History Anvilicious / CobraKai

** The above moral even extends to Stingray, whose brutal beating at the hands of Terry Silver is not treated as some form of commupence for having an annoying personality. And while Stingray's neighbor has a right to be angry about his {{Manchild}} behaviour, [[KickTheDog breaking into his house uninvited and insulting Stingray on a personal level is portrayed as being needlessly cruel]]. Still, [[MisaimedFandom some viewers didn't get the message]] and thought Stringray's neighbor was perfectly justified in trespassing to humiliate someone in front of all his peers.
* Political correctness doesn't automatically fix things, and being politically correct doesn't necessarily make you a good person. Counselor Blatt is obsessed with using progressive-sounding buzzwords and performative gestures, and talking about unimportant things such as gender-neutral Halloween costumes, while completely oblivious to the blatant bullying occurring at her school that she is supposed to be preventing. Meanwhile, Kreese and Hawk are able to become VillainsWithGoodPublicity by parroting clichéd buzzwords and Johnny, who makes non-PC jokes and gives his students demeaning nicknames and insults, ends up as [[PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes one of the most sympathetically-portrayed characters on the show.]]

** Despite Tory and Sam's mutual antagonism, the two barely know each other and their rivalry was sparked by negative first encounters, misunderstandings and jealousy. Sam considers Tory to be a psychopath and petty criminal, and though this perception is justified (considering that Tory actually bragged about stealing and brutally attacked Sam over minor slights), she is still in the wrong for harassing Tory in Season 4 and not letting go of their rivalry when Tory is finally willing to during her self-improvement. Tory in turn views Sam as a SpoiledBrat and an entitled RichBitch who thinks the world revolves around her and she can just do/take whatever she wants without considering feelings of others. In reality, while Sam comes from a wealthy family, she is actually very humble and doesn’t brag about having money. There’s also the fact that the [=LaRusso=] family acquired their wealth through hard work, with Daniel and his mother barely having 2 cents when he was Sam's age.

* Acting on anger, even if you have good reasons to be angry, often just makes things worse. Sometimes, it leads to the actor inflicting DisproportionateRetribution, like with Daniel trying to sabotage Johnny's burgeoning business for vandalizing a sign, Tory going after Sam in a bloodlust for Sam kissing Miguel, or Robby kicking Miguel off the balcony for trying to help him up after attacking him. It also causes characters to forego better solutions, like Myagi-Do always opting to confront Kreese or his students themselves with no evident plan instead of calling the police, Sam humiliating and ultimately getting Tory fired from her new job instead of just not engaging her, or even characters just forgiving each other for the greater good. Oftentimes, it causes the character to play right into the hands of the person they're angry at, which is how Kreese makes Amanda look unreasonable and turns Robby further against Johnny.

** The show as a whole, but especially Season 4, argues against the idea that there are AcceptableTargets for bullying. Without knowing about their reputation, Kenny joins Cobra Kai due to being bullied at school, only to be bullied by Miyagi Do students for joining. [[HeWhoFightsMonsters This only leads to Kenny further embracing Cobra Kai’s philosophy]]. And while Sam has good reason to have a grudge against Tory, [[NoSympathy her callousness towards her situation]] and humiliating Tory at her job doesn’t make Sam any better. This is further proven by showing how Amanda's empathetic approach to Tory helps kickstart her HeelFaceTurn. Also, Kenny's NoHoldsBarredBeatdown of Anthony for bullying him all season and promise to do even worse when they get back to school is framed as DisproportionateRetribution and a sign of how Kenny has been corrupted by Cobra Kai rather than LaserGuidedKarma for Anthony (who was already facing comeuppance).

