History DamselInDistress / AnimeAndManga

** Most women in general in Berserk have to be rescued from the [[AllMenAreRapists men]] & [[MarsNeedsWomen Monsters]] who usually have less than pure intentions for them. Casca in youth was saved from a rapey nobleman by [[ChessMaster Griffith]] (horribly ironic later). Village girl Jill and little witch Schierke were protected by Guts and both of them became DaddysGirl(s) towards him. Griffith's medium [[PsychicChildren Sonia]] was saved by in almost the same way as Casca (but with more slavery) and is also in danger from the monster warriors that make up Griffith's army. Though Sonia is unbearably cheerful, worshiping Griffith as the messiah (when he is anything but) so her actually dying would be no big loss.

* Subverted in ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'', as a part of the TwistEnding of the first half of the story. [[spoiler:The girls ''thought'' that [[BarrierMaiden Princess Emeraude]] was the Damsel in Distress who summoned them to Cephiro to rescue her. She's actually in love with her supposed kidnapper Zagato, but as the [[BarrierMaiden Pillar of Cephiro]], having feelings for ''anyone'' outside of her duty is enough to plunge Cephiro into chaos. Since the Pillar [[ICannotSelfTerminate can't harm themselves]] and no one in Cephiro can harm them either, the only option she feels she has left is to summon the Magic Knights from another world [[SuicideByCop so they can kill her]]. In the end, her emotions drive her berserk and the Knights have no choice but to fulfil her request.]]

* Subverted in ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'', as a part of the TwistEnding of the first season. [[spoiler:The girls ''thought'' that [[BarrierMaiden Princess Emeraude]] was the Damsel in Distress. She actually had the power to break through Zagato's prison all the time... but didn't do it because she was in love with him since they met. And because she was the ''real'' BigBad. Who summoned the girls [[ICannotSelfTerminate to KILL her]], and Zagato kidnapped her to ''save'' her from them]]. The problem was solved in the end. [[TearJerker Very dramatically.]]

** [[SpoiledSweet Farnese]] is a frequent one, justified in her introduction as while she leads the Holy Chain Knights she no training and was never expected to fight. Though it still embarrassing how helpless she is even needing to be saved by Guts (''the man who held her hostage'') and her half bother Serpico. She later gets some magical witch power ups from Schierke and would seem to be elevated to Action Girl status but still gets into danger anyway and while she's protecting Casca and is actually disappointed when Guts is more focused on protecting Casca than her.

*** [[HotScientist Bulma]] despite knowing how to use a gun, needs to have her ass saved frequently. Mostly by Goku, Yamcha, Master Roshi (and later Vegeta and Trunks her husband and son)

* Invoked by the Help Us Company in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' who are ''professional'' Damsels in Distress. This is not as ridiculous as it sounds, as they act as judges for aspiring heroes trying to get their license, specifically by assessing their capability on crisis control and lifesaving techniques. They're also very good at their job, and [[WhatTheHellHero the complains they make]] is never without reason.

*** [[ActionMom Chi-Chi]] in her first appearance as a kid is a funny subversion as she is attacked by a T-Rex and falls about crying, but her helmet shoots lasers beams out and [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing fries everything around her]]; but opening her eyes and looking around at the devastation only causes her to cry more. Goku later shows up, helps her out and promises to marry her (thinking that marriage is some kind of food). Later in the last Dragonball filler before Z, Goku and Chi-Chi work together to save the Ox King from his burning castle and despite being a trained fighter at this point Chi-Chi still screams out to her fiance Goku to help her out. Chi-Chi doesn't need much saving as a house wife in Dragonball Z, though it gets played around with in ''Anime/DragonBallZLordSlug'' as when Gohan is fighting the [[{{Mooks}} solider henchman]] Chi-Chi bursts in and takes two of them out, Gohan is amazed and Chi-Chi brags just long enough before she is knocked out by a third solider.
** Later in ''Anime/DragonballZ'':

** Mai in the BadFuture in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', as Black Goku lays even more waste to the world than the androids.

