Female prisoner: Billie? That's a man's name!
Billie Young: [looking over her shoulder] Those are men's legs. We're even.
— Night Court, "Billie and the Cat"
A female character has been introduced and for various reasons, be it her profession or her physique, she is not someone that most people would assume is an Action Girl or any sort of Badass.
She gets put in a situation that should be scary or dangerous, particularly for a person who doesn't strike others as armed and/or dangerous.
Only it turns out that she can hold her own in a dangerous situation. She may possess a biting wit, or prove to be a Magnificent Bastard, or in some cases, may well turn out to be much more physically powerful than she let on and it turns out that people were Underestimating Badassery and Bullying a Dragon. If she seemed like a prim and refined woman, she will turn out to be Silk Hiding Steel.
This is the moment that will establish that this character is perfectly fine on her own and able to take care of herself.
In some cases, if she were previously powerful, but seems to have been Brought Down to Normal it may turn out that they still underestimated her and she was merely Brought Down to Badass. On the other hand, if she had previously been shown to be a Distressed Damsel, or at least helpless in a prior situation, she might decide she's got to take a level or two of badass so that she's no longer helpless, sometimes overlapping with Never Be Hurt Again.
If she is able to hold her own against a numerically superior force, it may overlap One-Woman Army.
If she's a Girly Bruiser, it might overlap with Bait-and-Switch Character Intro. May overlap Damsel out of Distress if she demonstrates her self-sufficiency by escaping a life-or-death situation or freeing herself from captivity. See also Little Miss Badass if she's young, and Never Mess with Granny if she's old. If she has this moment while protecting her lover, see Violently Protective Girlfriend.
Often overlaps with Establishing Character Moment.
The contrast is Faux Action Girl, a female character that looks, and the audience is told, that she's perfectly able to take care of herself, but she ends up needing to be rescued like a Damsel in Distress.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You: Girlfriend #24, Kaho Eira, has this as her Establishing Character Moment: when a couple of sleazy young men hit on her, she wipes the floor with them with capoeira before Rentarou can step in.
- Bodacious Space Pirates: Jenny Doolittle was the former head of Hakuoh Academy's yacht club, who had graduated from the school. When we see her again, she is being forced into an Arranged Marriage... only to reveal that she's Silk Hiding Steel, almost literally, as she produces a blaster gun from under her wedding dress, blasts her way out of the wedding, and then steals a top-of-the-line fighter craft to escape.
- Ranma ½: When Ranma and Akane head to Furinkan High School together for the first time, Ranma is shocked to find dozens of male students in various athletic gear trying to fight Akane, only for her to take all of them out in rapid succession. Nabiki calls from the top floor window for Ranma to hurry before he's late to class, and not to worry about Akane, as she can take care of herself.
Nabiki: She'll be fine. This happens every day.
- Release the Spyce: The Tsukikage were looking to recruit Momo because she had a useful talent, an enhanced sense of smell and taste that could allow her to determine a good many things, such as if a person was overtired, lying, or even who they said they were. However, she still had to undergo months of rigorous training to build up her body, and then she had a final test. She had to catch Mei, the fastest of the Tsukikage, in a game of tag. She demonstrates that she's up to the challenge by using her wits, instead. Knowing she could never beat Mei in speed, she instead takes the time the night before to set up blockades at the school where they're testing her so that Mei will be slowed down by a lack of escape routes. Mei, for her part, being the one to recommend Momo in the first place, was delighted.
- Sailor Moon: Makoto Kino (Sailor Jupiter) makes her debut this way, saving Usagi Tsukino from a trio of muscle-bound creeps. The trio clearly thinks she's nothing until she flips one onto the ground by his wrist, then easily dodges the second before dropping him with a knee to the gut, forcing the third to retreat. Her charging in later on and hoisting the Monster of the Week over her head to save Sailor Moon is just the cherry on top. And this is all before she awakens as Sailor Jupiter.
- Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki: In the third OVA series, a group of Galaxy Police officers led by Mihoshi's brother descend onto the Masaki household with the intent of arresting them all on the mistaken belief that Mihoshi was in danger. One of the officers, a girl head over heels for the brother, captures Sasami in an alternate dimension prison. The officer clearly believes Sasami, being a 708 year old kid, is out of her league. However, not only does Sasami refuse to surrender, but she also points out that she's crushing on the brother. She then charges at her, revealing that her hair ties are also staves, performs a Flash Step to evade a rain of lasers and defeats her with ease. Turns out her mother trained her in staff combat.
- Urusei Yatsura: Ataru, tired of getting electric shocks from Lum, asks deranged monk Cherry to make something that can have her Brought Down to Normal. Unable to shock anyone or fly, Lum seems helpless... until she learns that the cute ribbon Ataru gave her is the source of her woes. She demonstrates to all present that 1. She doesn't like it when people toy with her, and 2. Even without her powers she has fangs to bite and nails to scratch. One of Ataru's friends notes that by comparison, the electric shocks seem almost cute.
