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{{trope}}
[[File:elininirescueromance.png|link=Fire Emblem Elibe
{{quote|''"Oh, and stay away from your friend [[The Captain]]. [[Genre Savvy|You save his life, he saves yours,]] [[One Thing Led to Another|one thing leads to another]]..."''|'''Dr. Sid''', ''[[Final Fantasy:
One of the methods writers use to jumpstart relationships. A variety of [[Samaritan Relationship Starter]] where Person A rescues Person B, causing said Person B to [[Single Woman Seeks Good Man|fall in love]] with Person A.
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Usually involves the thugs grabbing the female by the hand and pulling her away to have a "cup of tea" with them, or becoming violent as she stubbornly rejects their advances (may involve knives). Enter the hero, either hitting the offenders in the arm, or [[Dynamic Entry|entering the scene by kicking the guy]] (head, solar plexus, etc), and saving her from [[Attempted Rape|forceful romantic advances]].
Oddly enough some medieval romancers, despite being the reason [[Damsel in Distress]] is called that ("damsel" being the diminutive of medieval French for "lady"), actually sometimes ''didn't like'' this trope. Basically some of them thought that, since the girl now owed the guy, the resulting romance [[Doing It for
Expect a negative response from some if this [[Chickification|chickifies]] an [[Action Girl]] (though this can be almost completely negated by having the couple take turns with the [[Distress Ball]]). Nevertheless, the [[Knight in Shining Armor]] saving the [[Distressed Damsel]] who he [[Standard Hero Reward|then weds]] and they lived [[Happily Ever After]] is at least [[Older Than Feudalism]], going back at least as far as the myth of Perseus and Andromeda.
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** {{spoiler|Done ''twice'' in the end of the anime when Haruhi chases down Tamaki in a horse drawn carriage to stop him from leaving the Host Club and his happiness. Then when she holds out her hand to reach for him, the carriage tumbles and the poor girl goes flying off the bridge... leading Tamaki to jump out of the car and rescue ''her''.}}
* Momoka on ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'' tries to ''stage'' one of these every couple of episodes, in order to get closer to Fuyuki. But Fuyuki's [[Non-Action Guy|not the most athletic person]], and the Keronians [[Moment Killer|keep barging into things]]...
* ''[[Fate/stay
** [[Completely Missing the Point|So totally worth it.]]
*** A much more straight example would be {{spoiler|Kuzuki Souichirou}} and {{spoiler|Caster}}.
* ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'', based on the original The Little Mermaid story, has two [[Rescue Romance|Rescue Romances]], both involving the same person and causing a rivalry that lasts the entire second season. Interestingly, Lucia saved Kaito from drowning when they were six, and Kaito does the "chase away perverts" variant multiple times in the story, but the former is more important to their relationship than the latter.
* In ''[[
** Hayate ends up saving [[Harem Genre|a lot of the series' girls]] this way, and even a guy at one point--though that one didn't create any romantic undertones.
* The start of ''[[Tenshi
* Tamahome rescues Miaka from some pervy thugs at the beginning of ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]''. Nakago, bastard that he is, does the same with Yui ''after'' the fact, and only encourages the resulting emotional vulnerability.
* Seiji Sawamura saves Takako Ayase in ''[[Midori no Hibi]]'' from a band of delinquents that were dragging her away. She falls in love shortly afterward when she sees him letting himself get beaten up without resorting to violence (fighting back) in order to save a friend and defuse the gang's grudge.
* ''[[
* Essentially the whole plot of ''[[Full Metal Panic]]''
** Also played with in an episode of ''[[Full Metal Panic Fumoffu|Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu]]'': the karate club's strategy for a "flirting contest" involves dressing up three of its members as thugs and having them accost young women so that [[Bishounen|Tsubaki]] can come to their rescue. It backfires spectacularly when the crowd of girls he's "rescued" in this fashion find out it was for a contest.
* Used slightly in ''[[
** In their defense, the creeps were remarkably good-natured about the whole thing: at no point did they offer to rearrange Kaoru's features over the incident, and even reprimanded him for his poor treatment of the girl.
* Parodied in ''[[El Hazard]]'', when Fujisawa "saves" Miz from her monstrous looking manservant (she was screaming because the servant poured cold water on her instead of hot). Miz falls in love with him anyway and doesn't bother correcting him.
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** Played straighter with Ryoma's parents. His [[Tsundere]] mother Rinko [[Love At First Punch|didn't have a good impression]] of her soon-to-be husband Nanjiroh after he told her [[Pettanko|she was flat-chested]] and kept teasing her when [[She Cleans Up Nicely|she wore a girlier tennis outfit]] - he had to wipe the floor with her [[Jerkass]] coach that [[Kick the Dog|hit her and a little child with tennis balls]] to gain her appreciation.
