Characters / The Karate Kid: Robby Keene

The Karate Kid Main Character Index
Daniel LaRusso | Johnny Lawrence | John Kreese | Terry Silver | Miguel Diaz | Robby Keene | Samantha LaRusso | Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz | Tory Nichols | Demetri Alexopoulos | Kyler Park
Dojos and Others
Miyagi-Do and Associates | Cobra Kai and Associates | Eagle Fang and Associates | The LaRusso Family | Other Characters

Robert Swayze "Robby" Keene

"I know how things can start from nothing and get bigger and bigger until all you feel is hate. I've been there."

Played By: Tanner Buchanan

Appearances: Cobra Kai

"I had all this hate inside of me. For you and for Miguel. And I thought I could use Cobra Kai to control that. But it just made things worse and now it's never gonna get better."

Robert Swayze Keene is Johnny Lawrence's estranged son and Daniel LaRusso's former top student at Miyagi-Do Karate. He later aligns himself to Cobra Kai by John Kreese's invitation after believing that both Johnny and Daniel have betrayed him, but rejoins Miyagi-Do after his mentee, Kenny Payne, succumbs to Terry Silver’s corruption and becoming a worse bully than he thought.

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A-F

• The Ace:
  • This kid is ridiculously good at anything he does, be it skateboarding, dancing, working at the car dealership, karate, or petty crime. A photo of his younger self on Johnny's refrigerator showed that Robby was a soccer champ as well.
  • In terms of skill, his only superiors are Miguel and Sam, who are respectively The Ace of Cobra Kai/Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do. And as of now in Cobra Kai, he is one of if not the best in there.
  • In Season 2, this devolves into Broken Ace, as the dramas and pressures of the feud between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai combined with his personal rivalry with Miguel, both as a fighter and as Sam's Love Interest, overwhelm him and he severely injured Miguel after receiving mercy at his hands.
  • By Season 4, Robby manages to fight the entire Cobra Kai dojo by himself in a spar in which he would stop crashing at the dojo if they could land even a single attack on him. It takes Tory landing a sneak attack when the sparring was otherwise over for it to finally happen. Even afterwards, Robby showcases his skills by teaching Miyagi-Do tactics to the Cobra Kai squad and it helps them greatly in the All-Valley Tournament.
• Allegiance Affirmation: In the Season 3 finale "December 19", he shows his loyalty to Cobra Kai by attacking Johnny, his own father, after the latter nearly kills John Kreese; and then telling them, as well as Samantha (his ex-girlfriend), Miguel and Daniel (who he used to see as a father) to Get Out! of the Cobra Kai Dojo while he returns to Kreese's side to train for the next All-Valley.
• Always Second Best: Despite being a skilled martial artist in his own right and wrecking most of his opponents with ease, Robby has a terrible luck when it comes to winning the All Valley Karate Tournament, losing to Miguel in the 50th tournament and then to Hawk the next year.
• Amicable Exes: He becomes this with Sam in Season 5 after his Heel Realization and making amends with Miguel. With his hatred tamed, they bond over their past training and become good friends.
• Antagonistic Offspring: Initially. He has a lot of aggression and anger towards his dad, but fortunately, Daniel manages to impart enough forgiveness onto him that he can accept his father's apology after Miguel beats him with dirty fighting in the tournament. Unfortunately, Season 2 shows that forgiving everything isn't as easy as all that, and Robby's continuing anger towards Johnny and Cobra-Kai has disastrous consequences by season's end. Reaches its peak in Season 3 where Robby sides with Kreese and openly declares Johnny "his worst enemy", though by the end of season 4 he's on his way to finally making peace with him after realising how far he's fallen.
• Anti-Villain: In Season 4, he is a Type I, as he fights for Cobra Kai and opposes his father and Daniel, but isn't brainwashed by Kreese and Silver and ultimately sticks to his own code of honour, with his main goal being to be a good mentor to Kenny. By the end of the season, however, he's abandoned Cobra Kai, as he realises that even if he's immune to Kreese's corruption, most of the other students aren't.
• Arch-Enemy: To Miguel. Robby initially resents Miguel for the time and tutelage Johnny gives him but eventually gets over it. Ironically, by this point Miguel has developed a hatred of Robby because he (incorrectly) believes Robby stole Sam from him and Robby is now his mentor's biggest rival's student. However, the rivalry shifts from a petty karate grudge to true enmity after Robby accidentally kicks Miguel off the second floor of the high school in the brawl in the Season 2 finale, as Miguel hates Robby for nearly killing him, while Robby resents Miguel for being seen as a hero despite having escalated a fight Robby was trying to stop, and getting everything Robby wanted: his dad, his championship, his freedom, his girl, his dojo, and the respect of the LaRussos. By this point, the two can barely be in the same room without coming to blows, and it takes a no-holds-barred blowoff fight and frank discussion of their issues in Season 5 for them to bury the hatchet.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: Despite being under Daniel's tutelage he is by far way more aggressive than most of the students, wanting to actually prove to everyone that they can fight rather than just allowing everyone to view them as posers. It's this line of thinking that, ironically enough, makes him prime Cobra Kai material.
• The Atoner:
  • After genuinely forming a bond with Daniel and training in Miyagi-Do Karate, Robby attempts to do better with his life, admitting to his delinquent past to the LaRussos and even making an effort to mend things with his father. Sadly, him kicking Miguel off the balcony leads to a string of misfortunes and broken relationships that leaves him wide open to Kreese's manipulations, turning him from moving towards a better future to embracing his personal grudges and resentment even worse.
  • He gets hit with this again after he realizes that him mentoring Kenny has only allowed him to become corrupted by Kreese and Silver, and becomes an even worse bully than those who were tormenting him. Robby rejoins Miyagi-Do partially to help Anthony out of repentance towards his failure with Kenny.
• Badass Decay: In-Universe, he veers into this after Kreese brings him into the Cobra Kai fold and begins mentoring him. When he attacks Johnny after the latter arrives at the dojo to confront Kreese (and granted there is a considerable skill gap between him and Johnny already), Robby fails to land a single strike even though Johnny hardly puts in an effort to fend him off.
• Bash Brothers: With Miguel after their bout in season 5 and are soon-to-be stepbrothers now that Carmen is having a child with Johnny.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: During his fight with Miguel at the All Valley finals at the end of Season 1, he offers Miguel a hand to get back up, but a jealous Miguel takes the opportunity to aggravate Robby's shoulder injury even further. Their roles become reversed in the school-wide brawl at the end of Season 2, where Miguel, having managed to get Robby into a submission, releases him and apologizes. Robby, enraged and envious of Sam's lingering feelings for Miguel, seizes the chance to deliver a hard kick at Miguel. Unfortunately, Robby's moment of weakness resulted in far greater consequences... And by the end of Season 3, Robby is fully aligned with Kreese's Cobra Kai.
• Becoming the Mask:
  • Robby only seeks to work for Daniel simply to spite his dad, but eventually comes to enjoy working under him.
  • He and Tory attend the prom as a way to get back at Sam and Miguel, only for the two to realize their own attraction towards each other.
