History TroubledFetalPosition / AnimeAndManga

** Another notable scene features 2 Meisters and their Weapons in this position after [[BrownNote reading Crona's poem]], who soon after follows suit.

&&ZCE * ''Manga/{{Hen}}'': Chizuru does it in Chapter 62.

* ''Anime/PeachGirl'':
** Momo does this out of insecurity sometimes, and later on after she thinks that she was raped (she wasn't).
** One scene had Sae hiding from a porn star and his camera crew who wanted her to film with them. She thought it was a video game shoot but Ryo lied to her about it. She hides in the bathroom, crawls into the bathtub, and starts sobbing while cuddling her legs close to herself. Thankfully Momo and friends save her before anything happens.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'': After Kaede snaps, she is shown taking a shower in this position.
* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
** Ako Izumi takes a ShowerOfAngst curled up after finding out that the guy she loves doesn't exist.
** Asuna is in this pose in the beginning of chapter 352.
* ''Manga/PeacemakerKurogane'':
** Tetsunosuke often ends up in a fetal position, especially after he almost gets killed by Yoshida.
** Suzu after he discovers his beloved master is dead.

* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'':
** Nanami goes into the Troubled Fetal Position after discovering that [[spoiler:Akio and Anthy, who are brother and sister, have been regularly having sex]].
** Utena is seen in this pose in episode 10 while lamenting that perhaps she, being a girl, can't become a prince after all. She does it again in episode 12 after losing the duel and Anthy to Touga; in the same episode, Wakaba does it after her fight with Utena.
** And finally, there's a flashback where [[spoiler: the younger Saionji and Touga find a little Utena like this inside a coffin, totally traumatized after her parents' deaths.]] This scene inspires another where [[spoiler: the older [[UsedToBeASweetKid and no longer kind]] Saionji sees Anthy curled up in a coffin full of roses, mimicking what Utena did...]]
* Lain from ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'' does this a few times.
* Simon from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', which is done to signal that he has his HeroicBSOD [[spoiler:after Kamina's death]].
* Mima from ''Anime/PerfectBlue'' indulges in a ShowerOfAngst and does this underwater.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'':
** The pose is exhibited by a very young Misato (''The Birth of Nerv''), after being the SoleSurvivor of her father's crew. In fact, the just-as-young Ritsuko saw her for the first time when she was like that. As an adult Misato is thrown into a dark NERV confinement cell, and instinctively reverts to this position due to her childhood memories.
** Shinji (especially in ''The End of Evangelion'')
** Asuka (''At Least Be Humane'' and ''End of Evangelion'').
** Rei does it in ''Manga/NeonGenesisEvangelionAngelicDays'' too.
* Usagi from ''Anime/SailorMoon'' curls up in a phone booth after Mamoru breaks up with her [[ItsNotYouItsMe in a misguided attempt to protect her]].
** Before that, Naru is seen twice like this. The first time she's sitting on the bottom of a slide on such a position, as she and Usagi discuss Sanjoin/Nephrite's actions against Naru. The second, she's cutrling up in her bedroom after [[spoiler: Nephrite's RedemptionEqualsDeath]] as Usagi and Umino try to comfort her.
* Melfina from ''Manga/OutlawStar'' has done this a few times.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Lots of characters. With Sakura, Gaara, Hinata, Juugo, and Naruto.

