History Characters / TheKarateKidKylerPark

* EvilerThanThou: Kyler serves as a measuring stick as to how far some characters will go in their villainy. Kyler is more despicable than both generations of Cobra Kai; he lacks the admirable camaraderie the original Cobra Kais had, as he had no problem dropping Brucks when it was no longer convenient for him. He also lacks the sympathetic backstories both generations of Cobra Kais have and was evil even before joining rather than because of joining. However, he lacks the intensity and sadism of bigger threats like Hawk, Robby, and especially Kenny.

* DomesticAbuser: Perhaps the only reason why he's going out with Sam is so that he could get inside her pants. He attempts to date-rape her during the Halloween party (only for Daniel to come and stop him), in addition to making sexual advances during their movie night. As soon as Sam breaks up with him, he slut-shames her out of petty revenge (even using Daniel's defaced billboard as "evidence").

* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: While he is TheBully to Miguel and his friends, Kyler does at least seem to be an alright boyfriend towards Sam, until it's revealed he never truly loved or respected her, and just wanted to get in her pants. He later spreads vicious rumors about Sam after she fends off his attempt to date-rape her. [[spoiler:Season 3 proves he has not changed one bit even after Miguel kicked his ass as he continues to bully kids who are weaker than him or can't fight back (like Demetri with a broken arm). He then joins Cobra Kai so he can reassert himself over Miguel and his friends.]]

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Yes, he'll go as far as to sexually abuse Sam for his own gratification (as shown at the Halloween party and their movie night). Even prior to their relationship, Kyler actually ''succeeded'' in date-raping another girl using the same "Grandma's Bracelet" tactic he tried doing on Sam.

* EvilerThanThou: Kyler is more despicable than both generations of Cobra Kai; he lacks the admirable camaraderie the original Cobra Kais had, as he had no problem dropping Brucks when it was no longer convenient for him. He also lacks the sympathetic backstories both generations of Cobra Kais have and was evil even before joining rather than because of joining.

* AxCrazy: He's a psychotic, vicious and sadistic brute who takes sick pleasure in making others miserable and he even spends a lot of time beating up Miguel in the Season 3 finale after he spent most of the season being handicapped.

* JerkJock: Kyler is an athletic wrestler who's pretty much a relentless bully in high school and loves to terrorize people for fun.

* LaughablyEvil: While Kyler is a despicable bully, his stupidity and douchey attitude is pretty hilarious, especially in Season 3 when he whines that his father will crap in his mouth if he doesn't pass trigonometry.

* TookALevelInJerkass: While he's always been a boorish jerk, for the first half of Season 1 he at least makes the effort to pretend to be a nice person, to the point of convincing Sam to go out with him and making a decent enough impression on Daniel and Amanda the first time he meets them so they don't realize he's only interested in getting into Sam's pants. After his breakup with Sam and especially when he returns in Season 3, he seems to go out of his way to KickTheDog as often and publicly as possible.

* ForWantOfANail: All the shit going on with karate in the valley started... because Kyler and his goons got pissed off at Miguel for [[DisproportionateRetribution exposing them while buying beer]]. Ironically, [[spoiler:he eventually starts benefiting from it once Kreese recruits him]].
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: To Cobra Kai in season 4. Kenny has a minor rivalry with him due to Kyler hazing him when he joins the dojo, and Robby and Tory will take any chance to avoid hanging out with him. Piper is also clearly unimpressed by him in their one brief interaction.
* HateSink: Compare to the GreyAndGrayMorality setup that most of the other characters have, Kyler is clearly written to be as unlikable as possible and has little to no redeeming traits. Even when Cobra Kai's students start falling under HeWhoFightsMonsters, they are still not as awful as Kyler and many at least have understandable reasons for how they act. Season 3 reaffirms that the guy hasn't changed one bit, [[spoiler:especially his ''love'' of penile drawings and willingness to attack Miguel as the guy is still recovering from his coma and paralysis]]. Even his one redeeming trait in Season 1, his VillainousFriendship with his gang, is ultimately lost when he abandons his best friend Brucks to join Cobra Kai. Later seasons discard this trope slightly, not by giving him redeeming qualities but by making him comically stupid and somewhat laughably evil.

