History Main / CowerPower

* KaizokuSentaiGokaiger: When the crew is confronted by a monster, Doc will almost always hide behind Luka, who will in turn elbow him in the gut for his cowardice.

* In RobertEHoward's ''ConanTheBarbarian'' story "The Pool of the Black One" Sancha grovels after being thrown to the ground.

* In ''ElGoonishShive'' it seems like people tend to hide [[http://egscomics.com/?date=2008-04-21 behind]] [[http://egscomics.com/index.php?arcid=45 Elliot.]]

--->'''Xander''': Where'd you get that accent, ''SesameStreet''? 1, 2, 3 victims, nyahaha!
--->'''Buffy''': Xander, I'm pretty sure that's {{Dracula}}.
--->'''Xander''' (jumping behind Buffy): Hey, sorry, man.

* ''AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' has this trope as the player's only means of defense. You are given no weapons of any kind and any time you're attacked, the only thing you can do is run and hide in the dark, usually behind crates, until the monster gets bored and leaves.

* ''FinalFantasyIV'' has [[SpoonyBard Edward]] who has an ability that lets him do this. He also does it when he's low on HitPoints.
* ''[[{{Mother3}} Mother 3]]:'' When traveling with [[TheWoobie Salsa]], [[JerkAss Fassad]] will occasionally do this in battle, despite the fact that (as an NPC) monsters don't target him anyway, ''and'' he's easily several times stronger than Salsa.

* ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero'': After Haruhi's reaction no Tsuruya's report on what she and Kyon did to disband a illegal photographic ring (which included sleeping with him and bathing together -- ItMakesSenseInContext), Mikuru automatically hides behind Tsuruya. [[OCStandIn Kanae]], noting that hiding behind Tsuruya isn't the best idea in this circumstances, decided not to follow this trope and only hide behind the table.

* In RobertEHoward's ConanTheBarbarian stoyr "The Pool of the Black One" Sancha grovels after being thrown to the ground.
* In the second book of the {{Gone}} series, Hunter cowers behind Astrid, who is protecting him from Zil's lynch mob.

* ''[[{{FanFic/Ptitle0028gzjm}} Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'': After Haruhi's reaction no Tsuruya's report on what she and Kyon did to disband a illegal photographic ring (which included sleeping with him and bathing together -- ItMakesSenseInContext), Mikuru automatically hides behind Tsuruya. [[OCStandIn Kanae]], noting that hiding behind Tsuruya isn't the best idea in this circumstances, decided not to follow this trope and only hide behind the table.

* ''AmnesiaTheDarkDecent'' has this trope as the player's only means of defense. You are given no weapons of any kind and any time you're attacked, the only thing you can do is run and hide in the dark, usually behind crates, until the monster gets bored and leaves.

* A favorite tactic of the heels, who are not above grabbing a female at ringside (either the face's girlfriend or their own) to stop from getting attacked, and then shoving said female into the opponent! {{Edge}} used to do this all the time. EddieGuerrero made it particularly reprehensible when he grabbed Rey Mysterio's young son Dominic; [[PapaWolf this made Mysterio]] [[ThisIsUnforgivable very angry]].

It's only natural to cower in the face of danger[[hottip:*:this is actually a survival mechanism, which works for small animals because many of the larger animals that eat them can see motion really well, but have trouble spotting stationary things. Some animals, like humans and eagles, have good enough eyesight that they may be able to spot the "frozen" animal anyway, though it's still easier to spot something that's moving. Others don't even ''rely'' on eyesight, utilizing other senses such as smell or heat-sensing instead. Still, you'd be surprised how well this trick can work... for smaller animals, anyways. For larger creatures like humans, it's mostly an evolutionary holdover, though it might still work on occasion]]. As such, many a classic DistressedDamsel and fearful child will cower behind the nearest LoveInterest, parent, or BigDamnHeroes when presented with peril. Of course, most conscientious heroes and even InnocentBystanders will naturally interpose themselves anyway to protect other innocents (and [[TheWorfEffect perhaps]] [[FoeTossingCharge pointlessly]], but they do get props for chivalry). This kind of cowering stems from the classic pose of hero and heroine facing a monster on FilmPosters for TouchOfTheMonster: the hero has a gun in his right hand pointed at the beast, his left hand holding the LoveInterest back (what, he can't be left-handed?), while she clutches his shoulder with one hand and covers her mouth from shock with the other.

