Line #14 DistressedDude/WesternAnimation


1	''WesternAnimation/FiremanSam'' [[DistressedDude/FiremanSam has its own page.]]
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3	* Tails in at least half of ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog''. Justified, since he is 4½ years old and [[HilarityEnsues goes on dangerous missions with Sonic]].
4	* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime''
5	** In the Season 5 episode "Vault of Bones", Flame Princess rescues a captive Finn, after authoritatively commanding the dungeon's final boss to release him and do the splits. "''DO THE SPLITS! DO THE SPLITS, THOU MILK-LIVERED MAGGOT PIEEEEEEE!''"
6	** Prince Gumball (Princess Bubblegum's guy counterpart) featured in Ice King's GenderFlip {{Fanfic}} is one to Fionna and Cake (Finn and Jake girl counterparts).
7	* Disney's WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}} is one example from being put in the dungeon, to almost drowning to beheading, etc.
8	* ''WesternAnimation/ArloTheAlligatorBoy'':
9	** Arlo becomes this in the final third of the movie when Ruff and Stucky hold him hostage at the Met Gala and come within two seconds of hustling him out the door and using him as their newest attraction for their swamp shack. He is saved just in time by his father Ansel, who simultaneously reveals his true identity as a bird-man.
10	** Done again in the ''WesternAnimation/IHeartArlo'' Season 1 finale when Arlo is ensnared in the Bog Lady's vine trap and hypnotized into staying with her forever.
11	* Two examples from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Sokka, as the show's resident ButtMonkey, suffers from this the most (he got captured by a hole in the ground!), but Aang often receives the more elaborate setups.
12	* In particular, the first ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' cartoons, from 1968, which were heavily patterned after the recent live-action series. Again, Robin was often in need of rescue by Batman; but once, when Robin was tied to a table with a saw poised to divide him up the middle, he managed to rescue ''himself'', and then go save Batman!
13	* ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6TheSeries'':
14	** [[BunnyEarsLawyer Alistair Krei]] is constantly having run-ins with supervillains, some of whom he [[CreateYourOwnVillain created himself]], and Big Hero 6 has to bail him out. He's basically a more bumbling version of Norman Osborn in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan''.
15	** Hiro also winds up kidnapped or captured a disproportionate amount compared to his older teammates.
16	* ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'': Ty Parsec, a fellow ranger and old Academy friend of Buzz Lightyear, has a very unfortunate streak of getting himself into trouble and needing to be rescued by Buzz. In his introduction, we learn that Buzz has saved him at ''least'' 50 times. Needless to say, it annoys Ty greatly.
17	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'':
18	** [[WhatKindOfLamePowerIsHeartAnyway Ma-Ti]] gets captured and BoundAndGagged or nearly killed more often than a FauxActionGirl.
19	** Wheeler also gets into trouble more than once, for being HotBlooded as well as being a CommanderContrarian.
20	** And Captain Planet himself is endangered whenever pollutants and toxins are spilled on him. Usually when this happens, he just gets dispelled and his powers return to the rings, but in the first episode, the Planeteers have to bail him out.
21	* In ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', the Damsel in Distressed role tends to go to Aelita, who doesn't reach ActionGirl status until around [[TookALevelInBadass Season 3]], or [[ActionGirl Yumi]] in some sort of random RunningGag. However, there are also many episodes that involve [[NonActionGuy Jérémie]] being the one in trouble, usually with electrocuting or trying to electrocute him. (And there was that one time where XANA sent one of his specters to clog his airways and suffocate him.) This really makes the most sense, since when you're [[AIIsACrapshoot a computer program]], the most dangerous foe is [[TheSmartGuy the guy who]] [[MissionControl controls]] [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection the computer]].
22	* ''WesternAnimation/FiremanSam'': In the CGI era of the series, male characters tend to be in need of rescue more often than the female characters, with Norman Price and Mike Flood being among the most common victims due to their carelessness.
23	** In "[[Recap/FiremanSamS2E2 Sam's Day Off]]" from the stop-motion era, Sam himself needed to be rescued when he got locked in his shed, which was on fire.
