Big Damn Heroes/Anime and Manga

""Geez, you're pretty late for a protagonist. You promised, but every damn time...""
 * Naruto uses this a lot.
 * Iruka and Naruto pull off one each in the first chapter/episode.
 * Naruto does it again during Orochimaru's invasion of Konoha when Sasuke is fighting Gaara in the forest.
 * The sand siblings appear to save the Konoha genins who are about to be killed by the Sound Four.
 * Chapter 437 of Naruto has  While she wasn't successful,   This was handled differently in the Anime, where she   Adaptational Badass indeed.
 * Chapter 562 has
 * Fullmetal Alchemist has an awesome one in Episode 19 of the Brotherhood anime:.
 * There's another from in chapter 86.
 * Lampshaded by Hoenheim in Chapter 88. When putting plan into action, he nonchalantly says "A hero always waits until the last minute to save the day, right?" Ed was not amused.
 * Even
 * in chapter 96, with their heroic appearances just in the nick of time to save
 * Roy gets one as well when T'was awesome.
 * And again in chapter 101 when
 * Mustang also gets one in The Movie based off of the 2003 anime series, Conqueror of Shamballa, which doubles as a He's Back moment,  after having been away and moping up north.
 * Fairy Tail
 * Gildartz arrives in the nick of time to save Natsu, Lucy, Cana, and several others in chapter 233.
 * Followed up in the next chapter by Freed and Bickslow saving Levy, Lisanna, and several injured members of Fairy Tail from Rusty Rose.
 * AAAAND in the latest chapter, we have Laxus saving Wendy, Natsu, Lucy, Grey, and Erza.
 * it is safe to say that Mashima Hiro is REALLY into this trope.
 * Debatably, what happens when Sara gets Ram-Dass in Soukou no Strain -- in any case, the other pilots certainly see it as such.
 * In the Elfen Lied manga, just when Mayu is about to be raped by the unnamed "hunter", Bando shows up in big damn heroes fashion.
 * In Katekyo Hitman Reborn Tsuna shows up in Big Damn Heroes fashion to save Chrome from after Hibari's fight with him.
 * What did in the last chapter was this complete with . A few chapters back,  pulled one too, arriving just in time to save the day.
 * Akira Amano loves this trope. In the last part of, you can expect to see this every 2 or 3 chapters.
 * Most recently, Kaoru of the Shimon Family, followed closely by, both of them against.
 * Protagonists of Shonen Fighting Series tend to do this so many times in their respective anime that it becomes tired and clichéd after a while. Notorious perpetrators of this trope include Goku from DragonBall Z, Ichigo from Bleach, Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, and Naruto. It has become more and more common to invert this by having the protagonist bailed out at some point (usually during the first fight with a stronger foe) by one of the supporting characters. Listing the complete list of times this happens in this type of show would be a page-eating exercise in pure madness.
 * Hilariously subverted in Dragon Ball. When Goku decides to storm the Red Ribbon Army's base and his friends hear about it, they all panic and quickly gather everybody to go help him out. Apparently not even Muten Roshi thinks Goku can beat them all by himself. After a pretty intense race to the Red Ribbon hideout, everybody mentally prepares to go into battle...only to find that it isn't necessary. Contrary to their wildest expectations, Goku had already single-handedly destroyed the entire base.
 * Piccolo tends to do these to help out Gohan whenever he's in a tight spot, to the point it's a Running Gag in the Non Serial Movies.
 * The last thirty minutes or so of the Martian Successor Nadesico movie is pretty much a long string of these moments crammed together. There's so many heroes showing up to foil the bad guys in various places that the narrative starts to fall apart at the end.
 * The last 5 or so minutes of the OVA GaoGaiGar FINAL is the ultimate Big Damn Heroes moment, after an episode leading up to it:
 * Most of the new character (and tool) introductions in that series actually qualify. Especially anything involving Symmetrical Docking. ChoRyuJin, being the only one who can operate the energy-dissipating Eraser Head "missile", gets multiple ones, including the crowning Big Damn Heroes moment in the third episode of FINAL.
 * And one cannot forget perhaps ChoRyuJin's Big Damn Heroes in the original GaoGaiGar when, after realising a second ubercharged railway cannon shell is coming moments after the first has been dissipated,.
 * ChoRyuJin also gets a Big Damn Heroes moment when
 * Of course, this also resulted in
 * Let's be perfectly honest, here. Big Damn Heroes is the entire reason for ChoRyuJin's existence.
 * And all the other Symmetrical Docking mechanoids.
 * Heck, the titular robot even gets one of these towards the end of the main series.
 * There's a combination Big Damn Heroes/They're Back moment, accompanied by Saikyou Yuusha Robo Gundan, in episode 34.
 * In the first Ghost in the Shell movie Batou arrives just in time to save the Major near the end. In the second movie, the roles are reversed.
 * And then there's the fight against the guy in the walking tank in the office building, which mostly copies the end of the first movie.
 * And later the arrival of the Taichikomas, who save Batou at the Majors house from the death squad.
