History Main / RedundantRescue

* In ''CaptainAmerica'' vol. 6, issue one, "American Dreamers, part one", Cap uses his mighty shield to knock out a Hydra {{Mook}} that ''{{Agent13}} Sharon Carter]], badass ActionGirl, was fighting. Her response is a slightly annoyed "No fair, I had this one..."

* In ''{{Film/Ever After}}'', a retelling of Cinderella, the prince shows up to save Danielle... just as she is sauntering out of the villain's castle, having freed herself.

A RedundantRescue is, as its name implies, when a character is "saved" by someone or something, despite that, based on their abilities, track record, and/or the nature of their problem, they really weren't in any danger to begin with.

* In ''TitanAE'', the heroes swoop in to save the supposed DamselInDistress Akima from slavers only to find that she's knocked them all out herself and is calmly waiting for her rid out of there.

* In ''{{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.
** One could argue, however, that they knew he would get out, and just wanted to keep him from killing everyone.

* {{Chuck}} kicks down a hotel door in in order to help Sarah in a fight with another agent, only to find that she's already got her opponent at gunpoint and literally under her (spike) heel.

* In the ''{{Smallville}}'' episode "Exposed", Lois is knocked unconscious and kidnapped by the bad guys (as she is prone to be) who attempt to escape by helicopter. Clark pulls the helicopter out of the sky and rips open the door only to discover that Lois has come to and is the process of beating the snot out of the bad guys. To add insult, she didn't even notice the helicopter being pulled out of the sky.

* In ''FinalFantasyX'', when Tidus, Lulu and Kimahri go to rescue Yuna from the Al-Bhed Psyches, after beating the machina boss Oblitzerator, the hatch on the ship opens... and out walks Yuna, completely unharmed, while a would-be captor slides to the ground. The only comments? Lulu: "I hope you hurt them." Yuna: "A little."

* In a ''DannyPhantom'' episode, PerkyGoth Sam Manson gets kidnapped by a ghost who is King of a Medi-[[IncrediblyLamePun evil]] realm to become his bride. Danny and Tucker rush off to save her...but intervene when she was about 20 seconds from making her escape, and pretty much ruin her plan.

* An episode of ''TheVentureBros'' 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.]]

* The first mission in ''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 ''TitanAE'', the heroes swoop in to save the supposed DamselInDistress Akima from slavers only to find that she's knocked them all out herself and is calmly waiting her rid out of there.

Let's say that our hero is an amazing combatant capable of singlehandedly dispatching hundreds of enemies. After a day of slaughtering countless {{Mooks}}, he is suddenly cornered by two of them! Good thing a nearby friend of the hero managed to swoop in at the last moment and kill them before they... uh...

May sometimes be combined with PityTheKidnapper; in that case, the "captive" is so obnoxious that the villain ends up ''begging'' the heroes to take her off his hands when they arrive for the [[BigDamnHeroes big damn rescue]]. Compare HandsOffMyFluffy, where a rescue is also unnecessary.

* There was a scene like this in ''TitanAE'', when the Valkyrie's crew come bursting in to rescue Akima from slavers, only to find Akima with a bunch of unconscious slavers lying all around her, wondering what took them so long.

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[[AC: ComicBooks]]
* In CaptainAmerica vol. 6, issue one, "American Dreamers, part one", Cap uses his mighty shield to knock out a Hydra {{Mook}} that ''{{Agent13}} Sharon Carter]], badass ActionGirl, was fighting. Her response is a slightly annoyed "No fair, I had this one..."
* A rare villain example is purposefully invoked in a 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 ''SecretWars'', 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 normaly a {{Thor}} villain and thus, far more powerful than both Titania and Spider-Man.

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[[AC:VideoGames]]
* 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 ''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 CuteAnimalMascot 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.
* Your first real objective in {{Knights of the Old Republic}} is to rescue Bastila, but when you finally find her she escapes her cage without your help.

