History Main / HeroicSelfDeprecation

* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': Kate spent (almost) all her life believing that she doesn't deserve love and happiness. Despite having sacrificed her own desires in order to make her family happy as she willingly took over her father's role (following his death) since young age, she still feels it's never enough to be worthy of love. Until her stepmother reassures her and her reformed sister, Edwina, convinces her about her right to be happy.

* Over the course of''Literature/TheScholomance'' trilogy; a number of people manage to see past Galadriel Higgins's [[PerpetualFrowner not-so-vaguely hostile]] demeanor, magical talent for [[PersonOfMassDestruction murder and mayhem]], dearth of talent for [[CripplingOverspecialization all that much aside from that]], quite literal [[SupernaturalSensitivity Aura]] of [[BlackMagic Menace]], etc. to recognize [[CreepyGood her]] for the empathetic, courageous, and unselfish young woman she actually is. El herself is not among them, often brooding on how [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil an aloof sense universal balance]] saddled her saintly healer mum with a "Surly, Wrathful Death-Sorceress" of a [[LikeMotherUnlikeDaughter child]] even after saving hundreds from death and worse for no personal gain.

* Over the course of''Literature/TheScholomance'' trilogy; a number of people manage to see past Galadriel Higgins's [[PerpetualFrowner not-so-vaguely hostile]] demeanor, magical talent for [[PersonOfMassDestruction murder and mayhem]], dearth of talent for [[CripplingOverspecialization all that much aside from that]], quite literal [[SupernaturalSensitivity Aura]] of [[BlackMagic Menace]], etc. to recognize [[CreepyGood her]] for the empathetic, courageous, and unselfish young woman she actually is. El herself is not among them, often brooding on how [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil an aloof sense universal balance]] saddled her saintly healer mum with a "Surly, Wrathful Death-Sorceress" of a [[LikeMotherUnlikeDaughter child]].

* Hatsumi Narita from ''Manga/HotGimmick'' tends to put herself down quite a bit, feeling that she is weak and unable to vocalize her emotions. The fact that her [[DomesticAbsue abusive boyfriend]] [[{{Jerkass}} Ryoki]] actively encourages this in her, by calling her "stupid", "dimwit", "birdbrain", and making her feel bad if her world doesn't [[ItsAllAboutMe revolve around him]], doesn't help much.

** The titular character has a bad case of this, as she is seen berating herself for being a weak coward for her reluctance to become a MagicalGirl the day after seeing one get devoured in battle.It was enough to [[spoiler: drive the [[EmotionlessGirl normally unemotional]] Homura [[NotSoStoic to tears]].]] She follows a group of people she realizes has been mind-controlled by one of the [[EldritchAbomination Witches]] Magical Girls fight and saves them when they are compelled to commit mass suicide that evening. She sees no contradiction.

** Homura is has it worse than Madoka in this regard, as shown in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion''. [[spoiler: Between her inner monologues and the [[RuleOfSymbolism harrowing imagery]] of her Witch Labyrinth, it's clear Homura sees nothing in herself worth liking.]]

* Hatsumi Narita from ''Manga/HotGimmick'' tends to put herself down quite a bit, feeling that she is weak and unable to vocalize her emotions. The fact that her [[DomesticAbsuer abusive boyfriend]] [[{{Jerkass}} Ryoki]] actively encourages this in her, by calling her "stupid", "dimwit", "birdbrain", and making her feel bad if her world doesn't [[ItsAllAboutMe revolve around him]], doesn't help much.

* ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'': Madoka does this to the point of [[spoiler: driving [[EmotionlessGirl Homura]] [[NotSoStoic to tears]]. [[TearJerker Holy God almighty that was depressing.]]]] At one point, she is seen berating herself for being a weak coward for her reluctance to become a MagicalGirl the day after seeing one get devoured in battle. She follows a group of people she realizes has been mind-controlled by one of the [[EldritchAbomination Witches]] Magical Girls fight and saves them when they are compelled to commit mass suicide that evening. She sees no contradiction.
** It turns out that Homura is EVEN WORSE than Madoka in this regard, as shown in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagicaTheMovieRebellion''. [[spoiler: Between her inner monologues and the [[RuleOfSymbolism harrowing imagery]] of her Witch Labyrinth, it's clear Homura sees nothing in herself worth liking.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fics:
** ''Fanfic/TheApprenticeTheStudentAndTheCharlatan'': Nova Shine also has some serious self-esteem issues, stemming from years of being a neglected WellDoneSonGuy who was cheated out of a place in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It's only after he becomes Luna's Night Apprentice and has Twilight Sparkle there to provide positive reinforcement that he starts to become a confident and assured young stallion.
** ''Fanfic/TheBridge'': Godzilla Junior has self-esteem issues due to his fear that, despite his heroic upbringing and his long career of protecting others, he's still [[IAmAMonster just another monster.]] In moments of self-reflection, he seems to think that he's not meant for a peaceful life.
** ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria'' has a ''very'' egregious example in the protagonist, Littlepip. She narrates the story in first person. And that first person has some ''serious self-esteem issues''. She constantly questions her own motivations and actions, and every time she slips she beats herself up so much you're debating between giving her a hug or a GetAHoldOfYourselfWoman. Additionally, the story presents some very interesting examples of characters who have the potential to be heroes but became corrupted because they trusted their own judgment too much.
*** ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestriaProjectHorizons'': Blackjack takes Littlepip's issues to the point where she's motivated by nothing but sheer seething hatred of both herself and the Wasteland. And unlike Littlepip, she has [[DrivenToSuicide attempted suicide]] multiple times.
** ''Fanfic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': [[spoiler:Night Blade's self-hatred is tremendous, and it takes a ''lot'' to ultimately convince him that he is ''not'' a bad pony.]]
** In ''Fanfic/TheStarsAscendant'', Twilight apologizes to Celestia for saving Equestria incorrectly. Celestia feels guilty, both for inspiring Twilight’s guilt, as well as for underestimating Twilight and preventing her from doing what she would do naturally, namely calling upon her friends for help and advice, and confronting the problem head-on.
** ''Fanfic/TheWorldIsFilledWithMonsters'': Vermillion, despite his growing list of accomplishments both as a soldier and as a leader, harbors persistent doubts over his own worth and competence. He particularly tends to negatively compare himself to Canopy, his old commanding officer, and to question why Luna would have chosen a no-name former farmer to be her knight.
* ''Fanfic/PowerChordHighSchoolMusical'': Luna has a severe case of this. She hates herself for basically everything. She hates that she is a metahuman and feels that it is a curse, she hates herself for her mother’s death and feels it was her fault when it wasn't, as well as has a lot of insecurities about her being a good enough person and her crush on Carol. In the end, she does manage to accept herself more and stop [[spoiler:Luan]] but it is made clear that it hasn’t fully gone away.
* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime'': Beth Lestrade, in the three-part 1st season finale. She's thrust into life-or-death situations and manages not only to keep her head above the water but also to keep an entire gang of Victorian street kids safe. Her planning also leads to the rescue of Dr. Watson and her HeroicSuicide to the redemption of Literature/SherlockHolmes. But throughout all this and after she comes BackFromTheDead, she never once thinks of herself as anything more than "just a kid," and certainly not a hero. She gets upset when others insist that she is because she sees her actions as just doing what had to be done: ergo, anyone could do it; she just happened to be the one in the right place at the right time. The task falls to Sherlock to show her that she's worth the respect and love that he and others have for her.

* ''Fanfic/NeverHadAFriendLikeMe'': [[OriginalCharacter Amanda]] has a near-pathological belief that nobody would ever willingly invest any time and effort into her and that the best thing she could do was [[ShrinkingViolet stay in the background]] and not do anything to bother anyone. Considering that she had no friends and [[ParentalNeglect her parents]] have pretty much spent years saying this to her face, it's understandable why this belief has been ingrained into her. [[spoiler: [[JerkassGenie Norm]] [[PapaWolf helps]] [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre overcome this somewhat]].]]
* ''Fanfic/AngelsBreath'': Ryusuke beats the crap out of himself for losing to Delia the first time round, despite having already shown his heroics to some degree, and blames himself for the entire team's loss to the Devil's Rage faction, even going so far as a HeroicBSOD. Then, there is of course, this:
-->'''Delia:''' And here I thought you were one of the heroes, here to vanquish evil from the world.\\
'''Ryusuke:''' You thought wrong.
* Brittany has shades of this in earlier chapter of ''Fanfic/NewReality''. Thinking herself as TheLoad, it took CharacterDevelopment to change her mind about it.
-->''I knew I was fighting a losing battle by trying to compare with these people. I just wasn't cut out for this-I wasn't physically built for it, I wasn't experienced, I didn't know anything...I didn't even have my memory. I was useless, really.''
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/3857014 Guilt]]'', [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse Pearl]] doubts her combat skill...because she can't fight ''seven opponents at once''. It's implied that her fear stems from some kind of wartime trauma.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' fic ''Fanfic/VacationFromTheNorm'', Ron and Shego call Kim out on her self-depreciation, reminding her that while Kim's parents, her brothers, and Shego and Ron may have mastered one or two disciplines each, Kim has mastered many. Yori goes a step further, suggesting that Kim's constantly saying that her skills are "no big" is in itself a form of arrogance. Considering that Kim had just mopped the floor with a pair of [[EliteMooks former Spetsnaz agents]], Yori may have a point.

* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Much like in canon, Shinji has incredibly low self-esteem, although he gets better as the story progresses thanks to his relationship with Asuka. At one point, Tanaka tries to flirt with him by calling him a hero and it visibly makes him incredibly uncomfortable.
* In ''Fanfic/ExtraLife'', Chiaki's self-esteem is ruined after [[LeeroyJenkins her past rashness]] helped cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. The experience left her questioning her judgment, putting herself down, and wanting to make amends while being terrified of messing up again.
* In ''Fanfic/FromMuddyWaters'', Izuku is constantly putting himself down over his guilt and shame at being the son of All For One and having his PowerParasite Quirk. He feels that he's a DirtyCoward for using U.A. as a HumanShield against his father, despite doing his best to protect his classmates and nearly getting killed for it. He has nothing but disgust for his abilities, which were stolen from heroes his father murdered, and feels that he's a terrible person for using their Quirks.
* Deconstructed in the ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' fic ''Fanfic/{{Anachronism}}'': Sonia frequently delves into self-deprecation, especially around strangers. Though her body language may seem confident, her self-deprecation is due to veiled feelings of depression and inadequacy. It's implied she was eventually DrivenToSuicide because her loved ones didn't see the signs in time.
* ''Fanfic/{{SAPR}}'': Pyrrha develops an inferiority complex after seeing what Cinder can really do. She also repeatedly says that she's not a leader, even though she's of royal blood and people constantly look up to her. [[spoiler:This turns out to be accurate when she's given the leadership of Team SAPR and then later that same day given command of Mistral's army during the Battle of Vale, and both times she turns out to be just as terrible a leader as she said she would be even when trying her hardest to live up to the burden she was given]].
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Chloe Cerise shows moments of feeling that she has no worth or that she's useless due to the fact that she has little to no parental guidance or friends and how all her peers bully her into getting into Pokémon.

* ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}'': Tom has a lot of self-loathing left over from his time as a [[AndIMustScream Controller]], which manifests itself as snarky remarks about how he was better that way.
* In the ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'', although [[NiceGuy Italy]] seems to be [[ThePollyanna happy all the time]], he really [[StepfordSmiler isn't]] like in canon. Hidden behind brilliant smiles is terrible anxiety and self-loathing.
* ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'': Hiccup in spades. He still hasn't gotten used to the transition from being an awkward skinny teenage viking who couldn't kill a dragon to being the Hero of Berk. He is embarrassed when, in chapter 2, he is called upon to hear and approve a saga written about him. In chapter 51 he even tells his father he feels like a fake hero.

* Literature/HarryPotter on occasion, for example, in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'':
--->'''Hermione:''' ...I'm not talking about test results, Harry. Look what you've ''done!''
--->'''Harry:''' How d'you mean?
--->'''Ron:''' (sarcastically) Uh... first year- you saved the Stone from You-Know-Who-
--->'''Harry:''' But that was luck, that wasn't skill-
--->'''Ron:''' Second year- you killed the basilisk and destroyed Riddle- Third year, you fought off about a hundred dementors at once.... last year, you fought off You-Know-Who again-
--->'''Harry:''' ...But I didn't get through any of that because I was brilliant at Defense Against the Dark Arts... I just blundered through it all, I didn't have a clue what I was doing-
** This is a bit ironic, as Harry also falls under the [[DudeWheresMyReward Dude Where's My Reward?]] trope in the same book.
*** That one is more due to the fact that, after having seen [[spoiler:Cedric Diggory's death and Voldemort's resurrection]], he isn't told anything about Voldemort, which he feels is important because Voldemort is trying to kill him personally. [[spoiler:And he is proven correct later in the book, by Dumbledore nonetheless, when he says that he has just realized that, by not telling Harry what he should have known earlier believing he was protecting him, he only made things worse.]]
** Harry's playing down of his own competence is probably justified, as he is already well aware that he's the centre of a 14-year-old reputation built on a deed he didn't actually perform himself. The last thing he wants the other students to believe is that he can pull an unbeatable solution out of his arse every time or teach them to do the same because he knows it could get them killed. [[spoiler:And sure enough, Colin Creevey, one of his biggest fans, dies in the last book, and it hits Harry "like a punch in the gut". Then again, Colin knew the score: he'd had to go out of his way to evade [=Mc=]Gonagall and sneak back to fight. What Harry couldn't comprehend was just how determined the whole school was to make a stand; if [=Mc=]Gonagall hadn't ordered them out, ''everyone'' would have stayed to fight.]]
** Also, a big theme in Ron Weasley's CharacterDevelopment is feeling inferior and unskilled in relation to Harry and Hermione, as well as his brothers, which more than once mixes with DrivenByEnvy. Ron feels that he's not really good at anything, and even if he was, either his friends or his siblings could have done whatever he can but better. Reading between the lines, Ron's not an idiot, has a certain amount of intuition his two friends often lack, and he's a world-class chess player. The guy just never gives himself enough credit until character development kicks in, and it's during the FinalBattle that Ron decides now really isn't the time to be down on himself.

