Line #21 Main/RedundantRescue


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7	->'''Wander:''' We're all collectively coming to save you, Princess!\
8	'''Princess Demurra:''' Guys, it's fine. I handled it myself! Like I said, this isn't a fairy tale.
9	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'', "[[Recap/WanderOverYonderS1E9TheHeroTheBirthdayBoy The Hero]]"
10
11	Let's say that our hero is an amazing combatant capable of singlehandedly dispatching hundreds of enemies. After a day of slaughtering countless {{Mooks}}, he is suddenly cornered by two of them! Good thing a nearby friend of the hero managed to swoop in at the last moment and kill them before they... uh...
12
13	A Redundant Rescue is, as its name implies, when a character is "saved" by someone or something, despite that, based on their abilities, track record, and/or the nature of their problem, they really weren't in any danger to begin with.
14
15	This trope comes in two varieties:
16
17	'''Type A''': FridgeLogic. The rescue occurs for dramatic effect, and the redundancy of it appears to be lost on both the writer and the characters. There is nothing to suggest that the person in distress was any less capable than they had proven themselves to be before, and so it becomes very inexplicable if the characters act like the rescue was in any way a big deal. These moments are often full of {{Narm}}, and may just be a result of bad writing. In the case of VideoGames, they may be related to CutsceneIncompetence and/or GameplayAndStorySegregation.
18
19	'''Type B''': When the trope is used ''intentionally'', usually for comedic purposes. This occurs when it is made blatantly clear that the rescue was, in fact, redundant; when one or more of the characters involved point out how unnecessary it was; or when the actual "rescue" never occurs because the person in distress had already gotten himself out of the predicament prior to or during the attempt - if not [[RescueReversal additionally helping the would-be rescuer from danger]]. It is possible for this type of the trope to be used for dramatic situations as well, but only if the redundancy is somehow acknowledged by the characters or the writer. There are the rare cases in which this trope is purposefully invoked by characters in order to allow their allies to "rescue" them in order to overcome their fears, insecurities, or otherwise help them with personal issues.
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21	May sometimes be combined with PityTheKidnapper; in that case, the "captive" is so obnoxious that the villain ends up ''begging'' the heroes to take her off his hands when they arrive for the [[BigDamnHeroes big damn rescue]]. Compare HandsOffMyFluffy, where a rescue is also unnecessary. May also overlap with UnwantedRescue in cases where the "rescued" character ends up wishing that the "rescuer" hadn't butted in and possibly [[SpannerInTheWorks messed up his plans]].
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23	See also DamselInDistress, DamselOutOfDistress, BadassInDistress, and DistressedDude, NegatedMomentOfAwesome and AllForNothing.
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25	----
26	!!Examples:
27
28	[[foldercontrol]]
29
30	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
31	* ''Manga/BusoRenkin'': Kazuki was [[CallToAdventure pulled into the story]] when he attempts to [[TheDulcineaEffect save a girl from a monster in an abandoned factory]] only to end up dead. Tokiko, the girl in question, is able to [[FirstEpisodeResurrection revive Kazuki]] and later explains that she is an Alchemist Warrior who was luring the monster out of hiding so she could kill it -- [[SenselessSacrifice meaning that Kazuki died for nothing]].
32	* PlayedForLaughs in ''Manga/DragonBall'' when Roshi and Bulma get Yamcha, who drafts Oolong and Puar into the affair, as well as Krillin and Launch, both of whom are away on a grocery shopping trip at the time, to rescue Goku upon finding out that Goku has gone to the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters to retrieve some Dragon Balls. Once they arrive in anticipation for the difficult rescue mission that they're bracing themselves for, they spot Goku, who shocks them by saying that he has managed to take out the entire Red Ribbon Army and obtain the Dragon Balls located there, both on his own. The shock lingers longer still when Yamcha tasks Puar to check the Headquarters, with Puar confirming Goku's statement.
33	* The second season of the ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'' anime has Ferio break into Fahren's ship to rescue Fuu, who has just defeated Aska's archery skills and an army of ninja with little effort. Ferio insists on giving her a BridalCarry out of the place anyhow, since that's what he showed up to do.