* Hatchin in ''Anime/MichikoAndHatchin'' does this in the first episode during her ShowerOfAngst.
* Hatsumi from ''Manga/HotGimmick'' goes into the TroubledFetalPosition in Chapter 12 once she returns home after [[spoiler:almost getting raped]].
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'':
** At second witches' tea party, Bern and Lambda make a few different comments ("What? Are you still hugging your knees?") that imply that Battler wound up doing this after all the unspeakable horrible things that happened in the second arc.
** At the beginning of [=EP4=], Ronove alerts Beatrice that Battler has assumed the position once again after [[spoiler:her fake Heel Face Turn]] at the end of [=EP3=] ("he has been crouching and clutching at his knees for some time now. I spoke to him several times, but he did not answer. I also carried him food, but he made no effort to touch it"), and that he probably won't be able to continue the game unless she snaps him out of it. [[spoiler:Battler's just ''sleeping'' in the fetal position, but why tell Beatrice that when you can trick her into making an idiot of herself trying to cheer him up?]]
* [[ChainsawGood Sawyer the Cleaner]] from ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', after she loses her voice machine.
* While ''Manga/SoulEater'''s Crona has sat in a CornerOfWoe (played for humor), there are instances when [[AmbiguousGender he/she]] has done it in a more serious sense. One involves a scene where we see Crona inside of his/her soul (or mind) which is shown as an empty desert. Crona sits in the fetal position and his/her shadow asks all sorts of questions in which Crona answers with "Pass." At one point he/she sobs into his/her knees. Considering Crona's past with his/her abusive mother Medusa, it's no wonder.
** Another notable scene features 2 Meisters and their Weapons in this position after reading Crona's poem and (s)he soon after follows suit.
* ''Anime/SoulEater'' has [[ReluctantPsycho Professor Stein]] a scene where he's curled up in the fetal position, begging for someone to make the noise in his head go away.
* Renton & Eureka does this in ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' whenever they are troubled or sad.
* Aine does this in chapter 8 of ''Manga/SensualPhrase'' when worried about whether or not she can remain as Lucifer's Lyricist.
* In episode 11 of ''Anime/GhostStories'' Satsuki ends up doing this after spending just about the whole episode being stalked by an extremely CreepyDoll.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** In chapter 199, Orihime adopts this position as she tells Rangiku about her insecurities.
** Loly does this in chapter 274 after Orihime reattaches her ripped leg and revives her partner Menoly.
** A very young Tsukishima does it in chapter 477, right before Ginjou appears, cheers him up, and takes him in.
* San finds Luna in this state in the 2nd ''Manga/MyBrideIsAMermaid'' OVA, following [[NightmareFuel an encounter]] with a ghost [[spoiler: actually San's childhood friend, Saturn]].
* ''Manga/BetrayalKnowsMyName'':
** Yuki goes into the Troubled Fetal Position in episode 2 while in the rain after being told rather harshly by the guy [[FalseFriend he thought was his friend]] that no one needs him.
** Uzuki does this in episode 4 while depressed and wondering why someone like him is still alive.
** Hotsuma in episode 10 when Shusei goes missing.
* Myung from ''Anime/MacrossPlus'' takes this pose while lying in bed.
* The ''Manga/SgtFrog'' anime has Dororo often take this pose while in his CornerOfWoe. Normally PlayedForLaughs. The episode that introduces the [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind Soul Diver]] plays it a bit more seriously, as he gets stuck in his Trauma Mode and has to be pulled out of it, with Dororo staying in this position the whole time.
* Tsubasa does this in episode 4 of ''Anime/StarrySky''.
* [[GoMadFromTheRevelation After her hideous ordeal during the Eclipse]], Casca from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' is seen in a very paranoid, hostile fetal position. She seems to stop doing this after the TimeSkip, when she goes into the more carefree [[TheOphelia Ophelia stage]] of her insanity.
* Yae from ''Manga/HanjukuJoshi'' does it in Chapter 8.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
** At the beginning of the Skypiea saga, Usopp nearly drowns on the way up through the Sea Clouds. Then he jumps out thinking he's going to swim, only to fall right through, barely saved by Luffy and Robin. He then spends half of Chapter 237/Episode 153 curled up in a fetal position muttering "sky island so scary".
** In a serious variant, there's [[spoiler: King Neptune, who went into this after his wife, Queen Otohime, was assassinated, as he desperately attempts to hold back his [[UnstoppableRage murderous rage]] over it so as to avoid ruining everything she spent her life working toward]].
* Allen in chapter 206 of ''Manga/DGrayMan''.
* ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'': Kotomi does this in one scene during a breakdown [[spoiler: when news of a bus crash triggers memories of her parents's deaths.]]
* In chapter 62 of ''Hen'' Chizuru does it in Chapter 62.
* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', the titular character rests sits on her bed in this position after [[spoiler:the deaths of Kyoko and Oktavia (Sayaka as a witch).]]
* In ''Manga/PuellaMagiOrikoMagica'', [[spoiler: Oriko Mikuni made the contract with Kyuubey '''after''' she had crossed the DEH, when her corrupt politician father killed himself [[FallenPrincess and she was hated and shunned by everyone after having been the most popular girl in her high-class school]]. When Kyuubey finds her, Oriko is curled up in a corner of her empty home, wrapped in a blanket, [[DeathByDespair simply waiting for death to claim her.]]]]

%%* Nakaba in ''Manga/DawnOfTheArcana'' does this a lot.
* Haruhi of ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' is [[FearOfThunder terrified of thunder]] and goes into this position whenever she hears it. And in a more comedic example Tamaki often does this when he goes into the CornerOfWoe.
* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'': Vash shoots Knives and then runs away after Knives first tests his angel arm. Knives clutches his wounded thigh and cries, "My leg! Why is there so much pain in my leg? Did you shoot me? DID YOU JUST SHOOT ME?!" while he and Vash are looking at each other in horror. Then Vash lets out an almighty scream and runs away. After that, Knives curls up in a fetal position while crying his eyes out.
* Sometimes occurs in ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' with Oz, Alice, and Gil.
* ''Manga/DNAngel'':
** Daisuke in episodes 2 and 14 and 24.
** Satoshi in episode 4.
** Mio Hio in episode 20 [[spoiler:as she grows more troubled about having to sacrifice Daisuke [[BecomeARealBoy for a chance at truly being human]], all while the time in her current borrowed body is running out.]]
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': ExtremeDoormat Bertolt seems to do this as his default when sitting down. Also a common occurrence whenever something horrible happens, with both named characters and random extras assuming this position as despair or trauma take over.
* In ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke'', Ayane is briefly shown sitting like this [[spoiler: after breaking up with Mogi.]]
* In ''Anime/DigimonTamers'', Jeri Katou spends a lot of time curled up like this while [[spoiler:she's held prisoner by the D-Reaper.]]
* Brock of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' goes sulking into this position whenever someone asks him about his [[NoodleIncident time with Professor Ivy]].
* Aya of ''Literature/TanteiTeamKZJikenNote'' does this [[spoiler:in the part of ''The Valentine Knows'' animated in episode 15, after finding her Valentine card to her crush [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood Sunahara]] being posted on the train station's notice board, and overhearing that it was ''Sunahara'' who posted it.]]
* In the ''Literature/{{Another}}'' anime series, it happens at least thrice:
** [[spoiler: Takako]] screams and then is seen [[http://another.wikia.com/wiki/File:Takako4.jpg crouching into this position and grabbing her head in horror]], when [[spoiler: her friend Junta not only dies while he's swimming, but ''his body is accidentally chopped up by a motorboat's engine''.]]
** In the flashback to [[spoiler: how the Calamity took place in 1983]], when [[spoiler: a boy named Jun Hamaguchi is fatally hit by lightning]], the girl who was walking right in front of him does this to shield herself. [[spoiler: She might or might have not been Yuki Hoshikawa, [[DeathByFallingOver the victim who followed]].]]
** Towards the end, [[spoiler: Matsuko Arita]] [[http://another.wikia.com/wiki/File:Matsuko3.jpg "assumes" the pose]] after [[spoiler: she barely survives the incredibly messy slaughter of her classmates.]]
* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'':
** Whenever Kyo is genuinely upset, he runs off to be alone and does a variation of this.
** Rin is seen in this position more than once, including a manga cover.

