History Characters / TheKarateKidJohnnyLawrence

** Terry Silver, whom Johnny has never even heard of before the All-Valley Tournament board brings up [[TheManBehindTheMan his involvement]] in [[Film/TheKarateKidPartIII the events that got the Cobra Kai dojo permanently banned from the tournament in 1985]] in the first season of ''Series/CobraKai'' (which Johnny was not around to witness), does not even encounter in person until Silver reveals that he has joined forces with Kreese and arrives at the Miyagi-Do dojo mid-way through the fourth season (when Silver focuses most of his attention on his former student Daniel), and does not even properly interact with until Shannon informs him about Silver's unsavory efforts to become an EvilMentor to Robby later in the fourth season. Conversely, though, Terry Silver has long been aware of Johnny's status as what Kreese considers to be his best student, and jealously resents Johnny for diverting Kreese's attention from his friendship with Silver, and by extension, unknowingly thwarting Silver's ambitions to have Cobra Kai compete in the Sekai Taikai in a bid for worldwide expansion (since Kreese would rather focus his energies on training Johnny). He also blames Johnny for Kreese's downward spiral when he [[SecondPlaceIsForLosers "lost"]] the [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 1984 All-Valley Tournament]] and [[Film/TheKarateKidPartII abandoned Cobra Kai alongside all of the other students]], and looks down on Johnny for his poor parenting skills with Robby.

** Terry Silver, whom Johnny has never even heard of before the All-Valley Tournament board brings up [[TheManBehindTheMan his involvement]] in [[Film/TheKarateKidPartIII the events that got the Cobra Kai dojo permanently banned from the tournament in 1985]] in the first season of ''Series/CobraKai'' (which Johnny was not around to witness), does not even encounter in person until Silver reveals that he has joined forces with Kreese and arrives at the Miyagi-Do dojo mid-way through the fourth season (when Silver focuses most of his attention on his former student Daniel), and does not even properly interact with until Shannon informs him about Silver's unsavory efforts to become an EvilMentor to Robby later in the fourth season. Conversely, though, Terry Silver has long been aware of Johnny's status as what Kreese considers to be his best student, and jealously resents Johnny for diverting Kreese's attention from his friendship with Silver, and by extension, unknowingly thwarting Silver's ambitions to have Cobra Kai compete in the Sekai Taikai in a bid for worldwide expansion (since Kreese would rather focus his energies on training Johnny). He also blames Johnny for Kreese's downward spiral when he [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 "lost" the 1984 All-Valley Tournament]] and [[Film/TheKarateKidPartII abandoned Cobra Kai alongside all of the other students]], and looks down on Johnny for his poor parenting skills with Robby.

** Terry Silver, whom Johnny has never even heard of before the All-Valley Tournament board brings up [[TheManBehindTheMan his involvement]] in [[Film/TheKarateKidPartIII the events that got the Cobra Kai dojo permanently banned from the tournament in 1985]] in the first season of ''Series/CobraKai'' (which Johnny was not around to witness), does not even encounter in person until Silver reveals that he has joined forces with Kreese and arrives at the Miyagi-Do dojo mid-way through the fourth season (when Silver focuses most of his attention on his former student Daniel), and does not even properly interact with until Shannon informs him about Silver's unsavory efforts to become an EvilMentor to Robby later in the fourth season. Conversely, though, Terry Silver has long been aware of Johnny's status as what Kreese considers to be his best student, and jealously resents Johnny for diverting Kreese's attention from his friendship with Silver, and by extension, unknowingly thwarting Silver's ambitions to have Cobra Kai compete in the Sekai Taikai in a bid for worldwide expansion (since Kreese would rather focus his energies on training Johnny), while also blaming Johnny for Kreese's downward spiral when he [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 "lost" the 1984 All-Valley Tournament]] and [[Film/TheKarateKidPartII abandoned Cobra Kai alongside all of the other students]], and looking down on him for his poor parenting skills with Robby.