34	* ''Manga/PrincessResurrection'': Hiro Hiyorimi sees Hime about to be hit by a car (in the anime, it was a stack of falling I-beams) and pushes her out of the way, getting himself squashed. Hime comments that she is immortal and was in no danger, but she appreciates his efforts enough to bring him back to life.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Books]]
38	* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'':
39	** In vol. 6, issue one, "American Dreamers, part one", Cap uses his mighty shield to knock out a Hydra {{Mook\|s}} who Sharon Carter, badass ActionGirl, was fighting. Her response is a slightly annoyed "No fair, I had this one..."
40	** Another example from Sharon, dating back to the 1960s -- Captain America is called in because Sharon has been captured by the Trapster. Upon reaching her, Cap finds that the Sharon captured by the Trapster is a robotic double and that Sharon was never in danger. [[spoiler:Turns out, it was a BatmanGambit by Sharon -- she correctly ascertained that the Trapster would spill that he was working for the Red Skull if he thought that he had Captain America dead to rights.]]
41	* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': In Creator/CarlBarks' final story ''Horsing Around With History'', Scrooge confidently brings the Trojan Horse into his money bin right before WesternAnimation/{{Donald\|Duck}} and the boys, back outside, realize the Beagle Boys have been spying on them and must have been hiding inside the Horse. They hurry to warn Uncle Scrooge...only to find him holding the Beagle Boys at cannon-point, having realized something was up because finding the Horse was too easy.
42	* In ''ComicBook/EscapeFromThePhantomZone'', Selena breaks out of her cell five minutes before the Fatal Five come along to release her.
43	* A rare villain example is purposefully invoked in a ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' story from the 1980s. Spidey was confronted by the villain-couple: Absorbing Man and Titania. Titania had previously been defeated by Spider-Man during the ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984'', which left her with a crippling fear of Spider-Man. In order to help her get over her fears, the Absorbing Man fought Spider-Man and took a fall, making it seem as though the hero were moments from killing him. Titania quickly got over her fear and rescued her lover. Keep in mind that the Absorbing Man is normally a [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] villain (and occasionally a [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] villain) and thus, far more powerful than both Titania and Spider-Man.
44	* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', Nite Owl II and Silk Spectre II arrive to break Rorschach out of prison just as he breaks himself out, more violently. Silk Spectre complains that he doesn't even seem to appreciate their effort.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Fan Works]]
48	* In ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfSpyroANewDawn'', Ember gets captured by the Gargoyles and taken to their slave mines. Spyro and Cynder mount a rescue, sending Sparx ahead to warn her. When they arrive, they're greeted to [[TheDragon the Warden]] being blasted through a wall. Turns out Ember TookALevelInBadass (getting upgraded from BadassNormal to EmpoweredBadassNormal) and had been waiting to get word they were coming and escaped, took on the Warden herself, freed the slaves with Sparx's help, and was just wrapping up her boss fight.
49	* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2318355/28/Make-A-Wish Make a Wish]]'', a mad scientist friend of Harry's is kidnapped by Egyptian bandits. Harry and the rest of his friends arrive only to discover that the kidnapee has built and used a simple device to release himself and the other prisoners from the bandits' cage.
50	* In ''Fanfic/TiberiumWars'', the GDI forces sent to liberate the White House find themselves a bit late to the party, as the Nod troops around the White House were already cleared out by the ({{retired\|Badass}}) [[ColonelBadass Colonel Nick "Havoc" Parker]] and his ragtag resistance force.
51	* ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'' has a moment near the climax where the other three are steathily coming to rescue the mind-controlled Paul, only to find him free and happy, having wrapped his captor up in her own robes. Turns out that Paul had shaken off the mind control almost immediately and had spent the last day and a half only pretending to be her slave so he could bugger up the baddies' plans.
52	* Happens in ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''. Our heroes have fought through an entire video game world to rescue Kaiba, only to discover that Kaiba is already free and has defeated who he thought was the BigBad. Of course it turns out that they're not quite out of the woods yet, but still...
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
56	* Lampooned six ways from Sunday in ''WesternAnimation/TheDoverBoys'' -- Dan Backslide is getting the ever-loving ''tar'' kicked out of him by Dora even while she screams for help from Tom, Dick, and Larry, [[PityTheKidnapper eventually yelling for them himself]].
