"I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid! I'm not afraid! I...I am afraid. I'm afraid...but that doesn't mean I can't fight back!"
— Raven, Teen Titans (2003), "Fear Itself"
There's many a story that will have a hero deny being afraid, or even have the text state that they aren't, even when fear would be a natural response.
Then there are people who will admit to fear.
They don't see it as less heroic or manly to admit their fear. Indeed, doing so might be seen as a form of Character Development, showing that they're more willing to be honest with themselves, or dropping a degree of arrogance that they had before.
They're not the Cowardly Lion, who is known to be afraid all the time, but still willing to help in times of trouble.
No, they simply are acknowledging their fear openly, though often that doesn't deter them from doing what needs to be done.
They may try to mask the depth of their fear with a Sarcastic Confession.
It may lead to an Aesop about fear being a normal emotion, with it being up to an individual how they will respond to it. It may also provide comfort to other characters if someone they view as powerful and accomplished not only admits to being afraid, but also admits that it's something they always feel, but that they refuse to surrender to it. Of course, it can also backfire and lead to an Oh, Crap! moment for the heroes and audience if a particularly strong character is showing that they're afraid when they normally don't.
See also Repression Never Ends Well.
Compare and contrast Fear Is the Appropriate Response, when someone decides that fear and retreat are the rational and desirable outcomes of facing a particularly dangerous situation or foe. Also compare and contrast Easy to Scare. See also Run or Die, when not giving in to fear is likely to be fatal. The Trope Namer joke for Bring My Brown Pants is an example of this but not the trope itself, which is Toilet Humor.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Asura: For all of the Lord Steward's misanthropy and posturing about how Love Is a Weakness, he admits to Asura that, underneath it all, he was a coward who was afraid of loving another person.
- Choujin X: When Yamato Mori is beginning their final preparations before the climactic raid on the Tower, Michael has a nervous breakdown at needing to face Zora in combat again, especially since she very nearly killed him one year ago. Rather than simply telling him to "man up," Momoma and Azuma comfort Michael by sharing their own experiences, letting Michael know that he's not alone in feeling that way. They're all scared, but they can still move forward because they're in this together.
Momoma: I'm scared too. I'm scared every single day. I might get injured today. Or today might be the day that I die. Someone might kill me. I wonder why we have to risk our lives, why we need to be the ones putting ourselves in danger, all just because we happened to be born like this. But, if we don't do it, other people might die. Or something terrible could happen to someone else. And when I think about that... doing nothing is terrifying too. That's how I feel.
- Fairy Tail:
- During the S-Class exams, Natsu finds himself having to face Gildarts. Natsu, loving the idea of having to fight the guild's most powerful wizard, demands Gildarts to show his full power, claiming to not be afraid. Gildarts obliges, and the intensity of his aura is enough for Natsu to admit defeat in fear without throwing a punch. This display is enough for Gildarts to tell Natsu he passes his test for knowing when not to fight.
- During the same arc, Natsu finds himself up against Grimoire Heart's fire god slayer, Zancrow. He shows to have taken the lesson he learned from Gildarts to heart as he admits to feeling fear in this situation, but he makes it clear he will not let that stop him from protecting those he cares about, fighting Zancrow after witnessing him hurt Makarov.
- Frieren: Beyond Journey's End:
- When facing a large dragon, Eisen admits to Frieren and company that his hands are shaking because he's afraid. But he states that's not a bad thing, as his fear is what has kept him alive for so long. His apprentice, Stark, is more the Cowardly Lion, clearly afraid, but still willing to fight.
- When discussing mortality with Frieren, Heiter admits to being afraid of dying, though he is still able to Face Death with Dignity in the end.
- Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu: Sousuke usually doesn't display fear, confident in his own abilities to handle crisis situations calmly and rationally. This is not the case when visiting a "haunted" hospital when the floor gives way and Kaname falls through, with Sousuke finding her in a pool of red liquid (though it fortunately turns out to be paint). When Kaname asks him if the moment frightened him, he readily admits to it, showing that harm coming to her is the one thing that does scare him.
- Snow White with the Red Hair: Prince Raj leads a group of merchant ships against the notorious pirate group The Claws of the Sea. When he crashes his ship into that of The Claws, the figurehead at the mast breaks free and nearly hits him, saved only when his retainer deflects it with his sword. The retainer, Sasaki, asks Raj if he's alright. Raj responds shakily, "I'm fine. Just terrified." It's a sign of Raj's growth as a person, as before that he would have snidely dismissed the suggestion of fear.
- Tokyo Ghoul: A major aspect of Ken Kaneki's Secretly Selfish realization at the end of Part 1. Underneath Kaneki's ostensibly selfless desire to protect those close to him, he was just terrified of being alone, which he admits to himself once he's seemingly at the bitter end.
