Line #100 DirtyCoward/AnimeAndManga


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7	* ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'': Baba Yoshio, a hacker who works for MEMBER, prefers to attack people from a distance with his animal robots due to being a non-combatant. He usually acts smug and condescending so long as thinks he has the upper hand, but the moment he's proven wrong, he'll resort to despicable tactics such as aiming an attack at a nearby kitten to make Kongou Mitsuko vulnerable to his robotic mosquito and then [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown kick her while she's paralyzed and unable to fight back]]. After he gets outwitted by Wannai Kinuho and Awatsuki Maaya, he panics and begs for mercy as soon as he's out of ideas. When Mikoto Mikasa [[CurbStompBattle easily destroys his mantis robot]] and tells him that she knows where he's hiding, Baba panics and futilely tries to escape his van, leaving him a crying, quivering mess.
8	* Most of ''Manga/AkameGaKill'''s villains are this, as part of the series' BlackAndGrayMorality, but several examples stand out.
9	** Prime Minister Honest is a total sleazeball who utilizes the most underhanded tactics imaginable to meet his goals; he even went so far as to barb Incursio's hilt with danger beast poison during Tatsumi's execution. In the anime, after all of his plans fall apart, he [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere tries to flee]], whimpering and whining pathetically the whole time, and then screams for someone to save him when [[spoiler:Leone blocks his path]].
10	** The Wild Hunt, in addition to being heartless and cruel monsters, are also ''the'' most cowardly of Night Raid's major enemies (with the exception of Cosmina and Izou), and the only ones (with the exception of Cosmina, who is a mindless monster when she is ''brutally'' killed) who do ''not'' FaceDeathWithDignity -- in fact, they beg and grovel for their lives as they die (minus Izou, who attempts to die happy, but Akame disrespects him in his final moments by refusing his final request and cutting him open).
11	** Bolic is so cowardly that he begs for the Jaegers to protect him when Night Raid comes to assassinate him.
12	* ''Manga/{{AKIRA}}'':
13	** The protagonist [[JapaneseDelinquents Shotaro Kaneda]], despite his [[MilesGloriosus bravado]], had a nasty habit of abandoning his friends when they got into trouble and running away when things got sticky... [[HoYay except for Tetsuo, who (despite having every reason) he never really leaves behind]]. This tendency is [[AdaptationalHeroism all but ignored in the film]].
14	** [[SleazyPolitician Mr. Nezu]] also qualifies, especially in the film, where he tries his damnedest to make a run for it when his underhanded dealings blow up in his face.
15	* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'':
16	** Most of the people in power throughout the series are this trope. Some are even willing to sacrifice thousands of people just so they can retain their wealth and authority.
17	** Despite Kitz Wörman/Kitz Weilman warning the recruits that desertion is punishable by death, [[{{Hypocrite}} he's the first to run away when the Titans return]].
18	** Inverted with Dimo Reeves, who is presented as unlikable and selfish in Season 1 when he attempts to prioritize evacuating his caravan before the people of Trost. However, it's later revealed that his company has been essential to stimulating the district's economy and preventing unemployment.
19	* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
20	** Magnifico is a good example and has yet to grow out of this.
21	** Nina in the Conviction Arc was even worse. She repeatedly considers abandoning other characters to save her own skin, including Casca, who is mentally ill and incapable of looking after herself. However, she's still somewhat sympathetic, because her inner monologues show that her cowardice isn't really a conscious decision that everyone else is expendable; she does ''want'' to be brave, especially for her "sister" Luca, but when her life and well-being are threatened, she panics and can't bring herself to actually follow through with it. Also, the reason for her getting cold feet is often perfectly understandable, [[spoiler:best illustrated by her arrival into the torture chamber, by far ''the'' most nightmarish place in the entire Tower of Conviction]], [[http://www.mangareader.net/96-1139-166/berserk/chapter-19.html as can be seen here]].
22	** Corkus at first did not have the spine to deal with Guts personally, but he later did dare to have him killed...by having seven or so of his cronies do it for him. He also did have the gall to mock and try to rough him up...after Griffith dislocated his shoulder.
23	** The Baron of Koka, the first real demon battle Guts has in the manga, gleefully kills and destroys to satisfy his sadism. But when Guts proves he's not invincible, his arrogance disappears and he starts begging for the mercy he never would've shown his victims. Guts doesn't give him any.
24	* Chaka from ''Manga/BlackLagoon'' is a sociopathic asshole whose specialty seems to be [[KickTheDog Kicking the Dog]] and who sees nothing wrong with beating a noncombatant just to provoke his colleague into a gunfight, then running away while toting a human shield when things go badly for him and shooting several of his henchmen just because he's pissed. He fancies himself a Wild West gunman, but he's nothing more than a stupid, incompetent prick who thinks himself something far more than what he actually is. So much so that when he's finally dealt with, it's by Revy denying him his duel with her and leaving him for Ginji Matsuzaki, who relieves him of his gun and both of his hands before sending him into a pool to drown.
25	* ''{{Manga/Bleach}}'': In the end, Yhwach's little more than a scared old man who's so afraid of death, he's willing to commit genocide to achieve immortality for himself, similar to [[Franchise/HarryPotter Voldemort]]. Killing his subordinates to extend his own lifespan just cements this. After his defeat, he can only pathetically blubber about how Ichigo has ruined his dream about creating a world without death and fear.
26	** Bambietta is insufferably smug and sadistic in battle, but the moment she realizes she can't do a thing to hurt Komamura's transformed Bankai, she panics and tries to flee for her life - the keyword being "tries".
27	** [=BG9=], despite his emotionless and machine-like disposition, pathetically begs for his life when faced with [[YouHaveFailedMe the consequences of his defeat]].
28	** Pepe Waccabrada will act high and mighty when the situation is in his favor, but when Liltotto confronts him to [[PayEvilUntoEvil make him pay for using Meninas against her]] after Kensei [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown pummels]] Pepe, he [[VillainsWantMercy pathetically and comically begs for his life]] before [[EatenAlive being chomped down by her]].
29	* Isao from ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}''. When it's his turn to pilot ([[spoiler:which ends in his death]]), he just runs away, resulting in him dying without winning a fight, and long-term adverse consequences to the pilots.
30	** In the anime, there's also [[spoiler:Koyemshi, as a human]], who's even worse than Isao. Despite having forced a pilot to participate, he breaks down into a sobbing wreck when it's his turn and cuts a deal, which ends up [[spoiler:turning him into the robot Koyemshi and forcing him to recruit other pilots]].
31	* ''Anime/CrossAnge'':
32	** [[TheEvilPrince Prince Julio Asuka Misurugi]] verges into this once he gets cornered by Ange, while [[VillainsWantMercy begging for his life]]. He even offers to reinstate his sister back to the royal family in exchange for sparing him. Unfortunately for him, his attempts failed as Ange nevertheless attempted to kill him anyways. The only thing that stopped her was [[BigBad Embryo]], who proceeds to annihilate him from existence himself.
