History DirtyCoward / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' has Malcolm Merlyn. When he ended up on Ra's Al-Ghul's hit list for breaking the rules of the League of Assasins, he brainwashed his own daughter to shoot former League member Sara Lance. He did this specifically because Oliver would have to protect her from Ra's by fighting him; Merlyn completely refused to go anywhere near Ra's, let alone fight him. When Merlyn is eventually captured, he begs on his knees for his life, disgusting even Ra's.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' has Merlyn. When he ended up on Ra's Al-Ghul's hit list for breaking the rules of the League of Assasins, he brainwashed his own daughter to shoot former League member Sara Lance. He did this specifically because Oliver would have to protect her from Ra's by fighting him; Merlyn completely refused to go anywhere near Ra's, let alone fight him. When Merlyn is eventually captured, he begs on his knees for his life, disgusting even Ra's.

** The Doctor himself can get like this on occasion. While he's no stranger to physical danger or hard choices, he'll often run from the consequences. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E12HellBent Hell Bent]]", having undergone a SanitySlippage due to a TraumaCongaLine (and thus become -- temporarily -- a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds), he inspires this exchange from other characters:
--->'''Ohila:''' ''[disgusted]'' He's running away.\\
'''General:''' Where is he running to?\\
'''Ohila:''' Same place he always does: Away. Just... ''away''.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In "Deja Q", Data risks his own destruction to save the [[BroughtDownToNormal temporarily depowered]] Q from some of the beings he's antagonized in the past. Afterwards, Q is actually sufficiently humbled and ashamed to admit to Picard that he would ''not'' have [[YouWouldDoTheSameForMe done the same]] if their positions had been reversed and that without his powers "I'm frightened of everything, I'm a coward, and I'm miserable."
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''
** In the episode "Nor the Battle to the Strong", Jake Sisko gets a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Speech]] calling him this, which [[HeelRealization he owns up to]] at the end. Also something of a {{Deconstruction}}, as Jake himself starts off contemptuous of a soldier who'd shot himself in the foot. The rest of the episode is him learning [[NotSoDifferentRemark why not to rush into judgment about such things]].
** Subverted in "Valiant". Red Squad views Jake as one when he tries to convince them not to attack a Dominion warship -- Nog even gives him another Reason You Suck speech about it -- but in reality, Jake is [[OnlySaneMan the only one]] who recognizes that the whole mission is suicidal and is proven right by the end.

* The backstory of Gabriel from ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' reveals that he barricaded himself inside his own church and refused to let anyone else in, causing them to be eaten by the walkers.

** Ellaria Sand talked a big game about going to war against the Lannisters and ransacking King's Landing to avenge her lover Oberyn's death,[[note]]Who, by the way, died in a TrialByCombat that ''he agreed to participate in,'' knowing there was a good chance he'd be killed in the bout[[/note]] but easily cowers and folds when she gets a taste of what a ''real'' battle's like. She pathetically runs and hides in a corner when Euron's Iron Fleet comes knocking and only stands by and watches as her daughter Tyene gets beaten to a pulp protecting her, not even lifting a finger to help out her own flesh and blood. She even has the gall to tell one of Euron's soldiers to just GetItOverWith rather than face justice for [[spoiler: killing [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei's]] daughter [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Myrcella,]]]] despite dragging Dorne into her pointless, suicidal revenge quest ''by doing that in the first place.'' In the end, her only successful casualties are two innocent, young teenagers and a crippled man in a wheelchair -- and even for the latter, she had to resort to the element of surprise AND [[BodyguardBetrayal wait for his bodyguards to defect to her side first.]]

* ''Series/TheMentalist'': Despite being TheDreaded for most of the series, this is what [[SerialKiller Red John]] ultimately turns out to be. [[spoiler: When Jane finally confronts him face-to-face and shoots him, Red John is downright terrified of Jane killing him. He does everything he can to avoid death, from trying to convince Jane that he's too good of a person to commit murder, to using one of his accomplices as a distraction to escape, to making a run for it and collapsing when the bullet wound takes its toll, to calling 911 in a vain attempt to save himself from Jane's wrath, [[VillainWantsMercy to flat-out begging Jane to spare his life.]] It doesn't work, and Jane even calls him out for being a coward.]]

