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* Aerith becomes this in ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII'' and ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' but ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' in particular doesn’t feature her fighting or getting into any sort of scrape like the 1997 game with Aerith being portrayed as meek and scared of violence here and role in the story consists of being Zack’s cute LoveInterest and shoulder to lean on. Thankfully the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' continuity averts this throwing Aerith into the battlefield once more as TheRedMage.
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* Aerith becomes this in ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII'' and ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' but ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' in particular doesn’t feature her fighting or getting into any sort of scrape like the 1997 game with Aerith being portrayed as meek and scared of violence here and her role in the story consists of being Zack’s cute LoveInterest and shoulder to lean on. Thankfully the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' continuity averts this throwing Aerith into the battlefield once more as TheRedMage.
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* Rinoa in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' especially in the third disc where she spends most of it in a coma and literally carried by Squall and the party members to get help for her, and almost immediately she's abducted and has to be rescued again, and then gets abducted again at the end of the disc [[labelnote:*]] Granted the party lets her get abducted this so Ultimecia can possess her and begin Time Compression, which is the only way the party can reach her in the future, but the fact her damsel status becomes a vital plot point doesn’t paint Rinoa‘s competencies in a good light [[/labelnote]]. Not helping matters is that Rinoa spends a lot time on the sidelines anyway and her actions in the previous discs that actively help out the party are few and far between.
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* Rinoa in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' especially in the third disc where she spends most of it in a coma and literally carried by Squall and the party members to get help for her, and almost immediately she's abducted and has to be rescued again, and then gets abducted again at the end of the disc [[labelnote:*]] Granted the party lets her get abducted in this instance so Ultimecia can possess her and begin Time Compression, which is the only way the party can reach her in the future, but the fact her damsel status becomes a vital plot point doesn’t paint Rinoa‘s competencies in a good light [[/labelnote]]. Not helping matters is that Rinoa spends a lot time on the sidelines anyway and her actions in the previous discs that actively help out the party are few and far between.
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* Aerith becomes this in ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII'' and ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' but ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' in particular doesn’t feature fighting her or getting into any sort of scrape like the 1997 game with Aerith being portrayed as meek and scared of violence here and role in the story consists of being Zack’s cute LoveInterest and shoulder to lean on. Thankfully the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' continuity averts this throwing Aerith into the battlefield once more as TheRedMage.
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* Aerith becomes this in ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII'' and ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' but ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' in particular doesn’t feature her fighting her or getting into any sort of scrape like the 1997 game with Aerith being portrayed as meek and scared of violence here and role in the story consists of being Zack’s cute LoveInterest and shoulder to lean on. Thankfully the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' continuity averts this throwing Aerith into the battlefield once more as TheRedMage.
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* ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'': Ashley Mizuki Robbins may solve all the puzzles, figure out bulk of the mysteries on her own, and spend her games helping pull her dad's fat out of the fire, but when confrontations turn physically violent, we're swiftly reminded that she's still just a normal teenage girl with no combat training whatsoever. Nothing much that having superior memory abilities and puzzle-solving skills can do against a gun.
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* ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'': Ashley Mizuki Robbins Robins may solve all the puzzles, figure out bulk of the mysteries on her own, and spend her games helping pull her dad's fat out of the fire, but when confrontations turn physically violent, we're swiftly reminded that she's still just a normal teenage girl with no combat training whatsoever. Nothing much that having superior memory abilities and puzzle-solving skills can do against a gun.someone holding you at gunpoint.
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* ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'': Ashley Mizuki Robbins may solve all the puzzles, figure out the sub-plots and spend her games pulling her dad's fat out of the fire, but when it's time to confront the evil mastermind, she just kinda stands there and talks a bit. It's forgivable in that she's a teenage girl with probably little combat training facing down a gun-toting maniac whose anger is more with her father than her.