* A favorite tactic of the heels, who are not above grabbing a female at ringside (either the face's girlfriend or their own) to stop from getting attacked, and then shoving said female into the opponent! {{Edge}} used to do this all the time. EddieGuerrero made it particularly reprehensible when he grabbed Rey Mysterio's young son Dominic; [[PapaWolf this made Mysterio very angry]].

* PlayedForLaughs ''and'' played straight in ''Series/TeenTitans''; both examples feature teams of males hiding behind their female leader. In the humorous version, The Titans East hides behind Bumblebee when Control Freak drops in unexpectedly; the serious one features the H.I.V.E. five hiding behind Jinx in nervous anticipation for Madam Rouge's verbal abuse.

* In ''Mortifer'' Valentine comments on Coles "Impressive Hiding"

* Done both for laughs and played straight in ''TeenTitans'', both times feature teams of males hiding behind their female leader. In the Humorous one, The Titans East hides behind Bumblebee when Control Freak drops in unexpectedly, and the Serious one features the H.I.V.E. five hiding behind Jinx in nervous anticipation for Madam Rouge's verbal abuse.

* A favorite tactic of the heels, who are not above grabbing a female at ringside (either the face's girlfriend or their own) to stop from getting attacked, and then shoving said female into the opponent! {{Edge}} used to do this all the time. EddieGuerrero made it particularly reprehensible when he grabbed ReyMysterio's young son Dominic; [[PapaWolf this made Mysterio very angry]].

[[LostInSpace http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/CowerPower.jpg]]
[[caption-width:185:Dr. Smith, as usual, cowers while Will Robinson takes care of business.]]

It's only natural to cower in the face of danger[[hottip:*:this is actually a survival mechanism, which works for small animals because many of the larger animals that eat them can see motion really well, but have trouble spotting stationary things. Some animals, like humans and eagles, have good enough eyesight that they may be able to spot the "frozen" animal anyway, though it's still easier to spot something that's moving. Others don't even ''rely'' on eyesight, utilizing other senses such as smell or heat-sensing instead. Still, you'd be surprised how well this trick can work... for smaller animals, anyways. For larger creatures like humans, it's mostly an evolutionary holdover, though it might still work on occasion]]. As such, many a classic DistressedDamsel and fearful child will cower behind the nearest LoveInterest, parent, or BigDamnHeroes when presented with peril. Of course, most conscientious heroes and even InnocentBystanders will naturally interpose themselves anyway to protect other innocents (and [[TheWorfEffect perhaps]] [[FoeTossingCharge pointlessly]], but they do get props for chivalry). This kind of cowering stems from the classic pose of hero and heroine facing a monster on FilmPosters for TouchOfTheMonster: the hero has a gun in his right hand pointed at the beast, his left hand holding the LoveInterest back, while she clutches his shoulder with one hand and covers her mouth from shock with the other.

It's only natural to cower in the face of danger[[hottip:*:this is actually a survival mechanism, which works for small animals because many of the larger animals that eat them can see motion really well, but have trouble spotting stationary things. Of course, some animals, like humans and eagles, have good enough eyesight that they may be able to spot the "frozen" animal anyway, and others don't even ''rely'' on eyesight, utilizing other senses such as smell or heat-sensing instead. Still, you'd be surprised how well this trick can work... for smaller animals, anyways. For larger creatures like humans, it's more of an evolutionary holdover]]. As such, many a classic DistressedDamsel and fearful child will cower behind the nearest LoveInterest, parent, or BigDamnHeroes when presented with peril. Of course, most conscientious heroes and even InnocentBystanders will naturally interpose themselves anyway to protect other innocents (and [[TheWorfEffect perhaps]] [[FoeTossingCharge pointlessly]], but they do get props for chivalry). This kind of cowering stems from the classic pose of hero and heroine facing a monster on FilmPosters for TouchOfTheMonster: the hero has a gun in his right hand pointed at the beast, his left hand holding the LoveInterest back, while she clutches his shoulder with one hand and covers her mouth from shock with the other.

* Crane does this in SleepyHollow when he approaches a particularly creepy hovel, using Young Masbeth as a shield and aiming his pistol over the boy's shoulder.

--->'''Xander''': Where'd you get that accent, SesameStreet? 1, 2, 3 victims, nyahaha!