Fan Works
- As Fate Would Have It: Yancy, the female lead and protagonist Nate's Love Interest, is initially established as a Shrinking Violet Rose-Haired Sweetie who prefers Pokemon Musicals and Contests over Pokemon battling. However, midway into the story, when challenged to a Pokemon battle by Hugh, Nate's rival, she proves herself to be a competent battler. The result? She completely mops the floor with him.
- Empathy: Every female member of Big Hero 9 gets at least one moment of this throughout the fic.
- Riley's happens in the first chapter. When she sees Hiro about to be beat up by a bunch of thugs at the bot fight, she grabs an old hockey stick from a trash bin. Then she whacks the thug in the knees and tells Hiro to run. Note that this was the first time Hiro and Riley met one another: Riley's want to protect others runs that deep!
- Go Go is as much of an Action Girl here as she is in canon. Along with being a beautiful tattooed motorcycle-riding genius, she's skilled in tae kwon do. She proves it first in a spar with Wasabi, then during the first battle with Yokai where she's one of the only people to land a hit on him.
- Honey is still a sweet Genki Girl, but she proves that she's capable of defending herself and her late boyfriend's name. She proves this when she has a crash out over learning who set the fire at the expo, and comes closer than anyone to actually killing Callaghan with her bare hands.
- Tip is a downplayed example in that she doesn't fight as much as the others. However, she proves during the car chase that she's an incredible driver (driving a flying car perfectly on her first try). In the climax, she proves she can be pragmatic in a fight when she she saves a protesting Hiro by dragging him away from Baymax (who is locked in a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown with the Gorg). She clearly doesn't feel good about it, but she saves him all the same. While not as powerful a fighter as most of the other team members, she still has a take-no-crap attitude and shouldn't be considered defenseless.
- God Help the Outcasts: Susan struggles throughout the early chapters of the fic with learning to control her massive size and strength. However, she proves that she's come into her own as a monster when she single-handedly (due to the other monsters being indisposed) defeats the giant alien robot on the San Francisco bridge.
- If Wishes Were Ponies...: Due to the Equestrians knowing little about the wizarding world and having the appearance of either pretty human men and women or adorable ponies, Dumbledore and his staff tend to underestimate what they're actually capable of... especially Twilight Sparkle. They are humbled when Twilight shows on a few occasions just what she's capable of, ranging from casting magical spells that are far beyond anything human wizards have seen, using her status as Princess to send guards when it's believed Hogwarts is under attack, and displaying her full raw power to take out Quirrel so she can save Harry. By the start of the fic's sequel, Dumbledore has a very healthy respect for her.
- Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus: The prequel shows that Chloe was playing with some fake "witch tests" with the inmates of the Friendship Asylum Car until Roquelle decides to butt in stating that a witch has as mark on their bodies... using that as an excuse to strip Chloe naked then physically assault her. Before Lexi and Atticus can step in, Chloe is already on the offensive by biting Roquelle's hand and slamming Roquelle's face into the wall by the hair. While she'll later need help from Atticus and Lexi after Roquelle dislocates her shoulder, Chloe takes initiative for most of the fight.
- In the Marvel Cinematic Universe fanfic A Little Red and Blue
, Sharon is inadvertently sent to the year 1944 by Wanda and stops a mugging where she encounters the past Steve, who thought she needed help when she was grabbed by one of the muggers. Steve has a similar encounter later, when he overhears the sounds of a fight and rushes to find Sharon already subduing her would-be muggers.
- Optimus on Earth: Amaya Patel-Suzuki's Establishing Character Moment includes her taking down a hostage-taking arsonist by shooting him (with a stun gun) in the forehead. She proves herself to be an Action Girl throughout the fic series, and (though she uses her wits more than her fists) is able to take on Decepticons in battle.
- Spider-Ninja: Every major female character in the fic gets one of these moments:
- Petra's first moment of this is arguably when she and her brothers get into their first fight. She was ten years old at the time and despite being pitted against a full grown man, she took him out with three strikes and walked away without a scratch. This was before she became an Empowered Badass Normal.
- April doesn't fight as much as the kids, but that doesn't make her defenseless. Her chapter with Coulson has her prove several times that, while not having superpowers or ninja skills, April is fully capable of looking out for herself. She demonstrates this best when she saves Coulson from Bebop and Rocksteady.
- While Natasha Romanoff's reputation precedes her, she proves herself a capable fighter to the Turtles when she helps them out during their fight with the Sinister Six.
- Karai's introduced when she brutally attacks Spider-Ninja and Donatello. If she hadn't underestimated Spider-Ninja, she would have killed Donnie. Luckily, Petra's Little Sister Instinct kicked in and she kicked Karai from one end of the room to the other.
