Tropescilloscope: Damsel in Distress

A female character is kidnapped or otherwise in danger and in need of rescue. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Wretched Hive Combat Pragmatist Freeze-Frame Bonus Knife Nut The Smart Guy Monumental Damage Call-Back Line-of-Sight Name She's Got Legs It's Personal Have a Gay Old Time Friend to All Children Eiffel Tower Effect Mama Bear Fatal Flaw "Shaggy Dog" Story Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Belligerent Sexual Tension What You Are in the Dark Outrun the Fireball Say My Name Race Lift Beware the Nice Ones Those Wacky Nazis Ax-Crazy Scare Chord Karmic Death Beard of Evil Imagine Spot Loophole Abuse Skewed Priorities Ominous Latin Chanting Punny Name Action Genre Match Cut Historical In-Joke Vomit Discretion Shot Reality Ensues Up to Eleven Sequel Hook Wrong Genre Savvy Loads and Loads of Characters Protagonist Title Only Sane Man Large Ham Bar Brawl Attempted Rape Artistic License – Physics Hollywood Darkness Mind Screw Sacrificial Lion The Ditz Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Fun with Acronyms Dumb Blonde Aside Glance Hooker with a Heart of Gold Took a Level in Jerkass Celebrity Paradox Humans Are Bastards Badass Normal Disproportionate Retribution The Alleged Car Scary Black Man Nice Hat Not Using the "Z" Word For the Evulz Only a Flesh Wound Index of Film Westerns All for Nothing Your Cheating Heart Time Skip Lock and Load Montage Adaptational Badass Black Comedy Fanservice Instant Death Bullet folderlabel Bad "Bad Acting" The Reveal Not So Above It All Unusually Uninteresting Sight Sexy Discretion Shot Establishing Character Moment Ms. Fanservice Cat Fight Captain Obvious Every Car Is a Pinto Cowboy Cop Character Development Rule of Funny Smoking Is Cool Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Sassy Black Woman Death Glare Bad Boss 20 Minutes into the Future Evil vs. Evil Title Drop Slashed Throat Jerk with a Heart of Gold Pretty in Mink Pyrrhic Victory In the Back Wham Line Not Even Bothering with the Accent Face Death with Dignity Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Does Not Like Shoes Big-Bad Ensemble Gone Horribly Right Age Lift Homage Adaptation Distillation Damsel in Distress Curb-Stomp Battle No-Sell Names to Run Away from Really Fast The End... Or Is It? Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Those Two Bad Guys Woman in White Hero Antagonist Male Gaze Kick the Son of a Bitch Leave the Camera Running The Power of Love Left the Background Music On Moment Killer Ship Tease Your Head A-Splode Smug Snake Fanservice Extra No OSHA Compliance Film Series It Will Never Catch On Frame-Up Sanity Slippage Extreme Doormat The Chessmaster Grievous Bottley Harm Alpha Bitch Artistic License – Biology Author Avatar Suspiciously Specific Denial Love at First Sight Public Domain Feature Films Poor Communication Kills Kubrick Stare Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Bound and Gagged Meet Cute Shipper on Deck Insane Troll Logic Agony of the Feet Take a Third Option Obstructive Bureaucrat Mugging the Monster Batman Gambit Costume Porn Bald of Evil I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Deal with the Devil Evil Plan Hong Kong Films Empathic Environment Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Cold-Blooded Torture Heterosexual Life-Partners Calling the Old Man Out Butt-Monkey Hate Sink Gorn Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Christmas Movies Index Ass Shove Eagleland Manipulative Bastard Improvised Weapon Bait-and-Switch Rule of Symbolism Badass Longcoat Non-Indicative Name Martial Arts Movie Fantastic Racism Flipping the Bird Cain and Abel Shower Scene Shout-Out Brainless Beauty Dark Action Girl Chekhov's Skill Crucified Hero Shot War Is Hell Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie The Stinger Alas, Poor Villain I Have Your Wife Cloudcuckoolander Villain Ball "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue The Casanova Villain Song Wham Shot Gainax Ending Chewing the Scenery Properly Paranoid Ungrateful Bastard Anyone Can Die Once More, with Clarity! timeperiod Early-Bird Cameo Boom, Headshot! Bowdlerise Defrosting Ice Queen Fantasy Films Drugs Are Bad Disappeared Dad Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" NO INDOOR VOICE Film Noir Mad Scientist Spiteful Spit Random Events Plot Award-Bait Song Contrived Coincidence May–December Romance Villain Opening Scene Brick Joke Hypocritical Humor As the Good Book Says... Scenery Porn Room Full of Crazy Real Life Writes the Plot Bland-Name Product Eldritch