Both Daniel and Johnny had their fair share of vengeful tendencies, lest fans forget when Daniel joined Cobra Kai in the third Karate Kid. Neither Johnny nor Daniel are the real bullies in The Karate Kid franchise, for they are both at fault, and neither are innocent victims.
Backstory. John Kreese in 1968 during the Vietnam War (as portrayed by Barrett Carnahan in Cobra Kai). Kreese was born on October 2, 1946. When he was young, he was troubled, as his father left him and his mentally unstable mother committed suicide and was picked on by other kids.
The prized pupil of Cobra Kai's sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove), Johnny hated Daniel from the moment they met when LaRusso became romantically interested in Johnny's ex-girlfriend, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), at a beach party.
Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) was at his worst in The Karate Kid Part III, and he even turned his back on Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita) and joined the Cobra Kai.
Mike Barnes is the tertiary antagonist in The Karate Kid Part III and a guest character in Season 5 in the Netflix series Cobra Kai. He is portrayed by Sean Kanan.
Daniel Vs. Johnny Debate: Who's The REAL Bad Guy? | Cobra Kai | Netflix
Was Daniel the bad guy?
Both Macchio and Zabka agreed it is up to the fans to decide who is the bad guy in this franchise and stated both Johnny and Daniel have their evil moments in both Karate Kid and Cobra Kai.
Johnny is the leader of the Cobra Kai and the second meanest of them (only second to Dutch). Throughout the film, he bullies and harasses Daniel due to the latter becoming friendly with Ali Mills, his ex-girlfriend. Johnny does not show the enemy any mercy, which is what Kreese has taught him to do.
They bond over their mutual amusement over how absurd it seems. Ali, Johnny, and Daniel then tell stories of high school over dinner. During this time, Ali reveals that what actually caused her breakup with Daniel was his jealousy over a college friend of hers (which Daniel mistook for a love affair).
Over the summer, Daniel gets to spend more time with Mr. Miyagi as they go to Okinawa, where Daniel ends up meeting a girl named Kumiko who becomes his love interest and eventual girlfriend along with also getting into a rivalry with Chozen, who is Sato's karate student and nephew.
Amanda LaRusso (née Steiner) is a main character in Cobra Kai. She is the wife of Daniel LaRusso and the mother of Samantha and Anthony LaRusso. She is a devoted wife and mother, and the voice of reason after Daniel's rivalry with Johnny Lawrence is reignited.
Kreese orders Johnny to sweep Daniel's leg, considered unethical because of Daniel's injury. Fearing his sensei, Johnny manages to land an elbow on Daniel's bad leg, receiving a warning from the referee. Upon the restart of the round, Johnny loses the match after Daniel lands a crane kick to his face.
Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) start off Cobra Kai season 4 as friends but this may end up making their rivalry worse in the long term. Cobra Kai season 3 ended with Johnny and Daniel putting their differences aside and teaming up against John Kreese (Martin Kove) and Cobra Kai.
Several of Johnny's students are now training with Kreese, and Hawk blames him for Miguel's injury. Feeling betrayed by Kreese and his students, Johnny angrily leaves the dojo, but not before telling Kreese that if he wants Cobra Kai; it's his.
Chozen ultimately survives and is put into an ambulance, being helped out by Barnes and Johnny just as they arrive at the Cobra Kai Encino dojo where Terry Silver had recently been defeated by Daniel and arrested for his crimes.
While Cobra Kai confronts them, it's later revealed by Kenny and Kyler that Mitch has been undercover for his former dojo. Mitch reveals his betrayal by siding with Cobra Kai.
Terry Silver tormented Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid Part III. The multimillionaire insanely devoted his time and money to hounding the teenage Daniel, and he manipulated LaRusso into breaking with his mentor, Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita), and joining Cobra Kai.
The titular character, originally named Danny Webber, was renamed Daniel LaRusso to suit Macchio's Italian-American heritage. In the film, Daniel is a New Jersey kid who has just relocated to California and is suffering at the hands of a gang of boys who are part of a local karate school called Cobra Kai.
The Karate Kid is a semi-autobiographical story based on the life of its screenwriter, Robert Mark Kamen. At age 17, after the 1964 New York World's Fair, Kamen was beaten up by a gang of bullies. He thus began to study martial arts in order to defend himself.
Following Daniel's victory of the tournament, Ali and Daniel continued their relationship for six months until their high school graduation. According to Daniel, Ali wrecked his car and left him for a football player at UCLA right after the senior prom.
Despite Johnny's behavior, Ali and Daniel began a relationship. But the lovey-dovey couple broke up on prom night, as Daniel relayed to Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid Part II.
This eventually leads to Sam and Miguel getting back together after they break up with Robby and Tory, respectively. After Robby quit Miyagi-Do Karate and joined Cobra Kai, Sam became the strongest student of Miyagi-Do. In the video game adaptation, she is voiced by Valerie Rose Lohman.
He was every bit a victim of John Kreese, the main antagonist, and Cobra Kai as Daniel was. The real instigator of the original movie, Kreese continues to lurk behind the scenes in “Cobra Kai,” using his masterful manipulation tactics to make children beat up other children once more.
In the All-Valley Tournament, it was Daniel LaRusso who famously won by beating Johnny Lawrence. However, that wasn't the only competition that Daniel won. In The Karate Kid III, he went up against Mike Barnes in the All-Valley Tournament and took first place trophy home once more.
John Kreese is the main antagonist of The Karate Kid franchise. He is a traumatized Vietnam War veteran and the founder of Cobra Kai, who teaches a philosophy of "no mercy", inadvertently encouraging generations of bullies.
