History Main / DeadPartner

!!'''As this is a DeathTrope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'', this trope was played with like mad for Esposito's backstory. His then-partner Ike Thornton was killed by a mob boss they were investigating. [[spoiler:Except Thornton faked his death because there was a DirtyCop [[TheMole informing on them]], and kept investigating as a private citizen.]]

Cut back to Grizzled Cop's desk, and pan to a picture of him and another boy in blue, perhaps as Naive Newcomers [[YouRemindMeOfX themselves]]. Then [[HalfemptyTwoShot pan over to the desk paired off with his, completely empty]]. This is the camera telling the viewer that, in fact, the cop used to have a partner, and now he's dead.

* ''Series/{{Murderville}}'': Exaggerated. In the first episode, grumpy homicide detective Terry relates that he never got over the loss of his partner, Lori Griffin. Not only has he not been able to keep a partner since, he's also never touched her desk since she died, including never cleaning her breakfast burrito or feeding her rabbit (now a skeleton).

* Lampshaded in ''Series/AlteredCarbon''. Poe, the avatar of an ArtificialIntelligence, has been researching Film Noir and suggests that Takeshi Kovacs make him his partner, as they [[GenreSavvy inevitably get killed]] whereas an AI would be difficult to kill. Kovacs has a NoJustNoReaction. [[spoiler:Sure enough in the SeasonFinale, Poe is killed by the villains using a weapon designed to destroy AI's.]]

* At the beginning of ''ComicBook/TheSimpingDetective'', Jack used to have a partner named Cheyne. He and Jack killed the brother of someone very important. Jack is a tad more resourceful than Cheyne.

* Det. Sykes' previous partner in ''Film/AlienNation''.
* In ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', Eddie Valiant is a HardboiledDetective who developed a sour disposition, a drinking problem and a hatred of cartoon characters after the murder of his brother Teddy (who was also his partner) by a rogue Toon.
* In ''Film/OSS117CairoNestOfSpies '', the plot is set in motion by the death of OSS 117's partner, and subsequently each mention of Jack causes OSS 117 to look wistful while HoYay-laden flashbacks appear on screen. Of course, He's not really dead. Since the whole film is a parody, this is PlayedForLaughs.
* Inspector Lee's previous partner in the ''Film/RushHour'' canon was murdered by the BigBad of the second movie.
* Part of ''Film/KungFury'''s backstory. We in fact see Kung Fury's partner getting killed in flashback.

* Heavily implied to be the case with James Carter from Film/RushHour. He's the type of cop that says "he works alone" and constantly says that he doesn't need a partner. He doesn't want to supervise Lee, most likely because he doesn't want to witness another partner die. But James always sticks with him when he needs help. On the contrary, he says that his dad had problems with his partner, so he may be dancing around the truth.

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'', this trope was played with like mad for Esposito's backstory. His then-partner Ike Thornton was killed by a mob boss they were investigating. [[spoiler:Except Thornton faked his death because there was a DirtyCop [[TheMole informing on them]], and kept investigating as a private citizen.]]

