History Main / CynicIdealistDuo

* ''Machinal'' is about a deeply troubled young woman who enters into an unhappy marriage with a cheerful go-getter businessman. Their optimistic and pessimistic traits are exaggerated in their last scene together, in which they are each reading a newspaper, with him only being interested in bland uplifting pieces and her focusing exclusively on morbid and distressing stories.in

* ''Machinal'' is about a deeply troubled young woman who enters into an unhappy marriage with a cheerful go-getter businessman. Their optimistic and pessimistic traits are exaggerated in their last scene together, which has them each reading a newspaper, with him only interested in good news and her focusing exclusively on distressing news.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sarakara.png]]]]

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 them to the good side, or one of them will call them out of an idea they consider "risky"). The Idealist may be a WideEyedIdealist, and the Cynic may be a grump. The idealist may say SillyRabbitCynicismIsForLosers while the cynic may say SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids.

* The GoodShepherd Father Jerry Connolly and the AntiHero gangster Rocky Sullivan clash over their ideals in ''Films/AngelsWithDirtyFaces''. Rocky and Jerry were thick as thieves in childhood and even in the present are close, but while Jerry sees the best in people and believes the high road is the way to go, Rocky expects the worst and sees no problem using crime and violence to make ends meet.

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 them to the good side, or one of them will call them out of an 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.

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 an 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.

* Ragna and Ruby in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13701943/1/BlazBlue-Remnant-Alternative BlazBlue Alternative: Remnant]]'' due to being partners. Ragna is the grouchy, angry cynic who initially prefers solitude while Ruby is the happy-go-lucky, open idealist who tries to help her partner lighten up.

* Wander and Sylvia from ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder''. 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.
* 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 AllLovingHero.
* Rapunzel and Cassandra, of ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries''. However, by the time we're introduced to her, [[ThePollyanna Rapps]] has managed to make Cassandra a little more optimistic than she used to be, so they're more of a Realist-Idealist Duo.

* The titular ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', respectively. Rick Sanchez has been TheCynic and a nihilist for a very long time, since long before the series began, after having SeenItAll in the universe and coming to the conclusion that nothing and no one really matters because there are infinite versions of existence and the people in it. Morty Smith, meanwhile, started out the series as idealistic but naive, and has become significantly more jaded over the course of the series thanks to Rick's influence, including having an progressively easier time committing acts of violence. However, he nonetheless still tries to help people and do the right thing as much as he can, and rather than turning into a StrawNihilist like Rick, has instead become TheAntiNihilist.

* The titular ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', respectively. Rick Sanchez has been TheCynic and a nihilist for a very long time, since long before the series began, after having SeenItAll in the universe and coming to the conclusion that nothing and no one really matters because there are infinite versions of existence and the people in it. Morty Smith, meanwhile, started out the series as an idealistic but naive, and has become significantly more jaded over the course of the series thanks to Rick's influence, including having an progressively easier time committing acts of violence. However, he nonetheless still tries to help people and do the right thing as much as he can, and rather than turning into a StrawNihilist like Rick, has instead become TheAntiNihilist.

''Fanfic/RemnantInferisDOOM'': The Slayer and Ruby respectively. The Doom Slayer is a grouchy, unscrupulous AntiHero driven solely by his unending rage and need for vengeance against the Slaves of Doom, while Ruby is a kindhearted, noble idealist who wants to help others simply because it's the right thing to do. As the story progresses, CharacterDevelopment causes them to flip around. The Slayer becomes more noble and finds something to fight for beyond his need for vengeance while Ruby finds her idealism eroded by the horrors of fighting Hell and becomes more vengeful and crude.

* The Oracle Twins from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong are a PlayedWith example. Sara is bubbly and cheerful as a result of seeing only negative visions about the future (so she's got the powers of a cynic with the personality of an idealist). Her twin sister Kara is gothic and deadpan, because she only sees good things about the future (so she has the powers of an idealist with the personality of a cynic). This is explained as Sara seeing the positive things in life to compensate for her bad visions, while Kara has all the joy and surprise sucked out of life because she knows the good things that will happen.