History Main / EmbarrassingRescue

* ''Literature/LesMiserables'': Jean Valjean allows InspectorJavert to escape from the revolutionaries. The unexpected act of mercy is apparently so damaging to Javert's philosophy that he later commits suicide.

Compare EntitledBastard, where the beneficiary has no sense of gratitude whatsoever and may even complain about minor inconveniences associated with the rescue (the two may overlap if the hero is annoyed enough to ''deliberately'' embarrass the jerk he's duty-bound to save). Contrast GrudgingThankYou, where however much he resents it, the rescued acknowledges that gratitude is due.

* The titular character in ForrestGump saves an injured Lieutenant Dan during a battle in Vietnam and carries him back to friendly lines. Dan, who was hoping to die in combat (something of a running family tradition), was thoroughly upset at being rescued.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode "Ties That Bind (Or Miracles Happen)", Kalibak is not happy that TheFlash is the one to free him from his cell in the X Pit.

* Falco of ''StarFox'' fame basically treats ''any'' rescue as one of these. His responses will range from ashamed ("I'm not too proud of what you just witnessed") to full-on {{Snark}} ("[[SarcasmMode Gee, I've been saved by Fox, how swell.]]"), depending on the game.

* In ''TheClassMenagerie'', young Biff asked not to be rescued from a fire by a {{Nerd}}, because he'd NeverLiveItDown.
* In ''YehudaMoonAndTheKickstandCyclery'', [[spoiler: Joe is hired by Rival Cycles after The Kickstand burns down, letting him support himself while the shop is rebuilt.]]

* In the first Vanguard arc of ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', you're sent to rescue missing operatives from rival organization Longbow. The nameless guy and Sefu Tendaji are grateful for the rescue, but Captain Dietrich insists that she didn't need help, and goes on to [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike complain about you ruining her operation]].
** And then she naturally [[LeeroyJenkins charges into the next group of foes without any plans and gets killed.]]
*** Well, maybe. Being a game anything can happen, and all the assisting character AIs seem to suffer from having been based on LeeroyJenkins.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII'', one the main characters, Angelo, saves his brother, who holds a very strong hatred towards him (and made his life miserable), from certain doom. His brother, grievously injured, responds by telling that the next time they meet, he will not hesitate to kill him, and trudges away.
** This was also an example of CruelMercy, as Marcello had just witnessed his entire life's ambition fall to pieces, and his reputation reduced to less than mud. Angelo was completely aware of all this; after saving Marcello, he says: "Now we're even."

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender:'' Zhao was humiliated once by losing to Zuko in an Agni Kai, and having Iroh call him disgraceful for his lack of honor. So when a TakeMyHand moment comes, instead of accepting Zuko's help, Zhao chooses to drown at the hands of the vengeful Ocean Spirit.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', one of the primary reasons behind Sasuke's defection from Konoha.
** And even after Part 1, part of the Sasuke haters want Sasuke to go through another one, mostly for the "embarrassing" part, the rest want him to die.
** Worth noting that in the beginning, it was frequently the other way around. Sasuke viewed Naruto as TheLoad and had to save him about OnceAnEpisode. Because Naruto typically had to be rescued while in the midst of attempting to impress Sakura, he was generally quite embarrassed. The only time he showed any sort of gratitude at all was when he thought that Sasuke had actually ''died'' for him. And when the arc was over, he went right back to resenting Sasuke for rescuing him. Naturally, when Naruto started rescuing Sasuke, Sasuke [[FaceHeelTurn didn't take it well.]]

* ''Anime/YuGiOh:'' Seto Kaiba was ''[[UngratefulBastard never]]'' happy about being rescued by Yugi, whether it was from being held captive in his own virtual reality RPG or turned to stone by a VirtualGhost. Eventually, someone (usually Jonouchi) would question why Yugi kept bailing him out when he clearly didn't want it. Of course, he ''did'' once thank him for saving [[MoralityPet Mokuba]].
** His reaction in the turned-to-stone incident was particularly entertaining:

** In ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'', Gilag of the Barian Emperors seems to come up with a perfect plan to defeat Yuma when Yuma's friends are all angry at each other. He organizes a tournament that encourages teamwork, and convinces Yuma to throw a duel to Kotori and Cathy to give them more inspiration. Naturally, Gilag uses his powers to {{Brainwash}} the two girls, giving them a Chaos Xyz in order to take his Numbers. However, his plan blows up in his face by Shark quitting, forcing him to take over as Yuma's partner (a potentially lethal situation for him, as being defeated by a Chaos Xyz is fatal for a Barian, just as being defeated by a Number would be for Astral). He quickly finds that he can't abort the plan or save himself without telling Yuma who he is, and eventually, when Yuma finds out on his own that the two girls are under Barian control, he inadvertently saves them both, humiliating Gilag beyond belief.
* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', Nnoitra has a flashback for one time when [[spoiler:Neliel]] saved his life to prevent the Espada from losing a member, partly because he was weaker than she was. Nnoitra, who hates being pitied more than anything, finds this extremely humiliating.
** It also didn't help matters that he not only hates being seen as weak, but he especially hates being weaker than a ''woman''.

*** Though given the FridgeLogic that he'd have to comb through the deck and remove ''all'' of Yugi's cards, this is understandable. He'd have to be careful not to accidentally remove any of his own cards from the deck, or keep any of Yugi's cards. Anyone who has had to sort their {{LEGO}} from someone else's will understand.

