Damsel in distress can fall into situations in which they need saving, but it happens in girls and ladies. Usually she is kidnapped by the story's main antagonist and held prisoner. A damsel in distress can also:
get swept away by a river,
chased and attacked by a monster or dangerous animal,
caught up in a natural disaster,
cursed to die in some way,
trapped somewhere, or
being threatened in a way that could lead to the end of her life.
Become possessed or brainwashed by an evil entity
Usually, the hero comes to her rescue, but she can also get out of these situations herself, using her own wits and skills. When the heroine gets into trouble and needs help, this can raise the stakes and/or set the plot in motion.
Jewel: She gets kidnapped by Nigel two times and locked in a cage until Blu arrives and sets her free.
Shanti: She almost winds up as Kaa's dinner, but Ranjan saves her. Later, she reveals her hiding place to Shere Khan by mistake.
Abigail: Gets captured by the Barn Owl.
Merida: Although not a damsel in distress per se, Merida lands in this kind of situation in the final climax when Mor'du catches her and prepares to eat her until Elinor breaks free and charges to the rescue.
Vanellope Von Schweetz: Gets captured by King Candy and locked in the Fungeon.
Ariel: In the first film, Ariel gets kidnapped by Ursula and used as a bargaining tool for King Triton.
Wendy Darling: She gets kidnapped by Captain Hook and Peter Pan saves her.
Belle: Attacked by wolves until the Beast saves her.
Anastasia: When she is a child, Rasputin catches her and almost pulls her into the icy river with him, but she manages to escape. In the final climax, she is nearly pushed off a bridge.
Esmeralda: She gets captured by Judge Frollo and is about to be burned at the stake, and Quasimodo rescues her.
Peaches: She gets captured by Captain Gutt and his crew to lure her father Manny into his trap.
Lilo Pelekai: Captain Gantu abducts her in the climax of the first film.
Rapunzel: She gets kidnapped by Mother Gothel as a baby. In the climax, however, Gothel chains her to the wall and gags her mouth to keep her from running away and warning Flynn Rider when he comes to her rescue.
Kayley: She gets captured by Ruber two times in the film, but then manages to free herself.
Robyn Starling: She is trapped on the top of a Ferris wheel by Captain Kiddie, but then Tom and Jerry rescue her. She gets captured by Aunt Figg and Lickboot, and also trapped in a cabin fire, and Tom and Jerry rescue her.
La Petite Ballerina: She is kidnapped by Tom and his gang of alley cats during the hostile takeover of the holiday kingdom and held prisoner in the castle by the King of Cats, but she manages to free herself later in the film.
Penny (Bolt): She gets kidnapped by Dr. Calico, and later trapped in the studio fire.
Tiana: She gets captured by Reggie and his sons and Prince Naveen comes to her rescue.
Miss Red: She gets abducted by Professor Moriarty and his three cat henchmen.
Aurora: She was in danger of sleep by death until Merryweather changed the curse into where Philip would have to kiss her to wake her up.
Jasmine: She gets captured by Jafar after Jafar makes his first two wishes and banishes Aladdin and Abu to the ends of Earth. In the climax, Jafar traps her in a giant hourglass.
Snow White: She was constantly threatened by Queen Grimhilde, and survived because she was lucky. The Prince might have not been able to wake her up if she wasn't lucky enough to be able to be brought back to life.
Princess Fiona: She is captured and almost killed by Lord Farquaad.
Jenny Foxworth: She gets kidnapped by Bill Sykes for ransom.
Ducky: In Journey to the Mists, she is captured by Ichy; in The Stone of Cold Fire, Pterano and his goons kidnap her.
Odette: Gets kidnapped by Rothbart in the first film and Zelda in the second one.
Anna: Prince Hans locks her in the library and leaves her to freeze to death after she discovers his betrayal.
Angie: Arranged by Lola to be held hostage by Don Lino and his mob in demand of Oscar's obedience.
