History Main / DamselInDistress

* Princess Cassima in ''KingsQuestV'' and moreso in ''KingsQuestVI'' is a damsel in distress. She is held captive by the wizard Mordak in V and in VI, is actually kept inside a tower by the GrandVizier [[Creator/HPLovecraft Alhazred]] for a plot to marry her.
** Similarly, the entire objective of ''KingsQuestII'' is to rescue Princess Valanice from a tower prison.
*** And in ''KingsQuestIII,'' the Llewdor Oracle lights a fire under Gwydion's rear by showing him the three-headed dragon that's laid waste to Daventry. The dragon demands a HumanSacrifice, and the one "chosen" this year is Princess Rosella [[spoiler: his long-lost twin sister]].
** Her first appearance notwithstanding, Rosella tends to [[ZigZaggingTrope take this trope for a joyride]]. In ''KingsQuestIV'', she's the one doing the rescuing, finding a MacGuffin to bring back from Tamir to heal her stricken father. She's briefly relieved of her inventory and locked up, but is freed soon enough due to MookFaceTurn. ''KingsQuestVII'' has her impulsively putting herself in harm's way, finding a way to free herself from the fire she landed in, and then rescuing a captured king. Top it off with her breaking the MoreThanMindControl Malicia pulled on [[spoiler: Edgar - who seems to be an absolute sucker for this sort of thing]].

* Ashley Graham from ''ResidentEvil4'' . Made all the more hilarious by how she was shown to want ''very'' much to give [[EstrogenBrigadeBait Leon]] a SmoochOfVictory (and a lot more than just a smooch) for rescuing her at the end... only for Leon to reject her and make sure she knows that he is ''not'' interested.

* Played with and subverted in ''CodeGeass R2'' when [[{{Tsundere}} Kallen]] is captured and becomes a hostage for 1/3 of the season with Lelouch swearing to rescue her. She is then put in a plexi-glass cage and even given [[GoGoEnslavement a frilly, cleavage heavy dress]]. This is a subversion since 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 [[CrowningMomentOfAwesomeMechaAnime she re-affirms all three facts within moments of being rescued.]]
** Also, further subverted because instead of a RescueArc, Kallen's time as a Prisoner Of War is used as ''CharacterDevelopment''. She not only interacts with Nunnally and sees a different side of Lelouch through her, but also gets to [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan punch the Hell out of Suzaku]] ''while wearing said frilly, cleavage heavy dress'', which makes Suzaku [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realize he is]] JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope.
* Let's see... a MysteriousWaif who's below the CompetenceZone and happens to be the daughter of the main character? Yup, Vivio of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' was destined for this role the moment she was introduced. Of course, with her now actively training [[GooGooGodlike on her powers]], and another TimeSkip putting her into the CompetenceZone's minimum age, she likely won't end up as DistressedDamsel again.

** A Gardevoir actually serves as the damsel (fitting enough) in the episode where [[CompleteMonster Hunter J]] makes her first appearance.

* In the later ''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: Of course 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.]]

* Averted with Yuno Gasai and of ''MiraiNikki'', since she's quite the {{Yandere}} ActionGirlfriend and so far she's only been whacked counted times with the DistressBall. Not to mention, after she gets hit with it, she's very likely to pull a SHesBack and recover soon.

** And don't let me forget that this dirty little trick was played off on Roy and Riza as well: [[spoiler: Much the same thing was done to Riza to make sure Roy didn't act up. However, she's more of a BadassInDistress here because she's a hostage, she knows it, and it doesn't faze her in the slightest. She remains courageous to the point where she confronts Selim Bradley about being a homunculus, then uses her position as a hostage to ''prevent him from killing her on the spot.'']]

* Aura's kidnapping is the [[SaveThePrincess drive]] behind most of volume 2 and 3 of ''LightNovel/{{Corsair}}'', however, being a PluckyGirl she doesn't act overly distressed about it or her impending execution, [[spoiler: and when Ayace finally shows up to rescue her, her reaction is pretty much: "[[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike You're late!]]"]]

