History Main / DamselScrappy

* Willie Scott (Creator/KateCapshaw) in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom.'' She's almost always crying and whining about ''something'' whenever she's onscreen, and contributes very little to the plot besides getting kidnapped and being Indy's [[GirlOfTheWeek obligatory love interest]].

* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' has Saori Kido, who has to be saved by the main characters about five times in the original manga, four other times in the movies, twice in the spin-off anime, and once in the manga sequel. Of course, this gets her bashed six ways to Sunday by many fans.

* Princess Peach in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series has this reputation, in spite of the fact that she [[VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach became the heroine of her own game]] (although her badass qualifications in that game are debatable). Although she does occasionally [[TookALevelInBadass Take a Level in Badass]], it's heavily undermined by the vast majority of games where she plays the DamselInDistress trope completely straight, [[FridgeLogic which brings the question of why she is utterly incompetent in defending herself in most of the main games.]]

** Mercifully, the backlash toward this got so bad that a course correction transpires in the ''Re:Mind'' DLC, where Kairi is [[spoiler: shown to be as strong as Xemnas which forces him to drain her energy ''before'' kidnapping her, and after Sora resurrects her, she fights Xehanort alongside him as, by player's choice, either a party member or [[PromotedToPlayable the playable character.]]]] As a result, public opinion on Kairi has shifted back toward the positive side.

* One of the most annoying is Sharmell Sullivan, 1991 Miss Black America and the wife (both [[{{Kayfabe}} on-screen]] and [[RealitySubtext off]]) of former Wrestling/{{WCW}} great Wrestling/BookerT. Beginning in 2005, Sharmell accompanied Booker to all his matches dressed "beauty queen" style in a fashionable gown and tiara, and sometimes petticoats as well. Her only purpose when she and Booker were {{face}}s seemed to be getting menaced by her husband's {{heel}} opponents (including Wrestling/KurtAngle, who notoriously [[DudeNotFunny threatened to rape her]]). While Sharmell was capable of giving some of the weaker villains a good slap across the face from time to time, for the most part she was reduced to shrieking "BOOK-ERRR!" until her husband could come in to save her. After the pair's FaceHeelTurn (and especially after Booker became "King Booker"), Sharmell became more of a FauxActionGirl (with a bit of the AlphaBitch thrown in). At the 2006 ''[=WrestleMania=]'' she even joined Booker in a handicap match against The Wrestling/{{Boogeyman}} - but the pair lost when Boogey grabbed Sharmell and shoved a handful of worms down her throat!

** Miko of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime''. [[AesopAmnesia No matter how many times she is told by her friends]] not to sneak off to see the titular robots fight and get caught in the crossfire, [[TooDumbToLive she sneaks off anyway]], has to get rescued, and in some cases nearly kills her friends. After doing so, she can be counted on to ''laugh'' about how ''awesome'' it all was even as the Autobots are trying to make her understand that nearly getting people killed or causing important missions to fail is in fact not a good thing. Being merely TooDumbToLive would be bad enough, but knowing and not caring because your amusement is more important... she makes people say "[[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers I guess Daniel Witwicky wasn't all bad]]..." Also, she's another one the creators love far more than the viewers, so we get a ''lot'' of screentime devoted to someone whose "wacky antics" fall squarely into DudeNotFunny.[[note]]''Greatly'' improved in season two. She's gone from underfoot and proud of it to actually helpful, ''caring'' when people almost get killed, and ''not being the most common cause of people almost getting killed.'' All while not becoming unrecognizable. The arc with Bulkhead's injury and recovery have been especially good for her, and prove that ''anyone'' can be RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap. Then on season 3 [[spoiler: she goes one on one with Starscream with the Apex Armor. And Win!]][[/note]]

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
** Princess Charlotte is considered this in a lot of circles, primarily because she is a MealTicket for main antagonist Griffith and is pretty much the NaiveEverygirl of the series.
** Post-Eclipse Casca manages to [[AvertedTrope avoid]] this within the greater fanbase for her status as a major and sympathetic [[TheWoobie woobie]], which prompts many fans to rush to her defense by [[RealWomenDontWearDresses explaining]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation precisely]] [[RapeLeadsToInsanity why Casca]] [[HystericalWoman acts the way she does]] whenever someone tries to pull TheScrappy status on her.
* ''Manga/BlackButler'': One of the reasons for Elizabeth's scrappy status. In the manga [[spoiler:this is eventually subverted, as Elizabeth is actually a LittleMissBadass more than capable of defending herself who only acts this way [[NoGuyWantsAnAmazon because she fears Ciel may reject her for being "unfeminine."]]]]

* Miaka from ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'', despite being the series protagonist, has come in for some fan hate for the numerous times she [[MartyrWithoutACause pointlessly]] rushes headfirst into dangerous situations, in some cases even ''actively sabotaging'' her protectors or [[PoorCommunicationKills not telling them important information]], then getting in trouble and needing them to come save her anyway.
* One of the reasons why Akane Tendō from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' is considered by some to be a BaseBreakingCharacter is the fact that, sometimes, she comes off as one of these. It's not that she gets kidnapped a lot (in fact, Ranma Saotome himself is actually kidnapped more frequently than she is), but she does get into trouble frequently, often because of her own issues (temper tantrums, pride and blind distrust of Ranma/trust of her enemies, mainly), and usually ends up contributing nothing positive to the experience. The very earliest examples of this are the [[MartialArtsAndCrafts Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics and Martial Arts Figure Skating]] stories.