** During [[spoiler:what would be his last conversation with Harry]], Dumbledore also shows a hefty amount of self-deprecation. He lays bare all of the mistakes of his youth that drove him to become the BigGood, explains that he never sought a government position because he didn't think he could be trusted with more power, and apologizes to Harry for manipulating him in the fight against Voldemort. Dumbledore admits that Harry is the better man and that everything would have gone smoother if Dumbledore had put more faith in him. Harry being Harry, he reassures Dumbledore that YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre.
** One can argue that J.K. Rowling handles this trope quite well: Harry self-deprecates because he's thrust into the position of the most important person in the world ''before he's even done growing up''.
** And Dumbledore was traumatized by [[spoiler: the death of his sister]] and blames himself for it.

* Takiko Okuda from ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'' has always seen herself as a weak, good-for-nothing girl, who was incapable of being remotely any help to the people closest to her, lamenting that she could not help her [[IllGirl sick mother]] and never managed to really get to know [[{{Workaholic}} her father]]. Even when she becomes the Priestess of Genbu and helps the warriors feel accepted and alright with their fate as her warriors, she still thinks she can't do much. [[spoiler: This is said to be one reason why Genbu had such an easy time devouring her.]]

* Mackenzie from ''Literature/TalesOfMU'' abhors violence, to the point that she'd rather die or get raped than risk hurting her attacker. Her compassion, empathy, and acceptance are borderline [[MessianicArchetype Messianic]]. She abjectly refuses to believe she is anything but irredeemably evil, a result of [[spoiler: her father being a ''demon'' and her caretaker being a ''demon hunter'']], not to mention that she has a shorter temper than [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner.]]

* Mackenzie from ''Literature/TalesOfMU'' abhors violence, to the point that she'd rather die or get raped than risk hurting her attacker. Her compassion, empathy, and acceptance are borderline [[MessianicArchetype Messianic]]. She abjectly refuses to believe she is anything but irredeemably evil, a result of [[spoiler: her father being a ''demon'' and her caretaker being a ''demon hunter'']], not to mention that she has more {{Berserk Button}}s than [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner.]]

* Saitama from ''Manga/OnePunchMan'' skirts this territory sometimes. Despite being (by far) the strongest being in the setting, he's depressed from what he considers a boring life, and he often despairs about everyday things like missing sales at his favorite stores. He's also very touchy about his lack of hair and embarrassing hero name (Caped Baldy).

** Gordin in the ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Akaneia]]'' remakes. Despite showing considerable talent as an archer, he doesn't seem to have much confidence in himself, which probably isn't helped by his introduction in ''Shadow Dragon'', where he is BoundAndGagged by the enemy army in a DisguisedHostageGambit. In ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', this is explored further. His base conversations with the Avatar show that it's partly due to his appearance, as he believes he is too baby-faced to be taken seriously, and tries to change the way he talks and even considers growing a beard to look more imposing.

** Wolt, Roy's best friend and milk-sibling from [[Videogame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade the prequel]]. He's a talented archer and Roy greatly values both his friendship and skill, but Wolt still sees himself as being weak and nothing but a hindrance to him. Like with Lowen, most of his Support Conversations revolve around other characters helping him to overcome his low self-esteem.

*** ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestriaProjectHorizons'': Blackjack takes Littlepip's issues UpToEleven, to the point where she's motivated by nothing but sheer seething hatred of both herself and the Wasteland. And unlike Littlepip, she has [[DrivenToSuicide attempted suicide]] multiple times.