** Terry Silver, whom Johnny has never even heard of before the All-Valley Tournament board brings up [[TheManBehindTheMan his involvement]] in [[Film/TheKarateKidPartIII the events that got the Cobra Kai dojo permanently banned from the tournament in 1985]] in the first season of ''Series/CobraKai'' (which Johnny was not around to witness), does not even encounter in person until Silver reveals that he has joined forces with Kreese and arrives at the Miyagi-Do dojo mid-way through the fourth season (when Silver focuses most of his attention on his former student Daniel), and does not even properly interact with until Shannon informs him about Silver's unsavory efforts to become an EvilMentor to Robby later in the fourth season. Conversely, though, Terry Silver has long been aware of Johnny's status as what Kreese considers to be his best student, and jealously resents Johnny for diverting Kreese's attention from his friendship with Silver, and by extension, unknowingly thwarting Silver's ambitions to have Cobra Kai compete in the Sekai Taikai in a bid for worldwide expansion (since Kreese would rather focus his energies on training Johnny), while also blaming Johnny for Kreese's downward spiral when he [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 "lost" the 1984 All-Valley Tournament]] and [[Film/TheKarateKidPartII abandoned Cobra Kai alongside all of the other students]].

** Terry Silver, whom Johnny has never even heard of before the All-Valley Tournament board brings up [[TheManBehindTheMan his involvement]] in [[Film/TheKarateKidPartIII the events that got the Cobra Kai dojo permanently banned from the tournament in 1985]] in the first season of ''Series/CobraKai'' (which Johnny was not around to witness), does not even encounter in person until Silver reveals that he has joined forces with Kreese and arrives at the Miyagi-Do dojo mid-way through the fourth season (when Silver focuses most of his attention on his former student Daniel), and does not even properly interact with until Shannon informs him about Silver's unsavory efforts to become an EvilMentor to Robby later in the fourth season. Conversely, though, Terry Silver has long been aware of Johnny's status as what Kreese considers to be his best student, and jealously resents Johnny for diverting Kreese's attention from his friendship with Silver, and by extension, unknowingly thwarting Silver's ambitions to have Cobra Kai compete in the Sekai Taikai in a bid for worldwide expansion (since Kreese would rather focus his energies on training Johnny), while also blaming Johnny for his friend's downward spiral when he [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 "lost" the 1984 All-Valley Tournament]] and [[Film/TheKarateKidPartII abandoned Cobra Kai alongside all of the other students]].

** Terry Silver, whom Johnny has never even heard of before the All-Valley Tournament board brings up [[TheManBehindTheMan his involvement]] in [[Film/TheKarateKidPartIII the events that got the Cobra Kai dojo permanently banned from the tournament in 1985]] in the first season of ''Series/CobraKai'' (which Johnny was not around to witness), does not even encounter in person until Silver reveals that he has joined forces with Kreese and arrives at the Miyagi-Do dojo mid-way through the fourth season (when Silver focuses most of his attention on his former student Daniel), and does not even properly interact with until Shannon informs him about Silver's unsavory efforts to become an EvilMentor to Robby later in the fourth season. Conversely, though, Terry Silver has long been aware of Johnny's status as what Kreese considers to be his best student, and jealously resents Johnny for diverting Kreese's attention from his friendship with Silver, and by extension, unknowingly thwarting Silver's ambitions to have Cobra Kai compete in the Sekai Taikai in a bid for worldwide expansion (since Kreese would rather focus his energies on training Johnny), while also blaming Johnny for his friend's downward spiral when he [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 "lost" the 1984 All-Valley Tournament and [[Film/TheKarateKidPartII abandoned Cobra Kai alongside all of the other students]].