 * Code Geass
 * Suzaku is an expert at pulling of Big Damn Heroes moments. Although, considering that he never once actually rescues the hero--seeing that he is the strongest enemy pilot and is rescuing enemy leaders--the definition is being used very loosely.
 * Well, once, right before is killed by C.C. in season one, he saves the hero. But most of the time, he's performing Big Damn Heroes to save the antagonists.
 * return after the end-of-season upgrade right into the middle of a climactic fight.
 * The Earl of Pudding himself, Lloyd Asplund, and his assistant Cecille had one in the first season finale when they swooped onto the battle field and saved.
 * Lloyd gets another one, alongside Suzaku and Euphie of all people, in the Nightmare of Nunnally Spin-Off. And you can just tell from the way he's holding himself that he was thinking of this trope...
 * Let's not forget Episode 20: "The Battle for Kyushu". It looks like Suzaku's finally run out of energy, ready to be picked off...and then!
 * Happens in the first episode of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's, when Fate and Yuuno save Nanoha's ass from a rather messy hammer-induced death literally at the last second.
 * In the movie of the series, Fate's Big Damn Hero moment comes much later in the story ... and is much bigger.
 * Inverted in Force, where the Huckebein have been saving each other from Riot Force Six's operators.
 * In Shakugan no Shana, the Bottle Fairy Magical Girl (No, really) Margery Daw has a Big Damn Heroes moment. Both she and her Sidekick/Empathic Weapon point out that this is "Nice timing".
 * Subverted in Saiyuki Reload, when Sanzo, Goku and Hakkai show up to 'save' Gojyo from Kami-sama--only to spend several minutes kicking him into submission for making them go through the big damn trouble of backtracking several days to find him. Still moot, though, because Kami-sama proceeds to beat them all spectacularly. Ironically, Gojyo is the only one conscious in the end and mostly responsible for their escape.
 * Used again in the finale of Gunlock, when Goku, Hakkai, Gojyo, and even Hakuryuu have gotten sick and tired of being attacked by assassins thinking they're still the Sanzo party after they split from the priest, so they decide to go kick his ass right as he's being shot repeatedly. Plenty of jeering, Sanzo gets shot some more...only after that does Goku get a chance to punch him, and then Sanzo punches Gojyo, Sanzo tells them they're pains in the ass, they agree wholeheartedly. All is right with the world.
 * And don't even get me started on Inuyasha --although it does subvert this trope occasionally.
 * Invoked in the third movie by Rin who refuses to run from the Big Bad because she knows Sesshomaru will show up and save her, and sure enough, he appears at the last second.
 * Lampshaded in Rurouni Kenshin, when Hiko saves Yahiko from the giant Fuji. The boy accuses the swordsman of timing his rescue perfectly to look cool, with the latter rebutting that he was merely lost because of his pupil's poor directions.
 * This became a trademark feat of Gundam Seed protagonist Kira Yamato after he acquired the Freedom Gundam, and its upgraded model in the sequel Destiny.
 * Athrun Zala and Mu La Flaga are also occasionally guilty of this trope.
 * While we're on Gundam, let's not forget ''Endless Waltz's Big Damn Heero moment.
 * Not in the series proper, but in the backstory to Mobile Suit Gundam, with The Federation on the brink of total surrender after Zeon's opening blitz, General Revil escapes from captivity and gives his "Zeon is exhausted!" speech, the full text of which appears in the novels.
 * Mobile Suit Gundam 00 absolutely LOVES this trope.
 * Allelujah Haptism pulls two in the first season: first during the pilot episode and again in episode 5.
 * The Thrones' first appearance has them collectively whooping the asses of the combined Union, AEU and HRL force that captured the Gundams.
 * When Setsuna turns on the Thrones, he's having a tough time with them... until Tieria shows up to assist him. Still, Johann and Nena try to use their Combination Attack BFG... at which point Lockon joins the fray too. Taking away their numerical advantage proves to be enough to chase them away.
 * Speaking of which, the Thrones once again get to be on the receiving end of this trope when their raid on a HRL military base is interrupted by Sergei Smirnov leading a squadron of GN-X Elite Mooks against them. They proceed to absolutely kick the ass of the Trinities, marking the Thrones' first defeat.
 * When Lockon tries to take Ali with him near the end of season 1, Setsuna tries this trope to save him... and fails.
 * Setsuna gets into a pinch at the beginning of season 2: his Gundam's arms are both cut off at the shoulder and his opponent is too fast for him to flee. Said opponent charges at him with a Boom Stick lance... then said lance is obliterated by Tieria's new Gundam Seravee with a long-range shot. Tieria promptly beamsabers the guy when it tries to attack him from behind.
 * Right in the following episode, Tieria is the one who's having a hard time against several mooks... then Setsuna returns the favor from earlier by commandeering the 00 Gundam and wiping the floor with their enemies.
 * Finally in episode 17 of season 2, everyone pulls a truly EPIC Enemy Mine moment with this trope, trying to shoot down all the falling pieces of an orbital elevator. First it's only Celestial Being... then Katharon joins them... then the Federation Army follows suit... and finally A-LAWS joins in too. The result is a spectacular shootout involving hundreds, if not thousands, of mobile suits.