• Big Brother Mentor:
  • In Season 4, he takes a new character, Kenny Payne, under his wing after learning that he's been a victim of bullying. His friendship with Kenny is a sign that Robby's not actually fully buying into the teachings of Cobra Kai.
  • He later becomes this to Anthony LaRusso, who Robby has always been fond of, partly as a form of atonement after Kenny adopts Cobra Kai's "no mercy" mindset and becomes a vicious bully to Anthony in retaliation for the latter's treatment of him.
• Blinded by Rage: Furious at being outfought by Miguel and then being released by him in an act of mercy, Robby seizes this brief moment of vulnerability and attacks Miguel again, kicking him off the railing. By the time he comes to his senses, it's too late. He only strains his relationship with his dad, Sam breaks up with him, and he's wide open for Kreese to manipulate him.
• Broken Pedestal: Kenny considers Robby this after leaving Cobra Kai and catches him seeing Robby train Anthony during the Sekai Taikai tryouts. In Robby's viewpoint, Kenny is unable to see through the fact that Cobra Kai's ruthless indoctrination had turned him into a vengeful bully. It only took witnessing the incriminating video of Silver's bribery to finally make Kenny see the light.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The troubled "Brooding Boy" to Sam's sweet "Gentle Girl" during the brief period of Season 2 that they are dating.
• Byronic Hero: A teenage delinquent who is attractive, intelligent, athletic and charming, but has a lot of issues such as Parental Abandonment and Revenge Before Reason against those who he feels have hurt him. He grows out of this by Season 5.
• Cain and Abel: Zigzagged with Miguel Diaz, even though this trope is very much fitting since Miguel is pretty much a son to Johnny at this point. By Season 1's conclusion, he definitely becomes the Abel to Miguel's Cain given the latter's vicious nature as Cobra Kai's top student at the All-Valley and his desire to brutally defeat the former in the finals out of jealousy for Sam's affection to him (which very much defines the Trope Namer himself); Robby on the other hand (being trained in Miyagi-Do) goes as far as to try to be a good sport to Miguel only for the latter to viciously reject it (as shown when he pulls Robby's arm despite Robby trying to pick him back up). Season 2 puts Miguel and Robby at the same level as sympathetic characters, especially considering Miguel's eventual redemption arc. However, Season 3 & 4 has Robby become the Cain to Miguel's Abel after showing no remorse to nearly killing Miguel during the West Valley High School fight and joining Kreese's Cobra Kai as their #1 student; Miguel on the other hand completes his redemption arc by fully defecting from Cobra Kai and joining the Miyagi-Fangs in preparation for the All-Valley tournament. Season 5 has both of them reverting back to sympathetic characters on the same level (after Robby defects from Cobra Kai altogether), and eventually loses this trope when both boys make up after their fight in their Reseda apartment complex.
• Cant Get Away With Nothing: During the tournament, Hawk ends up dislocating Robby's shoulder with a cheap shot and then Miguel continues to attack his injury to win the All Valley Tournament. While Robby understandably has bad blood, he still tries to Turn the Other Cheek. He finally reaches his breaking point during the brawl in Season 2 where in a Moment of Weakness, he inadvertently kicks Miguel off the second floor of the school. The one moment Robby lashes out in anger potentially has the largest consequences in the series.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Before Robby's Second Episode Introduction, his childhood photo is on Johnny's shelf during the Cobra Kai premiere and he was even name-dropped by his step-grandfather Sid later in that episode.
• Co-Dragons: Tensions between him and his father and Daniel during the events of Season 3 see him turn to Kreese's Cobra Kai and become one of his top students, alongside Tory.
• Combat Pragmatist: In Season 4, Robby teaches the Cobra Kai students the moves he previously learned as a Miyagi-Do student, in order to better combat the Miyagi-Fang alliance.
  "To beat the enemy, it helps to learn the enemy's playbook!"
• Contrived Coincidence: Robby’s misfortunes are almost always a product of incredibly coincidental bad timing on his part.
  • In season 1, Robby swallows his pride and decides to go see Johnny, just in time to see him giving Miguel his old gi. Seeing his father having a father-son moment with some random kid leads Robby to go off and work for Daniel to spite his father.
  • In season 1 episode 9, the discoveries that Robby is Johnny's son (for Daniel) and is getting trained by Daniel (for Johnny) happen because Robby is at Daniel's home dojo waiting for him when Daniel comes home from a day out with Johnny.
  • In season 3 episode 8, he runs into Tory by pure chance at the probation office, allowing her to plant seeds of doubt in his mind on Sam's faithfulness to him. Then later in the episode, while simply going to Miyagi-Do to crash, he happens to find Sam sparring with Miguel.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Finding out that Sam cheated on him with Miguel leads him to fight Miguel very aggressively during the school brawl, ironically repeating Miguel's arc from Season 1.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • On his opponents' end.
    • As talented and trained as Robby is, he ends up at the receiving end of this trope from his father when Johnny shows up at Cobra Kai to confront Kreese about Miguel getting hurt in Kreese's students' recent attack on Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang. Robby only lands one hit on Johnny, and that was only because Johnny wasn't even trying to fight and he's knocked out almost immediately when Johnny gets defensive and accidentally throws him into a locker.
    • His sparring match against Terry Silver results in the former being severely outclassed by the latter. Justified, as Silver has way more experience with karate than Robby.
  • On his end.
    • When he dares the rest of the Cobra Kais to take him on, including Kyler and Tory, he easily wipes the floor with them. It only took a sneak attack from Tory, whom Robby had already put to the ground, to land a hit on him, but enough for her to be impressed and encouraging him to stay at the dojo.
    • During the 51st All-Valley tournament, he cuts through his opponents with ease, including Kenny and Demetri.
• Curb Stomp Cushion: Both on the receiving and giving end of this during his time in juvie.
  • When Shawn Payne, a violent inmate of juvie along his friends mocks Robby's relationship with Sam Robby quickly confronts him and his gang. Following the Miyagi-Do way Robby waits until Shawn throws the first punch (even though Shawn offered Robby the first strike) which allows Payne and his buddies to gang up on and beat him senseless. Although Robby holds his own and gets a few hits, he's quickly overwhelmed by the three larger and stronger bullies. The fact that Robby was going on the defensive in a three against one fight didn't help.
  • Later on after Kreese visits and advises him to "strike first", Robby decides to stop allowing Payne to push him around and attacks him along his partners in the cafeteria with no warning whatsoever. Thanks to the element of surprise and fighting more aggressively, Robby makes short work of Shawn's two friends, but the big inmate proves to be a tough rival thanks to his size, strength and resistance. While Robby eventually gets the upper hand, he also gets seriously hurt by Shawn, who counters his attacks with no problem and gives as much as he gets.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Pulls off a one-hand-stand double leg kick in the final match against Miguel. Daniel (who demonstrated it) describes it as a difficult one that he didn't think he could pull off anymore, and we see Robby practice the basics in a skate park. He ends up scoring a point against Miguel using the technique.
