Foil / Cobra Kai

In a series about impressionable teenagers caught between competing ideologies, it should be no surprise that many characters contrast each other.

Main Characters

Daniel and Johnny

Despite their similarities in their love of karate and Determinator attitudes, Daniel and Johnny's personalities, upbringings and lives since they left high school make them as different as night and day.

• Both were raised by single mothers, but while Johnny never knew his father, Daniel knew his and had to deal with his death when he was 8 years old. Johnny’s mother ended up marrying again when she married Sid Weinberg, while Daniel’s mother remained single and unmarried after husband’s passing. Sid, the main father figure in Johnny's early life, was an emotionally Abusive Parent, while Daniel has nothing but positive memories of his father.
  • Both had a Parental Substitute surrogate father in their karate teachers. But while Mr. Miyagi tempered Daniel's hot-headed stubborness with gentle wisdom (not entirely successfully), Kreese impressed on young Johnny terrible lessons that led to his life becoming such a dumpster fire.
• Johnny was a rich kid growing up due to his wealthy stepfather while Daniel had been a poor kid whose mother had to work several jobs. Ironically, these roles are reversed for them as adults, as Daniel grows up to become a rich and successful owner of a successful car dealership (which is number 1 in the Valley) and lives in a big house while Johnny now lives in a run-down apartment in Reseda and bounces between various menial jobs before becoming a sensei.
• Johnny has has gotten in trouble with the law multiple times and has ended up in jail while Daniel has never had any law trouble and never was in jail.
• Though both dated Ali Mills in the past and have had several relationships since, Johnny's failure to move on from Ali has ruined all of his relationships until he gets together with Carmen. Daniel, on the other hand, has been Happily Married to Amanda for many years. Johnny has neglected his son Robby his whole life, leaving him to be raised by his mother, Shannon, as a single parent, while Daniel has been around for Samantha and Anthony their whole lives and is a very devoted father to them in a traditional, stable family.
• Johnny is completely stuck in The '80s and ignorant of modern culture, while Daniel has done a much better job of keeping up with the times, being a huge fan of Game of Thrones and expressing shock at Johnny not knowing what Facebook is.
• Daniel is a polite and cultured man, while Johnny is a rude, boorish slob. This is demonstrated through their drink orders when they talk at the bar in "Different but Same". Daniel orders a fancy Ketel Martini, while Johnny orders a Coors Banquet, an inexpensive American beer.
• Even their musical motifs are contrasting. Whenever Daniel is onscreen, traditional Japanese music is heard. Johnny's screentime involves hard 80's rock.

Miguel and Robby

Both were raised by single mothers, but while Miguel's mother is affectionate and overprotective, Robby's is a Gold Digger who neglects him. Miguel is Johnny's surrogate son with whom he has a positive relationship, while Robby is Johnny's biological son who he has failed. Miguel starts out as a Nice Guy who learns karate to defend himself, but ends up going down a dark path thanks to the flaws in Cobra Kai's teachings, while Robby is a troubled delinquent who finds balance in his life thanks to Miyagi-Do. Both end up in terrible circumstances at the beginning of Season 3, but while Miguel forgives Johnny despite his advice to show mercy leading him to be hospitalized and overcomes his paralysis with his sensei's help, Robby blames Daniel for him going to juvie and makes a Face–Heel Turn by joining Cobra Kai under Kreese.

Johnny and Miguel

Johnny is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold Reformed Bully and former Big Man on Campus who is stuck in The '80s and completely out of touch with modern society, while Miguel starts out as a dorky and uncool Nice Guy who gets bullied and teaches Johnny about the modern social standards that he is unaware of. Johnny is Book Dumb and Hopeless with Tech, while Miguel is Book Smart and technologically savvy enough to create a website for Cobra Kai by himself.

