Line #157 Main/RescueArc


1	Second in popularity only to the TournamentArc, the Rescue Arc is one of the most popular plots for {{shonen}} series: One of the hero's close friends, usually a main character themselves, has been kidnapped by some powerful force, so the hero gathers the rest of his TrueCompanions and heads off to get them back, beating the crap out of anyone who tries to stop them.
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3	Usually the captive is needed for some EvilPlan. [[ShadesOfConflict Other times]] the villain of the {{arc}} is a WellIntentionedExtremist while the hero's rescue effort is motivated solely by [[SelflessnessTropes selflessness]] and friendship. Since [[ThePowerOfFriendship friendship always wins out]], this means that the hero wins out.
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5	The rescuee is [[SaveThePrincess usually]] [[DamselInDistress female]] and sometimes a [[LoveInterests love interest]], but not always. In some of these plots the rescuee doesn't ''[[UnwantedRescue want]]'' to be rescued (or believes they don't deserve to be), and has to be talked into returning by the hero.
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7	StormingTheCastle is usually the climax to this plot. RoaringRampageOfRescue may happen on the way to the rescuee.
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9	See also TournamentArc and WarArc.
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11	----
12	!!Examples:
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14	[[foldercontrol]]
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16	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
17	* The first major ''Manga/{{Beastars}}'' arc suddenly becomes this when Haru is abducted by the Shishigumi, a gang of lions, and Legosi rushes to rescue her. [[spoiler:While he does manage to save her, he's forced to show her his more violent, feral side. And Louis ventures into the hideout alone to murder the Lion Boss, leaving [[BolivianArmyEnding his fate unknown until the next arc]].]]
18	* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
19	** Volumes 10 to 11 near the end of the Golden Age Arc furnish the first example. Guts had left the Hawks due to irreconcilable differences between him and Griffith. After Griffith was defeated in their second duel, Griffith, in the throes of HeroicBSOD, paid a visit to Princess Charlotte's bedchamber and had sex with her. This ROYALLY pissed off the King, who had him arrested and sent to the Tower of Rebirth to be put to the torture and had the rest of the Hawks declared outlaw. After the Skull Knight persuades Guts to return, he finds Casca in charge of the Hawks, and together with the Hawks, they head to the Tower of Rebirth to rescue Griffith. The state Guts finds Griffith in sends him into one of the greatest examples of UnstoppableRage in the series, as he kills his way through every last Midland guard standing between them and the way out. Unfortunately for everyone, Griffith has grown to hate Guts during the year that he was in the Tower, and this, along with other factors, would ultimately lead to the events of the Eclipse. Notably, the format diverges from the usual Rescue Arc as they ''get'' Griffith relatively quickly, and most of this part's action is centered on the remaining Band of the Hawk escaping from the forces the king sent after them, up to and including a demon and his personal army.
20	** The conclusion of the Conviction Arc, the Chapter of the Birth Ceremony, which begins with Guts having a nightmare about Casca being [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake]], finds out that she's missing from the elf-mine where he left her to pursue his vendetta against the demons and Griffith, realizes that he made a huge mistake in leaving her behind, and then goes through hell and high water to get her back, battling his way through demons, evil cultists, fanatical inquisitors and even a KnightTemplar high inquisitor by the name of Mozgus.
21	** Once the Kushans invade, the heroes' goal is to reach Elfheim, so as to rescue [[spoiler:or rather restore Casca from her broken mental state]]. The rescue itself is carried out by Schierke and Farnese, with the help of [[spoiler:a representation of Guts in Casca's dreamscape in the form of a three-legged dog]].
22	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' is infamous for its lengthy rescue arcs. The first real arc of the series, the Soul Society arc, revolved around Ichigo and company's attempt to rescue Rukia from the Soul Society before she was executed, and introduced essentially the entire Shinigami society. The arc also included lots of infighting between the Shinigami captains, a murder mystery, and the revelation of TheManBehindTheMan, but the main characters never had more on their mind than the rescue of Rukia. Later that year ([[WebcomicTime in-comic]]), Orihime offered herself as a hostage to save Karakura town, and the Hueco Mundo rescue arc commenced. However, her rescue is ''far'' from the end of the arc (not even counting when another arc was started before the Hueco Mundo arc really ended).
23	* Most of the plot of ''Anime/BtX'' works like one of these.
24	* The beginning of the second half of ''Anime/DigimonTamers'', where the Tamers go to the Digital World to rescue Culumon after he's taken by the Deva.
25	* A good portion of the Phantom Arc of ''Manga/FairyTail'' involves rescuing Lucy after she's kidnapped (twice), with the enemy planning to hold her for ransom for her family fortune.
