Damsel Scrappy: Difference between revisions

[[File:tvtds_5391tvtds 5391.jpg|link=Girl Genius (Webcomic)|rightframe]]

{{quote|''[[Lampshade Hanging|"You have a knack for getting in trouble."]]''|'''Spider-Man''' to Mary Jane, ''[[Spider-Man (Film)|Spider-Man]]''}}

{{quote|''[[Lampshade Hanging|"Do I have HOSTAGE stamped across my forehead?"]]''|Mary Jane, novelization of ''[[Spider-Man (Film)|3]]''}}

The [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]] is an age-old classic plot device, which places a character in danger to add tension to the story. Sometimes one character (usually a [[Love Interest]] or a [[Tagalong Kid|relative]] of another character) seems to have no discernible purpose besides serving as the [[Designated Victim]]. If the character is popular with the audience, this can be effective. Other times, well....let's just say that the audience starts wishing that the [[Big Damn Heroes]] would get stuck in traffic, just so they won't have to put up with ''[[The Scrappy|her]]'' anymore.

Even if she's just unlucky, she may be disliked for other reasons. Perhaps the audience finds her [[Shallow Love Interest|too bland]], or [[Alpha Bitch|too bitchy]]. Perhaps her presence seems [[Token Romance|shoehorned into the main plot]] (perhaps to attract a [[Periphery Demographic]] or for blatant [[Fan Service]]), and the audience feels she [[Spotlight-Stealing Squad|steals time]] from the story they're actually interested in. This is especially true when her subplot has [[Trapped Byby Mountain Lions|nothing to do with the main plot]] at all. Or else she seems like [[The Load|useless dead weight]] whose only purpose is to pad the plot by getting in trouble. And worst of all, the fans may just dislike her for [[Die for Our Ship|getting in the way]] of their [[Fan-Preferred Couple]].

[[The Chick]] of a [[Five-Man Band]] is in danger of turning into this, if the audience finds her obnoxious and useless enough. [[Faux Action Girl]] is what you get when you mix this with an [[Action Girl]]. [[Chickification]] is what happens if an actual [[Action Girl]] gets retooled or [[Character Derailment|derailed]] into this. Child characters can fall prey to this just as easily, especially the [[Tagalong Kid]] or a hero's [[Oblivious Younger Sibling]]. Large risk of being [[Trapped Byby Mountain Lions]].

* Mokuba Kaiba from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', who gets into trouble precisely ''seven'' times in the series - nine if you count manga-only stories. However, he's not all that hated by fans since he's a kid, which makes it a bit more understandable as to why why fully grown people are often managing to kidnap him, and often [[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series (Web Video)|more amusement than annoyance is found at the fact that he's in trouble so often]]. And to his credit, in one memorable situation, he actually manages to ''break himself out'', finds Yugi and Kaiba with a ''helicopter'', and takes them to where Yugi's friends were being held captive.

* Meg from ''[[BakuretsuBurst TenshiAngel]]''. [[Faux Action Girl|Supposedly an Action Girl]], but Jo must rescue her all the time.

* Beauty from ''[[Bobobo-Bo BoboboboBo-bobo]]'' serves two purposes: perpetually reminding the viewer at the top of her lungs that the things the other characters are doing are bizarre, and being the [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]] when the plot calls for it.

* One of the reasons why Akane Tendo from ''[[Ranma One Half½]]'' is considered by some to be a [[Base Breaker]] is the fact that, sometimes, she comes off as one of these. It's not that she gets kidnapped a lot (in fact, Ranma Saotome himself is actually kidnapped more frequently than she is), but she does get into trouble frequently, often because of her own issues (temper tantrums, pride and blind distrust of Ranma/trust of her enemies, mainly), and usually ends up contributing nothing positive to the experience. The very earliest examples of this are the [[Martial Arts and Crafts|Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics and Martial Arts Figure Skating]] stories.

