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21[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mario-DamselInDistress_2325.png]]]]
22[[caption-width-right:350:[[SaveThePrincess Just another Wednesday]] for [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Princess Peach.]]]]
23%%
24->''"Why is she always the one getting kidnapped?'' '''I'm''' ''the princess!"''
25-->-- '''Amalia Sheran Sharm''', ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}''
26
27A female character is put into immediate danger in order to put the cast in motion. Her plight unites the cast, causing them to put aside [[DividedWeFall their differences]] and work together to save her or provide the premise for TheQuest and is considered OlderThanDirt.
28
29The nature of the distress varies. The classic damsel has been kidnapped or captured and is locked away, awaiting rescue and afraid for her life and [[DefiledForever virtue]]. She may also be lost or stranded in a hostile area, trapped, or suffering any number of terrible fates where she needs help to survive. In other cases, the damsel's distress is [[DomesticAbuse due to someone in her own family]], such as [[MalMariee her husband]], her ArchnemesisDad, or a WickedStepmother. If the abuser is her husband, she may be rescued by a WifeBasherBasher. Although strictly speaking, since 'damsel' means a young, unmarried woman, if this character has a husband then she doesn't count as a true damsel in the literal sense.
30
31This set-up is plausible if the damsel in distress is a beloved character, but can be very jarring if the audience fails to see what's so valuable about the damsel and why the rest of the cast should drop everything to go to her rescue. Some damsels are so annoying that the audience [[DamselScrappy wouldn't mind seeing them dead]]; others end up in trouble in a way that just screams CharacterDerailment. This is particularly dangerous for the resident ActionHeroine who will seem [[{{Chickification}} suddenly weak and helpless]] if her stint as a damsel isn't properly justified — if the moment is bad enough, she can be demoted to FauxActionGirl. On the other hand, anyone can have a bad day; perhaps she just had a moment of BadassInDistress after being thrown a DistressBall.
32
33A possible way to shake things up a bit is to give the damsel something to do besides [[TheLoad stand around uselessly]]. The DamselOutOfDistress will put up a fight, which can either help or [[NiceJobBreakingItHero make things worse]]. The DefiantCaptive damsel will snarl and rage where her meeker sister would scream. There are even subversions in the line of PlayAlongPrisoner: the DecoyDamsel puts on all the appearance of this trope, but her helplessness is all for show.
34
35Sometimes the character gets kidnapped for the sake of her [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman good looks]] or [[BlueBlood royal blood]], but in other works she's more likely doing something that is a threat to the party that kidnaps her ([[IntrepidReporter reporters are common]]), which allows her to look smart and independent before she needs to be saved. Alternatively, she can end up prisoner as a HeroicSacrifice; situations where she puts herself in peril so that others can get away are popular, even if her plan ultimately fails.
36
37Generally expected to give TheHero a SmoochOfVictory when he rescues her. Assuming [[ILetGwenStacyDie he does]], [[RedundantRescue of course]]...
38
39This is a type of LivingMacGuffin. ChainedToARock is an ancient form; GirlInTheTower and HypnotizeTheCaptive came later. Damsels may also be BoundAndGagged or put into UnwillingSuspension, especially when it satisfies AuthorAppeal.
40
41If the kidnapper in question is particularly nasty, expect an IHaveYouNowMyPretty situation to occur. If the character does not become a DamselScrappy but still is constantly captured, they are a DesignatedVictim. Compare with DisposableWoman, where a [[WeHardlyKnewYe barely-developed character]] is killed off for EmotionalTorque, but forgotten not long afterwards. Common for a CagedBirdMetaphor to be used.
42
43A common variation is for the character in question to not be kidnapped per se, but instead simply placed in a situation where she needs to be protected by the other characters, such as a person of prominence being targeted by would-be assassins. This specific variation tends to be one of the more prominent manifestations of the trope in the modern day, as it can more easily allow the character in question to play an active role in the story instead of relegating her to a plot device. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools After all]], just because a character physically needs to be protected doesn't mean she can't pull her weight in other areas. Depending on the nature of the story, this can oftentimes be a jumping-off point for a BodyguardCrush, particularly in cases where a LadyAndKnight dynamic is present.
44
45For obvious reasons this trope is AlwaysFemale, unless a {{Crossdresser}} plays the role; if such a damsel is still the LoveInterest for the protagonist, as the female version often is, "she" is probably CampGay (and the whole thing becomes more likely to be PlayedForLaughs). For the straight SpearCounterpart, see DistressedDude.
46
47See also TheDulcineaEffect, DistressBall, StandardFemaleGrabArea, IHaveYourWife, SaveThePrincess, HostageMacGuffin. If the girl is actually ''faking'' this for her own benefits, depending on her purposes she's either a DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel or a DecoyDamsel. A damsel who rescues herself is a DamselOutOfDistress who probably used an ImprovisedWeapon. If she has a strong spirit despite captivity, then they are a DefiantCaptive. If the hero leaves the damsel in distress (for the moment), that's DelayingTheRescue. If the hero tries to rescue them even though they don't need rescuing, then TheVictimMustBeConfused. See also TheCaptivityNarrative for a plot based on this.
48
49Not to be confused with the 2012 comedy film ''Film/DamselsInDistress'' or the Creator/PGWodehouse novel ''A Damsel in Distress''.
50
51''[[TropeCo/DistressedDamsel This item]] is available in the TropeCo/TropeCo catalog.''
52
53----
54!!Examples subpages:
55[[index]]
56* DamselInDistress/AnimeAndManga
57* DamselInDistress/ComicBooks
58* DamselInDistress/FairyTales
59* DamselInDistress/{{Literature}}
60* DamselInDistress/LiveActionTV
61* DamselInDistress/{{Music}}
62* DamselInDistress/{{Pinball}}
63* DamselInDistress/VideoGames
64* DamselInDistress/{{Webcomics}}
65* DamselInDistress/WebOriginal
66* DamselInDistress/WesternAnimation
67[[/index]]
68
69!!Other examples:
70[[foldercontrol]]
71
72[[folder:Advertising]]
73* Lola Bunny at the end of this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAB-zHpcmag UK advert for Walkers Crisps.]]
74[[/folder]]
75
76[[folder:Arts]]
77* The Creator/FernandoAmorsolo painting ''Defence of a Filipina Woman's Honour'' features a Filipino man, bolo at the ready, in a defensive position in front of a young woman with a cloth covering her body. Details in the scene imply he is protecting her from a Japanese soldier.
78[[/folder]]
79
80[[folder:Ballads]]
81* Literature/{{Child Ballad|s}} ''[[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch060.htm King Estmere]]''. The king goes wooing on the recommendation of his brother, and arrives to find the lady is being forced to marry. He rescues her.
82* Literature/{{Child Ballad|s}} ''[[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch095.htm The Maid Freed from the Gallows]]'' has the heroine about to be hanged if she is not ransomed. Various relatives arrive and declare they are there to see her hanged. Finally, her true love arrives and ransoms her. (Most American versions of this ballad feature a GenderFlip version, of a man about to be hanged, but this is the older variant.)