26	** The next arc starts off like this, but with Erza being... [[LadyOfWar Erza]], she doesn't play the role of the distressed damsel for very long.
27	** The Alvarez Empire arc opens with Natsu's group heading to the continent to retrieve Makarov after he disbanded the guild a year ago. [[spoiler: They arrive ''just'' in time to keep [[BigBad Zeref]] from killing him after Makarov finds out Zeref was the emperor of the land.]]
28	* The reason for Kenshiro's WalkingTheEarth in the Southern Cross arc of ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'' was to rescue Yuria from Shin.
29	** There was also the Cassandra Arc where Kenshiro had to rescue Toki from the prison city of Cassandra where he was being held by Raoh’s lieutenant Uighur.
30	** Kenshiro's objective during the later ''Shura'' arc is to rescue Lin from the ''Rasho''.
31	* ''Manga/FlameOfRecca'' does this twice, both times with Yanagi. And a third time in the TournamentArc, because they had to bet Yanagi to enter, and had they lost, she would have been forfeit to the bad guys.
32	* ''Manga/GetBackers''' [[OvertookTheManga anime-only]] final arc was about rescuing Makubex, who was kidnapped by [[TheMole Masaki]] and Brain Trust for knowing too much about the various secrets of the series. Ginji [[spoiler:barely stopped him from making a HeroicSacrifice.]] The ''manga'' has two arcs like this: the goal of the Eternal Bond arc was to rescue [[DamselInDistress Madoka]] and goals of the final Lost Time arc included rescuing Himiko, Juubei, Toshiki and Sakura.
33	* ''Manga/{{Guyver}}'' had a lengthy rescue arc from books 17-25 involving Sho gathering his one ally, rather weak Hayami, to help him rescue Aptom from Cloud Gate tower. It was a tad long because alongside the rescue arc was another storyline on the other side of the world but all ends well dramatically.
34	* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' has two arcs like this involving Gon and Killua:
35	** The Zoldyck family arc in is about Gon trying to rescue Killua from his family. However, unlike most Rescue Arcs, the problem is resolved without much violence.
36	** A more violent one is the Chairman Election arc: alongside the election for the 13th chairman of the Hunter association, Killua is returning to his family to find a cure for Gon, severely injured after his fight with Pitou. The cure in question is his sister Alluka who has a symbiote called Nanika who can grant any wishes, but needs physical contact to cure somebody. The rescue part is double, as it involves to find a cure for Gon, but also to save Alluka from the Zoldyck family (as they want to use her as a weapon) but most importantly, from Illumi who goes through '''extreme''' measures to kill her.
37	* ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'':
38	** Part I is a long SaveThePrincess arc. [[SubvertedTrope Sort of]].
39	** Part II has each of the protagonists captured, one after the other, by the invading countries. Along with their {{Love Interest}}s coming to bust them out (or ''finish'' busting them out after they've summoned their Mashin) is a lot of discussion and DefeatMeansFriendship between the girls and their captors.
40	* The second half of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', which also involved rescuing [[spoiler:Nanoha and Fate's daughter as well as Subaru's sister]] in addition to stopping the BigBad.
41	* ''Manga/MaguchanGodOfDestruction'': A brief arc has the Holy Knights who sealed Magu away kidnap Ruru to force him to fight them. [[spoiler:After the knights are easily defeated, Uneras is revealed as the mastermind, but it further turns out [[SecretTestOfCharacter it was a way to prove to the Holy Knight Magu wasn't dangerous]]--Ruru wasn't actually kidnapped, she was invited to the castle by Izuma's sister.]]
42	* In the final part of the anime version of ''Manga/{{MAR}}'' also known as the ''Ghost Chess arc'', Team MAR have to save [[TheStoic Alviss]] from [[BigBad Phantom]] after he [[DistressedDude gets captured]] and [[HypnotizeTheCaptive forced to turn against them via brainwashing.]]
43	** Before that, Team MAR had to save Snow twice. The first time was a minor plot at the beginning of the series and the second time at the end where she gets captured during the semi-finals because of letting her guard down against her opponent.
44	* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has the Hideout Raid Arc, where the students and the heroes hatch separate plans to rescue [[TheRival Bakugo]], who had been kidnapped at the end of the previous arc. It's also the arc where [[BigBad All For One]] makes his move.
45	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has also been known to use them. The Sasuke Retrieval arc is a variation in that the principle was not kidnapped, but rather [[FaceHeelTurn left of his own free will]], and the heroes were not successful in bringing him back. However, the structure of the arc was the same. The first arc of ''Shippuden'', the Rescue Gaara arc, a straight forward example. [[spoiler:Akatsuki succeeded in taking Shukaku, thus (temporarily) killing Gaara but he was otherwise rescued]].
