History Main / GoodCopBadCop

* Believe it or not, a reverse situation was done once with ComicBook/CaptainAmerica as the Good Cop, of all people, in a six-issue ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' story called "The Assassin Nation Plot". When trying to find Sabertooth (who had just murdered the prime minister of Symkaria) Cap and Silver Sable track him to a group of sleazy thugs in Latin America. After trouncing them, Cap tries to get the leader to talk, but the crook knows Cap's reputation and says he wouldn't hurt him. Then Silver points a gun at him and says "Yes, ''he'' won't." The guy quickly starts to talk. (It's doubtful Cap would have actually let her shoot him, but the situation was rather dire.)

* Done by ''four people'' (Coulson, Hill, Leonardo, and Raphael) to interrogate Agent Sitwell in ''Fanfic/SpiderNinja''. Coulson and Hill go first, with Coulson as the Good Cop and Hill as the Bad Cop. Sitwell laughs at them and tells them that tactic won't work. That's when Leo and Raph come in, with Leo as the Good Cop and Raph as the Bad Cop. Being interrogated by two giant turtles freaks Sitwell out enough that he cracks. When Coulson asks the brothers how they learned interrogation tactics, they admit that [[IKnowMortalKombat they watch a lot of cop shows]].

* In the iOS game ''VideoGame/LaytonBrothersMysteryRoom'', the title protagonist (though close to {{Deuteragonist}} ) is both of [[SplitPersonality these in one character ]] (with the "bad cop" bordering on RabidCop during the interrogation portion). It turns out [[spoiler: [[JekyllAndHyde the "bad cop" is actually Alfendi's real personality while his more pleasant side was a mask created]] by [[DirtyCop Justin Lawson]] [[{{Brainwashed}} through hypnosis]] ]]

* Played for laughs in the British sketch show ''Series/{{Absolutely}}''. Two cops are interrogating a suspect, they can remember one is supposed to be nice but cannot remember the other part and so try a number of combinations including 'nice & flirty', 'nice & shy', 'nice & clumsy' and 'nice & forgetful'. When they eventually remember, they explain that neither of them are any good at being the bad one, so they get in a [[DastardlyWhiplash Victorian melodrama villain]] dressed as a Bow Street Runner.

* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' may hold the title of longest single Good Cop Bad Cop sequence. The Emmy Award winning episode "Three Men And Adena" is literally a single, forty-five minute long episode set in an interrogation room, with the two main cops taking on the necessary personas.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14087848/7/Watch Watch]]'' Luna and her father do it with [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext a frog]].

** Angel Starr from the [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney first game]]'s fifth case is a former detective who was known as the "Cough-up Queen" for her ability to squeeze information out of suspects. It's implied that the reason for her effectiveness was that she could do this routine ''by herself'', using [[GoodEyesEvilEyes colored contacts]] and [[HidingBehindYourBangs to flip between inviting and threatening.

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[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/goodcopbadcop_1.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Someone get [[Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly ugly cop]] in here! [[MirrorCrackingUgly He'll get him to crack for sure]]."]]

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* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' takes this to eleven when they combine it with 'Carrot and Stick' and invert good/bad and carrot/stick to accommodate the twisted mind of a sociopath. You see, to a serial killer, the goodness of the good cop will come off as offensive. One person has to be the bad cop and offer him the 'carrot' and then follow that up with a personality change into good cop and offer the 'stick' - because serial killers prefer sticks to carrots. Follow?
* Similar to the Pink Panther example below, Gargoylemon of ''Anime/DigimonFusion'' attempts to be both the good cop and the bad cop, alternatively threatening the captured heroes and offering them [=DigiNoir=]. Humorously, they're so busy eating they don't even notice.
* Invoked in the anime adaption of ''Literature/LogHorizon''. Shiroe played bad cop to Krusty's good, and it's all done [[ThePlan very intentionally]]. Shiroe explains he intentionally invoked this trope by name to Minori, who realizes it's all a front. She's worried about him as a result; he's [[TheStrategist less concerned]].

* In an issue of the ''ComicBook/XMen'' spinoff ''ComicBook/XFactor'', during one of its DarkerAndEdgier periods (in the 90s, of course), two of the team members confront a villain and mention they'd considered playing Good Cop/Bad Cop, but neither of them wanted to be the "Good Cop". Unfortunately for them, the attempt at intimidation is a total failure and the bad guy gets away.
* Believe it or not, a reverse situation was done once with ComicBook/CaptainAmerica as the Good Cop, of all people, in a six-issue ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' story called "The Assassin Nation Plot". When trying to find Sabertooth (who had just murdered the prime minister of Symkaria) Cap and Silver Sable track him to a group of sleazy thugs in Latin America. After trouncing them, Cap tries to get the leader to talk, but the crook knows Cap's reputation and says he wouldn't hurt him. Then Silver points a gun at him and says "Yes, ''he'' won't." The guy quickly starts to talk. (It's doubtful Cap would have actually let her shoot him, but the situation was rather dire.)