 * The Gundam 00 movie
 * Mai and Mikoto play Big Damn Heroines to Natsuki at the end of Mai-HiME episode 4, freeing her from the Naughty Tentacles of the Panty Thief Orphan and giving her an opportunity to finish it off herself.
 * Natsuki returns the favor in Episode 14 when the others are cornered by the Searrs army, shooting the soldiers' guns and blinding them with a flash cartridge to give Mai and Mikoto a chance to escape.
 * Let's not forget the beginning of the final episode when Yuuichi shows up out of nowhere swinging a sword around to save Mai from Reito.
 * The manga series Kamen Rider Spirits seems to be one Big Damn Heroes moment after another - only it's often just one such Hero against a small army of overpowered cyborgs. (The V3 version of this is the best - a seemingly untransformable Kazami Shiro versus the first half of his Monsters Of The Week, then transforms and beats them all down. While bleeding from the transformation. And then  firekicks the Big Bad's body into little pieces of BLAM. On the moon.)
 * In Guyver, Guyver III tends to do this a lot to Guyver I, the protagonist. Occasionally, Guyver I will return the favor.
 * In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Simon and leave Earth to save the day when Anti-Spirals are destroying the Arc-Gurren, a huge spaceship. They arrive in an epically awesome Big Damn Heroes moment. The shockwave of concentrated awesome destroys the whole Anti-Spiral fleet save for the mothership. Literally.
 * There's a string of these at the climax of the second movie, after.
 * There's also Episode 11, when Simon.
 * In the Kyoto arc of Mahou Sensei Negima,.
 * Not to mention.
 * And again in the latest arc with a double BDH. . The series' transformation into Magical School Dragon Ball with added Fan Service is now complete.
 * Once more in the latest arc, as
 * And again in chapter 269, when in a flashback
 * Chapters 273 & 275 have more than can be believed.
 * Chapter 280..
 * Chapter 292.
 * And again in chapter 294
 * Chisame recently lampshaded it.
 * Chisame recently lampshaded it.

"Professor Yumi: He's come back!"
 * In chapter 322, done by , of all people. Atop of a Spider Tank and with Evangeline in tow.
 * Chapter 330
 * Macross Frontier episode 14: Then he does a fly-by as the others look on in awe.
 * Pulled on a grand scale in episode 25, as.
 * Rom Stoll in Machine Robo: Revenge of the Chronos practically lives by this trope. His favorite method is when there is trouble, he would suddenly appear out of nowhere and yell MATTE!!! (WAIT!!!), causing the said villain to be shocked and ask who's there. With arms crossed, Rom then proceeds to give out a long-winded speech of virtue and justice, frowning upon the said villain, and then the villain would respond with "Wha!? Who are you to talk to me like that!?" Rom's answer? "You don't deserve to know my name!". Cue ass-kicking.
 * Super Robot Wars Compact 2 and Super Robot Wars MX then plays on this one to further Machine Robo Rom's awesomeness. He would interrupt LOTS and LOTS of villains out of his series, even those who can't audibly speak (for example, an Angel) and tell them that they don't deserve his name!
 * Great Mazinger was a master of these kinds of moments, as even his debut was a major one. During the final episode (and its extended movie version) of Mazinger Z, a new enemy army appears and proceed to completely overwhelm Kouji. As the Mazinger barely holds itself even a tiny bit together, the Great Mazinger shows up just before the final blow is struck and proceeds to absolutely dominate the new foes. Also something he's fond of doing in remakes, often with a nice big THUNDER BREAK to blast any number of enemies ready to swarm his allies. Also some really nice descending from the clouds shots.
 * A good example of this can be seen in the final episode of Mazinkaiser. Kouji and Mazinkaiser are trapped in the reactivated Mt. Fuji, Boss Borot is destroyed, Venus Ace is a Mechanical Monster and the Photon Power Plant is lost. Just as the beast that took out Mazinkaiser is about to go after the rest, his wings are clipped by a red streak. The Japanese version pussyfoots around it, but the English dub goes straight to the point:
 * A good example of this can be seen in the final episode of Mazinkaiser. Kouji and Mazinkaiser are trapped in the reactivated Mt. Fuji, Boss Borot is destroyed, Venus Ace is a Mechanical Monster and the Photon Power Plant is lost. Just as the beast that took out Mazinkaiser is about to go after the rest, his wings are clipped by a red streak. The Japanese version pussyfoots around it, but the English dub goes straight to the point:

"Keiko: "Um, didn't Yusuke's team beat you guys? Why are you helping us?" Chu: *kneels down in front of Yusuke and Keiko* "Nah, love, your boy did all right by me, and I don't forget.""
 * Cue the reappearance of Great Mazinger (who had been out since episode 2) and shows how powerful he is with a Double Thunder Break.
 * UFO Robo Grendizer was also fond of those moments. In the first episode, Duke pulls a Big Damn Heroes moment to save Kouji, deploying Grendizer for first time. In another episode, Yamato Nadeshiko Hikaru Makiba (who had not been an Action Girl until that moment) pulls another to save Duke.
