Line #28 Main/TerrifyingRescuer


1	[[quoteright:346:[[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/t2_terrifying_rescuer.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:346:It's okay, Sarah. [[HeelFaceTurn He's on your side this time]].]]
3	->"''If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction.''"
4	-->-- '''Shane Walsh''' to '''Daryl Dixon''', ''Series/TheWalkingDead2010''
5
6	The DamselInDistress and/or [[DistressedDude Dude]] is sitting in their cell with head in hands, or hanging by a thread from a cliff, when suddenly, the door is broken down, or a head peeps over the cliff edge. Joy turns to terror as he or she realizes it's TheDragon (who unbeknownst to them has made a HeelFaceTurn), an EldritchAbomination, FluffyTheTerrible, a KillerRobot... and so on.
7
8	Usually, it'll only be temporary until someone fills the rescuee in on current events, although it may lead to ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike. Sometimes it'll turn out they actually ''are'' in worse danger now such as with a VillainousRescue or DestructiveSavior.
9
10	A DarkMessiah can be this on a global scale. See also HorrifyingHero and TerrorHero who tend to cause this reaction even when being 100% good.
11
12	Compare UnwantedRescue and EmbarrassingRescue.
13	----
14	!!Examples:
15
16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
19	* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'':
20	** In his true form as the Hero of Hell, Pochita of was a terrifying figure who often killed the very devils who called out to him for help. [[spoiler:[[AndCallHimGeorge Turns out having chainsaws for arms makes hugging people very difficult.]]]]
21	** When Quanxi thwarts a mass killing at a mall [[spoiler:by the other Weapons working for the Chainsaw Man Church]], she succeeds so well that ''she'' appears to onlookers to have just murdered three people out of the blue. The child who would have been the first victim otherwise even freezes in fear looking at Quanxi and she weakly growls at him so he'll go away.
22	* In ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'', Aladdin's djinn, Uugo, tends to scare the crap out of whoever he's rescuing or protecting, what with him being a headless giant and all.
23	* ''Anime/TenchiMuyoGXP'': Protagonist Seina is only rescued from the SpacePirate Tarant Shank (KnightOfCerebus[[note]][[VillainDecay you'd think, anyway]][[/note]]) by [[BettyAndVeronica the Betty]] of his LoveDodecahedron, Kiriko -- [[LetsGetDangerous covered in the blood of every mook between her and Seina]]. His first reaction is terror -- which upsets her, and Seina spends most of his screentime in the rest of the episode upset at himself ''for'' being scared of his childhood friend[=/=]crush when she'd just saved his life.
24	* Done a lot in ''Manga/OnePiece''. We have [[TheBerserker Monster Point Chopper]] in the Enies Lobby arc, inadvertently saving many of his TrueCompanions while also trying to kill them. Aokiji saves Robin in her backstory, while killing his own ally right in front of her. Crocodile gets Luffy out of Impel Down and -- while that had a reason; he wanted out too -- he later takes blows for Luffy and orders Mr. 1 to do the same as they attempt to rescue Ace. This is partially because he's done a... well, a "Heel Neutral Turn," and partly because Luffy just has that much charisma.
25	* The [[TheDreaded Black Swordsman]] of ''Manga/{{Berserk}}''. A tall, hulking man with one eye, heaps of scars, a mean scowl, a bad attitude, and a {{BFS}} almost as thick and tall as he is. Fortunately, he's actually Guts, our AntiHero protagonist. Unfortunately, whether he cares if you live or die depends on if it's [[HeroWithAnFInGood the beginning of the manga]] or [[DefrostingIceKing the latter of it]].
26	* There's a brief moment of this in ''Anime/FullMoon'' in episode 40. The guy that went into the canyon to look after Mitsuki unintentionally scared her and caused Takuto to take human form to attack him. Luckily, the mistake was quickly cleared up.
