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|'''Bender''', ''[[Futurama]]''}}
 
Though the '''Dirty Coward''' may be a sociopath, he's not nearly as cool as the [[Sociopathic Hero]] (nor as funny as the [[Comedic Sociopath]]), and if he's a bastard, he's not [[Magnificent Bastard|magnificent]]. The '''Dirty Coward''' is the slime of the earth, working exclusively for himself and shamelessly [[Cower Power|removing himself from harm's way]] even if that harm was about to hit [[The Messiah]] that [[A Friend in Need|just saved his life two seconds ago]]. He'll take every advantage and [[Combat Pragmatist|use every dirty trick]], but cry and [[It's All About Me|moan every time the tables are turned]]. He's not above using dishonorable tactics and will face defeat like a coward. He is often full of vicious plans for anyone he dislikes, until someone asks [[Who Will Bell the Cat?]].
 
Even the cleverest '''Dirty Coward''' tends to be short-sighted. Even knowing that if he breaks ranks, he will leave a hole in the defenses that will let the enemy in, leading to far more danger for him, he will generally run (and get shot [[In the Back]]). Or he will badmouth people to their faces, when they can not immediately hurt him, to curry favor with someone who can, even if the latter threat is obviously less in the long run. Dirty Cowards are especially prone to suffering a [[Karmic Death]], usually at the hands of whatever he was trying to run from.
 
Usually a villain unless [[Played for Laughs|used comically]], although they may sometimes be a certain type of civilian [[Dying Like Animals|that gets in the way]], a [[Designated Hero]], or a character that's supposed to be a loveable coward but comes off as more slimy than funny, the dirty coward may or may not have [[Freudian Excuse|a horrific past to explain his actions]], but it doesn't usually redeem him, at least not in the minds of the audience. When his story doesn't do it for the audience but convinces the hero, it causes a [[Writer Cop Out|major cop-out]]. Unlike most villains, the dirty coward [[Smug Snake|doesn't even have finesse]], which can annoy the audience. The best way to make this character tolerable is to make him at least clever. Some enlightened self-interest can occasionally be mixed in, although much of it means that he's no longer the '''Dirty Coward'''. Often, when used as a villain, this is a cheap way to make the heroes look good in comparison, even if they're not [[Designated Hero|everything they should be]]. Villainous '''Dirty Cowards''' tend to fall squarely into [[Neutral Evil]], since they are first and foremost out for their own hides at the expense of others, though it's not too uncommon for certain villains of other evil alignments to display this streak when they come across someone who they cannot deal with by their usual tactics.
 
The '''Dirty Coward''' is pretty much [[Always Male]], for the [[Unfortunate Implications|dubious reason]] that [[Stay in the Kitchen|women aren't expected to be brave in the first place]], and [[Men Are the Expendable Gender|are allowed to sacrifice others to save themselves]]. As [[Action Girl]]s become increasingly unremarkable, this may start to change in the near future.
 
