Line #22 Main/AndroidsAndDetectives


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5	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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11	[[quoteright:300:[[Webcomic/PennyArcade https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/automata_penny_arcade_3636.jpg]]]]
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13	->'''Del Spooner:''' Robots don't feel fear. They don't feel anything. They don't eat. They don't sleep.\
14	'''Sonny:''' I do. I have even had dreams. \
15	'''Del Spooner:''' Human beings have dreams. Even dogs have dreams, but not you, you are just a machine. An imitation of life. Can a robot write a symphony? Can a robot turn a... canvas into a beautiful masterpiece? \
16	'''Sonny:''' Can ''you?''
17	-->-- ''Film/IRobot''
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19	OddCouple BuddyCopShow [[JustForFun/RecycledINSPACE In]] {{Cyberpunk}}! When there's a series of mysterious murders or crimes taking place in a cyberpunk setting, the local [[PrivateDetective gumshoe]] is paired up with [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots a shiny new partner with all sorts of attachments]]. Usually done in the form of a WunzaPlot with one or both characters overcoming [[FantasticRacism prejudices/technophobia]]. Sometimes the human detective will say something like "I hate technology" with the android responding "I am technology".
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21	A lot of times this leads to someone asking WhatMeasureIsANonHuman
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23	Compare CopAndScientist. A specific form of FantasticNoir.
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25	----
26	!!Examples:
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28	[[foldercontrol]]
29
30	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
31	* ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'', sorta. Less Android and more {{Cyborg}}; less Detective and more SWAT/Counterterrorism. Besides the Deunan-Briareos pairing, there is also the Deunan-Hitomi pairing; Deunan is initially shocked that Hitomi is a [[ArtificialHuman bioroid]].
32	* ''Anime/ArmitageIII'' plays this straight, down to the "I hate technology" exchange.
33	* ''Manga/AstroBoy'': Though not technically [[BuddyCopShow cop buddies]], Astro's crime-fighting often leads him to work alongside [[DaChief Inspector]] [[NobleBigotWithABadge Tawashi]]. And by "works alongside", we mean [[TeethClenchedTeamwork "argues with"]]. ''Manga/{{Pluto}}'', Creator/NaokiUrasawa's re-take on one of the story arcs in the original manga, has Gesicht filling in both the detective and the robot role.
34	* ''Anime/TheBigO'' episode "Eyewitness", which teams recurring [[FriendOnTheForce Military Policeman]] Dan Dastun with robot detective R. Freddy O'Reilly. And to a lesser extent, ''Anime/TheBigO'' in general, starring [[RobotGirl R. Dorothy Waynewright]] and Roger Smith (although Smith is technically only a negotiator, he ends up solving a lot of cases on his own, because he has a lot of resources the police don't). "Eyewitness" is a WholePlotReference to Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Robot Trilogy''.
35	* In ''Manga/DimensionW'', main character Kyoma is a technophobic bounty hunter who tracks down illegal power sources and their distributors. Early on, he finds himself partnered with Mira, a highly-advanced android. He spends most of the series casually insulting her.
36	* ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' is a variation, with a team of {{cyborg}} investigators (with much more of their bodies being cyber than organic). Togousa, being the least cyberized (and implied to be the most human) is TheHeart of the squad, but most of the characters are shown to still be essentially human, even if some installments of the franchise seek to explore what that exactly means.
37	* ''Anime/GiantRobo'' includes an android detective.
38	* In ''Anime/HeatGuyJ'', the eponymous J is a large stoic android always ready to hand out an epigram on what it means to be a man, who works with the 'cool' and laid back Daisuke (Dice). Collectively they form the investigative team of the Special Services Bureau in the city of Judoh.
39	* In ''Anime/Metropolis2001'' has notably one of the most positive depictions of this take, with [[CoolOldGuy Shinsaku Ban]] being given the RidiculouslyHumanRobot detective [=DRP-DM4973C=] to help him through Metropolis. Ban has no prejudice towards the new companion and quickly nicknames him "Pero" both to show affection for his RobotBuddy and because it's far easier than his YouAreNumber6 identification.
40	* ''Manga/SteamDetectives'' pairs young detective Narutaki with a RobotBuddy named Goriki. They solve crimes together in [[{{Steampunk}} a city powered by coal and steam]]. One interesting twist on this trope is that the robot detective is ''[[TheBigGuy huge]]''; he's built more like a tank than a crime-solver.
41	[[/folder]]
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43	[[folder:Comic Books]]
44	* The premise of ''ComicBook/{{Darkminds}}'' has detective Nagawa paired up with android Akane Nakiko (well, officially she's a cyborg, but it's more a matter of being an android with some biological components) to solve the "Paradox" murders, [[spoiler:which turn out to have been perpetrated by one of Nakiko's prototypes]].
45	* ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' has the uneasy alliance between the Imperial Guard and the Brothers of the Sacred Grove (not technically robots, but magically-animated puppets with many robot-like mannerisms).