46	* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' interrupted its SchoolFestival arc with a short BadFuture mini-arc inversion where the TrueCompanions had to rescue ''[[JamesBondage the hero]]''. Slight Subversion that in the BadFuture, most of the {{wangst}}ing was from the jailers, not the captive; he was keeping a mostly level head while plot bombs were dropped.
47	** Earlier had a straighter example with Konoka being kidnapped and used as a MacGuffin to unleash a SealedEvilInACan.
48	** History repeats itself, as soon as [[spoiler:they figure out that Asuna and Anya have both been captured by Fate]].
49	* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
50	** The Enies Lobby arc is a rescue arc, with the Straw Hat Pirates saving one of their own from the elite government force Cipher Pol.
51	** Later on, the series actually manages to do a storyline that is both a Rescue Arc and a WarArc. Luffy storms the World Government's maximum-security prison in order to rescue [[spoiler:his older brother Ace.]] At first it seems like a traditional rescue arc, but it turns out that [[spoiler:Ace isn't even in the prison; his execution is already starting]]. Thus Luffy is forced to [[spoiler:literally drop into the middle of a war zone and join up with Whitebeard's massive armada, who are also trying to storm Marine HQ and save Ace.]]
52	*** Perhaps the biggest departure from a typical rescue arc is that [[spoiler:[[ShootTheShaggyDog the rescue fails. Ace is freed, but is killed shortly afterward.]]]]
53	** The 10th ''Franchise/OnePiece'' movie, ''[[Anime/OnePieceFilmStrongWorld Strong World]]'', is a feature-length Rescue Arc, with a couple of subversions along the way. [[spoiler:First, the rescuee manages to escape on her own before the rescue attempt even begins, but naturally the BigBad can't have that so we get a "for real" rescue during the film's climax. And instead of simply waiting to be rescued the second time, the rescuee goes about trying to sabotage the BigBad's plan.]]
54	** The Arlong Park arc was the earliest one in the series, and while there's still quite a lot at stake (The freedom of Nami and the island she grew up on), its almost nothing compared to the [[DarkerAndEdgier more intense, world changing]] examples above.
55	*** The Arlong arc is also the earliest subversion, as it treats itself as an Anti Rescue Arc for a large percentage. When Luffy and crew go after Nami, they are not aware of any danger that Nami's in. In fact from Nami's words, her departure sounds completely voluntary. All they know is that Nami stole their ship, with a possible objective to try and capture Arlong. Then once they all get to Arlong Park, Nami tells them outright that she only joined the crew to steal from them, and that she killed Usopp! The only reason they stick around, is because Luffy's tired, but really because he doesn't believe what she's telling them. At this point though they know that Nami's is presumably not in trouble, and she has told them she isn't coming back to the crew. Only Luffy's stubbornness kept them on the island, and good thing, because it actually becomes a Rescue Arc not long after the crew, minus Luffy, hears Nami's backstory. In fact, Luffy doesn't even learn about the forced servitude of Nami until after he's already fighting Arlong.
56	** The Dressrosa Arc is turning out to also be a Rescue Arc, at least partially. [[spoiler:While the crew has various objectives, Luffy and Zoro's current goal is to storm Doflamingo's palace and rescue their recently beaten ally, Law.]]
57	** Whole Cake Island arc becomes a "Rescue Sanji" arc down the line when it's revealed [[spoiler:he voluntarily left with the Firetank Pirates after he was summoned as the "groom" to an ArrangedMarriage to one of Big Mom's daughters. The Straw Hats split up (Luffy's group consisting of Nami, Chopper, and Brook with allies Pedro, Carrot and Pekoms accompanying them) to the island in the hopes of retrieving him. Things end up getting complicated as a result.]]
58	* ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' has a Monster Association Arc, where the son of an important Hero Association executive, Waganma, is kidnapped by monsters as an occupation, sending most of the S-Class and a few other heroes on operation. What was supposed to be a quick mission to save one child, devolves into an all-out battle between two factions and [[BloodKnight the]] [[HeroKiller Hero Hunter]] [[JapaneseDelinquents Garou]], with potential world ending scenerio thanks to a few monsters appearing with an Above Dragon Level Threat, combining the trope with WarArc. At the end, [[spoiler:despite some losses and majority of Z-City destroyed because of it's placement near Monster Association, Waganma and a few other hostages are saved, majority of monsters ending up being killed, making the operation successful.]] It's important to note that Waganma is a [[CanonForeigner manga-only character]], making the arc closer to WarArc in webcomic.
59	* In the ''Yellow'' arc of the ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', Red mysteriously vanishes with only his Pikachu returning, so a trainer named Yellow sets out to find him.
60	** The ''Emerald'' arc is a rescue arc as well, though it's not made obvious right away.
