Characters / The Karate Kid: Tory Nichols

The Karate Kid Main Character Index
Daniel LaRusso | Johnny Lawrence | John Kreese | Terry Silver | Miguel Diaz | Robby Keene | Samantha LaRusso | Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz | Tory Nichols | Demetri Alexopoulos | Kyler Park
Dojos and Others
Miyagi-Do and Associates | Cobra Kai and Associates | Eagle Fang and Associates | The LaRusso Family | Other Characters

Tory Nichols

"I don't give a shit. 'Cause all that matters is who wins in the end."

Played By: Peyton List

Appearances: Cobra Kai

"I wanted to win the All Valley more than anything. When they handed me that trophy... that was the best moment of my life. But then I saw Silver and that ref, and it just killed me. I felt like a fraud. I wanted to get back at Silver so bad. That's why I listened to Kreese, but then I got caught up in more lies. And now my life is a living hell..."

A troubled but confident girl who joins the Cobra Kai dojo in Season 2, Tory quickly becomes Aisha's friend, Miguel's (and later Robby's) second love interest, and Sam's arch-nemesis.

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A-F

• Action Girl: Like Aisha before her, Tory makes a good first impression on Johnny with how tough she already is.
• Arch-Enemy:
  • To Sam. Tory absolutely hates Sam for not only stealing Miguel away from her, but also having the privileged lifestyle that Tory never had in her lifetime. Whereas Sam on the other hand looks down upon Tory due to her vicious attitude, and actually fears her (for a time being) given Tory started the school fight and put Sam in the hospital (by lacerating her flesh). The rivalry starts to cool down one-sidedly when Tory receives assistance from Amanda in Season 4, then finally gets put to rest in Season 5 when Sam finally views Tory's terrible home life and hears of how abusively the Cobra Kai senseis have been treating her.
  • By Season 5, Sensei Kim Da-Eun has eclipsed Sam as Tory's most hated enemy. Kim quickly forms a dislike for Tory upon arrival, skeptical of her commitment and ability to represent Cobra Kai well despite her formidable skills as a fighter. She puts Tory through escalating Training from Hell that even surpasses Kreese's own methods, while having none of his affection. Doubting Tory for being American, Kim begins grooming the also Asian Devon as the dojo's new star pupil, while her favoritism derails Tory's attempts to coax Devon out of Cobra Kai. Kim's cruel tutelage heavily incorporates Corporal Punishment, often beating Tory with a stick for not hitting harder and being too "soft". This reaches a head after Tory bails on the Sekai Taikai tryouts, to which Kim responds by making her hit a stone dummy until she shatters it and her hand, simultaneously mocking Tory's love for and break-up with Robby before leaving her alone on the mat in tears of pain. Hurting her in ways Sam couldn't and wouldn't, Kim and Tory's enmity shows Tory just how trivial her grudge against Sam is while also instilling real fear in her.
• Ascended Extra: She was already a prominent character since her introduction in Season 2, but Season 4 is where she gets promoted to the main cast.
• Ax-Crazy: Her response to Sam kissing her boyfriend is to attack her at school and hit her with a spiked bracelet wrapped around her fist. Miguel flat out tells her in Season 3 that she needs some help with her mental health, and given Tory's response, he's not the first one.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: She begins to back off of Sam because Amanda shows her compassion, being the first adult to not manipulate, abuse, punish or try to sexually extort her.
• Being Good Sucks: Good lord, she rides this straight into The Woobie territory in Season 5. She becomes resolved to take down Silver and Cobra Kai for bribing the ref and ruining her tournament victory. To do this, she becomes The Mole at Kreese's request to try and sabotage Cobra Kai from underneath. However, it's quite clear that the girl is absolutely terrified of Silver, and then Sensei Kim, and quickly gets in over her head. On top of that, she loses her relationship with Robby because of her affiliation with Cobra Kai and she can't salvage it without blowing her cover. She agonizes over seeing Devon slowly corrupted by the dojo, Kreese seemingly abandons her when it becomes clear he cannot get out of prison legally (it was a misguided attempt to help her), she deserts a competition against Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang to join Sekai Taikai upon realizing Silver bribed the ref again, and then both Silver and Sensei Kim push her to her literal breaking point by forcing her to shatter a stone dummy with her fists, leaving her right hand an absolute mess by the end of it. It's only Sam finally forgiving her for all her past transgressions that allows her to break out of this and accomplish her goal, but she goes through absolute hell to get there.
• Big Sister Instinct:
  • She’s very protective of her little brother Brandon, and does her best to care for him when their mother is bedridden. This is the catalyst for her Character Development in season 4, as after learning Brandon will end up in the custody of their Evil Aunt if their mother dies, Tory begins shaping up so she'll be eligible to raise him.
  • She develops this for Devon when the latter joins Cobra Kai in season 5, defending her from Sensei Kim and trying to get her to outright quit before she gets corrupted.
• Blinded by Rage: Seems to be a recurring thing with her — Tory can actually be clairvoyant about resolving her situations in a nonviolent way, but when feeling angry or vengeful, she has a bad case of tunnel vision on whoever she perceives as the offending party, whether it's Sam for "stealing" Miguel or an inconsiderate customer haranguing her about their waiting order. Her biggest transgressions (both a result of her jealousy of Sam and Miguel's relationship) are when she started the school brawl that got her expelled and put on probation and when she led an assault on the LaRussos' house that would have undoubtedly had her arrested if Daniel reported it.
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Tory quickly lost all respect for Silver after she discovered that her win was bought and paid for before the All-Valley begun. To Silver's defense, he paid off the ref as an "insurance policy" to ensure Cobra Kai's win. Ultimately, this was what compelled her to expose his fraudulent actions for all of the other Cobra Kai students to see, leading to the mass exodus of students in the aftermath of Silver's defeat by Daniel.
  • After spending most of season 5 working behind the scenes with Kreese to take down Silver, it becomes clear that Kreese only viewed Tory's concern as secondary to his own interests. Him voicing his apathy over the No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Silver gave to Daniel and then deciding to call quits on his revenge plot is the final straw that broke the camel's back. Tory viewed Kreese as a father figure and had since remained his loyal student from seasons 3 to 4, only for Kreese to take their bond as master and student for granted.
• Brutal Honesty: She doesn't mince her words when she points out that the music video Miguel made of himself and Sam makes him look desperate.
  Tory: I think... you should delete that. Put it in the trash, empty the bin and have your laptop cremated.