In video games, this trope might apply to a [[Cowardly Boss]], but is far more likely to apply to a [["Get Back Here!" Boss]].
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* Chaka from ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' is a sociopathic asshole whose specialty seems to be [[Kick the Dog|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.
* Kishin Asura from ''[[Soul Eater]]'' became a physical font of insanity and evil because he was scared of everything—which led to paranoia and the desire to become so powerful that no one could harm him, at any cost.
* Yoki from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' constantly suffers the consequences of his scumbag actions, mostly because he keeps [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|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 [[Chew Toy]]. One of the characters even points out it's entirely his own fault how he gets into these messes.
** In the manga, [[Character Development|he finally starts to move out of this]], first becoming actually useful, and then later [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|showing some courage]] by {{spoiler|'''ramming a car into Pride'''}}.
*** {{spoiler|Let's clarify here. Yoki, the coward, who up to this point has been all about saving his own skin, rams the embodiment of shadows with a car, which could very well get him killed. Aw yeah.}}
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*** Deep down, this is Frieza's ultimate motivation for killing the Sayians-he's afraid that they'll produce a Super Sayian, which will be his undoing.
* Daemon Spade from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' 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.
* ''[[One Piece]]''.
** Helmeppo from ''[[One Piece]]''. He 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.
** Spandam is far worse though, he [[Moral Event Horizon|crosses the line]] to become [[Complete Monster|a more obvious asshole]] than he already was in the flashback, when he [[Kick Them While They Are Down|started to beat a defenseless]] [[Would Hit a Girl|Nico Robin]] and [[Evil Gloating|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, but starts to scream and cry, when he manages to bite Spandam in the head couple of times.
** Also Demalo Black.
** York, from the Egghead Arc. When her plan is uncovered and she is cornered by the Straw Hats and CP0, she pleads to the World Government (whom she is in the process of making a deal with) for rescue in a disgraceful and pathetic display.
* Yuna Roma Seiran of ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' was a snivelling coward and wannabe [[Manipulative Bastard]] 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 entire campaign having one panic attack after another. He's totally 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. Lord Djibril, Blue Cosmos leader, is a much more dangerous example, as he combines this trope with [[Diabolical Mastermind]] and [[Complete Monster]]. When things go south for him, Djibril always bails, leaving his allies in the lurch...only to return soon after with his latest [[Weapons of Mass Destruction|Weapon Of Mass Destruction]] primed for combat. A [[Smug Snake|slimy]], cowardly [[The Bully|bully]] who nevertheless manages to cause hundreds of thousands of deaths through pure malice.
* Subverted with Taikobo in [[Houshin Engi]]. He ''pretends'' to be this early on but is actually a [[Chessmaster]], using how people see him to his advantage.
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V|Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V]]'' it's widely believed by the public that Yusho Sakaki (Yuya's dad) is a coward, as he failed to show up for an important public match with reigning champion Strong Ishijima. His son remains his only hold out, and many of Yuya's early opponents [[Sins of Our Fathers|believe the same of him.]] Subverted in both cases, however. Yusho had ''very'' important reasons for leaving that took priority, and Yuya can be [[Fearless Fool|the antithesis of a coward]] at times.
* Despite styling himself as a cold-blooded, unflappable god in human form, one who will strike down anyone who gets in the way of him establishing a crime-free utopia, ''[[Death Note]]'''s Light Yagami is a pathetic, sniveling little worm of a man under all the bluster. {{spoiler|In the manga, when Ryuk writes his name in the Death Note and seals his fate, Light dies like a little bitch, bawling and begging for mercy before his heart stops pumping. While he dies with a ''little'' more dignity in the anime, he still devolves into a screaming, begging coward when faced with his own mortality.}}
 
