History Main / DamselScrappy

* The idiot damsel in the trope image is Zola from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. Not a true example, as while she starts out appearing to be a picture-perfect Damsel Scrappy, [[spoiler: it is later revealed she was a DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel hiding her true ambitions and skills behind a mask of uselessness. She actually one of them most dangerous antagonists of the series]]. But before the reveal she sure has to get rescued. A lot.

** This is the characteristic once strongly associated with ComicBook/LoisLane. In 1940s-era issues, she needs to be rescued a lot (usually while pursuing a news story), but is fairly intelligent and can sometimes get herself out of scrapes by kicking ass and taking names. In the '50s issues, though, she is constantly putting herself in danger for no reason, and her main goal in life in her own book ''Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane'' is to trick Superman into marrying her. In the early '70s issues, she becomes a much more well-rounded and developed character, who just needs a little help against superpowered aggressors from time to time, and she is written to be more assertive in her ''ComicBook/SupermanFamily'''s solo stories. This includes Lois mastering a Kryptonian form of martial arts named "Klurkor."

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** Also ComicBook/{{Bucky|Barnes}}, but well before [[ComicBook/CaptainAmericaWinterSoldier he was brought back]] by Creator/EdBrubaker having taken a ''massive [[TookALevelInBadass level in badass]].

%% * ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
%% ** Princess Charlotte is considered this in a lot of circles, primarily because she is a MealTicket for main antagonist Griffith and is pretty much the NaiveEverygirl of the series.
%% ** Post-Eclipse Casca manages to [[AvertedTrope avoid]] this within the greater fanbase for her status as a major and sympathetic [[TheWoobie woobie]], which prompts many fans to rush to her defense by [[RealWomenDontWearDresses explaining]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation precisely]] [[RapeLeadsToInsanity why Casca]] [[HystericalWoman acts the way she does]] whenever someone tries to pull TheScrappy status on her.

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'':
*** [[EntitledBastard Sentinel Prime]] is an unusual male (not to mention giant alien robot) example. Most of his time onscreen involves him getting into some scrape or another, usually thanks to his massive stupidity, and having the [[BeingGoodSucks long-suffering Optimus]] get him out. It seems the only thing that keeps Optimus from abandoning him is a sense of guilt about their shared past, some level of fondness for his old Academy-mate, and the hope that Sentinel gets it through his thick head that his arrogance is a Bad Thing. But StatusQuoIsGod, and he always rubber bands back to being a jackass by his next appearance. Even Jazz, who has long tolerated (or ignored) it as his second in command, finally gives up and more or less defects to Prime's crew.

%% ** Tegan--though, as a woman of normal intelligence stuck on the TARDIS with three alien super-geniuses (The Doctor, Nyssa, and Adric/Turlough), she is Damsel Scrappy by default.

* Even Bond girls from the Film/JamesBond movies are not immune, despite trying to help more than once. Such as [[Film/AViewToAKill Stacy Sutton]]... seriously, woman, ''Creator/ChristopherWalken'' is able to [[WhatAnIdiot sneak up]] [[TooDumbToLive on you]] in a ''zeppelin''. And the [[CuteButCacophonic screeching]]...
** Mary Goodnight from ''Film/TheManWithTheGoldenGun'' is ''[[InformedAbility supposedly]]'' [[FauxActionGirl an intrepid agent sent along to aid Bond.]] All she manages to do is get caught by Scaramanga and then [[GoGoEnslavement lie around on a beach]] wearing [[{{Fanservice}} a bikini]].
** There's also the Bond girl in ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', who at one point ''falls off the edge of an oil rig'' after trying to use a submachine gun and failing epically. [[FridgeLogic From the way she held the gun, one would assume she had no prior firearms training, so she didn't know what kickback was.]]

* Ninian from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemBlazingSword'' often gets lumped into this category, even though she's only ever captured ''twice'' and the third time she goes with the BigBad willingly to spare her friends' lives. Not to mention she ''is'' a very useful member of the party with her ability to give an extra turn. [[DieForOurShip But she gets in between Eliwood-based pairings, the bitch!]]

