The index of tropes about rescues: the types that exist, the ways they're enacted, and the ways they can go awry.
You'll also see tropes about rescuers, those dashing heroic types doing all the hard saving work, as well as the bothersome rescuees (or their more grammatical equivalents) who got themselves In Harm's Way in the first place.
For our purposes, a rescue is a situation in which a character in danger is saved from it by another character. A Badass in Distress who saves herself with no help doesn't count. Neither does the escape of a Distressed Dude after the Villains are suddenly crushed by a falling bridge—unless The Hero deliberately toppled that bridge as a Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind.
Often overlaps with Just in Time, since the Big Damn Heroes swooping in at the last minute is dramatic. However, a rescue doesn't have to be last minute, and doom averted in the nick of time isn't always a rescue.
Compare with Just in Time, The Index Team, and Protective Tropes. Contrast with I Have Your Index.
Tropes:
Also see:
- Accidental Hero: A character becomes a hero after unknowingly saving the day.
- Alarm SOS: Deliberately setting off an alarm to signal that you need help.
- Always a Bigger Fish: Your life gets saved by something that wasn't aiming to rescue you.
- Always Save the Girl: Saving the life of your Love Interest before anyone else's.
- America Saves the Day: When the world is in trouble, America is the country to save everyone.
- Badass in Distress: Sometimes even tough as nails badasses need to be rescued.
- Bedouin Rescue Service: Someone is stranded somewhere and on the brink of death, luckily the locals found them and gave them food and shelter.
- Big Damn Heroes: The heroes come just in time to save you from your doom.
- Breaking Out the Boss: Minions rescue their superior from prison.
- Bring Help Back: Being sent to find help for your friends.
- Catch a Falling Star: Swooping in and saving someone from falling to their death.
- Cat Up a Tree: The classic rescue situation involving a kitty cat stuck in a tree.
- Calling the Cops on the FBI: Being saved from higher branches of law enforcement (like the FBI) by regular cops.
- The Cavalry: Reinforcements who come to The Hero's aid.
- Cavalry Betrayal: The Hero is betrayed by those he thought were coming to his rescue.
- Cavalry Refusal: Would be reinforcements refuse to come to The Hero's rescue.
- Chain of People: A group of people save someone falling to their death by grabbing each other chain style.
- Changed My Mind, Kid: The Dirty Coward comes to The Hero's rescue after refusing to get involved.
- Come with Me If You Want to Live: The Hero must go with someone they haven't met in order to get away from danger.
- Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like: Rescue victims aren't always grateful about being rescued.
- Conscience Makes You Go Back: The audience sees the Dirty Coward enjoy their freedom from responsibility, but at some point they will make the decision to go back and help to make things right.
- Conveniently Timed Attack from Behind: Just as The Hero is about to be killed by the Big Bad, one of their allies saves them by attacking the villain from behind.
- Crisis Catch And Carry: Picking up and carrying someone away from a danger.
- Damsel in Distress: The classic example of a rescue victim, a helpless young woman who has been kidnapped and needs saving.
- Damsel out of Distress: This damsel doesn't need rescuing, she can take care of herself.
- Delaying the Rescue: The hero chooses to take their time with saving the damsel, because they've got other priorities too.
- Deus ex Machina: A rescue comes out of nowhere when all hope seemed lost just a moment ago.
- Distress Ball: A character needs rescuing because they uncharacteristically put themself in danger.
- Distressed Dude: It's not always a woman who needs to be rescued, sometimes the fellas need saving too.
- Diving Save: Plowing right into someone to save their life.
- Embarrassing Rescue: A villain is embarrassed at being saved by a hero.
- Father's Quest: A father goes to rescue his child from a danger, being lost or kidnapped.
- Fireman's Safety Net: A trampoline is used to save a character who jumped from a height (whether due to suicidality or the building being unsafe).
- Following in Their Rescuer's Footsteps: Someone chooses their job due to having been saved by someone with that job.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: A character has to decide whether to save an artifact or a friend.
- Frivolous Summoning: You needed my help for that?!
- Giant Robot Hands Save Lives: A falling character is caught by a giant robot.
- Give Chase with Angry Natives: Someone is being chased and tries to throw the chaser off by riling up people who could attack either or both parties.
- Got Over Rape Instantly: The rescuee is saved from sexual assault and immediately offers sexual or romantic interest to their rescuer with no further mention of the trauma.
- Gotta Rescue Them All: A video game where you need to rescue multiple characters one by one.
- Gunship Rescue: A gunship (usually an aircraft) saves the bacon of one or more main characters in a tough situation.
- Hands Off My Fluffy!: Somebody tries to save someone else from an animal, but it turns out the animal was the other person's pet.
- Hanging by the Fingers: A character is dangling from a ledge or rope by their fingers and is in danger of falling.
- Help Mistaken for Attack: A character is helping another but someone thinks they're attacking them.
