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Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence is the secondary antagonist of The Karate Kid, and the main protagonist of Cobra Kai.

History[]

Backstory[]

Johnny was born in 1967, son of Laura and a absent father. After his father left the family for unknown reasons, his mother met and married with Sid Weinberg, a executive productor, and they moved to Encino, California. A lonely and friendless Johnny was abused by his stepfather during his childhood. One day, at age 12, Johnny discovered the Cobra Kai dojo while riding his bike, and immediately taking an interest, decided to join. He spent the next 5 years training under Sensei John Kreese, becoming the top student.

Johnny entered the All Valley Karate Tournament in 1981 but lost in the quarterfinals when he was defeated by Darry Vidal. However, Johnny continued to train more in Cobra Kai, winning the All Valley in 1982 and 1983. He had a relationship with Ali Mills, which lasted two years, until the two broken up after an argument. Johnny, despiste this, he did everything possible to fix the relationship.

The Karate Kid I[]

Johnny is the top student of the Cobra Kai dojo, as well as leader of the Cobra Kai gang, made up of his high school friends Bobby Brown, Jimmy, Tommy and Dutch.

One night at a beach party, Johnny confronts Ali about their breakup and starts getting violent. New Jersey native Daniel LaRusso, who recently moved to the area, tries to stick up for Ali, and Johnny beats him up with his karate skills, before leaving the beach.

In the following weeks, Johnny and his Cobra Kai gang constantly harass Daniel in and out of school. Halloween finally arrives at school, and while Johnny was smoking inside a bathroom stall, Daniel, as revenge, puts a hose on him, dousing him and immediately fleeing the place, but the gang chases him and brutally beats him once again. However, Mr. Miyagi, the maintenance man from Daniel's apartment, intervenes and defeats Johnny and his gang.

The next day, Mr. Miyagi confronts Kreese at the Cobra Kai dojo and proposes that Daniel and Johnny's feud be settled in the upcoming tournament. Kreese agrees, but warns that if they do not attend the tournament, both Daniel and Mr. Miyagi will be declared fair game to Cobra Kai.

In the tournament, Johnny advances to the finals after scoring 3 points against an opponent, and battles Daniel, who had previously been injured in the knee by Bobby Brown, (one of the less violent Cobra Kai bullies, who under orders from Kreese, hurt Daniel), although Daniel recovered after Miyagi healed him. During their fight, Johnny is surprised when Kreese orders him to "sweep Daniel's leg", realizing that his sensei is going too far, though he reluctantly agrees, receiving a reprimand from the referee. Restarting the round, Johnny loses to Daniel when he applies the crane kick technique, winning the 1984 All Valley. Johnny, apparently remorseful for his treatment of Daniel, personally hands Daniel the trophy and congratulates him, winning a new respect for his nemesis.

The Karate Kid II[]

In the parking lot, Kreese violently berates Johnny for losing to Daniel, though Johnny seems to settle for second place and defends himself by calling Kreese a "loser", realizing what kind of a horrible human he is. Kreese locks Johnny in a chokehold after breaking the trophy from him, however Miyagi stops him and defends Johnny. After this, Johnny and the rest of the Cobra Kai students leave the dojo after seeing what kind of person Kreese is.

The Karate Kid III[]

Johnny appears in a montage at the beginning of the movie. He and his friends may have abandoned Cobra Kai, as Kreese currently has no students left.

Future[]

For the next three decades, Johnny's life had gone downhill. He had been a victim of alcohol for a long time, worked through many jobs and had a lonely lifestyle, living locked up in his apartment complex. He eventually had a relationship with Shannon Keene, a alcoholic woman with whom he had his first and only child, Robby Keene.

Laura died in 2002, shortly before Johnny's son and was born in February of that year. Johnny took his mother's death hard, and while grieving went on a drinking binge that caused him to miss his son's birth. From that point on, Johnny became estranged from Robby, and he was absent for most of his life, causing Robby to develop a hatred for his father.

Johnny worked as a handyman in the Los Angeles area prior to the events of the Cobra Kai series.

Cobra Kai[]

Season 1[]

33 years after losing the tournament, Johnny is a lonely alcoholic and down on his luck, now close to 50 years old. He spends his time drinking beer and watching TV, and works as a handyman, but is fired after arguing with a petty customer. Johnny usually acts hostile towards those around him, especially his new teenager neighbor, Miguel Diaz.

