Quotes / Damsel in Distress

Anime and Manga

The one being rescued doesn't get to complain! You just act the part and stand around trembling and say "Oh, save me!"

— Ichigo Kurosaki, Bleach

Artemis: A monster!?
Luna: Seems like it! But boy does that girl get her energy drained a lot!
Artemis: ...No time to be impressed about that now!

— Sailor Moon R

Fan Works

Lelouch: Looks like a bomb with another motion sensor on it. If we get too close, Nunnally's head will explode.
Suzaku: And that's a bad thing!
Lelouch: ...Yeah.
Suzaku: If only there was some way we could get in close and disarm it!
Lelouch: Actually, your little stunt back there gave me an idea. That swinging pendulum is clearly the motion detector. If someone could match the same speed and trajectory as the pendulum, they might be able to disarm the bomb in mid-air! And seeing as how you just kicked a fucking turret off the ceiling-
Suzaku: I'm not doing it. That would be sexist.
Lelouch: Come again?
Suzaku: This right here? This situation? This is the "Damsel in Distress" trope, and I am not about to contribute to it.
Lelouch: Look, while I agree that trope is horrible, in this particular situation, I need you to do this! We're running out of time!
Suzaku: No, it'd be against my moral compass.
Lelouch: YOUR FUCKING MORAL COMPASS IS A ROULETTE WHEEL!
Nunnally: Suzaku! I know what you mean, but this isn't the time for that!
Suzaku: I'm sorry, Nunnally, I can't do it!
Lelouch: Look, she's already in the situation! We have to pull her out of it! What if we like pretended she was just a crippled person?
Suzaku: That's denying her her sexual identity! Nunnally, you do identify as female, right?
Lelouch: Yeah, and I understand. Sometimes in our culture, things are ridiculous! But just face it - situation is situation!
Suzaku: I'm sorry! I can't do it!
Lelouch: OHHHHH GOD!
Suzaku: Think about it from my perspective! What do you see up there?
Lelouch: MY SISTER! AND SHE'S IN TROUBLE!
Suzaku: Well I see a handy, capable girl. Sure, life's beating her down a little bit, but that's not gonna stop her. Nothing's gonna stop her! She could be President of the World one day!
Lelouch: NOT IF HER HEAD EXPLODES!!

— Code MENT

Cure Peace, Cure Custard, and Cure Yum-Yum were tied up and suspended over a pond of sludge. At Joker's command, they would be dropped in and dissolve into Bad Energy. No matter how much Cure Peace squirmed, or how much Cure Custard kicked her legs, the ropes binding them together were too strong.

— Twinkling in the Dark

Film — Animated

Hercules: Aren't you a Damsel in Distress?
Megara: (struggling in Nessus' grip) I'm a damsel... I'm in distress... I can handle this! Have a nice day!

— Hercules

Roxanne: Can one of you punch my frequent kidnappings card?
Megamind: You of all people know we discontinued that promotion.

— Megamind

We save April at least once a day.

— 1987 Donatello, Turtles Forever

Film — Live-Action

William, tell me somethin'. Have you come because you need my help to save a certain distressin' damsel - or rather, damsel in distress? Either one.

— Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

"Hey, I don't have to put up with this! I'm rich!"

— Princess Vespa, Spaceballs

Live-Action TV

Bronn: Two knights off to rescue a princess. Sounds like a great song.
Jaime: Sounds like all of them.

—Game of Thrones

Groo - damsel in distress. You know the drill.

— Angel, "The Price"

Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday.

— Buffy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "Once More With Feeling"

A long table full of Doctor Who girls, going "I wasn't a screamer." And of course we ALL were! Because that was essentially what the role was.

— Janet Fielding on fan conventions, Doctor Who, "Snakedance" audio commentary

Normal women catch bouquets. I catch bombs.

— Lois Lane, Lois & Clark, "We Have a Lot to Talk About"

Music

If you can't hold on
Then baby, baby don't save me now
(If your love isn't strong)
Baby, don't save me now

— Haim, "Don't Save Me"

Video Games

Dexter: Kimberly, come in! Are you okay?
Kimberly: Oh, sure. I'm just kidnapped by aliens, that's all!
Dexter: I'll save you, Kimmy!
Kimberly: GET ME OUT OF HERE!