[[quoteright:300:[[Webcomic/GirlGenius https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tvtds_5391.jpg]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'':

** Richie is constantly getting kidnapped, and his help is mostly ineffectual except for a few episodes. His tendency to be ineffectual begins in episode 1 when he tries to protect Frieda (herself an example) from Hotstreak and gets his shirt burned to a cinder, and he is first kidnapped in the episode "Sons of the Fathers" by Ebon. After that, he becomes a mind-slave twice and is kidnapped at least three more times. That, and the fact that Richie gets superpowers of his own later on, so he's actually able to help out more in combat and rescues Virgil a few times.

* The idiot damsel in the trope image is Zola from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. Not a true example, as while she starts out appearing to be a picture-perfect Damsel Scrappy, [[spoiler: it is later revealed she was a DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel hiding her true ambitions and skills behind a mask of uselessness. She actually one of them most dangerous antagonists of the series. But until the reveal]], she sure has to get rescued. A lot.

* The idiot damsel in the trope image is Zola from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. Not a true example, as while she starts out appearing to be a picture-perfect Damsel Scrappy, [[Spoiler: it is later revealed she was a DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel hiding her true ambitions and skills behind a mask of uselessness. She actually one of them most dangerous antagonists of the series. But until the reveal]], she sure has to get rescued. A lot.

* The idiot damsel in the trope image is Zola from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. Not a true example, as while she starts out appearing to be a picture-perfect Damsel Scrappy, [[Spoiler: it is later revealed she was a DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel hiding her true ambitions and skills behind a mask of uselessness. She actually one of them most dangerous antagonists of the series. But until the reveal,]] she sure has to get rescued. A lot.

* The idiot damsel in the trope image is Zola from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. Not a true example, as while she starts out appearing to be a picture-perfect Damsel Scrappy, it is later revealed she was in reality a DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel and an antagonist hiding her true ambitions and skills by appearing to be a useless ball of fluff. But until the reveal, she sure has to get rescued. A lot.

* Princess Peach in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series has this reputation, in spite of the fact that she [[VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach became the heroine of her own game]] (although her badass qualifications in that game are debatable). Although she does [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level in Badass]] in spin-off games, along with the VideoGame/SuperSmashBros games since ''Melee'', it's heavily undermined by the vast majority of games where she plays the DamselInDistress trope straight, [[FridgeLogic which brings the question of why she is utterly incompetent in defending herself in most of the main series games]]. Of course, it could simply be a case of GrandfatherClause; it just wouldn't be the same without it.

* Princess Peach in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series has this reputation, in spite of the fact that she [[VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach became the heroine of her own game]] (although her badass qualifications in that game are debatable). Although she does [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level in Badass]] in spin-off games, along with the VideoGame/SuperSmashBros games since ''Melee'', it's heavily undermined by the vast majority of games where she plays the DamselInDistress trope straight, [[FridgeLogic which brings the question of why she is utterly incompetent in defending herself in most of the main series games.]]

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Princess Lurichiyo. A bratty, spoiled rich kid who can't seem to stop getting kidnapped. After Ichigo and crew have the kidnapper cornered and it looks like the {{filler}} arc is over, a new villain is revealed and she's kidnapped ''again''.

* ''Manga/YuGiOh'': Also invoked in the early manga somewhat with Téa. She is first held hostage by a restaurant owner and then nearly assaulted by a classmate. Yami Yugi rescues her both times and she promptly develops a crush on him. Then she herself invokes the trope, trying to put herself in danger in one chapter to make him appear. She isn't usually held hostage any more than anyone else in Yugi's immediate circle of friends, though, and given that she gives friendship speeches much less than she does in the anime, the extent of her scrappy-ness is debatable.

** Mary Jane Watson. Three movies. Three times kidnapped to be used as bait to lure Spidey out. Yawn. It's particularly egregious in the first movie; Spidey rescues her ''three times'' in it alone.

