History Main / RescueRomance

* ''Fanfic/DanganronpaYakuzaArc: Hajime [[SparedByTheAdaptation saves Natsumi Kuzuryu from being murdered]] by Sato. At the end of Part 1 of the Fanfic, they become an OfficialCouple.

* A popular legend says that the [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade notorious]] UsefulNotes/RichardIII's courtship with his wife, Anne Neville was one of these. They were childhood companions and possibly betrothed by their families before her father switched sides in the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRoses and married Anne to the Lancastrian heir to the throne. Her father's plan didn't go well, and he and the Lancastrian prince were killed in battles where Richard was key to the Yorkist victory. As the disgraced daughter of a traitor, Anne was given into the care of her sister, who was married to Richard's brother, George the Duke of Clarence. George wanted Anne's fortune for himself so to prevent Ricard's RomancingTheWidow, he dressed her as a servant and forced her to work as a kitchen maid. The story says Richard searched for weeks before finding her. What is definitely true is that he took her into sanctuary, and after a bitter fight with his brother over her fortune, the two married.

* ''Fanfic/MaybeSproutWings'': In this ''Series/{Supernatural}'' fic, Castiel rescues Dean from slavery and they gradually fall in love.

* ''Fanfic/MaybeSproutWings'': In this ''Series/{Supernatural}'' fic, Castiel rescues Dean from slavery and they gradually fall in love.

* ''Fanfic/MaybeSproutWings'': Castiel rescues Dean from slavery and the two gradually fall in love.

* A popular legend says that the [[HistoricalVillainUpgrade notorious]] UsefulNotes/RichardIII's courtship with his wife, Anne Neville was one of these. They were childhood companions and possibly betrothed by their families before her father switched sides in the UsefulNotes/WarsOfTheRose and married Anne to the Lancastrian heir to the throne. Her father's plan didn't go well, and he and the Lancastrian prince were killed in battles where Richard was key to the Yorkist victory. As the disgraced daughter of a traitor, Anne was given into the care of her sister, who was married to Richard's brother, George the Duke of Clarence. George wanted Anne's fortune for himself so to prevent Ricard's RomancingTheWidow, he dressed her as a servant and forced her to work as a kitchen maid. The story says Richard searched for weeks before finding her. What is definitely true is that he took her into sanctuary, and after a bitter fight with his brother over her fortune, the two married.

Oddly enough some [[ChivalricRomance medieval romancers]], despite being the reason DamselInDistress is called that ("damsel" being the diminutive of medieval French for "lady"), actually sometimes ''didn't like'' this trope. Basically some of them thought that, since the girl now owed the guy, the resulting romance [[DoingItForTheArt wasn't pure enough, aesthetically speaking]]. The various aristocrats who paid their bills mostly [[ExecutiveMeddling told 'em]] [[UnpleasableFanbase to shut up]]; part of the ideal of knighthood was being a protector, and who doesn't want to hear about a good deed they could actually do being rewarded with some sweet lovin'?

* ''Fanfic/RelicOfTheFuture'': {{Deconstructed}}. In the original timeline, Jaune and Weiss apparently got together shortly after the Battle of Haven because [[RescueRomance Jaune saved her life]]. Unfortunately, as a result, the entire foundation of that relationship was that Weiss believed she owed it to him out of gratitude for saving her, and such a terrible foundation meant that it didn't last long for them.

* Inverted in ''Fanfic/SeeingThePattern''. Although Lickity Split was already attracted to Pinkie Pie, Pinkamina doesn't begin returning his feelings until after she saves his life a couple of times.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3733763/1/The-Silent-Horse The Silent Horse]]'', [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma and Akane's]] relationship starts when she rescues him (in his female form) from a gang that wants to gang-rape him.

* ''Fanfic/SophisticationAndBetrayal'' plays with this a little. While Rarity and the protagonist do end up in a relationship after she saves his life - which does get lampshaded - it takes significant time for their relationship to develop and initially only leads to friendship.
* Defied in ''Fanfic/SpectacularSeven''. Moondancer tries to win the heart of Twilight Sparkle by battling against Scarlet Inferno, the EnemyWithout of Sunset Shimmer. However, Twilight [[GenreSavvy is steeped in nerdy culture and sci-fi novels]], recognizes what Moondancer is doing, and tries to let her down gently. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that the whole thing was set up by Moondancer (since she's TheDragon to the BigBad) in an attempt to convince Twilight to break up with Sunset, meaning Moondancer invoked the trope before Twilight defied it.]]
* ''Blog/AStudentOutOfTime'': One of Hajime's early goals is to save [[VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2 Hibiki Otonokoji]] from [[spoiler:her insane serial killer sister]]. Once successful, she moves in with him and later confesses to having fallen in love with him, along with her other saviors [[{{Polyamory}} Chiaki, Mikan, Sonia, and Gundam.]]

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13289918/1/The-Treasure-of-Eyja-Nott The Treasure of Eyja Nott]]''- a modern AU of ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' based on ''Film/TheCountOfMonteCristo2002''- has Hiccup resist Heather's attempt to start a relationship with him after he saves her from Johann because he worries that he'd be taking advantage of her (as well as his own complicated emotions regarding his past with Astrid).

* A gender-inverted version of this in the ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13653421/1/Ash-s-Adventure-Girls-Hunter-Edition Ash's Adventure: Girls' Hunter Edition]]", when Misty notes that Ash seems to be attracted to girls who save his life (granted, under the conditions of their rescue, those girls are technically Ash's 'slaves' even if he'd never enforce such a rule on them).
* Cullen and Victoria are already in a fledgling relationship when they attend the ball at Halamshiral in ''[[Fanfic/TwiceUponAnAge All This Sh*t is Twice as Weird]]'', but the mutual application of this trope helps to move things along for them. First she 'rescues' him from the Orlesian courtiers who have him cornered (which, due to his DarkAndTroubledPast, is a bigger favor than it might seem); later, he saves her more literally when [[spoiler:she's almost murdered by a Harlequin]].
* In ''[[Fanfic/TheAssassinationOfTwilightSparkle Aftermath of a Fallen Star]]'', Sunset Shimmer tried to commit suicide after experiencing both of the pain she caused and the bullying she got after [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls1 trying to turn the school into a zombie army to crush Equestria.]] The Equestria Girls world version of Twilight stopped her and helped her get her life in order, leading to a friendship and later romance.
* In ''Fanfic/CodeGeassThePreparedRebellion'', Lelouch and C.C. start a relationship after he saves her from captivity and torture.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12672455/1/ Dedicated Hearts made Fullmetal]]'' [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist the Elric brothers]] arrive to the ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' world right in the middle of the battle of Trost. The very first person Alphonse saves is [[SparedByAdaptation Mina Carolina]], and the two grow closer when they continue to save one another over the course of the story. [[spoiler:By the time of the TimeSkip, the two even [[BabiesEverAfter have a child together]].]]
* In ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' fanfic ''Fanfic/DirtySympathy'', Apollo starts to return Klavier's feelings for him and decides to turn Klavier's rescue into a mutual StrangersOnATrainPlotMurder when Klavier successfully frames his cruel and abusive BadBoss Kristoph and gets him sent to jail.
* ''Fanfic/EarthAndSky'': Apparently, the unlikely couple of Silver Spoon and Snails first fell in love when he saved her from [[DrivenToSuicide drowning herself]] on prom night (a result of Diamond Tiara's cruel prank).
* In ''Fanfic/FireAndShadow'', Nightpaw fell for Firefang after he saved her from a snake. He remained ObliviousToLove until he's told of her crush. The two eventually ended up mates.
* A rare male example in ''Fanfic/TheFlowerPrincessAndTheAlchemist''. Edward started falling for Orihime when she [[GoThroughMe protected]] him and Al from [[SerialKiller Scar]]. [[spoiler: Cue [[DeclarationOfProtection Declaration of Protection]].]] Bonus points in that they just had a [[WhatTheHellHero horrible fight]] hours earlier, and [[PluckyGirl Orihime]] still chooses to risk her life for his [[{{Determinator}} without hesitation]]. [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe Is it any wonder why Ed starts to fall for her?]]
* ''Fanfic/TheFlashSentryChronicles'': Soarin develops a crush on Rainbow Dash after she saves him and two of his teammates during The Best Young Flyers competition. Rainbow later develops her own crush on Soarin after hanging out with him.
* Averted in the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Forward}}'', where Jayne and River [[spoiler: end up saving each other while they are being held prisoner by Niska]]. While the aftermath of those events resulted in the two of them developing into [[LikeBrotherAndSister a more platonic relationship]], it didn't directly result in romance. [[spoiler: There are hints that there ''might'' be a River/Jayne romance developing later on, however.]]
* In ''Fanfic/{{Heartstrings}}'', the relationship between Marinette and Chat Noir is kicked off when he intervenes to save her from a mugger, though she ends up having to help him when he drops his baton in the process.
* In ''Fanfic/HeritageOfTheWolf'', Jenna and Balto meet when Balto saves Jenna from AttemptedRape.
* In the ''Fanfic/HeroTheGuardianSmurf'' story series, Hero had a relationship with first love Smurfette before his OppositeSexClone Wonder Smurfette came into the picture and the two married each other, eventually giving birth to Hero's first child Saviour. Years later, sometime after Wonder died, Hero came to feel suicidal and was going to end his life when the Smurfs intervened and stopped him from doing so, with Smurfette passionately pleading with Hero to embrace life instead of death. It was from this that Hero rekindled his relationship with Smurfette, and from that, they married and Smurfette became the mother of Hero's second child Miracle.
* The ''Fanfic/HorseshoesAndHandGrenades'' sidestory ''[=SplitxEnd=]'' has Yayoi saved by [[Series/KamenRiderWizard Haruto]] at the hands of Foundation X[[note]]They want to use her and other kidnapped Zodiarts Switchers to bring back their old powers.[[/note]] Yayoi notes that she shouldn't mistake his act as chivalry as a sign of love. [[spoiler: Later in ''Month of Sundays'', when confronted with a doll transformed Haruto, she uses this as a basis of their blooming relationship.]]
* ''Fanfic/IAmNOTGoingThroughPubertyAgain'': Just like [[Manga/{{Naruto}} in canon]], Karin falls in love with the boy who rescues her in the Forest of Death. Although it wasn't Sasuke this time around... it was [[CrackPairing Lee]].
* In ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfZeldaParadiseCalling'', Link and Malon are reunited when she is ambushed by bandits in her milk cart and almost raped before he intervenes.
* ''Fanfic/LostCauses'': Jessica met Roger when he saved her from a man who was attacking her. Roger later got Jessica bought by his copyright owners and took her off the streets.
* ''Fanfic/MayIHaveThisDance'' is a ''RWBY'' twoshot AlternateUniverseFic (in that neither went to Beacon) that revolves around Pyrrha saving Weiss from some boys at a party her parents are hosting. The two girls quickly get close.
* ''Fanfic/MegaManReawakened'' hints at this when Bass saves Roll from a mugging, but it's soured when he learns she's Robert's sister.
* ''Webcomic/NaruHinaChronicles'':
** In the first chapter, Hinata is knocked off a cliff by one of the bad guys. Naruto tries to grab her hand, but it's too late as they both fall into a body of water down below. Fortunately, they both survive and, with one thing leading to another, Naruto starts to develop feelings towards Hinata.
** Tenten falls in love with Neji after he defends her from her abusive ex-boyfriend Yori.
* In ''Fanfic/TheNewRetcons'', this is how John viewed his marriage to Elly, saving her from life as a poor destitute woman [[spoiler: and a single mother]]. It didn't end well. [[spoiler: He repeats this reasoning, minus the spoilered part, with Kortney, viewing himself as her savior from a life of prostitution]]

* [[ShipTease Hinted at]] in the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries'' in Shining Armor's side story -- Sunset, one of Cadence's hoofmaidens, is [[MistakenForSpies mistaken for a Hooviet spy]] and harassed by some overeager Royal troops, only to be saved by Private Ranger, one of Shining's Royal Guards. While they haven't hooked up yet, she seems to have developed a thing for him. As of Part 11, they're an OfficialCouple.

* ''Fanfic/PrehistoricEarth'': Resident rescue team animal expert Leon Gilbertson and assistant veterinarian Yolanda Hall first start developing a particularly strong bond together after the former helps assist in efforts at rescuing the latter from a swarm of brontoscorpio over the course of 'Phase 1'. Much later on, during 'Phase 3', their relationship finally sparks into [[OfficialCouple outright romance]] after multiple chapters of ShipTease when Leon helps save Yolanda again from an escaped [[PantheraAwesome dinofelis]].