• Delinquents: How Robby spends the first half of Season 1. He is introduced getting into trouble for being caught with marijuana at school, steals a customer's laptop from an electronics store, hangs out with hardened criminals, and skips school for a month by lying about a trip to Colorado. He begins to turn around after working for Daniel LaRusso, but upon joining Cobra Kai, the first thing he does is go along with Tory and a bunch of other kids to steal a snake from the zoo.
• The Determinator: Just like Miguel, when he sets his mind to a goal, he won't quit until it's accomplished. Best shown during the tournament when, after injuring his shoulder, he chooses to fight with one arm rather than forfeit.
• Didn't Think This Through: He took Kenny under his wing, genuinely wanting to help him overcome his self-esteem issues in a healthy way. However, he didn't consider that his own personal issues with would get in the way of doing that, causing his vengeful attitude to rub off on Kenny. He only realizes it when it's too late.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: When Miguel shows him mercy during the school-wide brawl at the end of Season 2, it's the last straw for Robby that drives him to attack Miguel instead, causing his crippling injury. No doubt recalling when Miguel had spat on his mercy during their tournament match at the end of Season 1 and already furious at Miguel outfighting him, Miguel offering Robby mercy feels like mockery to Robby. Of course, this isn't Miguel's intention and he really is showing remorse for his actions, but clearly Robby can't see this as anything but an insult. In Robby's mind, Cobra Kai is villainous by default, so he can't even consider the possibility that Miguel was being sincere.
• Dragon with an Agenda: He openly admits that he doesn't trust Kreese or Silver, he has no interest in the bet between Kreese and Daniel/Johnny, and is simply using Cobra Kai to advance his own goals, namely becoming an All Valley Champion to prove he's better than Johnny and being a good mentor to Kenny. It backfires horrendously.
• The Dreaded: Demetri sees him as this (though he's not wrong, given that he's Cobra Kai's designated champion, with the only other male karetekas rivaling his skill are Miguel and Hawk). This is why Demetri goes through desperate measures in recruiting Eli to Miyagi-Do to stop him.
• Easily Forgiven: Zig-zagged. Johnny forgives Robby for his mistakes and lapses due to being his father and realizing he's also to blame for this, but Miguel refuses to let him off easily, despite Johnny's efforts. It takes one climactic beatdown for both of them to actually let go of their mutual hatred and make peace with each other. And as for Daniel and the majority of Miyagi-do, they instantly forgive him for betraying them and welcome him back into the fold. The only holdout is Eli due to the personal nature of their history and even he comes around after Demetri sets them both straight.
• Embarrassing Middle Name: His mother gave him the middle name "Swayze" due to her own obsession with Patrick Swayze.
• Establishing Character Moment: His first moment in the show establishes his strained relationship with his father when he gets a call to Johnny for selling drugs, and tells his father that he's a pathetic loser over the phone without a single care that the principal is right there. The next goes further when he expertly cons a man out of his laptop with his criminal friends, but when one suggests scamming all three potential buyers, Robby shows concern for the other two; a hint at his hidden talent and a small bit of honor.
• Every Year They Fizzle Out: Robby is one of the most talented teenage fighters on the show, but due to a combination of bad luck, injuries, and getting distracted at the wrong moment, he hasn't been able to get the job done at the All Valley, losing in the finals of seasons 1 and 4 to Miguel and Hawk respectively.
• Everyone Has Standards: While Robby may have committed several crimes during his time as a juvenile delinquent, he was never a bully to his peers. In fact, when he joins Cobra Kai, he never takes part in any of the other students' bullying, with the exception of the ambush on Hawk because a serious of misunderstandings caused Robby to mistakenly believe Hawk was actively bullying Kenny. When he later realizes he inadvertently allowed Cobra Kai to corrupt Kenny and turn him into a vicious bully towards Anthony (the only LaRusso he doesn't hate), he's horrified by his actions. He also shows some regret for the aforementioned ambush on Hawk and apologizes for it when he rejoins Miyagi-do.
• Excellent Judge of Character: Unlike most of the Cobra Kais, he's well aware what kind of a person Kreese is and doesn't allow himself to be manipulated by his mind games. Him joining Cobra Kai was completely his own decision, as he wants to hurt Johnny and Daniel.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: A couple of times.
  • At the end of Season 1, he ties his longish center-parted '90s Hair back to fight in the All-Valley.
  • After joking with Sam about his hair in Season 2 and getting mistaken for "Dan Johnson", he cuts it all off at the beginning of Season 3, seemingly to hide from the cops in-series.
• Expy: Robby is a gifted young man with a lot of hidden potential who didn't have the best background growing up. He became The Apprentice to a flawed but wise mentor who only had his best interests at heart. His mentor taught him how to fight, but more importantly tried to help him find balance in his life. Unfortunately, he began to fall from grace when he caused A Tragedy of Impulsiveness, resulting in someone falling off a balcony. It only gets worse when he believes his mentor has betrayed him, and Robby becomes a Crazy Jealous Guy when he believes the woman he loves is leaving him for another man. This ultimately results in him siding with an evil old man who agreed to take Robby under his tutelage. Robby even tries to convince a family member to join the antagonist faction. As you can see, the similarities between Robby and Anakin Skywalker have not gone unnoticed. The theme of his fight with Johnny at the end of Season 3 is even called “Duel of the Snakes” to make the parallels that much more obvious. At the start of Season 4, he has a healing cut on his forehead reminiscent of Anakin's facial scars. The season 4 finale has both Demetri and Eli referring to his Face–Heel Turn as someone "going Sith" and Eli even makes a reference to Anakin. And similarly to Anakin, Robby's redemption seems to start with reconciliation with a family member, as well as realizing he's on the verge letting an Evil Mentor corrupt an innocent young man into a disposable weapon.
• Evil Is Not a Toy: Played with; Robby realises Kreese is a psychopath and Cobra Kai's philosophy is unhealthy, but he believes that because he's aware of it, he can harness it's teachings without falling to the same kind of sadistic malice many of the other students have. By the end of season 4, he doesn't... but Kenny does. Robby realises that even if he's strong-willed enough to not be corrupted by Cobra Kai, most of the other students aren't, and that alone presents a danger if innocent victims like Kenny can become ruthless thugs.
• Evil Is Petty: Downplayed in season 4, in which part of his motivation for joining Cobra Kai is to prove to friend and foe alike their own shortcomings and failures that caused him to become disillusioned with some of them to begin with, while openly claiming that he would prove being able to surpass them. His own failure to properly teach Kenny causes him to realize he really isn't any better, rendering Cobra Kai winning the All-Valley Tournament a Meaningless Villain Victory on his part.
• Face–Heel Turn: During his time in prison, Kreese visits Robby to bring him to his side. While unsuccessful at first, his advice to "strike first" kickstarts Robby into becoming more ruthless and rebellious by the time he is set free, refusing to get help from both Daniel and Johnny, seeing Sam and Miguel with contempt after catching them in a moment of friendly sparring, and ultimately deciding to join up with Kreese and becoming the star student of Kreese's Cobra Kai, a fact that both Johnny and Daniel are not happy about.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • Robby's pain tends to manifest as anger, and he has a tendency to lash out when he's hurt. Best seen late in season 3 when he catches Sam having an intimate moment with Miguel, believes that Sam has no regrets about having cheated on him with Miguel while she was drunk at Moon's party, and tries to start a fight with Miguel for "stealing" Sam from him.