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* ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'': Ashley Mizuki Robbins may solve all the puzzles, figure out bulk of the sub-plots mysteries on her own, and spend her games pulling helping pull her dad's fat out of the fire, but when it's time to confront the evil mastermind, she just kinda stands there and talks a bit. It's forgivable in confrontations turn physically violent, we're swiftly reminded that she's still just a normal teenage girl with probably little no combat training facing down whatsoever. Nothing much that having superior memory abilities and puzzle-solving skills can do against a gun-toting maniac whose anger is more with her father than her.gun.
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* Aerith becomes this in ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' but ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' in particular doesn’t feature fighting her or getting into any sort of scrape like the 1997 game with Aerith being portrayed as meek and scared of violence here and role in the story consists of being Zack’s cute LoveInterest and shoulder to lean on. Thankfully the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' continuity averts this throwing Aerith into the battlefield once more as TheRedMage.
to:
* Aerith becomes this in ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' but ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' in particular doesn’t feature fighting her or getting into any sort of scrape like the 1997 game with Aerith being portrayed as meek and scared of violence here and role in the story consists of being Zack’s cute LoveInterest and shoulder to lean on. Thankfully the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' continuity averts this throwing Aerith into the battlefield once more as TheRedMage.
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* Aerith becomes this in ''Franchise/CompilationOfFinalFantasyVII'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' but ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' in particular doesn’t feature fighting her or getting into any sort of scrape like the 1997 game with Aerith being portrayed as meek and scared of violence here and role in the story consists of being Zack’s cute LoveInterest and shoulder to lean on. Thankfully the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' continuity averts this throwing Aerith into the battlefield once more as TheRedMage.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'':
** Kyrie from ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 DMC4]]'' spends the whole game watching her boyfriend Nero from the sidelines clutching the necklace he gave her — when not getting captured by the villains. The only action she performs that impacts the story in any way is delivering Nero his CoolSword Red Queen. Given in the dub she’s voiced by Stephanie Sheh the English VA for [[Anime/{{Bleach}} Orihime]] maybe it’s all too fitting.
** A big complaint of ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 DMC5]]'' is that Trish and Lady whom unlike Kyrie are the poster [[ActionGirl Action Girls]] of the franchise spend the vast majority of the game as this, just hold up in the back of Nico’s van like furniture while the boys, Dante, Nero and V get to have heaps of StylishAction fighting demons. Particularly egregious in Trish’s case as while she’s weaker than Dante she’s still incredibly powerful and there’s no reason given as to why she isn’t fighting the other demons besides Urzien. The fact the game primarily uses them for MaleGaze {{fanservice}} in the place of action didn’t help either.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'':
** Kyrie from ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 DMC4]]'' spends the whole game watching her boyfriend Nero from the sidelines clutching the necklace he gave her — when not getting captured by the villains. The only action she performs that impacts the story in any way is delivering Nero his CoolSword Red Queen. Given in the dub she’s voiced by Stephanie Sheh the English VA for [[Anime/{{Bleach}} Orihime]] maybe it’s all too fitting.
** A big complaint of ''[[VideoGame/DevilMayCry4 DMC5]]'' is that Trish and Lady whom unlike Kyrie are the poster [[ActionGirl Action Girls]] of the franchise spend the vast majority of the game as this, just hold up in the back of Nico’s van like furniture while the boys, Dante, Nero and V get to have heaps of StylishAction fighting demons. Particularly egregious in Trish’s case as while she’s weaker than Dante she’s still incredibly powerful and there’s no reason given as to why she isn’t fighting the other demons besides Urzien. The fact the game primarily uses them for MaleGaze {{fanservice}} in the place of action didn’t help either.
