History CowardlyLion / AnimeAndManga

*** One excellent example comes from the Arlong Park arc where Usopp faces down Chew. He is so horrifically outmatched and Chew manages to completely knock him out... or so Chew ''thinks''. In reality, Usopp is PlayingPossum, and, once Chew is far enough away, sits up and covers himself in mud. He comes up with a simple plan: [[DirtyCoward make himself look ragged and muddy, and say he tried his best but Chew was too strong]]. Unfortunately for his cowardice, [[ConscienceMakesYouGoBack Usopp's memory of Nami's plight and how hard everyone else is fighting makes him feel ashamed]], and this trumps his cowardice. He gets out, calls out to Chew to continue the fight, [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass and manages to ''actually'' beat him this time around]]. When he returns to Arlong's headquarters later, he proudly exclaims the victory he earned.

* Jacuzzi Splot from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}''. The guy knocked over ''eighteen Mafia-owned speakeasies'' in ''one night'' by himself, with a single Tommy gun, crying hysterically in fear all the way. The week after, he helped save a train from two clashing terrorist groups; to do this, he did battle unarmed but for a single cherry bomb against someone with a shiv knife, a fist-gun and a ''flamethrower'' (which did turn out to be pretty convenient for lighting said bomb) on top of a moving train. He took a couple of bullets in the gut and a knife in the elbow before he tackled the other guy off the train and won. He was later half-carried to the station by his girlfriend, moaning in pain.

* In ''LightNovel/FateZero'', Rider praises Waver Velvet for being willing to ride with him into battle despite being scared out of his mind.

* ''LightNovel/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': {{Discussed}} by Oliver when he's wounded battling the garuda in volume 1. From the manga adaptation:
-->'''Richard Andrews:''' ...A--Aren't you scared?\\
'''Oliver:''' '''''Huh!?''''' Of course I am! You'd have to be out of your mind not to--\\
''(They both look over at Nanao, who's [[BloodKnight having the time of her life holding off the garuda]].)''\\
'''Oliver:''' ...Okay. So ''she'' might not be scared. She'd rather fight a rampaging garuda than any number of scared kobolds. That's her way of the sword. ''({{beat}})'' Stupid, right? I think so too. I'm scared out of my mind. I don't want to go back out there... I'm not even sure I want this wound to close. She may be a hero... but I'm just ordinary. And yet... that's why. I can't let her courage end in death. I have to do what I can. If I do nothing, that hero will fall. This is no time to wallow in fear.

'''Oliver:''' '''''Huh!?'''' Of course I am! You'd have to be out of your mind not to--\\

''(They both look over at Nanao, who's [[BloodKnight having the time of her life holding off the garuda]].)''

* Escanor from Seven Deadly Sins is one in his night/weakened form. He is very timid and cowardly. Funnily enough, his symbol is also a lion.

* Joe Kido in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''. His introduction shows him running and screaming from his Digimon partner and after the climactic battle with the leader of the dark masters, he says "Excuse me while I go throw up" he also doesn't hesitate to put himself on the line when his friends are in danger, he even tries to protect his Digimon partner when it's supposed to be ''the other way around''!

* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'': Koichi Hirose is arguably the bravest character of the part because he jumps straight into the most dangerous situation while shaking from fear. He later grows out of the cowardly part.

* Kai Shiden of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' with emphasis on "Lion". An abrasive jerk who perpetually points out the stupidity of the situations they're in and often seems about to panic when sent into combat, Kai's nevertheless a reliable solider who racks up a pretty impressive kill count over the course of the war. He might have easily ended up as one of the Earth Federation's most celebrated aces, if not for being the wingman of [[RedBaron the White Devil]] [[OvershadowedByAwesome Amuro Ray]].

** His counterpart from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure2020'' is this as well. He's even ''more'' of a LovableCoward than he was previously, as well as being [[AdaptationalComicRelief more of a goofball]] and a LeaderWannabe to boot. However, that doesn't stop him from putting his money where his mouth is; he's [[YouShallNotPass stalled a rampaging mammoth with just Ikkakumon]] while one of his friends is dying of frostbite, which triggers his partner's Digivolution into Zudomon, just to name one instance.

** His counterpart from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure2020'' is this as well. He's even ''more'' of a LovableCoward than he was previously, as well as being [[AdaptationalComicRelief more of a goofball]] and a LeaderWannabe to boot. However, that doesn't stop him from putting his money where his mouth is; he'll [[YouShallNotPass stall a rampaging mammoth with just Ikkakumon]] while one of his friends is dying of frostbite, which triggers his partner's Digivolution into Zudomon, just to name one instance.

* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** Nami is partly justified because she lacks the insane superhuman strength and/or Devil Fruit powers a lot of her crewmates have, so she must rely on her brain, wits, and [[WeatherManipulation Clima-Tact]] to survive in battle. As she gets skilled with the Clima-Tact (and is upgraded to the Perfect Clima-Tact and later the Sorcery Clima-Tact), she becomes more courageous. Even when she's pushed against the wall, she's not afraid to use lethal levels of heat, cold, or lightning on her opponents. But she'll only do that if she feels like there's no other option, and frequently comments about how she's in over her head.
** Chopper is fairly young, shy, and sheepish. He freaks out a lot and gets shook up in bad situations. Post time-skip, he's more in control. He also frequently wants to prove his manhood, so if there's some sort of situation where he can prove that a bad guy [[MuggingTheMonster doesn't know what he's in for]], Chopper will take it, pushing aside doubts about his power to do it.
** Usopp's a funny case; as long as everything is fine, he's a total MilesGloriosus. But the instant there's the slightest hint of danger, and particularly when he's the only one who can do anything about it, he upgrades to Cowardly Lion. When any significant danger presents itself, Usopp will panic, then proceed to kick ass despite shaking in his boots the whole time. As Sogeking, he tries to ham it up under the facade of a capable badass, but the disguise melts away as soon as real danger comes his way or he gets annoyed. After the time-skip, he gets a bit better, and resembles a real badass, though with some cowardly traits still very much intact. It just takes a much higher level of threat to bring them out now.
** Karoo from the Baroque Works Saga is a lesser example.
* Shinji Ikari in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Normally a timid, withdrawn, and slightly neurotic person, he gets surprisingly confident when he pilots the Evangelion, but he quickly falls back to his usual behavior outside of it.

%%** Mr Satan.

* Hanyuu in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry''. She's really fearful and insecure, but lays the smackdown when it comes to people she cares about, as shown at the end of Kai. [[spoiler:[[MessianicArchetype This isn't always a good thing]] though.]]
* Joe Kido in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure''. His introduction shows him running and screaming from his Digimon partner and after the climactic battle with the leader of the dark masters, he says "Excuse me while I go throw up" he also doesn't hesitate to put himself on the line when his friends are in danger, he even tries to protect his Digimon partner when it's supposed to be ''the other way around''!
%%* Grasshop in ''Anime/SpiderRiders''.
* Jacuzzi Splot from ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}''. The guy knocked over ''eighteen Mafia-owned speakeasies'' in ''one night'' by himself, with a single Tommy gun, crying hysterically in fear all the way. The week after, he helped save a train from two clashing terrorist groups; to do this, he did battle unarmed but for a single cherry bomb against someone with a shiv knife, a fist-gun and a ''flamethrower'' (which did turn out to be pretty convenient for lighting said bomb) on top of a moving train. He took a couple of bullets in the gut and a knife in the elbow before he tackled the other guy off the train and won. He was later half-carried to the station by his girlfriend, moaning in pain.
* Sir Penwood is the prime example in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''. Part of the Round Table, he is well-aware that he is a nervous man not suited for battle and war and knows the only reason he got his position was through inheritance, yet he stands by to do his duty [[spoiler: all the way to the bitter end, where he blew himself and his base up, taking a massive amount of Nazi vampires with him and inspiring his subordinates to stand by him during London's invasion.]] It's little wonder why Integra and the other Round Table members have great respect for him as well.
** Seras Victoria herself is this. Serving as an AudienceSurrogate for entering the mad world of being a vampire, she was initially a normal police girl, though with a troubled past. As she overcomes her traumas, she outgrows this to become a full Badass.

* Tsuna from ''Manga/Reborn2004''. Early, when the series was still focused in comedy, he was a meek wimp with poor academic performance, and he needed the comically useful Dying Will Mode to save the day. Even after the series became more serious and focused in action, he still had some fears; ''however'', thanks to [[SuperMode the Hyper Dying Will mode]] he eventually TookALevelInBadass and became the very reason the villains never won a decisive battle.
* Simon from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' is like this initially. Scared of all the things happening around him that nearly kill him, but if Kamina is in danger he opens up a can of badass at a moment's notice.
** Kamina is also a Cowardly Lion, but puts on the face of a FearlessFool in order to keep Simon inspired. He admits as much to Yoko, while also saying that if it weren't for Simon's brains, he'd have bitten the dust ages ago.
* Closer from ''Manga/HydeAndCloser'' could be called Shonen Sunday's answer to Tsuna Sawada. Always run from battle, Hyde always had to bail out his ass, but ''never'' let his friends in danger, even if that means takes the beating all for himself.

