History Woobie / CobraKai

* The first episode makes a point of doing this to Johnny. In the first episode, he's made clear to be a binge drinker who lives alone, he's abused by a client, he gets fired from his job, and mistaken for a homeless man. Among other things. While he's still a dick, it's made clear he has a broken life. It gets worse when the full extent of his home life as a child is revealed and his jerkass behavior becomes completely understandable. Despite all that, he managed to have an excellent relationship with his mother. By the end of Season 2, Johnny has [[spoiler: lost everything, his best student Miguel is in a coma that was caused by his son (who is now most likely on the run), Miguel's mother wants nothing to do with him just when they were both falling for each other and he breaks in tears when he thinks about how he promised that he would do the right things by Miguel]].

* Robby Keene. When we first meet him, he's a rude and aggressive criminal delinquent and he remains an AntagonisticOffspring to Johnny even while Johnny's genuinely trying to make amends and be a better father, but given how Johnny was never there for him growing up and Shannon is a selfish GoldDigger, it's easy to interpret his bad behaviour as a cry for attention from his two neglectful, alcoholic parents. Even when he [[spoiler:makes a FaceHeelTurn and joins Kreese's Cobra Kai at the end of Season 3, it's not hard to understand why he feels that Daniel and Johnny have failed him and latches on to Kreese as the only thing resembling a positive father figure left in his life.]] [[spoiler: Season 4 drives him to yet another rock-bottom, as he attempts to be the mentor he wished he had to bullying victim Kenny Payne only makes Kenny an outright ''murderous'' AxCrazy bully who vows to show no mercy to his former tormentors.]]

* Kenny Payne. Despite having a deployed dad, a mom who works long hours, and his brother Shawn in juvie, he starts off as a happy-go-lucky kid who's excited for his new school. Then he meets Anthony and his friends, who are the embodiment of KidsAreCruel as they repeatedly publicly humiliate him just because he's a bit of a geek. The bullying gets so bad that Shawn directs him to Robby so he can learn karate. This makes things worse for him as it not only puts him under the direct influence of John Kreese and Cobra Kai, but it also makes him a part of the dojo war and the Miyagi-dos/Eagle Fangs are quick to treat him just like the other Cobras despite the fact he did nothing to them. By the end of the season, he has fully embraced the Cobra Kai mentality as a JerkassWoobie. [[spoiler: In Season 5, Kenny's trust issues resurface when he thinks Robby has betrayed him to rejoin Miyagi-Do, and his [[Sanity Slippage sanity begins to spiral out of control]] until the end of the season where Anthony (his ex-bully) shows him evidence that Silver doesn't believe in him or any of his teammates all along.]]

* Robby Keene. When we first meet him, he's a rude and aggressive criminal delinquent and he remains an AntagonisticOffspring to Johnny even while Johnny's genuinely trying to make amends and be a better father, but given how Johnny was never there for him growing up and Shannon is a selfish GoldDigger, it's easy to interpret his bad behaviour as a cry for attention from his two neglectful, alcoholic parents. Even when he [[spoiler:makes a FaceHeelTurn and joins Kreese's Cobra Kai at the end of Season 3, it's not hard to understand why he feels that Daniel and Johnny have failed him and latches on to Kreese as the only thing resembling a positive father figure left in his life.]] [[spoiler: Season 4 drives him to yet another rock-bottom, as he attempts to be the mentor he wished he had to bullying victim Kenny Payne only makes Kenny an outright ''murderous'' AxCrazy bully who vows to show no mercy to his former tormentors.

* Robby Keene. When we first meet him, he's a rude and aggressive criminal delinquent and he remains an AntagonisticOffspring to Johnny even while Johnny's genuinely trying to make amends and be a better father, but given how Johnny was never there for him growing up and Shannon is a selfish GoldDigger, it's easy to interpret his bad behaviour as a cry for attention from his two neglectful, alcoholic parents. Even when he [[spoiler:makes a FaceHeelTurn and joins Kreese's Cobra Kai at the end of Season 3, it's not hard to understand why he feels that Daniel and Johnny have failed him and latches on to Kreese as the only thing resembling a positive father figure left in his life.]]

* Kenny Payne. Despite having a deployed dad, a mom who works long hours, and his brother Shawn in juvie, he starts off as a happy-go-lucky kid who's excited for his new school. Then he meets Anthony and his friends, who are the embodiment of KidsAreCruel as they repeatedly publicly humiliate him just because he's a bit of a geek. The bullying gets so bad that Shawn directs him to Robby so he can learn karate. This makes things worse for him as it not only puts him under the direct influence of John Kreese and Cobra Kai, but it also makes him a part of the dojo war and the Miyagi-dos/Eagle Fangs are quick to treat him just like the other Cobras despite the fact he did nothing to them. By the end of the season, he has fully embraced the Cobra Kai mentality as a JerkassWoobie.

