History Main / HeroicSelfDeprecation

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' (''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'' & ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' & ''Franchise/SilentHill''): Chloe Cerise shows moments of feeling that she has no worth or that she's useless because she has little to no parental guidance or friends and how all her peers bully her into getting into Pokémon.

** Nearly saves [[CowardlyLion Fluttershy]] from corruption in the season two premiere. Discord starts mocking her about how weak and useless she is, expecting her to get riled up and protest about how her kindness has done so much good... but instead, her self-esteem is so crappy she ''agrees'' with him wholeheartedly, and starts talking about how grateful she is to have friends who are willing to help her so much because she's good for so little, despite the fact that this is the pony who walked up to a [[AndroclesLion raging manticore]], [[StaringDownCthulhu made a dragon cry]], and stared down a cockatrice that was [[TakenForGranite turning her to stone]] at the time, among other things in season 1 alone. Just when it looks like she's off the hook, Discord loses his patience and corrupts her by sheer brute force.
** Twilight Sparkle also has shades of this, particularly in "Boast Busters;" she's afraid of defeating a 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.
** Spike's reaction to praise from the Mane Six and Princess Cadence for saving every pony from the iceberg cloud in ''[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E24EquestriaGames Equestria Games]]''.

** [[LadyOfWar Pearl]] suffers from this ''big time'' due to [[spoiler: Homeworld's treatment of Pearls as a ServantRace]]. This inherently low self-image coupled with and informing her unhealthy devotion to Rose Quartz has led to some fairly self-destructive behavior, including [[spoiler: tricking Garnet into fusing with her so she could experience Garnet's strength and stability]]. In "Friend Ship" she outright stated that because she's "just a Pearl", she doesn't have any inherent value and is only useful when someone gives her orders to follow. This is all in spite of being a [[SilkHidingSteel master swordswoman]], [[WrenchWench mechanical engineer]], and having been [[NumberTwo Rose Quartz's second-in-command during the Rebellion]]. Thanks to Garnet's urging towards self-determination, she is getting better.
** Steven and Amethyst suffer from this as well. Steven doesn't think he's strong enough to replace his mother as leader of the team, and [[spoiler: he suffers from massive guilt over his failure to help/reconcile with Jasper, Eyeball, and Bismuth]]. Amethyst, despite being the strongest non-fusion of the team, and being the one who loves Earth the most because it's her native home, believes she's inherently bad because she was made in the Earth Kindergarten to be a Homeworld soldier during the Rebellion, and only avoided that by hatching 500 years behind schedule. Smoky Quartz, as Steven and Amethyst's fusion, shares similar self-esteem issues due to not having any apparent special abilities like the other fusions beyond their yo-yo weapon (they haven't existed long enough to properly explore their powers).
** As a result of her actions and mistakes caused by her ignorance and inability to completely learn from them, Rose Quartz is implied to have been heavily burdened by extremely low self-esteem. [[spoiler:She feels not good enough for Homeworld because the Diamonds' abuse towards her former identity for her compassion towards lesser beings made her feel worthless. And then she tries to improve herself by colonizing Earth (which requires leaving behind her childhood, including her playmate Spinel), only to learn the AwfulTruth behind the process, which adds to her self-loathing (and also implies that she regrets leaving Spinel behind but couldn't come back for her because she believes Spinel deserves better than her, unaware that she was still waiting for her). She tries to atone for her mistakes by fighting against the Authority to save her planet, even faking her own shattering, since she believed they loved her only as a Diamond and just to feel better about themselves, only to realize far too late they did love her as a person and responded to her "death" by Corrupting all remaining Gems on Earth, which she barely saved Garnet and Pearl from]]. She even feels not good enough for Earth and believes she doesn't deserve to be loved by her friends and family due to her failure to save the rest of them, blaming herself for the corrupted Gems.
* The trailer for the fifth season of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' seems to show him as having sunk deep into this state, yet still able to claw his way out of it, something that seems to have repeated itself frequently over a fifty-year TimeSkip.

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Adora does this a lot, despite her accomplishments. If something goes wrong, the poor girl is quick to blame herself, even if it's not her fault. It also gets to a point where she thinks she's useless, no matter what form she takes.

* Hakuron from ''Manga/HaouAiren'' keeps saying horrible things about himself and insists in telling Kurumi that he's a monster and she should reject him for such stuff, but that doesn't stop him from hugging her passionately and sexing her up. Many times, against her will.

* 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 [[DomesticAbuse 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.

* Sawako from ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke''. Without the heroic part, but on a scale of 100, Sawako has a self-esteem in the single digits.
* Karin Karino in ''Manga/KareKano'' has low self-esteem at first. She grows past this by the end of the manga.

* ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'': The author himself. Be sure to read his notes at the ends of volumes.
-->''I think I'm creepy. I just can't stand any part of myself. If I went to a picnic and saw my ugly face reflected in the lake, I'd just jump into it. If I went shopping and saw my ugly figure reflected in the show window, I'd bang my head against the glass and cut my throat with a fragment. My TV is always on. That's because if I turned it off, I'd see my ugly reflection. On sunny days, I have no desire to leave the house. Even my shadow is ugly. I'm an ugly manga child who'll never see the day when I become a swan.\\
I changed the lightbulb over my sink to the lowest wattage.''

* In ''Manga/MarchComesInLikeALion'', one of Rei's major flaws is his lack of self-esteem. His family issues that he blames himself for and his struggles as a professional shogi player despite being lauded as one of the few players to become pro in middle school serve as few of the many factors that exacerbate his extremely low opinion of himself.

* Jeremy and Ian do this to themselves a LOT in ''Manga/ACruelGodReigns''. Jeremy often asserts that he "smells rotten" and that he makes those around him (particularly Ian) "dirty." Ian, likewise, regrets and agonizes over the fact that he did not notice that Jeremy was being abused and that when he confessed, he did not at first believe him.

* Shouya Ishida from ''Manga/ASilentVoice'' is so filled with self-loathing after [[HeelRealisation truly grasping the depths of his]] [[KidsAreCruel cruelty]] to [[CuteMute Shouko Nishimiya]] when they were in elementary school that initially his only life goal is to [[TheAtoner make up for his mistakes]] before [[DrivenToSuicide killing himself]]. He struggles to believe that he can ever have friends again because he considers himself to still be a horrible person, which also makes him [[ObliviousToLove incapable of realizing when Shouko has not only forgiven him but fallen in love with him]] (leading to the MaybeEverAfter ending). He ''does'' get somewhat better as the story progresses, at least,
* The eponymous Tanaka from ''Manga/TanakaKunIsAlwaysListless'' knows he's too [[LazyBum listless]] for his own good, and sees himself as useless and worthless as a person because of it. His friends and family regularly remind him that he is in fact a good friend and they do all love him.
* Kaoruko "[[PenName Kaos]]" Moeta from ''Manga/ComicGirls'' tends to think negatively of herself, and punishes herself in ways that go way beyond acceptable. In the third episode, Moeta didn't eat dinner because [[ForgetsToEat she was working too hard]], and also thinks that, since she screwed up a storyboard for a gourmet manga, [[DisproportionateRetribution she shouldn't be allowed to eat]].

* ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'':
** Mai's lack of self-esteem makes her frequently doubt whether she is up to the task as the club president, despite Mira and Ao agreeing she is good at what [[TheHeart the club most badly needed at the moment]].
** Not about herself per se, but Mikage tends to see her geology hobby in a worse light than what it actually is. This is best demonstrated in the SchoolFestival arc, she is surprised that many of her classmates seem to be interested in what she's doing—she always thinks rocks are so niche that she expects few people to be interested in them.

* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': [[MiddleChildSyndrome Miku]] seems to value her self-worth in terms of how she performs in comparison to her sisters. Case in point, at the start of the story she considered herself the worst out of them until Fuutarou pointed out that she had gotten the highest score in the mock test he gave them. This seemed to bolster her confidence, and when she started developing feelings for him she was determined to get the highest grades in the final exams in order to confess to him. However, she backs off at the last second [[SpannerInTheWorks when Ichika ends up scoring higher than her]]. It comes to a head during the Sisters War arc, [[spoiler:when after finding out Ichika planned to sabotage her attempt to confess to Fuutarou, [[HeroicBSOD she breaks down into tears]] and confesses to Nino that she's always been afraid of being rejected, thinking that Fuutarou could never fall in love with someone like her]].

* The majority of Creator/CatherineAnderson's heroines. They're convinced they're completely worthless and that no man would ever want them for whatever reason but the hero's point of view makes sure the readers know how beautiful and special these women are.

* Although ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' Crane is usually quite vain, pompous, and full of himself, and quite willing to rub it in everyone's face, this arrogance is largely a cover for his insecurity, and when it fails him, his self-loathing black moods are miserable. His brother Niles usually has to flip their VitriolicBestBuds bickering on its head and do the same thing to himself to get Frasier out of it:
-->'''Frasier''': I ''wanted'' my day. I wanted hoopla and fuss, I practically planned the whole thing myself. Says a lot about me as a psychiatrist, doesn't it? I'm a small man.\\
'''Niles''': Well, what does it say about me that I was happy seeing you miss your day? I was jealous all week! I'm a ''tiny'' man.\\
'''Frasier''': Next to me, you're a giant!\\
'''Niles''': I stare up at your ankles!\\
'''Frasier''': I need a stepladder just to —\\
'''Niles''': Oh, let's not do this again.
* ''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.

* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'':
** 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 victimized.
** Souma is an extremely hard-working and dedicated kid who always tries to help others when he can and acts as Akatsuki's [[MoralityPet conscience]]. However, he ''constantly'' doubts himself, feeling like he isn't doing enough and is unworthy of Akatsuki, and becomes upset and self-sacrificing over even minor mistakes. Part of it seems a result of his modern-day {{Samurai}} heritage, but the BreakTheCutie stuff he went through during the war the previous year definitely gave him an unneeded guilt complex, too.
** Chiaki acts upbeat and tries to be a cheerful, optimistic leader, but deep down he constantly worries that he's not good enough to lead Ryuuseitai and finds it very difficult to ask for help. Once again, a failure the previous year drives most of this.
** Makoto was an extremely successful model and is also a very capable idol, and part of ''the'' most successful idol unit in the series, and the one that saved the rest of the school from the student council's tyranny. However, he's a very nervy and sensitive kid who always feels like he isn't good enough. His modelling past is actually the main cause: he was great at it but it made him miserable, so he feels guilty about leaving, and his older brother figure from back then who shows up periodically to tell him to give up on his dreams because he'll only ever be a pretty face ''really'' doesn't help...
** Anzu herself is extremely hard-working and understanding and helps the other characters a great deal, but she always tries to deny it when the guys thank her.

* Yuuya Sakazaki in ''VisualNovel/HatofulBoyfriend'' deliberately comes off as [[StepfordSmiler confident, cheerful and carefree]], undisturbed by anything and everything. He's really a secret agent, who is never enough to carry the day on his own but is always crucial, and who has great strengths. Get to know him and you find signs that he doesn't think much of himself, probably stemming from something he did in his past. Oblivious to that, Hiyoko can worry that he sometimes gets self-deriding or despairing and urges him not to listen to his detractors, that [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre he's a better person than he thinks]].

* ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'': [[DontFearTheReaper Calliope Mori]], even after hitting the top charts in the hip-hop genre, is famously known for putting herself down, despite the praise of her friends and fans. She's even touched on the topic in some of her songs.

* The titular character of ''WebVideo/DaisyBrown'' is prone to this.
** [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oaYz-KkmLM8 "Hateful Thoughts"]] is full of her doing this, screaming about how much she hates herself, about how her viewers only care about Alan, about how she thinks her father may have created Alan because ''he'' hated her and wanted a new "perfect" child to [[ReplacementGoldfish replace her]], etc.
** She does it again briefly in [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=G2Ww9toFrz8 "the basement"]]: after Lithop assures Daisy that she can help her and [[spoiler: the other monsters, because she's the doctor's daughter,]] Daisy [[TearJerker tearfully]] responds with "Lithop, no, I can't help you, I can't even take care of myself!"

* In the later seasons of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' Meg fell into this trope more often than not. Given her status as extreme ButtMonkey on the show, this isn't surprising.

* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Sean has a rather low opinion of himself despite his accomplishments. He is anxious almost all the time, and he is honestly shocked when Mindy sincerely calls him "cool" in "Magnet, PI"

* In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'', despite having a {{Catchphrase}} urging her to keep going forward and earn her victories, Suletta Mercury has a problem dealing with people not needing her. In episodes 10 and 11, a few innocent acts by the Earth House seemingly convinced Suletta they needed her no more and it took Miorine to hunt her down and fix things up. Even worse, if something does go wrong, she will blame herself when it wasn’t even her fault, such as [[spoiler: episode 17, where Miorine tells her she shut down Aerial so she could lose and Suletta responds by apologizing for her loss and begging for another try]].

* [[BrokenAce Miranda]] in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' trilogy has pretty severe self-esteem issues along these lines; since she was [[spoiler:designed from the ground up to be 'perfect']], she's got trouble believing she actually earned any of her accomplishments. She believes the only things that are truly hers are her mistakes.
** In the third game, Shepard gets in on the act, questioning why everyone is putting their faith in him/her, even though by this point s/he is the biggest damn hero in the galaxy [[spoiler: and according to the Leviathans, the greatest threat ever to have faced the Reapers...and the Reapers have been around for over ''a billion years'' and having successfully defeated anyone who has stood against them to conquer the galaxy roughly ''twenty thousand'' times.]]

* Izuku Midoriya from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has this to the point where [[AmbiguousDisorder fans have wondered whether he suffers from Impostor Syndrome]]. He never seems to consider himself a true hero or a worthy successor to All Might, no matter how many people he saves, and part of the reason he's so willing to [[HeroicRROD break his body]] to use his quirk is that he genuinely considers himself as less important than his peers. His self-esteem problems stem from the vicious bullying he received all his life for being Quirkless, which internalized the notion that he was worth less than his peers and not able to accomplish anything.

* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'':

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E7AmysChoice "Amy's Choice"]] involves an enemy who insists on being called the "Dream Lord", with [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin powers over dreams]]. [[spoiler:Early on, the Doctor says "I know who you are. There's only one man in the universe who hates me that much." At the end of the episode we find out that the Dream Lord was a manifestation of the negativity in the Doctor's subconscious.]]
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor "Vincent and the Doctor"]]: Creator/VincentVanGogh has a problem with putting himself down because ''everyone else'' in his time period puts him down as well.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E8LetsKillHitler "Let's Kill Hitler"]], when the TARDIS voice interface takes on the image of the Doctor, he asks it to show him someone he likes instead.
** [[TheNthDoctor The Eleventh Doctor]] practically runs on this trope. In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E11TheGodComplex "The God Complex"]], he delivers an IronicEcho of something he'd said to Amy when she'd begun traveling with him, "I am '''just''' a madman with a box."
** Overlapping with NeverTrustATrailer: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z6FMCqYrBo In the trailer]] for the 50th anniversary special [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]], we hear the War Doctor say "Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame." In the episode proper, [[TearJerker we realize]] he's referring to ''himself'' as the lesser man, with his future selves being the great ones.
** Season 8 has the Doctor asking "Am I a good man?" shortly after his regeneration; at the time, his companion Clara tells him that she doesn't know, but the fact that he's trying is enough for now. As the season draws to a close, Missy (the Master reborn as a woman) has assembled an army of Cybermen from dead people and gives the Doctor a control bracelet so he can control them as the superior officer she believes he was meant to be. He rejects it, calling himself not a good man or a bad man, nor even an officer. He calls himself "an idiot" who just passes through and helps out.