• By the Hair: During her first fight with Sam, she drags her down the stairs this way.
• Byronic Heroine: A teenage delinquent whose troubled home life and anger issues stir up a lot of drama. This becomes more pronounced by Season 5.
• Call-Back: She introduces herself as "Tory with a Y", calling back to how Ali introduced herself to Daniel.
• Can't Get Away with Nuthin': All the more sympathetic when this hits her in Season 5 because this stems from her trying to do good in a dojo run by a psychopath. With Sensei Kim watching her every move, Tory pays heavily whenever she strays from Cobra Kai's creed in order to do something right.
• The Caretaker: In Season 3, Tory becomes the primary caretaker of her dialysis-stricken mother and quits Cobra Kai at first to work two jobs. This is the main reason why she's given probation instead of being sent to juvie.
• Character Development: In Season 4, Tory starts to rein back her rage and hatred thanks to Amanda, the only adult aside from Kreese that she trusts and who actually helps her with her problems. This causes Tory to become more stable and far more honorable, ultimately culminating in feeling regret from injuring Sam at the tournament and wanting to settle her fight in a fair way. She's even distraught after learning that Silver bribed the referee.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She develops feelings for Miguel early on and doesn't react well to his lingering attachment to Sam. However, she acts mostly maturely towards it until she and Sam meet and... well, don't get along at all. On the other hand, it's also implied that Tory's perception of Sam as a spoiled and entitled brat (in contrast to her own Dark and Troubled Past) play a part in her loathing of Sam (if a smaller part than the Miguel issue).
• Co-Dragons: She shares the role of Kreese's top enforcer with Hawk for most of Season 3 until Robby joins Cobra Kai and becomes Kreese's clear favorite.
• Contralto of Strength: Tory has the deepest voice of the recurring female characters by a pretty wide margin and is also by far the most lethal.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: She is a skilled fighter able to dispatch all of her opponents with ease. The only one she isn't able to do this to is Sam.
• Dark Action Girl: She's unscrupulous in combat, willing to use Improvised Weapons and brutal tactics in a fight. Tory ends up embodying the philosophy of Cobra-Kai.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Tory's mother had to rely on leftovers from the restaurant she worked at in order to feed her and her brother – and her mother was fired for that, despite that the leftovers would have ended up in the garbage anyway. Season 3 reveals it actually is worse. Her mother is now on dialysis and her brother's young age forces her to be the sole breadwinner of the family.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Troubled Teen. She starts off very aggressive, competitive and violent which comes from a troubled home life. She has shown some distastfulness for the rich and privileged since she had to grow up poor. But when people do see the situation she's in and actually help her, it softens her personality a lot. These needed domestic changes gave Tory a wake-up call and allowed her to let go of her aggression, making her realize that the people she's surrounded with (ie. Cobra Kai) aren't making her a better person and are rather very toxic and abusive. But she’s in too deep with the wrong crowd, who refuses to let her leave. By halfway through Season 5, her allegiance to Cobra Kai (especially with Silver and Kim) is broken and she tries to take them down with the help of Johnny and Daniel's students.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Highlighted during the girl's finals during the All-Valley tournament. After a season in which Amanda does everything in her power to help Tory with her home issues and get her back into school, Tory begins to feel remorseful after accidentally elbowing Sam in the eye. She has a moment of shock when Silver tells her to do it again at risk of disqualification, only for Kreese to back her side. Finally, when she lands the winning kick, the first thing she does is to see if Sam is okay before being mobbed by her teammates.
• Disappeared Dad: She's raised by a single mother, with no mention of her father. Season 4 confirms that he abandoned Tory and her family.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Tory has a tendency to harbor petty grudges over minor or perceived slights. Sam wrongly accusing her of stealing Amanda's wallet is enough for Tory to justify starting a rivalry with her. When she sees Sam share a drunk kiss with Miguel at Moon's party, her response is to premeditate an assault on Sam at school. What was initially meant to be a Designated Girl Fight between Sam and Tory only, quickly escalates into an all-out school brawl between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do which ultimately ends with Miguel in the hospital.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: This is her default response to any perceived charity or kindness from those she dislikes, seeing it as pity and condescension, which causes her to initially reject any help Amanda tried to offer. She grows out of this in time and becomes more willing to accept help, improving things for her considerably.
• The Dreaded: To Sam for most of Season 3. She has recurring nightmares and flashbacks to their encounter, and when Tory shows up at the laser tag fight and calls Sam out, she freezes in fear and suffers a traumatic breakdown. Sam gets over this fear in the finale when she and Tory face off one-on-one.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Okay, she still has to deal with the very real threat of her mother's terminal illness, but after finally putting aside her grudges and breaking away from the dojo rivalry, and focusing on those she does care about, things finally go well for her after hitting an admittedly difficult bump in the road. She's back in school and can hopefully make a better future for herself and Brandon, she and Robby get back together, she has the support and guidance of Amanda, she finally buries the hatchet with Sam, and even manages to mend fences with Devon.
• Entitled to Have You: Tory clings to the relationships she develops and reacts violently if she feels they're threatened without concern for the other individual. While she has some bitterness about being Miguel's rebound girl, she's extremely jealous of his lingering feelings for Sam and uses every opportunity to asset her dominance over the latter, to the point that upon seeing Miguel cheat on her with Sam, she starts a school fight and lacerates Sam's flesh. Miguel isn't comfortable with her entitlement and breaks up with her. Even after they split, the moment Kreese tells her that Sam and Miguel worked to save the All-Valley Tournament, her response is to take a gang of students and break into the LaRusso house and fight the Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang students just to get a shot at destroying Sam again.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: She loves her mother and her brother. This allows her to get exploited by various sorts of disreputable people: including her Aunt Kandace, her sleazy landlord, and Kreese.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Despite unrepentantly chipping Sarah's tooth just prior, she appears disturbed by how far Hawk goes in beating up Brucks.
  • In general, when not in her Berserker mode, Tory seems to have a more lucid side in which she's actually disturbed by extreme violence. Unfortunately, Kreese favors her more violent side and knows how to bring it out through manipulation.
  • In the All-Valley Tournament, her Character Development throughout the season leads her to become a Fair-Play Villain. She only hits Sam's eye with her elbow by mistake, and is hesitant when Silver tells her to intentionally do it to the other eye due to the risk of disqualification. Even Kreese ends up convinced to take her side and says she should do what she wants. She’s also disgusted to learn her victory over Sam in the tournament was bought by Silver, who bribed the referee.