* Kaede Sakura from ''[[Kämpfer (Light Novel)|Kämpfer]]''. {{spoiler|It's all just an act.}}

* ''[[Black Butler (Manga)|Black Butler]]'': One of the reasons for Elizabeth's scrappy status.

* Freaking Yukimura Chizuru from ''[[Hakuouki (Anime)|Hakuouki]]''. It would be okay that she doesn't want to fight or use her weapon, ''if she could just use her brain.'' The first two times she had to be rescued were fine, but really, once you are accepted into the Shinsengumi... You should be able to do more than stand there and/or scream while someone attacks you. She isn't even a competent medic! Sigh.

** During the Arrancar arc, Orihime also got this reputation among parts of the fandom. Rather unfairly [[Sadistic Choice|considering how she had no choice on that]], and often [[Die for Our Ship|coming from rabid Ichigo/Rukia shippers]].

* This is thea characteristic once strongly associated with Lois Lane. Ironically, it can be argued that Lois' role as a [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]] was far more important to the [[Superman]] plot than her role as a love interest, [[Depending Onon 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.

** Even when there's neither any [[Super Villain]]'s ill will nor [[Going for Thethe Big Scoop|a big scoop]] one jump away from her window, she can be trusted to find ''something'' dangerous. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120520032807/http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&catid=33:weird-science-index&id=448:be-smarter-than-the-bed-lois Letters on the label] are bigger than her eyes, so... they just don't fit in, right?

** 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 Inversioninversion 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 [[GIG.I. Jane]] in order to come to the rescue.

* Willie Scott (played by [[Kate Capshaw]]) in ''[[Indiana Jones and Thethe Temple of Doom]].'' Well, at least Kate Capshaw got to marry Spielberg...{{context}}

* Lori from ''[[Freddy vs. Jason (Film)|Freddy vs. Jason]]''. The one character that should have died in the first five minutes [[Final Girl|ends up surviving the damn movie]].

* Same with [[Mary Sue|Grace Andrews]] from the ''[[The Hitcher (Film)|The Hitcher]]'' remake and [[God Mode Sue|Erin]] from the new ''[[The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Film)|The Texas Chainsaw Massacre]]''.

* ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]:'' seems to set this up, but averts it - Bo Peep is always the damsel saved by Woody, but she's only that way because Andy casts her in that role. The rest of the time, she's quite the go-getter.

* Nicole from the ''[[Dawn of the Dead (2004 (Filmfilm)|Dawn of the Dead 2004]]'' remake. And she survives until the end. [[Bolivian Army Ending|Or does she?]]

* Parker from ''[[Frozen (Filmfilm)|Frozen]] (2010)''. She is the reason she, her boyfriend and his best friend are stuck on a skilift during a snowstorm and despite doing NOTHING to help and EVERY stupid thing she could, {{spoiler|she survives the ordeal and has the massive luck of finding a road where she could be rescued}}.

* ''[[Spider-Man (Filmfilm)|Spider-Man]]'':

** Mary Jane Watson from the film franchise. Three movies. Three times kidnapped to be used as bait to lure Spidey out. Yawn. Spidey rescued her ''three times'' in the first movie alone. A real shame considering one of her [[Badass Damsel|signature comic book traits.]]. If you listen to the DVD commentary, you can hear the irritation in Sam Raimi's voice while he recalls having to A) put MJ back in the damsel role because of time constraints and B) having to apologize profusely to Kirsten Dunst after he promised her before the filming of the movie that she wouldn't be doing that again.

** Interestingly enough, Gwen Stacy was originally going to be the one abducted for the final battle in the third film, not Mary Jane, and; Mary Jane would have been the one who helped Harry come to his senses. A line from this was included in the trailer: "We've all done terrible things to each other, but we have to learn to forgive each other or else everything we ever were will have meant nothing."

** Even Bond girls from the [[James Bond (Film)|James Bond]] movies are not immune, despite trying to help more than once. Such as ''[[A View to Aa Kill]]'' has (Film)|Stacy Sutton]]... seriously woman, ''[[Christopher Walken]]'' was able to [[What an Idiot!|sneak up]] [[Too Dumb to Live|on you]] in a ''zeppelin''. And the [[Cute but Cacophonic|screeching]]...

