30Cobra Kai season 2 is officially trying to move past The Karate Kid. The new characters definitely took center stage as those affected by the rivalry between Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. It’s those characters that largely hold the plot and move it forward. We also get to see those students come into their own and join either the Cobra Kai or Miyagi-Do dojo.
However, Cobra Kai shows that there is no such thing as simply good or bad. Each student is a complex character making decisions for what they believe are the right reasons. Overall, that leads us to 5 students we want to succeed and 5 we don’t.
Succeed - Miguel
Miguel has been on quite the journey in Cobra Kai. He was the lovable, dorky kid who wanted to learn how to defend himself in the first season. Through the “no mercy” training, however, Miguel turned into a bit of a jerk and won the All-Valley Tournament by exploiting Robby’s injury.
Miguel was a lot edgier than he was before, but season 2 proved that he was not a villain. He showed mercy to Robby during their fight in the finale, but that ended up with him in the hospital. As such, we want to see Miguel recover and become a noble student.
Fail - Hawk
Regardless of how interesting Eli’s transformation into Hawk was, that is all in the past. Hawk has become one of the most aggressive members of Cobra Kai, causing a lot of the conflicts in season 2. Despite Johnny trying to teach his students the right path, Hawk never seemed to take it. He was more concerned with beating up those who disagreed with him and listening to John Kreese. Hawk had a small moment where he nearly reconnected with Demetri, but that was short-lived. He continued to bully his old friend and tried to beat him up numerous times. Hawk deserves his own beat down.
Succeed - Aisha
Aisha was the second student of Cobra Kai. After getting bullied in school by the popular kids, she wanted the chance to defend herself as well. Despite some apprehension from Johnny, she was accepted into the Cobra Kai family. She was also a friend of Sam LaRusso, and the two stayed friends throughout season one and parts of season two. Now that Kreese is taking over Cobra Kai, we would like to see Aisha go down a different path and succeed in the end. Her taking on bullies was extremely satisfying to watch, and we want to keep rooting for her going forward.
Fail - Tory
Tory was one of the newer members of Cobra Kai in season two. She was a tough girl who grew up having to fight for everything that she had. As such, she was dangerous, aggressive, and had a serious temper problem.
She and Sam had an intense rivalry throughout the season, leading to her starting the fight during the show’s finale. She even had spikes on her knuckles to seriously injure Sam. Because Tory became so aggressive and violent, it’s hard to root for her in the end. Furthermore, she was one of the ones who joined John Kreese instead of Johnny.
Succeed - Demetri
Demetri was one of Miguel’s dorky friends in the first season of Cobra Kai. After his best friend, Eli, became the vicious fighter known as Hawk, Demetri figured out it was time for him to learn how to fight as well. Due to the problems with Hawk and the Cobra Kai dojo, Demetri went to study at Miyagi-Do under Daniel LaRusso. While it was difficult for Demetri at first, he inevitably learned how to fight by always predicting the worst possible outcomes. He ended up beating Hawk in the season finale. Hopefully, he keeps his calmer nature going forward and doesn’t become a jerk like his friend.
Fail - Stingray
Stingray was the source of a lot of the best jokes in Cobra Kai season two. A full-grown adult who is stuck in the 80s, he wanted to learn Cobra Kai for himself to become a cooler person. Needless to say, the training worked, and he became respected among the dojo. Not only did he win John Kreese’s dangerous exercise, but he would later prove a competent fighter by stopping some of the students fighting in the season finale. Unfortunately, the teachings of Kreese made their way into Stingray’s head, and he was one of the ones seen defecting to that awful teacher in the end.
Succeed - Sam
Sam LaRusso is Daniel’s daughter and arguably one of the best fighters in the show. Having learned from her dad at a young age, she already hit the ground running when she joined Miyagi-Do. We were always meant to root for her, especially in the second season. The poor girl is just navigating a world where her ex-boyfriend, best friend, and worst enemy are all in the same aggressive karate dojo. Sam is far from a perfect character, but considering she is the optimistic daughter of Daniel LaRusso, it’s hard to not root for her. We were also glad she won the fight in the season finale.
Fail - Mitch
Mitch was one of the new students to join Cobra Kai. After the dojo won the All-Valley Tournament and interrupted Daniel’s own presentation, there were more students eager to join the dojo. Among them were Mitch and Chris, who essentially became lackeys for Hawk. When Daniel showed up at Cobra Kai and offered the kids a different way, Chris left, but Mitch stayed, separating the two friends. Mitch, remaining at Cobra Kai, was just about as aggressive and misguided as you might expect. This led to a fight between him and Chris in the finale where Chris won, claiming victory with his new teachings.
Succeed - Robby
Robby is in a bit of hot water right now. While he did one awful thing at the end of season 2, it’s important to not forget all the good he did prior to that. While Robby deserves some consequences for nearly killing Miguel, we don’t want to see him fail in the end. The worst thing right now would be for him to join Cobra Kai, but who knows what he’ll do at this point? He and Johnny were just starting to put their relationship back together—that may have been entirely due to the situation, but it’s a start—so to see that all gone in season 3 would be disappointing, to say the least.
Fail - Bert
Bert began his journey in Cobra Kai as the underdog who got knocked out of the All-Valley Tournament in one strike. As such, we were always rooting for him. By staying at Cobra Kai, though, he became just as vocal and aggressive as the rest of the students. During the finale, he fights Nathaniel, another small fighter, who joined Cobra Kai. During that battle, it was clear that Bert was prepared to exercise his skills and become the very thing that he feared after getting bullied for what was likely most of his life. It was funny to see how their diminutive fight ended, though.
