History CowardlyLion / AnimeAndManga

** At one point, Kenichi is induced with a 'mental seed of fear' after a near-death defeat by one of his enemies. It took the efforts of one of his teachers who essentially invoked this trope when she did not intend to not cure him of his fear, but rather to teach him to weaponize it as a means of self defense in order to overcome its negative effects.

* ''Manga/{{Kurokami}}'': 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-datdream/v1/c1/3-20 he isn't afraid to use it.]]

* ''Manga/{{Kurokami}}'': 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 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 he isn't afraid to use it.

* ''Manga/{{Kurokami}}: 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 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 he isn't afraid to use it.

** 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.

* Usopp and Chopper in ''Manga/OnePiece''.

** Karoo from the Baroque Works arc is a lesser example.

** Of course, Usopp's a funny case in that as long 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 (downgrades?) to CowardlyLion. When any significant danger presents itself, Usopp will panic, then proceed to kick ass despite shaking in his boots the whole time.

* 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 [[IncrediblyLamePun 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.''

* Yukiteru Amano from ''MiraiNikki''. The resident NonActionGuy who usually gets [[TearsOfFear reduced to tears]] in the [[ThereCanOnlyBeOne Survival Game]] prefers to leave the fighting and killing to his [[{{Yandere}} psychopathic girlfriend]], [[AxeCrazy Yuno]]. However, he can still hold his own when he has to, as Third, [[spoiler: [[EyeScream Ninth]], [[BigDamnHeroes Sixth]], and [[ScrewDestiny Fourth]] found out]].

* Yukiteru Amano from ''MiraiNikki''. The resident NonActionGuy who usually gets [[TearsOfFear reduced to tears]] in the [[ThereCanOnlyBeOne Survival Game]] prefers to leave the fighting and killing to his [[{{Yandere}} psychopathic girlfriend]], [[AxeCrazy Yuno]]. However, he can still hold his own when he has to, as Third, [[spoiler: [[EyeScream Ninth]], [[BigDamnedHeroes Sixth]], and [[ScrewDestiny Fourth]] found out]].

* Yukiteru Amano from ''MiraiNikki''. Even though at times he seems to have grown out of this, he remains a CowardlyLion 'til the end.

** Sasha Braus 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.
** Bertholdt Fubar 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]].

** Of course, Usopp's a funny case in that as long 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 CowardlyLion. When any significant danger presents itself, Usopp will panic, then proceed to kick ass despite shaking in his boots the whole time.

** It really shows during the match with Shinryuji. At one point, Sena, carrying the ball, was being blocked by [[JerkJock Agon.]] At that point, [[KnowsWhenToFoldEm Sena is ready to go down and surrender, rather than letting the ball get stolen.]] But then, agon says something of the effect, "Your dream for three years? It's '''GAME OVER'''." At that point [[NiceGuy Sena]] is ''[[BerserkButton flipped out]]'', [[Awesome/EyeshieldTwentyOne and resulted in series of events in which Sena pass him and delivering touchdown.]]

* ''ShingekiNoKyojin'' has many of these, which is understandable considering what they are [[SuperPersistentPredator up]] [[HumanoidAbomination against]]. Among the main characters, the following stand out.

** Bertholdt Fubar 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 a BadassAbnormal, being the Colossal Titan that smashed open Wall Maria and Wall Rose]].

* [[ShingekiNoKyojin Sasha Blouse]] is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} PluckyComicRelief character who is [[FreakOut outright]] ''terrified'' of the humongous man-eating titans. She still runs down a 50ft wall to save a comrade, volunteers for the most dangerous outfit in the military [[InelegantBlubbering (while tears run down her eyes)]] and defends a young child from a titan (who can walk off cannonfire) with nothing more than the humble bow and arrow supplemented by a hatchet.

** Gohan as well all the way up until the Cell Saga. But admittedly [[JustifiedTrope he was a little kid.]]

* [[ShingekiNoKyojin Sasha Blouse]] is a {{Cloudcuckooland}} PluckyComicRelief character who is [[FreakOut outright]] ''terrified'' of the humongous man-eating titans. She still runs down a 50ft wall to save a comrade, volunteers for the most dangerous outfit in the military [[InelegantBlubbering (while tears run down her eyes)]] and defends a young child from a titan (who can walk off cannonfire) with nothing more than the humble bow and arrow supplemented by a hatchet.

* Suigetsu from "Manga/Naruto" tried to run away from [[spoiler:Team Taka as soon as he gets the chance,]] despite being made of water and completely impenetrable. Too bad [[spoiler: non-combative Karin is faster then him and prevents him from getting away.]]

* Yuu from ''{{Holyland}}'' personifies this beautifully. Basically, if you took a timid, scared, insecure piece of [[TheWoobie bully-bait]] and gave him the ability to knock a man unconscious with one punch, he would be Yuu.

* Suigetsu from "Manga/Naruto" tried to run away from [[spoiler:Team Taka as soon as he gets the chance,]] despite being made of water and completely impenetrable. Too bad [[non-combative Karin is faster then him and prevents him from getting away.]]