->''"Hang on Lord!\\
We're gonna fight for you!\\
Hang on Lord!\\
We're gonna fight for you!"''
-->-- '''Peter and others trying to rescue Jesus''', ''Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar''

Has the LoveGoddess turned into a DamselInDistress? Has the MessianicArchetype fallen victim to a mob that hates unbigoted goodness? Is the pantheon dying because people have forgotten that GodsNeedPrayerBadly? Or has it even come to pass that GodIsDead, and now needs resurrection badly? In either case, dear hero, it's time for you to [[JumpedAtTheCall Jump At The Call]] and save your deity!

And yes, ''failed'' rescue attempts ''do'' count as examples. However, fighting alongside the deity to save the world does not. The deity has to personally be in need of rescue, or at least be perceived as such.

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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', Herc has to save Zeus and the other gods from Hades and the Titans.
* WesternAnimation/{{Moana}} is on a quest to restore the heart of the creator goddess Te Fiti.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/{{Dogma}}'', [[spoiler:Yahweh is in a coma for most of the movie. One of the protagonists rescues her by slaying her mortal form]].
* ''Film/JesusChristSuperstar'': Fails miserably in the 1973 version: Peter and the others try to save Jesus, but are overwhelmed by the Romans -- Jesus' surrender clearly saves them from getting slaughtered. Various theater versions of the play may handle this scene in different ways, since it's mostly a matter of choreography.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In Fiona Patton's ''Literature/TalesOfTheBranionRealm'' novel ''The Granite Shield'', a historical fantasy set in an alternate Britain, the monarchs are the hereditary [[RoyaltySuperPower avatars]] of a fire god, the Living Flame, and the head of its religion, the Triarchy. For the past hundred years, however, the royal family has converted to a competing religion, [[StopWorshippingMe denied their own divinity]], and literally imprisoned the Flame within their own bodies. Until a Triarch woman gets the bright idea to seduce the monarch, have his firstborn child, and raise it to overthrow its father and return the Flame to prominence.
** In another book, it's totally inverted: the new Vessel of the Living Flame is a small child on the run from her [[TheMole own priests]], and being protected by a follower of the opposing God.
* In Creator/DavidWeber and Creator/JohnRingo's ''Literature/PrinceRoger'' series, a supporting character is an Armaghan Satanist. This faith holds that Paradise Lost is propaganda; Satan was on God's side in the War in Heaven, and he lost. The angels have imprisoned God, and it is the duty of all good Satanists to receive military training so that, come Armageddon, they can rescue Him from the "Chains of the Angels."
* A trilogy of novels set in ''TabletopGame/ScarredLands'' are about a priest who tries [[spoiler:and finally succeeds]] to resurrect the dead god he used to worship until the [[{{Gotterdammerung}} Divine War]] This is actually played interestingly. In the Scarred Lands, priests gain their magic powers from their deities. Because their god died, his priests can only access the most basic of spells. [[spoiler:After he's resurrected, the main character still can't cast spells, despite being his former high priest. The consequence of bringing his god back to life means he can no longer truly have faith in him, because he's now aware of his own mortality, and can't see him as an infallible being.]]
* Discussed in ''Literature/TheBible'': Peter grabs a sword to save Jesus from the roman soldiers, but Jesus stops him and recommend pacifism. At some point, Jesus also states that he could easily save himself, or summon a legion of angels to his aid, if he wanted to. This would would go against the entire point though.
* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', the quest of Grover and the other satyrs is to find their god Pan, who was said to be dead. Heck, book three of the first series is about saving Artemis, and book one of the second series is about saving Hera. Rick Riordan loves this trope.
* In ''Literature/TheMistsOfAvalon'', [[EnigmaticEmpoweringEntity the Lady of the Lake]] is trying to rescue her pagan pantheon, which is dying from the advances of Christianity.
* This is what drives the plot for most of ''Literature/SmallGods''.
* In ''Literature/PeterPaysTribute'', the main character expy ends up saving not one, but two gods.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', [[LoveGoddess Aphrodite]] needs to be saved sometimes.
* The "Blink Of An Eye" episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' takes place on a planet where the people are living in the stone age when ''Lightbringer, Groundshaker'' arrive. This deity inspire them to much greatness, but also cause them much harm. Over the ages that follow, they develop their culture and technology in their quest for their deity - Eventually realizing that she is stuck in the sky. Eventually they work together with the crew of USS Voyager to save her. [[spoiler:And yes - "Lightbringer, Groundshaker" ''is'' Voyager: Time itself passes differently on the planet. This episode is a rare case of a pre-warp civilization being portrayed as justified in their religious belief in humans/Starfleet.]]
* The second half of Season 7 of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' has this as a subplot, with the Vorta trying to cure a disease that's killing the Founders.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Religion]]
* The Sun Myth is a common narrative in mythology that usually involves saving the [[ThePowerOfTheSun solar deity]]. Examples include [[Myth/JapaneseMythology trying to get Amaterasu back]], [[Myth/EgyptianMythology defending Ra against Apep]], [[Myth/AztecMythology sacrificing people to fuel the Sun]] (a "myth" you can even participate in!), and several European solar goddess myths that apparently gave rise to Literature/{{Rapunzel}}.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''