57	* In ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'', the heroes swoop in to save the supposed DamselInDistress Akima from slavers only to find that she's knocked them all out herself and is calmly waiting for her ride out of there.
58	-->'''Akima:''' Well, well, well, if it isn't the Captain. What kept you?
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
62	* At the end of ''Film/EverAfter'', Prince Henry shows up to save Danielle, but she's already freed herself.
63	* ''Film/TheForceAwakens'': Finn sees some thugs attacking Rey and runs over to help. He's not even halfway there when he stops and looks in awe at Rey beating up the thugs by herself.
64	* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy2014'', after Quill and Gamora are captured by Yondu, Quill manages to talk them out of executing them. Rocket, Drax and Groot then turn up issuing death threats unless their friends are turned over, before Quill assures them that everything's okay.
65	* In ''Film/HudsonHawk'', Eddie and Tommy go to a castle to rescue Anna Baragli, but by the time they find her, she has already escaped the villains' custody and was on her way out of the castle.
66	-->'''Eddie:''' Anna! We're supposed to be saving you!\
67	'''Anna:''' I'm sorry. I got bored, so I saved myself.
68	* In ''Film/{{Mongol}}'', [[UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan Temujin]] rescues his wife from the Merkits, one of whom had taken her as a wife. When he finds her, she's already murdered her new husband and is ready to go.
69	* Happens in ''Film/PoliceAcademy 5''... sort of. It turns out that the kidnapped policeman thought it was an exercise, so he played along. The moment the would be BigDamnHeroes explained that it wasn't, he immediately KO'ed all his captors.
70	* PlayedForDrama in ''Film/TheRedTent1969''. The aircraft carrying explorer Roald Amundsen comes across the crashed remains of the ''Italia'', only to crash themselves trying to land and rescue them, having mistaken the frozen corpses for survivors. Amundsen is the SoleSurvivor, but with no food or means of making a fire, all he can do is wait to freeze to death himself.
71	* This trope is Rigg's final test in ''Film/SawIV''. [[spoiler:He fails.]]
72	* ''Film/Shazam2019'': Shazam and Freddy see a mugger trying to pull a woman's purse away from her, so Shazam runs up at super speed and tackles the man. Then he finds out that a second before he did that, the woman had already sprayed mace into the man's eyes.
73	* ''Film/SmallSoldiers'' has a type A being played for comedic effect (it's a type A internally, but clearly a type B to the audience). The main character tries to free the love interest; however, she's already got herself free and they're both attacked by the "[[PerversePuppet Zomb-Gwendies]]" guarding her.
74	-->'''Love Interest:''' I HATE THESE THINGS! ''[smashes several foes with a golf club before speaking to Alan]'' You rescued me!\
75	'''Alan:''' ...Yeah, I guess I did...
76	* Used in ''Film/SpaceMutiny'', and probably the only genuinely amusing part of the original film.
77	* Played for BlackComedy in ''Film/TheSuicideSquad''
78	** The Squad discovers that Rick Flag has been taken prisoner by soldiers, and kill most of them when infiltrating the soldiers' camp to rescue him. When they find Flag, he reveals that these soldiers are actually rebel freedom fighters who saved his life. Oops!
79	** The Squad goes to "rescue" Harley Quinn from the Palace. By the time they're already halfway-up to bust in, she's noticed them... as she's getting into a taxi after murdering most of the Palace guards. She's actually quite touched that they came for her, though.
80	* In ''Film/TaisToi!'', smart criminal Ruby plots an elaborate escape from a mental institution, only to be sprung involuntarily by Quentin, an incredibly dumb bank robber.
81	* In ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'', Kyle Reese travels back in time to save Sarah Connor from the Terminator sent to kill her as per the first film. He gets very shocked when he arrives and finds that due to changes in the timeline, she's become an ActionGirl who's been dealing with Terminators her whole life.