** Terry Silver, whom Johnny has never even heard of before the All-Valley Tournament board brings up [[TheManBehindTheMan his involvement]] in [[Film/TheKarateKidPartIII the events that got the Cobra Kai dojo permanently banned from the tournament in 1985]] in the first season of ''Series/CobraKai'' (which Johnny was not around to witness), does not even encounter in person until Silver reveals that he has joined forces with Kreese and arrives at the Miyagi-Do dojo mid-way through the fourth season (when Silver focuses most of his attention on his former student Daniel), and does not even properly interact with until Shannon informs him about Silver's unsavory efforts to become an EvilMentor to Robby later in the fourth season. Conversely, though, Terry Silver has long been aware of Johnny's status as what Kreese considers to be his best student, and jealously resents Johnny for diverting Kreese's attention from his friendship with Silver, and by extension, unknowingly thwarting Silver's ambitions to have Cobra Kai compete in the Sekai Taikai in a bid for worldwide expansion (since Kreese would rather focus his energies on training Johnny).

** Terry Silver, whom Johnny has never even heard of before the All-Valley Tournament board brings up [[TheManBehindTheMan his involvement]] in [[Film/TheKarateKidPartIII the events that got the Cobra Kai dojo permanently banned from the tournament in 1985]] in the first season of ''Series/CobraKai'' (which Johnny was not around to witness), does not even encounter in person until Silver reveals that he has joined forces with Kreese and arrives at the Miyagi-Do dojo mid-way through the fourth season (when Silver focuses most of his attention on his former student Daniel), and does not even properly interact with until Shannon informs him about Silver's unsavory efforts to become an EvilMentor to Robby later in the fourth season. Conversely, though, Terry Silver has long been aware of Johnny's status as what Kreese considers to be his best student, and jealously resents Johnny for both diverting Kreese's attention from his friendship with Silver, and unknowingly thwarting Silver's ambitions to have Cobra Kai compete in the Sekai Taikai by extension (since Kreese would rather focus his energies on training Johnny).

* CharClone: It's likely a coincidence, but Johnny has so many similarities to Char you have to wonder if it's at all intentional. He's blonde, was the ace rival of Daniel who now acts as a mentor to a younger generation of karate students, leads a revived version of the antagonist faction from the original ''Karate Kid'' film has some unresolved issues with Daniel over a LoveTriangle they were both in, drives a customized vehicle (a Dodge Challenger painted in the Cobra Kai colors) and has a relative among the opposing side (his son Robby). The only things he's lacking are a CoolMask and a red mobile suit (and a ChronicBackstabbingDisorder).
** As mentioned, young Johnny was similar to Char, but Johnny has a lot of similarities to Char when Char was Quattro as an adult. Johnny's attempts to be a good mentor to Miguel and later others is similar to Char being a mentor to Kamille, both mentors struggling due to their own personal issues. Even at their worst, their students still consider their mentor's input. Once Johnny tries to change the mindset of Cobra Kai, Kreese comes back and tries to get Johnny to bring back the old Cobra Kai, and Daniel takes a lot of convincing to see Johnny is changing for the better. This is similar to how people wouldn't let Char just be this new person Quattro, or improve in any positive way. Daniel's struggling to immediately accept Johnny and Johnny not helping issues by being a bit of a hypocrite is also similar to how Char essentially told Amuro to "get over it". Quattro's big speech about taking in Katz and then abandoning him fits Johnny's earlier teachings as a sensei, where he somewhat ignored some students and focused a lot on Miguel. Johnny and Quattro/Char, even at their lowest as mentors, have good intentions but tend to flub when it counts. This is where they differ, however, the WHY they have an issue with empathy. Johnny has a lot of trauma and spent a lot of time isolating himself, he is capable of great empathy but it took a while for his gruff exterior to let that show. Quattro/Char, meanwhile, is a sociopath trying to do his best to empathize with others, and can at best explain why they're feeling the way they do but not caring or even being able to give feedback that feels appropriate to the situation. Miguel and Kamille both call their mentors out on this, and while it leads to character development for both, Quattro's is about how he's frustrated because he just doesn't understand. If one considers Zeon to be the Cobra Kai to an Earth Federation Miyagi-Do, when Johnny becomes disillusioned with Cobra Kai and doesn't want to be part of Miyagi-Do, Eagle Fang is his Neo-Zeon or AEUG. Unlike Neo-Zeon and more like AEUG, Eagle Fang is however not an evil group and focuses on Johnny's newfound perspective on both himself and some of Cobra Kai's teachings, focusing on being badass.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's a rude and crude ManChild, but he's trying to become a better person and is honestly trying to help his students.

