History Main / DistressedDude

* ''Fanfic/SpiderNinja'': Halfway through the fic, Donatello is [[KidnappedScientist kidnapped]] by [[spoiler:Doctor Octopus. Luckily, Donnie manages to save himself.]]

* Syaoran in ''Fanfic/ReversalOfFate'' by virtue of [[ForWantOfANail being the one whose feathers were taken.]]

** "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/beautybeast/stories/lark.html The Singing, Spring Lark]]"

* ''Fanfic/TheLastSeidr'': Someone gets stabbed, someone gets brainwashed, someone gets kidnapped, and all of these people are dudes.

* Creator/HansChristianAndersen's "Literature/TheSnowQueen": Kay is rescued by Gerda, who, before she finds him, obtains some features of an ActionGirl. Princess Eliza does the same (though in the non-action way) to her brothers, transformed into wild swans by their stepmother. [[Literature/TheSevenBasicPlots Christopher Booker]] goes into great detail on the symbolism behind his bondage, and the symbolism inherent in the heroine coming to free him.

* "The Prince as Bird" (ATU 432): the heroine is visited by a secret lover in the shape of a bird (or teleports to her room by the use of a fan, in South Asia). Her elder sisters learn of the clandestine meetings and plan to hurt her lover by placing knives, needles or glass in the window. Their plan works, and he vanishes. The heroine, then, goes after him, finds a remedy and cures him.

* "The Prince as Bird" (ATU 432): the heroine is visited by a secret lover in the shape of a bird. Her elder sisters place knives, needles or glass to hurt him. The heroine goes after him, finds a remedy and cures him.
** ''Literature/TheFeatherOfFinistTheFalcon'', Finist is wounded by the sisters' knives.

* "The Prince as Bird" (ATU 432): the heroine is visited by a secret lover in the shape of a bird. Her elder sister place knives, needles or glass to hurt him. The heroine goes after him, finds a remedy and cures him.

* "The Prince as Bird": the heroine is visited by a secret lover in the shape of a bird. Her elder sister place knives, needles or glass to hurt him. The heroine goes after him, finds a remedy and cures him.

* In ''Literature/TheFeatherOfFinistTheFalcon'', Finist is wounded by the sisters' knives.

* "The Three Golden Children", or, previously, "The Three Golden Sons": a woman gives birth to children with marvellous qualities and appearances, but someone casts them in the water to die.

* "The Search for the Lost Husband": The heroine [[ForbiddenFruit breaks a prohibition]] and her husband is lost to magic. She must track him down and rescue him. Tales of this type include:
** ''Myth/CupidAndPsyche''

* "The Girl Helps the Hero Flee" or "Magic Flight": a hero falls under the villain's power. The heroine, often the villain's daughter, tells him how to escape the impossible tasks, or performs the magic to allow his escape, and usually both. Afterward, he often [[LaserGuidedAmnesia loses his memory of her]] and she must disenchant him.

* "The Brothers As Birds": the heroine's brothers have been [[ForcedTransformation turned into birds]], and she must rescue them. This can range from [[TheQuest a quest]] to making magical shirts to disenchant them, remaining silent the whole time.

* "Literature/TheDancingWaterTheSingingAppleAndTheSpeakingBird": After they have been abandoned and grew up, the heroine's brothers are turned to stone. She must follow them to restore them.
** "Literature/PrincessBelleEtoile"
** "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/96threelittlebirds.html The Three Little Birds]]"
** "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/facetiousnights/night4_fable3.html Ancilotto, King of Provino]]"

* "The Girl Helps the Hero Flee": a hero falls under the villain's power. The heroine, often the villain's daughter, tells him how to escape the impossible tasks, or performs the magic to allow his escape, and usually both. Afterward, he often [[LaserGuidedAmnesia loses his memory of her]] and she must disenchant him.

* In ''Literature/TheWhiteDove'', the prince falls into a witch's power.