83%%* In the Literature/{{Child Ballad|s}} ''Literature/SirAldingar'', the queen.
84[[/folder]]
85
86[[folder:Fan Works]]
87* ''Fanfic/AlwaysVisible'': In some ways, Delia has these traits in her, at least according to Galbraith.
88* Ariana Black of ''Fanfic/TheArianaBlackSeries'' gets kidnapped or otherwise endangered by Voldemort at least once per fic.
89* In ''Fanfic/DamonaInTheDetails'', [[VideoGame/YokaiWatch Damona]] is kidnapped by Komane and an exorcist who want to put her back in the Crank-a-Kai, requiring Nate to rescue her.
90* {{Discussed}} in ''Fanfic/FateReachOut'':
91-->"Well then," Yosuke smiled. "Now we have a plan; Emiya fights, Teddie supports, I investigate, and Satonaka..." he paused as he stared at the lone girl of their party. "Well, try not to get kidnapped, alright?"\
92"Ha-ha, very funny," said lone girl deadpanned.
93* In the ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheGreatRedPandaRescue'', Mei is kidnapped.
94* ''Fanfic/{{Greenfire}}'':Most mares who stay around dragons are there because they've been kidnapped, but Rarity is both a willing visitor and a close friend of said dragon. That doesn't stop a roving knight from assuming this when he sees Greenfire and Rarity together.
95* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/23368747/chapters/55991638 hear the sirens calling/and the bombs are falling in the streets (we're all screwed),]]'' [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Starscream]] (who is a human female in the story) is kidnapped and held hostage by MECH.
96* In ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} locks Highfather's daughter D'reema away so she can't ruin his scheme by speaking the Life Equation.
97* In ''Fanfic/InfinityCrisis'', Jane Foster is captured by the villains as a hostage (justifiable as half of Thanos’s new allies were Thor’s enemies, so they naturally targeted Thor’s ex for maximum impact).
98* PlayedWith and {{Deconstructed}} in ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainKnightOfTheOrangeLily''. Gladion sees his sister Lillie as this, believing her to be a FragileFlower who requires protection from the AwfulTruth about where her Poké-phobia stems from. But she [[CharacterDevelopment did a lot of growing]] while he was off running around training, and has come to [[TheResenter resent how]] he effectively abandoned her for ''years'' without word in order to become 'strong enough to protect her'... while keeping her and everyone else LockedOutOfTheLoop. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot A lot of problems could have been avoided]] if he'd [[PoorCommunicationKills actually TOLD others what he knew]], but Gladion [[NeverMyFault refuses to recognize]] he made any mistakes, [[PrefersTheIllusion preferring the notion]] that everything he did was a neccesary sacrifice for her sake, never mind how much she suffered in the meantime.
99* Nala is this at times in ''Fanfic/TheLionKingAdventures'', most notably when she's kidnapped by Scar and Hago in ''King's Ransom''.
100* ''Fanfic/TheNightmareHouse'', [[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse Leni Loud]] has a nightmare where she's immobilized and dragged away by giant, talking spiders.
101* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' fanfic ''Fanfic/PatronOfTheArtOfWar'', given that Thrawn is overseeing her imprisonment personally, [[BadassNormal Sabine]] is not able to pull a DamselOutOfDistress, though she tires at least once. She is forced to make the art he wants, after threating to remove her eyes when she defies him. All the while Thrawn is attempting to tame her, weeding out her rebel characteristics.
102* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13041974/1/Sailor-John-A-Pirate-s-Vendetta Sailor John: A Pirate's Vendetta]]'', [[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends Emily and Lady Hatt]] are among those kidnapped by Sailor John and his henchmen.
103* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12224129/1/Seeking-for-a-Seeker Seeking for a Seeker]]'', [[Franchise/TransformersGenerationOne Windblade]] is kidnapped by traffickers after failing to convince Starscream to return to Cybertron, forcing him to rescue her.
104* In Chapter 2 of ''Fanfic/SewCutePrettyCure'', Daffodil the fairy and Anna Double Scoops get trapped in the wind storm and need the Cures to rescue them.
105* In ''WebVideo/SwordArtOnlineAbridged'', Suguha ''wants'' to be this as part of her [[TheRoleplayer roleplaying]] in ''Alfheim Online'' as Princess Leafa. Unfortunately she can't get over her real-life kendo instincts, so even when a trio of Salamanders are [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty menacing]] her and she's begging for her life in a SouthernBelle accent, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation she can't stop herself from brandishing a sword at them]], much to their annoyance.
106* ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheEmperasque'' has Isha, Eldar fertility and life goddess, kept in prison by Nurgle. Her rescue is the first SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome of many.
107* While the ''Fanfic/TokimekiPokeLiveAndTwinbee'' series manages to usually avoid this trope since one of the appeals of the Side Stories and the major crossover arcs is to see your favorite ''Franchise/LoveLive'' and ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'' girls [[AdaptationalBadass who decide to become Pokémon Trainers be adept at using their Pokémon skillfully in Pokémon Battles]], there are a couple of examples:
108** In "Introducing Anata", [[Anime/LoveLiveNijigasakiHighSchoolIdolClub Yuu Takasaki]] is cornered by a new model of [[WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM SWAT]][[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics bot]] that [[MadScientist Dr. Eggman]] has created with Eggman daring Yuu to battle the robot with her Pokémon despite Yuu not being a Trainer. Thankfully, her fellow [=NijiGaku=] classmates/friends Hilda White and Shiori Fujisaki accompanied her and made short work of the bot with their Samurott and Mega Charizard X respectively.
109** In "A Friend Indeed!", [[Anime/PokemonThePowerOfUs Margo]] is cornered by three young teenage bullies and as part a MythologyGag to Margo's movie debut, ''The Power of Us'', one of the girls throws the lid of the ice cream they were carrying towards Margo, but [[VideoGame/SonicGenerations Classic]] [[VideoGame/SonicMania Sonic]] arrives just in time to prevent the lid from hitting Margo in the face and also manages to chase the girls off after beating their Phanpy!
110* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12049888/1/The-True-Villain The True Villain]]'', [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug Marinette]] becomes one after being kidnapped by a trafficker and separated from Tikki in the process.
111* ''Fanfic/TwinklingInTheDark'': In the prologue, [[Anime/SmilePrecure Cure Peace]], [[Anime/KiraKiraPrecureALaMode Cure Custard]], and [[Anime/DeliciousPartyPrettyCure Cure Yum-Yum]] are tied up over a pond of Bad Energy sludge, with Joker threatening to drop them in.
112* ''Fanfic/VoyagesOfTheWildSeaHorse'': In the early chapters, due to being the NonActionGuy (bordering on TheLoad), Nabiki Tendo is frequently captured or taken hostage by forces hoping to use her to get the upper hand against the Kamikaze Pirates. She is ''less'' than thrilled about this, lampshading that it used to be her little sister Akane that would get grabbed this way, and ultimately [[TookALevelInBadass she works to become a competent fighter in her own right]].
