History Main / MajorCoward

* ''Series/{{Branded}}'': An Army soldier, the only survivor of the Battle of Bitter Creek, is wrongly court-martialed and kicked out of the Army because of his alleged cowardice during a battle. His reputation precedes him wherever he goes as he tries to clear his name,

* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'': In an episode set during World War I, Lieutenant Martin Calthrob wants to be discharged from the Army, but his father, who also happens to be the General, explains he can't discharge Martin but will transfer him to another unit if he successfully leads a mission. In charge, Martin abandons his troops after they get attacked by German soldiers and ends up [[LaserGuidedKarma exposed by one of the survivors of the attack before passing away]]. Martin gets court-martialed and executed by [[OffingTheOffspring his father]] ([[KickTheSonOfABitch who lied to him and stated that he had his men shoot him with blanks]] so he can live a normal life).

* ''LightNovel/MaouNoHajimekata'': Chapter 7 of the manga has a small frontier town become the first target of Aur's forces, with the town rallying an army comprised of its own soldiers and hired adventurers in response. After the army's commander and several other soldiers are reduced to LudicrousGibs by arrows fired by dark elves and Aur's magical onslaught destroying the town's defenses, the remaining adventurers decide to flee the battlefield while the soldiers try and fail to force them to stay, with the latter group choosing to [[DefiantToTheEnd defend the town until the bitter end]] despite the adventurers [[HonorBeforeReason pointing out how one-sided the battle is for them]].

Compare with CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys, which is the trope that stereotypically portrays ''[[UpToEleven ALL]]'' French soldiers as cowards. May be a subordinate to GeneralFailure.

* ''Literature/AngelsOfMusic'': General Assolant is a pompous and vicious French general renowned InUniverse for his cowardice in war, where he would act as an executioner of unarmed soldiers. Assolant acts like he's a brave soldier but he's never been in a real battle during a war and is more SerialKiller than solider. When confronted by the heroes, Assolant pees himself out of fear of dying despite his previous bluster about how great and "brave" he is.

Compare with CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys, which is the trope that stereotypically portrays ''[[UpToEleven ALL]]'' French soldiers as cowards.

The type of people that enlist in the army are usually very brave men and women, who are willing to protect and defend their country from threats such as terrorism or other invading armies miles away from their home, ignoring the risk of major injury or the lost of their own lives. This trope is not about them, we're talking about the ones that are ''not'' so brave.

'''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease''' The last thing we want is to upset any former or current military personnel and their loved ones by calling any soldier a coward, especially since some real life accounts of real soldiers acting cowardly may be inaccurate because of the whole "winners get to write the history books" thing. Another thing, if you attempt this in real life, you can be arrested, court martialed, and given a maximum sentence of five years in jail (at least when concerning the U.S. Armed Forces), so DoNotTryThisAtHome, please!.

* In ''Film/PathsOfGlory'', Lt. Roget is not only a coward, but is often drunk on duty as well; this combination results in him killing one of his own soldiers when he panics during a recon patrol.
* Several characters from ''Film/Ravenous1999'', as the main cast is made up of misfits who've been ReassignedToAntarctica, but topping the list is the main character Boyd. In his first battle Boyd's command was caught in a devastating ambush and Boyd froze in fear and then [[PlayingPossum pretended to be dead]] to save his own skin instead of trying to save his men.
* Colonel Meekum from ''Film/{{Soldier}}'' is pure ArmchairMilitary, a paper pushing bureaucrat who [[TheNeidermeyer sees his soldiers as disposable pawns]]. When Todd overcomes Meekum's genetically augmented soldiers at the end and confronts Meekum face to face, Meekum [[PottyFailure immediately pisses himself]].

* In the ''Literature/AlexRider'' book "Crocodile Tears", Harold Bulman, a journalist who found out about Alex's involvement with [[UsefulNotes/SecretIntelligenceService MI6]] and plans to expose him in a story for his own personal gain, was in the Royal Marines until he was dishonorably discharged for a incident where he was found hiding behind a sand dune while his squad was attacked by enemy forces.

* Literature/{{Flashman}}, the titular School Bully of ''Literature/TomBrownsSchooldays'', who as an adult goes into the army career his social standing demands of him. Only to discover being sent to the hot-spot of the British Empire - the North-West Frontier and, worse, UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}} - is not an ideal posting for a dedicated coward. Attempting to weasel his way out of the hottest hot-spot on Earth, he unwittingly attracts a reputation for derring-do heroics. And becomes, by degrees, [[TookALevelInBadass Britain's go-to man for missions involving the risk of torture and agonizing death if things go wrong]].
* ''Literature/AngelsOfMusic'': General Assolant is a pompous and vicious French general renowned InUniverse for his cowardice in war, where he would act as an executioner of unarmed soldiers. Assolant acts like he's a brave solider but he's never been in a real battle during a war and is more SerialKiller then solider. When confronted by the heroes, Assolant pees himself out of fear of dying despite his previous bluster about how great and "brave" he is.

* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'': In an episode set during World War I, Lieutenant Martin Calthrob wants to be discharged from the Army, but his father, who also happens to be the General, explains he can't discharge Martin, but will transfer him to another unit if he successfully leads a mission. In charge, Martin abandons his troops after they get attacked by German soldiers and ends up [[LaserGuidedKarma exposed by one of the survivors of the attack before passing away]]. Martin gets court-martialed and executed by [[OffingTheOffspring his father]] ([[KickTheSonOfABitch who lied to him and stated that he had his men shoot him with blanks]] so he can live a normal life).
* Subverted in ''Series/TheCallOfWarr''. Glintz-Terry seems like the most cowardly of the soldiers, being a ditzy, girl-obsessed kid from the city who wants to be heroic and is afraid of the forest surrounding them. He turns out a lot braver than it initially seems, and he even [[spoiler:defies Prince's leadership to save Gravesite, Mable and Ashes, risking his own life in the process of the BigDamnHeroes moment.]] At worst, he's a CowardlyLion who puts aside his fears to do what's right.

* ''VideoGame/BugFables'': [[TheDragon General Ultimax]], Wasp King's right hand man and the general of the [[WickedWasps Wasp Kingdom]]'s military forces, is actually a big coward on the inside. When backed by his troops or tank, he always acts smug and frequently boasts about the Wasp Kingdom's superiority, but when forced to fight the heroes on his own, he ends up being reduced to a shivering wreck whose only method of attacking is a barrage of [[WimpFight pathetic frantic slapping]], which can be easily blocked.

* On the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "War is the H-Word", Fry and Bender join the army solely for the armed forces discount, intending to quit immediately afterwards. Unfortunately, they get sent to fight a BugWar in a far-off planet before they can. Fry ends up humiliating himself in the middle of his first day in battle, going into a TroubledFetalPosition; while Bender, who has freely admitted to being a coward, is ironically hailed a hero for JumpingOnAGrenade.

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'''NoRealLifeExamplesPlease''' The last thing we want is to upset any former or current military personnel and their loved ones by calling any soldier a coward, especially since some real life accounts of real soldiers acting cowardly may be inaccurate because of the whole "winners get to write the history books" thing. Another thing, if you attempt this in real life, you can be arrested, court martialed, and given a maximum sentence of five years in jail (at least when concerning the U.S. Armed Forces), so DoNotTryThisAtHome, please!.

'''NO REAL LIFE EXAMPLES, PLEASE!''' The last thing we want is to upset any former or current military personnel and their loved ones by calling any soldier a coward, especially since some real life accounts of real soldiers acting cowardly may be inaccurate because of the whole "winners get to write the history books" thing. Another thing, if you attempt this in real life, you can be arrested, court martialed, and given a maximum sentence of five years in jail (at least when concerning the U.S. Armed Forces), so DoNotTryThisAtHome, please!.

These are the types of soldiers (whether or not they had achieved the rank of major) who when they find out that there is even a ''slight'' chance of them getting killed or experiencing a big boo-boo, end up screaming and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere running away in the opposite direction]], or go into hiding until the killing has stopped, all while their teammates risk life or limb fighting. Hell, this kind of person may not even care about serving their country in the first place, only joining in order to get money for their service, a better chance at scoring with chicks, or [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking being able to cut past the lines in the coffee shop when they get home]]. People with these kind of goals usually [[DidNotThinkThisThrough end up realizing too little, too late that they were way over their heads]] for thinking that ''military service'' would be a breeze for them.

'''NO REAL LIFE EXAMPLES, PLEASE!''' The last thing we want is to upset any former or current military personnel and their loved ones by calling any soldier a coward, especially since some real life accounts of real soldiers acting cowardly may be inaccurate because of the whole "winners get to write the history books" thing.

* ''WesternAnimation/SWATKats'': Lieutenant Commander Steel wants to be the top dog of the Enforcers, but unlike [[TheJavert Commander Feral]] (who is a genuinely courageous DaChief who often spearheads attacks against threats personally) he's nowhere to be seen when actual fighting begins. On one occasion, Feral literally dragged him onto a chopper to join the fight against [[BigBad DarkKat]], whereby he threw up in terror.