History Main / SympatheticInspectorAntagonist

*** Teenage detective Goro Akechi can be annoyingly smug at times, but his attempts to track down the AntiHeroTeam of Phantom Thieves are portrayed mostly sympathetically. Unsurprisingly, [[SixthRanger he joins the party]] later. [[spoiler:And then subverted, where he turns out to be a fraud detective and murderer who quickly betrays the Thieves for the corrupt adults they're aiming to take down. And not only the Thieves ''knew'' that he'd betray them, but they ''counted'' on it. This then gets double subverted [[DeconstructedTrope rather harshly]] when he reveals he has a ''[[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds very]]'' [[FreudianExcuse tragic background]] [[ParentalAbandonment that led him]] [[BrokenAce to become]] [[ShadowArchetype what the thieves could have been]], [[RegretfulTraitor and did regret betraying them]] [[IJustWantToBeSpecial just so he can take down said adults himself]]. [[PsychopathicManchild It just wouldn't stop him from]] [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex wanting to kill the thieves]] [[TakingYouWithMe at any cost]].]]

* ''Film/LordOfWar'': Jack Valentine is an Interpol agent who won't break his own rules, or laws he has no control over, in his pursuit of an amoral criminal.

[[caption-width-right:350:After you’ve seen him telling Lupin he’s under arrest for [[LongRunners over 50 years]], it’s hard not to feel sorry for Zenigata.]]

In case he's working for the PoliceState, he will end up being the TokenGoodTeammate/TokenGoodCop at the best, and HeelFaceDoorSlam at the worst.

In case he's working for the PoliceState, he will end up being a TokenGoodTeammate at the best, and HeelFaceDoorSlam at the worst.

%%* [[FatBastard Rancid]] [[FatIdiot Rabbit]] from WesternAnimation/CatDog.

%%* The Sheriff from the Bunny and Claude ''[[UsefulNotes/LooneyTunesInTheSixties Looney Tunes]]'' cartoons.

[[caption-width-right:350:After you’ve seen him telling Lupin he’s under arrest for [[LongRunners over 50 years]], it’s hard not to feel sorry for Pops.]]

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%%* ''Manga/MyBrideIsAMermaid'' has [[ShoutOut Zenigata]] Mawari, a policeman's daughter obsessed with enforcing rules with all her might. Comes with a CatchPhrase: "Must Mawari teach you the rules of..."

* ''Anime/SherlockHound'''s portrayal of InspectorLestrade has elements of this when chasing Moriarty. Fittingly, Creator/HayaoMiyazaki, one of the directors, also directed several episodes of ''Anime/LupinIII'' and later on ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro''.

* In ''Film/{{Blacula}}'', TragicMonster VillainProtagonist Prince Mamuwalde is hounded by a pathologist, Dr. Gordon Thomas, and his [[SaltAndPepper white colleague]], police Lt. Jack Peters. To make things extra personal, Gordon is dating the sister of Mamuwalde's own LoveInterest.

** He's also let Lupin go more than a few times, too. While Lupin is his archenemy, it's a matter of the two being [[FriendlyEnemy on reasonably good terms with each other]], and he'll stop chasing Lupin and work with him directly if there's a worse villain to be caught, even to the point of ignoring Lupin escaping if the bad guy is a bigger threat.

The Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist represents the law, who is [[TheDeterminator intent]] on capturing a criminal. It just so happens that the viewpoint character of the work is a LovableRogue or some other [[VillainProtagonist criminal]].

* Carmelita Fox from the ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' video game series. She's one of the most respected cops in the world, perhaps thanks to Sly's MO of only stealing from other criminals: even though she usually fails to catch Sly, she can always bring in his victim. Sly also tends to flirt with her whenever they clash, which eventually evolves into DatingCatwoman.

* L from ''Manga/DeathNote'' would qualify as a more serious and less hands-on example. As the world's greatest detective, he early on (correctly) fingers out the main protagonist as the most likely candidate to be the notorious serial killer known as "Kira" and continues to pursue his hunch for the rest of the series, even when circumstances (orchestrated by Light of course) seem to disprove this.

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': Sergeant James Doakes is the only person in Miami Metro who notices that something is not quite right about Dexter and starts to investigate him in his spare time. While Doakes himself can be an abrasive jerkass to the rest of his colleagues, he is ([[AntiHero for the most part]]) genuinely on the side of the law. Not long after he discovers evidence that Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, [[spoiler:Doakes is framed for Dexter's crimes and is killed in a fire before he can prove his innocence.]]

%%* Doakes serves as the Sympathetic Inspector Antagonist in ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' [[spoiler: until he's killed in a fire.]]

* Officer Denise Marmalade in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManLegends The Misadventures of Tron Bonne]]''.