For more than three decades, The Karate Kid world has been a fixture in ‘80s pop culture. (Who doesn’t know “wax on, wax off”?) So, the sequel series Cobra Kai isn’t just a continuation of the world but relies heavily on the movie series that came before it. After all, the franchise’s central characters, Daniel and Johnny, are two man-children who’ve never heard of letting go of a grudge in their lives — so why would we move on? (Basically, Daniel beat Johnny in their karate championship showdown in the original The Karate Kid and is now thriving as an adult... and Johnny, despite being a taxpaying adult, has never quite recovered.)
But, with so much history between the characters, sometimes it requires a flowchart to remember who did what, when, and to whom. Thankfully, we’ve got you covered.
Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso
Franchise History: The Karate Kid, The Karate Kid Part II and The Karate Kid Part III. Lead in Cobra Kai.
The Character: Daniel moves to Reseda, California, as a teen, where he quickly befriends his neighbor, karate master Mr. Miyagi. His new mentor helps him defeat the local bully and Cobra Kai dojo’s shining star Johnny Lawrence in the All Valley Under-18 Karate Championship. (Daniel and Johnny’s feud is also personal: Daniel dates Johnny’s ex, Ali.)
Later, Daniel and Miyagi go to Japan, where Daniel falls for Kumiko. Despite being far from home, Daniel manages to make another sworn nemesis in Chozen, who wants to fight to the death. Daniel wins, but, as Miyagi taught him, shows mercy to his opponent.
Back at home, Daniel decides to defend his title at the All Valley. Initially, he trains with Terry Silver, who is actually just manipulating him on behalf of Cobra Kai. But the plan falls apart, and Daniel reunites with Miyagi... and wins the tournament.
Now, Daniel is a grown man — married, father of two, business owner — who, well, still takes karate feuds very personally. When he realizes Johnny has revived Cobra Kai, he does everything he can to put an end to it, before deciding to fight back and train his own students. He starts off training Robby (who, unbeknownst to Daniel, is Johnny’s son), and then Daniel’s daughter, Sam, joins the mix. The group grows, as does his feud with — and, occasionally, grudging respect for — Johnny. But when Cobra Kai mastermind John Kreese returns, and Johnny defects to start his own dojo Eagle Fang, Daniel realizes he may have to work with an unlikely ally if they have any chance at taking down Cobra Kai.
The Performer: Outside of playing Daniel, Macchio has had a thriving career for more than three decades, appearing in films like The Outsiders and My Cousin Vinny, as well as television shows like Ugly Betty, Dancing with the Stars and The Deuce.
Follow Macchio on Instagram and Twitter.
William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence
Franchise History: The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid Part II. Lead in Cobra Kai.
The Character: Johnny is a two-time All Valley champ before Daniel shows up to steal his girl and his trophy. After Johnny’s loss, an angry Kreese attacks him. Frustrated, Johnny quits Cobra Kai.
Decades later, Johnny has nothing to show for his life. But when his new neighbor Miguel gets attacked by bullies, Johnny decides to reopen Cobra Kai. He coaches Miguel to a championship, but it’s bittersweet: Miguel beats Johnny’s son, Robby... and the way he goes about it is kind of sketchy.
Johnny reunites with his former teacher, Kreese, who convinces him it’s a good idea to re-up their partnership at Cobra Kai. The two can’t mesh their different approaches to karate, and Johnny leaves to start his own dojo, Eagle Fang.
Despite blaming him for, well, so many things that have gone wrong in his life, Johnny finds himself having to work with Daniel. Repeatedly. Perhaps joining forces to take down Cobra Kai will be the key to getting Johnny’s life back on track?
The Performer: Outside of playing Johnny, Zabka has appeared in movies like National Lampoon's European Vacation and television shows like How I Met Your Mother.
Follow Zabka on Instagram and Twitter. Martin Kove as John Kreese
Franchise History: The Karate Kid, The Karate Kid Part II and The Karate Kid Part III. Lead in Cobra Kai.