82	* In ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'', [[spoiler:Nite Owl and Silk Spectre]] go to free [[spoiler:Rorschach]] from prison, who ends up breaking out of his cell just fine before they get there, taking out at least a few people along the way. That said, they actually knew all along he '''''would''''' get out, and just wanted to keep him from killing everyone.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Literature]]
86	* Played with in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'': Jerin has already rescued himself, and tells his would-be rescuer so, but she offers to help him anyway. It's not entirely clear whether [[spoiler: Jerin would have been worse off without her, as the kidnappers catch up with them, and one person might be easier to hide than two. On the other hand, he was an unchaperoned young man, and could have gotten in trouble even without kidnappers following him]]. As she was there while he saved himself, she could have had some part in distracting the kidnappers, but you never know how things ''could'' have been.
87	* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
88	** Most versions start with Touma attempting to rescue Mikoto from a group of thugs. Mikoto is probably capable of [[OneManArmy soloing small armies]]. The anime version subverted this, having Touma try to rescue ''the thugs'' from Mikoto.
89	** Aureolus Izzard devoted three years of his life to try to find a way to save Index's life after he failed to find a way to prevent her from having her memories erased while he was her guardian. Then he finally comes out of his seclusion and tries to implement his plan only to find that Touma had already saved her. He got ''really'' upset and [[CrazyJealousGuy tried to kill Touma]].
90	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
91	** In ''Literature/TheFifthElephant'', Sam Vimes takes some of his most badass buddies to rescue his wife Sybil from captivity at the hands/paws of a werewolf clan -- only to find when he gets there that Sybil has effected her own escape and incapacitated a werewolf or two in the process...
92	** In other novels, such as ''Literature/FeetOfClay'', attempts to rescue Angua, the Watch's werewolf, are nearly always taken as redundant, with Vimes even thinking that you might end up needing to rescue the kidnapper ''from'' Angua.
93	* ''Literature/TheExecutioner'': In "Flesh Wounds", Mack Bolan charges into a house full of terrorists, only to find his girlfriend April Rose is holding them all at gunpoint. She quips that it's just like a man to leave the cleaning up to a woman.
94	* ''Literature/TheOtherworld'': Played straight in ''Stolen'', but from the captive's point of view. Elena escapes from the compound where she's been held prisoner and stumbles across her lover Clay just outside. Clay had shaken off the drugs, slipped his babysitter, located the compound, and was trying to figure out a way inside when she came out. He is allowed to provide the getaway car, at least.
95	* ''Literature/TheSeventhTower'': In novel ''The Violet Keystone'', Crow is sent to rescue Tal from the nightmare chamber, the interrogation room in which the interrogator Fashneck (who is a deformed, sadistic bastard) {{Mind Rape}}s his victims to obtain whatever information he desires with the use of a prison-like device that keeps the prisoner within a spherical prison. By the time Crow reaches the chamber, he finds Fashneck dead, the sphere-prison cell wide open, and bits and pieces of the shadowlike creatures that once served as prison guards. He even mentions to Tal that he "rescued himself".
96	* In ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'', Gourry first meets Lina by leaping in to save her from a gang of bandits. Said bandits were seeking revenge on Lina for [[BlackMagicianGirl burning their camp to ash]] for the loot inside, and they would have been toast in a few seconds, but she's happy to play damsel in the interest of meeting a handsome knight.
97	* Used dramatically/tragically in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''. [[spoiler: Faile is captured, leading to Perrin going on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge to bring her back. Her own escape attempts do not go well, but some of the people that took her believe her treatment, and the direction the clan takes, is dishonorable, so [[HeelFaceTurn they come to set her free]]. Just then Perrin comes along, and fights Faile's real rescuers, forcing Faile to BackStab the man who just saved her life. Faile doesn't let Perrin know, but holds a service with the other captive woman to honor their memory.]]
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
101	* ''Series/AlteredCarbon'': Takeshi Kovacs spends most of the episode "[[Recap/AlteredCarbonS01E04ForceOfEvil Force of Evil]]" being tortured at the [[TortureTechnician Wei Clinic]], until he breaks free and proceeds to massacre everyone there. As he's exiting the building, he encounters his sidekick Vernon, who's convinced the cyborg thug who originally captured Kovacs to take him to where Kovacs is being held. Kovacs {{Boom Headshot}}s the thug without breaking stride, whereupon Vernon says belatedly that he'd promised the thug his life.