** Although Tywin Lannister is something of a FrontlineGeneral in the show, Joffrey rightly accuses him of being a coward during Robert's Rebellion, only joining the rebels' side when all was but decided much like Walder Frey.

** ProfessionalButtKisser Ashley was another one of Homelander's yes-men, and was a [[AuthorityInNameOnly spineless sycophant]] & StepfordSmiler who went along with whatever he did since she was just a normal human and even more vulnerable than the Seven. [[spoiler:After Homelander and Black Noir abduct [[WonderWomanWannabe Queen Maeve]], she's too chicken to even talk to Starlight since she knows [[IncorruptiblePurePureness she's too nice to be a threat]].]] She also had no problem mouthing off to A-Train and Deep since the former was {{depower}}ed by a heart condition and the latter was the ButtMonkey nobody respected.
* Lydia Rodarte-Quayle from ''Series/BreakingBad''. Her first impulse whenever something goes wrong or inconveniences her is to kill a subordinate. This is so ingrained in her personality that she expects it constantly from the people she works with but views as potential threats. She has no qualms about putting out hits on people who inconvenience her (such as Gus' henchmen, Declan and his gang, Skyler, Walt); however, when her own life is in danger, she panics and begs for mercy.

** The demon Sahjhan from ''Series/{{Angel}}'', who is revealed to be have gone back in time and rewrote the prophecy that HE would be killed by Angel's son to that Angel will kill his son, prompting Wesley to kidnap Connor for protection and betray Angel and the others, leading Connor to get taken to a Hell dimension. [[SmugSnake And Sahjhan sadistically enjoyed what he'd done, and even told the truth when Angel and the others interrogated him.]] Even the revelation that Sahjhan reworte the prophecy and duped Wesley didn't stop Angel from trying to kill Wesley for taking away his son. Even Fred didn't forgive Wesley, though she was against Angel trying to kill him. [[spoiler:[[YouCantFightFate The good news is Sahjhan got his comeuppance two seasons later]] [[TheBusCameBack when Connor himself killed him,]] [[RealLifeWritesThePlot although the writers probably did that due to Angel already being canceled]].]]

** Yasmine is a shameless cyber-bully (as Aisha can attest), which Johnny Lawrence is quick to point out as extremely pathetic. She also nearly enters the fetal-position when a homeless person stands outside of her locked car. Oh, and she doesn't do any of her own physical fighting.
** When Amanda confronts Kreese at the dojo, he taunts her how Daniel “isn’t man enough to face his own problems”, which provokes her to slap him. He then goes playing victim to taunt her more. In the Season 3 finale, Kreese shows no problem with attempting to flat out murder Johnny and Daniel, but he himself gets visibly scared after Daniel disables his arms and leg (using techniques taught to him by Chozen), a nod to how he got scared after Miyagi made him injure his own fists in the parking lot many years prior.

-->'''Johnny:''' Cobra Kai is about being badass. And the baddest badass is the one who beats his opponent when he's at his strongest. Not when his back is turned. Not when he's injured. That means no more cheating. No more fighting dirty. From here on out, those are pussy moves, and you don't wanna be pussies, do ya?

** The [[AssholeVictim victim]] of "Justice" is a serial date rapist who exploited the lax laws regarding date rape to repeatedly perpetuate the crimes, peed himself when several of his former victims confronted him at gunpoint, and then acted unapologetic and unrepentant about his actions once they left. The detectives become so repulsed by what they learned of him that they ''actually tell the killer what to say in court to defend himself''.