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'':
* Wormtail from ''[[Harry Potter]]''. Also Mundungus Fletcher. ''His'' cowardice was the reason why {{spoiler|Mad-Eye died}}. Draco Malfoy is one, to an extent, especially in the first few books, where he only trash-talks about the main characters as long as he has his two [[Dumb Muscle|burly cronies]] at his heels.▼
** Wormtail; this guy spends ''two years'' in rat form, and when exposed, becomes a craven coward pleading for his life.
** Which [[Fridge Logic|kind of leads one to wonder]] why Wormtail was sorted into ''Gryffindor'' of all places.
*** Which at first [[Fridge Logic|kind of leads one to wonder]] why Wormtail was sorted into ''Gryffindor'' of all places. [[Fridge Brilliance| His inner Gryffindor qualities show]] when he {{spoiler|ultimately remembers the debt he owes Harry and hesitates bringing Harry and his friends up to [[Complete Monster|Bella]][[Crazy Awesome|trix]]. This causes his hand, which only lets him obey Voldemort, to turn on him and kill him.}}
▲* Wormtail from ''[[Harry Potter]]''.* Also Mundungus Fletcher. ''His'' cowardice was the reason why {{spoiler|Mad-Eye died}}. Draco Malfoy is one, to an extent, especially in the first few books, where he only trash-talks about the main characters as long as he has his two [[Dumb Muscle|burly cronies]] at his heels.
** Cornelius Fudge, definitely. Though when he {{spoiler|retires, he becomes a feeble, rather kindly old man once more}}.
** Don't forget Zacharias Smith, who during his last appearance in the series is bowling over first years to save his own ass just before the final battle.
** Pansy Parkinson, who {{spoiler|suggests that they just turn Harry in to Voldemort to make the Death Eaters leave Hogwarts}}.
** Igor Karkaroff. A loyal Death Eater until the moment he was captured, at which point he sold all the information he had in order to reduce his sentence. When Voldemort returns, he flees, but the Dark Lord makes a point of hunting him down.
* Rincewind from [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'': seriesRincewind tries to play it straight (all he wants is to stay out of danger and doesn't particularly care what happens to anyone else) but subverts this because he's both [[The Chew Toy]] (which means the world really ''is'' out to get him) and a [[Cosmic Plaything]] of Lady Luck, doomed to repeatedly save the world by performing absurdly dangerous heroics.
** It also doesn't help that his conscience is practically an intelligent entity in its own right - several times when he's saved the world, it's because his conscience told him to. [[Good Angel, Bad Angel|In the form of a conversation]].
** In ''[[Discworld/Interesting Times|Interesting Times]]'', Rincewind also gets to use all his knowledge of cowardice and panic in one magnificent [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] when he starts a rumor among the soldiers of the Agatean Empire than Cohen's Silver Horde is most certainly ''[[Reverse Psychology|not]]'' backed up by an army of [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|2,300,009 invisible bloodsucking vampire ghosts]].
*** Also in ''Interesting Times'', Rincewind ponders running away from the rebel army and letting them fight without his aid. He argues with one of the rebels about this, and the exchange goes like this:
{{quote|'''Rebel:''' But there are ideals worth dying for!
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'''Rincewind:''' ''(deep breath) [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Continously!]]'' }}
* The title character of ''[[The Bartimaeus Trilogy]]'' is a shameless example... [[Noble Demon|or so he claims]].
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''
** Wormtongue from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' fits this trope pretty well. He was a soldier from Rohan once who betrayed his king and country, to curry favor with Saruman. Though some may say he helped redeem himself in the end by killing Saruman, though I'm pretty sure that wasn't courage, but extreme hatred.
** Wormtongue started out as an ordinary villain. His original idea was, after Theodred was killed, to get Eomer disinherited, then have Theoden get Eowyn to marry him so that he could take the throne as her consort. A nasty bit of political dynastic maneuvering, but not really out of the way. But to do it he had to get Saruman's help, and by the time he realized what Saruman was really up to he was in over his head.
** Also, this is in fact a common trait of orcs. They're very brave when they have a leader, but as soon as that leader is killed or abandons them, they turn into craven cowards far more willing to be killed after turning on each other than by anyone else.
* The Pierson's Puppeteers from [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Known Space]]'' 'Verse seem to fit this quite well. (When they can be found, that is.)
** They actually consider bravery to be a form of insanity and their word for "leader" (Hindmost) literally translates as "he who leads from behind".
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* Thenardier and his wife of ''[[Les Misérables]]'' are described as the worst sort of scoundrels, to the extent that the Break-o'Day Boys (thieves and murderers, but not hypocrites!) are more sympathetic than them.
* Paris in ''[[The Iliad]]'' might qualify seeing as he was such a bratty little wuss.
* In [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]]'s ''[[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]'', when invisible beings threaten to massacre them unless Lucy goes into the magician's tower and casts a spell, Caspian declares that they are trying to make her do something they are too afraid to let their own daughters do. They agree that he has put it quite nicely. (One reason why Lucy agrees is that she thinks it may not be as bad as they say, as they are obviously great cowards.)
* ''[[John Carter of Mars]]'':
** In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[John Carter of Mars|A Princess of Mars]]'', John Carter describes Tal Hajus as this to force him into battle.
{{quote|''You are a brave people and you love bravery, but where was your mighty jeddak during the fighting today? I did not see him in the thick of battle; he was not there. He rends defenseless women and little children in his lair, but how recently has one of you seen him fight with men?''}}
** In ''Thuvia, Maid of Mars'', Jav exults when he thinks Tario dead, and instantly cowers when he realizes he's alive. It does not save him, and he whimpers through the following ordeal.
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* [[Flashman|Harry Flashman]], eponymous [[Anti-Hero]] of his series (actually a [[Public Domain Character]] from ''[[Tom Brown's Schooldays]]''); his three self-admitted talents are horse-riding, languages, [[The Casanova|and women]]—to which we can add [[Fake Ultimate Hero|credit-stealing]], the ability to live through and run from anything, and total, cutting honesty [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|in his memoirs.]] Interestingly, he does subvert the bit about cowards being short-sighted, which is part of the reason he lived through [[The Gump|all the interesting historical events]] that he did.
 