33	** Embryo himself in the final episodes. He ditches his Diamond Rose Knights to be left to die fighting the [=DRAGONs=] to make way of searching for Ange (Salia and Chris barely survive, but Tanya and Irma are slaughtered). Then in the final battle, he hijacks Salia and Hilda's Ragna-Mail into attacking Salamandinay. Unfortunately for him, none of these worked thanks to a KirkSummation, and Salia and Hilda's Ragna-Mails broke free from his control. His VillainousBreakdown of desperation intensifies when Tusk stabs him, and surmises that he's not fighting one of his clones, but the ''real'' Embryo.
34	* ''Manga/DeathNote'': [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]] has no qualms against killing thousands of people, criminal or otherwise, for the sake of his plans, but at the end of the series, when he's been outed as Kira and faced with his own mortality, he absolutely [[FreakOut freaks out]] and begs for someone, ''anyone'', to save him.
35	* In ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'', [[spoiler: Kensuke the living sword ran away during the fight with Red Dragon. This taught Laios a harsh lesson about bonding with monsters.]]
36	* Many of The Demons in ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'' show themselves to be quite the cowards.
37	** The Spider Demon that acted as the older sister of Rui and the Spider Family's "Daughter" will throw anyone under the bus just to save herself and kill anyone who poses a threat to her safety all the while [[PlayingTheVictimCard claiming she's the victim]]. [[AdaptationExpansion In the anime]], a Spider Demon that acted as the "Elder Sister" in the family showed her kindness and tried to escape with her, but when Rui caught them in the act, [[TheFarmerAndTheViper "Daughter" sold out "Elder Sister" just to avoid his wrath and condemned "Elder Sister" to be cut to pieces by Rui and left to burn in the sunlight]].
38	** Hantengu in his base form spends all his time sniveling and crying while pleading for others to not hurt him. His fighting method is him running away to hide while he [[LiteralSplitPersonality summons his emotions]] to fight for him. [[spoiler:He even dies a coward, getting cut down while running away as the sun rises.]]
39	** Kaigaku is nothing but a bully and a coward who'll sell out others to save his own skin. [[spoiler:When he was a child, he sold out Himejima and his wards by letting the demons come inside their house after being outed for stealing their funds, leading to all but one dying and Himejima being wrongly arrested and almost executed, all just to save himself. He even goes so far as to betray the Demon Slayer Corps by becoming a demon himself after seeing [[TheAce Kokushibo's]] might, again to save himself. This would lead to his teacher committing {{Seppuku}} to atone for Kaigaku's betrayal, [[ItsPersonal earning him Zenitsu's hatred as the latter vows to kill Kaigaku for his treachery]].]]
40	** Tamayo calls Muzan a coward because she believes everything he does [[ImmortalsFearDeath is out of fear of anything that could hurt him]] and is ultimately proven correct by his actions. [[spoiler:This also plays into his new demonic form during the final battle, where he prioritizes long range in all of his Blood Demon Arts to keep the Demon Slayers away from him. It's even implied the reason he tries to avoid fighting the Demon Slayers himself is because he's actually terrified of them, thanks to his NearDeathExperience at the hands of Yoriichi. When the sun starts to rise and Muzan is unable to finish off the remaining Demon Slayers, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he turns away and runs from the fight without a hint of shame]] before being stopped by Tanjiro and Iguro. He also attempts to completely escape by turning into a giant demonic baby to shield himself from sunlight, which perfectly reflects his [[PsychopathicManchild true nature as a cowardly brat who can't accept his mortality]]. The combined efforts of all the Demon Slayers prevent him from escaping as his [[UndignifiedDeath demonic baby form is turned to ashes by sunlight]]. When his final attempt to [[TakingYouWithMe spite the Demon Slayer Corps]] by turning Tanjiro into a demon that [[RemovedAchillesHeel conquers the sun]] gets foiled by the combined efforts of Nezuko and Tanjiro's friends curing him of his demonization, the last remnants of Muzan's consciousness in Tanjiro's MentalWorld can only [[AintTooProudToBeg futilely and pathetically beg]] Tanjiro [[PleaseDontLeaveMe not to leave him in the darkness of Hell]] as Tanjiro [[TheFinalTemptation rejects his offer of eternal life]].]]
41	* MadScientist Akihiro Kurata from ''Anime/DigimonDataSquad'', just one of the [[SmugSnake many]], ''[[MoralEventHorizon many]]'' things that fans can hate about him.
42	** However, this does make [[spoiler:his downfall [[VillainousBreakdown much more entertaining]] when we see him ''[[AintTooProudToBeg begging for his life]]'' as [=ShineGreymon=] Burst Mode gives him exactly what he had coming]].
43	* Virtually every ''Franchise/DragonBall'' villain has moments of this; they're so arrogant that they believe that no one can stop them, and then FreakOut and become desperate when they meet someone who can and ''does'' kick their ass:
44	** When Mercenary Tao starts losing to Goku, he begs for his life and offers to change his ways... and then tries to blow him up with a grenade when Goku's back is turned.
45	** When Goku gets the better of him several times during their showdown, King Piccolo results to using Tien as a HumanShield and threatening to kill him to force Goku to stand still and let Piccolo [[GameBreakingInjury break his legs and left arm with rocks]] so he could finish him while he was helpless.
46	** Tambourine acts like an ArrogantKungFuGuy when in control of a situation, but when Goku beats him senseless in their rematch, he tries to make a break for it.
47	** Goku's brother Raditz is a good example. Despite being a member of a race of {{Blood Knight}}s who would actually prefer death when defeated in battle than live with the shame of losing, he has the nerve to beg his younger, weaker (at the time) brother to let him go after Goku [[AchillesHeel grabs his tail]], only to backstab him when freed. Goku wasn't fooled again when he tried the same trick twice. It's suggested that this is part of why he's much weaker than other Saiyans; being someone who runs away whenever pushed, he rarely gains the benefit of [[CameBackStrong Zenkai.]]
48	** Frieza is proven to be one of these once he's no longer inaccessibly stronger than everyone around him. Also, deep down, this was Frieza's ultimate motivation for killing the Saiyans -- he was afraid that they'd produce a Super Saiyan, which would be his undoing.
49	** Frieza's minions, Zarbon, Dodoria, and Cui, all act like big shots and are confident that they could easily beat Vegeta, but the second Vegeta turns the tables on them and is about to kill them, they beg for mercy (Zarbon), cry out to Frieza for help (Dodoria), or just plain run (Cui).
50	** Android 19 ''gleefully'' beats a sick Goku senseless and drains his energy... but when he gets his ass handed to him by the perfectly healthy Vegeta and loses his arms, he's left trembling in fear before freaking out and running for the hills. Vegeta even calls him out on it in the original Funimation dub:
51	--->'''Vegeta:''' What's the matter? ''You're'' the one who started this game, and now you don't want to play anymore? You were enjoying yourself before, when you were sucking the life out of Kakarot!
