History Main / ParentsInDistress

* ''Fanfic/TransformersMHA'': Swindle teams up with MECH and kidnap Inko, Mika, Kyotoku along with Momo not only for ransom, but to get revenge on the U.A. students for destroying both his ship and his merchandise.

** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJojolion Jojolion]]'' develops into this later on. When Josuke discovers he is actually [[spoiler:a fusion of two individuals, Yoshikage Kira and Josefumi Kujo, he sets out to find a way to cure Kira's mother (who by proxy is his own mother now and Josuke definitely sees it this way) by chasing a fruit which can grant miracles through equivalent exchange]].

--->A strange fire burned in my stomach. The weirdest thing was: it wasn't fear. It was anticipation. The
--->desire for revenge. Hades had tried to kill me three times so far, with the Fury, the Minotaur, and the
--->hellhound. It was his fault my mother had disappeared in a flash of light. Now he was trying to frame me
--->and my dad for a theft we hadn't committed.

** When [[ComicBook/Robin1993 Tim Drake]]'s parents were kidnapped he obediently stayed home in Gotham and let ComicBook/{{Batman}} rescue them. Unfortunately, Batman was unable to prevent the murder of his mother and the crippling of his father. Later Jack Drake was kidnapped again, and again Tim allowed Bruce to be in charge of his father's rescue. When Jack was cornered in his own home during ComicBook/IdentityCrisis Tim raced there as fast as he could along with his mentor but was unable to arrive there in time to prevent his murder.

* Whenever Franchise/{{Batman}} gets into serious trouble that he ''can't'' escape on his own, his adopted kids/sidekicks will go to hell and back to bail him out. The Batfamily including (and especially) Bruce will do the same if anything happens to [[ParentalSubstitute Alfred]].
* Almost subverted in the comic miniseries ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis: Rogues Revenge''. The agents of the Big Bad Libra kidnap the father of Rogues leader Captain Cold. They threaten to kill him unless Cold and the Rogues surrender. But the bad guys don't understand that his father's sadistic abuse and terror was the main factor in shaping Cold's personality. So he tells them that he will hunt them down, kill them, and kill his father himself. The Rogues do kill the bad guys, but Cold does not kill his father. Instead he orders his teammate Heatwave to burn him to death.
* ''ComicBook/FireflyBrandNewVerse'': Emma has to lead the rescue of Zoe after she was wounded and taken by the Alliance.
* In the ComicBook/GreenArrow storyline "Quiver", the villain has barricaded his hideout with a Blood Seal that prevents anyone not related to anyone inside the Seal from entering. Good thing Ollie's son Connor Hawke shows up to save his dad. While Connor isn't able to defeat the villain's demons on his own, [[spoiler:seeing his son in danger is what finally convinces Ollie's soul in Heaven to merge with his SoullessShell of a body (after the ''Shell'' tells him to do it). The fully resurrected Green Arrow breaks free, and together with his son defeats the villain.]]
* In ''Luc Helius the Young Cosmonaut'' by Alcatena, the reason why the titular Luc starts his journey [[KidHero despite being barely a teenager]] is to find and rescue his beloved father, a famous scientist who disappeared in ''very'' shady circumstances.
* When ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}} Tim Drake's parents were kidnapped he obediently stayed home in Gotham and let ComicBook/{{Batman}} rescue them. Unfortunately Batman was unable to prevent the murder of his mother and the crippling of his father. Later Jack Drake was kidnapped again, and again Tim allowed Bruce to be in charge of his father's rescue. When Jack was cornered in his own home during ComicBook/IdentityCrisis Tim raced there as fast as he could along with his mentor but was unable to arrive there in time to prevent his murder.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', Molly manifests her powers when her mother is struck. She is shown to be the one of the kids who misses her parents the most.

* In ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'', May once had to swing home to rescue her mom from Normie Osborn. However, MJ is a bit of a MamaBear, so it wasn't really necessary. At another point she had to help save Peter when he was [[spoiler:possessed by ComicBook/NormanOsborn]].
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': There have been a couple of times Aunt May was in trouble and while she normally can get out of it, sometimes it's not enough. Namely when she got shot and cue Spider-Man delivering a CurbStompBattle against the '''Kingpin''', all while reminding him that while the Kingpin may have impressive human strength, Peter is clearly superhuman and that he will go and ''kill'' Kingpin if Aunt May died from the assassin's bullet.

