Tropescilloscope: Damsel in Distress

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

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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