* Rosie in ''VideoGame/FossilFighters'' seems to exist solely to get kidnapped a lot, and to have various other [[ButtMonkey humorous problems]] befall her. It wouldn't seem quite so bad if she and the hero weren't getting StrangledByTheRedString. [[spoiler: You, however, can eventually choose to deny the red string and ToyShip yourself with ActionGirl alien Duna if you want.]]

* The idiot damsel in the trope image is Zola from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. Not a true example, as while she starts out appearing to be a picture-perfect DamselScrappy, it is later revealed she was in reality a DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel and an antagonist hiding her true ambitions and skills by appearing to be a useless ball of fluff. But until the reveal, she sure has to get rescued. A lot.

* Meg from ''Anime/BurstAngel''. [[FauxActionGirl Supposedly an Action Girl]], but Jo must rescue her all the time.

* ''Manga/YuGiOh'': Also invoked in the early manga somewhat with Téa. She is first held hostage by a restaurant owner and then nearly assaulted by a classmate. Yami Yugi rescues her both times and she promptly develops a crush on him. Then she herself invokes the trope, trying to put herself in danger in one chapter to make him appear. She isn't usually held hostage any more than anyone else in Yugi's immediate circle of friends, though, and given that she gives friendship speeches much less than she does in the anime, the extent of her scrappy-ness is debateable.

* ComicBook/{{Empowered}} has a very sturdy reputation as this in-universe, as a "[[ButtMonkey D-list superchica prone to capture and bondage]]", despite the fact that when the villains she faces upgrade from obnoxious, but not very harmful pervs to actively threatening the safety of her friends and/or the world, she is [[TheHero one of the most effective and powerful]] heroes (and a good battlefield leader even), [[TookALevelInBadass especially in the later stories]]. She becomes increasingly effective against the pervs too. It's finally revealed that she let the harmless pervs tie her up because [[spoiler:they had a tendency to forget she was there and start gossiping about more powerful villains' secrets.]] It later turns out to be an Enforced Trope in that she was ''cursed'' [[spoiler: by Sistah Spooky]] so that villains feel compelled to try and take her hostage--and what's worse, the caster actually ''felt remorse'' for the curse and tried undoing it to no avail.

** This is the characteristic once strongly associated with ComicBook/LoisLane. In 1940s-era issues, she needs to be rescued a lot (usually while pursuing a news story), but is fairly intelligent and can sometimes get herself out of scrapes by kicking ass and taking names. In the '50s issues, though, she is constantly putting herself in danger for no reason, and her main goal in life in her own book ''Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane'' is to trick Superman into marrying her. In the early '70s issues she becomes a much more well-rounded and developed character, who just needs a little help against super powered aggressors from time to time, and she is written to be more assertive in her ''ComicBook/SupermanFamily'''s solo stories. This includes Lois mastering a Kryptonian form of martial arts named "Klurkor."

* Parker from ''Film/{{Frozen 2010}}''. Audiences blamed her for getting herself, her boyfriend and his best friend all stuck on a ski lift during a snowstorm. [[spoiler: She survives the ordeal and has the massive luck of finding a road where she can be rescued]].

* Even Bond girls from the Film/JamesBond movies are not immune, despite trying to help more than once. Such as [[Film/AViewToAKill Stacy Sutton]]... seriously woman, ''Creator/ChristopherWalken'' is able to [[WhatAnIdiot sneak up]] [[TooDumbToLive on you]] in a ''zeppelin''. And the [[CuteButCacophonic screeching]]...

* On a meta level, Creator/MattDamon needed rescuing in ''Film/SavingPrivateRyan'', ''{{Film/Interstellar}}'', ''Film/TheMartian''… How much did he cost? [[http://time.com/4162254/cost-of-rescuing-matt-damon/ At least $900 billion.]]