Anne-Marie: She gets kidnapped by Carface to use as a slave.
Princess Dot: Holds onto a dandelion puff, and nearly gets eaten by a bird.
Marina: She gets kidnapped by Drake to force her to marry him.
Thumbelina: Mama Toad kidnaps her to use her as a bride for her son Grundel. She eventually escapes and almost falls down a waterfall.
Lucy Wilde: captured by El Macho and strapped to a shark on dynamite
Megara: She gets captured by Hades and used as a bargaining chip.
Winnie Portley-Rind: She gets captured by Archibald Snatcher twice.
Jane Darling: Jane gets kidnapped by Captain Hook to use as bait to capture Peter Pan. Later, in the final climax, Hook pins her to the mast after she saves Peter.
Honey Lemon and Go Go Tomago: Yokai traps Go Go and Honey, but they manage to free themselves, aided by Hiro.
Dawn (Strange Magic): She gets kidnapped by the Bog King and then by Roland.
Princess Mila (The Stolen Princess): She gets kidnapped by the wizard Chernomor, who kidnapped a woman named Lena earlier on.
Comics
April Patterson - she slips and falls in the river near the Patterson family home; she nearly drowns until their aging dog Farley manages to save her.
Elizabeth Patterson - she is assaulted at work by Howard.
Video Games
Amy Rose: She gets abducted by Metal-Sonic in her first game Sonic CD, and later kidnapped by Zero in Sonic Adventures, held hostage by Dr. Eggman in Sonic Adventure 2 and then abducted by Lyric the Last Ancient in Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal.
Princess Elise: Captured multiple times by Eggman.
Princess Peach: She notably gets kidnapped by the evil King Bowser multiple times and the Mario Bros. must come to her rescue.
Kairi
Princess Daphne
Princess Daisy: She gets captured by Tatanga in Super Mario Land so she would be his queen, and Mario must save her and return peace to her kingdom of Sarasaland.
Namine
Pauline: She was abducted by Cranky Kong (back then was known as Donkey Kong) in Donkey Kong. In the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, Donkey Kong himself abducts Pauline, leaving Mario to give chase.
Princess Zelda
Princess Kitana: She was imprisoned by Shao Kahn until Liu Kang rescues her in Kahn's Arena.
Cream the Rabbit: She is held prisoner by the military until Sonic rescues her.
Tooty: She gets kidnapped by a jealous Gruntilda the ugly witch in Banjo-Kazooie, who wants to steal her beauty and youth for herself (at Tooty's expense), and Banjo and Kazooie must rescue her.
Kat: Been held by Mundus after getting kidnapped by the FBI.
Trish: Almost died by a rock until Dante save her and was stunned that he save her. Later, she was been held by Mundus and sacrifice her life to save Dante before she died.
Kya - Is captured by Wolfen and sent to a prison, her weapons and items are taken away. She is put inside of a floating cage, It isn't until she tricks a Wolfen into breaking her cage, that she is set free and escapes from the cage. She then finds her equipment and leaves the prison, while defeating Wolfen along the way.
Mami Shimada: She is kidnapped by the Dragon Twins.
Krystal: After releasing a Krazoa Spirit at the Krazoa Palace near the end of the prologue of Star Fox Adventures, she is hurled into a magic beam and caged in a crystal prison by Andross, where she remains until Fox McCloud rescues her.
Live Action Movies
Latika: Salim, Javed and his thugs kidnap her after she finds Jamal at the train station.
Patsey: She gets tied to a post and whipped by Edwin Epps.
Ann Darrow: Ann gets captured by the Skull Islanders to be sacrificed to King Kong, then nearly falls prey to monstrous dinosaurs.
Marion Ravenwood: Marion gets kidnapped by Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark. First, she is threatened by the Gestapo agent Toht; second, she gets abducted by Rene Belloq and a band of robbers.
