History Main / NotSoWeak

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* During the high-school years, ComicBook/SpiderMan knows he could knock bully Flash Thompson into next weekend, ''wait'' until next weekend and then kick him right ''back''. He knows that with a bit of restraint, he could even do it without compromising his SecretIdentity. However, because with great power ComesGreatResponsibility, he refuses rather than risk harming him, even though he feels the humiliation of constantly backing down from him. Of course, being a SuperHero, protecting the innocent is how he spends his afternoons.

[[folder:NewspaperComics]]
* In ''ComicStrip/GetFuzzy'', Satchel constantly puts up with all sorts of abuse and manipulation from [[CatsAreMean Bucky]]. When Bucky finally calls Satchel's friends "Eurotrash" though, he finally snaps and ''epically'' yells at Bucky that he doesn't care if ''he'' gets picked on, but his friends are far better than any of the sort Bucky hangs out with, and to ''leave them alone''. This is so shocking that Bucky is actually at a loss for words and acts meek and cooperative towards Satchel for some time.
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* Pick on ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'''s Jacuzzi Splot, and he'll lie down and take it. Beat the crap out of him, and he'll insist it was [[SorryIFellOnYourFist his fault]]. Kill him, and he'll probably have it stipulated in his will that no harm shall come to you. Hurt any of his TrueCompanions and, well, [[BewareTheNiceOnes you're]] ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge fucked]]''.[[note]]Jacuzzi feels the same way about everyone, actual affiliations be dammed.[[/note]]

* Ren Kannagi from ''LightNovel/KazeNoStigma'' is a sweet kid who never wants to hurt anyone unless you take a swing at his friend and then he will slam a boy taller and stronger than him against a wall with a murderous expression on his face. Not to mention he's a member of the Kannagi family whose standard operating procedure for evil spirits is [[KillItWithFire Purify It With Fire]].

* Willow from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' starts out as this. Her magical powers developed late and she was widely considered a weakling; and when she went to [[WizardSchool Hexside]] she was made to study the [[{{Golem}} Abomination Track]], which she had no talent for and was dominated by her former best friend [[AcademicAlphaBitch Amity Blight]], who broke off their friendship because she wasn’t powerful enough. In her first appearance she has incredibly low self esteem and lets Amity and her [[GirlPosse new friends]] push her around, but when Luz’s life is in danger she steps up and uses her immensely strong [[GreenThumb plant magic]] to protect her. Over the course of the series she becomes gradually more confident and assertive as she’s switched to and excels at the Plant Track in school, patches things up with Amity and has adventures with Luz.

* Willow from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' starts out as this. Her magical powers developed late and she was widely considered a weakling; and W hen she went to [[WizardSchool Hexside]] she was made to study the [[{{Golem}} Abomination Track]], which she had no talent for and was dominated by her former best friend [[AcademicAlphaBitch Amity Blight]], who broke off their friendship because she wasn’t powerful enough. In her first appearance she has incredibly low self esteem and lets Amity and her [[GirlPosse new friends]] push her around, but when Luz’s life is in danger she steps up and uses her immensely strong [[GreenThumb plant magic]] to protect her. Over the course of the series she becomes gradually more confident and assertive as she’s switched to and excels at the Plant Track in school, patches things up with Amity and has adventures with Luz.

* Willow from ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' starts out as this. Her magical powers developed late and she was widely considered a weakling. When she went to [[WizardSchool Hexside]] she was made to study the [[{{Golem}} Abomination Track]], which she had no talent for and was dominated by her former best friend [[AcademicAlphaBitch Amity Blight]], who broke off their friendship because she wasn’t powerful enough. In her first appearance she has incredibly low self esteem and lets Amity and her [[GirlPosse new friends]] push her around, but when Luz’s life is in danger she steps up and uses her immensely strong [[GreenThumb plant magic]] to protect her. Over the course of the series she becomes gradually more confident and assertive as she’s switched to and excels at the Plant Track in school, patches things up with Amity and has adventures with Luz.

* ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' is essentially defined as someone who is a coward on his own but will ''not'' stand for slights or attacks against his friends. Or enemies.

* Pick on ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'''s Jacuzzi Splot, and he'll lie down and take it. Beat the crap out of him, and he'll insist it was [[SorryIFellOnYourFist his fault]]. Kill him, and he'll probably have it stipulated in his will that no harm shall come to you. Hurt any of his TrueCompanions and, well, [[BewareTheNiceOnes you're]] ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge fucked]]''.[[note]]Jacuzzi feels the same way about everyone, actual affiliations be dammed.[[/note]]
* Ren Kannagi from ''LightNovel/KazeNoStigma'' is a sweet kid who never wants to hurt anyone unless you take a swing at his friend and then he will slam a boy taller and stronger than him against a wall with a murderous expression on his face. Not to mention he's a member of the Kannagi family whose standard operating procedure for evil spirits is [[KillItWithFire Purify It With Fire]].

* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': Prior to his ModeLock, Tobias was a scrawny kid, described as basically wearing an invisible "please bully me" sign throughout his life. After being given the means to be human again (but he has to return to his hawk body), he's still scrawny, but his raptor instincts like not moving much and staring murderously at things stay with him, so he's not picked on anymore (well, the fact that he's no longer in school helps too).

* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', [[GenkiGirl Mission Vao]] first met [[TheQuietOne Zaalbar]] as he was being harassed by a few Rodians. He ignores them until Mission yells at them and gets promptly smacked to the floor... [[BigBrotherInstinct At which point he beat them to a bloody pulp.]] The two have been best friends ever since.

* Mai in ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'', who never defends herself or explains her actions but is so kind that she's willing to ''let a dog try and eat her hand'' because she has nothing to feed it. ''After'' defending everyone around her from being attacked by it. [[UngratefulBastard Who then proceed to mock her.]]

* Phoenix Wright, of the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series, is a perpetual ButtMonkey who gets [[DudeWheresMyRespect no respect at all]] from the witnesses, prosecution, and even occasionally his own clients, assistants, and the flipping ''judge''! While he doesn't really like this, he basically takes it in stride. But he will go to ''insane'' lengths to prove the innocence of his clients and to get the truly guilty parties behind bars.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' with "Undercover Nerd" with Rainer Wolfcastle. Wolfcastle is a Schwarzenegger Expy, with the giant, muscular physique that entails.

* Bobby Hill of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' uses his "weakness" as a strength to survive military school while being drilled by [[DrillSergeantNasty Cotton]] who is ''hell-bent'' on toughening him up. He's too passive and soft to be toughened up, but it also lets him easily take everything Cotton throws at him without cracking and he lasts one day longer in the hole than Cotton himself with no apparent effort on his part. [[DiscussedTrope It's even discussed at the end:]]
--> '''Hank:''' Well, I guess you could say that, but maybe mush isn't so bad. You can keep stomping on it, but it's all give. It just stays mush. You can't build it up, but you can't break it down either. In a funny way, mush has the edge.
--> '''Cotton:''' (Starts laughing) Can you imagine that pile of mush in the [=P.O.W.=] camps? He would've driven them Tojos crazy! Three days with Bobby and they'd have quit the war!
* Philly Phil on ''WesternAnimation/ClassOf3000'' is shown to be this in Season 2. His low self-esteem is revealed, and he generally just allows people to walk over him. However, when someone he cares about is in danger, particularly if physical harm will likely result, he will stop it.

* Prior to his ModeLock, Tobias was a scrawny kid, described as basically wearing an invisible "please bully me" sign throughout his life. After being given the means to be human again (but he has to return to his hawk body), he's still scrawny, but his raptor instincts like not moving much and staring murderously at things stay with him, so he's not picked on anymore (well, the fact that he's no longer in school helps too).

Someone who is NotSoWeak is {{sh|rinkingViolet}}y and a natural target for a bully. The person looks harmless. You, as the bully, think that you can just walk all over this person without their raising an objection. And you will find you're right.

* During the high-school years, SpiderMan knows he could knock bully Flash Thompson into next weekend, ''wait'' until next weekend and then kick him right ''back''. He knows that with a bit of restraint, he could even do it without compromising his SecretIdentity. However, because with great power ComesGreatResponsibility, he refuses rather than risk harming him, even though he feels the humiliation of constantly backing down from him. Of course, being a SuperHero, protecting the innocent is how he spends his afternoons.

Go ahead, take their stuff or break it. They won't stop you. Are you angry at them? A scolding or outright abuse [[TheWoobie is bound to be effective]] -- they have little self esteem. This person simply can't or won't defend themselves.

May overlap with TheSoCalledCoward, but not always. TheSoCalledCoward simply avoids fights of all sorts, except for the ones with the highest stakes. Someone who is Not So Weak does not believe they themself are worth defending, and is more likely to end up either as a punching bag or as the person escalating a fight involving someone else. Or both in turns.

* Subaru in ''Anime/DotHackSign'', who founded the [[KnightTemplar Crimson Knights]] to help the admins uphold peace in The World but is nearly scared into submission by a single stalker like fan. [[BewareTheNiceOnes And then she kills said stalker]] -- despite being under-leveled -- so she can get to Tsukasa.

* Chad in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', though this is not because he is afraid to fight so much as because of a promise with his grandfather and to himself that he would not fight for himself. Before that, Chad was aggressive and got into fights a lot and presumably he fears becoming too violent and wild again.

** In the very first chapter (fourth episode in the anime), Luffy's pirate idol "Red-Haired" Shanks allowed Higuma, a small time mountain bandit, to thoroughly abuse him and casually laughed it off after the fact. When Higuma came back later and threatened ''Luffy'', on the other hand, he learned Shanks and his crew were not to be taken lightly.

* Ren Kannagi from ''LightNovel/KazeNoStigma'' is a sweet kid who never wants to hurt anyone-unless you take a swing at his friend and then he will slam a boy taller and stronger than him against a wall with a murderous expression on his face. Not to mention he's a member of the Kannagi family whose standard operating procedure for evil spirits is [[KillItWithFire Purify It With Fire]].

