History Main / BadassDamsel

* Modern versions of ''Literature/{{Cinderella}}'' often turn the heroine into this, subverting her original Princess Classic / Purity Sue characterization.
** Danielle of ''Film/EverAfter'' averts the "alas, I am but a pitiful female" personality pretty well throughout the movie, but TookALevelInBadass near the end when [[spoiler:Monsieur Le Pieu has essentially kidnapped her, and is getting rather creepy. She threatens him with a sword, and has quite successfully rescued herself by the time Henry arrives]]. That whole spiel she delivers during said scene was just a MomentOfAwesome. Also when she punched her wicked stepsister in the face.
** Ella, from ''Literature/EllaEnchanted''. Despite her [[BlessedWithSuck gift of obedience]], she manages to escape her [[BoardingSchoolOfHorrors Finishing School Of Horrors]] and then again from [[CharmPerson ogres]] who plan to eat her. Finally, she has to break her curse on the sheer strength of her love for Char, so she doesn't destroy his life by marrying him.
** Ella Brown from ''Just Ella'', who realizes being engaged to PrinceCharming isn't all it's cracked up to be, and ends up breaking herself out of a dungeon.

* ''Franchise/StarWars''
** Princess Leia in ''Film/ANewHope''. Luke and Han come to rescue her, the rescue doesn't quite work out, so she blasts a hole in the wall, proclaiming "''Somebody'' has to save our skins!" Not to mention, she did what she could to keep the secret of the rebel hideout and had lots of guts when facing Darth Vader. [[spoiler:Too bad Alderaan still got blown up despite her efforts.]]
*** And in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', [[PsychopathicManChild Jabba the Hutt]] takes Leia as a slave. Goodbye, Jabba.
** This trope is also in full force in any of [[StarWarsExpandedUniverse Barbara Hambly's novels]]. Two things you can absolutely be sure of: 1. Leia will be kidnapped by the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villains of the Book]], and 2. She will make their lives ''[[PityTheKidnapper pure hell]]'' before skewering them with a lightsaber near the climax.
** Her own mother, Padme, was also like this in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones''. As she faces execution alongside Anakin and Obi-Wan, she gets out of her handcuffs ''before'' the two Jedi and begins fighting back!

* Elektra King in ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' [[spoiler:escapes her kidnapper by shooting three men and then proceeds to manipulate her kidnapper into suffering reverse Stockholm syndrome going so far as to even die for her scheme.]]
* Diana Palmer, the main female character in the 1996 [[TheMovie film version]] of ''Film/ThePhantom''. She's not ''quite'' what we'd think of as an ActionGirl (she's not the main character, and does get kidnapped twice in the course of the story), but she is ''anything but'' weak and frightened. A wealthy treasure hunter with a taste for adventure in the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' mold (and, in fact, she's living in the late 1930s, just like Indiana), she also shares Indy's penchant for getting into sticky situations and then coolly working her way out of them, or at least playing more than a fleeting role in her own rescues. Even when the chips are down, it seems, Diana never gives her foes any satisfaction. When she's kidnapped for the first time, for instance, she is not scared but very angry: assuming she's being held for ransom, she declares that "you'll not get a red cent" from her family.
* There's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'': If you look closely as they disembark from the submarine you'll notice that the Nazi soldier guarding Marian is heavily bandaged ''and'' he has an arm in a sling.
** Another Indiana Jones example in ''Film/TempleOfDoom''. While on the mine cart chase, a mook manages to down Indiana for a few seconds. Sick to death of being chased, Willie promptly slugs him so hard he goes flying off the cart.
*** Subverted in another portion, where Willie grabs a large constrictor snake and flings it away into the brush, thinking it's the trunk of the elephant that's been irritating her all evening.
* A non-physical version in the fourth ''Film/DieHard'' movie. John has been running around killing bad guys, but they have his daughter, and put her on the radio to beg her father to give up. Instead she says "Now there are only four of them" before they can yank the radio away, giving him some much-needed intel.

* Dana in ''Film/TrueLies'' is in the end saved by her father, but before that, she steals the key that the terrorists need to detonate their nuclear bomb.
* ''Film/BatmanForever'' gave audiences Dr. Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman), who could be seen as an AuthorsSavingThrow for the female leads in the two previous ''Batman'' films: a straight-up DistressedDamsel (Vicki Vale) and an ActionGirl who was nonetheless psychotic, emotionally weak, and pitiable (Selina Kyle/Catwoman). This becomes clear when Bruce Wayne pays her a visit and becomes concerned when he hears feminine gasps and grunts coming from her office. Thinking she's being attacked and finding the door locked, he kicks it in - only to find that Dr. Meridian was just practicing her boxing skills with a punching bag. (To compound Bruce's embarrassment, Chase then makes a sarcastic comment about how he'll now have to buy her a new door.) Later on, when she and Bruce are being attacked by Two-Face's gang, Chase punches out one of the {{Mooks}} when he tries to grab her - although she is then taken hostage mere moments later.
* In TheMovie of ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' (1992), we have Oliver Pike (Luke Perry) as a SpearCounterpart. While hardly a pacifist, Pike isn't much of a fighter or very athletic, so he has to be rescued more often than not. He's not completely useless, though: he eventually becomes competent enough to take care of himself when Buffy's not around to protect him, kills two vampires along the way (although, in true BadassBystander fashion, one of them is InTheBack), and even saves Buffy's life at one point [[SpannerInTheWorks (albeit unintentionally)]]. And he's eventually given his due when, on the night of Buffy's final confrontation with the BigBad, when Buffy has been [[AchillesInHisTent shirking her duties as the Slayer]] out of frustration after [[spoiler: the death of her mentor]], he uses his knife to [[CrazyPrepared whittle an entire sackful of stakes for her so she'll be ready to take on the vampires]] - and she grudgingly remarks that she's glad ''somebody'' has come prepared.

* ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' has their depiction of Gwen Stacy, even when Oscorp is evacuated to deal with The Lizard, she stays behind despite Peter's insistence to leave to synthesize an antidote. She even makes a makeshift flamethrower out of an alcohol burner and a [[AerosolFlamethrower spray can]] to defend herself when The Lizard breaks into the building.
* Lois Lane makes a return to this trope in ''ManOfSteel'', given her ActionSurvivor status. She gets into danger a lot, but usually she at least tries to fight her way out of it, and does rather well considering the people she's up against are nigh-invulnerable superpowered aliens. She's even able to [[spoiler: fight her way out of Zod's spacecraft using a Kryptonian gun, with some help from the [=AI=] Jor-El]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' has [[LoveInterest Dana]] [[SpoiledSweet Tan]]; the few times she ends up as the DamselInDistress for more than a minute, she fights back. When kidnapped by a StalkerWithACrush, she tricks him into leaving her alone and tries to escape through the sewers. When Batman is overcome by giant rats while rescuing her, she [[ImprovisedWeapon creates a torch out of flotsam lying around]] and successfully drives the rats off of him. In TheMovie, she almost gets away from the Joker who grabs her; unfortunately, she gives him so much trouble [[spoiler:that he just throws her to her death instead of kidnapping her]].

** Kisara, the girl that Kaiba's preincarnation falls in love with, is a perfect example of this trope. Seto may have saved her first, but MAN, does she [[NowLetMeCarryYou repay the favor in spades]]. It doesn't hurt either that her soul is the ''Blue Eyes White Dragon''.

** Kisara, the WhiteHairedPrettyGirl that Kaiba's preincarnation falls in love with, is a perfect example of this trope. Seto may have saved her first, but MAN, does she [[NowLetMeCarryYou repay the favor in spades]]. It doesn't hurt either that her soul is the ''Blue Eyes White Dragon''.

This trope subverts the DamselInDistress routine so hard it's not even funny. A female character who seems like a damsel in distress, and might even ''be'' one, but is still {{Badass}} enough that the audience roots for her anyway. Maybe she gets kidnapped a couple of times, but makes up for it by pulling an epic CrowningMomentOfAwesome. Maybe she has the appearance and personality of TheIngenue yet also has a {{BFG}} on her and mows down 85% of the enemies on the battlefield. Perhaps she's just a PluckyGirl of epic proportions who gets handed a DistressBall. Or, alternatively, she may ''never'' get kidnapped, and could be a genuine ActionGirl, but simply doesn't have the tomboyish, athletic appearance and attitude that most people picture when they think of an ActionGirl. Either way, you just can't help but love this girl. She may get whacked with a DistressBall [[BadassInDistress every now and again]], but blast it all, she's got skills.

Furthermore, this is OlderThanYouThink concerning her, Lois had quite the nerve. In some of the earliest Fleischer cartoons (now public domain) she pulls such stunts as trying to sabotage a getaway vehicle, climbing onto the back of a mechanical monster to see where it was going, blasting away with a submachine gun at would-be train robbers, and disguised herself as a Nazi to warn the American fleet of a U-boat threat (well, it ''was'' the early forties). It's been said that Lois Lane's only weakness is [[CatchAFallingStar Gravity.]] She just had a DorkAge during the SilverAge where she divided her time between falling off of things, suffering SuperDickery, or ''committing'' SuperDickery. However, by the late 1970s, she was running rings around the bad guy before whipping their butts in her solo stories without Clark being around in ''Superman Family''.

* Mary Jane Watson. Well, In the comics anyway. She has beaten villains and would be rapists with baseball bats, took fighting lessons from ''CaptainAmerica''! And became the most Badass of any Spidey love interest. There's a reason so many people hate JoeQuesada for ''OneMoreDay''.

* LoisLane in ''{{Smallville}}'', [[CaptainObvious obviously]], although it is more like something between GodModeSue and MemeticBadass due to being portrayed as a little ''too'' competent. Also Chloe Sullivan and Lana Lang to varying degrees.

