20 So-Called Villains Who Had a Very Good Point

The original film asks us to stand with Daniel, and that still makes sense. In The Karate Kid (1984), Johnny and the Cobra Kai boys are cruel, and Daniel is the newcomer trying to survive a place where he does not yet belong. Years later, Cobra Kai (2018) complicated the memory without erasing it. Johnny was also a teenager shaped by a harsh teacher, a bruised ego, and a dojo that confused mercy with weakness. From his perspective, some conflicts with Daniel felt like provocations piling on top of old humiliation.