** In the adventure ''For Duty and Deity'', the high priestess of Waukeen gathers a group of adventurers who worship the goddess and sends them to the Abyss to rescue her from the demon lord Graz'zt.
** ''Dungeon Magazine'' #21, adventure ''The Chest of the Aloeids''. Hermes has been captured and trapped in the title container. A group of {{PC}}'s who worship the Greek deities must rescue him so he can take his place among the other gods on Mount Olympus.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Werewolf the Apocalypse}}'', the goddess Ananasa is trapped in an opal prison in Malfeas. The Ananasi werespiders tried on at least one occasion to free her, and now do her bidding as part of a long-term plan to free her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Toys]]
* For most of the run of Toys/{{Bionicle}}, the plot revolved around finding a way to awaken (and later save, and even later return to his body) Mata Nui, the [[CrystalDragonJesus Great Spirit]]. Although, to avoid controversy, Mata Nui was never truly "worshiped" in the way a god of a real religion might be.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/LunarTheSilverStar'', the main DamselInDistress turns out to be [[spoiler:the goddess Althena]].
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarChainsOfOlympus'' tasks Kratos with rescuing Helios.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers of Time/Darkness/Sky'' features a plot to rescue Dialga from falling into insanity [[spoiler:due to Darkrai's corrupting influence]].
** ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'' tasks the Expedition Society with finding the one responsible for turning [[OlympusMons Legendary Pokemon]] [[TakenForGranite into stone]] and reviving them, at least before the villain's plot ultimately calls for, "[[SaveTheWorldClimax Save your planet and everyone on it]]."
* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'': This drives a large part of the plot. The Water Dragon is not only in charge of rain, but she's also the deity in charge of escorting the deceased to the afterlife for reincarnation. Without her, the world's getting overrun with angry and tormented ghosts. [[spoiler:Of course, you don't ''have'' to rescue or restore her if you're playing Closed Fist.]]
* ''VideoGame/KidIcarus'': The first and second games, as well as a story arc in ''[[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising Uprising]]'', involve saving Palutena.
* ''VideoGame/{{Darkstone}}'':
** This is part of the backstory. Draak, a monk who served the goddess Kaliba, turned against her and tried to destroy her; his brother monks managed to defeat him using a mystical artifact called the Time Orb, but he wasn't destroyed and they've long suspected he would come back to try again.
** In the game itself, there's a minor god who is in danger of CessationOfExistence because GodsNeedPrayerBadly, and the player character(s) must save him by finding him a new worshiper.
* Half the plot of ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaMk2'' is saving the [=CPUs=] from the bad guys.
* The ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' series uses this plot a couple of times. In both games, you are marked as TheChosenOne by your [[YouCanSeeMe ability to see]] the Harvest Goddess' servants, the Harvest Sprites.:
** ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonMagicalMelody'': The Harvest Goddess has turned herself to stone out of despair that the people of her land have "become unkind" and forgotten how to love the land and each other. It's up to you, the player, to collect 50 magical notes and restore the Goddess. You'll have a rival, [[AmbiguousGender Jaimie]], who wants to be the one to save the Goddess, and do it alone.
** ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade'': It's your job to ring the five Sprite bells to summon the Harvest King, who can restore life to the Goddess Tree and with it, the Harvest Goddess. Its predecessor, ''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonTreeOfTranquility Tree Of Tranquility]]'' has a similar plot, only the tree's weakening/imminent death only renders the Goddess powerless.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** Invoked and downplayed in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]''; Hylia's plan to stop the Demon King revolves around Link believing that [[spoiler:her own mortal reincarnation]] is in danger to motivate him to undertake the necessary trials. Toward the end, the trope is played far straighter when [[spoiler:Demise succeeds in consuming Zelda/Hylia's soul. It's explicitly stated that defeating him, and quickly, is the only way for Link to keep her from being utterly destroyed]].
** While not explicitly revered as a deity, the dragon Naydra, a powerful, immortal being, is corrupted by Ganon's Malice in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'' and needs Link's help to purge it.
* ''VideoGame/TotalWarWarhammerIII''; the objective of the [[HuskyRusskie Kislev]] campaign is to launch a crusade into the Realm of Chaos and free their patron deity Ursun, who is badly injured and being held prisoner by the daemon Be'lakor.
* The plot of the fourth StoryArc of ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' has the [[PlayerCharacter Traveler]] meeting Nahida, the God of Wisdom and [[OurArchonsAreDifferent Archon]] of [[GreenThumb Dendro]]. Nahida is an [[NiceGirl extraordinarily kind and caring god]] who looks out for Sumeru's people, but has been [[GirlInTheTower kept imprisoned for five hundred years]] by the corrupt human sages of Sumeru Akademiya, as they view her unworthy of succeeding her predecessor Greater Lord Rukkhadevata. The Traveler allies themselves with several higher-ups of the Akademiya that disagree with what their bosses are doing, and with them they carry out a complicated plan to free Nahida from her imprisonment.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* This is the ultimate goal of Mysto Majora Kijadhimov in ''WebComic/WhiteDarkLife'', who seeks to revive Slavic paganism — the problem is that she believes that [[FinalSolution she has to completely eradicate Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in order to succeed]], as she fears that they will just treat her faith like an IllegalReligion all over again unless they are dealt with.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'', the cast tries to revive Santa Christ after WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic accidentally shoots him. Their chosen method of resurrection is a parody of ''Literature/PeterPan'' — they get everyone they know to repeatedly chant, "We believe in Santa Christ!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', the kids work very hard to save Muhammad -- a divine SuperHero fueled by holy power equal to his teammate [[KungFuJesus Jesus]].
[[/folder]]
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