A few more Thoughts about Damsels

After a discussion I got into online recently, because someone argued the ‘Damsel in Distress’ trope wasn’t ready for retirement, since it still works, I’ve come up with a few more thoughts about the trope and how to use it well - if you feel the need to use it.

Something which really grated on my nerves about his arguments was that the damsel was a reward for the hero - because, apparently, saving the world isn’t enough of a reward and the governments were fresh out of cash, titles, and money. I have nothing as a such against the hero and the heroine (or, more neutral, the male lead and the female lead) ending up together at the end of the story. Sometimes, a damsel also is known to the hero beforehand and they might have a history (which reminds me of the ‘oh, this is your first time … as bait’ scene from “Girl Reporter”). What I balk at is the idea that the damsel should be the hero’s whatever (but the word ‘property’ comes to mind) just because he saved the world. That she has no say in it and no interest in having some. Think of the classic fairy tales - in most, the princess and the prince who saves her have hardly, if ever, met before. The only reason why they live happily ever after is that he saved her from some ‘fate worse than death’ or something similar.

Of course, fairy tales actually predate the notion of romantic love and marriage. Love has always existed, but the idea that you marry out of love is relatively new - thank the romantic movement in literature for it. For the fairy-tale princess, the idea to marry her saviour probably didn’t differ much from the idea to marry someone for political or financial reasons - the main reasons why marriages usually were arranged.

Modern stories can’t use the same excuse. If the manly hero of the action movie of your choice in the end gets the attractive woman whom he rescued before (directly or indirectly), she’s nothing more or less than an object - a reward, as the commenter rightfully put it. The difference is he (I assume that from the username he chose) saw this as perfectly okay. I don’t. And romantic movies with their ‘if you harass the woman long enough, she’ll fall in love with you’ approach aren’t much better, but that’s a different trope.

So, let’s dive again into the principles of the damsel.

Not all damsels are created equally. New pulp, for instance, has its host of damsels, too, but most of them have an agenda of some sort, some turn out to be villains in disguise, and quite often they do not end up in the hero’s bed (if only because the hero is the type who will not settle down until evil is vanquished - in other words: never).

Not every woman who needs saving at some point is a damsel. Princess Leia would be an excellent example for that. The moment she is out of her cell (and the powerful, if evil Empire surely has enough manpower to keep everyone put), she takes control of the ill-planned rescue mission. She has a personality, she has her own agenda, and she is anything but helpless and in constant need of help.

To be a true damsel in distress, the damsel needs to be threatened in some way (by the villain of the story or his/her henches) and the hero needs to save her. Quite often, he’s also the reason why she’s threatened. Which is why “Girl Reporter,” to come back to this story for a moment, can also make a male superhero a damsel for a little while.

Some damsels stumble into trouble trying to help the hero (it’s the classic ‘plucky reporter’ approach to damsels, as pulps and comics often have it). Some damsels get into trouble because of other characters (as with the daughters and wives of scientists etc. who get kidnapped to put pressure on their relatives). Some damsels just are in the wrong place at the wrong time (they get kidnapped because the villain on the run needs a hostage, for instance). What they all have in common is a hero saving them. Traditionally, that hero is a man - but that shouldn’t keep you from any kind of pairing you can think of. There’s no law against the damsel being male - it’s just very rare (cough The Dark cough).

If you want to use this trope, there’s some things you should ask yourself at the beginning (or at editing, if not earlier).

Does my female lead/heroine/damsel have a personality and an agenda of her own? Does she get into trouble through her own volition or while doing her thing? Or is she just sleeping in her tower and waiting to marry the next guy who kisses her? Damsels with their own agenda give you more to work with and are less traditional - and thus not quite as done to death.

Does she have another reason to exist in the story than just ‘the hero needs someone to warm his bed?’ Is she necessary to drive part of the story? Does she make something important happen or does she have information the hero will need? Is there any other use to her story-wise? If the story wouldn’t change much without the damsel, make her a vase or a nice monetary reward. With enough money, the hero can spent a lot of time in a good brothel and will have all the sex he wants - and with as many women as he wants, too.

Is she just there for titillation? Is she only in the story so you can have the villain threaten her sexually/rape her/murder her in front of the hero? Does she merely exist to drive up tension or the hero’s motivation? Then you might want to rethink her, because ‘fridging the girlfriend/wife’ is just as overused a trope. You should have a good reason to torture a character just for another character’s motivation (that includes rape and murder, too). Torturing a character for their own motivation is a different question.

If you want to revert the trope and make the damsel a member of the villain’s team, you should also ask yourself those questions. Even the devoted assistant of the villain should have some motivation of her own, an agenda of why she’s by his side and working for him. She needs to be there for more than just reward as well - although, with the ‘false damsel’ that usually is the case. And she shouldn’t get killed in a horrible way just so the hero is more motivated or the villain can be painted in a darker light - buddy, you’re trying to take over the world and henches don’t grow on trees. You’ll need them at least until you’re firmly settled as the Supreme Ruler of Everything. Then you can start executing people for fun.

Keep those questions in mind and your damsel, if you choose to use one, will be much more interesting.

The Damsel in Distress deserves to be retired - or at least to be used less often. And she deserves to be more than just a reward for the hero. There’s lots of other rewards to be had.