Times where somebody refuses the call in Anime and Manga.
- In the first arc of 20th Century Boys, Kenji tries to put the band back to together, with partial results. A few join out of curiosity or loyalty, but at least one initially back out out of duty for family and jobs. Of course, they all join him later on after the timeskips.
- In AIR, once Yukito realizes that Misuzu's illness is killing her because she's become his friend, he tries to leave and never see her again, but then remembers that he has to try to save her. Also, in the movie, he did not even want to look for the girl in the sky.
- Bleach: Ryuuken Ishida is a quincy. Not just any quincy, but one powerful enough to curbstomp his very gifted son, Uryuu. However, he utterly refuses to use his power and the only time he was ever asked why, his response consisted of Blatant Lies that left Uryuu angry with him for years. Uryuu's grandfather did once say Ryuuken's refusal to be a quincy resides with some kind of Declaration of Protection but the exact details weren't explained for a long time and they involved the death of Ryuuken's wife/Uryuu's mother, Kanae. With the quincies and shinigami currently at war and Ryuuken apparently wanting nothing to do with either side, the story has made him a clear case of Heroic Neutral and a very strong contender for a Neutral No Longer fate, up until the very end.
- Cross Ange: Princess Angelise Ikaruga Misurugi is revealed to lack the ability to use the Light of Mana, and is cast out of her Empire to fight DRAGONs at Arzenal. Angelise stubbornly refuses to accept that she is a Norma, openly insulting the team she's supposed to be a part of despite being one herself, and the first chance she gets in a Paramail, she attempts to escape. She fails disastrously, and her actions resulting in her company's commanding officer and two new recruits being horribly killed by the DRAGONs. Jill, who leads Arzenal, manages to solve this problem by sticking Angelise in the ancient Ragnamail known as Villkiss, leading the other First Company members to assume that she will get killed in what they assume is a rusty old machine. However, when Angelise manages to awaken Villkiss, she proceeds to viciously slaughter the DRAGON who killed Zola. Realizing the pleasure she felt from killing said DRAGON, and commenting on how unlike her it is to take such pleasure in the deed, Angelise tearfully breaks down and finally accepts that she is here to stay, as the Norma pilot of Villkiss.
- In Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!, Atsushi and En's initial response to being tasked with saving the earth by a talking pink marsupial is to, very wisely, run away.
- Kyouya in Demon City Shinjuku is initially uninterested when Old Master Agni Lai asks him to face his father's Rival Turned Evil and save the world from being overrun by demons. Master Lai doesn't exactly help his case by predicting that there's no way Kyouya can win at his current level of skill, which irks Kyouya enough that he refuses the call a second time when it's delivered by Sayaka Rama, whose father was attacked by the Big Bad. Only when Sayaka ventures into danger herself does Kyouya relent and go after her to take up the mission.
- On the night Yuko gained her horns and tail in the beginning of The Demon Girl Next Door, the demon Lilith asked her to "wake up" but Yuko refuses. She still received "the Call", nonetheless.
- In Dragon Ball Z, Yajirobe is recruited to train for the incoming Saiyan's along with Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, and Chiaotzu, but steadfastly refuses to, even though he's more than capable. It's only when the bodies start piling up (including Piccolo, whose death also causes Kami to die), does he involve himself in the fight, and even then, he hides until Goku is seconds away from dying, when he cuts off Vegeta's tail off and taking him out of his Oozaru transformation. After that, he refuses to fight again (outside of the Bad Future during the Android saga), and at most, would just drop off the occasional Senzu Bean for the other Z fighters.
- One side hero in Fist of the North Star, named Jyuza, adhered to his trope. Jyuza is part of the Nanto Five Chariot Stars who defend the Last Nanto General. When Jyuza is sent a note telling him that he must jump into action to stop Raoh from getting to the Last Nanto General... he slices up the note saying "how stupid!", claiming that he'd rather be as free as a cloud. Course, since this is the series where Anyone Can Die, he's gotta answer the call sooner or later. You know what that means...
- This happens in the original Fushigi Yuugi and its associated material:
- Chiriko initially ignores the mark on his foot designating him as a Suzaku warrior because he's terrified of what duties will be placed on him. Quite a natural reaction, considering he's 13 years old; in fact, this is his default state whenever the mark isn't glowing. Which makes it all the more horrific when he's forced to kill himself as a Taking You with Me sacrifice later in the series.