* Jealousy and ego often lead people to their worst decision making and habits. It's only by letting go of it can a person start making healthier decisions for their life. Daniel and Johnny's feud and rivalry is heavily rooted within the two. Johnny was jealous of Daniel gaining Ali's affection and took out all his rage in the first movie in relation to that, despite initially wanting to avoid doing anything as a delinquent that year, and it's his continued jealousy of Daniel's success in Season 1 in comparison to his own squalor that drives him. At the same time, Daniel had gained a significant ego due to his success from the movies, and is often dismissive towards anything that he deems beneath him or Mr. Miyagi's teachings. [[DramaticIrony The irony is that Daniel and Johnny are shown to get along pretty well when they put aside said ego and jealousy but it always shows up to wreck things.]] This comes to a head in Season 4. While the two are actively on the same side trying to take down Cobra Kai and are making headway with each other's students, it's Johnny's jealousy of Daniel's growing relationship with Miguel and Daniel's ego of dismissing anything that isn't Miyagi-Do and feeling Johnny should just fall in line behind him that ultimately blows up the merger and leads to their inevitable defeat. It also shows that despite their desire to make things right with each other, such vices are incredibly hard to get past with any longevity and it's very easy to have them flare up again.

** At the same time, Season 4 illustrates that having a troubled and unstable home life as a teenager really ''does'' have an effect on a person's psyche and makes it more difficult to make rational decisions. Tory's bad situation might not excuse her behavior but it doesn't mean she doesn't have legitimate reasons to be angry at the world or that her vicious attitude came out of nowhere. Once Amanda learns how dire Tory's situation really is, she decides to step in and give her some assistance with taking care of her mom, getting an education, etc. And once Tory's life becomes more stable thanks to her help, she realizes she doesn't ''want'' to hurt people, especially Sam, anymore.

** Season 4 also shows that people in bad situations only really improve when they get real help and positive encouragement. A major reason why Tory came under Kreese's mentorship is because he was one of the few adults to ever show her any kindness or understanding and help her out. Kreese himself is an example of someone who needed help and never got it, only having his worst impulses reinforced. When someone is struggling, be it with poverty, mental health issues, or trauma, they need assistance and if they don't get it from those who have their best interests at heart, they will get it from those who don't.

** The same season also shows that people in bad situations only really improve when they get real help and positive encouragement, and a major reason why Tory came under Kreese's mentorship is because he was one of the few adults to ever show her any kindness or understanding and help her out. Kreese himself is an example of someone who needed help and never get out, only having his worst impulses reinforced. When someone is struggling, be it with poverty, mental health issues, or trauma, they need assistance and if they don't get it from those who have their best interest at heart, they will get it from those who don't.

* An underlying lesson in season 5 is CheatersNeverProsper. A victory that's fixed in one's favor is not worth it. When Tory found out Silver bribing the ref at the end of the All-Valley Tournament, she is visibly crushed and felt unworthy to be a champion. Even after calling out Silver over the bribery, the latter didn't care because he can, as shown during the Sekai Taikai tryouts when he bribes the ref to ensure Cobra Kai gets the upper hand, only for it to backfire when Sam managed to beat Devon clean. Tory would use her aforementioned confrontation against Silver to expose him as a fraud in front of the Cobra Kai students, leading to them throwing their gear at Silver once beaten by Daniel, and ultimately arrested.
* Daniel imparts to Miguel in Season 4 that there is no fixed path to finding success and happiness and everyone's journey will be different and while you might face failure and false starts on the way, it doesn't mean you can't still succeed. It might just mean taking the long way around.

* An underlying lesson in season 5 is CheatersNeverProsper. A victory that's fixed in one's favor is not worth it. When Tory found out Silver bribing the ref at the end of the All-Valley Tournament, she is visibly crushed and felt unworthy to be a champion. Even after calling out Silver over the bribery, the latter didn't care because he can, as shown during the Sekai Taikai tryouts when he bribes the ref to ensure Cobra Kai gets the upper hand, only for it to backfire when Sam managed to beat Devon clean. Tory would use her aforementioned confrontation against Silver to expose him as a fraud in front of the Cobra Kai students, leading to them throwing their gear at Silver once beaten by Daniel, and ultimately arrested.

