History Main / DamselFightAndFlightResponse

* ''Film/FirstKnight''. Though she's captured eventually both times, Lady Guinevere puts up a hell of a fight both times she's kidnapped, even leaving something for her rescuers to find and track her.

* ''Film/TheWatcher'', the only person who bothered to fight back against David Allen Griffin (the SerialKiller and Creator/KeanuReeves' character) was the homeless girl, who smacked him ''hard'' in the head with her boombox and runs. Unfortunately, just as according to this trope, it hardly fazes him much, and he's after her, managing to chase her down and kill her.

* ''Film/RunawayJury'': Marlee hit the guy twice and, when he still catches her before she manages to escape, she stabbed his leg with a piece of wood.

** [[Recap/CriminalMindsS6E8ReflectionOfDesire "Reflection of Desire"]]: The victim breaks the UnSub's nose and immediately flees for a door only to discover it's locked. Later, in a second escape attempt, she finds out she wouldn't have wanted to go in there anyway.

* ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}'': PlayedForDrama and {{subverted}}. Doc Scratch imprisons a Handmaid who attempts this trope but fails to stun the villain.

* ComicBook/GrimmFairyTales: In ''Return to Wonderland'' #3, Calie Liddell does much the same thing to the Mad Hatter, though her beating goes much farther. She even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s it.

Of course it would never occur to her to [[OnceIsNotEnough continue hitting him while he is down]] to make sure he would not recover.

Similar to OnceIsNotEnough except that the villain is only unstoppable to women. To men he might be just a Mook.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}'': {{Parodied}} in the short "Blow Me Down!" Bluto goes after Olive in her dressing room, and we hear a large ruckus coming from behind the closed door. After Popeye deals with Bluto's {{Mooks}}, he charges in...to find Olive's floored Bluto with a club and is continuing to bash him while screaming for help.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Mary Jane does this to the Chameleon in one issue, but subverted in that she does keep hitting him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheDoverBoys'': It's the distressed damsel who seriously beats up the villain while calling for help. This is distressed?

* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': In the last third of an episode, a DamselInDistress decides to fight back against a pair of SiblingsInCrime when she gets ahold of a knife. She manages to stab one repeatedly, then after a little baiting, waits for the other one in a tree, pouncing on him when he gets close, stabbing him twice in the back... then getting off of him and running away, with his bow and already pissed off, no less. Lucky for her the FBI arrived JustInTime.

* ''Fanfic/{{Emancipation}}'': WesternAnimation/{{Daria}} {{defie|dTrope}}s this trope when she goes to buy her sister a chicken dinner, and a guy attempts to mug her right in front of the restaurant. Before anyone inside can do anything --not to mention the mugger-- Daria goes momentarily AxCrazy as she takes her Doc Martens to each of his knees and then kicks him in the face... leaving a perfect print of her boot's sole on his forehead.

* ''Film/DeathProof'': {{Subverted}} during the ending, as the girls [[spoiler: go back to finish the job.]]

* ''Film/HouseOfWax2005'': {{Subverted}} as the heroine gets a hold of a baseball bat and smacks one of the killers down. It's set up to look like she'll run off like pretty much every other horror movie. But after a pause, she continues to hit him until he dies. And then some.

* ''Film/RushHour'': {{Subverted}}. During the kidnapping scene, the girl manages to frustrate and bruise much of the abduction team before they finally subdue her and stuff her into a van.

[[AC: Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': {{Parodied}} in the short "WesternAnimation/TheDoverBoys," where DamselInDistress [[UncannyValleyGirl Dora]] beats [[DastardlyWhiplash Dan Backslide]] to a pulp [[OffhandBackhand while banging on the door and calling for the Dover Boys to save her.]] Before long, [[PityTheKidnapper both of them are begging to be saved from each other]]. It's also worth noting that the door she's banging on is [[TooDumbToLive locked from the inside]].

[[AC:Web Original]]
* Hilariously parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBgVmx4VVR4 How The Chainsaw Massacre Should Have Ended]].
** Even more directly parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=Em0lzfYHNkM the Scream version]].

* An especially egregious instance is the first time Miaka gets cornered alone in ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. When it dawns on her that she's in another world, away from any legal consequences for hooliganism, she proceeds to singlehandedly mop the floor with an entire street gang and nearly run away. Unfortunately, reality catches up with her when she's nabbed and needs an assist from Tamahome.