Abomination Police Brutality Hidden Depths The Mole He Who Fights Monsters Break the Haughty Conspicuous CG Catch-Phrase One-Word Title Auto Erotica Improbable Weapon User Amusing Injuries Kill It with Fire The Cavalry Important Haircut Heroic BSoD No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Bottomless Magazines Bloodier and Gorier Psychopathic Manchild Defiant to the End And Starring Obviously Evil Bullying a Dragon Suddenly SHOUTING! Death by Adaptation Dutch Angle Expy Soundtrack Dissonance Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Sole Survivor Science Fiction Films Implacable Man Show Within a Show Reasonable Authority Figure Black Dude Dies First Star-Crossed Lovers Guns Akimbo Let's Get Dangerous! Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Punch-Clock Villain Bunny-Ears Lawyer Ambiguously Gay Darkest Hour The Big Guy Artistic License – Law BFG The Starscream Mr. Fanservice Retired Badass Kick the Dog Dual Wielding Stealth Hi/Bye Catapult Nightmare Pet the Dog Ripped from the Headlines Superhero Composite Character Jerk Jock Truth in Television The Un-Reveal The Load Department of Redundancy Department Big Damn Heroes Expository Hairstyle Change From Bad to Worse Action Survivor Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Tagline Brother–Sister Incest Evil Is Hammy Death by Irony Blood Knight Bring My Brown Pants Redshirt Army Downer Ending Australian Movies Self-Deprecation Mundane Made Awesome Honor Before Reason A Father to His Men Soft Glass Flashback World of Ham Stepford Smiler Hell Is That Noise Would Hurt a Child Tranquil Fury Cruel and Unusual Death Trailers Always Spoil You Killed My Father Bloodless Carnage Informed Ability Leaning on the Fourth Wall Made of Explodium Unusual Euphemism Roaring Rampage of Revenge Demonic Possession Dark Is Not Evil Coming-of-Age Story Our Zombies Are Different Babies Ever After Biopic Chase Scene The Lost Lenore Psychological Thriller Exact Words No Name Given Dramedy Almost Kiss You Have Failed Me Toplessness from the Back Horror Comedy Too Dumb to Live Determinator aka: The Determinator Would Hit a Girl Dirty Coward Daylight Horror Bittersweet Ending Sadistic Choice The Cameo Neck Lift Dull Surprise Decoy Protagonist Gold Digger Offscreen Teleportation Adaptation Dye-Job Cat Scare Continuity Nod The Ace Insult Backfire Foil Half the Man He Used to Be One Steve Limit Broken Aesop Comically Missing the Point Even Evil Has Standards Author Appeal Wounded Gazelle Gambit Hero of Another Story The Oner Dissonant Serenity Eyepatch of Power The Bully Fan Disservice Wicked Cultured Only Known by Their Nickname Very Loosely Based on a True Story Parental Abandonment Dramatic Gun Cock Fire-Forged Friends Covers Always Lie Despair Event Horizon Gory Discretion Shot Malevolent Masked Men Tap on the Head Disguised in Drag Credits Gag Big Eater Death of a Child Woman Scorned Plucky Comic Relief Breaking the Fourth Wall The Dragon Sinister Minister Brutal Honesty Break the Cutie Obfuscating Stupidity Kids Are Cruel Cluster F-Bomb Earn Your Happy Ending The Lancer Made of Iron Redemption Equals Death Captain Ersatz Drill Sergeant Nasty Roger Ebert: Great Movies List A.I. Is a Crapshoot What Happened to the Mouse? Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Handicapped Badass Actually Pretty Funny Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Dying Moment of Awesome Anti-Villain Even Evil Has Loved Ones Red Eyes, Take Warning No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Military and Warfare Films Foreshadowing Dogged Nice Guy The Stoic Rape as Drama "The Reason You Suck" Speech Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Lampshade Hanging Creator Cameo Be Careful What You Wish For For Want of a Nail Video Credits Hypocrite No Celebrities Were Harmed Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Deliberate Values Dissonance Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Jump Scare Super Strength Heel–Face Turn Running Gag What the Hell, Hero? All Men Are Perverts Black and Gray Morality Bury Your Gays I'm a Humanitarian Animal Title Index Crazy Jealous Guy Evil Counterpart Manly Tears Bond One-Liner The Faceless Mythology Gag Idiot Ball Adaptational Attractiveness Rich Bitch Broken Bird Shut Up, Hannibal! She Cleans Up Nicely Dressing as the Enemy Adaptation Expansion Parental Substitute Beta Couple All Just a Dream Historical Hero Upgrade Jerkass Off-into-the-Distance Ending Chiaroscuro Red Oni, Blue Oni Major Injury Underreaction Off with His Head! Hoist by His Own Petard Serious Business Closed Circle Not What It