* [[Sadism His sadistic streak.]] Kyler rarely fights properly, because he's always more focused on [[KicktheDog tormenting and provoking people]] than actually fighting them. When he gets Johnny in a hold, he doesn't secure it because he'd rather taunt and punch him, which gives Johnny an opportunity to escape. Even after being trained at Cobra Kai, he makes the same mistake in his rematch with Miguel as he'd rather brutalize and mock him than knock him out quickly, giving Miguel a chance to get a HeroicSecondWind. He does better in an actual spar with rules since he is forced to take things seriously. This is also emphasized during his match with Eli during the All-Valley; he still taunts Eli, calling him "Lip", and is overconfident that he will defeat him easily. Unfortunately for him, Eli dispatches Kyler in 20 seconds flat.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Kyler was initially a generic high school bully that everyone feared and was a no-nonsense brute when it came to beating others up. However, he knew when to pick his battles once he recognised the skills and strength of his opponent as with Miguel. His later appearances has him be a lot sloppier in fighting (failing to headlock Kenny, despite being bigger and wrestling being his speciality) and much more foolish where he tries fighting opponents who easily beat him in the past such as Hawk and even Robby (very briefly in a FreezeFrameBonus) in the Season 5 finale.

[[Sadism His sadistic streak.]] Kyler rarely fights properly, because he's always more focused on [[KicktheDog tormenting and provoking people]] than actually fighting them. When he gets Johnny in a hold, he doesn't secure it because he'd rather taunt and punch him, which gives Johnny an opportunity to escape. Even after being trained at Cobra Kai, he makes the same mistake in his rematch with Miguel as he'd rather brutalize and mock him than knock him out quickly, giving Miguel a chance to get a HeroicSecondWind. He does better in an actual spar with rules since he is forced to take things seriously. This is also emphasized during his match with Eli during the All-Valley; he still taunts Eli, calling him "Lip", and is overconfident that he will defeat him easily. Unfortunately for him, Eli dispatches Kyler in 20 seconds flat.

[[Sadism Sadism]] Kyler is too much of a sadistic bully to fight properly, he's always more focused on [[KicktheDog tormenting and provoking people]] than actually fighting them. When he gets Johnny in a hold, he doesn't secure it because he'd rather taunt and punch him, which gives Johnny an opportunity to escape. Even after being trained at Cobra Kai, he makes the same mistake in his rematch with Miguel as he'd rather brutalize and mock him than knock him out quickly, giving Miguel a chance to get a HeroicSecondWind. He does better in an actual spar with rules since he is forced to take things seriously. This is also emphasized during his match with Eli during the All-Valley; he still taunts Eli, calling him "Lip", and is overconfident that he will defeat him easily. Unfortunately for him, Eli dispatches Kyler in 20 seconds flat.
** [[InsufferableImbecile: Incompetence.]] Kyler is at his core a DumbJock who likes [[TheBully picking on those weaker]] than him to bloat his ego. And ego which leaves him unable, [[IRejectYourReality or just unwilling to accept]] that his former victims [[TookALevelinBadass have become strong enough to fight back]] even after learning karate himself. The smart thing to do would be to leave them alone, but he wants to feel like a big shot so badly that at one point he's reduced to taking orders from a kid who hasn't even entered high school yet. Hawk even points out that Kyler never quits because every time he fails badly, his ego is too massive to let him stop and he's too stupid to learn from his mistakes.

** '''[[InsufferableImbecile: Incompetence.]] Kyler is at his core a DumbJock who likes [[TheBully picking on those weaker]] than him to bloat his ego. Which leaves him unable, [[IRejectYourReality or just unwilling to accept]] that his former victims [[TookALevelinBadass have become strong enough to fight back]] even after learning karate himself. The smart thing to do would be to leave them alone, but he wants to feel like a big shot so badly that at one point he's reduced to taking orders from a kid who hasn't even entered high school yet. Hawk even points out that Kyler never quits because every time he fails badly, his ego is too massive to let him stop and he's too stupid to learn from his mistakes.

* FatalFlaw: [[TheSadist Sadism]] Kyler is too much of a sadistic bully to fight properly, he's always more focused on [[KicktheDog tormenting and provoking people]] than actually fighting them. When he gets Johnny in a hold, he doesn't secure it because he'd rather taunt and punch him, which gives Johnny an opportunity to escape. Even after being trained at Cobra Kai, he makes the same mistake in his rematch with Miguel as he'd rather brutalize and mock him than knock him out quickly, giving Miguel a chance to get a HeroicSecondWind. He does better in an actual spar with rules since he is forced to take things seriously. This is also emphasized during his match with Eli during the All-Valley; he still taunts Eli, calling him "Lip", and is overconfident that he will defeat him easily. Unfortunately for him, Eli dispatches Kyler in 20 seconds flat.

