Cowards are villains who are very prone to run away from a fight or confrontation or even their own problems, or who pick on those who they know are weaker or who have less authority.

They usually beg the hero to not kill them when overpowered by the hero and will try to kill them if they let their guard down, or are desperate to take the hero with them if they know that they are about to be defeated or killed. More often than not, they would also threaten to kill the hero's loved ones or use them as hostages to stop the hero from attacking them, rather than fighting the hero themselves (Desti is a good example of this).

Sometimes, being a coward motivates evil as they will do anything to save only their own hides and do not care if others get hurt (providing they don't get harmed themselves) other times, it serves as comedic relief while at still other times it simply makes a villain unlikable and/or weak in the eyes of a viewer or protagonist (and sometimes other villains as well).

They will also not hesitate to use cheap and dirty tactics if they deem it necessary to win a battle. Due to the fact that most Cowards will try to run away if they are in danger or even surrender entirely, they are rarely the leading antagonist (though exceptions do exist), tending instead to be bumbling sidekicks or henchmen. In addition, should these villains die, it is often disgraceful, unless they redeem themselves to die with honor.

Please note, however, that cowards are often extremely dangerous, powerful, or intelligent characters who have fear as a fatal flaw, as opposed to a basic personality trait (for example, Francis from SMG4 - he's a coward, as he attempted begging with Saiko to let him live even after everything he did, but he’s also very dangerous, because he almost arranged the inklings' genocide and he is the don of anime cartel, the most dangerous mafia of Mushroom Kingdom, or Sir Benedict Cumbersnatch, who is also a coward, as he immediately panicked and retreated on his drone after mistaking Auri for Aloysius, but is once again very dangerous as he attempted indirectly arranging the complete destruction of Port Aurora, and is the head of the island’s dangerous criminal organisation).

Not for mention, it also can make them seen even more heinous, considering the might just escape saving themselves and betraying others (e.g. Bob Bobowski ran from T-Pose zombies and let Meggy get infected by T-Pose virus).

Cowards are the opposites of Nihilists as they really value their life. Also, cowards can never be One-Man Armies because they will only fight if they feel they have a significant advantage or know the other is weaker (Fear attacking only if his opponent became weaker; Aka Manah fight only with creatures, who weaker than him).

Just because a villain is scared once doesn't make them a coward. A good example is Leader.

Also showing fear in life or death situations or when confronted by stronger individuals or unfamiliar situations does NOT make a character a coward either as only the insane are completely without fear - cowards are marked by the fact they are excessive in their fear and allow said fear to dominate their actions, often to the point of harming others.

Note: However, there are some instances there a villain cannot be considered a coward, or at least the complete ones:

• When a villain is afraid of something or many even things, but has an ability to overcome it and resume potentially harmful activities over and over again.
• When a villain runs away from a battle they remained unprepared or unable to survive or win to fight another day and doing it with little to no fear.

• When they do their best not to show that they afraid of something, masking it with overconfidence, emotionlessness, rage etc. (Ztar is an example of this)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Magnificent Baddies can never be cowards. Because these type of villains will never show any type of cowardice and they must keep their composure all the times.