* Rinoa in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' especially in the third disc where she spends most of it in a coma and literally carried by Squall and the party members to get help for her, and almost immediately she's abducted and has to be rescued again, and then gets abducted again at the end of the disc [[labelnote:*]] Granted the party lets her get abducted this so Ultimecia can possess her and begin Time Compression, which is the only way the party can reach her in the future, but the fact her damsel status becomes a vital plot point doesn’t paint Rinoa‘s competencies in a good light [[/labelnote]]. Not helping matters is that Rinoa spends a lot time on the sidelines anyway and her actions in the previous discs that actively help out the party are few and far between.
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* Zelda herself in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' when Link is battling Ganon, Zelda herself despite her vast array of magical powers including being able to teleport wherever she wants and ability to transform into a more nimble being who could easily jump over the firewall simply stands there doing nothing in the battle. Even when the firewall goes down all she does is tell Link to get the Master Sword (while she makes no attempt to move whatsoever) and stands there even after there is nothing blocking her. She only gets involved at one point.
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* Zelda herself in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' when Link is battling Ganon, Zelda herself despite her vast array of magical powers including being able to teleport wherever she wants and ability to transform into a more nimble being who could easily jump over the firewall simply stands there doing nothing in the battle. Even when the firewall goes down all she does is tell Link to get the Master Sword (while she makes no attempt to move whatsoever) and stands there even after there is nothing blocking her. She only gets involved at one point. This contrasts to other games such as ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' where Zelda at least helps Link out by shooting Light Arrows at Ganon.
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* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil:''
** Rebecca Chambers spends most of ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 RE1]]'' as this, despite being a CombatMedic. Compared to Barry when you’re playing as Jill, Rebecca is firmly TheLoad to Chris in his scenario doing little of value beyond briefly holding some zombies back at the end and is otherwise meek and damsely. Strangely enough Rebecca averted this in the prequel ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil0 RE0]]'' where she’s way more active and badass (being able to take down the Proto-Tyrant) though you could argue she’s simply at the end of her tether by ''1''. Rebecca also plays this straight in ''Anime/ResidentEvilVendetta'' where beyond killing one zombie she’s otherwise just captured and dressed up by the villain Arias while Chris and Leon do all the ass kicking. Averted in ''Anime/ResidentEvilDeathIsland '' where Rebecca is part of the action once again.
** Ashely Graham in ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 RE4]]'' besides the brief segment where you play as her, is otherwise just a DamselInDistress civilian Leon has to protect and unlike Ada she doesn’t aid Leon or contribute anything to the mission beyond a headache when she’s screaming while being captured. Averted superbly in 2023’s ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4Remake RE4make]]'' as Ashely will actively help Leon out, helping him solve puzzles, escape from the Gando horde and even helps him take down a Regenerador.
** Rebecca Chambers spends most of ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 RE1]]'' as this, despite being a CombatMedic. Compared to Barry when you’re playing as Jill, Rebecca is firmly TheLoad to Chris in his scenario doing little of value beyond briefly holding some zombies back at the end and is otherwise meek and damsely. Strangely enough Rebecca averted this in the prequel ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil0 RE0]]'' where she’s way more active and badass (being able to take down the Proto-Tyrant) though you could argue she’s simply at the end of her tether by ''1''. Rebecca also plays this straight in ''Anime/ResidentEvilVendetta'' where beyond killing one zombie she’s otherwise just captured and dressed up by the villain Arias while Chris and Leon do all the ass kicking. Averted in ''Anime/ResidentEvilDeathIsland '' where Rebecca is part of the action once again.
** Ashely Graham in ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4 RE4]]'' besides the brief segment where you play as her, is otherwise just a DamselInDistress civilian Leon has to protect and unlike Ada she doesn’t aid Leon or contribute anything to the mission beyond a headache when she’s screaming while being captured. Averted superbly in 2023’s ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvil4Remake RE4make]]'' as Ashely will actively help Leon out, helping him solve puzzles, escape from the Gando horde and even helps him take down a Regenerador.