 * Haruhi Suzumiya
 * When Kyon was about to get killed by Ryoko Asakura, Yuki Nagato arrives to the rescue by breaking through the wall/into the space and catches the knife with her hands, shortly before taking Asakura down in one of the most awesome battles of the series.
 * In the 4th novel Disappearance,
 * And then when Kyon himself.
 * That's not all. In Boredom, the baseball game, Yuki hacks the baseball bat in the final inning, when the opponents have scored 10 points. The resulting 11 home-run streak is both hilarious and cool at the same time. And then the opponents ask Kyon after the game if they're willing to sell their supposed magical baseball bat.
 * Moving back, we have Melancholy, where Kyon prevents the end of the world by with Haruhi.
 * In Day of Sagittarius, Kyon insists that nobody cheats. The Genre Savvy readers might figure out that this isn't a good idea, but eh...When Yuki drops the bombshell that she isn't cheating, despite controlling 20 subfleets perfectly using text-based inputs, but their opponents are, Kyon reluctantly lets her hack the opponents' computer, rewrite the software on all 10 computers, and continue decimating her opponents all under the constraints of human technology.
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion
 * Played straight in episode 19. The Angel Of The Week is trashing Central Dogma and suddenly Unit One crashes through the wall and Shinji kicks arse!
 * And again in episode 10, "Magma Diver", where Asuka, having killed the Angel of the Week, begins to sink into the magma, sure to die of either starvation, overheating or suffocation. Shinji, without specialised armor or orders, dives headfirst into the magma and catches her.
 * During his fight with Ramiel in both the original series and Rebuild of Evangelion, it appears that Shinji is going to get well and royally screwed by the Angel's laser blast. Cue Rei jumping in at the last moment, blocking Ramiel's beam with a frickin' space shuttle! Okay, fine, the modified armor of a space shuttle, but still! Awesome.
 * In End of Evangelion, Shinji is being held at gunpoint by three JSSDF soldiers, one pressing a gun barrel directly on his head. Just before he pulls the trigger, Misato bursts in at the last minute, gunning down all the soldiers and saving Shinji in a manner most impressive. Keep in mind that these are all trained, hardened soldiers, and Misato has likely never seen an actual battle her whole life, making it more awesome.
 * Horrifyingly subverted later, when Asuka appears and completely trashes the attacking army. The day looks saved...until the MP Evas show up and
 * Awesomely unsubverted in the manga adaptation, where
 * This happens fairly often in Chrono Crusade. Two scenes that come to mind is Remington suddenly appearing to chase off, and Satella who comes flying in on a summoned beast to save Chrono and Rosette from a long fall.
 * Berserk pulls a big one of these off in the manga when.
 * Sailors Uranus and Neptune do this all the time in the anime adaptation of Sailor Moon. Likewise, Sailor Pluto comes to their rescue at one point in Sailor Stars. In the movies, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are the de facto Reinforcements.
 * At one point in the manga of Flame of Recca, Recca suffers a serious Heroic BSOD. Apparently, not only that he found out that Mikagami picked up a Distress Ball and is now a hostage to the enemy, then he learns that Domon can't survive his Jumping Off The Cliff stunt way back, and Fuuko is currently getting drained of her personality. Who came to snap him out of it? DOMON, Not Quite Dead, instantly gives out a rallying speech that raises everyone's morale back. And you thought he's just a Dumb Muscle Joke Character...
 * The second season of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni does this twice, a great indicator of the gradual mood change.
 * First is towards the end of Minagoroshi-hen, with
 * Second, in Matsuribayashi-hen,
 * Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei: Just when Keiichi has given up hope of escaping with his swimsuit from his friends, Tomitake, Oishi, and Irie (together with Keiichi, the "Heavenly Kings of Darkness") swoop in on surfboards in the middle of a pool scene to save him, each sprouting a grandiose line about not giving up. Oishi even ends up summoning a squad of fully-armed riot police to help, which storms in after their truck bursts through the pool fence.
 * In Hellsing,, of all people, shows up to save Integra from an horde of vampires.
 * Aya ends a Ten-Minute Retirement with one of these in Weiss Kreuz. Yoji, Ken, and Omi are cornered, outnumbered, and out of ideas - until Aya arrives, standing on top of a speeding car and packing a machine gun.
 * He does it again in Weiss Kreuz Gluhen, arriving in the nick of time to save Sena from Sagiri and Suika.
 * In the Black Cat manga, Train goes and saves Rinslet just before Creed is about to kill Naizer, making this example slightly different in that the person whose life was in immediate danger wasn't the Damsel in Distress.
 * Train also does it the jerk-way when soldiers of the Apostle of Stars show up and corner Sven, Even, and Dr. Tearju; Train saves them with a newly acquired ability that forces the soldiers to retreat. Train later reveals that he had actually been watching for a while, and thought it would be funner if he showed up at the very last second. Sven comically punched him in the face for his trouble.
 * During the Seven Devils arc in Kinnikuman, Mr. Khamen is about to suck out Brocken Jr.'s blood through a straw when Mongolman saves him.