- Tasuki originally tried to refuse the call when Miaka came to find the next warrior. He said that 'Tasuki' was the name of the previous boss and had died, which sent them onto a hunt for a person who was rumored to bring the dead back to life. His companions manage to persuade him to follow his calling as a Suzaku Warrior and simply return as their leader once Kounan had been saved and Suzaku summoned.
- This was a serious matter during the period of Fushigi Yuugi: Genbu Kaiden, where a superstition was placed on the Priestess of Genbu and her Genbu Celestial Warriors. Indicating them as a curse, and by having them around will destroy the country. So whenever the priestess Takiko found one warrior and tries to persuade him to join, that warrior would automatically refuse the calling, simply because being awakened as a Celestial Warrior has already put their own lives into jeopardy for as long as they can remember.
- This is the case for all of the warriors and priestesses. The legend states that the priestess will appear when the country is on the brink of ruin, which many people saw as an ill omen. So most of them were refusing the call in various shades.
- GEAR Fighter Dendoh has one of the most amusing examples ever: Hokuto and Ginga, two grade schoolers, receive the call by being kidnapped by the titular mecha and getting shoved in the cockpit as they tried to escape a Robeast and having Vega (one of the two who had actually trained to pilot Dendoh) explaining them how to move it... At which point they use Dendoh to walk away as fast as they can while they try and figure how to run. They only fight when Vega tricks them in punching the robeast as it flew over Dendoh to report about the encounter.
- In Girls Beyond the Wasteland, Uguisu tries this at first. But she is eventually convinced to do the artwork after the others praise the drawings she's posted online.
- Makoto of Great Pretender claimed to be the greatest Con Man in Japan, and gets scouted by Laurent, the greatest Con Man in the world. After Laurent brings him along for a high-stakes job and he almost dies in the process, he's offered a chance to officially join the team. The first arc concludes with him chickening out and turning himself in to the police in an attempt to go straight, only for the next to start with Laurent tricking him into coming along for what he promises to be One Last Job the second he gets out of jail.
- Sei Iori of Gundam Build Fighters is shown to be an awesome Gunpla Battler, but he's so scared of getting a Gunpla he worked on damaged, he relegates the fighting to Reiji. It isn't until he finally gets over it near the end that he finally shows his true potential.
- The iDOLM@STER - Ritsuko really doesn't want to replace Azusa on the Ryuugu Komachi unit when she gets the mumps. Thing is, she doesn't have a choice.
- In Jagaaaaaan, Jagasaki's freaked-out response to Doku-chan explaining his mission to hunt fractured humans is to shoot the bird in mid-sentence and run home. Unfortunately, The Call Knows Where He Lives.
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure:
- Josuke in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable was much more relaxed and down-to-earth than his predecessors, and after meeting Jotaro he decides that he doesn't want to get involved with the Joestar family drama or the hunt for Angelo. Then Angelo insulted his hair and the rest is history. It happens again in the second half of the story when they get word that a Serial Killer might be in town. Josuke, fairly reasonably from a realistic perspective, feels that a mundane serial killer is a police problem, not his. Then the serial killer kills one of his friends (and turns out to be superpowered after all).
- Fugo in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind refuses to go along with Giorno and Bucciarati's crusade against their boss, calling it a Suicide Mission. He's sadly proven right, as every member of the gang aside from Jojo and Mista ends up dying by Diavolo's hands. In Purple Haze Feedback he rejoins what's left of the team but its canonicity is ambiguous.
- After Shirogane was reelected as Student Council President in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, he offered the positions of Auditor and General Affairs Officer to Iino and Osaragi (the positions having previously been filled by two unseen third-years). Iino accepted, but Osaragi stated she had no interest in actually being on the council, so the position of General Affairs Officer remained unfilled for the entire term. And when Iino becomes the new President the following year near the end of the series, Osaragi once again turns down the offer (and so does Onodera).
- A rare villainous example from the manga adaptation of Kingdom Hearts — the Council of Disney Villains offered a position to the Cheshire Cat. He then immediately started helping Sora.
- Kinnikuman originally refused to go to Planet Muscle and claim his birthright because... well, he was kind of a wimp.
- The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer: Yuuhi gets picked to be the Lizard Knight, protect the princess, save the world, and so forth but flat out refuses to have anything to do with the whole affair and throws his spiritual advisor out the window (several times). That doesn't stop golems from trying to kill him, though, and the Princess's oath to destroy the world herself finally convinces him to participate wholeheartedly.