* ''TheNewTeenTitans'': Raven, dear God in Heaven! Of course, her being a pacifist, it kind of [[JustifiedTrope makes sense]] that she'd have trouble fighting with kidnappers.

** "Rapunzel" is actually an inversion - the prince does not rescue Rapunzel, he just gets her pregnant, and later on it is her tears that cure his blindness. Also note that in "Little Red Riding Hood" the eponymous character is too young and the grandmother too old to be really considered a damsel in distress and that the story originally ended unhappily, getting two endings tacked on later (first the wolf being killed by the passing huntsman, later the cutting-open and revelation that the Little Red Riding Hood and granny had survived).

* In ''ToyStory'', Andy purposely has Bo Peep play this role, so Woody could save her. [[SickeninglySweethearts Not that she minds]], of course...

* The UrExample of this in film would probably be the protagonist of the 1914 silent melodrama serial ''The Perils of Pauline''. A "talkie" version of the series was made in the '30s; the title was later used for a 1947 biopic of original ''Pauline'' actress Pearl White, and a 1967 film that was basically a camp spoof of the genre.

* A rare example of a role-reversal is in the movie version of ''Film/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', where Luke Perry is pretty much the DistressedDude. (He had clearly [[TookALevelInBadass Taken A Level In Badass]] by the end of the movie, though, electrocuting a vampire at the HighSchoolDance.)

* Played entirely straight, and yet done remarkably effectively in "Superman: The Movie" (1978) - I'm referring to the famous helicopter rescue, but basically all of the climaxes in the movie involve this trope. Also used in the sequels.

** Hey, she ''did'' manage to trick Darkness into believing her FaceHeelTurn long enough for her to free the unicorn. Of course, she got knocked out immediately afterwards.

*** And even if Jabba has her as his slave girl, in the end ''she's'' the one who kills him.

* Tina (Cameron Diaz) in ''Film/TheMask''.
** Although she is able to get Dorian to take off the mask and then kick it to Stanley, which pretty much leads to the battle being won.

* Buttercup in ''Literature/ThePrincessBride'' spends almost the entire story waiting for her true love to come save her. Of course she's in this mess because she gave herself up to save him -- and he ''did'' promise he'd always come for her.
** Keep in mind that ''Literature/ThePrincessBride'' is a satire of this type of genre.

* Esmeralda in ''Notre-Dame de Paris''. Her mere presence is the catalyst for pretty much all the action in the book. Victor Hugo kind of rips into this trope by having Esmeralda literally pine for her knight in shining armor, only to be hanged by him in the end. Had Esmeralda been a little more proactive about her own fate, maybe things would have worked out better for her.

* In ''ThePhantomTollbooth'', Milo's quest rapidly turns into one to rescue the princesses Rhyme and Reason from the Castle in the Air. Once Milo reached them, there was a huge group of very PO'd monsters racing towards them, so running was pretty much the only option any of them had.

* How about Elayne, Egwene and Nynaeve from the earlier books of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''? They have a strange ability to get shielded, tied up and locked away only to be rescued by someone, though they did manage to get themselves away from the Seanchan in Book 2. Not to mention the time they actually berated Mat for saving them. They do get called on that later on by Birgitte however, who tore each of them a verbal new one and forced them to apologize. They'd also just about broken themselves out of there when Mat showed up.

** The interesting part is that [[PluckyGirl Marian Halcombe]], her half sister, is an amazingly strong character for a [[VictorianLondon Victorian]] novel, almost an ExtraordinarilyEmpoweredGirl by the standards of the time. Of course, while Laura is the epitome of blushing Victorian beauty and fragility, Marian is described as "ugly", even having a slight mustache on her upper lip. Maybe this is a case of an Ugly TomboyAndGirlyGirl.

* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' TV series, everybody is Distressed sooner or later. There's even episodes where Buffy takes this role. In the first few seasons, Willow is the main Distressed Damsel. In second two, she and Xander share the role. As Willow grows in power in seasons three and four, Xander, Giles, and even Spike end up in this position more often than the others. In seasons five and six, it's Dawn. In season seven, it's the potentials.
** Buffy was quite literally this in the Season Two episode Halloween, when an enchanted costume causes her to become a very helpless 18th century noblewoman.

* Alex Cahill is kidnapped in almost literally every other episode of ''WalkerTexasRanger''.
* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', it seems that every episode that centers on River has her in serious danger, needing some BigDamnHeroes to save the day...except for "Objects in Space," where she hits the villain with one hell of a {{plan}}.

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' put pretty much every character, male and female, hero and villain, into such a situation--notably John, who is captured and [[ColdBloodedTorture tortured]] at the end of the first season and is rescued by Aeryn (with help), and Aeryn, who is captured and tortured at the end of the final season and is rescued by John (with help). This makes sense, as she is the ActionGirl at the start of the show, and while he's not quite an action hero by the end he has [[TookALevelInBadass gotten badass enough]] to return the favor.

* ''Series/{{The X-Files}}'': Gillian Anderson may consider [[AgentScully Scully]] to be a good feminine role model, but there's no getting away from the fact that the character spent a worrying amount of time (especially in seasons 1 to 4) being kidnapped, tied up and drooled over by freaks and fruitcakes. Of course, [[AgentMulder Mulder]] had a tendency to rush headlong into dangerous situations which usually lead to Scully having to save his ass, so maybe it doesn't count.

** Don't forget the episode where she's literally locked in a gilded cage wearing a ''very'' skimpy feathered costume.

* Elena in ''TheVampireDiaries'', more often than not. Justified as she is pretty much the only main character who doesn't have any sort of magic ability. She is constantly being threatened and/or kidnapped to enrage Stefan or sometimes Damon.

* Though Veronica, Sarah, and Sofia all get this at one point or another in ''Series/PrisonBreak'', LJ is the epitome of this trope. Any time he's on screen he's either being used as a bargaining chip against his dad and uncle or being rescued by his dad and uncle; the kid spends most of the series tied to a chair. All of them though are justified, since they're basically average citizens stuck in a mass conspiracy against people trained to make them this.

* It can be argued that Anhura from the musical-in-album-form ''RaziasShadow'' fits this trope. She argues against her father and seems to have the same sense of a greater destiny as Adakias, but she doesn't do anything about it except sit around singing wistfully (Adakias has his share of wistful singing, but he's much more proactive). She's first a damsel when [[spoiler: her father refuses to let her marry Adakias]], but Adakias rescues her by [[spoiler: eloping with her]]. This causes her to [[spoiler: grow ill]], and a third of the second act is therefore spent trying to [[spoiler: cure her illness]]. ''Then'' once they do, [[spoiler: Pallis bursts in]], and Adakias [[spoiler: sacrifices himself to save her when Pallis attempts to murder her]]. Depending what you think happened directly after the end of the song and before the narrator's epilogue, Anhura either [[spoiler: [[HeelFaceTurn ends up with Pallis]]]], basically staying a damsel, just a rescued one, [[spoiler: fixes everything herself while Pallis retreats]], getting out of the trope, or [[spoiler: everything fixes itself without her help]], which keeps Anhura thoroughly useless and in this trope.

* Rinoa Heartilly from ''FinalFantasyVIII'' was this, with [[DesignatedVictim disturbing regularity.]] She's probably the second most DistressedDamsel out of the entire FinalFantasy franchise next to the example below, which is actually saying a lot (though it doesn't speak highly of her [[DamselScrappy character]]). To her credit though, she does get much better once she [[spoiler: becomes a sorceress, though she still gets taken captive by Seifer later to be held hostage by Adel, but of course he ''was'' holding her a weapon-point.]]

