History Main / DamselInDistress

A common variation is for the character in question to not be kidnapped per se, but instead simply placed in a situation where she needs to be protected by the other characters, such as a person of prominence being targeted by would-be assassins. This specific variation is notably one of the more prominent manifestations of the trope in the modern day, as it can more easily sidestep the common issue of relegating the character in question into a plot device. After all, just because a character physically needs to be protected doesn't mean she can't pull her weight in other areas. Depending on the nature of the story, this can oftentimes be a jumping-off point for a BodyguardCrush, particularly in cases where a LadyAndKnight dynamic is present.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Say Peach, maybe try arming yourself with some power-ups next time. Or maybe use your magic or ParasolOfPain to fight back. What about your moves from Smash Bros and Super Mario RPG? Come we have seen you kick his ass in Super Mario 3D World, Super Princess Peach and Super Mario Bros.Wonder. Why don't you try that again? Oh you can't be asked? Ok then, here we go! Time to save your royal butt for the thirtieth time]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[Say Peach, maybe try arming yourself with some power-ups next time. Or maybe use your magic or ParasolOfPain to fight back. What about your moves from Smash Bros and Super Mario RPG? Can't be asked? Ok then, here we go! Time to save you for the thirtieth time.

[[caption-width-right:350:[[SaveThePrincess Just another Wednesday]] for [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Princess Peach.]]]]

* ''Fanfic/YourAlicornIsInAnotherCastle'': Bowser does this throughout TheMultiverse. Because [[spoiler:he's contracted to]]. There are some ways this trope gets played with though: [[spoiler:he often offers his services ''to'' princesses, who see getting kidnapped as a way to let down their hair, [[ToughLeaderFacade remove their mask]], and just be a ''person'' rather than a ruler for a while. In fact, the whole story started because Celestia had hired him to kidnap her so she can get out of boring treaty negotiations, but forgot to tell him which alicorn was her.]]

** [[spoiler:Kida]] from 2001's ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', who spends the last third of the film crystallized by the villain and her boyfriend and his teammates actually have to rescue her and change her back.

** [[spoiler:''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'': Long John Silver the cyborg kidnaps Captain Amelia and threatens to kill her as an ultimatum if Jim Hawkins refused to open the map after finally retrieving it from the ship.]]

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'': Cinderella is locked in her room by Lady Tremaine in the third act and the mice bring up the key needed to unlock the door.

** ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'': Princess Aurora ended up falling into an enchanted sleep after pricking her finger on the spinning wheel while being hypnotized by Maleficent, much to the horror and disbelief of the Three Good Fairies. Prince Phillip's final battle (with some assistance from the Three Good Fairies) against Maleficent (as a gigantic, horrifying, fire-breathing dragon) is to save Aurora and the other residents in the kingdom that were also put into an enchanted sleep by the Three Good Fairies, which includes King Stefan, King Hubert, Queen Leah, Sir Minstrel and Lord Duke.

** ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Belle is rescued by the Beast from a pack of wolves after leaving his castle, which is what convinces her to return to said castle in order to patch up his injuries.

** In the second film, Odette is the one that does '''not''' get captured by the magician, Sir Clavis, though he ''does'' lock her up in Rothbart’s old castle before she escapes from the dungeon to help Derek. Instead, it was Prince Derek’s mother, Queen Uberta, who ended up being very unlucky as she spends most of her time in the film being captured, imprisoned, and taken prisoner by Clavius. Indeed, poor Uberta being taken prisoner by Clavius is the biggest reason why it drove Derek and Odette through out most of the film in order to save Uberta from Clavius and his conspirator, Sir Knuckles.

* ''Film/LiveFreeOrDieHard'' attempts to make this one more feminist-friendly by having Lucy [=McClane=] [[DefiedTrope reject this role at every turn.]] She is still helpless to physically resist, being an unarmed college student, but when the villain [[IHaveYourWife puts her on the phone with her dad]], she simply [[DefiantCaptive tells him how many bad guys are left.]] John [[[[spoiler:kills the villain Gabriel by shooting his own shoulder to hit Gabriel's heart, which frees Lucy and now that she is traumatized by John shooting his own shoulder on purpose just to save her, she becomes caring to her dad just like in the original Die Hard and her rebellious personality towards John now faded to dust]].

** ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'': Princess Aurora falls into an enchanted sleep after pricking her finger on the spinning wheel while being hypnotized by Maleficent, much to the horror and disbelief of the Three Good Fairies. Prince Phillip's final battle (with some assistance from the Three Good Fairies) against Maleficent (as a gigantic, horrifying, fire-breathing dragon) is to save Aurora and the other residents in the kingdom that were also put into an enchanted sleep by the Three Good Fairies, including King Stefan, King Hubert, Queen Leah, Sir Minstrel and Lord Duke.

* ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' when [[PluckyGirl Kayley]] tells her mother Julianna she wants to be a knight and rescue damsels in distress... then immediately asks what is a "damsel, anyway?" Ironic because both Julianna and Kayley play the roles of the DID in the movie, Julianna throughout the plot after being captured by Ruber and Kayley initially when she escapes into the Forbidden Forest and having to be rescued/babysat by Garrett before she [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass to recover Excalibur and save Camelot]].

* Princess Odette from ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'' gets kidnapped by Sir Rothbart in the first movie and Zelda in the second one. In the first film, Odette also turns down Rothbart's marriage proposals without a hint of remorse or fear, even though she knows he's a powerful warlock who ''assassinated'' her father, King William. Also, she doesn't exactly wait for Derek to show up and does everything she can to try and let him know where she is and what he has to do. In the second film, Odette does not get captured by the magician, Sir Clavis, though he ''does'' lock her up in Rothbart’s old castle before she escapes from the dungeon to help Derek. Instead, it was Prince Derek’s mother, Queen Uberta, who ended up being unlucky as she spends most of her time in the film being captured and imprisoned by Clavius. Plus, Uberta being taken prisoner by Clavius is what drives Derek and Odette through out most of the film in order to save Uberta from Clavius and his conspirator, Sir Knuckles.

The nature of the distress varies. The classic damsel has been kidnapped or captured and is locked away, awaiting rescue and afraid for her life and [[DefiledForever virtue]]. She may also be lost or stranded in a hostile area, trapped, or suffering any number of terrible fates where she needs help to survive. In other cases, the damsel's distress is [[DomesticAbuse due to someone in her own family]], such as [[MalMariee her husband]], her ArchnemesisDad, or a WickedStepmother. If the abuser is her husband, she may be rescued by a WifeBasherBasher.

** Ditto for Elizabeth Swann in the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first film]], except the feminist-friendly parts were ''added by the actress herself''. Said actress gets a much more [[{{Xenafication}} fitting role]] in the sequels.
** If Elizabeth is this in the first movie, then Will must be as well, because he ends up having to be rescued from the ''exact same situation''. She manages to instigate his rescue despite being marooned on a deserted island, and then actively fights alongside him in the final battle.