* Mary Jane does this to the Chameleon in a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comic, but subverted in that she does keep hitting him.
* Calie Liddell, in ''[[ComicBook/GrimmFairyTales Return to Wonderland]]'' #3, does much the same thing to the Mad Hatter, though her beating goes much farther. She even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s it.

* When Olive Oyl is held captive by a gang of cowboys, she manages to hit the leader on the head...and keeps hitting him while hysterically crying for ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}. When Popeye finishes beating up the rest of the gang and comes for her, he has to tell Olive to calm down or she'll end up killing the boss.
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[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In the Daria fanfic 'Emancipation', Daria [[DefiedTrope defies this trope]] when she goes to buy her sister a chicken dinner, and a guy attempts to mug her right in front of the restaurant. Before anyone inside can do anything - not to mention the mugger - Daria goes momentarily AxCrazy as she takes her Doc Martens to each of his knees and then kicks him in the face... ''leaving a perfect print of her boot's sole on his forehead''.

* In the movie ''Film/HouseOf9'', the Final Girl, a good Christian girl, stabs the villain in the leg....and runs away instead of stabbing him repeatedly. Despite the villain having already killed several others and showed no hesitation. Of course he comes after her.

* Best subversion ever: the kidnapping scene from ''Film/RushHour'' in which the girl manages to frustrate and bruise much of the abduction team before they finally subdue her and stuff her into a van.
* Another severe subversion occurs in the ending of ''Film/DeathProof''. [[spoiler: The girls go back to finish the job.]]
* A GenderFlip happens in [[TheFilmOfTheBook the movie]] ''{{Film/Misery}}''.
* In the movie ''Film/TheWatcher'', the only person who bothered to fight back against David Allen Griffin (the SerialKiller and Creator/KeanuReeves' character) was the homeless girl, who smacked him ''hard'' in the head with her boombox and runs. Unfortunately, just as according to this trope, it hardly fazes him much, and he's after her, managing to chase her down and kill her.
* Subverted in the remake ''Film/HouseOfWax2005''. [[spoiler: The heroine gets a hold of a baseball bat and smacks one of the killers down. It's set up to look like she'll run off like pretty much every other horror movie. But after a pause she continues to hit him until he dies. And then some.]]
* Turned on its head and spit-roasted in ''Film/LastActionHero'': while invading Jack Slater's house, one of the bad guys takes Slater's daughter Whitney into another room to rough her up. Unfortunately for them, she's [[ActionGirl daddy's little ass-kicker]], and proceeds to brutalize the poor {{Mook|s}} all while still screaming at the top of her lungs to fool the others into thinking ''she'' was on the receiving end of the sounds of violence.
* A staple of the ''Film/{{Scream}}'' series. Ghostface is regularly knocked down by the female victims he is chasing, but they never capitalize on it and he almost always ends up catching/killing them.

* Happened to Lex's girlfriend in season 2 of ''Series/{{Smallville}}''.
* There's a ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode where a DamselInDistress, in the last third or quarter, decides to fight back against a pair of SiblingsInCrime when she gets ahold of a knife. She manages to stab one repeatedly, then after a little baiting, waits for the other one in a tree, pouncing on him when he gets close, stabbing him twice in the back... then getting off of him and running away, with his bow and already pissed off, no less. Lucky for her the FBI arrived JustInTime.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/TheDoverBoys," where DamselInDistress [[UncannyValleyGirl Dora]] beats [[DastardlyWhiplash Dan Backslide]] to a pulp [[OffhandBackhand while banging on the door and calling for the Dover Boys to save her.]] Before long, [[PityTheKidnapper both of them are begging to be saved from each other]].
** It's also worth noting that the door she's banging on is [[TooDumbToLive locked from the inside]].
* Parodied in the ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} short ''Blow Me Down!'' Bluto goes after Olive in her dressing room, and we hear a large ruckus coming from behind the closed door. After Popeye deals with Bluto's {{Mooks}}, he charges in...to find Olive's floored Bluto with a club and is continuing to bash him while screaming for help.