** Molly from the Creator/DiC English dub of . Her horrible accent, combined with how she gets attacked by the MonsterOfTheWeek in almost every episode of the first season, makes her much more annoying than her original character.
** Chibiusa/Rini too. Over half of the MonsterOfTheWeek plots in the second season are kicked off by her running off and getting herself into trouble. You'd think the girl would catch on after it happens so many times but no. The villains of that season have the easiest job in the world - they don't have to try and find her at all, they just need to wait for her to run off and inevitably reveal herself which happens every time. Again, the DIC dub made her even less tolerable with a grating voice and editing out scenes the moral guardians would object to, usually of Usagi punishing Chibiusa. Rini came off as an utter KarmaHoudini sometimes.
* ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' has Saori Kido who to be saved by the main characters about five times in the original manga, four other times in the movies, twice in the spin-off anime, and once in the manga sequel. Of course this gets her bashed six ways from Sunday by many fans.
* ''Manga/YuGiOh'': Also invoked in the early manga somewhat with Anzu. She is first held hostage by a restaurant owner and then nearly assaulted by a classmate. Yami Yugi rescues her both times and she promptly develops a crush on him. Then she herself invokes the trope, trying to put herself in danger in one chapter to make him appear. She isn't usually held hostage any more than anyone else in Yugi's immediate circle of friends, though, and given that she gives friendship speeches much less than she does in the anime, the extent of the scrappy-ness is debateable.

* ComicBook/{{Empowered}} has a very sturdy reputation as this in-universe, as a "[[ButtMonkey D-list superchica prone to capture and bondage]]", despite the fact that when the villains she faces upgrade from obnoxious, but not very harmful pervs to actual threats to the safety of her friends and/or the world, she is [[TheHero one of the most effective and powerful]] heroes (and a good battlefield leader even), [[TookALevelInBadass especially in the later stories]]. She is growing increasingly effective against the pervs too. It was finally revealed that she let the harmless pervs tie her up because [[spoiler:they had a tendency to forget she was there and start gossiping about more powerful villains' secrets.]] Later turns out to be an Enforced Trope in that she was ''cursed'' [[spoiler: by Sistah Spooky]] so that villains feel compelled to try and hostage her and what's worse, the caster actually ''felt remorse'' for the curse and tried undoing it to no avail.
* Franco-Belgian comic book ''Kid Paddle'' and its spin-off ''Game Over'' give us the [[EveryOneCallsHimBarkeep Princess]], a video-game DamselInDistress who always has to be rescued by her PintSizedPowerhouse barbarian boyfriend. The Princess is so stupid and common sense-lacking that most of the time, she ends up getting herself and/or the [[EveryOneCallsHimBarkeep Little Barbarian]] killed, generally in a [[EpicFail particularly]] [[TooDumbToLive stupid way]]. Good thing NegativeContinuity is in full effect, as they are video-game characters...

** This is the characteristic once strongly associated with ComicBook/LoisLane. In the 1940's, she needed to be rescued a lot (usually while pursuing a news story), but was fairly intelligent and could sometimes get herself out of scrapes by kicking ass and taking names. Once the 50's came around, though, she was constantly putting herself in danger for no reason, and her main goal in life in her own book ''Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane'' was to trick Superman into marrying her. In the early 70's she became a much more well-rounded and developed character, who just needs a little help against super powered aggressors from time to time, and she was written to be more assertive in her ''ComicBook/SupermanFamily'''s solo stories. This included Lois mastering a Kryptonian form of martial arts named "Klurkor."
** Being associated with this trope is probably what spurred John Byrne, in his ComicBook/PostCrisis retelling of Superman's origin, to make it very, very obvious that Lois was now a borderline ActionGirl. This eventually led to an Inversion immediately after her wedding to Clark [[spoiler: when he was kidnapped after temporarily losing his powers]]. Lois took her Army brat background to extremes, becoming a G.I. Jane in order to come to the rescue.
** It was played for laughs in ''ComicBook/Supergirl2005 #60'', which showed there are quite a few guys like this in Metropolis; they will literally jump off of buildings so ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} has to catch and rescue them (and they often ask for her phone number afterward).
* Franchise/MarvelUniverse character Rick Jones has been this from his first appearance, which annoyed even [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] during his grey, intelligent phases. This was lampshaded by Rick himself in one issue where he managed to beat his captor and escape on his own.

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* Olive Oyl from ''ComicStrip/{{Popeye}}''. Much more so in the cartoons, ''especially'' the Famous/Paramount Studios ones.
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* Parker from ''Film/{{Frozen 2010}}''. Audiences blamed her for getting herself, her boyfriend and his best friend all stuck on a skilift during a snowstorm, [[spoiler: she survives the ordeal and has the massive luck of finding a road where she could be rescued]].

* Even Bond girls from the Film/JamesBond movies are not immune, despite trying to help more than once. Such as [[Film/AViewToAKill Stacy Sutton]]... seriously woman, ''Creator/ChristopherWalken'' was able to [[WhatAnIdiot sneak up]] [[TooDumbToLive on you]] in a ''zeppelin''. And the [[CuteButCacophonic screeching]]...

* ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' (2004) recreates the style of a 1930s PulpMagazine story - right down to putting Gwyneth Paltrow in one of these roles as the PluckyGirl Reporter.

** Mary Jane Watson. Three movies. Three times kidnapped to be used as bait to lure Spidey out. Yawn. It's particularly egregious in the first movie; Spidey rescued her ''three times'' in it alone.
** {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the third movie novelization by Mary Jane who asks if she has bait stamped across her forehead when she's locked in Venom's falling car. In the sequels, she makes a couple of attempts to become a HeroicBystander. She drops a block of cement on Venom's head as he fights with Spider-Man in the third film and tries to attack Doc Ock from behind in the second film -- but Aunt May had already successfully done the same thing earlier on, [[GenreSavvy and Doc Ock doesn't repeat his mistakes]].