* This is a common theme in the [[Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa manga adaptation]] of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''.

* This is a recurring theme with Bella in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', as she spends a good quarter of the first book alone lamenting how boring, clumsy, plain, useless, etc. she is in relation to Edward. He, on the other hand, does the same thing in the unfinished ''Midnight Sun'' manuscript, decrying his bloodlust, darkness, monstrosity, etc., and how he will never be good enough for Bella.

** Harry himself feels no appreciation for any of his accomplishments, downplaying them whenever someone compliments him for them. This stems from having his legendary reputation being built on something he didn't do himself i.e. his mother's sacrifice that defeated Voldemort for the first time. When Ron and Hermione suggest Harry might make a good Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher due to his many run-ins with Voldemort, his Death Eaters, and other dark creatures, he refuses. He reasons that he only survived those experiences because he was lucky and that he has no extraordinary abilities at all. Dumbledore has to spend almost the entire [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfbloodPrince sixth book]] convincing him he actually is extraordinary.

* In the novelization of ''Literature/RevengeOfTheSith'' by Matt Stover, the only person in the galaxy who doesn't believe Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the greatest Jedi Masters of his time is Obi-Wan Kenobi.

** Naruto Uzumaki constantly beats himself up if he feels he's being "weak". For a large part of the series, he especially can't stand the fact that he hasn't been able to redeem his friend, Sasuke. Before the Chunin exams finals, Naruto privately admitted to [[TheConfidant Hinata]] that he viewed himself as a loser and [[BoisterousWeakling tried to act cool and brash]] to cope with this. It doesn't help that Naruto's self-worth was already frighteningly low, being a StepfordSmiler from the very beginning. His childhood consisted of him being ostracized, hated, and psychologically crippled by the extensive fear and loathing pushed onto him by his village. His self-confidence has gotten better over the course of the series, but it is still pretty damn fragile, and the only way he can function is by being a {{Determinator}} and using sheer willpower to push forward, even when his opinion of himself is horrible. Sasuke certainly doesn't help, as he continuously keeps grinding Naruto's self-esteem further into the dust ''every'' time they meet. His insecurities are at such a level that he couldn't even imagine the idea of there being someone who would love him unconditionally -- [[spoiler:hence it took him several ''years'' to notice the UnresolvedSexualTension between him and Hinata]].

** [[ShrinkingViolet Hinata Hyuga]], largely because of her insecurity -as shown with her thinking she's useless in Chapter 559,- she calls herself "selfish" when she can't stand doing nothing and rushes Pain in a desperate attempt to save Naruto, and when she confides with Naruto that she feels she is not doing enough for finding her kidnapped younger sister Hanabi in ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie''.

* Literature/{{Flashman}} acts this way when anyone is looking, though in his case it's an utterly cynical ploy to boost his reputation as an innocent-hearted hero. There is also an AlternateCharacterInterpretation that Flashman is ''genuinely'' brave ("heroic" is not a word that can be used of a self-confessed rapist, murderer, and slave-trader) but doesn't admit it to himself - if the definition of brave is "feel the fear and do it anyway" then Flashman is the poster child: he charged with the Light Brigade, fought on ''both'' sides of the US Civil War, took part in almost every major battle of the Indian Mutiny and stood beside Custer in his Last Stand... all while quaking in his boots with terror.

* Literature/EnolaHolmes is like this in the beginning, having grown up with the usual Victorian Age denigration of women and thinks she's stupid and ugly. However, this is eventually averted when she realizes that she is good looking at least as part of her disguises and the simple fact that any 14-year-old girl who can keep one step ahead of her brother, Franchise/SherlockHolmes, and operate a successful PrivateDetective business at the same time is a bloody genius!
* Literature/ErHaHeTaDeBaiMaoShiZun Chu Wanning believes himself to be old, ugly, nasty, useless, and selfish. In the pov of others, he is incredibly beautiful, only in his late twenties and early thirties, highly moral and altruistic, and an unparalleled genius. His atrocious self-esteem is from being an ArtificialHuman and emotionally abused by his father figure, who originally planned on using Chu Wanning as a HumanSacrifice to make up for a tragedy caused by Huaizui's cowardice and selfishness.

Welcome to the world of Heroic Self-Deprecation. It doesn't matter how many lives they've saved, worlds they've rescued, or bad guys they've defeated--their self-esteem remains in negative figures and they'll still have a periodic HeroicBSOD, rendered useless until someone can snap them out of it by telling them they're wonderful. And someone will. Because for every hero with terrible self-esteem there's a group of TrueCompanions on standby to give them encouraging words and speeches, usually with at least one GetAholdOfYourselfMan. {{Magical Girl}}s especially are prone to giving speeches of thanks after this happens: she repays her squad by crediting her success to the supportive words of her friends and love interest.

* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Zenitsu harbors some deep self-esteem issues from his past where he quite never found a group of friends he truly belonged to. Feeling he was useless and then getting called as such after being abandoned by past acquaintances, Zenitsu started to believe he really doesn’t amount to anything as a person, and only kept taking the path of the sword out of respect for his master and the waning hope that maybe someday someone will see him as their hero.

* Sora Naegino in ''Anime/KaleidoStar'' has defied several laws of basic physics in some of her stunts, but constantly angsts (and sometimes downright {{wangst}}s) that she's not good enough to be a true Kaleido Star, that she'll never be as good as [[TheMinnesotaFats Miss Layla Hamilton]], and that maybe her dream is too far out of her reach to achieve. Cue [[FanOfUnderdog Mia, Anna, Ken and Marion]] breaking out the cheerleading gear to reassure her that she can defy gravity (again) if she puts her mind to it.

** The title character manages to do a low key version of this without the HeroicBSOD.

** Sakura Haruno many times calls herself "useless" for being unable to turn the guy she is love with -Sasuke- to the light side, and despite receiving training by the legendary kunoichi and Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, she still sometimes feels she CantCatchUp to the boys of her team.
** Sasuke probably attacks Naruto's self-esteem because his own swings wildly between pitifully low to insanely high due to his InferioritySuperiorityComplex. When Sasuke was an actual hero, he felt he couldn't live up to his older brother's status as the Uchiha clan prodigy; after the brother killed the entire clan -the ''entire'' clan save Sasuke, which constituted Konoha's entire police force and many highly trained shinobi-, Sasuke blamed himself for not being strong enough to avenge ''them'', and made very bad choices in order to gain power to defeat Itachi. During his time with Team 7, Sasuke was considered the best genin of his graduating class with good reason, and yet was disappointed with himself for not being able to defeat opponents with much more experience than he possessed, like Haku and Itachi. In short, a lot of Sasuke's problems are because he can't stop raging on himself for his perceived flaws (while, arguably, not dealing with his real flaws).
** [[ShrinkingViolet Hinata Hyuga]], largely because of her insecurity -as shown with her thinking she's useless in Chapter 559,- she calls herself "selfish" when she can't stand doing nothing, and rushes Pain in a desperate attempt to save Naruto, and when she confides with Naruto that she feels she is not doing enough for finding her kidnapped younger sister Hanabi in ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie''.

** It's revealed [[spoiler:that Kakashi also suffers from this: he calls himself trash when talking to Obito. After losing his original team in a span of a year, Kakashi was on the verge of the DespairEventHorizon, and it took a lot of time and support to move on from their deaths. Team 7 helped, but after Sasuke's departure, Kakashi's guilt reared its head. Learning that his best friend Obito, his idol and hero and the person who Kakashi has modeled his ''entire life'' after, is responsible for nearly every tragedy that has befallen over the years, starting with their teacher's death, all but broke him completely -- the amount of self-hatred he felt after that revelation was almost insurmountable]].