- Scarlet Lady: Despite her not getting the Ladybug Miraculous at the start of the story, Marinette often helps Chat Noir fight the akumas, despite having no powers and gives him infinitely more assistance than Scarlet Lady. Thus, it's no shock when Master Fu gives her the Bee Miraculous.
- Unity (Finmonster): Along with the female members of Big Hero 9 above, Violet proves herself in her first fight as a Battle Couple with Fred.
Films — Animation
- Big Hero 6:
- When Yokai first attacks Hiro, Baymax, and their friends, Wasabi proves himself the worst possible person to drive in a car chase. That's when Go-Go takes over. She proves herself an incredible driver, pulling off car stunts during the chase that would leave a professional stunt driver in awe. And she does it without raising an eyebrow.
- Honey Lemon, the Girly Girl to Gogo's Tomboy, shows her mettle when Baymax is on the verge of killing Callaghan, by scooping up his healthcare chip, which Hiro had discarded, and returning it to the proper port on the rampaging robot, who had just easily shrugged off the attacks of the rest of the team, and returning Baymax to Three Laws-Compliant.
- The Emperor's New Groove: Downplayed, as it's a family, but when Kuzko asks if it's wise to leave Pacha's family alone with Yzma and Kronk, Pacha says that they can handle themselves. His wife, Chicha, who is pregnant as well, kicks it off by managing to lock Yzma and Kronk in a closet, taking the handle to the door. and toying with them. She also gives her children, Tipo and Chaca, a plan for dealing with the pair, before putting the knob back in the closet door and letting them out just as Yzma is about to try and break down the door.
- KPop Demon Hunters: Huntr/X's group Establishing Character Moment shows them to be fearless, Seen It All demon hunters and fabulous pop stars. When they realize that the flight crew on their private jet is actually a squad of demons sent to kill them, they start beating them up while singing their song "How It's Done". When the demons attempt to escape by sabotaging the plane, the Hunters (after inhaling their ramyeon) jump after them (sans parachutes) and continue to beat them. Then they land on stage and deliver an incredible concert. And this is in the first twenty minutes of the movie.
- Moana: While Moana is proven to be a strong young woman fairly early in the movie, she isn't shown to be much of a warrior. That changes when she and Maui are forced to fight the Kakamora. While Maui tries to flee and let them take Hei Hei (who swallowed the Heart), Moana goes back and defeats the entire army with nothing but an oar. Maui begrudgingly admits it was impressive.
- Mulan (1998): Downplayed; Mulan starts the movie out as an intelligent and forgetful but otherwise normal young woman with no fighting experience. It's only after she's trained as a soldier that she gets her moment (which is when she single-handedly defeats most of the Hun army with one well-placed cannon).
- Raya and the Last Dragon: Raya's Kidroduction shows her expertly making her way through a booby-trapped hallway and fighting a masked warrior (who turns out to be her father testing her). While not the most intense battle in the movie, it demonstrates that Raya was a capable warrior even from a young age.
- The Kung Fu Panda short film Secrets of the Furious Five, Po reveals that Viper was born the daughter of a legendary warrior known for his powerful venom. She, however, was born without fangs or venom, leading him to think that she could never carry on his legacy. To try and make her father proud, Viper took up ribbon dancing, and became the best dancer in the village. When her father was attacked at the Moon Festival (with the assailant wearing armor that broke his fangs), Viper charged into battle, learning in the process that her ribbon dancing could be used as a martial art. Not only did she do her father proud, but her ability to fight without limbs or teeth eventually made her a member of the Furious Five.
Viper: I don't have to bite to fight!
- Shrek 1: When Robin Hood and his Merry Men harass Fiona and try to kill Shrek, the princess beats up every single one of them... without even messing up her hair! However, after she has become an ogress in Farquaard's castle, it seems that she cannot escape when she is being restrained by the knights.
- Tangled: When Flynn is attacked in the Snugly Duckling by thugs who want to turn him in for the reward money, Rapunzel is able to save him by Shaming the Mob. After a song-and-dance, the thugs help them escape. Flynn, despite not knowing how she managed to befriend a room full of battle-hardened thugs in five minutes, admits it was pretty impressive.
- Toy Story: As the franchise has grown, the various female members of Andy's (later Bonnie's) toys have gotten plenty of chances to prove their skills.
- Jessie the Yodelin' Cowgirl serves as something of a Damsel in Distress in her debut film. However, at the end, she proves that her "helplessness" was more a matter of circumstance: she's fully capable of helping herself and anyone who needs her. She does so by using a Hot Wheels ramp to launch herself across the room and open Andy's bedroom door for Buster (who'd accidentally been shut inside). The move impresses Buzz... very much. The third film shows that she's kept these skills, as she's able to nearly escape capture by Lotso's enforcers on her own and proves to be vital in the toy's escape plan.