  • During the All-Valley Tournament, she's just as disturbed as everybody else when Robby brutally beats Kenny down during their match (including Robby himself).
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • By Season 5, Terry Silver's actions in general disgust her. She's already lost any respect for the man after confronting him about his cheating during the All-Valley and he just admits it, only staying in his Cobra Kai dojo to serve as Kreese's agent inside. However, she's horrified at realizing her actions on Kreese's behalf indirectly set off Silver's No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Daniel and even more so at Kreese's indifference. After learning from Sam that Silver personally beat Stingray to within an inch of his life, Tory decides to put aside their grudge to help Sam and the others bring Silver down for good.
  • She's unimpressed when Mitch reveals part of the reason he betrayed Miyagi-Fang was because of all the free stuff Cobra Kai provides like food and merchandise, clearly feeling that this is a poor reason for someone to align with a psychopath like Silver.
• Evil Counterpart: More edgy than evil, but she's still Sam's counterpart among the Cobra Kai – and has no compunctions of attacking Sam on school grounds or using spiked knuckles against her. Before she's beaten Tory replicates a twisted variation of Miyagi's "No Mercy" scene from the second movie. Except unlike Miyagi, she isn't bluffing.
• Evil Feels Good: She convinces Robby to stay in Cobra Kai by saying that channeling her anger and hatred into beating people up feels good in addition to making her stronger. However, she comes to realize that…
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Her principal character arc in Season 5 is learning this lesson in a horribly painful manner. With her father figure/previous sensei Kreese behind bars and her love interest Robby leaving Cobra Kai in disgust at what he's become to Kenny during the tournament, Tory is left only with the dojo's ethos stripped down to its basest elements. Her loyalty to Kreese leads her agreeing to function as his mole in Silver's dojo under the impression they'll set things back in order once they regain control, only to learn too late that she's fallen for his manipulations once he bails out on their plans and unknowingly discards her. Once Sensei Kim Da-Eun enters the picture, it gets aggravated further as she's put through physical, verbal, and psychological torture similar (and far worse) to what she herself inflicted on Sam. Additionally, Kim's forceful character and eagerness to turn Devon into Cobra Kai's next star pupil derails Tory's efforts to get her away from the dojo. In spite of Silver's defeat and reconciling with her friends and enemies by the season's end, Tory still is a bit strung out by the trauma left behind.
• Evil Sounds Deep: To emphasize how she's Sam's Darker and Edgier counterpart, compare her husky voice to Sam higher pitch voice.
• Fair-Play Villain: In Season 4 during the All-Valley against Sam in the finals, she makes good on Amanda's request to fight fair and honourably. It's somewhat subtle, but after accidentally hitting Sam in her right eye, Tory starts the round by circling to Sam's left side, and in their back-and-forth, most of her attacks come from her right side (Sam's left), as if to make sure Sam could see everything and have a fair chance to react.
• False Innocence Trick: She gets Sam kicked out of the roller disco by feigning innocence after Sam leg-sweeps her. Note that Tory had instigated it, as she had knocked Sam down first just because Miguel approached her.
• Fatal Flaw: Resentment, which you'll find here nestled neatly halfway between Wrath and Envy.
  • She's had it rough – her mom is now bedridden, her dad's not in the picture at all, she has to also care for her much younger brother, and works two jobs outside of school. Then she meets Sam who seemingly doesn't have a care in the world, proudly claims she's a thief to her and then gets furious when Sam (incorrectly) accuses her of stealing her mother's purse. She quickly develops a crush on Miguel, then finds out Sam is Miguel's ex-girlfriend.
  • Their next interaction is at 80's night where Tory's working hard whilst Sam's out on a date, which makes Tory angry, and she also is insecure enough about Miguel still having feelings for Sam that she plants a kiss on him to mark her territory, and later trips Sam for talking to Miguel (even though Miguel approached her).
  • She taunts Sam into a dangerous drinking game at Moon's party and loses to her (which makes her even angrier). Then when she witnesses Miguel cheat on her with Sam, rather than do the rational thing and either break up with Miguel or confront him, her response is to storm into the school's announcer's office, assault the teacher present, and then call out Sam for a fight and actively try to maim her. Tory loses that challenge to Sam as well, before witnessing how the brawl she started hurt Miguel.
  • Season 3 sees her trying to stitch her life back together after being expelled from school and put on probation, but the only lesson she takes from this is that the judicial system is rigged by the rich people to punish the poor, as everyone other than Robby and her get away scot-free from the school brawl. Miguel takes issue with her over that fact (understandable, as he got severely injured while Sam merely knocked Tory down a flight of stairs) but Tory can't believe anyone from Cobra Kai would go against her. Miguel's point was that whilst she was on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge in his name, she never supported his recovery. Therefore, everything bad that happens to her is Sam's fault and nothing to do with her own actions, so she needs to go after Sam again to redress the balance. The fact that Sam has always beaten her in the end doesn't help either.
  • Season 4 finally puts a stop to this in the form of her rival's mother. Amanda LaRusso finds out how hard Tory has had it and decides to help her out, admitting she had her own struggles as a teen, which puts Tory on the path to healing. Taken further in Season 5, where Tory is put in a difficult position due to being unable to leave Cobra Kai and trying to bring down Silver. She's ultimately willing to confront Sam of all people regarding her plan and the two, along with the other Miyagi-Fang students, work together to expose Silver.
• Five-Finger Discount: At the beach club, Tory steals a bottle of vodka and states she could (she doesn't) boost all the silverware. She and Sam run into one of their first disagreements over this when Sam chides her for stealing, and this incident also causes Sam to believe Tory stole her mother's wallet.
• Foil:
  • The main reason Sam and Tory become such instant bitter rivals is because of how fundamentally different they are as people. Tory is a Hard-Drinking Party Girl who sees nothing wrong with stealing alcohol from the beach club, while Sam is polite and more rule-abiding, leading Tory to derisively refer to her as a "nun" or "princess". Tory is aggressive and spiteful with a hidden caring side, while Sam is kind and empathetic with a temperamental streak. Tory comes from a working-class background and struggles to keep her family together as their sole breadwinner, while Sam comes from a wealthy and more stable family. Tory embraces Cobra Kai's Attack! Attack! Attack! fighting style, while Sam follows in her father and Mr. Miyagi's footsteps in stating that karate should focus on defense.
