History Main / DirtyCoward

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No Real life examples, please!

* Wrestling/{{Edge}} is very good at portraying this type of heel, though sometimes it's subverted somewhat when it is shown that the women who are in love with him actually ''want'' to risk their necks to save his, and do so without his prompting (see Wrestling/{{Lita}} and Wrestling/VickieGuerrero). Wrestling/CMPunk milked this trope as part of his Charles Manson-like cult-leader gimmick, with his skin-headed moll Serena ''smiling'' as he uses her as a human shield. Edge was such a coward as a heel that it wasn't unusual for him on house shows to spend up to ten minutes stalling outside of the ring before eventually locking up with his opponent.

May {{Level Grind|ing}} in courage if they realize "MyGodWhatHaveIDone".

* King Mark from the Tristan and Isolde part of the [[Myth/KingArthur Arthurian Legend]]. Or at least he's like this in Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur.

** The Phantom Zone criminals of the Pocket Universe in ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlSaga'' are shown to be this when faced with death by that world's Green Kryptonite radiation. General Zod is ready to throw Quex-Ul under the bus to save his own skin, and Zaora is left pathetically begging for her life, promising to show pleasures to Superman for her freedom.

** [[InsufferableGenius Matt]] from season one volunteers to perform an exorcism, only to realise he might die, at which point it is too late and everyone votes for him to go in and help. He then accidentally kills his friend which puts him in a very bad light.

->''"It is better to be the Devil's right hand, than in his path."''

* Disney’s ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood'' gives us the treacherous but sissy mama’s boy Prince John. Prince John is greedy and abusive. He also plots revenge on Robin Hood. During the brawl at the archery tournament, Prince John attempts to smite Robin Hood with his sword, only to be disarmed by the latter. Prince John pathetically pleas, “Don’t hurt me! No, no, don’t hurt me!” Then he cries “Help! Help” as he runs and hides behind a barrel.

* ''Music/TheArrogantWorms'' have a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggl9tX9iu4g I Ran Away]]; unsurprisingly, the protagonist resorts to ''every'' stated situation by running.

* Manchester Black, a member of the Elite, is a cocky, arrogant, and cheerfully murderous antihero who lectures Superman on how his [[GoodIsOldFashioned brand of heroism is outdated]]... as long as he has his ludicrously powerful teammates and Phoenix-level psychic powers backing him up; the moment he's isolated, BroughtDownToNormal, and facing a vengeful Supes, he immediately breaks down and cries like a scared little girl, [[HumiliationConga on live TV]]. When he comes back to trouble Supes again, he hides behind waves of {{Mooks}} and psychically tortures [[ComicBook/LoisLane a helpless, powerless mortal woman]]. [[spoiler:The second incident turns out to be a subversion: Black isn't afraid of death — he actually ''wants'' Superman to kill him under false pretenses to "prove" that Supes isn't a true hero. When Supes refrains from killing Black even in the face of such extreme provocation — up to and including the apparent murder of his wife Lois — Black immediately fixes everything and then commits suicide because he can't live with the truth: rather than being an antihero, he had become just another supervillain.]]
* Dr. Venom from the early run of Marvel's ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G.I. Joe]]'' comics was a damn near epitome of this. Any chance he could backstab someone else, he would, and if he got caught, he would plead for mercy on his hands and knees.

* In ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', Lucifer has no respect for Remiel because of this. He thinks that the only reason Remiel remained loyal to God was fear and not true loyalty. Lucifer also guesses (correctly) that Remiel whimpered and wailed when God made him the new steward of Hell in Lucifer's place. Lucifer contrasts Remiel with his silent friend Duma and guesses (again correctly) that Duma was the one who had the courage to actually take the Key to Hell.
* Roark Junior, The Yellow Bastard in ''ComicBook/SinCity'' has a bit of a MeaningfulName. Not only is his yellow-skinned, but he is also more than willing to run away from a fight and whine about it. If he makes an attack, expect it to be a sneaky one.

** Subverted by Roderick Kingsley, AKA the Hobgoblin. While his twin brother Daniel really was a spineless wimp who lived up to this trope, Roderick merely made himself ''look'' like this to get people to underestimate him. Having his cowardly brother act as his stand-in helped a good deal. This usually led to him sabotaging his competitors' companies and destroying their reputations before buying them up cheap, or to keep anyone from thinking that he could be a cold-blooded MagnificentBastard like the Hobgoblin.
** Played straight with Angelo Fortunato, the oft-forgotten second ComicBook/{{Venom}}. After he got ahold of the symbiote, he brags about how it puts in the same league of supervillain as ComicBook/{{Magneto}} or ComicBook/DoctorDoom and kills a random civilian to prove it. But once Spider-Man gains the upper hand in their one and only battle, he immediately turns tail and runs, disgusting the symbiote, who declares Angelo to be an unworthy host, and it ditches him just as [[DisneyVillainDeath he's leaping between two buildings.]]

