Top 10 Cobra Kai Characters that Deserved Better
Script written by Andrew Tejada
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 “Cobra Kai” Characters that Deserved Better. For this list, we’ll be looking at the people in the series who could either use a break from suffering or faced an unfair fate that they really shouldn’t have dealt with. We'll be considering heroes, villains and everyone in between for this list. Since we’ll be talking about events from the first four seasons of “Cobra Kai”, beware of spoilers ahead. Which franchise character do you think is deserving of better treatment? Support them by shouting them out in the comments below.
#10: Bert
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This small Cobra Kai fighter’s concern for creatures has caused him to face some harsh treatment. After naming the dojo hamster Clarence, he discovers that it will soon be snake food. Bert’s doomed attempt to save the animal gets him kicked straight out of Cobra Kai. In a later episode, he tries to attend to a cat outdoors. Unfortunately, he’s tossed through a window by his former Cobra Kai brethren after investigating the noise. Bert’s luck isn’t any better outside of these animal instances. He’s either losing fights or getting manhandled by bigger fighters. After all this suffering, can Bert at least get the chance to pet a puppy?
#9: Vanessa LaRusso
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After Anthony Larusso starts getting in trouble at school, his aunt Vanessa offers her child psychiatry expertise. But his parents Daniel and Amanda initially reject her help without even giving her a chance. When they finally agree to sit down to talk, Vanessa has to deal with them pushing back against her recommendations and has to endure more insults. She gets a ton of hate for someone just trying to assist her nephew. And when Vanessa makes another appearance in season 5, she has to watch her boyfriend fight her brother during a night out. Whenever this Larusso family member shows up, she can’t seem to get a break.
#8: Chozen Toguchi
In the weeks after Chozen traveled from Japan to the U.S., he constantly risked his safety to try and help Daniel Larusso. By the time he was confessing his feelings for a longtime love interest, it felt like he’d made up for all his wrongdoings. But the universe decided to throw him another crushing curveball. After the heroic man had essentially already won a duel against Terry Silver, the dishonorable sensei attacks Chozen with a sword. This brutal wound left Chozen face down in a pool and will likely leave a permanent scar. A man who’s done as much for his friends as he has doesn’t deserve to leave the states with such a severe memento.
#7: Amanda LaRusso
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The matriarch of the LaRusso family can seem like an antagonist at times because she’s tried to discourage her husband and daughter from prioritizing karate. But she might seem more sympathetic if you walk a mile in her shoes. From Amanda’s perspective, her husband and daughter often walk away from fights with big emotional and physical wounds. She also has to constantly worry about villains showing up to her house or place of business to cause trouble. Although Amanda occasionally goes a bit too far to try to stop all the karate madness, she always has the best of intentions for her family. We think she deserves at least a summer long break from martial arts.
#6: Devon Lee
When the intelligent Devon was first introduced, she looked like she’d be the most promising Eagle Fang fighter yet. But after beginning her training, she loses a match to Tory that was monitored by a crooked ref and her dojo is forcibly shut down. Devon’s attempt to move on is interrupted when Cobra Kai takes over her karate school. From that point forward, she has to endure cruel tests, harsh training and emotional manipulation from multiple senseis. Devon had to suffer all these trials and more just because she showed an interest in karate. Thankfully, she put her foot down in the finale and will take a path away from Cobra Kai.
#5: Aisha Robinson
Aisha was once a shy and kind hearted student who had to worry about her peers publicly shaming her at any moment. After she joined Cobra Kai, she gained more confidence in herself and even competed in a quarterfinal tournament fight. But Aisha’s fantastic journey was unceremoniously cut short after season 2. Thanks to her parents getting a new job, she moved away and stopped participating in karate training. We should’ve gotten to see Aisha grow as a fighter while strengthening her relationships with Sam and the other fighters. Instead, she barely gets to see her friends in person. It’s a shame Aisha’s story took her so far away from the Valley.
#4: Kenny Payne
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On Kenny’s very first day at a new school, he was laughed at by his peers, threatened and tricked into appearing in a very humiliating video. He’s forced to endure days of torment for no reason at all while dealing with all his family baggage. So, it’s no wonder that the troubled Kenny turned to Cobra Kai to try and deal with his problems. Like many other impressionable young fighters, his senseis slowly twisted him into becoming the worst version of himself. We know that Kenny is a good kid deep down. Although it’s hard to see how sinister he’s become in season 5, we know he only got that way from being on the receiving end of an unfair amount of torment.
#3: Raymond AKA Stingray
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Although this Cobra Kai student is definitely much older than most of his peers, they accepted him as one of their own after he went the extra mile for them. But he’s publicly humiliated and kicked out when John Kreese fully takes over the dojo. Stingray becomes so desperate to reunite with his friends that he agrees to get severely beaten and lie to police just to get back into Cobra Kai. While his actions are despicable, it’s hard not to feel bad for the lonely man. Being a Cobra Kai clearly means more to him than anything else in life. Watching him get attacked and taken advantage of just because he wants to belong is just tragic.
#2: Mike Barnes
Decades after being “Karate Kid III’s” main villain, Mike Barnes had found a peaceful life away from fighting. But within hours of Daniel Larusso’s arrival, the reformed villain nearly loses a client, gets into a fight inside of his store and some of his employees get beat up. Luckily, the two old enemies clear up their misunderstandings. Mike even offers to help the heroes fight Terry Silver by giving up the name of the villain’s lawyer. After the crooked sensei finds out about this, Mike’s furniture store burns to the ground. The retired “Karate Kid III” fighter’s rough day shouldn’t have ended with him losing his store just for trying to help. Mike’s extreme suffering made his choice to steal from Silver completely justified.
#1: Tory Nichols
On a daily basis, Tory struggles to make ends meet while attending to her sick mother. After she’s put on probation, multiple people threaten to get her in trouble if she doesn’t do what they want. The one great outlet she has for her feelings is karate. However, her big tournament victory is ruined when she finds out that the ref was paid to let her win. All these tragic events occur before her undercover mission at Cobra Kai makes almost everyone in her life hate her. Despite the bad she’s done, there’s no one who deserves a break from being the universe’s punching bag more than Tory. It’s hard for her to break from a cycle of darkness when hardly anything goes her way.