  • To Hawk in Season 3. Both of them remain with Cobra Kai after Kreese steals the dojo from Johnny. But while Hawk begins to question the man's decisions and ultimately makes a Heel–Face Turn, Tory goes along with all of Kreese's changes and decisions, including the recruitment of bullies as members, and stays completely loyal to him. Hawk, Miguel's best friend, continues to prove his loyalty to him by visiting him in the hospital and ultimately quitting Cobra Kai partly because of Kreese allowing Robby, who injured him in the first place, to join, while Tory, Miguel's girlfriend, proves she cares more about the dojo than him by failing to visit him, dumping him when he calls her out on it, and welcoming Robby immediately, even convincing him to stay when Robby initially had no intention of joining.
  • To Mike Barnes in Season 3. She's the main Cobra Kai villain in the third installment who manages to be even more corrupted than their precursors (Johnny or Hawk/Miguel) who are completely void of redeeming qualities. They are also mercilessly violent fighters who will do anything to win. The only difference is that while Barnes had sadistic tendencies, he was more motivated to participate in Silver's scheme out of greed since Silver promised him a 50% share in his new chain of Cobra Kai dojos in exchange for loyalty, while Tory is joining at the risk of her financial future and her freedom.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: While it's true she has a Dark and Troubled Past, most of her darker actions (stealing a bottle of liquor from a club, attempting to maim Sam) have nothing to do with it and fall squarely under Disproportionate Retribution. Even Miguel knows that her assault on Sam is going too far and he (unsuccessfully) tries to stop her. He later calls her out on this in Season 3 and the finale proves Tory is willing to forsake the well-being of her family just so she can satisfy her personal grudge against Sam.
  • It winds up being deconstructed in Season 4, making it clear that while her past doesn't excuse her actions, just dismissing her problems outright only leads to more harm than good and Tory does have legitimate reasons for her anger and having fallen in with Cobra Kai. Amanda taking notice of Tory's issues and providing actual advice and resources to solve them in a constructive manner, as well as showing her genuine concern and kindness which no adult except Kreese ever had, allows her to finally heal and become a better person. Sam is also taken aback when seeing what her circumstances are really like and becomes more understanding.

G-N

• Glass Cannon: As strong as she is, she's the Distaff Counterpart to Hawk in terms of offense/defense capacities. Her street-fighter style is clearly based on brief or short-term events. Up against an opponent that specializes in endurance and defense (as Sam does), she loses her cool quickly. This changes in Season 4, as she embraces the Miyagi-Do techniques Robby brings to Cobra Kai, making her a much more balanced fighter. Perhaps coincidentally (or not), this coincides with her receiving guidance from Amanda, who encourages her to get professional help, which starts making Tory a more balanced person in general.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Ah, envy. Tory falls for Miguel and is very upset when she finds out that he still has feelings for Sam. Also her Fatal Flaw, judging by her interpretation of Sam's background, which fuels her Irrational Hatred for the latter.
• Hard-Drinking Party Girl: Tory is no stranger to partying and hard liquor. She tries to use this against Sam during Moon's party to humiliate her. However, Sam wins while Tory loses her balance from getting distracted by Stingray.
• Has a Type: She has a thing for Sam's rejects. In Season 2, she likes Miguel but doesn't put the moves on him until she finds out that Sam is his ex-girlfriend. In Season 3, she starts to take an interest in Robby after he finds out that Sam has dumped him for Miguel. Sam insultingly lampshades this in Season 4.
• Hates Rich People: Owing to her impoverished background, Tory has a strong dislike for the affluent for not having had to go through the hardships she did. Sam being an Uptown Girl from a rich family influences her initial dislike before their romantic rivalry for Miguel exacerbates matters. Her disillusionment with Cobra Kai later starts when Kreese brings in the uber-rich Terry Silver into the fold, which is compounded further upon learning he bribed the ref at the All-Valley Tournament. Likewise, her initial refusal to accept Amanda's help, beyond the dented pride she feels being helped by her rival's mother, is rooted in an unwillingness to accept aid from someone wealthy. The only rich person she gets along with from the get-go is Aisha, when the latter was still a part of Cobra Kai.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: For most of Season 5, she acts as The Mole for Kreese as he looks to get revenge on Silver. Though Tory clearly thinks she's made a Heel–Face Turn by doing this, she eventually realizes that aligning with Kreese isn't actually a more moral choice and she's really just a lackey to the other side of the same coin. She then makes a real Heel–Face Turn by joining the Miyagi-Fangs and helping them take down Silver instead.
• The Heavy:
  • Tory takes over as Kreese's main enforcer for Season 3 given Hawk's growing disillusionment with him and Cobra Kai, notably leading the assault on the LaRusso household.
  • Downplayed in Season 4. While Robby clearly takes over as the dojo’s champion, her rivalry with Sam still receives plenty of focus as she becomes Cobra Kai’s representative for the All-Valley’s female division and wins them the overall tournament.
• Height Insult: She stands higher than Sam and has no problem calling her a "tiny little bitch" before the two throw down at Stingray's house party.
• Hypocrite:
  • She talks about how life isn’t fair and life is hard, while constantly doing things to make her own life more difficult like starting a school fight, getting into a fight at the arcade, breaking into a zoo and stealing a snake, and leading a gang assault on Sam's house.
  • She views Sam as an entitled brat who does whatever she wants because she's rich and privileged, all while Tory herself does whatever she wants because she feels the world owes her for everything she's gone through and refuses to accept that she's done anything wrong when called out on it.
  • She talks about how it’s not fair Sam didn’t have to face major repercussions after the school fight, ignoring the fact that Tory got expelled because she started the whole fight by calling out Sam on the intercom and then assaulting her, and Sam was just acting in self-defense.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Tory is notably the first major "next generation" character of The Karate Kid franchise to not appear in the Distant Sequel's first season, only appearing partway through Cobra Kai's second season. Nevertheless, she quickly established herself as a core part of the show, becoming Sam LaRusso's Arch-Enemy and a sort of Morality Pet to John Kreese.
• Ignored Epiphany: After getting put on probation, Tory is resigned to the fact she should just put Cobra Kai behind her and the mentality she developed while there was toxic towards her future. She even seems to have a solid plan to ensure a better future for her family, but since Kreese needs her as a soldier, he manipulates her back to Cobra Kai.
• Insane Equals Violent: She's not really insane so to say, Tory does seem to meet most of the criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder and her aggressiveness and obsessive behavior has led to a few characters to believe that she is rather unhinged, which she takes real personally. Her violence, however, comes more from her unforgiving situation and that no one is looking out for her aside from Kreese, who encourages her volatile tendencies. Notably, when Amanda LaRusso gets involved in Tory's life, her positive influence, coupled with setting Tory up with a good therapist, soon helps the latter improve her psychological and emotional health.