46	* The comic ''ComicBook/TheSurrogates'' is definitely noir and cyberpunk, as well as the movie adaptation.
47	* In ''ComicBook/TopTen'', android cop Joe Pi has to deal with several cyber-phobic colleagues, including his new partner Irma Geddon.
48	* Any Autobot or Decepticon in ''Franchise/TheTransformers'' with a police vehicle as their alt-mode tends to be some form of cop, though the exact nature varies. Prowl, for example, is a rabidly ByTheBookCop [[spoiler:(at least before he started suffering SanitySlippage)]] while Streetwise tends to be portrayed as more of a CowboyCop.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
52	* In ''WesternAnimation/MarsExpress'', the protagonists are a female HardboiledDetective and the backup copy robot of her dead partner.
53	* ''Film/OsmosisJones'' is a parody of this, with the "human" cop as a white blood cell and the "robot" cop as a pill.
54	[[/folder]]
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56	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
57	* ''Film/IRobot'', which is [[DolledUpInstallment loosely based]] on Creator/IsaacAsimov's work. [[note]] It was intended by the writer to be a totally unrelated movie called Hardwired, but the company gained the rights to Asimov's works and slapped the title on there with some rewrites, though much of the rewriting was to turn what was a cerebral mystery into a blockbuster Hollywood film. [[/note]]
58	* ''Film/RobotAndFrank'' is about a human and a robot as partners, in this case partners in crime. Despite this, many of the requisite tropes remain intact.
59	* In ''Film/TheodoreRex'', cyborgs and dinosaurs are commonplace. The main characters are a dinosaur and a cyborg (played by Creator/WhoopiGoldberg) who are [[BuddyCopShow buddy cops]].
60	* ''Film/Vice2015'': Roy the detective ends up teaming up with the artificial Kelly, both using their skills and knowledge to take down Vice.
61	[[/folder]]
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63	[[folder:Literature]]
64	* ''Brillo'' by Creator/BenBova and Creator/HarlanEllison. (It's [[{{Pun}} steel fuzz]], [[DontExplainThejoke get it?]])
65	* Mia Sorelli and Gizmo in ''Literature/ColonyMars''.
66	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'': No-one actually officially partners with them in the traditional sense, but from ''Literature/FeetOfClay'' onwards, {{Golem}}s begin to join the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. They're treated largely in-line with this trope until eventually they're just treated as coppers.
67	* The Creator/AlanDeanFoster novel ''Literature/{{Greenthieves}}'' deals with a detective who's paired with a singularly perverted 'humaniform' android, as well as a snarky ([[AndIMustScream if only in his mind]]) Minder, basically a floating, orb-shaped AI.
68	* ''Literature/LyttleLyttonContest'': From the [[http://adamcadre.ac/11lyttle.html 2011 entries]], this line from Will Nicholes.
69	-->"You just may be the most beautiful perp I've ever laid sensors on," thought the robot lieutenant as his humanoid partner [[DonutMessWithACop ate donuts]] unaware.
70	* ''Literature/TheMunicipalists'': ZigZagged in that it's the ProjectedMan avatar of a cocksure supercomputer (rather than a robot) partnered up with a stick-in-the-mud government agent investigating terrorism and turmoil within their Government Agency of Fiction, but the bones of the trope remain.
71	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/RobotSeries'' novel trilogy, starting with ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'', are the UrExample of this trope. These feature Earth detective Elijah Baley teaming with R. Daneel Olivaw, one of the very first "humaniform robots" -- realistic-looking androids. Lije and Daneel are partners in the first book and remain good friends throughout the rest of the series, but each book of the trilogy examines a different facet of the relationship between robots and humans at a societal level. As the UrExample, it established many of the conventions of this trope, despite the lack of many traditional {{Cyberpunk}} elements (unsurprising, as the book was written before the advent of microcomputers, let alone the Internet).
72	* The sixth book in the ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' series, ''One of our Thursdays is Missing'', has the fictional Thursday and her newfound clockwork butler Sprockett investigates an accident.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
76	* ''Series/AlmostHuman'' has Karl Urban teaming up with a SuperPrototype android partner. It's either law or department policy that ''all'' detectives must have an android partner, though most of them prefer the emotionless MX line.
77	* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E5TheRobotsOfDeath The Robots of Death]]" has a subplot revolving around an apparently unrelated human and robot (Poul and D84), who turns out to be a buddy cop team there to identify which person on the sand miner is secretly a terrorist. Unfortunately, Poul's UncannyValley [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes phobia]] causes him to have a meltdown and D84 dies in a HeroicSacrifice to protect the Doctor.
78	* ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' by way of Jack Carter and Andy in one episode. Andy is back, [[spoiler:as Jack's permanent deputy, Jo is now head of security at [[MegaCorp Global Dynamics]]]], as of season 4.
79	* Joey from ''Series/{{Friends}}'' gets a gig as the human half of the TV detective team "[[ShowWithinAShow Mac and C.H.E.E.S.E.]]".