* Nora Grey, the heroine of ''Literature/HushHush''. Over the course of three books, she repeatedly walks into dangerous situations without telling anyone else where she's going (so no hope of a rescue if a plan goes wrong), no weapons of any kind, and usually no actual planned course of action beyond "I'll break into that place and wing it". The author seemed to be trying to channel ''Franchise/NancyDrew'', but failed to give Nora any competency. Really, Nora's stupidity could be summed up near the end of the first book [[spoiler:when she ''willingly'' walks into an empty school and plays into the bad guy's hands, even though (A) she knows she's being lured into a trap, (B) her super-powered, invincible boyfriend is already rescuing the hostage being used as bait for Nora, and (C) the bad guy doesn't even know said boyfriend is on the case, meaning that if Nora had stayed put, the entire climax probably would never have happened. And then, when she's in the school, she gives up and says that she hopes her boyfriend will rescue her. Even though ''he has no idea she is inside'' because ''he told her to wait outside for him'']].
* Clio Marsden starts out like this in E.E. "Doc" Smith's ''Triplanetary'' (the first of the Literature/{{Lensman}} novels), but gets a lot better as the book goes on. In her case, the threats ("a research upon sex") are anything but vague.[[note]]Except that her captor is, unbeknownst to her, an alien to whom sex is an entirely foreign concept; they reproduce by binary fission. Which doesn't mean there's no chance he might want to ''watch'' (for purely scientific reasons) while one of his human subordinates "performs the experiments," which isn't a whole lot better from her point of view.[[/note]]

* Clary Fray from ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'' mostly. Indeed, [[ExtremeDoormat Simon]] would be leading a happily mundane life were it not for his determination to protect her even though she just [[LoveMartyr sees him as a friend]]. [[DeathSeeker Jace]] could be argued as being a male version of this trope as well, since a great deal of effort on the part of Clary, Alec, Isabelle, Magnus, the Lightwoods, and others centers on saving him from some life-threatening situation that could have been avoided were it not for his nasty independent streak.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'': Bella Swan pretty much epitomizes this trope, even commenting in her own narrative that "I guess my brain will never work right. At least I'm pretty." Add in the fact that she can't seem to get out of ''any'' scrape without the intervention of a male, you've got one of the most textbook examples of this trope EVER. Alice Cullen just sums it up: [[LampshadeHanging "I have never seen anyone more prone to life-threatening idiocy."]]

* Determinedly invoked by Millie in ''[[Literature/{{Xanth}} Castle Roogna]]''. She repeatedly gets kidnapped or attacked, and never does anything to defend herself other than by kicking (not kicking the assailant, mind you, just kicking in the air) and screaming. She seems to believe that's how she ''should'' act and noone can convince her otherwise.

** Kimberly Bauer, former {{Trope Namer|s}}, has an annoying habit of getting TrappedByMountainLions, wandering around [[VaporWear bra-less]] in wifebeaters around potential rapists, and doing everything in her power to anger men with guns. Kim is sometimes known as "Bathroom-Break Bauer", due to a nearly-unbroken string of kidnappings, confinements and hostage-takings, which make it possible to take a bathroom break whenever she's on screen without missing anything truly important. The writers have admitted, in essence, that she can't be killed off because Jack has already lost [[spoiler:Teri, his wife]] and it would destroy him. Jack also says this much late in Season 7, when [[spoiler:the only way to save his life puts Kim at risk of losing hers]].
** [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=070121 This]] ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' strip shows the Damsel Scrappy in action, in the context of a ''24'' parody.

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': Colonel Tigh's wife Ellen in this remake. The woman was essentially a [[TheMillstone walking plot complication]]. They eventually had to [[spoiler: put her down]] because of it.
* ''Series/BeverlyHills90210'': Updated this trope for the teen soap/drama in the form of rich girl Kelly Taylor. Just read her Wikipedia article. Then again, maybe they're right: [[TheChewToy being stalked, burned, brainwashed, raped, addicted to cocaine and shot]] does enable one to become a stronger person.

* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': Susan Mayer (Creator/TeriHatcher). Hilariously, Hatcher also played Lois Lane in the '90s Superman drama ''Series/LoisAndClark''.

** There is a common misconception among media commentators and some post-2005-only fans that every female companion before 1989 was nothing but helpless shoulder-candy for villains. This is [[DeadUnicornTrope completely wrong]], and the few companions who genuinely did approach that tend not to be very popular.
** Susan is a ScreamingWoman well known for twisting her ankle, freaking out hysterically, and (in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E8TheReignOfTerror one story]]) refusing Barbara's plan of escape from a Revolutionary France DeathRow because she's scared of the rats in the cell. She had occasional stories where she was useful ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E7TheSensorites The Sensorites]]") but most of these were not followed up on. Amusingly, the actress had been cast to be a telepathic [[ActionGirl martial artist]] and was instead given a character who spent all her time being captured, which contributed to her decision to quit.
** A rare male example is Harry Sullivan, who tended to catch the IdiotBall a lot and [[DistressedDude get himself and the Doctor captured]], with even the Doctor picking up on it and complaining. His character had been written in as compliment to the elderly NonActionGuy the Fourth Doctor had originally been pitched as, before the role was cast with a huge, highly energetic and physically fit forty-year-old who could [[MinoredInAsskicking comfortably do action]]. The result of this is that writers were [[CastSpeciation not quite sure what he (or his co-companion Sarah Jane) was supposed to be for]] other than to catch the DistressBall, but Sarah Jane had the benefit of being a previously established character and having writing that portrayed her as consistently sympathetic and intelligent, whereas Harry would happily plough into obvious traps and fail to notice things the Doctor pointed out to him thirty seconds ago. Both the Doctor and Sarah moan at him about this in various scenes.
** Tegan--though, as a woman of normal intelligence stuck on the TARDIS with three alien super-geniuses (The Doctor, Nyssa, and Adric/Turlough), she was Damsel Scrappy By Default.
** Peri is the single most notorious example. Her first appearance in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E5PlanetOfFire Planet of Fire]]" had her being very self-possessed and one of only two characters ever to NoSell the Master's mind-control abilities, but the rest of her tenure hardly ever had her achieve anything except be an object to be fought over. Due to the DarkerAndEdgier tendencies of the era, she came in for an unprecedented and uncharacteristic amount of [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty explicitly sexualised menace]] from villains, which came across as particularly disturbing given the general [[MsFanservice unusual degree of sexualisation]] in her portrayal and her borderline-abusive relationship with the Doctor. Her brutal (possibly averted) death came across as not so much shocking as the inevitable climax of her character arc.
*** Although she would have been more bearable if not for that fake American accent... Fingernails on chalkboard, anyone?