* Tory's mother and brother, who are unable to take care of themselves and have their futures dependent on a girl who is fully willing to violate her probation and risk their future to satisfy a petty grudge. Her mom becomes even more so in Season 5 that while Tory has finally given up her petty grudge, her condition has gotten so bad they had to move a hospital bed into her apartment.

* Kreese, of all people, as revealed by his backstory in Season 3. He starts off as a bullied waiter whose mom committed suicide—and who knows what his childhood was like when he states to David that "he's been fighting his whole life." It doesn't get any better that he joins the Vietnam War, only to be taught a "no-mercy" mindset from his commanding officer and watching one of his comrades killed and his team captured because of his unwillingness to "shed his humanity." The revelation that his girlfriend was killed in a car accident (with the secret KEPT from him) from his commanding officer prior to taking him on was the last straw that prompted the idealistic young man to completely shed his humanity and adopt the no-mercy mindset—first by killing the man that taught him that.

* Kenny Payne. Despite having a deployed dad, a mom who works long hours, and his brother Shawn in juvie, he starts off as a happy-go-lucky kid who's excited for his new school. Then he meets Anthony and his friends, who are the embodiment of KidsAreCruel as they repeatedly publicly humiliate him just because he's a bit of a geek. The bullying gets so bad that Shawn directs him to Robby so he can learn karate. This makes things worse for him as it not only puts him under the direct influence of John Kreese and Cobra Kai, but it also makes him a part of the dojo war and the Miyagi-dos/Eagle Fangs are quick to treat him just like the other Cobras despite the fact he did nothing to them. By the end of the season, he has fully embraced the Cobra Kai mentality.

* Anthony turns out to be this in Season 4. Despite being a SpoiledBrat, he’s given a FreudianExcuse; his parents were too busy with their dealership, leaving technology as his babysitter, and only spent time with him for themselves. It’s also shown throughout the series that he’s TheUnfavorite, with Daniel and Amanda paying more attention to Sam over him, even though he brings it on himself at times. During a rare bonding time with Daniel, [[HiddenDepths he admits he feels left out of the family whenever it comes to discussions about Mr. Miyagi, having no memories of him.]] It’s no wonder why he goes to technology and being a {{Jerkass}} to fill in what's missing in him. He simply didn't know any better, and even become a PeerPressuredBully. Just when he finally sees the errors of his ways, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Kenny]] had shedded into the Cobra Kai Mentality, and gives him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. [[spoiler:Season 5 drives him straight into TheWoobie territory when he's the victim of Kenny's constant bullying (which surpasses '''everything''' that Anthony did to him in the past) despite him wanting to make up for his past actions]].

* Shawn himself when we learn that the whole reason he’s juvie is because he was defending Kenny from a so called friend who broke into their home. One wonders whether the thuggish way he acts was just a way to adapt the harsh environment the system put him in on unfair terms.

* Anthony turns out to be this in Season 4. Despite being a SpoiledBrat, he’s given a FreudianExcuse; his parents were too busy with their dealership, leaving technology as his babysitter, and only spent time with him for themselves. It’s also shown throughout the series that he’s TheUnfavorite, with Daniel and Amanda paying more attention to Sam over him, even though he brings it on himself at times. During a rare bonding time with Daniel, [[HiddenDepths he admits he feels left out of the family whenever it comes to discussions about Mr. Miyagi, having no memories of him.]] It’s no wonder why he goes to technology and being a {{Jerkass}} to fill in what's missing in him. He simply didn't know any better, and even become a PeerPressuredBully. Just when he finally sees the errors of his ways, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Kenny]] had shedded into the Cobra Kai Mentality, and gives him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.

* Tory is indisputably a violence-prone jerkass, but by the end of season 3, when more of her home life and poverty are revealed, it's hard not to feel at least a ''little'' sorry for her. It's also implied by Miguel that she's mentally ill and (even if a FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse) doesn't have access to the help she needs to deal with it. To further this, nearly all of the adults in her life are either manipulating her or taking advantage of her position in life to abuse her: her landlord tries to extort sex from her in exchange for forgiving lateness on rent and threatens to call the police on her if she doesn’t, her aunt financially abuses her mom's disability checks and if her mother dies, she plans to get custody of Tori's younger brother so she can cheat the system that way, and Kreese manipulates her so she can be one of his soldiers. The first adult to show her true no-strings-attached compassion is Amanda. Season 5 proceeds to place her in straight up Woobie territory, as she's finally realized how wrong her previous actions were and the danger Cobra Kai possesses and she wants to help take it down. However, her misplaced trust in Kreese and need to stay with the dojo as TheMole leads to her being flat out ''tortured'' by Sensei Kim.

