History Main / CriminalProcedural

'''[[ConMan Con Men]] and [[GentlemanThief Gentlemen Thieves]]''' are the most popular, since it's easy to make them sympathetic to the audience by making [[TheMark their victims]] rich and greedy. They are also usually charismatic and attractive. Their shows are usually light in tone and there will almost certainly be one episode where they actually help the police to take down a violent (and therefore "bad") criminal. There may be a recurring police officer who tries (and fails) to capture the protagonists, or who coerces them into helping him out with his investigations.

'''Hardcore/Organized Criminals''' are the least popular protagonists for Criminal Procedurals, largely because they have to be shown to be despicable people in order to come across as being remotely realistic though occasionally they will have their PetTheDog moments, especially among the more sympathetic gangsters. It's also difficult to play down the crimes that they commit: murder, extortion, dealing in highly dangerous drugs, etc. As a result, such series tend to be very adult in tone and morally complex, and therefore not attractive to advertisers. Where there is humour, it tends to be pitch black

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' follows Dexter Morgan, a forensic specialist by day and SerialKiller who [[SerialKillerKiller goes after other killers]] by night. Interestingly, also a {{Police Procedural}}.

'''Hardcore/Organized Criminals''' are the least popular protagonists for Criminal Procedurals, largely because they have to be shown to be despicable people in order to come across as being remotely realistic though occasionally they will have their PetTheDog moments especially among the more sympathetic gangsters. It's also difficult to play down the crimes that they commit: murder, extortion, dealing in highly dangerous drugs, etc. As a result, such series tend to be very adult in tone and morally complex, and therefore not attractive to advertisers. Where there is humour, it tends to be pitch black

!!Examples

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* Also from Westlake (under his Richard Stark psuedonym), the Literature/{{Parker}} novels. In contrast to the Dortmunder books, the Parker books are dark, violent, and star an utterly amoral VillainProtagonist.

* ''Series/TheAmericans'' examines what it takes to be an illegal spy (sleeper KBG agent) in Reagan's United States. It involves murder and deception on a regular basis.

* Many of Creator/MartinScorsese's crime dramas often focus on American organized crime especially the Italian Mafia with''Film/GoodFellas'', ''Film/{{Casino}}, ''Film/MeanStreets'' and ''Film/TheIrishman'' as the most notable examples.

* ''Film/TheGodfather'' is the TropeCodifier for the Criminal Procedural genre. It's an intergenerational about the Corleones, an Italian-American crime family.

* ''Film/TheGodfather'' is the TropeCodifer for the Criminal Procedural genre. It's an intergenerational about the Corleones, an Italian-American crime family.

* ''Film/TheGodfather'' is the TropeCodifirr for the Criminal Procedural genre. It's an intergenerational about the Corleones, an Italian-American crime family.

[[Index]]
* The first three ''Franchise/SaintsRow'' games more or less fell under this genre but since the fourth installment it's increasingly drifted away from it.
* ''VideoGame/MafiaTheLostCityOfHeaven'' and it's [[VideoGame/MafiaII subsequent]] [[VideoGame/MafiaIII sequels[] given the subject matter.
[[/index]]

* ''Film/LeSamourai'' is about a French mobster perfectionist hitman named Jef Costello who follows a strict Bushido-like CodeOfHonor and sets up an alibi to perform a hit so he can get away from the Paris police.

* ''Film/TheProfessional'' is an Italian hitman and his young apprentice after her family is killed by [[NaughtyNarcs corrupt DEA agents]] [[DirtyCop and cops]]. It's also a mixture of Criminal Procedural and Thriller.

* Examples: ''Series/TheSopranos'', ''Series/TheWire'', ''Film/TheGodfather'' (Book and Movie), most of Creator/MartinScorsese's crime films (i.e. ''Film/GoodFellas'' and ''Film/{{Casino}}''), ''Scarface'' ([[Film/Scarface1932 1932]] and [[Film/Scarface1983 1983]] versions), ''Breaking Bad'' (roughly second half), ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', ''Film/EasternPromises'' and Creator/GuyRitchie's crime movies (''[[Film/LockStockAndTwoBarrels'', ''Film/{{Snatch}}'' and ''Film/TheGentlemen'').

* ''Film/TheProfessional'' is about an Italian hitman and his young apprentice after her family is killed by [[NaughtyNarcs corrupt DEA agents]] [[DirtyCop and cops]].

* Examples: ''Series/TheSopranos'', ''Series/TheWire'', ''Film/TheGodfather'' (Book and Movie), most of Creator/MartinScorsese's crime films (i.e. ''Film/GoodFellas'' and ''Film/{{Casino}}''), ''Scarface'' ([[Film/Scarface1932 1932]] and [[Film/Scarface1983 1983]] versions), ''Breaking Bad'' (roughly second half), ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'', ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', ''Film/EasternPromises'', ''Franchise/JohnWick'' and ''Film/TheProfessional''.

* ''Film/DenOfThieves'': An extremely organised gang of thieves plan to heist the Federal Reserve while a squad of corrupt deputies try to stop them.

* Creator/QuentinTarantino likes this genre as well. ''Film/ReservoirDogs'' follows a cadre of bank robbers (and one undercover cop) on a heist that goes pretty far awry.
* Also from Tarantino is ''Film/PulpFiction'', whose main characters are two contract killers, their imposing boss, a boxer who's killed a man in the ring by way of ripping the boss off, and two sweetheart stickup artists whose victims include the contract killers, although [[MuggingTheMonster "victim" isn't really the right word]].