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<<|ActionAdventureTropes|>>

* In CaptainAmerica vol. 6, issue one, "American Dreamers, part one", Cap uses his mighty shield to knock out a Hydra {{Mook}} that Sharon Carter, badass ActionGirl, was fighting. Her response is a slightly annoyed "No fair, I had this one..."

* Depending on how you play it, ''ChronoTrigger'' can feature either Lucca rescuing Crono from prison or meeting up with Crono after he's pretty much rescued himself.

'''Type A''': FridgeLogic. The rescue occurs for dramatic effect, and the redundancy of it appears to be lost on both the writer and the characters. There is nothing to suggest that the person in distress was any less capable than they had proven themselves to be before, and so it becomes very inexplicable if the characters act like the rescue was in any way a big deal. These moments are often full of {{Narm}}, and may just be a result of BadWriting. In the case of VideoGames, they may be related to CutsceneIncompetence and/or GameplayAndStorySegregation.

* In ''[[BattlefieldSeries Battlefield: Bad Company]]'', 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.

'''Type B''': When the trope is used ''intentionally'', usually for comedic purposes. This occurs when it is made blatantly clear that the rescue was, in fact, redundant; when one or more of the characters involved point out how unnecessary it was; or when the actual "rescue" never occurs because the person in distress had already gotten himself out of the predicament prior to or during the attempt. It is possible for this type of the trope to be used for dramatic situations as well, but only if the redundancy is somehow acknowledged by the characters or the writer. There are the rare cases in which this trope is purposefully invoked by characters in order to allow their allies to "rescue" them in order overcome their fears, insecurities, or otherwise help them with personal issues.

* In the Sci-Fi ''FlashGordon'', 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''.

-->'''LoveInterst:''' I HATE THESE THINGS! *smashes several foes with a golf club before speaking to Alan* You rescued me!

* In the Sci-Fi ''Flash Gordon'', 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''.

* In {{NCIS}}, at one point, [[TheLabRat Abby's]] 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 assistant is bound and gagged on the floor,]] [[BunnyEarsLawyer and Abby is REALLY peeved.]] [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome She simply walks up to Gibbs,]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny and says "NOW can I work alone?"]]

* In the first ''MonkeyIsland'' game, 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.

'''Type A''': The rescue occurs for dramatic effect, and the redundancy of it appears to be lost on both the writer and the characters. There is nothing to suggest that the person in distress was any less capable than they had proven themselves to be before, and so it becomes very inexplicable if the characters act like the rescue was in any way a big deal. These moments are often full of {{Narm}}, and may just be a result of BadWriting. In the case of VideoGames, they may be related to CutsceneIncompetence and/or GameplayAndStorySegregation.

* In ''{{Film/EverAfter}}'', a retelling of Cinderella, the prince shows up to save Danielle... just as she is sauntering out of the villain's castle, having freed herself.

* In ''EverAfter'', a retelling of Cinderella, the prince shows up to save Danielle... just as she is sauntering out of the villain's castle, having freed herself.

* In CaptainAmerica vol. 6, issue one, "American Dreamers, part one", Cap uses his mighty shield to knock out a Hydra {{Mook}} that Sharon Carter, badass ActionGirl, was fighting. He responce is a slightly annoyed "No fair, I had this one..."

'''Type B''': When the trope is used ''intentionally'', usually for comedic purposes. This occurs when it is made blatantly clear that the rescue was, in fact, redundant; when one or more of the characters involved point out how unnecessary it was; or when the actual "rescue" never occurs because the person in distress had already gotten himself out of the predicament prior to or during the attempt. It is possible for this type of the trope to be used for dramatic situations as well, but only if the redundancy is somehow acknowledged by the characters or the writer.

A RedundantRescue is, as its name implies, when a character is "saved" by someone or something, despite that, based on their abilities, track record and/or the nature of their problem, they really weren't in any danger to begin with.