61	** And so is the ''Platinum'' arc, with the titular character seeking a way to save her bodyguards, who had been banished to the Distortion World.
62	* A common plot device in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. With most of the main cast falling victim to a kidnapping at some point, {{Fanon}} being what it is though has decided it is Akane who was the designated kidnap victim.
63	* ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' has the Moka rescue arc in which they must break her out of Fairy Tale's flying fortress.
64	* The climax of the first and second halves of ''[[Anime/ReadOrDie R.O.D. The TV Series]]''.
65	* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', the series Kurumada made before Anime/BtX, was what popularized this kind of arc.
66	* ''Manga/TheSevenDeadlySins'': The Kingdom Infiltration arc revolves around the Sins breaking into Liones to rescue Elizabeth from the Holy Knights.
67	* ''Manga/ShamanKing'': Shortly after the finals, Yoh and company travel to China to rescue Ren and Jun from the clutches of their evil father.
68	* The 'Salvage' arc in ''Manga/SoulEater''. The rescuee being Death the Kid, having gotten himself into something of a James Bondage situation after a series of foolish mistakes. The rescuers are Spartoi, with Maka as the de facto leader. Ultimately [[spoiler:he manages to escape on his own, though it takes some convincing from Black Star to get him to actually come back to them.]] The Baba Yaga arc had the secondary objectives of getting back Kim, Jackie, and Crona from Arachnophobia. The first two were being held captive and brainwashed by Arachnophobia but [[spoiler:left willingly in the first place, so they had to be talked into coming back to the DWMA.]] Crona was supposedly kidnapped by Arachnophobia to be a human sacrifice, [[spoiler:but, as Soul had suspected, this was just Medusa lying and she already had Crona back at her base the whole time.]]
69	* Once it's revealed that Asuna's trapped in an MMORPG instead of being in a coma, the Fairy Dance Arc of ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'' becomes this.
70	* The entire plot of ''Manga/TokyoUnderground'' is pretty much just one long rescue arc.
71	* The manga ''Manga/WaGaNaWaUmishi'' is made up of one Rescue Arc after another, although it's almost never a human being being rescued.
72	* ''Anime/YuGiOh'''s Duelist Kingdom arc is a rescue arc for both Yugi, the main character, and Kaiba, his [[TheRival rival]] (although they're looking for different people).
73	** Also season 4, for [[spoiler: the Pharaoh. ]]
74	** In ''Anime/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsters'', Yugi and his friends initially enter the Capsule Monster world to rescue Yugi's grandpa.
75	* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': The second half of Season 3 revolves around Jesse getting trapped in one of the Duel Spirit dimensions, and the other characters trying to find and rescue him.
76	* A short arc in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' (about four episodes) about rescuing Yukina. Unusually, she wasn't a friend of the heroes at the time, but Yusuke's pretty much stuck doing what Koenma says to do and Kuwabara fell in love with her at first sight. (Coincidentally, he ran off and missed [[LockedOutOfTheLoop the biggest not-secret of the series]]: ''[[LukeIAmYourFather Yukina is Hiei's sister!!]]'')
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79	[[folder:FanFiction]]
80	* ''Fanfic/AsFateWouldHaveIt'' has Chapter 23 and 24, where the [[BigBad Shadow Triad]] kidnap Yancy, and Nate teams up with Black to rescue her.
81	* ''Fanfic/TheQueensMercy'' has Chapter 38 to 40 where [[spoiler:Elsa]] must come with a way to rescue [[spoiler:Anna]] from [[spoiler:King David's]] forces before they torture her to death.
82	* ''Fanfic/NarutoTheSecretSongsOfTheNinja'' has almost back-to-back rescue arcs, firstly in chapters 5-6 (set up in chapter 4) where [[spoiler:Naruto and Kakashi are captured by a mad ninja who tortures and intends to publically execute them, forcing Sakura and new teammate Keiji to infiltrate the town where they're being held and stage a massive rescue attempt during their execution]], and then again in chapters 8-9 when [[spoiler:Team 7 infiltrate Orochimaru's lair to rescue prisoners taken by the Sound forces when they destroyed Konoha, including Hinata]].
83	* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': By the time the war between the Seven Shields and the Black Dogs has begun, later arcs have the Good Hunter, his company, and TheCavalry striving to defend or retake fortresses while fending off the Black Dogs. The ruler of said fortresses (often a Shield), together with their citizens and soldiers would need help most of the time, being either trapped or captured.
84	** To be more specific, there are two arcs that are like this. The Feoh/Ur Arc involves taking back Feoh and Ur while bailing out Alicia and Prim. The Liberation of Ansur Arc involves taking back Ansur while rescuing Maia.
