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[[quoteright:345:[[Series/TheAmericans https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_americans.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:345:How I met your Mother Russia.]]


->'''Wai Lin''': I get to work with the decadent agent of a corrupt Western power.\\
'''James Bond''': I think you've found the right decadent corrupt Western agent as a partner.
-->-- ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' trailer (paraphrased from the actual film)

Two people from opposite sides are working together. The one on "our side" is a man and the one on "the other side" is a woman. Likely reasons for this:

* The character on our side is the one we relate to the most. [[MostWritersAreMale Everyone can relate to a man, right?]] Plus, if the hero was a woman, it might put the show into the GirlShowGhetto.
* [[MarsAndVenusGenderContrast Women are mysterious]], and one from "the other side" is even more exotic and mysterious. Also, a man from the enemy side might be considered [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent threatening]] or [[{{Mooks}} disposable]], but [[MenAreTheExpendableGender a woman won't be]]. In fact, the male hero may [[TheDulcineaEffect go out of his way to protect her]].
* The two characters being of the opposite sex creates the opportunity for heterosexual sex or at least UnresolvedSexualTension, with plenty of opportunity for StarCrossedLovers {{Angst}}.

The name alludes to the classic UsefulNotes/ColdWar combination of the American man and the Russian woman (or British man, if it's a ''Film/JamesBond'' film). Expect the Russian woman to be a Sensual Slav who talks in PoirotSpeak with a thick Russian accent ("I come to your country for mission, da?") There's also a good, but not certain, chance that she'll become a DefectorFromCommieLand. The Soviet collapse has removed the original reason for this combination, but it [[UndeadHorseTrope still comes up from time to time]].

Despite the name, this can refer to any situation where the main person on the side we relate to is male and the main person on the opposite side is female. Expect to see:

* The man is a straightforward {{Everyman}} character. After all, we're relating to him. Alternatively, he's a badass ActionHero. Either way, he's unambiguously the primary protagonist.
* The woman is introduced with a SamusIsAGirl reveal. She is a MysteriousWoman. She may be TheBaroness or a FemmeFatale. Alternatively, she's a plain-spoken ActionGirl. This increases the odds of her being a goody. If there is more than one person from her side, she will be the only female, but she'll have way more screen time than her male colleagues. She will probably also be the highest ranked.
* Sex will become an issue at some point. Perhaps she's a HoneyTrap (in which case she may fall InLoveWithTheMark or undergo a SexFaceTurn). Perhaps there's UnresolvedSexualTension. Perhaps one of them has a one-sided crush on the other. Whatever. The fact that these two people conveniently have compatible sex organs is not just going to be thrown away.
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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
* ''Film/TwoThousandTenTheYearWeMakeContact'' focuses on a joint American-Soviet space expedition. The American side is led by a man and the Soviet side is led by a woman. There's no romance, although when the expedition's ship undergoes a nerve-wracking navigational maneuver, one of the Soviet female crew-members seeks platonic comfort in the bunk of the aforementioned American male.
* ''Film/BirthdayGirl'': An Englishman orders a Russian mail-order bride and falls in love with her even though she doesn't speak English, though he finds out that there's a lot more going on with her than he anticipated.
* ''Film/BladeII'': Blade ends up working with a team of vampires led by Princess Nyssa Damaskinos against the [[EnemyMine far greater Reaper threat]]. Blade (a {{dhampyr}} himself) grows closer to Nyssa during their time together, more than any other woman he's been acquainted with throughout the films. [[spoiler: He DidNotGetTheGirl. She chooses to [[DiedInYourArmsTonight die in Blade's arms]] after she's been infected]].
* ''Film/{{Condorman}}'' features Natalia Rambova, a KGB spy who ends up falling for Woody Wilkins when the latter saves her life by accident, motivating her to defect. Woody ends up integrating her into his ''Condorman'' comics as the character "Laser Lady".
* In ''Film/TheException'', Mieke is a widowed Jew spying on behalf of the UK and Captain Brandt is a Nazi German officer.
* On the other side of the UsefulNotes/IronCurtain, it was reversed. In the Soviet spy comedy ''Film/GoodWeatherOnDeribasovskaya'', it's the badass male hero who is Russian and his female partner/love interest who is American.
* Subverted in the 1985 action-comedy ''[[Film/Gotcha1985 Gotcha]]''. A virgin UCLA college student is seduced by an older Czech woman who turns out to be a spy. At the end of the movie they have an angry confrontation and [[AccentRelapse her accent slips]], causing her to admit that she's actually a CIA agent from Pittsburgh.
* The Cold War romantic comedy ''Film/TheIronPetticoat'' featured Creator/KatharineHepburn as a defecting Russian pilot and Creator/BobHope as the U.S. major assigned to introduce her to the world of capitalism.
* ''Film/JamesBond'' examples:
** ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' is the likely TropeCodifier, with Bond being sent to extract a sexy cryptology technician Tatiana "Tania" Romanova from the Soviet consulate in Istanbul.
** In ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', James Bond works with Major Anya Amasova of the KGB. Despite the fact that he killed her lover (in self defense), she naturally falls in love with him by the end of the movie.
** ''Film/TheLivingDaylights'' has Bond and Czechoslovakian cellist Kara Milovy.
** The trope lingered on in ''Film/{{Goldeneye}}'' with Natalya Simonova (Russian computer programmer who works on the title satellite's guidance system).
** In ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'', Britain has James Bond investigate media baron Eliot Carver and his news media operation in order to prevent war with China. China sends FemmeFatale Wai Lin. Though in this case, Britain and China are not so much on opposite sides as trying to preserve a rather cordial relationship Carver is trying to upset.
** ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' plays with this, a British woman is with the Russian man, and it's a case of AMatchMadeInStockholm. They're an OutlawCouple and the BigBadDuumvirate.
* ''Film/TheManFromUncle'' Illya and Gaby Teller.
* ''{{Film/Ninotchka}}'' has a romance between a male French aristocrat and a female Soviet "true believer", the latter being the title character. Being made before the Cold War, it's something of a proto-example and lacks the EnemyMine aspect.
* Happens near the end of ''Film/SpiesLikeUs''. Having resigned themselves to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt after the missile is launched, Emmett (Creator/ChevyChase) takes Karen (Donna Dixon) aside and the two male Russians hook up with each other, leaving Austin (Film/DanAkroyd) with the cute Russian girl (Vanessa Angel). As she's sitting in his lap during the "peace negotiations" in the end, it seems to have lasted for a while, at least.
* Played with in ''Film/{{Telefon}}''. The protagonist is a KGB agent sent to the United States to stop a RenegadeRussian before he starts World War 3. He works with an American recruited by the KGB, who unknown to him is a CIA DoubleAgent. At the end of the movie they run off together.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/SummerKnight'', Harry is hired by the Winter Fae to solve a case. Of course, since this is Fae business, the Summer Court assigns a representative to the investigation--who turns out to be Elaine Mallory, Harry's own OldFlame who now works for the Summer.
* The ''Literature/MattHelm'' series, by Donald Hamilton, has Matt frequently crossing paths with a Soviet agent he only knows as "Vadya". They're of course trying to foil each other professionally, but there's a good deal of personal respect/liking/attraction on both sides.
* The fifth ''Literature/PresidentialAgent'' novel by W.E.B. Griffin has Lt. Col. Castillo having to extract a pair of Russian Foreign Intelligence Service operatives who wish to defect, an uncle and niece. He and the niece, Svetlana Alekseeva, end up falling in love.
* Gender-reversed in the Literature/VorkosiganSaga, this is how Cordelia and Aral met in ''Literature/ShardsOfHonor''. But here, a woman is the English-speaking hero and a man is the Russian-speaking antagonist, at least until Aral becomes a protagonist. PlayedWith because, in the end, [[spoiler:it is [[TheHero Cordelia]] who defects to live with Aral on Barrayar, albeit quite pushed to this by her own planet's authorities.]]
** Notably inspired by ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'' which has a number of references within.
* Jason Matthews's ''Literature/RedSparrow'' has Nate Nash, a CIA officer handling a Russian mole within the SVR, and Dominika Egorova, an SVR officer trained as a Sparrow (seductress), who's assigned to Nate to try and learn from him who the mole is. Not only does Nate manage to turn Dominika and get her to spy for the Americans as well, but they end up getting into a relationship that gets massively complicated by all the responsibilities and deceptions that their chosen profession entails.
* Gender-reversed in ''Literature/BehindBlueEyes'' where Jake is sent to be a HoneyPot to Nephilim in order to bring down her cyberpunk corporate masters. He becomes InLoveWithTheMark instead.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* On ''Series/SevenDays'', the Russian representative to Operation Backstep is a female with whom Parker has UnresolvedSexualTension.
* In the ''Series/Car54WhereAreYou'' episode "Toody and Muldoon Meet the Russians", Toody and Muldoon escort some Russians, including a female general whom Muldoon gets involved with.
* In ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfBeansBaxter'', Darla was TeenageSuperspy Beans' original girlfriend in Witches Creek. In Washington, he is pursued by Cake Lase-–"the most gorgeous girl on his high school campus." Beans, however, has eyes for nobody but Svetlana (played by for Miss Universe Shawn Weatherly), a beautiful Soviet defector.
* It's almost ''literally'' a case of "When Harry Met Svetlana" on the ''Series/NightCourt'' episode "Russkie Business." Judge Harry Stone is trying to get a visa for his friend Yakov Kurulenko, so Yakov can visit his ailing mother in the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]. The Soviet consul assigned to Yakov's case turns out to be a gorgeous woman named Ludmila, who's as attracted to Harry as he is to her. They spend their time together alternately discussing Yakov's case, arguing, gazing into each other's eyes and making out.
* Partial use in a couple episodes of ''Series/StargateSG1''. The team members sent to Russia in "Watergate" and "Full Alert" were paired with female Russian Air Force personnel, but no romance ensued.
* The ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Our Man Bashir" has Julian Bashir's character in a holodeck scenario, a character based on Franchise/JamesBond, working together with a female KGB agent named Anastasia who, naturally, is head-over-heels for him. Due to an unusual set of malfunctions started when a Cardassian terrorist group sabotages a runabout containing most of the rest of Deep Space 9's senior staff, Anastasia ends up with the body of Kira Nerys. (For bonus points, actors Creator/AlexanderSiddig and Creator/NanaVisitor were in a RomanceOnTheSet at the time.)
* In ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "Two", the two survivors of a future war are ([[HammerAndSickleRemovedForYourProtection apparently]]) an American man and a Russian woman.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Inverted in ''Theatre/{{Chess}}'': Florence, who's the lead and working for the Americans, runs up against Anatoly, the Russian chess player.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics]]
* When Steve hadn't appeared in ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' for a while, it turned out he'd briefly become a Bond-style secret agent. The Blofeld-alike's henchwoman, Tortua, later shows up as his [[AmicableExes Amicable Ex]]. Apparently, he [[RescueRomance saved her from robot sharks]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}'''s fiancée, Katya, is one of the few "good" Russians in the show. [[spoiler:Until she shacks up with Barry, that is.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'': Wheeler, the guy from North America, had UST with Linka, the girl from the Soviet Union, on the team.
[[/folder]]
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