* ''Film/{{Logan}}'': [[spoiler: When X-24 kills Charles, [[Comicbook/{{X 23}} Laura]], who came to view him as a surrogate grandfather, gets ''violent'' and furiously leaps on his back with claws flashing, even though he's twice her size. He's only able to defeat and subdue her because she had no room to maneuver. Later in the film she does it ''again'' to protect her ''actual'' father, Logan, and this time subjects him to a positively brutal NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. X-24 only manages to shake her off when he manages to land a lucky blow (she ''is'' only eleven years old). She ultimately delivers the fatal blow via an adamantium bullet to his noggin when he tries to finish off the mortally wounded Logan.]]

* When ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} Tim Drake's parents were kidnapped he obediently stayed home in Gotham and let ComicBook/{{Batman}} rescue them. Unfortunately Batman was unable to prevent the murder of his mother and the crippling of his father. Later Jack Drake was kidnapped again, and again Tim allowed Bruce to be in charge of his father's rescue. When Jack was cornered in his own home during ComicBook/IdentityCrisis Tim raced there as fast as he could along with his mentor but was unable to arrive there in time to prevent his murder.

* In the infamous {{Hentai}} ''La Blue Girl'', Miko Mido has to save her parents several times. (Mostly in the sequels ''Lady Blue'' and ''La Blue Girl Returns'')
* ''Anime/SailorMoon'':
** Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon are so upset when Hawk's Eye attacks Ikuko (Sailor Moon's mother and Chibi Moon's grandmother) that they get their Super forms in ''Super S''.
** In the anime, Rei/Mars once had to fight her grandfather, who has been transformed into a demon by Zoicite. (Or more exactly, reverted to the demon form he had in his past life.)

* In ''Anime/SaberRiderAndTheStarSheriffs'', Saber Rider is faced with a similar problem when his parents are kidnapped and replaced by evil Vapor Beings. He manages to trap the imposters first (with a little help of his EvilDetectingDog) and then goes to save Mom and Dad with the help of his friends and his clansmen.
** Also, a good part of the plot is driven by the kidnapping of April's father/the Star Sheriff's leader, General Eagle.
* Delia Ketchum is this in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon 3}}'' movie, abducted by Entei after Molly Hale, an emotionally broken little girl whose father has just disappeared, wishes for a mother. [[BewareTheNiceOnes Her son Ash is not pleased by this turn of events.]]
** In general, anything that threatens his mother is a good way to get Ash and his Pokemon ready to hurt you.

* In the ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' OAV, [[spoiler: the main character Miyu]]'s main motivation is to save her parents, [[spoiler: who are kept in an eternal slumber by the Shinma leaders as catch to have Miyu hunting down the Shinmas who have escaped to the human world.]]
** [[spoiler: Enma Ai]]'s parents in ''Anime/HellGirl'' suffered a similar fate.
* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', Casca, rendered [[spoiler: almost]] completely helpless after the events of the Eclipse, is protected from danger by her [[spoiler: miscarried and tainted child by controlling the demons that would normally go after her and using them against those who try to harm her. It also uses its powers to warn its father, protagonist Guts, that she is in danger.]] Much later in the series, a little boy [[spoiler:with a startling resemblance to Casca and Guts that may or may not be the Child reborn as a human]] whom Casca immediately likes, tries to free Guts of his cursed Berserker armor [[spoiler:and later gives him a psychic CooldownHug when he's in a berserk state.]]
* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Gohan powers up when his father, Goku, is in danger. He's not too pleased when his ParentalSubstitute Piccolo is injured either.
** In a cruel aversion, when his mother Chichi was killed by Majin Boo, neither Gohan nor his brother Goten could do anything but watch, since both of them were in other dimensions or were going into one.
** Future Trunks saved his mother, Bulma, and his past self from an attack of Dr. Gero. Later he tried to save his father, Vegeta, from Android #18, but Android 17 prevented him from doing so. When Future Trunks stood up, he was immediately knocked out by 18 who did [[GrievousHarmWithABody Grievous Harm With Vegeta's Body]]. And when Vegeta was having trouble against Cell, Future Trunks did nothing and waited until his father lost his consciousness because he didn't want to hurt Vegeta's pride - [[WellDoneSonGuy Future Trunks]] was really, ''really'' frustrated about this.
** Kid Trunks manages to save Vegeta from being beaten to death by Majin Buu by sending him flying with a kick to the head.