** But subverted in MANY ways as well. For example, she helps you out when she can and despite her constant ordeals [[spoiler:(her dad dying, then her mother disappearing, then her sister being murder with her as the accused, then her being accused again with her own family trying to kill her, then Pearls being in danger, then her mother getting murdered in front of her right after she was about to be murdered herself)]], she stills comes out smiling and full of life, something that Phoenix can't seem to understand. Plus let's not forget that at one point in case 3:5 she saves her own life from the BigBad by [[spoiler:channelling said BigBad's spirit, thus making it impossible for them to kill her]]; something which is very clever.

** Though not entirely subverting to this trope, somewhat the RidiculouslyHumanRobot Lamia Loveless fell into this trope in ''OG Gaiden''. After all her whole [[ActionGirl ass kicking and dramatic development]] back in ''[=OG=] 2'', her story in ''[=OG=] Gaiden'' involves her getting kidnapped and needs to be rescued TWICE (even our resident damsel needs to be rescued once this time). First she's kidnapped by the Bartolls, all while just being in the wrong place in the wrong time, stripped naked and be somewhat {{brainwashed}} to fight her allies. She was almost saved... but suddenly, the villains managed to snatch her back after the player has to [[CliffHanger wait for 6 months to see if she's dead or alive]], and brainwash her AGAIN. So much that it takes a [[HeelFaceTurn former badass enemy turned good]] to save her completely. Of course once she's completely saved, she returns being a formidable girl in battlefield (and that even depends whether the player wants to use her or not), though her story arc was pretty much over at that point.

** 'In ''Genealogy of Holy War'', [[WhiteMagicianGirl Edain, Diadora, Yuria]] and [[SpoonyBard Lynn]] start like this before they join you. [[spoiler: It doesn't end well for all of them but Edin: Diadora eventually ends up brainwashed and dead; Yuria fares just as badly as her mother Diadora, but she survives, eventually coming into her own when she gets the holy spellbook Narga and bravely vows to keep fighting; and it's implied in a veiled way, through Ares vs Bramsel's pre-battle convo and Ares and Lynn's convo when she's freed, that [[RapeAsDrama she was raped]] by [[CompleteMonster Bramsel]] after he took her captive.]]

** Though it should be noted that Fire Emblem applies the imprisonment plot device to both genders pretty judiciously - probably thanks to the easy "recruit opportunity" of prisoners of war. For example, the afore-mentioned Midia is imprisoned with three other characters, all of whom are men. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Path of Radiance]]'', Rolf is held hostage along with Mist, likewise the [=POWs=] Brom and Nephenee. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Radiant Dawn]]'' Illyana and Aimee are held prisoner, but so are the three male members of their caravan ([[spoiler:and the incognito dragon prince, Kurthnaga]]).

* Liara's establishing character moment in ''MassEffect'' involves rescuing her from a forcefield she got herself stuck inside, fighting off a krogan battlemaster while she hides in a corner, then saving her from a collapsing volcano. To avoid confusion, and confirm her love-interest status, she then proceeds to faint once she arrives on your ship, since she spent anywhere from hours to days without food or water in extremely stressful situation. Once she's had a proper rest she reveals herself for the BadAss she really is in the next mission you take her along. [[TookALevelInBadass And even more so in the sequel.]]
** [[spoiler:Yeoman Kelly Chambers]] gets this treatment late in ''MassEffect2'', complete with [[spoiler:getting dragged away by monsters, screaming her head off. Of course the entire non-specialist crew of the Normandy meets the same fate at the same time.]]