- An inversion occurs in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid as part of Sank Kaiser Olivie's backstory. As the wars between the kingdoms of Ancient Belka escalate to the point that some armies have resorted to chemical and biological warfare, the Sank Kaiser alliance, one of the most powerful factions, decide it will step up and end the wars by deploying the Saint's Cradle, which is a battleship capable of razing countries to the ground. However, only a person compatible with the battleship can activate it, and despite the number of potential candidates, none were deemed worthynote . Olivie was technically the last in line for this and did not need to participate in the selection, but she felt that she may have a chance to end the war, so she decided to return to her home countrynote and offer herself as a candidate. However, her closest friends and retainers did not want her to go back and thus did their best to dissuade her. Their pleas fell on deaf ears as Olivie went back anyway, and was found to be compatible with the Cradle. After her coronation, Prince Claus Ingvalt of Shutra,note attempted one final time to keep Olivie from going to the Cradle by fighting her in a duel. However, Olivie proved to be a better warrior and went on to become the master of the Cradle, eventually ending the Belkan Wars.
- Kouji Kabuto Jumped at the Call in the original Mazinger Z. In the first timeline seen in Shin Mazinger Zero, he refused the call and we got to see the outcome. It was not pretty (unless your definition of pretty includes the planet scorched away and humanity wiped out by Mazinger-Z).
- In My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, as I Expected, Hachiman Hikigaya is adverse to joining the service club and leaving his self-imposed solitude. Good or bad, the call can make sure he doesn't graduate in only 3 years.
- In Nabari no Ou, Miharu completely ignores the call even after being confronted by Thobari-sensei and repeatedly getting attacked by ninjas. When he finally does learn a ninja technique, he uses it to run away from Thobari-sensei.
- Asuna of Negima! Magister Negi Magi seems to fit this. When she first finds out about magic, she wants nothing to do with it, and seems downright offended by how it's going against her nice and orderly world (the fact that it seems to be losing her crush isn't helping.) She actually falls into the "did this before, but forgot about it" category, having erased her memory ten years prior. Needless to say, given that the principal put Negi (The Call personified as a cute boy) in her room and he won't hang up, she gives in eventually.
- Chisame puts up even more of a fight, and sort of succeeds in getting away from the weirdness...only to realize that now her life is incredibly boring, so she heads back in.
- In Neon Genesis Evangelion, Shinji at first refuses to pilot Unit 01, out of a mixture of fear, confusion, and anger over the circumstances that got him to that point, only to have his father essentially guilt him into the task by forcing a very badly injured Rei to try to crawl out of her gurney to take his place. He ultimately agrees to pilot.
- He also quits later after his father crosses the Moral Event Horizon during the Bardiel incident only to return as Zeruel curb-stomps the rest of NERV.
- In Prétear, Himeno at first doesn't even believe the Leafe Knights when they tell her she's the titular Magical Girl, thinking they're pulling a prank. When a monster actually shows up, she's rebuffed by the Tall, Dark, and Snarky leader of the knights and runs off—but then returns when she decides she actually does want to help.
- The Pretty Cure series is well acquainted with this little trope.
- In the second episode of Yes! Precure 5, when Rin is asked to become the second Pretty Cure, her response is "No thanks, I'll pass." Eventually, she is forced into it when Nozomi is in danger and Rin is the only one around who could save her. Karen, too, refuses to try again when her pinky catch breaks apart.
- It happens in Heart Catch Pretty Cure in the same exact way, except Erika didn't want to because of other responsibilities. She changes her mind when she sees how awesome it is (and when she sees Tsubomi get herself into trouble.)
- Itsuki's the same way - Potpourri chose her to be a Precure, but she didn't feel she was worthy. It isn't until her brother is turned into a monster that she takes it up.
- Then, there's Yuri, the former Cure Moonlight. The first time, Tsubomi's grandma has to remind Tsubomi and Erika that she can't transform. The second time, Potpourri tries to recruit her, but she turns it down. It isn't until the Precure Trials that she's dragged back, kicking and screaming.
- Ellen of Suite Pretty Cure ♪ tries to run away from the call due to the guilt of her actions while with Mephisto. Hummy and the Fairy Tones are very insistent and very forgiving.
- Alice of Doki Doki! PreCure refuses to become Cure Rosetta initially due to the fact that she kinda has rage control problems, stemming from the fact that she beat down a few bullies when she was younger.
- Kirara of Go! Princess Pretty Cure refuses to stay Cure Twinkle at first due to her busy lifestyle.
