Orphean Rescue: Difference between revisions

 

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.

 

== Anime And Manga ==

* ''[[Black Rock Shooter]]'': Mato becomes/fuses with the eponymous Black Rock Shooter and goes to the Otherworld to save Yomi from Dead Master.

* ''[[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.

** Later on in the manga, Sesshoumaru takes the full trip [[To Hell and Back]] in order to save his [[Morality Pet]] Rin.

* 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.

 

* [[Greek Mythology|Orpheus]], [[Trope Namer|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.

* Similar to Orpheus is Izanagi, creator-god in [[Japanese Mythology]]. His wife Izanami died giving birth to the fire-god Kagutsuchi and fell to [[The Underworld]], The Yomotsu. Izanagi traveled down the cavernous realm of the dead, [[Values Dissonance|only to be repulsed by his wife who is]] [[Body Horror|now an eternally decaying, maggot-ridden corpse]]. He fled the underworld as fast as he can while being chased by the local demons and Izanami throwing lightning at him. Eventually, he made it to the surface, and closed the way to the underworld with a huge boulder.

* Similar to both of the above (this ''is'' an archetypal trope, after all) Ishtar's Descent Into The Underworld is one of the most well-known stories of Babylonian Mythology. In it, she [[Captain Obvious|descends into]] [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|the underworld]] but [[Enemies with Death|angers its queen, Erseshkigal]], and is trapped there. As the goddess of fertility, this is bad for the living,<ref>This also makes it similar to the Greek story of Persephone, but unlike Ishtar, she is not rescued exactly</ref> so Ea creates a servant and sends it to retrieve her, commanding Ereshkigal to let her go.

* In the ''[[Heirs of Alexandria]]'' series, {{spoiler|Maria}} assumes a Persephone like role to become Queen of the Underworld and use her powers to save everyone. Upset that she was tricked into this; {{spoiler|Benito}} travels to the Underworld and Hades gives him a very Orphean-task. Return to the living world without looking back. {{spoiler|Benito}} cheats by having one of their companions, a knight; walk in front of him on the way back, so he can {{spoiler|look in the reflection of the knight's armor and thus not have to succumb to temptation.}}

 

 

** While not going to the realm of the dead ''per se'', some [[Changeling: The Lost|Changelings]] make it their mission to raid Arcadia to free the humans kidnapped by [[The Fair Folk|True Fae]], themselves being victims of True Fae in the past. It's only more admirable when you consider [[Reality Is Out to Lunch|just what kind of place Arcadia is]], and what [[Mind Screw|effect it has upon the fragile psyche of the Changelings]].

** Some [[Werewolf: The Forsaken|werewolves]] also make it their mission to eject humans who are trapped in the Spirit World, although it's more having to do with keeping orders in their territories than altruism for the poor humans.

 

 

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

* In Disney's ''[[Hercules (Disney film)|Hercules]]'', {{spoiler|the main character travels to the Underworld in order to rescue Meg's spirit and reunite it with her body, thus getting his godhood back.}}

 

{{reflist}}