* Kamiya Maki of ''Manga/AllRounderMeguru'' first finds Aya huddled in the corner of a room at a kickboxing event. She darts off like a rabbit the moment Maki tries to talk to her, leaving Maki bemused to discover that Aya is actually her next opponent, and ''astonished'' to find that she's the most formidable opponent she's ever faced in a kickboxing match.
%%* Italy from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers''. So much.
* Asura from ''Manga/SoulEater'' could be a {{Deconstruction}} of one. Born with fear in his soul, his fear of the outside world and possibility drove him to fight alongside Shinigami-sama and other warriors to make the world a better place. However, these fears overwhelmed him, turning on his comrades and becoming a horrible monster and threat to humanity. Especially since [[spoiler: as a Great Old One and Shinigami's offspring (as in ''Kid's older brother''), he possesses the Madness of Fear, his presence driving people into insanity through fear.]] To Asura, fear is a motivator, but in the sense he wants to drive everyone insane and or destroy all in his path to quell his fear.
** A more benevolent example is Crona, Medusa's "child." Despite the fact that the are constantly afraid of pretty much...everything, they will not hesitate to take on bigger scarier enemies if it means helping their friends. Given how they were made by Medusa to try and recreate the Kishin, this makes her a foil to Asura. [[spoiler: Especially in the manga, where Crona ends up back as a Heel and absorbs Asura before Maka knocks sense back into them and Crona becomes a BarrierMaiden to seal off Asura.]]

* Kain Fuery in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. He's the smallest and youngest member of [[ColonelBadass Roy Mustang's]] hand-chosen unit, and his main value is as the communications specialist. When the team gets [[spoiler:split up and he's reassigned to the southern war front]], he's absolutely terrified and only gets through it by shouting at himself that he's going to live. Later, [[spoiler:he deserts in order to return to Central City and aid Mustang and Hawkeye with their coup]].
** And then we have Warrant Officer Falman, who was literally crying and shaking with fear [[spoiler: as he defied Bradley's order to open the gate to Central palace.]] Captain Buccaneer called him on it.
---> '''Buccaneer:''' Oh come on now. Don't cry like a girl when you act like a man!
* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', this is the actual core of Zenitsu’s character; on the surface he is cowardly, is always complaining about something, screaming at the top of his lungs that he should just run away and give up on being a demon slayer. Yet, despite his incessant tantrums Zenitsu keeps proving that his heart is in the right place. His first EstablishingCharacterMoment in that regard is when he risks his life to protect Tanjiro's box from another Slayer, just because Tanjiro said it's precious to him (and at a time when it didn't seem like Zenitsu was listening). He will (albeit with great reluctance and hesitation) follow his companions into dangerous situations (especially when Nezuko is involved), and while his combat usefulness is crippled by his fear, he has a kind of trance sleep mode where he can bravely fight against his foes while being somewhat unconscious thus unable to fear what is in front of him. It turns out that Zenitsu's issues stem mostly from an absolutely '''crippling''' case of [[HeroicSelfDeprecation self-esteem issues]] and complete lack of confidence in his own abilities (he is completely unaware of his deeds while in his sleep trance), even though in reality he is easily in the upper tier among new recruit Slayers [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer despite only knowing one move]]. As the series progresses, Zenitsu becomes able to fight more as himself instead of always relying on his trance mode.
* Kai Shiden of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' with emphasis on "Lion". An abrasive jerk who perpetually points out the stupidity of the situations they're in and often seems about to panic when sent into combat, Kai's nevertheless a reliable solider who racks up a pretty impressive kill count over the course of the war. He might have easily ended up as one of the Earth Federation's most celebrated aces, if not for being the wingman of [[RedBaron the White Devil]] [[OvershadowedByAwesome Amuro Ray]].
* While Ranma Saotome of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' is a CombatPragmatist, he's generally pretty far away from anything that resembles cowardice... unless cats are involved, in which case a few seconds after being surprised by a housecat he is literally catatonic and will eventually lose his mind from the sheer terror until he starts thinking that he's a cat and starts kicking the ass of almost everything within eyeshot using the ultimate technique, the Neko-ken. However, when he was tossed into a situation that almost perfectly replicated his initial trauma (being tossed into a pit of hungry cats while wrapped in fish products), he managed to (sorta) maintain his composure until they brought out a tiger that was about as tall as he was, at which point he snapped. Later on, when facing a grandmaster that was casually kicking his ass and holding his manhood hostage, Ranma deliberately strapped a cat onto himself (or rather, herself) in order to pull out the Neko-ken and get his opponent to back down. That is to say, ''he deliberately drove himself insane with fear in order to win a fight.''

