History PlayingWith / Chickification

* '''Gender Inverted''': Bob's ''male'' sidekick, Charles, goes from TheLancer to TheLoad after his capture.

* '''Subverted''': Alice is [[DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel just playing damsel in distress]] to stroke Bob's ego. If she's in any real danger, she'll drop the pose.
* '''Double Subverted''': The BigBad guessed Alice's game and put in extra security precautions to make sure she ''stays'' distressed.

* '''Played for Horror''': The Big bad kidnaps and enslaves Alice then [[HypnotiseTheCaptive uses mind control]] to remodel her personality into his vision of the [[Politically IncorrectVillain “ideal woman”.]] The transformation slowly progresses over the entire plot until Alice is [[DeathOfPersonality unrecognisable]] as her former self.
** [[TheWoobie Adam,]] a [[UsefulNotes/Transgender trans man]] is forcibly subjected to mind control by a TERF who views him as a [[CategoryTraitor “traitor to womanhood”]] or by another [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain transphobic antagonist.]] As above, the transformation is slow and gradual, with the same end results.

* '''Downplayed''': [[StandardFemaleGrabArea After being grabbed by the arm]], Alice is noticeably less effective, but still useful.

** There are no {{Badass}}es.

** There are no {{Badass}es.

'''Basic Trope''': An ActionGirl or other competent, active female character becomes a DamselInDistress with little or no justification beyond the needs of the plot.

* '''Averted''': No capable female characters are chickified; any DamselInDistress is that way from the beginning.

* '''Straight''': Alice and Bob are secret agents in ''Bob: the Movie''. For much of the film, Alice is just as kickass as Bob, but two-thirds of the way in, a {{Mook|s}} manages to [[StandardFemaleGrabArea catch her arm]] and Alice is quickly subdued. She spends the rest of the movie trapped in a cell in the BigBad's lair, waiting for Bob to rescue her.

** Bob the macho action hero is [[GenderBender turned into a woman]], and immediately starts acting out the role of DamselInDistress, even though several people (including the BigBad) point out that this particular AppliedPhlebotinum doesn't affect the victim's personality. The other characters begin to wonder if maybe Bob isn't a bit too into this distress thing.

* '''Zig Zagged''':

** Alice is a MagicalGirlWarrior that transforms into an Amazon but the transformation has a PowerLimiter, so she can go from a strong and trained assassin to a helpless waif who can't lift a finger to save herself, and everything in between.

* '''Lampshaded''': "So this is the famous Warrior Queen Alice. How the mighty have fallen, eh?"

* '''Discussed''': "I hope Alice is all right. It's not like her to be so easily captured".
* '''Conversed''': "We're about two-thirds of the way into the movie and...yep, there goes Alice's competence. It's all damsel in distress from this point on".

** Alice is deliberately feigning weakness when necessary as part of a larger strategy to train and boost Bob's confidence and public profile.
* '''Reconstructed''': Alice was complacent and the experience of effortless capture humbles her. Bob rescues her and they fight their way out together, falling in love in the process. Alice becomes a RetiredBadass who can ''still'' kick ass but prefers being a {{Housewife}} at HomeSweetHome.
* '''Played For Drama''': Alice's team manages to rescue her and still complete the mission, but [[PyrrhicVictory at a large cost]], having to extend the mission's duration threefold and resulting in the death of secret agent [[RedShirt Charles]]. Not only her teammates [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead blame her for his death]], Alice is a [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten subject of ridicule]] across the team's base, and few look at her without making fun of how easily captured she was, or questioning her fitness for missions. Devastated, Alice too [[DespairEventHorizon believes she's unfit for her role]], and thinks that [[{{Tomboy}} Eve]] would be a much better substitute for her. Her boss agrees with her. Alice is fired from her job.

%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
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%%* '''Played For Laughs''': ???

* '''Enforced''':
** ”Bob's the title character, so he should be the focus of the climax. How about we have Alice get captured so Bob can rescue her?"
** The CensorshipBureau and MoralGuardians decides that Alice being an ActionGirl is way too violent so they force the writers to turn Alice into a DamselInDistress.

** ”Bob's the title character, so he should be the focus of the climax. How about we have Alice get captured so Bob can rescue her?"

* '''Enforced''': "Bob's the title character, so he should be the focus of the climax. How about we have Alice get captured so Bob can rescue her?"

* '''Played For Drama''': Alice's team manages to rescue her and still complete the mission, but [[PyrrhicVictory at a large cost]], having to extend the mission's duration threefold and resulting in the death of secret agent [[RedShirt Charles]]. Not only her teammates [[YouShouldHaveDiedInstead blame her for his death]], Alice is a subject of [[NeverLiveItDown ridicularization]] across the team's base, and few look at her without making fun of how easily captured she was, or questioning her fitness for missions. Devastated, Alice too [[DespairEventHorizon believes she's unfit for her role]], and thinks that [[{{Tomboy}} Eve]] would be a much better substitute for her. Her boss agrees with her. Alice is fired from her job.

** Not applicable; this trope cannot be justified by its very definition. (The lack of an InUniverse reason is key to this trope. If the ActionGirl is changed to a DamselInDistress as the result of insufficient physical and/or emotional trauma, that's just CharacterDevelopment.)

** Not applicable. (The lack of an InUniverse reason is key to this trope. If the ActionGirl is changed to a DamselInDistress as the result of physical and/or emotional trauma, that's just CharacterDevelopment.)

** Pushing that a bit: Alice is in an HighSchoolAU fanfiction, and has no reason to be an ActionGirl.

* '''Straight''': Alice and Bob are secret agents in ''Bob: the Movie''.For much of the film, Alice is just as kickass as Bob, but two-thirds of the way in, a {{Mook|s}} manages to [[StandardFemaleGrabArea catch her arm]] and Alice is quickly subdued. She spends the rest of the movie trapped in a cell in the BigBad's lair, waiting for Bob to rescue her.