• Irony: For all of her contemptuous perception of Sam as a spoiled rich girl who gets whatever she wants with her parents' money, Tory later learns that her own victory over Sam at the All-Valley Tournament was actually bought by Terry Silver bribing the referee into giving her an unfair advantage.
• It's All About Me: In Season 3, Tory constantly complains about how she's one of the brawl's victims despite getting off easy for starting the entire mess and putting Sam in the hospital. She rejoins Cobra Kai to get revenge even though participating in the group's actions could violate her parole and put her mother's and brother's lives at risk. She claims that she's doing it all on Miguel's behalf, even though he knows she's just using him as an excuse to indulge in her personal vendetta against Sam.^note This isn't exclusive to Tory, either; it's pretty clear from other scenes that the other Cobras are also using Miguel's injuries as an excuse to justify their unfinished business with their rivals in Miyagi-Do Furthermore, unlike Hawk and Sam, she doesn't even visit Miguel when he was hospitalized or acknowledge she was partly responsible for putting him there.
• It's Personal: Seeing her boyfriend cheat on her with Sam during a party leads Tory to decide to get back at Miguel by publicly assaulting Sam at school, with the intent on making Miguel watch.
• Jerkass Has a Point: When she runs into Robby during his first appointment for a probation officer, she scoffs at Robby getting defensive of Sam, pointing out that Sam isn't as loyal to him as he believes she is, given that she knows he was in a relationship with Sam when she cheated on him with Miguel, which Tory witnessed (of course, Robby's own actions haven't helped either).
  • Quite a few of Tory's criticisms of Sam, namely that Sam often doesn't know how to leave things alone and that Sam has no idea what Tory's life has been like so is in no position to judge or dismiss her struggles, are also pretty accurate.
• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: While she has a sympathetic background and shows compassion towards Aisha, Miguel, and Robby, Tory is at heart a bitter, spiteful person who shows little concern for those she does not like and is willing to inflict unhealthy doses of Disproportionate Retribution towards anyone who she feels has wronged her. She starts to dial back to Jerk with a Heart of Gold in Season 4 after going to Amanda to help her get back into school, an act in itself was a result of being threatened by her aunt about potentially losing guardianship of her little brother.
• Karma Houdini: Is seen training under Kreese at the end of Season 2 despite breaking into the school office, publicly threatening Sam over the intercom, and attacking her in the hall with weapons, and sparking off a massive brawl. Making it more egregious is that Robby was arrested for his actions even though he had no intention of injuring Miguel. Subverted the following season, as it turns out she only avoided jail time due to being the sole caretaker of her seriously ill mother, and is still on probation and expelled from school.
  • Happens again at the end of Season 3 when, after Tory leads a gang attack on Sam's house that leads to several Miyagi-Do / Eagle Fang students being injured and destruction of property and her second attempt at killing Sam, she sees no consequence of her actions. This is likely due to Sam requesting (at the beginning of Season 4) that no action be taken for fear of making things worse for everyone.
• Katanas Are Just Better: She uses a katana in the weapons demo at the All-Valley.
• Kick the Morality Pet: A literal example during the school brawl. She kicks Miguel away when he tries to break up her fight with Sam, though she does show some regret for having done so. In Season 3, she doesn't visit Miguel in the hospital after his spinal surgery, dumps him without hesitation when he calls her out on causing the brawl that resulted in his life-threatening injuries, and leads a gang assault on the LaRusso home after Kreese "lets slip" to her that Miguel is dating Sam again, in which she allows Kyler to viciously attack Miguel even after he gives her the chance to walk away.
• Know When to Fold Them: At the end of Season 3 Tory is fully intent on continuing her fight with Sam even after Sam has her cornered with a bo staff. But once Miguel, Hawk, and Demetri arrive to give Sam backup, Tory, realizing the other Cobra Kai members are incapacitated and she can't take on all four of them by herself, begrudgingly backs down and leaves the LaRusso household, albeit making it clear she's not done with them.
• Lady Macbeth: As a result of fully embracing Kreese's philosophy, Tory gains a streak of encouraging the worst in people throughout Season 3. The best instance of this is her convincing Robby to remain with Cobra Kai. Also an earlier example is when she goads a hesitant Hawk into breaking Demetri's arm. Tory almost seems proud to be this.
  Robby: Resorting to peer pressure?
  Tory: Yeah, it's kinda my thing.
• Laser-Guided Karma: She goaded a hesitant Hawk into breaking Demetri's arm in Season 3, leaving Demetri crying in pain. In Season 5, Sensei Kim forces Tory to break her hand as punishment and leaves Tory on the mat in tears of pain. Although by that point, she had realized the kind of person Cobra Kai was turning her into and was trying to be a better person.
• Like Parent, Like Child: According to her aunt Kandace, Tory gets her temper from her Disappeared Dad.
• Love Makes You Crazy: She starts the school brawl because she saw Sam kiss her then-boyfriend Miguel and places the blame solely on her rather than on her cheating boyfriend. She again later starts another fight, at Sam's house, upon learning Sam is back together with Miguel.
• Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: During their time together, Tory is the Masculine Girl compared to Miguel's Feminine Boy. While both are very skilled in combat (with Miguel being the better fighter), Tory is far more aggressive, fully embracing the "No Mercy" mindset that makes her one of Cobra Kai's most vicious students, whereas Miguel becomes an Internal Reformist, being far more civil and showing mercy to his opponents. Their personal backgrounds prior to joining Cobra Kai also expands on this, with Tory having previous experience as a violent kickboxer (as shown through her spiked bracelet and her first impression on the Cobra Kai dojo), whereas Miguel was an asthmatic, bullied kid with little to no fighting experience.
• Master of the Mixed Message: In a non-romantic sense with Devon in Season 5. Tory knows that Devon is a decent person and thus doesn't want her to have anything to do with Cobra Kai, but because of her status as The Mole within the dojo, she can't outright speak to this fact very often without blowing her cover, especially since she's being watched like a hawk during the whole process. So Tory often flips between seeming cold, distant and vitriolic, but also caring and a Cool Big Sis. This dynamic understandably confuses and frustrates Devon to no end and she becomes absolutely infuriated when Tory finally reveals her cards in the finale.