--->'''Morillo''' (Keystone cop): ''Nice'' good cop-bad cop routine you've got there.

* In ''ComicBook/BatmanEarthOne'', Gordon and Bullock "interrogate" a criminal on the location of Gordon's daughter with a crowbar and a baseball bat.
-->'''Axe:''' So what's this going to be? Good cop, bad cop?\\
'''Harvey Bullock:''' [[WrongGenreSavvy C'mon Axe]]. I get it now. This is '''[[WretchedHive Gotham]] [[CrapsackWorld City]]'''. [[SubvertedTrope It's bad cop, bad cop]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'':
** Invoked in ''ComicBook/BatgirlYearOne''. When Batman wants to learn the new ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'s secrets he drags her into the Batcave and tries to unmask her. When she tells him off, he walks out, leaving her guest to Robin, who is considerably friendlier.
--->'''Alfred:''' And just what do you call this morality play unfolding beneath us?\\
'''Batman:''' It's a classic. Good cop. Bad cop.\\
'''Alfred:''' And I trust that Master Richard is the 'good cop'?\\
'''Batman:''' Why else do you think he wears the bright colors?
** ''ComicBook/Batgirl2009'': The Bad Cop/Worse Cop routine was invoked in the 6th issue of the series.
--->'''Batgirl:''' Just shut up and follow my lead.\\
'''Robin (Damian Wayne):''' Why do you get to take the lead?\\
'''Batgirl:''' Because we're gonna play this "Bad cop, '''worse''' cop."\\
'''Robin:''' I get to be '''worse''' cop!\\
'''Batgirl:''' Attaboy.
* The ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' comic ''The Stunticon Job'' has Sideswipe and Cheetor respectively, but both try to be the bad cop.
* In the UK, this tactic is often called ''Mutt and Jeff'', after the American comic strip of the same name.

* A ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' issue introduces a new variant: [[TheCowl Bad Cop]], [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Giant Monster]].
** A 2002 team-up issue with Spider-Man had Daredevil and Ben Urich performing a variation of this. Urich went into a bar to gain information about a kidnapped girl. When the guy pulled a gun on Urich, Daredevil shows up to intimidate the information out of him. Urich's dialogue suggests this is not the first time they've pulled this act.
* Parodied in an issue of ''ComicBook/AdventureTime: Candy Capers''. Peppermint Butler deputizes Tree Trunks and Marceline as members of the royal guard to investigate the disappearance of Finn and Jake, and the sweet-natured Tree Trunks insists on [[PlayingAgainstType being the "bad cop"]] just because it's something she's always wanted to do. She's surprisingly good at it, but Marceline is not so keen on being shoe-horned into the role of "good cop".
* Subverted a couple ways in ''ComicBook/{{X 23}}: Target X'': While interrogating X-23 throughout the framing story, ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' of all people plays the bad cop, with ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} as the good cop. A second subversion is that ''it's not an act''. Steve sees Laura as a merciless, remorseless killer responsible for the deaths of hundreds, and he's genuinely belligerent and hostile towards her, in large part because [[MyGreatestFailure he blames himself]] for allowing her to kill so many people[[note]]He actually had her in custody after her very first assassination, but she escaped him by masquerading as one of the victims of her own rampage.[[/note]] Matt, by contrast, genuinely believes in Laura's innocence because of the circumstances of her creation, and takes a much more compassionate and supportive position while questioning her.
* In ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' Whirl, an ex-cop, catches one of the little enemy robots running away, and without being asked, simply beats him up in private until he promises to answer the questions of the other Autobots. Whirl's tendency toward police brutality is, in fact, revealed to have been the reason for the start of the entire Cybertronian Civil War. He brutally beat Megatron when the latter was arrested following a bar brawl. [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil This convinced Megatron]], who up until then was an ActualPacifist, that violence really ''was'' the best means of achieving social change.