* ''Series/MiamiVice'': Crockett's first partner falls afoul of a car bomb early in the pilot.
* Mike Logan (Chris Noth) from the early run of ''Series/LawAndOrder'' had an unfortunate tendency to lose partners. One got shot and partially crippled. Another got shot and killed. The third outlasted Logan--yet ''still'' died years later.
* ''Series/LawAndOrderUK'': DS Ronnie Brooks' backstory includes the fact that one of his partners was killed. What makes this worse is that it's his current partner DS Matt Devlin who accidentally reminds him of this--a year before Matt himself was killed in a drive-by shooting. However, Ronnie seems to subvert this trope, as neither of these tragedies have prevented him from forming good relationships with his subsequent colleagues--he got close enough to Matt to view him as a surrogate son. It was Matt's replacement Sam who seemed to be reluctant to develop a friendship. But when yet ''another'' friend of his (never his partner, but they knew each long enough that this trope applies) was killed off, this time, it ''did'' appear to have an adverse effect on his ability to bond with Sam's replacement.
* ''Series/Adam12'' had Officer Pete Malloy, who was about to quit the force because his last partner got killed, get paired up with rookie Jim Reed. Malloy is... less than enthused by this. Later in the series, we also see that he had a good friend that went to the Police Academy with him who was killed.
* Detective Madsen in Creator/JJAbrams' ''Series/{{Alcatraz}}'' is like this at the beginning of the series, though we actually see the incident in question before we see her refusing to take a new partner in the next scene.
* Jim Ellison in ''Series/TheSentinel''; slightly different because his new 'partner' isn't a police officer at all, but an anthropology graduate student.
* More like TheUndead Partner in ''Series/{{Witchblade}}'' season one. Sara Pezzini's partner Danny Woo is murdered by a mafia hitman in the pilot, but the Witchblade lets her [[ISeeDeadPeople interact with his ghost]] and he follows her around dispensing advice for the remainder of the season. [[spoiler:Due to later time travel shenanigans, his murder is avoided and he spends season 2 as Sara's flesh and blood partner.]]
* Det. John Munch lost his partner in ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet''. It still haunts him as of ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU''.
* ''Series/TotalRecall2070'': Agent David Hume's first partner is killed by a sabotaged Beta-class android who later jumps off a building. He is then partnered up with an Alpha-class android detective.
* Frank Reagan of ''Series/BlueBloods'' has a Dead '''Canine''' Partner, a police dog named Greta he'd handled as a young K9-unit officer. She was killed by a criminal Frank sent her after: an old regret that helped motivate him, decades later as Commissioner, to invest extra effort into exonerating another police dog that was falsely accused of biting a child.
* ''Series/MidnightCaller'': Implied with Officer Slocum in "Uninvited Guests." Zymak says that a murdered INS agent was very close to his partner. Slocum replies, "That's why I don't like working with a partner."
* ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'': Early in his career, Captain Dobey's partner Elmo Jackson was found dead on a hook in a meat factory. The killer wasn't caught until years later.
* Lampshaded in ''Series/AlteredCarbon''. Poe, the avatar of an ArtificialIntelligence, has been researching Film Noir and suggests that Takeshi Kovacs make him his partner, as they [[GenreSavvy inevitably get killed]] whereas an AI would be difficult to kill. Kovacs has a NoJustNoReaction. [[spoiler:Sure enough in the SeasonFinale, Poe is killed by the villains using a weapon designed to destroy AI's.]]
* Parodied in ''Series/BrooklynNineNine'', where officers in the NYPD regularly roleplay as having dead partners for motivation when using undercover identities. [[TheComicallySerious Captain Holt]] initially refuses to do such a thing, seeing it as cliche and unprofessional. When he eventually gives in and claims that a non-existent partner of his was murdered by a SerialKiller to help Peralta out on a case, its one his first big points of CharacterDevelopment.
* ''Series/{{Murderville}}'': Exaggerated. In the first episode, grumpy homicide detective Terry relates that he never got over the loss of his partner, Lori Griffin. Not only has he not been able to keep a partner since, he's also never touched her desk since she died, including never cleaning her breakfast burrito or feeding her rabbit (now a skeleton).
* ''Series/AirCity'': Ji-sung's partner Young-jae was killed while the two of them were chasing a bad guy through Hong Kong's alleyways. The bad guy got away and Ji-sung desperately wants to catch him. His only clue is that Young-jae died clutching a [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triad]] amulet.

* Max Tennyson lost his partner Devin Levin to the alien [[OmnicidalManiac Ragnarok]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}''. Season 3 of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' has an episode focusing on this event and Devin's son Kevin attempting to get revenge for his death.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': A RunningGag in the show are snippets from the fictional ''[=McBain=]'' movie, essentially an Arnold Schwarzenegger parody. Grizzled CowboyCop [=McBain=] loses his old partner in a hit arranged by his arch-enemy, the drug kingpin Senator Mendoza. For bonus points, the partner in question is A] [[BlackDudeDiesFirst black]], B] [[{{Retirony}} due to retire in a few days]], and C] [[FatalFamilyPhoto shows McBain a picture of his family]] right before he dies.