* FatalFlaw: Kyler is too much of a sadistic bully to fight properly. When he gets Johnny in a hold, he doesn't secure it because he'd rather taunt and punch him, which gives Johnny an opportunity to escape. Even after being trained at Cobra Kai, he makes the same mistake in his rematch with Miguel as he'd rather brutalize and mock him than knock him out quickly, giving Miguel a chance to get a HeroicSecondWind. He does better in an actual spar with rules since he is forced to take things seriously. This is also emphasized during his match with Eli during the All-Valley; he still taunts Eli, calling him "Lip", and is overconfident that he will defeat him easily. Unfortunately for him, Eli dispatches Kyler in 20 seconds flat.

* VillainousFriendship: With Cobra Kai in Seasons 3 and 4. In fact, in Season 4 we see that as long as you're on his good side, he's surprisingly pretty easy to get along with. He invites his fellow students to do things like watch movies or buy shoes, even inviting Tory with the implication of buying her some (he notes Tory would look nice in some Dunks and the viewer would know that she doesn't have the excess cash to spare on a luxury like new shoes often), and you can tell he enjoys their company. He also seems genuinely fond of Kenny and believes he's doing him a favor by bolstering Kenny's cred through Kyler's own popularity as Cobra Kai's leader (said status exists only in his head but it's the thought that counts). While he's not seen hanging out with his wrestling gang anymore, and his friendship with Brucks is likely dissolved, Kyler mentions he got the drive-in movie tickets from Rory, the very tall Caucasian in his gang, in the first place. This confirms that he is still on good terms with at least one of his old wrestling friends.

** He refuses to make up for his mistake and take the cobra from the enclosure bare-handed, letting [[spoiler:Robby]] do it and earn Kreese's respect.

* {{Sadist}}: Kyler enjoys hurting people for his own sake. Even at their worst moments, Miguel and the majority of Cobra Kai at least have understandable motives for their aggression and don't indiscriminately go after people who didn't provoke them first. [[spoiler:And during the invasion of Sam’s house, his “payback time” on Miguel borders on torture. He absolutely revels in taking advantage of the guy still recovering from a near-fatal injury by choke-dragging him by the neck and repeatedly punching him in the area of said injury.]] And unlike most of the Cobra Kai students, Kyler seems to be aware that the dojo's philosophy is immoral but simply ''[[ForTheEvulz doesn't care]]''.

* {{Sadist}}: Kyler enjoys hurting people for his own sake. Even at their worst moments, Miguel and the majority of Cobra Kai at least have understandable motives for their aggression and don't indiscriminately go after people who didn't provoke them first. [[spoiler:And during the invasion of Sam’s house, his “payback time” on Miguel borders on torture. He absolutely revels in taking advantage of the guy still recovering from a near-fatal injury by choke-dragging him by the neck and repeatedly punching him in the area of said injury.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kylerpark.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"So we gonna throw down or what, let's go!"'']]

* PetTheDog: Throughout Season 4, he actually pays for luxuries for the Cobra Kais to enjoy, which is an unusually kind gesture for him.

!!!'''Played by:''' Joe Seo

* WouldHurtAChild: Downplayed as he is a minor himself but Kyler has no qualms in attacking the smaller Kenny during a disagreement and was more than happy to gang up on Anthony with Kenny and Cobra Kai to continuously bully him.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: After the cafeteria beating, Kyler does not seek revenge on Miguel, and in fact avoids him at all costs thereafter, even to the point of suggesting that Yasmine move her birthday party elsewhere after he spots Miguel at the beach that their clique was headed to. His gang follows, except for Moon, who decides to join Aisha's party while Yasmine ends up being humiliated by Aisha for her past behavior.

** He also considers ASU (Arizona State University) as his top choice for college, going as far as to call it, the ''Harvard'' of the West Coast. Yes, a well-known party school with a high acceptance rate, when much more prestigious universities on the West Coast exist. Either he hasn't done his research, or he might have a ''slight'' chance of getting accepted.[[note]]ASU ''has'' been called number one in innovation, but that hardly matters here[[/note]]

** He also considers ASU (Arizona State University) as his top choice for college, going as far as to call it, the ''Harvard'' of the West Coast. Yes, a well-known party school with a high acceptance rate, when much more prestigious universities on the West Coast exist. Either he hasn't done his research, or he might have a ''slight'' chance of getting accepted.

* ItsAllAboutMe: It's made repeatedly clear that Kyler doesn't really care about anyone but himself. [[spoiler:By Season 5, he becomes this when Robby leaves Cobra Kai — seeing himself as the dojo's "Alpha Male," even though Kenny proves further and further that he's the better leader and fighter. This goes to extreme lengths in the finale when he tries to ''take credit'' for everything that has happened at the dojo, even though he was on Cobra Kai's side the whole time]].