* The Phantom Zone criminals of the Pocket Universe in ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlSaga'' are shown to be this when faced with death by that world's Green Kryptonite radiation. General Zod is ready to throw Quex-Ul under the bus to save his own skin, and Zaora is left pathetically begging for her life, promising to show pleasures to Superman for her freedom.
* Doomsday, the monster that once killed Franchise/{{Superman}}, is normally a mindless bundle of rage and power. When he was granted intelligence, he was revealed to be this trope in the end. All his new intelligence did was make Doomsday painfully aware of his own crippling fear of death -- deep down, he's terrified of anything that could possibly be a threat to his life, which in his mind is ''everything''. (The entire reason he's so powerful is because he was repeatedly cloned and let loose on a DeathWorld until [[LamarckWasRight some bizarre process of Lamarckian evolution]] made him capable of surviving the worst it had to offer. It took a '''LOT''' of clone generations.)
* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel:

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Prof. Ainchent does fairly well with all the spookiness in King Aknaten's tomb, until Franchise/WonderWoman, ComicBook/EttaCandy, Bobby Strong and Glamora Treat all fall down a trap door, at which point he essentially declares, whelp they're dead, runs all the way back to his plane and flies back to America before even bothering to make a report. ComicBook/SteveTrevor is not impressed and forces the professor to show him exactly where the cursed tomb is.

* Thersites from Literature/TheIliad. He talks tough, but Ulysees calls him the most pathetic of all Greeks.

* Ares from Myth/ClassicalMythology. He reveled in the bloodshed and chaos of war, but he actually wasn't that good a warrior and had low pain tolerance. His response to being wounded in the Trojan War was to cry and run back to Olympus.

* Similar to Scar from ''The Lion King'' mentioned above, Gaston of ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' acts all smug and tough, taunting Beast throughout their fight in the climax, but when Beast fights back and has Gaston at his mercy, he pathetically begs for his life. Then he stabs Beast in the back when he let his guard down. [[KarmicDeath He gets shoved by Beast into the ground below for his trouble.]] It's even worse in the live-action adaptation.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Home}}'', this is practically the Boov's [[PlanetOfHats hat]]. As Oh himself puts it: "When probability for success drops below fifty percent, Boov give up." Captain Smek is even worse, often shoving aside other Boov to ensure his own safety. Part of Oh's CharacterDevelopment is moving beyond this.

* Thersites from Literature/TheIliad.

The Dirty Coward is the slime of the earth, working exclusively for themselves and shamelessly retreating from harm's way even if that harm is about to hit the AllLovingHero that [[AFriendInNeed just saved his or her life two seconds ago]]. They'll take every advantage and [[CombatPragmatist are not above using dishonorable tactics and dirty tricks]], but [[OriginalPositionFallacy they'll cry and moan every time the tables are turned]] and [[MoralMyopia someone uses the same tactics against them]], [[WhoWillBellTheCat asks for a volunteer]], or reminds them of [[ThePromise that promise they made]]. Often full of vicious plans for anyone they dislike, [[NotInThisForYourRevolution as long as they aren't in need of that person's skills at the moment]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'': When the Omnidroid figures out Syndrome's remote was giving him an advantage, it blasts it off and Syndrome flees very quickly while screaming, even pushing a man out of the way.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Prof. Ainchent does fairly well with all the spookiness in King Aknaten's tomb, until Franchise/WonderWoman, [[Characters/WonderWomanEttaCandy Etta Candy]], Bobby Strong and Glamora Treat all fall down a trap door, at which point he essentially declares, whelp they're dead, runs all the way back to his plane and flies back to America before even bothering to make a report. ComicBook/SteveTrevor is not impressed and forces the professor to show him exactly where the cursed tomb is.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Prof. Ainchent does fairly well with all the spookiness in King Aknaten's tomb, until Franchise/WonderWoman, [[Characters/WonderWomanEttaCandy Etta Candy]], Bobby Strong and Glamora Treat all fall down a trap door, at which point he essentially declares, whelp they're dead, runs all the way back to his plane and flies back to America before even bothering to make a report. [[Characters/WonderWomanSteveTrevor Steve Trevor]] is not impressed and forces the professor to show him exactly where the cursed tomb is.

** Blake thinks she's a coward because she feels her response to problems is to run away. Even her Semblance reinforces her self-belief by creating decoys that take her hits for her. Examples she uses to "prove" she's a coward include her fleeing the team when she actually lets slip to Weiss that she's ex-White Fang and her abandoning Adam during the Black Trailer. [[spoiler:When she runs away to protect the people she cares about from Adam's vengeance, a physically and emotionally broken Yang bitterly judges her for running away because Blake hasn't told anyone why she's gone. In "Taking Control", Sun calls her out on constantly running away, informing her that contrary to what she thinks, constantly abandoning her loved ones and friends is anything but selfless and in fact hurts them more than the bad guys ever could; hearing this, combined with the discovery that Adam intends to usurp the White Fang and then destroy Haven Academy just as he destroyed Beacon, finally gets Blake to decide she's done running.]]