* Somewhat inverted in the anime ''[[Blood Plus]]''. Though Haji does end up saving Saya during their "first" meeting (at least long enough to get her to save herself), she initially mistakes him for a serial killer and runs scared.
* Luna in the ''[[Mega Man Star Force]]'' anime - Megaman saves her from falling to her death, and overnight she becomes a (non-evil) [[Stalker
* Arguably, ''[[
* This shows up mildly in the various ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'' continuities. In the manga, this ends up turned on its ear when Aeka waits for her saviour after being captured, hoping for a little [[Rescue Romance]] with Tenchi ... and finds ''Ryoko'' coming to the rescue (she knocked Tenchi out and took the only available spaceship so that he wouldn't be able to put himself at risk). Aeka's disappointed in the choice of rescuer, and Ryoko isn't very fond of the lack of gratitude.
* Subverted at the beginning of ''[[To Aru Majutsu no Index]]'': Touma tries to get a delinquent hitting on Mikoto in a diner to leave her alone--saying that he's troubling her--and winds up getting chased off when the delinquent's friends return from the bathroom. When he finally seems to lose them and stops to rest, Mikoto walks up and admits to frying them to save trouble. Turns out Touma had known she was a powerful lightning esper the entire time, and had been trying to protect the ''delinquents''. She then tries to blast ''him'', and her determination as the [[Unknown Rival]] is increased.
** Played with in their first chronological meeting depicted in ''Railgun''. Touma saves her from a group of delinquents and chastises them for hitting on a little girl. [[Berserk Button|Predictably, Misaka doesn't take it well]] and [[Shock and Awe|fries the lot of them.]] However, due to Touma's [[Anti-Magic|right hand]] he is completely unharmed. It was only because of this immunity that she became interested in him, declaring him her [[Unknown Rival|rival]].
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** And for a straighter example in both senses of the phrase, we have Tohma and Lily, the main pairing for ''Force'' who first meet when Tohma finds Lily bound in an abandoned lab, releases her, and takes her with him.
** And, of course, more or less the basis for Fate/Nanoha. Nanoha ''is'' the one who helps her through her ordeals, after all.
* Satoshi Hojou saves Shion Sonozaki from a group of thugs in a flashback in ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
* [[Gender Inverted Trope|Gender inverted]] in the ''[[Ikki Tousen]]'' anime. Sonsaku Hakufu used to protect her cousin Shuuyu Koukin from bullies when they were small, and Koukin [[Kissing Cousins|fell in love with Hakufu]] when they grew up.
** Played in [[Les Yay]] sense with Ryoufu, who used to protect her best friend Chinkyuu when they were little girls. Chinkyuu is later one of [[Really Gets Around|her lovers]] [[Depraved Bisexual|of both genders]], [[Morality Pet|and the one she cares for the most.]]
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** {{spoiler|Negi's father Nagi}} and {{spoiler|Negi's [[Tsundere]] mother Arika finally kiss}} right after he rescues her in Ch 269. Both [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|HELL YEAH!]] and [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|Awww..]]
* Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye spend the entirety of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' saving ''each other''. In chronological order, she gunned down an Ishvalan who was about to stab him during the war, and saved him from Scar by ''tripping him'' ([[It Makes Sense in Context]]), then he risked blowing their cover to {{spoiler|save her from Gluttony, and later rescued both her and Al from Lust when she was in the middle of a [[Heroic BSOD|suicidal breakdown]], believing him dead}}. In later chapters, he went {{spoiler|completely [[Ax Crazy]] againt Envy, when he/she/it admitted to killing Hughes. He only snapped out of it when she assured him she would keep her promise of shooting him if he ever became corrupted, but she would kill herself afterwards}}. And just when they got all that cleared up, they found themselves in a situation where {{spoiler|she was dying from a jugular wound...and he ''couldn't save her.'' Luckily, someone who could showed up; the emotional scene which followed is easily one of the single most romantic things in the entire series.}}
* Doumeki saves Watanuki too many times to count in ''[[
* Tsukune from ''[[Rosario to Vampire]]'' earned [[Horny Devil|Kurumu's]] ([[Unwanted Harem|unwanted]]) affections when he [[Morality Chain|stops Moka from ripping off her wings and tail]]. It wasn't a conventional rescue, but he definitely showed his [[Nice Guy|good side]].
* In the first episode, ''[[Princess Tutu]]'' saves Mytho after he jumps out a window to save a baby bird from a raven attack. She then starts to save him about [[Once an Episode]] until he starts to fall for her.
** Also, it's revealed in the second season that {{spoiler|Rue met Mytho when he saved her from a crow attack, and she in turn saved his life by [[Intimate Healing|giving him water through a kiss.]]}} [[Ho Yay|Fakir]] might count for Mytho, as well. Also Ahiru and Fakir's most romantic scenes come when they are rescuing each other.