* Princess Leia from ''Franchise/StarWars'' manages to be this and simultaneously an ActionHeroine. However she is something of a subversion because her plea for help was not a plea for a rescue but rather a plea to get the plans to the Death Star to Bail Organa on Alderaan. She wasn't expecting a rescue at all (and the guys didn't plan to do it either).
** And she wasn't exactly what one would call grateful when she did get the rescue, either.

*** Jabba has her as his slave girl; in the end ''she's'' the one who kills him.

* Wrestling/TrishStratus was once abducted by MNM on an episode of [[Wrestling/WWERaw Monday Night Raw]], causing Wrestling/JerryLawler to abandon his commentary duties to go find her.

-->'''Roxanne:''' Can one of you punch my frequent kidnappings card?\\

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': Jasmine is trapped in an hourglass slowly filling with sand during the final battle and nearly drowns in it until Aladdin breaks her out.
* [[spoiler:Kida]] from 2001's ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', who spends the last third of the film crystallized by the villain and her boyfriend and his teammates actually have to rescue her and change her back.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Belle is rescued by the Beast from a pack of wolves after leaving his castle, which is what convinces her to return to said castle in order to patch up his injuries.
* Penny plays one on the ShowWithinAShow in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'', and then [[spoiler:becomes one for real when a fire breaks out in said show's studio.]]
* Sheeta in ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'' needs her [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal secretly royal]] butt saved frequently by everyone from Pazu to Sky Pirates and killer robots. She only subverts this twice, once while escaping on a train where she saves Pazu from Dola's boys with a shovel inciting the line "''That's one strong girl''" and when she makes a deal with the BigBad so that Pazu is freed while she remains the Damsel. Should be noted her rescues do make some of the most exciting points in the movie.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'': Cinderella is locked in her room by Lady Tremaine in the third act and the mice bring up the key needed to unlock the door.
* One of the major complainants fans had about ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' is that Tifa doesn't get any massive kick ass moments like in the games, she does get one cool moment when she fights Loz but then is overpowered by his SuperSpeed and has to be helped by Cloud ''again''. She is however the last ally to help Cloud in the climax.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/HappilyNeverAfter'', in which The Prince (whose name is revealed to be Humperdink) is searching for one of these (or a lady in waiting or whatever else is a typical princess) and sounds excited that [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} Ella]] could be one of those things. When he asks if she's a damsel in distress, her response is "I will be. Kind of. At midnight". To say the least, Ella does more ass-kicking than servant boy Rick or Humperdink.
* Parodied in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}''.

* For ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'', at the start of the film Sophie is saved from being harassed by soldiers by Howl despite him also being pursued himself by the Witch of the Waste causing Sophie to promptly [[RescueRomance fall in love]] with him. This trope is played with through most of the movie, with Howl continuing to protect Sophie as necessary and Sophie looking after Howl throughout and ultimately giving him his heart back saving him from dying.
* ''Anime/KingsglaiveFinalFantasyXV'': Luna is kidnapped by [[spoiler:Glauca]], though to her credit she doesn't stand by and let her rescuer do all the work.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'': Ariel is trapped by Ursula at the bottom of a vortex in the climax before Prince Eric plows into Ursula with a ship.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'', Roxanne Ritchi routinely gets kidnapped by the titular supervillain, to the point where basically [[SeenItAll no deathtrap can scare her anymore]].
-->'''Roxanne:''' Can one of you punch my frequent kidnappings card?\\
'''Megamind:''' You of all people know we discontinued that promotion.
* ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'': Mei at the end of the movie when she runs off alone, it gets so dire the neighboring farmers believe she drowned in the river. Satsuki, Mei's older sister, retrieves her with the help of Totoro.

* ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'': Wendy is almost always attacked by Tinker Bell, who almost murdered her, most notably when Tink made the Lost Boys attempt to bludgeon her to death. Later on, Wendy, her brothers, and the Lost Boys are all being held hostage by Captain Hook and his Pirate Crew. In order to save Wendy and the Boys, Peter Pan must fight against Hook and his crew, and have the Crocodile chase Hook and his fellow pirates away, once again.
* ''Anime/PorcoRosso'': Porco has to win the [[HighAltitudeBattle dog-fight]] against his old rival Curtis otherwise the main female character Gina will have to [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe marry]] Curtis.
* In ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', San is introduced as an infamous figure and powerful threat to Iron Town and its leader Eboshi who she will stop at nothing to assassinate, but then she's knocked out by Ashitaka the hero and rescued from the town. Subverted later when San saves Ashitaka from bleeding to death despite initially being ready to kill him, only stopping when Ashitaka reveals he had saved het since she's "so beatiful". But sadly then it's played straight again as San is swallowed up by the demon boar and Ashitaka has to pull her out, for the titular character San is ironically the one who is most frequently in need of rescue.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'', when Rapunzel asks Vanellope "Do people assume all your problems got solved because a big strong man showed up?" When Vanellope answers "Yes! What is up with that?", the Disney Princesses declare [[CommonalityConnection she's one of them]].
** [[spoiler:This could serve as a foreshadowing of that trope being inverted at the end when the princesses take advantage of the crossover by saving Ralph from [[DistressedDude falling to his doom.]]]]
* ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'': Maid Marian is a lovely ProperLady but almost completely helpless, even when her love is about to be executed right before her eyes. However, she manages to convince Prince John to spare Robin through ThePowerOfLove (with some help from a knife-wielding Little John), and hits a guard aiming for Robin with a pie, which just goes to show how helpful she can be when she tries.
* ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'':
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and averted in the [[WesternAnimation/Shrek1 first movie]], 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 ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' and ''Film/TheMatrix''.
** And in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter'', where in an alternate universe where Shrek was never born and never came for her, Fiona eventually decided to rescue ''herself''.
** Played straight at first but later subverted with Fiona in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekFourD'', who at first is helpless after Thelonius kidnaps her, but eventually gains the upper hand and beats him.
* ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'': Princess Aurora falls into an enchanted sleep after pricking her finger on the spinning wheel while being hypnotized by Maleficent, much to the horror and disbelief of the Three Good Fairies. Prince Phillip's final battle (with some assistance from the Three Good Fairies) against Maleficent (as a gigantic, horrifying, fire-breathing dragon) is to save Aurora and the other residents in the kingdom that were also put into an enchanted sleep by the Three Good Fairies, including King Stefan, King Hubert, Queen Leah, Sir Minstrel and Lord Duke.
* In ''Anime/SpiritedAway'', Chihiro at the start of the movie needs to be saved and protected by Haku. [[spoiler:It turns out Haku saved her even earlier than that as a river spirit during a flood when she was a toddler]]. The rest of the movie inverts this since she learns to be independant and save her parents. Hell Hayao Miyazaki got the idea for the movie when he witnessed his grand daughter being a "lazy bum".