* In the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' fic ''Fanfic/RunawayWind'', Ventus wakes up alone in Castle Oblivion and runs into Naminé, quickly agreeing to help her escape from the Organization. Downplayed in that it takes a few weeks for the two of them to even realize they're falling for each other.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Creator/StudioGhibli:
** ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'': Howl and Sophie meet when two soldiers hit on Sophie. Howl uses his magic to send them away. It gets better when Howl takes to the air in order to save both of them from the blob-men of the Witch of the Waste.
** ''Anime/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind'': Nausicaä saves Asbel, causing him to fall in love with her.
* One of the extras for ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou'' shows that this is how Yuu met his girlfriend. She saved him from being hit by a truck (and by 'saved', we mean 'stopped the truck from moving by punching the front'), then they both felt the soulmate shock.
** Rentarou meets Kishika, his seventeenth girlfriend, when she fights off some boys who were harassing him.
* Used slightly in ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi'', when Kaoru kicks Aoi out of his apartment, then goes to rescue her. No fight occurs though... Basically sums up as: "Come on, that innocent girl is part of some big conspiracy? What am I, a freakin' moron? Uh oh, creeps 3 o'clock..." In their defense, the creeps were remarkably good-natured about the whole thing: at no point did they offer to rearrange Kaoru's features over the incident, and even reprimanded him for his poor treatment of the girl.
* Played with in ''Manga/ArakawaUnderTheBridge''. The story begins with Kou Ichinomiya being rescued from drowning by Nino, and being a DebtDetester he insists on repaying her somehow. So she basically proposes that he becomes her boyfriend and lives with her.
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'':
** Mikasa's undying devotion and implied romantic feelings for Eren seem to stem from how he saved her life when they met. Mikasa's parents had just been murdered and she was at the mercy of the killers, then Eren showed up and killed ''them'', and as a corollary, Eren's mother took Mikasa into the Yeager family.
** Discussed by ShipperOnDeck Reiner, when he teases(?) Bertolt by suggesting that rescuing his crush could result in her falling for him.
* In ''Manga/BlackCat'', Train happened to be visiting the same part of town as Kyoko. She gets attacked by thugs, and he decides to intervene, easily disarming all of them. Although she actually didn't need saving, this caused her to [[LoveAtFirstSight fall in love at first sight]]. She proceeds to become another StalkerWithACrush of his, though all of it is rather hopeless for her, considering his personality.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** PlayedForLaughs in the anime. Yoruichi rescues Soifon causing her to completely melt and turn all googly-eyed and gushy.
** This is how Isshin and Masaki met and got together. [[spoiler: When Isshin interferes with Aizen's latest hollowfication experiment, Aizen sabotages Isshin's chances of killing the hollow, and as a result, Isshin is ''severely'' wounded. Masaki jumps in and kills the hollow, saving Isshin's life but inadvertently suffering a fatal hollow infection in the process. Isshin's decision to save her right back meant he had to sacrifice his shinigami power to do so.]]
** One of Ichigo's strongest motivations is to protect his loved ones, and two of these persons are girls not related to him: Rukia, the ActionGirl who gave him his powers at first, and Orihime, his BarrierWarrior friend. Each girl gets abducted for different reasons, and each time Ichigo pulls a RoaringRampageOfRescue for her. [[spoiler: The one he marries is Orihime.]]
* Somewhat inverted in the anime ''Anime/BloodPlus''. Though Haji does end up saving Saya during their "first" meeting (at least long enough to get her to save herself), she initially mistakes him for a serial killer and runs scared.
* Done in ''B.O.D.Y'', when Ryoko is saved from creepy guys on the street by Jin.
* Invoked twice in ''Anime/{{Canaan}}''. Maria Oosawa wants to replay her first meeting with the titular ActionGirl, so she intentionally gets in trouble. Also, [[spoiler: Liang Qi had set up a trap for Alphard to get captured in the beginning so that Liang Qi would get to rescue her. Alphard was very aware of this and went along merely because she was curious where Liang Qi was going with it]].
* ''Manga/CaseClosed'':
** Specifically invoked and then ''harshly'' deconstructed. A guy who hopelessly crushes on Ran, Sonoko, and Shinichi's sempai Asami [[spoiler: drugs her when they go karaoke singing and then secretly sets her place on fire, hoping she'd finally fall for him when he rescued her]]. In the end, [[spoiler: not only Ran was the one who really rescued Asami, but Conan (through Kogoro) revealed his gambit to everyone, [[WhatTheHellHero harshly calling him out]] on his selfishness]].
** Played straighter with the OfficialCouple of Ran and Shinichi, since they've mutually helped and rescued each other (even if Shinichi is in his Conan form almost all the time) several times - often a ''great'' risk to themselves. Lampshaded once when Ran's drugged and almost forcibly drowned at some point, then Conan rushes in to help her; thanks to the drug and lack of oxygen she sees Conan as Shinichi, and before passing out she smiles and says "Don't worry, I'm okay... Shinichi came to save me..."
** It's played straight as well with another OfficialCouple: [[spoiler: Kobayashi and Shiratori. As children, he supported her when she stood up to shoplifters. As adults, he is one of the persons who protects her when she's targeted by a murderer because s{{he knows too much}} (complete with a DeclarationOfProtection), and him giving a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to the culprit that sounded almost ''exactly'' like the one he gave to the shoplifters is what [[FirstGirlAfterAll makes her remember that he was the boy from their past]]]].
** Played straight with [[spoiler: Miwako and Takagi]] more than once. She's his ActionGirlfriend and [[spoiler: ''did'' lose her FirstLove to a MadBomber]], so any time the guy's at risk she's gone ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend on the culprits.
** Played straight with Makoto and Sonoko when the former saved the latter from a serial killer, kickstarting their relationship in the process. He was attracted to her when he saw her cheer for Ran in a karate competition he was also in.
* During an attack by the [[MadBomber Graviton Bomber]] in ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', a random cop saves a girl from an explosion. Later, the gang runs into the two, and they are now dating.
* ''Manhwa/CielTheLastAutumnStory'':
** Yvienne and Lariatte become each other's familiars through a textually platonic version of this.
** Later on, the Earth Dragon tries to set this up between Yvienne and Krohiten. It ends up both blowing up in his face and redundant.
* ''Manga/CityHunter'', combined with GirlOfTheWeek, Ryo usually gets someone he's hired to protect to like him.
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Euphemia ends up on both sides of this trope.
** She fakes being in danger after Suzaku catches her falling, to get him to spend the day with her.
** Later, Nina falls for Euphie after Euphie rescues her from a hostage situation.
* Played with in the BL manga ''Cool/Uncool'' by Kai Asou. The story is about how main characters Yukihisa (uke) and Takashi (seme), now best friends, get together, but Yukihisa gives backstory to their relationship by remembering their first meeting in elementary school, where Yukihisa is a bullied transfer student whose tormentors are Takashi's group of friends. When Yukihisa is eventually called out in a schoolyard fight, the manga seems to set up this trope when Yukihisa is put in a two-on-situation. When the reader turns the page, it ends up with Yukihisa kicking the asses of his bullies, and when Takashi arrives, supposedly to rescue him and thereby invoke this trope, Yukihisa ends up tacking him to the ground as if he were another bully.
* Parodied in one episode of ''Anime/DailyLivesOfHighSchoolBoys'': the student council of the boys' school is talking with the girls' school's student council president, trying to get her to do them a favor. A man comes by and mistakes their conversation for thugs trying to hit on an unwilling girl, and tries to pull a classic Rescue Romance. Noticing this and deciding to "help", the guys immediately start pretending to be thugs and then deliberately fall easily. Sadly, the girl president is a moron and thinks that they want her to punch the guy out afterward.
* Episode 13 of ''Anime/DarlingInTheFranxx'' reveals that [[spoiler:Hiro and Zero Two]] formed a PuppyLove version of this during their childhood when the former tried to help the latter escape to the outside world. This later becomes the basis of their ''actual'' romance [[spoiler:when they recover their memories and apologize for their mistakes in Episode 15]].
* ''Manga/DearS'': Takeya gains the romance of his UnwantedHarem by coming to their rescue, starting with saving Ren from being run over on a highway, and rescuing Miu from having fallen down a well.
* ''Manga/{{Debusen}}'':
** Played with. Koyama doesn't outright ''rescue'' Akira, but he does throw her her knife so that she can defend herself from the giant animals that have cornered her. It's this incident that causes her to develop feelings for him.
** Played straight when Akira saves Koyama from Ryuuchi's gang, who had kidnapped him and tied him naked to a bed in an attempt to frame Mitsuru (ItMakesSenseInContext), which causes a RelationshipUpgrade between the two of them.
* Later chapters of ''Manga/DNAngel'' have hinted at a romance between [[spoiler:Satoshi and Risa]] after he saves her from a deadly fall.
* ''Manga/{{Earthchild}}'': Reisuke meets, and falls in love with, Kareri after she saves him from being hit by a truck.
* ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'':
** Parodied when Fujisawa "saves" Miz from her monstrous-looking manservant (she was screaming because the servant poured cold water on her instead of hot). Miz falls in love with him anyway and doesn't bother correcting him.
** This is later played straight when Shayla Shayla falls for Makoto after he [[TakingTheBullet takes a shot from a power staff]] for her. And again, in the SequelSeries when Makoto saves Kauru from drowning.
* In ''Manga/FlameOfRecca'', Recca and Yanagi meet in a 'saved from forceful advances' scenario. Played slightly more straight in the anime [[spoiler: when Recca pushes her out of the way of a bunch of falling girders]].
* This is what kicks off the plot of ''Manga/FlyMeToTheMoon'' - Tsukasa saves Nasa from being hit by a truck, and he falls head over heels in love with her.
* Gloriously subverted in ''Manga/FujimuraKunMates''. The titular character, Fujimura, once saved a girl from a group of delinquents. Then a very cute and grateful imouto character shows up at his school, initially assumed to be the girl he saved. Turns out, [[spoiler: she's the leader of the delinquents]]!
* Essentially the whole plot of ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'':
** Also played with in an episode of ''Anime/FullMetalPanicFumoffu'': the karate club's strategy for a "flirting contest" involves dressing up three of its members as thugs and having them accost young women so that [[{{Bishonen}} Tsubaki]] can come to their rescue. It backfires spectacularly when the crowd of girls he's "rescued" in this fashion find out it was for a contest.
** Dancing Very Merry Christmas also subverts it when Tessa gets captured and Sousuke goes to retrieve her. The ensuing rescue fits all the associated action movie romance tropes so well that Tessa almost believes for a second that she might have won the LoveTriangle as Sousuke jumps out of an exploding airplane to perform a DivingSave and ([[AccidentalKiss inadvertantly]]) kisses her ear as he catches her. Then she realizes that Sousuke decided to ShootTheHostageTaker, a risk he's perfectly comfortable taking on anyone ''but'' Kaname. So to get over it as quickly as possible, Tessa asks Sousuke if he's in love with Kaname rather than her. [[ArmorPiercingResponse He tersely answers yes.]]
--->'''Tessa:''' You just had to put that so bluntly, didn't you?\\
'''Sousuke:''' ... Sorry.
* Tamahome rescues Miaka from some pervy thugs at the beginning of ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. Nakago, bastard that he is, does the same with Yui ''after'' the fact, and only encourages the resulting emotional vulnerability.
* This is sincerely attempted by the antagonist of the manga ''Manga/GinenShounen''. Hero Matataki is fighting tennis star Koda for the love of Matataki's childhood friend Mirai, armed with photos that show the future. After failing to win Mirai's heart through the benefits of fame and wealth, and only partly succeeding by threatening her with the possibility that refusing him would lead to Matataki's predicted death, his final step is to use a pair of photos to save Mirai from certain death and have her wake up in his arms, at which point he's certain she'll fall in love with him. Subverted here though, as this has no effect on Mirai's feelings: she's still willing to marry Koda without hesitation, but only because she thinks it's necessary to protect Matataki, and realizing this fact is what finally wakes Koda up.
* This is what kicks off the plot of ''Gonin Hitoyaku demo Kimi ga Suki''. Taiga falls in love with Chika after she saves him from the manure pit he fell into, then discovers that she's actually a fake identity assumed by five quintuplet sisters and decides to make them ''all'' his girlfriends due to being unable to tell just ''which'' girl he fell in love with.
* In ''Animation/GuardianFairyMichel'', Salome tries to invoke this in one episode in the hopes of getting some treasure.
* Both played straight and played with in ''Anime/GunXSword''. Van and Wendy meet when he rescues her, but he wasn't trying to rescue her; apparently, he thought she was already dead. Later in the same episode, he deliberately chooses to rescue her, despite having turned down her offer of marriage.
* Subverted in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Wing]]'''s ''Episode Zero'' manga, where [[spoiler: Middie Une falls in love with No-name aka the future Trowa Barton after he rescues and recruits her into their mercenary group, but she ''still'' betrays the band to protect and feed her family]].
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'': Cyborg girl Triela has her LoveEpiphany when she discovers that not only did her handler Victor Hilshire save her from a SnuffFilm, but he became her handler solely to continue protecting her. [[spoiler: Then it's subverted because she doesn't pursue him. Triela is GenreSavvy enough to realize that a good part of her feelings may come from her conditioning and that a man like Hilshire is not interested in romance with his 14-year-old {{Protectorate}}.]]
* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'':
** Hayate and Nagi meet in a similar 'saved from thugs' fashion; unknown to Nagi, Hayate's original intention was to kidnap her - he was protecting his prey...Hayate is almost instantly regretful of his intentions, though.
** Hayate ends up saving [[HaremGenre a lot of the series' girls]] this way, and even a guy at one point--though that one didn't create any romantic undertones.
* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'': [[TheCutie Asami]] fell hard for Hirano after he stood up to Shimada for her, to keep him from [[spoiler: [[AttemptedRape raping Shizuka]]]]. Shortly after the incident, she followed him up to the rooftop to thank him, while dropping not-so-subtle hints that [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan she was available]] ''and interested''.
* Satoshi Hojou saves Shion Sonozaki from a group of thugs in a flashback in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' (the same thugs who have also tried to attack Keiichi Maehara, Rika Furude, and Satoshi's sister Satoko in [[AlternateUniverse different timelines]]). This leads to Shion immediately falling in love with Satoshi. However, as this is ''Higurashi'', [[{{Yandere}} her love is]] [[LoveMakesYouCrazy a bit]] [[LoveMakesYouEvil different]]. (Only in two worlds, to be fair.)
* ''Manga/IkkiTousen'':
** {{Gender inverted|Trope}} in the anime. Sonsaku Hakufu used to protect her cousin Shuuyu Koukin from bullies when they were small, and Koukin [[KissingCousins fell in love with Hakufu]] when they grew up.
** Played in LesYay sense with Ryoufu, who used to protect her best friend Chinkyuu when they were little girls. Chinkyuu is later one of [[ReallyGetsAround her lovers]] [[DepravedBisexual of both genders]], [[MoralityPet and the one she cares for the most.]]
* ''Manga/InuYasha'':
** This is how [[HalfHumanHybrid Jinenji's parents]] met decades ago. Jinenji's mother was a villager girl who once hurt her leg when collecting herbs, and was rescued by a kind {{youkai}}.
** There are all the instances in which Inuyasha and Kagome rescue each other throughout the whole story, starting with Kagome unsealing Inuyasha from the tree that Kikyou pinned him against so he can fight off the Centipede Woman about to kill her. It even got lampshaded at the start, when Kagome talked her way out of the Thunder Brothers killing her via making them believe that Inuyasha was her boyfriend and would come for her later so it was ''not'' in their best interests to murder her.
** Occasionally happens between Miroku and Sango as well.
* In ''Anime/{{K}}'', Shiro is running away from HOMRA in the first episode when Kuroh saves him. Kuroh picks Shiro up in his arms, and Shiro [[CrushBlush blushes]] as he sees Kuroh's face for the first time. Then Kuroh carries him up to a rooftop... and proceeds to try to "slay" Shiro himself. [[spoiler: They do end up being teammates, though, with a ''lot'' more romantic moments later on - and Kuroh does stop trying to slay him.]]
* ''Manga/KidsOnTheSlope'': Sentaro first meets Yurika in the BeachEpisode while saving her from a group of guys harassing her.
* ''Manga/LovelyComplex'': Seiko falls for Otani after Otani saves her from a dog.
* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'':
** The first meeting of [[LesYay Subaru and Ixpellia]] in ''AudioPlay/StrikersSoundStageX'' began with Subaru shielding [[MysteriousWaif Ix]] from falling debris, followed by Subaru fighting off the [[NightOfTheLivingMooks Mariages]] that came for Ix (with an accompanying image of a very battered Subaru cradling Ix as they gaze into each other's eyes), and ended with Subaru symbolically and literally bringing Ix out of the darkness and into the light of the current era. When all of that was done, Ix saw Subaru as one of the only people she felt calm with because she rescued her. Unsurprisingly, there's a small but noticeable amount of supporters for this {{ship|ping}} [[spoiler: which would have been bigger, [[DyingDeclarationOfLove had Ix not entered her 1000 years of sleep]]]].
** And for a straighter example in both senses of the phrase, we have Tohma and Lily, the main pairing for ''Force'' who first meet when Tohma finds Lily bound in an abandoned lab, releases her, and takes her with him.
** And, of course, more or less the basis for Fate/Nanoha. Nanoha ''is'' the one who helps her through her ordeals, after all.
** The Nanoha and Fate Rescue Romance gets reversed in ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaInnocent'', with Nanoha meeting Fate for the first time when the latter saves the former from getting hammered by Vita. This was given a LampshadeHanging by [[ThoseTwoGuys Arisa]] as she teased Nanoha about her obvious developing crush on Fate.
--->'''Arisa:''' And you were like a PrinceCharming to Nanoha! \\
'''Nanoha:''' Nya?! \\
'''Arisa:''' She's been worrying about you aaaaaaaaall day, Fate. [[LoveAtFirstSight And she just couldn't take her eyes off you when she first saw you]]. \\
'''Nanoha:''' NO- I, uh- [[DiggingYourselfDeeper I was just thinking about how cool you looked... and how pretty you are...]]
* Discussed and deconstructed in an episode of ''Anime/MagicalPokaan'', where the girls are discussing how they would like to meet their future boyfriends. Liru suggests this as her preferred scenario, but Aiko criticizes her, saying that such relationships tend to be based on heat-of-the-moment attraction and don't tend to last.
* ''Manga/MarisTheChojo'': Invoked. Whilst Maris has to save intergalactic heir Koganemaru as part of her job, she is also excited by the idea that he may fall in love with her for rescuing him and propose to her. At least partially because she hopes that marrying a billionaire will [[GoldDigger help her escape]] her PerpetualPoverty.
* ''Manga/{{Marriagetoxin}}'': Invoked in the premise. Protagonist Gero is an assassin that wants to find a wife to continue his clan, however, he has no social skills, relatable interests, and no capacity to charm someone when actually interacting with them. Kinosaki, a marriage swindler whose helps he enlists, realizes he is at his most charming when he is rescuing or fighting to protect people, prompting him to take up jobs which involves rescuing and bodyguarding women to show his best side to possible romantic interests.
* Luna in the ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' anime - Megaman saves her from falling to her death, and overnight she becomes a (non-evil) StalkerWithACrush. Happens to a lesser degree in the game.
* ''Manga/MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'', based on the original "Literature/TheLittleMermaid" story, has two Rescue Romances, both involving the same person and causing a rivalry that lasts the second season. Interestingly, Lucia saved Kaito from drowning when they were six, and Kaito does the "chase away perverts" variant multiple times in the story, but the former is more important to their relationship than the latter.
* Seiji Sawamura saves Takako Ayase in ''Manga/MidoriDays'' from a band of delinquents that were dragging her away. She falls in love shortly afterward when she sees him letting himself get beaten up without resorting to violence (fighting back) in order to save a friend and defuse the gang's grudge.
* ''Manga/MissionYozakuraFamily'': Ayaka falls in love with Mutsumi after the latter saves her from an assassin.
* ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'':
** Tohru has been in love with Kobayashi ever since she pulled a holy sword out of her back. Although her feelings are unrequited due to IncompatibleOrientation.
** It happens again with Ilulu when [[GoThroughMe Kobayashi stands up to]] a UsefulNotes/KnightsTemplar Order dragon to protect her. Her feelings are also unrequited, resulting in her redirecting her feelings to Taketo instead.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'' has a '''very''' twisted example on the ''antagonists'' side when Katejina Loos falls for [[CharClone Chronocle Asher]] when he saves her from getting raped. By the end of the series, she's gone from a JerkWithAHeartOfGold to a murderous lunatic, and it's unclear how much of it is his fault.
* ''Manga/{{Monster}}'':
** Played with repeatedly. Tenma's first meeting with adult Nina when she's waiting by Heidelberg castle seems like it's going this way, except for the aversion [[spoiler: they never unambiguously get beyond WillTheyOrWontThey]], the inversion [[spoiler: [[ActionGirl she]] ends up rescuing him that time, and by being there, they both fail to save her foster parents]], and the disturbing subversion that her MeetCute-ish LampshadeHanging response to Tenma's appearance ("Are you my prince?") is primed by a series of anonymous romantic emails [[spoiler: which are [[{{Squick}} actually]] from her twin brother.]].
** In a more straightforward(!) subversion, both the BigBad and TheDragon frequently pose as rescuers and unexpected friends and allies, romantically or otherwise, in order to further their plans. [[HeartwarmingOrphan Karl's]] quasi-idolatrous friendship with Johan also just keeps on giving on the DramaticIrony and FridgeHorror fronts, the more you find out about [[spoiler: Karl's family and Johan's connections with them]].
** Johan's own MindGameShip fixation on Tenma could also be seen as a very warped one-sided version of this, for all Johan's questionable reassurance that he sees Tenma as a father figure since Tenma saved his life when he was a very young boy.
** Also by way of subversion, Tenma's repeated rescues of his StalkerWithACrush ex Eva [[spoiler: who eventually gets the nearest to straight version of this trope with [[BodyguardCrush her bodyguard]] Martin]], and Nina's response to Tenma saving her brother.
** Averted when Nina is [[spoiler:rescued and nursed back to health by Lipsky. He develops feelings for her, but she doesn't seem to view him as anything more than a close friend]].
* Played with in ''Manga/MyBrideIsAMermaid''. Nagasumi and Sun first met when she saved him from drowning, but they don't fall in love until later in the story.
** Satori plays this straight when she falls in love with Nagasumi after he saves her from a collapsing theatre.
** Maruko also falls for Nagasumi after he saves her life.
* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' plays it both ways with Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka. During the entry exam for the UA High, Ochaco ends up with her leg pinned by some debris as a giant robot approaches. Disregarding his own safety and the fact that he needs to score points, Izuku rushes to jump in and [[MegatonPunch smashes the robot with a single punch]] to save her. Unfortunately, the strain of using his powers ends up leaving his limbs crippled and he plummets to the ground, but then Ochaco uses [[GravityMaster her zero-gravity powers]] to stop him before he hits the ground, saving him as well. As the story advances, it becomes evident that the two have developed feelings for each other, but they both are too shy to express them.
* ''Manga/MyLoveStory'' starts when Takeo saves Yamato from a man on the train. It's LoveAtFirstSight and they start dating soon afterwards, though Takeo at first thinks that Yamato would fall for his best friend. [[spoiler: Later it turns out he had met Yamato ''[[FirstGirlAfterAll years before]]''.]]
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** Rock Lee believes in this with Sakura. Despite [[SingleTargetSexuality her unwavering love for Sasuke]], Sakura appreciates and respects Lee's efforts in protecting her.
