History Main / CynicIdealistDuo

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': In Volume 7, Clover and Qrow are paired together for missions. Qrow is cynical, depressive and prefers to work alone while Clover is upbeat, chatty and prefers working with a team. Qrow's misfortune Semblance is uncontrollable and causes constant inconvenience for himself and others, while Clover has a controllable good fortune Semblance which aids him in combat. [[spoiler:They both have a history of UndyingLoyalty to a morally grey Huntsman leader: Qrow for [[BigGood Ozpin]] and Clover for Ironwood. However, Qrow has learned the bitter consequences that comes from experiencing a BrokenPedestal while Clover hasn't; this differing experience ultimately drives an insurmountable wedge between them.]]

Although the duo has different ways of viewing the world, they are extremely close to each other. However, it doesn't stop them from bickering/fighting in a {{Conflict}} situation, mostly invoking the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism trope (heroic ex: They bicker because they don't know if they should shoot down the villain or try to convert him/her to the good side, or one of them will call them out of a idea they consider "risky"). The Idealist may be a WideEyedIdealist, and the Cynic may be a GrumpyBear. The idealist may say SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers while the cynic may say SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids.


Can overlap with RedOniBlueOni, OddFriendship (if it's a best friend duo), SiblingYinYang (if it's a sibling duo). See also FourPhilosophyEnsemble, which adds Realist, Apathetic and/or Conflicted to the mix.

[[AC: Comic Book]]

* Morgan Freeman (cynic) and Brad Pitt (idealist) in ''Film/{{Se7en}}''. Their respective chararacters, Agent Somerset and Agent Mills, are two homicide detectives. However, [[OldCopYoungCop Somerset is a close-to-retirement veteran who thinks the world is a shit place full of inexplicable misery, while Mills is a young, motivated cop with a lot of fire in his belly who believes he can make the world a better place]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Mills' mind is broken by the murder of his wife and he's manipulated into becoming a murderer himself, while Somerset decides to stave off retirement because he's realized that while he may live in a CrapsackWorld, trying to make it better is still worth it.]]

* Literature/NeroWolfe and Archie Goodwin of the long-running detective series tend to have this kind of dynamic. Wolfe tends to be the grumpy, misanthropic old recluse with little interest in or goodwill towards the world and the people in it, while Archie is the cheerful, friendly and good-natured man-about-town who embraces life to the fullest. That said, neither is exactly stuck at the extreme end of either side of the scale; there's hinted to be an old-fashioned romanticism deep down under Wolfe's crusty exterior, while Archie tends to adopt a kind of seen-it-all snark as a way of protecting himself against the world when things get tough.

* Whenever [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Superman]] and [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batman]] have to work together(which tends to happen often), Superman is obviously the idealist, while Batman is the cynic.

* Dipper and Mabel from ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''. While Dipper doesn't have an excessively negative outlook, he does tend to be slow to trust anyone unfamiliar to him (and he is not helped by the craziness of his surroundings, either), especially in contrast to Mabel, who has a much brighter demeanour and is rather naïve and unsuspecting to the point of being an AllLovingHeroine.

* Nick and Judy from ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}''. Thanks to the FantasticRacism against foxes, Nick became a bitter and cynical ConArtist, whereas Judy starts out as a WideEyedIdealist whose intention is to "make the world a better place".

The "Cynic–Idealist Duo" is a duo of close characters (either best friends, siblings, or teammates) that show contrast between their ways of seeing the world: one of them is {{The Cynic}}, a character who views the world in a negative way, while the other is {{The Idealist}}, a character who has faith and hope on the goodness of the others.

Although the duo has different ways of viewing the world, they are extremely close to each other. However, it doesn't stop them from bickering/fighting in a {{Conflict}} situation, mostly invoking the {{Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism}} trope (heroic ex: They bicker because they don't know if they should shoot down the villain or try to convert him/her to the good side, or one of them will call them out of a idea they consider "risky"). The Idealist may be a {{Wide Eyed Idealist}}, and the Cynic may be a {{Grumpy Bear}}. The idealist may say {{Silly Rabbit Cynicism Is For Losers}} while the cynic may say {{Silly Rabbit Idealism Is For Kids}}.


Can overlap with {{Red Oni Blue Oni}}, {{Odd Friendship}} (if its a best friend duo), {{Sibling Yin Yang}} (if its a sibling duo). See also {{Four Philosophy Ensemble}}, which adds Realist, Apathetic and/or Conflicted to the mix.

* Just about anytime ComicBook/{{The Punisher}} has to work with another hero (with the possible exception of ComicBook/{{Nick Fury}}), Daredevil and ComicBook/{{Spider Man}} being the more obvious cases. Frank won't kill another hero, but he will make his opinion on their {{Thou Shalt Not Kill}} attitude (and the {{Joker Immunity}} it causes) very clear.
* ''ComicBook/{{The Wicked And The Divine}}'': Cassandra is the {{Deadpan Snarker}} pessimistic one to Dio's idealist with a bit of {{Messianic Archetype}}. The trope is subverted in that someone says Cass, despite her attitude, is actually an idealist and expects people to do the right thing.