** Raven's philosophy is that [[TheSocialDarwinist the weak die and the strong live]]; she'll only ever save a person once -- they must save themselves if they find themselves in danger again. She also refuses to get involved in the [[SecretWar conflict]] between [[BigGood Ozpin]] and [[BigBad Salem]], stating that anyone foolish enough to trust Ozpin will die for a lost cause. [[spoiler:By the end of volume 5, Yang makes Raven aware that she's willing to risk other people's lives whenever a danger arises; Yang declares that she is willing to fight Salem despite her fear while Raven would rather run despite being more powerful than her daughter; when Yang gives her the option of fleeing once again, she does so with a tearful apology, leaving her daughter to take the heat from Salem for possessing the [[ArtifactOfPower Relic of Knowledge]].]]

** Though he serves as Salem's mole, Leonardo Lionheart desperately attempts to bolt from the conflict between her and Ozpin thanks to his paranoia of the latter. Raven wonders what Salem has on Leo to have turned him against Ozpin and, when Ozpin personally witnesses how Leo is behaving on Salem's behalf, he wonders what happened to Leo. Leo realizes that Oscar hasn't been Ozpin's host for very long and thus isn't truly Ozpin yet; he concludes that if he can deliver Oscar to Salem, Salem will grant Leo's release. [[spoiler:His cowardice eventually culminates in Salem deeming him no longer useful for her plans after the Battle of Haven]].
** [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Jacques Schnee]] is perfectly composed, smug, and arrogant as long as he's in control of a situation; said smugness, arrogance, and composure goes away when things don't work in his favor. Best shown in Volume 7; [[spoiler:when he's outed for collaborating with [[MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate Dr. Watts]] to rig the council election in his favor, he's reduced to a sweating, stammering wreck who can only muster feeble lies in his defense before trying to make a break for it]].

** Leo is an easily frightened man who has been crushed by fear from the weight of knowledge that he carries. [[spoiler:Convinced that [[BigBad Salem]] [[InvincibleVillain cannot be stopped]], he has served her as mole against [[BigGood Ozpin]] for a long time. Raven wonders what Salem has on him to make him turn against his oldest friend; when Ozpin sees for himself how Leo is behaving, he wonders what happened to Leo. When Leo realises that [[LegacyOfTheChosen Oscar]] hasn't been [[SharingABody Ozpin's host]] for long enough to truly [[FusionDance become Ozpin]] yet, he concludes that delivering Oscar to Salem might finally grant him an escape from the nightmare his life has become; in the end, he dies pleading for his life while Salem calls him a coward.]]

* ''WebAnimation/RWBYChibi'': Neptune's terror of water makes him avoid anything that is water-based, [[CharacterExaggeration even if it's a tiny puddle]]. While briefly covering for Sun on lifeguard duty, [[ButtMonkey Jaune]] falls into the pool and starts drowning; Neptune blatantly refuses to save him and just looks the other way, pretending that nothing's happening as Jaune begs for help and eventually sinks under. When Sun reminds him of this incident, Neptune is forced to acknowledge that his fear of water might actually be a problem.

** Leo is an easily frightened man who's desperately attempting to leave from the [[SecretWar conflict]] between [[spoiler:[[BigBad Salem]]]] and [[BigGood Ozpin]] that he's involved in. [[spoiler:Salem]] uses his paranoia of her to manipulate him, and he has been working for her as a mole against Ozpin for a long time. Raven wonders what [[spoiler:Salem]] has on Leo to have turned him against Ozpin and, when Ozpin sees for himself how Leo is behaving on [[spoiler:Salem]]'s behalf, he wonders what happened to Leo. [[spoiler:Leo realizes that Oscar hasn't been Ozpin's host for very long and therefore isn't truly Ozpin yet; he concludes that if he can deliver Oscar to Salem, Salem will grant Leo's release. Ultimately, he dies pleading for his life with Salem, appropriately enough, calling him a coward.]]

** For all of his boasts and posturing, [[GeneralFailure James Ironwood]] proves to be unwilling to enter any conflict where he doesn't have a clear and definite advantage. When he does fight on his own, it's against someone who is significantly weaker than him, such as mooks[[note]]A Beowolf & Atlasian Knights[[/note]], a non-combatant[[note]][[EvilGenius Arthur Watts]][[/note]], or someone who was wounded earlier[[note]]Winter Schnee, who was savagely beaten by Cinder the last Volume and had no time to recover[[/note]]. When he thinks Qrow is about to attack him in Volume 3, Ironwood visibly panics, and when he learns that Salem is on her way to attack Atlas in Volume 7, immediately makes plans to raise Atlas and abandon Mantle to the Grimm to avoid her. Ironwood also proves to be a moral coward, as instead of acknowledging his own fear, he will insist his self-serving decisions are for the greater good. [[spoiler: Ironwood's last moments are, when he sees Salem and Cinder making off with the Relics, begins to draw his pistol before giving up on even trying to retake the Staff and Lantern.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'': When Hal mistakes Megamind and Minion for robbers, he tries to make them go after one of his neighbors. Later on, as [[FromNobodyToNightmare Tighten]], when he is faced by Metro Man (or so he thinks), his first instinct is to drop the "badass supervillain" act and flee in a panic.