** First ''Manga/DragonBall'' series:
*** [[HotScientist Bulma]] despite knowing how to use a gun is needs to have her ass saved frequently. Mostly by Goku, Yamcha, Master Roshi (and later Vegeta and Trunks her husband and son)
*** [[SplitPersonality Launch]] in her good blue form but her badass blonde form is big subversion easily able to handle herself (though she gets flustered when [[ThirdEye Tien]] is around).
*** [[ActionMom Chi-Chi]] in her first appearance as a kid is funny subversion as she is attacked by a T-Rex and falls about crying but her helmet shoots lasers beams out and [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing fries everything around her]], but upon opening her eyes and looking around at the devastation only causes her to cry more. Goku later shows up and helps her out and promises to marry her (thinking marriage is some kind of food). Later in the last Dragonball filler before Z, Goku and Chi-Chi work together to save the Ox King from his burning castle and despite being a trained fighter at this point Chi-Chi still screams her fiance Goku to help her out. Chi-Chi doesn't need much saving as a house wife in Dragonball Z though it gets played around with in ''Anime/DragonBallZLordSlug'' as when Gohan is fighting the [[{{Mooks}} solider henchman]] Chi-Chi bursts in and takes two of them out, Gohan is amazed and Chi-Chi brags just long enough before she is knocked out by a third solider.
** Later in ''Anime/DragonballZ''
*** [[TomBoy Videl]] despite being trained fighter is frequently putting herself in danger as the city protector and needs to get pulled out of it by her boyfriend/future husband Gohan in his Great Saiyanman disguise. A funny subversion in the second [[AxCrazy Broly]] movie where Videl tires to fight the mad Saiyan but is immediately beaten aside and Gohan only comes later to save Goten and Trunks. Videl angrily confronts Gohan yelling at him that he didn't show up sooner to save her, Goten and Trunks look on confused saying ''"that's love I guess.."''.
*** [[RobotGirl Android 18]] thankfully is badass for the most part, though when Semi-Perfect shows up and seeks to [[TheAssimilator absorb her]] (egh) she is fairly helpless and has to be unsuccessfully protected by Krillin and a reluctant Trunks (although to be fair, Cell devoured her brother first). Also in the Third Broly movie she is over powered and needs to be rescued by her now husband Krillin (though it's sweet moment). These cases are rare though, as she's stronger than her husband.
** Mai in the BadFuture in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''.

** Captain [[TheSquadette Tashigi]] of the Marines is unfortunately this for most of her appearances. Though in her introduction she was a subversion as [[BloodKnight Zoro]] witnessed her getting attacked by a couple of mooks and was gonna jump to her rescue but then was amazed when she cut both of them down in seconds. Tashigi also resembles Zoro's dead childhood friend [[PosthumousCharacter Kuina]] and has to be saved by him despite their warring factions. Even in a FreakyFriday situation when Tashigi is swapped in the body of her superior Smoker (who can turn into smoke) Tashigi is immediately overpowered by Luffy who expresses surprised at the fact Smoker has seemly grown weaker. Though after Sanji saves her from [[DoubleAgent Vergo]] and Zoro rescues her '''again''' from Monet the snow harpy, Tashigi manages to bring Monet down in DesignatedGirlFight fashion making her less of a damsel (though Zoro had to help her).
** Most Princesses in One Piece are kidnapped or are frequently in danger. Vivi acknowledges that she isn't strong but still tries her best to save her county, [[spoiler:Rebecca due to a promise she made to her mother and her father [[OverprotectiveDad Kyros]] making sure she doesn't bloody her hands ''ever'' teaches her DeadlyDodging but this doesn't hold up when [[BigBad Domflamingo]] comes in to ruin Rebecca's day.]] And [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Mermaid Shirahosh]] gets captured throughout the Fishman island arc but in end gets a ability to [[TheBeastMaster control sea kings]] and is apparently one of the [[LostSuperweapon ancient weapons]] so she's not quite helpless but still acts like it for the majority of the time. [[spoiler: Even Reiju, Sanji's older sister seemed like the only princess who was gonna [[DamselOutOfDistress avert]] this trope gets shot by Pudding half way though the arc and then held at gunpoint during the climax, Reiju does get a kick-moment before getting overpowered by Big Mom and needed to be saved by Luffy and Sanji]].