 * Subverted in Soul Eater:
 * And played straight: Maka and Soul would have been killed by Crona in episode 8, for example, except that Stein and Spirit turned up and wiped the floor with the poor thing. Crona's reaction at being run through by Spirit - at this point behind the cathedral's closed door - is one of confusion (almost as though their body hadn't been damaged before). What follows is the series' first real example of why its adults are far from useless. And for some a CMOA, though your mileage may vary.
 * Gunbuster, Episode 4. The Exelion fleet is ambushed during a Fold jump by Alien Monsters. Almost all of the fleet is destroyed, the mecha squadrons are decimated, and everything looks at its worst . . . then Gunbuster Rises, Noriko at the controls, and destroys nearly entire alien fleet with one attack.
 * Diebuster manages to do its predecessor justice in episode 4: The Variable Gravity Well has gone berserk. Most of the Buster Machine pilots are dead, and Europa has been literally shot through several times. The two remaining resident Action Girls are next to dead, and their mechs are totaled. The Variable Gravity Well turns around, stares right at them, charges its Texas-sized attack when, suddenly, playing.
 * Hell, she does it again in episode 6 when the entire Earth government has pooled its resources together to build a Buster Machine to propel Earth like a bomb to kill a blackhole, and just as it gets up to speed,
 * Chrome Shelled Regios when Layton increases his kei in order to save Nina and win the match with the 16th platoon.
 * In Claymore, Awakened Being Agatha has Galetea literally pinned to the wall, and is about to kill Clarice and Miata. Her attack gets thrown off by one of her legs being destroyed. Cut to Clare and the rest of the Sexy Seven standing on top of a building in the rain and informing Agatha that as she is about to die, she doesn't need to know who they are.
 * The Sexy Seven pull it off again, arriving in the nick of time to prevent their rogue captain Miria from Awakening in a desperate attempt to stop the most powerful Abyssal One of all times (Priscilla notwithstanding).
 * In the climax of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, Syaoran and Sakura, arriving minutes too late to save Syaoran and a few days too late to save Sakura, are freed from a decade of imprisonment just in time to save their son, Syaoran, and his girlfriend, Sakura. Everyone with the same name looks exactly alike. Yes, it is somewhat hard to keep track of.
 * Ranma ½
 * Subverted in the first movie. In a tense climactic scene between Kirin and Akane, the door finally bursts open. But instead of Ranma coming to her rescue, it's Ranma gets his own big damn moment a little while later.
 * Played straight rather sweetly earlier in the series, both anime and manga. When Ranma temporarily loses his strength to moxibustion, most of his enemies gang up and decide to give him the monumental collective ass-kicking they've been wanting to give him for some time. Ranma, on the ground, just about to be completely flattened, closes his eyes, hears a strange noise and opens them again to find Ryoga Hibiki, who has appeared out of nowhere, defending him.
 * It's also played straight in the aforementioned movie. When the fishing rod-wielding Lucky God Ebiten has Ranma beaten, bleeding, and at his mercy, he winds up for the coup de grace...and suddenly a spinning bandanna comes flying and destroys his fishing rod. Cue Ryouga steamrolling over Ebiten on his way to Kirin's tower (closely followed by everyone else) while Ranma just blinks in bewilderment.
 * The same movie also gave an earlier one to Shampoo. Ranma has been ensnared by a Razor Floss using martial artist, who is just about to cut him into pieces when Ranma's unwanted fiancée comes flying in from off-screen and cuts the wires before they can slice Ranma apart. She then tells him to go on and save Akane while she holds the line here.
 * Gintama has a lot of last-minute rescues. Gintoki especially rescues Shinpachi a lot.
 * Fushigi Yuugi
 * Miaka gets handed the Distress Ball a lot, but the trade-off is that her warriors get to pull off some nice last-minute saves. Tamahome does this too many times to count, and in fact one of these is the start of their Rescue Romance.
 * Tasuki runs a close second: saving Nuriko, Hotohori and Miaka as they're about to be killed by zombies, showing up at the very last second to prevent Miaka from having her skull bashed in by brainwashed Tamahome, and finally.
 * The twins get their moments as well.
 * In Azumanga Daioh, Sakaki is saved by the gang of cats led by Kamineko by the Irimouto cat she befriended earlier. Good thing there's something that doesn't hate her, right?
 * Great Teacher Onizuka does this all the damn time, sometimes with gunshot wounds. Ask any of his students. He even lampshades it once, where he apologizes for not arriving earlier, but then that wouldn't have been as dramatic.
 * One Piece
 * Interestingly, while One Piece usually takes any opportunity to turn the heroism up to the eleventh doesn't use this trope much. In fact, the only time I can think of it happening is when Usopp, a not particularly heroic character, snipes out the marines ready to gun down Nico Robin from an impossible distance. And then strikes a badass pose.
 * In the climax scene from the film One Piece Strong World, the entire crew minus Nami (who was thrust into the role of Damsel in Distress) burst into the Big Bad's hideout, wearing badass longcoats and wielding pistols and rifles, begin to open fire on all the Mooks as a way of saying hello, before going into action for real.