* Haruto Sakuraba from ''Manga/Eyeshield21'' is initially ashamed of being build up by the media as the Ojou White Knights' ace, when he considers himself a mediocre athlete who can't compare to the White Knight's real ace, Seijuro Shin. He eventually gets over this, however, and becomes a great receiver who takes advantage of his height.

** Actually, Hayate doesn't feel he deserves having a girlfriend because he can't financially support her...which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Albeit, this WAS beaten into his head by Athena, so it still counts. And ironically, she did it so that he would become independent from his parents, and agree to live with her, since the alternative to staying in her castle was rather terrifying, and she did condemn his naivety towards his parents. Overall, it's a cryptic TrainingFromHell version of IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.
** Hinagiku also seems to be falling to this trope often in later chapters, usually in regards to her affections towards Hayate.

* Sawako from ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke''. Without the heroic part, but on a scale of 100, Sawako has a self-esteem in the single-digits.

* Miranda Lotto of ''Manga/DGrayMan'' often feels inferior and useless, partially because she was fired from all one hundred jobs she previously tried to work. This is mostly PlayedForLaughs though. [[spoiler:It gets PlayedForDrama later on, though. Since her HealingHands doesn't actually ''heals'', just restores it to a previous state while active, anyone that receives fatal wounds will die once she turns off her Innocence. She loathes herself due to not being able to properly save anyone, and at one time she would rather ''die from exhaustion by keeping her Innocence active'' rather than turning off her Innocence and let people die.]]

** Voltz Stan, Subaru's commander in ''Audioplay/StrikersSoundStageX''. He's the head of the EmergencyServices and a well-known hero for his actions during the massive airport fire. He also sees himself as completely useless since those actions led to him being injured him to the point of being unable to continue operating in the front lines and he failed to save more people than he had already.

* While he doesn't tend to voice his concerns, ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'' hints (and WordOfGod confirms) that Kotetsu has more than a few self-confidence issues. This is especially the case for the second half of the series, where [[spoiler:the gradual loss of his powers bring up fears that he'll only become a deadweight holding Barnaby back]].

* In ''Manga/MarchComesInLikeALion'', one of Rei's major flaws is his lack of self-esteem. His family issues that he blames himself for and his struggles as a professional shogi player despite being lauded as one of the few players to become pro in middle-school serve as few of the many factors that exacerbate his extremely low opinion of himself.

* The Kyoto arc of ''Manga/BlueExorcist'' showed Shiemi slipping into this. Considering she's something of a fragile flower who didn't have [[FriendlessBackground any friends]] due to first being rather sickly, and then having her legs cursed by a demon, it led to her seeing herself as weak and burden; the reality is that she's probably the second strongest of the Cram Students and most her problems are easily handled by CharacterDevelopment.

* Taishi of ''Manga/ServantXService'' has a poor opinion on his abilities, and by Episode 3 he actually views Lucy and Yutaka -- both newcomers, even — as superior to himself. This is in fact the main barrier between him and Chihaya, as he still thinks he's not good enough for her.
* Gohan from ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' shows hints of this in the Cell Arc, berating himself for his docile nature. At the end, he berates himself for [[spoiler:not finishing off Cell earlier like Goku told him to do. However, after Cell comes back to life and Gohan has a final showdown with him, Goku tells him to [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre stop attacking himself,]] and pushes him to beat Cell.]]

* Mika of ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'' dislikes himself as both a human and a vampire saying he's "a failure as a human" and "nothing but a filthy blood sucker". This is partly because [[ItsAllMyFault he blames himself for what happened to his and Yuu's family when they were younger and being unable to save them]]. Yuu has to do his best to inform him this isn't the case.

* Canada of ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' frequently laments that he is ignored by the others even by his own talking stuffed bear. He wonders if he would gain more attention in chapter 278 if he were to act more like America. He states that unlike him, America is good looking and a skilled speaker. He makes himself feel bad when thinking this way and his bear thinks "The real problem with him is that he's too self-deprecating..."
* Tsukimi of ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish''. It's part of the reason she doesn't put effort into her appearance and she considers herself "gross". Kuranosuke and the audience [[SheCleansUpNicely think differently however]]. She's so convinced that no one could ever be attracted to her that she goes out of her way to misinterpret even the most straightforward indications of love such as Shuu saying "I like you" or President Kai's kiss.

* Izuku Midoriya from ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' has this to the point where [[AmbiguousDisorder fans have wondered whether he suffers from Impostor Syndrome]]. He never seems to consider himself a true hero or a worthy successor to All Might, no matter how many people he saves, and part of the reason he's so willing to [[HeroicRROD break his body]] to use his quirk is because he genuinely considers himself as less important than his peers. His self-esteem problems stem from the vicious bullying he recieved all his life for being Quirkless, which internalized the notion that he was worth less than his peers and not able to accomplish anything.

** Mai's lack of self-esteem makes her frequently doubts whether she is up to the task as the club president, despite Mira and Ao agree she is good at what [[TheHeart the club most badly needed at the moment]].
** Not about herself per se, but Mikage tends to see her geology hobby in a worse light than what it actually is. This is best demonstrated in the SchoolFestival arc, she is surprised that many of her classmates seem to be interested in what she's doing—she always think rocks is so niche that she expects few people to be interested in it.

* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': [[MiddleChildSyndrome Miku]] seems to value her self-worth in terms of how she performs in comparison to her sisters. Case in point, at the start of the story she considered herself the worst out of them, until Fuutarou pointed out that she had gotten the highest score in the mock test he gave them. This seemed to bolster her confidence, and when she started developing feelings for him she was determined to get the highest grades in the final exams in order to confess to him. However, she backs off at the last second [[SpannerInTheWorks when Ichika ends up scoring higher than her]]. It comes to a head during the Sisters War arc, [[spoiler:when after finding out Ichika planned to sabotage her attempt to confess to Fuutarou, [[HeroicBSOD she breaks down into tears]] and confesses to Nino that she's always been afraid of being rejected, thinking that Fuutarou could never fall in love with someone like her]].

** The character of Mind[=F**k=] from the same series is a different example of this, in that she views herself as being less purely good than she actually is because she had to [[spoiler: MindRape herself into becoming a good person.]] The fact that this made her into easily the most selfless character in the comic doesn't seem to have changed her opinion of herself.

** 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.

* ''Fanfic/TheKingNobodyWanted'': Zor Alexi of Sarnor (who is seeking aide in defending his city against Dothraki hordes) refuses to mislead even casual strangers about how much his TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard list of titles (Lord of the Silver Hall, Master of the Two Hundred Gates, Chanter of the Names of the Thirtyfold Thirty Gods, the Pearl Beyond Price, the Thread Which Does Not Diminish, Friend to the Supplicant, Staff to the Needy, He Who Is, First Lord of Saath, and High Prince of the Sarnor) means, as shown in a bitter and stunningly frank speech to Lyanna after a friend gives him a flowery introduction.
---> '''Zor Alexi''': You also left out that the Silver Hall has been stripped of silver and indeed, of much of the hall, that the Two Hundred Gates are down to a few dozen, and that while I chant the thirtyfold thirty names, neither I nor anyone else can tell you what three-quarters of them mean anymore. As for the rest, if I am beyond price, it is because I am worthless, if I do not diminish it because there is nothing left, if I am friend to the supplicant and staff to the needy it is insomuch as I support myself, and if I am First Lord of Saath and High Prince of the Sarnor, well, it is because I am slightly better off than any of my equally impressively-titled and extraordinarily impoverished fellows.

* ''[[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.

* ''Fanfic/FFSIBelieveInYou'': Link harbors considerable self-doubt, stemming from a number of past failures and miscalculations both canon (chiefly not being able to stop the Calamity and being the cause of the Master Sword's diminished state) and specific to the story which lead him to consider himself a fraud and not truly worthy of his role as the Hero.