- In the second film, the Barbie dolls (including Molly's Barbie) acted more as toy cameos. In Toy Story 3, however, she proves that she's not just a pretty face. While she's at first wooed by Ken and happy to live with him in his dream house, the second she sees that he's one of Lotso's enforcers and is willingly mistreating her friends, she dumps him and willingly gets locked up with the others. Then, she willingly plays her part in the big break out by first convincing Ken that she regrets her choices so he'll take her back, then tying him up and torturing him by ripping up his clothes in front of him until he squeals. Not only does this help Andy's toys' plan, but her heroism won Ken over all over again, to the point that he has a Heel Realization. It seems Barbie really can do anything...
- While she's mainly used as Woody's love interest in her first two film appearances, in Toy Story 4 Bo Peep shows that she's reinvented herself since becoming a lost toy. In the time since she left Andy's room, she broke herself and her sheep out of an antique store, has been making her way across the country to play with kids wherever they can be found, and now uses her staff (once just a prop for her lamp) as a weapon. She's also become surprisingly calm about her limbs cracking and falling off, as she simply re-secures them with duct tape.
- Zootopia:
- Judy Hopps gets her first moment of this at age nine when she stood up to a bully harming her friends. Even though she got hurt, she got their carnival tickets back and was inspired to pursue her dream of becoming a cop. Her time at the Academy serves as a moment of this, too: against all odds, she manages to not only finish her training, but to come out as valedictorian and Zootopia's first rabbit officer. This is not a mammal to mess with.
- At first glance, beloved pop star Gazelle doesn't seem like a serious threat. But in the second film, she helps Judy and Gary by leading her tiger bodyguards/backup dancers in beating up the Zebros. She even personally bodyslams one of them!
Films — Live-Action
- Annie (1982): Annie proves rather quickly that she's not just a defenseless little girl. When she meets Sandy, he's being harassed by street kids who are torturing him for fun. Annie single-handedly wins a fistfight against them, beating up the toughest of them and scaring the others away. Later, when Rooster, Lily, and Hannigan kidnap her, she manages to escape them and run, but not before she stomps on Hannigan's foot and rips up the check they conned out of Warbucks.
- The Avengers (2012): When Natasha Romanoff is first shown on screen, she's a helpless woman being interrogated by a group of thugs while tied to a chair. One phone call from Coulson later, though, and she starts beating them up, proving she was interrogating them the whole time. As soon as she's free and the men are down, she calmly picks up her shoes and walks out. Downplayed given that the fact that she was a certified badass secret agent was revealed in Iron Man 2, so much of the audience already knew at least part of what she was capable of.
- The Dark Knight Rises: As Selina Kyle is being escorted to a jail cell in Blackgate Penitentiary, two prison guards escorting her discuss why a woman is being locked up in a men's prison (she was sent to a women's prison previously and broke out). One of the men in a cell they're walking past tries to flirt with her, and she grabs his hands and breaks his wrists.
Prison Guard: She's gonna be fine.
- Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: A hobgoblin inmate at Revel's End Prison is introduced to his two new cellmates, one of whom is a female barbarian named Holga. He immediately walks over to her, starts talking about how he's never shared a prison cell with a woman before and makes several crude comments about how much he'd like to go to bed with her — she responds by breaking both of his legs, and he collapses onto the cell floor.
- Gremlins (1984):
- Billy's mother, Lynn, doesn't initially seem like an action girl. But when the titular Gremlins first hatch, she's able to take out three of them on her own with her kitchen appliances (killing one with a mixer, one with a butcher knife, and one in the microwave). The only reason she didn't kill more is because one took her by surprise and nearly garroted her (which led to Billy dropping her off at the local doctor's house so she'd be safe).
- Kate, Billy's love interest and the local bar tender, ends up trapped in said bar when the Gremlins overrun it, forcing her to serve them drinks and snacks. When she realizes that they're sensitive to bright lights, though, she takes a camera and starts using the flash to make her way to the door. By the time Billy shows up, she's knocked out several of them and would have gotten more if not for the camera running out of film.
- Hocus Pocus (1993):
- The Sanderson sisters are a villainous version. Their magic and desire to consume the life force of children makes them extremely dangerous. In the film's prologue, Winifred is able to take out Thackery (then a teenage boy) with nothing but a few spells. When revived in The '90s, the witches prove themselves to be resourceful and quick to adapt, with Winifred thwarting Max's attempt to get the adults involved by performing a concert and placing a dancing spell on everyone who hears her. It takes the witches' magical timer running out and a Heroic Sacrifice from Max before the three are finally defeated.
