History Main / RedundantRescue

* In ''FanFic/TheLegendOfSpyroANewDawn'', Ember gets captured by the Gargoyles and taken to their slave mines. Spyro and Cynder mount a rescue, sending Sparx ahead to warn her. When they arrive, they're greeted to [[TheDragon the Warden]] being blasted through a wall. Turns out Ember TookALevelInBadass (getting upgraded from BadassNormal to EmpoweredBadassNormal) and had been waiting to get word they were coming and escaped, took on the Warden herself, freed the slaves with Sparx's help, and was just wrapping up her boss fight.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', 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.

* In the ''Literature/{{Seventh Tower}}'' 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/{{Supergirl 2015}}'': 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.

* Your first real objective in ''Videogame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' is to rescue Bastila, but when you finally find her she escapes her cage without your help.

** In ''Videogame/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."

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* 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 CuteAnimalMascot with her, for added ass-kicking adorability.)

See also DamselInDistress, DamselOutOfDistress, BadassInDistress, and DistressedDude, and AllForNothing.

* A rare villain example is purposefully invoked in a ''Franchise/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/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] villain) and thus, far more powerful than both Titania and Spider-Man.

* 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 [[http://www.darkencomic.com/d/20080609.html choking the life out of her guard with her chains]]. Of course, that's not how he ''tells'' the story, but that's another trope.

* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', after Quill and Gamora are captured by Yondu, Quill manages to talk them out of executing them. Cue Rocket, Drax and Groot attacking the ship to rescue the two.

** The Squad discovers that Rick Flag has been taken prisoner by a group of 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.

* PlayedForDrama in ''Film/TheRedTent''. 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 ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' 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..."

* In Creator/CarlBarks' final story ''Horsing Around With History'', Scrooge confidently brings the Trojan Horse into his money bin right before WesternAnimation/{{Donald|Duck}} and the boys, back outside, realize the Beagle Boys have been spying on them and must have been hiding inside the Horse. They hurry to warn Uncle Scrooge...only to find him holding the Beagle Boys at cannon-point, having realized something was up because finding the Horse was too easy.
* In ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'', Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II arrive to break Rorschach out of prison just as he breaks himself out, more violently. Silk Spectre complains that he doesn't even seem to appreciate their effort.

* 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.

See also DamselInDistress, DamselOutOfDistress, BadassInDistress, and DistressedDude.

* In the ''Series/{{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.
-->'''Lois''': "Hey, 007. Nice of you to show up."
-->'''Clark''': "I'll start assuming that means 'thank you'."

* ''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 [[FirstEpisodeReserection 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.]]

* How Kazuki was [[CallToAdventure pulled into the story]] at the beginning of ''Manga/BusoRenkin''. One night while at an abandoned factory, he spots a girl being followed by a monster, [[TheDulcineaEffect so he rushes in to try and save her]]... only to end up DEAD. Luckily, Tokiko, the girl in question, is able to revive Kazuki and tries to pass the event off has a nightmare in order to give him a chance at a normal life (which, of course, [[CantStayNormal does not happen]]). A little later into the story, when the two become comrades, Tokiko reveals to Kazuki that she was actually luring the monster out of hiding so she could kill it - [[SenselessSacrifice meaning that Kazuki died for nothing.]]

* A rare villain example is purposefully invoked in a ''Franchise/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/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 normally a [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] villain (and occasionally a [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] villain) and thus, far more powerful than both Titania and Spider-Man.

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* 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...
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* ''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.

** [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E07StealthStrike "Stealth Strike"]]: When Ezra gets captured, the troopers don't even manage to get him into his cell before he escapes, recollects his lightsaber, and disarms all of them. He tosses them in the cell that was meant for him, then stuns the next two stormtroopers who come around the corner. [[DressingAsTheEnemy Except those two were Kanan and Rex, coming to rescue him.]]

** [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS3E02TheAntillesExtraction "The Antilles Extraction"]]: After Sabine, Wedge, and Hobbie get captured by Pryce, Wedge and Hobbie are put in another cell, while Sabine goes through interrogation from Pryce. Wedge tries to think of a plan to save Sabine, but, of course, she breaks herself out and goes to save them instead.

* ''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 Electric Torture. 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.

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* 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.]]
* In episode 4 of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfPrinceValiant'', Rowanne gets kidnapped. The episode alternates between Rowanne fighting off her captor and Valiant and Arn trying to find and rescue her. By the time the boys arrive, Rowanne has defeated her captor ''and'' a guy who wanted to murder them. She does ask the boys to help her out of a hole she had gotten stuck in.
* 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 [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E07StealthStrike season 2, episode 7]], when Ezra gets captured, the troopers don't even manage to get him into his cell before he escapes, recollects his lightsaber, and disarms all of them. He tosses them in the cell that was meant for him, then stuns the next two stormtroopers who come around the corner. [[DressingAsTheEnemy Except those two were Kanan and Rex, coming to rescue him]].

** In [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS3E02TheAntillesExtraction season 3, episode 2]], after Sabine, Wedge, and Hobby get captured by Pryce, Wedge and Hobby are put in another cell, while Sabine goes through interrogation from Pryce. Wedge tries to think of a plan to save Sabine, but, of course, she breaks herself out and goes to save them instead.

** In ''Discworld/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 other novels, such as ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'', attempts to rescue Angua, the Watch's werewolf, are nearly always taken as redundant, with Vimes even thinking that you might end up needing to rescue the kidnapper ''from'' Angua.

* How Kazuki was [[CallToAdventure pulled into the story]] at the beginning of ''Manga/BusouRenkin''. One night while at an abandoned factory, he spots a girl being followed by a monster, [[TheDulcineaEffect so he rushes in to try and save her]]... only to end up DEAD. Luckily, Tokiko, the girl in question, is able to revive Kazuki and tries to pass the event off has a nightmare in order to give him a chance at a normal life (which, of course, [[CantStayNormal does not happen]]). A little later into the story, when the two become comrades, Tokiko reveals to Kazuki that she was actually luring the monster out of hiding so she could kill it - [[SenselessSacrifice meaning that Kazuki died for nothing.]]

** Most versions start with Touma attempting to rescue Mikoto from a group of thugs. Mikoto is probably capable of [[OneManyArmy soloing small armies]]. The anime version subverted this, having Touma try to rescue ''the thugs'' from Mikoto.

* Most versions of ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' start with Touma attempting to rescue Mikoto from a group of thugs. Mikoto is probably capable of 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. 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]].

* In Creator/CarlBarks' final story ''Horsing Around With History'', Scrooge confidently brings the Trojan Horse into his money bin right before WesternAnimation/{{Donald|Duck}} and the boys, back outside, realize the Beagle Boys have been spying on them and must have been hiding inside the Horse. They hurry to warn Uncle Scrooge...only to find him holding the Beagle Boys at cannon-point, having realized something was up because [[GenreSavvy finding the Horse was too easy]].