Line #39 Analysis/DamselScrappy


1	!What makes a character a Damsel Scrappy?
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3	A story about a DamselInDistress (or a DistressedDude) can be pretty effective if the audience cares about the victim and wants to see him/her rescued. If handled correctly, his/her plight can even make him/her more sympathetic. In other cases, however, the audience will either be indifferent to the victim's fate, or even actively hope the heroes fail to save him/her. This analysis will discuss why some distressed damsels (and dudes) fall under the latter categories. For simplicity, we'll call our hypothetical damsel "Alice".
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6	If Alice is an established character, the audience's initial opinion on her will obviously play a role. If she's popular, the audience will likely feel sorry for her and hope she's rescued. On the other hand, if she's considered a mediocre or poor (but tolerable) character to begin with, a plot that revolves around saving her can push her into DamselScrappy status because "we have to save a bland/annoying/[insert negative adjective here] character" probably won't make a very compelling story (even if the adventure itself is enjoyable, the lame payoff may leave a sour taste in your mouth). If Alice is ''already'' TheScrappy for other reasons, it can be aggravating to endure a plot about saving her when you wish the main characters would just [[YouCanKeepHer tell her kidnappers to keep her]], let her die instead of [[FindTheCure looking for the rare cure that can save her life]], or whatever. This tends to make her Scrappydom even worse. (Of course, if she ''does'' die, [[AlasPoorScrappy the audience might end up feeling sorry for her anyway]].)
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9	The execution of the DamselInDistress plot itself is also important. If it's good, it can make Alice more sympathetic. If it's bad, it can damage her popularity and even turn audiences against her. Here's a list of factors that will probably make her less likable (note that there's some overlap between it and the more general list on Analysis.TheScrappy):
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11	* Alice is too much of a {{Jerkass}}, making her come across as an AssholeVictim instead of a sympathetic victim.
12	* Alice's getting into danger was partly or entirely her own fault. This gets worse if...
13	** ...the decision(s) that got her into danger was/were particularly stupid. Even if she's TheDitz and it's in character for her, it can still be aggravating.
14	** ...the decision(s) that got her into danger was/were ''[[DistressBall uncharacteristically]]'' stupid, or [[InformedAbility the work insists that she's smart]] even though she makes many such mistakes.
15	** ...she got into danger while doing something that makes her unsympathetic. If she for instance goes RobbingTheDead out of {{Greed}} and ends up attacked by their ghosts, don't be surprised if the audience doesn't care whether she's rescued, or even sides with the ghosts.
16	** ...she fails to admit to her mistake(s), or even tries to [[NeverMyFault shift the blame]].
17	** ...she has been in similar trouble before and didn't learn anything from that.
18	* [[EntitledBastard Alice treats the heroes like dirt, and still expects them to rescue her when she gets into trouble]].
19	* Alice {{Wangst}}s too much about her predicament.[[note]]Of course being in a life-threatening situation ''is'' a valid reason to angst, but it can still be annoying if handled poorly (e.g. if she repeatedly cries "Why did this happen to me?!" when she's in danger because she thought BullyingADragon was a great idea). It's also worth noting that fans of certain genres have a very low tolerance for angst in general, and thus perceive most angst as Wangst.[[/note]]
20	* The other characters {{Wangst}} too much about how awful it'll be if Alice dies because she's such an awesome person. This is particularly annoying if their CharacterShilling [[InformedAbility doesn't fit the actual portrayal of Alice]]. While you can't really blame Alice for getting shilled, it can still sour the audience on her if she fails to live up to the hype. [[note]]Similar to the above: a loved one being in danger is a valid reason to angst, but it can still be perceived as annoying if the execution is poor and/or the audience dislikes angst in general.[[/note]]
21	* Alice acts like an {{Ungrateful B\|astard}}itch when she's rescued, making the audience wonder why the heroes should've bothered in the first place.
22	* It seems like Alice only exists to {{pad\|ding}} out the story by getting into trouble. This can easily happen if she's TheLoad[=/=]TheMillstone and/or little more than [[LivingMacGuffin a plot device that happens to be a person]].
23	* Saving Alice is [[TrappedByMountainLions a subplot that has nothing to do with the more interesting main plot]].
24	* Saving Alice is a lot of trouble. Whether she needs many rescues or "just" a particularly difficult one, the audience may question if she's worth all the pain.
25	** If there's a very long arc about saving Alice, the audience may [[ArcFatigue get sick of it and wish the main characters would do something more interesting already]].
26	** If she gets into trouble a lot, audiences may start thinking that rescuing her is a pointless Sisyphean task -- why even bother if she'll just be in danger again tomorrow?
27	* Alice dies shortly after being rescued (and failed to accomplish anything meaningful in the meantime). This ''can'' be used effectively in a tragedy, but it's likely that audiences will just be frustrated that [[ShaggyDogStory the work wasted their time with an arc that ultimately turned out to be pointless]].
28	* More popular heroes have to put themselves in serious danger and possibly make sacrifices to rescue Alice. If fan-favourite Bob [[HeroicSacrifice dies to save her]], expect fans to resent Alice and say she should have died instead.
29	* The heroes face a SadisticChoice, and Alice is chosen over a more popular character. The audience will probably understand if they let the TokenEvilTeammate whose main appeal is EvilIsCool die, but if they sacrifice the sympathetic EnsembleDarkhorse for the hero's annoying little sister who'll most likely run straight into trouble again next week...
30	* Alice spends most of her time being a DamselInDistress, but the work tries to [[FauxActionGirl pass her off]] as an ActionGirl anyway.
31	* [[SmallNameBigEgo Alice won't shut up about how "awesome" and "badass" she is even though she keeps getting defeated and captured]]. This is even more annoying if Alice keeps getting into danger ''because'' of her inflated ego.
32	* If Alice is [[TheSmurfettePrinciple the only major female character]] and the only character to get into danger frequently, expect feminists (if not female viewers in general) to dislike her for being bad female representation.
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35	It's not uncommon that the damsel gets more ire than the actual kidnappers. One possible reason is [[BlamingTheVictim victim-blaming]] to the point of neglecting that the perpetrator deserves the blame. This is likely part of the explanation in several cases, e.g. if there's a "you must save Alice because she fell for Evil Eve's trap" story arc of {{padding}} that's their only appearance, and Alice becomes the more hated of the two even though neither of them is a very entertaining or interesting character. Even if Eve does become TheScrappy for being responsible for the pointless arc in the first place, Alice may ''still'' be hated more.
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37	An alternative explanation is that the kidnappers get a pass because they're just doing their job as villains within the narrative. Alice, on the other hand, may be seen as a poor good-aligned character if all she does is being rescued. The kidnappers may also be more interesting characters, or at least have EvilIsCool going for them. Lastly, it's likely that the kidnappers get some sort of comeuppance, which can alleviate the audience's frustration with them.
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Context Analysis / DamselScrappy