History Main / LawmanGoneBad

-->-- '''[[spoiler:Judge Lex]]''', ''[[{{Film/Dredd}} Dredd]]''

To put it bluntly, this character is what's known as a LawmanGoneBad. This is a character who takes pride in working for the law before an incident that makes him snap causes him to distance himself from those that he used to work for.

* In the western ''There Was a Crooked Man'', a new warden (Henry Fonda) at an Arizona prison tries to institute reforms, but a ManipulativeBastard inmate (Kirk Douglas) uses this to stage a mass escape. The warden pursues the inmate, and the inmate meets a KarmicDeath while retrieving the loot from one of his robberies. The warden returns with the inmate's body and the loot to the prison, but realizes that a new warden has been appointed in the meantime. Disgraced and out of a job, he sends the horse with the body toward the prison while he and the money ride off to start a new life.

* Max Rockatansky (of ''MadMax'') started out as a highway cop in a disintegrating dystopian future; he didn't turn bad so much as become a free agent independent of the law in order to go on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the motorcycle gang that murdered his family. [[FromBadToWorse Then, between the end of the first film and the start of the next one, the apocalypse broke out…]]
* In the film ''RoughCut'', Burt Reynolds (The GentlemanThief) tries to steal a case of rough cut diamonds, being protected by a Police Chief bent on capturing him. After the gang get the case to the Bahamas, Burt reveals that the diamonds are fakes. Cue the entry of the Police Chief with the actual case, "selling" it to them for a share of the cut.
* In The Usual Suspects, Keaton used to be a cop, but since then has been a career criminal for a long time.

At first glance, he is the ReasonableAuthorityFigure or maybe even a GentlemanDetective. However, if you push them too far in just the right place (may or may not be their BerserkButton), he will have a good reason to become an outcast from the police force and perform a FaceHeelTurn. What causes them turn from the law they upheld varies, though [[SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids disillusionment]] [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal or disgruntlement]] will usually be at the root of it.

** In a twist for the second game, [[spoiler:he actually does kill another detective, except she's in bed (literally) with the BigBad]].

* Harvey Dent / Two-Face from ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. Originally the [[KnightInShiningArmor White Knight of Gotham]], he goes ballistic and insane after some antics by SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker. Considering said 'antics' result in, among other consequences, Harvey getting ''half his face burned off'', this is perhaps a bit understandable.

* Harvey Dent / Two-Face from ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. Originally the [[KnightInShiningArmor White Knight of Gotham]], he goes ballistic and insane after some antics by SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker.

* ''Videogame/ThisIsThePolice has Jack Boyt, the protagonist who used to be a competent police chief. Until he's told he has six months until his forced retirement.

Related to DirtyCop and CowboyCop.

** In ''{{CSI New York}}'', Mac discovers that [[spoiler:his first partner]] became one of these, having stolen a large amount of money from a crime scene (he was nearing retirement and didn't think he was being paid enough) and [[spoiler:murdered the girlfriend of the guy who has a vendetta against him and Mac (he doesn't know, then doesn't care Mac wasn't responsible).]]

* In its first and second seasons, ''WhiteCollar'' had Agent Fowler, a seemingly corrupt OPR agent who was after Neal but who turns out to be a case of this: [[spoiler:his wife was killed and then he killed her assassin, leaving himself open to blackmail by the big bad.]]

At first glance, he is the ReasonableAuthorityFigure or maybe even a GentlemanDetective. However, if you push them too far in just the right place (may or may not be their BerserkButton), he will have a good reason to become an outcast from the police force and perform a FaceHeelTurn. What causes them turn from the law they upheld varies, though [[WasItAllALie disillusionment]] [[MistreatmentInducedBetrayal or disgruntlement]] will usually be at the root of it.

* ''Film/{{Speed}}'': Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) was a former member of the Atlanta PD bomb squad, who turned MadBomber after [[spoiler:being forcibly retired, due to an accident which injured his hand. He was too disabled to continue to be a cop, but not disabled enough to get his pension.]] Howard did not take this well after moving to Los Angeles.

At first glance, he is the ReasonableAuthorityFigure or maybe even a GentlemanDetective. However, if you push them too far in just the right place (may or may not be their BerserkButton), he will have a good reason to become an outcast from the police force and perform a FaceHeelTurn. What makes this character ostracize himself from the law that he worked for varies exponentially; He has either heard bad news about his social life, a position that he worked so hard for is not as great as he thinks, or the directions that he works under put him under too much pressure.

It's usually a twist ending.

In a heist movie, a lawman pursues the villains, and once he catches or kills them, he realizes that he has nothing to go back to and decides to keep the loot for himself and start a new life.

* According to WordOfGod, this is the backstory of Jackie Boy from ''SinCity''. The audience only sees Jackie as an abusive drunk with an allusion to being a "hero cop" in the past. Apparently, he once earned the accolades of a hero but unknown circumstances led him down a dark path.

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* [[spoiler:Jingles Morgan]] in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Bravestarr}}'' episode "Fallen Idol".

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* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' is a NYPD detective in the first two games but is forced by circumstances (both times involving him being framed for murder of another officer) to go on a one-man crusade against the local mobs both times.

** Supplementary material for ''3'' reveals that the Cracha Preto used to be lawmen who went on {{Vigilante| Man}} sprees against criminals the law couldn't or wouldn't touch. Then they experienced MotiveDecay and descended into being plain paramilitary thugs.

* GoldenEye in ''GoldeneyeRogueAgent''. He ''apparently'' went bad after Dr. No shot his real eye out. Then again, it's hinted that he had been a problem for a long time, but this time his luck ran out.

** Shepard him-/herself is seen as this by the Alliance and the Council, due to being an ex-Spectre (elite agent of the galactic government) who now collaborates with the pro-human terrorist group Cerberus to deal with alien abductions that the Alliance refuses to acknowledge. In actuality, however, Shepard never goes over to the bad guys.

* In ''Film/MinorityReport'', the trope is both subverted and played straight. For a while, it seems as if John Anderton will become a murderer, since he's already abusing illegal drugs to cope with the death of his son. In fact, it's his boss, Lamar Burgess, who has been committing murders to validate the pre-crime system.

* According to ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'', this is the Riddler's backstory in the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'': Edward Naston was a member of the GCPD's cybercrimes division before going rouge.

* ''Film/{{Speed}}'': Howard Paine (Dennis Hopper) was a former member of the LAPD bomb squad, who turned MadBomber after [[spoiler:being forcibly retired, due to an accident which injured his hand. But he was ineligible to collect his pension.]] Howard did not take this well.

-->'''Paine''': (scoffs) "You?! This isn't about you, [[ItsAllAboutMe this is about ME!!]] [[MoneyDearBoy It's about my money!]] This is about money due to ME! Which I WILL collect!"

Related to: DirtyCop