- Homare of HuGtto! Pretty Cure gets hit with this after she has a panic attack trying to get her Mirai Crystal and fails.
- In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Madoka, the title character of the show, is understandably resistant in accepting a contract to become a Magical Girl, and Homura is hell-bent on stopping her from taking the deal for some reason. Which is kind of the point of the series, as it becomes increasingly clear as the series goes on that being a Magical Girl is not a good thing, and if Madoka accepts, she will either die or become the powerful witch that destroys humanity. At least until she finally accepts the call and then decides to Take a Third Option by becoming hope, destroying Kyubey's system for good.
- Kamina Ayato from RahXephon waffles between this and being willing to fight throughout the show.
- Reborn! (2004) is basically an endless cycle of Tsuna refusing the call, his friends being put in danger, and him thus being forced to accept the call for just long enough to deal with this new threat. Each arc starts off this way, and several individual battles are sparked by near-identical internal struggles.
- Reincarnated As The Strongest Wand has Reiji's soul shoved into a wand. As the witch who did it was gushing about how "lucky" he is to be The Chosen One, he pointedly refuses her, twice. She retorts that as a wand, he Can't Refuse the Call Anymore, and then puts him on a shelf, leaving the cabin, never to return.
- Sailor Moon just loves this trope:
- In her solo series, Minako (Sailor Venus) initially thought it was a prank (admittedly she initially had the call when a talking white tomcat came on her in the shower), and first transformed because she was being actively attacked by the youma she had just stumbled on, and toyed with the idea of retiring for most of the series (and actually did it once-for all of five minutes before a group of youma showed up and she decided to take them down). Considering she's ultimately revealed to be the kind of person who would always choose her duty over happiness, with her duty being Sailor Venus, the Irony is rather amazing.
- Usagi (Sailor Moon) just wanted to be normal, only agreed to get powers in order to save her friend Naru, and even got out of having them once when she died at the end of the original anime's first series. She never got out of it in the manga, though she killed herself after being forced to kill her lover; they were both reborn and she had to fight again immediately afterward.
- Haruka (Sailor Uranus) in the first anime refuses until a daimon is about to kill Michiru (Sailor Neptune), who is wounded trying to protect her. She is warned by Michiru not to say yes just to save them because she can't take it back once she does. She says yes finally anyway.
- Ami (Sailor Mercury) in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon refuses because she believes Usagi only befriended her so that she'd join up. As usual, a battle forces her to make the choice - although afterward, she claims to Usagi that she really does want to fight with her, probably still hoping it will let them become friends.
- In Sgt. Frog, while Fuyuki is wildly enthusiastic about finding a live alien in his house, Natsumi wants to ignore the whole thing. Even long after this proves impossible, she occasionally wishes Keroro and his squad would go away and let her live a normal life.
- In Silent Möbius (the TV series and films, not so much the Manga) Katsumi Liqueur not only refuses the call, but once she's been forced into answering the call, she makes a break for it with disturbing regularity.
- Tenchi in Tokyo:
- Tenchi's the latest line of protectors of the Earth (instead of the long-lost prince of Jurai that he is in other canons focusing on him) and is given a Transformation Trinket in the form of seven jewels that turn into a BFS. Instead, he'd rather be a normal teenager and gives away one of the jewels to the six alien girls. This turns out to be crucial in Big Bad Yuugi's plans. Ryoko had split the trinket into seven jewels to alleviate Tenchi's guilt from his My God, What Have I Done? moment when the BFS manifested itself, he couldn't control it, and nearly killed her as a result. He was still in no hurry to accept the call though.
- In some of the Light Novels based in an alternate version of the OVA universe, Tenchi's mother (going by the Tenchi Universe-established Achika name), outright refused to be bonded with a Juraian tree while on Earth... while in the middle of the bonding ceremony. This causes her lifespan to be shortened considerably.
- Zakuro in Tokyo Mew Mew. She was already a Mew Mew by this point — her "refusal" concerned joining the team.
- This is Jomy's initial reaction in Toward the Terra. Mixed with a great dose of reluctance in accepting his role as a Mu.
- Ginrai in Transformers: Super-God Masterforce initially refuses to get involved in the Autobot/Decepticon war, and only changes his tune when Hydra and Buster kill some of his friends while trying to get to him.
- Nakajima Youko in The Twelve Kingdoms spends an unusually long portion of the entire first Story Arc of the series refusing the call in various ways.
- In Umi Monogatari, Kanon feels awkward about her powers and would rather not have to use them at all.