* Deconstructed in GuiltyGear, where Dizzy is more powerful than her guardians, Testament, Johnny and Ky. The "rescuing" is more like [[PowerIncontinence calming her down when her power goes out of control.]] Dizzy herself is a NaiveEverygirl who [[ActualPacifist hates violence with passion]], so the experience of unintentionally attempting to kill people [[BreakTheCutie is traumatizing.]] If you listen to her in-game quotes, it seems that [[BlessedWithSuck her enormous powers inflicts physical pain to her]]. And the few times she snaps? [[BewareTheNiceOnes She SNAPS]] (like the AlternateUniverse from the CD dramas [[spoiler: in which she succeeds her mother Justice and pretty much destroys the world]], or the Midnight Carnival ending in which [[spoiler: she horribly kills I-No [[TheDogBitesBack when she abuses her a bit too much.]].]] In short, Dizzy needs no rescue from others... ''but from herself.''

* Princess Mari in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfDragons'' exists pretty much to fulfil this role. Though she actually [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething lead the offensive]] of her kingdom against the hordes of monsters, she just makes things [[ItGetsWorse go worse]].

* Subverted to ''hell'' in ''DragonAge''. In the "Paragon of Her Kind" quest, one of your goals is to rescue party member [[BoisterousBruiser Oghren's]] wife, Branka, from the [[BeneathTheEarth Deep Roads]], where she is missing. [[spoiler: It turns out that she deliberately led her entire clan there in search of an ancient ArtifactOfDoom. When it turned out the artifact was protected by lots of golems, ghosts, and deathtraps, she deliberately let Darkspawn kill all the men and attempt to turn all the women into Broodmothers, a process that involves force-feeding them the flesh of poisonous monsters and their own relatives, gang-rape by monsters, and lots of BodyHorror, so that she'd have a vast supply of monsters to set off the traps and kill the guardians. She's raving insane as well as utterly evil by the time you find her. You ''can'' spare her life and take the artifact for yourself, but the better choice, both morally and gameplay-wise, involves fighting and killing her, then destroying it. Even if you spare her, she refuses to be rescued, and stays in the Deep Roads with her prize.]]

* Much of the plot of AsurasWrath is this; about Asura's hellish struggle to save his daughter Mithra. In the end, no one could stop him from saving her, [[spoiler: not even the creator of life itself.]]

* Jade's distressed damsels in VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil are quite original, in that she has to rescue her [[spoiler: uncle, who is basically a humanoid pig, as well as all the orphans from the lighthouse.]]

* In WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's Dark Nella Saga, the titular BigBad tied the Makeover Fairy up the bathtub and tortured her by scraping her make-up off. It should be noted that she looked exactly the same afterwards.

** And of course, Mickey Mouse saves Minnie from Pegleg Pete (Disney only had one recurring villain... pass it on).

* The Distressed Damsel is pretty common in ''KimPossible''. Pretty much every main character (and some of the villains) have been in this situation. Kim. Ron. The Cheerleaders. Bonnie. Kim's Dad. Kim's Grandmother. The Tweebs. Ron's Dad. Shego. Drakken. Shego's little brothers. It's pretty much a requirement of this show that you get captured at least once.

** Babs also tries to bond with Freeze when she learns [[AntiVillain that he wants to save his beloved]] [[IllGirl Nora]] and Babs is the only person who can do it. (Heck, she would've accepted to be Nora's blood donor right on the spot, had he not... yanno, ''kidnapped'' her instead of asking.) ''And'' she befriended and rescued his KidSidekick too.

* Marian in the original ''DoubleDragon'', where the main objective was to rescue her from the Black Warriors.

* In PatriciaAMcKillip's ''The Book of Atrix Wolfe'', Saro is trapped in a spell, rendered TheSpeechless, and [[FallenPrincess ends up]] a SculleryMaid in CinderellaCircumstances.

* Rachel from ''TowerOfGod'', at least twice. Pretty bad track record for a girl who wanted to climb the Tower by herself.

* Nia generally fits this role in the third and final arc of ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', while also somewhat subverted with being BrainwashedAndCrazy. [[spoiler:Once she snaps out of this with the help of Simon however, she fits this trope to a T.]]

* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and averted in ''{{Shrek}}'', especially in a scene where Robin Hood and his Merry Men try to "rescue" Fiona from the ogre they believe has kidnapped her, only to have her rebuff him and beat up all his men in a combination of styles from ''XenaWarriorPrincess'' and ''TheMatrix''.

* In WenSpencer's ''{{Literature/Tinker}}'', Tinker realizes why this is more common than DistressedDude: there is no ''elegant'' way for a grown woman to lug about an injured man.

* ''SuperRobotWars:''

* Princess Cassima in ''KingsQuestV'' and moreso in ''KingsQuestVI'' is a damsel in distress. She is held captive by the wizard Mordak in V and in VI, is actually kept inside a tower by the GrandVizier [[HPLovecraft Alhazred]] for a plot to marry her.

* Subverted in ''WorldOfWarcraft''. For the Alliance, you get a quest to rescue the dwarven princess from Blackrock Depths. For the Horde, you're given the same quest in the hopes of improving relations with the dwarves. Not only she does not want to leave, but she is pregnant. And you just killed the father.

* Jade's distressed damsels in BeyondGoodAndEvil are quite original, in that she has to rescue her [[spoiler: uncle, who is basically a humanoid pig, as well as all the orphans from the lighthouse.]]

* ''GirlGenius'' has Zola, who was a [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090320 professional]] Damsel in Distress. She recently tried to trade up to something better, but [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090429 failed]], [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090501 badly.]]

* The [[DistressBall normally competent]] Lord of the Supreme Council of ''TheQuestportChronicles'', winds up as [[spoiler:her sister's]] prisoner. [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike She's not happy]] [[UnwantedRescue to be rescued]].

** In the early days of ''{{Spider-Man}}'', Betty Brant and Gwen Stacy would serve this role. Then it was notoriously subverted in the 1973 ''[[{{Spider-Man}} Amazing Spider-Man]]'' story "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Gwen_Stacy_Died The Night Gwen Stacy Died]]", in which archvillain the Green Goblin kidnaps Spidey's girlfriend, Spidey goes to rescue her... and she dies, turning from Gwen Stacy into [[TheGwenStacy * The* Gwen Stacy]].

* ''TheSilmarillion'': Played straight with Finduilas, killed by the orcs, Nienor Niniel (when Glaurung wipes her memories off). But very much subverted with Lúthien: when imprisoned by her father, she frees herself. Although she is then captured a second time and needs some help to escape, she then proceeds to almost single-handedly free her lover Beren (and a number of other prisoners) from Sauron -- yes, that [[TheLordOfTheRings Sauron]]. Another example from Tolkien is Celebrian, the wife of Elrond, killed and possibly raped by the orcs.

** Jane in ''{{Tarzan}}''.

* Subverted in ''GGundam''. [[RebelliousPrincess Maria]] [[WrongGenreSavvy Louise]] ''really'' wants to play the Damsel part so her KnightInShiningArmor George De Sand comes 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'', though: [[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 gets [[PutOnABus sent back to Neo France]] until the Neo Hong Kong arc.]]

* [[RebelliousPrincess Relena]] [[PluckyGirl Peacecraft]] from ''GundamWing'' is ''falsely'' accused [[DieForOurShip by her]] [[RonTheDeathEater detractors]] of being one. Since she's an ActualPacifist she never fought her way out guns blazing, but she wasn't a DamselScrappy either, actually trying to [[TalkingYourWayOut talk down her captors]] in the three instances where she's in enemy hands throughout the anime[[hottip:*:by Romefeller late in the TV show, White Fang near the end, and Mariemaia's in ''Endless Waltz'']], even showing her GuileHero chops by turning the first instance into a '''massive''' payoff. She once even dissuaded Heero from killing or harming her ''with words alone.''

* The indie game ''Spelunky'', has a character known as the damsel, who can be rescued from most levels for an extra hitpoint. One extra hitpoint. She also makes for a good throwing weapon.
** If you rescue 8 of them in one playthrough, you can play as her and you rescue Spelunky instead.