The Character: Kreese starts off as the Cobra Kai dojo’s sensei, using whatever methods necessary to make sure his students beat the competition. After Johnny loses to Daniel at the All Valley competition, Kreese takes his frustration out on his student, which drives Johnny away. Kreese recruits his former army buddy Terry Silver to help bring Cobra Kai back to its former glory, but the plan fails.
Now that Johnny has revived Cobra Kai all these years later, Kreese returns, looking to make his mark on his old dojo once again. At first, he’s content with being Johnny’s assistant, but he takes every opportunity to overstep and teach the kids to be ruthless. After Miguel’s accident, Kreese is successful in turning the Cobra Kai kids against Johnny, and he takes over as sensei. But in order to take on the combined forces of Daniel and Johnny, Kreese has a partner in mind to help him: Silver.
The Performer: Kove has more than five decades of credits under his belt, including films like Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood and television shows like Cagney & Lacey and Dancing with the Stars (yes, you read that right, and you’re welcome).
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Thomas Ian Griffith as Terry Silver
Franchise History: The Karate Kid Part III. In Cobra Kai, a young version of Terry is played by Nick Marini in Season 3, and Griffith reprises his role in Season 4.
The Character: Somehow, Terry may be the most manipulative character in the entire Karate Kid/Cobra Kai franchise. Veterans who served together in Vietnam, Terry and Kreese are old friends. When Kreese loses some of his students, Terry steps in and comes up with a plan to make Cobra Kai the powerhouse it once was.
When a young Daniel sought to defend his title as All Valley champ, Terry offered to train him. However, he was just looking to hurt him, literally and figuratively. Daniel eventually realized he didn’t like who he had become under his new mentor. Terry and Kreese thought they could swindle Daniel at the tournament by having a Cobra Kai student win, but Daniel beat the competition again, dashing their dreams of franchising the dojo.
Now, Terry’s being summoned by Kreese to help once again.
The Performer: In addition to acting in films (Behind Enemy Lines and XXX) and television shows (Another World and One Tree Hill), Griffith is also a writer (including several seasons on Grimm).
Follow Griffith on Instagram and Twitter. Xolo Maridueña as Miguel Diaz
Franchise History: Cobra Kai
The Character: After Johnny defends Miguel from bullies, the teen quickly becomes attached to his neighbor. Miguel becomes one of Cobra Kai’s best students, winning the All Valley Tournament.
But his romantic life arguably causes him more pain than a punch to the gut: Miguel falls for Sam, and the two start dating. But Miguel gets jealous of Sam’s connection with Robby, and the relationship falls apart. Enter Cobra Kai’s new girl Tory, who wants Miguel — who is still pining for Sam, but dates his teammate anyway. After Tory spots Sam and Miguel kissing, she starts a school-wide fight, which leads to Robby and Miguel sparring. Miguel gets almost fatally injured. (Ah, the Cobra Kai Love Quad.)
Though it initially seems like Miguel is paralyzed, he gradually gets better. Eventually, he joins Johnny’s new dojo, Eagle Fang, and teams up with his on-again girlfriend Sam, to unite their two groups and take on Cobra Kai.
The Performer: Maridueña’s work pre-Cobra includes a role on Parenthood, as well as voice work on animated shows Victor and Valentino and Cleopatra in Space.
Follow Maridueña on Instagram and Twitter. Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso
Franchise History: Cobra Kai
The Character: Sam, Daniel’s daughter, initially is skeptical about resuming her childhood karate lessons, but picks it up again after breaking up with Miguel.
She starts a new relationship with Robby, despite still having feelings for Miguel. But things get messy when Miguel’s new girlfriend, Tory, spies Sam and Miguel kissing. Tory gets her revenge later, starting a school-wide karate brawl, and Sam suffers physical and emotional trauma.
