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 (Hopper enslaves the ants because he "knows" that they are weaker than him; Pennywise/IT usually goes after kids because they don't know any better than adults).

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 (Gaston LeGume, Scar and Judge Claude Frollo are excellent examples of this). 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 (Agnus and Sanctus are good examples for 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, Napoleon from Animal Farm is a coward, but is nonetheless a serious threat to the other animals, since he is constantly making plans and revising the Seven Commandments).

Not to mention, it can also make them seem even more heinous, considering they might just escape saving themselves and betraying others (e.g. Peter Pettigrew was made James and Lily Potter's secret-keeper, but he revealed their location to Lord Voldemort, resulting in their deaths).

Just because a villain is scared once doesn't make them a coward. For example, Dr. Facilier was seen frantically begging for his life as he was being dragged to his friends' world. However, as this is a reasonable reaction to being literally dragged to Hell, he does not qualify.

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

• When a villain is afraid of something or even many things, but has the ability to overcome it and resume potentially harmful activities over and over again.
• When they do their best not to show that they are afraid of something, masking it with overconfidence, emotionlessness, rage e.t.c..
• Sometimes, people mistake a person who has recurring anxiety attacks and/or phobias for cowards, nevertheless this is very unlikely and should be counted as mental illness.