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'': Jane is attacked by baboons and rescued from them by Tarzan, due to being an unprepared FishOutOfWater in a wild environment.

* [[spoiler:''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'': Long John Silver the cyborg kidnaps Captain Amelia and threatens to kill her as an ultimatum if Jim Hawkins refused to open the map after finally retrieving it from the ship.]]

* 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 leads to the battle being won.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Comic book heroes seem to spend about half their time rescuing some girl they've been dating on-and-off for about seventy years from something each issue, from [[ComicStrip/{{Popeye}} Olive Oyl]] to [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Lois Lane]]. (Unsurprisingly, people who [[LovesMyAlterEgo Love someone's alter ego]] often suffer from this trope.)
* Heather Hudson attempted to invert this trope in ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'', even referencing it. When she finds out her two-hour wait for her husband (Guardian) is a set-up, she tries to storm out: "Other wives and girlfriends may be content to play bait for the good guys, but I'm not going to stand around waiting for you to use me to lure Mac into your lair." But by then, Mac's been captured; they want revenge against Heather, too. (The woman with her throws her across the room.)
* Franchise/{{Batman}} ''sometimes'' has a Distressed Damsel love interest. Julie Madison and Vicki Vale in UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks; Silver St. Cloud in the Seventies, and Jezebel Jet in the modern age. No, wait, scratch that last one...
* A minor character example in ''ComicBook/{{Copperhead}}'' when Martineau is kidnapped by Clay to aid his escape from prison.
* ''ComicBook/TheDeadBoyDetectives'' 2004 miniseries: Marcia comes to the Dead Boy Detectives with a case. Lampshaded repeatedly since Charles develops a crush on her and calls her a 'damsel' they have to save.
* The main character of ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' almost always ends up captured by villains, as a parody of {{Faux Action Girl}}s. Naturally this leads to her being the laughingstock of the superhero community. Nonetheless, despite all the ridicule she receives and her general lack of success as a superheroine, she proves to be a {{Determinator}} who [[IronWoobie refuses to quit]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' Snow White, Rose Red, Cinderella, Beauty, Brair Rose (sleeping beauty) and Red (Red Riding Hood) all get their fair share of "damseling" (mostly when they were in [[FightingForAHomeland in the Homeland]] fighting the armies of the Adversary) but usually can look after themselves the rest of the time.
** Brair Rose's curse of falling asleep every time she pricks her finger would seem like a major disadvantage until it's revealed she can make ''everybody'' around her sleep as well.
* Subverted with Jadina from ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires''; her natural clumsiness and the fact she's a princess seems to make her designed for this role, and [[TheHero Danael]] even mentioned she has been this at least once; however, she never falls into that role, and actually ''is'' the one saving her friends most of the time, sometimes even doing so when weakened. This reaches its paroxysm in Book 14, where [[spoiler:after she got temporary depowered and had her friends saving her, but still saves her friends from the new BigBad Abyss, who none of her friend could even scratch. And all of this while still depowered. Wow.]]
* ''ComicBook/MarvelMysteryComics'', which started in 1939, operates approximately half on this trope. The damsels are more likely women of the week than romantic interests, and sometimes don't even have names.
** The Angel is a world-wandering costumed vigilante with no specific purpose, so seeing a random woman in danger is always a good way to get him involved in a plot. The woman in the second story was in danger because she had something someone wanted. The one in the third was kidnapped off the street to be a HumanSacrifice.
** The woman in the third Human Torch story is literally ChainedToARailway.
** In the second [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]] story, it isn't the hero being spurred to action, but the police, as Namor kidnapped and almost killed a woman (because he didn't realize humans couldn't breathe water).
* ''ComicBook/TheNewTeenTitans'': Raven, dear God in Heaven! Her being a pacifist, it kind of [[JustifiedTrope makes sense]] that she'd have trouble fighting with kidnappers.
* In the ''[[ComicBook/SilentHill Silent Hill comic book series "Sinner's Reward"]]'', this is how Jack meets Sara in Silent Hill (she's being tied up before Jack frees her).
* Most of the women in ''ComicBook/SinCity'' due to its Noir roots.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** In the early days, Betty Brant and Gwen Stacy would serve this role. Then it was notoriously subverted in the 1973 ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderMan1963'' story ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'', in which archvillain the Green Goblin kidnaps Spidey's girlfriend, Spidey goes to rescue her... and she dies, turning from Gwen Stacy into '''the''' [[ILetGwenStacyDie Gwen Stacy]].
** Also subverted, in a different way, by Mary Jane Watson after her marriage to Peter. Whenever she's confronted by obsessive stalkers, she (almost) always manages to escape on her own, without any help from her super-powered husband. Even more subverted by the fact that, more often than not, ''Mary Jane'' is the one who bails out Spider-Man whenever one of his opponents has the upper hand in a fight. Even before their marriage, when Mary Jane was witness to a Spidey fight going poorly, she'd often brazenly distract or sabotage the bad guy, relying on her charm and wit to save her from the dangerous consequences.
** Even ''Aunt flippin' May'' has taken out bad guys. When (fairly) recently the Chameleon had assembled a group of Spider-Bad guys to go after Peter Parker (this is just before Civil War, natch) the Chameleon himself disguised himself as Peter to go and kidnap Aunt May. Aunt May opens the door, and lets her nephew in, and gives him some tea and biscuits while she has to finish her knitting [[spoiler:before revealing that she drugged the fucking tea cause she'd recognize her beloved nephew anywhere and Chameleon obviously was an impostor, holding up "GOTCHA" written across the sweater she just made in a]] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome knitted moment of awesome]].
* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' has Ibuki in the comic of her own name. She is temporarily kidnapped by rival ninjas in the Geki clan. She manages to escape after a slight distraction to the evil ninjas from her master.
* ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}. It '''very rarely happens''' to Kara, though, and when it does, it is because she has been overpowered by someone like ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} or she is playing along, and she hardly ever needs to be saved.
* [[Characters/SupermanLoisLane Lois Lane]] is probably the most famous damsel in distress, and in almost all versions (comics, cartoon, films) needs to be saved frequently by Franchise/{{Superman}}. Modern versions downplay this; Lois can deal with regular gangsters or terrorists just fine by herself, but having Clark as back-up doesn't hurt.
* In ''ComicBook/SupermanVsTheAmazingSpiderMan'', ComicBook/LexLuthor and ComicBook/DoctorOctopus kidnap [[Characters/SupermanLoisLane Lois Lane]] and Mary Jane Watson and admit openly that they are bait to lure the heroes into their trap. Both women are understandably pissed off about it.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':
** In her defense, '''it rarely happens''' and is usually because of some stronger magic [[DePower de-powering]] her or cosmic asshole pulling some tricks. In the early days, Diana is often seen bound and gagged in her comics (thanks to her creator being a bondage fetish) but this is subverted as she's the one who breaks herself free which, which was incidentally at the time an allegory for the slavery of Africans.
** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Myrna Dearfield gets kidnapped by the Yellow Mask Gang while they're looking to steal her husband's research. She has to be rescued from the gang's [[TheQueenpin queenpin]] Tirza by Wonder Woman herself after they get the research from her husbands duplicitous assistant, and is saved from death at the amoral gangsters' hands just in the nick of time.
** One time in ''ComicBook/SupermanRedSon'' Russian Batman was able to capture Diana by [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame using her lasso against her]] but after Russian Superman pleaded with her to save him, Wonder Woman broke her lasso and knocked down Batman easily. But this was a bad thing as breaking her lasso cut her powers in half and permanently damaged her... Whoops.
* April O'Neil from ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''. In almost all of the TMNT continuities, she is a good friend of the Turtles, and is a love interest to Donatello in the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012 2012 cartoon]]. While it varies by incarnation, as the turtles' most prominent human friend she is often in need of rescue, particularly in the [[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 1987 cartoon]].
* In ''ComicBook/{{Violine}}'', Violine is regularly in need of saving, and occasionally tied up as well.
[[/folder]]

* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** In the early days, Betty Brant and Gwen Stacy would serve this role. Then it was notoriously subverted in the 1973 ''Amazing Spider-Man'' story ''ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied'', in which archvillain the Green Goblin kidnaps Spidey's girlfriend, Spidey goes to rescue her... and she dies, turning from Gwen Stacy into '''the''' [[TheGwenStacy Gwen Stacy]].

* ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'': Princess Aurora falls into an enchanted sleep after pricking her finger on the spinning wheel while hypnotized by Maleficent, much to the horror and disbelief of the Three Good Fairies. Prince Phillip's final battle (with some assistance from the Three Good Fairies) against Maleficent (as a gigantic, horrifying, fire-breathing dragon) is to save Aurora and the other residents in the kingdom that were also put into an enchanted sleep by the Three Good Fairies, including King Stefan, King Hubert, Queen Leah, Sir Minstrel and Lord Duke.

* Princess Odette from ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'' gets kidnapped by Sir Rothbart in the first movie and Zelda in the second one. In the first film, Odette also turns down Rothbart's marriage proposals without a hint of remorse or fear, even though she knows he's a powerful warlock who ''assassinated'' her father, King William. Also, she doesn't exactly wait for Derek to show up and does everything she can to try and let him know where she is and what he has to do. In the second film, Odette does not get captured by the magician, Sir Clavis, though he does lock her up in Rothbart’s old castle before escaping to help Derek. Instead, it was Prince Derek’s mother, Queen Uberta, who ended up being unlucky as she was captured by Clavius and spends most of her time in the film imprisoned. So it’s up to Odette and Derek to rescue her from Clavius and his co conspirator, Sir Knuckles.

* In the original script of ''Film/GameOfDeath'', Hai Tien's wife and child are kidnapped by Korean mafia to force him to undertake the titular game of death.
* In ''Film/Batman1989'', Vicki Vale, due to the Joker's obsession with her. First, Batman has to save her from a CaptiveDate with the Joker at the Museum, and then the Joker kidnaps her at the climax of the film.
* In the first ''Film/MenInBlack'' movie, Edgar the Bug storms the morgue where Dr. Laurel Weaver works after learning Orion, the cat with the galaxy he's looking for is there. Here, he holds her hostage with a gun for a while to avoid getting stopped by agents Kay and Jay and promptly kidnaps her so she can take him to the flying saucers found at the towers of the New World Pavillion, which he plans to use to escape from Earth. He takes Laurel with him with the intent of eating her and feeding her to his family. Thankfully, Laurel quickly becomes a DamselOutOfDistress shortly afterwards.
* Charlotte in the climax of ''Film/MysteryOfTheWaxMuseum'', as she is under threat of becoming a waxed corpse.
* ''Film/TheClimax'': The heroine Angela spends the entire movie being menaced--either covertly or overtly--by Dr. Hohner, and being rescued by her fiancé Franz. (or Luise, or Carl or the Vienna police...)
* WPC Helen Bradford keeps finding herself in this role in ''Film/ScreamAndScreamAgain''. Sent undercover to act as bait for the Vampire Killer, she is overpowered by Keith and only saved by the arrival of her back-up. Later she helps Dr. Sorel brake into Dr. Browning's facility, but is overpowered by Dr. Browning while keeping lookout. Dr. Sorel later finds her StrappedToAnOperatingTable, about to be used as an unwilling donor for one of Browning's transplant experiments. In her defense, none of the men in the movie have any success going one on one against Browning's enhanced humans (of which Keith is one) either.
* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'': During the attempt to reach the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West, Dorothy is kidnapped by the Witch's flying monkeys and taken to the castle. The Witch decides to kill Dorothy so she can obtain the ruby slippers Dorothy wears. The Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion must infiltrate the castle and save Dorothy from certain death.
* Princess Patma's sole purpose in ''Film/AgainstAllFlags'' is to be rescued: repeatedly.
* ''Film/{{Pitchfork}}'': Jenny gets kidnapped by the killer early on in the movie, and is found held in a makeshift cell in his shack behind bed springs used as cell bars. [[spoiler:Thenkfully, she gets saved before the killer has a chance to hurt her.]]
* ''Film/MissMeadows'': Miss Meadows is kidnapped and held captive near the end. Though she does fight back, her fiance Mike must rescue her.
* ''Film/{{Wolves}}'': Angel Timmons. Her entire function in the story is to help Cayden learn how to control his werewolf side, and be rescued by him. Somewhat justified as she's physically outmatched by Connor and his pack, and if she runs away he'll kill her family.
* Parodied in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. The Prince in the swamp castle is (obviously) actually a DistressedDude, but it's worth mentioning as it is deliberately played as a {{Parody}} of a DamselInDistress. Lancelot, in fact, thinks it is the latter, and is distinctly nonplussed when he realizes the truth.
* Lauren's sole purpose in ''Film/DeathRing'' is to be held hostage to ensure Matt's compliance. She comes good at the very end of the film when she [[spoiler:shoots Ms. Ling to save Matt's life]].
* ''Film/ShootToKill:'' Sarah spends half of the movie as a hostage of the BigBad, being forced to guide him to Canada as her boyfriend and Stantin try to rescue her. However, she has several DefiantCaptive moments and fights back in an effort to escape on two occasions.
* In ''Film/ThePrinceOfThieves'', Lady Christabel and, to a lesser extent, Marian exist to be kidnapped and imprisoned by the villains so Robin and Sir Allan can rescue them.
* ''Film/{{Kimi}}'': Angela escapes the thugs after some other people come to help her twice.
* ''Film/CutToTheChase'': Izzy it turns out is being held captive by Nola, and Max rescues her in the end.
* ''Film/RRR2022'''s plot is triggered by the Governor and his wife stealing Malli, a little girl, from her tribe and keeping her cloistered in their mansion. Bheem sets out to rescue her; Ram volunteers to nab the rescuer.
* ''Film/AllAboutE'': Trish is held hostage by Johnny with a knife to her throat, but E saves her.
* ''Film/EyesOfAStranger'': Blind, deaf-mute teen girl Tracy is taken captive in her own apartment by the [[AntagonistTitle titular]] SerialKiller in the movie's climax, leaving it up to her sister to rush back to the apartment in time to save her.
* ''Film/FireWithFire'': Talia is shot but survives early on when an attempt is made on Jeremy's life. He manages to save her.
* Anna Cipriani's role in ''Film/Revolver1973'' is solely to be [[IHaveYourWife held hostage]] and force her husband Vito into action.

