History Film / TheKarateKid1984

* KidsAreCruel: Besides Daniel being bullied by the Cobras, some of the kids ridicule him after being beaten up by Johnny. Ali's girlfriends also rather inexplicably despise Daniel from the get-go because he's outside Ali's social class.

* FireForgedFriends: John Kreese and Terry Silver.

%%* FireForgedFriends: John Kreese and Terry Silver.

* FalseFriend: If Freddy upon his introduction immediately [[ProfessionalButtKisser rubs you the wrong way]], there's [[PoisonousFriend a very]] [[IFightForTheStrongestSide good reason]] [[NoSympathy for it]]. At least Daniel has the sense not to let him back into his life at the end.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: A DeletedScene had Johnny putting a cake where Daniel was about to sit in the school cafteria, ruining his pants. Problem is, Johnny can handle Daniel in a fistfight, but a harmless prank (no matter how humiliating) like that, Daniel can easily retaliate, which he does, by ruining Johnny’s shirt. The moment Johnny [[OhCrap realizes]] this was a possible outcome is priceless.

* EvilVirtues: With the exception of Dutch Johnny's friends prove to be anything if not loyal to him.

* EvilMentor: Instructing his students to cheat? Check. Inspiring them to be sadistic bullies? Check. Strangling them for failing? Check. All Kreese needs is a whip and a cat, and he'd be the trope picture.

* FromZeroToHero: Daniel [=LaRusso=] from ''Film/TheKarateKid'', being a target of bullies, encounters a gifted teacher in karate, by whom he is taught the martial art so that he can finally stand up for himself in a fight.

--> She must be into fungus!

** Miyagi, a former street-fighter and decorated UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veteran, is dismissive of karate's use of belt color to denote skill level, replying "canvas" when Daniel asks him what belt he is. When filling out entry forms for the karate tournament, when he's told of the requirement that entrants be brown belt or higher, he puts Daniel down as a black belt.

** And just who could be possibly worse? Setting up your "student" for the worst pain of his life out of petty revenge? Going as far as to have your champion ''torture'' his opponent during the tournament? (When all he could do is win fairly). Ladies and gentlemen, Terrence Silver.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Ali's parents try to set up their daughter to go out with Johnny just because he's rich and goes to the same country club as them. Never mind that Ali broke up with him and that he's a ferocious bully who doesn't respect her.

* KidsAreCruel: Besides Daniel being bullied by the Cobras, some of the kids ridicule him after being beaten up by Johnny. Ali's girlfriends also rather inexplicably despise Daniel from the get-go. One of them even criticizes her for being into him.

* MilesGloriosus: Dutch, despite being the most aggressive and bloodthirsty of the Cobras, is the opponent Daniel defeats most easily at the tournament. Dutch isn't cowardly, but he does seem to be far less formidable than he thinks he is.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Ali intends to see Danny after dinner at the country club, but her parents put her up to dancing with Johnny. When Danny sees them, Johnny sees this as the perfect opportunity to [[KickTheDog spite]] him and forcibly kisses Ali to make it look like they're back together. The next time they meet, Danny thinks Ali owes him an apology for kissing her ex, and she thinks he's letting their "differences" get to him. It takes a third party (Ali's friend) to clear the air and explain to Danny that Ali didn't even ''want'' to kiss Johnny.

* RealityEnsues: Having a philosophy of "Belts only good to hold up pants" is great for your personal life, less so when entering an organized tournament that is restricted to those ranked brown belt or higher. Belt rankings serve a legitimate purpose of ensuring a equal footing for all competitors. [[note]]Though as Miyagi put it, he fought for his life, not for points, so is perhaps ''[[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass overqualified.]]''[[/note]]
* SatelliteLoveInterest: Ali is nice, pretty, the ex-girlfriend of Johnny, and lives with upper-class parents in a BigFancyHouse...and that's all that's really known about her before she's easily written out of the sequel.

* TokenGoodTeammate: Bobby is by far the least barbaric of the Cobra Kai, being the only one who ever worries about taking their abuse of Daniel too far.

* WaxOnWaxOff: The TropeNamer also has the page image for a reason.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Er, where did that Freddy kid go in the first film? He seemed set up to become a good friend of Daniel's but he just...disappeared. His other friends peer pressure him into ditching Daniel in the football practice scene after the beach fight. He can however briefly be seen watching the tournament right at the end and is presumably part of the crowd that lifts Daniel onto their shoulders after he wins.

Daniel [=LaRusso=] (Creator/RalphMacchio) has just moved with his mom from New Jersey to Reseda, UsefulNotes/{{California}}. Daniel is overall a good kid, but his life takes a turn for the worse when he meets a girl that he likes, Ali Mills (Creator/ElisabethShue), only to incur the wrath of her ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence (Creator/WilliamZabka). Johnny happens to be the prize student of the Cobra Kai UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} dojo, whose sensei John Kreese (Creator/MartinKove) encourages ruthless aggression. After their first meeting, which ends with Daniel [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown being beaten badly]], Johnny leads his gang into tormenting Daniel whenever possible.

* TheAllegedCar: Mrs. [=LaRusso=]'s green station wagon. Has a faulty starter, providing a never-ending source of embarrassment to Daniel when she has to drive him on dates.

* BarbaricBully: The first movie is an iconic example, as the Cobra Kai routinely brutalize Daniel up until Miyagi intervenes.

* KickTheDog: Kreese ordering his minions to use dirty tactics to injure Daniel shows that he's the source of Cobra Kai's villainy. His students are just impressionable kids.

* KidsAreCruel: In the first film, besides Daniel being bullied by the Cobras, some of the kids ridicule him after being beaten up by Johnny. Ali's girlfriends also rather inexplicably despise Daniel from the get-go. One of them even criticizes her for being into him.

