History Main / RedundantRescue

* ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': Kazuki was [[CallToAdventure pulled into the story]] when he attempts to [[TheDulcineaEffect save a girl from a monster in an abandoned factory]] only to end up dead. Tokiko, the girl in question, is able to [[FirstEpisodeResurrection revive Kazuki]] and later explains that she is an Alchemist Warrior who was luring the monster out of hiding so she could kill it -- [[SenselessSacrifice meaning that Kazuki died for nothing.]]

* ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Team Angel discover that Cordelia's old school friend Harmony is a vampire. They charge over to her apartment and kick down the door, only to find Harmony painting Cordy's toenails.

->'''Wander:''' We're all collectively coming to save you, Princess!
->'''Princess Demurra:''' Guys, it's fine. I handled it myself! Like I said, this isn't a fairy tale.
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'', [[Recap/WanderOverYonderS1E9TheHeroTheBirthdayBoy "The Hero"]]

* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex''
** Most versions start with Touma attempting to rescue Mikoto from a group of thugs. Mikoto is probably capable of [[OneManArmy soloing small armies]]. The anime version subverted this, having Touma try to rescue ''the thugs'' from Mikoto.
** Aureolus Izzard devoted three years of his life to try to find a way to save Index's life after he failed to find a way to prevent her from having her memories erased while he was her guardian. Then he finally comes out of his seclusion and tries to implement his plan only to find that Touma had already saved her. He got ''really'' upset and [[CrazyJealousGuy tried to kill Touma]].
* ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': Kazuki was [[CallToAdventure pulled into the story]] when he attempts to [[TheDulcineaEffect save a girl from a monster in an abandoned factory]] only to end up dead. Tokiko, the girl in question, is able to [[FirstEpisodeResurrection revive Kazuki]] and later explains that she is an Alchemist Warrior who was luring the monster out of hiding so she could kill it - [[SenselessSacrifice meaning that Kazuki died for nothing.]]

* In ''{{Anime/Slayers}}'', Gourry first meets Lina by leaping in to save her from a gang of bandits. Said bandits were seeking revenge on Lina for [[BlackMagicianGirl burning their camp to ash]] for the loot inside, and they would have been toast in a few seconds, but she's happy to play damsel in the interest of meeting a handsome knight.

** In vol. 6, issue one, "American Dreamers, part one", Cap uses his mighty shield to knock out a Hydra {{Mook|s}} that [[ComicBook/Agent13 Sharon Carter]], badass ActionGirl, was fighting. Her response is a slightly annoyed "No fair, I had this one..."
** Another example from Sharon, dating back to the 60's - Captain America is called in because Sharon has been captured by the Trapster. Upon reaching her, Cap finds that the Sharon captured by the Trapster is a robotic double and that Sharon was never in danger. [[spoiler: Turns out, it was a BatmanGambit by Sharon - she correctly ascertained that the Trapster would spill that he was working for the Red Skull if he thought that he had Captain America dead to rights.]]
* A rare villain example is purposefully invoked in a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' story from the eighties. Spidey was confronted by the villain-couple: Absorbing Man and Titania. Titania had previously been defeated by Spider-Man during the ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'', which left her with a crippling fear of Spider-Man. In order to help her get over her fears, the Absorbing Man fought Spider-Man and took a fall, making it seem as though the hero were moments from killing him. Titania quickly got over her fear and rescued her lover. Keep in mind that the Absorbing Man is normally a [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] villain (and occasionally a [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] villain) and thus, far more powerful than both Titania and Spider-Man.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}''/''ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}'' crossover ''ComicBook/EscapeFromThePhantomZone'', Selena breaks out of her cell five minutes before the Fatal Five come along to release her.

* Happens in ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''. Our heroes have fought through an entire video game world to rescue Kaiba, only to discover that Kaiba is already free and has defeated who he thought was the BigBad. Of course it turns out that they're not quite out of the woods yet, but still...

* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2318355/28/Make-A-Wish Make a Wish]]'' a mad scientist friend of Harry's was kidnapped by Egyptian bandits. Harry and the rest of his friends arrived only to discover that the kidnapee had built and used a simple device to release himself and the other prisoners from the bandits' cage.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

-->'''Akima''': Well, well, well, if it isn't the Captain. What kept you?

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* PlayedForDrama in ''Film/TheRedTent1969''. The aircraft carrying explorer Roald Amundsen comes across the crashed remains of the ''Italia'', only to crash themselves trying to land and rescue them, having mistaken the frozen corpses for survivors. Amundsen is the SoleSurvivor, but with no food or means of making a fire, all he can do is wait to freeze to death himself.
* In ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', [[spoiler:Nite Owl and Silk Spectre]] go to free [[spoiler:Rorschach]] from prison, who ends up breaking out of his cell just fine before they get there, taking out at least a few people along the way. That said, they actually knew all along he '''''would''''' get out, and just wanted to keep him from killing everyone.

-->'''Eddie:''' Anna! We're supposed to be saving you!
-->'''Anna:''' I'm sorry. I got bored, so I saved myself.
* This trope was Rigg's final test in ''Film/SawIV'' . [[spoiler: He failed.]]
* ''Film/SmallSoldiers'' has a type A being played for comedic effect (it's a type A internally, but clearly a type B to the audience). The main character tries to free the {{Love Interest|s}}, however she's already got herself free and they're both attacked by the "[[PerversePuppet Zomb-Gwendies]]" guarding her.
-->'''{{Love Interest|s}}:''' I HATE THESE THINGS! *smashes several foes with a golf club before speaking to Alan* You rescued me!
-->'''Alan:''' ...yeah I guess I did...

* Happens in ''Film/PoliceAcademy 5''...sort of. It turns out that the kidnapped policeman thought it was an exercise, so he played along. The moment the would be BigDamnHeroes explained that it wasn't, he immediately KO'ed all his captors.
* At the end of ''Film/EverAfter'', Prince Henry shows up to save Danielle, but she's already freed herself.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', after Quill and Gamora are captured by Yondu, Quill manages to talk them out of executing them. Rocket, Drax and Groot then turn up issuing death threats unless their friends are turned over, before Quill assures them that everything's OK.

* ''Film/Shazam2019'': Shazam and Freddy see a mugger trying to pull a woman's purse away from her, so Shazam runs up at super speed and tackles the man. Then he finds out that a second before he did that, the woman had already sprayed mace into the man's eyes.
* ''Film/TheForceAwakens'': Finn sees some thugs attacking Rey and runs over to help. He's not even halfway there when he stops and looks in awe at Rey beating up the thugs by herself.
* Played for BlackComedy in ''Film/TheSuicideSquad''
** The Squad discovers that Rick Flag has been taken prisoner by soldiers, and kill most of them when infiltrating the soldiers' camp to rescue him. When they find Flag, he reveals that these soldiers are actually rebel freedom fighters who saved his life. Oops!
** The Squad goes to "rescue" Harley Quinn from the Palace. By the time they're already halfway-up to bust in, she's noticed them... as she's getting into a taxi after murdering most of the Palace guards. She's actually quite touched that they came for her though.