In the aftermath, Sam struggles with PTSD, even as Tory is still determined to torture her. But Sam has an idea that could change everything: bringing Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do together in order to finally take down Cobra Kai for good.
The Performer: Mouser has been working for almost two decades, co-starring in films like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and television shows like NCIS, Life is Wild and Body of Proof.
Follow Mouser on Instagram and Twitter. Tanner Buchanan as Robby Keene
Franchise History: Cobra Kai
The Character: Angry that his father has essentially abandoned him, Robby seeks out Johnny’s rival, Daniel, as a mentor. Though he initially just works for Daniel at his car dealership, he eventually becomes his karate student. But things blow up when Daniel learns the truth about Robby’s family. Robby enters the All Valley tournament on his own and loses to Miguel, but it reunites him with Daniel, who decides to train him again.
Robby gets closer to Daniel and his family, including Sam. Sam and Robby start to date, but she drunkenly cheats on him at a party. Not knowing about her kiss with Miguel, but fearing what Daniel will do if he sees her drunk, Robby brings her to Johnny’s apartment. Daniel blames the situation on Robby, and cuts him out of his life again, forcing Robby to reconcile with his father.
When school starts, Robby learns the truth about Sam and Miguel’s kiss. He and Miguel fight during the school karate brawl, and Robby knocks Miguel over a balcony, which paralyzes him. Robby goes on the run, but Daniel finds him and has him turn himself into the cops. After finishing his stint in juvie, Robby goes to Kreese and becomes a member of Cobra Kai.
The Performer: Buchanan’s appeared in films like the Netflix rom-com He's All That and television shows like Designated Survivor.
Follow Buchanan on Instagram and Twitter. Courtney Henggeler as Amanda LaRusso
Franchise History: Cobra Kai
The Character: In many ways, Amanda is the quiet hero of the series. As the co-owner of LaRusso Auto Group, Amanda is essential to keeping the business afloat while Daniel pursues his karate passions. She also serves as the mediator between Daniel and Johnny (repeatedly) — basically acting as the only adult in the room and pointing out their similarities.
Amanda also attempts to take out Kreese (legally) by trying to buy out Cobra Kai’s lease. However, Kreese outmaneuvers her and files a restraining order against Amanda after provoking her into slapping him.
The Performer: Henggeler appeared in films like Nobody's Fool and television shows like The Big Bang Theory and Mom.
Follow Henggeler on Instagram and Twitter. Vanessa Rubio as Carmen Diaz
Franchise History: Cobra Kai
The Character: Carmen, Miguel’s mother, is initially skeptical about her son studying karate but eventually supports his ambitions.
Carmen also starts up a relationship with Johnny, but their worry about Miguel — both his physical health after the school fight and how he might react to his mother dating his mentor — prompts the couple to proceed with caution.
The Performer: Cobra Kai is hardly Rubio’s only Netflix title. The actress has also appeared in Bonding, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Master of None.
Follow Rubio on Instagram and Twitter. Jacob Bertrand as Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz Franchise History: Cobra Kai
The Character: If we had a Most Improved Award to give out, it would go to Hawk. Hawk starts out as the shy, quiet Eli, teased due, in part, to his lip scar. When he joins Cobra Kai, Johnny — in his “tough teacher” moment — dubs him Lip, which bothers Eli. So he takes Johnny's advice to take control of how people see him: He cuts his hair into a mohawk and is now called Hawk.
With the new name comes a new aggression, as he takes everything anti-Cobra Kai as a personal attack. Because of that, he cuts ties with his friend, Demetri, who can’t handle the Cobra Kai way and joins Miyagi-Do. The two fight frequently, and Hawk at one point goes as far as breaking Demetri’s arm.
Hawk eventually sees the errors of his ways, realizing that Kreese really doesn’t have the kids’ best interests at heart. He eventually joins Eagle Fang to help take down Cobra Kai.
The Performer: Bertrand has appeared in movies like Ready Player One and television shows like Marvin Marvin and Bubble Guppies.