* Done twice in ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero''. Once with the Bad Cop/Worse Cop variant and again with Good Cop/Bad Cop.
* The ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/975398/1/Galaxy_Police_Files_1_Bad_Cop_Bad_Cop Galaxy Police Files 1: Bad Cop, Bad Cop]]'' plays with this trope first by [[ParodiedTrope parodying it]] and then making it [[PlayedForDrama scary]]. The bubbly Mihoshi plays Bad cop while the surly Kihone plays Good Cop (Mihoshi would have broken down crying if Kihone didn't let her be the Bad Cop). They proceed to act out the worst performance of Good Cop/Bad Cop in the history of the universe (not that the perp would have talked even if they'd done it perfectly). When the interrogation fails, [[spoiler:Mihoshi points her laser gun at the perp and says that she might as well kill him if he won't talk. The perp thinks she's bluffing... until she fires at him, the only thing saving his life being Kihone knocking off Mihoshi's aim. What ''really'' convinces the perp that Mihoshi is a RabidCop is when Mihoshi ''tries to kill her own partner'' (all without losing her bubbly disposition)]]. At this point the perp breaks down and tells them everything they want to know.

* ''Fanfic/RidingASunset'': After they kidnapped Charlie and used her as bait to try and lure in Bumblebee, the Eukarians (or Beastformers) are taken prisoner by the Autobots. Ironhide (as the bad cop) wants to do to them what they did to Charlie (which is why Prime doesn't let him take part in the interrogation). Jazz is more of a neutral cop, as he's as mad as Ironhide but recognizes that the Eukarians are just a bunch of punks that Starscream lured to the Dark side. Optimus is the only one to speak kindly to the Eukarians, telling them that things will be better for everyone if they give the Autobots the information they want. The Eukarians finally talk to Prime.
* Quite common in fanfics for ''Series/TheSentinel'', especially when they make the 6'2"/220 lb. ex-Ranger Jim the 'good' cop and the 5'9" long-haired anthropologist Blair the 'bad cop'.
* ''Fanfic/FinishingTheFight'': Keyes and Drizzt do a fairly spectacular version when interrogating Luskan prisoners, though Bad Cop ''Psychotic Cop'' might be a better description. Drizzt has [[PantheraAwesome Guen]] drag a prisoner into another room, makes him scream once before knocking him out, and then plays recordings of the scream and randomly throws in bouts of maniacal laughter for good measure. Keyes threatens the other prisoners both with him, and with a truth serum that might "melt their brains" if they don't talk to her.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2959739/37/A-Sirius-Matter A Sirius Matter]]'' Harry and Sirius pull this on Slughorn to get him to reveal how many [[SoulJar Horcruxes]] Voldemort planned to make.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10161217/5/Harry-Potter-and-the-Winter-s-Child Harry Potter and the Winter's Child]]'' several members of the Order of the Phoenix go to question the Dursleys and Alastor Moody asks if they're going to play "good Auror/bad Auror."
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3933832/19/Harry-Potter-and-the-Invincible-TechnoMage Harry Potter and the Invincible Technomage]]'' Harry and several of his friends do it after being captured by the Kree, with Hermione playing good cop.