** {{Double Subver|sion}}ted in Chapter 437, when [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Hinata]] jumps in to try to save Naruto from [[TheDragon Pain]]. She tells Naruto that she can't stay back while he's in danger [[AnguishedDeclarationOfLove because she loves him]], then attacks Pain -- who, after a brief fight, smacks her down, stabs her, and insinuates to Naruto that she's dead. [[DespairEventHorizon Naruto promptly loses it worse than he ever has before]]. [[AdaptationExpansion The anime]] not only extends the fight but also turns it into a MeaningfulEcho with both characters in the opposite positions when they were younger, against a trio of bullies; this was [[RetCanon later canonized]] in ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie''. They play this straight in ''The Last''. Now adults, Naruto again saves Hinata, this time from [[BigBad Toneri]], and after the FinalBattle, [[spoiler:they ''finally'' begin their romantic relationship]]--it serves as a CallBack and MeaningfulEcho to the story of how Naruto's parents fell in love.
** As revealed in Chapter 498, Naruto's mother, Kushina, fell in love with Naruto's father, Minato, when he saved her from the Kumo ninja that kidnapped her when she was a kid, and then [[HeroesWantRedheads boldly complimented her red hair]], which other children [[KidsAreCruel used as a reason to bully her]].
** As revealed in Chapter 482, Karin fell in love with Sasuke after he saved her from a bear in a Chuunin exam she was taking.
** Also spoofed in [[{{Filler}} Episode 101]] of the original anime. In a flashback, Kakashi easily defeats the pathetic Moya Triad who had been pestering a random woman, and afterwards she's completely smitten with Kakashi.
** Rin also loved Kakashi before and after he rescued her, even jumping in front of his attack so that the tailed beast inside her couldn't be unleashed--this was [[TearJerker her idea]] of a "rescue".
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
** Given Setsuna's obvious BodyguardCrush on Konoka and Konoka's reaction every time "Secchan" saves her, this forms much of the basis behind the casual observer's view of them. When [[spoiler:they finally pactio (and Konoka seems to be hinting broadly that it's gone from subtext to text)]] in Chapter 252, it happens immediately after Setsuna saved Konoka without even realizing it.
** Lampshaded early on in Chapter 55 when the girls think Negi is going to confess to Ku Fei as a result of her saving him that morning.
** Negi's first major interaction with Nodoka involved catching her after she fell off of a staircase, and he saved her from Evangeline not long after. When he saves her in Chapter 219 [[spoiler:from a group of bounty hunters, he goes [[BerserkButton half-nuts on them]] when he sees [[BlackComedyRape what they're doing to her]]]]. They have a pretty serious moment in Chapter 228 [[spoiler:after ''she'' rescues ''him'']], at least until [[MomentKiller Kotarou]] jumps in. She also rescues him earlier on in Chapter 41, helping him win his first fight with Kotaro. A good chunk of their relationship consists of saving each other's asses.
** [[spoiler: Negi's father Nagi]] and [[spoiler: Negi's {{Tsundere}} mother Arika]] [[BelligerentSexualTension finally]] [[TheBigDamnKiss kiss]] right after he and his friends rescue her [[spoiler: from being unfairly executed on (fake) charges of treason and genocide]] in Chapter 269.
* Deconstructed in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', where Shinji jumps into the Mount Asama volcano, without protective gear, on the off-chance he can get Asuka out of it in time. Asuka, due to her pride and troubled past, simultaneously wants Shinji to accept her feelings and not feel dependent on him, leading to tension between them.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'' Oda's stand on NoHuggingNoKissing makes sure the "romance" part of the rescue is underplayed or not there at all, but there some notable cases...
** Kohza and Vivi as children, leaving her feelings towards him as more than platonic.
** Sanji always tries this with [[GoldDigger Nami]] after his BigEntrance (often sending the bad guy flying), Sanji will turn to her ask ''Have you fallen in love with me now?'' she gives him varying responses: telling him to go blow off, saying she loves him so that he will hurry up, or actually being genuinely grateful for the rescue.
** Combined with BodyguardCrush in the Dressrosa arc In a flashback showing the past of the [[LivingToys Thunder Soldier]] shows he was the bodyguard of [[spoiler:Rebecca's mother]], who disliked him because of his criminal past until he rescued her from a kidnapping attempt.
** Dwarf Princess Mansherry loved Leo even more when he rescued her, but Leo [[ObliviousToLove thought she was being selfish]].
* In episode 9 of ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' Jyushimatsu practices his baseball swing on the beach when he spots a woman [[DrivenToSuicide ready to jump off a cliff]]. He decides to keep swinging until she gets away from the edge, but Jyushimatsu ends up engulfed by water. The unnamed woman ultimately ends up saving ''him''.
* The normally strong-willed Haruhi from ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' is unapproachable to the host club's cliched attempts at romantic talk. However, she's terrified to the point of cowering in the fetal position at [[FearOfThunder the sound of thunder]]. ''Two'' of the male cast get closer to her by saving her from this.
** [[spoiler:Done ''twice'' at the end of the anime when Haruhi chases down Tamaki in a horse-drawn carriage to stop him from leaving the Host Club and his happiness. Then when she holds out her hand to reach for him, the carriage tumbles and the poor girl goes flying off the bridge... leading Tamaki to jump out of the car and rescue ''her''.]]
* Invoked intentionally in ''Anime/{{Penguindrum}}'', when Ringo tries to stage an incident where she's drowning so her crush Tabuki will rescue her. [[spoiler: Subverted since it fails, so Shoma has to save her.]] And then it's [[spoiler: played straight because, after settling her thoughts on Tabuki, Ringo falls for Shouma instead]].
* In ''Anime/Persona4TheAnimation'', Rise falls in love with Yu after he saves her life. While the rest of the team helped to rescue her, she developed an intense attraction towards him alone. This might possibly be due to the fact that during Rise's first appearance in the mall scene, she believes someone is chasing her, until she's trapped and learns that Yu simply wanted to return her phone to her, then leaving, without making any indication that he knows who she is. This may have led her to believe there was a [[RecognitionFailure Recognition Failure]].
* ''Anime/PhantomQuestCorp'': Though it's implied that Makiko met [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire Bosco]] through his teashop, and had secretly been allowing him to feed on her, she doesn't fall for him until he helps save her from Dracula. They become an OfficialCouple at the conclusion of the first Incident File.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
** [[ChasteHero Ash's]] first major opponent in the Johto League, Macy, suggests this in a not-very-subtle way after he saves her and her Vulpix during a Team Rocket attack. [[ObliviousToLove Ash being Ash]], this does not go anywhere.
** Ash saves Misty a few times, and while Ash was oblivious, it very much meant something to Misty
** Happens again several seasons later with Angie, [[CluelessChickMagnet with similar results]].
** Brock would always try this and get few results.
** Also part of the backstory of Serena, part of Ash's Kalos band of TrueCompanions. When they were both little, he rescued her from being lost in a forest. A recent incident that helped jog her memory of the event would drive her to find him and join his group.
** {{Parodied|Trope}} with a girl who falls in love with three different guys who "save" her in relatively minor ways--one of whom is [[CasanovaWannabe Brock]], who's thrown completely off his game and doesn't recover until she's moved on to the next guy--[[AllergicToLove James]].
** Almost played straight (or at least fantasized about) by Jessie when a guest doctor rescues her, to the point where she's willing to leave Team Rocket. However, he's already in love with someone else, so she decides to [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy let them be together]].
** The relationship between Professors Kukui and Burnet has shades of this, as they get married a few episodes after Kukui and his Braviary save Burnet from a ZergRush of Dragon Pokémon.
** Heavily implied in ''Anime/PokemonHeroes'' between [[InterspeciesRomance Ash and Latias]], the two get plenty of ShipTease with Latias clearly crushing on Ash and their first major interaction was when Ash saved her from Annie and Oakley, of course aside from a kiss on the cheek nothing ever comes from it.
** ZigZaggingTrope in ''Anime/PokemonTheRiseOfDarkrai'' between Alice and Tonio. When they were children, Alice believed that Tonio had saved her from falling off a cliff and professed her love right then and there. Tonio admits during the course of the movie that he didn't know what had really saved her, but has just realized that it was the Pokémon Darkrai, leaving Alice at least mildly disappointed. During the climactic battle, Tonio saves Alice for real, and her reaction shows that the romance is back on track.
* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', Yellow both gains admiration for and falls in love with Red after he saves her life from a rampaging Dratini, prompting her to be determined to [[RescueArc save ''him'' when she learns that he's gone missing]]. Of course, Red, [[IdiotHero being as oblivious as he is]], doesn't recognize her as the girl he once saved and probably never bothered wondering why she went through so much trouble for him.
* ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'':
** Parodied. Sakuno has a crush on Ryoma from the first time she saw him when he stopped a show-off who was about to hit her on the face with his racket - but it turns out Ryoma had not even acknowledged Sakuno's presence back then, and only stopped the moron because he was too loud and didn't let him nap in the train.
** Arguably played a bit more straight with An and Momoshiro: he saved her and Sakuno from bullies first, later he teamed up with Kamio to have Atobe give up on [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty forcing her on a date]]. ''Arguably'', because neither Momo nor An make moves towards a RelationshipUpgrade when given the chance (despite the relationship chart hinting at her having a crush on him), whereas Kamio is firmly put in the role of the [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Unlucky Childhood Friend]].
** Played straighter with Ryoma's parents. His {{Tsundere}} mother Rinko [[LoveAtFirstPunch didn't have a good impression]] of her soon-to-be husband Nanjiroh after he told her she was flat-chested and kept teasing her when [[SheCleansUpNicely she wore a girlier tennis outfit]] - he had to wipe the floor with her JerkAss coach that [[KickTheDog hit her and a little child with tennis balls]] to gain her appreciation.
* ''Anime/PrincessTutu'':
** In the first episode, Princess Tutu saves Mytho after he jumps out a window to save a baby bird from a raven attack. She then starts to save him about OncePerEpisode until he starts to fall for her.
** Also, it's revealed in the second season that [[spoiler:Rue met Mytho when he saved her from a crow attack, and she in turn saved his life by [[IntimateHealing giving him water through a kiss]]]]. [[HoYay Fakir]] might count for Mytho, as well. Also Ahiru and Fakir's most romantic scenes come when they are rescuing each other.
** And by the end, [[spoiler: Rue and Mytho fully seal the trope when they rescue each other. On one hand, Rue's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove breaks the spell that has turned Mytho evil (which she [[LoveMakesyouEvil mistakenly helped cause]] one might add), and when Tutu arrives next to a now-normal Mytho she tells him that Rue saved him. On the other hand, Rue is immediately captured by her ArchnemesisDad the Raven, and Mytho rescues her from a slow and agonizing death]].
* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': [[{{Tsundere}} Nino's]] relationship with Fuutarou starts out as antagonistic, but she gradually falls for him throughout several incidents that could be construed as this trope. In the early chapters, she shields her from a stack of falling books and during the fireworks festival manages to pull her out of a jostling crowd before she gets lost. Later during the school trip, while dressed as "[[LovesMyAlterEgo Kintarou]]", he finds her alone and scared in the forest and saves her from falling off a cliff when she runs off blindly. [[RunningGag And much later]], at one point that Fuutarou falls into a lake, she and her sisters jump into the water to save him [[ForgotICouldntSwim but since she can't swim]], ends up having to be rescued ''by him'' instead. The one that seals the deal happens in Chapter 59 when she's having an argument with her father over whether she and the others should keep staying at their current place or not, and Fuutarou shows up on a motorbike and takes her away, prompting her to [[LoveConfession confess that she's fallen in love with him]].
* Averted in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Ranma Saotome saves [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Kodachi Kuno]] from falling off of a roof -- but caused her to fall in the first place because he accidentally hit her in the head while she was running away from an attempt to ambush Akane Tendo. Kodachi fixates him on a romantic figure after she comes to, but Ranma does not reciprocate her feelings, due to a combination of having two existing {{Arranged Marriage}}s (though he's only aware of one at the moment) and an AccidentalMarriage (though neither he nor the girl in question is aware of it at this precise moment), and Kodachi's... ''unusual''... ideas about romance. Her first action after regaining consciousness -- well, second, her first is to cuddle to him and ask for his name -- is to paralyze him with a bouquet of poison-laced roses so she can kiss him.
* ''Manga/Reborn2004'':
** Tsuna saves Gokudera from his own bombs, leading to a StalkerWithACrush situation. This show is kinda known for its ridiculous amounts of HoYay.
** Also Haru fell for Tsuna after he saved her from drowning.
** Might as well tack [[spoiler:Enma]] on.
* ''Manga/RentAGirlfriend'': Ruka falls in love with Kazuya after he breaks her fall when she falls down some stairs.
* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'':
** While Utena at first mostly intended to duel Saionji for being cruel to Wakaba, winning their duel let her 'win' ''another'' girl he mistreats: Anthy, the Rose Bride. Whom she protects from anyone who wants to possess and harm her, [[spoiler: including her once-kind-and-now-abusive brother and the BigBad, Akio. And including HERSELF, in a sense, since she did it more in self-interest than to genuinely help Anthy]]. And it turns out [[spoiler: this was a sort-of InvokedTrope since Akio was so smart that he arranged for [[DecoyDamsel Anthy]] to be in vulnerable positions to fire up Utena's BullyHunter side and bring her into the duels. She's devastated when she finds out, then realises that she also was selfish to Anthy and resolves to ''truly'' aid her]].
** Spun around quite a bit in the case of Tsuwabuki and Nanami. Tsuwabuki has this big-ass PrecociousCrush on Nanami and wants to help and protect her, right? Well, what's better than ''actually putting her in dangerous situations so he can rescue her'', right?
* Fumi from ''Manga/RisingXRydeen'' goes from trying to make Takara her servant to falling in love with him after he buys time for her and her underlings to escape some really powerful enemies.
* Tsukune from ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' earned [[SuccubiAndIncubi Kurumu's]] ([[UnwantedHarem unwanted]]) affections when he [[MoralityChain stops Moka from ripping off her wings and tail]]. It wasn't a conventional rescue, but he definitely showed his [[NiceGuy good side]].
* Subverted in ''Manga/SchoolRumble'' - the entire reason Harima grew facial hair, wears sunglasses, and became a delinquent was so that he could be close to Tenma [[spoiler:without her recognizing him. ''He'' fell in love with ''her'' after saving her from hoodlums, and took her back to his place because she was unconscious. When he leaned in for the [[DudeShesLikeInAComa traditional kiss]], she woke up and thought he was about to molest her (or already had)]].
* Momoka on ''Manga/SgtFrog'' tries to ''stage'' one of these every couple of episodes, in order to get closer to Fuyuki. But Fuyuki's [[NonActionGuy not the most athletic person]], and the Keronians [[MomentKiller keep barging into things]]...
* Subverted in ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'': In the first episode of the anime adaptation, Gourry steps in to save Lina from Bandits, but [[BlackMagicianGirl she really didn't need the help]]. Also, while she ''does'' admit he's handsome and lets him continue traveling with her, the development of their relationship has more to do with their adventures together than their initial meeting (despite him having a BodyguardCrush on her for quite a while).
* ''Manga/SoulEater'': Ox saves his long-time {{Love Interest|s}} [[CuteWitch Kim]] from [[BigBad Arachne and Arachnophobia]], which earns him a RelationshipUpgrade.
* This shows up mildly in the various ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' continuities. In the manga, this ends up turned on its ear when Aeka waits for her saviour after being captured, hoping for a little Rescue Romance with Tenchi ... and finds ''Ryoko'' coming to the rescue (she knocked Tenchi out and took the only available spaceship so that he wouldn't be able to put himself at risk). Aeka's disappointed in the choice of rescuer, and Ryoko isn't very fond of the lack of gratitude. Resulting in Ryoko {{Dope Slap}}ing Aeka so hard she feels it even through the force field that confines her.
%%* The start of ''Manga/TenshiNaKonamaiki''.
* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'':
** Kotetsu Kaburagi and Tomoe Amamiya's relationship was kick-started when Kotetsu rescued her from a factory explosion. Of course, the fact that he was an aspiring superhero and she was a raging superhero fangirl [[GeekyTurnOn might have had something to do with it]].
** [[GenerationXerox It runs in the family]]; their daughter Kaede gets a PrecociousCrush on Barnaby after he saves her in the second episode.
* ''Manga/ToLoveRu'':
** After Rito saves Yui from a group of delinquents, she develops feelings for him.
** In the sequel "Darkness", Rin (Saki's bodyguard) develops feelings for Rito after he saves her from a cursed sword (with the help of Mea and Yami).
* ''Manga/ValXLove'':
** The details aren't given to the reader, but Takuma saved Natsuki when they first met and she is clearly in love with him.
** Misa falls in love with Takuma after [[spoiler: he rescues her soul from falling into Hell]].
* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' has something of a mutual Rescue Romance: Van starts falling in love with Hitomi after she pulls a DivingSave on him in episode 6, saving him from being impaled by Dilandau. Meanwhile, Hitomi begins seeing Van as something beyond "that guy I'm tagging along with until [[TrappedInAnotherWorld I can get back home]]" after he saves her from a kidnapping attempt (rather than the expected KnightInShiningArmor, Allen) in the subsequent episode.
* In ''Manga/WaratteSotomuraSan'', Sotomura's parents met when her mother saved her father from delinquents. Sotomura believes it was the other way around.
* In ''Manga/WildRock'', the first time Yuuen and Emba meet Yuuen is about to be killed by a giant sabre-toothed animal he had been trying to hunt. Emba [[DynamicEntry flies in]] out of nowhere and stabs it in the neck and promptly tells Yuuen he's [[BrutalHonesty incapable of wielding a weapon]]. The others get riled up over this but Yuuen is just grateful to have been saved. Emba also gets injured rescuing him from a giant alligator later on. The trope is not quite played straight with their fathers, where it was Selim's own hunting trap that he had to save Yuni from.
* Doumeki saves Watanuki too many times to count in ''Manga/XxxHolic''. HoYay ensues, at least for the fans.
* In ''Anime/YuGiOh'', Tea falls in love with Yami after he saves her from being held hostage. However, she's blindfolded at the time, so she only hears his voice and doesn't know that Yami is Yugi's SuperpoweredEvilSide. When she finds out, their relationship gets...[[LovesMyAlterEgo complicated]].
* In ''Manga/YuunaAndTheHauntedHotSprings'', Hibari falls in love with Kogarashi when he saves her from two male spirit ability users who were harassing her and were going to force her to marry one of them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/ArifuretaFromCommonplaceToWorldsStrongest'':
** Hajime has rescued most of his harem members at least once at some point, causing them all to fall in love with him. Shizuku also falls in love with him after he constantly comes to her rescue.
* Senjogahara and Koyomi in ''Literature/{{Bakemonogatari}}'' plays this in a few odd ways.
** First, Senjogahara obviously does like Koyomi after he helped her, but she's especially attracted to him because she meant nothing to him when he volunteered to help. He wanted nothing from her but the chance to help someone. She believes that if she'd seen him do the same for someone else that she'd have fallen for him just as easily.
** At another point she notes with some frustration that she probably would have fallen for anyone who helped her in that situation. She's glad that it was Koyomi since she'd like him anyway, but her complicated relationship with Kaiki shows that she's probably right. It's strongly implied that she fell in love with him briefly because he at least understood her. In the present, it makes their relationship quite complex because she can't bring herself to hate him, no matter what she says to the contrary.
** In the prequel novels, Naiz saves Susha and Yunfa, causing both of them to develop a crush on him.
* In ''Literature/FateZero'', Kiritsugu wasn't exactly impressed with his future wife Irisviel at first sight since [[spoiler: she was an ArtificialHuman yet didn't seem to have self-defense skills]], but when [[spoiler: her creator/father Jubstacheit]] threw her into a forest during a blizzard as a test, he changed his opinion and went to rescue her. They bonded further as he stayed by her side through her recovery, and they ultimately got married.
* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs. ''All the time.'' Some of the more notable ones:
** In ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars A Princess of Mars]]'', Dejah Thoris doesn't admit to her attraction until John Carter rescues her.
** In ''The Chessman of Mars'', Gahan finds and rescues Tara when her shipwreck had ended with her prisoner.
** In ''A Fighting Man of Mars'', Tan Handron stumbles across Tavia and rescues her. It takes him a while to figure out the romance part, though.
** In ''Literature/TheMonsterMen'', Bulan and Virginia met when he rescues her from the title monsters.
* In ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'', Phileas Fogg rescues the Indian noblewoman Aouda from death by suttee. She falls in love with him almost immediately, despite their differences and how he's hinted to be quite older than her. Because Phileas Fogg has such an unemotional exterior, we don't find out that he loves her until the end of the novel.
* In ''[[Literature/TheSquiresTales The Ballad of Dinadan]]'' everyone who knows Dinadan and Brangienne and how they met thinks that they should be this. Instead they are each other's [[TheNotLoveInterest Not Love Interests]], fully admitting that they would probably make each other miserable.
* The ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' short story "Beauty and the Beast" (from the anthology ''Beginnings'') reveals that Honor Harrington's parents, Alfred Harrington and Allison Chou, got together this way. Both were attending medical school on Beowulf, met, and instantly became [[LoveAtFirstSight desperately infatuated with each other]]. Then Allison got kidnapped by [[BigBad enemies of her very prominent family]], and thanks to the [[spoiler:[[MindlinkMates empathic link]] they turned out to share]], Alfred was able to track her down and rescue her. Their romance progressed rather rapidly after that.
* A lesbian variant occurs in ''Literature/BeautyQueens'': Jennifer rescues Sosie from a giant snake. Later they become a couple.
* ''Literature/BlackSummoner'': After Kelvin cures Efil of her curse, she devotes herself to him.
* ''Literature/TheBronzeHorseman'' by Paullina Simons. Tatiana and Alexander fall in LoveAtFirstSight, but she breaks off the relationship before it goes anywhere because [[SiblingTriangle Alexander is dating her sister Dasha at the time]]. Furious, Alexander breaks up with Dasha as well. Tatiana then runs off to the front line to find her twin brother, and Dasha pleads with Alexander to bring her back. Alexander eventually finds Tatiana in the rubble of a bombed train station, digs her out, and [[AfterActionPatchUp treats her injuries]], and they FirstKiss not long after.
* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' [[NonActionGuy Jerin]] does carry the wounded Princess Odelia home, since their mothers and oldest sisters aren't home, the middle sister who found her can't carry her back and defend against possible attackers at the same time, and to have the other middle sisters go fetch her would leave the little sisters and the boys without much defense. Odelia finds Jerin handsome and plays up her injuries in the hopes of [[FlorenceNightingaleEffect stealing a kiss]], but it's her sister Ren, come to find her, who Jerin falls for [[spoiler: first]].
* Parodied by Creator/AgathaChristie in "[[Literature/ParkerPyneInvestigates The Case of the Discontented Soldier]]". The title character rescues a young woman who has been kidnapped by criminals who think she holds the key to a lost treasure, they fall in love and live a long and contented life together--and unbeknownst to either of them, the whole thing was a set-up to bring them together. There's a scene where the two architects of the scenario are discussing its progress, and one wonders if they're laying on the adventure clichés too thick; the other assures him that the clichés serve to unconsciously reassure the targets because events are proceeding as fiction has taught them to expect.
* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** Subverted at the beginning. Touma tries to get a delinquent hitting on Mikoto in a diner to leave her alone--saying that he's troubling her--and winds up getting chased off when the delinquent's friends return from the bathroom. When he finally seems to lose them and stops to rest, Mikoto walks up and admits to frying them to save trouble. Turns out Touma had known she was a powerful lightning esper the entire time and had been trying to protect the ''delinquents''. She then tries to blast ''him'', and her determination as the UnknownRival is increased.