27	* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', the protagonist doesn't realize that [[spoiler:[[DarkMagicalGirl Homura]]]] is this trope ''because'' she's so terrifying. Not knowing [[spoiler:the [[HiveMind Incubators']] [[AliensAreBastards true, sinister nature]]]], Madoka is horrified when [[spoiler:Homura shoots one and chains it up]]. Then [[spoiler:it gets free]], and things get [[MindRape a lot worse]] [[EldritchAbomination for everyone]].
28	* In ''{{Literature/Overlord\|2012}}'', Momonga becomes this for the people of Carne Village, the first natives he encounters after coming to a new world. He discovers a small army is threatening to wipe out a defenseless village, and decides on a whim to come to their rescue, partly to test his strength. In his old world, he encountered some FantasticRacism due to being a skeletal lich, but in this new world, the undead are rare, always malevolent, often mindless killing machines. When he first shows up, he saves a pair of village girls by effortlessly slaughtering the enemy soldiers that had attacked them. When he offers a healing potion to the injured girl, she doesn't trust him at all. Afterward, Momonga puts on a mask and hides the fact that he himself is undead, but when he turns one of the dead soldiers into an undead [[EliteMook death knight]] and sends it to deal with the rest of the soldiers and save the village, the ensuing massacre is terrifying to the soldiers ''and'' the village.
29	* {{Deconstructed\|Trope}} in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesSunAndMoon''. [[spoiler:When Lillie was a little girl, a Silvally rescued her from being taken to Ultra Space by a Nihilego. However, its ferocious expression was so terrifying that it caused her to [[TraumaInducedAmnesia block out the memory]] and develop a fear of touching all kinds of Pokémon. When she meets the same Silvally again years later, this time wearing an even more terrifying mask as a Type: Null, she only recalls a faint image of it lunging at her and unfairly blames it for attacking her. It's only when Silvally reveals its true form and rescues her a second time that she fully remembers what happened, and her gratitude for Silvally finally helps her overcome her fear.]]
30	* {{Deconstructed\|Trope}} in ''Anime/DigimonGhostGame''. The intimidating AntiVillain Digimon [=DarkLizardmon=] & Saberdramon attempt a HeroicFireRescue using [=DarkLizardmon=]'s special attack Dark Flare, which creates a protective zone that incinerates anything trying to leave. The man they attempted to rescue is too scared to listen to their instructions and dashes outside, [[DarkerAndEdgier resulting in him slowly being burned to death by Dark Flare in front of his family and neighbors]], who then form an angry mob and chase off the two. They then decide that they [[TrappedInAnotherWorld don't belong in the real world]], [[ThenLetMeBeEvil and attack the heroes believing them to have a way back]].
31	* In ''[[Literature/TsukimichiMoonlitFantasy Tsukimichi]]'', when Makoto gets summoned to a fantasy world to help humanity in its war against the demons, the first time he tries to fight, it's to rescue a random woman from a giant wolf monster. When he was first summoned, Makoto had been told that [[NewLifeInAnotherWorldBonus his strength got boosted significantly]] upon coming to this new world, so he tries hitting the monster with a flying kick... and ends up [[LudicrousGibs tearing through it]] like it's made of wet paper. Naturally, the woman he saved is even more terrified of him than she was of the monster.
32	* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'' Suletta saves her fiancee Miorine from being killed by a terrorist in the first season finale. [[spoiler:Unfortunately she does so by ''[[LudicrousGibs brutally crushing him with her Gundam's hand]]'' and that grisly sight, coupled with Suletta's complete [[DissonantSerenity dissociation]] from the carnage, only serves to traumatize and horrify Miorine.]]
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Comic Books]]
36	* A ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' comic has Blue Devil suffer a HeroicBSOD when he tries to save a child who's too scared of his demonic appearance to go with him. Dr. Fate tries to cheer him up by telling him that ''Comicbook/{{Superman}}'' actually had the same problem once, while trying to save a girl from a flaming plane wreck.