• Medal of Dishonor: She views her All-Valley trophy as this upon witnessing Silver bribing the ref and him accepting it when she confronts him about it, realizing she likely didn't earn her victory over Sam on her own merits despite his attempts to convince her otherwise.
• The Mentally Disturbed: Played with. In her first two seasons, Tory is mainly treated as an Ax-Crazy Green-Eyed Monster villain with very little weight given to how her mental state is keeping her from living a healthy life and is taken advantage of by those around her. In the fourth season however, Amanda is the first one to look at how Tory’s mental illness is something that needs to be seriously addressed rather than exploited or dismissed, and as a result, Tory finally starts getting real help.
• Minor Injury Overreaction: A variation. While Tory did have the right to physically rebuke Rodney when he tries to stroke her, rather than simply brush him off and back away, she (practically on instinct) puts him in a submission hold. This doesn't help Tory's case as it gives him potential legal leverage over her that she's only able to get out of with Kreese's help.
• Mirror Character:
  • Robby and Tory have very similar backgrounds, coming from broken homes, dealing with absentee fathers, and being raised by single mothers who are either (in Robby's case) too inattentive or (in Tory's) too sick to look after them, forcing them to fend for themselves. Both are juvenile criminals, and even have a chance meeting at the Probation Office after the school brawl. Both were victims of Sam and Miguel's cheating, are the bitter rivals of their partner's ex, and are the most responsible for the devastating consequences of the school brawl. Both have problems in their lives after the school fight that are solved thanks to Kreese's intervention, with him filling the absent father figure role in their lives as a result. Thanks to Tory's influence, Robby decides to copy her Never My Fault attitude towards his predicament, and the two end Season 3 as allies in Cobra Kai. Both teens began to change for the better when someone learned about their circumstances and gave them the help they desperately needed, and both would leave Cobra Kai for good once they are forced to reflect on how their goals for revenge have caused harm to either themselves or others.
  • Kenny and Tory are also not so different, given that they are both vicious fighters who are top Cobra Kai students (particularly in Silver's Cobra Kai) and also act as a Morality Pet to a Cobra Kai founder (Tory to Kreese, Kenny to Silver). Not to mention, both are the Arch-Enemy of a LaRusso sibling (Tory to Sam, Kenny to Anthony), given the latter's shitty treatment of them (Sam's disdain for Tory's criminality and stealing Miguel away from her; Anthony's bullying of Kenny).
• Morality Pet:
  • She does genuinely love her mom and younger brother, and works several jobs to ensure they can stick together as a family. It's ensuring she and her brother can continue to live safely together after their mother passes away that eventually kickstarts her Heel–Face Turn.
  • Amazingly, she becomes this to Kreese of all people due to him having grown up in similar circumstances. He sympathises with Tory having to cope with her mother's illness, sorts out her issues with her predatory landlord and confronts Amanda over accidentally getting her fired. But while all of these actions could be dismissed as Kreese simply wanting to secure the loyalty of a talented fighter, he proves that he genuinely cares about Tory in the Season 4 finale when he learns from his mistakes with Johnny and allows Tory to fight how she wants against Sam rather than ordering her to cheat the way Silver does, finally putting his student's well-being ahead of his ego and desire to win.
  • In Season 4, she becomes one to one of the least likely people possible, Amanda. After resenting Tory for everything she did to Sam during the previous two seasons, Amanda gets a glimpse into just how horrible Tory's home life is and begins to pity her. She then spends the rest of the season finding ways to help her and, despite her initial reluctance, Tory begins to trust her and appreciates her efforts.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • At the end of the school brawl, she does have a look of "Was It Really Worth It?" when Miguel goes over the railing, and she has a smaller one mid-fight when she realizes she kicked Miguel...but not enough to stop fighting. But by Season 3, she constantly dismisses her responsibility of starting the school brawl and doesn't directly apologize to Miguel for her actions, claiming it’s the fault of the Miyagi-Do students.
  • Downplayed at the end of Season 4. While winning the girls' division of the Tournament was certainly something she desperately wanted, the ferocity of her and Sam's fight, as well as the positive influence Amanda had on her of late, urges Tory to try and make sure Sam is okay after scoring the winning point. Sam scurries away from her in terror and her Cobra Kai fellows sweep her up in a victory cheer before Tory can move to mend this fence, leaving her with the feeling this rivalry is only continuing to grow worse, something Tory is no longer interested in.
• Never My Fault:
  • Along with Hawk, she blames Johnny for Miguel's injuries, despite the fact that she's the one who started the brawl he was injured in.
  • In Season 3, she refuses to acknowledge that her expulsion and probation were her own fault (and that punishment was actually lenient considering the severity of her actions) and would rather continue to hunt down a PTSD-scarred Sam than admit to destroying her own life. Whenever she's confronted about how it was solely her fault for starting the school brawl, she deflects the blame onto others and insists she's the biggest victim of the whole mess.
  • She blames Sam for her relationship with Miguel deteriorating, even after Miguel tells her to her face that he has a problem with her volatile tendencies, her starting the school brawl that nearly led to him being killed, her refusing to admit her culpability in it, and the fact that she did nothing to support him during his recovery.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Orchestrating the attack on the LaRusso residence leads Hawk deciding to leave Cobra Kai despite having been in line to become his dojo's new champion. It also causes Johnny and Daniel, as well as their respective students, to put aside their differences and unite against Cobra Kai and Kreese.
  • During the attack itself, she targets Sam and in the process breaks Mr. Miyagi's portrait. All it does is get Sam angry and discover her Heroic Second Wind, which helps her finally overcome her trauma.
• Nothing Nice About Sugar and Spice: Tory is more traditionally feminine than Aisha yet is far more aggressive and quickly becomes a foil to Sam in Miyagi-Do.
• Not Me This Time: She brags to Aisha and Sam about stealing vodka from the bar at the beach club. Later on, when her mother's wallet goes missing, Sam assumes Tory stole that too and rushes to accuse her, only it turns out Tory had nothing to do with that as the wallet was actually stolen by Trey and Cruz.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Tory gives one of these to Robby in Season 3, as she points out they were the victims of Sam and Miguel's cheating, and ultimately the two who suffered the worst legal consequences in the aftermath of the brawl. When Robby calls her out for starting the brawl, Tory quickly responds that he's the one who finished it by kicking Miguel over the railing.
  Tory: Looks like we're in the same boat.
  Robby: Thanks to you for starting the fight.
  Tory: And you for finishing it.