* Chihiro Ogino's parents in ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' are transformed into pigs, so one of Chihiro's goals is to undo the spell and get them back.
* The titular character from ''Manga/{{Beelzebub}}'' has a moment when his wheelchair-bound mother, who has been lied to about her purpose of being with the people she's with, is trapped behind a strong barrier and gets knocked out hard enough to fall out of the chair by a crony for trying to force her way through it. While Oga is no stranger to rage, this is the first time that [[BadassAdorable little Beel]] has been this angry. Needless to say, Oga's opponent and said barrier did not last long after.
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'':
** Quattro tells Vivio that her adoptive mother Nanoha is in danger, and all she has to do to get her back is to defeat the demon in front of her. The "demon" in question was Nanoha, but Vivio had been tortured so much in the past few episodes that she honestly thought that she was a monster disguised as her mama in an attempt to deceive her.
** Lutecia's motivation to be with the villains is getting a cure for her comatose mother, Megane. [[spoiler: What she doesn't know is that said villains are the reason ''why'' she's in a coma in the first place. Caro and Erio [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight convince Lutecia to lay down her weapons]], and some time later, Megane recovers.]]
* ''Anime/CorrectorYui'':
** In the first episode, Yui isn't very convinced by IR's claims that she is TheChosenOne. Then the Com.net is attacked and one of the first targets is a virtual amusement park... designed and handled by Yui's father Shinichi, who is ''still'' there with his workmates. Yui ''immediately'' jumps into action and tells IR that she will be a Corrector.
** In the second season, [[DarkMagicalGirl Corrector Ai]]'s main goal is to find the conscience of her comatose mother Azusa, which was "separated" from her body in an accident in the Net. [[spoiler: It turns out [[HeKnowsTooMuch it was NOT an accident]].]]
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure''
** In ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Phantom Blood]]'' Jonathan saved his father George from being slowly poisoned by Dio, [[spoiler: unfortunately George still died when [[TakingTheBullet he saved his son from a killing blow from a newly born vampire Dio]].]]
** In ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'' [[spoiler: Joseph saves his mother Lisa Lisa from getting killed by the BigBad Pillar Man Kars in the FinalBattle even [[BridalCarry cradling her like a baby]] which is ironically heart warming]].
** Jotaro Kujo has been on ''both'' ends of this trope:
*** The plot of ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' is kicked off when Jotaro's mother Holly Kujo suddenly falls sick and Jotaro starts searching for a way to help her. It turns out she's [[FightingSpirit developing her own Stand]], but [[PowerIncontinence it's rapidly draining her]], due to not having the will power to control it.
*** Jotaro in ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'' is left comatose when the BigBad [[spoiler: Enrico Pucci]] uses his Stand to steal his memories and power. His daughter Jolyne's drive to save her father forms the backbone of the plot.
** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJojolion Jojolion]]'' develops into this later on. When Josuke discovers he is actually [[spoiler:a fusion of two individuals, Yoshikage Kira and Josefumi Kujo, he sets out to find a way to cure Kira’s mother (who by proxy is his own mother now and Josuke definitely sees it this way) by chasing a fruit which can grant miracles through equivalent exchange]].

* The ComicBook/PowerPack have done this since day one.
* Franchise/SpiderMan: There have been a couple of times Aunt May was in trouble and while she normally can get out of it, sometimes it's not enough. Namely when she got shot and cue Spider-Man delivering a CurbStompBattle against the '''Kingpin''', all while reminding him that while the Kingpin may have impressive human strength, Peter is clearly superhuman and that he will go and ''kill'' Kingpin if Aunt May died from the assassin's bullet.
* In ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'', May once had to swing home to rescue her mom from Normie Osborn. However, MJ is a bit of a MamaBear, so it wasn't really necessary. At another point she had to help save Peter when he was [[spoiler:possessed by ComicBook/NormanOsborn]].

