Orphean Rescue: Difference between revisions

Point is, she's gone in a very real sense from this physical plane, but in a way that doesn't preclude recovery.

 

 

On their quest, they probably have to fight [[Threshold Guardians]] appropriate to Susan's subconscious/[[Dark and Troubled Past]] (trust us, no matter how happy go lucky Susan [honestly] is, she's going to have at least ''some'' skeletons in her closet) or whoever/whatever is holding her captive. Freeing her may require that she help in the process, with a rather more literal use of an [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight]], or helping her see the door in her [[Epiphanic Prison]]. Sometimes her rescue involves being warned "[[Don't Look Back]]!"

Once Susan wakes up, she probably won't remember anything, except as a vague distorted dream that leaves her with an urge to hug her friends and kick ass.

 

 

See also [[Like a Badass Out of Hell]].

 

{{examples}}

* The first two major arcs of ''[[Bleach]]'' both manage to be examples of this: First Rukia is taken to Soul Society (where, in spite of it being the afterlife, she is to be executed), then Orihime is kidnapped by the Arrancar and taken to Hueco Mundo.

* ''[[Inuyasha]]'': Early in the series, Kagome doesn't ''enter'' hell, but gets very close to the entrance to save a child's soul who had died.

* In ''[[Jack and the Witch]]'' the titular boy hero descends into a frigid cave full of growing and shifting ice to rescue the banished witch Allegra, who'd been sent there by the Harpy Queen to freeze to death. The Ice Cave and its subsequent shift into a magical battleground seem to be tied to the Queen's magic, as they fade out once her crystal ball is smashed.

 

* During [[Mark Waid]]'s run, the ''[[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Fantastic Four]]'' rescued their fallen teammate Ben Grimm in this manner.

* ''[[Sandman]]'' features at least two cases: The title character going into Hell to release an old love he'd condemned [[Woman Scorned|after she rejected him]], and his son Orpheus's trope-naming trip to retrieve Eurydice.

* A story arc of ''[[Secret Six]]'' had them doing this to rescue Scandal's lover Knockout.

 

 

* ''[[Inception]]'' had Cobb rescue Fischer and Saito from the deepest subconscious.

** Funnily enough, Limbo's closest to {{spoiler|his deepest unconscious, as he's the only one who's been down there long enough (local time) to build anything.}}

* In ''[[What Dreams May Come]]'', the protagonist goes into hell to find his wife's soul who is trapped in her own guilt after committing suicide.

 

* ''[[Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator]]'' has Willy Wonka and Charlie go deep down to rescue Grandma Georgina from Minus Land, where she went after having reduced her age to below zero.

* ''[[Overdrawn at the Memory Bank]]'' has this trope, though in this case, Apallonia knows exactly where Fingal's ''mind'' is; it's his ''body'' she's having trouble finding.

* There's a medieval narrative poem, ''Sir Orfeo'', loosely inspired by Orpheus, where King Orfeo successfully wins back his wife held captive by [[The Fair Folk]]. He plays his harp so beautifully that the king of the fairies promises him any reward he wants.

* ''[[The Friendship Song]]'' by Nancy Springer has this with Harper and Rawnie venturing to the underworld to rescue the soul of a rock singer. It's then played with as he has to choose to come back on his own.

 

* Seamus Zelazny Harper did this a time or two on ''[[Andromeda]]'' for the AI of the ship. It included a combo [[Journey to the Center of the Mind]] that happened to be [[Cyberspace]].

* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' two-parter "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead".

* The third season of the UK ''[[Being Human (UK)]]'' included one of these early on. It's not without larger consequences.

 

* [[Greek Mythology]]

** [[Trope Namer|Orpheus, duh]]. When Orpheus's wife died, he entered the underworld and convinced Hades to let her return to the world of the living. However, Hades allowed it on the condition that Orpheus lead his wife back without looking at her until they're on the other side. Unlike the majority of the examples on this page, though, he ultimately failed in his quest.

* Izanagi tried to retrieve his wife Izanami in the Shinto religion.

 

* ''[[Champions]]'' Organization Book 1 ''The Circle and M.E.T.E.'': One of the adventure seeds for the Circle is having Oeramm attack the Circle, capture Aureole or a [[PC]] and take them back to his home plane, from which they will have to be rescued.

* You can actually bring back dead people from [[The Underworld]] in ''[[Geist: The Sin Eaters]]'', but not without paying some (very terrible) price to the Kerberoi.

* ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' has a card called "Rescue From the Underworld". The mechanics and name of the card represent this trope<ref>http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/mm/268</ref>, but the card is lacking in flavor text.

 

* This seems to be {{spoiler|the entirety}} of [[Drawn to Life]]. {{spoiler|The creator (seemingly the player character and the force behind the protagonist) is actually Heather, who in the real world was Mike's older sister. In the real world, Mike and Heather were in a devastating car crash which put Mike in a coma and killed their parents. Heather's imagination plus [[The Power of Love]] sent Mike into the world of [[Drawn to Life]]. '''The Next Chapter''' consists of getting everything together so that Mike can wake up again.}}

* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' sets up about 7 or so of these in [[Birth By Sleep]]. Interesting because all 7 are important characters whose growth, contribution to the plot, and tragic downfall took up about the space of a full game each, and each of them went in a completely different way. So it's a bit of a task for [[The Hero]] to bring them all back, especially since he only has the barest hints that there is any saving that needs to be done.

** And ''that'' MC's initial persona is Izanagi. Persona loves this trope doesn't it?

* Gwendolyn rescues Oswald from the underworld in ''[[Odin Sphere]]''. {{spoiler|Odin rescues her when she has problems leaving again.}}

 

* ''[[Sinfest]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20140209163735/http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3667 seemed] to be going in this direction after [[Hollywood Nerd|Criminy]] started digging his way to hell in search of [[Reluctant Monster|Fuchsia]], but it led to a [https://web.archive.org/web/20140209160027/http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3675 subversion].

* ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'' has something like this for Church following Tex {{spoiler|into the capture unit}} at the end of Season 8 and into Season 9, followed by the rest of the squad trying to save him as well throughout the present timeline of Nine. {{spoiler|Church is eventually saved... after he [[Wham! Line|comes to peace with Tex's death and erases his memory of her.]]}}

 

* ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' has Robin do this for Raven in the Season Four finale.

* In ''[[Adventure Time]]'', Finn and Jake do this ''for a plant''.

 

[[Category:Orphean Rescue]]

[[Category:Example as a Thesis]]