- Allison is the first of the teenagers to discover that salt is the witches' weakness, and (when the Sanderson sisters invade Max and Dani's house) is able to protect herself by making a quick salt ring. The discovery of this weakness proves crucial to the kids' final plan to deal with the sisters, using a ring of salt to protect Dani.
- Iron Man 2: The first hint that "Natalie Rushmore" is more than she appears to be comes when she agrees to a boxing match with Happy Hogan...and promptly flips him off his feet and pins him.
- Iron Man 3: While a formidable business woman and the only one who can tell Tony what to do, Pepper was never shown to be an Action Girl... until the end of the movie when she not only survives being dosed with extremis, but uses her temporary superpowers to save Tony's life and kill her kidnapper/torturer. Tony is really lucky to have her.
- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle: While Martha (in the body of Ruby Roundhouse) had moments that showed her character's battle strengths, she really proves herself when she starts dance-fighting two guards outside a vehicle shed. Spencer, who was about to come out and help, sees her utterly destroying them, shrugs, and walks right back inside.
- The Muppet Movie: For most of her screen time after her introduction, Miss Piggy acts like a typical Love Interest / Damsel in Distress. But, when Kermit is seconds away from being brainwashed and a Mad Scientist insults her looks, she breaks free of her bonds and beats up every Mook in the room in under five minutes. She then frees Kermit and subjects the Mad Scientist to his own brainwashing machine.
- Spectre: Madeleine Swann initially seems like your usual Bond girl civilian, who Bond initially has to rescue from Hinx and his goons. However, after escaping with her, Bond attempts to give her a crash course on how to handle a gun so she can protect herself, only for it to be unnecessary as she expertly and casually unloads it, explaining that she was taught it by her father, the late Mr. White. When Hinx ambushes the two not long afterwards, she's in a far better position to fight back and lands several good hits, even saving Bond in the process.
Literature
- A Certain Magical Index: We're introduced to Mikoto Misaka when Touma sees a bunch of guys hitting on her, and he tries to come to her aid. A middle-school girl surrounded by guys with bad intent would be a serious issue... except that the middle school girl in question is an ESPer who can control electricity. She demonstrates this by frying the guys who were hitting on her, then turning her wrath on Touma for interrupting her favorite pastime, letting a bunch of guys engage in Bullying a Dragon. This gets a callback later in A Certain Scientific Railgun where Touma again sees a bunch of guys hitting on Mikoto and intervenes... trying to save them from her.
Live-Action TV
- In Cobra Kai, the first season has Aisha, who is overweight, Black and Nerdy, and clearly disinclined towards violence. When bullying pushes her to join Cobra Kai, Sensei Johnny Lawrence immediately forces her to spar with Miguel, who has been training all season up to this point. Miguel (reluctantly) knocks Aisha down... and this makes her angry enough to tackle him with her bulk.
- Doctor Who:
- One character demonstrated handily that she could take care of herself in a moment that inspired this very wiki to create the Awesome Moments category. Ace once attacked a Dalek with a baseball bat because it referred to her as "small".
- Towards the climax of her introduction episode, Rose proves that she's tougher than she seems when she grabs a nearby chain and knocks away the mannequin aliens holding the Doctor, knocking his anti-plastic into their leader in the process and saving London.
- Amy Pond demonstrated that she could take care of herself when she whacked The Doctor in the head with a cricket bat and handcuffed him to a radiator.
- Haven: Season 4 introduces Jennifer Mason, a former reporter who was fired from the Boston Globe for Hearing Voices, which turn out to be the supernatural Barn that took off with Audrey and Duke at the end of the previous season. While she shows some ingenuity and guile in her initial episode, helping Duke escape a hospital in Boston, when she arrives in Haven, she is understandably freaked out by the reality of the Troubles and her role in them. She leans a lot on Duke, who is more than happy to be her protector. However, in "The New Girl," it's shown that Jennifer is gaining her confidence back and is not a shrinking violet. She quickly figures out that Duke, subject to a Grand Theft Me, is Not Himself and stabs the imposter in the leg with a ballpoint pen, then holds him at gunpoint—admitting that she's not a great shot, so if she's forced to shoot him, she might hit him in the face. And this confidence continues through to the end of the episode, when she confronts the real Duke about the Fake First Kiss that happened while he was Not Himself, bringing their UST from subtext to text.
- K.C. Undercover: The series' protagonist, K.C. Cooper, is a teenage girl who, in the first scene of the series, is able to tail a known spy, and beat him up in with two frying pans while wearing a flattering evening gown.
- Legends of Tomorrow: Downplayed in the sense that the Arrow viewers have already known for two years that Sara is a trained assassin, but in the pilot episode, she meets Leonard Snart and Mick Rory for the first time, and while the rest of the team is off chasing a lead, the trio wanders off to a local bar. Sara gets approached by a big, muscly biker who doesn't take kindly to her rejecting his forceful proposition. She casually snaps his wrist, tells her male companions, "I got this", and proceeds to thrash not only the original biker when he comes at her with a bottle, but a few of his friends, as well. She only asks for a little assistance after the number of opponents grows.
