This isn't how the trope is used in practice, though. According to Sandbox.You Got Wicks, the actual usage looks something like this:

• Correct: 6/50 or 12%
• Stock Phrase, Wrong Scenario: 5/50 or 10%
• Character Is Impressed In General: 18/50, or 36%
• Spunky Character: 2/50, or 4%
• ZCE: 16/50, or 32%
• Other: 3/50, or 6%

Of the few that used the actual phrase, only slightly over half of them also used it in the correct scenario. The biggest usage involved characters just sort of finding other characters impressive, without use of the correct phrasing, and often in completely unrelated scenarios (such as between two heroes). It's not often used for "spunky" characters, but the fact that I found usage to put into that folder at all does speak to how little people understand the trope. And then of course you have the other two folders, which are par for the course, but still worth mentioning since the ZCE folder was only slightly smaller than the "generally impressed" one was.

While the actual phrase is definitely, like, a thing, it's probably not as common as this page would have you believe and it's more common for villains to find their captives impressive without actually using a stock phrase to do it. And since stock phrases aren't tropes anyway, it's tempting to say that we could rename and expand to the actual definition of "villain find their captive's defiance fun or brave" or something like that... But since the "wrong scenario" usage is so much more common than it ought to be, any solution we have has to account for the fact that this doesn't necessarily stop a "villains and captives".

We could also theoretically expand to cover the even broader idea of "someone's determination and spirit makes others like them more", but part of me worries that this might be too broad. It would however let us keep the largest amount of examples, and it would be easier to find a title that fits the broader scenario than the specific villain-and-captive one.

1. Characters.Buffyverse Buffy The Vampire Slayer Vampires: Lyle has this opinion of Buffy. villain'
   "Well, you're a rough one, ain't cha! I like that!"
2. Characters.Tokyo Mew Mew:
   • Bitch Slap: In the manga, after Quiche has kidnapped her and implies he'll target the other Mews too, Ichigo slaps him in the face and warns him she won't let him get away with trying to hurt her friends. Unfortunately for her, her defiance only turns Quiche on.
   • He likes Ichigo's spunkiness whenever she protests against his unwanted advances, but it makes him even more delighted to make her cry out of fear.
3. Funny.Girl Genius: The stock Overlord Jr. quotes given on the Gil doll: Low context, but seems to be touching on the correct trope
   My father will hear of this!
   Do you know who I am?!
   I like a girl with spirit!
   Guards! Seize them!
4. Literature.Wyrd Sisters: Mocked with Magrat and the castle guard. When one of the guards uses another trope, the footnotes note that he's probably the type of guy who's going to use this one in a minute or so. Sure enough.....
   "I like a girl with spirit," he said, incorrectly as it turned out.
5. Recap.Batwoman 2019 S 2 E 3 Bat Girl Magic: Safiyah is impressed by Sophie's ability to get the drop on Tatiana. Alice later says that Safiyah has a crush on her. villain to captured protag
6. Recap.Yakuza 0: Sometime time later, back in Kamurocho, Makoto and her doctor are walking down the street, only to find themselves sexually harassed by a couple of young Yakuza from the Shimano Family. Makoto, unintimidated, tells them to take a hike, and one of the punks laughs at this, telling her that she got spunk.

1. Film.Stuart Little: In Stuart Little 2: Snowbell isn't a villain
   Snowbell: [to Stuart] You've got guts, kid! Guts, and... and spunk! Not to mention moxie! You got guts, spunk and moxie!
2. Film.The Sting: Kid Twist tells Joe Erie (who wants in on the con) that he's got moxie for keeping his mouth shut when Snyder beats him up for not talking and being snarky instead. Consequently, Joe is allowed to join the con team even though he doesn't have the experience of the others. Considering these characters are the protagonists, and considering that Joe came to them willingly...
3. LightNovel.Expecting To Fall Into Ruin I Aim To Become A Blacksmith: The visiting foreign Prince Love says this about Eliza after she drop-kicks him, trying to take her home with him before Rhasa smacks him unconscious. From what I can tell, Prince Love isn't a villain, more of just an oaf
4. Theatre.Altar Boyz: During the spoken interlude in "Girl, You Make Me Wanna Wait"
   ... something's making me behave responsibly tonight. It's your special blend of charisma and spunk. Crunk, I guess you'd call it. Whatever it is, you got it all up in ya, girl. You got crunk. Seems to just be a compliment
5. Webcomic.Nimona: Said word-for-word by Goldenloin about Nimona, given that she's largely the motive force in her partnership with Ballister.