* ''Series/{{Revenge}}'': Charlotte. People were not fond of her by the end of the series, but she arguably got the most blow back from every revelation Emily reveals.
* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': ''Charlie''. What were the creators thinking making her the main protagonist? She needed to be rescued in "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E4ThePlagueDogs The Plague Dogs]]". Taken UpToEleven in "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E5SoulTrain Soul Train]]". There is something seriously wrong if '''''Danny''''' has to save your ass from getting choked to death. Fortunately, they've started redeeming her; Spiridakos seems to be a little less wooden now, and the character is really becoming effective with her weapons. It is pretty funny when [[spoiler: General Monroe]] actually saves her life in "[[Recap/RevolutionS1E19ChildrenOfMen Children of Men]]".
* ''Series/RobinHood'': For this BBC show, a number of viewers feel that the replacement for Marian, Kate, fits this. She's pushy, loud and generally useless, where in contrast the previous character in the love interest role was an ActionGirl who at least had the dignity to be right when she was pushy, and was never louder than was needed. And yes, true to the trope, all of Kate's numerous kidnappings were due to her inability to keep up, [[FauxActionGirl defend herself]], or know when to keep her mouth shut.
** In her capacity as a "damsel" scrappy, she's been captured by guards more times in one season than any of the other outlaws have in three. The words: "Where's Kate?" could be a drinking game.
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Lana Lang, for quite a while now. And when they decided to fix it in later seasons [[GodModeSue they went too far in the opposite direction]]. The kid ''can't'' win, really.
* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'':
** Jennifer Keller, though she learned to fight in the final season and part of the Scrappy-ness has to be from her [[ReplacementScrappy replacing]] Carson Beckett.
** Fans are probably also willing to cut her more slack because her actress is associated with a well-liked [[Series/{{Firefly}} former role]]. Or that may paradoxically lead some to ''dislike'' Keller because she's ''not'' Kaylee. Ah, human nature, you never fail to amuse with your delightful contradictions!
** The dislike isn't just because she was useless when not in sickbay -- it was because she was useless outside sickbay ''and'' the writers [[CreatorsPet shoehorning her into as many episodes as possible]] and [[MarySue even having two characters fall in love with her]] so we'd realize we are supposed to love her too, as if they thought they could ''bludgeon'' the audience with her until they surrendered and decided they may as well like her. (The writers have [[WordOfGod admitted to doing this.]]) Didn't work.
* ''Series/StargateUniverse'': Chloe, who was -- like Jennifer Keller on ''Atlantis'' -- the LoveInterest for two different guys. Unlike Keller, however, Chloe had virtually ''no'' useful purpose whatsoever. Luckily, this is averted later in the series when she starts learning some useful skills, and also becomes [[spoiler: temporarily CursedWithAwesome by an alien infection that gives her super powers.]]
* ''Series/{{The Vampire Diaries}}'': Elena Gilbert becomes this later on after she is turned into a vampire (which was polarizing for the fans). She became all whiny and boring, she was still getting kidnapped, attacked or threatened, and still needed to get saved all the time by the Salvatore brothers.

* One of the most annoying was Sharmell Sullivan, 1991 Miss Black America and the wife (both [[{{Kayfabe}} on-screen]] and [[RealitySubtext off]]) of former Wrestling/{{WCW}} great Wrestling/BookerT. Beginning in 2005, Sharmell accompanied Booker to all his matches dressed "beauty queen" style in a fashionable gown and tiara, and sometimes petticoats as well. Her only purpose when she and Booker were {{face}}s seemed to be getting menaced by her husband's {{heel}} opponents (including Wrestling/KurtAngle, who notoriously [[DudeNotFunny threatened to rape her]]). While Sharmell was capable of giving some of the weaker villains a good slap across the face from time to time, for the most part she was reduced to shrieking "BOOK-ERRR!" until her husband could come in to save her. After the pair's FaceHeelTurn (and especially after Booker became "King Booker"), Sharmell became more of a FauxActionGirl (with a bit of the AlphaBitch thrown in). At the 2006 ''[=WrestleMania=]'' she even joined Booker in a handicap match against The Wrestling/{{Boogeyman}} - but the pair lost when Boogey grabbed Sharmell and shoved a handful of worms down her throat!