 * Chapter 198/199, Vivi, after witnessing Crocodile single-handedly and effortlessly beating down Alabasta's strongest warriors, is dropped to her death, but who should appear from the sky to save her from her demise but Luffy (and Pell)? Add to the scene Vivi's lamentations no body can hear her, and Luffy confidently saying, "I can hear...your voice!"
 * In chapter 502/episode 396
 * Silvers Rayleigh,.
 * This changed most recently in Chapter 556,
 * There was another one, earlier --
 * For those scratching their heads at the above,.
 * But...Luffy loves this trope! In addition to the above mentioned rescues at, he's pulled it off at Little Garden, Alabasta (twice, depending on your interpretation), and Thriller Bark.
 * The most recent one is done by, who shows up in the middle of the battle at . Bet you didn't see that coming.
 * Now, the MOST recent one is by.
 * Hell, even the GOD DAMN SHIP gets one when it shows up of its own accord at Enies Lobby for one last voyage. Also a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming / Crowning Moment of Awesome, all rolled into one.
 * Now, the MOST recent example is by
 * There was one slightly before those in episode two: Luffy launches his rubber body in between Zoro (and Coby) and the marines, rebounding their bullets back at them.
 * This song is pretty much Luffy's Big Damn Heroes theme.
 * Subverted for laughs in Eureka Seven's infamous football episode. When things aren't looking good for the Gekko team, Holland takes off his coat and declares that he's going in. Cut to the score of 34-0 against the Gekkostate.
 * Played straight in the final episode, with
 * This happened often in the first two seasons of Pokémon, complete with some great background music.
 * In "Noodles: Roamin' Off", after Team Rocket has separated, James goes to catch a violent shiny Metagross, but gets in over his head (He tried to fight it with Psychic-type Mime Jr. and Grass-type Carnivine, neither of which are very strong against Psychic/Steel Metagross). Just when it looks like he's at its non-existent mercy, Yanmega and Seviper show up with Jessie to save him (not that that should've worked either).
 * And it didn't; Meowth had to save them both.
 * At the climax of Pokémon 3, Ash and Pikachu, locked in a desperate struggle against Entei, get tossed off a cliff. At the very last second, Charizard, previously left by Ash to train in the Charicific Valley, swoops in to save his trainer. What happens next is an epic battle between Ash's strongest Pokémon and the unstoppable force of nature known as Entei!
 * Then a few minutes later, when Ash is nearly knocked off the same cliff a second time, his hand is grabbed at the last moment by Brock, who was last seen being on the wrong end of a Curb Stomp Battle. Brock, Misty and Team Rocket then pull him to safety.
 * This happens a few more times after that, though him showing up when Ash was in Blackthorn was a coincidence and Ash can always call Riza if he needs his firepower (Johto League and his two Battle Frontier fights).
 * In Pokémon: Giratina and The Sky Warrior, as a glacier's foundation is broken and it begins moving towards a town, Regigigas and a herd of Mamoswine appear to push it back into place.
 * Happens again in the second episode of the newest series. Ash is faced with a far more competent Team Rocket than he's used to battling, and it actually looks like they're gonna get away with Pikachu (and Iris' Axew)...until an Oshawott that had been following Ash around appears seemingly out of nowhere to save the day.
 * In a more recent ep, Ash's newly hatched is about to be attacked by four Galvantula. As one of them close in, Ash's other Pokémon show up and kick some ass.
 * This happened about three times in the teamup movie, Pretty Cure All Stars. First,
 * The second Pretty Cure All Stars movie has a funny one:.
 * Fresh Pretty Cure episodes 42 and 48, anyone?
 * God Ginrai does this to Star Saber in the latter's first fight with Liokaiser.
 * Volume 11 of Love Hina ends with
 * It happens in Monster, mostly with Tenma, who always has a fire to stop or a child to save.
 * Inn Transformers Zone, Metrotitan has Dai Atlas and Sonic Bomber on the ropes, but then Road Fire suddenly jets in to save them.
 * The titular character of Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple has been known to do this. His masters also tend to show up when things really get bad.
 * Too slow...my dinner is getting cold...http://www.onemanga.com/Historys_Strongest_Disciple_Kenichi/104/16-17/
 * Siegfried is literally made of this trope. In his most prominent example, he flies a small plane to a heavily defended island, jumps from the plane to get to the arena, dodges missiles on the way down, curb stomps his opponent, composes music on his body, and then passes out from forty three days of sleep deprivation. The best part? HE WAS SINGING THE WHOLE DAMN TIME.
 * In Full Metal Panic!, Sousuke tends to have awesome entrances like these to save the day. In fact, the amount of times he does this to his Arch Enemy Gauron are so numerous, Gauron eventually Lampshades it mockingly. In the finale of the first season, Gauron tackles Sousuke (while in their AS), and holds him down while he tries to self destruct, teasingly telling Sousuke: "Well well, how do you like this? It's such a disgrace like this, isn't it? You can't act like a big damn hero and save the day in a cool way." Guess what:.
 * In The Second Raid, Sosuke does this when
 * Hell, both the first series and TSR opens with this. And of course the memorable moment where Gauron is about to shoot Sousuke point-blank when he gets scared off by Kurz descending on a parachute, firing a sniper rifle.
