Damsel in Distress

**Damsel in Distress** is a trope where a female character is in trouble and needs help. Usually she is kidnapped by the story's main antagonist and held prisoner. A damsel in distress can also:

* get swept away by a river,
* chased and attacked by a monster or dangerous animal,
* caught up in a natural disaster,
* cursed to die in some way,
* trapped somewhere dangerous.
* being threatened in a way that could lead to the end of her life.
* Become possessed or brainwashed by an evil entity, but only if her life is being threatened while under their influence.

Usually, the hero comes to her rescue, but she can also get out of these situations herself, using her own wits and skills. On a few occasions, a villain can save them, but reasons for doing so are various. When the heroine gets into trouble and needs help, this can raise the stakes and/or set the plot in motion.

## Examples

### Animated Movies

* Shanti: She almost winds up as Kaa's dinner, but Ranjan saves her. Later, she reveals her hiding place to Shere Khan by mistake.
* Merida: Although not a damsel in distress per se, Merida lands in this kind of situation in the final climax when Mor'du catches her and prepares to eat her until Elinor breaks free and charges to the rescue.
* Ariel: In the first film, Ariel gets kidnapped by Ursula and used as a bargaining tool for King Triton.
* Wendy Darling: She gets kidnapped by Captain Hook and Peter Pan saves her.
* Belle: Attacked by wolves until the Beast saves her.
* Anastasia: When she is a child, Rasputin catches her and almost pulls her into the icy river with him, but she manages to escape. In the final climax, she is nearly pushed off a bridge.
* Esmeralda: She gets captured by Judge Claude Frollo and is about to be burned at the stake, and Quasimodo rescues her.
* Lilo Pelekai: Captain Gantu abducts her in the climax of the first film.
* Rapunzel (Tangled): She gets kidnapped by Mother Gothel as a baby. In the climax, however, Gothel chains her to the wall and gags her mouth to keep her from running away and warning Flynn Rider when he comes to her rescue.
* Kayley: She gets captured by Ruber two times in the film, but then manages to free herself.
* Robyn Starling: She is trapped on the top of a Ferris wheel by Captain Kiddie, but then Tom and Jerry rescue her. She gets captured by Aunt Figg and Lickboot, and also trapped in a cabin fire, and Tom and Jerry rescue her.
* Red Hot Riding Hood: She gets abducted by Professor Moriarty and his three cat henchmen.
* Aurora: She was in danger of sleep by death until Merryweather changed the curse into where Philip would have to kiss her to wake her up.
* Jasmine: She gets captured by Jafar after Jafar makes his first two wishes and banishes Aladdin and Abu to the ends of Earth. In the climax, Jafar traps her in a giant hourglass.
* Téa Gardner/Anzu Mazaki: She is attacked, knocked unconscious, and kidnapped by a group of monsters called Hitotsu-Me Giants, who take her to their den inside a cave so that they feast on her flesh for dinner.
* Snow White (Disney): She was constantly threatened by Queen Grimhilde, and survived because she was lucky. The Prince might have not been able to wake her up if she wasn't lucky enough to be able to be brought back to life.
* Princess Fiona: She is captured and almost killed by Lord Farquaad.
* Jenny Foxworth: She gets kidnapped by Bill Sykes for ransom.
* Odette (Nest Family): Gets kidnapped by Rothbart in the first film (however, she was just taken to Swan Lake, so she is not a damsel then) and Zelda in the third one.
* Queen Anna: Prince Hans locks her in the library and leaves her to freeze to death after she discovers his betrayal.
* Anna: Arranged by Lola to be held hostage by Don Lino and his mob in demand of Oscar's obedience.
* Anne-Marie: She gets kidnapped by Carface to use as a slave.
* Thumbelina: Mama Toad kidnaps her to use her as a bride for her son Grundel. She eventually escapes and almost falls down a waterfall.
* Lucy Wlide: captured by El Macho and strapped to a shark on dynamite.
* Margo, Edith, and Agnes Gru are kidnapped by Vector to get Felonious Gru to give him the moon he recently stole in the first film. In the second film, they were at mercy of Kevin, who mutated into a purple Minion, only to be saved by Dr. Nefario. In the third film, they are taken captive by Balthazar Bratt.
* Megara: She gets captured by Hades and used as a bargaining chip.
* Winnie Portley-Rind: She gets captured by Archibald Snatcher twice.
* Jane Darling: Jane gets kidnapped by Captain Hook to use as bait to capture Peter Pan. Later, in the final climax, Hook pins her to the mast after she saves Peter.
* Honey Lemon and Go Go Tomago: Yokai traps Go Go and Honey, but they manage to free themselves, aided by Hiro.
* Dawn (Strange Magic): She gets kidnapped by the Bog King and then by Roland.
* Princess Mila: She gets kidnapped by the wizard Chernomor, who kidnapped a woman named Lena earlier on.
* Ari Hauntington: She gets kidnapped by Moanica.
* Clara (Warner Bros.): She gets attacked and almost killed by a furious and enraged Mouse King (who is also dying from a stab wound), but saves herself and makes the vicious rodent fall to his death.
* Holley Shiftwell: Gets captured by Ivan and the Lemons.