85	* ''Fanfic/OniGaShikuSeries'' features this in the form of the [[spoiler:Akatani]] arc, which takes place during the events of ''VideoGame/Yakuza5'', as [[spoiler:Mikumo Akatani]] kidnaps [[spoiler:Izuku's mom]] as part of his plot to [[spoiler:to crush Izuku's dreams to become a Hero]] and simultaneously [[spoiler:withraw his clan from the Omi Alliance before the ship sinks.]] Being the very first major challenge he's faced with, and one of the worst kinds at that, Izuku goes through the wringer both mentally and physically.
86	* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'' has three separate rescue arcs, the first and third being based off of the Sasuke and Gaara Retrival arcs, and a mini arc during the Kiri Civil War where Konoha's forces help raid a prison to rescue Ao. [[spoiler:Also, Sasuke ''isn't'' the one being rescued in the first arc [[AdaptationalHeroism since he never defects]]. Instead it's Naruto's adoptive brother and sister that were kidnapped and Sasuke is one of the rescuers.]]
87	* ''Fanfic/TraitorsFace'': The first arc of the story is about saving Katara and the other Southern waterbenders from a Fire Nation prison.
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90	[[folder:{{Film}}]]
91	* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
92	** ''Film/ANewHope'': The first half of the movie focuses on saving Princess Leia from the Empire, the second half involving the heroes escaping from the Death Star with Leia's help and then mobilizing to destroy it.
93	** ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'': Following the abduction of Han Solo at the end of ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', the beginning of this movie revolves around rescuing him and eventually escaping from their planned execution in Tatooine.
94	* The plot of ''Film/AntManAndTheWasp'' involves the heroes trying to find a way to rescue a NotQuiteDead Janet van Dyne from a pocket dimension.
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96	[[/folder]]
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98	[[folder:{{Literature}}]]
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100	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'': Book 4, ''Literature/TheSilverChair'', revolves around Eustace, his friend Jill and native Narnian Puddleglum seeking to rescue Prince Rillian, son of Eustace's old friend King Caspian, from the witch who's taken him prisoner.
101	* Quite a few examples in the ''Lietrature/TheShahnameh''. Rostam does his fair share of rescuing. The Seven Labors of Rostam is the most famous example.
102	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'': Book 3, ''The Castle of Llyr'', has Taran and his TrueCompanions journeying forth to rescue Eilonwy.
103	* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Literature/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/AWitchShallBeBorn", as soon as Valerius finds that Taramis is not possessed by a demon but a prisoner (with a [[FakeKing Fake Queen]] substitute), he goes for this.
104	* ''Literature/SitioDoPicapauAmarelo'': In ''The Minotaur'', the titular monster has the kids travelling to Ancient Greece to rescue Aunt Anastacia after she was kidnapped by the titular monster so she could cook her delicious food to him in the previous book.
105	%%* Anything by Creator/DavidEddings.
106	* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': Perrin's wife Faile and some of her companions are captured by the enemy Clan Shaido on a hunting trip, causing Perrin's forces to be sidelined for three full books while he looks for an opportunity to free them. Ultimately, he [[spoiler:negotiates [[EnemyMine support from the Seanchan Empire]] in an assault that destroys the Shaido leadership and forces the Clan remnant out of the series for good.]]
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109	[[folder: LiveActionTV]]
110	* The first half of ''Series/OnceUponATime'''s second season featured Charming, Regina, Rumple, and Henry trying to rescue Emma and Snow from the Enchanted Forest. The first half of the third season has the Charming family trying to rescue [[spoiler: Henry from Peter Pan]]. Then the second half of season 5 revolves around rescuing Hook from the Underworld.
111	* ''Series/{{The 100}}'' Season 2 is built around most of the surviving 100 being held captive in Mount Weather, where they're likely to be turned into HumanResources. Once people outside the Mountain become aware of the situation, almost everything that happens is built around the quest to break them out.
112	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''
113	** The second episode had Buffy and Xander venturing into the vampire lair in the hope of rescuing Xander's friend Jesse, who got kidnapped in the previous episode. They seem to have reached Jesse before he was bitten since The Master intended to use him as bait to lure the Slayer to be killed. When the three are cornered however, Jesse vamps out and revealed, nope, they turned him and it was all part of the trap. Buffy and Xander managed to escape however.
114	** The season two finale had Buffy and Spike teaming up to save a kidnapped Giles from Angelus (essentially Angel without his soul and completely evil) before he preforms a ritual that'll bring Hell on Earth (something Spike isn't keen on since, while he may be a vampire, it'll interfere with his feeding. Plus it means he'll be pushed to the side while his love, Dru, rules along with Angelus). They manage to save Giles but Angelus gets the information he needs out of him to do the ritual correctly, forcing Buffy to kill Angelus [[spoiler: just as the Scoobies had managed to put Angel's soul back into his body, making him good again]] to close the portal.