- Night Court: In "Billie and the Cat", Billie Young has her first night at Harry Stone's court. She ends up in holding on a contempt charge when she refuses to turn over a cat that her client had stolen from a cat food company. She's a slender woman working as a public defender in reasonably nice clothes. But with a few bits of well-placed snark, she demonstrates handily that she can hold her own against the other women in holding.
Judge Stone: I'm afraid you could be here for a while.Female prisoner: I'll be out in 24 hours.Billie: Oh, the rabies test came back negative. Good for you.
- Power Rangers Wild Force: In "The Master's Herald (Part 1)", Princess Shayla suddenly reveals she's able to fight, fending off Toxica when she tries to capture her. This moment ends up especially surprising as, up until this point, Shayla's been portrayed as a Damsel in Distress who gets captured very easily.
Video Games
- Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: When Farah joins the Prince in his quest, the Prince, who's been fairly dismissive of her up to this point, warns her that he's fast, and to keep up with him. The following gameplay section has Farah outrunning the Prince as the first thing she does.
Farah: And you were worried about me keeping up.
Web Animation
- The Amazing Digital Circus: Due to her appearing in the Circus in the first episode, Pomni spends most of pilot confused and/or scared out of her mind. But, by the second episode, she's not only able to snap herself out of her Heroic BSoD, but she snaps Gummigoo out of his and comes up with a plan to get them both back onto the game map (all before any of the others knew where they'd gone).
Web Videos
- History of Power Rangers: Discussed in Linkara's retrospective on Power Rangers Wild Force. He criticizes the scene from "The Master's Herald" where Princess Shayla fights off Toxica, pointing out how out-of-nowhere and shallow it comes across when the entire series up until that moment portrayed Shayla as an easily-captured damsel, and it just raises the question of why she never helped fight off the Orgs if she was able to this whole time.
Western Animation
- Amphibia: The three main human characters (Anne, Sasha, and Marcy) all get moments of this... as do a few other female characters:
- Anne, in the pilot, at first seems like the Fish Out of Water she is, as she's clearly struggling to survive on her own and hasn't eaten in at least a few days. But when a giant praying mantis is about to chop Sprig's head off, she springs into action and holds the mantis at bay (literally). With her help, the mantis is taken down.
- Sasha proves herself a warrior when she uses her cheerleading skills to take out a giant heron with nothing but a dish of crickets and a barrel. She then manages to lead the toads to victory against the attacking herons.
- Marcy's moment comes when she manages to take out an entire colony of giant ants... twice... in the same episode. And that's not even counting when she jumped into the ant queen's mouth to save Sprig...
- Polly, despite being the youngest member of the family, is shown to be a very capable fighter early in the series when she's able to beat a warrior's training obstacle course in seconds. And thought it was fun.
- In season three, Mrs. Boonchuy proves that female warriors run in the family when she helps Anne take out the frog robot that was trying to kill them. And, if Mr. Boonchuy's reaction is any indication, she's gone full warrior mode at least once before.
Hop Pop: Were you surprised by that display of ferocity, Mr. Boonchuy?
- Animaniacs: In "Les Miseranimals'' Rita is stuck in a French pound. When the other cats learn that their keeper is out of meat for his meat pies and looking to turn to his cats for a source of protein, the other cats all suggest offering up Rita. Rita lets out a veritable lion roar that gets the rest of them to back off.
Rita: Never underestimate the little guy.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender: Virtually every major female character in the show gets one of these moments:
- While Katara starts out the series as a gifted but untutored waterbender, in the first episode along she's able to take out several Fire Nation soldiers with one waterbending move (even if she did it backwards the first time... literally). Once Pakku trains her, she arguably becomes one of the deadliest members of Team Avatar.
- The Kyoshi Warriors' Establishing Character Moment is when they manage to take out Team Avatar in a matter of minutes... despite none of them being benders. Suki proves herself when she beats up Sokka for coming into their dojo to make sexist remarks (which forever destroys Sokka's sexist beliefs about women).
- When Princess Azula is first shown, it's clear that she (as the crown princess of the Fire Nation) commands a lot of respect despite being a child. But her first fight with her brother and uncle proves why she earned that respect: she is calm, strategic, and ruthless in the heat of battle. Nor is she above playing dirty if it means victory.
- Toph Beifong is introduced as one of the greatest earthbending fighters ever known despite only being twelve... and completely blind. She proves herself twice in her first episode: the first time when she defeats the Boulder in an obviously staged match, the second time when she fights a bunch of thugs for real to save Aang. There's a reason she's one of the series' most popular characters.