%%* The sister in Creator/JohnMilton's ''Theatre/{{Comus}}'',

* ''Anime/KingsglaiveFinalFantasyXV'': Luna is kidnapped by [[spoiler:Glauca]], though to her credit she doesn't stand by and let her rescuer do all the work.
* ''WesternAnimation/QuestForCamelot'' when [[PluckyGirl Kayley]] tells her mother Julianna she wants to be a knight and rescue damsels in distress... then immediately asks what is a "damsel, anyway?" Ironic because both Julianna and Kayley play the roles of the DID in the movie, Julianna throughout the plot after being captured by Ruber and Kayley initially when she escapes into the Forbidden Forest and having to be rescued/babysat by Garrett before she [[TookALevelInBadass takes a level in badass to recover Excalibur and save Camelot]].
* ''WesternAnimation/ThroneOfElves'': Princess Liya, being a PrincessClassic, is attacked by the villain of the film and has to be protected by her romantic interest. She has no agency of her own, and the only thing she does is swoon and fawn over the hero who saves her. She even cries when she thinks he has died.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'': Sally briefly becomes one when she's captured by Oogie Boogie at the end of the film.

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* The UrExample of this in film would probably be the protagonist of the 1914 silent melodrama serial ''Film/ThePerilsOfPauline''. 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 a camp spoof of the genre.
** Pearl White also starred in a nearly-identical series, ''Film/TheExploitsOfElaine'', around the same time.
* A large number of [[Film/JamesBond Bond Girls]] fit this trope.
** For example, Honey Rider in ''Film/DrNo''. Dr. No decides to execute her by cuffing her to the inclined side of a [[DrowningPit pool with water pouring in from a large pipe]]. Bond finds her and releases her. Originally she was supposed to be [[http://www.shrunkencinema.com/cinema/bond/crabs.jpg attacked by large crabs while chained]].
** ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'': Bond's fellow agent Paula is kidnapped by a couple of Largo's thugs and taken to be tortured for information. Bond goes to Largo's estate to rescue her but arrives too late. Paula has taken a CyanidePill and killed herself so she can't be made to betray Bond and the operation.
** ''Film/{{Spectre}}'': In the climax, Oberhauser kidnaps Madeline and traps her in a locked room in the old [=MI6=] building, which is set to be demolished and has already been rigged to blow. Bond has to race through the building to save her life.

* Played fairly straight in ''Sync'' episode 6 when computer prodigy Yoshi appears to have no sense of fighting or quick reasoning skill whatsoever. Ruthlessly exploited by our GenreSavvy main character when he gets her to panic in his favor by suddenly yelling, "Oh God, look at all the bad guys coming to get you, get on the motorcycle, quick, they're right behind us!"
* ''Film/IT1990'': Bill's wife Audra is captured by the titular monster and is put in a comatose state, even after the surviving [[TheTeam Losers's Club]] save her she remains motionless and shocked due to seeing It's [[EldritchAbomination true form]]. Bill returns his wife to normal by using the power of his bike Sliver.
* ''Film/IT2017'': [[spoiler:Just after escaping her [[PervertDad awful father]], Beverly is captured by Pennywise and is taken to the sewer, leading the rest of the boys to chase to come to her rescue. Some fans were pissed that Beverly is seemly relegated to the damsel in distress role, when in the books and the original TV miniseries she is never put in that position. %%But this opinion false as it's revealed to be a subversion in the 2017 version, as Pennywise ''only'' takes Beverly as bait to lure Bill and the others. Plus he can't even eat her since [[ImNotAfraidOfYou she's not afraid of him]] really Bev is far more physically competent than her book and 1990 counterpart since she is the first one to actually damage Pennywise]].
* Averted in ''Film/TheProposition'', as this role is occupied by the mentally handicapped younger brother. Obviously, there is no RescueRomance. At the end, however, [[spoiler:Charlie still has to rescue the police captain's wife from being raped and killed, although the captain himself -- despite being Ray Winstone -- is also being threatened, though not with rape]].
* Subverted in ''Film/EverAfter'': when Danielle is sold into slavery, Prince Henry shows up to rescue her. But, being the capable heroine she is, she has already threatened the bad guy and freed herself.
* The ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' series
** Marion Ravenwood in ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''. She's captured by Todt and threatened with torture in her own bar and has to be rescued by Indy. Later in Cairo she's captured by the Germans' Arab allies and carried away in a basket. Then she's captured yet ''again'' by Nazi troops while she's aboard the ship. Somewhat averted because she isn't completely helpless, including knocking out one of her Arab pursuers with a frying pan and pulling a knife on Belloq in an attempt to escape.
** Willie Scott in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''.
** Subverted at the end of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. Elsa became a distressed damsel when she found herself dangling over a crevasse after she tried taking the Holy Grail from its resting place. However, ''rather than letting Indiana pull her up to safety'', she uses his hold to try and reach for the chalice, which had conveniently fallen just below her. In the final moment, she almost reaches the grail until her hand slips away from Indy's, causing her to suffer a DeathByMaterialism.
* The female lead in ''Film/Legend1985'', it doesn't help that she's [[VirginityMakesYouStupid innocent to the point of stupidity]] either.
** Hey, she ''did'' manage to trick Darkness into believing her FaceHeelTurn long enough for her to free the unicorn. She got knocked out immediately afterwards.
* Giselle starts out like this in ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' but reverses roles with Robert in the end.
* Princess Leia from ''Franchise/StarWars'' manages to be this and simultaneously an ActionHeroine. However she is something of a subversion because her plea for help was not a plea for a rescue but rather a plea to get the plans to the Death Star to Bail Organa on Alderaan. She wasn't expecting a rescue at all (and the guys didn't plan to do it either).
** And she wasn't exactly what one would call grateful when she did get the rescue, either.
--->'''Princess Leia:''' I don't know who you are or where you've come from, but from now on you'll do as I say, okay?
** Carrie Fisher herself said: "I was not a damsel in distress. I was a distressed damsel."
** Rather funnily, ''Han Solo'', of all people, plays this role in ''Return of the Jedi''. He is rescued from a dragon... [[InvertedTrope by a princess]]. And he ''is'' helpless and weak when she rescues him, seeing as he's blind at the time. This doesn't prevent him from (accidentally) knocking Boba Fett into the Sarlacc Pit - and then rescuing best friend Lando Calrissian after Lando had come to rescue ''him''!
*** Jabba has her as his slave girl; in the end ''she's'' the one who kills him.
%%ZCE* Trillian in ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005''.
* In ''Film/HudsonHawk'', a kidnapped Andie [=MacDowell=] pretends to suffer side effects from curare poisoning so she can annoy the typewriter symbols out of her captors and [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] the trope: "I'm not a very good damsel in a dress, am I?"
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'':
** Averted in ''Film/IronMan1''. Pepper Potts has to be rescued, but she is enough of a threat that the villain feels compelled to shoot her instead of taking her hostage. She's also generally competent and helpful throughout the film. Indeed, the one scene that seems obviously headed for her being captured and turned into a distressed damsel has her instead easily evading the villain's clutches, and then immediately alerting the authorities to his evil plans.
** Averted again in ''Film/IronMan2'' when Happy Hogan insists on accompanying S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow on her mission and fights a bad guy when they enter the building. By the time he has won the fight, he sees that she's taken down every other bad guy there is.
** Exploited by Natasha in the beginning of ''Film/TheAvengers2012''. She's held captive by a group of Russian mobsters who are ready to kill her until Agent Coulson calls her, ready to bring her back in. She even notes how she's playing them like a fiddle. When Coulson explains why it's urgent,[[note]]Hawkeye has been compromised by Loki[[/note]] she easily frees herself and drops everyone she was dealing with in no time flat. With Coulson listening in on the whole thing, showing all the concern warranted by being put on hold.
** ''Film/IronMan3'' has Pepper taken prisoner again, [[spoiler:but she ultimately saves Tony using part of one of his armors while under the influence of [[SuperSerum Extremis]]]]. It's worth noting that the same film also has [[TheLancer Rhodey]] and the President of the United States needing rescue at various points.