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* Zelda herself in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' when Link is battling ganon Zelda herself despite her vast array of magical powers including being able to teleport wherever she wants and ability to transform into a more nimble being who could easily jump over the firewall simply stands there doing nothing in the battle. Even when the firewall goes down all she does is tell Link to get the Master Sword (while she makes no attempt to move whatsoever) and stands there even after there is nothing blocking her. She only gets involved at one point.
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* Zelda herself in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' when Link is battling ganon Ganon, Zelda herself despite her vast array of magical powers including being able to teleport wherever she wants and ability to transform into a more nimble being who could easily jump over the firewall simply stands there doing nothing in the battle. Even when the firewall goes down all she does is tell Link to get the Master Sword (while she makes no attempt to move whatsoever) and stands there even after there is nothing blocking her. She only gets involved at one point.
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%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
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NeutralFemale characters in VideoGames.
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* ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'': Ashley Mizuki Robbins may solve all the puzzles, figure out the sub-plots and spend her games pulling her dad's fat out of the fire, but when it's time to confront the evil mastermind, she just kinda stands there and talks a bit. It's forgivable in that she's a teenage girl with probably little combat training facing down a gun-toting maniac whose anger is more with her father than her.
* Molly in ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarez'' just stands rooted to the spot while Billy and Juarez engage in fisticuffs.
* Gender inverted in ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}''; while [[ActionGirl Sally Stageplay]] introduces Cuphead to her ParasolOfPain, her husband can be seen bouncing about in the background, behaving in the manner of a stereotypical scared love interest during a battle aside from briefly serving as a getaway driver.
* PlayedWith for Katey from ''VideoGame/DeadRising2''. She is too small to help her father when they get attacked by madmen or zombies, but she's smart enough to find a safe hiding place (typically under a couch or behind crates), so that she won't be in the way and that Chuck can focus on kicking ass instead of worrying about her.
%%* {{Prince Charmles|s}} of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', despite being male, is one of the most annoying examples of this trope that one will ever find.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', Rosa just sort of shouts at Kain when he shows up to steal Fabul's crystal and nearly kills Cecil. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears Seventeen years later]], she does nothing to stop [[spoiler:Kain's dark side]] from kidnapping her, and in the battle between Edward and [[spoiler:Dark Kain]] she sits on the sidelines, untargetable, doing nothing to help, not even healing Edward.
* During the fight against Caius in the ocean of Valhalla in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII-2'', Noel yells "Together now" to Serah to which she responds by doing absolutely nothing. Instead, she stands on the side and watches Noel fight Caius solo. She only drops her neutrality a few seconds later by...falling on her knees and sobbing after Noel's [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech overdramatic speech]].
* Invoked in the battle against Boc in ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII'' where a recently freed Jan Ors heads to safety. Subverted in the novella covering the game, where Ors is able to distract the dark Jedi with a thrown rock allowing Kyle to strike him down.
* A variation in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2003'': Rose Bernstein calmly sits on the sidelines and plays the piano while her older brother Adel and the player beat the tar out of each other. People are throwing fireballs around and she doesn't seem to have any supernatural powers, making her less than optimal help anyway. ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXI'' pokes fun at this with Adel's "G. Princess" move; it calls Rose into the battle... by which we mean she strolls in under an umbrella and makes fun of Adel.
* Subverted at the end of ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow'', where you will only win the final swordfight if you earlier [[spoiler:slipped the princess a dagger, which she will use to stab the villain in the back when he's about to win]]. While the swordfight is going on, the princess isn't just watching, but visibly struggling against the ropes that bind her. The moment she frees herself, she's on her feet and [[spoiler:advancing with the aforementioned dagger]].
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'':
** Subverted when Xaldin is trying to [[SadisticChoice make the Beast choose]] between his magical rose and [[DamselInDistress Belle]]. He hesitates for a moment, at which point ''she'' [[TakeAThirdOption takes a third option]], elbowing Xaldin in the chest and stealing the rose while he's distracted.