* Brittany has shades of this in earlier chapter of ''Fanfic/NewReality''. Thinking herself as TheLoad, it took CharacterDevelopment to change her mind about it.

* This is, naturally, big in Victorian literature. Perhaps the most extreme example is Esther, of ''Literature/BleakHouse'', queen of Dickens' saintly female protagonists. The novel is split between omniscient third-person narration and Esther's first-person view - and every second line of the woman's narration is pathological self-deprecation. As critics have pointed out, the extremity leaves an odd effect: since Dickens also requires the character to be a mouthpiece for Dickens' sharp, sometimes barbed, observations about characters, she comes across as passive-aggressive. It also makes her relationship with some of the other characters seem a little... unhealthy. For instance, she is not merely fond of her friend Ada, she is morbidly and self-abasingly obsessed with her. The most recent BBC adaptation to give Esther a complete personality rewrite to make her bearable to a modern audience: they endowed her with a sense of humour and replaced her hysterical self-loathing with a more likable mix of confidence and humbleness.

** The series is, in-universe, edited by his comrade in arms, who added extensive annotations on when Cain's narration missed important details- or when she felt he was being too tough on himself. It's up to the reader to decide who's interpretation is correct, although Amberley Vail was not the kind to soften facts, and Cain's culture is very focused on martyrdom.

* Literature/ErHaHeTaDeBaiMaoShiZun Chu Wanning believes himsef to be old, ugly, nasty, useless and selfish. In the pov of others he is incredibly beautiful, only in his late twenties and early thirties, highly moral and altruistic and an unparalled genius. His atrocius self esteem is from being an ArtificialHuman and emotionally abused by his father figure, who originally planed on using Chu Wanning as a HumanSacrifice to make up for a tragedy caused by Huaizui's cowardice and selfishness.

** Harry himself feels no appreciation for any of his accomplishments, downplaying them whenever someone compliments him for it. This stems from having his legendary reputation being built on something he didn't do himself i.e. his mother's sacrifice that defeated Voldemort for the first time. When Ron and Hermione suggest Harry might make a good Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher due to his many run ins with Voldemort, his Death Eaters and other dark creatures, he refuses. He reasons that he only survived those experiences because he was lucky and that he has no extraordinary abilities at all. Dumbledore has to spend almost the entire [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfbloodPrince sixth book]] convincing him he actually is extraordinary.

** Sirius apologizes to Remus for suspecting him for being the traitor, when in retrospect the actual traitor was more psychologically consistent to do so, and admits that he and James used to be "the biggest bullies in the playground" in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban third book]], before the revelations of the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth book]]. He also acknowledges to Harry that he and James behaved, "like arrogant berks" and that they ought to have listened to Remus more often than they did.

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' has this on a full burner for the most of the series, and, as [[TheLancer Michelle Henke]] once [[LampshadeHanging pointed out]], is constitutionally incapable of even ''wishing'' anything good for herself, if there's any chance that it would be at someone else's cost. In the long run, she gets enough self-appreciation beaten into her by her friends, but still always insists on ThinkNothingOfIt despite any evidence to contrary. This fits with Honor's status as a Hornblower {{Expy}}. However, Honor's parents are some of the best doctors in existence, she has lots of contact with them, yet their concern for her self-image seems to be limited to [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents her mother telling her she needs to get laid]].

* Nadreck of Palain VII, from the ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' universe, is the epitome of this trope. He's just [[spoiler:taken down three near-impregnable enemy battle-fortresses by telepathically manipulating their crews into going insane and killing each other]], but he tells his colleagues it's the worst performance he's ever put in since he was a child, solely because [[spoiler:the three commanders survived and he was obliged to kill them himself.]] He almost resigns his commission when asked to divulge the details. Self-deprecation is a psychological trait of his entire species stretching back centuries, and it's documented in him when his character is first introduced, but he takes it to extremes here.

* 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 else]], 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 of universal balance]] saddled her saintly healer mum with a [[LikeMotherUnlikeDaughter "Surly, Wrathful Death-Sorceress"]] of a child even after facing [[TraumaButton her worse fears]] to save hundreds from death and worse for no personal gain.

* By the end of ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'', Queen Orual is so guilty that she's confused when she fins out her subjects are sad at the prospect of her death. Despite her failings as a sister and friend, it is clear she did great things for the nation of Glome and inspired the people.
* This is a recurring theme with Bella in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', as she spends a good quarter of the first book alone lamenting how boring, clumsy, plain, useless, etc. she is in relation to Edward. He, on the other hand, does the same thing in the unfinished ''Midnight Sun'' manuscript, decrying his bloodlust, darkness, monstrosity, etc. and how he will never be good enough for Bella.

** Vivia is a badass and a capable princess, yet she keeps on thinking that the person she's in love with doesn't deserve her and will never notice her in any way other than a friend.

* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': Kate Sharma 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 [[CharacterDevelopment reformed]] sister, Edwina, convinces her about her right to be happy.

** Years of being put down has resulted in Kotoha, Shinken Yellow in ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'', doing this to herself. When she's just absorbed into group efforts, it's no problem, especially since her job as retainer to her lord requires loyalty and to do what needs to be done. But if ever there's time to reflect on her worth, or points when their leader wants her sole decision on some matter, I'm-not-worthy-for-this-isms are inevitable. As is usual with {{toku}} character faults though, she slowly begins growing out of this by the season's halfway point.

* In ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'', when Malcolm and Macduff are taking refuge in England, Malcolm fears that he would surpass Macbeth's tyranny with an insatiable appetite for women, a covetous nature that would seize the money and properties of his subjects, and that his vices would surpass those of Macbeth. This is actually a SecretTestOfCharacter to inspire Macduff, who felt guilty about hastily leaving his wife and son behind to be murdered and reminds Malcolm of the virtuous nature of Duncan and his mother.

* 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.

** Takumi in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates''. This seems to be a recurring trait of archers in the series in general, and Takumi may be the most extreme example yet. In both the ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest'' routes, he is shown to have a ''severe'' inferiority complex. He believes that his archery skills are simply due to his special bow, and actually seems to think that his family doesn't truly love him, and this is unfortunately used against him by antagonists in ''both'' routes. In ''Birthright'', [[spoiler: it makes him vulnerable to Iago's mind control]], while in ''Conquest'' [[spoiler: he becomes an easy target to possess]].

* Rhys' self-loathing is expressed subtly in the final episode of ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands;'' if you choose to have him tell Fiona that he has a crush on Sasha, he says that he likes her because she's everything he's not, and he includes "moral" as a quality that he doesn't think he has. This coming not too long after he and Fiona were made to recount the journey their team went on to try and open a vault, where Rhys, through a complicated series of events, [[spoiler: [[ColdEquation was forced to destroy the space station Helios in order to keep Handsome Jack from rising to power again through wholesale genocide and robotization.]] While it falls and Rhys floats away in one of the escape pods, he slowly [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone puts his head in his hands,]] realizing that he's killed almost everyone living and working there, amassing a body count totaling at least in the thousands. He did it to save countless people from being slaughtered and enslaved, but he still thinks it makes him a bad person. No wonder he was so irritable and guarded while he was telling his side of the story; he doesn't want to remember what led him to hating himself.]]

*** Asch gets pissed whenever Luke does put himself down. Then again, he gets annoyed by virtually everything, but the party, for once, thinks on this he is justified.
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' practices this too, with Yuri, although it's much subtler. Mostly it's tied in with his inferiority complex when compared to Flynn, but later on, after [[spoiler: he kills Ragou and Cumore,]] he starts to hate on himself for being a criminal, too, and he also self-deprecates for [[spoiler: letting Raven essentially abduct Estelle right out from under his nose.]]