== [[Live -Action TV]] ==▼
 
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Ethan Rayne of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Willy the Snitch is also one.
* Arnold J. Rimmer from ''[[Red Dwarf]]''. He slowly gets better over the course of the series. The recreated one in Series 8 is "Rimmer how he used to be", lacking all of the development of the previous series, so he also fits.
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* In the [[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]] episode "Nor the Battle to the Strong", Jake Sisko gets a [["The Reason You Suck" Speech|Reason You Suck Speech]] calling him this, which [[Heel Realization|he owns up to]] at the end.
 
== [[Oral Tradition]]. Folklore, Myths and Legends ==
 
== Myth and Legend ==
* Thersites from [[The Ilias]].
 
 
== [[Opera]] ==▼
* Mime from [[Richard Wagner]]'s opera ''Siegfried'' is a Dirty Coward to the core, but is often inappropriately played as [[The Woobie]].▼
 
 
== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==
* This is a classic heel character in [[Professional Wrestling]]. The Honky Tonk Man made a career out of this character in [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] and [[Christian]] Cage was in this mode following his [[Face Heel Turn]] in TNA.
* [[Edge]] is very good at portraying this type of heel, though sometimes it's subverted somewhat when it is shown that the women who are in love with him actually ''want'' to risk their necks to save his, and even do so without his prompting (see [[Lita]] and Vickie Guerrero). [[CM Punk]] is currently (January 2010) milking this trope as part of his Charles Manson-like cult-leader character, with his skin-headed moll Serena literally ''smiling'' as he uses her as a human shield. (Depending on your attitude toward such relationships, I guess, this is either [[Nightmare Fuel]] or [[Fetish Fuel]].)
** Edge was such a coward as a heel that it wasn't unusual for him on house shows to spend up to ten minutes stalling outside of the ring before eventually locking up with his opponent.
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'''Seagoon''': ''Three'' cowards. }}
* Thomas in ''[[Old Harry's Game|Old Harrys Game]]'' (whose nastiness [[Even Evil Has Standards|disgusts even Satan]]) has many horrible characteristics, but his dirty cowardice is among his defining traits. Though he does occasionally show signs of [[Character Development]], this is nearly always unwound by the end of the episode.
 
 
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
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* [[Exalted|The Ebon Dragon]] may be one of the Titans who created the world, and one of the most overwhelmingly powerful beings in existence, but his pitiful Virtues (especially Valor), the easily exploitable holes in his defenses and the personality constraints of his Excellency make him an utterly rank coward. He will very rarely engage in a straight fight against anything capable of hurting him (which can be pretty much everything) and will ''never'' do so against something that has the slightest chance of killing him. Fortunately for him, being the Principle of Villainy makes one ''really'' good at talking your way out of trouble, or just plain running away.
 
== [[Theatre]] ==
 
== Theater ==
* In ''[[Cyrano De Bergerac]]'':
** The public of The Burgundy Theater invokes this trope about Montfleury [[Run or Die]] decision instead of [[Last Stand|standing to Cyrano (who has threatened to Kill Montfleury if he insist to act in a play)]] in the middle of Act I Scene IV. Subverted at the end of that scene, after [[Sociopathic Hero|Cyrano literally kicks a Bore's ass and wounds De Valvert]], then [[Fridge Logic|is obvious that Montfleury displayed true valor]] daring Cyrano's prohibition to be in scene. [[Jerkass|The public still think that Montfleury is a DirtyCoward]].
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single word! }}
 
