History Series / DueSouth

** In a variation, [[Recap/DueSouthS2E10WeAreTheEggmen We are the Eggmen]], Fraser and Inspector Thatcher get locked in an incubator

* EmbarrassingFirstName: Played straight with Stanley Ray Kowalski, who shared his name with the protagonist of ''AStreetcarNamedDesire''. {{Subverted}} with Fraser, who had an ''odd'' first name ("Benton"), but wasn't even remotely embarrassed by it.

* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: In ''Call of the Wild'', Fraser and Ray [[spoiler: jump and is pushed by Fraser, respectively, from an airplane without parachutes, but they are not injured because the snow is "bottomless."]]

The Mountie, Constable Benton Fraser, came to Chicago on the trail of the killers of his father; and, "for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture", remained attached as liaison with the Canadian Consulate, working with local detective Ray Vecchio - who, for various reasons having to do with actor availability, is later replaced by Stanley (Raymond) Kowalski. Yes, that is his name (his dad was a fan of MarlonBrando). He even married a woman named Stella, though they had divorced by the time Ray K moved to Chicago.

* CelebrityParadox: Buck Frobisher's resemblance to "legendary Canadian actor LeslieNielsen" is remarked upon in "[[Recap/DueSouthS3E01BurningDownTheHouse Burning Down the House]]".

* CaliforniaDoubling (Toronto for Chicago, amusingly inverted when a Toronto-set episode was filmed in... Chicago.)
** The Chicago-for-Toronto doubling may very well have been an intentional joke - the producers were not above doing that kind of thing, such as when every shot of the Canadian consulate in Chicago was actually shot outside the American consulate in Toronto.

** Both Rays are handsome too, and RayV has BaldofAwesome in Season 2.

* KnightInSourArmor: Ray

* ShoutOut: The oft-repeated line, [[{{Airplane}} "that's not important right now."]]

* CanadianWestern

Cst. Benton Fraser (rhymes with "razor", though Ray V usually pronounces it "{{Frasier}}") is the living incarnation of almost every Mountie stereotype ever conceived. He's polite to a fault, can track a man for months across an Arctic waste, fights honorably, doesn't lie, is almost always impeccably clean, even after climbing out of a sewer. During the first two seasons, he's frequently shown wearing civilian clothes, but during the last seasons, he almost always wears the formal red dress uniform, which in real life is only worn for special public occasions or for publicity.

* CastIncest: Paul Gross is married in real life to the actress who played his character's mother.
** David Marciano, who played Ray Vecchio, was married to the actress who played his character's ex-wife
* TheCastShowoff: Paul Gross co-wrote and sang at least two songs in the course of the series. See also WrittenByCastMember.

* FakeAmerican: While Fraser's original partner is a genuine native-born American, Ray Kowalski is portrayed by Canadian Callum Keith Rennie, and his Canadian accent is audible at times.
** Also, Ramona Milano (who played Francesca) is from Toronto--which makes a crack she makes near the end of the series about how there's no life in Toronto all the funnier
* FanNickname: common ones include
** OFM ("Our Favourite Mountie"): Benton Fraser
** OFDM ("Our Favourite Dead Mountie"): Bob Fraser
** Dead!Bob: Bob Fraser again
** [=RayV=]: Detective Ray Vecchio
** [=RayK=]: Detective Ray [[TheOtherDarrin Kowalski]]

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute (Ray is replaced for the final two seasons, for valid in-show reasons. Fraser spends most of the first episode trying to [[OnlySaneMan prove that the person who is manifestly not Ray is indeed not Ray]] while [[TheOtherDarrin all the other characters pretend not to notice]].)

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Originally, the real life wreck of the ''Edmund Fitzgerald'' was going to be used in 'Mountie on the Bounty', but after talking to the families, Paul Gross opted for a fictional ship. Also, if the show had ended after season one, it was indicated Fraser would have been said to have died after being shot.

* WrittenByCastMember: "All The Queen's Horses," "Red, White Or Blue," "Burning Down The House" and the two-parters "Mountie On The Bounty" and "Call Of The Wild" were written or co-written by Paul Gross.

* YouLookFamiliar: Maury Chaykin plays secret agent Pike in "Spy Vs. Spy" and shipping depot [[spoiler: and sweat shop]] owner Gutman in "Mojo Rising"
** Also, Martha Burns as a Russian spy/terrorist and then as Fraser's mother

* AlwaysGetsHisMan: Fraser, naturally.

* BadassBookworm: Fraser uses his smarts to solve crimes, and he can handle himself very well in a fight.

* BlindWithoutEm: Kowalski can't fire his pistol without wearing glasses.