* ManlyManAndSensitiveGuy: While both are skilled karate masters, Johnny is the manly man to Daniel's sensitive guy.

* TheMentor: An abrasive and crass one, but he still has the best intentions and his advice is more often than not actually very good.

* RedOniBlueOni: While they're both rather hot-headed and stubborn, Johnny serves as a headstrong and reckless Red Oni to Daniel's level-headed and rational Blue Oni.

* SlobsVersusSnobs: Johnny's a scruffy, boorish and lazy Slob and Daniel's an affluent, cultured, diligent Snob.

* JadedWashout: A former teen karate champion now a middle-aged down-on-his-luck handyman living by paycheck.

* {{Determinator}}: When he's committed or inspired, Johnny doesn't let '''''anything''''' keep him down. His revival of Cobra Kai and getting Miguel walk again are just two examples that Johnny has achieved due to largely out of his own perseverance. It's in fact one of his life's virtues, which he best gets across when he visit Miguel again following his surgery.

** Johnny and Daniel's search for Robby during Season 3 leads them to a confrontation with a gang of carjackers in an abandoned chop shop. Despite having the numbers and using weapons ([[GunsAreWorthless chains, pipes, and automobile tools]]), the two former All-Valley karate champs make quick work of the criminals and even perform a few sync moves and combos with one antoher.

* TheAce: As the two-time winner of the 1982 and 1983 All-Valley Karate Tournaments, he was obviously Cobra Kai's #1 student. Seemed to be Daniel's superior in nearly every way but honor. It's more impressive that he's able to surpass ''his own sensei, Kreese'' in combat skill 34 years later (even though the later is at an advanced age). [[spoiler:Season 5 further enforces this by showing Johnny not only beat an MMA champion in Mexico, but he defeats Kim Da-Eun's [[EliteMook handpicked senseis]] at Terry Silver's house ''by himself''... despite being both ''savagely'' beaten down and still quite drunk (though Mike Barnes helped him finish the last two off).]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Him putting his faith in his former Cobra Kai sensei ultimately becomes his own undoing, for [[spoiler:Kreese swipes control of the Cobra Kai dojo along with the loyalty of eight of his students, following the events of the school brawl]].

** Johnny reconnects with Ali in Season 3 and despite learning that she was separating from her husband, Johnny chooses not to try and pursue her again and Ali, in turn, encourages Johnny to find his future with Carmen.
** He and Shannon seem to be becoming this in Season 3, though anything would seem more amicable compared to the way they were before. They fully become this by Season 5; although they do not get back together, they now shared equal custody of Robby and Shannon is genuinely happy for Johnny when she learned he's expecting a child with Carmen and even helps Johnny get started with gig-working.

* CharacterDevelopment: Johnny entire arc is about reconciling with the past and learning to live for the present. Restarting Cobra Kai sets him on a path of a having a real and fulfilling career, building new relationships, atoning for past mistakes, and finding inner peace and closure. After regarding Ali as TheOneThatGotAway in the years since the original film and the first two seasons, [[spoiler:Johnny reconnects with her in Season 3 and realizes that, as great as their relationship was, it was in the past and what he really needed was closure. Thus, he departs with her as AmicableExes and chooses to pursue Carmen instead.]] In Season 5, [[spoiler:despite losing his ability to be a Sensei and Cobra Kai taking over the Valley, it's quite clear that Johnny is at peace with himself more than ever. He's able to completely mend the bond he has with Robby, retrieve Miguel from Mexico, and have a very loving relationship with Carmen, with a baby on the way to boot. He's even able to get Miguel and Robby to finally bury their own long-standing hatred, while also going the entire season keeping his friendship with Daniel without having their typical OnceASeason blowup. It's telling that he doesn't even enter the massive conflict during the season until halfway through. He does have a drunken rage moment as per usual, but one could argue it was goaded out by both Chozen and Mike's own drunken rage moments.]]