37	* In one ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' story, a little girl is kidnapped by a demon and kept caged inside his body. John is allowed to see her, and as he's being removed, reaches towards her yelling [[BigDamnHeroes "We're coming to get you!"]] and wondering why she's backing away as far as the cage allows. [[FridgeHorror Only later does he realize]] that what the girl saw was [[WombLevel an indistinct shape covered in slime]] reaching towards her yelling [[NightmareFuel "We're coming to get you!"]]
38	* In the ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'', Superman has a sad flashback of a time when he saved a little boy from getting hit by a truck. The boy was utterly terrified of him and struggled to get out of his arms. The neighborhood immediately forms an angry mob and attacks him, and he is forced to flee to avoid harming them.
39	* In ''ComicBook/DCTheNewFrontier'', Franchise/{{Batman}} terrifies a boy he's attempting to rescue from a doomsday cult, prompting his change in appearance and demeanour from his DarkerAndEdgier [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] version to his LighterAndSofter [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] one.
40	--> '''Batman''': I set out to scare ''criminals'', not children.
41	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Ares rescues [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie]] and Ferdinand from the furies, which they are understandably unsettled by. His rescue of the two and Diana from the recently unhinged Hades horrifies them even further since he captures them and his words make it sound like he's going to murder them, though Diana knows exactly what his carefully chosen words imply and is more resigned to him rescuing them by murdering Hades once she realizes her words can't get through to Hades.
42	* ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'': Nick Fury was rescued from the Arabs by Weapon X (Wolverine), who took him to the tent of the American soldiers. Back at the time nobody thought of him as anything besides a living weapon, so Fury thought he was done for.
43	* ''ComicBook/{{Venom}}'':
44	** Eddie Brock's attempts at being a "lethal protector" are frequently complicated by the fact that — as a hulking pitch-black monster with huge claws and fangs plus bad MoodSwinger tendencies — he terrifies the innocents he wants to protect as much as the criminals he kills. He's particularly haunted and upset by one incident where he rescued a child from danger, only to later learn that the poor girl was traumatized for life… not by the dangerous situation she was in, but by ''him''.
45	** Flash Thompson averts this for the most part, as he's far more mentally stable and composed then Eddie; resultantly, his default Venom form is more like "black ops Spider-Man" and he can engage with endangered innocents much more effectively. But during particularly stressful moments, he can lose control of the symbiote and succumb to its more violent urges, taking on the classic scary-ass Venom form and attitude. He learns of this problem on his first mission as Venom when a carelessly thrown grenade hits his TraumaButton by triggering memories of losing his legs, causing him to transform in a rage-and-terror-fueled panic attack and [[MookHorrorShow horrifically slaughter every terrorist in the building]] and traumatize the hostage he was meant to rescue.
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Fan Works]]
49	* ''Fanfic/HereComesTheNewBoss'': In the ''Hostile Takeover'' spin-off, when Taylor arrives to bail the heroes out (eg [[spoiler:saving Vista and Gallant from Hookwolf]]), dressed in skull motifs, tattoos, and weapons, their usual reaction isn't relief, it's "Things just went FromBadToWorse."
50	* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'':
51	** Kyril is a [[LeanAndMean lean]] man in [[DarkIsNotEvil dark attire]], has a [[SerratedBladeOfPain saw-cleaver]] [[MixAndMatchWeapon thing]] as a weapon, and a [[TheDreaded fearsome reputation]]. To his rescuees, he looks less like a [[BigDamnHeroes saviour]] and more like [[AlwaysABiggerFish a monster unleashed upon other monsters]]. The fact that Kyril's prey tend to be killed in a [[CruelAndUnusualDeath messy]] way further exacerbates this.
52	** Hugh's [[MadnessMantra reaction]] when Kyril saves him and Sanakan by [[spoiler:[[DeathGlare staring]] Shamuhaza to an agonising death]]. He is very lucky that he is not in the vicinity of [[spoiler:his master's [[EldritchAbomination eldritch]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation power]]]].