Kaneki: Mom and I... we're no different. I think I know now why Mom worked so hard for my aunt. She was afraid of losing somebody again, like she lost Dad. That's why she worked herself to the bone for others. Mom wasn't a kind person... she was just a timid coward afraid of being alone. So am I. Protecting everybody wasn't what I wanted to do. What I wanted to protect... was myself.
Comic Books
- Empowered: The titular Empowered (aka Emp) is riddled with fears, insecurities, and related issues, and she will candidly speak of them to her close friends and other people she trusts.
Films — Animation
- The Last Unicorn: When the Unicorn is transformed into a human being, named Lady Amalthea, she tries to plead with Schmendrick to return her to her proper form. Schmendrick points out that the magic knew what it was doing when it transformed her into a human, as it was in that form alone that she could enter Haggard's castle and learn the fate of the other unicorns, then rhetorically asks her if she believes she could defeat the Red Bull if she were returned to her Unicorn form. She says that she couldn't, but also adds that this new mortal form scares her more than even the Red Bull ever did.
- The Lion King (1994): After rescuing him and Nala from the hyenas, Mufasa scolds Simba for being so irresponsible. Simba says he was trying to be brave like him, who isn't scared of anything. Mufasa confesses that he was scared then — scared of losing his son.
- Shrek 1: When Shrek and Donkey arrive at the castle where Princess Fiona is locked up, Donkey confesses to Shrek that, unlike ogres, donkeys don't have layers and are more open about being afraid. Shrek helps him get across the rickety bridge over the lava he's afraid of, tricking him into reaching the other side when his fear stops him halfway.
Films — Live-Action
- In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when Harry and Lupin are discussing the Dementors:
Harry: I'm scared, Professor.
Lupin: Well, I'd consider you a fool if you weren't. - Heartbreak Ridge: Swede Anderson confesses to Gunnery Seargent Highway that he's afraid of heighs as they're about to parachute. To his surprise, Highway casually admits to the same fear.
Swede Johanson: Gunny, I'm afraid of heights.
Highway: So am I.
Swede Johanson: You are?
Highway: Jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft is not a natural act. So let's do it right, enjoy the view. Come on. - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: When Frodo is confronted by Strider at The Prancing Pony, Stryder asks him if he's frightened. Frodo gives a sincere, "Yes."
Stryder/Aragorn: Not nearly frightened enough. I know what hunts you.
- In The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm openly admits to being afraid of being on an island full of resurrected dinosaurs (largely because last time he was nearly eaten twice by a T. rex); this earns him the mockery of his girlfriend, who isn't afraid despite his insistence that she should be. She learns her lesson soon enough.
Literature
- The Belgariad: After a fight against magical clay creatures, Mandorallen feels fear for the first time and doesn't know how to handle it. He spends some time feeling unworthy, afraid the fear will return, until Durnik and Barak explain to him that fear is normal.
Durnik: I’m an ordinary man, Mandorallen. Ordinary men live in fear all the time. Didn’t you know that? We’re afraid of the weather, we’re afraid of powerful men, we’re afraid of the night and the monsters that lurk in the dark, we’re afraid of growing old and of dying. Sometimes we’re even afraid of living. Ordinary men are afraid almost every minute of their lives.
Mandorallen: How can you bear it?
Durnik: Do we have any choice? Fear’s a part of life, Mandorallen, and it’s the only life we have. You’ll get used to it. After you’ve put it on every morning like an old tunic, you won’t even notice it anymore.
Live-Action TV
- Blackadder: In "Goodbyeee", George suddenly says "I'm scared, sir", when facing the certain death of going out of their trench and charging towards the enemy. Until then, he has been wildly optimistic about this, to the point of delusion; and now he sees the reality.
- Blue Peter: Presenter Caron Keating says that while she was looking forward to an experience of diving with sharks, she was also terrified.
- Game of Thrones: When Tyrion asks Bronn to be his champion for a Trial-By-Combat with The Mountain, Bronn refuses. When Tyrion attempts to appeal to his pride by asking if he's afraid, the mercenary outright admits to it.
- Tyrion: Does he frighten you so much?Bronn: I'd be a bloody fool if he didn't frighten me. He's freakish big and freakish strong, and quicker than you'd expect for a man of that size.
- Grange Hill: When faced with a particularly difficult jump on an assault course on a school trip, the Deadpan Snarker and Stern Teacher Mr Baxter admits afterwards that he was terrified.
- The Librarians (2014): In Season 4, Cassandra and a young boy named Freddy figure out that the entire town is being kept safe by a fairy held captive by a wish a scared young boy had made decades ago. Freed, the fairy goes on a rampage, until Cassandra and Freddy admit to being scared and try to explain to the fairy. She states that she doesn't know what fear is. Cassandra points out to the fairy that since Freddy freed her, she owes him a wish, and Freddy wishes for her to know what human emotions felt like. Upon experiencing fear, the fairy, realizing that humans felt it and lived with it every single day, decides that is punishment enough for them.