* A few Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses guys have been this. [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] has been tied up twice, once by Sage to torture him with an OldShame fanfic and the other time by Mechakara... just to torture him. Paw was tied up in a recent video and covered in blood while WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic was kidnapped by the Game Heroes and made to promote their stuff at gunpoint.

* The [[Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses TGWTG]] fandom has been making the Critic the Distressed Dude ''long'' before he got captured canonically. Mostly justified, seeing as how the fics usually also have [[WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses Ask That Guy]] in power and that usually means no happy fun times for the Critic. But other times it's just because he's so very pretty when suffering.

* While Princess Aurora/Briar Rose is indeed the [[DamselInDistress Distressed Damsel]] in Creator/WaltDisney's ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', her boyfriend Prince Phillip ''does'' spend a while as a Distressed Dude when Maleficent captures and chains him to keep the guy from giving Aurora the TrueLovesKiss required to break her ConvenientComa and also save the three monarchs and the whole from their slumber, being, of course, Aurora’s parents (King Stefan and Queen Leah) and Phillip’s father (King Hubert). The Fairies have to break him out ''and'' give him the weapons he needed to win his fight.

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has a ton simply by having so many male characters. True they all have superpowers, but writers find ways around it. By virtue of being leads, Midoriya, Bakugo and/or Todoroki are the most common targets, but there are also enough Aizawa in distress fics to fill a page. Present Mic and All Might aren’t immune either.

* Since Luigi from ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' spends a while in the middle of the movie being captured and imprisoned by Bowser, it's him being taken that drives [[BigBrotherInstinct Mario]] and Peach through the middle of the movie until the beginning of the beginning of the climax.

* While Princess Aurora/Briar Rose is indeed the [[DamselInDistress Distressed Damsel]] in Creator/WaltDisney's ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', her boyfriend Prince Phillip ''does'' spend a while as a Distressed Dude when Maleficent captures and chains him to keep the guy from giving Aurora the TrueLovesKiss required to break her ConvenientComa and also save her parents (Kong Stefan and Queen Leah), King Hubert, and the entire realm from their slumber. The Fairies have to break him out ''and'' give him the weapons he needed to win his fight.

* While Princess Aurora/Briar Rose is indeed the [[DamselInDistress Distressed Damsel]] in Creator/WaltDisney's ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', her boyfriend Prince Phillip ''does'' spend a while as a Distressed Dude when Maleficent captures and chains him to keep the guy from giving Aurora the TrueLovesKiss required to break her ConvenientComa and save her parents, King Hubert, and the entire realm from their slumber. The Fairies have to break him out ''and'' give him the weapons he needed to win his fight.
* Since Luigi from ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' spends a while in the middle of the movie being captured and imprisoned by Bowser, it's him being taken that drives [[BigBrotherInstinct Mario]] and Peach through the middle of the movie until the beginning of the beginning of the climax.

* Luigi from ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' spends some time for a while in the movie being captured and imprisoned by Bowser, it's him being taken that drives [[BigBrotherInstinct Mario]] through most of the movie until the beginning of the climax.

* Princess Aurora/Briar Rose is the [[DamselInDistress Distressed Damsel]] in Creator/WaltDisney's ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'', but her boyfriend Prince Phillip ''does'' spend a while as a Distressed Dude when Maleficent captures and chains him to keep the guy from giving Aurora the TrueLovesKiss required to break her ConvenientComa. The Fairies have to break him out ''and'' give him the weapons he needed to win his fight.
* Luigi from ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosMovie'' spends most of the movie captured by Bowser, it's him being taken that drives [[BigBrotherInstinct Mario]] through most of the movie.

[[caption-width-right:350:"Sorry Princess, but your Mario is in another castle!"]]

* Many [[Franchise/{{Cars}} Cars]] fanfics involve Lightning Mcqueen being put in some form of danger with either Sally, Mater, someone from the Radiator Springs gang, or even Chick Hicks having to save him. One example is ''Fanfic/ThreeDays'', where Lightning and the King are kidnapped in the very first chapter and spend a majority of the fic as hostages (although they do [[DefiantCaptive try to escape and give their captors a little snark when they can]]).