** Played with in their first chronological meeting depicted in ''Railgun''. Touma saves her from a group of delinquents and chastises them for hitting on a little girl. [[BerserkButton Predictably, Misaka doesn't take it well]] and [[ShockAndAwe fries the lot of them.]] However, due to Touma's [[AntiMagic right hand]] he is completely unharmed. It was only because of this immunity that she became interested in him, declaring him her [[UnknownRival rival]].
** And played straight in the Sister arc. When Misaka is [[DespairEventHorizon at the edge of despair]] and literally [[DrivenToSuicide willing to die]] in the pathetic hope that it will save her clones...Touma shows up and saves all [[OverNineThousand 9939]] of her clones. That's where he went from (in Misaka's eyes) TheRival to an actual love interest. And at least one (likely far more) of those clones is also attracted to him, for similar reasons.
** Several other girls in Touma's UnwantedHarem fell for him or solidified their love for him after he rescued them from various dangers, such as Index, Orsola, Agnese (she was the danger he rescued Orsola from before this point, ironically), and Lessar.
** For an example ''not'' related to Touma, Third Princess Vivian fell in love with the mercenary [[spoiler:William Orville, also known as Acqua of the Back]] after he saved her life during an attempted kidnapping/execution ten years before the start of the series. [[spoiler:He gets to pull a repeat of the experience to save her from being executed during the British Halloween.]]
** Kakeru Kamisato causes several girls to fall in love with him by saving them. However, he really hates this because he believes the girls wouldn't care about him if it wasn't for the power he suddenly gained.
* ''Literature/{{Chindi}}'' by Creator/JackMcDevitt. Tor, a shy ex-boyfriend of Literature/PriscillaHutchins, tags along on a mission with her because he's hoping to rekindle their relationship. She ends up saving him ''twice'' (though her rescue plan fails the second time and it's Tor who realises how to save them both) and the epilogue implies they've got back together again, mainly because Tor has an epiphany about his life after facing his death on two separate occasions.
* Played straight, {{lampshade|Hanging}}d, invoked, and all-around played with in Stephanie Laurens' ''Cynster Sisters'' trilogy[[note]]''Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue'', ''In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster'', and ''The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae''[[/note]]. It fits since they're set in the late 1820s.
* In the sequel to ''Literature/DaddyLongLegs'', ''My Dear Enemy'', this is twisted on its head when [[spoiler: Sallie [=McBride=] and Dr. Robin [=McRae=]'s BelligerentSexualTension starts "properly" turning into love when Sallie ''witnesses Robin saving other people''. First, he brings an alcoholic teenager back from the brink of death with Sallie's help, and she almost has a LoveEpiphany; later, he almost dies rescuing a little girl from a HollywoodFire and she realizes where her feelings lie]].
* Played with throughout the Literature/CarlosTejada novels. In ''Death of a Nationalist'', Tejada realizes that a woman he finds attractive is starving due to being on the losing side of the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar. He gives her food and later rescues her from a group of drunken would-be rapists. He backs off when she points out that he's basically expecting RescueSex as a reward. But she's sufficiently impressed by his disinterestedness that they get a RelationshipUpgrade in the second book after he lampshades yet another rescue by saying "I don't spend ''all'' my time chasing after you to see you don't get in trouble."
* This turns out to be what the Leptoceratops admirers who abduct Candacye in ''{{Literature/Dinoverse}}'' were trying for. They thought she was addled and being kept for food, and also she was hot. She thought at first they were trying for AMatchMadeInStockholm.
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** Teased, but ultimately subverted in ''Literature/{{Mort}}''. "We talked about it. Then we thought, just because you happen to rescue a princess, you shouldn't rush into things." Death specifically refers to the Snow White/Sleeping Beauty version as a bad idea.
** Similarly deconstructed in when Granny Weatherwax wakes up a Literature/SleepingBeauty counterpart and Magrat says it was a job for a handsome prince. Granny doesn't see how waking the princess would have been evidence he'd make a good husband.
** Lampshaded, mocked, sent up ''and'' played straight with Trevor and Juliet in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals''. Although Juliet was already a bit partial to Trev before he saved her life, he reflects that having done so is "solid gold in the romance bank". Juliet's friend Glenda sees it differently:
--->'''Juliet:''' He saved my life!\\
'''Glenda:''' That's no basis for a relationship! A polite thank you would have sufficed!
** Frequently teased, but ultimately averted, between Tiffany Aching and Roland de Chumsfanleigh[[labelnote:*]] pronounced Chuffley -- [[RunningGag it's not his fault]][[/labelnote]] after she rescues him from imprisonment by [[TheFairFolk the Queen of the Fairies]]. This happens when [[ChildhoodFriendRomance she's nine and he's thirteen]], and for the next few books there are hints that there's something between them, but by ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'' they've both realized that their lives are going in different directions and that they don't actually have a lot in common besides not fitting in with the other kids. They do remain [[BetterAsFriends friends]], and she marries him to his fiancée, Letitia.
* ''Literature/DolphinTrilogy'': In ''Dolphin Boy'', John rescues Della Lord, a young woman who has been washed overboard from a yacht, and carries her to Crab Island on his back. She is [[RaisedByWolves the first human woman he's ever met]], and he is instantly entranced. After she teaches him basic English, the two have sex. Then John has to spend several days in the ocean to [[spoiler:care for the dolphin who raised him as she dies]], and by the time he returns, Della is gone, leaving only a note he can't read. It takes him months to find her again.
* In ''Literature/DrawingABlank'', Carlton is introduced to Aileen when she tackles him out of the way of a speeding van. [[spoiler:It was a setup to get her in with him,]] but nonetheless, it kickstarts their romance.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** [[spoiler:Charity]]'s BackStory is that [[spoiler:her future husband Michael]] rescued her from a dragon.
** Harry assumes that [[spoiler:their daughter Molly]]'s crush on him is due to a combination of this and LikeParentLikeSpouse.
--->'''Harry:''' Your dad fights monsters. I fight monsters. Your dad rescued your mom from a dragon. I rescued you from Arctis Tor. Seeing the pattern here?
* Invoked in ''{{Literature/Emma}}''. Emma is sure that Harriet and Frank Churchill will fall in love after Frank rescues Harriet from the gypsies. [[spoiler: Instead, Harriet falls for Knightly, who "rescues" her by dancing with her after she was snubbed by another man.]]
* Played with in ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles''. Many princes attempt to rescue Cimorene, who doesn't want to be rescued. Cimorene says that if a princess wanted to make a good match, a good way would be to get kidnapped by a dragon. The other princesses kidnapped by dragons compete for who has the most princes attempting to rescue them. Princesses sometimes arrange to get kidnapped by giants and other creatures in order to get rescued by eligible princes (although the process more often happens spontaneously), suggesting that rescue romance is a codified form of arranged marriage in the fairy tale universe.
* Subverted in ''Literature/EncyclopediaBrown and the Case of the Two Fisted Poet'' - Sally's already interested in Percy to begin with, but he knows she's a CuteBruiser and pre-arranges a mock battle with an older boy so he can show off when he takes her on a date. Sally's dizzy with delight until Encyclopedia whispers the give-away clue into her ear: [[spoiler:Percy's glasses, which he'd put in his shirt pocket, are intact despite multiple body blows]].
-->'''Sally:''' W... why Percy! That wasn't a real fight at all! It was a fake! You fixed it!\\
'''Percy:''' Upon my honour, [[WouldntHitAGirl if you were a boy I'd bash you good and proper!]]\\
'''Sally:''' Forget I'm a girl.\\
'''Percy:''' ''[snarls]''\\
''[He goes down three times and gets up twice.]''
** The trope is subverted a second time in the same story: despite the fact that he's rescued her from having a misguided crush on a lying jerk, Encyclopedia and Sally never seem to be anything other than close friends.
* ''Literature/TheFaerieQueene'':
** Subverted in Book 1: The Red Cross Knight [[strike:kind of]] fails at the whole "rescue" thing, leaving his charge at the mercy of church robbers, rapists, and LoonyFan forest critters. Those [[MasterOfIllusion Masters of Illusion]] are just so ''great'' at the whole "illusions" thing...
** {{Gender inverted|Trope}} in Book 3: Arthur's squire, Timias, falls in love with the huntress Belphoebe after she finds him injured in the woods and nurses him back to health.
** Played straight in Book 6 with Calidore saving Pastorella from a tiger.
* Played with in ''Literature/GoodbyeMrChips''. On a mountain climbing holiday, Chips sees a young woman "waving excitedly from a dangerous-looking ledge" and goes to see if she needs help. He slips and sprains his ankle, and ''she'' has to help ''him'' down the mountain. She comes to visit him while he's recuperating, and they fall in love and get married.
* In ''Literature/{{Gosick}}'', Avril falls in love with Kazuya because [[spoiler: he's the one who finds her after she's been kidnapped and replaced by a PhantomThief]].
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Granted their RelationshipUpgrade doesn't happen for another four books, but the first major interaction Harry has with Ginny Weasley is to rescue her from the BigBad and his giant snake. While Ginny already had a crush on him before that, her feelings grew stronger after this event.
** Hermione becomes friends with Harry and Ron after the boys team up to save her from a mountain troll. She and Ron later become a couple and go on to get married.
** Gabrielle Delacour also gets a crush on Harry after he rescues her from the Black Lake, even though she wasn't actually in danger.
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''Literature/TheHermeticMillennia'', one Chimera comments on how the lower class had cheap literature concentrating on RagsToRoyalty Rescue Romance.
* In ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'', Rephaim and Stevie Rae's relationship is entirely built on this. [[spoiler: First Stevie Rae finds Rephaim almost dying from being shot out of the sky, hides him in a garden shed, patches him up, then lets him go. An IOweYouMyLife moment is exchanged between them, which comes in handy when Stevie Rae is then later trapped on the roof of a building. Rephaim rescues her and an Imprint is formed between them. Then when Stevie Rae summons Darkness, it's none other than Rephaim who rescues her from Darkness. When Stevie Rae sees Darkness hurting Rephaim, she summons Light to help rescue Rephaim. When Dallas finds out that Stevie Rae's been lying about knowing Rephaim, and plans to "knock some sense" into Stevie Rae, Rephaim's the one that steps up and protects Stevie Rae. Then Stevie Rae protects them both when Dallas embraces Darkness and tries to kill them both.]]
* Deconstructed in ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''. Esmeralda falls for Phoebus instantly after he saves her from Quasimodo and Frollo's kidnapping attempt. But since she doesn't really know him, she sees him as a KnightInShiningArmor, instead of the cynical, selfish jerk that he really is, which allows him to take advantage of her.
* Peter David's novel ''Imzadi'' uses this for the romance between [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Riker and Troi]]. Troi spends several weeks resisting Riker's advances until she's abducted by the Sindareen and starts fantasizing about him rescuing her--which he does. RescueSex ensues.
* ''Literature/InvadersOfTheRokujyouma'': Harumi falls in love with Koutarou after he saves her from a student who was trying to force her to date him, then joins the knitting club to save it from being disbanded.
** Maki falls in love with Koutarou after he saves her from a demon.
** Alaia fell in love with the Blue Knight when he saved her from ten soldiers of the Coup Faction.
* In ''Literature/IslandInTheSeaOfTime'', Swindapa falls for Marian Alston after the latter liberates her from slavery and teaches her how to fight. Luckily for her, Alston is a closeted lesbian, though it does take them a while to admit their feelings for each other.
* Literature/JaneEyre's romance with Mr. Rochester begins with her rescuing him after he's injured himself in a fall from his horse.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'':
** [[spoiler: Siron plays along when his dad wants to invoke this for him and Kasile as part of his EvilPlan. He later does it for real when his dad springs his coup and Kasile warms up to him as a result.]]
** Eric saving Annala from [[spoiler: Tahart]] is where their {{U|nresolvedSexualTension}}ST begins.
* Zig-zagged a bit in ''Literature/KingsQuestTheFloatingCastle''. Princess Lydia, who has been [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe held captive to marry someone she doesn't want to]], originally thinks that Prince Alexander is invoking this trope when he rescues her, and likes the thought because she both thinks it's fairy-tale romantic and that Alexander is rather attractive. But it turns out that Alexander really just needs her help for his real quest, and isn't actually interested in her that way, which disappoints her. But ''then'' she ends up [[spoiler:bonding with Alexander's sidekick wizard Cyril, who was also helping with the quest.]]
* The Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold short story "[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Labyrinth]]" turns out to be a classical example... aside from the rescuee being an eight-foot-tall experimental SuperSoldier and the rescuer being the sort of scrawny runt that makes an AirVentEscape feasible.
* ''Literature/TheLastDaysOfKrypton:'' Lara meets Jor-El while rescuing him from the Phantom Zone projector he accidentally sealed himself in. A loving relationship quickly develops.
* ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'':
** The protagonist saves Mo from a blood sacrifice in ''The Atrocity Archives''. She's seeing someone else at the time so he doesn't follow it up, but he saves her life two more times during the course of the novel, so at the end, she decides to move in with him of her own accord.
** In the second book [[spoiler:she ends up saving the protagonist from a horrific death trap. This leads to him proposing to her]].
* ''Literature/ALittleBushMaid'': In ''Billabong's Daughter'' Norah is trapped in a certain-death situation after being caught unawares by an angry bull. Wally sees what is going on and charges in on horseback, only just saving her life. They're both quite traumatised by this event and struggle to reconcile themselves with their feelings.
* Examined with some care in the ''Literature/LordPeterWimsey'' series; Lord Peter falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Harriet Vane, rescues her from wrongful imprisonment and hanging...and she bluntly declines his proposal. It takes four years before she's ready to have a relationship with him.
** Subverted in ''Have His Carcase'' there's this gem of an ugly scene: "I know I'm being horribly ungrateful---" "Hell!" All endurance has its limits and Wimsey had reached his. "Grateful! Good God, am I never to get away from the bleat of that filthy adjective? I don't want gratitude. I don't want kindness. I don't want sentimentality. I don't even want love-- I could make you give me that-- of a sort. I want common honesty."
* In ''Literature/Mermaid2011'', the mermaid Lenia rescues Prince Christopher from a shipwreck and carries him to shore. The human princess Margrethe wraps Christopher in furs and runs to summon help. Both Lenia and Margrethe fall in love with him.
* ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'':
** In the ''Fortune Lover'' timeline, Maria falls in love with Keith after he saves her from Catarina and her clique.
** In the main canon, Maria starts to fall in love with Catarina after she rescues her twice from bullies at the Magic Academy and helps her reconcile with her mother.
* ''Literature/TheNeverendingStory'': Subverted with Hero Hynreck, who saved his one true love Princess Oglamar but decided he no longer wanted to marry her.
* In ''Literature/No6'' Shion and Nezumi first meet when a fugitive Nezumi is looking for shelter in a storm after being shot. Shion stitches him up, gives him food, and lets him hide in his room. Nezumi repays the favor 4 years later when he busts Shion out of police custody after Shion is framed for murder.
* This ends badly in the Creator/JackVance series ''Literature/PlanetOfAdventure''. In the first novel, the hero Adam Reith rescues Ylin-Ylan from being dragged off by various villains, and she takes him as her lover. In the second novel, however, they're returning Ylin-Ylan to her people the Yao, who have an extraordinarily strict code of pride and etiquette. Reith however does not fit into this society as a suitable rescuer (he's from another planet, so has no defined role). She tries to arrange for [[UpperClassTwit Dordolio]] to kill Reith in a duel so she can present him as her saviour, but when Reith wins the duel and humiliates him in the process, she snaps and tries to kill everyone in a MurderSuicide.
* In Creator/GKChesterton's ''Literature/TheReturnOfDonQuixote'', Monkey is in fact reluctant to press his suit because he rescued the father of a ''very'' loyal daughter, and feels it's taking advantage of it. (They do end up married.)
* In ''Literature/RightHoJeeves'', Jeeves suggests this as a plan, if Bertie sets off the fire alarm then the disentangled couples will rush to each others' aid and re-entangle, dis-entangling Bertie and saving Aunt Dahlia's magazine. [[spoiler:His actual plan is somewhat more complex however, involving making an ass of Bertie as a key step.]]
* A Yuri example in ''Literature/RollOverAndDie'': The former slave Milkit's feelings for her 'Master' Flum develop and evolve over time due to how she has consistently protected and saved her from danger, which causes her to develop an UndyingLoyalty to Flum. [[spoiler:Milkit eventually returns the favor by playing a role in saving Flum's life during Volume 3 (episode 4 of the anime adaptation).]]
* In the fifth and sixth books of ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'', Hektor Aplyn-Ahrmahk plays a critical role in rescuing [[spoiler:Corisande's princess and Crown Prince]] and delivering them to safety. On the trip back to Charis, Hektor and [[spoiler:Princess Irys]] begin to get close. Close enough that, when Sharleyan insists on an arranged marriage between the two as part of an alliance, [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage neither of them particularly mind]]. [[ShipperOnDeck Sharleyan]] took this into account in making her decision.
* Readers are teased somewhat with an averted Rescue Romance in ''Literature/TheSarantineMosaic'' duology: early in the first book, Crispin rescues a woman from her life as an inn prostitute slated to be sacrificed to an ancient god. She falls in love with him, but he's quickly drawn away from her by the intrigues of the emperor's court, and she ends up marrying someone else entirely. She spends a little time picking apart the Rescue Romance in her head, deciding that she's been rescued from "being rescued" by marrying someone else.
* ''Literature/TheScumVillainsSelfSavingSystemRenZhaFanpaiZijiuXitong'': Liu Qingge is rescued from qi deviation by Shen Yuan, so Liu Qingge chooses to devote his life to protecting Shen Yuan. It's hinted at in the "Succubus" extra that his feelings for Shen Yuan are romantic.
* ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'' subverts this ''twice'' in two different yet ''nasty'' ways with two [[DamselInDistress Distressed Damsels]].
** We meet Serwe for the first time when she is rescued by [[spoiler:Cnaiür, who then proceeds to rape her. Cnaiür develops a strictly one-sided, insane obsession with her while not treating her any better because of it]].
** [[spoiler:Esmenet]] is rescued by a seeming KnightInShiningArmor and they engage in a romance, but the man turns out to be [[spoiler:a sadistic, inhuman monster disguised as a man who is keeping track of Esmenet for his evil masters' benefit. No hearts are broken, though, as she was staying with him only for the free food and protection]].
* In Jennifer Fallon's ''Literature/SecondSons'' trilogy: Sort of when Dirk rescues Tia from a drunken sailor who thinks she is a prostitute (though her original plan was to get him into a more private place so she could beat him up, it doesn't quite work out that way). The resulting affair is very temporary, however.
** Tia and Mischa, when the former aids the latter in breaking the opium addiction he didn't know he had (it's complicated), may be a better example. Though an attraction did exist earlier.
* Between Marianne and Willougby in ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility''. He carries her home in the rain after she sprains her ankle, kickstarting their passionate romance. Later, of course, he turns out to be a cad.
* The 1934 Creator/CLMoore story "Shambleau"--generally acknowledged as epoch-making in the history of ScienceFiction--turns this trope upside down. The story begins when space adventurer Literature/NorthwestSmith sees a "sweetly-made girl" pursued by a lynch mob, intent on killing her. He intervenes to save her. This seems an obvious prelude to a Rescue Romance--but it turns out that she was not a girl nor a human being at all, but a disguised alien creature, predatory and highly dangerous. Soon, Smith himself needs rescuing and barely escapes with his life. The mob which wanted to lynch her had a point, after all...
* The central relationship in ''Literature/TheSharingKnife'' starts out as a mutual example of this. Unarmed, sawed-off {{muggle|s}} Fawn was at the feet of the [[EldritchAbomination Malice]]; while experienced monster hunter Dag was well out of reach and moments from being torn apart by the Malice's creatures. Dag managed to get his hand free and toss his [[KryptoniteFactor enchanted blades]] to Fawn, who caught them and slew the Malice causing its guards to [[NoOntologicalInertia scatter]].
* In ''Literature/SkinOfTheSea'', Simi meets her love interest Kola after he's thrown alive off of a slave ship, and she rescues him from the ocean.
* Both {{gender inverted|Trope}} and {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in the ''Literature/SmokeAndShadows'' trilogy. Tony saves Lee's life multiple times, and when Lee finally comes out of the closet, Tony remarks, "I never thought of you as a damsel."
* Played with in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' with Tyrion's first wife, Tysha. It's first played straight with a slight twist: she falls in love, not with the dashing knight who most directly and physically rescued her from a group of bandits and implied would-be rapists (older brother Jaime), but the malformed midget who comforted her afterward (younger brother Tyrion). Then it's subverted when it turns out that Tysha was a prostitute and the whole thing was staged for Tyrion's benefit by Jaime, who thought it was about time his little brother had a woman. [[spoiler: then it's doubly subverted when it turns out that their father Tywin, incensed at his son's marriage to a commoner, forced Jaime to tell Tyrion she was a prostitute when she actually wasn't. (Or at least, she wasn't hired by Jaime; [[MetaphoricallyTrue Tywin considered her a whore because he believed that her only motivation for marrying Tyrion was his family's money.]] How pure her motives actually were is unknown.)]]
** [[UnresolvedSexualTension Although nothing has come of it yet]], Sandor Clegane has rescued or protected Sansa Stark several times, most notably during a riot where she was dragged off and nearly raped.
** Jaime Lannister leaps into a bear pit to save Brienne of Tarth, who despised him up to this point. Suffice it to say that she most ''definitely'' no longer despises him, though [[UnresolvedSexualTension they aren't official yet]].
* In ''Literature/StarWarsKenobi'', Ben Kenobi saves Annileen Calwell and her daughter from a runaway dewback in their first meeting. They also happen to get along quite well, especially since neither of them has allowed him/herself to have much fun in the past. They naturally grow closer over the course of the book, BigDamnHeroes introduction aside. [[spoiler:Alas, it's not to be--Ben, besides holding to Jedi tenets of nonattachment, can't allow his secret guardianship of Luke Skywalker to be revealed to anyone, so he arranges to send her and her family off-planet.]]
* Pufftail from ''Literature/{{Stray}}'' falls for Tammy after he rescues her from a King Charle's spaniel that is bullying her.
* Used in the backstory of ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet'', where it already seems like a cliche being pulled off the shelf, if a fairly well-executed one. [[spoiler: A hunter and miner named Jefferson Hope finds a Mormon farm girl named Lucy Terrier, who is trying to control her horse and avert causing a stampede; with kind words and a firm touch, he calms her down and they're soon safe. [[StarCrossedLovers Doesn't end well]].]]
* Most of Kirito's "harem" in ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' start to fall for him after he saves their lives, which is usually [[ChronicHeroSyndrome right after he's met them]]. The sole exception is Asuna, who he [[OfficialCouple actually marries before the end of the first book]]. They met before raiding the first-floor boss, and she fell for him some fifty floors later, when he was outside [[SleepCute sleeping]] (instead of helping plan the next raid) because it was such a nice day.
** Somewhat played straighter in the ''Aria of a Starless Night'' movie, as Kirito ends up meeting Asuna by saving her when she's about to be killed by a monster right after her friend had abandoned her. She doesn't immediately warm up to him, but they slowly grow close over the course of the movie, and at the end it's implied she's fallen for him.
* Lampshaded and played with, along with most other fairy tale tropes, in Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'', where the Tradition ensures that any imprisoned princess will fall in love with the man who rescues her -- regardless of any complications that would cause.
** In ''The Fairy Godmother'', the titular heroine is obliged to rescue an imprisoned princess herself because if a man did it, the Tradition would force the princess to fall in love with him... and she's already married. And her husband is someone who she ''intentionally let herself be rescued by'' precisely to invoke this trope. (And no, she didn't know who would be the rescuer. She and her father worked up the plan, and sent out a message to all nearby eligible princes, knowing she would fall in love with whoever succeeded.)
** ''One Good Knight'' features a chapter in which the princess thinks over the basic rules of the Tradition in search of a way to avoid falling in love with the Champion who saved her from the dragon (who isn't looking for a bride at the moment for a variety of reason, the most significant being that [[SamusIsAGirl Sir George's real name is Georgina]] -- circumstances required her order to send in a female Champion).
* ''Literature/Twilight2005'': Bella and Edward were already secretly interested in each other, but it took Edward saving her from Tyler's out-of-control van to get their relationship going.
* In ''Literature/UnlimitedFafnir'', Tear is rescued by Yuu from some gangsters in a FlashBack shown during episode 4. When she sees him again, a few months or years later, she immediately declares herself to be his wife.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': Silverstream rescues Graystripe from drowning, and he's barely out of the water before he's flirting with her. Bonus points for being StarCrossedLovers.