* Chihiro does this on the stairs, while saying "Go away, Go away... Disappear..." after the events of the beginning of ''Anime/SpiritedAway'' have unfolded.
* The last scene before ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'''s epilogue is of [[spoiler:Sousuke]] curled up and sobbing in the blown-out hole that used to be an AS's cockpit, realizing that [[spoiler:he was seemingly going to die alone without even getting to say goodbye to everything he had finally recognized was WorthLivingFor.]]
* ''Anime/ExpelledFromParadise'': Angela Balzac is betrayed by her superiors, accused of treason, and imprisoned. When Frontier Setter breaks in to rescue her, she is found in this position.
* Hiro of ''Manga/HidamariSketch'' falls into a fetal position when she has a bout of [[HeroicBSOD depression]] on the thought of graduating and leaving Hidamari.
* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': During the Sisters' War arc, Miku spends the second day of the Kyoto trip locked up in her room, crying and curled up in her bed, as a result of learning that Ichika was planning to sabotage her confession to Fuutarou.
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''
** Rico adopts this position a couple of times in her introductory episode, hinting that for all her claims that she loves the Agency and the new cyborg body they gave her, she's something of a StepfordSmiler.
** Triela is knocked out by Pinochio, a child assassin for Padania [[BadassNormal who lacks her cyborg enhancements]]. She's so humiliated she adopts this position and refuses to allow her handler to comfort her.
** When Claes is taken out of the compound to a lake for seemingly the first time she sits hunched up on herself at the end of a pier, trying to work out why she has such a strong emotional reaction to something she's never seen before. It's because her handler used to take her fishing at the lake, but this experience (and all memory of him) has been erased by the Agency doctors.

* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. Rico adopts this position a couple of times in her introductory episode, hinting that for all her claims that she loves the Agency and the new cyborg body they gave her, she's something of a StepfordSmiler.

* The last scene before ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'''s epilogue is of [[spoiler:Sousuke]] curled up and sobbing in the blown-out hole that used to be an AS's cockpit, realizing that [[spoiler:he was seemingly going to die alone without even getting to say goodbye to everything he had finally recognized was WorthLivingFor.]]

** In chapter 199, Orihime adopts this position as she [[BrokenMessiah tells Rangiku about her insecurities.]]

** Mio Hio in episode 20 [[spoiler:as she grows more troubled about having to sacrifice Daisuke [[PinocchioSyndrome for a chance at truly being human]], all while the time in her current borrowed body is running out.]]

** The pose is exhibited by a very young Misato (''The Birth of Nerv''), few after being the SoleSurvivor of her father's crew. In fact, the just-as-young Ritsuko saw her for the first time when she was like that. As an adult she's thrown into a dark NERV confinement cell, and instinctively reverts to this position due to her childhood memories.

** The pose is exhibited by a very young Misato (''The Birth of Nerv''), few after being the SoleSurvivor of her father's crew. In fact, the just as young Ritsuko saw her for the first time when she was like that.

* Hiro of ''Manga/HidamariSketch'' falls into a fetal position when she has a bout of [[HeoricBSOD depression]] on the thought of graduating and leaving Hidamari.

* Brock of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' goes sulking into this position whenever someone asks him about his [[NoodleIncident time with Professor Ivy]].

* Hatchin in ''Anime/MichikoToHatchin'' does this in the first episode during her ShowerOfAngst.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'':

* ''Manga/{{Devilman}}''
** [[spoiler:Satan]] is shown preparing to assume this position after he realises that [[spoiler:he's killed Akira]].

* ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'':

* Nakaba in ''Manga/ReimeiNoArcana'' does this a lot.

** Satan is shown preparing to assume this position after he realises that he's killed Akira.