113* ''Fanfic/YourAlicornIsInAnotherCastle'': Bowser does this throughout TheMultiverse. Because [[spoiler:he's contracted to]]. There are some ways this trope gets played with though: [[spoiler:he often offers his services ''to'' princesses, who see getting kidnapped as a way to let down their hair, [[ToughLeaderFacade remove their mask]], and just be a ''person'' rather than a ruler for a while. In fact, the whole story started because Celestia had hired him to kidnap her so she can get out of boring treaty negotiations, but forgot to tell him that Equestria now had ''three'' alicorns instead of just one, resulting in him kidnapping Twilight Sparkle by mistake.]]
114* ''Fanfic/ZooCoupRiot'': Adelaide is kidnapped by the person who's been leaving threatening notes for Sid in order to force Sid to free all the zoo animals.
115[[/folder]]
116
117[[folder:Film — Animation]]
118* ''WesternAnimation/TheCatPiano'': The female white cat singer is kidnapped by a human for him to use in his cat piano.
119* Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon examples (in chronological order):
120** ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'': Cinderella is locked in her room by Lady Tremaine in the third act and the mice bring up the key needed to unlock the door, once Bruno takes care of Lucifer.
121** ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'': Wendy is almost always attacked by Tinker Bell, who almost murdered her, most notably when Tink made the Lost Boys attempt to bludgeon her to death. Later on, Wendy, her brothers, and the Lost Boys are all being held hostage by Captain Hook and his Pirate Crew. In order to save Wendy and the Boys, Peter Pan must fight against Hook and his crew, and have the Crocodile chase Hook and his fellow pirates away, once again.
122** ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'': Princess Aurora ended up falling into an enchanted sleep after pricking her finger on the spinning wheel while being hypnotized by Maleficent, much to the horror and disbelief of the Three Good Fairies. Prince Phillip's final battle (with some assistance from the Three Good Fairies) against Maleficent (as a gigantic, horrifying, fire-breathing dragon) is to save Aurora and the other residents in the kingdom that were also put into an enchanted sleep by the Three Good Fairies, which includes her parents (King Stefan and Queen Leah), his father (King Hubert), and the two main servants (Sir Minstrel and Lord Duke).
123** ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'': Maid Marian is a lovely ProperLady but almost completely helpless, even when her love is about to be executed right before her eyes. However, she manages to convince Prince John to spare Robin through ThePowerOfLove (with some help from a knife-wielding Little John), and hits a guard aiming for Robin with a pie, which just goes to show how helpful she can be when she tries.
124** ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'': Ariel is trapped by Ursula at the bottom of a vortex in the climax before Prince Eric plows into Ursula with a ship.
125** ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Belle is rescued by the Beast from a pack of wolves after leaving his castle, which is what convinces her to return to said castle in order to patch up his injuries. Later in the film, she (and Maurice) gets locked in the cellar of her cottage by Gaston. Chip, who stowed away in her bag, uses the inventions to free her and her father, so they can save the Beast.
126** ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': Jasmine is trapped in an hourglass slowly filling with sand during the final battle and nearly drowns in it until Aladdin breaks her out.
127** Parodied in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}''.
128--->'''Hercules:''' Aren't you a damsel in distress?\
129'''Megara:''' I'm a damsel... I'm in distress... I can handle this. Have a nice day.
130** ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'': Jane is attacked by baboons and rescued from them by Tarzan, due to being an unprepared FishOutOfWater in a wild environment.
131** [[spoiler:Kida]] from 2001's ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', who spends the last third of the film crystallized by [[spoiler: Rourke]] [[spoiler: due to her RoyalBlood]] and Milo and his teammates actually have to rescue her and change her back [[spoiler: before Atlantis is destroyed permanently and she suffers the exact same fate as her dead mother in the prologue]].
132** [[spoiler:''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'': Captain Amelia is kidnapped by Long John Silver the cyborg and is threatened to be killed by him as an ultimatum if Jim Hawkins refused to open the map after finally retrieving it from the ship.]]
133** Penny plays one on the ShowWithinAShow in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'', and then [[spoiler:becomes one for real when a fire breaks out in said show's studio.]]
134** Elsa becomes this at the end of ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' when [[spoiler: Hans lies to her thinking that she killed Anna, thus allowing Hans to kill her]], but fortunately, Anna [[spoiler: performs a HeroicSacrifice via AnActofTrueLove.]]
135** Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'', when Rapunzel asks Vanellope "Do people assume all your problems got solved because a big strong man showed up?" When Vanellope answers "Yes! What is up with that?", the Disney Princesses declare [[CommonalityConnection she's one of them]].
136* Creator/DreamWorksAnimation examples:
137** ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'': Parodied. Roxanne Ritchi routinely gets kidnapped by the titular supervillain, to the point where basically [[SeenItAll no deathtrap can scare her anymore]].
138--->'''Roxanne:''' Can one of you punch my frequent kidnappings card?\
139'''Megamind:''' You of all people know we discontinued that promotion.
140** ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'':
141*** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and averted in the [[WesternAnimation/Shrek1 first movie]], especially in a scene where Robin Hood and his Merry Men try to "rescue" Fiona from the ogre they believe has kidnapped her, only to have her rebuff him and beat up all his men in a combination of styles from ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' and ''Film/TheMatrix''.
142*** And in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter'', where in an alternate universe where Shrek was never born and never came for her, Fiona eventually decided to rescue ''herself''.
143*** Played straight at first but later subverted with Fiona in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekFourD'', who at first is helpless after Thelonius kidnaps her, but eventually gains the upper hand and beats him.
144* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' examples:
145** One of the major complainants fans had about ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' is that Tifa doesn't get any massive kick ass moments like in the games, she does get one cool moment when she fights Loz but then is overpowered by his SuperSpeed and has to be helped by Cloud ''again''. She is however the last ally to help Cloud in the climax.
146** ''Anime/KingsglaiveFinalFantasyXV'': Luna is kidnapped by [[spoiler:Glauca]], though to her credit she doesn't stand by and let her rescuer do all the work.
147* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/HappilyNeverAfter'', in which The Prince (whose name is revealed to be Humperdink) is searching for one of these (or a lady in waiting or whatever else is a typical princess) and sounds excited that [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} Ella]] could be one of those things. When he asks if she's a damsel in distress, her response is "I will be. Kind of. At midnight". To say the least, Ella does more ass-kicking than servant boy Rick or Humperdink.
148* Straight example in ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}'', where Red Puckett is BoundAndGagged and loaded into a tramway cabin filled with dynamite, and it's up to Granny to rescue her.
149* Ariel's daughter Melody becomes this in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea'' when she's transformed back into a human and Morgana locks her up in unmeltable ice. Melody's friends Tip & Dash have to save her.
150* ''Franchise/LupinIII'':
151** In ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro'', Clarisse is pursued by the Count and one of Lupin's priorities in this story is protecting/rescuing her.