** Mary Goodnight from ''[[The Man With the Golden Gun (Film)|The Man Withwith the Golden Gun]]'' is ''[[Informed Ability|supposedly]]'' [[Faux Action Girl|an intrepid agent sent along to aid Bond.]] All she manages to do is get caught by Scaramanga and then [[Go-Go Enslavement|lay around on a beach]] wearing [[Fan Service|a bikini]].

** There's also the Bond girl in ''[[Diamonds Are Forever (Film)|Diamonds Are Forever]]'', who at one point ''falls off the edge of an oil rig'' after trying to use a submachine gun and failing epically. [[Fridge Logic|From the way she held the gun, one would assume she had no prior firearms training, so she didn't know what kickback was]].

* Pretty much what happened to Vicki Vale in Tim Burton's ''[[Batman (Filmfilm)|Batman]]''. [[What Could Have Been|Originally it was going to be quite different]], but after [[Sean Young]], the first actress cast as Vicki (Sean Young), fell off a horse and broke her arm in a scene that was cut from the film, it was decided that [[The Other Darrin|the replacement]] ([[Kim Basinger)]] shouldn't be put at such risks.

* ''[[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|Twilight]]'':

** Bella Swan pretty much epitomizes this trope, even commenting in her own narrative that "I guess my brain will never work right. At least I'm pretty." Add in the fact that she can't seem to get out of ''any'' scrape without the intervention of a male,. youAnd don'vet gotthink onewe're ofkidding when we say ''any'' scrape; the mostpoor girl is liable to grievously injure herself walking through a ''door'' if a fellow cast member isn't there to assist her (and by "assist" we generally textbookmean examples"literally ofpick thisup tropeand EVERcarry").

* This trope is [[Older Than Television]].: In the era of [[Pulp Magazine]] action stories, their teenage male readers would frequently complain about the ''very existence'' of female characters, because they were inevitably [[Flat Character|Flat Characters]]s whose only role in the plot was to get into trouble, be on the receiving end of [[But Not Too Evil|vague threats]] from the villain, and be rescued by the hero.

** Clio Marsden starts out like this in E.E. "Doc" Smith's ''Triplanetary'' (the first of the [[Lensmen|Lensmennovels]]novels), but gets a lot better as the book goes on. In her case, the threats ("a research upon sex") are also anything ''but'' vague.

* The entire Tribe Of Rushing Water in ''[[Warrior Cats (Literature)|Warrior Cats]]''. In only one of their four appearances did they not need to be saved from something by the clans, yet they are rude to the clans and tell them to go away. In ''Sign of the Moon'', the cats come for a visit when the Tribe doesn't think they need help and the Tribe actually attacks them!

* Millie in ''[[Xanth (Literature)|Castle Roogna]]''. She repeatedly gets kidnapped or attacked, and never does anything to defend herself other than by kicking (not kicking the assailant, mind you, just kicking in the air) and screaming.

* Nora Grey, the heroine of ''[[Hush, Hush]]'', quite possibly gives Bella a run for the money. Over the course of three books, she repeatedly walks into dangerous situations without telling anyone else where she's going (so no hope of a rescue if a plan goes wrong), no weapons of any kind, and usually no actual planned course of action beyond "I'll break into that place and wing it". The author seemed to be trying to channel [[Nancy Drew]], but failed to give Nora any competency. Really, Nora's stupidity could be summed up near the end of the first book {{spoiler|when she ''willingly'' walks into an empty school and plays into the bad guy's hands, even though (A) she knows she's being lured into a trap, (B) her super-powered, invincible boyfriend is already rescuing the hostage being used as bait for Nora, and (C) the bad guy doesn't even know said boyfriend is on the case, meaning that if Nora had stayed put, the entire climax probably would never have happened. And then, when she's in the school, she gives up and says that she hopes her boyfriend will rescue her. Even though ''he has no idea she is inside'' because ''he told her to wait outside for him''.}}

