Cobra Kai: 8 Characters Who’ve Barely Changed Since The Beginning

The way Cobra Kai made its way into everyone’s hearts has been nothing short of incredible. What could have been a cheap cash-grab has become a heartwarming nod to ‘80s nostalgia and the Karate Kid franchise. Viewing the story of Karate Kid through the eyes of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence offers depth the original series never had.

Cobra Kai has developed countless characters over its four-season run, but not everyone on the show can be as dynamic as the rest. Some characters spend a lot of time in the background, missing out on opportunities to grow.

8 Anoush Norouzi Has Become A Background Character

When the most important thing in Daniel’s life was running LaRusso Auto, Anoush made frequent appearances in the show. He was never a vital figure to the story, but as one of Daniel’s key employees, he was always present. By season two, Anoush grows tired of Daniel devoting more time to his karate students than to the job, and leaves to work for Daniel’s rival Tom Cole. Anoush makes a return to LaRusso Auto after realizing his mistake, but none of these events spark any lasting character development.

7 Raymond Still Gets His Whole Personality From Being A Member Of Cobra Kai

Raymond joins the Cobra Kai team at the start of season two. His motivations to join Cobra Kai stem more from his desire to experience a sense of camaraderie than to improve his poor martial arts skills. Technically, Raymond shouldn’t be there since Cobra Kai mostly teaches kids, but Johnny needs people who can pay him.

Despite his age, Raymond is about as emotionally developed as the kids in Cobra Kai. Because Raymond is mostly comic relief, there’s not a lot of room in the script for him to grow or mature into someone important.

6 Anthony LaRusso Is The Same Spoiled Kid He Always Was

Anthony is the least mature of the LaRusso kids, and possibly the least mature character in Cobra Kai. He displays all the signs of a spoiled child, spending the first half of Cobra Kai absorbed in his video games. Anthony never took to the training that Samantha got, and as a result, has none of her discipline.

He receives a larger role in season four, but he has changed very little, if at all. Anthony has gone from dismissive child to middle school bully. Some of season four’s events hint at Anthony’s future development, but they have yet to materialize.

5 Carmen Diaz Doesn’t Get Much Development As Miguel’s Mom

Carmen Diaz is the mother of Cobra Kai student, Miguel. Initially, she’s concerned that Miguel isn’t paying enough attention to his intellectual pursuits and is becoming too involved in karate. As a parent who isn’t a main character, Carmen’s core personality trait as is simply that she loves her son.

The most growth Carmen experiences over the course of the series takes place when she understands Miguel needs to have multiple ways to express himself. Aside from that, her only other change comes when she becomes Johnny’s girlfriend.

4 John Kreese Remains A Twisted Villain

While John Kreese has seen hard times since the original film, he never became a better man. John Kreese bullies Johnny Lawrence and Terry Silver, attempting to establish himself as the alpha. Occasionally, he shows a soft spot for Johnny, but he can’t let go of his past. Kreese is bound to the idea that people need to be harsh and unforgiving to survive — a belief which made him such a strong antagonist to begin with.

3 Amanda LaRusso Exists To Talk Sense Into Everyone Else

Amanda LaRusso has served the same role for most of the series. She exists to point out how silly the events surrounding the other characters are. Amanda grounds the cast, reminding them this is real life and not a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. She also does a fair share of heavy lifting to keep the family business running. Although Amanda recently discovered how dangerous men like John Kreese can be, she still prefers to approach things the way she believes a normal person would instead of answering karate with karate.

2 Moon Has Maintained Her Path Of Nonviolence

Moon appears early in season one as Yasmine’s not-so-bright best friend. Despite Yasmine being the ultimate mean girl, Moon is different. Although Moon is initially mean to Aisha, her personality does a 180 flip after she witnesses the violence between Aisha and Yasmine.

Moon abhors any form of violence and refuses to learn karate even for defending herself. Several seasons later, Moon is still the same character she was before. The most she ever did was stand up to Eli and dump him for being a bully.

1 Kyler Park Remains A Superficial Bully

Kyler makes his debut as a bully of Miguel, Eli, and Demetri. The moment Miguel learns karate however, Kyler immediately backs off. When John Kreese eventually recruits him into the Cobra Kai dojo, he returns to his overconfident and bullying ways, aware he can now back up his words with physical force. There’s no depth to Kyler’s character because he was designed to be a static character. He was meant to be an easy wall for other characters to climb over, paving the way for their victories at Kyler’s expense.