52	** Dr. Gero uses sneak attacks, and when Piccolo chops his arm off, all he can really do is run away to get backup.
53	** Cell himself zigzags, especially when compared to Frieza. Early on, he tended to retreat when potentially outclassed and outnumbered, only striking when he had the advantage. [[PragmaticVillainy Justified in that he was genuinely weaker than Piccolo who had re-merged with Kami, leaving to empower himself in preparation to make sure that his victory and taking down the Androids- was much wiser than fighting a losing battle with a stronger at the time adversary]]. His Semi-Imperfect form also has this mindset in mind once he was outclassed completely by Vegeta, [[ManipulativeBastard playing on the Saiyan's ego in order to spare him from being killed on the spot, rather than fighting a losing battle]]. In his Perfect form, he's overall [[SmugSuper justified in his overconfidence]] and [[BloodKnight more willing to engage in lusting for battle]] as [[CavalierCompetitor as long as he's confident in his superiority]]. Once Cell fully comprehends just how much stronger Super Saiyan 2 Gohan is in comparison to himself, [[VillainousBreakdown he's gradually left trembling in fear before him]]. By the time Gohan forces him to expel Android 18 and revert to his Semi-Perfect form, he's absolutely ''terrified'' and ordering Gohan to stay back. [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Unlike Frieza though, he was willing to follow through]] [[DrivenToSuicide with the option of killing himself rather than dying at Gohan's hands]] [[TakingYouWithMe if only to make sure he takes his enemy with him]] and [[SoreLoser make sure he was the victor even with an underhanded method]]. Once he returns as [[CameBackStrong Super Perfect Cell]], this is downplayed again as he's more confident in taking on Gohan, [[WorfHadTheFlu who was wounded and insecure enough to not unleash his full power]] and his [[ThisCannotBe final words were not in fear, but in disbelief and anger that he wasn't perfect]].
54	--->'''Cell:''' S-stay away from me, you monster!
55	** The Cell Jrs. gleefully beat up the weaker Z-Fighters on Cell's orders, but back down in fear when faced with an enraged Super Saiyan 2 Gohan; one even uses Krillin as a HumanShield and threatens to slit his throat with WolverineClaws if Gohan doesn't back off, and when only one is left standing, he immediately tries to make a break for it.
56	** [[SquishyWizard Babidi]] is entirely dependent on his minions to fight and protect him, and begs for his dirty life when Piccolo corners and overpowers him. Goku even outright calls Babidi a "cowardly worm" while criticizing Majin Buu for letting Babidi push him around, so once that's said and done... well, you can already guess Babidi won't be living long after Buu gets [[TheDogBitesBack a much-deserved payback]].
57	** Eis Shenron of ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' goes from gloating over Goku when he has the upper hand to pathetically sniveling and begging for his life the minute Goku turns the tables on him.
58	** Naturon Shenron is almost as bad as Eis. Once he absorbs Pan, he actively taunts Goku and kills several innocents for the hell of it and to egg him on. When Goku prepares to steel his heart and [[ShootTheDog blast him while Pan's absorbed]], Naturon goes from smug to desperately trying to beg him not to fire, only regaining his cool when it turns out Goku subconsciously held back the attack and just injured him. When he loses Pan, he immediately attempts to absorb a bird for a power-up and tries to beg for his life again before shooting Goku with a surprise attack.
59	* Pop from ''Manga/DragonQuestTheAdventureOfDai'' started out like this, but [[CharacterDevelopment he gets better]].
60	** There is also Zaboera, who actually takes pride in being one.
61	* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'':
62	** Jackal, a minor arc villain, is the practitioner of a martial art called "Nanto Bakusatsu-ken" -- ''South Star Exploding Kill Fist''. Despite the grandiose name, the style consists mainly of throwing sticks of dynamite at enemies while at a safe distance. Kenshiro [[LampshadeHanging calls him on this]] by snidely asking him if it's even truly a martial art (to which his only reply is “[[CombatPragmatist Hey, as long as it works]]”). When Kenshiro goes on his RoaringRampageOfRevenge, Jackal leaves his men to die and ultimately tries to lie his way out of his fate, first tricking a giant inmate into thinking he's his long-lost brother before siccing him on Kenshiro and then trying to lie to Kenshiro about said inmate being a monster, which turns out to be the last mistake Jackal ever makes.
63	** Jagi, in addition to being a heartless and cruel monster, is also ''the'' most cowardly of Kenshiro's major villains in the series, and the only one who does ''not'' FaceDeathWithDignity -- in fact, he has the ignominy of being the only Hokuto Shinken practitioner to beg and grovel for his life in the tradition's entire 2000-year history.
64	** Also applies to almost all minor thugs in the series who live long enough to realize that they're screwed. A lot of them end up completely breaking down and begging for their lives. It doesn't help that Kenshiro's primary fighting style has a penchant for [[{{Gorn}} rather gruesome]] [[YouAreAlreadyDead delayed death attacks]].
65	* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'':
66	** Akito takes full advantage of the [[HereditaryCurse curse]] to do as she pleases to the Zodiac members, since the curse compels them to follow along with whatever she says and does as their God and prevents them from standing up to her. When Haru discovers she locked Rin up in the Cat's Room to starve to death, he's pushed into such an UnstoppableRage that he's able to ''override'' this, leaving Akito [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/fruitsbasket/images/2/23/S3E6-2019_%28119%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20210511012931 in wide-eyed shock]] when he manhandles her and nearly punches her out.
67	** Kyo's AbusiveDad takes every opportunity to demean Kyo, manhandle him, and treat him [[ItIsDehumanizing like an inhuman monster]], but when Kyo simply touches him, he panics and pathetically yells for help, [[AbominationAccusationAttack claiming Kyo is trying to kill him]].
68	** The [[GroupieBrigade Prince Yuki Fanclub]] love to throw their weight around and threaten Tohru, but due to [[{{Delinquent}} Arisa]] and [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette Saki's]] presence, they don't have the guts to actually ''do'' anything to her. The general routine is them hassling Tohru, Arisa and Saki showing up to tell them off, and the fan club [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere fleeing in terror]].
69	* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'':
70	** Yoki constantly suffers the consequences of his scumbag actions, mostly because he keeps [[ChronicBackStabbingDisorder lying and backstabbing]] so he can bribe his way into a higher military rank. Every nasty scheme backfires, landing him in nastier and nastier situations to the point that he's the manga's resident ChewToy. One of the characters even points out it's entirely his own fault that he gets into these messes. Eventually, [[CharacterDevelopment he finally starts to move out of this]], first becoming actually useful, and then later showing some courage by [[spoiler:'''ramming a car into Pride''']].
71	** This was the accusation of [[spoiler:Kimblee against Pride. On realizing he was near death, Pride tried to take over Ed's body as a new host, just moments after explaining his hatred of humans. Kimblee couldn't stand the cowardice and hypocrisy]].
