History Main / RescueRomance

** In FireEmblemAwakening, if you get Chrom and Sumia hitched via Supports, they're a genderflipped example since ''she'' once saved him from the enemy in her Pegasus.

* Arguably used in ''HalfLife 2'', where Alyx rescues Gordon from Civil Protection. "Arguably" because [[SilentProtagonist Gordon]] never confirms his feelings - in fact, Gordon isn't really supposed to have feelings separate from the player. But judging by the reaction of the majority of players to Alyx, it worked. This is also an example of a male rescuee.

*** They're not the only ones, though: Maribelle can get hitched with Ricken (who helps her flee from Plegian soldiers), Libra (whom ''she'' rescues from a bunch of drunkards), and [[spoiler: Gaius (who once was forced to frame her father to save her from a corrupt nobleman who held her hostage, and still feels horrible because of that... despite also him having sent a letter that ultimately saved Maribelle's father from being unfairly executed.)]]

* ''Manga/SoulEater'': Ox saves his long-time LoveInterest [[CuteWitch Kim]] from [[BigBad Arachne and Arachnophobia]], which earns him a RelationshipUpgrade. Other pairings in this series will more than likely be the result of this, in particular Soul/Maka as the former has placed himself in harm's way to protect the latter and actually shielded her while falling. The FoeYay and HoYay pairing Kid/Black*Star can be this since Black*Star is the one who [[spoiler: saves Kid from the Book of Eibon.]]

** In the second book [[spoiler:she ends up saving from a horrific death trap. This leads to him proposing to her.]]

* In ''{{Persona 4}}: The Animation'', Rise falls in love with Yu after he saves her life. While the rest of the team helped to rescue her, she developed an intense attraction towards him alone. This might possibly be due to the fact that during Rise's first appearance in the mall scene, she believes someone is chasing her, until she's trapped and learns that Yu simply wanted to return her phone to her, then leaving, without making any indication that he knows who she is. This may have led her to believe there was a [[RecognitionFailure Recognition Failure]].

* Lampshaded and played with, along with most other fairy tale tropes, in MercedesLackey's ''The Fairy Godmother'', in which the titular heroine is obliged to rescue an imprisoned princess herself because if a man did it, the Tradition would force the princess to fall in love with him... and she's already married.

* ''The House Of Night'': Rephaim and Stevie Rae's relationship is entirely built on this. [[spoiler: First Stevie Rae finds Rephaim almost dying from being shot out of the sky, hides him in a garden shed, patches him up, then lets him go. A IOweYouMyLife moment is exchanged between them, which comes in handy when Stevie Rae is then later trapped on the roof a building. Rephaim rescues her and an Imprint is formed between them. Then when Stevie Rae summons Darkness, it's none other then Rephaim who rescues her from Darkness. When Stevie Rae sees Darkness hurting Rephaim, she summons Light to help rescue Rephaim. When Dallas finds out that Stevie Rae's been lying about knowing Rephaim, and plans to "knock some sense" into Stevie Rae, Rephaim's the one that steps up and protects Stevie Rae. Then Stevie Rae protects them both when Dallas embraces Darkness and tries to kill them both.]]

->''"Oh, and stay away from your friend TheCaptain. [[GenreSavvy You save his life, he saves yours,]] [[OneThingLedToAnother one thing leads to another]]..."''

** This is how [[spoiler: Isshin and Masaki met. He was wounded while fighting on Earth (actually he was wounded by a hidden Aizen and then was forced to fight a huge Hollow while bleeding from the back), she saved his life via killing said Hollow and then went to help him.]]

* ''GunslingerGirl''. Cyborg girl Triela has her LoveEpiphany when she discovers that not only did her handler Victor Hilshire save her from a SnuffFilm, but he became her handler solely to continue protecting her.

* Granted their RelationshipUpgrade doesn't happen for another four books, but it should be noted that the first major interaction HarryPotter has with [[spoiler:Ginny Weasley]] is to basically spend an entire book rescuing her from [[spoiler:the BigBad and his giant snake]].