115	** The finale of season five has the Scoobies (which included Spike by this point) racing to rescue Dawn before Glory uses her as a sacrifice to plunge the world into chaos. [[spoiler: They succeed, but not without Buffy sacrificing herself to close the portal. De ja vu much.]]
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:VideoGames]]
119	* All SaveThePrincess plots, obviously, by definition.
120	* The first half of ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII: Shadows of Amn'' is spent trying to rescue the player character's childhood friend Imoen after she's imprisoned together with the BigBad for illegal use of magic. (For those protagonists who aren't inclined to such nice motives, there's the option of going after the BigBad for revenge or to gain power from him, but that leads to the same direction.)
121	* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' Good grief, one game can't go five minutes without this happening.
122	** ''Asylum'': Commissioner Gordon is taken prisoner fairly early by Harley Quinn. Then Warden Sharp later on and Gordon ''again'' by Joker near the end of the game as well as various officers and staff of the building.
123	** ''City'': Catwoman gets kidnapped by Two-Face at the start of the game and needs to be bailed out. You gotta rescue Mr. Freeze from the Penguin to progress the game. Then Vicki Vale after her helicopter is shot down from snipers. ''Batman himself'' needs to be rescued by Catwoman after being buried under rubble and finally Talia Al Ghul by the Joker at the end of the game [[spoiler: though this one he fails to save due to a double switch by Joker catching him off guard]]. Not to mention various political prisoners and Riddler hostages as well. ''Harley Quinn's Revenge'' DLC focuses on Robin having to rescue Batman for half of it.
124	** ''Origins'': Surprisingly not that much, you rescue a woman dressed up as Alice from Mad Hatter and Gordon and the warden of Blackgate at the end of the game plus a few hostages during the hotel segment and Deadshot boss fight.
125	** ''Knight'': Hoo boy this one goes the mile. Everyone gets a turn: Oracle, Poison Ivy, Robin, Knightwing, Gordon, Jack Ryder and Catwoman as well as various law enforcement officers and hostages that got captured before Scarecrow's threat.
126	* The rest of ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'' turns into a Rescue Arc (at least for Jade) after [[spoiler:Pey'j is captured by the Alpha Sections]] at the Nutripils Factory, and even more so when [[spoiler:they come for the children at the orphanage.]]
127	* Nearly the entirety of chapter 3 of ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'', combined with WarArc; the party is out to save a POW captured by the rebelling Swordbearers while turning the tide on the rebellion.
128	* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'': After the [[GutPunch Mammon Machine disaster]], you [[SideQuest may]] attempt a Rescue Arc to save [[spoiler:[[OurHeroIsDead Crono]](!)]]. Or you can try assaulting Lavos directly, your choice. [[spoiler:If you don't try to rescue Chrono, it's implied that Marle will try to save him herself after the Lavos matter is settled.]] Also, [[spoiler:while you don't get to try rescuing Schala in the original game, you can try rescuing her in the remakes. [[DoomedByCanon You're bound to fail]].]]
129	** ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'': [[spoiler:''The entire game'' is a Rescue Arc to save Schala, though it's only made clear in the very last part]]. And she does get saved.
130	* ''VideoGame/CriminalCase''
131	** The East Asia arc in ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseWorldEdition'' focuses on the Bureau trying to rescue orphans that have been kidnapped all over the region by [[NebulousEvilOrganization SOMBRA]] with the intent of making them participate in a [[DeadlyGame Battle Royale-esque murder game.]]
132	** ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseSupernaturalInvestigations'' has the Midwest arc, where the Supernatural Hunters traverse the titular region looking for children that have been kidnapped by [[WickedWitch witches.]]
133	* Rescuing the princess in ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' is one of the two main jobs you do in the game, but it's subverted that you can totally ignore her. Oops...
134	** A part of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' is about your wife being kidnapped by bad guys.
135	* Ecco's entire motivation in the first ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin'' game is finding out what caused the great Storm that stole his pod out of the ocean. [[spoiler: Aliens, as it turns out.]]
136	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
137	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'': midway through the game, the Emperor kidnaps Princess Hilda and holds her as a prize for a tournament in Palamecia. After said tournament, [[spoiler:the Emperor reveals it's actually a trap and then throws ''you'' into the dungeon and then Paul comes over to break you out.]]
138	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': an early part of the game involves rescuing Rosa from Golbez as he takes her hostage in exchange for the earth crystal. Once you do come to save her though, [[KilledOffForReal you lose Tellah permanently.]]
139	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': Two examples, and both victims happen to be [[WhiteMage the party healers]]!