* In PoulAnderson's "Time Lag", Elva's position as prisoner does not prevent her weaseling concessions out of Bors, and at the end, she [[spoiler:casually orders them to take Bors into the corridors and shoot him.]]

Even in the early days, Lois had quite the nerve. In some of the earliest Fleischer cartoons (now public domain) she pulls such stunts as trying to sabotage a getaway vehicle, climbing onto the back of a mechanical monster to see where it was going, blasting away with a submachine gun at would-be train robbers, and disguised herself as a Nazi to warn the American fleet of a U-boat threat (well, it ''was'' the early forties). It's been said that Lois Lane's only weakness is [[CatchAFallingStar Gravity.]] She just had a DorkAge during the SilverAge where she divided her time between falling off of things, suffering SuperDickery, or ''committing'' SuperDickery.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Barbara Gordon a.k.a. Batgirl/Oracle can hold her own in fights and if she gets kidnapped, she is defiant to the very end and will some way to lay the smackdown as she escapes.

* Towards the end of ''[[BelisariusSeries In the Heart of Darkness]]'', Belisarius' wife Antonia realizes the Malwa spies she has been feeding (false) information to had decided to kill her and even works out how they would do so with maximum discretion, but what could a diminutive thirty-something ex-courtesan do with such knowledge? Try setting up a counter-ambush that leaves seven street thugs dead, one maimed, and one frightened soul keeping her at bay with a club as he screamed for backup.

** Fluttershy also counts here, another girly pony (in fact, Rarity's best friend), a FriendToAllLivingThings, [[HiddenDepths has some fashion knowledge herself]], [[ApologisesALot apologetic]], very polite, and recognized in-universe as graceful. She has tamed monsters like the aforementioned manticore, a cockatrice, and a dragon... oh, and a GodOfEvil, too.

** Rarity is one of the [[GirlyGirl girliest]] ponies on the show, a prissy fashion designer with an extreme dislike for physical work, dirt or getting her mane even slightly mussed. Put her in a fight however and she doesn't [[GuileHero handle herself too badly]]. This is best shown in the episode [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TW9PSHRfe1M "A Dog and Pony Show"]], where she gets captured by a group of dogs who want her to dig up gems for them by hoof. She spends the rest of the episode driving her [[PityTheKidnapper ponynappers insane]] in a calculated manner with constant nit-picking, complaining, and the [[MostAnnoyingSound worst whining sound you will ever hear.]] When our heroes finally reach the ponynappers, they are more than happy to let her go. In the second episode of the series, Rarity immediately jumps up and kicks a manticore in the face. [[spoiler:It turns out that it just had a thorn in its paw and Fluttershy just needed to pull it out, but still, can you imagine the nerve of a tiny white unicorn to kick a screaming hellbeast five times its size IN THE FACE?]] Later episodes show that she's willing to stand up to and threaten teenage ''dragons'', and do a fine job against changelings in the season 2 finale.
** Fluttershy also counts here, another girly pony (in fact, Rarity's best friend), a FriendToAllLivingThings, [[HiddenDepths has considerable fashion knowledge herself]], [[ApologisesALot apologetic]], very polite, and recognized in-universe as graceful. She has tamed monsters like the aforementioned manticore, a cockatrice, and a dragon; and she also snapped the neck of a bear! [[spoiler:The last one was only for a massage, but it shows she has the strength to mow anyone down when she has to.]]

* Yukari Sahashi, from ''{{Sekirei}}''. While most Ashikabi are {{NonActionGuy}}s, she regularly [[GroinAttack kicks guys in the balls]] and beats them up so badly they end up in the hospital. She spends a few chapters holding the DistressBall after [[spoiler: Higa kidnaps her as part of a AndNowYouMustMarryMe plot and forces Shiina to work for him]]. However, she eventually [[spoiler: realizes that she's been holding the DistressBall and decides to drop it ''hard''.]] With a SlasherSmile, she [[spoiler: sets fire to his penthouse, tells his secretary to pass on a very insulting message, and then jumps out a 50 story window because she knows Shiina will catch her]]. This proves to be the cherry on top of his HumilitationCongo.

* From Tolkien's ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', Lúthien Tinúviel, an Elven princess who falls in love with the mortal Beren. When her father finds out, he sends Beren on an impossible quest and imprisons her. Time for her lover to rescue her? Not quite! She escapes by her own means (twice), then rescues Beren, who has also been imprisoned in the meantime... by none other than [[TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]], whom Lúthien defeats almost single-handedly. Then she helps Beren fulfill his quest (and does most of the work, really). It's interesting to note that Lúthien was a homage to Tolkien's wife, Edith Tolkien, while Beren was basically an AuthorAvatar.

* One of the most well-known strips of ''SuperStupor'' shows a supervillain trying to [[StuffedIntoTheFridge stuff a hero's non-powered girlfriend into the fridge]]. He winds up begging for mercy, and she ''still'' stuffs his hand down a garbage disposal.