** Johnny says he never knew his real dad (and apparently never discussed it with Laura). Sid makes a couple of remarks to the effect of "at least I stuck around."
** It's later revealed in Season 4 [[spoiler:that wasn't entirely the case. Johnny's dad left when he was in kindergarten, with a young Johnny keeping a box of his things, including a period-accurate [[GenerationXerox Coors beer can]]. Johnny does imply to Miguel that he ''could'' track him down, but that's all the information we get]].
** Played with Robby. He's something of an estranged GenerationXerox case, despite having Robby's picture on the fridge and keeping his drawings, but at least Robby and Shannon know where to find him. See MyGreatestFailure.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Johnny's not a bad man, per se, but is certainly rough hewn and insensitive, with more than a few bad habits. He resents all of his past father figures (with good reasons), but still clearly cares deeply about his mother, even years after her death.

* MartialArtsHeadband: He wears his black headband from ''Film/TheKarateKid1984'' again when he restarts Cobra-Kai. He reveals that it was actually a gift from Ali.

* NeverMyFault: In the first season, Johnny recounts the events of the original film, and in both instances he downplays his own aggression towards Daniel to make himself out to have been the victim and Daniel the antagonist. [[spoiler:He gets over this attitude when Ali reunites with both men and forces them to acknowledge that they both bear some responsibility for what happened.]]

** After he starts making a profit from the new Cobra Kai, Johnny declares he never needed Sid's money, conveniently ignoring how he's depended on that money most of his life, especially when he used Sid's last check to re-open Cobra Kai.

* {{Catchphrase}}: "Badass" and ("Don't be a") "pussy". Also '''''[[BigShutUp "QUIET!"]]'''''

* CallingTheOldManOut: Johnny's last visit to his stepfather's has him return money given to him by the latter, now that Cobra Kai is in a financially stable position. Sid claims his stepson will be back for more... only for him to quip that he no longer needs to rely on his stepfather for financial support, and smugly leaves, while Sid is left speechless.

* UngratefulBastard: He doesn't thank his stepfather for bailing him out of jail, instead bluntly questioning what he's doing in Johnny's apartment. Though the fact that Sid is a classic AbusiveParent also has something to do with this.

* AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: After Johnny has spent most of the series tormented about his failure to be a good dad to Robby, [[spoiler:the Season 4 finale ''finally'' has Robby needing comfort and Johnny able to provide it, without anyone or anything else getting in the way. It's a shame Miguel had to run away to Mexico for the moment to happen]].

* CuttingTheKnot: Fitting the nature of Cobra Kai and his own attitude, Johnny tends to brute force his way through problems when things don’t work out. When first trying to visit Miguel in ICU disguised as a doctor, he realizes quickly that it won’t work and beats his head in until he’s injured enough to be admitted. Similarly, after attempts to beg Sid for money for Miguel’s surgery fail, he just snatches one of Sid’s art pieces to pawn off.

* WontGetFooledAgain: To Johnny's credit, after his misplaced trust and forgiveness of Kreese backfires and results in Kreese usurping Cobra Kai from him, he wises up and refuses to listen to any of Kreese's further manipulations and attempts at reconciliation thereafter