One night, Johnny intervenes after witnessing Miguel being harassed by a group of bullies led by Kyler at a convenience store. Johnny defeats the gang of bullies, but is arrested in the process. He is bailed out by Sid, who disowns him and offers to buy him out of his life with an undisclosed sum of money. Johnny initially rejects the money out of pride, but after reuniting with Daniel, Johnny uses the money to reopen the Cobra Kai dojo, with Miguel as his first student.

He also harbors a resentment of Daniel after 33 years. The duo re-encounter each other after Johnny's red Pontiac Firebird is towed to his dealership following a hit and run committed by Yasmine, a friend of Daniel's daughter Samantha. Johnny reluctantly allows Daniel to have the car repaired for free, but is enraged to find out that Sam is Daniel's daughter. Johnny initially struggles to gain new students, but after Miguel beats up Kyler and his friends in the cafeteria while they are harassing Sam, several new recruits enters to the dojo.

Johnny tries to enter Cobra Kai in the upcoming All-Valley Under-18 Karate Championships tournament, but he discovers that the dojo has been given a lifetime ban due to the ruthless actions of Kreese, Terry Silver, and Mike Barnes (from The Karate Kid Part III). Johnny decides to appeal the ban, telling the All-Valley Committee that his Cobra Kai is run differently than it was under Kreese, claiming that Kreese has been dead for years and he has never had any association with or even heard of Silver or Barnes. Johnny explains that he alone holds authority over the dojo and that he endeavors to make a difference in the lives of local youth who have been bullied. The board votes to lift the ban and allow Cobra Kai to enter the tournament over the objections of Daniel, who is a committee member. As the dojo gains more students, Johnny gradually earns enough money to keep it afloat and pay back Sid, vowing to never return to him again.

At the All-Valley tournament, both Miguel and Hawk make it to the semi-finals, along with Robby. When Robby and Hawk fight in the semi-finals, Johnny chastises Hawk for illegally attacking Robby's shoulder, which gets him disqualified and leaves Robby and Miguel to meet in the final match. When Miguel ruthlessly exploits Robby's injured shoulder against his sensei's wishes, Johnny realizes that his teaching methods have corrupted his students. Miguel wins the tournament and thanks Johnny for his guidance, but Johnny is too dejected by his actions to celebrate. He stops Robby before he can leave the arena and apologizes to him, which Robby accepts with reasonable politeness, implying that Robby still cares about Johnny somewhat despite their strained relationship. Later that night, a very much alive John Kreese shows up unexpectedly at the Cobra Kai dojo to congratulate him.

Season 2[]

Johnny addresses the unethical tactics committed by Miguel and Hawk against his son Robby during the tournament and downgrades his entire team back to white belts to further discipline them, banning any form of cheating or dirty fighting from the dojo despite their "no mercy" teachings. He also begins employing a stricter training regimen, going so far as forcing his students to push a full concrete mixer from the inside. To further promote his dojo, Johnny has his Dodge Challenger repainted black and decorated with Cobra Kai logos, and has the sound system replaced with a cassette player for his mixtape collection. Johnny initially rebuffs Kreese's attempts to reconcile and blames him for ruining his life due to the traumatic aftermath of the 1984 All-Valley Tournament that resulted in Kreese choking Johnny. After Kreese apologizes for his previous actions and repairs Johnny's second-place trophy, he relents and agrees to partner with Kreese by making him an observer before making him a co-sensei.

In the meantime, Daniel reopens Miyagi-Do in an attempt to compete with and undermine Cobra Kai by offering lessons for free. While Daniel initially has little success in these efforts, several Cobra Kai students defect to Miyagi-do after a group of students led by Hawk proceeds to vandalize the Miyagi-do dojo in retaliation for the mall fight with Sam, Robby and Demetri with the blessing of Kreese. Johnny eventually discovers that Kreese has been teaching his students the old ways of Cobra Kai behind his back and expels him from the dojo. During this time, Johnny buys a used laptop and discovers the Internet. He also upgrades to a smartphone, joins Facebook, and eventually finds love in Miguel's mother Carmen. At the same time, Johnny slowly reconciles with Robby, who eventually moves in with his father. After a chance encounter at a restaurant, Johnny and Daniel make another attempt at reconciliation. But their uneasy peace proves short-lived after a misunderstanding involving Robby and Samantha, leading to a showdown between Daniel and Johnny in the latter's apartment that results in Daniel cutting ties with Johnny and Robby.