24	* The DistressBall was passed around pretty evenly in ''[[WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers Galaxy Rangers]]'', as was the rescuer card. It helps that they're a BadassCrew.
25	* ''WesternAnimation/GoofTroop'': Max often finds himself in perilous situations (sometimes [[FearlessFool his own fault]], sometimes not). Over the course of the series, he is threatened by kidnappers, hostile burglars, and TheMafia among other things.
26	* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': When he’s not being a BadassBookworm, [[spoiler:Ford]] can fall into this trope. Especially during the GrandFinale.
27	* [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man]] in the ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'' movie. Let's have WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick talk about it, shall we?
28	-->"And for the rest of the movie, we pretty much go in circles of capture. He-Man gets captured, He-Man escapes, He-Man gets captured, He-Man escapes, and our new wacky rebel friends have wacky adventures trying to bust him out."
29	* ''WesternAnimation/Hero108'': Commander [=ApeTrully=] is usually captured by the animals he tries to make peace with by giving them a gift of gold, most prominently in season 1. He calls First Squad to rescue him.
30	* WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget is this at least as often as his niece Penny is the DamselInDistress. The difference between them is that the Inspector doesn't always ''know'' he's in danger. Brain, the dog, also qualifies for this trope on occasion.
31	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'':
32	** Ron Stoppable gets this quite a bit as {{sidekick}} to the show's hero Kim. She, of course, has her moments of helplessness, but Ron gets himself into trouble even more, occasionally leading to situations when they're both captured and tied up at the same time. One episode centers on Ron learning an Aesop about "becoming a man," and features one of his teachers pointing out that he can't be very good at being a "real man" -- because he ''keeps getting saved by a girl''.
33	** In ''[[WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama So The Drama]]'', Kim's new boyfriend Eric is taken hostage by Dr. Drakken[[spoiler:...or so it seems. It turns out that he's actually a synthodrone created by Dr. Drakken to distract her and ultimately lead her into a trap.]]
34	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' (SequelSeries of the above), [[BigFun Bolin]] is captured by the Equalists in the third episode. [[TheHero Korra]] and [[TheStoic Mako]] have to team up to rescue him before [[BigBad Amon]] can [[DePower take away his bending]].
35	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': In "WesternAnimation/EatinOnTheCuff", the Moth ends up having to be saved from the clutches of [[AbhorrentAdmirer the Black Widow Spider]] by his fiancee the Bee.
36	* Mike Chilton in the two-part season finale of ''{{WesternAnimation/Motorcity}}''. Texas in the episode "Threat Level: Texas!"
37	* ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'':
38	** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'':
39	*** In "The Ghost of Paradise Estate", Pluma's grandpa Ruff, while a hero in his youth, has been trapped in a cage in Squirk's lair and held hostage to force his granddaughter to serve the villain, and needs to be rescued by her and the heroes.
40	*** In "Somnambula", the Big Brother Ponies, despite starting out as would-be rescuers themselves, are snared by Somnambula's magic and need to themselves be saved by Kyrie, Spike, and the baby ponies.
41	** ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''
42	*** In the Season 2 finale, Shining Armor is held captivated by Queen Crysalis posing as Princess Cadance. In a nice inversion of the usual fare, Cadance saves him (with the PowerOfLove, natch).
43	*** Spike also needs to be rescued a few times. Justified, since he's a baby dragon and all.
44	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
45	** The [[AnimalEspionage Agent P]] and [[MadScientist Dr. Doofenshmirtz]] B-Plot parodies the tropes of SpyFiction, including those put forth by the former [[Franchise/JamesBond page image]]. In every episode, Dr. Doofenshmirtz has a new trap for Perry the Platypus, which gets progressively more absurd as the show goes on. Of course, Perry always escapes, either by his own ingenuity or [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Doof's incompetence]].