* Recent chapters of ''[[D.N.Angel]]'' have hinted at a romance between {{spoiler|Satoshi and Risa}} after he saves her from a deadly fall.
* In ''[[Black Cat (
* ''[[Vision of Escaflowne]]'' has something of a mutual [[Rescue Romance]]: Van starts falling in love with Hitomi after she pulls a [[Diving Save]] on him in episode 6, saving him from being impaled by Dilandau. Meanwhile, Hitomi begins seeing Van as something beyond "that guy I'm tagging along with until [[Trapped in Another World|I can get back home]]" after he saves her from a kidnapping attempt (rather than the expected [[Knight in Shining Armor]], Allen) in the subsequent episode.
* Played with repeatedly in ''[[Monster (
** In a more straightforward(!) subversion, both the [[Big Bad]] and [[The Dragon]] frequently pose as rescuers and unexpected friends and allies, romantically or otherwise, in order to further their plans. [[Heartwarming Orphan|Karl's]] quasi-idolatrous friendship with Johan also just keeps on giving on the [[Dramatic Irony]] and [[Fridge Horror]] fronts, the more you find out about {{spoiler|Karl's family and Johan's connections with them.}}
** Johan's own [[Mind Game Ship]] fixation on Tenma could also be seen as a very warped one-sided version of this, for all Johan's questionable reassurance that he sees Tenma as a father figure since Tenma saved his life when he was a very young boy.
** Also by way of subversion, Tenma's repeated rescues of his [[Stalker
** Surprisingly averted when Nina is {{spoiler|rescued and nursed back to health by Lipsky. He develops feelings for her, but she doesn't seem to view him as anything more than a close friend}}
* Doubly-inverted in ''[[Naruto]]'' when {{spoiler|Hinata jumps in to try to save Naruto from Pain. She tells Naruto that she can't stay back while he's in danger [[Anguished Declaration of Love|because she loves him]], then attacks Pain - who simply smacks her down, stabs her, and insinuates to Naruto that she's dead. Naruto promptly [[Berserk Button|loses it]] worse than he ever has before.}} The anime turns it into an [[Ironic Echo]] with both characters in the opposite positions when they were younger, against bullies.
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** Also spoofed in filler Episode 101. In a flashback Kakashi easily defeats the pathetic Moya Triad who had been pestering a random woman, and afterwards she's completely smitten with Kakashi.
** Played straight with {{spoiler|Naruto's parents, Minato and Kushina.}} She fell in love with him when he saved her from the Kumo ninjas that kidnapped her when she was a kid, then complimented on the red hair that other children used as a reason to bully her.
* Subverted in ''[[School Rumble]]'' - the entire reason Harima grew facial hair, wears sunglasses, and became a delinquent was so that he could be close to Tenma {{spoiler|without her recognizing him. ''He'' fell in love with ''her'' after saving her from hoodlums, and took her back to his place because she was unconscious. When he leaned in for the [[Dude, She's Like, in
* In ''[[Pokémon Special]]'', Yellow both gains admiration for and falls in love with Red after he saves her life from a rampaging Dratini, prompting her to be determined to [[Rescue Arc|save ''him'' when she learns that he's gone missing]]. Of course, Red, [[Idiot Hero|being as oblivious as he is]], doesn't recognize her as the girl he once saved and probably never bothered wondering why she through so much trouble for him.
* [[Played for Laughs]] in the ''[[Bleach]]'' anime, where once Yoruichi rescues Soifon and the toughest [[Tsundere]] in the series [[The Knights Who Say Squee|goes all goggly-eyed and gushy]]. To be fair, Soifon has been [[Bodyguard Crush|crushing]] ''[[Bodyguard Crush|hard]]'' on her beloved Yoruichi-sama for a while...
** This is the reason why Momo Hinamori is in love with Sousuke Aizen, as he had saved her life and those of her friends when she was younger. Unfortunately, Aizen is the [[Big Bad]] and a [[Complete Monster]] who sees her as nothing more than a pawn.
* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', Tsuna saves Gokudera from his own bombs, leading to a [[Stalker
** Also Haru fell for Tsuna after he saved her from drowning.
** Might as well tack {{spoiler|Enma}} on.
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* Both played straight and played with in ''[[Gun X Sword]].'' Van and Wendy meet when he rescues her, but he wasn't trying to rescue her; apparently, he thought she was already dead. Later in the same episode, he deliberately chooses to rescue her, despite having turned down her offer of marriage.
* ''[[Gunslinger Girl]]''. Cyborg girl Triela has her [[Love Epiphany]] when she discovers that not only did her handler Victor Hilshire save her from a [[Snuff Film]], but he became her handler solely to continue protecting her.
* Played with in the BL manga ''[[Cool
* In ''[[
* Gloriously subverted in ''[[Fujimura-kun Mates]]''. The titular character, Fujimura, once saved a girl from a group of delinquents. Then a very cute and grateful imouto character shows up at his school, initially assumed to be the girl he saved. Turns out, {{spoiler|she's the leader of the deliquents!}}
* In ''[[Flame of Recca]]'', Recca and Yanagi meet in a 'saved from forceful advances' scenario.
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* [[Soul Eater|Ox]] saves his long-time [[Love Interest]] [[Cute Witch|Kim]] from [[Big Bad|Arachne and Arachnophobia]], which earns him a [[Relationship Upgrade]]. Other pairings in this series will more than likely be the result of this, in particular Soul/Maka as the former has placed himself in harm's way to protect the latter and actually shielded her while falling. The [[Foe Yay]] and [[Ho Yay]] pairing Kid/Black*Star can be this since Black*Star is the one who {{spoiler|saves Kid from the Book of Eibon}}.
* In ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'', Kotetsu Kaburagi and Tomoe Amamiya's relationship was kick-started when Kotetsu rescued her from a factory explosion. Of course, the fact that he was an aspiring superhero and she was a raging superhero fangirl [[Geeky Turn On|might have had something to do with it]].
* Invoked intentionally in ''[[
* In ''[[Code Geass]]'' Nina [[Les Yay|falls for]] Euphemia after the princess saves her.
** Euphie invoked the trope, ''pretending'' to be in danger to seduce Suzaku.
* ''[[Lovely Complex]]'': Seiko falls for Otani after Otani saves him from a dog.
* ''[[City Hunter]]'', combined with [[Girl of the Week]], Ryo usually gets someone he's hired to protect to like him.
* [[Invoked]] ''and'' [[Parodied]] in ''[[
== Ballads ==
* In the [[Child Ballad]] "[http://www.bartleby.com/243/76.html The Lord of Lorn and the False Steward]", the young lord saves his life by promising to never to tell that his servant robbed him; the servant turns him into a servant, until the daughter of a local lord figures out how to get the story out of him. Whereupon they promptly marry.
* In "The Ballad of the Bog" by [http://marklewisstories.blogspot.com/ Mark Lewis], a young man rescues a girl possessed by a ghost/an [[Eldritch Abomination]], and gets her in his arms.
* "[[
== Comics ==
* [[
** Also a [[Running Gag]] / [[In Joke]] between the two.
** In their original [[The Golden Age of Comic Books|Golden Age]] meeting (at least when he was in costume), Superman saves Lois from some gangsters who aren't happy about Lois', erm, professional dedication.
* The [[Marvel Universe]] also has a [[Les Yay]]/Friendship variation of this. After [[X
* The comic continuations of ''[[
* In the ''[[Dungeon Universe]]'', princess Isis exploits this trope, getting into the dungeon with her boyfriend, hoping she could pretend he rescued her, so the king will allow them to marry. Unluckily, said boyfriend dies less than a page after he appears.
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** "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/crane/snowfirered.html Snow-White-Fire-Red]"
** "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/asbjornsenmoe/mastermaid.html The Mastermaid]"
* In "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/60twobrothers.html The Two Brothers]" and "[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/079.htm The Three Princes and their Beasts]", the hero saves the [[Everything's Better
* In "[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/009.htm The Blue Mountains]", the hero must suffer a [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] for three nights to free the heroine, whereupon she immediately agrees to marry him.
** Also in "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/asbjornsenmoe/threeprincesseswhiteland.html The Three Princesses of Whiteland]", where they do marry at once.
* In "[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/swanmaiden/stories/soriamoriacastle.html Soria Moria Castle]", the three princesses are held prisoner by three trolls and the hero must kill the trolls to rescue them. He gets his pick.
* In some versions of the [[King Arthur]] legend this is the start of Lancelot's and Guinevere's affair. More commonly Lancelot rescues her because of his love for her, but their love isn't consummated till after the rescue.
** Back in [[
* Prince Charming from ''[[Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs (
* A male example of a rescuee is the prince in ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'': In the original [[Hans Christian Andersen]] version, the prince never knew that the mermaid had saved him and wasn't in love with her -- he was in love with the girl from the temple who found him on the beach (who he ''thought'' rescued him), whom he believed he could never marry because of her vocation. It turned out that she was not a nun but had simply been sent there to be educated by the sisters, and [[Two-Person Love Triangle|was in fact the princess]] [[Perfectly Arranged Marriage|his father was pressuring him to marry]].
** Which makes this as a [[Subversion]], because the real heroine get shafted ([[Bittersweet Ending|but earns the opportunity for salvation]], at least).
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== Fanfictions ==
* Deliberately averted in the ''[[Firefly]]'' fanfic ''[[
== Film ==
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* A main plot device in all three movie versions of ''[[King Kong]]'', although the sexuality of the relationship between Anne and Kong was toned down to platonic love in the 2005 version.
* [[Disney]] loves this trope.
** ''[[Lady and
** Notice that in Disney's ''[[Beauty and
** ''[[
** ''[[Hercules (Disney film)|Hercules]]'': Hercules tries this with Meg, but she's less than impressed. Then, she saves him after a big blowup.
*** Let's not forget that it all started with a mouse. And his girlfriend. A lot.
* Used (and [[Lampshade|lampshaded]], see the quote above) in ''[[Final Fantasy:
* ''[[Densha Otoko]]'' (''Train Guy'') is the apparently-true story of a shy nerd who scares off a ''[[The Chikan|chikan]]'' from harassing a young woman on a train. When she unexpectedly sends him a note and an expensive present, he has to draw on the collective wisdom of an otaku message board to navigate the greatest crisis of his life.
* ''[[
* Lampshaded in ''[[
** It also features one of the best bond one liners when the line is echoed back later by Keanu's character and she responds 'Then we'll have to base it on sex.'
** Judging by her new beau in the sequel, the sex must not have been all that great. [[Losing Horns|Wah-wah-wah-]]''[[Losing Horns|waaaaaaaaahhhhhh...]]''
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* ''[[Titanic]]'': Jack rescues Rose when she attempts suicide. She falls for him, and upon telling her story 84 years later, says that he saved her in every way a person could be saved.
* [[Woody Allen]]'s ''[[Scoop]]'' has the heroine deliberately attract the attention of a guy she wants to investigate for possible murder by pretending to drown so he can rescue her, and striking up a romance afterwards. {{spoiler|Later he tries to drown her for real. Good thing she was actually captain of her high school swim team.}}
* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' Original trilogy went all over the board with this trope. [[Dressing
* After being rescued in ''[[Small Soldiers]]'', Christy apparently forgets about her boyfriend in favor of the protagonist. This probably has something to do with said boyfriend fleeing by himself, while the protagonist sticks around to help her.
* The German film ''[[The Princess And The Warrior]]''. Psychiatric nurse Sissi is knocked down by a truck and has her life saved with a tracheotomy done by ex-soldier turned criminal Bobo Reimer. She becomes obsessed with tracking him down, convinced that they are destined to be together.
* ''[[Wild Wild West (
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** Also, Harry assumes that {{spoiler|their daughter Molly's}} crush on him is due to a combination of this and [[Like Parent, Like Spouse]].
* [[Jane Eyre]]'s romance with Mr. Rochester begins with her rescuing him after he's injured himself in a fall from his horse.
* In ''[[Jeeves and Wooster (
* ''[[Warrior Cats]]'': Silverstream rescues Graystripe from drowning, and he's barely out of the water before he's flirting with her. Bonus points for being [[Star-Crossed Lovers]].
** An Firestar stopped Sandstorm from falling off a gorge, and Crowfeather managed to save Leafpool from falling off a cliff, and... Never mind. If one character saves another, they're probably going to end up in a relationship at some point.
* Lampshaded, mocked, sent up ''and'' played straight with Trevor and Juliet in the [[Discworld]] novel ''[[Discworld
{{quote| '''Juliet:''' He saved my life!<br />
'''Glenda:''' That's no basis for a relationship! A polite thank you would have sufficed!" }}
* Used in the backstory of ''[[Sherlock Holmes|A Study in Scarlet]]'', where it already seems like a cliche being pulled off the shelf, if a fairly well-executed one. {{spoiler|Doesn't end well.}}
* ''The House Of Night'': Rephaim and Stevie Rae's relationship is entirely built on this. {{spoiler|First Stevie Rae finds Rephaim almost dying from being shot out of the sky, hides him in a garden shed, patches him up, then lets him go. A [[I Owe You My Life]] moment is exchanged between them, which comes in handy when Stevie Rae is then later trapped on the roof a building. Rephaim rescues her and an Imprint is formed between them. Then when Stevie Rae summons Darkness, it's none other then Rephaim who rescues her from Darkness. When Stevie Rae sees Darkness hurting Rephaim, she summons Light to help rescue Rephaim. When Dallas finds out that Stevie Rae's been lying about knowing Rephaim, and plans to "knock some sense" into Stevie Rae, Rephaim's the one that steps up and protects Stevie Rae. Then Stevie Rae protects them both when Dallas embraces Darkness and tries to kill them both.}}
* In ''[[The
* Granted their [[Relationship Upgrade]] doesn't happen for another four books, but it should be noted that the first major interaction [[Harry Potter]] has with {{spoiler|Ginny Weasley}} is to basically spend an entire book rescuing her from {{spoiler|the [[Big Bad]] and his giant snake}}.
* ''[[The Laundry Series]]''. The protagonist saves Mo from a blood sacrifice in "The Atrocity Archives". She's seeing someone else at the time so he doesn't follow it up, but he saves her life two more times during the course of the novel, so at the end she decides to move in with him of her own accord.
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* In ''[[Around the World In 80 Days]]'', Phileas Fogg rescues Aouda from death by suttee. She falls in love with him almost immediately. Because Phileas Fogg has such an unemotional exterior, we don't find out that he loves her until the end of the novel.
* Invoked in ''[[Emma]]''. Emma is sure that Harriet and Frank Churchill will fall in love after Frank rescues Harriet from the gypsies. {{spoiler|Instead, Harriet falls for Knightly, who "rescues" her by dancing with her after she was snubbed by another man.}}
* Subverted in ''[[
{{quote| '''Sally:''' W... why Percy! That wasn't a real fight at all! It was a fake! You fixed it!<br />
'''Percy:''' Upon my honour, if you were a boy I'd bash you good and proper!<br />
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(He goes down three times and gets up twice.)
** The trope is subverted a second time in the same story: despite the fact that he's rescued her from having a misguided crush on a lying jerk, Encyclopedia and Sally never seem to be anything other than close friends.
* In ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (
* ''[[Twilight (
* Played with in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' with Tyrion's first wife, Tysha. It's first played straight with a slight twist: she falls in love, not with the dashing knight who most directly and physically rescued her from a group of bandits and implied would-be rapists (older brother Jaime), but the malformed midget who comforted her afterward (younger brother Tyrion). Then it's subverted when it turns out that Tysha was a prostitute and the whole thing was staged for Tyrion's benefit by Jaime, who thought it was about time his little brother had a woman. {{spoiler|THEN it's reinsubverted, or something, when it turns out that their father Twyin, incensed at his son's marriage to a commoner, forced Jaime to tell Tyrion she was a prostitute when she actually wasn't. (Or at least, she wasn't hired by Jaime; [[From a Certain Point of View|Twyin considered her a whore because he believed that her only motivation for marrying Tyrion was his family's money.]] How pure her motives actually were is unknown.)}} Then [[It Got Worse]].
* Played straight, [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]], invoked, and all-around played with in Stephanie Laurens' ''Cynster Sisters'' trilogy<ref>''Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue'', ''In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster'', and ''The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae''</ref>. It fits, since they're set in the late 1820s.
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** In ''The Chessman of Mars'', Gahan finds and rescues Tara when her shipwreck had ended with her prisoner.
** In ''A Fighting Man of Mars'', Tan Handron stumbles across Tavia and rescues her. It takes him a while to figure out the romance part, though.
** In ''[[
* Teased, but ultimately subverted in ''[[Discworld
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* Similarly, there was a ''[[Law and Order Special Victims Unit]]'' where a couple had this as a major fetish. The problem was that the husband was doing increasingly horrible things to the male escorts hired as "attackers."
* Subverted in ''[[The Tenth Kingdom]].'' Wolf makes his way to the Troll Palace to rescue Virginia, cleverly tricking the [[Goldfish Poop Gang|idiot Troll children]] into knocking each other out, then swings in on a vine to free her. Her response when he notes she doesn't seem to trust him? "Of course I don't trust you, you tried to ''eat'' my ''grandmother''!" ([[I'm a Humanitarian|Yes, they went there.]] And it was actually rather well done and hilarious.) This was not an auspicious start to the relationship.
* In the ''[[Beauty and
* In ''[[Pushing Daisies]]'', although they'd known each other as kids, Ned and Chuck met again when he brought her back to life.
* Used as a plot detail in ''[[Monk]]''; a nebbish millionare got his best friend to fake a mugging in college so he could look heroic to his girlfriend (it worked, although he ultimately married someone else, the girl still said she should have married him). It didn't turn out so well later down the road, when the friend pulled a gun and shot the millionare when they did the same thing, for supposedly the same reason, which turned out to be an attempt to hide the friend stealing company money and killing the only guy in the way.
* On ''[[
* In ''[[Smallville]]'', in the episode "Relic", Lana's great-aunt falls in love with Jor-El when he saves her from Lex's grandfather.
* Deconstructed on ''[[
* In ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]'' Gene saves Alex's life no less than seven times, not to mention her {{spoiler|soul}}
* On ''[[Saved
* Though it doesn't ''immediately'' lead to romance, the first thing that seems to attract Willow to Oz in season 2 of ''[[
** Angel saving Buffy from three vampire assassins leads to him [[There Is Only One Bed|hiding out in her bedroom]] and their [[First Kiss]].
** Spike/Buffy share a [[Big Damn Kiss]] at the end of "[[Musical Episode|Once More With Feeling]]" after Spike stops Buffy from dancing herself to death with a few well-chosen lyrics. Buffy later tries to blame it on [[Phlebotinum-Induced Stupidity]], but Spike knows otherwise and starts pursuing her in earnest.
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'''Xander:''' No...<br />
'''Buffy:''' Don't you wish I would? ''(walks off)'' }}
* Subverted in ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'' in which both Arthur and Lancelot (separately) go to great lengths to rescue Guinevere from a warlord, only for ''extreme'' awkwardness to ensue when they realize why the other one is there. Neither one ends up with her (at least, at the end of that particular episode).
