Old Cop, Young Cop: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Agent J''': ''[pointing at Agent K]'' Old and busted.

 

A constellation of two cops or detectives, an older one and a younger one. Inevitably, the older one becomes some kind of father figure to the other. In addition to that, they are often presented as very different from each other, which may or may not result in conflict between them. Maybe the older one is experienced while the younger one is new to the job. Maybe the younger one is emotional and short-tempered while the older one is more like [[The Stoic]]. Maybe the younger one is idealistic while the older one tends more towards cynicism. Maybe it's a case of [[Red Oni, Blue Oni]]. Maybe the older one is a [[Agent Scully|rationalist]] while the younger one tends towards more intuitive methods of investigation - or maybe the other way round. If they appear in a crime or mystery setting (and they are very unlikely to be seen elsewhere), expect them to be the main characters. Also, expect at least one of them to be personally involved in the case in one way or the other.

 

{{examples}}

* Ikari and Maniwa from ''[[Paranoia Agent]]''.

* Soichiro Yagami and Touta Matsuda from ''[[Death Note]]'', at least at the beginning of the series.

* ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'' does this with a slight alteration: instead of cops, they're ''[[Corporate-Sponsored Superhero|superheroes]]''

 

* Sideswipe and Cheetor in Fun Publications' "The Stunti-Con Job", which is in-continuity with ''[[Transformers Animated]]''.

 

* Somerset and Mills from ''[[Se7en]]'': Former [[Trope Namer]].

* Connor, the "senpai" ([[Sean Connery]]) and Smith, the "kohai" (Wesley Snipes) in ''Rising Sun''.

* Anderson and Ward, ''[[Mississippi Burning]]''.

 

* Goodman and Muldoon from R.A. Wilson's ''[[Illuminatus]]'' trilogy.

* ''[[Felidae]]'': Pascal and Francis. {{spoiler|Subverted ''hard''. At the beginning they seem to fit this trope, but at the end it turns out that Pascal is actually the killer and helps Francis only because he wants to [[Passing the Torch|pass the torch]] to him}}.

* Tony Hillerman's mysteries set on the [[The Rez|Navajo reservation]] feature Joe Leaphorn (older, world-weary, atheistic) and Jim Chee (younger, more idealistic, a practicing shaman).

* Occurs in ''[[Rivers of London]]'' with DCI Nightingale (since he is over 100 years old) being the old, refined, gentleman cop, and DC Grant as the wet behind the ears, yet inexplicably smart, sarky, and mouthy new cop.

 

* Despite [[Loads and Loads of Characters|the numerous cast changes]], ''[[Law and Order|Law & Order]]'' managed to play this Trope straight for eighteen years:

{{quote|'''1990:''' Max Greevey (older cop) and Mike Logan (newbie cop). {{spoiler|Greevey was shot and killed.}}

'''1991:''' Phil Ceretta and Mike Logan. {{spoiler|Ceretta was also shot, but survived the injuries.}}

'''2006:''' Played with this time: Average-experience cop Ed Green and total newbie Nina Cassidy. Cassidy left the show after one season, and was replaced with Cyrus Lupo, a cop with some seasoning, thus breaking the Trope. }}

* ''[[Twin Peaks]]'': Windom Earle and Dale Cooper ''might'' have been this in the times before Earle's insanity.

** ''[[Inspector Morse]]'' - featuring Morse and DS Lewis

** ''[[Lewis]] (aka Inspector Lewis)'' - featuring Lewis from the aforementioned show, [[Master Apprentice Chain|now promoted to DI and partnered with DS Hathaway]] (Has led to speculation that in another 20 years, there will be a new show entitled "Hathaway"/"Inspector Hathaway")

* ''The Streets Of San Francisco'' (1972–77), starring Karl Malden (older cop) and [[Michael Douglas]] (younger cop).

* Sully and Davis on ''[[Third Watch]]''.

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Duo Tropes]]

[[Category:Ensembles]]