History CowardlyLion / AnimeAndManga

** Gohan as well all the way up until ''Anime/DragonBallZ'''s Cell Saga. Granted, [[JustifiedTrope he was a young child during these events (his first fight being when he was ''four''.]]

* 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.

* Sena Kobayakawa. He's a coward that runs at the first sight of trouble... but then [[AccidentalAthlete gets drafted into a football team]], had his team in dire strait, and then, [[ChronicHeroSyndrome forced by his own conscience]], runs into [[TheJuggernaut Seijuro]] [[WorthyOpponent Shin]]. [[Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}} And the legend of the legendary runningback begins....]]

** A more example is in Crona, Medusa's "child." Despite that fact that zhe is constantly afraid of pretty much...everything, zhe will not hesitate to take on bigger scarier enemies if it means helping hir friends. Given how zhe was made by Crona to try and recreate the Kishin, this makes hir 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 hir and Crona becomes a BarrierMaiden to seal off Asura.]]

* Sir Penwood and Seras Victoria in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}''.

* Asura from ''Manga/SoulEater''. Despite being fear and insanity incarnate, he rose to be one of the world's most dangerous beings, quite possibly surpassing the much more level headed Shinigami-sama himself.
** Crona is another example that should be pointed out. Despite that fact that s/he is constantly afraid of pretty much...everything, s/he will not hesitate to take on bigger scarier enemies if it means helping his/her friends.

* Usopp, Nami and Chopper in ''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 Clima-Tact to survive in battle. As she gets skilled with the Clima Tact (and no longer has a crappy party favor toy), she becomes more courageous. 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.

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

* Closer from ''Manga/HydeAndCloser''. Always run from battle, [[BadAss 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.

* ''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....]]

** Of course, Usopp's a funny case in that 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 (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. 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.

* Grasshop in ''SpiderRiders''.

* Yugi Mutou from ''Anime/YuGiOh'', who is timid and sensitive, conflict-averse, would rather turn the other cheek than escalate the situation whenever someone is a jerk to him, and believes himself to be weak and cowardly, despite showing astounding courage and grit from his very first appearance (standing up to a bully twice his size to protect Jounouchi and Honda) and growing progressively more confident over time, finally truly realizing his own strength at the end of the series.

* Yugi Mutou from ''YuGiOh'', who is timid and sensitive, conflict-averse, would rather turn the other cheek than escalate the situation whenever someone is a jerk to him, and believes himself to be weak and cowardly, despite showing astounding courage and grit from his very first appearance (standing up to a bully twice his size to protect Jounouchi and Honda) and growing progressively more confident over time, finally truly realizing his own strength at the end of the series.

* Sir Penwood and Seras Victoria in ''{{Hellsing}}''.
* Sena Kobayakawa. He's a coward that runs at the first sight of trouble... but then [[AccidentalAthlete gets drafted into a football team]], had his team in dire strait, and then, [[ChronicHeroSyndrome forced by his own conscience]], runs into [[TheJuggernaut Seijuro]] [[WorthyOpponent Shin]]. [[{{Eyeshield21}} And the legend of the legendary runningback begins....]]

* Closer from ''HydeAndCloser''. Always run from battle, [[BadAss 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.
* Yukiteru Amano from ''Manga/MiraiNikki''. The resident ShrinkingViolet 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.

* ''PandoraHearts'' has Gilbert Nightray, who is both a skilled BattleButler ''and'' the resident ChewToy [[ButtMonkey whom everyone loves to torment]]. It doesn't help that he has [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes a very bad case of cat phobia,]] which caused a ColorFailure when he faced [[EldritchAbomination the Cheshire Cat]]... but in the end Gilbert still stood up and fought him to protect [[KidHero Oz.]]

* Kamiya Maki of 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.

* Kenichi from ''KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'' will not run away, even if he's facing weapon users. However, the knee-trembling terror he feels [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/history_s_strongest_disciple_kenichi/v40/c375/9.html occasionally leaks out]].

* Hanyuu in ''VisualNovel/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi''. 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.]]

* Kai Shiden of ''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]].

* GB in ''GingaLegendWeed''.

** Crona is another example that should be pointed out. Despite that fact that s/he is constantly afraid of pretty much...everything, s/he will not hesitate to jump in take on bigger scarier enemies if it means helping his/her friends.

* Hanyuu in ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi''. 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.]]

* Yukiteru Amano from ''MiraiNikki''. The resident ShrinkingViolet 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.

* 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.]]

* Shinji Ikari in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Normally a quite timid and neurotic person, he gets surprisingly confident when he pilots the Evangelion, but he quickly falls back to his usual behavior outside of it.

* Shinji Ikari in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Normally quite a timid and neurotic person, he gets surprisingly confident when he pilots the Evangelion, but he quickly falls back to his usual behavior outside of it.

* Shinji Ikari in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.

** Of course, Usopp's a funny case in that 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 (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. 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 he the time-skip, he gets a bit better, and resembles a real badass- though with some cowardly traits still very much intact.

* Usopp, Nami and Chopper in ''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 Clima-Tact to survive in battle. As she gets skilled with the Clima Tact (and no longer has a crappy party favor toy, she becomes more courageous. 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.

* Usopp, Nami and Chopper in ''Manga/OnePiece''.
** Of course, Usopp's a funny case in that 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 (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.