  • His adherence to Revenge Before Reason. Any time Johnny tries to offer him sound advice or confidence, Robby angrily rejects it even though in his current situation it would be better than nothing. His inability to let go of Miguel injuring his shoulder even after Miguel returned the Medal of Honor and showed mercy gets Robby expelled and arrested after kicking him off the second floor. When Daniel has Robby arrested, he cuts Daniel out of his life despite the LaRussos being his best support network up until that point and only having him arrested to get him a lighter sentence. Then he cuts Sam out of his life after finding out she's dumped him for Miguel. His desire to spite anyone he feels has wronged him leads him to side with Kreese, despite Daniel having warned him of Kreese and seeing the type of bullies he creates.
  • In Season 4, he's actually able to come to terms with the above two issues. He's much more subdued and no longer prone to random outbursts, and even when he's angry it manifests closer to a Tranquil Fury mode than anything else. The problem is that it left the door open for another flaw that was subtly in the background to take centre stage: arrogance. He believes he's playing all sides, not buying fully into the Cobra Kai philosophy and just using everything he knows and can obtain to win at all costs. Even taking Kenny on as a protégé was partly out of wanting to prove to Daniel and to Johnny (and to himself) that he can train someone just as well as they can. A lot of his dialogue with older characters is him claiming that he either knows better than them, or knows better than to believe them completely. What shakes him out of this isn't his own defeat in the All-Valley, but seeing Kenny's metamorphosis into a near Tyke Bomb as he realizes he did not have a handle on the situation as much as he'd like to believe.
• Foil:
  • To his arch-rival, Miguel Diaz. Both were raised by single mothers, but while Miguel's mother is affectionate and at times overprotective, Robby's is a Gold Digger who neglects him. Miguel is not naturally athletic and must train hard to become a good fighter, but Robby is naturally gifted. Miguel is Johnny's surrogate son with whom he has a positive relationship, while Robby is Johnny's biological son who he has failed. Miguel starts out as a Nice Guy who learns karate to defend himself, but ends up going down a dark path thanks to the flaws in Cobra Kai's teachings, while Robby is a troubled delinquent who finds balance in his life thanks to Miyagi-Do. Both end up in terrible circumstances at the beginning of Season 3, but while Miguel forgives Johnny despite his advice to show mercy leading him to be hospitalized and overcomes his paralysis with his sensei's help, Robby blames Daniel for him going to juvie and makes a Face–Heel Turn by joining Cobra Kai under Kreese.
  • To Daniel during his time in Miyagi-Do. In his youth, Daniel was a Nice Guy with a temperamental streak, while Robby starts as a thieving delinquent with a Hidden Heart of Gold. Robby consistently favors a more aggressive approach to the rivalry with Cobra Kai, while Daniel tries to follow Mr. Miyagi's Pacifist Dojo teachings, at least until someone from Cobra Kai does something to really piss him off, like trash the Miyagi dojo. Daniel, being someone who's seen the dark side of Cobra Kai's teachings thanks to his time with Terry Silver, welcomes the Cobra Kai defectors (Chris, Nate, etc.) with open arms and emphasizes that anyone can be manipulated by Cobra Kai's teachings; Robby distrusts them, taking a very strong "once a Cobra Kai, always a Cobra Kai" attitude towards them.
  • Despite their love of karate, sharing a karate style and a mentor in Miyagi-Do and Daniel, and being fans of Dirty Dancing, Robby and Sam are very much different, even while dating:
    • Robby is a juvenile delinquent while Sam is a well-adjusted teenager.
    • Robby lives in a crappy apartment and loses his access to electricity when his mom runs off and stops paying the bills, while Sam lives a rich life in a big house and never has to worry about her parents failing to cover the cost of utilities.
    • Sam and Robby's family situations couldn't be more different. Sam is part of a stable, traditional family, has a younger brother, was born in wedlock and has a very loving relationship with her Happily Married parents (especially her father), who have always been there for her. Robby is an only child born out of wedlock who was raised by a single mother and has a poor relationship with his constantly bickering parents, as his father abandoned and neglected him his whole life to the point that he now hates him, and while Robby loves his mom since she raised him, he grows somewhat resentful of her consistently neglecting him.
    • While Sam may have her disagreements with Daniel, she ultimately always remains loyal to her father and Miyagi-Do. Robby eventually allows his resentment of Daniel to push him into joining Cobra Kai and selling out Miyagi-Do's secrets to help his new dojo defeat them.
  • Between Robby and Anthony, the ignorance from their parents has had a negative impact on them, though the consequences are different: While Robby is a dropout who is a juvenile criminal, Anthony stays in school and only commits minor acts of bullying and is nothing of a criminal. While it’s true they have both been neglected, Anthony’s parents pay a little more attention to him than Robby’s have ever done to him; Robby’s father is absent and his mother spends her time in bars and elsewhere instead of with him. Robby has been eager to learn karate while Anthony has never had an interest in doing so.
  • To Kyler as well, both being Cobra Kais who have a negative history with Miguel and Eli. Kyler fashions himself as a tough and unrelenting badass, being a loudmouth and picking on others unprovoked, but quickly backing down if he encounters someone stronger than him. Robby, on the other hand, is much quieter and collected, without a strong tendency to go out of his way to bully people, preferring to let his actions speak for themselves and not backing away from a fight with a stronger opponent. Their trope is also applied to their influence on Kenny: Robby goes all the way to prevent Kenny from being the same hate-filled kid he was in the past and is against his bullying antics toward Anthony, whereas Kyler gleefully goes along with Kenny’s vengeful desire and acts as his muscle and dragon.
• Free-Range Children: Because he's pretty much estranged from Johnny and his mother spends more time partying and picking up men, Robby is left to his own devices, which is why he keeps landing in trouble.

G-N

• Generation Xerox:
  • He would rather chew his own hand off than admit it, but he's become exactly like the father he loathes so much. He grew up with his father not in his life, he felt betrayed by the father figure in his life (though in Johnny's case he actually was betrayed by Sid; Daniel was merely trying to help Robby avoid a longer jail sentence and Robby took it as a betrayal) and sought help from Kreese. In Season 4, he takes a lonely bullied kid under his wing and inadvertently turns him into the exact thing he was trying to protect him from. It's at this moment he finally realizes how much he and Johnny are alike.
  • To Daniel. Both were struggling kids who found meaning, solace, and guidance through karate at Miyagi-Do, but both had falling outs with their Miyagi-Do masters and joined Cobra Kai thanks to manipulations by Kreese. The only real difference is that Daniel was being manipulated by Terry Silver on Kreese's behalf, whereas Kreese directly manipulates Robby.