!!Examples

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[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

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[[folder:Comic Books]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* When Olive Oyl is held captive by a gang of cowboys, she manages to hit the leader on the head...and keeps hitting him while hysterically crying for ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}. When Popeye finishes beating up the rest of the gang and comes for her, he has to tell Olive to calm down or she'll end up killing the boss.
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[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]
* In the movie ''Film/HouseOf9'', the Final Girl, a good Christian girl, stabs the villain in the leg....and runs away instead of stabbing him repeatedly. Despite the fact that the villain had already killed several others and showed no hesitation. Of course he comes after her.

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[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

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[[folder: Web Original ]]

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[[folder: Western Animation]]

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[[folder:Fanfiction]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Live Action Television ]]

[[folder: Manga and Anime ]]

* An especially egregious instance is the first time Miaka gets cornered alone in ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. When it dawns on her that she's in another world, away from any legal consequences for hooliganism, she proceeds to singlehandedly mop the floor with an entire street gang and nearly run away. Unfortunately, reality catches up with her when she's nabbed and needs an assist from Tamahome.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/TheDoverBoys," where DistressedDamsel [[UncannyValleyGirl Dora]] beats [[DastardlyWhiplash Dan Backslide]] to a pulp [[OffhandBackhand while banging on the door and calling for the Dover Boys to save her.]] Before long, [[PityTheKidnapper both of them are begging to be saved from each other]].

* Calie Liddell, in ''[[ComicBook/GrimmFairyTales Return to Wonderland]]'' #3, does much the same thing to the Mad Hatter, though her beating goes much farther. She even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it.

* Turned on its head and spit-roasted in ''Film/LastActionHero'': while invading Jack Slater's house, one of the bad guys takes Slater's daughter Whitney into another room to rough her up. Unfortunately for them, she's [[ActionGirl daddy's little ass-kicker]], and proceeds to brutalize the poor {{Mook}} all while still screaming at the top of her lungs to fool the others into thinking ''she'' was on the receiving end of the sounds of violence.

* There's a ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode where a DistressedDamsel, in the last third or quarter, decides to fight back against a pair of SiblingsInCrime when she gets ahold of a knife. She manages to stab one repeatedly, then after a little baiting, waits for the other one in a tree, pouncing on him when he gets close, stabbing him twice in the back... then getting off of him and running away, with his bow and already pissed off, no less. Lucky for her the FBI arrived JustInTime.

** It's also worth noting that the door she's banging on is [[TooDumbToLive locked from the inside.]]

* In the movie House of 9, the Final Girl, a good Christian girl, stabs the villain in the leg....and runs away instead of stabbing him repeatedly. Despite the fact that the villain had already killed several others and showed no hesitation. Of course he comes after her.

* A staple of theScream series. Ghostface is regularly knocked down by the female victims he is chasing, but they never capitalize on it and he almost always ends up catching/killing them.

* When Olive Oyl is held captive by a gang of cowboys, she manages to hit the leader on the head...and keeps hitting him while hysterically crying for {{Popeye}}. When Popeye finishes beating up the rest of the gang and comes for her, he has to tell Olive to calm down or she'll end up killing the boss.

Of course it would never occur to her to [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown continue hitting him while he is down]] to make sure he would not recover.

* In the movie ''Film/TheWatcher'', the only person who bothered to fight back against David Allen Griffin (the SerialKiller and KeanuReeves' character) was the homeless girl, who smacked him ''hard'' in the head with her boombox and runs. Unfortunately, just as according to this trope, it hardly fazes him much, and he's after her, managing to chase her down and kill her.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/TheDoverBoys," where DistressedDamsel [[UncannyValleyGirl Dora]] beats [[DastardlyWhiplash Dan Backslide]] to a pulp [[OffhandBackhand while calling for the Dover Boys to save her.]] Before long, [[PityTheKidnapper both of them are begging to be saved from each other]].

* ''Series/TrueBlood'': Sookie does this to Rene in the first season. She tries to shoot him with a shotgun, only to find he's preemptively removed the ammo. She clubs him once, then runs away instead of loading, [[TooDumbToLive tossing ''her only weapon'' into the bushes as she runs.]]

* An especially egregious instance is the first time Miaka gets cornered alone in ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. When it dawns on her that she's in another world, away from any legal consequences for hooliganism, she proceeds to singlehandedly mop the floor with an entire street gang and nearly run away… Until one of them reaches up from the ground to [[StandardFemaleGrabArea grab her ankle, paralyzing her]]. From that point on, she's Tamahome's DamselInDistress par excellence.