▲=== [[Opera]] ===
▲* Mime from [[Richard Wagner]]'s opera ''Siegfried'' is a Dirty Coward to the core, but is often inappropriately played as [[The Woobie]].
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Mumkhar from ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles]]'' should get some sort of award for this, due to the fact that he left his friends to die in the middle of a battlefield just to save his own skin... '''FIVE MINUTES INTO THE GAME!''' {{spoiler|Interestingly, this isn't the case in any of his other appearances. It seems that being transformed into a Faced Mechon caused his sadistic, petty sense of cruelty to override his cowardly tendencies.}}
* The Spathi from ''[[Star Control]]'' are a [[Planet of Hats]] devoted to craven cowardice and borderline paranoia as a way of life. A traditional Spathi prayer goes "Oh God, please don't let me die today! Tomorrow would be so much better", and the entire race lives in fear of a nebulous alien race they refer to (always in the same ominous tone) as "The Ultimate Evil". However, they can and will fight if backed into a corner (and they can fight quite well; the Spathi Eluder is one of the best ships in the game). However, this doesn't stop the Spathi from backing out of their alliance with the "hunams" and sealing their home world beneath an impenetrable force field the first chance they get.
** Yes, the Spathi can fight quite well—mostly because their ships are so fast no one can catch them, and because they pelt anything that ''tries'' to catch them with a hailstorm of [[Fun with Acronyms|Backward Utilizing Tracking Torpedoes]] fired out of the back of the ship as it flees.
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* One of the main reasons [[Prince Charmless]] is one of the [[The Scrappy|least favorite]] ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' characters is that he's both a Dirty Coward ''and'' a [[Jerkass]], and makes you do all the work for him on the one side quest where you're forced to take him along.
* Jerry Ying from the [[John Woo]] game ''[[Stranglehold]]'' after his [[Face Heel Turn]].
* Porky from ''[[EarthBound]]''. His [[Establishing Character Moment]] is ditching his little brother at night, forcing Ness to help look for him, and then hiding behind Ness and contributing absolutely nothing to every single battle between leaving Ness' house to fighting the Starman that chased after Buzz Buzz. He gets crueler and nastier as the game goes on, but not a single bit braver: even as {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Giygas]]'s [[The Dragon|Dragon]], he abandons his master to fight Ness and friends after proving that they're more than a match for him.}}
* Porky from ''[[EarthBound]]''.
** There's also the man in the tent in Threed, who abandoned his wife and children to the zombies. He doesn't seem to understand why they're angry with him.
* Goblins, the weakest unit of the Stronghold Faction in ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]] V: Tribes of the East''. In game play, their cowardice causes them to run away from their attackers instead of retaliating. If enough of the stack is killed, they actually ''defect'' to the other side. Storywise, this attitude earns them a great deal of contempt from the rest of the faction, which primarily consists of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]s. As a result, their "comrades" have no problem with letting their Shamans sacrifice Goblins for mana replenishing rituals or with letting the Cyclops treat Goblins as snacks and ''ammo''.
* In ''[[Fire Emblem]]'':
** InSeptimus, ''[[Firethe Emblem]]:boss of [[Fire Emblem Tellius|Radiant Dawn]]'', the boss of thes Part 3 Prologue, Septimus, is shown to be [[Properly Paranoid|immensely paranoid]] about laguz attacks and runs off as soon as the player or allied armies get close, leaving his second-in-command to guard the seize point. He later shows up in 3-8, assigned to enter the [[Lethal Lava Land|lava-filled caves]] and bring back the bodies of the enemies that [[No One Could Survive That|no doubt perished there]] as proof that they were dead—and is ''quite'' dismayed to find them (that's the player's army, again) very much alive.
** A few minor villains in ''[[Fire Emblem: Three Houses]]'' are shown to be really lacking in moral fiber.
*** Leicester Alliance nobleman Acheron is nicknamed "The Weathervane" for being a cowardly opportunist, gleefully defecting to the Adrestian Empire in non-Crimson Flower routes so he can join the strongest side. When he and his men are sent to back up their commanding officer, they stay huddled near the map's exit and if Ladislava/Judith (depending on the route played) dies before him, he'll flee in a mad panic. He can be encountered before the timeskip if you do Lorenz's paralogue, which he's the boss of. He talks a good game about killing anyone who dares cross him, but when you defeat him he wastes no time groveling and screaming for mercy.
*** Randolph von Bergliez is shown to be this in the Azure Moon route. {{spoiler|As an esteemed general of the Imperial army, he has killed countless people in the name of upholding Edelgard's tyrannical rule and is downright pumped at the thought of attacking Garreg Mach Monastery, a place of worship full of innocent civilians. But when he's defeated and at Dimitri's mercy, he whines about having a family back home and begs for Dimitri to let him go. Even in his frenzied, feral state, Dimitri cares a ''lot'' about protecting innocent people and gives him an earful about being a destroyer of families himself.}}
*** Kronya is not only an assassin working for Those Who Slither in the Dark, but a sadistic bitch who practically gets off to the thought of killing innocent people. {{spoiler|When Byleth kicks her ass, she runs for the hills and when Solon kills her for [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|outliving her usefulness]], she begs them to save her despite cruelly murdering their father during the previous chapter.}}
* The Baron de Valois from ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood|Assassin's Creed Brotherhood]]'', who [[I Have Your Wife|takes Bartolomeo's wife hostage]] to try and get the latter to surrender, makes a break for it when surprised by Ezio and will execute her quick if Ezio is detected trying to reach him.