* Raymond/Stingray is a genuinely buffoonish ManChild, but it's hard not to feel sorry for him when seeing the utterly crestfallen and ashamed look on his face when he lies to the police that Kreese was the one who assaulted him. Even after being [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech harshly berated]] by Kreese and then ''put in the hospital'' by Silver, Raymond still wants to return to Cobra Kai so badly he [[DealWithTheDevil accepts the terms of a sociopath]] who had just beaten the everliving hell out of him. When you consider the utter ridicule he endures at the hands of his neighbor and the hints that his family is none too fond of him either, it's easy to see that Cobra Kai is the only place where Raymond has ever felt like he belonged, and this is the degradation he's willing to swallow to not lose it. Season 5 takes this further by revealing he's actually quite insecure and had IWantToBeBadass aspirations that he's not sure he could achieve.
* Mike Barnes. Yes the ''Bad Boy of Karate''. And believe it or not, he barely even qualifies for the Jerkass part. By the time he reenters the picture he’s suffered the consequences of his actions by being banned from karate and turned his life completely around. He found a more healthy use for his energy in furniture and gotten married. He’s a genuine NiceGuy who only didn’t apologize to Daniel out of fear he’d trigger him. One visit from Daniel and Silver burns down his furniture store, leaving him broke and sending him on a downward spiral thinking Daniel is responsible. And to an extent, he’s right. Mike gets high and steals a limo that Daniel is in before suggesting they haphazardly attack Silver in his home which results in him almost loosing his life. It’s uncertain if he’ll be able to get back what he lost.

* Tory is indisputably a violence-prone jerkass, but by the end of season 3, when more of her home life and poverty are revealed, it's hard not to feel at least a ''little'' sorry for her. It's also implied by Miguel that she's mentally ill and (even if a FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse) doesn't have access to the help she needs to deal with it. To further this, nearly all of the adults in her life are either manipulating her or taking advantage of her position in life to abuse her: her landlord tries to extort sex from her in exchange for forgiving lateness on rent and threatens to call the police on her if she doesn’t, her aunt financially abuses her mom's disability checks and if her mother dies, she plans to get custody of Tori's younger brother so she can cheat the system that way, and Kreese manipulates her so she can be one of his soldiers. The first adult to show her true no-strings-attached compassion is Amanda.

* Tory's mother and brother, who are unable to take care of themselves and have their futures dependent on a girl who is fully willing to violate her probation and risk their future to satisfy a petty grudge.

* Mike Barnes. Yes the ''Bad Boy of Karate''. And believe it or not, he’s barely even a the Jerkass part. By the time he reenters the picture he’s suffered the consequences of his actions by being banned from karate and turned his life completely around. He found a more healthy use for his energy in furniture and gotten married. He’s a genuine NiceGuy who only didn’t apologize to Daniel out of fear he’d trigger him. One visit from Daniel and Silver burns down his furniture store, leaving him broke and sending him on a downward spiral thinking Daniel is responsible. And to an extent, he’s right. Mike gets high and steals a limo that Daniel is in before suggesting they haphazardly attack Silver in his home which results in him almost loosing his life. It’s uncertain if he’ll be able to get back what he lost.

* Raymond/Stingray is a genuinely buffoonish ManChild, but it's hard not to feel sorry for him when seeing the utterly crestfallen and ashamed look on his face when he lies to the police that Kreese was the one who assaulted him. Even after being [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech harshly berated]] by Kreese and then ''put in the hospital'' by Silver, Raymond still wants to return to Cobra Kai so badly he [[DealWithTheDevil accepts the terms of a sociopath]] who had just beaten the everliving hell out of him. When you consider the utter ridicule he endures at the hands of his neighbor and the hints that his family is none too fond of him either, it's easy to see that Cobra Kai is the only place where Raymond has ever felt like he belonged, and this is the degradation he's willing to swallow to not lose it.

* Tory's mother and brother, who are unable to take care of themselves and have their futures dependent on an girl who is fully willing to violate her probation and risk their future to satisfy a petty grudge.

* The world seems to be out to get Carmen Diaz at every turn. After having to flee her home at a young age to escape her criminal husband, she constantly experiences the worst kinds of fears, with Miguel being bullied and beaten at school, winding up in the hospital with a serious spinal injury, and then running away from home to find his father at the end of Season 4, leaving her an emotional wreck every time.

* The world seems to be out to get Carmen Diaz at every turn. After having to flee her home at a young age to escape her criminal husband, she constantly experiences the worst kinds of AdultFear, with Miguel being bullied and beaten at school, winding up in the hospital with a serious spinal injury, and then running away from home to find his father at the end of Season 4, leaving her an emotional wreck every time.

* Hawk himself. He goes down a very dark path (thanks in part to Kreese's manipulations) becoming an angry and violent bully, but when you remember his own past as a bullying victim it's not hard to understand why he became that way and how desperate he is [[NeverBeHurtAgain to never be the victim again,]] no matter the cost. Hawk tries to atone for his mistakes and wrongdoings in Season 4, only to have the past catch up with him again when the Cobra Kais jump him and shave off his mohawk in the tattoo shop as revenge for him defecting to Miyagi Do/Eagle Fang. This results in Hawk [[HeroicBSOD losing his confidence and becoming insecure and depressed]]the way he was before he flipped the script. To add more salt to the wound, he doesn't get a date to the prom.