102	* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Team Angel discover that Cordelia's old school friend Harmony is a vampire. They charge over to her apartment and kick down the door, only to find Harmony painting Cordy's toenails.
103	-->'''Wesley:''' Get away from her... foot!
104	* The ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E11Gingerbread Gingerbread]]" ends with Oz and Xander crashing through the ceiling after Buffy has dealt with the MonsterOfTheWeek.
105	-->'''Xander:''' We're... uh... here to rescue you.
106	* The main character of ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' kicks down a hotel door in in order to help Sarah in a fight with another agent, only to find that she's already got her opponent at gunpoint and literally under her (spike) heel. Morgan does a Type B in one episode when he carries Anna out of the Buy More during an evacuation. The entire time he's carrying her, Anna keeps telling him to put her down, and when he gets outside, all the other employees point out that there's no reason she couldn't have just walked out of the store.
107	* In ''Series/FlashGordon2007'', Flash insists on finding and rescuing Dale from becoming Ming's latest courtesan as soon as he is sprung from jail. He is met, halfway there, by Dale, who had escaped to rescue ''him''.
108	* ''Series/{{Haven}}'':
109	** In "Roots", Nathan shows up at the end, heroically burning through [[WhenTreesAttack the animated tree roots]], only to find that the others were already in the process of neutralizing them.
110	** In "301", Audrey is kidnapped and meets Nathan and Duke, who had come to rescue her, at the door after freeing herself from her bonds.
111	* [[TheLabRat Abby]] of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' manages to do this twice.
112	** At one point, [[spoiler:her new assistant]] turns out to be the murderer in one case. When he finally reveals himself to Abby, he's alone with her, he has a knife, and Abby is unarmed. Gibbs and the others figure it out about thirty seconds later, and rush to Abby's lab. [[MinoredInAssKicking The guy is bound and gagged on the floor,]] and [[BunnyEarsLawyer Abby is REALLY peeved]]. [[Awesome/{{NCIS}} She simply walks up to Gibbs]], [[Funny/{{NCIS}} and says "NOW can]] [[spoiler:[[Funny/{{NCIS}} I work alone]]]]?"
113	** The latter time, her driver to the courtroom turns out to be a hired goon who wants her not to get there. By the time Gibbs and co. get there to rescue her, the van's pulled over, and when they open the door the goon falls out, with Abby tasering him multiple times.
114	--->'''Abby:''' I'll be with you in a minute, Gibbs! ''[she repeatedly tases the hitman while brandishing brass knuckles]'' And don't look up my skirt!
115	* In the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "[[Recap/SmallvilleS05E06Exposed Exposed]]", Lois is knocked unconscious and kidnapped by the bad guys (as she is prone to be) who attempt to escape by helicopter. Clark pulls the helicopter out of the sky and rips open the door only to discover that Lois has come to and is in the process of beating the snot out of the bad guys. To add insult, she didn't even notice the helicopter being pulled out of the sky.
116	-->'''Lois:''' Hey, [[Franchise/JamesBond 007]]. Nice of you to show up.\
117	'''Clark:''' I'll start assuming that means 'thank you'.
118	* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
119	** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E23ATasteOfArmageddon A Taste of Armageddon]]", Kirk is being held in the council room of a hostile race, and Spock hurries to the rescue with backup. When he gets there, he finds Kirk holding the entire council and all the guards at gunpoint.
120	--->'''Spock:''' I presumed you needed help. I can see that I am in error.
121	** The ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E20Qpid Qpid]]" features just such a subversion. Given the character stuck in the Maid Marian role, Picard really should have seen it coming.
122	** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' has a cheesy holodeck program, ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton'', based on 1930s sci-fi film serials. Naturally, female characters are supposed to play the DamselInDistress role straight until Captain Proton comes to rescue them, but Seven of Nine or Captain Janeway have little patience with such passivity in the face of mortal peril.
123	--->'''Paris:''' I was about to say "Captain Proton to the rescue!", but I see you have everything under control.