Daniel and Robby

In his youth, Daniel was a Nice Guy with a temperamental streak, while Robby starts as a thieving delinquent with a Hidden Heart of Gold. Robby consistently favors a more aggressive approach to the rivalry with Cobra Kai, while Daniel tries to follow Mr. Miyagi's Pacifist Dojo teachings, at least until someone from Cobra Kai does something to really piss him off, like trash the Miyagi dojo. Daniel, being someone who's seen the dark side of Cobra Kai's teachings thanks to his time with Terry Silver, welcomes the Cobra Kai defectors (Chris, Nate, etc.) with open arms and emphasizes that anyone can be manipulated by Cobra Kai's teachings; Robby distrusts them, taking a very strong "once a Cobra Kai, always a Cobra Kai" attitude towards them.

Sam and Robby

Despite their love of karate, sharing a karate style and a mentor in Miyagi-Do and Daniel, and being fans of Dirty Dancing, Robby and Sam are very much different, even while dating:

• Robby is a juvenile delinquent while Sam is a well-adjusted teenager.
• Robby lives in a crappy apartment and loses his access to electricity when his mom runs off and stops paying the bills, while Sam lives a rich life in a big house and never has to worry about her parents failing to cover the cost of utilities.
• Sam and Robby's family situations couldn't be more different. Sam is part of a stable, traditional family, has a younger brother, was born in wedlock and has a very loving relationship with her Happily Married parents (especially her father) who have always been there for her. Robby is an only child born out of wedlock who was raised by a single mother and has a poor relationship with his constantly bickering parents, as his father abandoned and neglected him his whole life to the point that he now hates him, and while Robby loves his mom since she raised him, he grows somewhat resentful of her consistently neglecting him.
• While Sam may have her disagreements with Daniel, she ultimately always remains loyal to her father and Miyagi-Do. Robby eventually allows his resentment of Daniel to push him into joining Cobra Kai and selling out Miyagi-Do's secrets to help his new dojo defeat them.

Sam and Tory

The main reason Sam and Tory become such instant bitter rivals is because of how fundamentally different they are as people. Both are karate fans with romantic interest in Robby and Miguel, but Sam is a brunette Girly Girl who dresses in pastels and raised heels, comes from a stable upper-class family and trains in the circular, defensive, goju-Ryu-derived Miyagi-do style. Tory, on the other side, is a blonde tomboy from the wrong side of the tracks who struggles to keep her family together as their sole breadwinner and prefers black, plaid and flats and trains in the linear, aggressive, Tang Soo Do-based Cobra Kai style. Tory is a Hard-Drinking Party Girl who sees nothing wrong with stealing alcohol from the beach club, while Sam is more polite and 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.

Miguel and Hawk

Miguel and Hawk represent the best and worst possible outcomes of following Johnny's original Cobra Kai philosophy. Miguel gains confidence, becomes a good fighter and a leader among his peers (but due to the philosophy being inherently flawed, he also became more aggressive and angry and a borderline bully). Hawk gains confidence and becomes a good fighter as well, but this is often overshadowed by the negative traits he's picked up: aggression, anger, bullying behavior. While Miguel chooses to follow Johnny's Internal Reformist attitude, Hawk takes to Kreese's old Cobra Kai mindset and, while he refuses to acknowledge it, his life begins to suffer. His ego and aggression spiral out of control to the point he loses his girlfriend, strains his friendships with Demetri and Miguel, and loses several karate fights. The only good thing that comes out of it for Hawk is that he emerges from the school brawl relatively unscathed, unlike Miguel.

Hawk and Demetri

The two start out as best friends, with Demetri being a mouthy Insufferable Genius while Eli is a Shrinking Violet who prefers to let Demetri do all the talking. Demetri discourages Miguel's attempts to stand up to Kyler, feeling he's better off keeping his head down and avoiding bullies, while Eli is impressed by his bravery. When the two join Cobra Kai, Demetri is put off by Johnny's Training from Hell and quits, while Eli embraces it and takes on the "Hawk" persona. Demetri is Proud to Be a Geek, while Hawk tries to bury his nerdy past, and starts to view Demetri as the embodiment of everything he hates about himself. In terms of their fighting style, Hawk focuses on attack, while Demetri is almost purely defensive.