* In ''Fanfic/{{The Apprentice The Student And The Charlatan}}'', Twilight Sparkle serves as the more idealistic protagonist compared to cynical counterpart (and {{Love Interest}}) Nova Shine.

* Nick and Judy from ''Disney/{{Zootopia}}''. Thanks to the Fantastic Racism against foxes, Nick became a bitter and cynical ConArtist, whereas Judy starts out as a WideEyedIdealist whose intention is to "make the world a better place".

* During their time on ''Series/{{The Daily Show}}'' and ''Series/{{The Colbert Report}}'', Creator/{{Jon Stewart}} and Creator/{{Stephen Colbert}} invoked {{Irishman And A Jew}}, with Colbert as the idealistic Irishman, and Stewart as the cynical Jew.
* Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold and Belle from ''Series/{{Once Upon A Time}}'' operate as this as a couple respectively. Rumpelstiltskin is a {{Manipulative Bastard}} sorcerer that has faced such hardships as [[spoiler: having his destiny of becoming a savior literally cut away from him by his insane mother]], [[spoiler: abandoned by his neglectfully-abusive father]], [[spoiler: permanently crippling himself so that his son would not grow up without a father like he has and branding himself as a {{Dirty Coward}} for the rest of his life]] and [[spoiler: nearly losing his own son [[{{ChildSoldiers}} to be drafted in a hopeless war against the ogres]]]] before [[spoiler: taking on a curse that [[{{CursedWithAwesome}} imbues him with powerful dark magic]] at the cost of his humanity]]. Top that with losing his son to another realm due to his own cowardice, Rumpelstiltskin has little faith in himself and the goodness of others, viewing himself as a monster and believing in things like "love" in a purely rational, detached context. Belle, having spent her whole life reading about adventures and great things heroes do, believes in things like second chances and self-sacrifice, giving up her own freedom to Rumpelstiltskin in exchange for her village's safety and eventually seeing the lonely man beneath all of the darkness. While he rejects her and throws her out when he believes that she is just trying to manipulate him, he (as Mr. Gold) eventually reconciles with her after they are reunited. While their differing views have caused their relationship to falter and fluctuate as the series progresses, they eventually receive their {{Happy Ending}} in Season 7, Rumpelstiltskin having clearly changed for the better after [[spoiler: she dies of old age in the [[{{TimeAbyss}} Edge of Realms]]]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'', a beret-wearing scone-obsessed {{Cloud Cuckoolander}} existentialist and Cueball (usually filling the shoes of a nihilist) are often paired with each other in comics.

* Wander and Sylvia from ''WesternAnimation/{{Wander Over Yonder}}''. Wander is the idealist, always seeing the good in others, even the bad guys, and will never resort to violence. Sylvia is the cynic, worried that Wander is being too naive and that his do-gooding will get him in trouble; also, when it comes to villains, she's all too happy to let her fists do the talking.

Altrough the duo has different ways of viewing the world, they are extremely close to each other. However, it doesn't stop them from bickering/fighting in a {{Conflict}} situation, mostly invoking the {{Sliding Scale Of Idealism Versus Cynicism}} trope (heroic ex: They bicker because they don't know if they should shoot down the villain or try to convert him/her to the good side, or one of them will call them out of a idea they consider "risky"). The Idealist may be a {{Wide Eyed Idealist}}, and the Cynic may be a {{Grumpy Bear}}. The idealist may say {{Silly Rabbit Cynicism Is For Losers}} while the cynic may say {{Silly Rabbit Idealism Is For Kids}}.

* Morgan Freeman (cynic) and Brad Pitt (idealist) in ''Film/{{Se7en}}''. Their respective chararacters, Agent Somerset and Agent Mills, are two homicide detectives. However, [[OldCopYoungCop Somerset is a close-to-retirement veteran who thinks the world is a shit place full of inexplicable misery, while Mills is a young, motivated cop with a lot of fire in his belly who believes he can make the world a better place]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Mills' mind is broken by the death of his wife and he's manipulated into becoming a murderer, while Somerset decides to stave off retirement because he's realized that while he may live in a CrapsackWorld, trying to make it better is still worth it.]]

The "Cynic–Idealist Duo" is a duo of close characters (either best friends,siblings,or teammates) that show contrast between their ways of seeing the world: one of them is {{The Cynic}}, a character who views the world in a negative way, while the other is {{The Idealist}}, a character who has faith and hope on the goodness of the others.

* ComicBook/{{The Wicked And The Divine}}: Cassandra is the {{Deadpan Snarker}} pessimistic one to Dio's idealist with a bit of {{Messianic Archetype}}. The trope is subverted in that someone says Cass, despite her attitude, is actually an idealist and expects people to do the right thing.