124	* ''Series/Supergirl2015'': In "[[Recap/Supergirl2015S1E18WorldsFinest Worlds Finest]]", Barry Allen from ''Series/TheFlash2014'' arrives from a portal to Supergirl's universe. Right as he does this, Kara Danvers gets knocked out a window by Siobhan Smythe/Silver Banshee. Thinking she's an ordinary citizen in danger, Barry catches her. Kara tells him she is invulnerable and was in no danger. It did benefit her that it allowed her to be saved without revealing her secret identity.
125	[[/folder]]
126
127	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
128	* ''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' Classic Book 0 has a brief description of a standard RPG adventure. Two {{PC}}s enter a castle to rescue a princess, but the princess (another PC) pretends she's sick, lures the guard into her cell and knocks him out. She runs out of the cell and meets the other [=PCs=], and they fight their way out together.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Theatre]]
132	* In the last act of Matthew Lewis' classic Gothic play ''The Castle Spectre'', the heroine Angela's boyfriend and his troops storm the castle to rescue her... and show up ''after'' [[DamselOutOfDistress she's stabbed the villain Osmond, saving herself and her father]]. Granted, Percy ''did'' stop Osmond from raping her in Act I, but she [[TookALevelInBadass took a level in badass]] between then and now, turning from a traditional Gothic DamselInDistress into an ActionGirl. Here's to Lewis, HiddenDepths, and defiance of then-standard gender roles!
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Video Games]]
136	* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', at the end of Sequence 5, Ezio returns to the [[spoiler:Rosa In Fiore to find that the Templar guards followed the courtesans back after the assassination]]. He rushes inside, prepared to fight them off and save the day... [[spoiler:only to find his sister Claudia standing over the dead Templars, a knife in hand]]. At Ezio's surprised expression, she shrugs and says "What?" Ezio quite proudly remarks afterward that [[spoiler:"My sister knows how to wield a knife"]].
137	* In ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany'', player character Preston Marlow goes through great lengths to find and rescue [[spoiler:his squad]] after a [[spoiler:helicopter crash]]. However, when he finds them, they are nonchalantly [[spoiler:killing the enemy]] and react to Preston's arrival with equal indifference.
138	* Early in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV'', Ryu and Nina are travelling a steep cliff. Nina falls, and Ryu immediately jumps to her aid, descending like a pro from several landings until one mid-jump where he realizes Nina is ''flying'' (she has wings); the shock was apparently too much for him that Ryu {{Face Fault}}s the rest of the way to the ground. When Nina joins Ryu shortly afterward, she quickly apologizes for not telling him about her wings.
139	* Depending on how you play it, ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' can feature either Lucca rescuing Crono from prison or meeting up with Crono after he's pretty much rescued himself. It helps that the prison guards were so incompetent that ''they didn't even confiscate Crono's sword''.
140	* The first mission in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' is to go to Liberty Island and rescue Gunther from terrorists. Gunther is much more powerful than the player character JC Denton at this point and can make his own way out if the player gives him any weapon, even a knife, and the only reason he was captured is because he was ordered to suspend an assault at the last minute. If the player refuses to give him a weapon (or doesn't have one, which Gunther won't believe), Gunther will tell him that he realises he was ordered to hold back so that Unatco could show off its new "toy", Denton, and will dislike Denton from that point on.
141	* At one point in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', your character is [[spoiler:thrown into a prison, and if you choose to escape, you arrive at the prison's exit right at the same time as your companions come busting through to rescue you]].
142	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
143	** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', when Tidus, Lulu and Kimahri go to rescue Yuna from the Al-Bhed Psyches, after beating the machina boss Oblitzerator, the hatch on the ship opens... and out walks Yuna, completely unharmed, while a would-be captor slides to the ground. The only comments? Lulu: "I hope you hurt them." Yuna: "A little."
144	** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', Sazh and Vanille are captured and awaiting public execution aboard a flying battlecruiser. Naturally, the remainder of the party decides to storm it and rescue them. The two prisoners make use of the distraction provided by their allies to escape and meet up with the party roughly halfway.
145	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'':
146	** One chapter has an unarmed Chrom getting ambushed by a risen, but [[spoiler: Lucina]] sweeps in at the last moment and blocks it. It's pretty dramatic unless Chrom's level is high enough, in which case the Risen might not have been able to deal any damage at all (you can see how much damage the attack would deal on the lower screen, a form of GameplayAndStorySegregation.