* Played with in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'': Jerin has already rescued himself, and tells his would-be rescuer so, but she offers to help him anyway. It's not entirely clear whether [[spoiler: Jerin would have been worse off without her, as the kidnappers catch up with them, and one person might be easier to hide than two. On the other hand, he was an unchaperoned young man, and could have gotten in trouble even without kidnappers following him.]] As she was there while he saved himself, she could have had some part in distracting the kidnappers, but you never know how things ''could'' have been.
* In "Flesh Wounds", [[Literature/TheExecutioner Mack Bolan]] charges into a house full of terrorists, only to find his girlfriend April Rose is holding them all at gunpoint. She quips that it's just like a man to leave the cleaning up to a woman.
* Played straight in ''Literature/TheOtherworld'' novel ''Stolen'', but from the captive's point of view. Elena escapes from the compound where she's been held prisoner and stumbles across her lover Clay just outside. Clay had shaken off the drugs, slipped his babysitter, located the compound, and was trying to figure out a way inside when she came out. He is allowed to provide the getaway car, at least.
* Used dramatically/tragically in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''. [[spoiler: Faile is captured, leading to Perrin going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to bring her back. Her own escape attempts do not go well, but some of the people that took her believe her treatment, and the direction the clan takes, is dishonorable, so [[HeelFaceTurn they come to set her free]]. Just then Perrin comes along, and fights Faile's real rescuers, forcing Faile to BackStab the man who just saved her life. Faile doesn't let Perrin know, but holds a service with the other captive woman to honor their memory.]]
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''
** In ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'', Sam Vimes takes some of his most badass buddies to rescue his wife Sybil from captivity at the hands/paws of a werewolf clan - only to find when he gets there that Sybil has effected her own escape and incapacitated a werewolf or two in the process…

* In the ''Literature/SeventhTower'' novel ''The Violet Keystone'', Crow is sent to rescue Tal from the nighmare chamber, the inworld version of an interrogation room in which the interrogator Fashneck (Who is a deformed, sadistic bastard) mind rapes his victims to obtain whathever information he desires with the use of a prision-like device that keeps the prisioner within an spherical prison. By the time Crow reaches the chamber, he finds Fashneck dead, the sphere-prison cell wide open, and bits and pieces of the shadowlike creatures that once served as prison guards. He even mentions to Tal then that he "rescued himself"

* ''Series/AlteredCarbon''. Takeshi Kovacs spends most of the episode "Force of Evil" being tortured at the [[TortureTechnician Wei Clinic]], until he breaks free and proceeds to massacre everyone there. As he's exiting the building, he encounters his sidekick Vernon, who's convinced the cyborg thug who originally captured Kovacs to take him to where Kovacs is being held. Kovacs {{Boom Headshot}}s the thug without breaking stride, whereupon Vernon says belatedly that he'd promised the thug his life.
* In the Sci-Fi ''Series/{{Flash Gordon|2007}}'', Flash insists on finding and rescuing Dale from becoming Ming's latest courtesan as soon as he is sprung from jail. He is met, halfway there, by Dale who had escaped to rescue ''him''.

** At one point, [[spoiler:her new assistant]] turned out to be the murderer in one case. When he finally reveals himself to Abby, he's alone with her, he has a knife, and Abby is unarmed. Gibbs and the others figure it out about thirty seconds later, and rush to Abby's lab. [[MinoredInAssKicking The guy is bound and gagged on the floor,]] and [[BunnyEarsLawyer Abby is REALLY peeved]]. [[Awesome/{{NCIS}} She simply walks up to Gibbs]], [[Funny/{{NCIS}} and says "NOW can]] [[spoiler:[[Funny/{{NCIS}} I work alone]]]]?"

-->'''Abby:''' I'll be with you in a minute Gibbs!
--> *she repeatedly tases the hitman while brandishing brass knuckles*
-->'''Abby:''' And don't look up my skirt!
* In one episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' (the one with where the whole town turns into MoralGuardians), the episode ends with Oz and Xander crashing through the ceiling after Buffy has dealt with the MonsterOfTheWeek.
-->'''Xander''': We're...uh...here to rescue you.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}''. Team Angel discover that Cordelia's old school friend Harmony is a vampire. They charge over to her apartment and kick down the door, only to find Harmony painting Cordy's toenails.
-->'''Wesley:''' Get away from her...foot!