Madison Bowen
Vesper Lynd
Elizabeth Swann: In The Curse of the Black Pear, she gets kidnapped by Captain Barbossa and his pirate crew. In Dead Man's Chest, she almost winds up as lunch for the Kraken.
Mary Jane Watson: MJ gets captured many times and Spider-Man needs to come to her rescue. She gets kidnapped by the Green Goblin in the first film, then by Dr. Octopus in the second film and Venom in the third film.
Robin Wheeler: In Re-Animated, she is kidnapped and tied to the train tracks by Sonny Appleday
Gwen Stacy: In Spider-Man 3, she almost falls to her death. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, she gets kidnapped by the Green Goblin.
Christy Fimple: Christy gets captured by a group of Gwendy dolls, along with the Commando Elite.
Penny (Inspector Gadget): She gets kidnapped by Dr. Claw in the sequel.
Laurel Weaver: Laurel gets kidnapped by Edgar the Bug while Edgar tries to get to the ship tower at an abandoned world's fair.
Little Orphan Annie: Miss Hannigan tries to kidnap her to force her to live in her tyrannical orphanage.
Vicki Vale
Ursula Stanhope: She was kidnapped by Lyle Van de Groot to force her to marry him
Susie & Jessica: they are kidnapped and taken hostage by Bart Gifooley
Dorothy Gale: She was kidnapped by the Flying Monkeys and being held captive in the Wicked Witch of the West's castle.
Glinda: She was threatened of death by the Wicked Witch.
Penny Pingleton: She gets tied to her bed by her mother as punishment.
Ofelia: She gets chased by the Pale Man and then imprisoned by Captain Vidal.
Carol Brady
Bandersnatch: Captured by the Red Queen and her armored cards in her doghouse.
Carol Anne Freeling: She was kidnapped by the ghosts and was sent to the closet
Jeanette Miller (live action): She was munk-napped by Zoe, who forces her to retrieve the treasure from the cave.
Tara Roland: She was kidnapped by the ghost, Phears and is held captive by the evil ghosts.
Brenda Bradford: She gets kidnapped by Dr. Claw and taken to his helicopter.
Mal: About to drown in the lake after jumping in to save Ben after he doesn't resurface, but is unable to swim. Ben saves her before she drowns.
Ashley (Bulletproof): Grimm Jim kidnaps her out of revenge on Bulletproof Jackson.
Colleen Barker: She gets kidnapped by Bugsy Them and his thugs for ransom.
Hannah Stine: She gets imprisoned in her home by R.L. Stine and nearly falls prey to the Goosebumps monsters.
Mothra: She often gets into fights with Godzilla. In Godzilla vs. Mothra, she gets paralyzed by Godzilla's Nuclear Pulse and Godzilla blasts a Ferris Wheel which nearly falls on top of her until she is saved by Battra. She also tries to stop King Ghidorah but is attacked and nearly killed by him until Godzilla and Rodan comes to help her in Ghidorah, The Three-Headed Monster.
Miki Saegusa: In Godzilla vs Biollante she is overwhelmed by Godzilla's psychic power. In Godzilla vs SpaceGodzilla she gets kidnapped by the Japanese Mafia. In Godzilla vs Destoroyah, she is chased and nearly killed by the Flying Destoroyah until Junior blasts him and has her helicopter destroyed by Destoroyah leaving her an a dangerous situation.
Live action TV
Happens quite a few times in Supernatural.Charlie Bradbury started off as a damsel in distress because she was enslaved by the Leviathans yet she broke out of their possession. Also Osborne's Daughter qualifies as one yet no one can save her.
Kimberly Ann Hart
In Doctor Who, Rose Tyler falls in this category several times. Most notably in the episode when Lady Cassandra possesses her and the Doctor has to save her. Also Donna Noble qualifies as a damsel in distress when the Doctor has erased her memories of him but she begins to remember everything when the Master is back.
In Lost Tapes, there are tonnes of examples:
Despite her bravery, Rachel Glenn may qualify as a damsel in distress yet she survives her encounter with little outside help.