== [[Live -Action TV]] ==

* ''[[Twenty Four24]]'':

** Kimberly Bauer, the former [[Trope Namer]], has an annoying habit of getting [[Trapped Byby Mountain Lions]], wandering around [[Vapor Wear|bra-less]] in wifebeaters around potential rapists, and doing everything in her power to anger men with guns. Kim is sometimes known as "Bathroom-Break Bauer", due to a nearly-unbroken string of kidnappings, confinements and hostage-takings, which make it possible to take a bathroom break whenever she's on screen without missing anything truly important. The writers have admitted, in essence, that she can't be killed off because Jack has already lost {{spoiler|Teri, his wife}} and it would destroy him. She has nowsince effectively left the show, thankfully.

** Tegan--thoughTegan—though, as a woman of normal intelligence stuck on the TARDIS with three alien super-geniuses (The Doctor, Nyssa, and Adric/Turlough), she was [[Damsel Scrappy]] By Default. You want real a [[Damsel Scrappy]] in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', try Vicki, Victoria Waterfield or Peri Brown.

** Mel was the only companion during her tenure, and thus had the duty of getting captured. This would be fine if she were useful or likable. And then she was followed by Ace. Who killed Daleks with homemade explosives (stored in deodorant cans) and a super-charged baseball bat.

* Maya on ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''.

* Colonel Tigh's wife Ellen in the ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' remake. The woman was essentially a walking plot complication. They eventually had to {{spoiler|put her down}} because of it.

* ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210]]'' updated this trope for the teen soap/drama in the form of rich girl Kelly Taylor. Just read her Wikipedia article. Then again, maybe they're right: [[The Chew Toy|being stalked, burned, brainwashed, raped, addicted to cocaine and shot]] does enable one to become a stronger person.

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'':

{{quote| '''Buffy:''' [[Lampshade Hanging|Dawn's in trouble,]] [[But for Me It Was Tuesday|must be Tuesday.]]}}

** Cordelia was also bad about this when she first joined the main cast, but by Season 3, she'd gotten a lot better, and got even better when she moved to ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]''.

** The Buffy "Scrappy of the Week" parade. Like Cassie. The dying (and dying, and dying) girl who was being killed by destiny and wrote poetry about it. It was never explained why she was dying. Or how she knew, or why it was impossible to stop it. We just got to sit and watch her get saved, and then saved, and then saved..and then plop of a heart attack.

* ''[[Stargate Atlantis (TV)|Stargate Atlantis]]':

* Chloe, from ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]'', who was - like Jennifer Keller on ''Atlantis'' - the [[Love Interest]] for two different guys. Unlike Keller, however, Chloe had virtually ''no'' useful purpose whatsoever.

* In the ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' on the BBC a number of viewers feel that the replacement for Marian, Kate, fits this. She's pushy, loud and generally useless, where in contrast the previous character in the love interest role was an [[Action Girl]] who at least had the dignity to be right when she was pushy, and was never louder than was needed. And yes, true to the trope, all of Kate's numerous kidnappings were due to her inability to keep up, [[Faux Action Girl|defend herself]], or know when to keep her mouth shut.

* Vickie Guerrero as well, with a side order of [[Miles Gloriosus]] to boot. As General Manager of ''Friday Night SmackDown'', Vickie would boss around all the fan favorites in her obnoxiously whiny voice and generally act like a bitch....until someone like [[The Undertaker]] would threaten her, and Vickie would turn into a cowardly [[Screaming Woman]] who was helpless until her love interest of the moment could come rushing to her rescue. She eventually did [[Took a Level Inin Badass|Take A Level In Badass]] and even wrestles occasionally, but at heart her character is still a man-hungry [[Mrs. Robinson]] [[Casanova Wannabe|Wannabe]] who pouts when she doesn't get her way and still screams all the time (particularly when her newest boyfriend, Dolph Ziggler, is losing a match).

* Rinoa from ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' gets blamed for this, managing to get herself kidnapped ''four'' times through the course of the game, but only on the first instance did her own foolishness get her into the situation. The rest was unfortunate circumstance. The thing that grates most players is how accepting the rest of the cast becomes afterward--atafterward—at one point, even [[Always Save the Girl|choosing to save Rinoa]] despite the fact that saving her conflicts with Squall's (the player's) current task as leader. They get mad at you for even considering that the mission may be more important than saving her. It also doesn't help her out that the other two playable females, Quistis and Selphie, are highly-trained military professionals, while Rinoa is an untrained teenage girl (though [[Game Breaker|ironically....]])

** Rosa potentially gets worse by the sequel, ''[[Final Fantasy IV: theThe After Years|the After Years]]'' as she now only exists as a [[Distressed Damsel|Damsel Inin Distress]] to give character developments to "Ceodore! Cecil! Kain!" and spends one climax getting dragged around forcefully by {{spoiler|Dark Kain.}}

* Princess Elise from ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 (Videovideo Gamegame)||Sonic the Hedgehog 2006]]''. Throughout the course of the game, she gets kidnapped by Dr. Eggman three times.

* Princess Shine starts out as one of these in ''[[Super Robot Wars]] Original Generation'', [[Rescued Fromfrom the Scrappy Heap|but becomes less so]] [[Character Development|as we get to know her better]]. [[Little Miss Badass|Then we find out she has special powers that allow her to use a super-advanced]] [[Humongous Mecha]].

* Rosie in ''[[Fossil Fighters]]'' seems to exist solely to get kidnapped a lot, and to have various other [[Butt Monkey|humorous problems]] befall her. It wouldn't seem quite so bad if she and the hero weren't getting [[Strangled Byby the Red String]]. {{spoiler|You, however, can eventually choose to deny the red string and [[Toy Ship]] yourself with [[Action Girl]] alien Duna if you want.}}

* Shirley Fennes from ''[[Tales of Legendia (Video Game)|Tales of Legendia]]'', along with being the series' plain [[The Scrappy|Scrappy]]. Though to be fair, in the Character Quests following the main scenario, she became a party member and only got kidnapped once, by {{spoiler|Jay, whom she actually ended up helping during this situation.}}

* Colette Brunel from ''[[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia]]''. Despite that she does get better after a little while (and that technically, {{spoiler|Mithos}} can kidnap ''ANYONE'' at the end, even Regal), some people dislike her for this.

* ''[[Star Fox (Video Gameseries)|Star Fox]] 64'':

** Slippy Toad. Dear lord. A player could be haunted for YEARS with theSlippy Toad's ear-piercing refrains of "Fox! Help me!!" or "Fox! Get this guy off me!!" If it weren't for his unbelievable mechanical ability, the Star Fox team would have probably pushed him out an airlock after his first mission.

** And Krystal, oh, God, Krystal.is Slippy in anything but [[Hello, Nurse!|appearance]]...[[Ms. Fanservice|which probably is her saving grace]].

** Not just these two, but yourYour other partners are never any actual help to you in ''Star Fox 64'' and ''Star Fox: Assault''. Ever. [[Stop Helping Me!|Except when you don't want them to.]]

* Shandra Jerro in ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' starts out like one of these (first barn, then house burned, then kidnapped by [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Githyanki]]), but subverts it ''hard'' when she joins the party and [[Took a Level Inin Badass|Takes A Level In Badass]]. (Almost literally: she's a Fighter.) {{spoiler|Her [[Dying Moment of Awesome]] is arguably an inversion of the trope: it's the ''party'' that has to be rescued by ''her''.}}

* Princess Peach in the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' series still has this reputation, despite having taken many levels in badass since her initial appearance ''and'' [[Super Princess Peach|becoming the heroine of her own game]].

* Celia from ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'' was quickly [[Flanderization|flanderized]] into a model damsel scrappy after her second reappearance.