46	** The title characters occasionally find themselves in this position, but being a pair of [[CheerfulChild relentlessly optimistic]] [[AdorablyPrecociousChild kid geniuses]], they're more likely to see it as a chance for an adventure than any cause for distress. In cases where things really do get out of control, it often forces Candace into a CoolBigSis role. Examples include when they and their friends are tricked into a FreakyFridayFlip with alien criminals when a black hole has opened in the backyard, or in the GrandFinale when [[spoiler: the boys are removed from existence.]]
47	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''' dad, Professor Utonium, sometimes falls into this.
48	* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'':
49	** In the episode "My Fair Jet", the DSA weather balloon flies off in some nasty weather, and carries Sean along with it. But luckily, Jet saves him with his jetpack.
50	** In "Castaway Carrot", Carrot gets stranded on the moon but gets rescued by his family.
51	* Played for laughs in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'', a male character (Enzo) is literally dressed up as a damsel in distress (complete with princess costume and voice changing gizmo), and the female lead dressed as a knight shows up to rescue him.
52	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan:'' ComicBook/NormanOsborn gets kidnapped by the Vulture in the series' [[Recap/TheSpectacularSpiderManS1E1SurvivalOfTheFittest debut episode]], and naturally Spider-Man needs to save him.
53	* [[SecretKeeper Richie]] from ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' spends the first two-and-a-half seasons of the show being this, before hanging around [[TheHero Static]] [[ContagiousPowers causes him to develop]] [[SuperIntelligence his own powers]]. He gets kidnapped ''slightly'' less often after that.
54	* Out of the five members of the ''WesternAnimation/SushiPack'', the three male members have been captured more times than the two female members (although only one episode had all three of them captured at the same time). On the other hand, at least one of each has been captured even more often (usually of the "four are captured, one sets them free" variety).
55	* ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'':
56	** The King of Galaluna is in this state throughout the whole show (save flashbacks).
57	** This also happens to Lance a few times as well, most notably when kidnapped by Xeexi and later on, G3.
58	* ''WesternAnimation/TheTaleOfTheGreatBunny'': The titular [[EasterBunny Great Bunny]] ends up this way, being kidnapped near the beginning of the show by the [[WickedWeasel evil weasels]].
59	* This happens to Robin from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' a few times. Once, when his teammates thought he was going crazy, they restrained him to a medical bed. In addition, Cyborg and Beast Boy usually [[IAlwaysWantedToSayThat gleefully]] take the opportunity to shout [[{{Catchphrase}} "Titans! GO!"]] while Robin is out of commission.
60	* ''WesternAnimation/AThousandAndOneAmericas'':
61	** At the beginning of the nineteenth episode, Fito is swimming in a pool until he approaches a deep area and begins dorwning, at which point Monica gets in to save him. Fito later tells Chris he feels disgraced over being saved by a girl.
62	** Chris himself is abducted in the final episode by a couple corrupt Aztec men, in the hopes that they can sell a white-skinned kid with red hair for a high price (as well as offer Chris to the gods as a human sacrifice). Though not without difficulty, Lon manages to defeat the crooked men and rescue his owner.
63	* {{Downplayed\|Trope}} in the ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' episode "The Duelist and the Drifter" with the Drifter, an EccentricMentor with NotQuiteFlight powers that gets himself "[[UnwillingSuspension snagged]]" on tall fences [[RuleOfThree three times]], each time enlisting the help of TheHero Lion-O to get down, and each time, [[DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel exploiting]] the encounter to offer Lion-O pertinent [[AloofAlly advice or aid]] while feigning disinterest.
64	* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'', known mostly for its heroines getting into distress situations, actually features a couple of scenes where the girls' male spy helpers, Blaine and Dean, get captured by the bad guys. The spinoff ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingSpiez'' will have a scene featuring one or more of the three Clark boys from time to time.