- Played for Laughs in The Dover Boys; while Dora Standpipe is banging at the door and calling for the Dover Boys to rescue her from Dan Backslide, Dora has no trouble holding her own and easily beats up Dan Backslide.
Dora Standpipe: Help, Tom! Help, Dick!, Help, Larry!
[...]
Dan Backslide: [much later, badly beaten up by Dora] Help, Tom! Help, Dick!, Help, Larry! [collapses] - DuckTales (2017): A far cry from her previous incarnation, 2017's Webby Vanderquack is an Action Girl / Pint-Sized Powerhouse with encyclopedic knowledge on pretty much anything and No Social Skills whatsoever. While she shows her abilities pretty well in the first episode, it's in the episode "Daytrip of Doom!" that she truly proves herself. When the Beagle Boys break into Funzo's to kidnap the Duck triplets for ransom, Webby manages to defeat them and free her surrogate siblings. Note that she's a ten-year-old girl and they were grown men.
- Futurama: In the pilot, Leela proves herself to be an Action Girl when she beats up two cops who were senselessly beating up Fry and Bender (and made fun of her nose). Throughout the series, she's often the first one to get violent if the situation calls for it, and has saved Fry's life on more than one occasion.
- Gravity Falls:
- While she was shown to be an effortlessly cool person throughout season one, season two is when Wendy Corduroy really proves how strong a warrior she is. In "Into the Bunker", she's shown to regularly carry an ax around, picks a fight with a monster twice her size, and is smart enough to let Dipper know who the shapeshifter is when it tries to mimic her.
- While Mabel is more of a girly Genki Girl, she proves in the first episode that she's hardly defenseless (as she shows when she defeats Jeff and his gnome buddies with nothing but a leaf blower). While her brother still has to save her sometimes, Mabel proves numerous times that she's as capable of getting herself out of danger as she is getting into it.
- Kim Possible: The cheerleader/world-renowned superhero is known for having these moments at least once an episode, with many, many more such moments implied to have happened offscreen. Not only is she able to effectively balance her superhero work with civilian life, but she's able to maintain straight As, and act as captain of the cheerleading squad. People are more surprised when she says she can't do something.
- Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur:
- Lunella Lafayette, despite being a young teenager, is one of the smartest people on the planet who built an interdimensional portal (something that only two other people in the show's history have cracked) in her basement ''without knowing that's what she was building". In the first episode, she decides to become a superhero to defend the Lower East Side from a supervillain (and so she and her new dinosaur friend have a way to show people he's friendly. Throughout the first season, she proves herself capable of handling pretty much anything (with the only villain who constantly escapes her being Rockin' Rudy, something that infuriates her because his only superpower is owning a working car).
- While Casey is mainly Lunella's publicist and Secret-Keeper, she proves in the season one finale that she has more than a few skills that make her useful in a fight, such as (thanks to online bo staff workout videos) knowing how to use a bo staff in battle.
- My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
- In "Friendship is Magic Part 2", the group runs into an angry manticore. They try various methods of getting past it. Rarity kicks it, but runs off when it growls. Applejack tries to ride it in the style of a bull-rider, only to be flung off. And Rainbow Dash tries to confuse it, only to be swatted aside by its tail. All the while, Fluttershy has been calling on them to wait, and she shouts it when the other five try to charge the manticore. Then, without a trace of fear on her face, she walks right up to the manticore. She nudges its paw gently with her nose, and the manticore shows her a thorn in its paw. Fluttershy cautions that it might hurt for a moment, then yanks the thorn. The manticore roars, then scoops up Fluttershy and starts licking her. She cheerfully says of the manticore, "You're just a little ol' baby kitty, aren't you?"
- In "A Dog and Pony Show", Rarity provides a very interesting variation. She has been captured by the Diamond Dogs, and her friends are all worried that she is being tormented, and rush to her rescue. When they find her, it turns out that Rarity had the Diamond Dogs waiting on her every need, as she'd done so much complaining, whining, and various other antics to force a Pity the Kidnapper situation that when her friends show up, they beg the other ponies to take Rarity and the gems they'd been hoping to collect from her efforts.
- "A Canterlot Wedding -- Part 2": Princess Cadance (the real one, who only gets properly introduced here) at first comes across like a classic Damsel in Distress who obviously needs Twilight to save her...right up to the point where she starts to very much pull her own weight in escaping the mines under Canterlot, and the notion is dispelled completely by the time it's her and her fiancé who manage to save the day together.
- Phineas and Ferb:
- Isabella and the Fireside Girls, at first glance, seem like typical Girl Scout archetypes... but the series quickly proves that these girls are a force to be reckoned with. They each learn a plethora of unique/useful skills to earn patches (i.e. baking, sewing, helping senior citizens, repairing race cars, tracking big game, wrestling alligators, etc), making them capable of handling pretty much anything that comes their way. And, as they show in the series, they're capable of fighting pretty much any foe as a team (especially if Isabella is leading the charge).