** There's also Archer, who thanks to his own actions has cursed himself into being a Counter Guardian, or a type of Heroic Spirit that prevents tragedies and potential apocalypses. He thought it would be a good thing and help him save more people in the long run, but that's not really how it works, which leads him hating the job he does. [[spoiler:Since he feels his ideal is now impossible and yet has to follow through on it anyway with no regard to his will, he wants to challenge his past self.]]

* [[KnightInShiningArmor Lorence Lancaster]] in ''Silver Chaos'' is extremely strict to himself even if the others look up to him, and in his route he doesn't want to confess to Might because he is convinced his love must be one-sided.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': [[TheAlcoholic Qrow]] regards his life as being cursed due to his [[TheJinx misfortune Semblance]]. Seeing himself as a burden to friends and family because of the bad luck he brings to everyone around him, he tries to spend most of his time living and working alone. In Volume 6, he admits that the first person who ever saw past his curse and believed in him was [[BigGood Professor Ozpin]]. As a result, he [[UndyingLoyalty threw himself fully]] into Ozpin's fight against [[BigBad Salem]], believing he was finally doing some good in the world. When he realises what [[AwfulTruth secrets]] Ozpin has been keeping, his self-esteem shatters; even though Ozpin tries to tell him he's being doing good with his life, Qrow rejects the sentiment, [[BrokenPedestal as well as Ozpin]], and spends the rest of Volume 6 in a state of [[HeroicBSOD drunken despair]]. Although he decides to give up alcohol in Volume 7, he's still uncomfortable with receiving any compliments about any positive influence he may have had on the lives of Ruby and her friends. In the end, Clover tells him that he needs to stop deflecting compliments and [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre accept that he is capable]] of having a positive influence on others.

** On the angst pie chart (approximate), 60% is for lack of confidence in her combat skills / growth in combat skills, 20% is for being merciful/diplomatic to demons, and 20% is for being a weirdo compared to other bloodthirsty warrior angels. She's the strongest member of Rhea's party, her diplomacy saved her life (and got her a boyfriend), and the other angels are xenophobic Nazis complete with willing obedience to superiors that they don't ever question.

** Heartful Punch of isn't afraid of calling herself out when she screws up. When she discovers she had been InnocentlyInsensitive to Undine by casually asking about her [[spoiler:recently massacred]] MagicalGirl team, HP fears she's become the "world's biggest asshole" to her. She calls herself a doofus for being slow to realize how the fog boosts Undine's water powers and confesses, when offering to unofficially team up with Undine, that her fighting alone may have just been a form of cowardice to avoid getting attached to others.

* Even Franchise/{{Batman}} falls into this in [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE49IAmTheNight one episode]] of [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries the Dini-Timm cartoon]], when Commissioner Gordon is wounded during a police bust. Batman bitterly reproaches himself for his failure, thinking he does more to help merchandise salesmen than the people who really need it. This trope is {{Lampshaded}} by Robin, who points out that Gordon is fully aware of the dangers of his job, and tries to remind Batman that Gotham would probably have fallen apart without him. Eventually, it's subverted when a disgusted Robin gives up trying to cheer up Batman and goes to the hospital to protect Gordon since the mobster they busted has escaped from prison and is probably going to pay the Commissioner a "visit". Subverted again when Batman snaps himself out of his depression and goes to the hospital himself. The mob boss tries to whack Gordon and runs into Batman...

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': according to the show's theme music, she's "just a basic average girl", and her general response to people thanking her for saving the day is "No big." Occasionally subverted (and frequently lampshaded) in that she sometimes tends to boast about her skills; her personal motto is "I can do anything"; which is the slogan for her website.

* Yumi Fukuzawa from ''LightNovel/MariaWatchesOverUs'' is the ''petite soeur'' of the most popular girl at her school, who actually chases after her to make it happen. She is also highly respected (e.g. fawned over) by the members of the school's AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil and gets a declaration of love from one the coolest girls in the series. Still, she keeps up a very self-berating attitude, although she does lighten up a bit as the series progresses.

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Anri Sonohara considers herself to be a parasite because she depends so much on others. She also [[IAmAMonster considers herself a monster]] because of [[spoiler: Saika]].

* Abel Nightroad of ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'' lapses into this kind of behavior pretty damn often. Every major arc involves at least one scene where he considers himself a worthless, monstrous sinner.

* In ''LightNovel/{{Maoyu}}'', everyone praises [[TheHero Yuusha]] as the WorldsStrongestMan, but he's secretly sad and considers everyone else to be better than him. This is because his incredible strength and fighting skills are useless in the fields of economics and politics, which are the real cornerstones of power in this world. He's BookDumb, the others aren't.

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', Touma Kamijou is one of the most powerful characters in the series with an [[AntiMagic ability]] that lets him challenge ''gods'' and has saved the world several times over, but he doesn't see himself as anything special. He has no desire to correct the misconception that he is a mere Level 0, and freely admits that everyone else can do things that he cannot.

* ''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.]]

* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' (''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrai'' & ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' & ''Franchise/SilentHill''): Chloe Cerise shows moments of feeling that she has no worth or that she's useless because she has little to no parental guidance or friends and how all her peers bully her into getting into Pokémon.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Sir UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill. Greatest Briton. Nobel Prize winner. Depression sufferer (especially in his later years, when he was already very established as one of the greatest statesmen of the 20th century).
* Creator/NeilGaiman: Even after all these years of being recognized as one of Earth's greatest living writers he still seems to think of himself as a relatively normal person and seems slightly bemused and perplexed at all the attention people give him.
* Abraham Lincoln is said to have been a master of self-hatred.
* Reversed by [[Film/ABeautifulMind John Forbes Nash]], famous mathematician and logician, who instead of self-deprecation had delusions of even greater grandeur; for example, he once turned down an important academic chair because, as he wrote back, his election as the Emperor of Antarctica was imminent.
** Thus illustrating how John Nash had SuccessThroughInsanity. A schizophrenic revolutionized economics by developing Game Theory, and he won a Nobel Prize for it.
*** Nobel Prize in Economics. And not just his game theory but many other breakthroughs in economics are attributed in large part to his revolutionary papers. However, Heroic Self-Deprecation ''does'' actually apply to him. His schizophrenia was composed of two states: one where he believed he was on a vast and important quest of the highest importance, [[TheChosenOne chosen]] by aliens to change the political fabric of the world, and become the first World Citizen; and one where he was less than nothing, a distorted and worthless shadow of a human being. Having these two opposite and somewhat mutually exclusive mindsets constantly warring for dominance was ''not'' healthy, and did not turn out well.
* English novelist Thomas Hardy, despite achieving fame and success in his 30s, had constant doubts about his literary talent, to the extent that following bad reviews for ''Literature/JudeTheObscure'' he gave up writing fiction altogether and didn't write another novel for the last 30 years of his life.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy Leo Tolstoy]] is a well-respected and famous Russian writer and philosopher (at least in his country). In an autobiographical work of his, ''My Confession'', he mentions that he had recurring bouts of depression despite having what many would call a happy life: he had a beloved wife; good children; a large estate "which grew and increased without any labour on [his] part"; was respected and praised by friends, neighbours, and strangers alike; and was mentally and physically well (excluding his depression). Why was he depressed? Because he was wondering if life was even worth living. [[RestoredMyFaithInHumanity In the end, he concluded that it was.]]
* Keith Emerson of ''Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer'' was arguably the most influential keyboardist of the 1970s, and the people who met him have almost universally described him as "humble". But those who were very close to him - particularly his former bandmates - have said things that make it look a little bit less like a healthy humility, and more like a very genuine problem with self-image. According to both Lake and Palmer, he would focus on negative reviews, really letting them mess with his head, and by the mid-'70s he had fallen into a very serious depression. Palmer said, once, that he'd casually mentioned that the band he was in was "too good for me". According to a statement Emerson himself made in the '90s, he had been reduced to a "state of panic" when he realized that people were actually analyzing his work. He was apparently taking anti-depressants later in life and tragically died of suicide in 2016.
* Any serviceman or woman decorated for valor, especially those with the highest commendations (Medal of Honor, Victoria Cross, etc) will often dismiss the honor as being decorated "for just doing my job".
* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning-Kruger_effect Dunning-Kruger effect]] is a cognitive bias that explains both this trope and its inverse (dumb people thinking they are actually pretty good). In effect, if you are competent, you tend to assume other people are about as knowledgeable as you are, so you underestimate your own talent. And if you aren't, you think you're actually pretty good at something without so much as scratching the surface.
** This may be why Babe Ruth is often credited with popularizing the "aw, anybody could have done it" attitude. Considering his background and (especially) the team he played for, it's no wonder he believed this.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome Impostor syndrome]] is a psychological condition in which the sufferer is unable to acknowledge their own talents and accomplishments. When pressed, they put their accomplishments down as luck, coincidence, or the skill of someone else. They're convinced that any recognition and success they have achieved is undeserved and that they're just frauds waiting to be found out.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA8XiC3m7vw Amanda Palmer dubbed this mindset as "The Fraud Police"]], an imaginary police force in your mind that you expect to show up at your door any day now and arrest you for being a fraud. The video is a commencement speech in which she gives some amazing advice on how to deal with the "fraud police," which Palmer says everyone will get a visit from at some point in their life, no matter who they are or how successful they've become. The whole speech carries an air of "YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre" due to this, since [[YouAreNotAlone if everyone experiences such a thing at some point in their life, surely you can't be alone in feeling that way]].
** Some ''children'' have impostor syndrome. While we usually think of kids as blaming their bad deeds on an ImaginaryFriend, some kids actually "blame" one for their ''achievements''. Said kids usually lack the confidence to assume they'd be able to do as well next time.
-->"One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision." - Creator/BertrandRussell
** Various works have been done on the gender difference involved in this: in general, young boys were found to be much more likely to accept the credit due when they were praised, but young girls were more likely to play down their achievements or claim that someone else helped them. This has led to a NatureVersusNurture debate: are most girls naturally more modest and boys more assertive, or does society train boys to assert themselves (to the point of boasting), while teaching girls that "it's not nice to brag" and that they should "share" credit for their achievements?
* It's been said that Creator/DougWalker's self-esteem is so low it's burrowed down to come out the opposite side of the world. Check out his anniversary special commentaries to see his GuiltComplex take over.
* This is one of the things caused by PTSD, as sufferers of it will often experience negative thoughts about themselves after experiencing a trauma.
[[/folder]]

