This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Rhiow: There is a YKTTW for this. Or was. It had fourteen replies where some people did note that it seemed similar to The So-Called Coward, but personally I don't think they overlap. I think the difference between the two is notable enough that this trope can stand on its own, but it may need a better description. The difference is that The So-Called Coward could be someone like Luffy (inappropriately added here, but saving so people can see what I'm talking about) and someone like Nagisa or Kenichi, one of whom also fits there and one of whom does not. If this is to be cut, then the definition for The So-Called Coward really needs to be broadened, as it's more about someone who when pushed too far starts kicking ass if they can't avoid doing so. This trope is not.
Edit: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=za2wyygdiz4rmryh8exzg7ci&trope=NotSoWeak
for YKTTW
DracMonster: I looked it over and frankly, this did not look launchable. There is too much dissent on there about whether it's needed. You were the only one really voicing supporting arguments for it.
Anonymous Mc Cartneyfan: I'm not sure this is a viable trope, either. But here's my idea of what the trope looks like. It's not a clone of The So-Called Coward — The So-Called Coward is someone who refuses to fight unless he has a very good cause, but is then heroic. A Not So Weak character is much more likely to fight — it's just that he refuses to fight for himself and is looked down on for that reason. Clearly, if this trope exists and isn't already posted (it may be), then it's genre- or period-dependent; there are genres where this attitude is/was the heroic default. (Fighting for just yourself may seem, well, selfish.)
Madrugada It overlaps with too many others: The So-Called Coward, Beware the Nice Ones, Mama Bear, Let's Get Dangerous! for four at least. (There may be others that I've forgotten.) The fact is, that those are already different only in small degree: all of them are "character you wouldn't expect to fight can and does, when given the right trigger"; the differences are whether there's a specific trigger common to all examples of the trope (Mama Bear is always triggered by a threat to her children or child-equivalent; for Let's Get Dangerous! the trigger is being the last ones left to fight), or how the character is perceived before the triggering event (The So-Called Coward is thought to be a coward who won't fight; Beware the Nice Ones is seen as someone who is too "nice" or "gentle" to fight.) Just because we already have a bunch of tropes with fine lines between them is not a good reason to add yet another one.
Rhiow: Thanks to Anonymous Mc Cartney Fan for editing the page to what I was actually trying to say. I had difficulty phrasing it as I know it did sound like The So-Called Coward. Do they still seem too similar? There are many examples of characters who are one trope and not the other.