Sharon Novak is the most notable damsel in distress, yet she is a cowardly, corrupt, greedy defenseless damsel who only relies on her beauty and outside help. Because of these qualities, she fails and gets eaten
Anime Series
Yukina: she is kidnapped by the Gonzo Tarukane
Mai Valentine: she is held hostage by PaniK
Keiko Yukimura: she lands herself in dangerous situations, requiring Yusake Urameshi to come to her rescue
Marina: she is kidnapped by Atilla and Hun from Team Rocket
Emily (Glitter Force):Gets taken by Ulric's voliball buffoon,Kelsey saves her lader by Brute Foodball net Buffoon,April saves her
Gatomon: she is taken away by Myotismon to use as bait for the eighth Digi-Destined child
Téa Gardner: she gets kidnapped by the Rare Hunters, along with Joey Wheeler
Rini aka Sailor Mini-Moon: she was kidnapped by Lady Badiyanu
Delia Ketchum: she gets kidnapped by Entei in the third Pokémon movie, "Spell of the Unown", and brought to Molly Hale in the Crystal Tower
Amy Anderson aka Sailor Mercury
Mimi Tachikawa
Serenity Wheeler: In Battle City, she and Tristan are ambushed by the Rare Hunters and then in the Virtual World, she is chased by a Mad Sword Beast
Kamiya Kaoru
Hilary Tachibana: she is abducted by two Men in Black along with Kenny
Sango
Kari Kamiya: she is kidnapped by Divermon
Cosmo the Seedrian: She is often taken captive by the Metarex at various encounters. She is, at one point, abducted along with Cream and Cheese by the Chaotix, though it was an accident, and was targeted by Shadow the Hedgehog for being a spy for the Metarex, although neither she or her friends knew about it at the time.
Kagome Higarashi: she is kidnapped by the Thunder Bros., and then by Koga the Wolf Demon
Raye Hino aka Sailor Mars
Sora Takenouchi: she gets kidnapped by Bakemon, along with Joe Kido, then gets kidnapped by Datamon
Lita aka Sailor Jupiter
May: she gets kidnapped by a wild Skarmory, then gets kidnapped by a giant Slaking
Misty: she gets turned into a doll (along with Brock) by Sabrina, caught and held hostage by Team Rocket on occasions, nearly drowns
Dawn: she is attacked by a swarm of Ariados
Serena: she is attacked by Swirlix
Fennekin: kidnapped by Team rocket
Eevee (XY series):captured by team rocket but is rescued by Serena
Iris: she is held hostage by Team Plasma
Bonnie
Bulma: she gets kidnapped by a pterodactyl
Molly Baker
Android #18: she gets absorbed whole by Semi-Perfect Cell before he transformed into Perfect form.
Mina aka Sailor Venus
Chi-Chi: Young Chi-Chi gets chased by a giant T-rex, adult self possessed by Baby
Serena aka Sailor Moon
Rika Nonaka: She gets kidnapped by IceDevimon.
Asia Argento: she gets kidnapped by her fake savior & lover stealing pimp Diodora Astaroth
Western Animation
Gosalyn Waddlemeyer-Mallard: She gets kidnapped by a criminal kingpin named Taurus Bulba; she is also captured and held hostage by various villains (ie: Steelbeak, Wacko, Tuskernini, Megavolt, Negaduck, QuackerJack, etc.), threatened by Darkwarrior Duck, nearly dragged into a portal through Paddywhack's evil Jack-in-the-box
Morgana Macawber: she gets kidnapped by Negaduck and captured by the Fearsome Five along with the other Justice Ducks; she is also captured by Beelzebub in order to exchange her for Darkwing Duck's soul
Babs Bunny: She finds herself in danger often.
Cleocatra: Cleocatra, or Cleo for short, ends up getting kidnapped on occasions and relies on her love interest, Riff-Raff to come to her rescue
Princess Calla: She gets kidnapped by Duke Igthorn.