Looks Like Jerkass Has a Point Cool Guns Stylistic Suck The Great Depression Country Matters Death Seeker Sir Swears-a-Lot Hair-Trigger Temper Big "NO!" Antagonist Title Artistic License – Military Stuff Blowing Up Pay Evil unto Evil It's All About Me B-Movie Madness Mantra Laughing Mad Red Right Hand Corpsing Casting Gag Straight Gay Dirty Old Man Make It Look Like an Accident Interrupted Suicide Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Canon Foreigner Animated Credits Opening Broken Pedestal Slasher Movie Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Naïve Newcomer My Greatest Failure Pimped-Out Dress Betty and Veronica Creative Closing Credits Real Life Product Placement Historical Villain Upgrade The Hero Dies Fourth Date Marriage Television Movie Index Blackmail Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Psycho for Hire Sci-Fi Horror Ambiguous Disorder From Nobody to Nightmare Playing Gertrude Depraved Bisexual The '60s Mooks Pragmatic Villainy Police are Useless Improbable Aiming Skills Naked People Are Funny Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Four-Temperament Ensemble A Minor Kidroduction Pragmatic Adaptation Took a Level in Badass Cool Old Guy Kill 'em All Unresolved Sexual Tension Music Stories Irony Neck Snap Cool Car Paper-Thin Disguise MacGuffin Revenge Fat Bastard Never Trust a Trailer As Long as It Sounds Foreign Totally Radical Married to the Job Groin Attack Not So Stoic Apocalypse How Our Vampires Are Different Meaningful Echo Dropped a Bridge on Him Early Installment Weirdness Chekhov's Gunman Genre Savvy Red Shirt Laser-Guided Karma Undying Loyalty Annoying Younger Sibling Shell-Shocked Veteran Historical-Domain Character Abusive Parents Adult Fear Re-Cut Man on Fire Retirony The Stoner Domestic Abuse Unspoken Plan Guarantee Visual Pun Adaptational Heroism Never Found the Body Overprotective Dad Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Yandere Translation Convention Alliterative Name Shirtless Scene Final Girl Air-Vent Passageway Ambiguous Ending The '70s Anachronic Order Rule of Three Mr. Exposition Good Is Not Nice Film Noir Index Retcon Destination Defenestration "Well Done, Son!" Guy Badass Bookworm Five-Man Band The Atoner The Smurfette Principle Green-Eyed Monster Slap-Slap-Kiss A God Am I Easily Forgiven The Quiet One One-Man Army Framing Device Anti-Hero My God, What Have I Done? Sealed Evil in a Can Fate Worse than Death Eureka Moment Drowning My Sorrows Tempting Fate Papa Wolf Sports Stories Black Comedy Rape Darker and Edgier The Dog Bites Back Freudian Excuse Driven to Suicide Not Quite Dead Fatal Family Photo Enemy Mine Spiritual Successor Face–Heel Turn Stock Footage Adaptation Name Change An Axe to Grind Car Fu Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Greater-Scope Villain Does This Remind You of Anything? Genre Shift Card-Carrying Villain Canadian Movies Big Bad Duumvirate Due to the Dead Berserk Button The X of Y All There in the Manual Mood Whiplash Grey and Gray Morality Those Two Guys Funny Background Event Never My Fault The '80s Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Based on a True Story Romantic False Lead Parental Neglect I Need a Freaking Drink Vomit Indiscretion Shot The '50s Slasher Smile The Sociopath Rated M for Manly Foregone Conclusion After the End Better to Die than Be Killed Heroic Sacrifice Vacation Films Deus ex Machina Victoria's Secret Compartment Well-Intentioned Extremist Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Taking the Bullet Asshole Victim Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Intrepid Reporter Big Fancy House Cool Old Lady Killed Mid-Sentence Vampire Fiction Artistic License – History Take That! He Knows Too Much Crazy-Prepared Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Fiery Redhead Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Double-Meaning Title Double Entendre Ascended Extra Bi the Way The Musical Only One Name Spell My Name with an "S" Precision F-Strike Meaningful Background Event Black Best Friend Back from the Dead Artistic License – Gun Safety Maybe Ever After Developing Doomed Characters Dirty Cop Men Are the Expendable Gender Insistent Terminology Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism As Himself Manchild Advertised Extra Genre Throwback Shown Their Work Lighter and Softer Taking You with Me Token Minority Aluminum Christmas Trees Adapted Out Badass Boast Affectionate Parody Deliberately Monochrome Mexican Standoff Leitmotif Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Amoral