* Invoked by the Help Us Company in ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' who are ''professional'' Damsels in Distress. This is not as ridiculous as it sounds, as they act as judges for aspiring heroes trying to get their license, specifically by assessing their capability on crisis control and lifesaving techniques. They're also very good at their job, and [[WhatTheHellHero the complains they make]] is never without reason.

* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure'': Most parts have at least one instance of this trope, with varying levels of story importance. In [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood Part One]], Poco's sister gets abducted by Dio's minions at one point and needs to be rescued, though it's not really focused upon since the main cast were on their way to defeat Dio anyway. On the opposite end of the spectrum, [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part Three]]'s plot is driven entirely by the fact that Holly is slowly being killed by her own Stand, so the main cast need to travel to Egypt and kill DIO to end the curse before fifty days are up.
** In [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Part Two]], Lisa Lisa catches the DistressBall during her fight with Kars, and when Joseph steps in to save her, Kars uses her as a hostage against him.
** In [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo Part Five]], Trish Una ends up in this situation twice, once when Diavolo revealed that he had been tricking Bucellati's team into bringing her to Venice so he could kill her, and then again during the [[spoiler:Chariot Requiem arc when Chariot Requiem ends up putting Diavolo's soul into the same body as hers (Mista's, for the record), and he uses his King Crimson to immobilize her Spice Girl and take over said shared body.]]
** Lucy Steel in [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Part Seven]] gets this treatment constantly as she juggles the aforementioned DistressBall. Every time she tries (and, all the following being said, typically succeeds) in acting against Funny Valentine, she ends up cornered in a locked room and needs to be rescued by, in order, Mountain Tim, Gyro and Johnny, Hot Pants, and (sort of) ''[[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} the actual Jesus Christ]].'' [[spoiler: Emphasis on the ''sort of'' on the last one, since Jesus' method of 'rescuing' her is choosing her as the host of the Head of the Holy Corpse - and later, the ''completed'' Corpse, giving her the Stand Ticket to Ride... which eventually started consuming her energy to repair the Corpse as long as she stayed in Valentine's presence. This forced Johnny, Gyro, Diego, and Hot Pants to chase down Valentine's train in hopes of putting a stop to Valentine and saving Lucy.]]

* Kagome from ''Manga/InuYasha'' has to deal with more then a fair share of kidnappings. This can be somewhat justified on grounds that she starts the series as a normal teenager with no combat training who is thrust in a world where she constantly faces life-threatening situations.

