History CowardlyLion / LiveActionTV

%%* Gabe from ''Series/TowerPrep''.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

* Connor in ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' thinks of himself as a cowardly geeky bookworm, but when it comes to it is just as capable of facing down velociraptors and other nightmare-riffic creatures as any of the more traditionally heroic characters.

* [[{{Adorkable}} Connor]] in ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' thinks of himself as a cowardly geeky, bookworm, but when it comes to it is just as capable of facing down velociraptors and other nightmare-riffic creatures as any of the more traditionally heroic characters.

* Mr. Carlton in ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati''. He's a nervous and henpecked man, but he's strongly implied to have seen heavy combat in World War II bloodbaths.
** Has his finest hour when he stays on the air during a tornado. "Sometimes we have to be very brave even when we're not."

* Mr. Monk in ''Series/{{Monk}}''. He went into a panic about having laser pointers pointed at him by children early one episode. Later he has them pointed at him attached to guns, held by professionals, while ''keeping a jet airplane piloted by a man he knows is a killer on the ground by standing in front of it.'' He does the latter while barely flinching.
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' Quark (who had always been portrayed as pretty much a fast talking coward) stood in front of a Klingon who was nearly twice his height in the middle of the Klingon parliament, after the Klingon had challenged him to a duel to the death, and just looked him straight in the eyes and flat out told him that he wasn't going to fight and if [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the Klingon]] wanted Quark dead just to [[GetItOverWith get on with it]]. This would, of course, deny the Klingon the honor of defeating a foe gloriously in battle (Quark even KNELT), making his "victory" shallow and meaningless. The Klingon went in for the kill anyway, but the Klingon Chancellor stepped in, and declared that if the bad guy would really kill an unarmed opponent, then he truly had no honor and he was promptly discommendated and kicked out of the building. Gowron even compliments Quark on the bravery doing that would have to take.
** All told, he shoots down about a dozen super-soldiers over the course of the show when things get serious. A slight subversion, as in his culture talking your way out of things gets you a lot more respect than what other cultures consider heroism.
** Neelix in ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' puts on a show of cowardice (to the point of great annoyance for those around him), but he's a ruthless bastard when he needs to be, like when he dealt with the Kazon in the pilot.
* In ''Series/TeenWolf'', [[MuggleBestFriend Stiles]] is one of the only characters with no superhuman abilities or weapons training, but he doesn't shy away from attempting to save his friends and family, scared he may be. And if he has to throw acid at the [[BigBad evil Alpha]] to buy the other wolves some time, he'll do it.
* [[{{Adorkable}} Connor]] in ''Series/{{Primeval}}'' thinks of himself as a cowardly geeky, bookworm, but when it comes to it is just as capable of facing down velociraptors and other nightmare-riffic creatures as any of the more traditionally heroic characters.
* The Cowardly Lion's counterpart in ''Series/TinMan,'' Raw. Quiet fellow, [[TheEmpath empathic]], [[EmpathicHealer healer]], and generally not badass in the slightest...until the climax of the series.
* Dr. Rodney [=McKay=] from ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' is whiny and cowardly. Somewhat justified as he's a scientist put into a military team. In dire situations however, he always shows astounding courage, with some of his best plans coming to him during duress.
* In Friday Night Lights "The Lions" Were accused of being cowards so they were literally Cowardly Lions ha ha

* On ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' [[TheSmartGuy Hardison]] often acts this way, especially in comparison to [[InHarmsWay adrenaline junkie]] Parker or badass Elliot. While he often complains about the situations he goes into, he never actually backs down.
* ''Series/TheLoneGunmen'': Byers is a meek, mild-tempered guy - ''except'' when you ask him to look the other way on an injustice. Then, he suddenly develops enough balls to call out one of the most frightening members of TheConspiracy right to his face.
* ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Archie (or [[Literature/TheAdventuresOfPinocchio Jiminy]]) was such an ExtremeDoormat that he gave up his humanity just to get away from his thieving family. However, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Regina]] made the mistake of trying to trying to interfere in his treatment for Henry. Instant backbone and set of BrassBalls showed up, and he ''threatened her'' by saying that he could be a deciding factor if Emma wanted to sue Regina for custody of the kid.
* Gabe from ''Series/TowerPrep''.