• Genius Bruiser:
  • Before taking up karate, Robby was shown to be quite shrewd and experienced in his delinquent ventures.
  • When he applies to work for LaRusso Auto, Amanda is rather impressed by Robby's high school transcript (despite having dropped out), remarking that he could have easily started college. Whether this transcript was really legit or not is never confirmed, but even if it wasn't, it would just be another example of Robby's craftiness (especially if he forged that transcript himself).
• Gone Horribly Right: Well, he initially becomes Daniel's student to enrage his dad and succeeds, but at the cost of both angering the mentor he has come to care about and blowing any hope of a reconciliation between Daniel and Johnny. Ironically, once it does finally happen, he's the one they end up having trouble reconciling with until he realizes he failed to make his life any better without them.
• Good Feels Good: He finds that Daniel is a Benevolent Boss and responds very well to his lessons and encouragement, leading to him turning on his criminal colleagues and eventually becoming the newest student of Miyagi-Do karate.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Seeing Johnny and Miguel's relationship drives Robby to take a job at Daniel's auto dealership to spite his father. He eventually gets over it thanks to Daniel's teachings. Except it resurfaces again in Season 2 as he begins to fall for Sam and reacts increasingly badly to Miguel's attempts to reconcile with her (especially as he knows Sam also still harbors old feelings for Miguel). This culminates in him seriously injuring Miguel after losing his temper with Miguel's attempts to show mercy. Upon getting out of juvie in season 3, and seeing Sam back with Miguel (and moreover, that Sam doesn't regret cheating on him with Miguel while she was drunk), Robby tries to attack Miguel again. Seeing Sam side with Miguel ends up being the last straw before Robby throws his lot in with Kreese.
• Hates Their Parent:
  • He resents Johnny for neglecting his duties as a father during much of his childhood. As the story progresses, however, the two gradually make amends with each other, with Shannon herself encouraging her son to reach out to his father. His contempt towards his father resurfaces in Season 3 though, and none of Johnny's attempts to reconcile with him work, to the point that Robby eventually turns to Kreese and Cobra Kai.
  • Finally averted at the end of season 4, after Robby realizes that teaching Kenny karate and bringing him into Cobra Kai made him into a ruthless bully, a far cry from the sweet, defenseless kid he was before. The fight between them at the tournament made him reflect on all the times he told Johnny off, and he understands that his father only wants the best for him, so after the tournament is over, they reconcile once and for all.
• The Heavy: Of the younger generation of students in Season 4 (being Cobra Kai's #1 student), though this is downplayed in so many ways. While he easily becomes the leader among the Cobra Kai bullies, plays a crucial role in the dojo preparing for the tournament (teaching them Miyagi-Do moves, leading a shaving in Hawk's mohawk to shatter his confidence), and becomes the Final Boss to Hawk himself in the tournament, he arguably the least vicious amongst them — retaining a sense of honor even under Kreese and Silver.
• Heel Realization: He finally realizes Cobra Kai's corrupting influence when he witnesses Kenny taking out his anger on Anthony (his former bully) and threatening his life. This leads to a lapse during his finals fight with Eli which allows Eli to break free of Robby and ultimately win the match.
• Hidden Depths: After initially seeming like a chip off the old block and like an archetypal "bad kid," we see Robby is quite capable of being charming, clever, and that he's far from stupid when he cons a man into handing over his computer and password while masquerading as a computer store worker. He is also a capable hard worker when he actually applies himself, shown how Robby quickly becomes a model employee when he starts working at the dealership. Amanda's comments about his high school transcript also suggest that, even though he frequently ditched class before dropping out entirely, the grades he got are actually pretty good (or he's clever and skillful enough to forge a really good high school transcript, which is just as impressive in its own way).
• Hidden Heart of Gold: Robby has shown have some sense of decency and integrity underneath his troubled persona, even before he meets Daniel; Robby appears conflicted when Trey and Cruz mention their intent on blowing off an associate that helped them steal a laptop and he attempts to console a fellow inmate that was being bullied by Shawn while in juvenile detention.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: When Miguel returns Mr. Miyagi's Medal of Honor, Robby chooses to lie to Sam in order to keep his relationship with her going, knowing she likely still has feelings for Miguel. When Sam inevitably finds out the truth, this only serves to drive her back to Miguel.
  • In Season 4, by taking Kenny under his wing and witnessing him get corrupted by Cobra Kai's teachings, he pretty much subjected himself to the kind of pain he likely wanted Johnny, Daniel, or even Kreese and Silver to feel.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Season 4 sees him now allied with Cobra Kai, but despite Daniel's and Johnny's repeated warnings, Robby swears that he has no actual interest in buying into Kreese's or Silver's philosophies since he recognizes them as Obviously Evil. He merely wants to use them as a means to an end. Despite this, Robby does unwittingly let the two slowly mold him and this results in him unintentionally pushing Kenny to adopt the ruthless Cobra Kai philosophies.
• Hypocrite:
  • He gives Chris, Nate, and the other Cobra Kai turncoats in Season 2 distrust just because of their association with the dojo, then just a few months (and one season) later, joins Cobra Kai himself.
  • In Season 5, at the water park, after having left Cobra Kai when realizing how far he had fallen, he yet backed them up when they started the fight at the park.
• I Know Madden Kombat: He incorporates his skateboarding skills to perform a one-handed double-leg kick (the most difficult technique of Miyagi-Do) and score a point against Miguel in the All Valley finals.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Robby debuted in Cobra Kai, the Distant Sequel to The Karate Kid film series, as the Spin-Offspring of original antagonist and rival Johnny Lawrence. Since his introduction, Robby easily solidified his importance to the lore.
• If I Can't Have You…: A variant in Seasons 3 & 4, in which part of his defection to Cobra Kai is from viewing Sam as having chosen Miguel over him, intending to mainly crush her spirit alongside the rest of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang's, while otherwise letting Tory do the rest.
• It's All My Fault: Upon seeing that Kenny has become a ruthless bully thanks to Cobra Kai's indoctrination, Robby is horrified and knows that he only has himself to blame as he was the one who brought him into the fold in the first place. This leads to his Heel Realization and reconciliation with Johnny and Daniel.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He’s right when he says that Daniel being set in his way of things is a detriment. In fact, he's the only reason that finally gets through to Daniel about that.
• Jerkass to One: Thanks to Daniel's influence, Robby improves from a self-centered punk to a kinder, altruistic individual. Unfortunately, Season 2 shows that Daniel's preachings on Johnny and Cobra Kai cause Robby to believe that anything is fair game when it comes to taking them down. Thus, he acts unnecessarily harsh towards his dad and the students, culminating in Robby attacking Miguel with his guard down that leads to the latter suffering life-threatening injuries.
• Karma Houdini: While he does eventually become a good person thanks to Daniel's influence, the fact remains he never suffers any kind of punishment for the crimes he committed before being hired by the LaRussos.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: He spends most of season 3 in juvie for seriously injuring Miguel.