** ''Manga/DragonBall'':

* ''Anime/DragonBall'':
** [[HotScientist Bulma]] despite knowing how to use a gun is needs to have her ass saved frequently. Mostly by Goku, Yamcha, Master Roshi (and later Vegeta and Trunks her husband and son)
** [[SplitPersonality Launch]] in her good blue form but her badass blonde form is big subversion easily able to handle herself (though she gets flustered when [[ThirdEye Tien]] is around).
** [[ActionMom Chi-Chi]] in her first appearance as a kid is funny subversion as she is attacked by a T-Rex and falls about crying but her helmet shoots lasers beams out and [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing fries everything around her]], but upon opening her eyes and looking around at the devastation only causes her to cry more. Goku later shows up and helps her out and promises to marry her (thinking marriage is some kind of food). Later in the last Dragonball filler before Z, Goku and Chi-Chi work together to save the Ox King from his burning castle and despite being a trained fighter at this point Chi-Chi still screams her fiance Goku to help her out. Chi-Chi doesn't need much saving as a house wife in Dragonball Z though it gets played around with in ''Anime/DragonBallZLordSlug'' as when Gohan is fighting the [[{{Mooks}} solider henchman]] Chi-Chi bursts in and takes two of them out, Gohan is amazed and Chi-Chi brags just long enough before she is knocked out by a third solider.
* Later in ''Anime/DragonballZ''
** [[TomBoy Videl]] despite being trained fighter is frequently putting herself in danger as the city protector and needs to get pulled out of it by her boyfriend/future husband Gohan in his Great Saiyanman disguise. A funny subversion in the second [[AxCrazy Broly]] movie where Videl tires to fight the mad Saiyan but is immediately beaten aside and Gohan only comes later to save Goten and Trunks. Videl angrily confronts Gohan yelling at him that he didn't show up sooner to save her, Goten and Trunks look on confused saying ''"that's love I guess.."''.
** [[RobotGirl Android 18]] thankfully is badass for the most part, though when Semi-Perfect shows up and seeks to [[TheAssimilator absorb her]] (egh) she is fairly helpless and has to be unsuccessfully protected by Krillin and a reluctant Trunks (although to be fair, Cell devoured her brother first). Also in the Third Broly movie she is over powered and needs to be rescued by her now husband Krillin (though it's sweet moment). These cases are rare though, as she's stronger than her husband.
*** Mai in the BadFuture in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper''.

* {{Berserk}}

* Shirayuki of ''Manga/SnowWhiteWithTheRedHair'' occasionally falls into this category, though as a PluckyGirl she doesn't take it lying down and tends to [[DamselOutOfDistress try to do something about it herself]]. Played completely straight during the Tanburn arc, where she is [[spoiler: not only kidnapped, but then ''kidnapped from her kidnappers'']].

** Rukia Kuchiki gets to be the Damsel in Distress in the Soul Society arc, despite the fact that she was a bit of an ActionGirl in previous episodes.[[spoiler:She agreed to go because she knew she'd be executed for giving her powers to a human... and Rukia ''[[SuicideByCop wanted to die]]'' in the first place]]. Despite her QuicklyDemotedWoman status, it could be argued that Rukia was actually just a BadassInDistress... for a ''really'' long time.
** In the Arrancar and Hueco Mundo arcs, [[GenkiGirl Orihime Inoue]]. She went with [[spoiler:Sosuke Aizen]] ''willingly'' to protect her friends [[spoiler: right after they got their asses kicked by the Arrancar ([[SadisticChoice had she not gone, they would've been killed and Karakura would've been destroyed right on the spot]])]]... The story arc is NOT shy about showing the tremendous emotional and physical strain it brings on her [[spoiler: to the extreme of causing her a HeroicBSOD that almost made her cross the DespairEventHorizon]]; sure, [[spoiler: Ichigo and Ishida manage to reach for her]], but things go wrong immediately afterwards, and before ''that'' [[BreakTheCutie she was throughly abused]] by Loly, Menoly, Nnoitora and Ulquiorra, among others. [[spoiler: It takes Orihime almost a ''year'' to fully get over the horrible effects of her imprisonment.]]

* In ''Anime/CodeGeass R2'', when [[{{Tsundere}} Kallen]] is captured and becomes a hostage for 1/3 of the season, Lelouch is swearing to rescue her. She is then put in a plexi-glass cage and given [[GoGoEnslavement a frilly, cleavage heavy dress]]. Kallen is by far the show's number one ActionGirl, Lelouch's personal bodyguard and one of the deadliest pilots in the CG universe, thus [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome she re-affirms all three facts within moments of being rescued]].

* In ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'',
** [[spoiler: Winry is taken "hostage" by the military after Ed and Al discover the truth about the homunculi. Although Winry has no idea, if Ed and Al do something the government doesn't like, then the powers-that-be will kill her. To save her, they end up north, near Briggs, and enlist the unlikely help of Scar, the man who'd murdered her parents, by pretending to have him kidnap her. Granted, the fake kidnapping part of the plan was Winry's own idea, so she half rescued ''[[DamselOutOfDistress herself]]''...]]