53	** {{Lampshaded}} by Sanakan during Chapter 6 of the original, when she takes out some hobgoblins trying to smoke out a nun guarding children in a hut. She notes that, from the look of fear the nun gave her, she probably looked menacing when swinging a large hammer that [[BifurcatedWeapon has a sword as its haft]].
54	** Grace is spooked after she is saved from three traitorous guardsmen thanks to [[spoiler:Evetta having two of them [[PsychicStrangle stop breathing]] and the other maimed due to her MindOverMatter]].
55	* In ''Fanfic/{{Origins}}'', averted and played straight with the same character. The first time, despite previous actions the heroes are more than willing to accept assistance from someone who had been terrorizing them for the better part of a year due to [[GodzillaThreshold the stakes]] and an [[BreakTheHaughty attitude adjustment]]. The second time, the character's previous actions are recalled and cause even a BadassInDistress to wonder why ''this'' individual would want to save them. However, they are called out on this due to being unaware of a HeelFaceTurn.
56	* Among the characters of the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic ''Fanfic/TheShadowWars'' is Claire Pie -- a giant, invisible, eight-headed Fluffy Pony with tentacular tongues and dimensional Gate powers. She is quite good at rescuing Ponies. How does she normally accomplish this? By opening a temporary Gate to the distressed Pony's location, reaching through with a couple of tentacles, and dragging the Pony through. This can be frightening, especially if you don't know her, especially since she has trouble speaking in normal Pony hearing registers and is thus TheUnintelligible save to those who know her very well.
57	* In ''Fanfic/MassEffectEndOfDays'', [[spoiler:a Geth force]] arrives as BigDamnHeroes during the attack on Elysium. The Alliance is used to them being allies and welcomes them. [[spoiler:Tali - not so much]].
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
61	* Batman gets this reaction in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueTheNewFrontier'', prompting him to rework his look into a slightly less terrifying one.
62	-->'''Batman:''' Let's just say I set out to scare criminals, not children.
63	* ZigZagged in the original ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' movie: at first, Fiona is not happy about being rescued by an ogre, but then comes to like Shrek. Then a gang of a handsome Myth/RobinHood-wannabes attack them, ostensibly with intent of saving Fiona from the "beast", but she dislikes him even more than she disliked Shrek. However, instead of calling for help, she [[LetsGetDangerous dispatches all the attackers herself]], leaving Shrek awed.
64	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'', Jane falls off a great height as she is chased by baboons and Tarzan catches her. She looks up at the half-naked wild man grabbing her by the waist and lets out a scream.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
68	* In ''Film/AdventuresInBabysitting'', Chris's car gets a flat, leaving her stranded on the side of the expressway. She is understandably frightened when a huge truck pulls up behind her and a hulking figure with a HookHand gets out. But this turns out to be tow-truck driver "Handsome" John Pruitt, who offers her a free tow to Dawson's Garage.
69	* In ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'', Spider-Man tries to save a boy from a burning car, and has to take off his mask to prove that he's not a monster.
70	* During ''Film/TheGreatRaid'' (both the film and RealLife) some of the prisoners did not recognize the uniforms of their rescuers, and had to be coaxed out of their huts. One even hid until after the raid was over.
71	* ''Franchise/StarWars Episode IV: Film/ANewHope'' subverts it:
72	-->'''Princess Leia:''' Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?\
73	'''Luke Skywalker:''' Huh? Oh! The uniform... ''[removes helmet]'' I'm Luke Skywalker, I'm here to rescue you.\
74	'''Leia:''' You're who?
75	* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'':
76	** In ''Film/TheTerminator'', Sarah Connor is understandably freaked out when a guy pulls out a sawed-off shotgun in the Tech Noir and starts shooting. It's only after the bullets have stopped and he's hauled her outside that he explains that he was saving her from the [[KillerRobot hulking dude]] he shot.