** Rosa from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', who spends the whole first half of the game in distress, gets this reception from some, even though she makes up for it in the game's second half as the WhiteMagicianGirl. Rosa potentially gets worse by the sequel, ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears the After Years]]'' as she now only exists as a DamselInDistress to give character developments to "Ceodore! Cecil! Kain!" and spends one climax getting dragged around forcefully by [[spoiler:Dark Kain.]]
** Rinoa from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' gets blamed for this, managing to get herself kidnapped ''four'' times through the course of the game, but only on the first instance did her own foolishness get her into the situation. The rest was unfortunate circumstance. The thing that grates most players is how accepting the rest of the cast becomes afterward--at one point, even [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl choosing to save Rinoa]] despite the fact that saving her conflicts with Squall's (the player's) current task as leader. They get mad at you for even considering that the mission may be more important than saving her. It also doesn't help her out that the other two playable females, Quistis and Selphie, are highly-trained military professionals, while Rinoa is an untrained teenage girl (though [[GameBreaker ironically....]]). Also, there's a whole extended chunk of the game during which Squall must literally carry Rinoa on his back, complete with a slower walking speed.
** Minfillia in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' is seen as this by most players due to her not fighting back with her mythril knife when she was captured twice (first by TheEmpire and the second being an Ascian with immense magical strength) and that she also doesn't do anything beyond playing politics with the city-state leaders and telling the player character what to do next.
** Terra in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', though in her case it's more due to CharacterDerailment from her original personality to fit this character type, than due to the number of times she needs to be saved. While she's often victimised and mixed-up in the original, she becomes confident as soon as it becomes clear that Edgar sees her as a person, and more confident still once she regains her memories, and often finds time for teasing Sabin and showing open enjoyment about fighting the Empire. In ''Dissidia'', Kefka's menace takes on an IHaveYouNowMyPretty tone, her personality becomes much more negative and serious, and she is constantly rescued by male characters for their benefit or getting lectured by Cloud ([[FakeMemories of all people]]) about the importance of knowing who you really are. The fact that Terra is the [[TheSmurfettePrinciple only woman]] of Cosmos' Warriors [[{{Chickification}} doesn't make this seem any more classy]]; the remake mitigated this somewhat by altering Terra's dialogue as much as the recordings allowed and adding some other female characters to soften the UnfortunateImplications. In ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015 Dissidia NT]]'', she is as confident as any of the other heroes and gets her MamaBear protectiveness back.

** To make it even worse, she's a pure-blood demon, which is emphasized many times that pure-bloods are far stronger than any human [[spoiler:except Hijikata]]. While she wouldn't be on the level of the rest of the Shinsengumi, training would easily make her very capable of holding her own.
* Kairi from ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' is considered this by people [[NeverLiveItDown even though she only has two moments of real distress]], both of them in the second game (in the first, [[spoiler:the twist is that her heart was inside of Sora all along and not in danger]]). However, the fandom still holds her in scorn for this and many don't even believe this to be a true subversion from the first game, citing the fact that she was still incapable of doing anything until [[spoiler:Sora (temporarily) [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificed himself to get her heart back in her body]]]].
** Perhaps due to Nomura's penchant for [[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren writing characters how the fans see them]], Kairi becomes a more legitimate DamselScrappy in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII Kingdom Hearts III]]''. [[spoiler:Despite being trained to use her Keyblade, Kairi is once again kidnapped and then killed by Xehanort]]. One of the biggest complaints about it is [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter how Kairi’s potential was wasted.]]
* Shana in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'', however, most people preferred her over [[ReplacementScrappy Miranda]], who never got kidnapped or sick but ''still'' turned out to be more annoying.

* Ashley from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4''. You're forced to save her multiple times throughout the game and with the bonus of ArtificialStupidity you're forced to go back for her through monster hordes a lot. This is only made worse by her repetitive, irritating cries for help. [[MemeticMutation LEOOOOOOOOON! HELP!]]

* Princess Shine starts out as one of these in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap but becomes less so]] [[CharacterDevelopment as we get to know her better]]. [[LittleMissBadass Then we find out she has special powers that allow her to use a super-advanced]] HumongousMecha.

* In ''Series/FlandersCompany'' episode "Pegasus Fantasy", that's how LawyerFriendlyCameo Seiya sees Saori Kido from ''Manga/SaintSeiya''. It's part of the reason for his FaceHeelTurn (the other part being that he's fed up with the [[HomoeroticSubtext yaoi innuendos]] of his teammates).

'''Seiya:''' Miss is supposed to be the incarnation of a warrior goddess, but as soon as she goes to the Wallmart to take advantage of discounts for the Pig Feast, slam! Two mooks drop on her, and she can't even send them flying. And of course, who has to climb 6000 steps and beat up 142 assholes to get her back? Muggins here! And in half a day, to boot, otherwise Miss could end up dead cold.

* Max Gibson in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' is often considered this by her detractors. This tendency is best displayed in the episode "Final Cut", where she ignores Terry's instructions and snoops around for clues, leading to her getting attacked by an assassin. Terry has to leave his post protecting the assassin's target to rescue her, which results in the target getting mindwiped with a hidden bomb ready to explode thanks to his DeadMansSwitch.
* Julie Yamamoto from ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce''. As one fan put it, 'Julie had a good 30 minutes to actually do something other than 'I smile, accept Ben, and become a damsel in distress'. Later episodes had her RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap however, by giving her CharacterDevelopment and a mean to fight through Ship. She actually has a quite limited amount of actual DamselInDistress situation in the whole franchise compared to other LoveInterests: over the course of five seasons, she only got captured three times. Really, this is more a case of WhatMeasureIsANonBadass than anything else.
* Aelita from ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', big time. She was this for the first two seasons due to the fact that she was completely useless in battle and was mostly escorted safely to deactivate towers while the others fended off attacking monsters to protect her. In fact, it's very easy to make a drinking game out of how many times she gets endangered in the series as a whole. While she does TakeALevelInBadass in the third season via Energy Fields, she [[DoomMagnet still manages to get in a lot of trouble]] due to either: A) The Scyphozoa, or B) XANA-William (Though it is justifiable in both cases, given that the Scyphozoa is NighInvulnerable and XANA-William is basically a [[OneManArmy tank]]) and requires rescuing from the other warriors.