152** ''Anime/TheFumaConspiracy'': Murasaki, who twice found herself the target of kidnapping and/or traps. The first was when she was captured by a Fuma Ninja during her wedding, and demanded the MacGuffin in exchange for her life. The demand motivated Goemon and company to steal the vase and deliver it to the Fuma.
153** ''Anime/LupinIIITheColumbusFiles'' shows an example of Fujiko being a Damsel In Distress ''and'' a ActionHeroine, but without being a BadassInDistress. During the opening, she loses her memory, and her entire personality changes. She's terrified of nearly everything, and everyone is a stranger to her. When she contributed to part of her rescue via pure Muscle Memory, that also terrifies her.
154* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'': Sally briefly becomes one when she's captured by Oogie Boogie at the end of the film.
155* ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' when [[PluckyGirl Kayley]] tells her mother Julianna she wants to be a knight and rescue damsels in distress... then immediately asks what is a "damsel, anyway?" Ironic because both Julianna and Kayley play the roles of the DID in the movie, Julianna throughout the plot after being captured by Sir Ruber and Kayley initially when she escapes into the Forbidden Forest and having to be rescued/babysat by Garrett before she [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass to recover Excalibur and save Camelot]].
156* ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'': Dawn, being a {{Princess Classic}} is kidnapped by [[EvilOverLord The Bog King]] as a hostage to exchange for a stolen {{love potion}} Turns out the King is not actually evil.
157* Creator/StudioGhibli examples:
158** Sheeta in ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'' needs her [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal secretly royal]] butt saved frequently by everyone from Pazu to Sky Pirates and killer robots. She only subverts this twice, once while escaping on a train where she saves Pazu from Dola's boys with a shovel inciting the line "''That's one strong girl''" and when she makes a deal with the BigBad so that Pazu is freed while she remains the Damsel. Should be noted her rescues do make some of the most exciting points in the movie.
159** For ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'', at the start of the film Sophie is saved from being harassed by soldiers by Howl despite him also being pursued himself by the Witch of the Waste causing Sophie to promptly [[RescueRomance fall in love]] with him. This trope is played with through most of the movie, with Howl continuing to protect Sophie as necessary and Sophie looking after Howl throughout and ultimately giving him his heart back saving him from dying.
160** ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'': Mei at the end of the movie when she runs off alone, it gets so dire the neighboring farmers believe she drowned in the river. Satsuki, Mei's older sister, retrieves her with the help of Totoro.
161** ''Anime/PorcoRosso'': Porco has to win the [[HighAltitudeBattle dog-fight]] against his old rival Curtis otherwise the main female character Gina will have to [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe marry]] Curtis.
162** In ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', San is introduced as an infamous figure and powerful threat to Iron Town and its leader Eboshi who she will stop at nothing to assassinate, but then she's knocked out by Ashitaka the hero and rescued from the town. Subverted later when San saves Ashitaka from bleeding to death despite initially being ready to kill him, only stopping when Ashitaka reveals he had saved het since she's "so beatiful". But sadly then it's played straight again as San is swallowed up by the demon boar and Ashitaka has to pull her out, for the titular character San is ironically the one who is most frequently in need of rescue.
163** In ''Anime/SpiritedAway'', Chihiro at the start of the movie needs to be saved and protected by Haku. [[spoiler:It turns out Haku saved her even earlier than that as a river spirit during a flood when she was a toddler]]. The rest of the movie inverts this since she learns to be independant and save her parents. Hell Hayao Miyazaki got the idea for the movie when he witnessed his grand daughter being a "lazy bum".
164* Princess Odette from ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'' gets kidnapped by Sir Rothbart in the first movie and Zelda in the second one. In the first film, Odette also turns down Rothbart's marriage proposals without a hint of remorse or fear, even though she knows he's a powerful warlock who actually ''assassinated'' her father, King William. Also, she doesn't exactly wait for Derek to show up and does everything she can to try and let him know where she is and what he has to do.
165** In the second film, Odette is the one that does '''not''' get captured by the magician, Sir Clavis, though he ''does'' lock her up in Rothbart’s old castle before she escapes from the dungeon to help Derek. Instead, it was Prince Derek’s mother, Queen Uberta, who ended up being very unlucky as she spends most of her time in the film being captured, imprisoned, and taken prisoner by Clavius. Indeed, it drove Derek and Odette through out most of the film in order to save Uberta from Clavius and his conspirator, Sir Knuckles.
166* ''WesternAnimation/ThroneOfElves'': Princess Liya, being a PrincessClassic, is attacked by the villain of the film and has to be protected by her romantic interest. She has no agency of her own, and the only thing she does is swoon and fawn over the hero who saves her. She even cries when she thinks he has died.
167* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'', when Akima is jettisoned into space, captured, and held to be sold into slavery. The rest of the crew undergoes a makeshift rescue operation, only to find out that she [[RedundantRescue successfully knocked out all]] of her captors and is patiently waiting to be picked up.
168* In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' and ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', Andy purposely has Bo Peep play this role, so Woody could save her. [[SickeninglySweethearts Not that she minds]]...
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
172* Princess Patma's sole purpose in ''Film/AgainstAllFlags'' is to be rescued: repeatedly.
173* ''Film/AllAboutE'': Trish is held hostage by Johnny with a knife to her throat, but E saves her.
174* In both ''Film/Annie1982'' and ''Film/Annie2014'', [[spoiler:Annie is kidnapped by her fake parents and sent on a car chase with them during the climax]].
175* Subverted in ''Film/TheAvengers1998''. Emma Peel is captured by Sir August and brainwashed into a hallucinatory state. You'd expect Steed to break in and rescue her, but instead she escapes from Sir August, fights off her delusions and breaks out to freedom by herself.
176* In ''Film/Batman1989'', Vicki Vale, due to the Joker's obsession with her. First, Batman has to save her from a CaptiveDate with the Joker at the Museum, and then the Joker kidnaps her at the climax of the film.
177* Subverted hilariously in a scene of ''Film/TheBoondockSaintsIIAllSaintsDay'' with Agent Eunice Bloom. She's snatched into an impenetrable panic room by a baddie (right in front of the cops, no less), and pandemonium breaks out. One of the cops even worries that she might be "touched and stuff", and it's played as high drama for a bit. He needn't have worried; in the next shot, Special Agent Bloom has the baddie pinned down and sputtering for relief.
178* ''Film/{{Cliffhanger}}''. Jessie Deighan turns into one. She's a helicopter pilot. She does mountain rescues. Then she gets scared by bats in a cave, and cringes in a corner while the he-men fight.
179* ''Film/TheClimax'': The heroine Angela spends the entire movie being menaced--either covertly or overtly--by Dr. Hohner, and being rescued by her fiancé Franz. (or Luise, or Carl or the Vienna police...)
180* ''Film/{{Clownface}}'': Zoe spends a year as Clownface's prisoner [[spoiler:until she escapes]].
181* ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian2011'': Tamara is captured and then rescued multiple times by Conan, whom she enters a RescueRomance with.
182* ''Film/CutToTheChase'': Izzy it turns out is being held captive by Nola, and Max rescues her in the end.
183* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Selina Kyle plays this straight when she is cornered by Bane's henchmen on the rooftop while confronting John Daggett. She also fakes it in the bar shootout, where she guns down two of Bane's henchmen, then [[WoundedGazelleGambit begins screaming hysterically when the SWAT team bursts in, only to sober up as soon as they have chased Bane's men out]].
184* ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'':
185** Lois Lane (surprise, eh?). In just ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' alone, Lois has to be rescued by Superman three separate times. The first was Lex, by proxy, testing if Superman would come for her if she were in danger. The second time was Lex using her to summon Superman.
186** Lex also kidnaps [[spoiler:Martha Kent]] to blackmail Superman into fighting Batman.
187* Lauren's sole purpose in ''Film/DeathRing'' is to be held hostage to ensure Matt's compliance. She comes good at the very end of the film when she [[spoiler:shoots Ms. Ling to save Matt's life]].
188* Played straight in ''Film/DesertHeat'' with a [[EveryoneLovesBlondes pair of blondes]]. Complete with [[AThreesomeIsHot threesome]] RescueSex.
189* Played straight in ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' with Broomhilda.
190** Kerry Washington said she took the part because African-American actresses aren't usually offered the "damsel in distress" role.
191* In ''Film/DoctorInTheHouse1954'', Nurse Gibson is taken away by two St. Crispin's medical students during the riot and has to be rescued by the St. Swithin's lot.
192* Giselle starts out like this in ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' but reverses roles with Robert in the end.
193* Subverted in ''Film/EverAfter'': when Danielle is sold into slavery, Prince Henry shows up to rescue her. But, being the capable heroine she is, she has already threatened the bad guy and freed herself.
194* ''Film/EyesOfAStranger'': Blind, deaf-mute teen girl Tracy is taken captive in her own apartment by the [[AntagonistTitle titular]] SerialKiller in the movie's climax, leaving it up to her sister to rush back to the apartment in time to save her.
195* ''Film/FireWithFire'': Talia is shot but survives early on when an attempt is made on Jeremy's life. He manages to save her.
196* In the original script of ''Film/GameOfDeath'', Hai Tien's wife and child are kidnapped by Korean mafia to force him to undertake the titular game of death.
197* Fiona during the climax of ''Film/TheGiver'', [[spoiler:in which she's sentenced to Release for her role in helping Jonas escape.]]
198* Elle Brody's role in ''Film/Godzilla2014'' is basically to be in danger from the Kaiju and motivate Ford to risk his life to save her.
199* ''Film/TheHatefulEight'' has Daisy Domergue. John Ruth captures her for the Dead or Alive bounty on her head, and believes that a KnightInShiningArmor of sorts is going to try to rescue her. [[[[spoiler:Turns out ''four'' such knights mostly wiped out most of Minnie's Haberdashery of innocents to do just that.]]
200* ''Film/Hayride2'': Ol' Pitchfork catches Amanda and holds her hostage in [[spoiler:the secret cellar of]] his house.
201* Rachel in ''Film/HighwayToHell'' is kidnapped early on and spends much of the movie as a prisoner of hell.
202%%ZCE* Trillian in ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005''.
203* In ''Film/HudsonHawk'', a kidnapped Andie [=MacDowell=] pretends to suffer side effects from curare poisoning so she can annoy the typewriter symbols out of her captors and [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] the trope: "I'm not a very good damsel in a dress, am I?"
204* Cheryl in ''Film/ImGonnaGitYouSucka'' when she's kidnapped by Mr. Big's {{Mooks}}.
205* The ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' series
206** Marion Ravenwood in ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''. She's captured by Todt and threatened with torture in her own bar and has to be rescued by Indy. Later in Cairo she's captured by the Germans' Arab allies and carried away in a basket. Then she's captured yet ''again'' by Nazi troops while she's aboard the ship. Somewhat averted because she isn't completely helpless, including knocking out one of her Arab pursuers with a frying pan and pulling a knife on Belloq in an attempt to escape.
207** Willie Scott in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''.
208** Subverted at the end of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. Elsa became a distressed damsel when she found herself dangling over a crevasse after she tried taking the Holy Grail from its resting place. However, ''rather than letting Indiana pull her up to safety'', she uses his hold to try and reach for the chalice, which had conveniently fallen just below her. In the final moment, she almost reaches the grail until her hand slips away from Indy's, causing her to suffer a DeathByMaterialism.
209* ''Film/IT1990'': Bill's wife Audra is captured by the titular monster and is put in a comatose state, even after the surviving [[TheTeam Losers's Club]] save her she remains motionless and shocked due to seeing It's [[EldritchAbomination true form]]. Bill returns his wife to normal by using the power of his bike Sliver.
210* ''Film/IT2017'': [[spoiler:Just after escaping her [[PervertDad awful father]], Beverly is captured by Pennywise and is taken to the sewer, leading the rest of the boys to chase to come to her rescue. Some fans were pissed that Beverly is seemly relegated to the damsel in distress role, when in the books and the original TV miniseries she is never put in that position. %%But this opinion false as it's revealed to be a subversion in the 2017 version, as Pennywise ''only'' takes Beverly as bait to lure Bill and the others. Plus he can't even eat her since [[ImNotAfraidOfYou she's not afraid of him]] really Bev is far more physically competent than her book and 1990 counterpart since she is the first one to actually damage Pennywise]].
211* Isabelle getting captured by the giants is what sets the plot of ''Film/JackTheGiantSlayer'' in motion.
212* ''Film/JamesBond'': A large number of [[Film/JamesBond Bond Girls]] fit this trope.
213** For example, Honey Rider in ''Film/DrNo''. Dr. No decides to execute her by cuffing her to the inclined side of a [[DrowningPit pool with water pouring in from a large pipe]]. Bond finds her and releases her. Originally she was supposed to be [[http://www.shrunkencinema.com/cinema/bond/crabs.jpg attacked by large crabs while chained]].
214** ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'': Bond's fellow agent Paula is kidnapped by a couple of Largo's thugs and taken to be tortured for information. Bond goes to Largo's estate to rescue her but arrives too late. Paula has taken a CyanidePill and killed herself so she can't be made to betray Bond and the operation.
215** ''Film/{{Spectre}}'': In the climax, Oberhauser kidnaps Madeline and traps her in a locked room in the old [=MI6=] building, which is set to be demolished and has already been rigged to blow. Bond has to race through the building to save her life.
216* ''Film/JaneGotAGun'': Jane was made a {{sex slave}} and held in a brothel, with Bill rescuing her.
217* ''Film/{{Kimi}}'': Angela escapes the thugs after some other people come to help her twice.
218* ''Film/KingKong'':
219** The original [[Film/KingKong1933 1933 film]] treated Fay Wray's Ann Darrow as nothing more than a prize for an evil gorilla.
220** The [[Film/KingKong1976 1976 film]] starts this way, but Jessica Lange's Ann Darrow gets to know King Kong, sees that he's lonely and forms a bond with the big guy.
221** Creator/NaomiWatts' Darrow from the [[Film/KingKong2005 2005 film]] takes the latter step further, and is more assertive in trying to stop a money hungry publicist from making Kong a circus attraction.