** An Firestar stopped Sandstorm from falling off a gorge, and Crowfeather managed to save Leafpool from falling off a cliff, and... Never mind. If one character saves another, they're probably going to end up in a relationship at some point.
* ''Literature/WhileMyPrettyOneSleeps'':
** A long-winded example occurred between Myles and Renata. While fighting in Northern Italy during World War Two, Myles was injured and discovered by a young local girl, Renata Rossetti. She guided him to her family's house to get treatment and shelter. Long after the war was over, Myles sought out the Rossetti family to thank them and was reacquainted with [[SheIsAllGrownUp the now-grown Renata]], with the pair quickly falling in love.
** [[spoiler:Although her father ends up being the one to save her from the killer, Neeve clearly appreciates that Jack came to her rescue when he realised she was in danger and it's treated as a given that they will begin a relationship, with Neeve even believing he's 'the one']].
* In ''Literature/WithATangledSkein'', Niobe has an ArrangedMarriage to Cedric, a handsome, highly intelligent man. He loves her for her beauty, but she views him as a young boy (he was a few years younger than she). Only when he rescues her from rape at the hands of some drunk college students does she truly love him.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Subverted in ''Series/The10thKingdom''. Wolf makes his way to the Troll Palace to rescue Virginia, cleverly tricking the [[GoldfishPoopGang idiot Troll children]] into knocking each other out, then swings in on a vine to free her. Her response when he notes she doesn't seem to trust him? "Of course I don't trust you, you tried to ''eat'' my ''grandmother''!" ([[ImAHumanitarian Yes, they went there.]] And it was actually rather well done and hilarious.) This was not an auspicious start to the relationship.
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'':
** Roy Harper saves Thea Queen from AttemptedRape by gang members and gets stabbed while doing it. She understandably freaks out over him being hurt and what could have happened to her had he not saved her, and takes him to get stitched up. [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend He denies that he's her friend]] but they end up kissing in the hospital room. Thea returns the favor by saving Roy in the season finale, further cementing their relationship.
** Discussed and defied in regard to Nyssa and Sara Lance. Nyssa comments that she found Sara alone, starving, and frightened, took her in, nursed her back to health, and ultimately trained her to be an assassin. Sara however insists that she wasn't with Nyssa because of the rescue, but because she genuinely loved her.
** Deconstructed when Oliver Queen saves the life of Carrie Cutter only for her to become obsessed with him, becoming the recurring villainess Cupid.
* In ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'' Gene saves Alex's life no less than seven times, not to mention her [[spoiler:soul]].
* {{Invoked|Trope}} in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' when the Cylons on Caprica are trying to get Helo to fall in love with Sharon so she'll get pregnant with a hybrid. They stage a Centurion attack wherein Sharon gets "captured" and lead him to track her down and "rescue" her. This gives their already developing relationship a significant push.
* ''Series/Batwoman2019'':
** Kate Kane rescuing her ex-girlfriend Sophie Moore is played for maximum romantic subtext. While disguised as Batwoman, [[LiterallyFallingInLove she catches her after she's pushed off a building]] and they fall through the roof of a foreman's trailer [[SuggestiveCollision onto a bed]] with their [[NearKiss faces very close to each other]].
** Played for laughs in "How Queer Everything Is Today!". After Batwoman gets a DivingSave from a handsome male police officer, the entire city starts [[ShipperOnDeck shipping them together]]. As Kate is a lesbian, she just finds this annoying. Later when Kate saves the life of Parker Torres, Kate makes a point of establishing clear boundaries as her mentor so she won't have a smitten schoolgirl on her hands.
* In ''Series/BeautyAndTheBeast1987'', Vincent and Catherine first met when he brought her home after she was attacked and left to die in Central Park; given the constraints that Vincent's nonhuman appearance puts on him, it's fair to say they would never otherwise have met.
* In ''Series/BeingHumanUK'' between [[spoiler:Annie and Mitchell]], where the former seems quite keen to romanticise the latter's rescuing of her, and a relationship that had previously been purely platonic is transformed into romance post-rescue.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Though it doesn't ''immediately'' lead to romance, the first thing that seems to attract Willow to Oz in season 2 is that he is injured saving her life.
** Played with when Riley saves Willow -- this is an [[ShipTease indication that he will later hook up with Buffy]], who witnessed the event and is suitably appreciative that he saved her best friend.
** Angel saving Buffy from three vampire assassins leads to him [[ThereIsOnlyOneBed hiding out in her bedroom]] and their FirstKiss.
** Spike/Buffy share TheBigDamnKiss at the end of "[[MusicalEpisode Once More With Feeling]]" after Spike stops Buffy from dancing herself to death with a few well-chosen lyrics. Buffy later tries to blame it on PhlebotinumInducedStupidity, but Spike knows otherwise and starts pursuing her in earnest.
** Parodied in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E5BeerBad Beer Bad]]" when Buffy keeps having a DaydreamSurprise in which she saves [[TheCasanova Parker]] from vampires and earns his eternal gratitude and apologies for dumping her to chase other women. After Buffy drinks some cursed beer and turns into a NubileSavage she saves Parker from a burning building and gets this, accompanied by the requisite orchestral music...only for Cavewoman!Buffy to club him over the head and walk off.
** Averted in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS2E1WhenSheWasBad When She Was Bad]]" -- Xander saved Buffy's life in last season's finale, but when Buffy returns to school next year she's still traumatized and [[NotHerself acting out]] [[TookALevelInJerkass against all her friends]], [[MatingDance dancing intimately]] with Xander purely to make Angel jealous. After several minutes of getting Xander worked up...
-->'''Buffy:''' Xander, did I ever thank you for saving my life?
-->'''Xander:''' No...
-->'''Buffy:''' Don't you wish I would? ''(walks off)''
** Played straight with Devon saving Billy from a Zompire in Season 9.
* In ''Series/ChicagoFire'', Severide volunteers to donate bone marrow to a woman in need of a transplant, then ends up falling for her.
* In an episode of ''Series/ColdCase'', a woman is involved in a car accident and is rescued from the wreckage by a firefighter. She is rendered paraplegic but goes on to marry said firefighter. However [[spoiler:the woman's ex-boyfriend (who was driving the car yet got away with minor injuries) noticed something amiss with the whole accident. After doing some research and recalling that the woman complained about her legs hurting ''before'' being taken out of the wreck, he comes to the conclusion that the firefighter used the jaws of life incorrectly and crippled her. He confronts him about this in hopes of getting back together with her, only for the firefighter to murder him]].
* In an episode of ''Series/CSIMiami'', the team encounter an agency that does mock kidnappings with this sort of thing (although the participants are further down the path) in mind. Girl gets "kidnapped", boyfriend "pays ransom" and/or "rescues her", they have sex (because "rescue sex is the best kind of sex"). This being the Series/CSIVerse, [[AlwaysMurder it doesn't quite work out like that...]]
* An episode of ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' also takes a spin on the trope with a woman who, it initially appears, gets back together with her ex after he saves her from being kidnapped and assaulted. It turns out that the "abduction" was a fetish game she and her current partner had knowingly staged, and her ex killed her lover in a fit of jealousy - she just found it hot that he would go that far for her.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** This is shown to be how the parents of companion Clara Oswald met. A large leaf blew into her father's face and caused him to stumble into traffic, which Clara's mother pulled him out of. Her father even kept the leaf as a memento.
** Interestingly, all of the Doctor's own long-term love interests in the new series somehow saved his backside during their first adventure together - or the first [[HaveWeMetYet from his own point of view]] that he [[ForgottenFirstMeeting actually remembers]], anyways:
*** Rose saved him from a bunch of autons by means of some breakneck gymnastics that required a dangerous jump. By the next episode, he was already displaying the first signs of being somewhat smitten.
*** River stopped him from pulling a HeroicSacrifice and [[MoreHeroThanThou took his place at the cost of her own life]]. He goes on to encounter younger versions of her from all throughout her life and becomes her husband. Somewhat downplayed in that it takes a few more encounters (in which she is [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend generally fiercely protective of him]]) before he gradually stops being suspicious of her ample knowledge about him and his personal future and comes to reciprocate her feelings.
*** In a clear parallel to [[GenerationXerox the above example of her parents]], the Doctor first meets - or notices - Clara when she, or one of [[AlternateSelf her echoes]], saves his life in Victorian London, leading to much hilarity when he arrives at Clara's doorstep with a poorly concealed crush, only to find that she has no idea who he is and doesn't remember saving him. From her own perspective, she does not actually spawn the aforementioned {{alternate sel|f}}ves or go on to personally support him at a few key points of his past until they had already been together for a while.
** EU material says this is how Vastra met Jenny--her future wife. Apparently Miss Flint was being [[AttemptedRape menaced]] by a Chinese gang, which Vastra was only too happy to drive away. When Jenny didn't respond with revulsion to Vastra's (admittedly quite lovely) reptilian features, she decided to keep her on as a maid and sidekick. One thing turned to another, and, well.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E7ThePyramidAtTheEndOfTheWorld The Pyramid at the End of the World]]", the Doctor is about to save not only a woman's life but the entire world, and predicts she'll have a pretty intense crush on him as a result. [[TemptingFate Unfortunately, he spoke too soon]].
* Subverted in ''Series/DowntonAbbey''. Matthew Crawley rescues Lady Sybil from a political brawl and her family expect this trope to occur. (Convenient as he's the future Earl.) She's actually interested in the chauffeur Tom, who everyone blames for getting her ''into'' trouble originally.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Serious Jaime/Brienne ShipTease starts from when Jaime (without a weapon) leaps into a bearpit to rescue her.
* ''Series/GhostWhisperer'': It happened before the show started, but Jim and Melinda met when he (a firefighter at the time) rescued her from her burning apartment complex.
* Lampshaded in C-drama ''Holy Pearl''. "Ohh, I get it. Weak woman is saved by strong, handsome man and falls in love with him. There's only one problem--[[ActionGirl you don't look weak.]]" For added irony points, the speaker is later saved by the man in question...and falls in love with him.
* Deconstructed on ''Series/ICarly,'' when Carly and [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Freddie]] start dating after Freddie pushed Carly out of the way of a truck, getting severely injured himself in the process. Eventually Freddie realizes (due in part to Sam's advice, for what [[JustFriends that may]] [[LoveTriangle be worth]]) that Carly might not like really like him for anything other than the rescue, and explains to her that while he ''hopes'' they will get back together after some time passes, for the time being they should end their relationship.
* ''Series/Kingdom2019'': A one-sided version. Lord Beom-pal is in love with Seo-bi after she saved his life from a guard turned zombie. She doesn't return the feeling as his cowardice had led him to abandon the Crown Prince and the peasantry of Dongnae, leading to many innocents dying.
* Similarly, there was a ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' where a couple had this as a major fetish. The problem was that the husband was doing increasingly horrible things to the male escorts hired as "attackers."
* Subverted in ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' in which both Arthur and Lancelot (separately) go to great lengths to rescue Guinevere from a warlord, only for ''extreme'' awkwardness to ensue when they realize why the other one is there. Neither one ends up with her (at least, at the end of that particular episode). Played straight with Merlin and Freya, [[spoiler:with tragic consequences]].
* Used as a plot detail in ''Series/{{Monk}}''; a nebbish millionaire got his best friend to fake a mugging in college so he could look heroic to his girlfriend (it worked, although he ultimately married someone else, the girl still said she should have married him). It didn't turn out so well later down the road when the friend pulled a gun and shot the millionaire when they did the same thing, for supposedly the same reason, which turned out to be an attempt to hide the friend stealing company money and killing the only guy in the way.
* In ''Series/TheMusketeers'' Aramis saves [[spoiler: Queen Anne]] by shielding her when there's a shoot-out during a prison escape. She's instantly smitten and their mutual attraction only grows as the [[KnightInShiningArmor pattern]] [[DamselInDistress repeats]].
* In ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'', [[HeterosexualLifePartners Callen and Sam]] rescue a Mexican girl during a shootout, and she brings up the rescue as justification for wanting to get closer to Callen (especially as one of her sisters also shows interest in him). [[CelibateHero Callen's enthusiasm for this is somewhat questionable]], especially since he has other problems at the moment.
* ''Series/NCISNewOrleans'' has a possible one starting in the episode "Identity Crisis" in which Sebastian protects a high-school friend from three hired guns, with her admiring how he TookALevelInBadass since they last saw each other. After the dust settles, they decide to go out on a date.
* Jess in ''Series/NewGirl'' tells her housemates how she lost her virginity. The gang are lead to believe she loses it in a mini-golf structure, but she actually becomes stuck in the entrance to it and can't get out. In an odd turn of events, it's the fireman who ''rescues'' her that she first has sex with.
* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Blind Run", Doyle falls for the GirlOfTheWeek and insists that he stay back and interrogate her...over dinner. Bodie protests that he saved her, so should be the one who gets to interrogate her. Doyle smugly refuses on the grounds that such a rescue [[HypocriticalHumor makes Bodie emotionally involved]].
* In ''Series/PushingDaisies'', although they'd known each other as kids, Ned and Chuck met again when he brought her back to life.
* On the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVIIStokeMeAClipper Stoke Me a Clipper]]", Ace Rimmer introduces himself after saving a princess and states his intentions to her: ''"There'll be time for answers later - and hopefully, some sex."'' And because he's Ace, she doesn't disagree. What a guy!
* Subverted in the pilot of ''Series/RoyalPains''. Hank saves the life of a beautiful model and she falls in love with him. Hank identifies it as the FlorenceNightingaleEffect and tells her to go back to New York and come back in a few weeks if she still feels this way. She is never seen again so she presumably got over her feelings.
* On ''Series/SavedByTheBell'' Creator/DeniseRichards' character stages this to meet Slater, but like most characters that don't appear in the opening credits [[StatusQuoIsGod is never seen again]].
* In the ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode "The Invitations," Jerry falls madly in love with a woman who saved him from being hit by a car. Kramer is skeptical.
-->'''Kramer:''' If a guy saved your life, you'd be in love with him too!
* ''Series/SexLife'': Billie and Brad's first interaction was him stopping some street asshole from harassing her. After driving her to his place and showing her around, things heated up very fast.
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', in the episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS03E06Relic Relic]]", Lana's great-aunt falls in love with Jor-El when he saves her from Lex's grandfather.
* Heavily {{implied|Trope}} in the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS03E21ESquared E Squared]]" when [[TheCaptain Captain Archer]] meets his great-granddaughter from an alternate timeline. According to her, Archer's [[TimeTravelTenseTrouble future/past]] wife is an alien woman whose ship he rescues from a NegativeSpaceWedgie.
* On ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'', Elena falls deeply in love with Stefan before later on discovering that Stefan was the one who miraculously saved her life from the tragic car accident that had claimed both of her parents' lives.
* Played with on ''Series/VeronicaMars'' in the episode "Silence of the Lamb"; Leo, a rookie deputy at the police department, actually rescues Keith, Veronica's father, from becoming the BodyOfTheWeek, but Veronica becomes smitten nonetheless.
* ''Series/TheWestWing'': In the first season episode "Mr. Willis of Ohio", Zoe, the First Daughter, is out at a bar with Charlie, C.J., Josh, Mallory and Sam, and goes to get drinks for them. While she does that, a couple of frat boys try to hit on her. When Charlie sees this, he goes and intervenes, and eventually, the Secret Service has to get involved. While it's debatable whether or not Charlie "rescued" her, it leads Zoey to ask Charlie out later in the season (in the episode "Lord John Marbury"), and they eventually become a couple.
* ''Series/TheWhiteQueen'': While Richard of Gloucester and Anne Neville were [[PuppyLove smitten as youngsters]], their mutual attraction reaches new heights after he rescues her not just once but twice. (As a bonus, their courtship even contains a few fairy tale elements.) At the Battle of Tewkesbury, he single-handedly stops a group of would-be rapists who attack her, behaving very much like a KnightInShiningArmor while she's the DamselInDistress (and a Princess by her first marriage, no less). It's evident from the moment they lock eyes with each other that there's UnresolvedSexualTension, as they're both much too proper to act upon their feelings, especially considering that Anne has just been widowed. Margaret of Anjou even picks up on the sparks between them, so she dangles Anne like a carrot in front of Richard when she tries to [[WeCanRuleTogether tempt him to join her side]]. After Anne becomes George of Clarence's ward, he confines her to his dwelling (so in other words, he's an "evil lord" who imprisons a vulnerable Princess in his "tower"). Despite Richard's repeated insistence, George forbids him to visit her for six months, so the StarCrossedLovers arrange a secret meeting in a garden where they discuss her plight. During their [[GardenOfLove second garden rendezvous]], Richard learns that George will soon send Anne to a nunnery where she'll be cut off from the outside world permanently, so Richard takes the PrinceCharming route and asks Anne to marry him, [[LoveConfession declaring the love that he has long carried for her]], and explains that being his wife is the best option for Anne to escape George's custody. [[YouMustBeCold After Richard bundles her up with his cloak]], Anne happily replies "Yes" (she has dreamed of marrying him since she was a little girl), and they share a TrueLovesKiss surrounded by a [[SnowMeansLove gorgeous and well-timed snowfall]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology]]
* In some versions of the Myth/ArthurianLegend, Lancelot's and Guinevere's affair starts with him rescuing her. More commonly Lancelot rescues her because of his love for her, but their love isn't consummated [[RescueSex till after the rescue]].
* ''Myth/JapaneseMythology'': Susano'o saved his first wife Kushinadahime from being eaten by the eight-headed dragon Yamata-no-Orochi, who had already eaten her seven sisters.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* When Junichi defends Ai from an aggressive dog in her route in ''VideoGame/{{Amagami}}''.
* ''VideoGame/ArtOfFighting'': It's strongly implied that [[GenkiGirl Yuri]] fell for [[SharpDressedMan Robert]], after he and her brother, Ryo, saved her from [[TheDragon Mr. Big]] in the original game. The other reason being, that he's a looker and also happens to be [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan her kind of guy.]]
* In ''VideoGame/AsdivineHearts'', Uriel is convinced that Zack is the one who saved her from her burning village a year before the events of the game and joins the party to express her gratitude. This is despite the fact that he hadn't even left home at all at the time.
* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'':
** It's revealed in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' (Through suppressed memories) that Ezio and Cristina started their relationship this way, Ezio saved her from an (Implied) AttemptedRape by [[TheRival Vieri de Pazzi]].
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'': Kaniehtí:io defies this trope; while Haytham Kenway does indeed rescue her and a number of her people from enslavement (or worse) at the hands of a British thug, she refuses to trust him until he accepts her as an equal and fights on her side.
* In ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt'', GV was supposed to assassinate an [[PsychicChildren Adept]] called the Muse, but when he learns that the Muse is merely an adolescent girl named Joule held prisoner her whole life, GV goes against his superior's orders and instead decides to free her. The two have started living together ever since, and Joule has been nursing a not-so-subtle crush on him.
* When meeting two of the three possible female romantic interests in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', you end up rescuing them (twice, in the case of one of them...) the third? She was sent to help you.
* Hilariously played in the ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'' campaign Elvish Dynasty RPG, in which the human empire has a law on the books that if a dragon who holds a princess captive is slain the princess and the dragonslayer are considered married. Even if the dragonslayer happens to be [[LesYay the queen of the elves]].
* ''VideoGame/BlasterMasterZero'' leads Jason to an underground habitat to a CoolTank where he runs into an amnesiac Eve. Even after she recovers her memories and tells him he can go, Jason decides to stick with her anyway, and ends up [[spoiler:rescuing her again in the GoldenEnding]]. The next two games only strengthens their bond further as Jason tries to save Eve's life in some way, such as in ''VideoGame/BlasterMasterZeroII'' where [[spoiler: this is gender-inverted with Eve rescuing Jason in the Golden Ending]], and in ''VideoGame/BlasterMasterZeroIII'' where in the Golden Ending [[spoiler: Jason reunites with Eve and, following their implied {{Love Confession}}s from previous games, plus a direct one by her in this one, they end up HappilyMarried]].
* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'': It's open to interpretation whether there's any romance between the player character and Curly Brace, but if so, then Rescue Romance definitely applies. Aside from [[LetsYouAndHimFight a brief fight upon first meeting]], all their interactions involve rescuing each other (with the player doing the bulk of the rescuing) or [[BattleCouple fighting side-by-side]].
* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' invokes this; when Kaido asks you for advice on how to win Mari's heart, you advise him to help her out of a tight spot. [[ChekhovsGun This advice can later save the lives of multiple people]].
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'':
** Aveline and Donnic's first on-screen meeting consists of Hawke & Co. showing up to rescue Donnic from thugs.
** Merrill's Rivalry path consists of trying to "rescue" her from her own self-destructive demon-summoning. Can be romantic or platonic, however, and there's plenty of debate on whether it comes off as controlling.
** There's also the nobleman's daughter who falls in love with Feynriel. He rescued her from being gang-raped by a group of bandits by [[DreamWeaver making them kill each other while they were still awake]], and she asks Hawke to help her find him so she can "thank him properly".
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'': Princess Gwaelin had been kidnapped by one of Dracolord's minions and falls in love with the Hero the moment he comes in to save her. Eventually, he has no choice but to reciprocate (since the game does not allow you to turn her proposal down).
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'': Psaro introduced himself to Rose by vaporizing a human thug threatening her.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'': King Irwin was appointed to the head of Eleaonor's personal guard after he saved her from a monster attack. Things went from there and resulted in the birth of [[PlayerCharacter the Luminary]].
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Tifa Lockhart actually wants to invoke this [[ChildhoodFriendRomance with Cloud]], because she thinks it'd be cool. When they were younger, he told her he was planning to join [[SuperSoldier SOLDIER]], so [[ThePromise she made him promise]] to save her if she was ever in a pinch. Which becomes a recurring theme with them throughout ''"The Compilation"''.
*** In ''Anime/LastOrderFinalFantasyVII'', he keeps his word by coming to her rescue at the Mako 5 reactor (seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch9Ttxku30s at 0:40-1:18]]). But the moment is ruined, when Sephiroth recovers and comes looking for revenge against Cloud.
*** While in ''[[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren Advent Children]]'', Cloud finds her unconscious after her fight with Loz. She regains consciousness long enough to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNIV3SH4E1c tell him he's late.]]
*** Just before their battle against Bahamut SIN, however, Cloud arrives in the nick of time to save her from being crushed by falling debris. When he apologizes for being late last time, she smiles and says it's fine (seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeyyJSmLW3w at 3:05-3:29).]]
*** While the events of ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia 2]]'' are non-canon, the scene after Cloud saves Tifa from Sephiroth contains a CallBack to their promise and [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the trope ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cport3zgHP0 seen at 1:55-2:08).]]
---->'''Tifa: (to Cloud)''' "Anyway... thanks again for saving my skin. [[BigDamnHeroes The way you showed up and fought that guy off...]] It was a pretty cool thing to watch. You were like a hero [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl charging in to save the girl."]]