* Pepper Potts in ''WesternAnimation/IronManArmoredAdventures'' has two purposes for her existence: help Tony out on occasion and get captured and rescued constantly even in situations she should be able to escape from on her own. Her behavior is consistently damsel-like despite her aspirations to be a kick-ass S.H.I.E.L.D. agent -- at one point she's in the middle of an abandoned warehouse where two different factions of Chinese assassins are fighting and she sits there waiting to be rescued instead of getting away from the fighting. [[FauxActionGirl Yeah, real S.H.I.E.L.D. material.]] She begins to grow out of this in season 2 [[spoiler:after using the Stealth armor, and eventually getting one of her own, making her a bona fide ActionGirl.]]

* Daphne Blake from ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' became known for falling into traps, being kidnapped by the villain, or angering the villain in some way, leading to the nickname "Danger-prone Daphne" in the original ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' series. However, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic did call this reputation into question in his review of the first live action movie, pointing out that Scooby and Shaggy (and even Scrappy) seemed to actually get into more danger than Daphne ever did and saying her real major issue was that she never really did much of anything, at least in the original show.
** The aforementioned live-action film played with the concept and had Daphne [[{{Xenafication}} pick up martial arts skills]] [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap and become generally more useful]] after the gang broke up as a direct result of being called out for being the DamselInDistress. In virtually all ''Scooby Doo'' series and films since then, Daphne has been portrayed as a {{MacGyver|ing}} with her makeup kit and accessories. Her martial-arts skills from the live action film carry over to the animated film ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheSamuraiSword'', where she arguably has a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome when she fights in the arena.

** Daphne [[TookALevelInBadass became more competent well before the live-action movie]]. In the 1980s ''Scooby-Doo'' series when the group was reduced to just her, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy, she became the leader of the group. That also was true in the ''13 Ghosts Of Scooby Doo'' series, where she was the TeamMom. Unfortunately, she quickly lost accumulated good will with the horrendous character design and jumpsuit she had in that series.
* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'':
** Daisy.
** Frieda. Her role in the cartoon was downplayed after giving Virgil a guy best friend instead of letting her be the best friend. She was replaced by Richie Foley, who is basically her except male and blonde - according to WordOfGod, he's also gay. On the other hand, Richie ''also'' falls into this category in the sense that he's always getting kidnapped and his help is mostly ineffectual except for a few episodes. His ineffectualness begins in episode 1 when he tries to protect Frieda from Hotstreak and gets his shirt burned to a cinder, and he is first kidnapped in the episode "Sons of the Fathers" by Ebon. After that, he becomes a mind-slave twice and is kidnapped at least three more times. That, and the fact that Richie gets super powers of his own later on, so he's actually able to help out more in combat and rescues Virgil a few times.

*** [[EntitledBastard Sentinel Prime]] is an unusual male (not to mention giant alien robot) example. Most of his time onscreen involves him getting into some scrape or another, usually thanks to his massive stupidity, and having the [[BeingGoodSucks long-suffering Optimus]] get him out. It seems the only thing that keeps Optimus from abandoning him is a sense of guilt about their shared past and perhaps some level of fondness for his old Academy-mate.
*** Mix of all of the above, and the hope that Sentinel gets it through his thick head that his arrogance is a Bad Thing. But StatusQuoIsGod and he always rubber bands back to being a jackass by his next appearance. Even Jazz, who has long tolerated (or ignored) it as his second in command, finally gives up and more or less defects to Prime's crew.

* Mokuba Kaiba from ''Anime/YuGiOh'', who gets into trouble precisely ''seven'' times in the series. However, he's not all that hated by fans since he's a kid, which makes it a bit more understandable as to why fully grown people are often managing to kidnap him, and often [[WebVideo/YugiohTheAbridgedSeries more amusement than annoyance is found at the fact that he's in trouble so often]]. And to his credit, in one memorable situation, he actually manages to ''break himself out'', finds Yugi and Kaiba with a ''helicopter'', and takes them to where Yugi's friends were being held captive.
** Also invoked in the early manga somewhat with Anzu. She is first held hostage by a restaurant owner and then nearly assaulted by a classmate. Yami Yugi rescues her both times and she promptly develops a crush on him. Then she herself invokes the trope, trying to put herself in danger in one chapter to make him appear. She isn't usually held hostage any more than anyone else in Yugi's immediate circle of friends, though, and given that she gives friendship speeches much less than she does in the anime, the extent of the scrappy-ness is debateable.

** Rosa from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', who spends the whole first half of the game in distress, gets this reception from some, even though she makes up for it in the game's second half as the WhiteMagicianGirl. Rosa potentially gets worse by the sequel, ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears the After Years]]'' as she now only exists as a DamselInDistress to give character developments to "Ceodore! Cecil! Kain!" and spends one climax getting dragged around forcefully by [[spoiler: Dark Kain.]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': Sakura Matou fits this trope pretty well. She has the biggest {{Hatedom}} of the cast and she's one of the least commercial characters in the series along with [[BigBadWannabe Shinji]] and [[ObviouslyEvil Zouken]], despite the fact that she's one of the main heroines. [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass It's not too hard to understand why]]: [[LadyOfWar Saber]] and [[{{Tsundere}} Rin]] get to kick plenty of ass in and outside of their respective routes, not to mention that both get a chance to show and develop their characters within the three routes, making their chemistry with [[{{Protagonist}} Shirou]] feel organic and well paced. As for Sakura, she has very little screen time outside her route, no relevance to the plot in the other two, and little characterization to speak of until ''Heaven's Feel''. Within her route, [[TheHero Shirou]] spends most of her route [[spoiler:sacrificing everything, from ideals to his body]] to save her, while she doesn't (and can't) do much to help him [[spoiler:given she's an ApocalypseMaiden]] and [[spoiler:she's, albeit unintentionally, responsible for [[PlayerPunch Saber getting corrupted and getting mercy killed by Shirou]]]], which does nothing to buy her favors. [[BreakTheCutie Justified]] or not, people usually don't like characters who don't contribute as much as the others or don't have many character traits outside of being [[TheWoobie sympathetic]].
[[/folder]]

* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic summed this trope up in his [[http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/30723-top-11-dumbasses-in-distress "Top 11 Dumbasses in Distress"]] video: that the DamselInDistress and/or DistressedDude is an old trope [[TropesAreNotBad that isn't inherently bad at all]], unless it's a character the audience is annoyed with rather than cares about.

* This is the characteristic once strongly associated with ComicBook/LoisLane. Ironically, it can be argued that Lois' role as a DamselInDistress was far more important to the Franchise/{{Superman}} plot than her role as a love interest, DependingOnTheWriter. In the 1940's, she did need to be rescued a lot (usually while pursuing a news story), but was fairly intelligent and could sometimes get herself out of scrapes by kicking ass and taking names. Once the 50's, 60's and early 70's came around though... Yeesh. She was an empty headed twerp who was constantly putting herself in danger for no reason, and whose sole goal in life was to trick Superman into marrying her. She took TooDumbToLive to uncharted levels. In recent comics and other media she's a much more well rounded and developed character, who is extremely competent and able to take care of herself. She still needs to be rescued sometimes, and the trope may pop up occasionally, but for the most part she's a very independent, intrepid and intelligent reporter who just needs a little help against super powered aggressors from time to time.
** [[TheSixties The sixties-era]] book ''Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane'' seemed dedicated to making sure every single reader hated poor Lois. If you Google around, you'll find scans of multiple letters columns where readers asked for Superman to spank Lois (which would in fact occur, though in the context of SuperDickery). A few may have had other motives than scrappyhood, though.
** Even when there's neither any SuperVillain's ill will nor [[GoingForTheBigScoop a big scoop]] one jump away from her window, she can be trusted to find ''something'' dangerous. [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&catid=33:weird-science-index&id=448:be-smarter-than-the-bed-lois Letters on the label]] are bigger than her eyes, so... they just don't fit in, right?
** Starting late in TheSeventies comics, Lois was written to be more assertive to avert this trope, and needed rescuing much less often, including in her solo stories in ''The Superman Family.'' This included Lois having mastered a Kryptonian form of martial arts named "klurkor."

* Played for laughs in pre-ComicBook/New52 ''Supergirl #60'', which showed there are quite a few guys like this in Metropolis; they will literally jump off of buildings so Supergirl has to catch and rescue them (and they often ask ask for her phone number afterward).
* Rick Jones has been this from his first appearance, which annoyed even [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk the Hulk]] during his grey, intelligent phases. This was lampshaded by Rick himself in one issue where he managed to beat his captor and escape on his own.
* The ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'' version of Mary Jane fits this so well that even Spidey notices in-universe, breaking up with her because [[TooDumbToLive he can't trust her to handle herself intelligently]] [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies when a supervillain is wrecking up the place]]. Unusually, she takes this as a spur for CharacterDevelopment and resolves to [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap do better in the future]].

* Kaede Sakura from ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}''. [[spoiler:It's all just an act.]]

** Mifillia in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' is seen as this by most players due to her not fighting back with her mythril knife when she was captured twice (first by TheEmpire and the second being an Ascian with immense magical strength) and that she also doesn't do anything beyond playing politics with the city-state leaders and telling the player character what to do next.

*** Colette Brunel. Protecting her is the entire point of the game since she's TheChosenOne, and it becomes a major plot point at the end when she's kidnapped (although it can potentially be anyone) by the BigBad. Fans especially dislike it because early on, Colette is granted angel powers, which includes SuperStrength, SuperSenses, [[PowerGivesYouWings wings]] and [[LightEmUp light-based techniques]], yet Colette getting kidnapped or sick takes up a large chunk of the game, and she often hands over the decision-making to [[TheUnchosenOne Lloyd]].

* Kairi from ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' is considered this by people [[NeverLiveItDown even though she only has two moments of real distress]], both of them in the second game (in the first, [[spoiler: the twist is that her heart was inside of Sora all along and not in danger]]). Yet the fandom still holds her in scorn for this and many don't even understand the subversion from the first game, thinking she was "in a coma" and thus in distress even then.
** Perhaps due to Nomra's penchant for [[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren writing characters how the fans see them]], Kairi becomes a more legitimate DamselScrappy in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII Kingdom Hearts III]]''. [[spoiler:Despite being trained to use her Keyblade, Kairi is once again kidnapped and then killed by Xehanort]]. One of the biggest complaints about it is [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter how Kairi’s potential was wasted.]]

** In [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII the third game]], [[spoiler:despite being trained to use her Keyblade, Kairi is once again kidnapped and then killed by Xehanort]]. One of the biggest complaints about it is how Kairi’s potential was wasted.

** In [[VideoGame/KingdomHearts3 the third game]], [[spoiler: despite being trained to use her Keyblade, Kairi is once again kidnapped and then killed by Xehanort]]. One of the biggest complaints about it is how Kairi’s potential was wasted.