* After going through all sorts of trouble to locate Bastilla Shan and rescue her from a Tarisian swoop bike gang in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic,'' she chooses the moment you're about to liberate her to suddenly break free during a huge fight, using this event as justification in stubbornly refusing to acknowledge that you did anything for her pretty much the entire rest of the game.
** In a later conversation on Taris, she takes back some of her harsher statements, as she was at the time concerned about the implications of your rescuing her.
*** Of course, there's [[{{Tsundere}} another reason]] for her behavior...

* In the second week of ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', you (as Neku) have the choice to [[spoiler: save Uzuki and Kariya from a Taboo Noise. Uzuki plays this trope straight, but Kariya actually does try to thank you for the rescue and says he wasn't sure the pair of them could erase it alone.]]
** The best part is that Neku [[spoiler:[[InvokedTrope does this entirely on purpose.]] "Let's do it. They'll hate it."]]

* Used as a joke in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' when the titular hero rescues Skulker from a bunch of monsters that the Box Ghost released on him.

** It should be noted that the monsters in question were pink, man-eating unicorns.

* In the ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode 'Ties That Bind (Or Miracles Happen)', Kalibak is not happy that TheFlash is the one to free him from his cell in the X Pit.

* WesternAnimation/DangerMouse: In "Lost, Found And Spellbound," DM and Penfold travel to a tropical island to search for the missing Prof. Squawkencluck. After getting separated, DM deals with a mischievous witch doctor while Penfold winds up finding the Professor. In making their reports to Colonel K, DM gropes for an explanation of ''his'' attempts.

* The ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' comics [includes links to relevant online pages, which may contain spoilers]: [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ04/DisplayOQ04.html?page=1 Cutter saves his rival Rayek's life, which makes Rayek so mad he mentally lashes out at Cutter and knocks him out]]. Ten years and a lot of CharacterDevelopment later, [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ16/DisplayOQ16.html?page=14 he returns the favor, and is sure to tell Cutter he owes him nothing now]]. Later, [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ17/DisplayOQ17.html?page=6 he rescues Cutter from a troll trap (after being blackmailed by Suntop), but deliberately puts him down on the wrong side, so Cutter has to fight the enemy Trolls]].

Compare EntitledBastard, where the beneficiary has no sense of gratitude whatsoever and may even complain about minor inconveniences associated with the rescue. Contrast GrudgingThankYou, where however much he resents it, the rescued acknowledges that gratitude is due.

See EnemyMine for the reasoning behind the EmbarrassingRescue. Not to be confused with ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike.

Does the rival or opponent thank the hero for saving them when he didn't have to? [[UngratefulBastard Rarely]]. They instead insist that they could have escaped by themselves, and ''would'' have, if he hadn't swooped in and tried to play...well, [[ChronicHeroSyndrome the hero]]. Admitting that they [[IOweYouMyLife owe him one]] would be a great blow to their ego (though the resistance is understandable if the hero immediately [[ItsAllAboutMe gloats about the rescue]], or rudely demands that the saved show their gratitude before they have a chance to do so themselves). At the very best, a patently insincere word of gratitude may be expressed before their speedy departure.

Does the rival or opponent thank the hero for saving them when he didn't have to? [[UngratefulBastard Rarely]]. They instead insist that they could have escaped by themselves, and ''would'' have, if he hadn't swooped in and tried to play... well, [[ChronicHeroSyndrome the hero]]. Admitting that they [[IOweYouMyLife owe him one]] would be a great blow to their ego. At the very best, a patently insincere word of gratitude may be expressed before their speedy departure.

* On ''Anime/DragonBallZ,'' this trope is one of the reasons why Frieza's defeat at the hands of the hero, Goku, was so humiliating. Vegeta being rescued by Mr. Satan during the Buu arc counts as well.

* ''YoungAvengers'' - Patriot / Eli receives one from Kate Bishop in the first issue. The abridged version: criminals hold everyone at Kate's sister's wedding hostage, the Young Avengers show up to help, things don't go according to plan, Kate disarms lead bad guy with one of Eli's own throwing stars. Eli is even more mortified when he learns it made the news.
-->"I didn't need a rescue! Especially not from a-"\\
"You ''will'' if you finish that sentence."

* Mary Jane was more than a little disgusted when {{Venom}} had to rescue her from Carnage in a nightclub during the ''ComicBook/MaximumCarnage'' storyline. Venom told her to tell Peter they were "even" and then licked her with the costume's tongue before going back to resume the battle.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* The ''{{Elfquest}}'' comics [includes links to relevant online pages, which may contain spoilers]: [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ04/DisplayOQ04.html?page=1 Cutter saves his rival Rayek's life, which makes Rayek so mad he mentally lashes out at Cutter and knocks him out]]. Ten years and a lot of CharacterDevelopment later, [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ16/DisplayOQ16.html?page=14 he returns the favor, and is sure to tell Cutter he owes him nothing now]]. Later, [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ17/DisplayOQ17.html?page=6 he rescues Cutter from a troll trap (after being blackmailed by Suntop), but deliberately puts him down on the wrong side, so Cutter has to fight the enemy Trolls]].

Contrast GrudgingThankYou, where however much he resents it, the rescued acknowledges that gratitude is due.

* In ''ImpureBlood'', after their attackers have mostly been fought off by Roan, a HalfHumanHybrid, the Watchers, sworn against the Ancient, [[http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue4PAGES/ib083.html claim they would have managed]] without him. [[http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue4PAGES/ib084.html Persistantly.]]

* ''SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'': In "Shriek of the Vulture", the Vulture placed a device on Spider-Man's forefront that rendered Spidey immobile until the device was removed by [[JerkJock Flash Thompson]]. Spidey didn't like being rescued by someone who [[TheBully bullies his alter ego]].
* ''KimPossible'': In "Ron the Man", Mr. Barkin brought up the fact Ron gets "rescued by a girl" to doubt Ron's manhood.