### Video Games

* Amy Rose: She gets abducted by Metal-Sonic in her first game Sonic CD, and later kidnapped by Zero in Sonic Adventures, held hostage by Dr. Eggman in Sonic Adventure 2 and then abducted by Lyric the Last Ancient in Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal.
* Princess Elise: Captured multiple times by Eggman.
* Princess Peach: She notably gets kidnapped by the evil King Bowser multiple times and the Mario Bros. must come to her rescue
* Tiara is stolen away by Bowser and forced to be Peach's wedding hat at one point.
* Kairi gets kidnapped by Axel
* Princess Daphne
* Princess Daisy: She gets captured by Tatanga in *Super Mario Land* so she would be his queen, and Mario must save her and return peace to her kingdom of Sarasaland.
* Namine
* Berri: In *Conker's Pocket Tales,* she is kidnapped by the Evil Acorn, and in *Conker's Bad Fur Day,* she is taken away by a monstrous golem. In these scenarios, Conker has to free her.
* Pauline: She was abducted by Cranky Kong (back then was known as Donkey Kong) in *Donkey Kong.* In the *Mario vs. Donkey Kong* series, Donkey Kong himself abducts Pauline, leaving Mario to give chase.
* Princess Zelda: Many incarnations of her have gotten kidnapped multiple times, primarily by Ganondorf/Ganon or some of his servants. She was also a target for other villains depending on the game: Yuga turned her into a portrait and takes her to the kingdom of Lorule in *The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds* along with the Seven Sages and used them to revive Ganon, was turned to stone by Vaati in *The Minish Cap,* and almost gets assassinated by the Yiga Clan in *Breath of the Wild.* It was Link who comes to her rescue.
* Aryll gets kidnapped by the Helmaroc King in *The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.*

### Live Action Movies

* Annie Bennett: Gets kidnapped by Miss Hannigan, Rooster and Lily St. Regis.
* Jessica Rabbit: In *Who Framed Roger Rabbit*, she and Roger get tied up by Judge Doom and his gang of weasels. She also gets tied to a roller coaster.
* Elizabeth Swann: In *The Curse of the Black Pearl*, she gets kidnapped by Captain Barbossa and his pirate crew. In *Dead Man's Chest*, she almost winds up as lunch for the Kraken.
* Gwen Stacy: In *Spider-Man 3,* she almost falls to her death. In *The Amazing Spider-Man 2*, she gets kidnapped by the Green Goblin.
* Ursula Stanhope: She was kidnapped by Lyle Van de Groot to force her to marry him
* Susie & Jessica: they are kidnapped and taken hostage by Bart Gifooley
* Dorothy Gale: She was kidnapped by the Flying Monkeys and being held captive in the Wicked Witch of the West's castle.
* Jeanette Miller (live action): She was munk-napped by Zoe, who forces her to retrieve the treasure from the cave.
* Tara Roland: She was kidnapped by the ghost, Phears and is held captive by the evil ghosts.
* Brenda Bradford: She gets kidnapped by Dr. Claw and taken to his helicopter.
* Mal: About to drown in the lake after jumping in to save Ben after he doesn't resurface, but is unable to swim. Ben saves her before she drowns.