*** Tifa also sorta manages to return the favor to Cloud during the original game itself. [[spoiler: When Cloud suffers an incredibly nasty AngstComa after being subjected to a TraumaCongaLine, Tifa stays behind to take care of him and, after they fall into TheLifestream, she helps him [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind put the pieces of his psyche together]].]]
** Turned in weird directions in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''; Rinoa's interest in Squall is visible well before any rescue scenarios, but it takes Squall saving her several times before he really starts to warm up to ''her''.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Zidane [[KidnappedByAnAlly stole Garnet from the castle]], and OneThingLedToAnother. It should also be noted that the romance between them only really begins to show through after Zidane (and Co.) save Garnet from the Alexandria Dungeon during Disc 2.
* In the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series:
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'':
*** In the remake, ''Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', Gray joins the mission to rescue Clair in hopes to help save her and score this with her (or at least, RescueSex). If both of them live to the end, they get married.
*** Tatiana and Zeke's relationship mixes this and FlorenceNightingaleEffect since she rescued him when he washed ashore and took care of him.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'':
*** Sigurd helps a girl named Deirdre who's harassed by a thug. She thanks him profusely, but flees, and Sigurd can't take her out of his mind, even when people say she's from [[HiddenElfVillage a hidden village]] and can't be with him. The next time they see each other, Deirdre asks to join his troupe since she's a [[SquishyWizard magic]] [[WhiteMagicianGirl user]] and confesses she's been crushing on him ever since he helped her. Sigurd says he feels the same and lets her come with the group, and they eventually become an OfficialCouple.
*** Another possibility in the same game (this one's optional, whereas Sigurd and Deirdre automatically become hitched) is the hook-up between Prince Jamke and [[WhiteMagicianGirl Lady Edain]]. She was kidnapped by Jamke's evil older brother who wanted to marry her, but Jamke let her go along with [[FragileSpeedster teenage thief Dew]]. When he returns, it's as an enemy; Edain recruits him for the good guys ''and'', through conversations, can make him fall in love with her.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'':
*** An optional possibility is [[TheHero Eliwood of Pherae]] and [[MysticalWaif Ninian the Dancer]]. The ship falls into this trope too. In Lyn's tale, Eliwood helps Lyn and Nils save a kidnapped Ninian, but [[ConvenientComa she's unconscious that time]] and doesn't know Eliwood played a part in her rescue until their C support brings that up and she's able to say thanks.
*** Something similar happens with Rebecca the Archer and [[BigEater Lowen the Cavalier]]; their C support is about Rebecca glamourizing the time they met when Lowen rescued her from the bandits ransacking her village and recruited her for Eliwood's troupe.
** In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', it is possible to form a strong Support bond between the Paladin Seth and Princess Eirika, where he confesses that he has feelings for her that were fanned when he had to evacuate her from Renais Castle. This changes the epilogue such that Seth eventually gets married to her.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'':
*** Chrom and Robin, the female Avatar can have something like this as well: He's one of the two persons who find her in the field at the beginning and take her into the Shepherds (the other being Chrom's sister Lissa), and [[spoiler:when she's trapped by Grima in the final chapter, it's the sound of his voice that brings her back]]. In the case of a male Avatar and Lissa, the tie-in comics explain that [[spoiler:while she can't bring the Avatar back when trapped by Grima... she ''is'' the one who actually found the passed out Avatar in the fields (via [[CrashIntoHello tripping on them]]), then called Chrom over for help]].
*** If you get Chrom and Sumia hitched via Supports, they're a gender-flipped example since ''she'' saves him in Chapter 3 from the enemy on her Pegasus.
*** Maribelle can get hitched with Ricken (who helps her flee from Plegian soldiers), Libra (whom ''she'' rescues from a bunch of drunkards), and [[spoiler:Gaius (who once was forced to frame her father to save her from a corrupt nobleman who held her hostage, and still feels horrible because of that... despite also him having sent a letter that ultimately saved Maribelle's father from being unfairly executed.)]]
*** Subverted by Kellam and Sully. He ''does'' help her once during battle, but he's wounded and not only does she call him out on his lack of self-care, but returns the favor immediately via [[AfterActionPatchUp bandaging his injuries]].
*** For such a [[TheSoCalledCoward so-called coward]], Yarne can score this with Nah as well, rescuing her from kidnappers.
*** Lon'qu can have this with Lissa after saving her from an assassin, and a variation with Miriel after he keeps her from falling to her death while she's completely absorbed in her studies.
*** More downplayed examples include the Female Avatar [[spoiler:and Walhart]] when he saves her from collapsing while reorganizing her books, Laurent and Cynthia when he saves her from being run over by a ballista during training (and [[GenreSavvy he]] lampshades the trope itself), and Gerome and Noire when he helps her when she's carrying a too-heavy crate and almost falls.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' doesn't lack examples, either.
*** [[WhiteMage Azama]] can potentially have this with two women: [[BodyguardCrush his lady-of-liege]] [[TomboyPrincess Princess Hinoka]] (whom he found badly injured in the mountains and nursed back to health, which is why he serves under her in the first place) and [[spoiler: [[GlacierWaif Effie]]]] in the third path (theirs is a mutual rescue since they met when she shielded him from an enemy attack, and [[AfterActionPatchUp he healed her injuries]] at least three times.)
*** [[MysteriousWaif Princess Azura's]] romantic supports often invoke the trope... but in several of them, ''she'' is the one to the rescue. On one hand, she helps Hinata to get away from a Nohrian spy that had tricked him before, [[FromDressToDressing patches up Saizo's wounds]] when he gets hurt helping her, exorcises a demon that was about to attack Silas, [[spoiler: helps Takumi to get free from a MoreThanMindControl spell]] on the ''Birthright'' route, and [[spoiler: stops Ryoma and Xander from what's about to be a DuelToTheDeath]] on the ''Revelation'' route; on the other, Subaki protects her from hitmen and [[spoiler:Arthur]] once rescued her from guards years ago. She also has a mutual rescue with the Male Avatar on ''Conquest''; he saves her from soldiers that had captured and were going to execute her, and she later repays the favor by protecting him from assassins in their support chain.
*** The above-mentioned Saizo is not only rescued by Azura but also by [[ShrinkingViolet Princess Sakura.]] He's very seriously injured in their C support and Sakura walks on him about to pass out from pain and blood loss, so she promptly heals his wounds and then helps him get away from the ones who attacked him. [[spoiler: And in the GoldenPath, she's one of the two persons (the other being his brother Kaze) who manages to stop him from committing MurderSuicide with the Avatar.]]
*** While [[WarriorPrince Prince Xander]] is not exactly a DistressedDude, in his A support with [[TheFakeCutie Charlotte]] he's taken by surprise by a Faceless [[DistressBall at a time when he doesn't have a weapon handy.]] Charlotte runs in, tears the Faceless off him, and ''beats it to death with her bare hands''.
*** If Kaze and a Female Avatar obtain an A support before Chapter 15 of ''Birthright'', he saves the two from falling down a huge cliff ([[spoiler:and if they ''don't'' have said A support, he pulls a HeroicSacrifice]]). If they get an S support ''after'' that, it can be easily seen as this trope.
*** On the ''Revelation'' route, Leo saves Sakura when Zola takes her hostage in Chapter 10, and the two can later hook up when he joins the party in Chapter 17. She's even one of his best options for a wife in gameplay given she provides excellent pair-up bonuses as an Onmyoji and passes him access to the class for access to Tomefaire, which gives a sizable boost to his damage output with his trademark tome Brynhildr.
** At the beginning of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', PlayerCharacter Byleth saves Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude from a bandit attack, and they can romance them at the end of the game. It's played with a bit when you beat [[WhamEpisode Chapter 11]] and learn [[spoiler:Edelgard set the whole thing up to begin with, but Kostas' comments on the matter indicate he didn't know who hired him and she was in genuine danger of losing her life]].
* Arguably used in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', where Alyx rescues Gordon from Civil Protection. "Arguably" because [[HeroicMime Gordon]] never confirms his feelings - in fact, Gordon isn't really supposed to have feelings separate from the player. But judging by the reaction of the majority of players to Alyx, it worked. This is also an example of a male rescuee.
** Played straight later on, as Gordon gets to rescue Alyx from a stalker that's trying to chew her face off after the train crashes.
** And at the end of the first game, Gordon invades the Citadel to rescue Alyx, after which we get the first overt sign of romantic affection from her.
* In Chapter Two of ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'', [[PersonWithTheClothing the letterman-jacket wearing protagonist]], AKA "Jacket", saves a young woman who was seemingly held captive and abused by the level's bad guy. He lets her sleep on his sofa, and it's implied by her moving into the bed next to him that they've undergone a RelationshipUpgrade. She doesn't seem to mind that he's a killer (since that's how they met) and the girl is implied to have a positive effect on Jacket's life (shown by his messy apartment getting cleaner) [[spoiler:until she gets killed off in Chapter Twelve]].
* In ''VideoGame/ImmortalLove 6: Bitter Awakening'', Alison falls in love with Jacob after he saves her from a charging boar.
* The player's introduction to Dawn Star in ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' is the player sending Gao packing when he tries to hit on her. Though this might not count, as it is definitely not the first time the characters meet, and Dawn Star was infatuated with a male character long before the incident.
* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''. Bastila Shan initially resents the player for rescuing her. If you want to finish the game still in a romance you have to do it ''again'' though this time it's more psychological.
** Used, even if one ''is'' a GayOption, with the female paths. Carth ''did'' pull the unconscious PlayerCharacter off the escape pod and nurse him/her back to health in the Taris apartment. Later, if you choose to rescue Juhani, she reveals that the PlayerCharacter rescued her ''twice.'' The second time was in the grove. The first time was [[spoiler: when Revan's forces marched on Taris and chased out the slavers]].
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** A game designer once admitted it's mainly Link's job as a heroic figure to rescue the princess; Link has usually been either too young or the game's mood too light to do any sort of serious romantic subplot. To say nothing of Mario, who [[GoKartingWithBowser doesn't even take his ''villains'' seriously]]...
** This is actually portrayed very well in the various games: even in the few situations where Link ''is'' old enough to conceivably pursue a romance with Zelda, he's also far too intently focused on his duty instead of her. He never ignores her, or through ignorance or malice puts her in danger, but he's never shown even the slightest interest in a romantic relationship. In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', however, the initial reason you start your adventure is to go rescue [[DamselInDistress the mayor's daughter]] [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend who pretty clearly likes Link already]]. Link ''does'' meet Zelda and Midna, but he has almost no interaction with Zelda at all, nor do either he or Midna ever show explicit romantic feelings for each other.
** In the cartoon and early games it was played as romance. Later however they avert this, from ''A Link to the Past'' onwards, except for [[spoiler:that kiss at the end of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' linked game]].
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', Link ends the third dungeon by saving Princess Ruto from the dungeon's boss. Ruto, who had initially been standoffish towards Link, changes her tune and becomes quite taken with him. She gives him the Zora's Sapphire, but mentions that her mother told her to only give to her future husband...which means she and Link are now engaged! When Link meets Ruto in the adult era, she calls him out on making her wait but admits that saving Hyrule is more important than getting married.
** Played for laughs in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle of Ages]]''. At one point, Link goes back in time to rescue the female Maku Tree sprout from a pair of Veran's moblins who went back in time to kill it. The ''tree sprout'' falls in love with Link and vows to marry him when she grows up. When Link returns to the present, the restored Maku Tree (previously quite professional) is still in love with him, is miffed that he made her wait for centuries, and declares that they are married.
** Played rather straight in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]''. The Link of the time period meets the Zelda of the time period after the plot's started rolling, and the two grow affectionate during Link's quest to restore her to mortality. It's not done completely straight, though, as they spend more time working together as partners than they do as hero and distressed damsel.
** Would be played straight in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' if it wasn't for the fact that the two have known each other for years and are pretty clearly crushing on each other before the game starts. Neither of them has declared their feelings by the time the plot starts, though.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', it's implied that after Link rescues Zelda from a trio of attacking Yiga ninjas, she starts to warm up to him and possibly even develop feelings for him. Mipha's diary in the "Champions' Ballad" DLC also shows that [[ChildhoodFriendRomance she fell in love with Link]] after he protected her from a [[BossInMookClothing Lynel]].
* The E3 [[http://www.mediamolecule.com/littlebigplanet/ trailer]] for ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'' inexplicably subverts this.
* Due to the very nature of the games (and Creator/BioWare's known love for RecruitmentByRescue), many {{Romance Sidequest}}s in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series have elements of this:
** Ashley is rescued by Shepard (and Kaidan) on Eden Prime from overwhelming geth forces.
** Liara is saved from a trap in the Prothean ruins as part of the main plot.
** Although Tali first becomes romanceable in the sequel, she is recruited in the first game (and in the second one, for that matter) in a situation of much distress and will actually invoke this trope if you pursue her RomanceSidequest:
--> '''Tali:''' What could I possibly be suggesting? I mean, a young woman gets saved by a dashing commander who lets her join his crew and then goes off to save the galaxy? How could she possibly develop any kind of interest in him?
** Garrus, while introduced in the first game, is first romanceable in the second, where he first has to be rescued from an entire horde of mercenaries after his head.
*** In the second and third game, it's heavily implied that Dr. Chloe Michel, the doctor that Garrus saves when Shepard recruits him, develops quite a crush on him. Garrus in this case is ObliviousToLove.
** Jacob probably would have survived the assault on the Project Lazarus lab without Shepard, but Shep still proved a lot of help.
** Jack's recruitment mission in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' effectively boils down to you rescuing her from the ''Purgatory'' PrisonShip (which she got put into in the first place by being [[TokenEvilTeammate a ridiculously dangerous criminal]]). And, of course, she's romanceable.
** [[{{Revision}} It took two games to come into play]], but it's hinted that Kaidan's feelings for [[GayOption MaleShep]] really kicked into gear when he was saved on Virmire.
** The usual pattern is actually inverted with Miranda, who rescued Shepard rather than the other way around, and put a ton more effort into it than Shepard usually does - Shepard's rescues typically take at most an hour including any boss fight, maybe half a day if you factor in transportation, while Miranda spent ''two years'' and a ton of the Illusive Man's money putting Shepard back together.
** For a pairing that doesn't involve Shepard, the Shadow Broker [=DLC=] is built around Liara's attempt to rescue her friend Feron. If she was romanced, she confirms they're JustFriends. If not, she's ambiguous about her own feelings but states it wouldn't be ethical so soon after Feron's imprisonment (and torture).
* Possibly played with in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'': In Ground Zeroes [[spoiler:Chico goes to Camp Omega with the intention of rescuing Paz, who he has feelings for, but ends up getting himself caught. Nevertheless, Paz is extremely happy that he came to her rescue and gives him a kiss at one point]].
* ''VideoGame/MitsumeteKnight'' likes this trope. No less than [[spoiler:''three'']] conquerable girls can be saved from pinches, and will kickstart or considerably strengthen bonds with them: [[spoiler:Sophia, Laury, and Priscilla]]. The first [[spoiler:two]] are even saved [[spoiler:''twice'']]; the last one's Rescue Romance is doubled up with [[spoiler:SaveThePrincess]].
* The player's relationship with Aribeth in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'' Hordes of the Underdark is at least partially based on this trope.
** The player's first meeting with Tiera in the fan module Shadowlords arc has him getting her out of some trouble with the local police.
* If Obsidian had kept Neeshka's romance arc in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', her relationship with the hero would count. Safiya's first meeting with the player in Mask of the Betrayer might also qualify.
* ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'': A common theme in most of the romances:
** The PlayerCharacter first meets the enslaved Octavia and Regongar when attacking a Technic League encampment, and freeing them will immediately ingratiate the couple to you, to the point a [[AThreesomeIsHot a casual threesome is easily achieved]] and the player can pursue a romance with both or either of them.
** Tristian romance can often start with a female PlayerCharacter rescuing him against a wild Owlbear. More importantly, his romance arc has the player [[spoiler:rescue him from his bondage to [[BigBad Nyrissa]] and his own spiritual despair.]]
** The secret romance with [[spoiler:Nyrissa]] also has the PlayerCharacter [[spoiler:redeem her and ultimately rescue her from the Lantern King's curse by giving her back her stolen heart, convince her to genuinely atone and turn back into the kind-hearted and idealistic nymph she used to be. In this case, she ends up as the player character's queen and fully redeems herself.]]
** The romance with the twin tiefling sisters, Kalikke and Kanerah. They are immediately attracted to the PlayerCharacter after he helps them having their TwinSwitch partly fixed. The confident and straightforward Kanerah desires a physical relationship immediately after finding the magic mirror. Kalikke is more uncertain about opening her heart and losing someone else she has feelings for, but fully gives in once problems with the [[SinsOfOurFathers Forefather]] are heroically resolved.
* Played with in the web game ''VideoGame/{{Phoenotopia}}'' where the heroine Gale saves a prince. She is [[FriendToAllChildren friends with a lot of children]] who think that she is going to fall in love with the Prince because she rescued him and one even urges her to "confess her feelings."
* {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum''. Rui is clearly grateful to Wes for rescuing her from Cipher and [[RecruitmentByRescue joins him because of it]], and other characters refer to them as a couple, but there's no official RelationshipUpgrade.
* In ''VideoGame/PrincessMaker2'', one of the main ways that your daughter can end up developing feelings for [[BattleButler Cube]] is if she is often defeated by monsters and/or bandits while out on trips since Cube is the one who rescues her and brings her home.
* This is how Cornet's infatuation with Prince Ferdinand gets kick-started in ''VideoGame/RhapsodyAMusicalAdventure.'' She dreams of him saving her from a scary, nondescript monster, and then it happens for real when she goes off to the forest to retrieve some red Inotium and gets attacked by Myao and her hench-cats. And ''then'' she has to play it straight for him, as the BigBad gets Ferdinand TakenForGranite and Cornet has to undo the spell...
* During the penultimate chapter in ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'', Bentley organizes a caper to save Penelope from Captain [=LeFwee=], and she falls for him after spending most of the game crushing on Sly. [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime This proved to]] [[{{Yandere}} be]] [[GoldDigger his]] [[EvilAllAlong biggest]] [[GreenEyedMonster mistake]].]]
* ''VideoGame/StarFox'': Fox falls in love with Krystal when he sees her trapped in a crystal. After he rescues her at the end of the game, the two become a couple.
* The semi-sequel, ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', has an interesting play with this trope. [[TheChessmaster The Sith Inquisitor]] decides he wants Ashara Zavros as his apprentice. Instead of going about it [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil the usual way]], he can decide that turning her will be much easier if she likes him. [[BatmanGambit So he hires a bunch of assassins, sends them after her, then "heroically" swoops in at the last minute and saves her from them]]. Not long afterwards, [[JustAsPlanned she joins him]] and he can start her RomanceSidequest.
** Male Jedi Knights have a more straightforward example with Kira--the option to first start her RomanceSidequest comes after you rescue her from a bunch of Sith holding her captive.
** In ''Shadow of Revan'', if you've been following his RomanceSidequest, then the PlayerCharacter gets his/her RelationshipUpgrade with [[spoiler:Theron]] after busting him out of a Revanite prison. …[[BadassInDistress Sorta.]]
* In ''VideoGame/StardewValley'' several of the possible romances have elements of this:
** Penny lives with her {{Jerkass}} alcoholic mother Pam in a little trailer by the river, spending her time between being a SchoolMarm to the local kids and tending to chores in her dim, stuffy home. If your character marries her, she moves in with you as a farmer's wife, alleviating the problem and giving Penny her own space to flourish.
** Shane is a [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold prickly but likeable]] alcoholic who wrestles with depression while working a soul-sucking job at the local Walmart {{Expy}}. To make things worse, if the Community Centre is finished and Jojamart is run out of town, then Shane loses his job and cannot support his family on a Saturday job at Pierre's - his depression and suicidal thoughts exacerbate. Unlike Penny, simply meeting a lover and going to live on a farm doesn't alleviate years of poor mental health, the mess in his room suggests his struggles are ongoing.
** Sebastian is a troubled loner who lives in his parents' basement. He doesn't get along with his stepfather Demetrius or his half-sister Maru. He smokes heavily and seems to have depression and social anxiety. If he moves in with the Farmer, he goes a good way to kicking his habit and his relationship with his mother Robin improves, though he is still estranged from Demetrius and Maru.
* ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasonsPioneersOfOliveTown'': Laura's first heart event consists of her rescuing the PlayerCharacter after they almost drown while trying to find a wallet Jacopo accidentally threw in the sea after absent-mindedly getting it mixed up with an item he wanted to discard.
* In ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'', [[RubberMan Necro]] and [[PerkyGoth Effie]] rescue each other. In [[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/d/sf3nec.htm the first game]] and ''[[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/a/sf3-2nec.htm Second Impact]]'', Effie finds out that Gill has locked Necro up in a building that's about to explode and sneaks in, getting the two out; Necro returns the favor in ''[[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/arcade/a/sf3-3nec.htm Third Impact]]'', as he uses his RubberMan powers to save her from a fatal fall.
* ''VideoGame/SummertimeSaga'': Some of the relationships are built on this, getting the potential partner out of a blatantly abusive situation, who then fall in love with the MC. Liu the bank teller and her dictatorial husband Kim, and Consuela the maid who's getting harassed by Mayor Rump are prominent examples.
* Mario constantly going out of his way to rescue Peach, and her reaction whenever he does rescue her, is one of the main ways their romance is {{Ship Tease}}d in most ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games.
* While it's never explicitly stated, ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' certainly does suggest that [[WhiteMagicianGirl Mint]] develops romantic feelings for Cless after he rescues her from Mars' dungeon. At the end of the Tower of the 12 Zodiac Signs, the guardian Artemis, for his own amusement, tells [[CuteWitch Arche]] to kiss Cless. Just before Arche does kiss Cless, Mint pushes Arche out of the way. In the only romantic scene between the two, [[SnowMeansLove in a town with constant snowfall]], Mint tells Cless that, shortly after they escaped from the dungeon, she saw him holding onto a unicorn earring that belonged to Meryl, Mint's mother. She thanks Cless for not telling her then what happened because, had she known, she would have lost all hope, and then Mint starts crying.
* In ''VideoGame/TronBonne'' develops a (one-sided) crush on Mega Man after he saves her from a dog chasing her.
* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': if you choose to use your blood to save Heather Poe, the young woman you meet as she's bleeding to death in the Santa Monica clinic near the start of the game, she'll eventually move in with you and become your Ghoul. However, it's never entirely possible to say how far this is due to her genuine gratitude and attraction towards the player, and how far it is a result of the Blood Bond controlling her actions.
[[/folder]]