- M*A*S*H:
- "The Army-Navy Game" zigzags this, as the camp is being shelled and an unexploded bomb is just outside of the main compound.
Col. Blake: Hawkeye, are you scared?Hawkeye: Don't be silly. I'm too frightened to be scared.
- "O.R." zigzags this as well. Frank's fingers are trembling because of nerves from the onslaught of casualties and the shelling outside, but he tries to claim that it's an old injury acting up. Henry tells everyone that if they're scared, just let themselves be scared. Then Margaret points out that Henry's hands are shaking, to which Henry, tongue in cheek, says that it's Frank's old medical condition.
- In "C*A*V*E", both Hawkeye and Margaret have to admit to their own fears, with Hawkeye being claustrophobic, while Margaret says for her it's loud noises, which the shelling is providing in abundance.
- "The Army-Navy Game" zigzags this, as the camp is being shelled and an unexploded bomb is just outside of the main compound.
- Scrubs: After Dr. Cox lost several patients due to organ transplants from a donor infected with rabies, which he couldn't have known as testing for it wasn't standard practice, he's cleared by a board of inquiry to return to work. But Eliot thinks he seems hesitant and tries to boost his morale, only to find he'd authorized a risky treatment when she was absent. She protests, saying he'd walked away, and he claims he'd just needed to use the restroom. But later, when Eliot is showing uncertainty, he admits that wasn't why he'd walked away, and he really had been wrestling with his nerves.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: When Captain Picard debates Q on humanity exploring the galaxy, Q decides that a humbling experience is in order. Q flings the Enterprise to a whole 'nother part of the galaxy, where it encounters a Borg cube. After discovering just how adaptive and dangerous the Borg are, Picard admits to Q that he and his crew are scared almost shitless. Satisfied by this, Q flings the Enterprise to safety, back to where the adventure began. In a quiet moment in the Captain's quarters, Picard remarks to Riker that Q gave them a well-deserved kick in their complacency.
Picard: If we all die here, now, you will not be able to gloat. You wanted to frighten us. We're frightened. You wanted to show us that we were inadequate. For the moment... I grant that. You wanted me to say, "I need you"? I need you!
Western Animation
- In 2 Stupid Dogs the Big Dog, being scared at the cemetery, keeps repeating to himself, that he's not afraid. When his little buddy with a skull stuck on his head charges towards him, he quickly shifts to saying the opposite.
Big Dog: I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid, I'm not afraid... <Small Dog rushes towards him> I am afraid, I am afraid, I AM afraid!!
- This is the outcome of "Franklin the Fearless" from Franklin. Franklin, Bear, Rabbit and Raccoon pay a visit to Thrill Hill, hoping to ride their wagons down it. They decide, however, that it's too steep for them, but Franklin ends up going down by accident. The others cheer him for being fearless and he ends up agreeing to repeat the feat for some of his other friends the next day, even though he was actually scared out of his mind. When the time comes, he can't go through with it and admits that what happened before was an accident and that he was scared. Rabbit's big kid cousin Jack Rabbit, who came to watch also, tells Franklin he's brave for admitting this, that there are those who would go down Thrill Hill just to impress their friends and he should know because it's how he broke his arm last summer.
- Futurama: In "The Sting", Leela is wracked with guilt when Fry seems to have died on a mission to collect space honey, as she deliberately ignored the obvious signs of danger so as not to appear cowardly. Near the end, as she's starting to lose touch with reality, she holds on to a photo of Fry and finally admits that she's afraid.
- Mixels: Teslo admits to his acrophobia in the Epic Comedy Adventure episode when he, Flain, Krader, Flurr, Tentro, and Gobba head to Mixel Mountain in search of a Rainbow Cubit and the cure to the Nixelisation that Major Nixel and his Nixel minions inflicted on the other Mixels with their Mega Nixel Mixel Nixer.
- Variant: the titular character of the 1963 Paramount cartoon "Crumley Cogwheel" is a timid secretarial pool grunt whose boss gives him a week to ask for a raise or get fired. That night in bed, Cogwheel tries to psych himself chanting "I want a raise" in different inflections. At work the next day he's built up a ton of confidence and marches to the boss' door, but when he approaches it, he suddenly cowers and retreats.
- The Real Ghostbusters: In "The Bogeyman Is Back" Egon has a brush with death, nearly falling off of the World Trade Center. He outright denies being afraid of the experience (not helped by the others admiring his Nerves of Steel), until his fear proves so powerful that it actually allows the Boogeyman to free himself from his dimension where the Ghostbusters had previously trapped him, at which point Egon has to admit to his colleagues that the experience had terrified him, and he was responsible for their current situation.
- Teen Titans (2003): When the Teen Titans watch a horror movie, Raven refuses to admit that she was afraid. Unfortunately for her, Raven’s refusal to admit her fear causes her to lose her powers as monsters invade the Titans’ Tower, and it's only when she accepts that she’s afraid that Raven is able to fight back.