Attorney Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Male Frontal Nudity And I Must Scream Thriller Dies Wide Open Adults Are Useless Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Camera Abuse Badass in a Nice Suit Intergenerational Friendship Bolivian Army Ending Villain Protagonist I Did What I Had to Do Mistaken for Gay Peek-a-Boo Corpse Getting Crap Past the Radar Big Brother Instinct Rewatch Bonus Word of God British Films Stalker with a Crush Mighty Whitey Reality Has No Subtitles "Awesome McCool" Name Blood from the Mouth All Girls Want Bad Boys Beauty Is Never Tarnished Spared by the Adaptation Japanese Films Scenery Gorn Big Bad No Antagonist O.O.C. Is Serious Business Missing Mom Worthy Opponent Epic Movie Fake Shemp Together in Death Same Language Dub Action Prologue Motor Mouth Zombie Stories Silent Movie The Vamp Noodle Incident Rousing Speech Morality Pet Overly Long Gag Hollywood Law Adaptational Villainy Exactly What It Says on the Tin Sequel Escalation Call-Forward Evil Sounds Deep Twist Ending Silence Is Golden Reckless Gun Usage Dark and Troubled Past Book-Ends Dark Reprise Chekhov's Gun Deadpan Snarker Race Against the Clock Anguished Declaration of Love Offscreen Moment of Awesome Dwindling Party The Chick Demoted to Extra True Companions Bond Villain Stupidity Creepy Child Politically Incorrect Villain The Place Eye Scream Cool Shades Light Is Not Good Pretty Little Headshots An Arm and a Leg Drives Like Crazy The Remake The Bad Guy Wins Small Name, Big Ego And the Adventure Continues Hope Spot Curse Cut Short I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Abhorrent Admirer Heel Realization Whole Plot Reference Evil-Detecting Dog Last-Name Basis Did Not Get the Girl No Ending Training Montage Affably Evil Artistic License – Geography Ironic Echo Rasputinian Death Facial Horror Setting Update Not So Different Fainting An Aesop Crapsack World The Alcoholic Everyone Has Standards Happily Married Red Herring The Mafia Market-Based Title Logo Joke Unwitting Instigator of Doom Authority Equals Asskicking Action Girl Really Gets Around Children Are Innocent Pre-Mortem One-Liner Works Set in World War II The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Henpecked Husband Actor Allusion Distracted by the Sexy Femme Fatale Mystery and Detective Films Failed a Spot Check Animal Motifs Ghost Fiction Gilligan Cut Anachronism Stew Diabolus ex Machina Famous Last Words Refuge in Audacity This Is Gonna Suck Knight Templar Funny Foreigner Cassandra Truth As You Know Didn't Think This Through Awesome, but Impractical Vitriolic Best Buds Suspiciously Similar Substitute Documentary Dramatic Irony Gender Flip Heroes Want Redheads A Date with Rosie Palms Faking the Dead The Voiceless Riddle for the Ages Narrator Shoot the Shaggy Dog Love Triangle The Brute Big Applesauce Only in It for the Money The '90s Fingore Needs Wiki Magic Love How We Got Here The Dreaded Mercy Kill Danny Peary Cult Movies List Jitter Cam Older Than They Look Meaningful Name The Ghost Guile Hero Humiliation Conga Armor-Piercing Question German Films Badass Grandpa Arranged Marriage Disney Villain Death Bavarian Fire Drill Reality Is Unrealistic My Beloved Smother Accidental Murder Epic Fail In Name Only Deconstruction Body Horror La Résistance Evil Is Petty Romantic Comedy Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Corrupt Corporate Executive '80s Hair Manic Pixie Dream Girl French Films Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Gratuitous English Bare Your Midriff Nothing Is Scarier Here We Go Again! Serial Killer Bilingual Bonus In Medias Res Disney Death Blatant Lies All There in the Script Death by Sex Recycled IN SPACE! Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Put on a Bus More Dakka The Hero Becoming the Mask Stealth Pun The Film of the Book Evil Laugh Get Out! Villain with Good Publicity Spanner in the Works Bloody Hilarious Extremely Short Timespan Arc Words Adorkable Daddy's Girl Oh, Crap! Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Villainous Breakdown Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Determinator Novelization Italian Films Posthumous Character Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Throwing Your Sword Always Works Plot Hole Evil Brit Camp Gay N-Word Privileges Faux Affably Evil Russian Films Nice Guy Parental Incest Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience There Is No Kill Like Overkill Storming the Castle Rule of Cool Unreliable Narrator Fish out of Water Immune to Bullets It Can Think Accidental Misnaming Karma Houdini Horror Films Central Theme Arch-Enemy