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In ''Lethal Weapon 3'' (1992), Riggs finds a new [[Love Interest]] in Lorna Cole (Rene Russo), a fellow cop who is as tough and crazy as he is. She helps them to investigate a rogue officer who's been selling specialized armor piercing "cop killer" bullets to the mob and onto the streets. Looming over Murtaugh's head is his upcoming retirement and trying to figure out his life as a cop and what it will be like after retirement.
 
In the final installment, ''Lethal Weapon 4'' (1998), Lorna is pregnant with Riggs' baby and both he and Murtaugh are contemplating the implications of growing older. Meanwhile, Riggs and Murtaugh receive a brash younger detective named Lee Butters (Chris Rock) and are dealing with Chinese Triads when they uncover a boatload of illegal immigrants. [[Dragon -in -Chief|The Dragon (In Chief)]] /BigBad of this group is Wah Sing Ku, played by [[Jet Li]], by whom Riggs finds himself entirely outmatched.
 
Each movie played out like a cross between the typical cop show and ''[[Indiana Jones (Franchise)|Indiana Jones]]'', with spectacular stunts at a breakneck pace while following a chain of evidence.
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* [[Badass Boast]]: Riggs has several throughout, but his [[Defining Character Moment]] in the first film really hits this trope hard: "When I was 19, I did a guy in Laos from a thousand yards out. It was a rifle shot in high wind. Maybe eight or even ten guys in the world could have made that shot. It's the only thing I was ever good at."
* [[Bash Brothers]]: Riggs and Murtaugh don't embody this trope until the final fight against Ku in the fourth movie.
* [[Beam Me Up, Scotty]]: Inverted. Murtaugh's [[Catch Phrase]] is "I'm too old for this shit", not "I'm ''getting'' too old for this shit", but he says the latter in ''Lethal Weapon 3''.
* [[Blond Guys Are Evil]]: Mr. Joshua in the first film, and the South Africans in the second.
* [[Bombproof Appliance]]: A bathtub. The [[Myth Busters]] eventually tested this as in the scene, and aside from the detonation method, it all worked exactly as advertised.
* [[Bond One -Liner]]: From the second film: "Nailed 'em both." Also, the one in the next entry.
* [[Boom Headshot]]: Roger's signature maneuver, done once a film, after rolling his head from side-to-side to crack his neck.
** How Roger takes care of the driver of {{spoiler|General [[Mc Allister]]'s car.}}
** After Arjen claims "[[Diplomatic Impunity|Diplomatic immunity]]", Murtagh puts a bullet in his head.
{{quote| '''Murtaugh:''' [[Bond One -Liner|It's just been revoked.]]}}
* [[Bowdlerize]]: The films are played quite frequently on TNT and TBS, which are infamous for censoring language in films. For someone who's familiar with the theatrical version of the first film, watching it on one of these networks can be quite hilarious for that very reason. Unfortunately, sometimes the censorship seems unnecessary and arbitrary-- like when they cut out Riggs punching the guy on the hood of the car in ''Lethal Weapon 3'' after asking if he was all right.
* [[Brick Joke]]: [[Chekhov's Gun|Chekhov's Nailgun]] has a longer run than you'd expect. In the third film, it reminds Murtaugh, who is trying to sell his house, that he ''forgot to get permits to repair his blown-up house!''
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*** This scene was (wisely) cut from the theatrical release and reinserted for the [[Directors Cut]] DVD.
** Subverted in the third film, where Riggs argues that [[Lampshade Hanging|the bomb squad never gets here on time]]!"; they meddle with the bomb, it goes off, a massive building is levelled... and the bomb squad immediately pulls up, having arrived in plenty of time to deal with the bomb had Riggs not interfered.
* [[Cement Shoes]]: In ''Lethal Weapon 3'', Travis shoves a [[Mook]] who [[You Have Failed Me|has failed him]] into a foundation and has cement poured over him. Quoth Travis: "[[Bond One -Liner|Now we have a relationship we can build on!]]"
* [[Character Development]]: Riggs starts off as a suicidal, lonely man and at the end of the fourth movie is shown to be a happy member of a large family.
* [[Chekhov's Gun|Chekhov's]] [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Nailgun]]: In ''Lethal Weapon 2.''
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*** He also has to reset his shoulder twice in the third film, though not under such mortal circumstances. At one point, he slides himself into a pole to do so on the fly.
* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: Riggs ability to dislocate and reset his shoulder was used as a gag early in the second movie, only to become important to Riggs escaping a death trap. Similarly, in the third movie Riggs taught Murtaugh a basic defensive kick which was made into a prank with Murtaugh kicking over a water cooler, with Murtaugh used instinctively in the climax.
* [[Cold -Blooded Torture]]: Riggs and Murtaugh are both subjected to this in the first film, as the bad guys try to find out from them what the police know. It doesn't work, because the cops don't know much of ''anything,'' and because Riggs is able to escape from Endo and go on a rampage.