72	** Envy acts like a big shot and constantly resorts to dirty tricks, such as the ShapeshifterGuiltTrip, when fighting his enemies, and [[VillainousBreakdown will bitch and moan non-stop the very second he's losing]]. His cowardice ''really'' shows when he [[TooDumbToLive reveals to Roy Mustang that]] ''[[TooDumbToLive he]]'' [[TooDumbToLive killed Maes Hughes]] and [[EvilGloating brags about it]]... and when he [[OhCrap realizes just how bad of an idea it was to piss off Mustang]], spends the remainder of the episode running in fear of the conflict he willfully brought down upon himself. [[spoiler:Mustang later calls them a "coward" when they commit suicide out of shame in response to Ed exposing the root of their behavior.]]
73	** The 2003 anime has a subversion with Rick and Rio's mother, who seemingly abandoned her children to die during the Ishval invasion before she got herself killed in an explosion. They later learn that [[spoiler:she suffered from an eyesight degeneration and didn't notice that her children were in front of her. She ran away trying to find them]].
74	* Yukiteru's father from ''Manga/FutureDiary'' is this, all the way. He even [[spoiler:kills his wife because he's terrified that she'll tell the police he just left his son to die on a collapsing tower]].
75	* ''Manga/GunBlazeWest'' has Sarge Thunderarm. As a {{cyborg}} with a cannon inside his arm, he's a formidable opponent and is reasonably cocky... but only when he's winning. When he finds himself outmatched by Baron Knight, the guardian of the way to Gun Blaze West, he calls for reinforcements. Baron Knight then declares that he's disgusted with Sarge's cowardice and that he's unworthy of going to Gun Blaze West.
76	* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'':
77	** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'':
78	*** Yuna Roma Seiran was a sniveling coward and wannabe ManipulativeBastard who got Orb into the war on the Earth Forces' side, takes command of the army at the front...and then proceeds to spend the campaign having one panic attack after another. He's incapable of standing up to Earth Forces Captain Neo Roanoke, who more or less takes over the campaign and uses the Orb forces as cannon fodder, and is ultimately killed when trying to escape from a losing battle.
79	*** Lord Djibril, Blue Cosmos leader, is a much more dangerous example, as he combines this trope with DiabolicalMastermind. When things go south for him, Djibril always bails, leaving his allies in the lurch...only to return soon after with his latest [[WeaponsOfMassDestruction Weapon Of Mass Destruction]] primed for combat. A [[SmugSnake slimy]], cowardly [[TheBully bully]] who nevertheless manages to cause hundreds of thousands of deaths through pure malice.
80	** The first opponent Riku and Yukio face in ''Anime/GundamBuildDivers'' is Douji. His MO in Gunpla Battle Nexus Online was to tail new players, wait until they're sufficiently weakened, then trick them into going into battle where he would defeat them without getting into trouble thanks to LoopholeAbuse. When Riku overcomes him, he's left a sobbing wreck who vows revenge.
81	** ''SD Gundam Sangokuden: Brave Battle Warriors'', an adaptation of the ''Toys/BBSenshiSangokuden'' toyline based on ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' from the ''Franchise/SDGundam BB Senshi'' model series, has Enjutsu Zssa, based on Yuan Shu. Here, Enjutsu is a sniveling, pompous, gutless coward who runs at the first sign of danger and even abandons his own brother in the face of an attack by a single enemy. He also has the gall to be surprised when Enshou Bawoo (based on Yuan Shao and himself not exactly a sterling example of bravery either) ends up yelling at him for leaving him to die.
82	* ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'': Raynare loves to stand around, taunt and torment people she thinks are inferior to her, but the moment she realizes she's in trouble, she tries to run away, happily sacrificing her minions in the process. She laughs at Issei when he spills out his lingering affections toward her, mocking him as completely unworthy of being boyfriend material, yet attempts to fall back on their date when Rias is about to kill her. Issei expresses disgust she's only now responding to his feelings when it's convenient for her, and gives Rias permission to finish her off.
83	* ''Manga/HighschoolOfTheDead'':
84	** Misuzu Ichijou is quick to kick her "BFF" down the stairs to the zombies just to avoid sharing her fate. She ends up paying for this very quickly with her [[KarmicDeath life]] in the anime or with her humanity in the manga.
85	** For all his talk about "[[SocialDarwinist survival of the fittest]]", Koichi Shido is a snivelling weasel, immediately running at the sight of "[[NotUsingTheZWord Them]]" and cowering in fear when Kohta points a gun at him. His cowardice is the ''only'' reason Rei opts not to kill him when he has her at his mercy, declaring he's [[NotWorthKilling not worth it]].
86	* Subverted with Taikobo in ''Manga/HoshinEngi''. He ''pretends'' to be this early on but is actually a {{Chessmaster}}, using how people see him to his advantage.
87	* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'':
88	** Kotetsu, the twisted artist who uses demonic ink fueled by human blood and entrails, begs for his pathetic life when Inuyasha has him cornered.
89	** [[BigBad Naraku]], especially before he TookALevelInBadass. He typically uses [[ActuallyADoombot demonic puppets of himself]] or manipulates others into fighting Inuyasha and his companions for him so he doesn't have to worry about his own safety, and whenever he ''does'' fight on his own, it's almost a guarantee that he'll pull a VillainExitStageLeft as soon as the tides turn against him.
90	* ''Literature/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'': Ishtar abandons her Familia and tries to sprint when Freya retaliates. She ends up suffering a mortal fall after a feeble attempt at striking Freya.
91	* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'':
92	** Hol Horse manages to be the only recurring villain in Part Three... by running for his life whenever things go wrong. He also refuses to ever work alone, despite being an assassin; he knows how weak his Stand is against most other Stands, after all. The incident that finally dispatches him even comes about because of his cowardice: told by a fortune-telling Stand -Thoth- that he'll kill Jotaro at noon, he takes the shot from a far distance and from cover... [[spoiler:which allows for a ProphecyTwist to send the bullets back into ''his'' head. To be fair, Thoth was ''prescribing'' that shoot-from-cover bit. The only thing Hol did wrong was use his own watch, which was fast, rather than a perfectly accurate clock. Had he done that, the bullets would have hit Jotaro along with the water burst from the pipe. Also, he didn't die -- like with Enya, he disengaged Emperor before the wounds could become fatal]].
93	** Rubber Soul tries to surprise Jotaro with a sneak attack after getting caught in the water. Prior to this, he tried weaseling his way out of a beating with a JustJokingJustification, and only got an advantage because Jotaro wanted to get more information on future Stand users and delayed the punching. When Rubber Soul is incapacitated again, he tries the same line, but Jotaro just holds him in place while Star Platinum pummels him.
94	** J. Geil, on top of being a [[SerialRapist rapist]] and [[PsychoForHire loving to inflict harm on others]] and [[EvilGloating brag about his depraved acts]], immediately runs away and begs for his life once Jean-Pierre Polnareff, the brother of one of his victims, defeats his Stand.
95	** Steely Dan, like Hol Horse, has a pretty weak Stand. But at least Emperor has ''some'' offensive power by itself; all Lovers does is relay Dan's own pain to its host, amplified several times over. Dan, pure slime that he is, doesn't just use this as a deterrent. No, he effectively blackmails Jotaro into being his slave, even to the point of forcing him to steal a bracelet, then get beaten silly by security, while Dan himself ''steals an even more valuable necklace'' during the commotion. All the while gloating over being tacitly invincible. Of course, once Kakyoin outmaneuvers and drives Lovers out of Joseph, [[VillainousBreakdown Dan devolves into a pure sycophant, begging for mercy without dignity...]] [[spoiler:then trying to use an innocent girl as ''another'' hostage to force Jotaro to let himself be stabbed! Dan ''fully'' deserved the [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown 3+ pages/20 seconds of Ora-Ora]] that Jotaro ultimately unleashes on him]].
96	** Alessi, whose Stand allows him to de-age anyone who touches his shadow. This is ''the only way'' he's willing to fight anyone (unlike Hol, who just adheres to the creed "run away to fight another day"), even if the nearest adult is a harmless woman. He has to use an ''axe'' to fight them. And to think he keeps calling himself a "good boy". Which make his defeat all the sweeter when he runs into Jotaro. He manages to use his powers on him, but Jotaro is so badass that even as a Standless kid, he's more than a match for him, giving him [[RapidFireFisticuffs the ORA ORA treatment]] anyway and then laying him out with an uppercut. Talk about irony.
97	** Dio Brando, of all people, is this. Even though he is determined, this does not mean he is particularly brave; for all his pride, he isn't above fleeing or begging for his life when things turn sour.
98	** ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureJojolion'' has the BigBad, [[spoiler:Toru. He is a criminal mastermind who hides in the shadows as the heroes try to take down his organization. He uses his Stand, Wonder of U, as a decoy, and it turns out that its ability is to manipulate probability to protect him from any danger or even any risk of danger]].
99	* ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'':
100	** Haruta Shigemo loves nothing more than to pick on enemies weaker than himself, especially if they can't fight back, [[KickThemWhileTheyreDown and to repeatedly attack them even after they're already defeated]].
101	*** After Hanami barely escapes from Gojo's Hollow Purple and is left too injured to move, [[WeAreStrugglingTogether Haruta is sorely tempted to attack the Disaster Curse even though they're ostensibly on the same side]], and only relents after [[IllKillYou Mahito warns him not to act up if he values his life]].
102	*** While fighting Nobara, Haruta repeatedly dodges her attacks until [[LivingWeapon his sword]] catches up with Akari, [[SupportPartyMember a non-combatant assistant manager]], after which he promptly ditches Nobara to run towards Akari's position and kick her while she's on all fours. Even though he has Nobara at his mercy after hitting her in the jaw and leaving her too dazed to stand, Haruta keeps stabbing Akari [[ForTheEvulz because he just finds it that much fun]], and taunts Nobara when she screams at him to stop.
103	*** When a [[TranquilFury very pissed off Nanami]], who's way above Haruta's weight class in terms of power, shows up and starts giving Haruta a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown in retribution for killing the rest of the assistant managers, Haruta tries to have his sword sneak up on Nanami while he's distracted. After Nobara puts a stop to that by literally nailing his sword to the ceiling and Nanami punches him again, Haruta begins to cry and apologize, but Nanami interrupts by [[TalkToTheFist punching]] him [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom across the street]] because he knows Haruta isn't sorry at all.
104	*** You would think after being used as Nanami's punching bag Haruta [[KnowWhenToFoldEm would wise up and leave Shibuya]] after [[WindsOfDestinyChange his Cursed Technique saves him from death]], right? Well, no: the moment he wanders into a distracted, injured Megumi, Haruta attacks him from behind, relishing the opportunity to trample on the weak once more. [[spoiler:That proves to be a costly mistake when Megumi responds by [[GodzillaThreshold summoning Mahoraga]], who will not stop fighting until both Megumi and Haruta are dead; this, in turn, forces a rampant Sukuna to [[ThirdPartyStopsAttack intervene]] because [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou he still has plans for Megumi]], and [[WalkingWasteland levels a sizeable portion of the city]] in the ensuing fight. After the dust settles, Sukuna tells Haruta to get lost; Haruta happily does so and counts his lucky stars that he survived, only to unwittingly run into Sukuna's still-active Domain and [[CleanCut fall to the ground in pieces]].]]
105	** Mahito ''loves'' taunting and belittling his opponents as he [[ZergRush overwhelms them]] with his [[BodyHorror transfigured humans]] and [[{{biomanipulation}} Idle Transfiguration]], and generally [[PutTheLaughterInSlaughter laughs like a maniac]] while doing so, but when the odds begin to stack against him or someone manages to actually injure him he's quick to make a run for it or keep his distance until he can regain the advantage. [[spoiler:When Yuji finally manages to deal a devastating defeat at the end of the Shibuya Incident and Mahito is left completely at his mercy, all of his bravado and nihilistic sadism goes out the window as he becomes pants-shittingly ''terrified'' of Yuji, who agrees with Mahito's earlier NotSoDifferentRemark and makes clear that [[GoneHorriblyRight he no longer needs a reason to kill him]]. At this point Mahito attempts to pathetically run for his life, [[RuleOfSymbolism the accompanying imagery comparing him to an injured rabbit fleeing from a pack of wolves]].]]
106	* In ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple'', Nijima used [[spoiler:Seigfried]] as a human shield during the [[spoiler:D of D]]. He also runs from almost every person who even slightly threatens him. Averted once when he lies to [[spoiler:Kenichi]] to keep him from being lynched by [[spoiler:Ragnarok]].
107	* Captain Knowles of of the ''Goliath'' in ''Anime/LastExile'' ordered his ship to flee battle before the retreat was sounded. Later, he was too cowardly to face Alex in a duel he himself demanded and so decided on a ship-to-ship duel, figuring his battleship would be superior. When he saw his opponent was the ''Silvana'', he ordered his gunners to fire before the fight started.
108	* ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaAkiraHimekawa'': In the adaptation of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'', while Linebeck is initially portrayed as a LovableCoward like his game counterpart, [[spoiler:it’s revealed that he abandoned his crew when their ship was attacked by the Cubus Sister. In the present, he finally subverts it when he tries to pull off a HeroicSacrifice against Bellum to save Link]].
109	* Defied by BigBad Phantom from ''Manga/{{MAR}}'', who regularly kills any and ''every'' mook that runs from battle. He only does this a few times onscreen, but it is clearly established that he ''despises'' cowards. He even denies his mooks the death of the protagonist Ginta, saying that, since he's a WorthyOpponent, there's no reason to kill him until he's strong enough to put up a proper fight.
110	* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai''
111	** [[TheBully Tsubasa Kowase]] is noted by Maria to only target [[ShrinkingViolet docile girls who probably would not retaliate]] after he [[{{blackmail}} extorted them]]. She also later states that [[StarterVillain she specifically targeted him first]] because [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere he was the most likely to run once her targets realize they're in danger]].
112	** Like Kowase, [[AlphaBitch Kumiru Shikimi]] is one of the earlier targets since Maria considers her a coward who would run at the first sign of danger. While she's certainly mouthy, when the chips are down and she realizes that she's shit out of luck [[AintTooProudToBeg she's quick to resort to begging]].
113	* Akito Tenkawa spends much of the early part of ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'' trying to flee from combat, though to be fair, he's got some fairly serious psychological problems, considering it's a comedy series. Unlike a certain other pilot of whom he is partly a parody, he [[CharacterDevelopment gets over it]]. Eventually.
114	* Danzo Shimura from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' is widely hated throughout the fanbase, for being one of (if not the most) hated villains in the series. To begin with, Danzo was always in Hiruzen's shadow, for years he undermined those around him. It was Danzo who directed the Hidden Leaf to hate a baby (Naruto). It was Danzo who forced Itachi, to murder the Uchiha Clan to stop their coup. It was Danzo...you get the picture. He used, convinced and manipulated soo many prominent characters to do his dirty work. But when Sasuke came to him looking for answers? Danzo [[UndignifiedDeath died like the rat he was]].
115	** [[BrokenAce Hanzo The Salamander]] was a more tragic example. Unlike Danzo (who ironically also manipulated him), Hanzo was once a [[TheDreaded monster]] during the Second Shinobi World War. Hanzo believed his convictions could establish peace for the Hidden Rain. But as time past, Hanzo's skills dulled and he retreated into the power he built. Sadly, Hanzo betrayed what he once stood for, costing him his life when Pain effortlessly murdered him.
116	* The first BigBad of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' is pwned by [[PerversePuppet Chachazero]] after running from the final battle of the Kyoto arc. The point of her TheReasonYouSuckSpeech is proven completely true [[spoiler:when she gives Chigusa the most ignominious defeat ever: scaring her so badly that she fainted, revealing her cowardly nature]].
117	* Shinji Ikari of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fervently ''believes'' himself to be this, but is more of a CowardlyLion who has a dozen self-loathing complexes. The real DirtyCoward is actually his father Gendo, who abandoned his son out of fear and spends the entire series running from his own insecurities. Gendo's not a frontline fighter, but is not above sending others to suffer in his place--he allows SEELE to take both his NumberTwo Fuyutsuki and resident scientist Ritsuko for humiliating interrogation. Gendo acknowledges this as he lays dying in the movie, right before his KarmicDeath.
118	* ''Manga/OnePiece'':
119	** Helmeppo bullies people while hiding behind his tyrannical Marine Captain father Morgan. He gets better, though, when his father is defeated and he learns to become a great Marine.
120	** Kuro, as a {{Foil}} to LovableCoward Usopp. Tired of being pursued by the Marines, he sets up a scheme to murder an innocent young girl and his men in order to inherit her wealth and retire. Luffy even tells Kuro that he should've put with constantly being under the Marine's radar into consideration ''before'' sailing out to be a pirate.
121	** Marshall D. Teach, better known as Blackbeard, is a notable example in that despite having the D. initial, he started begging for his life the moment it was in immediate danger. He also is an opportunist who only fought Whitebeard when he was severely weakened, and when he still struggled, he called his whole crew to help him.
122	** Spandam [[MoralEventHorizon crosses the line]] to become a more obvious asshole than he already was in the flashback, when he starts to beat [[WouldHitAGirl Nico Robin]] while [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown she's defenseless]] and [[EvilGloating mocks her about a military operation against her home island, which resulted in the death of her family and friends]]. He also beats Cutty Flam/Franky when he's down, also mocking the death of his father figure, caused by Spandam himself, but starts to scream and cry when Franky manages to bite Spandam in the head a couple of times. He also relies on Lucci to protect his skin a lot. While he is willing to chase the Straw Hats himself even after he and his agents are beaten, he still has his troops do all the dirty work as he barks orders at them, and refuses to simply let the Straw Hats escape because he is a SoreLoser. [[DramaticSpineInjury He gets his spine shattered]] by [[TheDogBitesBack Robin]] for his trouble.
123	** Demalo Black AKA Fake Luffy. He tries to pass himself and his crew as the real Straw Hats in order to win himself a larger crew without even having the skills or looking like them (or even ''acting'' like them, as he shoots two random people and mockingly apologizes) to back it up, and it bites him hard when Sentomaru and a group of Pacifistas come to arrest the real Straw Hats (who coincidentally decided to reunite that time); he can only flaunt his supposed heritage to try slipping, but Sentoumaru knocks him out in one hit. Needless to say, his recruits aren't pleased.
124	** Flashbacks in the Fish-Man Island arc reveal that East Blue antagonist Arlong was really this. It turns out that the real reason Arlong was in the East Blue was because, after getting his ass kicked by Vice-Admiral Borsalino (the future Admiral Kizaru) and his former friend and captain Jimbei, he realized he could never measure up to the top players of the Grand Line. So, he instead ran off to the weakest sea to fulfill his ambitions there, because he knew that there was no one there strong enough to stop him.
125	** [[spoiler:[[AbusiveParents Judge Vinsmoke]]]] is one of the more disgraceful examples in the series' recent history. In a one-on-one fight against [[spoiler: Sanji,]] he needs jetpack boots, an electric spear, and '''[[HumanShield a small army's worth of human shields]]''' to barely win against his "weakling son." Again, this is against '''one''' person, who didn't even use his hands and had enough empathy not to attack the human shields. [[spoiler: Literally sobbing and begging for his life when surrounded by Big Mom's men]] didn't exactly boost his reputation in the eyes of the fans, [[EvenEvilHasStandards or his other four children.]] [[spoiler: Personally attacking Big Mom at the royal wedding is the only time he's shown to have ''somewhat'' of a backbone... though admittedly, it's because he was forced into that position and had no other choice but to fight.]]
126	** Kurozumi Orochi. A spiteful individual who deliberately runs his country to the ground, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters persecuting his own citizens the same way they persecuted his family]], abuses his authority by having dissenters executed and flaunts his power even to the World Government's Cipher Pol agents. The only reason he can afford to get away with all of this is because [[WorldsStrongestMan Kaido]] backs him up. When he is cornered, he either uses his powerful Fruit against civilians, or begs for mercy, or has to act sneaky to do proper damage. [[spoiler:A bit before his death, he does all the above.]]
127	** [[AristocratsAreEvil The Celestial Dragons.]] When it comes down to it, they're nothing more than sadistic, overgrown bullies who take advantage of the protection they receive from the World Government[[note]]Anyone who attacks them has to deal with one of ''three'' immensely powerful [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership admirals]][[/note]] to commit insanely horrific acts, such as slavery, torture, and murder, [[ForTheEvulz for fun.]] When someone manages to find a loophole around their protection, or just plain doesn't care what happens to them, they [[VillainsWantMercy cry and beg for mercy]] like the [[HateSink sniveling filth]] they are. So far, the only known Celestial Dragons to avert this trope is [[spoiler: Donquixote Doflamingo, and that is only because of his harsh childhood after his father took him out of Mariejois with their family to live a normal life, and Mjosgard outside of flashbacks, who became a decent human and stopped a war by himself, as well as the Holy Knights, who are trained to be strong enough to protect their fellow Celestial Dragons]].
128	* Uragami from ''Manga/{{Parasyte}}'', who has been known to rape and murder humans, runs away and screams in fear when he sees a Parasyte reveal its true form for the first time.
129	* ''Anime/Persona4TheAnimation'': Yukiko, Chie, and Rise all provide a minor example during the fight against Shadow Naoto; they use Teddie as a HumanShield to save themselves from Shadow Naoto's RapidAging-inducing EyeBeams, and then flat-out bail on the guys to avoid suffering the same fate. This is in stark contrast to the [[VideoGame/Persona4 original game]], where they're willing to [[TakingTheBullet shield Yu from fatal attacks]] if their [[RelationshipValues Social Links are progressed far enough]].
130	* Genma Saotome, father of the titular character of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', falls somewhere between this and LovableCoward. Despite being one of the more formidable martial artists in the locale, whenever trouble arises (and it's often [[SinsOfOurFathers his fault that it does]]), his plan of action invariably boils down to some variant of "run away" or "make Ranma deal with it". Whether it's pinning the blame on Ranma, telling Ranma that it's his "duty" to handle things, or simply vanishing into the woodwork and leaving Ranma with no choice but to try and handle something he hasn't the faintest idea about, Genma virtually never lifts a finger to help. He also has a bad habit of grabbing [[ForcedTransformation the nearest bucket of water]] as soon as it seems like he might have to answer some pointed questions.
131	* Daemon Spade from ''Manga/Reborn2004'' turns out to be one of these when facing someone who can actually defeat him. His "special move" is to bravely, bravely, run away to another dimension.
132	* ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'':
133	** Every time Malty is on the losing side or has her life at risk, she will pathetically beg for her life despite screwing over everyone she knew for sadistic pleasure.
134	** Motoyasu will act tough and chivalrous, but the second the advantage is against him, he will beg his opponent to "fight fair" or beg someone to help him.
135	** Idol Rabier tortured and raped demihuman slaves for years and put Raphtalia through hell when she was younger. When she attacks him, he instantly turns into a spineless wreck while cowering against the wall until he isn't in danger anymore and gets killed by the monster he spawned.
136	** Lesty, like Malty, is afraid of death and being punished for her actions. When Naofumi and his allies gain the upper hand, she immediately shows fear in her face as Naofumi kills her.
137	* ''Manga/RoosterFighter'': Usyo's {{Yakuza}} partner says he's decided to start a legal company and asks him to sign a paper for it. Turns out the paper is actually labeling the receiver of an old loan, and soon {{Loan Shark}}s arrive and say they don't know anything about the other guy.
138	* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Takeda Kanryu acts like a big shot and gloats about [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney the power of money]] while unloading a gatling gun on Kenshin and his friends. As soon as Kenshin bypasses said gatling gun and is staring him down, Kanryu is reduced to a pathetic wimp begging Kenshin not to kill him, right before Kenshin breaks his jaw.
139	* Zoisite from ''Anime/SailorMoon'', a SmugSnake who prefers to use dirty tricks and cheat to win, and always running away when a fight is looking to be getting tough. The sheer level of cheating, conniving cowardice he displays actually makes him one of the more effective villains in the series, lasting longer than many of his contemporaries.
140	* [[spoiler:Murai]] from ''Manga/ScumbagLoser''. He basically becomes a "truffle pig" for [[spoiler: Mizusawa Haruka]], looking for low class males for her [[spoiler: to eat.]] And if he does not find one every week... it will be his turn. [[spoiler: Up until he decides that he can't go on like this, and decides to kill himself, but not before he takes out Haruka, as well as his father, who had murdered at least one person, and possibly others as well. It fails, but [[RedemptionEqualsDeath it's still the bravest thing he's done since the start of the series.]]]]
141	* ''Literature/{{Shiki}}'':
142	** Masao is a bit of a downplayed version. Notably, his cowardice makes him less of a threat than many other vampires because he's too scared to routinely kill and eat humans. He plays the trope somewhat straighter in the manga than he does in the anime.
143	** A somewhat straighter but less obvious version is Atsushi Ookawa. When he first meets TheVamp Chizuru, he says that people stay in at night because "they're all a bunch of stinking cowards," yet [[spoiler:when Chizuru is actually in danger, he fails to rescue her because he's too scared of his father to risk his wrath, and later, when he's discovered after killing Toshio Ozaki's mother in revenge, he begs for his life.]]
144	** A much more obvious, though sympathetic version is Tohru Mutou. While he's not proud of what he's done nor does he want to do it, he doesn't want to die either, doing it because he doesn't want his family killed. [[spoiler:It takes his LoveInterest Ritsuko Kunihiro to finally quell his fears and accept death.]]
145	* Kishin Asura from ''Manga/SoulEater'' became a physical font of insanity and evil because he was scared of everything -- which led to [[TheParanoiac paranoia]] and the desire to become so powerful that no one could harm him, at any cost.
146	* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'':
147	** Kuradeel poisons the rest of his party, paralyzing them, and slowly tortures Godfrey to death before trying to do the same to Kirito. When Asuna turns the tables on him and nearly kills him, Kuradeel pathetically tries to appeal to her conscience before trying to kill her.
148	** Nobuyuki Sugou/Oberon spends most of the Fairy Dance arc cocky, composed, and arrogant, [[AGodAmI declaring himself a god]] and rubbing in Kirito's face that there's nothing he can do to stop him... as long as he's in control of the situation and has his GameMaster powers backing him up. The minute he's [[DePower stripped of his admin privileges]] and faced with a righteously pissed-off Kirito, Sugou has a massive FreakOut and [[InelegantBlubbering breaks down crying like a scared little girl]]. He's just as cowardly in real life; he attacks Kirito with a knife, slashing his arm in a surprise attack, and [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown kicks Kirito multiple times after he falls to the ground]] before trying to kill him... and when Kirito overpowers him, takes the knife away, and states his intention to kill him with it, Sugou panics and immediately tries to make a break for it; Kirito just barely manages to stop himself from finishing him off, by which point Sugou is crying TearsOfFear and [[BringMyBrownPants loses control of his bladder]] before passing out.
149	** There's also [[TheBully Endou]] and the two other girls who try to extort money from Shino "Sinon" Asada, by [[TraumaButton triggering her past trauma]], simply because they don't have the guts to actually get violent with her. When Shino's friend, Kyouji Shinkawa, bluffs and pretends to be summoning a police officer to Shino's aid, Endou and the others immediately flee. At the end of the arc, after Shino [[spoiler:[[Awesome/SwordArtOnline overcomes her fear of guns long enough to show that Endou didn't deactivate the other safety on her model gun, then uses the gun to shoot a can with perfect accuracy]],]] Endou is left stunned, on her knees.
150	** Dyne, leader of Sinon's squad in Gun Gale Online. He specializes in ambushing groups of monster hunters (who aren't specialized in fighting players, although they ''are'' armed and ready to fight), and tends to give up and flee at the first indication that he's in over his head. He's also something of a {{hypocrite}} in that he complains about monster hunters who hire bodyguards coming off as cowards. That said, he does put himself in the line of fire to give Sinon the chance to take down a heavily armed foe, albeit after Sinon browbeats him for his cowardice.
151	** Gabriel Miller, the BigBad of Alicization's second half, constantly brags about being an InvincibleVillain and [[YourSoulIsMine stealing people's souls]], but when [[spoiler:Kirito beats him and leaves him to be DraggedOffToHell, he screams and begs for his minions to save him.]]
152	* Takehiko Inoue's ''Manga/{{Vagabond}}'' features Hon'iden Matahachi, who's usual "flight instead of fight" response fuels his inferiority complex compared to his childhood friend [[UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi Shinmen Takezou]]; after he didn't have the bravery (or whatever) to follow Takezou into a shed, they're physically separated, and over the next four years he only catches fleeting glimpses of his former friend now called Miyamoto Musashi. It doesn't help that Matahachi had become a con artist passing himself off as Sasaki Kojirou, and is ''very'' self-conscious of his self-preservation instinct and inferiority complex both conflicting with his desire to exceed Musashi (if only in name, pinning his hopes and idolation on the ''real'' Kojirou as being the one who could overcome Musashi in fact).
153	* ''Manga/{{Wolfsmund}}'': [[VillainProtagonist Wolfram]] is revealed to be this when he abandons his own men when the fighting goes south, with his own Dragon stating his disgust at his master's actions. It shows again when he's about to be executed, despite subjecting countless people to horrific ends, he goes out sobbing that putting him to death is unjust.
154	* ''Anime/WolfsRain'': [[spoiler:Tsume's]] back story has him being one of these, with him running away, leaving his friends to die. He's a unusual example in that he's portrayed as ultimately a good person, having grown out of his cowardice by the time the show starts.
155	* ''Anime/YuGiOh'':
156	** [=PaniK=][[note]]who is simply an unnamed "player killer" in the original Japanese version[[/note]] is portrayed as the classic cowardly bully, who pushes other people down in order to make himself feel braver. Yami isn't buying it. This carries into his duelist tactics: as Yami notes, hiding his monsters in shadows so opponents can't attack because they don't know how strong they are is a cowardly way to duel, and when they're revealed, he switches them to defense and sets them up behind barriers to protect them until the shadows return. Although this becomes a case of FridgeLogic when you consider how often Yami, Yugi, Joey, and various other characters we're supposed to root for are forced/choose to play defensively at times.
157	** Yugi's accusations of cowardice towards Noah Kaiba are far more justified, given how he [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem uses his power over the virtual world]] to manipulate everything in his favor as he pleases, often [[{{Hypocrite}} committing the same underhanded acts]] he had scolded the Big Five for committing. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Yugi eventually tells him]] that, despite his intelligence and deceptive age, he's still nothing but a SpoiledBrat who never grew up because he never wanted to.
158	* In ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', there was Lotten, the BigBad of the Crashtown arc. He seemed brave enough when he had the advantage, but when things turned against him, he detonated a series of explosives planted in Crashtown and fled to save his own skin (even willing to leave his lover and partner Barbara -- the only one who was loyal to him -- behind to her fate). He didn't escape, and the most interesting part is, while the dub had to edit out the scene where Kiyru forced him to finish the duel (Kiryu's winning move simulated Lotten being shot in the head), the dub ending may have been far more fitting, depending on one's point of view: Kiryu refused to finish the duel, instead letting it remain unfinished so everyone would know Lotten chickened out like a coward.
159	* Mr. Heartland, TheDragon to the BigBad in ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL''. He usually uses a hologram when he has to talk to someone who might be angry at him (a good idea once, because Kaito tried to slug him) and when the heroes stormed the Faker's compound right before the FinalBattle of the first season, he hid behind a army of robots, doing nothing but taunting them. [[spoiler:(He did get his in the end when he fell through a portal to the Barian World, where he was turned into a bug-like creature. Also, in the later arc, he did develop enough of a spine to confront Kaito directly.)]]
160	* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' has its fair share of these in the Dark Tournament arc.
161	** Roto basically pulls a [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure Steely Dan]] on Kurama, threatening his mother with a remote that summons a demon to kill her if he dares to fight back, beating him while he's helpless, and ''immediately'' starts begging for his life once the tables are turned. He even states that [[JustJokingJustification he wasn't really gonna press the button!]] Kurama still kills him.
162	** The rest of Team Jolly Devil Six, who leave [[TagalongKid Rinku]] to fight Team Urameshi after Hiei's [[CurbStompBattle "fight"]] against Zeru.
163	** Bakken, who is all too eager to [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown beat up an unconscious Kurama,]] but is reduced to pathetically begging for mercy within ''minutes'' against someone who can actually put up a fight, like Yusuke. In the anime, he even smashes a rock over Yusuke's head while doing so...[[NoSell which has no effect on him at all.]] Cue a [[CurbStompBattle one-sided]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beatdown]] that leaves Bakken's ''entire body'' broken.
164	** There's also [[TheDon Gonzo]] [[SmugSnake Tarukane,]] the BigBad before the Dark Tournament Arc. Once all his money and protection is gone thanks to Yusuke and co., he turns into a panicky, sobbing wreck, and attempts to escape his mansion, taking Hiei's sister, Yukina, with him. ''[[FromBadToWorse Then]]'' [[KnightTemplarBigBrother Hiei]] shows up. [[TooDumbToLive Gonzo couldn't have picked a worse choice of sentences to beg for his life.]]
165	--->'''Gonzo:''' WAIT...! I don't know who the hell you are, but if it's money you're after...we can talk! Listen here...that broad behind you, she makes jewels like you wouldn't believe![[note]]by crying[[/note]] I could pour ''millions'' from her!
166	---> ''(cue DeathGlare and a NASTY [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beatdown]] from Hiei)''
167	* Zofis from ''Manga/ZatchBell'', who is revealed to be afraid of Brago and anyone with more power than him.
168

Context DirtyCoward / AnimeAndManga