77	** In ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', Sarah's in the middle of escaping the institution holding her when that same hulking dude steps out of the elevator and approaches her. She remembers how [[MadeOfIron impossible it was to kill]] last time, and right now she has no weapons capable of stopping him. She's trapped between the hospital guards and ''it'', until it knocks out the guards, holds out its hand to her, and says "ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive". And then her son shows up and vouches for it.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Literature]]
81	* In Charles Stross' ''Literature/TheAtrocityArchive'', Mo describes being rescued from terrorists by a SWAT team:
82	-->''You ever had two guys point assault rifles at your head, so close you could see the grooves on the inside of the barrels? You just lie there very still and try very hard not to look threatening.''
83	* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', Ren initially thinks Eldest Whistler's flying tackle is an attack on her (she thinks Eldest is aware of just ''how'' close Ren and Eldest's unmarried brother Jerin had gotten the night before, and in this society, ''would'' react violently to this event). Turns out Eldest was knocking Ren clear of a trap that would have killed her.
84	* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', the protagonists go bandit-hunting in a country where their ancestors had helped crush a rebellion. The natives do not like them. When they save the people of a village, initially everyone hides from them. They later encounter a grateful inhabitant of that village, but that's after they walked away without trying to even get some food in return for the rescue. The grateful man then gives them food and blankets, and points out that he doesn't like people from their country, but that it helps a lot that they saved his daughter from a gang-rape.
85	* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'': In ''Wyvern's Spur'', an old adventurer told the stories of Cole Wyvernspur. One of the stories was about the carpenter's daughter who refused the mad red wizard and then was kidnapped and imprisoned by him. Cole who jumped to the rescue "looked so fierce when he arrived that Bette mistook him for one of Yawataht's minions and smacked him on the head with a hammer". In another Cole entered a hydra's lair unarmed and when he left a hour later, the monster was "everywhere" -- in pieces. [[spoiler:He was turned into a ''big'' wyvern.]]
86	* In ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'', when TheDreaded {{Necromancer}} Wei Wuxian shows up at the prison camp where the Wen survivors are being held and raises their dead as fierce corpses, many of the Wen survivors make the entirely reasonable if incorrect assumption that they are about to be slaughtered and added to the horde rather than rescued.
87	* When Zachary 'Zak' State, the protagonist of ''Literature/TheMentalState'', rescues his love interest from a gang of thugs who raped her, his methods traumatize everybody present, including the girl herself. [[spoiler: He also utilizes this trope to frighten a mugger away from her in the final chapter]].
88	* In a ''Literature/NancyDrew'' Files book ''Hit & Run Holiday'', Nancy and the girls are being held prisoner by the villain. When one of her henchmen shows up, they're naturally terrified that he's here to kill them, until they and the reader get the UndercoverCopReveal.
89	* Early in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', Perrin is captured by Whitecloaks and sentenced to execution. When Lan violently bursts into his tent and cuts down his guards, Perrin inadvertently tries to scream a warning to his captors.
90	* ''Literature/TheReluctantKing'': in the third book of the series, Jorian's second attempt to save his wife Estrildis from the royal palace has him sending a winged demon in the heart of night to break into the tower and save her. Unfortunately, the sight of a massive, red-skinned demon with wings and talons is enough to make anyone who see him terrified. Not helped by the fact that the demon can't tell a human from the other and takes the wrong woman.
91	* In ''[[Literature/{{Shiloh}} Saving Shiloh]]'', the titular beagle's abusive ex-owner, Jud, begins to make a HeelFaceTurn. However, Shiloh still distrusts him. When Jud wades in to save Shiloh from a flooding river, Shiloh actually tries to paddle away, preferring to take his chances with drowning rather than dealing with Jud again. Jud whistles, and thankfully Shiloh's abuse-enforced training to come in response gets him close enough to be saved.
92	* In the first book of ''Literature/TheSharingKnife'', Dag and Fawn meet properly for the first time when he rescues her from a rapist bandit and she makes a valiant attempt to claw his eyes out with her fingernails. They sort things out once she's less disoriented from the attack.