* [[Combat Pragmatist]]: Despite being a highly trained martial artist, Riggs isn't against [[Groin Attack|groin attacks]], unsing improvised weaponry, dropping a crate on a man, or killing him with a machine gun when it becomes clear he's not going to win a fist fight.
* [[Comically Missing the Point]]: From ''Lethal Weapon 3:''
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** Very, very minor truth in television with the Russian GSh-18 pistol, which is designed for just such an overpressure 9x19mm round. The timing's off, though, having entered service a full 20 years after the third movie. Even then, using said round in a weapon chambered for 9x19mm Luger will quickly ruin the gun, so the original point stands.
** Actually 9mm Parabellum round gives pretty high maximum pressure, so overpressurized load complete with hardened and specifically shaped (or saboted) round could easily defeat an ordinary kevlar vest. On the other hand, using such ammo in the ordinary SMG set to full auto would be extremely dangerous to the shooter.
* [[Hair -Trigger Temper]]: Averted; Joe Pesci is famous for such roles played scarily straight but his character Leo Getz is harmless. In fact, he plays a fall guy. He's still liable to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation, but everyone's more than aware it's all bluster and Riggs and Murtagh are more than willing to tell him to shut up.
* [[Heavily Armored Mook]]: The flamethrower and machinegun wielding lunatic at the start of the fourth movie.
* [[Heroic BSOD]]: In the second film, when [[The Dragon]] {{spoiler|reveals he killed Riggs' wife Victoria, and then he kills Rika, too.}}
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* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: Riggs & Murtaugh. But bordering on [[Ho Yay]]; arguably, ''deep'' within [[Ho Yay]] territory.
{{quote| '''Riggs''': You're the only family I've got! I've got three beautiful kids, I love them, they're yours. Trish does my laundry, I live in your icebox, I live in your life! }}
* [[Hey ItsIt's That Guy]]/[[California Doubling]]: The guy who says "Bravo" after the first building was blown up in the third film? None other than Bill Frederick, then the mayor of Orlando, Florida. The building used was Orlando's old City Hall building. Those familiar with the city will also recognize the SunTrust Center, the Orlando Utilities Commission building, and the new/current City Hall (which had a Coca-Cola sign planted on it). You can even make out a TV van from local ABC affiliate WFTV during the implosion.
** The building imploded post-credits was in St. Petersburg, Florida.
* [[Hoist By His Own Petard]]:
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** Funny enough, it's [[Averted]] completely in the third film--where Murtaugh has to ventilate a shed to get Darryl, then uses a machine gun on Jack Travis--and [[Deconstructed]] in the fourth, where Wah dodges the shot--only for it to hit and kill his brother.
* [[Interrupted Suicide]]
* [[ItsIt's Personal]]: Each movie eventually turns into this. Riggs even says the trope by name in part 2.
* [[Kicked Upstairs]]: Riggs and Murtaugh are both promoted to Captain in the fourth film, in the hopes that giving them desk jobs will cut down on the destruction they cause in the city. It doesn't work.
* [[Large Ham]]: Riggs, expecially in the first movie.
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* [[Older Hero vs. Younger Villain]]: A brutal example in the third film. Possible [[Deconstruction]], definite [[Tear Jerker]].
** Also in the fourth film with Wah Sing Ku who is younger than both Riggs and Murtaugh and very skilled in a deadly form of martial arts.
* [[One -Scene Wonder]]: The pyromaniac in the beginning of the fourth film.
* [[One -Man Army]]: Riggs for the first three films, untl his age finally catches up to him in 4. In all fairness, the only guy he has trouble with in 4 is Jet Li's character.
* [[Overly Long Gag]]: The target takes a ''long'' time to get to the end of the range, and a ''long'' time to come back.
* [[Papa Wolf]]: Murtaugh is ''fiercely'' protective of his family, but particularly his daughter Rianne. He even punches Riggs right in the face (and overboard) after Riggs says "I think I may have slept with someone I shouldn't have," leading Murtaugh to assume he was talking about Rianne. {{spoiler|He was talking about Lorna.}} Granted, he was drunk at the time.
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* [[Platonic Prostitution]]
* [[Plucky Comic Relief]]: Leo Getz in all movies after the first, but manages to stay out of [[The Scrappy|Scrappy]] territory because Riggs and Murtagh annoy him just as much as he annoys them.
* [[Politically -Incorrect Villain]]: The South Africans from the second film. What else would you expect from diplomats of the country that named Apartheid?
* [[Product Placement]]: From the first film:
{{quote| '''Joshua:''' ''[while jacking a car]'' Mind if I test-drive your Audi?}}
* [[Pre -Mortem One -Liner]]: Non-verbal version; after putting a bomb in Murtaugh's [[Refuge in Audacity|toilet]], the bad guys wrote "boom" on the toiler paper.
* [[The Purge]]: {{spoiler|The villain in Lethal Weapon 2 does this to the LAPD detectives investigating him, with Riggs and Murtaugh the only survivors.}}
* [[Psycho for Hire]]: Mr Joshua.
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