The Cobra Kai Character Who Gets Away With Everything According To Fans
In the original "Karate Kid" movie, it seems like the bad guys, specifically antagonist Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), pretty much get away with everything. Johnny beats up Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) at the beach for talking to his ex-girlfriend, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue) and he and his friends continue to bully him. When Daniel tries to fight back with a fairly harmless prank on Halloween, they gang up on him and beat him to a pulp, though they're finally taught a lesson when Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), the mysterious handyman from Daniel's apartment complex, steps in. By contrast, in the "Karate Kid" spinoff "Cobra Kai," it seems like Johnny can't get away with anything. He gets arrested in the very first episode for defending himself — and his neighbor and future student, Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena), by proxy — against an unruly group of teenagers who attack him. It's made pretty clear that the down-on-his-luck former All Valley Karate champion has been to jail more than a few times, though it's not surprising when you consider his quick temper and penchant for drinking his frustrations away.
Well, Johnny may not be getting away with much without consequences these days but his students sure do. There are multiple times in the first few seasons of "Cobra Kai" when Miguel should have been arrested, and he's not the only one. Tory Nichols (Peyton List) leads team Cobra Kai against the Miyagi-Do kids at the amusement park. Robby Keen (Tanner Buchanan) actually steals a live cobra from the local zoo. And the attack on the LaRusso household in the Cobra Kai Season 3 finale, when Bert (Owen Morgan) is thrown through the window, clearly should have resulted in some arrests.
But one student above all others seems to be immune to punishment. This is the Cobra Kai character who fans say gets away with everything.
Fans think Hawk gets away with everything
Prior to the Season 4 premiere, Reddit user MOSSDoc22 started a discussion in the "Cobra Kai" community in August 2021, saying Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz gets away with everything. "This appears to be a hot topic right now on the subreddit so here's who actually gets away with the most on the show. It's not Miguel. It's not Sam. It's not Robby. Not Tory. Not anyone that people commonly say all the time. It's HAWK!!" they said, asking if he has ever faced a single consequence for any of his actions through the show's first three seasons. MOSSDoc22 provided quite a list, detailing all of his misdeeds from dislocating Robby's shoulder in the tournament during Season 1 to the fight at the mall. Hawk, of course, was the mastermind behind vandalizing the Miyagi-Do dojo and he stole Mr. Miyagi's medal of honor. What's worse, he broke the arm of his former best friend, Demetri Alexopoulos (Gianni Decenzo).
In a seemingly prophetic response, user hewalkingwhit pointed out that Hawk's actions and change in temperament cost him his girlfriend, Moon (Hannah Kepple), and said Hawk was likely to get what's been coming to him in Season 4. "I have a feeling next season is gonna be the opposite of s3. He'll suffer more as he tries to make up for the things he's done; facing judgement from friends, retribution from enemies, but in the end wins the girl back," they said. Fans who've seen "Cobra Kai" Season 4 know this user was pretty much spot-on; Hawk does deal with retribution from his enemies, as he's jumped by the Cobra Kai students and held down by bully Kyler (Joe Seo) while Robby cuts off his trademark mohawk with a straight razor. Moon does kiss Eli during the All Valley Tournament, giving him a much-needed confidence boost for his match against Kyler, thou we'll stop short of assuming they're officially back together.