When George R. R. Martin, writer of A Song of Ice and Fire, was talking about his TV days on an interview, he said that TV networks love this style of pitch because it's simple, consistent and easy to follow. The example he gave was "He's the Pope. She's a Chimp. They Fight Crime.