* ''Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam'' has a '''very''' twisted example on the ''antagonists'' side when Katejina Loos falls for [[CharClone Chronocle Asher]] when he saves her from getting raped. By the end of the series, ''she'' becomes the most evil woman in Franchise/{{Gundam}}, if not the most evil character ''period''.

* The German film ''ThePrincessAndTheWarrior''. Psychiatric nurse Sissi is knocked down by a truck and has her life saved with a tracheotomy done by ex-soldier turned criminal Bobo Reimer. She becomes obsessed with tracking him down, convinced that they are destined to be together.

* This shows up mildly in the various ''TenchiMuyo'' continuities. In the manga, this ends up turned on its ear when Aeka waits for her saviour after being captured, hoping for a little RescueRomance with Tenchi ... and finds ''Ryoko'' coming to the rescue (she knocked Tenchi out and took the only available spaceship so that he wouldn't be able to put himself at risk). Aeka's disappointed in the choice of rescuer, and Ryoko isn't very fond of the lack of gratitude.

* [[Manga/SoulEater Ox]] saves his long-time LoveInterest [[CuteWitch Kim]] from [[BigBad Arachne and Arachnophobia]], which earns him a RelationshipUpgrade. Other pairings in this series will more than likely be the result of this, in particular Soul/Maka as the former has placed himself in harm's way to protect the latter and actually shielded her while falling. The FoeYay and HoYay pairing Kid/Black*Star can be this since Black*Star is the one who [[spoiler: saves Kid from the Book of Eibon.]]

* In the StudioGhibli version of ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'', Howl and Sophie meet when two soldiers hit on Sophie. Howl uses his magic to send them away. It gets better when Howl takes to the air in order to save both of them from the blob-men of the Witch of the Waste.

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/BackToTheFuture'' ''I'' and ''III'' feature these as major plot points.
* A main plot device in all three movie versions of ''Film/KingKong'', although the sexuality of the relationship between Anne and Kong was toned down to platonic love in the 2005 version.

* ''DenshaOtoko'' (''Train Guy'') is the apparently-true story of a shy nerd who scares off a ''[[TheChikan chikan]]'' from harassing a young woman on a train. When she unexpectedly sends him a note and an expensive present, he has to draw on the collective wisdom of an otaku message board to navigate the greatest crisis of his life.
* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'', which somehow is played straight with no LampshadeHanging.
* Lampshaded in ''Film/{{Speed}}'' in which Sandra Bullock's character tells Keanu Reeves' character "Relationships based on extreme circumstances rarely work." Sure enough, by the sequel, she's got a new guy.
** It also features one of the best bond one liners when the line is echoed back later by Keanu's character and she responds 'Then we'll have to base it on sex.' Judging by her new beau in the sequel, the sex must not have been all that great. [[LosingHorns Wah-wah-wah-]]''[[LosingHorns waaaaaaaaahhhhhh...]]''

* In ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', a child Will was rescued from a wrecked ship by the crew of a nearby boat that a just-as-young Elizabeth and her dad were travelling in. In fact, little Elizabeth was the one who saw Will lying unconscious between what was left of the other ship and alerted the sailors.
** They go on to spend the rest of the series [[BattleCouple rescuing each other from various dangerous circumstances.]]
* ''{{Titanic}}'': Jack rescues Rose when she attempts suicide. She falls for him, and upon telling her story 84 years later, says that he saved her in every way a person could be saved.
* WoodyAllen's ''{{Scoop}}'' has the heroine deliberately attract the attention of a guy she wants to investigate for possible murder by pretending to drown so he can rescue her, and striking up a romance afterwards. [[spoiler:Later he tries to drown her for real. Good thing she was actually captain of her high school swim team.]]
* The ''StarWars'' Original trilogy went all over the board with this trope. [[DressingAsTheEnemy Han & Luke]] rescue Leia. Shortly thereafter, [[TrashLanding Leia saves Han & Luke]] (and Chewie). Luke and Leia then seem to be playing the trope as straight as an arrow (the "for luck" kiss, the scene before Luke boards his X-Wing, Leia's clear distress at Luke's communications, etc) Then [[BigDamnHeroes Han returns]] and saves Luke, and by extension everybody on Yavin 4. In ''TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Han and Leia are constantly helping each other during their RelationshipUpgrade. Finally in ''ReturnOfTheJedi'', it's Leia who saves Han twice.
* After being rescued in ''SmallSoldiers'', Christy apparently forgets about her boyfriend in favor of TheProtagonist. This probably has something to do with said boyfriend fleeing by himself, while the protagonist sticks around to help her.
* The German film ''ThePrincessAndTheWarrior''. Psychiatric nurse Sissi is knocked down by a truck and has her life saved with a tracheotomy done by ex-soldier turned criminal Bobo Reimer. She becomes obsessed with tracking him down, convinced that they are destined to be together.
* ''Film/WildWildWest''. This appears to be happening after Artemus and Jim West rescue Rita Escobar (Rita flirts with both of them and Jim West thinks they'll "end up in the saddle"). It turns out to be a subversion: Rita is actually playing both men to get them to take her along so she can help rescue Professor Escobar...her ''husband''.

