History Main / StandardCopBackstory

It’s almost a certainty that they were abused as a child, probably by an alcoholic parent. Was the other parent dead? Maybe even both parents were dead. A stint in foster care is common. How about an irresponsible or troubled younger sibling that said character spent their earlier years taking care of? Do they have a history of failed romances and a fairly dismal personal life?

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** Her partner, Elliot Stabler, had AbusiveParents including a mentally ill mother. He also has a troubled marriage and strained relationships with his children.

** Fin Tutuola has a strained relationship with his son Ken, partially because Fin's undercover assignments took him away from the family for long periods of time when Ken was growing up, and partially because of his own initial struggles to accept Ken's homosexuality.

** Amanda Rollins has an irresponsible (and [[spoiler:eventually outright backstabbing]]) younger sister for whom she feels responsible, a father who ran up gambling debts and eventually abandoned the family, and a mother who subsequently dated abusive men. She was also sexually assaulted by an authority figure at her precinct in Atlanta, hence her transfer to Manhattan SVU.

->'''Wade''': Daddy left before I was conceived.

-->--''Film/{{Deadpool}}''

* On ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Brennan, Booth, and Sweets 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 she solved it on the show.]]

This trope is used almost exclusively in straight dramas, where characters tend to have [[DarkAndTroubledPast dark and troubled pasts]], as opposed to dramadies or comedies, though certain elements of the backstory, such as a dead parent, are not uncommon in dramadies. It is also seems to occur more often in lead characters, though it is not unheard of for a supporting character to follow the pattern. Additionally, the trope doesn't apply exclusively to law enforcement agents and is equally as common when a main character is a consultant for a law enforcement agency.

* A troubled or irresponsible younger sibling that the character [[BigBrotherInstinct feels responsible for]] or an angelic and perfect younger sibling who they [[MyGreatestFailure failed to protect]].

* A troubled or irresponsible younger sibling that the character [[BigBrotherInstinct feels responsible for]] for or an angelic and perfect younger sibling who they [[MyGreatestFailure failed to protect]].

* A troubled or irresponsible younger sibling that the character may feel responsible for or an angelic and perfect younger sibling who they [[BigBrotherInstinct feel responsible for]] or [[MyGreatestFailure failed to protect]].

* On ''Series/{{Bones}}'', Brennan, Booth, and Sweets 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.

* MissingMom and/or DisappearedDad. Bonus points if this is due to murder.

* While he is more of a vigilante than a cop, Michael from BurnNotice has most of these in his back story. 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.

** Bobby Goren's mother was insane, and his younger brother was dysfunctional. [[spoiler: His biological father turned out to be a serial killer.]]
** Alexandra Eames' husband was a cop who was killed in the line of duty. Neither she nor Bobby had much in the way of a social life.

* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'':
** Gibbs' first wife Shannon and their daughter Kelly were murdered, leading to Gibbs taking out their killer in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. Gibbs subsequently had several failed marriages.
** [=McGee's=] father, a Naval admiral, was frequently absent while on duty (for their relationship while his father was home, see WellDoneSonGuy). Also his little sister Sarah had a history of being in trouble with the law, but has in recent years turned herself around.

** Gibbs' first wife Shannon and their daughter Kelly were murdered, leading to Gibbs taking out their killer in a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. Gibbs subsequently had several failed marriages.
** [=McGee's=] father, a Naval admiral, was frequently absent while on duty (for their relationship while his father was home, see WellDoneSonGuy). Also his little sister Sarah had a history of being in trouble with the law, but has in recent years turned herself around.

!!Examples

* Both Bud White and Ed Exley in ''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.

* ''InDeath'' series: Eve and Roarke. Both of them suffered child abuse at the hands of their parents, had at least one alcoholic parent, their parents are missing, had little in terms of family income when they were young, and had little in terms of personal lives. In Eve's case, her father raped her more than once, she killed him in self-defence when she was 8 years old, had a stint in foster care, and had just one-night-stand before Roarke. Roarke had a younger angelic sister named Marlena who was raped and torture-murdered by a gang who had a grudge against Roarke. Roarke responded by going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and killed all six men. Honestly, it's like Nora Roberts was trying to hit as many items on the list as possible!

* On ''{{Bones}}'', Brennan, Booth, and Sweets 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.
* On ''{{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.
* On ''TheMentalist'', Lisbon's backstory is an example of this trope. 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.
** Jane is also an example of this trope. As a child, he was used by his father to con desperate people out of their money. His wife and daughter were also killed by a serial killer after he psychoanalyzed said killer on national television.
* Multiple characters on ''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 back story though. Like most of the characters, his father did die when he was pretty young.

* It is hinted at in ''VeronicaMars'' 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.
* ''{{CSI}}''

* ''{{CSI Miami}}''

* ''{{CSI NY}}''

* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'' 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.]]

* The main cast of ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' goes right down the list:

* Ray Vecchio in ''DueSouth'', who had an alcoholic, good-for-nothing father.

* On ''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.

* ''{{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.

** Nick Stokes was the victim of child abuse from a babysitter.

* Little to no personal life.

** John Munch's father committed suicide, and Munch himself famously has a string of failed marriages (albeit this is played for comedy just as often as not).

** John Munch's father committed suicide.

** Amanda Rollins has an irresponsible (and [[spoiler:eventually outright backstabbing]]) younger sister for whom she feels responsible, a father who ran up gambling debts and eventually abandoned the family, and a mother who subsequently dated abusive men.

* Detective Olivia Benson from ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' believed for many years that she was a ChildByRape. Her mother was also an alcoholic.

* ''{{NCIS}}'': Gibbs has the dead spouse/child back story 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.

* ''{{Dexter}}'' 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.]]

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

* A trail of failed romances.

* MissingMom and/or DisappearedDad.