80	* ''Series/FutureCop'': The first TV example, predating ''Series/HolmesAndYoyo'' by several months. Based on ''Brillo'' (see Literature folder), but without giving [[Creator/BenBova Bova]] or [[Creator/HarlanEllison Ellison]] any credit, or payment, until after they sued.
81	* Recurring character Hymie (a robot) would often team with Max during a case on ''Series/GetSmart''.
82	* ''Series/HolmesAndYoyo'' is one of the earliest TV examples, as it ran from 1976-77. It was a more comedic take on the idea than the later shows that would run with it, as Holmes tries to conceal the nature of the frequently-malfunctioning Yoyo (aka Gregory Yoyonovich) from the rest of the department.
83	* ''Series/MannAndMachine'' was a sadly short-lived 1992 series where Yancy Butler plays an android detective that, as is often seen in such series, her human partner didn't trust to make life-and-death decisions.
84	* Franchise/RoboCop had a partner in [[Series/RoboCopTheSeries the spin-off TV series]] (and Officer Ann Lewis in the movies).
85	* 1973's ''Series/RobotDetective'' had this going, though it hewed closer to the action-based {{Toku}}satsu style common at the time.
86	* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', the android Data likes to play Literature/SherlockHolmes on the holodeck, with his human best friend Geordi [=LaForge=] as Dr. Watson.
87	* The sadly short-lived ''Series/TotalRecall2070'' (which always seemed more of a ''Film/BladeRunner'' spin-off somehow) paired senior detective David Hume with [[WetwareCPU Alpha Class]] android Farve.
88	[[/folder]]
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90	[[folder:Podcasts]]
91	* {{Discussed\|Trope}} on ''Podcast/CanceledTooSoon''. March 2018 was dedicated entirely to reviewing shows about cops with robot partners.
92	[[/folder]]
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94	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
95	* ''TabletopGame/IsaacAsimovsRobots'': Being based on ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'', Police Commissioner Enderby assigns Detective Elijah Baley to partner with [[RobotNames R(obot)]] Daneel Olivaw. You (and whoever else you're playing with) form a third portion of the team, Data Log Central. The player's job is to [[MissionControl research information]] and participate in [[TheSummation the final summary of facts]].
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98	[[folder:Video Games]]
99	%%* ''VideoGame/{{Anachronox}}.''
100	* Connor, one of the main characters in ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'' is an android working for the police. He gets teamed up with Hank Anderson -- a grizzled cop with an alcohol problem -- to solve murders. Similar to ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'', you get to decide how their relationship plays out; either they become FireForgedFriends, or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential you effectively ruin Hank's life]].
101	* Two of the hunters in ''VideoGame/{{Evolve}}'', Bucket and Cabot, used to be partners in the Hub Marshalls. By the events of the game, they've been retired for some time, but the mutual respect they formed had them stick together as Planet Tamers.
102	* In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', Nick Valentine is ''both'': He's a (self-aware) [[FlawedPrototype old-model]] synth who has the [[BrainUploading neural copy]] of a pre-war police officer, and has a HardboiledDetective persona (and a significant amount of missing skin coverings).
103	* In ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'''s comic "Searching", Zarya has to team up with the omnic hacker Lynx. Since she's one of the more [[FantasticRacism bigoted]] characters in the setting, she is ''not'' happy about it [[spoiler:but comes around at least enough to save Lynx' life when they are threatened by Sombra's {{EMP}}]].
104	* ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'' is a prime example. You can choose how you treat your RobotBuddy, so you can either be good pals or you can be a total asshole to him.
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Webcomics]]
108	* ''[[https://www.penny-arcade.com/archive/search?q=Automata&content%5B0%5D=comics Automata]]'', a ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' sub-comic.
109	* ''Webcomic/RegisteredWeapon'' is about a SociopathicHero CowboyCop teamed up with a cash register-turned-robot who are partners as LAPD homicide detectives.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Web Original]]
113	* Spoofed in ''Chuck Steel: Raging Balls of Steel Justice''. The cliched claymation CowboyCop finds himself stuck with a RobotBuddy that's more interested in sexually molesting household objects than backing him up during a shootout. In the end Steel blows it away with his HandCannon, insisting that he [[IWorkAlone works alone]].
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115	[[/folder]]
116
117	[[folder:Western Animation]]
118	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' has Smitty (human) and URL (pronounced "[[PunnyName Earl]]"), who double as a parody of black and white OddCouple duos. We don't know if this is standard practice because [[OddlySmallOrganization they're the only cops we ever see]]...
119	* ''WesternAnimation/SherlockHolmesInTheTwentySecondCentury'' had compudroid Watson.
120	* All ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' units in the series of the same name follow this dynamic.
121	* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': Captain Fanzone could be this to the Autobots. His catchphrase is "This is why I hate machines", although he eventually develops a grudging respect for the Autobots. When he's actually paired with an Autobot he grumbles but does his job like a pro.
122	[[/folder]]

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