** The Second Doctor is the only one who often shows open fear of villains and monsters when cornered by them. (When other Doctors occasionally do it, it's always a serious OhCrap moment.) His CatchPhrase is "When I say run, run!". Nevertheless, he's as heroic in his actions as any of the others.
** Turlough, during the Fifth Doctor's run, is a mix of this between this and LovableCoward. He's only with the Doctor because of circumstances, and runs away from things and hates danger, but when it's needed he mans up and does what's right.
* Methos on ''Series/{{Highlander}}: The Series'' preached the gospel of running and hiding, but frequently walked coolly into danger for his friends.

* Fitz in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' is the last member of the team to [[DidntWantAnAdventure actively seek out dangerous situations]] and is quite clearly anxious about potential hazards much of the time, but is repeatedly (and increasingly, as the series goes on) shown to be capable of acting calmly and authoritatively in a crisis. For extra points, after several episodes spent building up his relation to this trope, [[MeaningfulName his first name is eventually revealed to be Leo]].

* Captain Edmund Blackadder of ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'' always actively tries to shirk dangerous duties, and spends most of the series trying to avoid leaving his trench, but whenever he is thrust into a life-threatening situation (captured, court-martialed, sent on recon missions) he is just as calm and collected as he is sitting back in his safe, warm hidey-hole. Most fans consider him less a coward and more unwilling to die needlessly, and, to be honest, getting out of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI is a pretty sympathetic motivation.
* Don Dogoier/ Gokai Green from Series/KaizokuSentaiGokaiger. He hides,trips, falls,and hurts himself by punching his own hand doing a pose. He's also shown to be capable of fending off Mooks with a [[ImprobableWeaponUser broom]], can land a [[WrestlerInAllOfUs hurricanrana]], and has been shown to be strong enough to [[NeckSnap crack the mooks' necks]] on at least two occassions.
* ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'' runs around this trope as the eponymous superhero is extremely coward (as it's an AffectionateParody of {{Tokusatsu}} movies). Creator/{{Chespirito}} always said that this was intentional as the real hero wasn't the one without fear but the one that even with fear still did the right thing.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' Quark (who had always been portrayed as pretty much a fast talking coward) had a CrowningMomentOfAwesome when he stood in front of a Klingon who was nearly twice his height in the middle of the Klingon parliament, after the Klingon had challenged him to a duel to the death, and just looked him straight in the eyes and flat out told him that he wasn't going to fight and if [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the Klingon]] wanted Quark dead just to [[GetItOverWith get on with it]]. This would, of course, deny the Klingon the honor of defeating a foe gloriously in battle (Quark even KNELT), making his "victory" shallow and meaningless. The Klingon went in for the kill anyway, but the Klingon Chancellor stepped in, and declared that if the bad guy would really kill an unarmed opponent, then he truly had no honor and he was promptly discommendated and kicked out of the building. Gowron even compliments Quark on the bravery doing that would have to take.

* Gabe from ''TowerPrep''.

* Mr. Carlton in ''WKRPInCincinnati''. He's a nervous and henpecked man, but he's strongly implied to have seen heavy combat in World War II bloodbaths.

* ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'' runs around this trope as the eponymous superhero is extremely coward (as it's an AffectionateParody of {{Tokusatsu }} movies). Creator/{{Chespirito}} always said that this was intentional as the real hero wasn't the one without fear but the one that even with fear still did the right thing.

* ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'' runs around this trope as the eponymous superhero is extremely coward (as it's an AffectionateParody of {{Tokusatsu }} movies.. Creator/{{Chespirito}} always said that this was intentional as the real hero wasn't the one without fear but the one that even with fear still did the right thing.