140	*** First, Dagger during Disc 2. After returning to Alexandria willingly to settle matters [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen with her mother]], she is promptly captured and [[spoiler:has her Eidolons ripped out]] by Kuja, Zorn and Thorn. After the destruction of Cleyra, Zidane and co. overhear Brahne's decision to execute Dagger when she returns to Alexandria, and the [[TimedMission next 30 minutes turn into a castle siege to find her before it's too late]].
141	*** Secondly, after the [[ThatOneLevel exhausting Oeilvert/Desert Palace Scenario]], Eiko is kidnapped by Kuja, who wants her for the same reasons as Dagger above. A race to another continent, through a DungeonTown, a trip into a volcano and a ClimaxBoss later, she turns out to be just fine.
142	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': The first fight with Seymour, and the party's subsequent labeling as traitors begins one for Yuna. Your party is scattered all over a desert, sees the destruction of [[spoiler:the Al Bhed's Home by the Guado]], learn Yuna has been kidnapped by them, then you have to pilot the airship (infested with fiends, to boot) to Bevelle and rescue her. [[CantCatchUp It leaves her relatively behind the rest of the group.]]
143	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'': Chapter 9, which is dedicated to rescuing Sazh and Vanille from the Sanctum. In a subversion, they decide to stop being TheLoad, and manage to rescue ''themselves'' halfway through, and meet the party in the middle.
144	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'': Chapter 13 is centered mostly on rescuing [[spoiler:Prompto, who has been kidnapped by Ardyn, after Noctis accidentally throws him off of a train in chapter 11.]] The chapter however is often regarded as ThatOneLevel due to being really long and Noctis temporarily losing his companions and access to weapons.
145	* The heroic motivation for the first ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' game is as much rescuing the hero's friend Jenna (who's been kidnapped by a group of {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s including her brother, thought dead) as it is about preventing the elemental lighthouses from being lit up. [[spoiler:She won't be doing anything until the second game, when she's a party member.]]
146	* Midway through ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', Eli Vance, the de facto leader of the human resistance, is captured by the Combine. After Gordon makes it through the zombie-infested Ravenholm, his new mission is to go to Nova Prospekt and rescue Eli Vance.
147	* ''VideoGame/Halo3'': The level "Cortana" is a rescue mission to save the eponymous character.
148	* The first three games in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series. A lot of people forget that all the [[SaveTheWorld world saving]], [[SideQuest side questing]], and [[ContemplateOurNavels philosophizing]] are just byproducts of Sora trying to rescue his friends.
149	* Act I and the Fragments chapter of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV'' make up one of these. During these early chapters, [[spoiler:Juna rallies the other surviving members of Class VII into searching for [[HeroOnHiatus Rean]], who has been captured by the Black Workshop after the TraumaCongaLine he suffered at the end of ''Cold Steel III'' caused him to [[UnstoppableRage go berserk]] and trapped him in his SuperMode]].
150	* ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'': The first game revolves around main character Dave and his friends breaking into local MadScientist Doctor Fred's house to rescue Dave's girlfriend Sandy, who's been captured as a test subject for an experiment.
151	* The ''VideoGame/MegamanBattleNetwork'' series loves this trope. There's at least one or two of these arcs in each game. The last game is especially notable in having ''three'' rescue arcs that involve rescuing player character [[CutsceneIncompetence Megaman]]!
152	** First arc occurs when Megaman is forced to seal either [[SealedEvilInACan Gregar or Falzar]] (which one [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo depends on the version]]) within his own body. Cue having to control a friend to find something that helps him fight off the sealed beast and retain control of his body.
153	** Second arc occurs when some worshippers of Falzar and Gregar capture Megaman. Cue having to control a friend to storm their shrine and rescue him.
154	** Third arc occurs when the OddlySmallOrganization sets a trap for Megaman and captures him (again). Cue Megaman losing control to the sealed beast and escaping, with you having to control yet another friend to chase him down and hopefully BrightSlap him back into control before they find him again.
155	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'':
156	** The entirety of the main plot is Leon attempting to rescue the President's daughter, [[TheLoad Ashley Graham]].
157	** The fourth mission in Ada's ''Separate Ways'' DLC is rescuing Leon from being assassinated by Krauser.
158	* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'''s first arc, before its shift to a GottaCatchThemAll plot, involved Vyse and Aika sneaking into Valua to save Vyse's father and [[MysteriousWaif Fina]].
159	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' had several arcs where Colette had to be rescued, and one early one where Lloyd himself had to be (although it was still played from his perspective). Towards the end, whichever party member is [[RelationshipValues Lloyd's closest friend]] is possessed by the BigBad and has to be saved before the move to the endgame.