### Cartoons

* Gosalyn Waddlemeyer-Mallard: She gets kidnapped by a criminal kingpin named Taurus Bulba; she is also captured and held hostage by various villains (ie: Steelbeak, Wacko, Tuskernini, Megavolt, Negaduck, QuackerJack, etc.), threatened by Darkwarrior Duck, nearly dragged into a portal through Paddywhack's evil Jack-in-the-box
* Morgana Macawber: she gets kidnapped by Negaduck and captured by the Fearsome Five along with the other Justice Ducks; she is also captured by Beelzebub in order to exchange her for Darkwing Duck's soul
* Babs Bunny: She finds herself in danger often.
* Princess Calla: She gets kidnapped by Duke Igthorn.
* Daphne Blake has earned her nickname "Danger-Prone Daphne" due to her being abducted by villains or other situations.
* Eliza Thornberry: She gets captured by poachers in *Trouble with Darwin* and taken captive by Sloan and Bree Blackburn in *The Wild Thornberrys Movie*.
* Minnie Mouse is often kidnapped.
	+ Smurfette is often kidnapped, this would be downplayed in later media of the franchise, since she learned how to defend herself.
* April O'Neil: She gets kidnapped by the Foot Soldiers and/or the Shredder.
* Twilight Sparkle gets captured by Tempest Shadow and locked up.
* Zarya and Piper were captured by the Shadow Mage.
* Sam Simpson, Alex Vasquez and Clover Ewing often get captured (together or alone) by the villains.
* Britney Akiwara gets kidnapped a few times.
* Catwoman: she gets kidnapped by the Joker in the Season 3 episode, "The Laughing Cats" of *The Batman*.
* Princess Liana gets kidnapped by the evil former muse Lydia so she can take the mirror which Melody is trapped in and find the Diamond Castle.
* Princess Anneliese gets kidnapped by Preminger so her wedding with King Dominick can get called off and Preminger would become king.
* Princess Rosella: After being thrown overboard on the ship, Rosella and her animals are at the risk of drowning until a group of dolphins come to their rescue.
	+ Also, an unnamed Italian woman is thrown off a bridge by Queen Ariana, and Prince Antonio has to rescue her when she's stuck hanging from the bannister about to fall to her death.
* Melody In-D: Griselle and Gwen hold her hostage as a bargaining chip for Polly's locket.
* Mandy (Totally Spies): She gets kidnapped by Dr. Gelee after he mistakes her for Clover, and in another episode, she, Alex, Sam and Clover get kidnapped by the Vancouver Coffee Barista.
* Kimber Benton: The Misfits arrange for her to be put in a volcano and left to die, and she has gotten into danger a few other times.
* Princess Adriana Slododac: Is in danger of Lexa's plot to murder her and stage a coup d'etat.
* Brynja Hoover is often kidnapped and despite her attempts, she often fails to escape, causing Kirby or Radio to save her.
* Giggles, Petunia, and Flaky from Happy Tree Friends, often get their selves into danger.

### Other

* Rita Connway often finds herself in danger.

## Quotes

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> "*What's happening? Nein! Help!*"
> ― Ingrid Yardstick as she is kidnapped.
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> "*What is your problem? I'm serious, how dare you touch me, stop it now! I am a Soviet! Am I clear? Let me go!*"
> ― Olga Yanovich
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> "*(in Icelandic): You can't do this to me! It's not fair. I will never be your girlfriend, I already love someone else and you are a terrible person. Take me if you will, but just be warned that I hate you!*"
> ― Brynja Hoover
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