Tory and Hawk

Starting 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.

Kreese and Silver

Partners in crime, co-senseis and old war buddies they may be, but John Kreese and Terry Silver have very different lives and more importantly, approaches to running Cobra Kai.

• Kreese is implied to have come from a less well-off background, having to work as a busboy after his mother's suicide, while Silver comes from a wealthy family, given his talk about taking over his father's business and the fact that he is very rich in the present day.
• Kreese's only mentioned relative is his mother, whom it is implied he remembers fondly. Silver's only mentioned relative is his father, with whom he doesn't appear to have a good relationship, given that the man casually threatens to cut him off financially if he doesn't come home to help run his business.
• Kreese leaves his girlfriend to go to war, and is devastated by her death, which is a painful memory for him decades later. Silver abandons his girlfriend for a petty karate rivalry, and pretty much forgets about her the moment she's out of the picture, ignoring the many text messages she sends asking where he's gone.
• Kreese generally remains outwardly calm, even when acting with murderous intent. Silver becomes almost cartoonishly excited and animated when the opportunity for a fight arises.
• Kreese is a poor long-term strategist, always preferring to strike back immediately at his opponents for even the most petty of slights with no regard for the consequences of his actions. Silver favors Pragmatic Villainy, encouraging his students to focus on the All Valley as it's the only fight that truly matters.
• Kreese believes fighters are born, not made, favoring "natural athletes" like Robby (because of his relationship to Johnny), Tory (because of her rough upbringing) and Kyler (because of his wrestling training). Silver thinks a champion can come from anywhere, and supports unorthodox fighters like Kenny and Piper. This fits with their respective backgrounds, as Kreese is an accomplished brawler long before receiving any formal training, telling David he's "been fighting [his] whole life", while Silver doesn't appear to have been much of a fighter before or even during his time in Vietnam, being mocked by his squadmates and nicknamed "Twig" due to his lack of muscles.
• Kreese favors a strong core team and spends more time cutting students than recruiting them. Silver wants Cobra Kai to be as expansive as possible, spending huge amounts of money on merchandise to appeal to the mainstream, making plans to open dojos all over the Valley, and entering the Sekai Taikai to expand Cobra Kai globally, a plan Kreese rejected in 1980 in favor of focusing on the All Valley.

Main Characters and Other Characters

Daniel and Anthony

Anthony is what Daniel would have been if he grew up with wealthy parents. Daniel is a kind Self-Made Man who rose out of being a poor kid with a struggling single mother and uses karate for his self-defense, and doesn't take his new luxuries for granted. Anthony is a Spoiled Brat, having grown up with the wealth Daniel can only dream of when younger, who constantly makes demands and is only interested in karate for the violence and how he can brag about Daniel's fighting prowess. He also derides the Miyagi-Do Wax On, Wax Off style that Daniel learned and now teaches. The contrast becomes even greater in Season 4, as Anthony's storyline plays out exactly like the plot of The Karate Kid (1984), only with Anthony in Johnny's role rather than his father's.

Johnny and Chozen

Both are former rivals of Daniel who are now his teammates, but there are many differences in their personalities. Chozen trained in the pacifistic style of Miyagi-Do, but has a much more aggressive interpretation of it than Mr. Miyagi, while Johnny trained in the aggressive Thug Dojo Cobra Kai, but balances their style with his own sense of honor. Johnny is a hot-tempered, boorish American, while Chozen is a calculating, cultured Okinawan. Johnny is a functional alcoholic, while Chozen generally doesn't drink. While both are more aggressive than Daniel, Johnny tends to fight first and think later, while Chozen is more tactical in where and when he chooses to fight. Johnny utilizes a rough brawling fighting style, while Chozen prefers efficient, precise strikes. Johnny uses anything he can get his hands on as a weapon, while Chozen always carries his signature pair of sais.