** Played Straight when Axel was kidnapping Kairi. While both Hayner and Pence at least attempted to stop them, Olette just sat and watched, even though she was sitting on one of the couches ''right next to her''.
** The manga averts this and has Olette attempt to chase Axel with a bat full of nails after Hayner and Pence get their hair set on fire. The Dark Corridor knocks her back instead.
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' subverts it as well. While Pete and Maleficent capture Minnie, the moment Pete lets his guard down, Minnie hits him with a Light spell and escapes.
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'': In regards to Kairi, the game finally averts her Neutral Female status... by making her a FauxActionGirl who does nothing of consequence. Eventually averted in the ''Re:Mind'' DLC, however, which allows the player to control her for the first time and has a handy explanation of why she appeared to be weak in the original.
* Averted with Ellie in ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''. Every time the person playing her saw an opportunity to intervene constructively, she’d point it out, leading to the character being retooled as having more competence and agency.
* Zelda herself in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' when Link is battling ganon Zelda herself despite her vast array of magical powers including being able to teleport wherever she wants and ability to transform into a more nimble being who could easily jump over the firewall simply stands there doing nothing in the battle. Even when the firewall goes down all she does is tell Link to get the Master Sword (while she makes no attempt to move whatsoever) and stands there even after there is nothing blocking her. She only gets involved at one point.
* Iris only pleads for them to stop during the fights between Zero and Colonel in ''VideoGame/MegaManX4''. [[AllThereInTheManual Supplemental material]] justifies this: she and her brother were the result of an experiment to create the ultimate combat reploid. The repliforce scientists couldn't get the warrior and pacifist sides of the personality to mesh, so they were split into Colonel and Iris and they have a mental link from sharing over half the same mental programming. She's literally unable to go beyond her neutral-ness if Colonel's alive. In the manga of the same game, Iris [[TakeAThirdOption points a gun at ''her own head'']] and threatens to kill herself if either of them continues to fight.
* Averted at the end of ''VideoGame/{{Outlaws}}''. When the NotQuiteDead BigBad comes into the room and puts a gun to the main character's head (echoing the way he killed the main character's father), [[DamselInDistress his daughter]] shoots him.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/SidMeiersPirates'' 2004, where you can confront Annoying Captains (yes, that's their title in the game) in the various taverns, who are all annoying the barmaids. Telling one of them to leave a barmaid alone results in a duel with the Annoying Captain, but while the barmaid is the subject of the fight, she doesn't just stay passive and out of the fight--in fact, she's the one who ends it if you defeat the Annoying Captain, by virtue of [[GrievousBottleyHarm beaning him with a bottle of wine]].
* Princess Peach of ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' plays this straight in most games she's in, with a few exceptions:
** In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time]]'', Peach doesn't fight the FinalBoss, but she does help the Bros. out by tossing them Stars to attack with. Of course, when things get ''really'' tough, she faints, leaving them on their own.
** She helps out when Bowser first appears in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'' by reducing his power with Starlow. Later when the Bros. have to face the Kretin both Starlow and Peach are there, but they don't do anything to help.
** Peach subverts the trope in the first two ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' games. In both cases she's being held captive in...inaccessible places, but still takes care to make sure that Mario is sent all information she finds out. In the first game, she is also able to send Mario items to help him out and is able to give Twink the power to stop Kammy Koopa.
** In the second ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' game, she also [[spoiler:manages to resist possession by the Shadow Queen long enough to completely refill Mario's various health meters]].
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' in the final fight against Bowser, Peach tosses out a Mushroom every two hits Bowser takes.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach'' the roles are reversed: Mario and Luigi are kidnapped by Bowser and Peach goes off to rescue them.
* The first fight with Ramsus in ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has a neutral (or at least non-combat) female for both sides. Ramsus has Miang on his side, whereas Bart and Fei have Margie. Both will occasionally heal their comrades but neither take part in the fighting directly (Miang [[WouldntHitAGirl isn't even a selectable target]]). Miang later averts this when she appears alongside [[EvilOverlord Grahf]] as the Executioner: in this fight she CAN be targeted, and for good reason, too -- her OneHitKill attacks make her an even bigger threat than Grahf. Even later on, Miang proves to be able to [[ThatOneBoss hold her own as a solo boss]], as well.