-->>'''Toph:''' You can go ahead and let me drown now.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'', being an AffectionateParody of fairy tales, goes to town with this one: Princess Fiona and Shrek meet when he rescues her from a tower and a dragon. She thinks he's supposed to be her KnightInShiningArmor with whom she will share TrueLovesKiss until he explains that he's actually an ogre who was just sent there to do the rescuing so [[TheNapoleon Lord Farquaad]] wouldn't have to. Of course, "Rescue By Proxy Romance" isn't nearly as romantic, and ultimately Fiona and Shrek end up falling in love anyway.

* In ''Billabong's Daughter'' Norah is trapped in a certain-death situation after being caught unawares by an angry bull. Wally sees what is going on and charges in on horseback, only just saving her life. They're both quite traumatised by this event and struggle to reconcile themselves with their feelings. ''Literature/ALittleBushMaid''
* In ''Literature/Mermaid2011'', the mermaid Lenia rescues Prince Christopher from a shipwreck and carries him to shore. The human princess Margrethe wraps Christopher in furs and runs to summon help. Both Lenia and Margrethe fall in love with him.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': Bella and Edward were already secretly interested in each other. But it took Edward saving her from Tyler's out-of-control van to get their relationship going.

* In Creator/GKChesterton's ''The Return of Don Quixote'', Monkey is in fact reluctant to press his suit because he rescued the father of a ''very'' loyal daughter, and feels it's taking advantage of it. (They do end up married.)

