History Main / StandardCopBackstory

* Kate Beckett on ''Series/{{Castle}}'' hits three parts: the string of failed romances (even during the show; we know of her failed tryst with Sorensen, then see Demming and Josh crash and burn), little to no real social life, and the MissingMom (in fact, she would've been a lawyer, thus averting the poverty aspect, but for her mother's murder).

* In a twist, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' establishes Mako as having this sort of backstory in season one (parents killed in front of him, [[PromotionToParent raised his younger brother]] on the streets) and then has him become a cop from season two on.

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* Just about everyone on ''Series/ChicagoPD'' has some tragedy in their past: Voight's father, who was also a cop, was killed when Voight was eight. Lindsay, whose mother was a junkie and father was in prison, bounced around foster homes. Halstead, Olinsky and Mouse were all in the service. Atwater has custody of his ten-year-old sister. Ruzek's parents had an extremely vicious divorce when he was a child. Platt was shot in the line of duty, on top of entering the force at a time when women police officers were not very well respected by their colleagues, and ended up on desk duty for the rest of her career. Nadia was a teenage drug addict working as an escort.

** Fortunately, this is balanced out by several characters who seem to have had happy, normal childhoods, including Abby and Bishop.
*** Though the latter still gets divorced when her happy marriage becomes strained after she joins NCIS.

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'':
** Dex was present at his mother's murder and sat in her blood for three days. His brother turned out to be a serial killer and now, [[spoiler: his wife is dead.]]
** Doakes was abused as a kid and has no social life. Deb really doesn't either (talk about failed relationship after failed relationship. She just cannot catch a break).
* While he is more of a vigilante than a cop, Michael from ''Series/BurnNotice'' has most of these in his backstory. His father was an abusive, alcoholic gambler, which caused his family to live in poverty (not to mention an irresponsible younger brother). Like the troubled cop character, Michael chose his career as a spy because it got him away from his old life.

* ''Series/DueSouth'':
** Ray Vecchio, who had an alcoholic, good-for-nothing father.
** Fraser lost his mother to a murderer when he was six, and for the next few months, his father was out of it.
** Ray Kowakski was an orphan who once witnessed a bank robbery as a kid.
* Kate Beckett on ''Series/{{Castle}}'' hits three parts: the string of failed romances (even during the show; we know of her failed tryst with Sorensen, then see Demming and Josh crash and burn), little to no real social life, and the MissingMom (in fact, she would've been a lawyer, thus averting the poverty aspect, but for her mother's murder).
* ''Series/{{JAG}}'': Harm's father was [[DisappearedDad missing in action]] for most of his childhood, and early seasons had Harm obsessed with finding out what happened to him. Bud's father was physically abusive, as was Mac's. Mac is also a recovering alcoholic and she and Harm both had several failed romances under their belts before their LastMinuteHookUp in the series finale.

* From ''Series/{{Reno 911}}'', Lieutenant Dangle's father abandoned his family when he was a child, and his mother committed suicide.

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* While only alluded to in ''VisualNovel/HotelDuskRoom215'', ''VisualNovel/LastWindow'' confirms that Kyle is of the DisappearedDad variety. Namely, that he was murdered during his OneLastJob as a safecracker. Another key aspect dealt with in the first game is the implied betrayal and shooting of Kyle's former partner, Bradley.

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** As mentioned, averted with Dominick Carisi, who had a normal childhood on Staten Island. His biggest complaint is that he was the OnlySaneMan as the only boy in a family of four children. Naturally, this makes him the only character who isn't MarriedToTheJob and TheOneWithAPersonalLife.

** Even the shorter-term unit members are not immune to this: Brian Cassidy (who never made the opening titles) was sexually abused by a sports coach, and Chester Lake (who was only in one season) grew up in foster care. In fact, for the first 15 seasons, the only major cop characters who ''didn't'' fit this trope were the ones whose backstories weren't explored at all (like Monique Jeffries); Carisi finally becomes an aversion when he joins the squad in Season 16.