1. Awesome.Hunters Of Justice: Even long before he became Cyborg, Victor was already a hero by saving a family that was being attacked by Parademons during the Darkseid War by hot-wiring a pick-up truck and ramming it into said parademons. Even Kalibak was impressed by his bravery.
2. Characters.As Told By Ginger: She also is quite impressed when Ginger stands up to the nasty substitute teacher that's treating their class like a herd of animals rather than human beings. Used in a folder for an Alpha Bitch character, so maybe they're a villain, but it's definitely not the right context otherwise
3. Characters.Dear Brother: The Hedonist: Though still nicer than the standard hedonist. Most likely due to having to deal with his two very... complex younger sisters, Fukiko and Rei. I.e., in the anime he's seen visiting Rei in her apartment and trying to get her to quit smoking, since he's very worried about her health. In the manga, also, he's cockier than in the anime: i.e, when Mariko shows her utter contempt of males in front of him and Takehiko, once she's gone and done he decides to "bag" her anyway, which doesn't happen in the anime (he's rather surprised about her behavior, and at some point he engages in verbal banter with her and falls off his chair in the end). I guess?
4. Characters.Muhyo And Roji: He's impressed by Muhyo's drive and that he managed to survive one of his major attacks that could've easily killed him. It's enough to offer Muhyo his contract. Character in question is a demon, but doesn't seem to be an antagonist, and the phrase isn't in play
5. Characters.Queens Of Mewni: He got Sideria's curiosity after his sister revealed her he broke up his engagement to a foreign princess. Seems to just be one character being impressed by another
6. Characters.Sister Claire: After she asks if Catharine was the one who broke Genevieve's nose and is confirmed, she admits she's impressed and even asks if Catharine would like a go at her. not villain
7. Characters.Valkyrie: Fromm is quite surprised by Stauffenberg's wittiness in response to his humorous nods to his missing arm, and is quite vocal about it. Neither characters are villains, not a captive scenario
   Fromm: I... I'd offer you my hand, but I might not get it back.
   Stauffenberg: I'd say the General has lost more important things this morning.
   Fromm: It's about time they put somebody with balls into this office.
8. Funny.Thor The Dark World: Jane slaps Loki. "That was for New York!" Loki's response? "I like her."
9. OnePieceWholeCakeIslandArc.Tropes W To Z: Yonji thinks, after seeing Nami for the first time and later watching her strike Sanji hard, that she's a girl worth pursuing. Niji agrees. villain watches hero hit another hero
10. Pantheon.Racial Appearances: This led to both her and Catwoman fighting, in which Selina won. This led to the following exchange between her and Bats:
    Talia: This is your betrothed? [Batman grunts in response] I like her.
11. Pantheon.Twins: Ezio Auditore has heard good things about the Frye twins, stemming from freeing London from Templar control (technically, they went against orders to do so), which is why both he and Niccolo Machiavelli worked to get the pair into the Pantheon. Both Evie and Jacob arrived by train, hopping out of the freight cars and onto the station's platform, where they were greeted by Ezio and Machiavelli. The meeting was...priceless.
    Ezio: "Jacob and Evie Frye?"
    Jacob: "That's us. Who are you?"
    Evie: "You're Ezio Auditore da Firenze! And you're Niccolo Machiavelli!"
    Ezio: (bows) "None other. Benvenuto nel Pantheon." (Welcome to the Pantheon)
    Jacob: "Who?"
    Machiavelli: (points to Jacob) "Not very book smart, isn't he?"
    Evie: "He was dropped on his head as a child."
    Jacob: "OI!"
    Machiavelli: (chuckles) "I like her already, Ezio."
12. Recap.Altered Carbon S 01 E 02 Fallen Angel: Laurens doesn't like being questioned by Kovacs and threatens to have him put back on ice, but is impressed when Kovacs refuses to back down in the face of this threat.
13. Recap.The 100 S 02 E 010: Octavia's ability to take multiple beatings and keep getting up actually impresses Indra, who thought all Sky People were fundamentally weak. She decides to properly train Octavia to become a warrior, recognizing her potential. Neither are villains, neither are captured
14. Recap.Obi Wan Kenobi Part III: Tala seems genuinely amused and slightly impressed by Leia asking the former to teach her to shoot.
15. Series.Wiseguy: Rather than spend years working his way up the ranks of Sonny Steelgrave's organisation, Vinnie provokes a fight with Sonny, knowing he's Golden Gloves boxer who won't turn down a challenge. Naturally everyone thinks Vinnie will flee when he finds out he's antagonized a Mafia boss; when Vinnie turns up for the fight anyway, Sonny is impressed. Vinnie makes sure to lose the fight of course, but it's enough to get him recruited as a prospective member.
16. VideoGame.Mode: Riel's attitude takes a 180° turn regarding you if you remain persistent in your conversation with him. For your efforts, he rewards the player with the dome they were looking for. Going off of the rest of of the tropes, Riel isn't a villain, but just some dude; and it doesn't seem to be a captive scenario either.
17. VisualNovel.Fault Milestone Two: Selphine-Rhegan is impressed by Mil's split-second willingness to kill an intruder and direct defiance of her despite being a glorified hostage.
18. WebVideo.Amaras Audios: The Yandere CEO admires the viewer for standing up to her in the firing video. It's why she fires the viewer, due to wanting a more personal relationship. Hard to say if "Yandere CEO" is actually portrayed as villainous with the info provided