* ''ComicBook/BatmanGordonOfGotham:'' The trope is lampshaded in regard to Bullock's new partner, Detective Eric "Survivor" Soong, who has survived firefights that killed his last three partners. [[spoiler:He and Bullock both live.]]
--> '''Detective Murphy:''' The partner always dies in the first reel. You seen the movie, right? Soong ''lives'' it.
* ''ComicBook/GothamCentral:'' Driver's best friend and partner, Charlie Fields, is killed by Mr. Freeze in the first issue. Several arcs later in the series, [[spoiler:Nate Patton]] (who is less fleshed out than his partner, [[spoiler:tritagonist Romy Chandler]]) is mortally wounded by the Joker.

* ''Series/AdamTwelve'' had Officer Pete Malloy, who was about to quit the force because his last partner got killed, get paired up with rookie Jim Reed. Malloy is... less than enthused by this. Later in the series, we also see that he had a good friend that went to the Police Academy with him who was killed.

* In ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'', when Yang's old friend and mentor figure of sort Alexander Bucock gets killed during a desperate battle he has started to give Yang enough time to organize his own troops.

* In ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', Bob Hoskins plays a private investigator who developed a sour disposition, a drinking problem and a hatred of cartoon characters after the murder of his brother.

* In ''Anime/SenkiZesshouSymphogear'', Tsubasa's partner Kanade performs a HeroicSacrifice to protect Hibiki during a [[EldritchAbomination Noise]] attack [[FirstEpisodeTwist in the first episode]]. Kanade's death continues to affect Tsubasa throughout the series, particularly in the first season, where Tsubasa's grief initially causes her to reject Hibiki as her new partner.

* More like {{Undead}} Partner in ''Series/{{Witchblade}}'' season one. Sara Pezzini's partner Danny Woo is murdered by a mafia hitman in the pilot, but the Witchblade lets her [[ISeeDeadPeople interact with his ghost]] and he follows her around dispensing advice for the remainder of the season. [[spoiler:Due to later time travel shenanigans, his murder is avoided and he spends season 2 as Sara's flesh and blood partner.]]

* Smax and Stochastic Fats from ''ComicBook/TopTen''. Naturally, he has a hard time warming up to his new partner, Toybox. A similar situation occurs later in the series, when Girl One dies. Her partner, Irma Geddon, considered her family and was very close with her. As such, she treats her new partner, Joe Pi, with extreme hostility for a while.

-> "When a man's partner is killed he's supposed to do something about it. It doesn't make any difference what you thought of him. He was your partner and you're supposed to do something about it."
--> -- Sam Spade, ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon''

* ''Film/SplitSecond'': Stone lost his old partner Foster to the monster when they were both investigating the sewers. When Durkin asks DaChief if Stone has SurvivorsGuilt, he says that it's just plain guilt; Stone happened to be screwing Foster's wife at the time.

Usually used as a form of DeathByOriginStory, and frequently [[ItsAllMyFault as a result of Grizzled Cop's loose-cannon ways]]. Compare DeadSidekick.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/COPSAnimatedSeries C.O.P.S.]]'', Sundown's old partner Johnny Yuma didn't die... he [[HeelFaceTurn went heel]]. As Bulletproof puts it, "Yuma never forgave Sundown. I think Sundown never forgave himself."

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{COPS}}'', Sundown's old partner Johnny Yuma didn't die... he [[HeelFaceTurn went heel]]. As Bulletproof puts it, "Yuma never forgave Sundown. I think Sundown never forgave himself."

** Later (which is actually earlier, it's a flashback,) Detective Badd suffers this. Showing him evidence relating to his partner's murder is one of the few things that make him actually sentimental.

* More like {{Undead}} Partner in ''Series/{{Witchblade}}'' season one. Sara Pezzini's partner Danny Woo is murdered by a {{mafia}} hitman in the pilot, but the Witchblade lets her [[ISeeDeadPeople interact with his ghost]] and he follows her around dispensing advice for the remainder of the season. [[spoiler:Due to later time travel shenanigans, his murder is avoided and he spends season 2 as Sara's flesh and blood partner.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': A RunningGag in the show are snippets from the fictional ''[=McBain=]'' movie, essentially an Arnold Schwarzenegger parody. Grizzled CowboyCop [=McBain=] loses his old partner in a hit arranged by his arch-enemy, the drug-dealing Senator Mendoza. For bonus points, the partner in question is A] [[BlackDudeDiesFirst black]], B] [[{{Retirony}} due to retire in a few days]], and C] [[FatalFamilyPhoto shows McBain a picture of his family]] right before he dies.