* A feature of a number of protagonists in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', particularly the [[UpbringingMakesTheHero characters from the wholesome backwoods of the Two Rivers]], but [[UpToEleven Turned Up to Eleven]] for GentleGiant Perrin Aybara: even after he's become a major leader in the events leading up to the EndOfTheWorld, has commanded MenOfSherwood armies at the scale of tens of thousands of soldiers through many a BigBadassBattleSequence, and earned the respect of [[TheMenFirst nearly every person who serves under him]] (as well as [[DefeatMeansRespect former foes]] and skeptics), Perrin is painfully self-doubting and uncertain of his worthiness to have anyone follow him, and [[ReluctantRuler pines for a simpler life without anyone looking to him for orders]]. It is undoubtedly meant to make Perrin seem like a [[TheEveryman humble and unassuming hero]] with greatness thrust upon him, and he does come off as a genuinely likeable person, more or less, but by book 14 of the series (with more than a thousand pages dedicated to Perrin's chapters alone, all of which present him as a ReluctantWarrior badass, a [[TheParagon paragon of virtue]], and a [[TheLeader capable leader]] who [[TheReliableOne bends but never breaks under pressure]]), the BrokenRecord of his self-deprecation cycle gets a bit hard to swallow, especially after he becomes really good at being TheBeastmaster ''and'' a RealityWarper-[[SuperWeight god]] of the DreamLand. The contrivance is laid on only a little less thick in the later books, but even then, his resolution and self-confidence take turns with huge bouts of ItsAllMyFault, particularly when it comes to his wife, who spends every other book as his DamselInDistress.

* ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'': Hiccup in spades. He still hasn't gotten used to the transition from being an awkward skinny viking who wouldn't kill a dragon to being the Hero of Berk. He is embarrassed when, in chapter 2, he is called upon to hear and approve a saga written about him. In chapter 51 he even tells his father he feels like a fake hero.

** Bernadetta and Marianne in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' both have incredibly low self-esteem for their own reasons, and constantly talk themselves down. Bernadetta was the victim of severe ParentalAbuse from her father, while Marianne struggles with the [[spoiler:nature of her Crest]] and it's strongly hinted she's depressed. PlayedForLaughs in the case of Constance, who is quite prideful while in the shade, but when exposed to sunlight she puts both Bernadetta and Marianne to shame in terms of putting herself down.

** ''Fanfic/FalloutEquestria'' has a ''very'' egregious example in the protagonist, Littlepip. She narrates the story in first person. And that first person has some ''serious self-esteem issues''. She constantly questions her own motivations and actions, and every time she slips she beats herself up so much you're debating between giving her a hug or a BrightSlap. Additionally, the story presents some very interesting examples of characters who have the potential to be heroes but became corrupted because they trusted their own judgment too much.

* As a Deconstruction of a [[TheCape Cape]]: Samaritan from ''Comicbook/AstroCity'', meaning it's a bit hard to get through dinner with him without hearing him complain.
* ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'' eats this trope for breakfast, with a title character who thinks she's a significantly worse superhero than she actually turns out to be. Making it worse is that her suit is implied to be as tough as her self-confidence- and with that in the gutter, it actually significantly hurts her power, putting her

** Weaponized by Reed Richards when Comicbook/DoctorStrange gives him a magic device that activates only when Reed admits there are things he doesn't know. For bonus points, Reed was fighting Doctor Doom, Marvel's all-time number one egomaniac.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': [[{{DeadpanSnarker}} Chandler]] makes constant jokes at his own expense. His ''first line of the series'' is a quip about his pathetic dating life. His snarking actually belies devastatingly low self-esteem stemming from his neglectful parents and constant rejection. This is ironic as he has the most successful, well-paid career of the gang, is relatively attractive, intelligent, and very witty. As the series continues, you see him [[{{CharacterDevelopment}} gain confidence]] (largely in part to his [[{{HappilyMarried}} relationship]] with the supportive Monica) and as a result, he becomes less self-deprecating.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic examples:

** Twilight Sparkle also has shades of this, particularly in "Boast Busters;" she's afraid of defeating a Main/SmallNameBigEgo character in a magical contest simply because she doesn't want others to think she's showing off. This later comes into effect in "Lesson Zero," where Twilight begins mentally unhinging because she hasn't sent in her weekly friendship report and fears [[HeldBackInSchool getting sent back to magic kindergarten,]] or possibly [[DisproportionateRetribution to the moon]]. Never mind all her positive findings before then.