 * Sousuke in general tends to do this. There's a reason why Gauron eventually Lampshades it - it happened so many times. The Behemoth Arc ended with a Big Damn Heroes moment with him rescuing everyone, the Helmajistan Arc had him popping up in front of Gauron and having a Big Damn Heroes moment, on the Tuatha de Dannan he had a Big Damn Heroes moment saving Tessa from Gauron just in the nick of time, and countless other examples.
 * For a Mafia gangster that insists he's totally a villain, Baccano!!'s Luck Gandor sure ends up doing this a lot. Notable examples include pulling a very timely Click Hello on Dallas Genoard just when Dallas and his buddies have Firo and Ennis at gunpoint, and braining Gustavo Baggetta repeatedly with a chair when he finds Gustavo menacing Eve Genoard.
 * Rachel also makes a habit of this, despite orders to the contrary.
 * Surprisingly, in Pokémon Special, Giovanni of all people saves Yellow from being blasted to smithereens by Lance. (Of course, he ran away afterwards, but it was cool at the moment.)
 * Kan, Kan, Kan, Maaya Kan of Bio Meat, who has actually lampshaded the trope by stating that an entrance should be dramatic. Shingo has even called him out (accurately!) for hiding in wait for the perfect moment to appear.
 * Yu Yu Hakusho:
 * Sensui, the man who, has just opened the door to Makai, blocked the strongest attack in the series, the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, without even raising a single hand, and forced Kuwabara to cut down the only barrier remaining between the two worlds to get at him. . The fight that ensues is undeniably one of the biggest Awesome Moments in the entire series.
 * In the Dark Tournament arc, Yusuke's newfound demon allies Chu, Rinku, Jin, and Touya get not one but two such moments.
 * Yusuke, exhausted from, is sleeping on Keiko under a tree during the Semifinal matches against Team Uraotogi. Three lower-class demons show up and start perving all over Keiko, amping up their threats when they realise that she has Yusuke with her. Just as one of them is about to rip Keiko and Yusuke apart, a yo-yo (Rinku's signature weapon) comes flying out of nowhere and pastes him in the face. The two left standing are left with a resounding Oh Crap moment when they see Rinku and Chu standing there, ready to defend the unconscious Yusuke. As they wet themselves in fear and turn to run the other way, a particular pair of Demon World ninjas appear and block their path. None of the four of them say a single word until after the lower-class demons have run away. What follows doubles as a CMoH.
 * Yusuke, exhausted from, is sleeping on Keiko under a tree during the Semifinal matches against Team Uraotogi. Three lower-class demons show up and start perving all over Keiko, amping up their threats when they realise that she has Yusuke with her. Just as one of them is about to rip Keiko and Yusuke apart, a yo-yo (Rinku's signature weapon) comes flying out of nowhere and pastes him in the face. The two left standing are left with a resounding Oh Crap moment when they see Rinku and Chu standing there, ready to defend the unconscious Yusuke. As they wet themselves in fear and turn to run the other way, a particular pair of Demon World ninjas appear and block their path. None of the four of them say a single word until after the lower-class demons have run away. What follows doubles as a CMoH.

"Chu: "How goes it, mate?""
 * After the tournament is over,, and Yusuke just snapped Keiko out of her BSOD, our heroes are trying to find their way out of the stadium when they come to a dead end that's been completely blocked off by rubble. Our heroes are drained, exhausted, and really probably shouldn't be standing. It seems like they're trapped, when all of a sudden the rubble cracks and then splinters into dust. When the dust clears, four of the most badass minor characters in the series are standing on the other side. The grins on Kurama and Yusuke's faces when they see just who saved their collective behinds are priceless.

"Homura: That won't be necessary."
 * Two different non-typical examples occur in the team's match against Team Masho. In the first, Yusuke was disqualified from the last of the five fights on a technicality due to the opposing team's manager bribing the officials, Hiei and The Masked Fighter have been trapped behind a barrier throughout the entire match and, thus, are disqualified as well, and Kurama lost his (third) match thanks to the life-sucking plant growing in his bloodstream. The only option left to them seems to be Hiei's killing spree idea. They are saved from that by Kuwabara, who had previously let three Brainwashed and Crazy fighters beat him senseless to snap them back to normal, draging his broken and bloody body into the ring so that a trained fighter can make it more broken and bloody. The second example occurs during this fight. Kuwabara is rather predictably not doing well. Risho happily informs Kuwabara that his body is tapping into his spirit energy just to keep him moving, meaning he can't summon his spirit sword. Kuwabara takes this in stride and decides to use his own life energy to end the match with a double kill, which will count as a win for his side. He says goodbye to his friends, charges in screaming, and grapples Risho in mid-attack. Before Kuwabara can off himself, his love intrest Yukina arrives. This give him the strength to bitch-slap Risho across the whole damn stadium.
 * Ouran High School Host Club manga Chapter 80 shows us that pretty much the ENTIRE cast of side characters is damn awesome. Of course, the main cast also demonstrated their awesomeness, too.
