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Cowardly Lion

"Fear has nothing to do with cowardice. A fellow is only yellow when he lets his fear make him quit."

— Jerome Cady

"The fearless are merely without fear. People who act in spite of their fear are truly brave."

—James A. Lafond-Lewis

A character with the major characteristic of being a coward, especially when compared to any fearless characters of the story. Thing is, when push comes to shove, they have nothing to envy about the naturally badass characters.

Unlike Took a Level in Badass, the character's fearful nature isn't eliminated after their moment/s of glory. They remain scaredy-cats and/or insecure in their regular lives, despite the fact that they can kick major ass when they put their minds into it. Many of them will tell everyone to Think Nothing of It, because they think the fear they felt trumps the heroism they performed.

Usually, inverse of Miles Gloriosus. Unlike The So-Called Coward, this character is not actually misunderstood and does not need to be viewed by other characters as cowardly; it is his own opinion that matters. (And the so-called coward may be perfectly confident in his own courage.) Unlike the Accidental Hero, the examples in this trope are characters that manage to get things done with their own worth, despite their fears.

Contrast the Fearless Fool — especially when it is invoked to encourage him. Prone to Heroic Self-Deprecation and Face Your Fears. See also Lovable Coward.

Example subpages

Other examples:

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Fan Works

Hobbes is exaggerated into this in Calvin and Hobbes: The Series.

Films — Live-Action

A major characteristic of the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz is cowardice.
Albert Lory from This Land Is Mine lives in an unnamed country under Nazi occupation and, literally, runs home to his aged mother any time there is an allied air strike. He eventually makes a Heroic Sacrifice because he's more terrified of seeing his friends picked off one by one than actually dying.
In the 2005 adaptation of King Kong, Bruce Baxter abandons the rescue mission, claiming that they're going to die and all but calling himself a coward. This doesn't prevent him from returning Just in Time to rescue the rescuers, in a Big Damn Heroes moment that would give Han Solo a run for his money.
Bob from Drugstore Cowboy is pretty open about his neurosis and his reliance on drugs to keep the stresses of world away from him. The people around him are still awed by the acts of Magnificent Bastardry he performs out of sheer panic.

Newspaper Comics

Wade Duck in US Acres.
Dan Thompson's action-strip Affectionate Parody Rip Haywire features dog companion TNT who, despite being an abject coward, is always by Rip's side.

Chessmaster Sidekick

Submissive Badass

Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas

Crazy Homeless People