Daphne Blake: has earned her nickname "Danger-Prone Daphne" due to her being abducted by villains or other situations.
Eliza Thornberry: She gets captured by poachers in Trouble with Darwin and taken captive by Sloan and Bree Blackburn in The Wild Thornberrys Movie.
Minnie Mouse is often kidnapped.
April O'Neil: she gets kidnapped by the Foot Soldiers and/or The Shredder.
Mandy: she gets kidnapped by the Bogeyman and put her under his sleep spell until her will is broken in Billy and Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure.
Catwoman: she gets kidnapped by the Joker in the Season 3 episode, "The Laughing Cats" of The Batman.
Twilight Sparkle gets captured by Tempest Shadow and locked up.
Zarya and Piper were captured by the Shadow Mage.
Sam, Alex and Clover often get captured (together or alone) by the villains.
Visual Novels
Annabeth Chase: In The Lightning Thief, Annabeth gets attacked by spiders. In The Sea of Monsters, she gets captured by Polyphemus and is about to get eaten. In The Titan's Curse, Annabeth gets kidnapped by Luke Castellan and Atlas. In The Battle of the Labyrinth, she is taken hostage by Geryon. Of course, Percy Jackson saves her life in each scene.
Ginny Weasley
Hermione Granger
Marcie Venturi: Gets kidnapped by Forda and her henchmen.
Andrea McCallister: Gets kidnapped by Quincy Maroone's dim-witted gang.
Riley Flemming: Gets captured by Derek Krumholtz, who believed she was responsible for shutting down Krumholtz Industries, and he was going to throw her in the lava to kill her.
Wendy Darling: She and her siblings get kidnapped by Captain Hook.
Helen Grace: She gets captured by Mulgarath and the goblins.
Princess Tiger Lily: She is kidnapped by Captain Hook and left to drown at Marooner's rock.
Eva Nine: In The Search for WondLa, she gets captured by Besteel and frees herself with the aid of Rovender Kitt.
Madeline: she slips and falls in the River until a stray dog named Genevieve rescues her from a watery grave.
Little Red Riding Hood: She winds up as lunch for the Big Bad Wolf but gets rescued by the Woodsman.
Quotes
“
Ace, help!
„
~ Colleen Barker being kidnapped by Bugsy Them and his henchmen.
“
What are you doing? Unhand me! (Snatcher: Looks like the boxtrolls have a new victim, miss. And her name is YOU.)
„
~ Winnie Portley-Rind captured by Archibald Snatcher and Mr. Trout.
“
Dante!
„
~ Trish was being held by Mundus
“
BUSTER!
„
~ Babs Bunny at the mercy of the Possum Family
“
Don't Shoot! Aaah!
„
~ Kat was shot by the FBI
“
Don't listen Herc-
„
~ Megara before Hades ties her up and gags her with smoke before she can warn Hercules
I don't know any 'The Party'! Let me go at once! Why are you treating me like a criminal? (Papa Drop's answer is, "Because you are a criminal! You are guilty of the awful, horrible crime of being... square!)
~ Twilight Sparkle as she was tricked into unleashing the magic by Principal Cinch during the Friendship Games which resulted in turning her into a demon.
“
I swear Nessus! Put me down or I'll-
„
~ Megara held hostage by Nessus the Centaur.
“
Dad please tell them (Miss Minchin: That child is an orphan, take her away) No, Dad (Captain Crewew: I'm sorry), No, no DaaaaaaaD,DaaaaaaaD (Miss Minchin:Shut Up).Daaaad, let me go, Daaaad, (Captain Crewe: Saraaa))
„
~ Sara Crewe taking away by Miss Minchin and Police Officers until her father come to save her
“
SpongeBob! Patrick! Help me!
„
~ Sandy Cheeks as her soul gets abducted by the Flying Dutchman.
