(from Italian scappare, “to flee”), stock character of the Italian commedia dell'arte; one of the comic servants, or zanni, who was especially noted for his cowardice, taking flight at the first sign of a conflict. Usually cast as an unreliable valet and general handyman, Scapin, wearing a bearded mask with a large hooked nose, was costumed in a loose-fitting green-and-white-striped tunic, pantaloons, and a rakish hat with two long feathers; he carried a wooden sword. Molière's Les Fourberies de Scapin (1671; The Cheats of Scapin, 1677) made this character a part of French comedy.