 * Saiou in Season 4 of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, who saves Juudai by ramming the Trueman clones with a van and then escaping with Juudai on a motorcycle. Subverted, since.
 * Saint Seiya lives and breathes by this. Of particular note: whenever Andromeda Shun is faced with an opponent too dangerous to face he will invariably end up face-down on the ground, his enemy gloating and about to deliver the killing blow...when out of nowhere a blast of flame and a flurry of razor-sharp metallic feathers will fall upon Shun's foe. With the loud cry of a bird of prey, witness the arrival of Phoenix Ikki, the strongest and most savage of the heroic Bronze Saints, and Shun's big brother. Oh Crap.
 * In the first Digimon Adventure 02 movie, Angemon and Angewomon (with accompaniment by TK and Kari) show up just in time to save the other Digimon from being eaten by the corrupted Cherubimon.
 * In the fifth movie, Battle of Adventurers, Rika, Henry, and their Digimon are delivered by Omnimon to help Takato, interrupting Mephistomon's "this is how I destroy the world" rant right after he succeeds in capturing what he wanted.
 * Another example from Digimon Tamers is when rescue the other Tamers from being swallowed along with the Big Bad, which is even more impressive considering that Takato and Guilmon, the main characters of this series basically owe them their lives twice.
 * Another example from Digimon Tamers includes Beelzemon literally swooping in to help Wargrowlmon, Gargomon, and Taomon fight one of the D-Reaper's agents, which had been kicking their asses. Without him it's very likely they would have lost and been deleted.
 * Digimon Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Leaping Through Time has Tagiru rescued by.
 * Another example includes Beelzemon literally swooping in to help Wargrowlmon, Gargomon, and Taomon fight one of the D-Reaper's agents. Without him it's very likely they would have lost and been deleted.
 * Touma of To Aru Majutsu no Index does this with alarming frequency. Index, Aisa, Misaka, Hyouka,   All have been saved by Touma, usually coming from absolutely no where.
 * .hack: This is basically Balmung's MO. He does it CONSTANTLY, in every installment of the series, in suitably epic fashion. In .hack//SIGN, Balmung rescues Subaru, Mimiru, and Bear from . In Legend of the Twilight Bracelet Manga, Balmung swoops in and saves Rena from getting destroyed by a high level monster and teaches Shugo to use the Bracelet. It happens over a dozen times in the games, most notably the first time in Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground, before Kite has activated his Bracelet. This tendency of his is parodied in the GIFT bonus episode.
 * Basically happens Once an Episode in Puella Magi Madoka Magica, usually done by Homura.


 * If you are watching anything from Leiji Matsumoto and there seems to be no hope for the heroes, expect Captain Harlock to show up out of freaking nowhere and ram the bad guy with his spaceship. Even if he's not a major character.
 * Captain Falcon gets a VERY badass one in episode 47 of the F-Zero anime.
 * The final episode of Dragon Crisis has an intense one in which
 * At the end of Volume 1 of Hyakujitsu no Bara, Klaus (a knight) brutally rapes his lover Taki (a colonel), to the point he requires medical attention. Shortly after The Medic Suguri kicks Klaus out of his room Klaus is arrested under suspicions of treason over some sensitive documents and is mercilessly tortured by Grand Chamberlain Hasebe while Taki is still unconscious and unaware. Failing to get anything out of him, Hasebe decides to just kill Klaus only to have his sword shattered mid-strike by none other than Taki, accompanied by his own katana, Badass Longcoat, backlighting, and much Dramatic Wind. He then orders Hasebe to stand down, covers for Klaus, and even apologizes to him.
 * Life is a rather realistic, though exagerrated, Slice of Life series. However the scene where Ayumu and Hatori get saved from being gang-raped and left for dead in an abandoned series really seems unusual. It's full of buildings catching on fire, dramatic Clean Pretty Reliable, and overall may just be the most dramatic scene in the manga.
 * Badass Biker Babe Houquet's introductory scene in Genesis Climber Mospeada is this when she appears as a mysterious fighter clad in red armor saving Mint and Ray.
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
 * In Part 3, Mohammad Abdul was killed off fairly early in the story. Thanks to fan demand, he was revived, in time for a surprise (and explained as an ace in the hole) Big Damn Heroes moment.
 * The series in general is full of this trope. Usually with the trademark heroic (and fashionable) posing.
 * Sailor Moon: Tuxedo Mask does this all the time! He even did it dressed up as Santa Claus!
 * Bleach does this. A lot. Seriously, it would be easier to write down the times they didn't pull this, but that's near impossible since EVERYONE does it! Usually because the Main Characters are failing and someone swoops in to save them, but at least every Arrancar has pulled this. Examples? See There Was a Door and the tropes for the Bleach series.
 * THE iDOLM@STER - On the "Live For You OVA". Iori sends a helicopter to pick the girls that are stranded somewhere in the middle of Japan, so they can make it in time for their live.
 * In Rental Magica, Adilicia is fond of pulling these off, most notably in.
 * Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai has Momoyo often filling this role thanks to her in-universe status as the World's Strongest Woman, though occasionally invoked to lesser degrees by other members of the family, as well as  in the Ryuuzetsuran storyline.