* Denny Levens serves three basic purposes in [[Ciem Webcomic Series|Candi's life]]: provide her with a new last name, give her someone to constantly protect/rescue, and give her more issues to [[Wangst]] about when her effort to do so fails in the long run. Given he used to be a bootlegger, and he's now in a war where his enemies [[Off Withwith His Head|want his wife's head for a trophy]], it'd make sense that he'd learn to wear a bulletproof vest or stock up on an assault rifle. Nope. He buys a wimpy pistol, [[Plot-Driven Breakdown|that jams]]. And he immediately ends up being [[Curb Stomp Battle|beaten half to death with a bookcase]].

* [[That Guy With theThe 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 [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]] and/or [[Distressed 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.

* ''Young Allies'', according to ''[[Superdickery (Website)|Superdickery.com]].com'' -- "[https://web.archive.org/web/20160204114723/http://www.superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=873:young-allies/ Near as I can figure, the premise <nowiki>[...]</nowiki> is that group of kids <nowiki>[...]</nowiki> keep getting captured by the Axis forces, and keep needing to be rescued by Bucky and Toro.]", and the covers confirm this impression. Also, [[Captain America (comics)|Bucky]].

{{quote| [http://www.superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=911: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...}}

* Julie Yamamoto from ''[[Ben 10: Alien Force (Animation)|Ben 10 Alien Force]]''. As one fan put it, 'Julie had a good 30 minutes to actually do something other than 'I smile, accept Ben, and become a damsel in distress'.

** She is known to often fall into traps, be kidnapped by the villain, or anger the villain in some way. Her nickname in the original ''[[Scooby Doo]], Where Are You?]]'' series was "Danger-prone Daphne". Daphne ''did'' [[Took a Level in Badass|become more competent]] well before the popular live-action movie took a swing at a [[Rescued From the Scrappy Heap|Scrappy Rescue]]: In the 1980s Scooby Doo series when the group was reduced to just her, Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy, she became the leader of the group. That also was true in the ''[[13 Ghosts Of Scooby Doo]]'' series, where she was the [[Team Mom]] - Unfortunately, she quickly lost her accumulated good will with the horrendous character design and jumpsuit she had in that series.

** The first live action film played with the concept and had Daphne [[Xenafication|pick up martial arts skills]] [[Rescued Fromfrom the Scrappy Heap|and become generally more useful]] after the gang broke up as a direct result of her being called out for being the [[Distressed Damsel in Distress]]. In virtuallyan allinterview, ''Scoobythe Doo''staff seriesof andthat filmsmovie sincesaid then,that changing Daphne has''was'' beennecessary portrayedfor asthe asake [[MacGyvering|MacGyver]]of withproper hermethod makeup kit and accessoriesacting. HerThe martial-artsgoal skillsestablished from the livestart actionwas filmfor carrylive overactors to do the animatedbest filminterpretations ''Scooby-Doothey andcould of the Samuraicartoon Sword''characters, wherebut shethey arguablyran hasinto a roadblock with Daphne because in the cartoon she essentially had no personality. The natural choice was for [[CrowningSarah MomentMichelle of AwesomeGellar]] whento shechannel fightsher in[[Buffy the arenaVampire Slayer|greatest known role]].

** Daisy.{{context}}

* Pepper Potts in ''[[Iron Man: Armored Adventures]]'' has two purposes for her existence: help Tony out on occasion and get captured and rescued constantly even in situations she should be able to escape from on her own. Her behavior is consistently damsel-like despite her aspirations to be a kick-ass SHIELD agent - at one point she's in the middle of an abandoned warehouse where two different factions of Chinese assassins are fighting and she sits there waiting to be rescued instead of getting away from the fighting. [[Faux Action Girl|Yeah, real SHIELD material.]]

* [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|Aquaman]], on the [[Super FriendsSuperfriends]], sometimes falls into this role. He seems to exist only as someone to get captured by the Legion of Doom, so that the rest of the Justice League can rescue him.

[[Category:DamselEsoteric ScrappyTrope Names]]