• Kick the Morality Pet: During the Season 4 tournament, Robby allows Kreese to get into his head during his match with Kenny to stop holding back. He ends up giving Kenny a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown to win the match. While Kenny doesn't resent Robby for it, Robby is still horrified at what he did. The fact that this pushes Kenny to adopting more aggression only cements his regrets more.
• The Lancer:
  • He plays this role to Daniel during his time in Miyagi-Do. He's Daniel's top student, but contrasts him with his more aggressive tendencies and frequently disagrees with him about how they should be running the dojo, arguing in favor of a more attack-minded approach to compete with Cobra Kai and disagreeing with his decision to allow former Cobra Kai students to join, while Daniel favors Boring, but Practical self-defense methods and showing forgiveness towards their former enemies.
  • After joining the Miyagi-Fang alliance in Season 5, he plays this role to Miguel, who is the clear Leader among the kids. He's Miguel's former rival and foil who is now his friend, teammate and potential stepbrother, and the two make a very effective team as dual Aces for the new dojo.
• Like Father, Like Son: Like Johnny, he's neglected by his father (though Johnny still had parental affections from his mother to balance out Sid's verbal abuse, while Shannon is more invested in one-night hookups), has to see the girl of his dreams (Ali/Sam) dump him for the guy who beat him in the All-Valley (Daniel/Miguel), and he copes with it by turning to Kreese and Cobra Kai. In Season 4, he's unintentionally become a parallel for his father's current day state by agreeing to take Kenny in as a way of helping him stand up to his bullies, mirroring Johnny's intention to restart Cobra Kai. In doing so, he witnesses Cobra Kai's corrupting influence for himself when he sees Kenny use their teachings to get back at Anthony - the sole member of the LaRusso family who Robby still has some fondness for. It's his failure to keep Kenny in control that triggers his Heel Realization and encourages him to reconcile with Johnny after the All-Valley. Even appearance-wise, he has similarities with Johnny, being handsome and muscular. The only difference being Johnny in his school days was tall, while Robby is slightly shorter than his peers.
• Mirror Character:
  • Miguel Diaz and Robby Keene are mirrors of each other's mentors, Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence. Like Daniel, Miguel is a poor fatherless kid living in Reseda who learns karate to defend himself from a Jerk Jock bully. Like his father, Johnny, Robby is a troubled delinquent with a poor relationship with his (in Johnny's case step) father who finds direction in life through karate and a new father figure in his sensei. Miguel is who Daniel might have been if he had joined Cobra Kai, while Robby is who Johnny might have been if he had been trained by Mr. Miyagi.
    • Over the course of Season 2, Robby's arc draws several parallels and similarities between him and Miguel, to the point where Robby is essentially going through many of the same beats as Miguel's season 1 storyline, all the way down to having a Crazy Jealous Guy streak appear when Sam actually cheats on him with Miguel (compared to Miguel only thinking there was cheating going on thanks to Johnny's misguided teachings), seemingly having his rival demonstrate more skill in their season-ending confrontation, and then taking advantage of his rival's better nature to defeat and injure him, shaming his master. Unfortunately for Robby, his injury of Miguel is considerably worse than Miguel's injury of him...
  • Robby and Tory have very similar backgrounds, coming from broken homes, dealing with absentee fathers, and being raised by single mothers who are either (in Robby's case) too inattentive or (in Tory's) too sick to look after them, forcing them to fend for themselves. Both are juvenile criminals, and even have a chance meeting at the probation office after the school brawl. Both are victims of Sam and Miguel's cheating, and are the most responsible for the devastating consequences of the school brawl, with Tory starting the fight by attacking Sam, and Robby finishing it by kicking Miguel off the second floor. Both consider the other's ex to be their Arch-Enemy, with Robby hating Miguel for taking his All-Valley victory, his girlfriend, his father, his freedom and reputation, and the LaRussos' approval; while Tory resents Sam for her privileged lifestyle, stable family and being her rival for Miguel's affections. Both have problems in their lives after the school fight that are solved thanks to Kreese's intervention (Tory is being coerced into sex by threat of eviction by her sleazy landlord before Kreese threatens the latter with a cigar chopper, while Robby gets tormented in juvie on a regular basis by Shawn Payne before Kreese suggests Robby to "strike first," resulting in Robby nearly kicking Shawn's ass and being finally left alone by the latter), with him filling the absent father figure role in their lives as a result. Thanks to Tory's influence, Robby decides to copy her Never My Fault attitude towards his predicament, and the two end Season 3 as allies in Cobra Kai and later a couple in Season 4. Later, Robby has an epiphany about what he has become and leaves Cobra Kai for good, with Tory following after she has her own Heel Realization.
  • Despite being far less malicious, he's also one to Kyler as well. Both are vicious fighters recruited by Kreese who previously dated Sam and have an animosity towards Miguel, Sam's current boyfriend.
• Morality Chain: In the Season 3 finale, Robby stops Johnny from succumbing to He Who Fights Monsters with his horrified reaction to Johnny grabbing a sai to use against Kreese. Johnny realises that no matter how Blinded by Rage he may be by Kreese's actions, he can't bring himself to commit murder in front of his son, and drops the sai.
• Mr. Fanservice: Aisha simply refers to him as "abs". He has inherited his father's good looks and athletic physique.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • At the end of Season 2, he accidentally causes Miguel to fall off the second floor of their school during a fight. He is horrified by what he's done and runs off.
  • When he realizes his hatred and anger has caused him to unintentionally turn Kenny into a vengeful bully himself, Robby is completely distraught and his last scene in season 4 sees him crumbling to tears out of guilt in his father’s arms.
• Never My Fault:
  • Possesses this attitude during the first half of Season 1 when confronted about his choices by Johnny. He blames all of his bad decisions on him, up to and including joining Cobra Kai.
  • After crippling Miguel, his instinct is to run away rather than stay to face the consequences. Even after his release, he says its Daniel's fault he was sent to juvie when Daniel only turned him in to get him a lighter sentence. Kreese and Tory then play further into influencing him to take on a victim mentality. However, it's subverted in Season 5 when he confesses to Miguel that deep down he actually did feel horrible about it and considers it the worst thing he's ever done.
  • When he catches Sam and Miguel in a romantic moment, he accuses her of hooking up with the latter the moment Robby was sent to prison. In reality, she tried contacting Robby for weeks and only reconciled with Miguel when she thought Robby cut her out of his life. Robby refuses to listen to her explanations and tries to pick a fight with her and Miguel without considering his own communication flaws.
  • Notably, it's him averting this trope at the very end of Season 4 that allows him to reconcile with Johnny. He sets out to be a better mentor to Kenny than Johnny and Daniel were to him and specifically chooses what he thinks is right rather than anything they've taught him. At the end, seeing Kenny turn into a vicious kid who gave Anthony, the only member of the LaRusso family Robby still has fondness for, a brutal beating partly due to his own teaching prompts a Heel Realization as through Kenny, he sees himself and how far he's fallen. This quote sums it all up.