* In Fanfic/{{The Apprentice The Student And The Charlatan}}, Twilight Sparkle serves as the more idealistic protagonist compared to cynical counterpart (and {{Love Interest}}) Nova Shine.

* During their time on Series/{{The Daily Show}} and Series/{{The Colbert Report}}, Creator/{{Jon Stewart}} and Creator/{{Stephen Colbert}} invoked {{Irishman And A Jew}}, with Colbert as the idealistic Irishman, and Stewart as the cynical Jew.
* Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold and Belle from Series/{{Once Upon A Time}} operate as this as a couple respectively. Rumpelstiltskin is a {{Manipulative Bastard}} sorcerer that has faced such hardships as [[spoiler: having his destiny of becoming a savior literally cut away from him by his insane mother]], [[spoiler: abandoned by his neglectfully-abusive father]], [[spoiler: permanently crippling himself so that his son would not grow up without a father like he has and branding himself as a {{Dirty Coward}} for the rest of his life]] and [[spoiler: nearly losing his own son [[{{ChildSoldiers}} to be drafted in a hopeless war against the ogres]]]] before [[spoiler: taking on a curse that [[{{CursedWithAwesome}} imbues him with powerful dark magic]] at the cost of his humanity]]. Top that with losing his son to another realm due to his own cowardice, Rumpelstiltskin has little faith in himself and the goodness of others, viewing himself as a monster and believing in things like "love" in a purely rational, detached context. Belle, having spent her whole life reading about adventures and great things heroes do, believes in things like second chances and self-sacrifice, giving up her own freedom to Rumpelstiltskin in exchange for her village's safety and eventually seeing the lonely man beneath all of the darkness. While he rejects her and throws her out when he believes that she is just trying to manipulate him, he (as Mr. Gold) eventually reconciles with her after they are reunited. While their differing views have caused their relationship to falter and fluctuate as the series progresses, they eventually receive their {{Happy Ending}} in Season 7, Rumpelstiltskin having clearly changed for the better after [[spoiler: she dies of old age in the [[{{TimeAbyss}} Edge of Realms]]]].

* In Webcomic/{{xkcd}}, a beret-wearing scone-obsessed {{Cloud Cuckoolander}} existentialist and Cueball (usually filling the shoes of a nihilist) are often paired with each other in comics.

* Wander and Sylvia from WesternAnimation/{{Wander Over Yonder}}. Wander is the idealist, always seeing the good in others, even the bad guys, and will never resort to violence. Sylvia is the cynic, worried that Wander is being too naive and that his do-gooding will get him in trouble; also, when it comes to villains, she's all too happy to let her fists do the talking.

The "Cynic-Idealist Duo" is a duo of close characters (either best friends,siblings,or teammates) that show contrast between their ways of seeing the world: one of them is {{The Cynic}}, a character who views the world in a negative way, while the other is {{The Idealist}}, a character who has faith and hope on the goodness of the others.

* Morgan Freeman (cynic) and Brad Pitt (idealist) in ''Film/{{Se7en}}''. Their respective chararacters, Agent Somerset and Agent Mills, are two homicide detectives. However, [[OldCopYoungCop Somerset is a close-to-retirement veteran who thinks the world is a shit place full of inexplicable misery, while Mills is a young, motivated cop with a lot of fire in his belly who believes he can make the world a better place]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Mills' mind is broken by the death of his wife and manipulated into becoming a murderer, while Somerset decides to stave off retirement because he's realized that while he may live in a CrapsackWorld, trying to make it better is still worth it.]]

* Morgan Freeman (cynic) and Brad Pitt (idealist) in ''Film/{{Se7en}}''. Their respective chararacters, Agent Somerset and Agent Mills, are two homicide detectives. However, [[OldCopYoungCop Somerset is a close-to-retirement veteran who thinks the world is a shit place full of inexplicable misery, while Mills is a young, motivated cop with a lot of fire in his belly who believes he can make the world a better place]]. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Mills becomes mind is broken by the death of his wife and manipulated into becoming a murderer, while Somerset decides to stave off retirement because he's realized that while he may live in a CrapsackWorld, trying to make it better is still worth it.]]

* Morgan Freeman (cynic) and Brad Pitt (idealist) in ''Film/{{Se7en}}''. Their respective chararacters, Agent Somerset and Agent Mills, are two homicide detectives. However, Somerset is a close-to-retirement veteran who thinks the world is a shit place full of inexplicable misery, while Mills is a young, motivated cop with a lot of fire in his belly who believes he can make the world a better place. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Mills becomes mind is broken by the death of his wife and manipulated into becoming a murderer, while Somerset decides to stave off retirement because he's realized that while he may live in a CrapsackWorld, trying to make it better is still worth it.]]

* Morgan Freeman (cynic) and Brad Pitt (idealist) in Film/{{Se7en}}.