Damsel Scrappy: Difference between revisions

* This is a characteristic once strongly associated with Lois Lane. Ironically, it can be argued that Lois' role as a [[Damsel in Distress]] was far more important to the [[Superman]] plot than her role as a love interest, [[Depending on the Writer]]. In the 1940's, she did need to be rescued a lot (usually while pursuing a news story), but was fairly intelligent and could sometimes get herself out of scrapes by kicking ass and taking names. Once the 50's, 60's and early 70's came around though... Yeesh. She was an empty headed twerp who was constantly putting herself in danger for no reason, and whose sole goal in life was to trick Superman into marrying her. She took [[Too Dumb to Live]] to uncharted levels. In recent comics and other media she's a much more well rounded and developed character, who is extremely competent and able to take care of herself. She still needs to be rescued sometimes, and the trope may pop up occasionally, but for the most part she's a very independent, intrepid and intelligent reporter who just needs a little help against super powered aggressors from time to time.

** [[The Sixties|The sixties-era]] book ''[[Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane]]'' seemed dedicated to making sure every single reader hated poor Lois. If you Google around, you'll find scans of multiple letters columns where readers asked for Superman to spank Lois (which would in fact occur, though in the context of [[Super Dickery]]). A few may have had [[Fetish Fuel|other motives than scrappyhood]], though.

** Starting late in [[The Seventies]] comics, Lois was written to be more assertive to avert this trope, and needed rescuing much less often, including in her solo stories in ''The Superman Family.'' This included Lois having mastered a Kryptonian form of martial arts named "klurkor."

** Being associated with this trope is probably what spurred John Byrne, in his [[Post-Crisis]] retelling of Superman's origin, to make it very, very obvious that Lois was now a [[Badass Damsel]] bordering on [[Action Girl]]. This eventually led to an inversion immediately after her wedding to Clark {{spoiler|when he was kidnapped after temporarily losing his powers}}. Lois took her Army brat background to extremes, becoming a [[G.I. Jane]] in order to come to the rescue.

* [[That Guy With The Glasses|The Nostalgia Critic]] summed this trope up in his "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130924174124/http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/30723-top-11-dumbasses-in-distress Top 11 Dumbasses in Distress]" video: that the [[Damsel in Distress]] and/or [[Dude in Distress]] is an old trope [[Tropes Are Not Bad|that isn't inherently bad at all]], unless it's a character the audience is annoyed with rather than cares about.

** As a bonus, he considers [[Scooby Doo|Scrappy]] as a Damsel Scrappy in this list, seeing as he's really always outmatched and in danger but is too hard-headed to ever realize it.

{{quote|[http://www.superdickery.com/buckys-true-purpose-revealed/ I'm starting to think] that Bucky must have a tracer planted on him that allows Captain America to track down these hidden enclaves of enemy combatants. That's the only possible use I can think of for a sidekick who's only contribution to the war is to get captured every month...}}