160	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfArise'' also features a Rescue Arc towards the end of Act 1, where Shionne was kidnapped by [[spoiler:[[DiscOneFinalBoss apparent]]]] BigBad Vholran after the heroes's battle against Almeidrea. The remaining members of the group conveniently end up shipwrecked in Ganath Haros, Vholran's domain, and have to set off to find Shionne. In a case of GameplayAndStoryIntegration, Alphen is depowered during this arc and cannot use any of his Blazing Sword artes due to the absence of Shionne in the party.
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Web Original]]
164	* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': On Day 75, Acho and Apo launch a search party for Marnie, the Nightingale faction leader who went missing during a quest days earlier, and recruit Scott and Shelby to join. When the latter two get captured by the Hooded Figures while Acho and Apo's backs are turned, the two Nightingales give chase and eventually return to the Faction Isles on Day 76 to gather reinforcements and launch a ''second'' rescue mission for all the ''other'' pirates who had been kidnapped by the Hooded Figures so far. [[spoiler:They manage to save everyone except [[MentorOccupationalHazard Marnie]], who had been TakenForGranite off-screen by the Hooded Figures.]]
165	* ''WebVideo/StampysLovelyWorld'': Episode 541, [[spoiler:"[[UnexpectedlyDarkEpisode I Lost]]"]], ends with a {{cliffhanger}} where [[spoiler:Stampy]] is handed the DistressBall and is captured by the BigBad. The [[MultiPartEpisode following]] episode, [[spoiler:"Hero Helpers"]], is one of the few episodes to be presented in SwitchingPOV and follows [[spoiler:William Beaver, Polly Reindeer, and Fizzy Elephant]] trapping the villain to hold him off while breaking into his fortress to pull off the rescue mission.
166	* WebAnimation/WolfSongTheMovie has its second act involve the cast trying to rescue Alador, only to come across all sorts of obstacles and setbacks, including being captured by the villains in turn. They are able to retrieve the necessary MacGuffin and reach Alador eventually but [[spoiler: unlike most instances of this trope, he sadly passes from wounds inflicted during captivity not long after his sister and friends reach him]]
167	[[/folder]]
168
169	[[folder:Webcomics]]
170	* ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'' has the 7th Division Arc, which deals with Mob, Teru and Dimple raiding one of [[NebulousEvilOrganization Claw]]'s facilities with the sole intent of rescuing Mob's little brother from the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Scars]].
171	%%* Done by ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' during the "Dangerous Days," "Vampires," and "A Time for Hair-Raising" storylines.
172	* The [[http://moltenblade.comicgenesis.com/d/20080809.html second story arc]] in ''Webcomic/MoltenBlade'' takes the form of a rescue arc, although there was surprisingly minimal resistance.
173	* ''Webcomic/PowerpuffGirlsDoujinshi'' has this with Dexter having to rescue Blossom from Mandark.
174	%%* Subverted in [[https://bobadventures.thecomicseries.com/comics/329 this]] ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' strip.
175	%%* The rescuing of Fumbles in ''Webcomic/{{Goblins}}''.
176	%%* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' did this in its Painted Black arc.
177	%%* Faen's rescue in ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}''.
178	* PlayedForLaughs early on in ''Webcomic/LsEmpire'' when Mario tries to rescue Luigi... from [[PaperThinDisguise Mr L]]. Obviously, he fails. Later on, there would be two standard ones in the PQ Saga and the SS Saga.
179	* ''Webcomic/DraculaRulerOfTheNight'': The hunters invade Carfax Abby in search of Dracula, only to unexpectedly come across Lucy's mother, Minerva Westenra, who proclaims she was kidnapped on her coach ride back after running an errand. Thus turning it into a rescue mission for them in the process. [[spoiler: But later subverted as it's soon revealed Minerva had been bitten and turned into a vampire long before they had arrived and acting on Drac's orders to kill the hunters when their guard was down]]. Later a straight one came about after Drac kidnaps Mina.
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
183	* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': The primary arc mission of Season 2 is reaching Final Space in order to rescue one of the Team Squad's own from there ([[spoiler:Quinn]]). [[spoiler:It's revealed later into the season that Quinn is being kept alive by Invictus as bait to lure the main Gary in]].
184	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Robozuna}}'': the "rescue Feronia" subplot in the first half of season one.
185	* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'''s "Out of This World" StoryArc in its fourth season is based on the Crystal Gems going after Steven's father, Greg, after he's kidnapped [[spoiler:by Blue Diamond, who takes him to the late Pink Diamond's [[PeopleZoo human zoo]] all the way out in space [[YouWillBeSpared so he'll be safe when the Cluster hatches]]]].
186	[[/folder]]

Context Main / RescueArc