* ''LightNovel/BanishedFromTheHerosParty:'' Gideon takes the HumbleHero to the extreme. As his Blessing does not allow him to grow uniquely, he only can acquire common skills, which is why he does not see himself as anything special and expects to eventually be left behind. When Ares dismisses him as TheLoad, he took it to heart without consulting the rest of the party, who would have instead paid him the respect he deserved and pointed out that his strategic, logistical, and social skills are just as valuable to the war effort.

* Edward Elric from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' easily qualifies. He's a child genius, one of the youngest and greatest alchemists ever to exist, but he blames himself for the loss of Alphonse's body, and even at the end of the series is still beating himself up over Nina being turned into a chimera by her father, despite having saved countless other people along the way.

* Himeno of ''Manga/{{Pretear}}'' keeps dwelling on her "coarse" and "unladylike" nature, especially in the manga. You'd think she'd realize that, given the circumstances, martial arts are a heck of a lot more useful than flower arranging. Not to worry; her Seven Knights Of Leafe are there to cheer her on. Or, in Hayate's case, make snide comments until she's forced to get angry.

* Yumi Fukuzawa from ''LightNovel/MariaWatchesOverUs'' is the ''petite soeur'' of the most popular girl at her school, who actually chases after her to make it happen. She is also highly respected (e.g. fawned over) by the members of the school's AbsurdlyPowerfulStudentCouncil and even gets a declaration of love from one the coolest girls in the series. Still, she keeps up a very self-berating attitude, although she does lighten up a bit as the series progresses.

** Naruto Uzumaki constantly beats himself up if he feels he's being "weak". For a large part of the series, he especially can't stand the fact that he hasn't been able to redeem his friend, Sasuke. Before the Chunin exams finals, Naruto privately admitted to [[TheConfidant Hinata]] that he viewed himself as a loser and [[BoisterousWeakling tried to act cool and brash]] to cope with this. It doesn't help that Naruto's self-worth was already frighteningly low, being a StepfordSmiler from the very beginning. His entire childhood consisted of him being ostracized, hated, and psychologically crippled by the extensive fear and loathing pushed onto him by his entire village. His self-confidence has gotten better over the course of the series, but it is still pretty damn fragile, and the only way he can function is by being a {{Determinator}} and using sheer willpower to push forward, even when his opinion of himself is horrible. Sasuke certainly doesn't help, as he continuously keeps grinding Naruto's self-esteem further into the dust ''every'' time they meet. His insecurities are at such a level that he couldn't even imagine the idea of there being someone who would love him unconditionally -- [[spoiler:hence it took him several ''years'' to notice the UnresolvedSexualTension between him and Hinata]].

** Sasuke probably attacks Naruto's self-esteem because his own swings wildly between pitifully low to insanely high due to his InferioritySuperiorityComplex. When Sasuke was an actual hero, he felt he couldn't live up to his older brother's status as the Uchiha clan prodigy; after the brother killed the entire clan -the ''entire'' clan save Sasuke, which constituted Konoha's entire police force and many highly trained shinobi-, Sasuke blamed himself for not being strong enough to avenge ''them'', and made very bad choices in order to gain power to defeat Itachi. During his time with Team 7, Sasuke was considered the best genin of his graduating class with good reason, and yet was disappointed with himself for not being able to defeat opponents with much more experience than he possessed, like Haku and -of course- Itachi. In short, a lot of Sasuke's problems are because he can't stop raging on himself for his perceived flaws (while, arguably, not dealing with his real flaws).

** It's revealed [[spoiler:that Kakashi also suffers from this: he literally calls himself trash when talking to Obito. After losing his original team in a span of a year, Kakashi was on the verge of the DespairEventHorizon, and it took a lot of time and support to move on from their deaths. Team 7 helped, but after Sasuke's departure, Kakashi's guilt reared its head. Learning that his best friend Obito, his idol and hero and the person who Kakashi has modeled his ''entire life'' after, is responsible for nearly every tragedy that has befallen over the years, starting with their teacher's death, all but broke him completely -- the amount of self-hatred he felt after that revelation was almost insurmountable]].

** Shinji Ikari maintains his crushing self-esteem issues despite saving literally ''everyone in the world'' on a regular basis. Though it understandably gets much worse when everything goes to hell. ItRunsInTheFamily as part of the many ways he's like his dad.

** In a large moment of being similar, Gendo Ikari is very much like this. It's implied he grew up in an unloving home with Yui Ikari being the light of his life when he married her. Upon her death, he pretty much became a wrecked man. Rather than falling into the usual self-loathing, he channeled it into his plan to end the suffering he was forced to endure due to his humanity. Furthermore, he tried to distance himself from Shinji because he was afraid he would hurt his son. Ironically, this would be indeed how he would hurt his son, something he painfully acknowledges right before he dies. LikeFatherLikeSon, indeed.

* ''Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis'': Out of the Seigaku boys, Takashi Kawamura is the one who took the most time to reach the top (in the manga, he became a regular only in his senior year) and was bullied as a freshman by his sempai because he had problems with his SuperStrength, so he's got a pathological case of self-deprecation unless he takes his racket and his sort-of SplitPersonality emerges. And even ''then'', Kawamura's issues make him an uber example of the {{Determinator}} because he thinks that he's gotta ''prove'' to everyone that he's not TheLoad in Seigaku (even when his teammates, ''Tezuka'' included, have told him that he's no load).