* A military career.

** Shustov is SerialSpouse (he is married third time) and single father (according to "The Gardener") (though his son has grown up).

** Aristov [[GlorifiedSpermDonor have never seen his daughter because of her mother's decision]].

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* Both Bud White and Ed Exley in ''Film/LAConfidential'': Bud's father was an abusive drunk who eventually murdered Bud's mother and chained him to a radiator next to her corpse, while Ed's father (also a cop) was murdered by an unknown assailant.

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* Detective Literature/HarryBosch, hero of a couple of dozen novels by Creator/MichaelConnelly, hits a lot of these story beats. He had both a MissingMom and a DisappearedDad, his mother being a prostitute who was murdered and his father being one of her johns. His mother's murder went unsolved, although Harry eventually solves it himself in ''Literature/TheLastCoyote''. Because his mother was a hooker who was murdered when he was 10, he spent the bulk of his childhood in foster care or an orphanage. He had a military career (in fact he joined the Army out of high school and fought in Vietnam). Over the course of the series he indirectly causes the deaths of three people: a superior officer in ''The Last Coyote'', his ex-wife in ''Literature/NineDragons'' (which also fills the "dead spouse" criterion), and a confidential witness in ''Literature/DarkSacredNight''. He has a trail of failed romances, and he spends most of his career MarriedToTheJob (he takes files home to work in his off time!), although it becomes marginally less true after his daughter Maddie moves in with him later in the series.

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* On ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', Olivia shows this trope, having lost both parents, been abused by her stepfather as a child, feeling responsible for her younger sister, and having no personal relationships with people that aren't related to her and don't work with her.
* ''Series/TheMentalist'':
** Lisbon's backstory: She was abused by her alcoholic father after her mother's death, and spent the rest of her childhood taking care of her three younger brothers.
** As a child, Jane was used by his father to con desperate people out of their money. His wife and daughter were also murdered by a serial killer after he psychoanalyzed said killer on national television.
* Multiple characters on ''Series/CriminalMinds'' have backstories that include elements of this trope, such as Reid's father's absence and his family's history of schizophrenia and JJ's sister's suicide, but the only character with enough of them to fit the trope is Morgan, who grew up in a low-income, inner-city neighborhood, lost his father at a young age, and suffered abuse at the hand of a leader in his community. Garcia's parents died when she was a teenager and she had to take care of herself. Rossi epitomizes failed relationships, having never been able to maintain a marriage. Hotch ''eventually'' falls prey to this and later to [[spoiler: a dead ex-wife - they still loved each other, though]]. His technically isn't a backstory though. Like most of the characters, his father did die when he was pretty young, and there are hints that his father was also abusive.

* ''Series/VeronicaMars'':
** It is hinted at that Sheriff Lamb suffered some child abuse. Very little else about his background is given, but he ''does'' seem to spend a lot of time in the office.
** Veronica herself fits a few of those points too: her backstory include losing her best friend to murder, having been raped, and her mother abruptly leaving.

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'':
** Gibbs has the dead spouse/child backstory in spades. After that, it's failed marriage after failed marriage.
** Tony's father was a useless alcoholic who neglected him and sent him to live in boarding schools after his mother died.
** Ziva's sort of difficult to place. Her upbringing was rough; she grew up surrounded by violence, her father admitted to having "raised her to be a killer," and most of her immediate family had died by the time she joined the show.
** [=McGee=]'s father, a Naval admiral, was absent during most of his childhood and a neglectful WellDoneSonGuy when he ''wasn't'' absent. [=McGee=] also has a troubled little sister.
** And Palmer, while not an agent, also revealed that his daddy wasn't exactly Father of the Year.
** Fortunately, this is balanced out by several characters who seem to have had happy, normal childhoods, including Abby and Bishop.
*** Though the latter still gets divorced when her happy marriage becomes strained after she joins NCIS.
* ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'':
** Callen lost his family (and his first name) when he was a child and went from one foster home to another before Hetty recruited him.
** Deeks was nearly killed by his own father and had to kill him in self-defense.
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'':
** Dex was present at his mother's murder and sat in her blood for three days. His brother turned out to be a serial killer and now, [[spoiler: his wife is dead.]]
** Doakes was abused as a kid and has no social life. Deb really doesn't either (talk about failed relationship after failed relationship. She just cannot catch a break).
* From ''Series/{{Reno 911}}'', Lieutenant Dangle's father abandoned his family when he was a child, and his mother committed suicide.
* While he is more of a vigilante than a cop, Michael from ''Series/BurnNotice'' has most of these in his backstory. His father was an abusive, alcoholic gambler, which caused his family to live in poverty (not to mention an irresponsible younger brother). Like the troubled cop character, Michael chose his career as a spy because it got him away from his old life.