* Cheryl in ''Film/ImGonnaGitYouSucka'' when she's kidnapped by Mr. Big's {{Mooks}}.
* {{Double subver|sion}}ted in ''Film/TrueGrit'' western: the main character is a 14-year old girl trying to prove her companions she doesn't need babysitting, and succeeding. However, eventually she does, in a perfectly classical way: first getting kidnapped by outlaws, than falling into a snake pit.
* Subverted in ''Film/TheAvengers1998''. Emma Peel is captured by Sir August and brainwashed into a hallucinatory state. You'd expect Steed to break in and rescue her, but instead she escapes from Sir August, fights off her delusions and breaks out to freedom by herself.
* In ''Film/{{Perfume}}'', the VillainProtagonist sets his murderous sights on Laura Richis, a beautiful, virginal young lady. Her father becomes wary of the danger and does everything in his power to protect his daughter.
* ''Film/TankGirl'': Sam (a 10-year-old girl) is captured several times, with Tank Girl spending the movie tracking her down in order to save her. Subverted at one point when Sam cleverly uses a deadly toy to puncture a child molester's hand.
-->'''Sam:''' That's what you get for being a perv!
* 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 leads to the battle being won.
* ''Film/{{Cliffhanger}}''. Jessie Deighan turns into one. She's a helicopter pilot. She does mountain rescues. Then she gets scared by bats in a cave, and cringes in a corner while the he-men fight.
* Subverted hilariously in a scene of ''Film/TheBoondockSaintsIIAllSaintsDay'' with Agent Eunice Bloom. She's snatched into an impenetrable panic room by a baddie (right in front of the cops, no less), and pandemonium breaks out. One of the cops even worries that she might be "touched and stuff", and it's played as high drama for a bit. He needn't have worried; in the next shot, Special Agent Bloom has the baddie pinned down and sputtering for relief.
* ''Film/WildWildWest'': Rita Escobar, whose [[spoiler:husband]] was kidnapped by Dr. Loveless and who ends up getting imprisoned and kidnapped by Loveless herself.
* Played straight in ''Film/ThePrincessBride''. Princess Buttercup gets kidnapped by Vizzini, nearly eaten by the shrieking eels, is the oblivious target of a murder plot, gets set on fire, falls into a sand trap, and nearly gets maimed by a rodent of unusual size. At one point she even contemplates taking her own life.
* Subverted with [[spoiler:Kelly]] in ''Film/MysteryTeam''. Yes, she ''does'' get kidnapped... [[spoiler:but it's not like the Mystery Team are much help in saving her]].
* {{Reconstruct|ion}}ed in ''Film/ScoobyDoo2002''. They point out that while, yes, Daphne did get kidnapped a lot, she never let that discourage her from joining the gang in their latest mystery. She's also [[TookALevelInBadass studied martial arts]] so that she is eventually able to look after herself.
-->'''Daphne:''' ''[after defeating a henchman who tried to kidnap her]'' Now who's the damsel in distress?\\
'''Henchman:''' Me?\\
'''Daphne:''' Straight up!
* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Selina Kyle plays this straight when she is cornered by Bane's henchmen on the rooftop while confronting John Daggett. She also fakes it in the bar shootout, where she guns down two of Bane's henchmen, then [[WoundedGazelleGambit begins screaming hysterically when the SWAT team bursts in, only to sober up as soon as they have chased Bane's men out]].
* Played straight in ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' with Broomhilda.
** Kerry Washington said she took the part because African-American actresses aren't usually offered the "damsel in distress" role.
* Played straight in ''Film/DesertHeat'' with a [[EveryoneLovesBlondes pair of blondes]]. Complete with [[AThreesomeIsHot threesome]] RescueSex.
* Pretty much the whole point of ''Film/ALonelyPlaceToDie'', which has a group of mountaineers getting killed off one by one trying to take a young Serbian child they found buried underground in the Scottish highlands to safety.
* Isabelle getting captured by the giants is what sets the plot of ''Film/JackTheGiantSlayer'' in motion.
* In ''Film/ShowdownInLittleTokyo'', after Yoshida recaptures Minako he takes her with him as a hostage. He eventually ties her up covered in gasoline and tries to burn her alive in front of Kenner.
* Elle Brody's role in ''Film/Godzilla2014'' is basically to be in danger from the Kaiju and motivate Ford to risk his life to save her.
* Fiona during the climax of ''Film/TheGiver'', [[spoiler:in which she's sentenced to Release for her role in helping Jonas escape.]]
* In both ''Film/Annie1982'' and ''Film/Annie2014'', [[spoiler:Annie is kidnapped by her fake parents and sent on a car chase with them during the climax]].
* ''Film/TheHatefulEight'' has Daisy Domergue. John Ruth captures her for the Dead or Alive bounty on her head, and believes that a KnightInShiningArmor of sorts is going to try to rescue her. [[[[spoiler:Turns out ''four'' such knights mostly wiped out most of Minnie's Haberdashery of innocents to do just that.]]
* Marian in ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'' is a downplayed example - she directly helps Robin under the nose of the Sheriff and only went through with his scheme because Nottingham was holding the rebels hostage and would've killed them if she turned down his marriage proposal. During her wedding/[[RapeAsDrama rape scene]] she is defiant throughout by outright telling him "[[DefiantToTheEnd It may be my body but it will not be me!]]" And during the final fight between Robin and Nottingham she does ''not'' a bystander as she grabs what she can to help Robin, which isn't much since it's in a chapel.
* ''Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse'':
** Lois Lane (surprise, eh?). In just ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' alone, Lois has to be rescued by Superman three separate times. The first was Lex, by proxy, testing if Superman would come for her if she were in danger. The second time was Lex using her to summon Superman.
** Lex also kidnaps [[spoiler:Martha Kent]] to blackmail Superman into fighting Batman.