* BulletproofFashionPlate: Fraser, which drives Ray completely up the wall.
** Also, his fashion renders him bulletproof. While Fraser is injured several times in the show, he is never once injured while he is wearing his hat. This has caused the hat to be dubbed the 'Stetson of Invulnerability' by fans.
** Although his hat is not bulletproof, and he has reacted to it being damaged as if he had been shot in an actual body part
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Fraser, and it's not always just an American point of view of Canadian ways thing, either, since he has baffled the Canadians as well. Examples include his habit of licking things and talking to his dead father. Granted, the other characters don't know he's doing the latter, so he just looks like he's talking to thin air.
* TheBusCameBack: Ray Vecchio, in the series finale.

* TheCape: Fraser, of course.

* CharacterTics: Fraser has a few, including cracking his neck and touching his ear when he's nervous, thinking, or repressing the urge to do or say something.
* ChasteHero: Fraser can be quite naïve when it comes to sexual matters. Although it's implied he had ''some'' sort of relationship with Victoria

* ChristianityIsCatholic: {{Justified|Trope}}, as [=RayV=] and his family are Italian American, and thus very likely would be Catholic.
** [=RayV=] is shown at church at least once. [=RayK=] has a Polish surname, and therefore could have been raised as a Catholic as well.
* ChronicallyCrashedCar: Ray V's mint-green 1971 Buick Riviera, much to his aggravation.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: Fraser's partners frequently bemoan his spontaneous interventions in dangerous situations that he encounters, reminding him that he has no jurisdiction or they are not on duty. In "[[Recap/DueSouths2E17RedWhiteOrBlue Red, White or Blue]]," Fraser admits that he realizes his inability to stop helping people bothers Ray, but he can't help himself. Furthermore, a heartbreaking moment occurs [[spoiler: in ''Victoria's Secret'', when he refuses to help someone who appeals to him directly for aid.]]

* CloudCuckooLander: Constable Turnbull tends to be one of these. See also GeniusDitz.
* TheComicallySerious: Fraser understands the ''existence'' of sarcasm, and even displays the occasional flash of dry wit, but his default behaviour is still to take everything very literally.

* CoolCar: Vecchio's 1971 Buick Riviera, [[RunningGag which kept getting]] [[EveryCarIsAPinto blown up]], and later Kowalski's GTO.

* CountingBullets: Frasier does this once when facing off agaisnt an armed opponent. Thatcher, Kowalski and Welsh where apparently counting too but each gives conflicting numbers adding to the confusion.
* CowboyCop: Ray V has shades of it occasionally. The "imminent danger" trick he pulls in [[Recap/DueSouthS1E20and21VictoriasSecret Victoria's Secret]] comes to mind.
* ACrackInTheIce: This happens to Ray K in the show finale.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Indicated with Turnbull. he seems dumb onscreen but he somehow passed military *paratrooper* training.
* DaChief: Lieutenant Welsh, in spades.

* DisguisedInDrag: Fraser pretends to be a female high school teacher in "Some Like It Red".
* DisappearedDad: Fraser Sr. wasn't around much in Benton's childhood because of his job as a Mountie. Interestingly enough, Benton mostly views this with regret rather than bitterness, and his dad honestly seems more bothered by it than he does.

* DorkKnight: Fraser, oh so much.

* EncyclopaedicKnowledge: Fraser knows a lot of facts of just about any subject that you can think of. Justified because his grandparents were librarians.

* FingertipDrugAnalysis: Fraser would taste anything. He even licked the bottom of a boot once to figure out where the wearer had been. Ray K and Ray V were both disgusted and tried to stop him.

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Fraser wasn't quite this bad, but he came close sometimes.

* GoodIsNotDumb: Fraser, of course.

* HonorBeforeReason: Fraser. YouShouldKnowThisAlready.
** "That's the last time ''he'll'' fish over the limit..."

* IdealHero: Fraser is basically the idealized Mountie version of a KnightInShiningArmour.

* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: In reality, Fraser's RCMP uniform is the Red Serge and it is nowadays only worn for special ceremonies or for publicity purposes and ''never'' for regular police duties.
** Generally averted in earlier episodes, where he would wear a less showy brown uniform whenever he wasn't specifically dolled up for [[BritishRoyalGuards guard duty]] or some formal occassion. It has been joked that his capabilities directly correlate with how he dresses. Civilian clothes, he's a good samaratan who helps others. Brown uniform, he's a badass cop. Red Serge? He is a full on ''superhero''.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: In the episode ''Bird In The Hand'' Fraser is able to throw a knife so precisely it plugs the barrel of a gun.
** Similarly, in ''Mountie On The Bounty'', when a ship Fraser and Kowalski are on sails into Canadian waters, Fraser catches a tossed handgun and proceeds to [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands prove himself an expert marksman.]]
* ImprobableParkingSkills: Ray puts his 1972 Buick Riviera into a controlled skid over a large field of ice to bring it sliding to a stop immediately next to Fraser and the guest star. Both of them give him a mild WhatTheHellHero, which he casually shrugs off.

* IntangibleMan: Fraser Sr., though this was to some degree under his control.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Ray Vecchio.