  • This is what persuades Amanda to help Tory in Season 4, given that Amanda herself struggled with a difficult family life and faced some legal issues in her youth as well, but learned to grow up and not let her anger consume her, and was given a second chance that she believes Tory deserves.

O-Y

• Only Sane Woman: Bizarrely enough, she becomes this by Season 5 in Silver's dojo. She's the one student who isn't swayed by his charisma or all the gear and amenities he offers, knowing he similarly bought Cobra Kai their victory at the All-Valley by bribing the referee. She also tries in vain to keep Cobra Kai from getting into fisticuffs with the Miyagi-Fangs at the water park, in a stark reversal of how she was usually the instigator of the fight. In fact, the only reason she remains in the dojo is to serve as Kreese's Double Agent before their bond begins to sour.
• Parental Abandonment: Her father left when she was young while her mother is dialysis-stricken and unable to physically stand up for her daughter, essentially leaving Tory to take care of herself.
• Pet the Dog:
  • Despite the fact that Robby put her boyfriend in the hospital, Tory shows him sympathy for his difficult background and goes out of her way to make him feel welcome when he joins Cobra Kai.
  • When Kenny joins Cobra Kai, she takes a liking to him and assists Robby with being a mentor to him, even letting Kenny hang out with them outside of class.
• The Power of Hate: Deconstructed. Tory's immense bitterness with her situation in life drives nearly everything she does. She seems to openly embrace this mentality when she tells Robby how Kreese has taught her to channel all of her hatred to make her stronger. And it feels great.
  • Tory starts to let go of this throughout Season 4 and it's virtually gone by Season 5 — except when Sensei Kim punishes her for skipping out on the Sekai Taikai tryouts by having her punch a stone dummy, poorly disguised as exercise to gauge her resolve. After several attempts to break it, Kim derides Tory for being soft and not truly giving her all, which Tory angrily denies and strikes at Kim herself, this time breaking through the dummy's head after Kim casually sidesteps the attack.
• Privileged Rival: Inverted and played with. Tory comes from a much more rough-and-tumble life than Sam who has been pampered, and part of their enmity is born from Tory clearly seeing Sam as a Rich Bitch who doesn't know what real life is like and who judges Tory from her privileged status. Stuff like Tory having to work during 80's Night while Sam can just go and have fun clearly rubs Tory the wrong way, while Sam doesn't help the situation by accusing Tory of stealing wallets at the country club when she didn't and was Aisha's guest (though Tory actually stealing some booze played a part in that).
• Promotion to Parent: To her much younger brother Brandon in all but name after their mother is rendered physically unable to care for them. In season 4, what motivates Tory to start getting her life back on track is her eligibility to become Brandon's legal guardian once she's of age and their mother dies.
• Psychopathic Womanchild: Despite being having to be the sole breadwinner for her family, the responsibility has not matured her. If anything, it has made her even more bitter, resentful, and prone to resorting to unhealthy outlets, whether it's being violent for petty reasons or acting like a Spoiled Brat / Sore Loser after losing a fight. She begins growing out of it by Season 4 partially because of Amanda's positive influence.
• Pyrrhic Victory: What Tory's victory at the 2019 All Valley Tournament resulted as. Despite defeating Sam initially being one of her major goals, Tory wants to do it fair and square. Her gratitude to Amanda for helping out with her turbulent home life has also encouraged her to drop her hostility against Sam. After beating Sam, Tory reveals that she's no longer invested in their rivalry when she, much to Sam's confusion, rushes to make sure if she's alright. After finally triumphing over her nemesis, Tory realizes she no longer takes any glee in it. Learning that Silver bribed the referee of the match dejected her enough to shake her loyalty to Cobra Kai.
• The Resenter: Tory embraces "no mercy" in part due to resentment over hardships she's had to experience that others haven't.
• Revenge Before Reason: In Season 3, even though she has been warned that any violation of her parole would result in her being jailed despite her mom and brother needing her to work and provide for them, Tory decides to invade and assault Sam at her own house to get revenge for what happened in the West Valley Brawl. Even earlier, during the laser tag fight, Tory enters the fray demanding to fight Sam, despite the fact that it would've been wise to AVOID Sam during the brawl.
• Sanity Slippage: Tory has always been a vengeful individual, but she truly starts to show signs of mental instability when she challenges Sam over the school PA system and outright tries to maim her on school grounds. It gets even worse in Season 3, where she outright leads a gang assault of the LaRusso residence intent on "ending it tonight."
• Sanity Strengthening: In season 4, Amanda’s sincere advice that Tory seek out counseling, coupled with the subsequent in-house help with caring for her sick mother, alleviated some of the stresses and pressures that were negatively impacting her psyche. While she still has a lot of work to do, she’s no longer on a destructive vendetta against Sam and isn’t as easily pushed into a rage.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: During the Sekai Taikai qualifier match, she realizes from Kenny and Hawk's match that Silver has once again bribed the judge. Not wanting to be part of another tainted win, she bails on her match with Sam. Tragically, she pays for this.
• Shadow Archetype: To Robby Keene. Both are troubled youths from broken homes who engage in petty crime and find direction in life and mentor figures through karate. Except while Robby is able to turn away from his life of delinquency due to Daniel's guidance, Cobra Kai (or rather Kreese) galvanizes Tory's worst traits and she eventually goes from a borderline Jerk with a Heart of Gold to a full-on Jerk with the Heart of a Jerk. Both also deal with feelings of jealousy, Robby with Miguel and Tory with Sam, as Miguel and Sam still have lingering feelings for one another. Robby is eventually willing to confess to Sam that he feared "losing points" with her, while Tory reacts with almost homicidal rage after seeing Sam and Miguel kiss at Moon's party. Tory in many ways represents what Robby could have become if Daniel hadn't taken him under his tutelage, and she's ultimately the one who convinces him to embrace his dark side and join Cobra Kai. Tory even calls Robby out on suppressing the Tory side of his personality when they meet at the probation office in Season 3.
  Tory: At least I know who I am. You're still pretending to be something you're not.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Tory is usually seen in workout gear or tank tops, flannel, hoodies, and stretchy jeans. However, she goes all out for junior prom with a down to here and up to there leopard print dress that really puts the double-sided tape to work, and even has her hair styled in curls and makeup done tastefully. It has more than a touch of Ms. Fanservice as Tory deliberately seductively dances with Robby.
