History Main / DamselFightAndFlightResponse

* A GenderFlip happens in [[TheFilmOfTheBook the movie]] ''{{Misery}}''.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "TheDoverBoys," where DistressedDamsel [[UncannyValleyGirl Dora]] beats [[DastardlyWhiplash Dan Backslide]] to a pulp [[OffhandBackhand while calling for the Dover Boys to save her.]] Before long, [[PityTheKidnapper both of them are begging to be saved from each other]].

* When Olive Oyl is held captive by a gang of cowboys, she manages to hit the leader on the head...and keeps hitting him while hystairically crying for {{Popeye}}. When Popeye finishes beating up the rest of the gang and comes for her, he has to tell Olive to calm down or she'll end up killing the boss.

A girl got cornered by the villain, he is about to kill her, and there is no escape. Suddenly she catches him off-guard and smacks him in the head with a heavy object. He will collapse to the ground and she will run to the door. Somehow, despite the fact that realistically he should have at least a minor concussion, he would recover quickly enough to catch her just before she would reach the door.

* ''RunawayJury'': Marlee hit the guy twice and, when he still catches her before she manages to escape, she stabbed his leg with a piece of wood.
* Best subversion ever: the kidnapping scene from ''RushHour'' in which the girl manages to frustrate and bruise much of the abduction team before they finally subdue her and stuff her into a van.

* Another severe subversion occurs in the ending of ''DeathProof''. [[spoiler: The girls go back to finish the job.]]

!!Examples:

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Mary Jane does this to the Chameleon in a {{Spider-Man}} comic, but subverted in that she does keep hitting him.
** Calie Liddell, in ''[[GrimmFairyTales Return to Wonderland]] #3,'' does much the same thing to the Mad Hatter, though her beating goes much farther. She even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it.

[[folder: Comic Strips ]]

* Turned on its head and spit-roasted in ''Film/LastActionHero'': while invading Jack Slater's house, one of the bad guys takes Slater's daughter Whitney into another room to rough her up. Unfortunately for them, she's [[ActionGirl daddy's little ass-kicker]], and proceeds to brutalize the poor {{Mook}} all while still screaming at the top of her lungs. It's either a case of her trying to fool the others into thinking ''she'' was on the receiving end of the sounds of violence, or a case of the BadBadActing that seems to fuel the cliche-driven [[ShowWithinAShow Jack Slater movie franchise]].

* Subverted in the remake of ''Film/HouseOfWax''. [[spoiler: The heroine gets a hold of a baseball bat and smacks one of the killers down. It's set up to look like she'll run off like pretty much every other horror movie. But after a pause she continues to hit him until he dies. And then some.]]

* Mary Jane does this to the Chameleon in a Spider Man comic, but subverted in that she does keep hitting him.
** Calie Liddell, in ''Return to Wonderland #3,'' does much the same thing to the Mad Hatter, though her beating goes much farther. She even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it.

A girl got cornered by the villain, he is about to kill her, and there is no escape. Suddenly she catches him off-guard and smacks him in the head with a heavy object. He will collapse to the ground and she will run to the door. Somehow, despite the fact that realistically he should have at least a minor concussion, he would recover quickly enough to catch her just before she would reach the door.

Of course it would never occur to her to [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown continue hitting him while he is down]] to make sure he would not recover.

Similar to OnceIsNotEnough except that the villain is only unstoppable to women. To men he might be just a Mook.

[[AC:Comic Books]]
* Mary Jane does this to the Chameleon in a Spider Man comic, but subverted in that she does keep hitting him.

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:Live Action Television]]

[[AC:Manga and Anime]]

[[AC:Web Original]]

[[AC:Western Animation]]

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* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "TheDoverBoys," where DistressedDamsel [[UncannyValleyGirl Dora]] beats [[DastardlyWhiplash Dan Backslide]] to a pulp [[OffhandBackhand while calling for the Dover Boys to save her.]] Before long, [[PityTheKidnapper Dan Backslide is shouting for the Dover Boys to save]] ''[[PityTheKidnapper him.]]''

* An especially egregious instance is the first time Miaka gets cornered alone in ''Manga/FushigiYugi''. When it dawns on her that she's in another world, away from any legal consequences for hooliganism, she proceeds to singlehandedly mop the floor with an entire street gang and nearly run away… Until one of them reaches up from the ground to [[StandardFemaleGrabArea grab her ankle, paralyzing her]]. From that point on, she's Tamahome's DamselInDistress par excellence.

* Best subversion ever: the kidnapping scene from RushHour in which the girl manages to frustrate and bruise much of the abduction team before they finally subdue her and stuff her into a van.
* Another severe subversion occurs in the ending of DeathProof. [[spoiler: The girls go back to finish the job.]]

* Subverted in the remake of ''HouseOfWax''. [[spoiler: The heroine gets a hold of a baseball bat and smacks one of the killers down. It's set up to look like she'll run off like pretty much every other horror movie. But after a pause she continues to hit him until he dies. And then some.]]

* Happened to Lex's girlfriend in season 2 of {{Smallville}}.
* There's a ''CriminalMinds'' episode where a DistressedDamsel, in the last third or quarter, decides to fight back against a pair of SiblingsInCrime when she gets ahold of a knife. She manages to stab one repeatedly, then after a little baiting, waits for the other one in a tree, pouncing on him when he gets close, stabbing him twice in the back... then getting off of him and running away, with his bow and already pissed off, no less. Lucky for her the FBI arrived JustInTime.

* An especially egregious instance is the first time Miaka gets cornered alone in ''FushigiYugi''. When it dawns on her that she's in another world, away from any legal consequences for hooliganism, she proceeds to singlehandedly mop the floor with an entire street gang and nearly run away… Until one of them reaches up from the ground to [[StandardFemaleGrabArea grab her ankle, paralyzing her]]. From that point on, she's Tamahome's DamselInDistress par excellence.

* Parodied in the ''MerrieMelodies'' short "TheDoverBoys," where DistressedDamsel [[UncannyValleyGirl Dora]] beats [[DastardlyWhiplash Dan Backslide]] to a pulp [[OffhandBackhand while calling for the Dover Boys to save her.]] Before long, [[PityTheKidnapper Dan Backslide is shouting for the Dover Boys to save]] ''[[PityTheKidnapper him.]]''

** Calie Liddell, in ''Return to Wonderland #3,'' does much the same thing to the Mad Hatter, though her beating goes much farther.

* Spoofed in the ''MerrieMelodies'' short "TheDoverBoys." in which the distressed damsel seriously beats up the villain ''while'' calling for help. Eventually, [[PityTheKidnapper it's the bad guy who is shouting for help.]]

* Spoofed in the ''MerrieMelodies'' short "TheDoverBoys." in which the distressed damsel seriously beats up the villain ''while'' calling for help. Eventually, it's the bad guy who is shouting for help.

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* A ''gender reversal'' happens in [[TheFilmOfTheBook the movie]] ''Misery''.

* Happened to Lex's girlfriend in season 2 of {{Smallville}}.

* ''Runaway Jury'': Marlee hit the guy twice and, when he still catches her before she manages to escape, she stabbed his leg with a piece of wood.

* Spoofed in the ''MerrieMelodies'' short "TheDoverBoys." in which the distressed damsel seriously beats up the villain ''while'' calling for help. Eventually, it's the bad guy who is shouting for help.

* Happened to Lex girlfriend in season 2 of {{Smallville}}.

* Spoofed in the ''LooneyTunes'' short "The Dover Boys", in which the distressed damsel seriously beats up the villain ''while'' calling for help. Eventually, it's the bad guy who is shouting for help.