* Samwell Tarly of ''Series/GameOfThrones'', who dismisses himself as an ignoble coward even after he TakesALevelInBadass. Not quite as pronounced as in the books, but still.

* On ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' [[TheSmartGuy Hardison]] often acts this way, especially in comparison to [[InHarmsWay adrenaline junkie]] Parker or BadAss Elliot. While he often complains about the situations he goes into, he never actually backs down.

* Captain Edmund Blackadder of ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'' always actively tries to shirk dangerous duties, and spends most of the series trying to avoid leaving his trench, but whenever he is thrust into a life-threatening situation (captured, court-martialed, sent on recon missions) he is just as calm and collected as he is sitting back in his safe, warm hidey-hole. Most fans consider him less a coward and more unwilling to die needlessly, and, to be honest, getting out of WorldWarOne is a pretty sympathetic motivation.

* Xander "I laugh in the face of danger...Then I hide until it goes away" Harris from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' ''talked'' about being a coward, but would go into danger to help his friends despite his fear.

* ''TheLoneGunmen'': Byers is a meek, mild-tempered guy - ''except'' when you ask him to look the other way on an injustice. Then, he suddenly develops enough balls to call out one of the most frightening members of TheConspiracy right to his face.

** Turlough, during the [[Creator/PeterDavison Fifth]] Doctor run is a mix of this between this and LovableCoward. He's only with the Doctor because of circumstances, and runs away from things and hates danger, but when it's needed he mans up and does what's right.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' Quark (who had always been portrayed as pretty much a fast talking coward) had a CrowningMomentOfAwesome when he stood in front of a Klingon who was nearly twice his height in the middle of the Klingon parliament, after the Klingon had challenged him to a duel to the death, and just looked him straight in the eyes and flat out told him that he wasn't going to fight and if [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy the Klingon]] wanted Quark dead just to [[GetItOverWith get on with it]]. This would, of course, deny the Klingon the honor of defeating a foe gloriously in battle (Quark even KNELT), making his "victory" shallow and meaningless. The Klingon went in for the kill anyway, but the Klingon Emperor stepped in, and declared that if the bad guy would really kill an unarmed opponent, then he truly had no honor and he was promptly discommendated and kicked out of the building.

* Captain Edmund Blackadder of ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'' always actively tries to shirk dangerous duties, and spends most of the series trying to avoid leaving his trench, but whenever he is thrust into a life-threatening situation (captured, court-martialed, sent on recon missions) he is just as ice-cold as he is sitting back in his safe, warm hidey-hole. Most fans consider him less a coward and more unwilling to die needlessly, and, to be honest, getting out of WorldWarOne is a pretty sympathetic motivation.

* Captain Edmund Blackadder of ''BlackadderGoesForth'' always actively tries to shirk dangerous duties, and spends most of the series trying to avoid leaving his trench, but whenever he is thrust into a life-threatening situation (captured, court-martialed, sent on recon missions) he is just as ice-cold as he is sitting back in his safe, warm hidey-hole. Most fans consider him less a coward and more unwilling to die needlessly, and, to be honest, getting out of WorldWarOne is a pretty sympathetic motivation.

* [[{{Adorkable}} Connor]] in ''{{Primeval}}'' thinks of himself as a cowardly geeky, bookworm, but when it comes to it is just as capable of facing down velociraptors and other nightmare-riffic creatures as any of the more traditionally heroic characters.

* The Second Doctor on ''Series/DoctorWho'', who made a CatchPhrase of "When I say run, run!"

* Monroe of ''Series/Grimm'' has elements of this. He is nervous, easily flustered, tries to avoid unpleasant confrontations--but when push comes to shove he will rip someone's arm off, throw a rather hefty man all the way across the room, and rip the throat out of a gun-wielding thug.