* During the high-school years, SpiderMan knows he could knock bully Flash Thompson into next weekend, ''wait'' until next weekend, and then kick him right ''back''. He knows that with a bit of restraint, he could even do it without compromising his SecretIdentity. However, because with great power ComesGreatResponsibility, he refuses rather than risk harming him, even though he feels the humiliation of constantly backing down from him. Of course, being a SuperHero, protecting the innocent is how he spends his afternoons.

* Nita in the first ''Literature/YoungWizards'' book. Character development gives her more self confidence by the end, but several books later she still retains many of the same character traits.

* Sparadrap from ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'' spends earlier installments being the cast StupidGood ManChild who really, really likes his virutual pets. Then, in Season 3 finale, someone thinks it's good idea to bully Sparadrap's friends[[spoiler:, destroy his pets]] and insult his grandmother (who basically raised him). That is how characters and audience alike found out that Sparadrap can get quite serious and dangerous in the right circumstances.

* Fluttershy from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. She is the ONLY adult character to be bullied effectively, but is still capable of TalkingTheMonsterToDeath with her verbal and body-language-based shaming, known as The Stare.

* ''OnePiece'':

* Bobby Hill of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' uses his "weakness" as a strength to survive military school while being drilled by [[DrillSergeantNasty Cotton]] who is ''hell-bent'' on toughening him up. He's too passive and soft to be toughened up, but it also lets him easily take everything Cotton throws at him without cracking and he [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome lasts one day longer in the hole than Cotton himself]] with no apparent effort on his part. [[DiscussedTrope It's even discussed at the end:]]

* ''KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' is essentially defined as someone who is a coward on his own but will ''not'' stand for slights or attacks against his friends. Or enemies.

* ''YoungAvengers'': Wiccan of the Young Avengers was the target of a bully before becoming an Avenger and wouldn't stand up to the bully for himself, but when the bully found a new target he laid down the smackdown.

* Nita in the first ''YoungWizards'' book. Character development gives her more self confidence by the end, but several books later she still retains many of the same character traits.

May overlap with TheSoCalledCoward, but not always. TheSoCalledCoward simply avoids fights of all sorts, except for the ones with the highest stakes. Someone who is Not So Weak does not believe they themself are worth defending, and is more likely to end up either as a punching bag or as the person esacalating a fight involving someone else. Or both in turns.

* Sparadrap from ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'' spends earlier installments being the cast StupidGood ManChild who really, really likes his virutuals pets. Then, in Season 3 finale, someone thinks it's good idea to bully Sparadrap's friends[[spoiler:, destroy his pets]] and insult his grandmother (who basically raised him). That is how characters and audience alike found out that Sparadrap can get quite serious and dangerous in the right circumstances.

* In ''GetFuzzy'', Satchel constantly puts up with all sorts of abuse and manipulation from [[CatsAreMean Bucky]]. When Bucky finally calls Satchel's friends "Eurotrash" though, he finally snaps and ''epically'' yells at Bucky that he doesn't care if ''he'' gets picked on, but his friends are far better than any of the sort Bucky hangs out with, and to ''leave them alone''. This is so shocking that Bucky is actually at a loss for words and acts meek and cooperative towards Satchel for some time.

Someone who is NotSoWeak is [[ShrinkingViolet shy]] and a natural target for a bully. The person looks harmless. You, as the bully, think that you can just walk all over this person without their raising an objection. And you will find you're right.

This person places no value on themselves, but they will do whatever they can for anyone whom they feel needs help. They'll usually avoid outright violence, thus maintaining the appearance of weakness. But they will sometimes use violence (proving themselves NotSoWeak) to protect a loved one or InnocentBystander. They just will never feel the need to protect themselves.

May overlap with TheSoCalledCoward, but not always. TheSoCalledCoward simply avoids fights of all sorts, except for the ones with the highest stakes. Someone who is NotSoWeak does not believe they themself are worth defending, and is more likely to end up either as a punching bag or as the person esacalating a fight involving someone else. Or both in turns.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* During the high-school years, {{Spider-Man}} knows he could knock bully Flash Thompson into next weekend, ''wait'' until next weekend, and then kick him right ''back.'' He knows that with a bit of restraint, he could even do it without compromising his SecretIdentity. However, because with great power ComesGreatResponsibility, he refuses rather than risk harming him, even though he feels the humiliation of constantly backing down from him. Of course, being a SuperHero, protecting the innocent is how he spends his afternoons.

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Visual Novels ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

-> ''So, there are two people. Both are very strong, but one puts out a more intimidating image. Bullies, not wanting to fight him, attack the other, who proves to be just as strong. So, while the big guy is scarier, the other is the one with his fists soaked in blood.''
-->-- '''[[DirtyCoward Nijima]]''', ''KenichiTheMightiestDisciple''

* In ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', [[GenkiGirl Mission Vao]] first met [[TheQuietOne Zaalbar]] as he was being harassed by a few Rodians. He ignores them until Mission yells at them and gets promptly smacked to the floor... [[BigBrotherInstinct At which point he beat them to a bloody pulp.]] The two have been best friends ever since.