To make matters worse, a massive conflict between the two dojos' students erupts on the first day of school, beginning with Cobra Kai student Tory Nichols picking a fight with Daniel's daughter Samantha in retaliation for a drunken kiss with Miguel, and ending with Johnny’s son Robby inadvertently putting Miguel in the hospital. Johnny's life and relationships are severely ruined, with a missing Robby expelled from school and in legal trouble, and Carmen breaking up with him. Most of Cobra Kai's students turn against Johnny and side with Kreese, who vows to never let them down. To add insult to injury, Kreese regains control of Cobra Kai and forces Johnny out, revealing that he made a deal with the landlord to take over the dojo.

A guilt-ridden Johnny goes to the beach and gets drunk, haunted by Miguel's life-threatening spinal injuries accidentally caused by Robby and his betrayals as well as Robby’s expulsion from school and potential legal problems. He throws his bottle of whiskey at his car, abandoning it and his smartphone, which he drops in the sand. He walks away, unaware that Ali has sent him a friend request on Facebook.

Season 3[]

Reeling from the fallout of Miguel's hospitalization, Johnny visits Miguel's intensive care unit and gives him some encouraging words to help him wake from his coma. He reluctantly agrees to pair with Daniel in searching for Robby, but the two eventually part ways after a confrontation while following a lead. In order to make amends, Johnny acquires funding for Miguel's surgery by stealing one of Sid's statues to sell at a pawn shop. He also makes failed attempts at reconciling with Robby after his arrest, but a resentful Robby furiously cuts ties with Johnny in retaliation for missing a planned visit to stay with Miguel's family. Once Miguel gets out of the hospital, Johnny then dedicates his time to helping provide him with physical therapy that includes unorthodox methods, and manages to succeed after taking him to a Dee Snider concert, mending his initial rift with Miguel and Carmen in the process.

Motivated by his success with Miguel, Johnny creates a new dojo called Eagle Fang, composed of Miguel and several other students that Kreese has expelled from Cobra Kai, including Mitch and Bert. Johnny also reconnects with Ali briefly for the Christmas holidays and finally gets closure with her and ends his rivalry with Daniel, while Miguel does the same thing at the students' level by rekindling his romance with Sam and negotiating an alliance between the students of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang.

When Johnny becomes aware of Cobra Kai attacking Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang at Daniel's home, he confronts Kreese alone and gains the upper hand on him, only to be interrupted by Robby, who has joined Cobra Kai after getting out of juvenile hall to Johnny’s dismay. After accidentally knocking out Robby during his fight, Johnny is ambushed by Kreese and nearly choked to death, only for Daniel to intervene and defeat Kreese. Johnny then gives Daniel the approval to finish off Kreese, only for Miguel and Sam to intervene. Kreese agrees to cease hostilities with both Johnny and Daniel until the upcoming All-Valley tournament before walking back into the dojo with Robby, who has firmly sided with Kreese. Finding common ground, Johnny and Daniel agree to train together with their students at Miyagi-Do.

Season 4[]

Despite agreeing to team up with Daniel and Miyagi-do, still are tensions between Johnny and Daniel over how to train their respective students. Furthermore, Johnny is upset when Miguel enthusiastically pairs with Daniel to learn his style of karate, as he fears losing his best student. Eventually, the tensions explode into a karate match between Johnny and Daniel, which ends with no clear winner, and the two cease working together and decide to train their dojos separately. Despite this, Johnny secretly trains Sam, as she has taken a liking to his style of karate.

During this time, Johnny starts taking his relationship with Carmen more seriously, which leads to some awkwardness with Miguel. While Kreese has agreed to not fight Miyagi-do and Eagle Fang until the tournament, new Cobra Kai co-sensei and Kreese's old friend Terry Silver lures Johnny into an ambush at the old Cobra Kai dojo to prove his loyalty to Kreese, who is upset and disturbed by Silver's actions.

At the tournament, most of Johnny's students are defeated by both Miyagi-do and Cobra Kai with the exception of Miguel. During the match between Miguel and Hawk (who has joined Miyagi-do), Miguel is seriously injured after spraining a muscle and Hawk wins the match by default when Miguel refuses to fight any further. After Hawk defeats Robby in the All-Boys tournament and Sam makes it to the overall finals, Daniel and Johnny agree to team up against Cobra Kai as they realize that both students have used both styles of karate with success. Unbeknownst to anyone, Silver has secretly bribed the referee to rig the final match in Cobra Kai's favor, which leads to Tory defeating Sam despite several disqualifying actions.

In the aftermath of the fight, Robby tracks down Johnny and expresses remorse for their animosity and the two reconcile. However, Johnny is shocked to learn that Miguel has traveled to Mexico City to track down his estranged father, a move spurred by Johnny having revealed to Miguel his own father walking out of his life.

Personality[]

To be added...

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