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%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
%%
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NeutralFemale characters in VideoGames.
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* ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'': Ashley Mizuki Robbins may solve all the puzzles, figure out the sub-plots and spend her games pulling her dad's fat out of the fire, but when it's time to confront the evil mastermind, she just kinda stands there and talks a bit. It's forgivable in that she's a teenage girl with probably little combat training facing down a gun-toting maniac whose anger is more with her father than her.
* Molly in ''VideoGame/CallOfJuarez'' just stands rooted to the spot while Billy and Juarez engage in fisticuffs.
* Gender inverted in ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}''; while [[ActionGirl Sally Stageplay]] introduces Cuphead to her ParasolOfPain, her husband can be seen bouncing about in the background, behaving in the manner of a stereotypical scared love interest during a battle aside from briefly serving as a getaway driver.
* PlayedWith for Katey from ''VideoGame/DeadRising2''. She is too small to help her father when they get attacked by madmen or zombies, but she's smart enough to find a safe hiding place (typically under a couch or behind crates), so that she won't be in the way and that Chuck can focus on kicking ass instead of worrying about her.
%%* {{Prince Charmles|s}} of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', despite being male, is one of the most annoying examples of this trope that one will ever find.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', Rosa just sort of shouts at Kain when he shows up to steal Fabul's crystal and nearly kills Cecil. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears Seventeen years later]], she does nothing to stop [[spoiler:Kain's dark side]] from kidnapping her, and in the battle between Edward and [[spoiler:Dark Kain]] she sits on the sidelines, untargetable, doing nothing to help, not even healing Edward.
* During the fight against Caius in the ocean of Valhalla in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII-2'', Noel yells "Together now" to Serah to which she responds by doing absolutely nothing. Instead, she stands on the side and watches Noel fight Caius solo. She only drops her neutrality a few seconds later by...falling on her knees and sobbing after Noel's [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech overdramatic speech]].
* Invoked in the battle against Boc in ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII'' where a recently freed Jan Ors heads to safety. Subverted in the novella covering the game, where Ors is able to distract the dark Jedi with a thrown rock allowing Kyle to strike him down.
* A variation in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters2003'': Rose Bernstein calmly sits on the sidelines and plays the piano while her older brother Adel and the player beat the tar out of each other. People are throwing fireballs around and she doesn't seem to have any supernatural powers, making her less than optimal help anyway. ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXI'' pokes fun at this with Adel's "G. Princess" move; it calls Rose into the battle... by which we mean she strolls in under an umbrella and makes fun of Adel.
* Subverted at the end of ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow'', where you will only win the final swordfight if you earlier [[spoiler:slipped the princess a dagger, which she will use to stab the villain in the back when he's about to win]]. While the swordfight is going on, the princess isn't just watching, but visibly struggling against the ropes that bind her. The moment she frees herself, she's on her feet and [[spoiler:advancing with the aforementioned dagger]].
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'':
** Subverted when Xaldin is trying to [[SadisticChoice make the Beast choose]] between his magical rose and [[DamselInDistress Belle]]. He hesitates for a moment, at which point ''she'' [[TakeAThirdOption takes a third option]], elbowing Xaldin in the chest and stealing the rose while he's distracted.
** Played Straight when Axel was kidnapping Kairi. While both Hayner and Pence at least attempted to stop them, Olette just sat and watched, even though she was sitting on one of the couches ''right next to her''.
** The manga averts this and has Olette attempt to chase Axel with a bat full of nails after Hayner and Pence get their hair set on fire. The Dark Corridor knocks her back instead.