* In the later ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' novels, ActionGirl Kaname turns into an extreme Damsel in Distress. She may have more or less given up for a while after the events of Continuing On My Own, but it's only a temporary thing, and it's not that long before she starts to regain some of her old vigor and determination. [[spoiler:After that she ends up being more or less mind controlled by Sophia aka the First Whispered Ever, but that's a bit of a different matter.]]
* Miaka from ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. Despite being the main protagonist of the series, she ends up needing to be rescued from wild animals, bandits, the BigBad, and just about anything else that a human being might conceivably need rescuing from.
* ''Manga/FutureDiary''

* Lyra/Kitty from ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion''.

* Invoked in ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam''. [[WrongGenreSavvy Maria Louise]] ''really'' wants to play the Damsel part so her KnightInShiningArmor George De Sand will come to her rescue, so she gets Domon to [[BatmanGambit help her plan her own kidnapping so he can fight George]], who refused to duel with Domon per HonorBeforeReason motifs. It backfires ''spectacularly''. [[spoiler:Not only does George deduce their plan ''right from the start'', but he also delivers a "WhatTheHellHero" speech to Maria as he and Domon fight. Maria and Rain Mikamura barely escape with their lives from the battlefield and, as punishment, Maria is [[PutOnABus sent back to Neo France]] until the Neo Hong Kong arc.]]

* ''Anime/{{Monster}}''

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Nico Robin twice.
** Most of Enies Lobby is a RescueArc where the Straw Hats are fighting the CP9 to save Robin. However, her status as a damsel in distress is justified by the fact that she willingly let herself get captured. She felt she had to die, so she surrendered to the World Government. Plus, although she was bound with Seastone by the time she regained the will to live, she still tried her best to escape, and the only reason she failed was because Spandam kept using Funkfreed to keep her in line. She started fighting back the moment she was freed from the Seastone.

* In ''Manga/ABridesStory'', Mr. Smith's refusal to marry Talas out of pity meets bewilderment: Saving her is what a man ''does'', right?
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':

** Nearly every character, male of female, had a turn as this. Amusingly, the Team Rocket trio themselves might actually be one of the most recurring examples.
** In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', [[TheChick Platinum]] initially seems to be the living embodiment of the trope, as she rarely goes '''ANYWHERE''' without getting herself into trouble. It was so obvious that [[IdiotHero Diamond]] was able to point out and lampshade this only after ''4 chapters into the story''; most anime and manga characters don't realise this sort of thing ''ever''.

* Generally played straight in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' with Akane. Two plotlines in the 38-volume manga (and two of {{the movie}}s) involve her BoundAndGagged and in need of rescue. A good number of the other girls fall prey to this throughout the series, and the entire female cast winds up like this in the second tie in movie. Ranma himself holds the DistressBall (both in male and female forms) more than once and needs someone from his harem to rescue him.

* Saori Kido in ''Manga/SaintSeiya''. Often hir role in the story is be kidnapped or offers herself as a hostage to save her friends. Despite that she is the goddess Athena!

* Played with in ''LightNovel/SpiceAndWolf''. Holo isn't a Damsel in Distress - in fact her counterpart Lawrence usually takes the part of the DistressedDude - but she's well aware of the trope. She jokes around with Lawrence about him liking meek women he could comfort, and enthusiastically play-acts the part for him in jest. She even fools Amati into being her KnightInShiningArmor, [[ItAmusedMe largely for kicks]]. When she's genuinely crushed by the revelation that [[spoiler:Yoitsu has been destroyed]], she bitterly accuses Lawrence of hiding it from her because he liked seeing her helpless and ignorant.
* In the second arc of ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'', Asuna is still trapped in cyberspace in a different game under control of a domineering GameMaster. While said GameMaster has had months to wear her down and use his admin privileges to stop any plot she devises, the contrast between her hardcore ActionGirl persona in the first arc and the helpless damsel in the second was taken poorly by some fans.