-->'''Lois''': Hey, 007. Nice of you to show up.\\
'''Clark''': I'll start assuming that means 'thank you'.
* The Robin Hood episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' featured just such a subversion. Given the character stuck in the Maid Marian role, Picard really should have seen it coming.
** Happened in [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the Original Series]], too. Kirk is being held in the council room of a hostile race, and Spock hurries to the rescue with backup. When he gets there he finds Kirk holding the entire council and all the guards at gunpoint.
-->'''Spock''': I presumed you needed help. I can see that I am in error.
* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' has a cheesy holodeck program ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton'' based on 1930's sci-fi film serials. Naturally female characters are supposed to play the DamselInDistress role straight until Captain Proton comes to rescue them, but Seven of Nine or Captain Janeway have little patience with such passivity in the face of mortal peril.
-->'''Paris:''' I was about to say "Captain Proton to the rescue!" but I see you have everything under control.
* In the ''Series/{{Haven}}'' episode "Roots", Nathan shows up at the end, heroically burning through [[WhenTreesAttack the animated tree roots]], only to find that the others were already in the process of neutralizing them.
** In "301", Audrey is kidnapped and meets Nathan and Duke, who had come to rescue her, at the door after freeing herself from her bonds.
* ''Series/Supergirl2015'': In "World's Finest", Barry Allen from ''Series/TheFlash2014'' arrives from a portal to Supergirl's universe. Right as he does this, Kara Danvers gets knocked out a window by Siobhan Smythe/Silver Banshee. Thinking she's an ordinary citizen in danger, Barry catches her. Kara tells him she is invulnerable and was in no danger. It did benefit her that it allowed her to be saved without revealing her secret identity.

* In ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany'', player character Preston Marlow goes through great lengths to find and rescue [[spoiler:his squad]] after a [[spoiler:helicopter crash]]. However, when he finds them, they are nonchalantly [[spoiler: killing the enemy]] and react to Preston's arrival with equal indifference.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'', Guybrush goes to great lengths to rescue Governor Marley, only for it to be revealed that she'd escaped just fine without him, and his involvement ended up screwing her plan.
* In ''Videogame/SuikodenII'', the Hero goes to rescue his sister-figure [[GenkiGirl Nanami]] from captivity, and gets there in time to see her dashing through the complex and tossing soldiers aside left and right (and if you've recruited him, she's got a flying squirrel sidekick with her, for added ass-kicking adorability.)
* Depending on how you play it, ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' can feature either Lucca rescuing Crono from prison or meeting up with Crono after he's pretty much rescued himself. Helps that the prison guards were so incompetent that ''they didn't even confiscate Crono's sword''.
* Your first real objective in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' is to rescue Bastila, but when you finally find her she escapes her cage without your help.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''

* At one point in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', your character is [[spoiler:thrown into a prison, and if you choose to escape, you arrive at the prison's exit right at the same time as your companions come busting through to rescue you.]]
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', at the end of Sequence 5, Ezio returns to the [[spoiler: Rosa In Fiore to find that the Templar guards followed the courtesans back after the assassination]]. He rushes inside, prepared to fight them off and save the day...[[spoiler: only to find his sister Claudia standing over the dead Templars, a knife in hand.]] At Ezio's surprised expression, she shrugs and says "What?" Ezio quite proudly remarks afterward that [[spoiler: "My sister knows how to wield a knife."]]
* The first mission in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' is to go to Liberty Island and rescue Gunther from terrorists. Gunther is much more powerful than the player character JC Denton at this point and can make his own way out if the player gives him any weapon, even a knife, and the only reason he was captured is because he was ordered to suspend an assault at the last minute. If the player refuses to give him a weapon (or doesn't have one, which Gunther won't believe), Gunther will tell him that he realises he was ordered to hold back so that Unatco could show off its new "toy", Denton, and will dislike Denton from that point on.
* In one part of ''Pool of Radiance'', [[http://crpgaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/turn-based-vs-real-time-combat.html you come across a runaway barbarian princess]] {{N|onPlayerCharacter}}PC as she's strangling a kobold. Close behind her are a cell with six more dead kobolds and the remains of her bindings. [[NonPlayerCompanion She offers to join your party]], presumably for protection. ([[ZergRush Yours, as it turns out]].)