* Determinedly invoked by Millie in ''[[Literature/{{Xanth}} Castle Roogna]]''. She repeatedly gets kidnapped or attacked, and never does anything to defend herself other than by kicking (not kicking the assailant, mind you, just kicking in the air) and screaming. She seems to believe that's how she ''should'' act, and no one can convince her otherwise.

** Kimberly Bauer, former {{Trope Namer|s}}, has an annoying habit of getting TrappedByMountainLions, wandering around [[VaporWear bra-less]] in wifebeaters around potential rapists, and doing everything in her power to anger men with guns. Kim is sometimes known as "Bathroom-Break Bauer", due to a nearly-unbroken string of kidnappings, confinements and hostage-takings, which make it possible to take a bathroom break whenever she's on screen without missing anything truly important. The writers admitted, in essence, that she couldn't be killed off because Jack had already lost [[spoiler:Teri, his wife,]] and it would destroy him. Jack also says this much late in Season 7, when [[spoiler:the only way to save his life puts Kim at risk of losing hers]].

** A rare male example is Harry Sullivan, who tends to catch the IdiotBall a lot and [[DistressedDude gets himself and the Doctor captured]], with even the Doctor picking up on it and complaining. His character had been written in as compliment to the elderly NonActionGuy the Fourth Doctor had originally been pitched as, before the role was cast with a huge, highly energetic and physically fit forty-year-old who could [[MinoredInAsskicking comfortably do action]]. The result of this is that the writers were [[CastSpeciation not quite sure what he (or his co-companion Sarah Jane) was supposed to be for]] other than to catch the DistressBall, but Sarah Jane has the benefit of being a previously established character and having writing that portrays her as consistently sympathetic and intelligent, whereas Harry happily ploughs into obvious traps and fails to notice things the Doctor had pointed out to him thirty seconds ago. Both the Doctor and Sarah moan at him about this in various scenes.

** Peri is the single most notorious example. Her first appearance in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E5PlanetOfFire Planet of Fire]]" has her being very self-possessed and one of only two characters ever to NoSell the Master's mind-control abilities, but the rest of her tenure hardly ever has her achieve anything except be an object to be fought over. Due to the DarkerAndEdgier tendencies of the era, she comes in for an unprecedented and uncharacteristic amount of [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty explicitly sexualised menace]] from villains, which comes across as particularly disturbing given the [[MsFanservice unusual degree of sexualisation]] in her portrayal and her borderline-abusive relationship with the Doctor. Her brutal (possibly averted) death comes across as not so much shocking as the inevitable climax of her character arc. She certainly would have been more bearable, if not for that fake American accent.

* Drove some fans to dislike Tessa in season 1 of ''{{Series/Highlander}}''. It was all too common for Duncan to have to rescue her from whichever immortal opponent was targeting him in the episode. She did have a few good moments to be fair, and was seen to use mental smarts against villains a time or two, but she wasn’t much of a fighter, and some found it repetitive after a while.

* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Charlie. She needs to be rescued in "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E4ThePlagueDogs The Plague Dogs]]", and again in "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E5SoulTrain Soul Train]]". There is something seriously wrong if '''''Danny''''' has to save your ass from getting choked to death. Fortunately, they did end up redeeming her her; Spiridakos is a little less wooden in later seasons, and the character becomes really effective with her weapons. It is pretty funny when [[spoiler: General Monroe]] actually saves her life in "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E19ChildrenOfMen Children of Men]]".
* ''Series/RobinHood'': A number of viewers feel that the replacement for Marian, Kate, fits this. She's pushy, loud and generally useless, where in contrast the previous character in the love interest role is an ActionGirl who at least has the dignity to be right when she's pushy, and is never louder than needed. And yes, true to the trope, all of Kate's numerous kidnappings are due to her inability to keep up, [[FauxActionGirl defend herself]], or know when to keep her mouth shut. In her capacity as a "damsel" scrappy, she is captured by guards more times in one season than any of the other outlaws were in ''three''. The words "Where's Kate?" could be a drinking game.