** As mentioned, young Johnny was similar to Char, but Johnny has a lot of similarities to Char when Char was Quattro as an adult. Johnny's attempts to be a good mentor to Miguel and later others is similar to Char being a mentor to Kamille, both mentors struggling due to their own personal issues. Even at their worst, their students still consider their mentor's input. Once Johnny tries to change the mindset of Cobra Kai, Kreese comes back and tries to get Johnny to bring back the old Cobra Kai, and Daniel takes a lot of convincing to see Johnny is changing for the better. This is similar to how people wouldn't let Char just be this new person Quattro, or improve in any positive way. Daniel's struggling to immediately accept Johnny and Johnny not helping issues by being a bit of a hypocrite is also similar to how Char essentially told Amuro to "get over it". Quattro's big speech about taking in Katz and then abandoning him fits Johnny's earlier teachings as a sensei, where he somewhat ignored some students and focused a lot on Miguel. Johnny and Quattro/Char, even at their lowest as mentors, have good intentions but tend to flub when it counts. This is where they differ, however, the WHY they have an issue with empathy. Johnny has a lot of trauma and spent a lot of time isolating himself, he is capable of great empathy but it took a while for his gruff exterior to let that show. Quattro/Char, meanwhile, is a sociopath trying to do his best to empathize with others, and can at best explain why they're feeling the way they do but not caring or even being able to give feedback that feels appropriate to the situation. Miguel and Kamille both call their mentors out on this, and while it leads to character development for both, Quattro's is about how he's frustrated because he just doesn't understand. If one considers Zeon to be the Cobra Kai to an Earth Federation Miyagi-Do, when Johnny becomes disillusioned with Cobra Kai and doesn't want to be part of Miyagi-Do, Eagle Fang is his Neo-Zeon. Unlike Neo-Zeon, Eagle Fang is however not an evil group and focuses on Johnny's newfound perspective on both himself and some of Cobra Kai's teachings, focusing on being badass.

* DecoyProtagonist: At the start of the series' premiere, Johnny is unquestionably the main character, as it centers around him struggling to adjust to life after his 1984 All-Valley defeat, to finding new purpose by training Miguel and reopening the titular Cobra Kai dojo. Daniel is introduced in that same episode, but he's portrayed mainly as a {{Foil}} to Johnny and an opposing force to the show's main subject (Cobra Kai gaining relevancy as a haven for bullied students to learn karate). Things gets a little complicated when Daniel's Miyagi-Do becomes more and more prevalent to the series — effectively having Daniel share the spotlight with Johnny. However after Kreese usurps Cobra Kai from Johnny and Johnny aligns more with Miyagi-Do, Daniel become more and more the central character of the show — which reaches its peak when he's the one finishing off Terry Silver in Season 5.

-->'''Johnny:''' All this new-age crap, like jiu-jitsu, taekwondo, they're all just cheap knock-offs of karate.

** As mentioned, young Johnny was similar to Char, but Johnny has a lot of similarities to Char when Char was Quattro as an adult. Johnny's attempts to be a good mentor to Miguel and later others is similar to Char being a mentor to Kamille, both mentors struggling due to their own personal issues. Even at their worst, their students still consider their mentor's input. Once Johnny tries to change the mindset of Cobra Kai, Kreese comes back and tries to get Johnny to bring back the old Cobra Kai, and Daniel takes a lot of convincing to see Johnny is changing for the better. This is similar to how people wouldn't let Char just be this new person Quattro, or improve in any positive way. Daniel's struggling to immediately accept Johnny and Johnny not helping issues by being a bit of a hypocrite is also similar to how Char essentially told Amuro to "get over it". Quattro's big speech about taking in Katz and then abandoning him fits Johnny's earlier teachings as a sensei, where he somewhat ignored some students and focused a lot on Miguel. Johnny and Quattro/Char, even at their lowest at mentors, have good intentions but tend to flub when it counts. This is where they differ, however, the WHY they have an issue with empathy. Johnny has a lot of trauma and spent a lot of time isolating himself, he is capable of great empathy but it took a while for his gruff exterior to let that show. Quattro/Char, meanwhile, is a sociopath trying to do his best to empathize with others, and can at best explain why they're feeling the way they do but not caring or even being able to give feedback that feels appropriate to the situation. Miguel and Kamille both call their mentors out on this, and while it leads to character development for both, Quattro's is about how he's frustrated because he just doesn't understand. If one considers Zeon to be the Cobra Kai to an Earth Federation Miyagi-Do, when Johnny becomes disillusioned with Cobra Kai and doesn't want to be part of Miyagi-Do, Eagle Fang is his Neo-Zeon. Unlike Neo-Zeon, Eagle Fang is however not an evil group and focuses on Johnny's newfound perspective on both himself and some of Cobra Kai's teachings, focusing on being badass.