* LongLostRelative: [[spoiler:Fraser]] meets his half-sister in "[[Recap/DueSouthS4E21HuntingSeason Hunting Season]]", the penultimate episode of the final season.
* LoveMartyr: [[spoiler:Fraser let Victoria go, and almost went with her, even after all she put him through and proved herself to be a fairly terrible person.]]

* MistakenForMurderer: Fraser, in "[[Recap/DueSouthS1E20and21VictoriasSecret Victoria's Secret]]".
* MrFanservice: Fraser is portrayed as being ridiculously attractive to women InUniverse ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOfqirmcoBM this trailer for Season 3]] even states that "Women can't resist him"), and the same can be said of the character's fans in real life.

* NiceGuy: Fraser is so darn nice all of the time that his behaviour sometimes irritates other characters.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: In the climax of ''The Deal'', Ray [[spoiler: beats the crap out of Don Zuko in his own gym, and promises not to tell everybody he sees about it in return for Zuko promising no harm will come to the Shoemaker. One of Zuko's lieutenants witnesses the beatdown, evidently loses all respect for him, and in the second season episode ''Juliet Is Bleeding'', this causes a chain of events that result in the murder of Detective Gardino, the accidental killing of Irene Zuko, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the destruction of Ray's]] [[RunningGag second]] [[CoolCar prized 1972 Buick Riviera]].]]
* NoBadgeNoProblem: Benton ''is'' a police officer in Canada, but the show is set in Chicago. He does frequently remind people that he is acting purely as a private citizen, but acts as if he does have police powers.

* TheOtherDarrin: Diefenbaker was played by three different animals, the first in the pilot really was half-wolf (and noticeably so) but was thought to look too fierce so was replaced by a pure-bred Siberian Husky, who was also replaced with a lookalike after the show's hiatus.

* PutOnABus: Ray Vecchio in ''Burning Down the House''.

* ReverseArmFold: Fraser, constantly

* SarcasticConfession: In "Hawk and a Handsaw", Fraser manages to get himself committed in a psych ward (intentionally--he's going undercover) simply by showing up in full dress uniform and telling the precise truth about his past.
* SavageWolves: Averted much of the time with Diefenbaker, but played straight a time or two: when Fraser was in danger, and when he had a girlfriend he was protecting.
* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Fraser, even in the middle of a city.
* SherlockScan: It's like a mountie-superpower.

* SpiritAdvisor: Fraser Sr.

* TallDarkAndHandsome: Fraser is tall, dark-haired and ''strikingly'' handsome.
* TechnicalPacifist: Fraser rarely used a gun, but this was because he didn't have a license for one in the US. After they crossed the border into Canada, he turned out to be a very good shot.
** This, incidentally, being a serious CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
--->'''Fraser:''' But right now, my friend, you're in the Dominion of Canada.

* TraumaInducedAmnesia: Fraser, after a hit on the head, spends a whole episode recovering his memory.

* {{Tsundere}}: Inspector Maggie Thatcher. More coldly contemptuous than easily angered, but aside from that it's a fairly apt description of her

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: The title of the Christmas episode "[[Recap/DueSouthS1E10TheGiftOfTheWheelman The Gift of the Wheelman]]" is a reference to OHenry's ''Literature/TheGiftOfTheMagi''. In case the reference wasn't clear, the opening shot also includes a store called "O. Henry's Gift Shop."

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, ranging from the sensible to the hysterical (Frannie's "virgin" pregnancy and Turnbull's political carrer)

* EnhanceButton: Averted in "[[Recap/DueSouthS1E16TheBlueLine The Blue Line]]." Fraser asks a technician to enlarge a frame from a video tape so he can identify a face in a crowd. The technician says it would be pointless because the resolution is too low.

** Played for laughs by Francesca in ''The Deal'', where she attempts to pre-emptively confess for a sin she plans to commit (seducing Fraser). The priest, exhasperated, points out that she can't keep confessing for that when she never follows through.

It also included some elements of magical realism, most notably Sgt. Bob Fraser (usually called "Fraser Sr.", "Dead Bob", or "OFDM" (for "Our Favourite Dead Mountie") by the fandom), the ghost of Fraser's father. Only Fraser could see and hear his father, unless Fraser Sr. wanted to show himself to someone else (this happened three times--he appeared to his killer, to his wife's killer, and to his best friend from the force), or they were also related to him (happened once). Ray V's dad's ghost also popped up once or twice,and interacted with Fraser Sr once, though he was never a regular character.

* RearWindowWitness: Fraser witnesses a crime through his hospital window in one episode.

** This has actually gotten him in trouble a few times as it makes his word less than trustworthy: in ''Witness'' he is suspected of intimidating a witness, while in ''Duel'' he is suspected of fabricating evidence. Not to mention, his actions in ''The Deal'' [[NiceJobBreakingItHero eventually lead]] to [[spoiler: the deaths of Detective Louis Gardino and Irene Zuko.]]

* TheAllegedCar: In "The Wild Bunch," the motor-pool car Ray is driving due to destroying his beloved Riv in the previous episode.