* April O'Neil in ''TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', at least in the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 first animated series]]. To the point that they can recognize her "mumbles" when she's gagged, without seeing her.

* Stories like "SleepingBeauty", "Literature/{{Bluebeard}}", "Literature/{{Rapunzel}}", "Literature/LittleRedRidingHood" and "Literature/SnowWhite" are often this, because the heroines are actually not in a position to do anything when their rescuers arrive... other than stay in their comatose state. Even though the POV is theirs and not the PrinceCharming's, the role is the same.

* In ''[[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/075.htm The Grateful Prince]]'', the king {{promise}}s his baby to an ogre, and so takes a peasant girl and leaves his son with peasants. The ogre takes the girl and leaves, but the boy, on growing up, decides he can't possibly live on such a sacrifice and goes to rescue her.

** Parodied in Disney's ''Hercules''.

** Natala in "Literature/TheSlitheringShadows"

** Also subverted in ''[[SonicTheHedgehogTheMovie Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie]]'', where it becomes clear over time that Sara is just pretending to be Robotnik's hostage.

* Trillian in the film version of ''[[Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''.

* Although TerryPratchett insists he's unable to write characters like this, Ginger in ''Discworld/MovingPictures'' spends her short-lived Holy Wood film career ''playing the role'' of one Distressed Damsel after another.

* In ''{{Ramayana}}'', Sita is a crown example.

** [[spoiler:Yeoman Kelly Chambers]] gets this treatment late in ''MassEffect 2'', complete with [[spoiler:getting dragged away by monsters, screaming her head off. Of course the entire non-specialist crew of the Normandy meets the same fate at the same time.]]

* Wonderfully averted in ''BioShock 2''. [[spoiler: Eleanor Lamb is setup to be one, but stick her in a combat situation and she absolutely massacres every Mook in her way.]]

* The entire population of Boingburg (with the exception of [[PlayerCharacter Rocket]]) in ''[[VideoGame/DragonQuestHeroesRocketSlime Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime]]''.

* ClassicDisneyShorts, LooneyTunes, Popeye, and other vintage theatrical cartoons used this trope to ''death''.

* In ''AssassinsCreed'', Altair saves countless Distressed Damsels (and some Distressed Abbots and Islamic Scholars as well) from the city guards, and is rewarded by their family/students helping him escape from Mooks. Despite this happening in the middle of a city, [[ApatheticCitizens nobody seems to react at all to the attempted abductions and rapes happening right in front of them]].

* Willie Scott in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''.

* Princess Prin Prin from ''Videogame/GhostNGoblins'' is kidnapped in every single game she appears in (four). It's a wonder why she never [[ReconstructedTrope takes exception on it and evolves]] into RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething territory.

* Averted hard in ''FinalFantasyX'' with Yuna. Who, while kidnapped three times, managed to escape on her own the first time and actually made a plan to defeat one of the BigBad's the third time (which the heroes, while pulling off an impressive BigDamnHeroes, messed up) she still escaped on her own. And the second time, she was actually being "kidnapped" by [[spoiler: Rikku]], so there wasn't any real danger, though the other characters think there is at the time.

* In the later ''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: Of course 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.]]

* Parodied in the [[ShowWithinAShow Captain Proton]] holoprogram in ''StarTrekVoyager'' with secretary Constance Goodheart, whose only function is to be captured by the villainous Dr Chaotica so Captain Proton can rescue her, and whose only dialogue is an ear-splitting scream. When Seven of Nine [[OffTheRails is roped in to play Constance]] she asks what her function is. Tom Paris (playing Proton) replies awkwardly that her job is to "tag along on all the missions".

* Sylvia in the first ''KungFuMaster'', kidnapped if just to force his boyfriend Thomas to [[MyKungFuIsStrongerThanYours enter into a fight]] with the kidnapper and his group.

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