Great rivalries are a huge part of Cobra Kai’s winning formula. That’s not altogether surprising, considering that The Karate Kid sequel series uses the unfinished business between Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence in the first movie as the foundation for its entire story. By bringing back more Karate Kid characters and creating a slew of original ones, the show spawned even more rivalries.
Giving so many of its characters reasons to hate each other has worked out well for the show in the long run. After all, it is a martial arts series at heart, hence why the spirit of competitiveness naturally has to be extremely important to its overarching narrative. As such, Cobra Kai made efforts to look beyond Johnny and Daniel and gradually developed heated dynamics between several of its principal characters, setting up memorable arcs, fight scenes, and great character moments. Here’s a breakdown of the eight best rivalries in Netflix’s Cobra Kai show.
Anthony & Kenny
Established later in the series than most, Anthony and Kenny’s rivalry started out as a clear parallel to Johnny and Daniel’s relationship in The Karate Kid – but with a big twist. Like young Daniel in the 1984 classic, Kenny endured incessant bullying at school until he finally decided to fight back by learning karate. The fact that his bully was Anthony, Daniel and Amanda’s son, made it all the more interesting for the series. However, the story Cobra Kai set up for Daniel and Anthony wasn’t a carbon copy of Johnny and Daniel’s, as it wound up taking a different direction when Kenny used his newfound skills to become a bully himself.
In a sense, Kenny’s arc serves as a sort of a “what if” story that examines what would have happened if Daniel had joined Cobra Kai right away rather than seek Mr. Miyagi’s guidance. But while this route has been rife with storytelling potential, it’s yet to reach the level of Cobra Kai’s other rivalries, due in part to how underdeveloped it is at this juncture. Cobra Kai didn’t do much to advance it in season 5, and exactly how Anthony will respond still hasn’t been properly explored.
Kreese & Silver
Only seen as allies in The Karate Kid franchise, John Kreese and Terry Silver were headed for a collision the moment the two renewed their partnership in Cobra Kai season 4. Though united by their wish to make Cobra Kai strong, their competing egos – specifically Kreese’s – got in the way, and in an entertaining fashion. Compelled to put Silver in his place every time he undermined Kreese’s authority at the dojo, Kreese pushed him until Silver inevitably reverted back to his old, villainous ways. Now, the two former friends are hated enemies. As a consequence of Kreese’s imprisonment, though, their rivalry was forced to take a backseat in season 5. But assuming Silver returns, it should still get the payoff season 4’s ending promised.
Daniel & Kreese
Kreese’s beef with Johnny will always be the most important part of his story, but his interactions with Daniel have also been a key source of conflict for his character in Cobra Kai. Kreese had very little to do with Daniel directly in The Karate Kid movies, but even so, his goal to one-up Ralph Macchio’s character is still deeply personal. As Mr. Miyagi’s successor, Daniel exists as a stand-in of sorts for Kreese’s true adversary in The Karate Kid franchise. Kreese could never beat Mr. Miyagi, which is why it’s perfectly fitting for Kreese to hold such a deep-seated grudge against his greatest opponent’s student.
Demetri & Eli
Spanning three seasons of the show’s run, Eli and Demetri had a bitter rivalry built on a broken friendship. Similar to Kreese and Silver but unlike most other Cobra Kai rivalries, Eli and Demetri started out as friends. The way in which it slowly drove them apart and used his cruelty toward Demetri to prove how far he had fallen was an effective tactic for the series. Making their arc even better was Demetri’s long-awaited victory over Eli in the season 2 finale, which showed that in spite of his perceived weakness, he was capable of matching up with Eli in a fight.
Sam & Tory
Sam and Tory represent another example of a rivalry born from bullying. But while Tory was the clear aggressor in many of their conflicts, Cobra Kai cleverly avoided their relationship being as black and white as Daniel and Johnny’s fight in The Karate Kid. The show kept Tory from being the clear-cut villain of their story by having Sam essentially be the one who started their animosity for each other in the first place when she falsely accused Tory of stealing. Another instance of this was Sam antagonizing Tory at work. The show endeavoring to give both characters understandable motivations for fighting helped make their rivalry one of Cobra Kai’s best.
Robby & Miguel
It took five seasons, but Cobra Kai resolved the bitter feud shared by Robby and Miguel. With one as Johnny’s surrogate son and the other as Johnny’s actual son, it felt organic for jealousy to creep in and set the two against each other. But Cobra Kai didn’t stop there – in the classic spirit of the original movie, Cobra Kai used their romantic interests in the same girl (Sam) to further justify their mutual disdain of each other. As if that wasn’t enough, Cobra Kai made their rivalry even more enjoyable to watch by using it to deliver some of the show’s most intense one-on-one showdowns.
Johnny & Kreese
Johnny’s second-biggest rival in Cobra Kai is none other than Kreese, his former mentor. Cobra Kai has received great praise, and rightfully so, for the level of depth it’s given to their student-teacher relationship in The Karate Kid. Kreese’s genuine affection for Johnny helped make him a truly three-dimensional villain for the series. Their dynamic isn’t defined by any single emotion or event, as there’s so much history between them, including Kreese’s seemingly heartfelt efforts to get Johnny back on what he thinks is the right path, Johnny’s perfectly reasonable feelings of resentment over Kreese attacking him in the second movie, and Johnny’s desire to help Kreese redeem himself in season 2. All of these elements help make their dynamic one of Cobra Kai’s most nuanced rivalries.
Daniel & Johnny
Cobra Kai did well to give sufficient screentime to other rivalries, but also made sure not to allow any to outshine the most important of them all. After five years, Johnny and Daniel’s relationship is still the crux of the Karate Kid sequel series. Coupling it with a series of epic fights, Cobra Kai continuously layered their rivalry with a number of developments, taking pains to take the foundation that The Karate Kid built and greatly expanding on it. And while the two have managed to make peace with their issues, the contrast between Johnny’s aggressive style and Daniel’s more refined approach – which define the show’s action and humor – is ever-present in the series.