* Almost subverted in the comic miniseries ComicBook/FinalCrisis: Rogues Revenge. The agents of the Big Bad Libra kidnap the father of Rogues leader Captain Cold. They threaten to kill him unless Cold and the Rogues surrender. But the bad guys don't understand that his father's sadistic abuse and terror was the main factor in shaping Cold's personality. So he tells them that he will hunt them down, kill them, and kill his father himself. The Rogues do kill the bad guys, but Cold does not kill his father. Instead he orders his teammate Heatwave to burn him to death.
* In the ComicBook/GreenArrow storyline "Quiver", the villain has barricaded his hideout with a Blood Seal that prevents anyone not related to anyone inside the Seal from entering. Good thing Ollie's son Connor Hawke shows up to save his dad. While Connor isn't able to defeat the villain's demons on his own, [[spoiler:seeing his son in danger is what finally convinces Ollie's soul in Heaven to merge with his SoullessShell of a body (after the ''Shell'' tells him to do it). The fully resurrected Green Arrow breaks free, and together with his son defeats the villain.]]
* In ''Luc Helius the Young Cosmonaut'' by Alcatena, the reason why the titular Luc starts his journey [[KidHero despite being barely a teenager]] is to find and rescue his beloved father, a famous scientist who disappeared in ''very'' shady circumstances.
* When ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} Tim Drake's parents were kidnapped he obediently stayed home in Gotham and let ComicBook/{{Batman}} rescue them. Unfortunately Batman was unable to prevent the murder of his mother and the crippling of his father. Later Jack Drake was kidnapped again, and again Tim allowed Bruce to be in charge of his father's rescue. When Jack was cornered in his own home during ComicBook/IdentityCrisis Tim raced there as fast as he could along with his mentor but was unable to arrive there in time to prevent his murder.
* ComicBook/WonderGirl: Lashina tries to force Cassie to cooperate by kidnapping Cassie's mother.
* ''ComicBook/FireflyBrandNewVerse'': Emma has to lead the rescue of Zoe after she was wounded and taken by the Alliance.

* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'': When a terrorist group invaded [[HomeBase NERV's German base]], they captured Badass soldier and MamaBear Misato, and her wards Shinji and Asuka together with Rei had to rescue her. The three kids didn't want to kill people and they were hugely distraught about it afterwards, but they couldn't let those terrorists hurt their surrogate mother.

* In Literature/{{Discworld}} fic ''Strandpiel'', young witch Rebecka Smith-Rhodes discovers her mother is very likely suffering from a heart condition which she is highly likely to be stubbornly toughing out in the hope it might go away on its own, or else she is simply refusing to accept reality. Bekki knows this has caused women in the family line to die young.[[note]]She's a witch. [[SpiritGuide She gets to speak to them]].[[/note]]. Bekki speaks in turn to Assassin friends of her mother and then to Matron Igorina. After a week of peer pressure and urgent advice from her doctor, Johanna grudgingly agrees to the operation.

* ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'': John Connor risks his life to save his mother Sarah from being [[KillAndReplace killed and replaced]] by the T-1000. After she's rescued, however, she castigates him for risking his life so much for her.
%%* Will Stronghold in ''Film/SkyHigh2005''.
* ''Film/SpyKids1'' features this when the spy parents are in danger and the titular kids, who have just learned that they're not as "boring" and "normal" as they believed, set out to rescue them.
* Franchise/IndianaJones has to rescue his father more than once, though he's no longer a kid, in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''.
* In ''Film/RedEye'', Rachel [=MacAdams=] gets violent to protect her father from Creator/CillianMurphy.
* ''Film/TheIcePirates'' combines this, PlotRelevantAgeUp, and ExpressDelivery into one for the movie's bizarre climax. The pirates and their enemies boarding the ship are all caught in some kind of temporal vortex that causes rapid aging. The princess that the protagonist ''just slept with'' has a kid, said kid grows into an adult off-screen and saves the now-aged protagonist from a last bunch of robots. Then the ResetButton kicks in. Yeah, it's weird. ([[SoBadItsGood But kind of fun.]])
* ''Film/TronLegacy'': Sam's searching for, and trying to rescue his dad, who got trapped in {{Cyberspace}} twenty years earlier.

* ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie'': Ivan Ooze had brainwashed Angel Grove's adults into escavating his war machines, then when that was done he pulled a mass YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and ordered them to jump off a cliff. While the Rangers were fighting said war machines, CanonForeigner KidAppealCharacter Fred and ThoseTwoGuys Bulk and Skull had to rally the city's kids to keep their parents safe until the Rangers broke the spell.
* ''Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah'': During his first fight with Destoroyah, Franchise/{{Godzilla}} Junior receives a deep chest wound from the mutant Precambrian crustacean and seems to be down for the count. But when Destoroyah tries to attack the helicopter carrying Miki Saegusa, who had acted as one of Junior's {{Parental Substitute}}s in ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzillaII'', Junior gets his HeroicSecondWind and enacts a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown of his opponent to save Miki.

* ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' has Michelle, Harry "Egsy's" mother, who is routinely verbally and physically abused by her husband, Dean, leader of a [[LondonGangster local group of thugs.]] Egsy is helpless at first, but after coming back home [[spoiler: when he is dismissed by the Kingsmen]], he has the full intent of using his newfound combat skills to deal with Dean. At the end of the movie, [[spoiler: its heavily implied that he delivered the same [[CurbStompBattle beat down]] on Dean and his goons that Galahad delivered on them at the beginning.]]
* In ''Film/ChildsPlay2019'', Chucky takes [[spoiler: Karen hostage, with the intent of killing her so that he and Andy can be together, and Andy has to go save her from getting hanged.]]

* ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime''. The first half is about Meg and Charles Wallace Murray going up against an interstellar Cthulhu-level evil to save their father. (The second half is Meg and her father trying to save Charles Wallace from its MindControl.)
* Mowgli, in Creator/RudyardKipling's original ''Literature/TheSecondJungleBook,'' rescues his ''adoptive'' parents from the angry villagers, mostly for the sake of Messua - her husband's an ungrateful bastard.
* Somewhat averted in ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}'' since the children are staying with their grandparents while their parents are away, and their parents have no knowledge of the magical world at all. However, Kendra and Seth are responsible for saving their grandparents and other adults several times through the books [[spoiler: and at the end of the fourth their parents are kidnapped to be used as leverage against them and their grandparents.]]

* Invoked in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''. Instead of harming children to get parents to obey, the Death Eaters controlling Hogwarts target students' parents/guardians instead, to get the students to behave. When they try to do this [[spoiler:to Neville and his grandmother, his grandmother escapes, injuring the Death Eaters sent after her.]]
* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap''
** ''Darke'' has Jenna and Septimus trying to save their mother Sarah when she gets trapped in the Palace in the Darke Domaine. She eventually is rescued by their older brother Simon, though.
** Averted in ''Syren'', as Jenna is more concerned with her brother Nicko rather than her actual and annoying father Milo Banda when she and Septimus attack the ship ''Cerys'', where Milo and Nicko are being kept prisoners by pirates.
* ''Literature/LegacyOfTheDragokin'': Benji declares IAmYourOpponent to [[spoiler: [[TheJuggernaut Kthonia]]]] when they were moments away from killing his mother, Daniar.
* In ''{{Literature/Coraline}}'' (as well as the [[{{WesternAnimation/Coraline}} movie]]), Coraline initially escapes the Other World and the Other Mother's clutches. She later goes ''back'' in order to save her parents, whom the Other Mother has captured and trapped in a mirror.
* Averted in ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials''. While Lord Asriel was arrested and held in Svalbard, he was also aided by those who were holding him. Lyra didn't know this when she went to save him.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' does this a couple of times. For most of the series, it's Marco's main plotline: he [[LukeIAmYourFather discovers]] that his [[DeathFakedForYou supposedly-dead]] mom is actually the host body of Visser One, and sticks with the group in the hope of one day saving her. In book #45, he also has to protect his father, whose scientific discovery threatens the Yeerks' plans. [[spoiler:He saves his mom in the same book]].
** One book has Jake having to protect his father from his Controller brother, whose [[PuppeteerParasite Yeerk]] is determined to kill him.
** Book #48 is a WhamEpisode where the Animorphs realize that the Yeerks have begun to discover their identities, and have to finally [[WelcomedToTheMasquerade reveal the truth]] to their parents and evacuate them to the Hork-Bajir colony for their own safety. [[spoiler:Jake]]'s parents, however, are infested before they can save them. Meanwhile, Tobias has finally found his MissingMom and has to struggle with how to save her too.

* In part of the backstory of ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'', Elrond's wife Celebrian is captured by orcs. Their twin sons Elladan and Elrohir mount a heroic rescue to bring her back to Rivendell. The mission is successful, but because of what she suffered, she no longer takes pleasure in Middle-Earth and opts to sail to the Grey Havens.
* The {{framing device}} of Creator/StephenKing's non-horror novel ''Literature/TheTalisman'' is that Jack's mother is dying, and he goes on an unbelievable quest to other dimensions in search of the title MacGuffin which can save her.
* In ''Literature/RaceToTheSun'' [[TheProtagonist Nizhoni]] has to rescue her dad, who was kidnapped by the [[BigBad evil oil magnate Mr. Charles]] and ends up [[spoiler: finding and rescuing her MissingMom, too]].

