When nervous, embarrassed, or uncertain—or when lying—a character will sometimes rub the back of his neck with one hand, often with a patently false grin or laugh accompanying the gesture. It's so ubiquitous in anime that it might be easier to list examples where someonedoesn't do this.

Related toFace Palm.

Anime andManga

• Tenchi fromTenchi Muyo!
• Ranma inRanma ½.
• Negi inMahou Sensei Negima.
  • As well as most of the Baka Rangers, sometimes together.
• Most Son males fromDragonball Z.
• Occurs occasionally inFullmetal Alchemist (for example, Maes and Gracia Hughes rub their necks when Ed, Al, and Nina remark upon Gracia's advanced state of pregnancy).
• Mai inMy-HiME, after Chie asks her about the "crop circle" she created when she arrived at school.
• Sasami in thePretty Sammy series does this fairly frequently when she thinks people have figured out her identity.
• Kakashi did this many times inNaruto when trying to brush aside the reasons he was late for practice, or during any other display ofObfuscating Stupidity.
  • Naruto does this too, presumably as a homage toDragon Ball (Naruto is full of them).
  • Iruka does it too, especially as a child.
  • Naruto's mother, Kushina also does this. Probably where he got it from
• InMahoraba, it appears Shiratori's hand is glued back there.
• Both Gourry and Xellos ofSlayers do this rather frequently, though with Xellos it's probably for more worrisome reasons.
• WhileTomo does this more (in the anime) than all the rest of the main and supporting cast combined, the following have also done it: Kagura (the distant second), Chiyo (twice), Yomi, Chihiro, Yukari, and Minamo (once each).
• All of theSailor Moon girls have done this, but it's often done by Mako/Lita when talking to a guy she likes or Usagi/Serena after she'smade another silly mistake.
• Manabi does this during the reflection meeting in the last episode.
• Matsuda ofDeath Note does this several times, being the bumblingButt Monkey.
• The Nohara males inCrayon Shin-chan.
• Inspector Takayama does this early on in theDomu: A Child's Dream: A Child's Dream, embarrassedly asking about supernatural phenomena to a shaman who can tell he's skeptical.
• Ichigo fromBleach scratches the nape of his neck whenever he's feeling awkward.

Comic Books

• The Phantom Affair, an arc of theX Wing Series comics drawn by Biukovic, Wedge Antilles does this at at least two points.

Fan Works

• Between this trope andMotor Mouth, Dan ofThawing Permafrost finds himself doing one or the other on occasion.

Film

• James Bond, of all people, does this inGoldenEye, after Valentin Zukovsky calls him a "charming, sophisticated secret agent."

Live-Action TV

• Western example: Sheriff Jack Carter, fromEureka.
• The Third and Tenth Doctors inDoctor Who.

Video Games

• InPhoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the title character sometimes does this in the court scenes if he makes a mistake. He also does it if he's unsure about something; if, for example, he brings up a piece of evidence without knowing exactly what's going on, he'll do this gesture while explaining his (usually shaky) logic.
  • Dick Gumshoe does this pretty often too.
  • Phoenix Wright does this as his victory pose inMarvel vs. Capcom 3.
• Commander Shepard ofMass Effect has a tendency to do this when modestly acknowledging his/her deeds when admired. Other characters occasionally do it as well.
• Spider-Man does this in theMarvel vs. Capcom series and spiritual predecessors.
• Ever 17: Kuranari Takeshi's right hand is rarely (if ever) seen. It seems to be permanently fused with the back of his head.
• Sora ofKingdom Hearts does this a lot—often around Kairi or Naminé but basically whenever he's thinking about anything. Also, when Goofy scolds him for getting a little too aggressive, his apology involves this gesture.
• InThe Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, this was an idle animation that every NPC would eventually play if you waited long enough. (Considering thecontext, this was suprisingly appropriate.)
• Crisis Core: Zack does this frequently enough for it to be an identifying mannerism.Cloud probably picked it up from him. Along with everything else.
• InKid Icarus: Uprising, Pit,Hades, and Viridi are all guilty of this.

Web Comics

• Tarvek makes a frequent habit of this inGirl Genius; Gil does this occasionally as well.
• Used plenty of times inSuppression mostly by Cerene and Kirk.
• Lavender inEl Goonish Shive when a tongue-sliprevealshow she feels about her boss.

Western Animation

• Various characters inAvatar: The Last Airbender.
• Disney heroes, most notably Aladdin and Hercules, tend to do this when confronted with attractive and aggressive women. The Beast does it when he's ashamed of himself or frustrated
• Kappa Mikey, naturally, in a parody of anime. Guano, Lily and Mitsuki do this on occasion, but the real offender is Gonard!
• Jérémie fromCode Lyoko pulled this on a couple of occasions.
• Hank Hill fromKing of the Hill does this all the time. It usually happens when Hank has to try to express emotions, which is very difficult for him.
  • It got so common that there was eventually an executive order for him not to do it anymore.

• Trope
• Body Language
• Hand Tropes
• Hand Behind Head