— Space Ace

Web Animation

Luke Skywalker and his deadbeat dad [spoiler alert] get to swing their glowsticks around like inter-generational ravers; Han Solo runs around like he's just noticed that his gun has turned into a giant hairy spider; and what does Leia get? She can put up a shield. Oh, have mercy, Your Grace. But I suppose if they'd have given her a power based what she did in the films, then they'd have had to have come up with something themed around constantly being captured and getting her jugs out.

— Zero Punctuation on Star Wars: Battlefront

"Ohhh! Look, I just wanted to apologize for kidnapping you 80+ times; my bad. So, is it cool if I have the last donut?" (Peach eats the last donut and walks away)"... I deserve that."

— Bowser, E3 2014 Nintendo Direct

Web Original

Everybody laments how Colin Baker was put in a truly awful position by Doctor Who. There is no disputing that. However, Nicola Bryant suffered just as much. She spent her time on the show being objectified and ogled and taken advantage of. Peri's primary function on the show was to serve as eye candy that could be put in peril... Indeed, the fact that Peri is routinely treated as nothing but a sex object is even treated as a joke here. Discussing an old dying warlord, she notes, "Beams that kill weren't the only thing he had on his mind. Dirty old warlord. Glad we left that place when we did." She is so used to the objectification that she seems visibly relieved when Sil refers to her as the Doctor's "revoltingly ugly assistant." At least she doesn't have to worry about Sil, then.

— Darren Mooney on Doctor Who, "Mindwarp"

Snow: Wait, Belle, Zelena never froze you when she was crazy monologuing and creepily feeling my baby bump. Why didn’t you do anything to stop her? Everyone else tried.
Belle: Everyone else got frozen or turned into a flying monkey. Every time I go up against the villains, I get locked up, knocked unconscious or shot. At this point, I’m just trying to stay alive.

— Fanfiction blog OUAT Conversations

Despite how well done this episode is... there is a nagging issue I can't ignore: It is a clear example of why the superhero girlfriend needs to evolve. Since the resurgence in superhero films and shows kicked off by Batman Begins, the superhero girlfriend continues to be written in the same troubling ways that plague her comic-book counterparts. She can be accomplished, but not so much to diminish the stature of the masked man who saves her on a nightly basis. She can be intelligent, but not smart enough to deduce that the hero who consistently comes to her aid is her good friend in disguise. She's said to be dynamic, but rarely shown as such. She's the emblem of goodness and love, but rarely elevated into becoming her own human being. Since she's more symbol than person, she becomes more valuable when in danger, or actually dead. As a result, the archetype is rarely well-written enough that actresses like Candice Patton can demonstrate their talents. So much of this season has been about Iris' death and how such a tragedy would affect everyone around her. But Iris herself has not been an active participant in this story line.

— Angelica Jade Bastièn on The Flash, "Infantino Street”

"Well I'm this paper's ace reporter, although as with all previous versions of Lois Lane, this aspect of my character pales in comparison to my main defining trait—[They step OUTSIDE and are IMMEDIATELY MUGGED]—as a nigh-supernatural peril magnet."

— Margot Kidder, The Editing Room's abridged script for Superman: The Movie

Western Animation

Aahh, help me! I'm being kidnapped by a fictional character!

— Gosalyn Mallard, Darkwing Duck

Sue: This is pretty uninspired. The Big Bad Doctor Doom kidnapping me just to lure us here to your wretched little island.
Doctor Doom: Yes, I'm so sorry to involve you in the time-worn damsel-in-distress Cliché, Mrs. Richards. I fear the only thing missing is the onrushing train. However, sometimes expediency outweighs originality.

— Fantastic Four: The Animated Series, "The Mask of Doom, Part One"

"Put me down! I do not do screaming victim."

—Tina, Get Ace

AF1 Hijacker: Let's make an example of this hero. A very tragic example, I'm afraid, Miss...
Lois Lane: Lane.
AF1 Hijacker: (already nervous) Lane? Lois Lane? The one Superman always saves?
Lois Lane: 'Fraid so.

— Superman: The Animated Series, "World's Finest, Pt. 1"

"I bet you my luxuriously wavy hair Cronus is holding his wife Psyche hostage on a mountain somewhere. Those bad guys have, like, zero imagination."

— Aphrodite, Class of the Titans, "Bows & Eros"

Jerry: Hello, ladies. How's the Big Apple?
Alex: Rotten, Jerry. Clover's been kidnapped.
Jerry: Oh dear. That's the second time this month.

— Totally Spies!

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