147	** The Double Guard mechanic, where one unit will jump in to block an attack on an adjacent ally, occasionally results in this when the unit being protected has sufficiently high stats that the attack wouldn't have done any damage anyway.
148	* ''VideoGame/GoldBox'': In one part of ''Pool of Radiance'', [[http://crpgaddict.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/turn-based-vs-real-time-combat.html you come across a runaway barbarian princess]] {{N\|onPlayerCharacter}}PC as she's strangling a kobold. Close behind her are a cell with six more dead kobolds and the remains of her bindings. [[NonPlayerCompanion She offers to join your party]], presumably for protection. ([[ZergRush Yours, as it turns out]].)
149	* Your first real objective in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' is to rescue Bastila, but when you finally find her, she escapes her cage without your help.
150	* In ''VideoGame/PokemonSuperMysteryDungeon'', this trope shows up in the [[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers Grovyle]] Connection Orb mission. Your objective is to rescue a shiny Celebi in a dungeon. Upon encountering her, Grovyle points out Celebi is strong enough to not be troubled by such a dungeon, making a rescue mission unnecessary. Celebi actually ''pretended'' to be in trouble so that Grovyle would rescue her and cause RescueRomance, but [[ChasteHero it completely flew over Grovyle's head]].
151	* In ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'', Guybrush goes to great lengths to rescue Governor Marley, only for it to be revealed that she'd escaped just fine without him, and his involvement ended up screwing her plan.
152	* In ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'', the Hero goes to rescue his sister-figure [[GenkiGirl Nanami]] from captivity, and gets there in time to see her dashing through the complex and tossing soldiers aside left and right (and if you've recruited him, she's got a flying squirrel sidekick with her, for added ass-kicking adorability).
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Webcomics]]
156	* Taken to an absolute extreme in ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'' with Karashi. She is kidnapped twice, and both times manages to free herself. One time she does it so quickly that she makes it back to the party's campsite before they even notice she was gone.
157	* The Type B version takes place in ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge''. At one point, the eponymous George is captured, and is imprisoned for six months. When his brother (the equally eponymous Bob) rescues him, he points out that George could've used his [[ShockAndAwe powers]] to break out himself. George, not having realized this, promptly has a FreakOut and blows up the fortress.
158	* ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' comic #260: "The Captive Princess" shows [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Princess Peach]] successfully managing to escape from Bowser's castle on her own. Ultimately subverted, however, when she overhears Mario yelling that he's come to save the Princess, goes to investigate, and then accepts Mario's rescue, despite the fact that she had just escaped on her own.
159	* In ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'', Almond swoops in with her [[CallingYourAttacks Evil-Vanquishing Almond Slicer!]] to get the Roselings that have wrapped up her formerly wimpy brother Cucumber... only to see that he's freed himself with his own magic.
160	* In ''Webcomic/{{Darken}}'', Casper and his partner, Jade, are caught during a break-in in the laboratory of an EvilOverlord wannabe. After breaking out of a truly classic DeathTrap, Casper rushes to save Jade...and finds her [[https://darkencomic.com/darken/june-9th-2008/ choking the life out of her guard with her chains]]. Of course, that's not how he ''tells'' the story, but that's [[UnreliableVoiceover another trope]].
161	* A two-way version appears in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' when Sam is captured by police and Florence by the mayor. They escape and set out to free each other, meeting on the sidewalk. Sam proposes they go get captured again so that the rescue plans don't go to waste. Florence overrules him -- they are on a deadline, after all.
162	* ''Webcomic/HowIKilledYourMaster'': Liu Wong previously escaped from another fight with the help of ActionGirl Fang Lin; she stayed behind to hold them off. Later, having bumped into one of the friendlier factions in the city and gotten their help, they and Wong are about to rescue her when someone gets punched through the brick wall in front of them. [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2011/02/08/how-i-killed-your-master-076/ Three guesses who was on the other side]].
163	[[/folder]]
164
165	[[folder:Western Animation]]
166	* In a ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' episode, PerkyGoth Sam Manson gets kidnapped by a ghost who is King of a Medi-[[{{Pun}} evil]] realm to become his bride. Danny and Tucker rush off to save her...but intervene when she was about 20 seconds from making her escape, and pretty much ruin her plan.