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' subverts it as well. While Pete and Maleficent capture Minnie, the moment Pete lets his guard down, Minnie hits him with a Light spell and escapes.
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'': In regards to Kairi, the game finally averts her Neutral Female status... by making her a FauxActionGirl who does nothing of consequence. Eventually averted in the ''Re:Mind'' DLC, however, which allows the player to control her for the first time and has a handy explanation of why she appeared to be weak in the original.
* Averted with Ellie in ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs''. Every time the person playing her saw an opportunity to intervene constructively, she’d point it out, leading to the character being retooled as having more competence and agency.
* Zelda herself in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' when Link is battling ganon Zelda herself despite her vast array of magical powers including being able to teleport wherever she wants and ability to transform into a more nimble being who could easily jump over the firewall simply stands there doing nothing in the battle. Even when the firewall goes down all she does is tell Link to get the Master Sword (while she makes no attempt to move whatsoever) and stands there even after there is nothing blocking her. She only gets involved at one point.
* Iris only pleads for them to stop during the fights between Zero and Colonel in ''VideoGame/MegaManX4''. [[AllThereInTheManual Supplemental material]] justifies this: she and her brother were the result of an experiment to create the ultimate combat reploid. The repliforce scientists couldn't get the warrior and pacifist sides of the personality to mesh, so they were split into Colonel and Iris and they have a mental link from sharing over half the same mental programming. She's literally unable to go beyond her neutral-ness if Colonel's alive. In the manga of the same game, Iris [[TakeAThirdOption points a gun at ''her own head'']] and threatens to kill herself if either of them continues to fight.
* Averted at the end of ''VideoGame/{{Outlaws}}''. When the NotQuiteDead BigBad comes into the room and puts a gun to the main character's head (echoing the way he killed the main character's father), [[DamselInDistress his daughter]] shoots him.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/SidMeiersPirates'' 2004, where you can confront Annoying Captains (yes, that's their title in the game) in the various taverns, who are all annoying the barmaids. Telling one of them to leave a barmaid alone results in a duel with the Annoying Captain, but while the barmaid is the subject of the fight, she doesn't just stay passive and out of the fight--in fact, she's the one who ends it if you defeat the Annoying Captain, by virtue of [[GrievousBottleyHarm beaning him with a bottle of wine]].
* Princess Peach of ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' plays this straight in most games she's in, with a few exceptions:
** In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time]]'', Peach doesn't fight the FinalBoss, but she does help the Bros. out by tossing them Stars to attack with. Of course, when things get ''really'' tough, she faints, leaving them on their own.
** She helps out when Bowser first appears in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'' by reducing his power with Starlow. Later when the Bros. have to face the Kretin both Starlow and Peach are there, but they don't do anything to help.
** Peach subverts the trope in the first two ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' games. In both cases she's being held captive in...inaccessible places, but still takes care to make sure that Mario is sent all information she finds out. In the first game, she is also able to send Mario items to help him out and is able to give Twink the power to stop Kammy Koopa.
** In the second ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' game, she also [[spoiler:manages to resist possession by the Shadow Queen long enough to completely refill Mario's various health meters]].
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' in the final fight against Bowser, Peach tosses out a Mushroom every two hits Bowser takes.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach'' the roles are reversed: Mario and Luigi are kidnapped by Bowser and Peach goes off to rescue them.
* The first fight with Ramsus in ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has a neutral (or at least non-combat) female for both sides. Ramsus has Miang on his side, whereas Bart and Fei have Margie. Both will occasionally heal their comrades but neither take part in the fighting directly (Miang [[WouldntHitAGirl isn't even a selectable target]]). Miang later averts this when she appears alongside [[EvilOverlord Grahf]] as the Executioner: in this fight she CAN be targeted, and for good reason, too -- her OneHitKill attacks make her an even bigger threat than Grahf. Even later on, Miang proves to be able to [[ThatOneBoss hold her own as a solo boss]], as well.
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