93	-->'''Fawn:''' I'm sorry I scratched you up. I didn't understand what was coming at me. You scared me.
94	-->'''Dag:''' ''[small smile]'' I was trying to scare the other fellow.
95	* Geralt of Rivia recounts in ''Literature/TheWitcher: Literature/TheLastWish'' how his first heroic act was to rescue a teenage farm girl and her father from a group of bandits. His brutal attack caused the father to flee in terror with the surviving bandits and the girl to throw up on him and pass out. He's been a lot more cynical about stories of heroic deeds ever since.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
99	* In the ''Series/{{Bones}}'' episode "The Woman in the Car", where the kidnapped child Booth was rescuing was terrified until Booth told him his father's [[TrustPassword code word]] (Paladin).
100	* The titular ''Series/{{Dexter}}'', a SerialKillerKiller, rescues Lumen, a young woman who has been subjected to horrific torture and rape by one of his victims. As she first sees him tying up and stabbing her captor, she is understandably spooked.
101	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thPrequelTheNightOfTheDoctor The Night of the Doctor]]", this is Cass' reaction upon realizing what species the Eighth Doctor is from. Despite not fighting in the Time War himself (thus far), his [[HowTheMightyHaveFallen people's actions]] have damaged their reputation [[FallenHero so badly]] that [[spoiler:Cass elects to ''die'' rather than be saved by a Time Lord]].
102	* ''Series/ShadowAndBone'': When Alina is attacked by a Fjerdan soldier who comes within inches of killing her, the Darkling saves her by using his shadow powers to bisect the man, spattering Alina with his blood. Alina is already afraid of the Darkling and is almost as scared of him as the man who attacked her. When she expresses horror at him being capable of slicing in half a man from several feet away, the Darkling snarkily asks if she'd preferred him to have used a sword.
103	* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'': In "[[Recap/SherlockS02E03TheReichenbachFall The Reichenbach Fall]]", Moriarty is revealed to have terrified a pair of kidnapped children with a double of Sherlock, in order to cast suspicion on Sherlock when the children begin screaming in his presence.
104	* ''Series/StarTrekPicard'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekPicardS1E06TheImpossibleBox The Impossible Box]]", while experiencing traumatic memories on the Artifact, Picard sees two Borg grab him and starts fighting them until it turns out that they're xBs pulling him away from a bottomless chasm.
105	-->'''Hugh''': They don't want you to fall!
106	* ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekStrangeNewWorldsS1E03GhostsOfIllyria Ghosts of Illyria]]", Pike and Spock are trapped in a building on a deserted space colony, threatened by a violent "ion storm". When plasma creatures living in the storm try to force their way into the building, they see this as another threat. However, when the storm and the creatures break through, the creatures huddle around the two of them, shielding them from the storm and saving their lives. [[spoiler:It's strongly implied that the plasma creatures are the mutated survivors of the missing colony.]]
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Roleplay]]
110	* ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'':
111	** Irene uses her {{biomanipulation}} power to help Jacob fix up his PsychicNosebleed after he exerts himself too much, but her cold attitude while doing so leads him to worry that she has it out for him.
112	** This actively works against Simon when he tries to use his power to absorb the flames that are coating Michal. The process ends up looking so scary that Michal is convinced that Simon wants to ''eat'' him, which only causes the flames to intensify.
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
116	* Thanks to Disquiet, any [[TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated Promethean]] attempting to help mortals turns into one of these.
117	* [[Characters/Warhammer40000Astartes Space Marines]] are this ''by design''. Giant, genetically modified [[SuperSoldier super-soldiers]] in bulky [[PoweredArmor powered armor]], Space Marines are trained to assault like the wrath of the GodEmperor himself, then move on to the next target. Most people they save along the way wish to never witness such a thing again.
118	** The Salamanders Chapter of Space Marines are of particular note. They go out of their way to save civilians and are considered the Chapter most concerned with the well-being of those they protect, but their coal-black skin and [[GlowingEyesofDoom eyes like embers]] mean they can make even hardened veterans balk.