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': Jennifer Keller is completely useless outside sickbay, on top of being [[CreatorsPet shoehorned into as many episodes as possible]]--even [[CharacterShilling having two characters fall in love with her]], so we'd realize we are supposed to love her too, as if they thought they could bludgeon the audience with her until they surrendered and decided they may as well like her. (The writers have [[WordOfGod admitted to doing this.]]) Didn't work. She at least learns to fight in the final season.
* ''Series/StargateUniverse'': Chloe, a character that was only there because she was a Senator's daughter, had absolutely ''no'' useful purpose whatsoever and repeatedly put the rest of the crew in danger. She was also a central part of the LoveDodecahedron that most of the viewers were disinterested in. Eventually the viewers began to warm to her when she starts some character development and is [[spoiler: temporarily CursedWithAwesome by an alien infection that gives her super powers.]]

--->[[http://www.superdickery.com/buckys-true-purpose-revealed/ I'm starting to think]] that Bucky must have a tracer planted on him that allows Captain America to track down these hidden enclaves of enemy combatants. That's the only possible use I can think of for a sidekick who's only contribution to the war is to get captured every month...

* Pepper Potts in ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'' has two purposes for her existence: help Tony out on occasion, and get captured and rescued constantly even in situations she should be able to escape from on her own. Her behavior is consistently damsel-like despite her aspirations to be a kick-ass S.H.I.E.L.D. agent -- at one point she's in the middle of an abandoned warehouse where two different factions of Chinese assassins are fighting, and she sits there waiting to be rescued instead of getting away from the fighting. [[FauxActionGirl Yeah, real S.H.I.E.L.D. material.]] She begins to grow out of this in season 2 [[spoiler:after using the Stealth armor, and eventually getting one of her own, making her a bona fide ActionGirl.]]

* Daphne Blake from ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' is well known for falling into traps, being kidnapped by the villain, or angering the villain in some way, leading to the nickname "Danger-prone Daphne" in the original ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' series. However, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic did call this reputation into question in his review of the first live action movie, pointing out that Scooby and Shaggy (and even Scrappy) seem to actually get into more danger than Daphne ever does, and saying her real major issue is that she never really does much of anything, at least in the original show.
** The aforementioned live-action film plays with the concept and has Daphne [[{{Xenafication}} pick up martial arts skills]] [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap and become generally more useful]] after the gang breaks up as a direct result of being called out for being the DamselInDistress. In virtually all ''Scooby Doo'' series and films since then, Daphne has been portrayed as a {{MacGyver|ing}} with her makeup kit and accessories. Her martial-arts skills from the live action film carry over to the animated film ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheSamuraiSword''.

** Daphne [[TookALevelInBadass became more competent well before the live-action movie]]. In the 1980s ''Scooby-Doo'' series when the group was reduced to just her, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy, she became the leader of the group. That also was true in the ''13 Ghosts Of Scooby Doo'' series, where she is the TeamMom. Unfortunately, she quickly lost accumulated good will with the horrendous character design and jumpsuit she had in that series.
%% * ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'':

** Richie is constantly getting kidnapped, and his help is mostly ineffectual except for a few episodes. His tendency to be ineffectual begins in episode 1 when he tries to protect Frieda (herself an example) from Hotstreak and gets his shirt burned to a cinder, and he is first kidnapped in the episode "Sons of the Fathers" by Ebon. After that, he becomes a mind-slave twice and is kidnapped at least three more times. That, and the fact that Richie gets super powers of his own later on, so he's actually able to help out more in combat and rescues Virgil a few times.
* [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway Aquaman]], on the ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends'', sometimes falls into this role. He seems to exist only as someone to get captured by the Legion of Doom, so that the rest of the Justice League can rescue him.

%% * ''Series/StargateUniverse'': Chloe, who is -- like Jennifer Keller on ''Atlantis'' -- the LoveInterest for two different guys. Unlike Keller, however, Chloe has virtually ''no'' useful purpose whatsoever. Luckily, this is averted later in the series when she starts learning some useful skills, and also becomes [[spoiler: temporarily CursedWithAwesome by an alien infection that gives her super powers.]]