** The Doctor character from Multiplayer and Project Legacy is one too.
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{{quote|'''Anub'Arak:''' [[This Cannot Be!|It cannot be...]] Look to your defences, Death Knight! Fight as you have never fought before!}}
** Many generic enemies in ''World of Warcraft'' have a cowardly streak, upon depleting most of their health they will attempt to flee and the message "[enemy] is trying to run away in fear." is displayed. If not controlled or killed they could potentially reach other enemy groups for help resulting in a wipe.
* Patches the Hyena of ''[[Demon's Souls]]'', ''[[Dark Souls]]'', ''[[Bloodborne]]'', ''[[Armored Core: For Answer]]'' (as Patch the Good Luck), and ''[[Elden Ring]]'' fame. No matter the game, he's a slimy, opportunistic little weasel of a man who usually tries to kill you with trickery, and will waste no time begging for mercy once that fails.
* Patches the Hyena of ''[[Demon's Souls]]'', and [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo|later]] ''[[Dark Souls]]''.
* Alduin in ''[[Skyrim]]'' turns out to be one of these when faced by someone who can actually hurt him. {{spoiler|It's one of the reasons Odahviing agrees to help you pursue him—thehim — the other Dragons are no longer certain that Alduin deserves to be their leader since a true ''dovah'' would fight to the very end.}}
* Alfonso in ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' is established as this in the game's ''opening sequence'': once his ship is attacked by the Blue Rogues, he is more concerned with escaping than fighting and once he secures the means to do so he murders his vice captain in cold blood and tosses the corpse overboard in order to frame the vice captain as a traitor and cover his own ass. Luckily, [[Big Bad|Galcian]] gets a wind of this and Antonio is immediately [[Reassigned to Antarctica]].
* Kai Leng of ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'' is a particularly unlikable case. He's not above playing dirty tricks on his enemies, and pulls several on Shepard, including calling in a gunship to provide fire support while his shields recharge and using the salarian councilor as a shield. Even worse, he endlessly taunts Shepard when he's out of danger, including sending him an email mocking him about the events on {{spoiler|Thessia}}. In the final battle, Shepard points out that Kai Leng has always ran from him/her, which the latter responds rather ungracefully. When {{spoiler|Shepard shatters/dodges his sword and guts him like a fish}}, you ''will'' cheer.
* [[Donut Mess with a Cop| Kruller]], the ghostly, overweight security guard from ''[[Luigi's Mansion|Luigi's Mansion 3]]''. Not only does he seem to be more of a coward than Luigi, he doesn't seem to be all-too good at his job, hiding in the security office while Luigi (via the player) is likely looting and vandalizing the Hotel Stores. Not that he's a pushover as a boss, of course.
* BubbleMan's scenario in ''[[MegaMan Battle Network 3]]'' tasks you with chasing the [[Gonk|ugly little guy]] all around the Net, with him refusing to fight you head-on and instead hiding behind a barrier that you can't penetrate without a special item carried by his men, who ''also'' force you to chase them around the net for it. When you actually fight him, he hides in the back row of his half of the battlefield, where he's protected by rocks ''and'' bubbles that constantly pour in from the middle. And once he's beaten, he has the audacity to beg Lan and MegaMan for mercy, only to betray them once they spare him, nearly killing a bunch of innocent people before getting bisected by ProtoMan.
** And his cowardice ends up playing into his appearances as a ghost Navi: if you want to get his V2-V4 battle chips, you need your health to be in the red in order for him to show up as a random encounter in one of the Ocean Area's sub-areas.
* The background lore of ''[[Elden Ring]]'' paints Godrick the Grafted as a gigantic wuss who would sooner hide among civilian women rather than meet his end on the battlefield. Ditto for literally licking the boots of a warrior that he insulted once she started kicking his ass. Interestingly, he doesn't display any cowardice when fighting you, and dies with his dignity intact.
** This seems to be the case for the otherwise enigmatic Pidia. {{spoiler|If he is indeed Seluvis as context clues seem to imply, he uses the man's body as a vessel through which he can act like a smug, nasty little [[Jerkass]] towards everyone he meets, only to play the part of a meek and groveling servant when confronted in person. Whether he truly is Seluvis or not, he ''is'' a creepy rapist who sexually abuses the "puppets" (sex slaves) that Seluvis keeps on hand, and dies pitifully begging his victims for mercy when they attack him after enduring god knows how many years of molestation at his hands.}}
 