* Maeda in ''Manga/CromartieHighSchool'' is a text book example despite being male. Very commonly plots are kicked off because he gets kidnapped by a rival high school prompting the students of Cromartie to go rescue him. Though, being a comedy show, it's played for laughs and he rarely gets rescued since the protagonists will usually get lost or caught up in something else.

* Invoked in ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam''. [[WrongGenreSavvy Maria Louise]] ''really'' wants to play the Damsel part so her KnightInShiningArmor George De Sand will come to her rescue, so she gets Domon to [[BatmanGambit help her plan her own kidnapping so he can fight George]], who refused to duel with Domon per HonorBeforeReason motifs. It backfires ''spectacularly''. [[spoiler:Not only does the ''far'' more GenreSavvy George deduce their plan ''right from the start'', but he also delivers a "WhatTheHellHero" speech to Maria as he and Domon fight. Maria and Rain Mikamura barely escape with their lives from the battlefield and, as punishment, Maria is [[PutOnABus sent back to Neo France]] until the Neo Hong Kong arc.]]

* Played with in ''LightNovel/SpiceAndWolf''. Holo isn't a Damsel in Distress - in fact her counterpart Lawrence usually takes the part of the DistressedDude - but she's GenreSavvy enough to be well aware of the trope. She jokes around with Lawrence about him liking meek women he could comfort, and enthusiastically play-acts the part for him in jest. She even fools Amati into being her KnightInShiningArmor, [[ItAmusedMe largely for kicks]]. When she's genuinely crushed by the revelation that [[spoiler:Yoitsu has been destroyed]], she bitterly accuses Lawrence of hiding it from her because he liked seeing her helpless and ignorant.

* [[GenderFlip Gender-flipped]] in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' where Eren gets kidnapped three times in two different story arcs, thus earning him the name "[[FanNickname Princess Eren]]".

* [[GenderFlip Gender-flipped]] in ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' where Eren gets kidnapped three times in two different stroyarcs, thus earning him the name "[[FanNickname Princess Eren]]".

** [[spoiler: Winry is taken "hostage" by the military after Ed and Al discover the truth about the homunculi. Although Winry has no idea, if Ed and Al do something the government doesn't like, then the powers-that-be will kill her. To save her, they end up north, near Briggs, and enlist the unlikely help of Scar, the man who'd murdered her parents, by pretending to have him kidnap her. Granted, the fake kidnapping part of the plan was Winry's own idea, so she half rescued ''herself''...]]

* Miaka from ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. Despite being the main protaganist of the series, she ends up needing to be rescued from wild animals, bandits, the BigBad, and just about anything else that a human being might concievably need rescuing from.
* ''Future Diaries''

** Pikachu often gets [[AmbiguousGender itself]][[note]]It's canonically male, as seen when a female Pokémon affects it with Attract.[[/note]] caught in Team Rocket's traps. However, it often gets itself out, so this is an aversion.

** In ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'', [[TheChick Platinum]] initially seems to be the living embodiment of the trope, as she rarely goes '''ANYWHERE''' without getting herself into trouble. It was so obvious that [[IdiotHero Diamond]] was able to point out and lampshade this only after ''4 chapters into the story''; most anime and manga characters don't realise this sort of thing ''ever''.

** In ''PokemonSpecial'', [[TheChick Platinum]] initially seems to be the living embodiment of the trope, as she rarely goes '''ANYWHERE''' without getting herself into trouble. It was so obvious that [[IdiotHero Diamond]] was able to point out and lampshade this only after ''4 chapters into the story''; most anime and manga characters don't realise this sort of thing ''ever''.

* Kagome from Manga/Inuyasha has to deal with more then a fair share of kidnappings. This can be somewhat justified on grounds that she starts the series as a normal teenager with no combat training who is thrust in a world where she constantly faces life-threatening situations.

* In ''Manga/{{Otoyomegatari}}'', Mr. Smith's refusal to marry Talas out of pity meets bewilderment: Saving her is what a man ''does'', right?