• Ship Tease: Has her moments with Robby in Season 3. Examples includes being able to relate to Robby's current situation during their time with the probation office, and at the Cobra Kai dojo where she convinces him to fully embrace Kreese's teachings. This becomes a Relationship Upgrade with Robby during Season 4.
• The Smurfette Principle: She's the only girl amongst Kreese's core students.
  • This changes in Season 4, after Piper and other girls are recruited for Cobra Kai, following the All Valley’s implementation of gendered divisions.
• So Beautiful, It's a Curse: A very realistic version as Tory was sexually extorted by her creepy landlord, who was threatening to blackmail her if she defended herself and might have even met his demands to "pay her rent" if Kreese hadn’t intervened. Tory also stated that she's had to defend herself at work from sleazy customers. The toll it's taken on her is another contribution to her mental health taking a severe hit.
• Sour Outside, Sad Inside: Tory's tough exterior is ultimately a mask to hide a miserable girl who has been dealt a horrible hand by life and lashes out at the world she feels has wronged her. This is identified by Kim Da-Eun.
  Kim: Such a tough façade. All to hide the fragile little girl underneath.
• Spikes of Villainy: Her spiked bracelet; fashion accessory, self-defense tool, and potentially attempted-murder weapon.
• Statuesque Stunner: Towers over her rival, Sam, and is around the same height/taller than many of the male characters.
• Tell Me How You Fight:
  • She enters Cobra Kai with an understanding of apparently self-taught street fighting. This shows her rough background and harsh life, and makes her one of Cobra Kai's rising stars, as she's perfectly prepared to embrace their mantra.
  • Her Cobra Kai skills build on her street fighting background, making her brutal, ruthless, and pragmatic in combat. Tellingly, she very often is the first to go for a weapon of some kind in a fight.
  • Come Season 4, Robby starts giving the Miyagi-Do secrets to Cobra Kai and Tory seems the most interested in learning what he has to teach, which makes sense as it will finally give her the edge over her more-skilled rival. But in conjunction, as her life grows increasingly complicated, she seeks help from Amanda to get off her self-destructive path. By the time of the tournament, Tory has become a much more balanced fighter and person, showing that perhaps the second-hand Miyagi-Do lessons are un-corrupting her.
• This Is for Emphasis, Bitch!:
  • How Tory starts the final brawl in Season 2.
  Tory: I'm coming for you, bitch!
  • She does this again in the Golf n' Stuff fight by calling Sam out after bringing reinforcements.
  Tory: Sam LaRusso! Where are you, bitch?!
  • In Season 5 when Tory first collapses in pain during the forced stone dummy exercise, Kim mocks her for caring more about Robby than her own dojo. Tory gets up and tells her hated sensei:
  Tory: I broke up with him because of this dojo, you bitch!
• Token Good Teammate: Becomes this in Season 5. While she is still acting unethically working with Kreese, she's the only remaining Cobra Kai genuinely mortified by Silver's behavior even before they found out he cheated.
• Took a Level in Kindness: In Season 5. She's become completely disillusioned by Silver and Cobra Kai's philosophy and is horrified by all the violence they are inflicting on the community. She only stays at the dojo because she's secretly working as The Mole to take Silver down. And while she is initially still loyal to Kreese, their interactions during her prison visits cause her to finally see how cruel and self-centered the man truly is. She ultimately decides to make a clean break and work with Miyagi-Fang to expose Silver's misdeeds and bring down Cobra Kai.
• Tough Spikes and Studs: Tory is one of Cobra Kai's top students and wears a spiked bracelet which she occasionally uses as a weapon.
• Trapped in Villainy: In Season 5, thanks to her finally getting some help from Amanda and learning that Silver bribed the All Valley Tournament referee, Tory becomes disillusioned with Cobra Kai. Unfortunately, her loyalty to Kreese compels her to stay with the dojo while she works as The Mole to expose Silver for framing Kreese. While she does her best to keep out of the other students' shenanigans and stop the violence they inflict, there's only so much she can do without blowing her cover.
• Ungrateful Bitch: Even though the courts could have easily sent Tory to juvie for her actions in the school brawl, they took her mother's health situation into account and agreed to give her probation so she could continue to be her family's caretaker. Tory still has the gall to complain about how the judicial system is rigged against poor people and that her punishment is unfair, and continue committing crimes that could easily deprive her of the ability to take care of her family.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Compared to Sam. When the two fight it out in "No Mercy", Sam appears to be the more technically skilled fighter, managing to block and dodge most of Tory's attacks and outmaneuver her. However, what gives Tory an advantage for a large portion of the fight is the fact that she's a little bigger and probably stronger, a lot more boisterous, and generally much more violent, vicious, and dirty when it comes to fighting. While Sam arguably wins the fight in a sense, ending it by reversing an attack and knocking Tory down the stairs, it's Sam who comes out the most damaged, having to go to the hospital due to her injuries.
• Unstoppable Rage: Tory goes all-out during her Designated Girl Fight in the Season 2 finale and fights dirty. When Miguel tries to stop her, she even kicks him without hesitation (although by that point, she's out of control unlike when Robby was restraining her).
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
  • In spades in the Season 2 finale. Her impulsive decision to start a fight with Sam over a kiss ends up getting several students badly injured, including Miguel.
  • A Deleted Scene from Season 4 reveals she was the one who advised Stingray to appeal to Silver for reinstatement to Cobra Kai. The result is Stingray receiving a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown and making a deal with Silver to frame Kreese, allowing Silver to takeover and expand the dojo.
  • It is revealed at the end of Season 5 Episode 5 that she was the one who sent Daniel the note that led him to Stingray. Unfortunately, Silver catches on to this and gives Daniel a beatdown which sends him into a Heroic BSoD. Tory in the next episode feels guilty for what happened.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • Season 2: The combination of alcohol, jealousy, and anger at Miguel cheating on her with Sam makes Tory suffer this before the brawl; she runs out of the party by herself when the police break it up, refuses to make contact with Miguel and Aisha when they desperately try to contact her, and only enters school after the day has started to she can hijack the intercom, call Sam out, and start their Designated Girl Fight. She's so angry and caught up in her fight with Sam, she kicks Miguel without even hesitating when he tries to stop the fight, before staring at him in confusion and guilt... before escalating her fight with Sam to the point where she uses her spiked bracelet to lacerate Sam's flesh.
  • Season 3: After learning from Kreese that Miguel and Sam have begun an "alliance" and saved the All-Valley Tournament from cancellation, Tory leads a gang assault on the LaRusso residence with the other Cobra Kai students, fully intent on ending it with Sam.

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