1. Plucky Office Girl: Mary Richards from The Mary Tyler Moore Show basically starts out as one of these. She's got spunk, though.
2. WesternAnimation.Underdog: If Sweet Polly gets kidnapped Once per Episode, at least she always gives her kidnappers a good run for their money ("She's a regular wildcat!").

1. Characters.Hiraeth: When first talking with Thomas, he remarks that she's far different attitude-wise than he expected.
2. Characters.Kengan Ashura Yamashita Trading Co: Yamato Nadeshiko: She took a bottle of tea to Ohma that he had forgotten. Then when the Kengan Tournament started it's preliminaries, the doors shut close and she ends up getting locked in a separate room with Ohma and the other fighters. When Ohma merely told her to stay out of trouble, she chopped him on the head and demanded that he take responsibility and protect her until he completed the preliminaries. unsure what his tone of voice is/who he is
   Ohma: You got a lot of nerve, y'know.
3. Characters.MAR: To Alviss. Too bad he took it beyond just complimenting him for it. a villain with a crush. ZCE tho
4. Characters.Supernatural Demons: He says it word-for-word to Mary in "In the Beginning".
5. Film.The Littlest Rebel: Colonel Morrison tells Virgie this in their first encounter.
6. Literature.Ivanhoe: Brian de Bois-Guilbert's opinion of Rebecca's attempted suicide to escape him.
7. Literature.The Black Parade: A portion of the reason why Belial desires Jordan’s soul.
8. Podcast.Wolf 359:
   Kepler, to Lovelace: Oh, that's right. You're funny.
9. Recap.Angel S 04 E 12 Calvary: no text just quote
   Angelus: Ooh, she really has put on spunk, hasn't she, Wes. Not the same, shy, bitchcow we pulled out of Pylea.
   Fred: There's only one bitch here, and I'm looking at him.
10. Recap.Charmed S 5 E 9 Sam I Am: Upon meeting her, Sam says he likes this about Paige.
11. Recap.Game Of Thrones S 6 E 1 The Red Woman: Khal Moro re: Dany, before he finds out she's a former khaleesi.
12. Roleplay.The Shadow Of Greed: Used by both Dr. Bernhardt and Alan with regards to Sarah.
13. Series.Robin Of Sherwood: Owen of Clun does the creepy version of this to Marion after he forcibly kisses her and she punches him (not a slap, a full punch) in the face.
14. Series.The Mary Tyler Moore Show: But, as Lou tells Mary in the pilot, he hates spunk.
15. WebAnimation.Hanazuki Full Of Treasures: Twisted Unicorn finds it cute that some of Hanazuki's "pluck" seems to have rubbed off on Kiyoshi. Twisted Unicorn is a villain, but you couldn't get that from this example...
16. WesternAnimation.Miles From Tomorrowland: Gadfly says this of Miles in "Who Stole The Stellosphere?" Character is a villain, but the context doesn't explain why or when he says it
    Gadfly: Scrappy kid. ...I hate scrap!

1. Characters.Gate 7: Iemitsu actually loves that Sugi hates him and wishes him to die.
2. Characters.The Karate Kid John Kreese: Tries this in a Call-Back line from the first movie with Amanda LaRusso, when she shows up to confront him at the dojo in Season 3 — Amanda then slaps him in the face. Given Kreese's nature, it's really hard to say whether he was baiting her into doing it to have another weapon to use against her and Daniel. Unclear if he says the phrase or not.
3. Fanfic.Faking It: While Bill would rather have Dipper completely loyal and obedient to him, he enjoys Dipper's stubborn and defiant attitude. Their witty banter and bickering are basically entertainment to him especially on intellectual level. Turns out Dipper's defiant shenanigans and insults are the demonic equivalent of flirting.