* Played with throughout the Carlos Tejada novels. In ''Death of a Nationalist'', Tejada realizes that a woman he finds attractive is starving due to being on the losing side of the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar. He gives her food and later rescues her from a group of drunken would-be rapists. He backs off when she points out that he's basically expecting RescueSex as a reward. But she's sufficiently impressed by his disinterestedness that they get a RelationshipUpgrade in the second book after he lampshades yet another rescue by saying "I don't spend ''all'' my time chasing after you to see you don't get in trouble."

* ''The Bronze Horseman'' by Paullina Simons. Tatiana and Alexander fall in LoveAtFirstSight, but she breaks off the relationship before it goes anywhere because [[SiblingTriangle Alexander is dating her sister Dasha at the time]]. Furious, Alexander breaks up with Dasha as well. Tatiana then runs off to the front line to find her twin brother, and Dasha pleads with Alexander to bring her back. Alexander eventually finds Tatiana in the rubble of a bombed train station, digs her out, and [[AfterActionPatchUp treats her injuries]], and they FirstKiss not long after.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':

* The Franchise/MarvelUniverse also has a LesYay[=/=]Friendship variation of this. After ComicBook/{{Rogue}} drained her powers, ComicBook/CarolDanvers was rescued by the first ComicBook/SpiderWoman and was counseled to get over her trauma/pain of power-loss, which is the beginning of their friendship... or LesYay. Speaking of Jessica Drew, her close friendship with Lindsey [=McCabe=] began after Lindsey stood up for her during a humiliating group therapy session.

* ComicBook/SteveTrevor fell in love with Franchise/WonderWoman when she rescued him after he crashed his plane in the ocean off Paradise Island. Diana found him attractive while nursing him back to health, but doesn't reciprocate until they started fighting Nazis together after she returned him to the US.
* Franchise/{{Superman}}'s first encounter with ComicBook/LoisLane ComicBook/PostCrisis was the rescue of a space shuttle she was on. It sorta became a RunningGag [=/=] InJoke between the two. In their original [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] meeting (at least when he was in costume), Superman saves Lois from some gangsters who aren't happy about Lois', erm, professional dedication.

* A gender-inverted version of this in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13653421/1/Ash-s-Adventure-Girls-Hunter-Edition Ash's Adventure: Girls' Hunter Edition]]", when Misty notes that Ash seems to be attracted to girls who save his life (granted, under the conditions of their rescue, those girls are technically Ash's 'slaves' even if he'd never enforce such a rule on them).

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12672455/1/ Dedicated Hearts made Fullmetal]]'' [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist the Elric brothers]] arrive to the ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' world right in the middle of the battle of Trost. The very first person Alphonse saves is [[SparedByAdaptation Mina Carolina]], and the two grow closer when they continue to save one another over the course of the story. [[spoiler:By the time of the TimeSkip, the two even [[BabiesEverAfter have a child together]]]].

* A rare male example in ''Fanfic/TheFlowerPrincessAndTheAlchemist''. Edward started falling for Orihime when she [[GoThroughMe protected]] him and Al from [[SerialKiller Scar]]. [[spoiler: Cue [[DeclarationOfProtection Declaration of Protection]]]]. Bonus points in that they just had a [[WhatTheHellHero horrible fight]] hours earlier, and [[PluckyGirl Orihime]] still chooses to risk her life for his [[{{Determinator}} without hesitation]]. [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe Is it any wonder why Ed starts to fall for her?]]

** For an example ''not'' related to Touma, Third Princess Vivian fell in love with the mercenary [[spoiler:William Orville, also known as Acqua of the Back]] after he saved her life during an attempted kidnapping/execution ten years before the start of the series. [[spoiler:He gets to pull a repeat of the experience to save her from being executed during the British Halloween]].

* In Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla, Wrestling/ChrisHero and Candice [=LeRae=] after the former saved the latter from her pimp, a CaptainErsatz of Film/{{Dolemite}} called The Human Tornado.

* In ''Webcomic/AvasDemon'', [[https://www.avasdemon.com/pages.php#0101 Odin's plan for Maggie]]. [[spoiler:Turns out to be an {{Invoked|Trope}} {{subver|tedTrope}}sion, Odin was only interested in her [[DemonicPossession demon]]'s power and attempted to play to Maggie's SerialRomeo tendancies by saving her from the Silent Scavengers]].

* Played with in ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog''. Captain Hammer "saves" Penny from a runaway van and they become an item. Even though he saved her by throwing her into a pile of trash. And it was really Dr. Horrible who stopped the van.