65	* Optimus Prime gets this with his love interest Elita One in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers''. When arriving to [[DamselInDistress save her]] from the Decepticons, first Optimus gets captured and watches helplessly as Elita tries to save them both, nearly getting killed for it. For one reason or another, the Decepticons decide not to finish them immediately but [[UnwillingSuspension to hang Optimus over an acid bath]] where Elita will have a good view of his demise (and her demise-to-be). Elita One then activates her time powers to save Optimus Prime, which leads to him finally being able to do something to rescue her. It's pretty 50/50 with them. A similar incident occurs with Blurr in "The Face of the Nijika" (minus the whole "save my girlfriend" thing).
66	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'':
67	** Sadlygrove, the IdiotHero, thinks of himself as a KnightInShiningArmor and thus is on the lookout for Distressed Damsels to rescue. This is turned on its head in Episode 4, where he's lured in a cursed castle by the four "Ugly Princesses". Naturally, he ends up as the Distressed Dude to be rescued by his friends.
68	** The second season has this happen to Ruel, who is captured by the Dragon Pig after he killed and ate one of his pigs earlier.
69	* ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts'':
70	** The titular brothers, Chris and Martin, tend to get themselves in distress fairly often, to the point that Zach's debut episode, [[Recap/WildKrattsS1E3AardvarkTown "Aardvark Town"]], is the only villain debut episode in the show where neither brother gets captured.[[note]]Martin is captured in [[Recap/WildKrattsS1E4FlightOfTheDraco "Flight of the Draco"]] (Donita's debut episode) and "Spirit Bear" (Paisley's debut episode), while Chris is captured in "Platypus Cafe" (Gourmand's debut episode).[[/note]] That said, the episode they spend the most time being captured is in [[Recap/WildKrattsS6E11AmazinAmazonAdventurePart2 the second half of "Amazin' Amazon Adventure"]], where they first get trapped in dough by Gourmand, then kidnapped by him, Zach, and Donita, with them being [[BoundAndGagged tied with red cuffs when we next see them]]. While Koki is able to secretly remove the cuffs from the brothers and [[DamselOutOfDistress the brothers fight back in the morning after]], they still spend a good chunk of the second half as captives, ultimately needing Aviva to save them.
71	** Jimmy, being a NonActionGuy, also tends to be captured by the villains a few times, requiring a member of the Tortuga crew (usually the aforementioned brothers, although [[Recap/WildKrattsS3E23PrayingMantis Aviva saved him before]]) to save him as a result.
72	* The ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' fairies' boyfriends, the Specialists, have been kidnapped on at least two occasions. First at the end of Season 3, where Valtor captures four of the specialists, letting Helia go to deliver a message to the Winx girls to tell them to meet him on Andros. And near the end of Season 4's Episode 18, the Specialists are captured by Diana and her warrior fairies, only [[KungFuWizard Nabu]] being able to avoid capture since he is the only one who has magical powers.
73	* ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'':
74	** As the heroines of a MagicalGirl show, the five guardians find themselves tied up fairly often, usually due to some form of magic. However, the only person in the series to actually be bound ''and'' gagged at the same time is BadassNormal Caleb, in the episode "Ghosts of Elyon". Not to mention, he is the character who gets captured the most across the two seasons. This is probably to be expected since, by the end of the series, he's the only main character without some kind of magical powers.
75	** Will's boyfriend Matt, who actually [[spoiler:is captured by Nerissa ''and'' ends up BrainwashedAndCrazy]].
76	** Caleb's father, Julian, also was a Distressed Dude for a while.
77	* Mark Lily from ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'' manages to get himself into all kinds of horrifying and distressful situations.
78	* Happened to Scott aka Cyclops quite a bit across the various Franchise/XMen cartoons -- he gets it worst on ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009'', mostly just so Jean Grey and Emma Frost would look better. And in ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'', where [[spoiler: Mystique abducts him, steals his PowerLimiter and leaves him completely blinded ''and'' indefense in the desert, as revenge having been the SpannerInTheWorks for her earlier. [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Jean]] saves him that time.]] In the latter case though, this was explicitly a BadassInDistress moment given he didn't sit around helplessly.
79	* All the guys in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' have gone through distressing situations, but the honor has to go to Superboy.

Context DistressedDude / WesternAnimation