Hawk and Kyler

In Season 3: after Eli's transformation into Hawk, Hawk starts to become more like Kyler, a vicious bully that lashes out at others for petty reasons. The obvious difference is that Hawk has a genuine Freudian Excuse for why he became an aggressive bully (most of which was actually caused by Kyler and his gang), while Kyler's motivation seems to be purely For the Evulz. Hawk joins Cobra Kai as a means to learn how to get others to stop bullying him, while Kyler joins Cobra Kai just so that he can get the training needed to get revenge on Miguel. Even at his worse, Hawk still manages to retain some redeeming qualities like his belief in loyalty and his Villainous Friendship with his Cobra Kai classmates. Kyler, on the other hand, is willing to abandon his best friend Brucks to join Cobra Kai after Brucks was badly beaten by Hawk. Ironically, it's when Hawk realizes that he has become too much like Kyler for his liking, that he undergoes his Heel Realization.

Hawk and Moon

While Moon starts out as part of the popular clique whereas Eli was a bullied, unpopular student, both are the more submissive friends to their mouthier counterparts (Moon to Yasmine, Eli to Demetri) prior to their character development (Moon becoming an overly nice person, Eli "flipping the script" to become the more confident Hawk). However while Moon started out as a Peer-Pressured Bully who eventually became a Nice Girl after atoning for her (and Yasmine's) treatment of Aisha, Eli starts out as a bullied victim before becoming The Bully himself. Moon hates all forms of violence and wants everyone to get along, whereas Hawk relishes a good fight regardless of whether he's acting as a good guy or a bad guy.

Amanda and Lucille

As Daniel's wife and mother respectively, the two are, along with Sam, Daniel's closest female family members, but they clash every time they are together due to their vastly different attitudes. Lucille was a Struggling Single Mother, while Amanda and Daniel have a stable, nuclear family. Lucille focuses on looking after family at all costs, while Amanda sees no point in prioritising family members who haven't earned her respect, having a terrible relationship with her own father and no patience for the blatant nepotism that landed Daniel's incompetent cousin Louie a job at LaRusso Auto. Lucille prefers home-cooked meals, while Amanda often uses caterers for big events (though she takes great offence at Lucille's insinuations that she can't cook). Lucille lives a down-to-earth, working-class life, while Amanda is a social climber with a thriving business that she and Daniel own.

Johnny and Tommy/Bobby/Jimmy

Johnny remains an idiot, a loser, an immature jerk and having random jobs, including a part-time handyman, which he hates and screws up in his relationships and is a neglectful father to his son Robby his whole life. On the other hand, Johnny’s old friends Tommy, Bobby and Jimmy have gone on to make great lives of their own before the show started: Tommy has grown up and become a better person, Bobby becomes a pastor (as he was the least horrible and corrupted) and has also apparently married, due to a wedding ring on his finger, and Jimmy is Happily Married with at least two sons to a woman named Jenny. In other words, we could say Johnny’s friends have led similar lives to Daniel.

Other Characters

Moon and Yasmine

Yasmine is a spiteful, sharp-tongued Alpha Bitch while Moon is a ditzy Cloudcuckoolander and Innocent Beta Bitch whose worst moments are all the result of Yasmine's Toxic Friend Influence. In Season 1, Moon apologizes to Aisha when she realizes how badly the latter was hurt by her and Yasmine bullying her, while Yasmine learns nothing and continues to get in Aisha's face until Aisha gives her a humiliating wedgie. Even after Yasmine takes a level in kindness in Season 3, Moon's bubbly, positive demeanour and naive hopes that everyone will get along contrasts Yasmine's cynicism and resentment that "the losers" have taken over West Valley.

Kyler and Yasmine

Beginning in Season 3; While Kyler learned nothing from his experiences in Season 1, Yasmine was humbled by her humiliation at the beach party and she's become more empathetic to the teens she used to bully. Her biggest Pet the Dog moment comes when she cheers up Demetri after seeing Kyler bully him.