167	* In a ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' dream sequence, Goldie is kidnapped by the Beagle Boys, and manages to beat most of them and rescue herself. However, when she realizes Scrooge is coming to save her, she ups and pretends to still be in danger just for a RescueRomance. Well...this ''is'' Scrooge's fantasy...
168	* In the ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' episode "Glamor Girls", several women, mostly models but including Cover Girl, Lady Jaye, Zarana, and Low Light's sister get kidnapped by a vain old woman who wanted to drain their youth to restore her own. The Joes storm the base but find that the girls have already beaten up the mooks and just need a ride home. Duke awkwardly says, "I'm glad you're on ''our side''." The Joes still needed to save Low Light's sister, who was strapped to a chair and directly in the villain's clutches.
169	* In episode 4 of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfPrinceValiant'', Rowanne gets kidnapped. The episode alternates between Rowanne fighting off her captor and Valiant and Arn trying to find and rescue her. By the time the boys arrive, Rowanne has defeated her captor ''and'' a guy who wanted to murder them. She does ask the boys to help her out of a hole she had gotten stuck in.
170	* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E19ADogAndPonyShow A Dog and Pony Show]]", [[spoiler:the group comes to rescue Rarity from the Diamond Dogs that kidnapped her. By the time they make it to her, she's already [[PityTheKidnapper subdued the Diamond Dogs by purposefully being as whiny as possible]] and was just leaving when they arrive]].
171	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'':
172	** "[[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS2E07StealthStrike Stealth Strike]]": When Ezra gets captured, the troopers don't even manage to get him into his cell before he escapes, recollects his lightsaber, and disarms all of them. He tosses them in the cell that was meant for him, then stuns the next two stormtroopers who come around the corner. [[DressingAsTheEnemy Except those two were Kanan and Rex, coming to rescue him.]]
173	--->'''Kanan:''' You shot us! I can't believe you shot us!
174	** "[[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS3E02TheAntillesExtraction The Antilles Extraction]]": After Sabine, Wedge, and Hobbie get captured by Pryce, Wedge and Hobbie are put in another cell, while Sabine goes through interrogation from Pryce. Wedge tries to think of a plan to save Sabine, but, of course, she breaks herself out and goes to save them instead.
175	--->'''Wedge:''' Sabine! Uh, we were coming to rescue you!\
176	'''Sabine:''' That's cute.
177	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'': Downplayed in "[[Recap/StarWarsResistanceS2E13Breakout Breakout]]", after Yeager, Synara, and CB-23 are captured by the First Order. CB breaks out by herself and immediately heads off to rescue the others, only to find that Kaz and Norath have infiltrated the base and rescued them first.
178	-->'''Kaz:''' CB! We're here to rescue you!\
179	'''CB-23:''' ''[[[TheUnintelligible annoyed beeping]]]''\
180	'''Kaz:''' Okay, okay! Well, it doesn't matter who's rescuing who!
181	* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': "[[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS7E7DangerousDebt Dangerous Debt]]" begins with Ahsoka, Trace and Rafa prisoners of the Pyke Syndicate, who start taking them away one at a time for sessions of ElectricTorture. When Trace is dragged off, Ahsoka takes advantage of Rafa's insensibility to [[{{Pun}} Force]] open their cell so they can go rescue Trace... who, meanwhile manages to get the better of her guards and runs off to rescue the two of them. This leads to Trace and Rafa, when (literally) running into each other in the hallway, exclaiming that they were both on their way to rescue the other.
182	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' features Brock, Orpheus and The Alchemist racing to stop Venture from [[spoiler:selling his soul to]] Henry Killinger; when they bust in, they discover [[spoiler:Venture has ''fired'' Killinger, and he and his henchmen leave peacefully]]. It's not only this but also a case of Venture [[StabTheScorpion stabbing the scorpion]]; [[spoiler:we see Venture signing what we believe to be his contract essentially become a supervillain while Brock and company run through the building. They get there moments too late... only for us to then find out it was Killinger's severance pay for his services]].
183	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / RedundantRescue