Damsel Rescuers or Tactical Advantages? Rarely debated aspect of Tropes v Women

[ThatOtherGirl]

It's never made any sense to me that Legend of Zelda still relies on this trope to establish the majority of its stories. It just feels antiquated at this point.

For Mario, sure, who really cares? It's a staple of the series and Peach getting captured by Bowser is just expected. It makes games where Peach is playable all the more special.

I am not convinced LoZ needs this, however. She's played really interesting roles throughout the series, but somehow always ends up playing the damsel in the end. Would be nice to see her take the reins for once.

I would like to see a Dude in distress for once. Like a female badass has to single-handedly murder entire armies to rescue her boy-toy. Why can't we have that game?

Someone else mentioned Odin Sphere, the Gwendolyn portion of the game largely revolves around rescuing her husband, but he is arguably the superior warrior, they fight once and he absolutely destroys her. It makes sense how she rescues him later though.

Marina Lightyears from Mischief Makers spends the entire game saving one dude over and over. It gets a 6 for 1 on the dudes in distress. Every chapter involves him getting captured again. Not a boy toy though. Also, Mischief Makers is a fantastic game, you should play it.

We also got a Princess Peach game in which she saves Mario.

 

[ThatOtherGirl]

It's never made any sense to me that Legend of Zelda still relies on this trope to establish the majority of its stories. It just feels antiquated at this point.

For Mario, sure, who really cares? It's a staple of the series and Peach getting captured by Bowser is just expected. It makes games where Peach is playable all the more special.

I am not convinced LoZ needs this, however. She's played really interesting roles throughout the series, but somehow always ends up playing the damsel in the end. Would be nice to see her take the reins for once.

I would like to see a Dude in distress for once. Like a female badass has to single-handedly murder entire armies to rescue her boy-toy. Why can't we have that game?

Someone else mentioned Odin Sphere, the Gwendolyn portion of the game largely revolves around rescuing her husband, but he is arguably the superior warrior, they fight once and he absolutely destroys her. It makes sense how she rescues him later though.

Not really, if I remember correctly the battle between them was pretty early, and Gwendolyn's feats are far superior:

Spoiler

Kills the queen of hel, twice defeats the most powerful being that exists.

Well, like I said, arguably the superior warrior. There are some good points in her favor for sure, but the one time they do fight he wins without contest (the only reason I am not spoiling that is because it is in the opening scene.) She undoubtedly accomplishes more, but that doesn't necessarily mean she is stronger. Though since the RPG mechanics of the game are in universe, there is a very strong argument that she simply became stronger over the course of the events.