    Robby: I'm sick of blaming you, Dad. (Begins sobbing)
  • After his final fight with Miguel, he finally sheds this trope as he admits that the day of the school fight was the worst day of his life as well, and asks for genuine forgiveness due to understanding how his decision to "finish the fight" made things so much worse for both of them.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: He had the best of intentions while taking the frequently bullied and innocent Kenny under his wing while at Cobra Kai, but Kenny went off the rails HARD and became a ruthless bully, the very thing Robby didn't want him to turn into.
• Noble Demon: Robby maintains his own code of honor after joining Cobra Kai. Despite having relapsed into his delinquent ways, he never participates in any bullying or thuggery that the other Cobra Kais have engaged in apart from when they ambushed Hawk at the tattoo parlor, but Robby had a personal beef with him and they ultimately don't (really) physically rough him up.
• Nom de Mom: Does not use his father's surname, more than likely due to their estranged and tense relationship.
• Not in This for Your Revolution: He aligns himself with Kreese's Cobra Kai for the duration of Season 4, though is only in it to get back at Daniel and Johnny rather than further Kreese's own goals for his dojo.
• "Not So Different" Remark:
  • Robby is on the receiving end of this from Tory at the end of Season 3, as she points out they were the victims of Sam and Miguel's cheating, and ultimately the two who suffered the worst legal consequences in the aftermath of the brawl. When Robby calls her out for starting the brawl, Tory quickly counters by pointing out that he's the one who finished it (since the fighting as a whole stopped when Miguel went over the railing).
  • Robby gives one to Daniel at the 51st All Valley Tournament, saying how he, Johnny, and Cobra Kai think their way of karate is the only way.

O-W

• Only Sane Man: Despite being with Cobra Kai in Season 4, he's probably the only student to see that the whole "karate war" is nothing more than a giant ego trip between the senseis, wanting to prove how single-minded they all are. Along with Miguel and Sam, Robby is the only other student that actively tries to incorporate both the aggressive techniques of Cobra Kai / Eagle Fang and the controlled, defensive mindset of Miyagi-Do.
• Parental Neglect: A victim of one, bought about by tragic circumstances on Johnny's part. Because Laura died only shortly before Robby was born, Johnny's grief caused him to miss out on his son's birth and forget to spend any meaningful time with him, which sadly adds into Robby's resentment towards his father. His mother, Shannon, also doesn't pay too much attention to him, albeit for more selfish reasons.
• Playing Sick: Robby fakes a sprained ankle to bust a grounded Sam out of the house. In a rather clever twist on this trope, he fakes an injury to help another, rather than themselves, get out of trouble or labor. But, in a way, he is still trying to help himself by getting alone time with Sam, showing disappointment when she mentions she has a boyfriend.
• The Power of Hate: Kreese and Tory encourage Robby to feed off his hatred of Sam (for dumping him for Miguel) and Miguel (for 'stealing' his dad, his championship, and Sam from him) to make himself stronger, along with Daniel and Johnny for similar reasons.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: After two seasons of learning the true meaning of Miyagi-Do karate and balance in his life from Daniel, Robby is pushed down a dark path by Kreese's influence and becomes his new Dragon.
  • Ironically, he gets the reverse side of this in Season 4 where Kenny becomes a much more sadistic person by the end of the season. Seeing this prompts Robby's Heel Realization.
• Revenge Before Reason: Miguel pins a downed Robby during the school brawl and prepares to finish him off, but relents after he recalls Johnny's lecture about mercy and honor. Robby, however, attacks Miguel unprovoked, and inadvertently sends him falling from the second floor of school grounds, leaving him with permanent life-threatening injuries while Robby ends up in juvie.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Throughout Season 4, he attempts to deliver some of these to his former allies and enemies over their flaws and insecurities that made him disillusioned with some of them, and that he'll prove he can do better. Particularly telling Daniel how he, Johnny, and Cobra Kai all suffer from the same mindset of wanting things done their way, when it shouldn't matter when they all have advantages and combining such knowledge can lead to victory. While Daniel comes to realize this, his own response ultimately gets through him as well.
  Daniel: Why? To get back at your dad? Me? Sam? The world? Because if that's the case, I have another Miyagi-Do secret that you can slip to your friends; Never put passion in front of principle. Because even if you win, you lose.
• The Rival: To Miguel. Robby initially resents him for the time and tutelage Johnny gives him but eventually gets over it. Ironically, by this point Miguel has developed a hatred of Robby because he (incorrectly) believes the latter stole Sam from him and Robby is now his mentor's biggest rival's student. By season 3, Robby now resents Miguel for kissing a drunken Sam, and getting everything Robby wanted: his dad, his championship, his freedom, his girl, his dojo, and the respect of the LaRussos.
  • This finally gets hashed out and focused on in Season 5. Despite the one major thing that has been fueling their rivalry, jealousy, being taken completely off the table by this point (Miguel is comfortably with Sam and Robby outright says he has no problem with Johnny's connection to Miguel), the two still despise each other with the power of a thousand suns. It takes Johnny letting the two beat the holy hell out of each other (albeit, supervised) before the actual crux of the issue comes to bear. Somewhat unsurprisingly, it's the Season 2 fight that still kept the embers burning, with Robby never understanding why Miguel stopped fighting and Miguel still wanting answers over Robby's actions. Once the two finally are able to settle and communicate, their enmity for each other completely evaporates and they finally become good friends for the rest of the season.
• Rival Final Boss:
  • To Miguel in Season 1 and Season 2. He's Miguel's final obstacle en route to winning the All-Valley, followed by being Miguel's main opponent in the Season 2 finale.
  • To Eli as well in Season 4, after leading the Cobra Kais to a shaving of his mohawk. They both face each other to Sudden Death in the Finals, in which Eli lands the final blow on him to guarantee the boys' victory.
• Rival Turned Evil: Although he and Miguel have been The Rival to each other since Season 1, both characters remained sympathetic until Robby becomes Kreese's Dragon at the end of Season 3.
• Sanity Slippage: After a Humiliation Conga involving going to juvie, getting beaten by Miguel in a fair fight, and losing Sam to Miguel, as well as falling under Kreese’s influence, Robby becomes a lot more unstable and aggressive.
• Second Episode Introduction: Robby was officially introduced in the second ever episode of Cobra Kai.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: He lies to Sam about Miguel returning Mr. Miyagi's Medal of Honor because he's worried about the possibility of his romantic rival "scoring points" with her. When Sam later finds out not only that Miguel returned the medal but Robby also lied about it, this does much more to drive her back to Miguel than if Robby had just been honest from the beginning.
• Significant Wardrobe Shift: In season 1, Robby dresses much like a typical punk or teenage rebel but after coming under Daniel's wing, he started dressing more casually. After his time in juvie and falling in with Cobra Kai in season 3, Robby readopts his original delinquent visage, and by season 4, is also styling his hair in a way that makes him strongly resemble Mike Barnes.
• Spin-Offspring: Only son (until Season 5) of The Karate Kid series' original antagonist and rival, and is one of the main characters of the Distant Sequel.