* Just because someone comes from a privileged background doesn’t mean their struggles should be dismissed or trivialized, and money doesn't solve all your problems. Johnny may have grown up in a wealthy environment with Sid's financial support, but it was a very miserable time for him given Sid's verbal abuse and he admits he would gladly have given it up if it meant not having to deal with the abuse. In the present, Sam may have grown up with two loving parents and wealth, but she still had to deal with Kyler trying to date-rape her and later spreading vicious rumors about her, her next two boyfriends (Miguel and Robby) seeming to be nice at first until they turned into assholes, Daniel being an overprotective dad who isn't above meddling in her love life, and being ostracized at school as a result of Kyler's bullying and later from the school fight. It only gets much worse with her rival, Tory, basically tormenting her physically and emotionally on a regular basis ''precisely because she assumes Sam has a perfect privileged life and "deserves" some hardship''. As Johnny nicely puts it in season 1, "just because [someone] live[s] in a nice house, doesn't mean nice things are going on inside."

** At the same time, Season 4 illustrates that while FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse, having a troubled and unstable home life as a teenager really ''does'' have an effect on a person's psyche and makes it more difficult to make rational decisions. Tory's bad situation might not excuse her behavior but it doesn't mean she doesn't have legitimate reasons to be angry at the world or that her bad attitude came out of nowhere. Once Amanda learns how dire Tory's situation really is, she decides to step in and give her some assistance with taking care of her mom, getting an education, etc. And once Tory's life becomes more stable thanks to her help, she realizes she doesn't ''want'' to hurt people, especially Sam, anymore.

** The same season also shows that people in bad situations only really improve when they get help and positive encouragement and a major reason why Tory came under Kreese's mentorship is because he was one of the few adults to ever show her any kindness or understanding and help her out and Kreese himself is an example of someone who needed help and never get out, only having his worst impulses reinforced. When someone is struggling, be it with poverty or mental health issues or trauma, they need assistance and if they don't get it from those who have their best interest at heart, they will get it from those who don't.

* CharacterDevelopment is a good goal, but you have to approach it continuously and through self-reflection. Hawk was willing to put in the continuous work, but unfortunately, he became so impassioned he didn't ask himself if he was doing the right thing. It nearly destroyed his life, but once he took a moment to reflect, he became the best version of himself. Silver took the self-reflection just fine, realizing how ridiculous he acted, but he thought simply overcoming his drug addiction would solve his problem, which for a while it did. His unwillingness to actually overcome his other demons like his insecurity about his strength despite being plenty strong, caused him to burn all the bridges he ever had and end up in prison. Stingray didn't take either approach and thought he could become strong by association, which ended horrendously for him over and over. Once he realizes the price he paid wasn't worth it, he actually starts making good decisions and seems to be on a path of genuine self-improvement.

** At the same time, Season 4 illustrates that while FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse, having a troubled and unstable home life as a teenager really ''does'' have an effect on a person's psyche and makes it more difficult to make rational decisions. Once Amanda learns how dire Tory's situation really is, she decides to step in and give her some assistance with taking care of her mom, getting an education, etc. And once Tory's life becomes more stable thanks to her help, she realizes she doesn't ''want'' to hurt people, especially Sam, anymore.

* CharacterDevelopment is a good goal, but you have to approach it continuously and through self-reflection. Hawk was willing to put in the continuous work, but unfortunately, he became so impassioned he didn't ask himself if he was doing the right thing. It nearly destroyed his life, but once he took a moment to reflect, he became the best version of himself. Silver took the self-reflection just fine, realizing how ridiculous he acted, but he thought simply overcoming his drug addiction would solve his problem, which for a while it did. His unwillingness to actually overcome his other demons like his insecurity about his strength despite being plenty strong, caused him to burn all the bridges he ever had and end up in prison. Stingray didn't take either approach and thought he could become strong by association, which ended horrendously for him over and over. Once he realizes the price he paid wasn't worth it, he actually starts making good decisions and seems to be on a path of genuine self-improvement.