* The Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers were willing to trade their powers in order to get their parents back in "Return Of An Old Friend". (Doubly so in the case of the Pink Ranger Kimberly, who was in the middle of a VisitByDivorcedDad.)
* Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'s mother Joyce has been used as leverage against her daughter several times. Buffy also has had to rescue Giles, her ParentalSubstitute, on more than one occasion.

* On ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'', the only thing as dangerous as messing with [[MamaBear Sarah Jane]]'s son is messing with Luke's mum. Forget shipping, their relationship is the show's real love story.
* The made-for-TV ''Franchise/StarWars'' spinoff ''[[Film/StarWarsEwokAdventures Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure]]'' is about two kids going on an adventure (with help from their new Ewok friends) to rescue their parents. [[spoiler: The sequel... not so much.]]

* In the finale of Season 3A of ''Series/TeenWolf'', the parents of the three main characters (Scott, Stiles and Allison) have all been kidnapped for human sacrifice by the Darach. The kids have to sacrifice themselves by allowing themselves to be temporarily drowned so they can find where the sacrifice is meant to take place, then it is a race against the clock to find their parents and defeat the Darach before the lunar eclipse.

* Both VideoGame/AnotherCode games had Ashley ending up saving her dad from the bad guy's clutches. In the first game, she had to rescue her aunt as well.
* In ''VideoGame/PitfallTheMayanAdventure'', the objective is for [[SpinOffspring Pitfall Harry Jr]] to rescue his kidnapped father, who appeared in the original Pitfall games during the 8-bit era.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** Seen in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' if the Warden comes from the City Elf background. Late in the game, the Warden and friends will return to the alienage where the Warden grew up, and rescue his/her father and other elves from slavers.
*** Both played straight and subverted in the Human Noble origin, as the future Warden has to protect their mother Eleanor from the invasion of the family castle. [[spoiler:They do a bang-up job, but when they find papa Bryce bleeding to death, Eleanor opts for a HeroicSacrifice to buy their child time to escape.]]
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', this happens twice to Leandra Hawke. [[spoiler: The first time, she's fine. The second... [[StuffedInTheFridge not so much...]] ]]
* In ''VideoGame/CosmosCosmicAdventure'', Cosmo sets out to save his parents from the aliens who apparently kidnapped them.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFight 2'', ActionGirl Maki's motivation is to save her father and her older sister.

* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIVThePerilsOfRosella'': Rosella is taken to Tamir and undergoes a grueling quest to retrieve a magic fruit capable of saving her father's life. Getting the fruit is the easy part; saving Genesta so that she can get a ride back to Daventry, not so much.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': In a ''very'' sad, twisted way. [[spoiler: Tidus has to MercyKill his estranged father, who has become [[EldritchAbomination Sin]].]]
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' character Cream the Rabbit's debut in the series has her fighting against Eggman's robots in order to rescue her mother.
* In ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfWillyBeamish'', at the end of the game, [[spoiler: [[BigBad Leona Humpford]] captures Willy's dad and tries to kill him. As the last challenge of the game, Willy has to rescue him.]]
* ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' has [[spoiler: Johnny Cage]] being captured and horribly tortured by [[spoiler: an empowered Shinnok.]] The victim's [[DaddysGirl beloved]] CuteBruiser of a daughter, [[spoiler: Cassie]], gets ''impossibly'' angry when she finds out.
* ''VideoGame/TheStalinSubway'' begins with your father, a KGB scientist, abducted in the game's opening cinematics. The entire first half of gameplay revolves around your efforts to locate him, which you eventually did in a KGB cell.
* ''VideoGame/SurvivorFire'': You play as a boy who needs to rescue his parents (as well as himself, his sister, and his grandmother) from a house fire.
* ''VideoGame/CreepTV'': More like "Owners In Distress", but Muriel and Eustace have been kidnapped by poltergeists and are trapped in the TV, and their dog Courage has to save them.

* At some point in ''Film/NoobLaQueteLegendaire'', an entity reliant on BodySurf gets set free. After a first host possessed from lack of choice, its second host is the father from a father-son pair that had mostly been the center of a ThirdLineSomeWaiting plot in the [[Film/NoobLeConseilDesTroisFactions previous movie]]. The event makes the son become part of a more important plot of the story, that involves trying to destroy the entity.

%% * ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' features this in TheMovie.
%% Zero-context example, please elaborate why the example above fits this trope.

* [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse Huey, Dewey, and Louie]] are always rescuing their granduncle Scrooge and/or their uncle WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck from danger.

** Happens in ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingSpiez'' with ''uncanny'' frequency... geez, [[DoomMagnet do Cal and Karen]] [[WeirdnessMagnet get into trouble]] ''a lot''.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpacePOP'' revolves around five teenage princesses who have to rescue their captive parents from an evil empress.

* ''Series/{{Psych}}'': Shaun drops his usually loser attitude when his father, Henry, gets shot and needs his help.

* ''VideoGame/CreepTV'': More like "Owners In Distress", but Muriel and Eustace have been kidnapped by poltergeists and are trapped in the TV, and Courage has to save them.

* The Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers were willing to trade their powers in order to get their parents back in "Return Of An Old Friend". (Doubly so in the case of [[TheChick the Pink Ranger]] Kimberly, who was in the middle of a VisitByDivorcedDad.)

* Things only really get serious in ''Literature/{{Coraline}}'' when [[spoiler:the Other Mother imprisons Coraline's parents and forces her to play for their lives.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' often find themselves having to rescue their [[TrulySingleParent creator and father figure]] Professor Utonium, although [[PapaWolf he's come to their aid at times in return]].

** [[BigBad The Trix sisters]] endanger Bloom's adoptive parents, Mike and Vanessa, to lure her into a trap since the effort to rescue them would leave her exhausted and in a bad position to defend herself. For context, they throw Mike and Vanessa into a PocketDimension-like abyss, so she has to catch them in time and then fly them back to safe terrain.
** Bloom's biological parents, Oritel and Marion, are trapped as a statue and inside a sword, respectively, courtesy of the villains who caused their home planet's fall. The plot from late-stage season three to the first [[TheMovie movie]] revolves around finding and rescuing them.

** Bloom saves her biological parents again in season five. During a royal ceremony to thanks the Winx and Sky for restoring Domino, the Trix wait until the Winx are off on a mission to attack. Marion and Oritel are able to fend the Trix off until they are tricked into surrendering; then they are turned into ice statues. After the Winx defeat the Trix, Bloom defreezes her parents.

** Similar to Bloom's storyline, as she and Roxy are {{mirror character}}s, the plot of the fourth season involves rescuing trapped fairies from fallen realms. In this case, it's the Earth fairies -- relentlessly hunted by the Wizards of the Black Circle and sealed away to be forgotten by humanity. Roxy, the Queen's daughter is not captured due to being too young to manifest magic. When she learns the truth, she gets determined to the Earth fairies. With the help of the Winx, Roxy goes to Tir Nan Og and opens its gates. It's kind of a subverted example because Roxy only learns that Queen Morgana is her mother later in the season.
** Earlier in the season, Roxy has to rescue her father Klaus because the Wizards of the Black Circle captured and impersonated him to lure her into a trap. She is kidnapped but after her AnimalCompanion and the [[TheBeastMaster magical pets]] locate her and fool the Wizards, she is able to free herself and her father. They are halted when the Wizards realize their mistake and overpower Roxy even after she triggers her fairy transformation. Fortunately, all of these developments provide enough time for the Winx to go to her aid.

* Roman hero [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scipio_Africanus Scipio Africanus]] is said to have first became noted by rescuing his father in a battle.

** Similar to Bloom's storyline, as she and Roxy are MirrorCharacters, the plot of the fourth season involves rescuing trapped fairies from fallen realms. In this case, it's the Earth fairies -- relentlessly hunted by the Wizards of the Black Circle and sealed away to be forgotten by humanity. Roxy, the Queen's daughter is not captured due to being too young to manifest magic. When she learns the truth, she gets determined to the Earth fairies. With the help of the Winx, Roxy goes to Tir Nan Og and opens its gates. It's kind of a subverted example because Roxy only learns that Queen Morgana is her mother later in the season.

*** At mid-season, the Portal to the [[TheAlcatraz Omega Dimension]] is about to implode because the BigBad broke it. As a result, Andros, the planet hosting the portal, is getting an ApocalypseHow starting with earthquakes and floods that worsen as the portal becomes more unstable. Aisha's parents, the queen and king, fight valiantly against the monsters coming from the portal but get ultimately trapped in the flooding Royal Palace. Aisha saves them before they drown.