Basic Trope: A female cop has to team up with a snarky civilian to solve her case.
- Straight: Alice, a cop, teams up with Bob, a sarcastic civilian.
- Exaggerated:
- The entire police department, only composed of women, teams up with a entirely male gang of Neighbourhood-Friendly Gangsters.
- They immediately become BFF — or even fall in love — and would take a bullet for the other.
- Downplayed:
- The cop and the civilian work together occasionally, but it is not the main subject of the work.
- The female lead is not really a cop, she is more a Amateur Sleuth.
- The guy is not that savvy and/or not a criminal, he is more a Bumbling Sidekick.
- Justified:
- The civilian is a key witness and the only lead they have to solve the case.
- The cop realized that her department is corrupted, and has to put her trust in an exterior party who knows what is going on without being invested too much in the conspiracy.
- Inverted:
- A snarky cop has to team up with a pleasant civilian.
- A Lovable Rogue has to team up with a Cowboy Cop to solve his problem.
- Gender Inverted: A male cop has to team up with a snarky gal to solve his case.
- Subverted:
- She suddenly reveals that she is not a real cop.
- He suddenly reveals that he is not a real criminal.
- One party expects to solve the case with the help of the other, but the other says that it isn't possible.
- Someone suggests that they should work together and they both immediately refuse.
- Double Subverted: ...However, they eventually have to team-up anyway due to exterior events.
- Parodied: The cop is a naive Eager Rookie and teams up with an Obviously Evil crook.
- Zig Zagged: The cop and the civilian goes from Arch-Enemies to Vitriolic Best Buds, Depending on the Writer.
- Averted: The strong policewoman and the Lovable Rogue never interact.
- Enforced: The producers want a strong female lead working with a cool Villain Protagonist to reach multiple demographics.
- Lampshaded: "Wow, working with a lady cop? It's just like the movies!"
- Invoked: The police chief watches too much TV, and decides that he wants the matchup.
- Exploited: The gangsters sow discord between Alice and Bob, knowing that cop-and-civilian teams don't work.
- Defied: The police chief refuses to allow it, thinking it won't work.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: They two main characters work together on the case, but the fact that the guy has no badge and knows really well how the criminal network works is never acknowledged.
- Deconstructed: Alice and Bob's clashing personalities results in both failing the mission, causing the two to hate each other to the point of not wanting to see each other ever again.
- Reconstructed: Their different personalities allow them to work together better, by catching clues the other would have not. They work out their differences, and there is An Aesop about working together with different people.
- Played For Laughs:"Oh no, don't tell me I have to work with you of all people to solve this case?!"
"Yeah, I love you too!" *Laugh Track* - Played For Drama:"Look, I Don't Like You And You Don't Like Me, but if you want to catch the monster who killed your sister you'll have to trust me!"
"I will never trust you! You Killed My Father and I don't care that you claim that it was an accident!"
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