* On a meta level, Creator/MattDamon needed rescuing in ''{{Film/SavingPrivateRyan}}'', ''{{Film/Interstellar}}'', ''Film/TheMartian''… How much did he cost? [[http://time.com/4162254/cost-of-rescuing-matt-damon/ At least $900 Billion]]

** Kimberly Bauer, former {{Trope Namer|s}}, has an annoying habit of getting TrappedByMountainLions, wandering around [[VaporWear bra-less]] in wifebeaters around potential rapists, and doing everything in her power to anger men with guns. Kim is sometimes known as "Bathroom-Break Bauer", due to a nearly-unbroken string of kidnappings, confinements and hostage-takings, which make it possible to take a bathroom break whenever she's on screen without missing anything truly important. The writers admitted, in essence, that she couldn't be killed off because Jack had already lost [[spoiler:Teri, his wife]] and it would destroy him. Jack also says this much late in Season 7, when [[spoiler:the only way to save his life puts Kim at risk of losing hers]].

* Princess Peach in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series has this reputation, in spite of the fact that she [[VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach became the heroine of her own game]] (although her badass qualifications in that game are debatable). Although she does [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level in Badass]] in spin-off games, along with the VideoGame/SuperSmashBros games since Melee, it's heavily undermined by the vast majority of games where she plays the DamselInDistress trope straight, [[FridgeLogic which brings the question of why she is utterly incompetent in defending herself in most of the main series games.]]

* Daphne Blake from ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' is well known for falling into traps, being kidnapped by the villain, or angering the villain in some way, leading to the nickname "Danger-prone Daphne" in the original ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' series. However, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic did call this reputation into question in his review of the first live action movie, pointing out that Scooby and Shaggy (and even Scrappy) seem to actually get into more danger than Daphne ever does and saying her real major issue is that she never really does much of anything, at least in the original show.

** Richie is constantly getting kidnapped, and his help is mostly ineffectual except for a few episodes. His ineffectualness begins in episode 1 when he tries to protect Frieda (herself an example) from Hotstreak and gets his shirt burned to a cinder, and he is first kidnapped in the episode "Sons of the Fathers" by Ebon. After that, he becomes a mind-slave twice and is kidnapped at least three more times. That, and the fact that Richie gets super powers of his own later on, so he's actually able to help out more in combat and rescues Virgil a few times.

** Miko of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. [[AesopAmnesia No matter how many times she is told by her friends]] not to sneak off to see the titular robots fight and get caught in the crossfire, [[TooDumbToLive she sneaks off anyway]], has to get rescued, and in some cases nearly kills her friends. After doing so, she can be counted on to ''laugh'' about how ''awesome'' it all was even as the Autobots are trying to make her understand that nearly getting people killed or causing important missions to fail is in fact not a good thing. Being merely TooDumbToLive would be bad enough, but knowing and not caring because your amusement is more important... she makes people say "[[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers I guess Daniel Witwicky wasn't all bad]]..." Also, she's another one the creators love far more than the viewers, so we get a ''lot'' of screentime devoted to someone whose "wacky antics" were unamusing.[[note]]''Greatly'' improved in season two. She's gone from underfoot and proud of it to actually helpful, ''caring'' when people almost get killed, and ''not being the most common cause of people almost getting killed.'' All while not becoming unrecognizable. The arc with Bulkhead's injury and recovery have been especially good for her, and prove that ''anyone'' can be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap. Then on season 3 [[spoiler: she goes one on one with Starscream with the Apex Armor. And Win!]][[/note]]
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** Drove some fans to dislike Tessa in season 1 of ''{{Series/Highlander}}''. It was all too common for Duncan to have to rescue her from whichever immortal opponent was targeting him in the episode. She did have a few good moments to be fair, and was seen to use mental smarts against villains a time or two, but she wasn’t much of a fighter, and some found it repetitive after a while.