• Strong and Skilled: Even before being trained by Daniel, Robby already had an athletic body thanks to his criminal lifestyle. Being trained under the Miyagi-Do karate, a style that focuses on defense and balance, Robby is more a counter fighter that can deliver powerful but solid strikes. His skill and talent are so high that he quickly becomes and remains the best student of Miyagi-Do besides Sam, who was trained by both Daniel and Mr Miyagi during her childhood. He is the only student who gives Miguel Diaz, the champion of Cobra Kai, a real challenge out of all the Miyagi-Do students even if he ends up losing.
  • This is reinforced in a dark way in season 3, after he is taken to juvie. Kreese visits him one day, fully expecting to corrupt Robby into Cobra Kai. In order to do it, Kreese gives Robby advice about using the "strike first" tactics against Shawn Payne, a violent bully who's tormented him during his time in juvie and who he couldn't defeat with the Miyagi-Do way. Though reluctant at first, Robby eventually takes the advice and uses a more aggressive style against Shawn and his crew, executing several acrobatic and vicious attacks on the big bully but keeping his skillful moves. This allows him to easily defeat Shawn's buddies and take on Shawn himself despite the latter's superior size and strength, not only almost winning before the guards intervene, but also earning Shawn's respect.
• Tempting Fate: When Robby agrees to help Kenny and initially sees him run away from every little sparring match, he states that he's finding it hard to believe Kenny is the brother of the hardened brutish bully that made his time in juvie so hard. By the end of season 4, Robby sees that Kenny is just can be dangerous and vicious as Shawn and is horrified that he's the one that brought it out in him.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: It's implied that part of his defection to Cobra Kai is out of frustration from making everything worse for himself and those close to him, deciding to just embrace himself as their enemy who's now completely doing it on purpose. Also disillusioned by the senseis' conflicting mindsets over how to do things, when he wants to use the most effective approach.
  Robby: [To Daniel] You were right. It was a mistake trying to help me because I can't change.
• Token Good Teammate: Downplayed. By the time he joins Cobra Kai, almost all of Johnny's core original students have deserted with him to form Eagle Fang, with the rest remaining loyal to Kreese and fighting with his handpicked thugs. However, Robby isn't anywhere near as sadistic or vengeful as Kyler and Tory, and mainly joined because Kreese was the only person (that was neither his dad nor Daniel) to offer him refuge after he got out of juvie. Robby had intended to only bunk for a night before he gets convinced by Tory to stay but was nonetheless absent from Cobra Kai's invasion of the LaRusso household. Not only does he chew Tory out for the home invasion in Season 4, but he also goes out of his way to tell Johnny to stop the Miyagi-do/Eagle Fang kids picking on Kenny. Also, while Robby was a petty criminal before he met Daniel, he doesn’t seem to have any history of engaging in actual thuggery or bullying unlike the other Cobra Kai students.
• Took a Level in Badass: He was already an adept fighter but his time in juvie fending off tough street fighters like Shawn Payne makes him more alert and tough enough to take on an entire class of Cobra Kai students.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: In season 3, Kreese visits Robby in juvie and encourages him to adapt a "strike first" mentality against the bullies who are picking on him. Then when he gets out, he blows off Daniel's offer of a place at Miyagi-Do. A few days later, his reaction to finding Sam back together with Miguel is to try and pick another fight with Miguel, despite the fact Miguel has only just recently resumed walking, and cuts Sam out of his life when she predictably steps in and defends Miguel. And upon joining Cobra Kai, he's easily talked by Tory into going along with the rest of the Cobras in stealing a snake from the zoo for Kreese, followed by trying to physically attack his father out of rage. After Daniel and Johnny take down Kreese and try to welcome Robby back, Robby coldly tells them to get out.
• Took a Level in Kindness:
  • Almost in exact parallel to Miguel slowly succumbing to the flaws of Cobra Kai philosophy, Robby starts to turn to the positive aspects of Miyagi-Do karate.
  • After realizing what he became by falling in with Kreese and Silver, he returns to being the kinder person he was in the early seasons, making peace with those he was bitter towards and returning to Miyagi-Do karate.
• The Teetotaler: He doesn’t drink. It’s hinted at during party scenes but confirmed in Season 3 when he refuses Kyler's offer of beer during the zoo theft. Probably because both of his parents are alcoholics. It’s the one way he hasn’t made the same mistakes they have.
  Kyler: Here you go, Keene. (Offering him a can of beer)
  Robby: Nah, I'm good.
  Hawk: What, you can't handle a sip of beer?
  Robby: Nah, I just don't need to drink to pretend to be cool.
• A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Robby lashing out against Miguel in the school brawl leads to him landing Miguel in the hospital and himself in prison.
• Troll: Even after settling his differences with Miguel, he briefly pretends to be jealous of his bond with Johnny, before cracking a smile and revealing he was just messing with the two.
• Unknown Rival: Initially, he was this to Miguel, as Miguel saw him as a romantic rival due to his chemistry with Sam and the fact that Sam would rather have him hang out with her family than introduce them to him. On the other hand, Robby saw Miguel as one to himself as Miguel was like a son to his father, who walked out of him on the day he was born. They ultimately meet and become proper rivals.
• Unstoppable Rage: Driven by pure anger and jealousy, Robby loses his mind in his fight with Miguel in a berserker fury. Literally to the point of nearly killing his rival by kicking him over a railing.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
  • In spades in Episode 9 of Season 1. He unintentionally plays a big part in Miguel's and Sam's breakup by sneaking Sam to the Cobra Kai party. He gets her to the party at the worst possible time, while Miguel is heavily intoxicated after Drowning My Sorrows from falsely assuming that Sam is leaving him for Robby. Additionally, Sam's explanation of her being grounded for the day now looks like a lie to Miguel, as she is now at a party she shouldn't be at. Although coming with Robby didn't help either. This ultimately results in the incident that leads to the breakup. Later in the episode, Robby accidentally ruins Daniel's and Johnny's chance to put their bitter rivalry to rest and start a newfound Bromance when the two find out that Robby is Daniel's student and Johnny's son. The two men assume that the other was using Robby to pull a sick prank on one another, leading to them reigniting their hatred for each other.
  • In the Season 2 finale, in trying to break up the fight between Tory and Sam, Miguel sees him pinning Tory against the lockers and kicking away another Cobra Kai trying to pull him off of Tory. Miguel attacks Robby, and in turn, Hawk escalates things into a full-on brawl. Before that point, the fighting was contained to just Tory and Sam, which could have been quelled much easier.
• Villain Respect: During his second match with Eli, the two bow to each other as they prove to be Worthy Opponents to each other. This pisses off Silver.
• Welcome Back, Traitor: He's welcomed back to Miyagi-Do with open arms by all his old teammates in Season 5 despite betraying them for Cobra Kai in Season 4.
• The Worf Effect: Robby is definitely one of the best teen fighters in the franchise but he is constantly hit with this to showcase how real fights as a teen against adults or dangerous groups would realistically go, his fights against Trey and Cruz, Shawn and his gang and even his own father. In a karate setting, this is depicted as Robby being Always Second Best in both All-Valley karate tournaments, losing against Miguel in the 50th and Hawk in the 51st.

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