* On the sitcom ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'', the main character's wife fits this trope. Whenever Debra is in conflict with another person, she will usually bully her husband Ray into confronting the other person for her, almost always growling "You need to back me up on this!", to the point where that line is almost her catch phrase (and even if [[StrawmanHasAPoint the other person has a perfectly valid point]], they will still be treated as being [[DesignatedVillain horrible]] simply for opposing Debra). Then when Ray inevitably caves into her demands and starts doing the verbal battling on her behalf, Debra always finds a way to sneak into the back and [[CowerPower hide]] behind Ray while ''he'' takes all the heat from the other person. Then when Ray gives her a chance to speak her mind and join in, Debra always says something like "hey, it wasn't me, [[BlatantLies this was your idea]]," and goes back to cowering behind Ray's back and letting ''him'' be the target of the other person's anger. What's really infuriating about this pattern of behavior is the fact that Ray himself is usually in favor of [[{{Pacifist}} making peace]] with the other person and wants everyone to get along, but he gets dragged into the argument anyway because his wife wanted him to, and yet she herself is totally unwilling to actually take responsibility for it, even when the fight is her idea. And yet she still treats him as if he's an unworthy husband, even though he always ends up doing her dirty work for her.

** King Joffrey Baratheon is this. A SmugSnake, RoyalBrat, and all around JerkAss. While he acts tough, particularly when he is certain of being in a position of authority, the truth is that he's nothing more than a coward. Some of the best parts from the show are watching him squirm like the worm he is whenever someone stands up to him. When Arya points a sword at him, he cries like a baby (to be fair, she had her direwolf helping her). There's also the scene when Tyrion bitch-slaps him, repeatedly, for his mocking refusal to at least pay lip service to the Starks. Then in the second season, not only does he not do anything when Tyrion outright calls him a "vicious idiot king", but Tyrion gets away with slapping him ''again'' and mockingly asks if his hand had fallen from his wrist. He panics very quickly during the Battle of the Blackwater and runs off when he hears that his mother has called for him, his voice visibly cracking as he does so, although he was reluctant to leave at that point.
** Sam (rightfully) admits to being one in "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things", an admission so unheard-of that the other recruits act like it's a disease they might catch, though he's also something of a LovableCoward. Sam's case eventually gets treated with CharacterDevelopment, though.

** Ellaria Sand talked a big game about going to war against the Lannisters and ransacking King's Landing to avenge her lover Oberyn's death,[[note]]Who, by the way, died in a TrialByCombat that ''he agreed to participate in,'' knowing there was a good chance he'd be killed in the bout[[/note]] but easily cowers and folds when she gets a taste of what a ''real'' battle's like. She pathetically runs and hides in a corner when Euron's Iron Fleet come knocking and only stands by and watches as her daughter Tyene gets beaten to a pulp protecting her, not even lifting a finger to help out her own flesh and blood. She even has the gall to tell one of Euron's soldiers to just GetItOverWith rather than face justice for [[spoiler: killing [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei's]] daughter [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Myrcella,]]]] despite dragging Dorne into her pointless, suicidal revenge quest ''by doing that in the first place.'' In the end, her only successful casualties are two innocent, young teenagers and a crippled man in a wheelchair -- and even for the latter, she had to resort to the element of surprise AND [[BodyguardBetrayal wait for his bodyguards to defect to her side first.]]

** [[BigBad Zordock]] himself qualifies; it's a bit hard to see it for how scary Zordock is, but when the audience ''or'' in-universe characters analyze him, he fits: he's stated to be afraid of the Prince, and it's no lie: when the Prince so much as ''shows up'', he retreats, though not without spoken defiance. He doesn't even kill the Prince himself; he forces a minion to do it for him.

* [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist Mark Corrigan]] of ''Series/PeepShow''. Some of his more memorable acts of cowardice include hiding from his fiancée on their wedding day (in the actual church) rather than call it off, and using a past girlfriend as a ''human shield'' against a man who he tried to frame.

* George Costanza from ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' exemplifies this Trope perfectly in one scene -- he's willing to push women and children out of his way and knock them to the floor to get to out of a burning building. The episode's writer said that such an act was, "George stripped down to his essentials."

** More obviously invoked in "Halloween", when Kelso hears a noise which he takes for a vengeful spirit; he pushes his girlfriend out of the way in his haste to flee.

** ProfessionalButtKisser Ashley was another one of Homelander's yes-men, and was a [[AuthorityInNameOnly spineless sycophant]] & StepfordSmiler who went along with whatever he did since she was just a normal human and even more vulnerable than the Seven. [[spoiler:After Homelander and Black Noir abduct [[WonderWomanWannabe Queen Maeve]], she's too chicken to even talk to Starlight.]]