* Arata Hinohara from ''Manga/ArataTheLegend'' is understandably scared to fight and follow his destiny in the beginning of the series, but he follows through with completing the task at hand, anyway. As the story progresses, he gradually grows out of it.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' has many of these, which is understandable considering what they are [[SuperPersistentPredator up]] [[HumanoidAbomination against]]. Among the main characters, the following stand out.
** Sasha Blouse is a CloudCuckooLander, and breaks down during her first battle. She even apologizes to a Titan she'd failed to kill, and agonizes over it later. But she's also managed to charge ''down'' a 50m wall to rescue an injured comrade, and faced down a Titan with nothing but a hatchet and a bow to save a child.
** Bertolt Hoover readily admits to being an ExtremeDoormat, and constantly stands there awkwardly with a slightly terrified expression. He's also ranked 3rd in their class, and is noted by their instructor to be one of the best at physical combat. [[spoiler: He's also the Colossal Titan that smashed open Wall Maria and Wall Rose]].
** Any soldier that shows fear prior to combat. It's not uncommon to see the same person that was weeping hysterically prior to battle turn into a HotBlooded warrior when the chips are down. Unfortunately, since it's [[CrapsackWorld that kind of story]], many of them still die horribly.
* ''Manga/BlackGod'': While [[MartialPacifist Yakumo]] is perfectly capable of curbstomping Tribal Ends, if at all possible, he'd much rather cut and run. Part of stems from the fact that he isn't as powerful as most other Tera Guardians, though it's mainly because he [[DeclarationOfProtection doesn't want to put Riona at risk.]] [[LetsGetDangerous But if anyone tries to harm her....]]
* ''Manga/GhostTalkersDaydream'': It's no secret that Kadotake is utterly terrified of ghosts and [[http://www.mangapark.com/manga/ghost-talker-s-daydream/v1/c2/3-4 will haul ass]] at the first sign of one. But, if it's just a hood trying to pick a fight with him, that's different. Kadotake knows martial arts and [[http://www.mangapark.com/manga/ghost-talker-s-daydream/v1/c1/3-20 he isn't afraid to use it.]]

* In ''LightNovel/FateZero'', Rider praises Waver Velvet for being willing to ride with him into battle despite being scared out of his mind.
* Izuku Midoriya from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''. As he goes to rescue [[BadassAdorable Ochaco Uraraka]] at the beginning of the series, he is lying on the ground, shaking and crying in fear, but upon seeing her in danger he knows immediately what he has to do. This is also the reason he receives [[AwesomeButImpractical One For All]]; not because he is immune to fear, but because he does the right thing DESPITE his fear. Even as his control over his new power grows, he never quite shakes off his nervousness and fear of dangerous Villains, but it never stops him from rushing in to help others in need.
* In ''Manga/MissionYozakuraFamily,'' Taiyo is easily spooked and social interaction leaves him hyperventilating at the beginning. But when it comes to protecting Mutsumi, he won't hesitate to grab RazorWire or even jump off a building to his death. He toughens up considerably thanks to the Yozakura's training, but it's mainly because everything seems less scary after the [[TrainingFromHell hell he went through]]. For instance, it's a lot easier to scale down a building when you know there aren't spikes at the bottom.
* ''Manga/DrStone'':
** Gen generally attempts to avoid physical confrontations whenever possible, but that doesn't mean that he isn't willing to put himself on the line when necessary. The most notable instance is when he manages to talk an enemy warrior into an EnemyMine situation in order to keep him from slaughtering everyone; his reaction after the warrior decides to leave shows that he was clearly scared out of his mind during the entire encounter.
** When push comes to shove, Ginro is capable of blocking out his aversion to putting himself in danger to save his friends. He just really, ''really'' dislikes doing so, and tends to avoid putting himself in such situations whenever possible.
* Hoodlum from ''Anime/AkudamaDrive''. He's generally a cowardly individual, but when he's inspired by Brawler's (misguided) admiration for him in Episode 4, he's compelled to stay behind with him and Cutthroat to hold the line against the Executioners. He instantly regrets it though and mostly just watches, aside from when he knocks Master over the head when he's about to finish off Brawler. [[spoiler: He also, upon finding Brawler dead after his fight with Master, performs a rage-filled charge at Pupil and manages to take her eye.]]
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'': Koichi Hirose is arguably the bravest character of the part because he jumps straight into the most dangerous situation while shaking from fear. He later grows out of the cowardly part.