** Played straight with Merlin and Freya, {{spoiler|with tragic consequences}}.
* In ''[[
* ''[[Ghost Whisperer]]'': It happened before the show started, but Jim and Melinda met when he (a firefighter at the time) rescued her from her burning apartment complex.
* In an episode of ''[[
* Lampshaded in C-drama ''Holy Pearl''. "Ohh, I get it. Weak woman is saved by strong, handsome man and falls in love with him. There's only one problem--[[Action Girl|you don't look weak.]]" For added irony points, the speaker is later saved by the man in question...and falls in love with him.
== Video Games ==
* ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''. Noted numerous times by web cartoonists.
* Exception: Despite fanon, a ''Zelda'' game designer once admitted it's mainly Link's job as a heroic figure to rescue the princess; Link has usually been either too young or the game's mood too light to do any sort of serious romantic subplot. To say nothing of Mario, who [[Go-Karting
** This is actually portrayed very well in the various games: even in the few situations where Link ''is'' old enough to conceivably pursue a romance with Zelda, he's also far too intently focused on his duty instead of her. He never ignores her, or through ignorance or malice puts her in danger, but he's never shown even the slightest interest in a romantic relationship. In ''Twilight Princess'', however, the initial reason you start your adventure is to go rescue [[Distressed Damsel|the mayor's daughter]] [[Victorious Childhood Friend|who pretty clearly likes Link]].
*** [[Fridge Brilliance]]: Link is supposed to be the player's avatar in the game world. It's why he's named "Link": he's the player's link to Hyrule. We're supposed to project our personalities, likes, and dislikes onto him. If one person prefers Zelda as a couple, they could make that work in their own private fanon, but if someone else prefers any of the alternate options, or just doesn't like Zelda for whatever reason, the developers at Nintendo don't want to throw off their immersion.
*** In the cartoon and early games it was played as romance. Later however they avert this, from A Link to the Past onwards, except for {{spoiler|that kiss at the end of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Oracle
** ''[[Robot Chicken]]'''s [http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2007/robot-chicken-zelda-p1.php take]
* In ''[[Fire Emblem]] 4'' (Seisen no Kifu), Sigurd helps a girl named Diadora who's harassed by a thug. She thanks him profusely, but flees and Sigurd can't take her out of his mind, even when people say she's from [[Hidden Elf Village|a hidden village]] and can't be with him. The next time they see each other, Diadora asks to join his trope since she's a [[Squishy Wizard|magic]] [[White Magician Girl|user]] and confesses she's been crushing on him ever since he helped her, Sigurd says he feels the same and lets her come with the group.
** Another possibility in the same game (this one's optional, whereas Sigurd and Diadora automatically become hitched) is the hook-up between [[The Archer|Prince Jamuka]] and [[White Magician Girl|Lady Edain]]. She was kidnapped by Jamuka's evil older brother who wanted to marry her, but Jamuka let her go along with [[Fragile Speedster|teenage thief Dew]]. When he returns, it's as an enemy, and Edin recruit him for the good guys * and* , through conversations, make him fall in love with her.
** [[The Hero|Eliwood of Pherae]] and [[Mysterious Waif|Ninian the Dancer]] in FE 7 (pictured above) fall into this trope too. In "Lyn's tale", Eliwood helps Lyn and Nils save a kidnapped Ninian, but [[Convenient Coma|she's unconscious that time]] and doesn't know Eliwood played a part in her rescue, until their C support brings that up and she's able to say thanks. Something similar happens with [[The Archer|Rebecca the Archer]] and [[Big Eater|Lowen the Cavalier]]; their C support is about Rebecca glamourizing the time they met, when Lowen rescued her from the bandits ransacking her village and recruited her for Eliwood's troupe.
* Taking the Rivalry path with Merrill in ''[[
** Also, Aveline and Donnic's first on-screen meeting consists of Hawke & Co. showing up to rescue Donnic from thugs.
* While it's never explicitly stated, ''[[
* Arguably used in ''[[Half Life]] 2'', where Alyx rescues Gordon from Civil Protection. "Arguably" because [[Silent Protagonist|Gordon]] never confirms his feelings - in fact, Gordon isn't really supposed to have feelings separate from the player. But judging by the reaction of the majority of players to Alyx, it worked. This is also an example of a male rescuee.
** Played straight later on, as Gordon gets to rescue Alyx from a stalker that's trying to chew her face off after the train crashes.
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* This is how Cornet's infatuation with Prince Ferdinand gets kick-started in ''[[Rhapsody a Musical Adventure]]''. She dreams of him saving her from a scary, nondescript monster, and then it happens for real when she goes off to the forest to retrieve some red Inotium and gets attacked by Myao and her hench-cats.