- Candace, despite her less-than-altruistic summer mission of busting Phineas and Ferb, has proven that she's capable of numerous impressive skills when she sets her mind to it. Over the course of the first series, she broke the record for the most Fireside Girl patches earned in one day, won a giant robot fight, learned detective skills after one night of reading Sherlock Holmes novels, managed to defeat a group of alien criminals when they stole the kids' bodies, and became one of only a few characters to learn that Perry doubles as a secret agent (although she doesn't remember it because she was high on tree moss at the time). Note that she doesn't have any special training: she does this all from sheer will. The series' first movie only emphasizes this, showing that in the other dimension, Candace became the leader of La Résistance and was instrumental in helping the others defeat Doofenshmirtz.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated: Both Daphne and Velma get several moments in the series that show how vital they are to Mystery Inc.
- Daphne proves several times that she's not someone to be pushed around. Over the course of the series, she stands up to her parents for trying to keep her from Fred out of elitism, deduced before anyone else that Rude Boy was behind Crystal Cove's dancing plague (since the victims were doing ska dancing), and even slaps her celebrity boyfriend in the face when he admits he was using her to make himself look better. She's also smarter than her original incarnation, as she can follow Velma's deductions fairly easily (though she has a few moments that prove she's Book Dumb).
- Velma's deduction skills haven't changed since the 1960s, nor has her sheer determination to see a case to its end. Several times, she's able to figure out a case long before the others and has even proven herself an Action Girl once or twice. And if she can't fight the bad guy off, her razor sharp tongue will send them crying.
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: In "Jeepers, It's the Creeper", Velma finds herself confronted by the eponymous monster. She asks him if he'd hit someone with glasses. The Creeper removes her glasses and draws back to punch her. Velma demonstrates that she can take care of herself by kicking The Creeper's shin, retrieving her glasses, and running off.
- The various Star Wars cartoons have given numerous examples of women who can take care of themselves:
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars:
- Senator Padme Amidala is not only a skilled politician capable of going above and beyond the call of duty, but she can handle a blaster and is even a capable detective. She shows off all of these skills in the episode "Senate Murders".
- Ahsoka Tano, while initially brash and overconfident, has proven time and time again that she's a capable young Padawan and worthy of studying under Anakin Skywalker. She first proves this in the pilot movie, and continues to prove it as the series goes on.
- Asajj Ventress serves as a villainous example. She's a deadly Dark Action Gril who first proves herself when she's able to take on several Jedi in battle at the same time while holding her ground.
- Star Wars Rebels:
- Hera Syndulla is the Team Mom of the Ghost. Along with being an Ace Pilot like nothing the galaxy's ever seen before, she's a capable markswoman and can/will fight to defend her crew, several times coming in right when her crew needs her most.
- Sabine Wren. The very fact that she's Mandalorian says that she's no one to mess with, but in the short that debuted her character, she's also an expert in stealth and demolition (which she proves by blowing up an Imperial shipyard).
- Ahsoka Tano's fight with the Inquisitors in "The Future of the Force" proves that she's still plenty capable of defending herself and others. Moreso now that she's an adult who's been fighting as a neutral Force-wielder for years.
- Star Wars: The Bad Batch: While at first glance Omega appears to simply be a Tagalong Kid little sister that the Batchers took in, Omega proves several times that she's hardly helpless. The first time was when she not only saved Hunter's life when they were stranded on an airless moon, but was able to peacefully get the part their ship needed back from an alien without killing it. This was after she managed to track the creature using a trick she'd seen Hunter use once.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars:
- Steven Universe: Before she became known as the Crystal Gems' Token Human slash Action Girl, Connie first proved herself as a fighter in "Lion 2: The Movie", when she helped Steven take on a training drone gone rogue with Rose's sword and moves she learned from her tennis lessons.
Connie: Forehand! Backhand! Overhead death strike!
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012): For the first half of season one, April O'Neil was usually more of a Damsel in Distress due to the Kraang targeting her family. However, after some training in ninjutsu from Master Splinter, she manages to become a formidable fighter. The first time she proves herself is when she manages to defeat Karai in a one-on-one fight (even though she admits she mostly won thanks to a lucky strike).
- Transformers: Animated: Sari Sumdac, at first glance, seems to be an average little girl (who just so happens to spend her days with alien robots). However, she proves numerous times that she's far from helpless. She makes up for her lack of size and bulk by being quick, clever, and using her AllSpark-empowered key. She first proves she can hold her own in "Survival of the Fittest". After she's Kidnapped for Experimentation by Meltdown, she manages to trick her guard and escape all on her own. She only becomes more of an Action Girl in season three, when she discovers she's been a Cybertronian all along.