Remember Pauline? Damsel of the classic Donkey Kong arcade?

I call this variant on the theme, The Helpful Damsel.

So, without further ado, let's jump right into the Damsel In Distress.

At its heart, the Damsel trope is not really about women at all.

Okay, let's say a bullet is about to hit a beautiful damsel in distress.

The term 'Damsel in Distress' is a translation of the French 'demoiselle en détresse'.

I know it's not polite to claim but... ...we have a damsel in distress on hold.

Of course the Damsel in Distress predates the invention of video games by several thousand years.

Princess Peach is in many ways the quintessential stock character version of the Damsel in Distress.

Then we'll check out some games where developers have tried to 'flip the script' on the Damsel.

Unfortunately, somebody with a bit of a hero complex decided that this damsel was in distress and needed saving.

Say the day comes and you get the chance to save a damsel in distress falling from a helicopter.

So the Damsel trope typically makes men the subject of narratives while relegating women to the role of object.

In the middle ages, the Damsel in Distress was a common feature in many medieval songs, legends and fairy tales.

Pauline became the template for a new damsel named Princess Toadstool and 'Jump Man' became a certain very famous plumber.

Well stay tuned for Part Two, where I'll be looking at more contemporary examples of the Damsel in Distress trope.

However, it's important to remember that these associated conventions are not necessarily a part of the Damsel in Distress trope itself.

In 1986, Shigeru Miyamoto doubled down on his Damsel in Distress formula with the NES release of The Legend of Zelda.

She's been replaced with another Toad instead as to allow Nintendo to force her back into the Damsel role again and again.

The game's hero 'Jump Man' was tasked with rescuing a damsel named 'The Lady', after she is carried off by a giant ape.

Even though Nintendo certainly didn't invent the Damsel in Distress, the popularity of their 'save the princess' formula, essentially set the standard for the industry.

Although Donkey Kong is perhaps the most famous early arcade game to feature the Damsel in Distress it wasn't the first time Miyamoto employed the trope.

The two men are tossing her back and forth over the course of the main series, each trying to keep and take possession of the 'Damsel Ball'.

As a plot device the Damsel in Distress is often grouped with other separate tropes, including 'The Designated Victim', 'The Heroic Rescue' and 'The Smooch of Victory'.

Remember, the Damsel in Distress as plot device is something that happens to a female character and not necessarily something a character is from start to finish.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that all games that use the Damsel in Distress as a plot device are automatically sexist or have no value.

The damsel in distress is not just a synonym for weak , instead it works by ripping away the power from female characters, even helpful or seemingly capable ones.

Unlike Peach, Zelda is not completely defined by her role as Ganondorf's perpetual kidnap victim and in a few later games, she even rides the line between Damsel and Sidekick.

Let's compare the Damsel to the archetypal Hero Myth, in which the typically male character may occasionally also be harmed, incapacitated or briefly imprisoned at some point during their journey.

But it was in 1933 that two things happened, which 50 years later, would set the stage for the Damsel in Distress trope to become a foundational element in video games as a media.

But it is undeniable that popular culture is a powerful influence in our lives and the Damsel in Distress trope as a recurring trend does help to normalize extremely toxic, patronizing and paternalistic attitudes about women.

Today, many old school Damsel games are being resurrected for modern platform services and mobile devices as publishers are in a rush to cash in on gaming nostalgia and capitalise on any recognisable characters from years gone by.

OK, so we've established that the Damsel in Distress trope is one of the most widely used gendered cliches in the history video games and has been core to the popularisation and development of gaming as a medium.

In this revamped version, the would be protagonist Krystal, has been transformed into a Damsel in Distress and spends the vast majority of the game trapped inside a crystal prison waiting to be rescued by the new hero, Fox McCloud.

All that is really required to fulfill the Damsel in Distress trope is for a female character to be reduced to a state of helplessness from which she requires rescuing by a typically male hero for the benefit of his story arc.

The tale of how Krystal went from protagonist of her own epic adventure to the passive victim in someone else's game illustrates how the Damsel in Distress trope disempowers female characters and robs them of the chance to be heroes in their own rite.

As a trope, the Damsel in Distress is a plot device in which a female character is placed in a perilous situation from which she cannot escape on her own and must be rescued by a male character, usually providing the core incentive or motivation for the protagonist's quest.