Hostage

Description
Hostages are innocent civilians of the world. They appear in Distress Calls, where they must be protected from enemy turrets for a certain amount of time before escaping. They may also appear randomly in Battle and Miniboss zones, where they must survive to the end of the fight. If a hostage survives a zone, they will provide you a reward based on their type:
 * Medics wearing red will heal you for 100 health
 * Hostages wearing black and a top hat will give you 20 Sera
 * Hostages wearing green will give you an artifact

Starting on Hell Pass 11, Evil Hostages can appear alongside regular ones in Battle/Miniboss zones, and can replace them entirely in Distress Calls.

Strategy
Having or  makes saving hostages and visiting Distress Calls much more valuable.

or also makes visiting Distress Calls valuable, and does not require you to go out of your way to save hostages.

For dodging the Evil Hostages, move back one tile at the initial slash and then change rows to dodge the projectile.