- Heroic Fire Rescue: Rushing into a burning building to save the people inside it.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Saving someone's life, even if it means providing risk for yourself.
- Hero's First Rescue: Someone who's recently gained powers sees people in danger, realises they could rescue them with their powers, does so, and usually goes on to become a superhero.
- I Found You Like This: The rescuer finds the rescuee at near-death or unconscious and takes them to their home to heal them back to health.
- Improbable Falling Save: Catching a falling person without their weight and momentum injuring you or pulling you down with them.
- I Was Just Passing Through: Somebody saves, or tries to save, their rival, but makes an excuse to save face.
- I Will Find You: Someone is on a determined quest to find a missing lover, relative, or friend.
- Jump, I'll Catch You!: A character has another, who is stuck in a high place, jump into their arms.
- Just Whistle: A character saves another and gives them a whistle to blow if they need saving again.
- Last-Minute Reprieve: Someone is just about to be executed, only to be pardoned in the nick of time.
- Newcomer Saves the Day: A character joins a team, then earns their membership by saving everybody else.
- No One Gets Left Behind: A character refuses to leave behind an injured friend or a dead body, no matter how dire the situation is.
- Not the Fall That Kills You…: A character is plummeting, but can survive uninjured as long as they don't actually hit the ground.
- Not Too Dead to Save the Day: A character is saved by another, who either died and came back, died but the one being saved hallucinated them, or was mistaken for dead.
- Parents in Distress: Children save their parents from danger.
- Passive Rescue: A character is imprisoned, so someone else sneakily gives them the means to escape.
- Pet Gets the Keys: A pet gives some trapped characters a means to escape.
- Prohibited Hero Saves the Day: A character was not allowed to join a group of heroes, but then has to save them when the group gets endangered.
- Protected by a Child: A character's life is saved when a child jumps in front of them, thus making the attacker reluctant to hurt them.
- Recruited from the Gutter: Two characters work together because one saved the other from a bad life.
- Recruitment by Rescue: A character needs help saving the day, so they must save people and then recruit them.
- Redundant Rescue: A character is rescued even though logically they shouldn't need it. Sometimes this is an intentional gag, other times it's just a Plot Hole.
- Refuse to Rescue the Disliked: When you're reluctant to save someone because you can't stand them.
- Rescue Arc: A story arc centered around saving someone's life.
- Rescued from the Underworld: Rescuing someone who is trapped in the afterlife.
- Rescue Hug: A character rescues someone from falling, which results in the two having a tender embrace.
- Rescue Introduction: A character is introduced saving the day.
- Rescue Reversal: Characters try to rescue another, only for that character to save themselves, and the would-be rescuers to end up needing rescue instead.
- Rescue Romance: A romantic relationship that begins with saving someone's life.
- Rescue Sex: The Hero rescues the Damsel in Distress, and she rewards him by spending the night in bed together.
- Restricted Rescue Operation: Somebody plans a rescue, but lacks the necessary supplies, needs to keep it secret, or isn't allowed to do it.
- Revolting Rescue: A heroic, but gross, act.
- Roadside Surgery: A character operates on another in an area that's not an operating room.
- Roaring Rampage of Rescue: A character goes on an aggressive, determined rampage to save another.
- Saint-Bernard Rescue: A Saint Bernard brings a hypothermic character a barrel of brandy.
- Saved by a Terrible Performance: A character saves the day by doing something they are known to be bad at.
- Save the Jerk: The hero rescues someone who gets on their nerves.
- Save the Villain: The hero rescues one of their enemies.
- Saving the World With Art: Making art as a rescue.
- She Will Come for Me: Someone is in danger and muses that they will, or won't, be saved by a second character, who does save them regardless of what the endangered one thought.
- Shut Up and Save Me!: A character in danger reminds a distracted hero to save them.
- Slave Liberation: Rescuing people who are trapped in forced labor or servitude.
- Stab the Scorpion: A character appears to be attacking another, but really they're killing a dangerous animal and saving the other character.
- Summon Bigger Fish: Summoning a monster/god/etc to defeat another, evil one.
- Take My Hand!: A character saves, or tries to save, someone dangling from a ledge by having them grab their hand.
- Taking the Bullet: Someone is about to be attacked, but another character jumps right in front of them and takes the hit.
- Teleportation Rescue: Saving someone via teleportation.
- Terrifying Rescuer: A scary character rescues someone.
- Third Party Stops Attack: Somebody tries to attack someone else, but a third character interrupts the would-be attacker.
- Tuck and Cover: A character saves another from an explosion or something similar by blocking the way with their body.
- Unwanted Rescue: A character saves another, who didn't want to be rescued.
- The Victim Must Be Confused: Somebody assumes someone else was kidnapped by another, but the "victim" claims they're not kidnapped.
- Villainous Rescue: A villain saves a hero.
- We Just Need to Wait for Rescue: A character insists on sitting back and waiting to be rescued from some disaster.