* The E3 [http://www.mediamolecule.com/littlebigplanet/ trailer] for ''[[Little Big Planet]]'' inexplicably subverts this.
* [[Star Fox (
* ''[[
* Turned in weird directions in ''[[
* When meeting two of the three possible female romantic interests in ''[[
* Due to the very nature of the games, ''every'' romance in ''[[Mass Effect]]'' has elements of this.
** In the sequel, Tali will actually invoke this trope if you pursue her [[Romance Sidequest]].
{{quote| '''Tali:''' What could I possibly be suggesting? I mean, a young woman gets saved by a dashing commander who lets her join his crew and then goes off to save the galaxy? How could she possibly develop any kind of interest in him?}}
* In ''[[Princess Maker]]'', one of the main ways that your daughter can end up developing feelings for [[Battle Butler|Cube]] is if she is often defeated by monsters and/or bandits while out on trips, since Cube is the one who rescues her and brings her home.
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Tokimeki Memorial|Tokimeki Memorial 1]]'', very surprisingly, has a case of this, but it's a really bizarre one : if you repeatedly phone to {{spoiler|Rei Ijuin, the game's [[Bifauxnen]]}}, it will activate various events revolving around {{spoiler|her}}, and in one of them, {{spoiler|she}}'ll be kidnapped. You can decide to go to {{spoiler|her}} rescue (and is required if you want to get {{spoiler|her}} Ending), {{spoiler|but in a subversion, when you'll arrive to the supposed place where's she captive, the Ijuin Family Army will already have saved her. As usual, she'll give the protagonist some badmouthing for his stupid recklessness, but will still thank him, and apparently starts to like him from this point}}. Oh, did I forgot to mention that the protagonist, at this point, doesn't know that {{spoiler|she's actually a girl, and won't discover this until the end of the game, when she'll confess to him on Graduation Day under the Legendary Tree}}?
* When Junichi defends Ai from an aggressive dog in her route in ''[[Amagami]]''.
* [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]], sort of, in ''[[
* Hilariously played in the [[Battle for Wesnoth]] campaign Elvish Dynasty RPG, in which the human empire has a law on the books that if a dragon who holds a princess captive is slain the princess and the dragonslayer are considered married. Even if the dragonslayer happens to be [[Les Yay|the queen of the elves]].
* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', a nobleman's daughter falls in love with Feynriel, who rescued her from being gang-raped by a group of bandits by [[Mind Rape|making them kill each other while they were still awake]], and asks Hawke to help her find him so she can thank him properly.
* [[
== Visual Novels ==
* According to Desiree in ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]: Trials and Tribulations'', she fell in love with Ron Delite when he saved her from a pair of thugs. And then he passed out.
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== [[Web Originals]] ==
* Played with in ''[[Dr.
* In the [[Whateley Universe]], [[Dogged Nice Guy]] Stalwart pursued Fey until she got angry enough to throw him across the Quad with magic. But when he saved her from [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|mutant ninja assassin Nex]] she decided she owed him at least a date. And then she decided he really was a nice guy. They are still dating.
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== Webcomics ==
* In ''[[Mayonaka Densha]]'' Hatsune and Tom first meet when he saves her from [[Jack the Ripper]]. If Hatsune's [[Anguished Declaration of Love]] later on is to be believed, this was also the point when she [[Love At First Sight|fell in love with him.]]
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
** Which is {{spoiler|later subverted. He doesn't love Antimony - he loves Zimmy, the girl whose mind the ethereal spider came from}}.
*** {{spoiler|Which is ''still'' played straight: Zimmy was the one who directly confronted the spider, before killing it.}}
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* In an episode of ''[[Kim Possible]]'', Ron dreams of saving Kim, and then actually does.
** Not to mention Kim saves Ron numerous times throughout the show.
* Another male rescuee example comes from ''[[My Life
* [[Alpha Bitch|Paulina]] in ''[[Danny Phantom]]''. The first time she's rescued, she acknowledges that Danny is a good ghost (in a town then on [[Untrusting Community]] level), but it was his second rescue that Paulina had fallen madly in love with Danny Phantom. (Although this turns into a cast of [[Loves My Alter Ego]], and they actually never get together.)
* A ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' sketch featured a nerd winning a date with Scarlett Johanson in a contest. When she arrives, she hardly masks her frustration with the situation. Suddenly, a bunch of goons hired by the nerd "attack" the two during the date, causing the nerd to "chase" them off. She instantly falls in love with him, and we get a Happily Ever After montage of them marrying, having kids, etc. Then we see the nerd at his death bed confessing the ruse to Scarlett who, instead of being outraged, suddenly starts speaking in a man's voice and claiming she's not the real Scarlett Johanson but a (male) impersonator. The revelation causes the nerd to flatline right then and there and "Scarlett" to break down in tears.
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