* Hatsumi Narita from ''Manga/HotGimmick'' tends to put herself down quite a bit, feeling that she is weak and unable to vocalize her emotions. The fact that her [[BastardBoyfriend abusive boyfriend]] [[{{Jerkass}} Ryoki]] actively encourages this in her, by calling her "stupid", "dimwit", "birdbrain", and making her feel bad if her world doesn't [[ItsAllAboutMe revolve around him]], doesn't help much.

* Karin Karino in ''Manga/KareKanoFirstLove'' has low self-esteem at first. She grows past this by the end of the manga.

* ''Manga/{{Shy}}'': The titular heroine has [[ShrinkingViolet low self-esteem]] [[MeaningfulName to begin with]], but after she fails to save a girl during an accident and the public and media blame her for it, she falls into a HeroicBSoD and wishes there would be someone else who could do her job. After getting some advice from the other heroes and [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in badass]] she gets better but is still hesitant to take credit for her actions.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDxD'': Considering their dark and troubled pasts, or previous actions almost everyone on the Occult Research Club has had a moment like this. Out of all of them the most surprising [[spoiler:was Issei, where it is revealed in Vol. 20 that he has been suffering from almost depression levels of self-esteem issues since childhood when he borrowed his father's fishing rod without permission and it broke leaving Issei to take the blame for himself without telling him and questioning his worth as his parents' child. It also shows that while he genuinely is a breast man, by thinking of them near constantly he was able to keep his depression and self-worth in check, Raynare's actions washed that away like a sand wall to a tsunami.]]

** Kanata took the attacks on him as a member of the Five Oddballs very much to heart, and genuinely thinks of himself as a monster of the kind that would be defeated by heroes in a story, despite being a genuinely kind person who only had generous intentions before he was victimised.

* [[spoiler:Vivian]] from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''. Despite easily being the most powerful and the most versatile partner Mario had, she failed to develop much self-confidence until late in the game. She had a good reason, though; [[spoiler:her sisters were bullies who always told her she was worthless (the biggest reason for her HeelFaceTurn).]]
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'': Solid Snake is proud of his deeds and aware of his competence... but don't, ''ever'' call him a hero. You'll get a ten-minute lecture if you're lucky.
** According to Snake, a hero does it because it's right, a soldier does it because he's ordered. He's very much the second, he thinks, and refuses to let anyone (especially himself) forget it.
** Between his PTSD and his survivor's guilt, Otacon can keep up with Snake in this regard any day. Ironically, both of them form an independent paramilitary organization dedicated to opposing Metal Gears in [=MGS4=], where Snake is ''most'' likely to angst and insist he's not a hero.
* Of all places, this shows up in ''[[VideoGame/KatamariDamacy Katamari Forever]]'' through the [[ReplacementGoldfish RoboKing]], who constantly [[WellDoneSonGuy compares himself unfavorably]] to the real King of All Cosmos and frets over the slightest mistake, real or imagined. (He's much better at [[DamnedByFaintPraise damning with faint praise]], though.)
* In ''VideoGame/CreepyCastle'' [[spoiler:Moth (who was the protagonist of Creepy Castle and was as competent as Butterfly in scenario 2)]] describe himself not as a hero but a person who ended up with the responsibility to be one.
* When s/he finally shows up in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', it's clear that Hawke's failures in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' have done irreparable damage to his/her self-esteem. While Snarky!Hawke had done this before, it was always with a sense of humor. By this point, it's taken a much more serious turn. In their first meeting, Hawke honestly doesn't understand why the Inquisitor would even want his/her help.

* Arthur Morgan of ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' never misses a chance to voice his self-loathing no matter how [[KarmaMeter high or low his Honour]] is played. He constantly brushes off people whenever they compliment him or tell him how he's a good person and they like him, and he even calls himself an "ugly bastard" when he looks at himself in a mirror. Like we don't all know [[{{Hunk}} you're totally dreamy]], Arthur.
* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV'', [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamCharsCounterattack Amuro Ray]] doesn't consider himself worthy of using his Newtype abilities to better mankind and lead the way to peace. Instead, he sees himself as nothing more than a soldier that just happens to have psychic powers. He tells [[Anime/Gundam00AWakeningOfTheTrailblazer Setsuna F. Seiei]] to follow his own path and to hopefully not end up like Char and himself. Later, [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamZZ Judau Ashta]] tells Amuro to stop being afraid, and his experience within a GN Particle Field causes him to hope once again.