* Chapter 23 of ''Fanfic/AHollowInEquestria'' has Ulquiorra and Princess Celestia using this routine on a captive changeling to try and extract what Chrysalis has planned.
* In a chapter of ''Fanfic/ShadowchasersConspiracy'', Jalal tries to interrogate a rather stubborn prisoner - Aysis, a demonic bounty hunter - about what has happened to Karen. Aysis notices he's brought [[SexySecretary Dolores]] with him and assumes this is a Good Cop Bad Cop method, laughing at the prospect. However, she's wrong; it's Bad Cop Worse Cop, and Dolores is the Worse Cop. ([[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome What happens during the interlude]] isn't shown, but when the scene shifts back, Aysis is cowering, sobbing, and telling the now coldly-stoic Dolores everything.)
* Superman and Flash attempt this in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13131858/13/A-Little-Less-Conversation-a-Little-More-Action-Please A Little Less Conversation, a Little More Action Please]]'' on Copperhead. When they fail, the newest Robin (Stephanie Brown) has them step out and sprays Copperhead with a neurotoxin, telling him he has five minutes to live unless he gives her the information she wants in exchange for the antidote. Afterwards, she tells Superman it was actually some of her father's cologne and admits to being "Worse Cop".
* ''Fanfic/NeitherABirdNorAPlaneItsDeku'' has Tamako Nokogiri and Dan'ichiro "Dan" Shitsugen, who show up to investigate the circumstances behind Bakugou's injuries. Nokogiri is the Good Cop, remaining friendly and professional to the Midoriyas and assuring a clearly guilt-ridden and horrified Izuku that it was just an accident. Shitsugen is the Bad Cop, railing at Izuku's and Bakugou's parents and threatening to rough up Hisashi for talking back to him.
* Coulson proves his skill at this routine in ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm,'' playing good cop to Nick Fury's bad cop in Book 1 and Harry's in Book 2 (in the latter case, he had no clue that Harry had started a pre-interrogation at all, much less in bad cop mode, but picked it up without blinking twice. He's ''that'' good). It's noted in the former case that Coulson and Fury can switch off if necessary, with Fury playing the JerkWithAHeartOfGold and Coulson taking on a cold {{Jerkass}} demeanour. Fury also notes his friend's skill at this trope.
-->"Any fool could offer cups of tea while admonishing a shouting colleague. It took a professional to offer tea as a prelude to a discussion of favourite types of tea. All Fury had had to do was growl and glare every now and then."
* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': In chapter 7 of the second sequel, ''Diplomacy Through Schooling'', [[spoiler: Neighsay's captor manages to pull off both roles all by himself, first offering him a position among his followers, then threatening to destroy his horn if he refuses. When Neighsay stays loyal to Equestria, the captor follows through with his threat.]]
* ''Fanfic/ForTheGloryOfIrk'':
** At one point, [[RobotBuddy CB]] wholeheartedly suggests he and Dib do this to interrogate [[spoiler: Clark]] about possibly being an alien. Dib shoots this down, as he doesn't even want CB involved.
** Tenn, who CB explained this trope to, wants to try this when Zim is investigating GIR's disappearance. Though as Skoodge points out, she seems to have misunderstood the concept, as she thinks that the "good" cop has to be the aggressive one.

''[Bad Cop's head swivels around to become Good Cop]''\\

'''Bad Cop:''' ''[head switches back to Bad Cop]'' Too bad! ''(punches glass across the room)''

* ''Series/LostGirl''. Dyson and Tamsin are a more literal fashion when they're first partnered up, as Dyson is Light Fae while Tasman is Dark Fae. In the same episode Tasman lampshades the trope by sarcastically referring to Dyson and [[SuccubiAndIncubi Bo]] as, "Bad cop, horny cop."

* ''Series//GoodnessGraciousMe'': Parodied in a sketch--Good Cop, Indian Mum Cop.

* ''Series/{{Hunter}}'': Before interrogating someone, [=DeeDee McCall=] (a short FairCop) insists that she be allowed to play "bad cop" despite Hunter's (tall, middle-aged) claims that he's usually the "bad cop" in these situations for a reason. The perp immediately sees through the act and tells them to get lost, so she upgrades to breaking in his door and threatening him with a baseball bat.

* ''Series/LostGirl''. Dyson and Tamsin are a more literal fashion when they're first partnered up, as Dyson is Light Fae while Tasman is Dark Fae. Tasman lampshades the trope on seeing the interaction between Dyson and [[SuccubiAndIncubi Bo]] and calling it, "Bad cop, horny cop."

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'':
** In "The Once And Future Thing: Time Warped", which involves Time Travel, Batman winds up playing Bad Cop/Worse Cop with ''himself'', [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond some thirty years in the future]]. A seventy-year-old Bruce Wayne, as voiced by Creator/KevinConroy, is the most terrifying being in existence.
--->'''[[WesternAnimation/StaticShock Static]]''': Wow. ''Batman'' playing good cop.\\
'''[[ActingForTwo Green Lantern]]''': Everything's relative.

** In "Injustice For All", Batman is missing, and Superman and ComicBook/TheFlash try to interrogate Copperhead, who was part of the gang that captured the Bat. Copperhead just laughs at Superman's attempt to play Bad Cop and doesn't flinch when Superman threatens to hurt him, prompting the Man of Steel to frustratedly wonder how Batman does it.
** This also happens with Green Lantern/Hawkgirl in "War World". You can probably guess who the bad cop was.
** In "The Brave And The Bold", Flash is arrested for a robbery he did while he was under mind control. Once cop repeatedly yells in his face, demanding to know where the stolen goods are and saying he knew all along superheroes couldn't be trusted, while his partner calmly offers Flash coffee and says he can help him if he cooperates. Green Lantern bails Flash out before it can escalate.

** Angel Starr from the [[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney first game]]'s fifth case is a former detective who was known as the "Cough-up Queen" for her ability to squeeze information out of suspects. It's implied that the reason for her effectiveness was that she could do this routine ''by herself'', using [[GoodEyesEvilEyes colored contacts]] and PeekABangs to flip between inviting and threatening.