* ''Series/{{Justified}}'':
** Deputy US Marshall Raylan Givens' father Arlo is an abusive career criminal who drunk too much and often beat up Raylan's mother, Francine. Francine died when Raylan was just a kid and Arlo had her buried in their front yard. Raylan's wife left him for another man and he has had a string of failed relationships that tend to end badly.
** Rayalan's fellow deputy US Marshalls have similar backstories. Tim also had an abusive father, drinks too much and is a ShellShockedVeteran from serving in Afghanistan. Rachell's younger sister was murdered by her abusive husband and Rachell's marriage is on the verge of collapse.

* Just about everyone on ''Series/ChicagoPD'' has some tragedy in their past: Voight's father, who was also a cop, was killed when Voight was eight. Lindsay, whose mother was a junkie and father was in prison, bounced around foster homes. Halstead, Olinsky and Mouse were all in the service. Atwater has custody of his ten-year-old sister. Ruzek's parents had an extremely vicious divorce when he was a child. Platt was shot in the line of duty, on top of entering the force at a time when women police officers were not very well respected by their colleagues, and ended up on desk duty for the rest of her career. Nadia was a teenage drug addict working as an escort.
** Burgess averts it initially, perhaps explaining her impossibly sunny disposition in Season 1. Which makes everything that happens to her from Season 2 onward (getting shot, partner nearly gets killed in front of her twice, sister gets raped, etc.) an ongoing StandardCopBackStory.
* Regularly parodied and deconstructed in ''Series/BrooklynNineNine''. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Few cops actually have backstories like this]], but whenever they go undercover or otherwise use aliases, they tend to give themselves tragic pasts full of drama for [[RuleOfCool the sake of coolness]], such as claiming they're trying to avenge a fallen partner or wildly exaggerating their real problems for sympathy. The only major officer in the Nine-Nine to have a Standard Cop Backstory is Peralta with his DisappearedDad, and even then, it didn't make him a brooding AntiHero, just a goofy ManChild.

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May result in a BrokenBird or JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Perhaps because TrueArtIsAngsty. Compare AccidentalChildKillerBackstory.

May result in a BrokenBird or JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Perhaps because TrueArtIsAngsty.

* On ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Brennan, Booth, Sweets and later Aubrey show this trope. All three of them have a history of abuse, Brennan and Sweets both spent time in foster care, and Brennan and Booth both have a dead parent and a string of failed romances. Brennan's mother's murder [[spoiler:was unsolved until the end of the first season.]] Aubrey’s dad was an embezzler who abandoned the family when Aubrey was a kid. He comes to town near the end of the series and Aubrey has to arrest him.

* ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'' partially subverts this.

* Regularly parodied and deconstructed in ''Series/BrooklynNineNine''. [[RealityEnsues Few cops actually have backstories like this]], but whenever they go undercover or otherwise use aliases, they tend to give themselves tragic pasts full of drama for [[RuleOfCool the sake of coolness]], such as claiming they're trying to avenge a fallen partner or wildly exaggerating their real problems for sympathy. The only major officer in the Nine-Nine to have a Standard Cop Backstory is Peralta with his DisappearedDad, and even then, it didn't make him a brooding AntiHero, just a goofy ManChild.