History Main / SaveThePrincess

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': At one point Yuna, daughter of High Summoner Braska - a princess in all but title - is kidnapped by the CorruptChurch and kept in the castle-like (and gigantic) Bevelle Temple. Oh, and she's [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe forced to marry Seymour]]. The party arrives to intervene. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when Yuna reveals she was using the wedding [[OurZombiesAreDifferent to try and Send Seymour]], already had an escape planned, and the party's intervention has royally screwed up her plan by giving the villains hostages.

* The objective of ''VideoGame/Sheriff'' is to save a damsel in distress from some bandits. Actually the first instance of a Nintendo game using this trope.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', the game starts off with one. [[PrincessClassic Princess]] [[WhiteMagicianGirl Aideen]] of Jungby gets nabbed by Verdanite brigands in a surprise invasion, and rescuing her is the initial objective. Only after saving her in Chapter 1 does the plot thicken and actually go on its proper course. Starting in Chapter 10, one has to find Princess Julia... [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle in classic style she's in another castle every time previous castle is conquered...]] this lasts until the final part of the final chapter, where she's ThatOneBoss hanging out in the group's way. (Note that she's ThatOneBoss because can't be killed; the game will become practically {{Unwinnable}} as she's needed for the FinalBoss [[SNKBoss fight]].)

* ''[[Series/Knightmare Knightmare]]'' had a quest to "Free the Maid" in Series 2. It was completed, but didn't turn up again.

* ''Series/Knightmare'' had a quest to "Free the Maid" in Series 2. It was completed, but didn't turn up again.

* "The Prince Gilgamesh wore golden armor and attacked monsters to save Ki in VideoGame/TheTowerOfDruaga." In this case though, Ki (pronounced "Kai") is not actually a "princess" per se, she's a shrine maiden in service to the goddess Ishtar (who lends her name to the game's sequel, "The Return of Ishtar").

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* The ''Videogame/{{Clonk}}'' level "Dragon Rock" plays this [[ExcusePlot unashamedly straight]], right down to the evil mage-with-a-dragon doing the kidnapping. In "Tower of Despair" it's the king, and the dragon itself is the capturer, but otherwise it's the same.
* ''Videogame/GhostsNGoblins'' and its sequels begin by showing Princess Prin-Prin getting kidnapped by some horrible demon.
* In ''VideoGame/JackieChansActionKungFu'', Jackie has to rescue Josephine, who is either his twin sister or his girlfriend, from an EvilSorcerer who abducts her in a ''Videogame/GhostsNGoblins''-like opening scene.
* ''Crusader'', an obscure PlatformGame by Creator/{{Compile}} for the {{UsefulNotes/MSX}}, is the source of the quote: "Princess has been kidnapped! You must save princess."

* ''VideoGame/TowerOfTheSorcerer'', an indie puzzle game masquerading as a dungeon-crawl RPG, plays this straight, complete with the opening line [[IntentionalEngrishForFunny "A brave man is walking for to save the princess"]]. The plot from there is actually not too bad, but it's clearly an ExcusePlot, as the princess is hardly mentioned thereafter and seen only once before the endgame. Then the trope is subverted in the game's TwistEnding: [[spoiler:it turns out that it really ''was'' an ExcusePlot. The "princess" is an inanimate statue. The [[BigBad Big Bad's]] [[MotiveMisidentification real goal]] was to get a sufficiently-powerful hero to the top of the tower so as to help him AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence.]]

** Your ''very first'' objective in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' is to rescue Princess Sara of Coneria/[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Cornelia]]/[[WebComic/EightBitTheater Corneria]], who has been taken by good-knight-gone-bad Garland.

-->'''Almaz''': I must save the princess!\\

* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', Leon spends the entire game going through the BigBad's trap-filled castle, fighting off undead minions, so he can rescue the President's daughter, Ashley. At the end of the game, Ashley offers him a ''lot'' more than just a SmoochOfVictory, but given he's part of the secret service in that game, that would obviously not have been a good idea, and he rightly turns her down.

* A literal example in ''Anime/OnePiece'' during their BigDamnHeroes, when Luffy and Pell emerge from the sky to save princess Vivi after Crocodile drops her.

* Inverted in ''VisualNovel/SlayThePrincess'', where your main task is to, as the title instructs, slay the titular princess. However, it quickly becomes evident that the UnreliableNarrator may not be so trustworthy, and you're free to defy that mission (and play this trope straight) or TakeAThirdOption... at your own peril.