222* The female lead in ''Film/Legend1985'', it doesn't help that she's [[VirginityMakesYouStupid innocent to the point of stupidity]] either.
223** Hey, she ''did'' manage to trick Darkness into believing her FaceHeelTurn long enough for her to free the unicorn. She got knocked out immediately afterwards.
224* {{Defied|Trope}} in ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'' when Gabriel [[WrongGenreSavvy attempts to evoke this]] by taking [=McClane's=] daughter Lucy hostage as revenge for killing his lover Mai. It doesn't phase [=McClane=] ''or'' Lucy because they quickly realize he won't kill her because he knows how serious a threat [=McClane=] really is, and will keep her alive as a bargaining chip. While she lacks the muscle to resist, being an unarmed college student against armed professional mercenaries, she also takes ''zero'' crap from them, resists every chance she gets, smugly [[DefiantCaptive tells McClane how many bad guys are left]] when [[IHaveYourWife ordered at gunpoint to plead for her life over the phone]], actually manages to shoot one of the mercenaries in the foot, and even manages to push Matt Ferrel, the ''actual'' [[DistressedDude damsel in distress]], into toughening up and resisting as well. [[spoiler:In the end kidnapping her was the worst possible thing Gabriel could have done, as not only does she help foil his plans but [=McClane=] rescuing her by shooting himself through the shoulder to kill Gabriel actually ''improves their relationship'' to the point her animosity toward [=McClane=] is completely gone in the end.]]
225* Pretty much the whole point of ''Film/ALonelyPlaceToDie'', which has a group of mountaineers getting killed off one by one trying to take a young Serbian child they found buried underground in the Scottish highlands to safety.
226* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
227** Averted in ''Film/IronMan1''. Pepper Potts has to be rescued, but she is enough of a threat that the villain feels compelled to shoot her instead of taking her hostage. She's also generally competent and helpful throughout the film. Indeed, the one scene that seems obviously headed for her being captured and turned into a distressed damsel has her instead easily evading the villain's clutches, and then immediately alerting the authorities to his evil plans.
228** Averted again in ''Film/IronMan2'' when Happy Hogan insists on accompanying S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow on her mission and fights a bad guy when they enter the building. By the time he has won the fight, he sees that she's taken down every other bad guy there is.
229** Exploited by Natasha in the beginning of ''Film/TheAvengers2012''. She's held captive by a group of Russian mobsters who are ready to kill her until Agent Coulson calls her, ready to bring her back in. She even notes how she's playing them like a fiddle. When Coulson explains why it's urgent,[[note]]Hawkeye has been compromised by Loki[[/note]] she easily frees herself and drops everyone she was dealing with in no time flat. With Coulson listening in on the whole thing, showing all the concern warranted by being put on hold.
230** ''Film/IronMan3'' has Pepper taken prisoner again, [[spoiler:but she ultimately saves Tony using part of one of his armors while under the influence of [[SuperSerum Extremis]]]]. It's worth noting that the same film also has [[TheLancer Rhodey]] and the President of the United States needing rescue at various points.
231* Tina in ''Film/TheMask''. Although she is able to get Dorian to take off the mask and then kick it to Stanley, which leads to the battle being won.
232* In the first ''Film/MenInBlack'' movie, Edgar the Bug storms the morgue where Dr. Laurel Weaver works after learning Orion, the cat with the galaxy he's looking for is there. Here, he holds her hostage with a gun for a while to avoid getting stopped by agents Kay and Jay and promptly kidnaps her so she can take him to the flying saucers found at the towers of the New World Pavillion, which he plans to use to escape from Earth. He takes Laurel with him with the intent of eating her and feeding her to his family. Thankfully, Laurel quickly becomes a DamselOutOfDistress shortly afterwards.
233* ''Film/MissMeadows'': Miss Meadows is kidnapped and held captive near the end. Though she does fight back, her fiance Mike must rescue her.
234* Parodied in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. The Prince in the swamp castle is (obviously) actually a DistressedDude, but it's worth mentioning as it is deliberately played as a {{Parody}} of a DamselInDistress. Lancelot, in fact, thinks it is the latter, and is distinctly nonplussed when he realizes the truth.
235* A willing example in ''Film/TheMummy1999''. Imhotep wants Evy to be the sacrifice needed to bring his dead lover back to life, and she goes with him both on the condition that he spare the others, and knowing that he has to take her back to Hamunaptra to perform the ritual, which will buy them some more time to save her.
236* Charlotte in the climax of ''Film/MysteryOfTheWaxMuseum'', as she is under threat of becoming a waxed corpse.
237* Subverted with [[spoiler:Kelly]] in ''Film/MysteryTeam''. Yes, she ''does'' get kidnapped... [[spoiler:but it's not like the Mystery Team are much help in saving her]].
238* In ''Film/{{Perfume}}'', the VillainProtagonist sets his murderous sights on Laura Richis, a beautiful, virginal young lady. Her father becomes wary of the danger and does everything in his power to protect his daughter.
239* The UrExample of this in film would probably be the protagonist of the 1914 silent melodrama serial ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline''. A "talkie" version of the series was made in the '30s; the title was later used for a 1947 biopic of original ''Pauline'' actress Pearl White, and a 1967 film that was a camp spoof of the genre.
240** Pearl White also starred in a nearly-identical series, ''Film/TheExploitsOfElaine'', around the same time.
241* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''
242** Played with in the first movie. Although Elizabeth is kidnapped by the pirates, she initiates said kidnapping by demanding to go on board the ship and negotiate them leaving Port Royal, [[ExactWords and just forgot to include her being returned to shore as part of the arrangement]]. They also take her thanks to [[OutGambitted her lying to say her last name is Turner (assuming they're after her as the Governor's daughter)]], mistakenly making them think she's the LivingMacGuffin they need to end their curse. She's rescued midway through the movie by Will, and then [[HourglassPlot has to rescue him in the climax]].
243** Played straight and then subverted as said damsel [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass]] over the course of the movies. It gets [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Jack when he refers to her as "a certain damsel in distress... Or should I say distressing damsel." after [[spoiler:her ShootTheDog moment of leaving Jack to die]]. By the climax of the third film, the same young woman who had previously been kidnapped and held prisoner by Captain Barbossa's crew has become [[spoiler:The Pirate King, thanks in no small part to [[BatmanGambit Jack's gaming the system]] of pirate politics.]]
244** Syrena the mermaid from Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides as an almost literal FishOutOfWater on land amidst pirates who want to harvest a tear from her; clergyman Phillip is the only one trying to keep her from harm. Ironically, she later plays a role in saving two other characters ([[spoiler:finding the chalices thrown in the deep pools allowing Jack to save a dying Angelica]] and [[spoiler:kissing Phillip when he's badly injured as the lore is that a mermaid's kiss can prevent someone from drowning]]).