** Also, Shizuo's issues with anger and being unable to control himself have pretty much shot his self-esteem to hell. It's bad enough that when [[spoiler: Saika declares its love for him]], he responds mostly with confusion — because he can't imagine ''why'' someone could love him.

* [[StepfordSmiler Yuki]] of ''Manga/BetrayalKnowsMyName''. Even though he can read people's minds by touching them to find out what's bothering them, heals people's injuries by taking on their pain, and wants to help people, he tends to put himself down. "I was abandoned when I was born and hated for my strange powers. Hurting others...I'm completely unwanted, without a place anywhere! Why was I even born? Why? I'm not..." Not to mention "I always have to be saved by Luka. I'm powerless to do anything!"

* Yuuri Katsuki from ''Anime/YuriOnIce'' refers to himself as a "dime-a-dozen" skater in the first episode, but, if you pause while he mentions this, the website containing his profile reveals that Yuuri is quite literally the poster boy for Japanese men's figure skating, and he is the top-ranked Japanese skater shown in the series. In general, he doesn't even necessarily see himself as an interesting or likable person, and for a while is oblivious to the fact that [[spoiler: his idol is desperately in love with him and literally everyone around him does admire and respect him]].

* ''Franchise/TheFlash'': ComicBook/WallyWest, the third Flash, has this as one of his most defining traits, though it originally mixed with InferioritySuperiorityComplex and SadClown. Underneath his bravado, he felt that he was just Barry Allen's replacement and put his beloved uncle on a pedestal he could never surpass, and even when he ''did'' [[ComicBook/TheReturnOfBarryAllen exactly that]], he continued to hold himself to such an impossible standard it nearly killed him. As time has gone on, Wally has repeatedly demonstrated that he has a lot of deep-seated insecurities and is self-conscious about any time he doesn't save everyone, which is despite the fact he's TheAce of the speedsters and is more-or-less a ''cosmic powerhouse'', who has personally saved reality many times. This got ''even worse'' after ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'', ''ComicBook/TheNew52'', and ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', which was just one long TraumaCongaLine for him.

* ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfTime'' (''Series/DoctorWho'' & ''Literature/SherlockHolmes''): 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/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' (''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrai'' & ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' & ''Franchise/SilentHill''): 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/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/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:

** It should be noted that the series is, in-universe, edited by his comrade in arms, who added extensive annotations on when Cain's narration missed important details- or when she felt he was being too tough on himself. It's up to the reader to decide who's interpretation is correct, although Amberley Vail was not the kind to soften facts, and Cain's culture is very focused on martyrdom.

* Literature/{{Flashman}} acts this way when anyone is looking, though in his case it's an utterly cynical ploy to boost his reputation as an innocent-hearted hero. There is also an AlternateCharacterInterpretation that Flashman is ''genuinely'' brave ("heroic" is not a word that can be used of a self-confessed rapist, murderer, and slave-trader) but doesn't admit it to himself - if the definition of brave is "feel the fear and do it anyway" then Flashman is pretty much the poster child: he charged with the Light Brigade, fought on ''both'' sides of the US Civil War, took part in almost every major battle of the Indian Mutiny and stood beside Custer in his Last Stand... all while quaking in his boots with terror.

** 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.
** Sirius apologizes to Remus for suspecting him for being the traitor, when in retrospect the actual traitor was more psychologically consistent to do so, and even admits that he and James used to be "the biggest bullies in the playground" in the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban third book]], before the revelations of the [[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix fifth book]]. He also acknowledges to Harry that he and James behaved, "like arrogant berks" and that they ought to have listened to Remus more often than they did.

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' has this on a full burner for the most of the series, and, as [[TheLancer Michelle Henke]] once [[LampshadeHanging pointed out]], is constitutionally incapable of even ''wishing'' anything good for herself, if there's any chance that it would be at someone else's cost. In the long run, she gets enough self-appreciation beaten into her by her friends, but still always insists on ThinkNothingOfIt despite any evidence to contrary. Of course, this fits with Honor's status as a Hornblower {{Expy}}. However, Honor's parents are some of the best doctors in existence, she has lots of contact with them, yet their concern for her self-image seems to be limited to [[AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents her mother telling her she needs to get laid]].

* In ''Literature/TheSpiritThief'', despite being the most powerful of the three main characters and a good friend to both Josef and Eli, Nico believes herself to be next to useless and even goes as far as to have suicidal thoughts from time to time. Being a [[DemonicPossession demonseed]] does that to people.

** Makoto was an extremely successful model and is also a very capable idol, and part of ''the'' most successful idol unit in the series, not to mention the one that saved the rest of the school from the student council's tyranny. However, he's a very nervy and sensitive kid who always feels like he isn't good enough. His modelling past is actually the main cause: he was great at it but it made him miserable, so he feels guilty about leaving, and his older brother figure from back then who shows up periodically to tell him to give up on his dreams because he'll only ever be a pretty face ''really'' doesn't help...

** Cloud Strife of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' as well. (And how!) He didn't so much 'put up an image' of stoicism as an attempt to adopt a totally different personality because he hated his own so much. He does this in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series as well -- more so in the second game, when Tifa is trying to cheer him up and encourage him to find his light, but Cloud essentially says, "Yeah, whatever...".
** Vincent Valentine. While it turned out badly and was perhaps inadvisable, he sees his willingness to ignore his own feelings for the benefit of his love, Lucrecia, as his greatest mistake since he 'allowed' her to walk into danger. He basically takes all responsibility for it and sees the horrific mutilation of his body that followed as simply his just desserts. Even after helping save the world he pretty much looks down on himself as a monster and is still somewhat isolated from the team, despite maintaining contact with them over the phone.

** Gordin in the Archanea remakes, ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''. 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.

** Cordelia from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' is skilled in many different fields, such as fighting, music, and even smithing. Despite this, she keeps telling the other characters that she isn't a genius and tries to downplay her achievements. Justified in that her knight-sisters picking on her for being a prodigy made her feel ashamed of them, and she realizes too late they didn't mean any true harm by it.

** The protagonist, Shirou Emiya, despite doing nothing but sacrificing himself for others and working himself nearly to death whenever he can if he thinks it will make even one person happy, still despises himself just for the fact that he is alive. Due to him being the sole survivor of the great fire that occurred at the end of the previous Holy Grail War, he hates himself for being blessed with life while the thousands around him perished. This has caused him to be extremely mentally broken when it comes to happiness. The only time he can ever feel it is when he is making someone else happy, and even then his GuiltComplex forces him to think that no matter how much good he does, he will always come up short. [[spoiler:This broken ideal of his is addressed in the Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel routes, as well as the Fate route to some extent.]]

* 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/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner.]]

** However, it should be noted that Phase is in reality one of the most dangerous members of Team Kimba. He's ''incredibly'' smart, he rarely loses (and if he does, he goes back for a rematch armed with knowledge of how to beat his opponents), he has a utility belt packed full of holdouts useful for any situation, his disruption-light tactic can ''turn Exemplars into monsters'', his knowledge of economics is so good that he's a multi-billionaire before he's sixteen, and his powers can get him through almost any fight.
* Iriana Estchell of ''Literature/IlivaisX'' flat-out hates pretty much everything about herself, and will usually counter a mushy compliment with self-insult.

* Just about any serviceman or woman decorated for valor, especially those with the highest commendations (Medal of Honor, Victoria Cross, etc) will often dismiss the honor as being decorated "for just doing my job".

-->-- '''King David of Israel''', [[Literature/BookOfPsalms Psalm 22:6]], ''Literature/TheBible''

* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': Kate Sharma 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 her father's death) since young age, she still feels it's never enough to be worthy of love. Until her stepmother reassures her and her [[CharacterDevelopment reformed]] sister, Edwina, convinces her about her right to be happy.