119	[[/folder]]
120
121	[[folder:Video Games]]
122	* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', Ashley attacks Leon when he first comes through the door. He's actually a fairly friendly-looking guy, but he's a heavily armed stranger who comes in the door with his gun drawn, isn't dressed like a cop or a government agent, and immediately calls her by name. Not to mention that a former American agent was involved in her kidnapping, though she may or may not be aware of it. Understandably, she assumes Leon is with her kidnappers.
123	* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', Light Sided Imperial players, particularly Sith, will often evoke this reaction in civilians, Imperial personnel and even ''Republic'' troops that they come to the aid of.
124	* ''VideoGame/BioShock''
125	** In first ''VideoGame/{{BioShock\|1}}'', rescuing a Little Sister involves first killing her Big Daddy guardian and then finding her where she's trying to hide from you in absolute terror.
126	** In ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'', Elizabeth is initially terrified by the sight of the heavily armed Booker, an understandable reaction given that she'd been locked alone in her tower for her entire life and that he'd just crashed through the ceiling. After accepting his offer to help her escape, her ease turns right back to terror again, after witnessing how [[OneManArmy brutally effective]] Booker is at killing people.
127	* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', if spared in the first game, Rana Thanoptis has this reaction to discovering that Shepard was the person shooting their way through the Blue Suns on Korlus. After thanking them for the rescue, she states her intention to leave as quickly as possible, since she was forced to outrun a nuclear explosion the last time they met.
128	** Shepard's initial reaction to Legion, after realizing that a ''[[AIIsACrapshoot Geth]]'' not only sniped the Husk that was [[StabTheScorpion about to attack them]], but more importantly, is able to speak and knows who they are.
129	* Mentioned in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne'' by a soul you can talk to in the Labyrinth of Amala. It asks the player character what he would do if he saw a bear attacking a man out of hunger, presuming that the player character would probably save the man. However, he notes that, in the act of tearing apart a bear with his own strength, the player character would have just proven himself even more terrifying. This has no direct relation to anything in the game itself, but given what the player character ''is'', it might be a cautionary story in case he does decide to play hero and help people.
130	* In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' Online, there is a heist mission where you have to get a man in a shack surrounded by police officers. Granted, he might think you're a cop at first, he keeps this up.
131	* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': If the PlayerCharacter is a Nosferatu, their LooksLikeOrlok appearance horrifies humans who aren't in on the {{Masquerade}}, even those they're rescuing from various kidnappers. The RichBitch Kiki immediately starts screaming, while Dr. Johansen starts babbling about being tortured with acid. The Nosferatu can dryly ask them if they'd prefer to stay.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Webcomics]]
135	* ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'': Whatever it was that saves Fern from [[spoiler:being digested by Ora, by obliterating Ora into so much lifeless gore, and drags the unconscious human right outside to safety, where she eventually wakes back up.]]
136	* ''Webcomic/FateTypeRedline'': Kanata Akagi [[NaiveNewcomer had no idea what a Holy Grail War was]] when he suddenly gets involved in one. When he is attacked, he inadvertently summons Okita Souji as Servant Saber, who quickly kills the attacker. Kanata becomes completely terrified of this brutal killing machine, at least until she introduces herself and [[WhenSheSmiles gives him a smile]].
137	* In ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'', the protagonist Duane saves a woman from [[http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic/ch10/ch10_104.html the jaws]] of a gigantic [[spoiler:construct of First Silver and tortured flesh]]. Unfortunately for her, he's TheUndead and thoroughly decomposed, so she panics and beats at him to make him let her go.
138	* In ''Webcomic/BatmanWayneFamilyAdventures'', Jason Todd is a hulking guy in a leather jacket and a terrifying red mask. This does ''not'' help him in the comic "[[Recap/BatmanWayneFamilyAdventuresEpisode104MaskOff Mask Off]]" when he's trying to get a little girl to leave a building that's about to explode and she can't trust him due to his looks. It's only when he removes his mask that she trusts him.