245* ''Film/{{Pitchfork}}'': Jenny gets kidnapped by the killer early on in the movie, and is found held in a makeshift cell in his shack behind bed springs used as cell bars. [[spoiler:Thenkfully, she gets saved before the killer has a chance to hurt her.]]
246* Played straight in ''Film/ThePrincessBride''. Princess Buttercup gets kidnapped by Vizzini, nearly eaten by the shrieking eels, is the oblivious target of a murder plot, gets set on fire, falls into a sand trap, and nearly gets maimed by a rodent of unusual size. At one point she even contemplates taking her own life.
247* In ''Film/ThePrinceOfThieves'', Lady Christabel and, to a lesser extent, Marian exist to be kidnapped and imprisoned by the villains so Robin and Sir Allan can rescue them.
248* Averted in ''Film/TheProposition'', as this role is occupied by the mentally handicapped younger brother. Obviously, there is no RescueRomance. At the end, however, [[spoiler:Charlie still has to rescue the police captain's wife from being raped and killed, although the captain himself -- despite being Ray Winstone -- is also being threatened, though not with rape]].
249* ''Film/TheRetreat2021'': Val is rescued by Renee when she's set to be murdered next.
250* Anna Cipriani's role in ''Film/Revolver1973'' is solely to be [[IHaveYourWife held hostage]] and force her husband Vito into action.
251* Marian in ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'' is a downplayed example - she directly helps Robin under the nose of the Sheriff and only went through with his scheme because Nottingham was holding the rebels hostage and would've killed them if she turned down his marriage proposal. During her wedding/[[RapeAsDrama rape scene]] she is defiant throughout by outright telling him "[[DefiantToTheEnd It may be my body but it will not be me!]]" And during the final fight between Robin and Nottingham she does ''not'' a bystander as she grabs what she can to help Robin, which isn't much since it's in a chapel.
252* ''Film/RRR2022'''s plot is triggered by the Governor and his wife stealing Malli, a little girl, from her tribe and keeping her cloistered in their mansion. Bheem sets out to rescue her; Ram volunteers to nab the rescuer.
253* {{Reconstruct|ion}}ed in ''Film/ScoobyDoo2002''. They point out that while, yes, Daphne did get kidnapped a lot, she never let that discourage her from joining the gang in their latest mystery. She's also [[TookALevelInBadass studied martial arts]] so that she is eventually able to look after herself.
254-->'''Daphne:''' ''[after defeating a henchman who tried to kidnap her]'' Now who's the damsel in distress?\
255'''Henchman:''' Me?\
256'''Daphne:''' Straight up!
257* WPC Helen Bradford keeps finding herself in this role in ''Film/ScreamAndScreamAgain''. Sent undercover to act as bait for the Vampire Killer, she is overpowered by Keith and only saved by the arrival of her back-up. Later she helps Dr. Sorel brake into Dr. Browning's facility, but is overpowered by Dr. Browning while keeping lookout. Dr. Sorel later finds her StrappedToAnOperatingTable, about to be used as an unwilling donor for one of Browning's transplant experiments. In her defense, none of the men in the movie have any success going one on one against Browning's enhanced humans (of which Keith is one) either.
258* ''Film/{{Sheroes}}'': Daisy gets kidnapped by drug traffickers while on vacation in Thailand with her friends. The rest of the plot focuses on them working to rescue her.
259* ''Film/ShootToKill:'' Sarah spends half of the movie as a hostage of the BigBad, being forced to guide him to Canada as her boyfriend and Stantin try to rescue her. However, she has several DefiantCaptive moments and fights back in an effort to escape on two occasions.
260* In ''Film/ShowdownInLittleTokyo'', after Yoshida recaptures Minako he takes her with him as a hostage. He eventually ties her up covered in gasoline and tries to burn her alive in front of Kenner.
261* In ''Film/SmallSoldiers'', the Commandos capture Kristy specifically to use as a hostage and make Alan give them what they want. Once he rescues her, she immediately [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge goes to town on the Gwendy Dolls]] used to attack her, retroactively proving herself a BadassInDistress.
262* In the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', Mary Jane gets kidnapped by the villain in the climax of all three movies. She's also in distress twice before the climax of the first.
263** They tried to play it less straight in ''Film/SpiderMan2''. After Spidey gets knocked down in the climax, [[RescueReversal M.J. picks up a steel beam and tries to sneak up on Doctor Octopus]] (Doc Ock, learning from his earlier encounter with Aunt May, [[OffhandBackhand brushes her aside]]).
264** Creator/KirstenDunst actually only signed on for ''Film/SpiderMan3'' when they promised ''not'' to make her a Damsel in Distress. When plans changed, Creator/SamRaimi tried to make it up to her by giving her more to do in the finale. She ends up saving Spidey by chucking a cinder block at Venom, and [[DamselOutOfDistress uses some web to swing out of the way of a falling truck]].
265* Princess Leia from ''Franchise/StarWars'' manages to be this and simultaneously an ActionHeroine. However she is something of a subversion because her plea for help was not a plea for a rescue but rather a plea to get the plans to the Death Star to Bail Organa on Alderaan. She wasn't expecting a rescue at all (and the guys didn't plan to do it either), And she wasn't exactly what one would call grateful when she did get the rescue, either.
266--->'''Princess Leia:''' I don't know who you are or where you've come from, but from now on you'll do as I say, okay?
267** Carrie Fisher herself said: "I was not a damsel in distress. I was a distressed damsel."
268** Rather funnily, ''Han Solo'', of all people, plays this role in ''Return of the Jedi''. He is rescued from a dragon... [[InvertedTrope by a princess]]. And he ''is'' helpless and weak when she rescues him, seeing as he's blind at the time. This doesn't prevent him from (accidentally) knocking Boba Fett into the Sarlacc Pit - and then rescuing best friend Lando Calrissian after Lando had come to rescue ''him''!
269** She does end up captured by Jabba, and forced into GoGoEnslavement but, in the end ''she's'' the one who kills him.
270* Done remarkably effectively in ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' with the famous helicopter rescue, but all of the climaxes in the movie involve this trope. Also used in the sequels.
271* Played fairly straight in ''WebVideo/{{Sync}}'' episode 6 when computer prodigy Yoshi appears to have no sense of fighting or quick reasoning skill whatsoever. Ruthlessly exploited by our GenreSavvy main character when he gets her to panic in his favor by suddenly yelling, "Oh God, look at all the bad guys coming to get you, get on the motorcycle, quick, they're right behind us!"
272* ''Film/TankGirl'': Sam (a 10-year-old girl) is captured several times, with Tank Girl spending the movie tracking her down in order to save her. Subverted at one point when Sam cleverly uses a deadly toy to puncture a child molester's hand.
273-->'''Sam:''' That's what you get for being a perv!
274* {{Double subver|sion}}ted in ''Film/TrueGrit'' western: the main character is a 14-year old girl trying to prove her companions she doesn't need babysitting, and succeeding. However, eventually she does, in a perfectly classical way: first getting kidnapped by outlaws, than falling into a snake pit.