* LoopholeAbuse: There's nothing technically illegal about the way Kreese wanted Lawrence to win. After all, it was Bobby who disqualified himself by injuring Daniel's leg before the final round. However, it's setting up Daniel (a teenager) with an injury to make him vulnerable to a legal leg sweep. Lawrence's EvenEvilHasStandards reaction is due to the fact that he wanted to prove that he could still beat Daniel in a fair fight.

It introduces Daniel [=LaRusso=], a teenager who just moved with his mom from New Jersey to Reseda, UsefulNotes/{{California}}. Daniel is overall a good kid, but his life takes a turn for the worse when he meets a girl that he likes, Ali, only to incur the wrath of her ex-boyfriend Johnny. Johnny happens to be the prize student of the Cobra Kai UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} Dojo, whose sensei John Kreese encourages ruthless aggression. After their first meeting, which ends with Daniel [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown being beaten badly]], Johnny leads his gang into tormenting Daniel whenever possible.

Things come to a head with Johnny's gang chasing Daniel down and beating the hell out of him just outside his apartment complex. Coming to his rescue is the elderly Japanese handyman, Mr. Miyagi. Despite his age, he defeats the Cobra Kai gang with ease, awing Daniel. After seeing that appealing to Kreese won't work, Miyagi agrees to train Daniel, but arranges a deal that the Cobra Kai will stop bothering Daniel if he enters an upcoming tournament, where he can fight the bullies on equal terms.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Ali's parents try to set up thier daughter to go out with Johnny just because he's rich and goes to the same country club as them. Never mind that thier daughter broke up with him and that he's a ferocious bully who doesn't respect Ali.

* PoorCommunicationKills: Ali intended to see Danny after dinner at the country club, but her parents put her up to dancing with Johnny. When Danny sees them, Johnny sees this as the perfect opportunity to [[KickTheDog spite]] him and forcibly kisses Ali to make it look like they're back together. The next time they meet, Danny thinks Ali owes him an apology for kissing her ex, and she thinks he's letting their "differences" get to him. It takes a third party (Ali's friend) to clear the air and explain to Danny that Ali didn't even ''want'' to kiss Johnny.

** Miyagi, a former street-fighter and decorated UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veteran, is dismissive of karate the sport's use of belt color to denote skill level, replying "canvas" when Daniel asks him what belt he is. When filling out entry forms for the karate tournament, when he's told of the requirement that entrants be brown belt or higher, he puts Daniel down as a black belt.

* CripplingTheCompetition: Contains one of the most famous film examples when the evil instructor orders his student to take him "out of commission" in the semi-finals against Daniel. This means the guy will be disqualified for an illegal hit, but injury will prevent Daniel from facing the instructor's prize pupil in the actual Final Round, guaranteeing victory. The plan only fails because Mr Miyagi has HealingHands and Daniel has learned the iconic Crane Stance that lets him keep his weight off the injured leg.

The original movie in ''Film/TheKarateKid'' series, released in 1984.

The first film introduces Daniel Larusso, a teenager who just moved with his mom from New Jersey to Reseda, California. Daniel is overall a good kid, but his life takes a turn for the worse when he meets a girl that he likes, Ali, only to incur the wrath of her ex-boyfriend Johnny. Johnny happens to be the prize student of the Cobra Kai UsefulNotes/{{Karate}} Dojo, whose sensei John Kreese encourages ruthless aggression. After their first meeting, which ends with Daniel [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown being beaten badly]], Johnny leads his gang into tormenting Daniel whenever possible.

''Series/CobraKai'' serves as a SequelSeries to the franchise as a whole, but in particular this film and the events that take place.

* MoodWhiplash: Drunk Miyagi, it starts off as very funny until he relives a moment where he finds out about his wife and kid's passing.

* RealityEnsues: Having a philosophy of "Belts only good to hold up pants" is great for your personal life, less so when entering an organized tournament that is restricted to those ranked brown belt or higher. Belt rankings serve a legitimate purpose of ensuring a equal footing for all competitors.

* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Seemingly in play, but ultimately averted. To get to the level of competition that the Cobra Kai students are at requires years of training and physical conditioning. While it's true that Daniel manages to catch up in only two months, the set up before the TrainingMontage makes it clear that Daniel is being pushed through extreme training, spending entire days from dawn to dusk working to build up his core muscles, then to follow up with balance, skill, and technique. Such intense training, with a proper teacher (working exclusively, rather than with a whole class), makes such a quick increase in skill believable. Plus, Daniel wasn't a complete novice as he did have some basic training at the YMCA. Notably, Daniel barely wins and is clearly outmatched physically. He wins, instead, on technique. [[note]]Kreese's philosophy is the antithesis of budo principles and Miyagi's outlook on balance, his instructions to the Cobra Kai focus almost entirely on offense, which neglects their defense considerably.[[/note]]

* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Seemingly in play, but ultimately averted. To get to the level of competition that the Cobra Kai students are at requires years of training and physical conditioning. While it's true that Daniel manages to catch up in only two months, the set up before the TrainingMontage makes it clear that Daniel is being pushed through extreme training, spending entire days from dawn to dusk working to build up his core muscles, then to follow up with balance, skill, and technique. Such intense training, with a proper teacher (working exclusively, rather than with a whole class), makes such a quick increase in skill believable. Plus, Daniel wasn't a complete novice as he did have some basic training at the YMCA. Notably, Daniel barely wins and is clearly outmatched physically. He wins, instead, on technique.

* NoSympathy: Freddy. New kid just got the hell beaten out him in front of you by a much tougher bully? Geez, what a ''loser''; you'd better ostracize him.

* SecondPlaceIsForLosers: Kreese attacks Johnny after destroying his trophy, prompting Miyagi to give him a little lesson.