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141	[[folder:Western Animation]]
142	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': At one point, while [[TheDrifter drifting]] around the Earth Kingdom in Season 2, Zuko defends a poor village from the "soldiers" (re: gang of thugs left behind after the army left to fight in the war) who have been "protecting" (re: bullying and robbing) them and saves a young boy they kidnapped. The townspeople cheer him on until he's forced to Firebend during the fight and reveals his true identity as Prince of the Fire Nation. They stand with TorchesAndPitchforks at the ready as they watch him leave, and when Zuko tries to give the boy back the knife Zuko gave him earlier, the boy and his mother are both terrified of him.
143	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'':
144	** In "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS1E8Heroes Heroes]]", the hero [[MagmaMan Magma]] terrifies a little girl when he rescues her from kidnappers.
145	** In "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS3E7Unmasked Unmasked]]", Batman tries to pull a small child out of a burning building, but the boy keeps crawling away, thinking he's some kind of monster. In order to get the boy to take his hand, Batman removes his mask to show that he's human. Unfortunately, this results in an evil organization trying to kidnap the boy in order to find out Batman's true identity.
146	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': In "Hail the Tornado Tyrant!", two small children have this reaction to the Tornado Champion when he rescues them from a burning building, and run screaming into their parents arms.
147	* There were many a time when one of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' would rescue someone only for the person they rescue to run away from them screaming.
148	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS4E12SlavesOfTheRepublic "Slaves of the Republic"]], Obi-Wan is disguised as a slave trader, and the alien he's trying to rescue is terrified of him until he removes his helmet.
149	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/StreetFighter'', Blanka rescues a drowning Japanese businessman. Upon seeing his savior, the man yells "Kaibutsu!" ("Monster!") and flees. This is part of Blanka's ongoing characterization of identity struggle caused by his forced mutation (the cartoon draws from the plot of the ''Film/StreetFighter'' film).
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152	[[folder:Real Life]]
153	* There have been many cases of kids, raised with StrangerDanger, getting lost but then hiding from their rescuers. One case had the child sighted within a couple hours, but it was a few ''days'' before the child was finally rescued, because he kept fleeing.
154	* A fully suited up [[EmergencyServices firefighter]] can be very scary to children if they aren't prepared ahead of time, which has led to some children hiding from their rescuer. [[ClassTrip Field trips]] and open houses at the fire station include introducing kids to a firefighter in the whole kit to help avert this.
155	* Imagine being from the developing world with no real knowledge of modern science. Now add foreign soldiers in your homeland. Imagine being injured or critically ill, then having these soldiers run up in their massive body armor with their automatic weapons. They speak in a language you don't understand, then an interpreter from your nation tells you that these foreign soldiers intend to help you. Then they begin to cut away at your clothing and bring out medical equipment you may or may not be familiar with at all. This was a regular feature of US and NATO military operations of the last quarter century, where aid for civilians was considered standard operating procedure for medics and medical units. In Afghanistan, this could even go as far as responding to an emergency by throwing emergency patients and a relative into an evacuation hospital escorted by Apache attack helicopters and taking them to a mobile hospital with a ''surgical team'' hundreds of miles away. A CombatMedic won't let a little thing like hundreds of miles of mountains filled with the Taliban prevent them from treating a patient.
156	** Mike Wasdin, a SEAL sniper, recounts a story how a team he was on saw a child whose gangrenous foot was beyond local help, but not modern medicine. His team couldn't reveal their location, so they bust into the kid's house in ''Mogadishu'' in the middle of the night, rounded up every terrified occupant at gunpoint, put them on the ground and bound their hands and eyes, then treated the kid before releasing everyone in the house. The next night, the inhabitants calmly went along with it. The third night, they left out what meager tea and food they could spare for the team.
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Context Main / TerrifyingRescuer