== [[Web Comics]] ==
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* In ''[[Endstone]]'', the [[Grave Robber]] Bolo [http://endstone.net/2009/03/30/issue-1-page-9/ tries to steal the Lightstone and puts the blame on his companion when caught].
* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20131006054708/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue05PAGES/ib105.html their ride dumps them in the city and leaves.]
 
 
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Daffy Duck from ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' is a self-admitted one of these characters. He'll sell out his friends in an instant to save his own hide and/or claim wealth for himself. As he puts it, "Sure I'm a louse, but I'm a ''live'' louse!" During the "Hunter Trilogy" of cartoons, he freely admits he's only sending Elmer after Bugs because it's "Really [[Duck Season! Rabbit Season!|duck season]]".
** Inverted slightly inDuring the "Hunter's Trilogy" of cartoons, he freely admits he's only sending Elmer after Bugs because it's "really [[Duck Season! Rabbit Season!|duck season]]". Also inverted: while he is out for "thelf-prethervation", he also seems ''very'' set on his rival getting his head blown off. The numerous instances Elmer actually turns his attention on Bugs, and naturally screws up, Daffy will actually [[Motive Decay|go up to Elmer and berate him to his face to]] "Shoot him! SHOOT HIM!". On one occasion, he actually snatched the gun from Elmer and attempted to do the job himself, [[Harmless Villain|thewith latter justElmer walkedwalking off bewildered]].
** His greed can overcome this, though: in "Ducking the Devil" (1957) he ''beats up the Tasmanian Devil'' when Taz takes some money from him!
{{quote|'''Daffy:''' I may be a coward, but I'm a ''greeeedy'' little coward!}}
* When the chips are down, Zapp Brannigan from ''[[Futurama]]'' is a coward through and through.
** In one of the ''[[Futurama]]'' movies, Bender, Amy and one other character are trapped by a bunch of orcs in a castle. Bender tells the two ladies he has a plan, and next scene shows him holding them up in the air (and looking like he's about to surrender). SuddenlyBender outright ''tells'' the orcs areto killedtake byhis thefriends [[Bigfirst, Damnjust Heroes]]to causinggive Benderhim toone lookmore relieved.second It'sof prettysweet obvioussweet helife; meantfortunately, tothe sacrificeorcs hisare "friends"killed toby savethe himself[[Big Damn Heroes]].
*** It's more than obvious. Bender outright ''tells'' the orcs to take his friends first, just to give him one more second of sweet sweet life.
{{quote|'''Fry''': It's every man for himself!
'''Fry''': (Jumpsjumps out of a land rover and immediately gets stuck in moon dust) Help me Leela! }}
*:* In "Bendin' in the Wind," the crew is plunging off a cliff. Bender grabs a nearby cable, loudly declaring, "I'll save ME!" The rest of the crew is only saved by grabbing his legs just in time.
*:* Fry gets called pretty much this in "War is the H-Word" when he, wielding the only charged phaser, blasts himself a hole to hide in.
* In ''[[Transformers Animated]]'', Skywarp (a.k.a. Coward Starscream) is... well, he's a coward. He runs away from the slightest threat. We haven't seen him in full cowardly action just yet, but it's pretty obvious that this wretched little scumbag isn't going to be much good in a fight. Even when captured, he won't even fight back; he just lies there whimpering and pleading for his life.
** [[Moe|That just makes him all the more adorable]].
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** Lexor had the reputation of both a liar ''and'' a coward, and was given appropriate powers as such by Merklin. His animal totem was the Armadillo (an animal not known for being a fighter, but being defensive) while he staff channeled the Power of Invulnerability, often used to protect his own skin.
** Mortdred was known as an unapologetic sycophant, and was fittingly given the Scampering Beetle totem simply to show how much of a bootlicker he was.
* [[Starter Villain| Warden Wrath]] from ''[[The Owl House]]''; though a nasty and frightening foe the first time he appears, [[Villain Forgot to Level Grind| he proves to be this in the second onetime, cowering when confronted by a stronger magic user]].
 
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