* In ''TheLegendOfKorra,'' [[DistressedDude Bolin]] develops feelings for [[KungFuJesus Korra]] after she helps his brother [[{{Tsundere}} Mako]] rescue him from [[AntiMagicFaction the Equalists]]. (Admittedly, it's possible to interpret him as liking her before, but after this it becomes explicit.) Unfortunately for him, [[SiblingTriangle she likes Mako more]].

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': In the ''Fate'' route and anime Saber saves Shirou from Lancer, Shirou saves Saber from Berserker, Saber saves Shirou from Rider twice, Saber attempts to save Shirou from Ilya, Shirou saves Saber from Berserker again, Shirou saves Saber from Gilgamesh, Lancer saves the both of them(!?), and by that point Shirou and Saber are hopelessly infatuated with each other. Apparently, winning the affections of Saber will only cost you [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank about 18 gallons of blood.]]
** [[CompletelyMissingThePoint So totally worth it.]]

* In the first episode, ''PrincessTutu'' saves Mytho after he jumps out a window to save a baby bird from a raven attack. She then starts to save him about OnceAnEpisode until he starts to fall for her.

** This is how [[spoiler: Isshin and Masaki met. He was wounded while fighting on Earth (actually he was wonded by a hidden Aizen and then was forced to fight a huge Hollow while bleeding from the back), she saved his life via killing said Hollow and then went to help him.]]

* When meeting two of the three possible female romantic interests in ''BaldursGate 2'', you end up rescuing them (twice, in the case of one of them...) the third? [[InSovietRussiaTropeMocksYou She was sent to help you.]]

** The Nanoha and Fate Rescue Romance gets reversed in ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaInnocence'', with Nanoha meeting Fate for the first time when the latter saves the former from getting hammered by Vita. This was given a LampshadeHanging by [[ThoseTwoGuys Arisa]] as she teased Nanoha about her obvious developing crush on Fate.

* The first meeting of [[LesYay Subaru and Ixpellia]] in ''[[AllThereInTheManual StrikerS Sound Stage X]]'' of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' began with Subaru shielding [[MysteriousWaif Ix]] from falling debris, followed by Subaru fighting off the [[NightOfTheLivingMooks Mariages]] that came for Ix (with an accompanying image of a very battered Subaru cradling Ix as they gaze into each others eyes), and ended with Subaru symbolically and literally bringing Ix out of the darkness and into the light of the current era. When all of that was done, Ix saw Subaru as one of the only people she felt calm with because she rescued her. Unsurprisingly, there's a small but noticeable amount of supporters for this [[{{Shipping}} ship]] [[spoiler: which would have been bigger, [[DyingDeclarationOfLove had Ix not entered her 1000 years of sleep]]]].

* In ''Persona 4: The Animation'', Rise falls in love with Yu after he saves her life. While the rest of the team helped to rescue her, she developed an intense attraction towards him alone. This might possibly be due to the fact that during Rise's first appearance in the mall scene, she believes someone is chasing her, until she's trapped and learns that Yu simply wanted to return her phone to her, then leaving, without making any indication that he knows who she is. This may have led her to believe there was a [[RecognitionFailure Recognition Failure]].

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