* Early in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV'', Ryu and Nina are travelling a steep cliff. Nina falls, and Ryu immediately jumps to her aid, descending like a pro from several landings until one mid-jump where he realizes Nina is ''flying'' (she has wings); the shock was apparently too much for him that Ryu {{Face Fault}}s the rest of the way to the ground. When Nina joins Ryu shortly afterward, she quickly apologizes for not telling him about her wings.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Darken}}'', Casper and his partner, Jade, are caught during a break-in in the laboratory of an EvilOverlord wannabe. After breaking out of a truly classic DeathTrap, Casper rushes to save Jade...and finds her [[https://darkencomic.com/darken/june-9th-2008/ choking the life out of her guard with her chains]]. Of course, that's not how he ''tells'' the story, but that's [[UnreliableVoiceover another trope]].
* ''Webcomic/HowIKilledYourMaster'': Liu Wong previously escaped from another fight with the help of ActionGirl Fang Lin; she stayed behind to hold them off. Later, having bumped into one of the friendlier factions in the city and gotten their help, they and Wong are about to rescue her when someone gets punched through the brick wall in front of them. [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2011/02/08/how-i-killed-your-master-076/ Three guesses who was on the other side]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', Sam is captured by police and Florence by the mayor. They escape and set out to free each other, meeting on the sidewalk. Sam proposes they go get captured again, so that the rescue plans don't go to waste. Florence overrules him -- they are on a deadline after all.

* ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'': Comic #260: "The Captive Princess" shows [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Princess Peach]] successfully managing to escape from Bowser's castle on her own. Ultimately subverted, however, when she overhears Mario yelling that he's come to save the Princess, goes to investigate, and then accepts Mario's rescue, despite the fact that she had just escaped on her own.

* Lampooned six ways from Sunday in ''WesternAnimation/TheDoverBoys'' - Dan Backslide is getting the everloving ''tar'' kicked out of him by Dora even while she screams for help from Tom, Dick, and Larry, [[PityTheKidnapper eventually yelling for them himself]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "A Dog And Pony Show", [[spoiler:the group comes to rescue Rarity from the Diamond Dogs that kidnapped her. By the time they make it to her, she's already [[PityTheKidnapper subdued the Diamond Dogs by purposefully being as whiny as possible]] and was just leaving when they arrive.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E7DangerousDebt Dangerous Debt]]" begins with Ahsoka, Trace and Rafa prisoners of the Pyke Syndicate, who start taking them away one at a time for sessions of ElectricTorture. When Trace is dragged off, Ahsoka takes advantage of Rafa's insensibility to [[{{Pun}} Force]] open their cell so they can go rescue Trace... who, meanwhile manages to get the better of her guards and runs off to rescue the two of them. This leads to Trace and Rafa, when (literally) running into each other in the hallway, exclaiming that they were both on their way to rescue the other.

'''CB-23:''' [''[[TheUnintelligible annoyed beeping]]'']\\

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' features Brock, Orpheus and The Alchemist racing to stop Venture from [[spoiler:selling his soul to]] Henry Killinger; when they bust in, they discover [[spoiler:Venture has ''fired'' Killinger, and he and his henchmen leave peacefully.]] It's not only this but also a case of Venture [[StabTheScorpion stabbing the scorpion]]; [[spoiler: we see Venture signing what we believe to be his contract essentially become a supervillain while Brock and company run through the building. They get there moments too late...only for us to then find out it was Killinger's severance pay for his services.]]

* ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'': Comic #260: "The Captive Princess" shows [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros Princess Peach]] successfully managing to escape from Bowser's castle on her own. Ultimately subverted, however, when she overhears Mario yelling that he's come to save the Princess, goes to investigate, and then accepts Mario's rescue, despite the fact that she had just escaped on her own.

* ''Series/AlteredCarbon''. Takeshi Kovacs spends most of the episode "Force of Evil" being tortured at the [[TortureChamber Wei Clinic]], until he breaks free and proceeds to massacre everyone there. As he's exiting the building, he encounters his sidekick Vernon, who's convinced the cyborg thug who originally captured Kovacs to take him to where Kovacs is being held. Kovacs BoomHeadshots the thug without breaking stride, whereupon Vernon says belatedly that he'd actually promised the thug his life.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex''