Shrinking Violet / Anime & Manga

• Both Shizuka and Meme from The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You. Shizuka is so shy that she doesn't use her voice to speak, instead relying on a special app Rentarou made for her, while Meme is so terrified of being noticed that she does everything she can to avoid drawing attention.
• Tiffa Addil from After War Gundam X. A good part of her Character Development is centered on her attempts to stop withdrawing from others and starting to reach out for them willingly.
• Airi from Ro Kyu Bu, is this and she's very sensitive about her height.
• Yuri Otani from Alien Nine fits this trope perfectly because she cries frequently, freaks out very easily when it comes with aliens (even seeing them, whether or not they pose any form of threat), the dark, or anything of the macabre (such as in a scene in episode 1 of the OVA where she watches a film on TV, which depicts a man impregnated with a parasitic alien, which then bursts out of his chest). She appears to get worse throughout the course of the series since she joined the Alien Party.
• Jun of The Anthem of the Heart is this as a result of her "curse" — she avoids all social interaction because she can barely speak, and if she tries she gets bad stomachaches. She gets better.
• Maria Ortega in Aoi House, especially when it comes to her breast size.
• Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest: Due to the abuse she suffered from both her mother and her stepfather, Eri is very meek and shy. At least in public - in private, she's a psychotic nutcase.
• Assassination Classroom:
  • Nagisa Shiota is the meekest boy in class 3-E, being very reserved, quiet, and only speaking when he feels he can contribute. This helps him a great deal in hiding his natural skills for assassination, since no one can see him coming. Although he probably developed his meek traits so as to not provoke his mother's Hair-Trigger Temper and violent outbursts.
  • Manami Okuda is very timid, awkward, and incredibly straightforward, to the point that her first attempt to poison Koro-sensei had her politely ask him to drink it. Koro-sensei helped her develop her language skills and delivery, and she's been slowly but surely coming out of her shell.
• Bertolt Hoover from Attack on Titan combines this with being an Extreme Doormat and a Cowardly Lion. He's an exceptional soldier on the battlefield, but his lack of confidence leaves him awkwardly lingering on the outskirts of the group. Unlike most examples, he does manage to have friends by virtue of his Heterosexual Life-Partner (or is he?) being Big Man on Campus Reiner. His shy, meek personality is justified by his Dark and Troubled Past in that both he and Reiner are Titan Shifters — specifically, the two Titans (Bertolt as the Colossal Titan and Reiner as the Armored Titan) responsible for the destruction of Shiganshina and Wall Maria.
• Sakaki of Azumanga Daioh can be best described as a Shrinking Sunflower or Weeping Willow, due to being so self-conscious about her size that she's barely able to speak.
• Jacuzzi Splot from Baccano! is so horribly shy and scared of other people that he breaks down into tears just trying to introduce himself.
• Tamaki in Bamboo Blade is very quiet unless anime or sentai shows are involved. Get her started and she can improvise full presentations well into the night.
• Main character Legosi of Beastars is this due to facing many social issues for being a carnivore and how his species is prone to lashing out and devouring herbivores. His rather intimidating appearance and meek attitude only cause people to be wary of him, much to his misfortune.
• Bitter Virgin Hinako Aikawa is this, especially wherever men are concerned, due to being abused by her step-father in middle school.
• Grey from Black Clover is so insecure about her true appearance that she prefers presenting herself as anything else (usually a large-looking man). If she's ever forced into her true appearance, she immediately tries to hide herself and plead everyone not to look at her.
• Bleach: Ururu Tsumigiya. Under normal circumstances, she is a short, demure girl who speaks politely and apologetically a lot. This in spite of the big gun in bandages she normally uses against Hollows. But be careful around her; she also has a danger mode.
• Bloom Into You: Touko used to be one, since she describes herself as a fairly timid girl who had hardly any friends. Ichigaya, an old friend of her late older sister who knew Touko as a young girl, remarks how far Touko's come, going from a girl who hid behind her sister when he visited to Student Council President. Granted, Touko isn't as confident as she seems, but she genuinely has opened up to others, at least to a certain degree.
• Makiko Endou from Boys over Flowers.
• One of the rare male Shrinking Violets who are not Butt Monkeys is Yuzo Morisaki from Captain Tsubasa. He's very insecure and was badly traumatised by Hyuga deliberately shooting a ball to his face to intimidate him, but Wakabayashi and Tsubasa openly protect Morisaki from possible bullies, and with time he gets over his trauma and becomes a professional GK. In fact, his nickname in the team is "The Courageous Goal Keeper".
• Case Closed:
  • Played straight by Sumiko Kobayashi, a shy schoolteacher who once was so timid, her former class was a mess. She tries to be tougher, but Conan and co. unmask her after a short while.
  • Subverted by Sumiko's co-worker Rumi Wakasa, who looks sweet and unasuming but at times it's all but it's stated (and shown) that she's tougher than she looks, to the point of donning a completely different persona when dangerous people are around her.
• Akane, The Protagonist of Castle Town Dandelion, is this. She has crippling anxiety towards people she doesn't know, in addition to the town's numerous cameras. Walking outdoors seems to invoke a panic attack on her unless accompanies by one of her siblings.
• Code Geass:
  • This was Nina Einstein's original personality before she went all crazy after the death of her idol and crush, Euphemia.
  • Rolo Lamperouge proved to be the kind who seemed shy and unsociable on the outside, but on the inside was far more violent and jealous, making himself essentially a male Nina... for Lelouch. He eventually began to overcome his Yandere-ness and truly see Lelouch as a brother, wanting a life where he could be normal and happy... and then he sacrificed himself to save Lelouch. Then again, his English voice actor was Spike Spencer, who also voiced Shinji Ikari.
  • Also, Jiang Lihua aka Empress Tianzi. A kind, sheltered Lonely Rich Kid who's trapped in an unwanted Arranged Marriage to a much older Prince from Britannia, the poor little girl can't help but cry often and worry a lot for her guardian and best friend, Li Xingke.
  • C.C. becomes this when she temporarily loses her memories and mentally reverts to a ten-year-old.
• Kaoruko from Comic Girls is being compared to a scaredy cat in an Uncatty Resemblance scene in the second episode. She's practically social phobic to the point that her social skills have barely developed.
• Valentine in A Cruel God Reigns, hands down. So much so that she is Dumb Struck.
• Kyōtarō Ichikawa from The Dangers in My Heart. Whenever the audience leaves his inner monologues and he actually has to interact with others, he struggles to make eye contact and speaks very little to the point where other characters are amazed by him making full sentences.
• Kuranosuke from Damekko Doubutsu is a rare male example, he is very quiet and is also very shy.
• Miya Alice from Dangaioh. Unless she's piloting the titular Super Robot or somebody threatens her and her partners.
• Massively subverted in Deadman Wonderland, where Minatsuki passes herself off as one when she's actually a sadistic killer.
• Den-noh Coil actually has two of these, both male: Denpa, the large but quiet member of the Hacker's Club who is often the victim of his friends' bullying, and Haraken, who winds up on the unfortunate victim end of the plot so often that it makes him something of a woobie.
• Himeko Kurusegawa from Destiny of the Shrine Maiden. It is implied that her serious lack of self-confidence is the result of being abused by her foster parents when she was younger.
• Destroy All Humankind. They Can't Be Regenerated.: Yakumo is a shy, nervous girl who has trouble reaching out to others. Despite being a powerful Magic player, she hides part of her face under her hat and stutters while playing her cards.
• Hiromi from Diabolo is of this type, to the point of depression.
• Domestic Girlfriend: Miu is rather shy, and not at all good at speaking in public.
• Dragon Ball:
  • Yamcha is a male example. He was a caligynephobe; in other words, he freaked out at the sight of a pretty girl. He only got over it when he was forced to spend time with Bulma at the climax of the first story arc.
  • Future Trunks from Dragon Ball Z is a very badass fighter, but outside the battlefield he's sweet and reserved as well as always searching for his father's approval.
• Failure Frame: Kashiba is shy and timid. Being dragged into a war in another world is not good for her well-being.
• From Fairy Tail, both Wendy and Juvia qualify. Aries probably fits as well. One of the few male examples, surprisingly Mystogan qualifies, being lonely yet a nice person according to Wendy's relationship with him.
• Lin in Fist of the North Star was this, until Kenshiro came around. She was not even capable to talk due to the trauma of seeing her whole family slaughtered by road bandits.
• Megumi in Food Wars! starts off with no confidence and on the verge of failing out even though the term has just started. Her fear of failure and lack of confidence makes her even more worried, which makes her work even worse than it was. However, her next assignment is with Souma, who helps her regain her confidence. By the end of the training camp, she's also accepted that her niche in cooking is care and attention towards her patrons, not in technical skill or getting everything correct, which boosts her performance enough that she manages to get into the Fall Classic cooking tournament. In her first match, she's intimidated by her opponent and the rather difficult assignment, but holds her ground even when she loses, earning the approval of the school's headmaster in the process. The anime's ending revolves around this character arc.
• Mamoru from From the New World is a rare male example. He definitely has the heart and the artistic skills, but is very afraid of the dangers outside the comforts of his home village.
• Fruits Basket:
  • Kisa Sohma is very shy and withdrawn, which is Played for Drama since she's bullied by her classmates and has suffered physical abuse from Akito. It's only when Tohru's kindness boosts her confidence that she starts to open up more.
  • Machi Kuragi, who initially has no friends aside from her half-brother Kakeru and has difficulty communicating with people in general. She eventually opens up more after befriending Yuki and the other members of the student council.
  • A male example is Wholesome Crossdresser Ritsu Sohma, skirting the line between being played for laughs and being portrayed sympathetically.
• Fullmetal Alchemist:
  • Alphonse Elric definitely qualifies, to the point where his bolder brother often has to stick up for him. Being a disembodied soul of a ten-year-old child locked in an eight-foot suit of armor that cannot feel or age due to an Emergency Transformation that saved him from an alchemic experiment he and his brother performed that had Gone Horribly Wrong might have something to do with it.
  • Major Alex Louis Armstrong’s little sister Catherine Elle Armstrong is as shy as they come... even though she can lift a piano with one hand.
  • Lan Fan may be a really badass ninja, but she becomes very insecure when she loses her mask. At the end of the story tough, she doesn't seem to need it anymore.
• Yukiteru Amano from Future Diary is a male example. Initially, he avoided other people and being involved, describing himself as a 'casual bystander'. He later admits he really did want to have friends, but was "afraid of life".
• Meiko Rokudo from Ghost Sweeper Mikami, though she might be a parody of the trope more than a straight example.
• In Girls Beyond the Wasteland, Uguisu is very timid and minimizes how much interaction she has with anyone at first. And if anyone greets her a little too aggressively, she starts to get uncomfortable around them, looking away while attempting to apologize.
• Yuki from Gourmet Girl Graffiti is so excessively shy that she found the usual dining hall crowds overwhelming.
• Hajime no Ippo:
  • Another male Shrinking Violet is actually the lead of Hajime no Ippo. He starts boxing actually to find his inner strength. He's quite the Butt-Monkey.
  • Later we're introduced to Ippo's biggest fanboy, Naomichi Yamada, who's even more of a Shrinking Violet than him. And another Butt-Monkey.
• Mallow◊ from Happy Happy Clover is one of Clover's friends who started out as an extremely shy rabbit when she first moved to Crescent Forest and even decided to hide behind Clover's school teacher Professor Hoot when she was a new student. In later volumes, she becomes not as shy as she was in her first appearance but is very sensitive and shy. She would sometimes blame some incident on herself. She would also become Clover's best friend in the third or second volume.◊
• Haruhi Suzumiya:
  • The Alternate Universe version of Yuki Nagato from The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya. Also gives us plenty of romance, especially in the spinoff manga "The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan" by Puyo.
  • Mikuru also has shades of this, as part of her Moe appeal.
• Hetalia: Axis Powers:
  • Latvia. So much that it's scary.◊ Total Chew Toy.
  • Also Ukraine, Russia's prone-to-tears older sister. She doesn't fare much better than Latvia, either.
  • And Canada. No wonder he's also unlucky. In some works, even his eyes are purple.
  • Poland is a variation of this. He does not look like it when with his friends, but when confronted by people/nations/etc. he doesn't know, he'll cling or hide behind the nearest person avaliable.
  • Vietnam, to a milder degree. She's an aloof-looking young woman from East Asia, but her apparently stoic looks conceal a quite more shy mindset.
  • Liechtenstein, too. Though she seems to lean more to Silk Hiding Steel.
  • Norway describes himself as "painfully shy" in the second Hetalia Fantasia CD. When he's seen hiding his face and trying to slink away as Finland introduces them, it seems to confirm this.
  • Iceland seems to be this as well; he gets extremely flustered and embarrassed at the attention the other Nordics lavish upon him.
  • Japan, especially during his isolationist days (to the point of becoming a Hikikomori). Even in the present, he often has great difficulty adjusting to different people and social situations.
• Mugi from Hitohira is very much like this. It doesn't keep Nono from dragging her into the drama club.
• Bocchi Hitori from Hitoribocchi no OO Seikatsu. The series revolves around her, a shy and anxious middle schooler aiming to befriend her whole class.
• Yue from Hotarubi no Tomoru Koro ni barely talks to anyone outside of her step-brother and step-father, she Apologizes a Lot and constantly keeps a low profile. She also feels guilty for what happened with her mother (a failed business venture that swallowed the family's inheritance money), despite having no fault in it.
• Hatsumi Narita from Hot Gimmick, to pathological degrees.
• Fuyuhiko of I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School is shy and has trouble standing up for himself, which makes it easy for other people to push him around and walk all over him.
• Yurika of INVADERS of the ROKUJYOUMA!? starts out as a deeply insecure girl, which affects her magic. Her Character Development involves her overcoming this.
• Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke feels grateful just for being casually greeted by her classmates every morning. The super popular Nice Guy could never, ever, like her... that has to be her misunderstanding, or her conceit.
• Alice of Kiniro Mosaic is extremely shy. When she first appears as Shinobu enters her house for a homestay, she hides behind her mother—and she's already a middle schooler. Even she's now in high school, she still hides behind Shinobu quite often.
• Kiratto Pri☆Chan has Daia Nijinosaki, who was introduced in the second season. She had no friends besides the Virtual Idol Daia (not the same character, by the way.) due to her lack of social skills, and she always ran away from everyone who tried to approach her.
• Komi of Komi Can't Communicate is terribly shy. Unfortunately for her, her allure draws people towards her, increasing her social anxiety.
  • Manbagi is another example. While she is able to speak to others (unlike Komi), she's still a wallflower who doesn't have the courage to reach out on her own.
  • Katai is a male example, being a Nervous Wreck who can barely string two words together, and bashful by nature to top it off.
  • His parents are the exact same way, to the point where they can't even talk. In fact, the only member of his family who averts this is his little sister Ai.
  • Komi's father is almost as bad as Komi, although he does occassionally manage to make brief statements to his family members, and considers it a major accomplishment when he does.
• Mimi Usa from Kodomo no Jikan, mainly due to self-consciousness arising from her abusive mother.
• Sakurai of Kuroko's Basketball is a Rare Male Example. He combines this with Apologises a Lot.
• Mio Akiyama of K-On! is practically the poster-child for this trope in anime. She is tall, has long, black hair, is quiet and kept to herself, is the most level-headed of the group, is only comfortable playing the bass, and is so easily scared that just the thought of a ghost story leaves her huddled in a ball in the corner, shivering. The show is so aware of this that they even give her her own fan-club, including the former student body president, who was so obsessed with her that she began secretly stalking Mio when the time for her to graduate approached.
• Shinobu Maehara from Love Hina. Extremely quiet and timid, Shinobu will frequently end up mumbling her comments, only to end up shrinking from how boisterous the response is... even if it's positive.
• Lyrical Nanoha:
  • Suzuka, especially before meeting Nanoha.
  • Fate was incredibly shy in the first two seasons due to the Parental Abuse she suffered in her early childhood. It's less noticeable in later seasons since she spent 10+ years surrounded by people who care about her.
  • Subaru used to be like this as a child, though the events of the airport fire during the introduction of StrikerS resulted in her becoming a Genki Girl by the time of the season proper.
  • Einhart from ViVid is a subversion. She is rather shy in normal situations, not helped by the fact that she is the newcomer in a group that has know each other for years. However, she is far more open in matters of combat (Shrinking Violets don't normally go around asking Nanoha for a one-on-one fight). She grows out of it by the time of ViVid Strike! a year later.
  • Rinne from ViVid Strike! used to be one of these, up until a certain... incident. Ever since then, she's been cold and aloof, though her calling Fuka by her Affectionate Nickname while alone in her room (despite their falling out a year earlier) hints that her original personality is still there. She's deliberately hiding it to avoid being viewed as "weak")
• Manami in Sprite: Between Two Worlds (Japanese title Sprite: Manami to Nami) combines this with Split Personality — in her youth, Manami's cousin convinced her to play doctor and other risque games by getting her to pretend to be Nami, an over the top self confident alter ego. Manami grew up to be a textbook Shrinking Violet. When the Alpha Bitch decides to push her too far this combined with her cousin calling out her old nickname causing the outrageously self-confident Nami personality to appear.
• Yumi Fukuzawa, the protagonist of Maria Watches Over Us, has a serious lack of self-confidence. This is particularly evident in the second season. she gets a lot better in the fourth season
• Mission: Yozakura Family: Taiyo is so terrified of social interaction that he froths at the mouth and passes out after the shortest social exchanges.
• Monster Musume:
  • Manako is the most unsecure and shyest girl in the entire series.
  • Both Cara and Urt are incredibly shy, Cara moreso as she has difficulty talking to people.
  • Kino is incredibly shy and awkward around people.
• Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun's Mikoshiba, despite being introduced as a Handsome Lech, is actually this. It's also the basis of a Freudian Excuse for why he acts like a Handsome Lech—he tries to become more confident in talking to girls by quoting lines from Dating Sims.
• Sharla from Mujin Wakusei Survive.
• Michio Yuki from MW is a male example prior to the exposure of the titular chemical warfare that loses not only his shyness, but also driving him crazy.
• The class president in My Bride is a Mermaid.
• My Hero Academia has Tamaki Amajiki, who is so shy that he can barely introduce himself to a classroom of first year students without ending up in his Corner of Woe and tends to think of himself as useless despite the fact he's actually one of the strongest students in UA.
  • Midoriya used to be like this, though he's growing out of it under All Might's influence.
  • Kojo Koda is even worse - he's so shy that Jiro is absolutely shocked when she hears him speak for the first time. This happens after they've already been classmates for half a year.
• Yukino Kikukawa from My-HiME, in contrast to her loud and brash best friend and partner, Haruka Suzushiro. Yukino has other friends on campus, but she doesn't speak to them as often, and when she does, it's usually quietly.
• My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!:
  • Atsuko became one as a result of being bullied for her awkwardness.
  • Mary was very shy and reserved as a child due to being bullied by her older half-sisters. Falling in love with Catarina (or Alan in the original game) helps her to grow out of it.
  • Sophia was rather shy as a child, due to her history of being bullied. Like in Mary's case, she mostly grew out of this, but she is still the most demure member of the cast. She's even worse in the On the Verge of Doom! spin-off, as a result of having been isolated longer.
• Naruto:
  • Hinata Hyuuga,◊ because of the damage her ultra-strict father's family did to her self-esteem, as well as her huge crush on Naruto. When she first saw Naruto after nearly three years she fainted, twice in the anime. When said guy is in trouble, however, she is ready to die for him. She does gradually outgrow her shyness in Part II; she's still quiet and soft-spoken, but she's also much more confident in herself and her abilities.
  • Chojuro is a rare male example.
  • Nagato used to be one before the horrifying events of his past turned him into his cold and bitter adult self.
  • Sakura was one in flashbacks but grew out of it by the main narrative.
• Negima! Magister Negi Magi:
  • Miyazaki Nodoka fits this trope fairly well, complete with the Hidden Eyes in her early appearances. In the manga this receives a Lampshade Hanging: she has purple hair in addition to having it cover her eyes. Eventually, however, she's developed more, coming out of her shell around Negi and the others. She could almost be described as a subversion; while she has a shy, low-key personality, when push comes to shove, she's ultimately one of the bravest girls and most likely to actually be proactive during very frightening/dangerous situations, managing to keep her cool even when everything is going wrong. Not to mention the fact that, in a series with over 30 potential love interest, she was the first girl to confess to Negi.
  • There's Ako Izumi too, who dreams of being a Idol Singer but is highly insecure since she doesn't think of herself as anything special and has a really ugly scar on her back.
  • And once again with Natsumi Murakami. Despite being an actor in the drama club, she shies away from attention, blushes and stutters when her crush Kotaro is around, and has all but nonexistent self-esteem, partly from being constantly surrounded by women far more developed than herself (especially her roommates, who are also insanely wealthy). She's confirmed to be self-hating when her dislikes include people with red hair and freckles (like her), and she often removes herself from important situations with the excuse that she isn't important enough to be there. Finally, and most telling of all, her artifact turns out to be a legendary-level item capable of completely erasing her presence from other people's perceptions - she is fated by the power of magic to be a Shrinking Violet.
• Neon Genesis Evangelion:
  • Shinji is one of earliest male examples of this trope, mostly because he's the resident Butt-Monkey of the series.
  • Asuka is just as shy and introverted as Shinji, but she pretends to be arrogant, brash and loud because she doesn't want anybody to realize that she is only a scared, introverted little girl.
  • In fact, most of the cast of Evangelion are shy to some degree (even the seemingly outgoing ones such as Asuka or Misato).
• Hifumi of New Game! is so shy she can barely talk to people directly or even look at them in the eye. To remedy this, her co-workers use the company's instant messaging system to communicate with her at work. There she becomes much more communicative, using lots of emoticons.
• Nichijou: Sakurai Izumi is one, which is especially bad for her because she's a high school guidance counselor. She actually took the job to force herself to be less shy - but it hasn't really worked.
• Tomoko Kuroki from No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! has this as the main plot. She can't even order a burger without being nervous.
• An Observation Log of My Fiancée Who Calls Herself a Villainess: Bertia used to be this, but becoming more outgoing after her mother's death.
• One Piece:
  • Boa Hancock is as far as possible from being a Shrinking Violet... Until she gets around Monkey D. Luffy, that is, which transforms her into one quite easily.
  • Coby starts as this. As time passes he remains polite and sweet, but gains more of a backbone... enough to stand up against Admiral Akainu, of all people.
  • Princess Shirahoshi is this in a huge way, due both the the childhood trauma of losing her mother and then being sheltered for a decade in a tower due to a literally Axe-Crazy suitor.
  • Bartolomeo is a male example around Luffy. When he's nearby, Bartolomeo often gets teary-eyed and catatonic, and can only bring himself to talk when he's not looking directly at him.
• Misaki from Only the Flower Knows initially comes across as a fairly standard Tsundere character, but seems to fit this trope in later chapters. From Chapter 6 and onwards his sad backstory and resulting insecurities are revealed in pieces, and he increasingly comes across as more shy and self-conscious. And he fit the "quiet" and "friendless" aspects of the trope all along.
• Osomatsu-san: When not around his brothers (and cats), Ichimatsu tends to mumble and avoid eye contact.
• Brief from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, especially when he's around Pa-pa-pa-pa-panty.
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • In Pokémon the Series: XY and Pokémon Journeys: The Series, Ash is shown to have two Alternate Universe counterparts who act like this in contrast to his usual Stock Shōnen Hero personality. Both are meek, reserved, and Prone to Tears. The only real differences between the two are that Mirror Universe Ash in XY was a less competent battler with friends who gave up on things at the first hint of resistance before meeting main Ash, while Bizarro Universe Ash in Journeys retained his Determinator spirit but was a loner with a strong team until Goh introduced him to Alternate!Goh & Chloe.
  • Toren from Pokémon: The Power of Us is a male example of this trope who is not played completely as comedic relief. He avoids people when possible, choosing instead to spend time with his beloved Pokémon, and stammers a lot, especially when in front of an audience. His timid disposition may be linked to a dark past, as he flinches whenever an authority figure uses an angry tone with him, as if expecting to be beaten.
• Pretty Cure:
  • Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash★Star's Manabu, who struggles to perform his duties as Class Representative due to his inability to speak in front of others.
  • HeartCatch Pretty Cure!'s Tsubomi takes the cake. Flashbacks show that she was so shy (due to poor self-confidence and accidental Parental Abandonment), that her only real friends were flowers. It wasn't until she moved into a new town, met major Genki Girl Erika (and became a Precure) that Tsubomi started to come out of her shell. A major portion of the series, including a story arc, is about Tsubomi overcoming this.
  • HappinessCharge Pretty Cure!'s Hime can barely function around new people, though with those she's more familiar with, she's a Royal Brat With a Heart of Gold.
  • Go! Princess Pretty Cure's Kuroro, a mascot who is shy as a result of remorse from being brainwashed by Dys Dark into becoming Lock.
  • Maho Girls Pretty Cure!'s Emily, who is jittery and anxious. This dissipates as the series progresses and she learns more magic.
  • KiraKira★Pretty Cure à la Mode's Himari, who has few friends because everyone thinks her special interest in pudding is weird. She even hides from Ichika the first time she meets her.
  • Delicious Party♡Pretty Cure's Kokone; underneath her cold exterior, she has a hard time opening up to others due to being neglected as a child.
• Delicate and Sickly Misao in the Pretty Sammy series. It brings quite a contrast to her alter ego of Pixy Misa, a gleefully over the top Card-Carrying Villain.
• Sakuno Ryuzaki in The Prince of Tennis. This is more evident in the anime, which puts emphasis on her clumsiness and chronic shyness and her crush on Ryoma, which didn't work well with Western fans and especially with Ryoma slashers. Her still quiet, but more mature manga self is closer to a traditional Yamato Nadeshiko, and better regarded in the West.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica:
  • It's revealed in Episode Ten that Homura, of all characters, used to be one before ending up in a "Groundhog Day" Loop. However, by the current timeline, she has Took a Level in Badass into the Shell-Shocked Veteran we know.
  • She really doesn't look like this, but Sayaka is extremely shy in regards to her own feelings. And when she's in an emotional corner and her whole world-view starts crashing at the same time... it doesn't end well.
  • Madoka, the title character, can be seen as one. She's generally more timid than the other cast members, and spends a good portion of the story as a Neutral Female, even for justified reasons. She's also known for Heroic Self-Deprecation and it's implied she wants to be a Magical Girl for this reason. Naturally, the show gives her plenty of Break the Cutie moments. However, it's worth noting that in timelines where she does contract she becomes noticeably more assertive.
• The Quintessential Quintuplets: Miku Nakano is the quietest and most withdrawn out of the five quintuplets, but she's a real sweetheart once she opens up.
• Reborn! (2004):
  • Tsuna is a cute, Moe male version of this. He's shy to the point where he's always blushing whenever he talks with girls (and in many instances, guys even), is incredibly shy, and tends to hate standing out, only wanting to live life as a normal boy. And yes, for a long part of the series, he was the series' Butt-Monkey.
  • Chrome Dokuro is even more of an example of this trope; her shyness causes her to shut herself in a room, and she doesn't know how to react when somebody is speaking to her. Her not so subtle crush on Mukuro causes her to pass out amidst a battle with a naked giant sucking the life force out of everything.
  • Also Kozato Enma. Even more so than Tsuna.
• In Rent-A-Girlfriend, even talking to others is incredibly difficult for Sumi, and whenever she does speak it's usually quiet or in very broken tones.
• Mizore from Rosario + Vampire actually lists "stalking people" as her hobby, because she's too shy to hang out with friends normally. But when Tsukune needs her help, or she's competing for his attention, she suddenly becomes much braver and outspoken.
• Sailor Moon:
  • Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury is a quiet and withdrawn Lonely Rich Kid who's always buried in her books, and her peers actually mistake this for arrogance and never approach her. Then comes Usagi Tsukino and pulls her out of her shell, alongside recruiting her for the Inner Senshi...
  • Hotaru Tomoe/Sailor Saturn. She didn't even have one friend before Chibi-Usa came along because she was so shy.
  • In stark contrast to her personality in the 90s anime and manga, Rei Hino/Sailor Mars in Sailor Moon Crystal has shades of this trope, especially in her introductory episode.
• Fumio of Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo started out this way prior to meeting Takumi, whose love and attention was just starting to bring her out of her social shell. When dumped her for a mysterious New Transfer Student, Fumio quickly made the Shrinking Violet to Yandere transition.
• Saki:
  • Momoko, so much that she gained the ability to disappear from sight, though her relationship with Yumi has been helping her get out of her shell more.
  • Yuu, Kuro's Delicate and Sickly older sister, from Achiga-hen. She becomes quite nervous when she sees her sister has brought two guests over, one of whom she knows fairly well, and says that she had considered joining the mahjong club to be with her sister, but felt as though she could not do so. She's also perfectly fine with her friend Arata being chosen as Club President despite Arata being a second year and Yuu being a third year, since it means she won't have to get up on a stage to draw a lot for the mahjong tournament.
• Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei:
  • Meru Otonashi^note Translation: "Soundless" is this trope taken to its parodic extreme: A cute, fidgety girl who can't get a word out of her mouth in the simplest social situation, which doesn't prevent her from constantly sending floods of nasty, abusive, Fourth Wall-breaking SMS messages to her classmates with her cellphone. And what happens when she loses signal isn't pretty...
  • Kaga Ai. Her entire character is apologizing profusely for being a bother - especially when she isn't. She apologizes for being born.
• Ruu, Rii's kid sister, from School-Live! is very quiet and rarely interacts with anyone but Rii. Subverted when it turns out the reason for this is because she doesn't exist, or at least not anymore. Ruu presumably died off-screen however Rii hallucinates that a teddy bear is her.
• Aimi Komori is an example of this trope until she puts on her magic eye shadow and transforms into the brash, sexy Classy Cat-Burglar Shadow Lady.
• Shadow Star:
  • One really tragic case is Akira Sakura. She's this way due to Parental Incest.
  • Also Miyoko Shitou, from Aki Honda's Girl Posse. She was so insecure that she bullied Hiro-chan because she feared being rejected by her so-called "friends", despite being hesitant about the whole deal. She's the Sole Survivor out of the group, after Hiroko's Roaring Rampage of Revenge... but she still has an arm broken, loses a leg and is left traumatised forever.
• The titular heroine from Shy fits this trope to a t. Both as a civilian and a hero, she is extremely shy, is bad at making public speeches, cannot say no to a request, tears up when she has to call out loudly and can barely speak while talking over the telephone to a stranger. It is mostly thanks to her friend Iko that she is not a complete Hikikomori.
• Sylphiel Nels Lahda from Slayers, is excessively polite, demure, and at times unable to speak for herself, sharply contrasting the main four characters, all who are either more outgoing (Amelia and Gourry), downright boisterous and selfish (Lina), or bitter and occasionally cruel (Zelgadis).
• Crona and Tsubaki from Soul Eater. Tsubaki's Shrinking Violet tendencies make her quite possibly the only character who can handle being Black*Star's partner.
• Ayumi from Squid Girl is one. In one episode, she learns to be more confident thanks to a pair of brass knuckles Chizuru lets her borrow, only to have her dad shoot it right back down by saying she's not really doing anything different from the squid girl cosplay she did in an earlier episode.
• Simon from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann is a classic male example. But when he finally comes out of his shell, WATCH OUT!
• Tiger & Bunny: While his superhero persona Origami Cyclone is loud and over-the-top, Ivan Karelin himself is an insecure, timid, very woobie-ish nerd under the costume.
• Sammy from Time of Eve is initially seen as an Emotionless Girl, which is how robots are expected to behave. However, when she begins to demonstrate her own personality, she becomes this. Partially because she is afraid that she will not be accepted as a living, emotional being, and does not want to unsettle the family that cares for her, but there are later hints that she is developing feelings for Rikuo.
• In Tonari no Kashiwagi-san, Kotone's shyness and lack of social skills is what causes people to believe she's an Ice Queen. She also has trouble interacting with Kazuki for a long while, even after getting a little bit familiar with him. However, once people start to discuss anime with her (and it's not in public), she quickly forgets her shyness.
• Lovelitchi & Memetchi from Tamagotchi, though the latter has a Hair-Trigger Temper.
• Most of what drives the plot in Toradora! is Ryuji's and Taiga's bad cases of this when dealing with their respective crushes in Minori and Yuusaku. Ryuji is able to barely hold a conversation with Minori and actually improves well enough as time goes on. Taiga, however, has many more golden opportunities to hit it off with Yuusaku, but she becomes a speechless blushing mess and usually screws up, much to her chagrin.
• Alessandro of Trinity Blood also qualifies; he is shy and soft-spoken, and has a phobia of loud noises.
• Yuki from Tsuritama, a male example of this trope played equally for comedy and drama. The poor kid is so shy it takes him halfway through the series to muster up the courage to so much as talk to some casual acquaintances and overcoming social anxiety is one of the major themes of the show.
• Taiki from The Twelve Kingdoms, another male example. But instead of the Butt-Monkey, he's The Woobie.
• Satsuki of Twinkle Saber Nova, although she doesn't let that stop her from being a naginata-wielding warrior.
• Asuka Mizunokouji from Urusei Yatsura. With added bonuses: she has Super-Strength, a huge fear of men thanks to Ataru, and incestuous feelings towards her older brother Tobimarou. All of these are played for comedy.
• A male example is Unico from Osamu Tezuka's Unico series which is played for drama. The titular character is a kindhearted, timid, and an All-Loving Hero who encourages happiness and love to others. The downside is that Unico is forced to move from place to place to avoid alerting any of the gods (except Psyche) alongside getting his memories erased in the process. As a result, Unico is very lonely and shy when it comes to befriending others around him. In some chapters and animated media, Unico would mostly be silent due to this. That doesn't stop him from showing sympathy to villains and occasionally getting violent when necessary.
• Emma from Emma: A Victorian Romance is like this, which is justified on account of her social station; a girl from beginnings as... humble as hers could never have hoped for a respectable position as a high-class lady's maid, which was fairly high-class for a poor girl in that day, in addition to being literate and owning glasses. Emma is keenly aware of social class and recognizes her absurd luck at having been taken in and educated by Kelly Stowner; she is thusly reluctant to do anything forward enough to jeopardize her career (or hurt William's standing), even if it means turning down the man she loves.
• Val × Love: Itsuyo was a huge crybaby when she was younger, and sometimes reverts to this personality when under pressure.
• Mahiru Inami from Wagnaria!! is terrified of men. Usually, she simply hides behind corners, stammers, and tries not to look at them. When surprised, however, her first instinct is to scream and punch them across the room. She also has incredible strength, since her father has been secretly weight training her for years by putting iron plates in her backpack.
• Hisui "Majo" Kujyo from Wasteful Days of High School Girls has serious social anxiety issues which causes her to skip school frequently, although not to the point of hikikomori.
• Why else would Satou Tatsuhiro from Welcome to the NHK be a hikikomori?
• The main character of Wiegenlied of Green is this in the beginning and for much of the story, having been abused for years by the people in her town for having white hair. Her catchphrase is "I'm sorry for being alive".
• Shiori from The World God Only Knows. She's a bit better after her "capturing", but is still mostly withdrawn.
• Zashiki Warashi from ×××HOLiC, especially in regard to Watanuki.
• Reina's dad from Yandere Kanojo is another male example. This also a deconstruction, beacause his withdrawnness makes him unapproachable by his students (he works at Reina's school as math teacher) makes him mistaken as "scary teacher", "the ones with evil looks", etc, etc while on heart he's probably the nicest character around.
• Komasan from Yo-kai Watch is one of the shiest and most sensitive yo-kais, gets scared easily, has a somewhat Friendless Background and adjust to city life harder than his brother, Komajiro. There's also that time when he developed a crush on girl from a coffee shop and even his human form manages to look handsome and shy at the same time.
• Yuri!!! on Ice:
  • Main character Yuri Katsuki is a very shy and nervous person, especially around his idol Victor before they get to know each other better. His Childhood Friends Yuko and Takeshi state that he was never very good at making friends, and consequently prefers to deal with his problems by practicing at the skating rink or Minako's ballet studio instead of opening up to other people.
  • Guang-Hong Ji is also shy and soft-spoken, unlike his more outgoing friends Phichit and Leo.
• From Yu-Gi-Oh! R, we get Reiko Kitamori who is so shy she actually would rather run in panic than actually duel. Even her deck is based around walls, designed to distance herself away from an opponent, yikes.
• Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL:
  • Cathy is an odd case. Usually, she's the shy girl who is never noticed and afraid to talk to anyone. But she does have another side, one where she dresses in Elegant Gothic Lolita to make her resemble a Cat Girl in order to duel, at which point a far more energetic personality emerges.
  • As fate would have it, Cathy meets a girl during the Duel Carnival named Dog-Chan (who has the same affinity with dogs as Cathy does with cats) who's an even bigger example of this Trope. Dog-Chan is too shy to face an opponent directly, using her trained (and mean-looking) pet dog Roscoe duel for her, speaking while hiding in a barrel carried on his back to make it look like he can talk.
• Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs: Harumu is rather shy and nervous due to having been taught to avoid eye contact so her succubus powers wouldn't affect those around her.

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