%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out.
%% Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1335170455064837400
%% Image kept on page per IP thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1606709422086175700
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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mario-DamselInDistress_2325.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[SaveThePrincess Just another Wednesday]] for [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Princess Peach.]]]]

* Franchise/SpiderMan:

* ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}. It '''very rarely happens''' to Kara, though, and when it does, it is because she has been overpowered by someone like ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} or she is playing along, and she hardly ever needs to be saved.

* Franchise/WonderWoman:

* ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' Snow White, Rose Red, Cinderella, Beauty, Brair Rose (sleeping beauty) and Red (Red Riding Hood) all get their fair share of "damseling" (mostly when they were in [[FightingForAHomeland in the Homeland]] fighting the armies of the Adversary) but usually can look after themselves the rest of the time.
** Brair Rose's curse of falling asleep every time she pricks her finger would seem like a major disadvantage until it's revealed she can make ''everybody'' around her sleep as well.
* Heather Hudson attempted to invert this trope in ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'', even referencing it. When she finds out her two-hour wait for her husband (Guardian) is a set-up, she tries to storm out: "Other wives and girlfriends may be content to play bait for the good guys, but I'm not going to stand around waiting for you to use me to lure Mac into your lair." But by then, Mac's been captured; they want revenge against Heather, too. (The woman with her throws her across the room.)
* ''ComicBook/TheNewTeenTitans'': Raven, dear God in Heaven! Her being a pacifist, it kind of [[JustifiedTrope makes sense]] that she'd have trouble fighting with kidnappers.
* The main character of ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' almost always ends up captured by villains, as a parody of {{Faux Action Girl}}s. Naturally this leads to her being the laughingstock of the superhero community. Nonetheless, despite all the ridicule she receives and her general lack of success as a superheroine, she proves to be a {{Determinator}} who [[IronWoobie refuses to quit]].
* Most of the women in ''ComicBook/SinCity'' due to its Noir roots.
* Subverted with Jadina from ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires''; her natural clumsiness and the fact she's a princess seems to make her designed for this role, and [[TheHero Danael]] even mentioned she has been this at least once; however, she never falls into that role, and actually ''is'' the one saving her friends most of the time, sometimes even doing so when weakened. This reaches its paroxysm in Book 14, where [[spoiler:after she got temporary depowered and had her friends saving her, but still saves her friends from the new BigBad Abyss, who none of her friend could even scratch. And all of this while still depowered. Wow.]]

* A minor character example in ''ComicBook/{{Copperhead}}'' when Martineau is kidnapped by Clay to aid his escape from prison.
* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' has Ibuki in the comic of her own name. She is temporarily kidnapped by rival ninjas in the Geki clan. She manages to escape after a slight distraction to the evil ninjas from her master.
* In the ''[[ComicBook/SilentHill Silent Hill comic book series "Sinner's Reward"]]'', this is how Jack meets Sara in Silent Hill (she's being tied up before Jack frees her).
* ''ComicBook/TheDeadBoyDetectives'' 2004 miniseries: Marcia comes to the Dead Boy Detectives with a case. Lampshaded repeatedly since Charles develops a crush on her and calls her a 'damsel' they have to save.

* PlayedWith and {{Deconstructed}} in ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainKnightOfTheOrangeLily''. Gladion sees his sister Lillie as this, believing her to be a FragileFlower who requires protection from the AwfulTruth about where her Poké-phobia stems from. But she [[CharacterDevelopment did a lot of growing]] while he was off running around training, and has come to [[TheResenter resent how]] he effectively abandoned her for ''years'' without word in order to become 'strong enough to protect her'... while keeping her and everyone else LockedOutOfTheLoop. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot A lot of problems could have been avoided]] if he'd [[PoorCommunicationKills actually TOLD others what he knew]], but Gladion [[NeverMyFault refuses to recognize]] he made any mistakes, [[PrefersTheIllusion preferring the notion]] that everything he did was a neccesary sacrifice for her sake, never mind how much she suffered in the meantime.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/23368747/chapters/55991638 hear the sirens calling/and the bombs are falling in the streets (we're all screwed),]]'' [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Starscream]] (who is a human female in the story) is kidnapped and held hostage by MECH.
* In ''Fanfic/DamonaInTheDetails'', [[VideoGame/YokaiWatch Damona]] is kidnapped by Komane and an exorcist who want to put her back in the Crank-a-Kai, requiring Nate to rescue her.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12224129/1/Seeking-for-a-Seeker Seeking for a Seeker]]'', [[Franchise/TransformersGenerationOne Windblade]] is kidnapped by traffickers after failing to convince Starscream to return to Cybertron, forcing him to rescue her.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13041974/1/Sailor-John-A-Pirate-s-Vendetta Sailor John: A Pirate's Vendetta]]'', [[WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends Emily and Lady Hatt]] are among those kidnapped by Sailor John and his henchmen.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' fanfic ''Fanfic/PatronOfTheArtOfWar'', given that Thrawn is overseeing her imprisonment personally, [[BadassNormal Sabine]] is not able to pull a DamselOutOfDistress, though she tires at least once. She is forced to make the art he wants, after threating to remove her eyes when she defies him. All the while Thrawn is attempting to tame her, weeding out her rebel characteristics.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

* ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'':
** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and averted in the [[WesternAnimation/Shrek1 first movie]], 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 ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' and ''Film/TheMatrix''.
** And in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter'', where in an alternate universe where Shrek was never born and never came for her, Fiona eventually decided to rescue ''herself''.
** Played straight at first but later subverted with Fiona in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekFourD'', who at first is helpless after Thelonius kidnaps her, but eventually gains the upper hand and beats him.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory1'' and ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'', Andy purposely has Bo Peep play this role, so Woody could save her. [[SickeninglySweethearts Not that she minds]]...
* Shows up often in Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon:
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}}'': Cinderella is locked in her room by Lady Tremaine in the third act and the mice bring up the key needed to unlock the door.
** ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'': Princess Aurora falls into an enchanted sleep after pricking her finger on the spinning wheel while hypnotized by Maleficent, much to the horror and disbelief of the Three Good Fairies. Prince Phillip's final battle (with some assistance from the Three Good Fairies) against Maleficent (as a gigantic, horrifying, fire-breathing dragon) is to save Aurora and the other residents in the kingdom that were also put into an enchanted sleep by the Three Good Fairies, including King Stefan, King Hubert, Queen Leah, Sir Minstrel and Lord Duke.
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'': Ariel is trapped by Ursula at the bottom of a vortex in the climax before Prince Eric plows into Ursula with a ship.
** ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'': Wendy is almost always attacked by Tinker Bell, who almost murdered her, most notably when Tink made the Lost Boys attempt to bludgeon her to death. Later on, Wendy, her brothers, and the Lost Boys are all being held hostage by Captain Hook and his Pirate Crew. In order to save Wendy and the Boys, Peter Pan must fight against Hook and his crew, and have the Crocodile chase Hook and his fellow pirates away, once again.
** ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973'': Maid Marian is a lovely ProperLady but almost completely helpless, even when her love is about to be executed right before her eyes. However, she manages to convince Prince John to spare Robin through ThePowerOfLove (with some help from a knife-wielding Little John), and hits a guard aiming for Robin with a pie, which just goes to show how helpful she can be when she tries.
** Ariel's daughter Melody becomes this in ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea'' when she's transformed back into a human and Morgana locks her up in unmeltable ice. Melody's friends Tip & Dash have to save her.
** ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'': Belle is rescued by the Beast from a pack of wolves after leaving his castle, which is what convinces her to return to said castle in order to patch up his injuries.
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': Jasmine is trapped in an hourglass slowly filling with sand during the final battle and nearly drowns in it until Aladdin breaks her out.
** Parodied in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}''.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Tarzan}}'': Jane is attacked by baboons and rescued from them by Tarzan, due to being an unprepared FishOutOfWater in a wild environment.
** [[spoiler:Kida]] from 2001's ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'', who spends the last third of the film crystallized by the villain and her boyfriend and his teammates actually have to rescue her and change her back.
** [[spoiler:''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'': Long John Silver the cyborg kidnaps Captain Amelia and threatens to kill her as an ultimatum if Jim Hawkins refused to open the map after finally retrieving it from the ship.]]
** Penny plays one on the ShowWithinAShow in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bolt}}'', and then [[spoiler:becomes one for real when a fire breaks out in said show's studio.]]
** Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/RalphBreaksTheInternet'', when Rapunzel asks Vanellope "Do people assume all your problems got solved because a big strong man showed up?" When Vanellope answers "Yes! What is up with that?", the Disney Princesses declare [[CommonalityConnection she's one of them]].
*** [[spoiler:This could serve as a foreshadowing of that trope being inverted at the end when the princesses take advantage of the crossover by saving Ralph from [[DistressedDude falling to his doom.]]]]
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'', when Akima is jettisoned into space, captured, and held to be sold into slavery. The rest of the crew undergoes a makeshift rescue operation, only to find out that she [[RedundantRescue successfully knocked out all]] of her captors and is patiently waiting to be picked up.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/HappilyNeverAfter'', in which The Prince (whose name is revealed to be Humperdink) is searching for one of these (or a lady in waiting or whatever else is a typical princess) and sounds excited that [[Literature/{{Cinderella}} Ella]] could be one of those things. When he asks if she's a damsel in distress, her response is "I will be. Kind of. At midnight". To say the least, Ella does more ass-kicking than servant boy Rick or Humperdink.

* Princess Odette from ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'' gets kidnapped by Sir Rothbart in the first movie and Zelda in the second one. In the first film, Odette also turns down Rothbart's marriage proposals without a hint of remorse or fear, even though she knows he's a powerful warlock who ''assassinated'' her father, King William. Also, she doesn't exactly wait for Derek to show up and does everything she can to try and let him know where she is and what he has to do. In the second film, Odette does not get captured by the magician, Sir Clavis, though he does lock her up in Rothbart’s old castle before escaping to help Derek. Instead, it was Prince Derek’s mother, Queen Uberta, who ended up being unlucky as she was captured by Clavius and spends most of her time in the film imprisoned. So it’s up to Odette and Derek to rescue her from Clavius and his co conspirator, Sir Knuckles.
* Creator/StudioGhibli, happens quite a lot. Though it was subverted in the first Ghibli production Anime/NausicaaOfTheValleyOfTheWind as the titular Heroine can completely look after herself to the point where the male LoveInterest is the one who gets the RescueRomance. However the following females leads aren't as lucky.
** Sheeta in ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'' needs her [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal secretly royal]] butt saved frequently by everyone from Pazu to Sky Pirates and killer robots. She only subverts this twice, once while escaping on a train where she saves Pazu from Dola's boys with a shovel inciting the line "''That's one strong girl''" and when she makes a deal with the BigBad so that Pazu is freed while she remains the Damsel. Should be noted her rescues do make some of the most exciting points in the movie.
** ''Anime/MyNeighborTotoro'': Mei at the end of the movie when she runs off alone, it gets so dire the neighboring farmers believe she drowned in the river. Satsuki, Mei's older sister, retrieves her with the help of Totoro.
** ''Anime/PorcoRosso'': Porco has to win the [[HighAltitudeBattle dog-fight]] against his old rival Curtis otherwise the main female character Gina will have to [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe marry]] Curtis.
** In ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'', San is introduced as an infamous figure and powerful threat to Iron Town and its leader Eboshi who she will stop at nothing to assassinate, but then she's knocked out by Ashitaka the hero and rescued from the town. Subverted later when San saves Ashitaka from bleeding to death despite initially being ready to kill him, only stopping when Ashitaka reveals he had saved het since she's "so beatiful". But sadly then it's played straight again as San is swallowed up by the demon boar and Ashitaka has to pull her out, for the titular character San is ironically the one who is most frequently in need of rescue.
** In ''Anime/SpiritedAway'', Chihiro at the start of the movie needs to be saved and protected by Haku. [[spoiler:It turns out Haku saved her even earlier than that as a river spirit during a flood when she was a toddler]]. The rest of the movie inverts this since she learns to be independant and save her parents. Hell Hayao Miyazaki got the idea for the movie when he witnessed his grand daughter being a "lazy bum".
** For ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'', at the start of the film Sophie is saved from being harassed by soldiers by Howl despite him also being pursued himself by the Witch of the Waste causing Sophie to promptly [[RescueRomance fall in love]] with him. This trope is played with through most of the movie, with Howl continuing to protect Sophie as necessary and Sophie looking after Howl throughout and ultimately giving him his heart back saving him from dying.

* ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'': Dawn, being a {{Princess Classic}} is kidnapped by [[EvilOverLord The Bog King]] as a hostage to exchange for a stolen {{love potion}} Turns out the King is not actually evil.

* One of the major complainants fans had about ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' is that Tifa doesn't get any massive kick ass moments like in the games, she does get one cool moment when she fights Loz but then is overpowered by his SuperSpeed and has to be helped by Cloud ''again''. She is however the last ally to help Cloud in the climax.