** In the third game, [[spoiler: despite being trained to use her Keyblade, Kairi is once again kidnapped and then killed by Xehanort]]. One of the biggest complaints about KH3 is how Kairi’s potential was wasted.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': Sakura Matou fits this trope pretty well. She has the biggest {{Hatedom}} of the cast and she's one of the least commercial characters in the series along with [[BigBadWannabe Shinji]] and [[ObviouslyEvil Zouken]], despite the fact that she's one of the main heroines. [[WhatMeasureIsANonBadass It's not too hard to understand why]]: [[LadyOfWar Saber]] and [[{{Tsundere}} Rin]] get to kick plenty of ass in and outside their respective routes. As for Sakura, she has very little screen time outside her route, no relevance to the plot, and little characterization to speak of. Within her route, [[TheHero Shirou]] spends most of her route [[spoiler:sacrificing everything]] to save her, while she doesn't (and can't) do much to help him [[spoiler:given she's an ApocalypseMaiden]] and [[spoiler:she's, albeit unintentionally, responsible for [[PlayerPunch Saber getting corrupted and getting mercy killed by Shirou]]]], which does nothing to buy her favors. [[BreakTheCutie Justified]] or not, people usually don't like characters who don't contribute as much as the others or don't have many character traits outside of being [[TheWoobie sympathetic]].

* Shirley Fennes from ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', gets kidnapped constantly and does nothing to help herself despite having a bunch of powers, eventually making a full HeelFaceTurn under MoreThanMindControl. She is also considered the game's plain [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] for her {{Yandere}} tendencies.
* Colette Brunel from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', protecting whom is the entire point of the game and becomes a major plot point at the end when she's kidnapped (although it can potentially be anyone) by the BigBad. Fans especially dislike it because early on, Colette is granted angel powers, which includes SuperStrength, SuperSenses, [[PowerGivesYouWings wings]] and [[LightEmUp light-based techniques]], yet Colette getting kidnapped or sick takes up a large chunk of the game and she often hands over the decision-making to [[TheUnchosenOne Lloyd]].
* Estelle is a bit of a BaseBreakingCharacter in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', but those who dislike her consider her as one of these for much of the same reasons as Shirley and Colette- Being PurityPersonified and getting kidnapped and doing nothing to help herself, and finally fighting against the heroes after {{Brainwashing}}.

** Terra in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', though in her case it's more due to CharacterDerailment from her original personality to fit this character type, than due to the number of times she needs to be saved. While she's often victimised and mixed-up in the original, she becomes confident as soon as it becomes clear that Edgar sees her as a person, and more confident still once she regains her memories, and often finds time for teasing Sabin and showing open enjoyment about fighting the Empire. In ''Dissidia'', Kefka's menace takes on an IHaveYouNowMyPretty tone, her personality becomes much more negative and serious, and she is constantly rescued by male characters for their benefit or getting lectured by Cloud ([[FakeMemories of all people]]) about the importance of knowing who you really are. The fact that Terra is the [[TheSmurfette only woman]] of Cosmos' Warriors [[{{Chickification}} doesn't make this seem any more classy]]; the remake mitigated this somewhat by altering Terra's dialogue as much as the recordings allowed and adding some other female characters to soften the UnfortunateImplications. In ''[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015 Dissidia NT]]'', she is as confident as any of the other heroes and gets her MamaBear protectiveness back.

* Pretty much what happened to Vicki Vale in Tim Burton's ''Film/{{Batman}}''. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Originally it was going to be quite different]], but after the first actress cast as Vicki (Sean Young) fell off a horse and broke her arm in a scene that was cut from the film, it was decided that [[TheOtherDarrin the replacement]] (Creator/KimBasinger) shouldn't be put at such risks.

* Played for laughs in pre-Nu52 ''Supergirl #60'', which showed there are quite a few guys like this in Metropolis; they will literally jump off of buildings so Supergirl has to catch and rescue them (and they often ask ask for her phone number afterward).

* Daphne Blake from ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' became known for falling into traps, being kidnapped by the villain, or angering the villain in some way, leading to the nickname "Danger-prone Daphne" in the original ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'' series. However, TheNostalgiaCritic did call this reputation into question in his review of the first live action movie, pointing out that Scooby and Shaggy (and even Scrappy) seemed to actually get into more danger than Daphne ever did and saying her real major issue was that she never really did much of anything, at least in the original show.

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/GirlGenius https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tvtds_5391.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Also, she wants to [[MurderTheHypotenuse kill his girlfriend]].]]

* Similarly, Kairi from ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' is considered this by people [[NeverLiveItDown even though she only has two moments of real distress]], both of them in the second game (in the first, [[spoiler: the twist is that her heart was inside of Sora all along and not in danger]]). Yet the fandom still holds her in scorn for this and many don't even understand the subversion from the first game, thinking she was "in a coma" and thus in distress even then.

* Princess Peach in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' should really be the poster child of this trope, full stop. If she really is able to [[TookALevelInBadass have her own adventures and asskicking]], [[FridgeLogic why she is utterly incompetent in defending herself in most of the main games?]] She might as well be left to rot in Bowser's castle and win the Darwin Award for have amenesia in regards to her moves from Smash Brothers.

* Rick Jones has been this from his first appearance, which annoyed even TheHulk during his grey, intelligent phases. This was lampshaded by Rick himself in one issue where he managed to beat his captor and escape on his own.

* Max Gibson in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' is often considered this by her detractors. This tendency is best displayed in the episode "Final Cut", where she ignores Terry's instructions and snoops around for clues, leading to her getting attacked by an assassin. Terry has to leave his post protecting the assassin's target to rescue her, which results in the target getting mindwiped with a hidden bomb ready to explode thanks to his DeadManSwitch.