275* ''Film/VanHelsing'':
276** Subverted with Anna. While she is a young woman in distress, it's less about saving her and more about giving her the help she needs to defeat Dracula, and in the second act, she's trying to save her captive brother. She does get captured midway through the film, but Dracula is merely using her as a hostage to get Van Helsing to trade her for [[spoiler: Frankenstein's monster]].
277** When Dracula's children are awakened and attack a village, special attention is drawn to a young woman who's being carried away by one of them, and Carl saves her. She then sleeps with him as thanks.
278* ''Film/WildWildWest'': Rita Escobar, whose [[spoiler:husband]] was kidnapped by Dr. Loveless and who ends up getting imprisoned and kidnapped by Loveless herself.
279* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'': During the attempt to reach the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy is kidnapped by the Witch's flying monkeys and taken to the castle. The Witch decides to kill Dorothy so she can obtain the ruby slippers Dorothy wears. The Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion must infiltrate the castle and save Dorothy from certain death.
280* ''Film/{{Wolves}}'': Angel Timmons. Her entire function in the story is to help Cayden learn how to control his werewolf side, and be rescued by him. Somewhat justified as she's physically outmatched by Connor and his pack, and if she runs away he'll kill her family.
281* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
282** In ''Film/XMen1'', Rogue is kidnapped by Magneto for his machine.
283** In ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'', Emma Silverfox is captured by William Stryker and he used her to blackmail her sister, Kayla.
284[[/folder]]
285
286[[folder:Music Videos]]
287* Music/MichaelJackson's "Music/{{Thriller}}" video has this twice, in the movie Michael and his date are watching at the start, then again in the date's dream. It's implied that it happens a third time once she wakes up.
288* Tasha in Music/LLCoolJ's "I'm Bad" video.
289[[/folder]]
290
291[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
292* This is OlderThanFeudalism, dating back at least to the Greek myth of Perseus and Andromeda.
293** The story of Hesione and Heracles is very similar to that of Perseus and Andromeda. However, Deianeira, another woman in Heracles' [[ChickMagnet adventurous]] life, subverts it by [[GreenEyedMonster taking matters in her hands]] shortly after the rescue.
294** Eurydice is in a classic Damsel In Distress situation. Unfortunately, Orpheus does not come up to expectations.
295** Subverted with Helen of Troy, who is anything but innocent in what happens to her.
296* In ''Literature/{{Ramayana}}'', Sita is a crown example.
297* In Celtic mythology (''Literature/{{Mabinogion}}''), Branwen finds herself in this position. Subverted with [[Literature/TheExileOfTheSonsOfUisnech Deirdre]], who voluntarily put herself in the situation which was considered as distress by her fiancé.
298** To Deirdre's credit, she was in distress that the [[AbhorrentAdmirer aging King Conchobhar]] wanted her as his wife and, for Deirdre, eloping with Naoise, Conchobhar's best warrior (and, in some versions of the story, his nephew), was a means to escape a man that disgusted her. For all the unwanted attention that she gets from men, she remains determined to live her life.
299* Downplayed in the legend of [[Myth/SaintGeorge St. George and the Dragon]] (a tale that has otherwise many parallels with the myth of Perseus and Andromeda): The princess is delivered to the dragon and saved by St. George, but she is not [[ChainedToARock physically constrained]], does not ask for help, and there is no [[RescueRomance romance between the princess and George]], nor does the king [[StandardHeroReward offer her up in marriage.]]
300* The legendary Myth/BattleOfClavijo had a ''hundred'' maidens (50 peasants and 50 noblewomen) demanded by the Emir of Córdoba to renew his RoyalHarem or sell them as slaves. They were saved by Santiago (Saint James the Greater as he is known in the legend) when he descended from heaven to intervene the Spaniard behalf against the emirate forces.
301* Myth/CircassianMythology: In one of the Nart Sagas, Setenaya's "sister" Psatina is abducted by the giant Arkhon Arkhozh, and must be rescued by Warzameg. She isn't entirely helpless, however, and provides her hero with information that helps her escape.
302* At least as old as Literature/TheBible itself, as shown by the case of Sarah, daughter of Raguel, saved by Tobias with Raphael's help.
303** [[Literature/BooksOfSamuel 1 Samuel 30]] describes how David's wives ([[RoyalHarem yeah]] Ahinoam and Abigail were kidnapped by the Amalekites. David then goes on a quest to rescue them from Amalek.
304[[/folder]]
305
306[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
307* Wrestling/RandySavage has twice seen his valet, Wrestling/MissElizabeth, kidnapped by [[Wrestling/GeorgeSteele George "The Animal" Steele]] and Wrestling/KingKongBundy. Wrestling/HulkHogan in the Wrestling/{{n|ewWorldorder}}Wo even forced her to say she no longer loved Savage on camera.
308* Mountain Fiji was practically {{invincible|hero}}, so her enemies in Wrestling/{{GLOW}} frequently resorted to attacking and or kidnapping her little sister, often resulting in Mt Fiji losing matches by forfeit or count out as she left the arena to go save her.
309* Later in Wrestling/{{WCW}}, the nWo would try to send a message to David Flair by kidnapping his LoonyFan Wrestling/DaffneyUnger. Wrestling/ScottSteiner actually acknowledged [[YouCanKeepHer that it might not have been the best idea]].
310* [[Wrestling/WWESmackdown Smackdown]] did an angle revolving around Wrestling/KurtAngle admitting that he wanted to have sex with Wrestling/BookerT's wife Sharmell, leading to many scenes of her failing to fight off or out run Angle before Booker came to the rescue, although he usually got beaten up too, until the very end.
311* Wrestling/StacyKeibler had several instances where someone would attack her. Sometimes it was to provoke the guy she was managing, other times it WAS the guy she was managing, sick of her getting all the attention.
312* Wrestling/TrishStratus was once abducted by MNM on an episode of [[Wrestling/WWERaw Monday Night Raw]], causing Wrestling/JerryLawler to abandon his commentary duties to go find her. Subverted in that she wasn't in any danger, as Melina just wanted to challenge her to a Women's Championship match.
313* Wrestling/{{TNA}} would later revisit the assault someone else's wife I want to have sex with angle with Wrestling/ScottSteiner going after Kristal Lashley until her husband Wrestling/{{Bobby|Lashley}} made the save.
314* At SHINE 15, Valkyrie used Wrestling/SoloDarling who was helpless after being beaten up by their [[HangingSeparately future]] target Wrestling/MercedesMartinez, to lure Wrestling/AmazingKong away from their leader, The Radiant Rain.
315* Wrestling/EveTorres was targeted by Kane in early 2012, including a memorable Raw where she and Zack Ryder were stuck in the parking lot thanks to a flat tyre that took forever to change. It was then a huge swerve when John Cena rescued her, and she kissed him to turn heel, later revealing she had been [[DecoyDamsel using the whole thing as a chance to get attention.]]
316[[/folder]]
317
318%%[[folder:Theatre]]
319%%* The sister in Creator/JohnMilton's ''Theatre/{{Comus}}'',
320%%* Alice Faulkner in ''Theatre/SherlockHolmes''.
321%%[[/folder]]

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