* Similar to [[Series/{{RedDwarf}} Arnorld Rimmer]] but UpToEleven, Brad Spitfire from the French-Canadian show ''Series/DansUneGalaxiePresDeChezVous''. He not only admits to being a cowardly opportunist, TheQuisling, and TheStarscream of the starship Romeo-Fafard, he is ''immensely proud of it'', crediting his mile-long yellow streak as the distilled genetic heritage of a long line of cowards who outlive a pursuing tiger by tripping up their friend.

** BigBad Homelander is a malignant {{narcissist}} who never had to push himself in combat due to his nature as a SupermanSubstitute making him so much stronger than everyone else. [[spoiler:However, after ComicBook/CaptainAmerica {{expy}} Soldier Boy CameBackStrong and [[SuperPowerMeltdown goes nuclear in the middle of Manhattan]], he's [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness visibly afraid of another person for the first time]] and tries to downplay it to the public to put off confronting him and potentially getting his ass handed to him in front of his adoring fans.]]

** BigBad Homelander is a malignant {{narcissist}} who never had to push himself in combat due to his nature as a SupermanSubstitute making him so much stronger than everyone else. [[spoiler:However, after ComicBook/CaptainAmerica {{expy}} Soldier Boy CameBackStrong and [[PowerIncontinence goes nuclear in the middle of Manhattan]], he's [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness visibly afraid of another person for the first time]] and tries to downplay it to the public to put off confronting him and potentially getting his ass handed to him in front of his adoring fans.]]

* ''Series/TheMentalist'': Despite being TheDreaded for most of the series, this is what [[SerialKiller Red John]] ultimately turns out to be. [[spoiler: When Jane finally confronts him face-to-face and shoots him, Red John is downright terrified of Jane killing him. He does everything he can to avoid death, from trying to convince Jane that he's too good of a person to commit murder, to using one of his accomplices as a distraction to escape, to making a run for it and collapsing when the bullet wound takes its toll, to calling 911 in a vain attempt to save himself from Jane's wrath, [[VillainWantsMercy to flat-out begging Jane to spare his life.]] It doesn't work, and Jane even calls him out for being a coward.]]
-->'''Patrick Jane''': [[spoiler: So now you want mercy? After everything you've done?]]

* ''Series/TheMentalist'': Despite being TheDreaded for most of the series, this is what [[SerialKiller Red John]] ultimately turns out to be. [[spoiler: When Jane finally confronts him face-to-face and shoots him, Red John is downright terrified of Jane killing him. He does everything he can to avoid death, from trying to convince Jane that he's too good of a person to commit murder, to using one of his accomplices as a distraction to escape, to making a run for it and collapsing when the bullet wound takes its toll, to calling 911 in a vain attempt to save himself from Jane's wrath, [[VillainWantsMercy to flat-out begging Jane to spare his life.]] It doesn't work, and Jane even calls him out for his behavior.]]

* ''Series/TheMentalist'': Despite being TheDreaded for most of the series, this is what [[SerialKiller Red John]] ultimately turns out to be. [[spoiler: When Jane finally confronts him face-to-face and shoots him, Red John is downright terrified of Jane killing him. He does everything he can to avoid death, from trying to convince Jane that he's too good of a person to commit murder, to using one of his accomplices as a distraction to escape, to making a run for it and collapsing when the bullet wound takes its toll, to calling 911 in a vain attempt to save himself from Jane's wrath, to flat-out begging Jane to spare his life. It doesn't work, and Jane even calls him out for his behavior.]]

* ''Series/TheMentalist'': Despite being TheDreaded for most of the series, this is what Red John ultimately turns out to be. [[spoiler: When Jane finally confronts him face-to-face and shoots him, Red John is downright terrified of Jane killing him. He does everything he can to avoid death, from trying to convince Jane that he's too good of a person to commit murder, to using one of his accomplices as a distraction to escape, to making a run for it and collapsing when the bullet wound takes its toll, to calling 911 in a vain attempt to save himself from Jane's wrath, to flat-out begging Jane to spare his life. It doesn't work, and Jane even calls him out for his behavior.]]

-->'''Patrick Jane''': [[spoiler: So now you want mercy? After everything you've done?]]]