Ranking the Top Fighters in Cobra Kai
⚠️ WARNING! SPOILERS FOR SEASON 3 ⚠️
For this list, we’re looking at the characters of Cobra Kai as they stand at the end of season 3. Characters no longer in the show, and past versions of characters who appear in flashbacks are not included. Sorry Mr. Miyagi, we know you’d be #1.
#14 Mitch/Assface
Somebody has to lose don’t they. Mitch shares the bottom rung of recurring named characters with Chris, losing out only because Chris is physically bigger and knows a bit of both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do styles, whereas assface is Cobra Kai/Eagle Fang only.
#13 Chris
As mentioned under Mitch’s entry, Chris is one of the weakest recurring named characters. He gets a slight leg up on the competition by virtue of his size and having learned a bit of both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do styles.
#12 Kyler
Making a strong comeback as a villain, Kyler has joined Kreese’s Cobra Kai with a vengeance. Touted as a “natural athlete” by Kreese, and his natural bullying tendencies bolstered by Kreese’s No Mercy teachings, Kyler is a surprisingly strong fighter compared to his Season 1 self. Unfortunately for him, the few feats we have seen from him have been against weaker characters like Mitch. Kyler seems to have plenty of potential and it seems likely he’ll move up this list in Season 4, but at the end of Season 3, having had his ass beat by a weak and recovering Miguel, Kyler drops to rank 12 on this list.
#11 Demetri
Another character who has catapulted ahead of his Season 1 self, Demetri has proven himself to be a solid student of the Miyagi-Do school of Karate. Able to hold his own against many of the big names on this list, like Hawk, he doesn’t quite match up despite getting the better of his old friend at the end of Season 2. In Season 3 we see little development from Demetri in his skills compared to other characters, so while he’s done well for himself, we’ll be looking for more feats and new techniques from our favourite smart mouthed nerd before he can move up this list.
#10 Miguel
The hero of the story and reigning All Valley Champion, Miguel suffered a huge setback in his extremely promising career as a karate student when his back was broken and he became paralysed. Season 3 has focused more on his recovery than any kind of improvement on his part, and by the end of the season he doesn’t seem to have reached the level he was at previously. So while we’re sure to see him jump back into the top 5 or so down the line, for now he sits at the respectable rank 10.
#9 Tory
This is where the list starts to get serious. Tory is one of the top fighters in Cobra Kai, and despite her regular losses to Sam, is proven to be a vicious and brutal student of Kreese’s teachings. Her presence is terrifying throughout the season, and she seems to be almost even with Sam, one of Miyagi-Do’s top students, falling below her on this list only because she can’t quite seem to beat her in a fair fight.
#8 Sam
Sam, as Daniel’s daughter, is the most direct descendant and inheritor of Mr. Miyagi’s self defense focused karate, and it shows. She is consistently among the best fighters in every scene, and with Robby gone, is the premiere Miyagi-Do student.
#7 Eli/Hawk
Where to begin with Hawk. Easily one of the best fighters among the students of all schools, not only does he kick regular ass, he looks awesome doing it. For most of Season 3 he is Kreese’s protege and top student, brutally putting down his enemies and competition alike with his signature Hawk screech sound effect. The reason he isn’t higher is because he was never quite able to edge out Miguel as the top student of Cobra Kai and only took the spot by default. Robby is Hawk’s main rival for strength currently, and with Robby’s combination of Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai training, as well as real world fighting experience, Hawk just isn’t quite there.
#6 Shawn
Yeah this guy. Pre-Cobra Kai Robby was already one of the best student fighters in the show, and the fact that Shawn was able to match him 1v1 when he abandoned the defense-only mentality of Miyagi-Do speaks volumes about what a tough brawler Shawn is. Not to mention his size, did you see how big this guy is?
#5 Robby
Okay, we all saw this coming. Without Miguel at his best Robby is easily the top student fighter in the show, and he has only gotten better during Season 3. Not only does he have the harsh experience of prison, he’s got combined Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai teachings to a level that nobody else in the show can match. His transition to villain was definitely necessary with Hawk going over to the good guys again, as now the show has a truly threatening bad guy contender for the title of All Valley Champion.
#4 Kreese
Despite seeing only a couple fights between adults and teenagers throughout the series, it becomes incredibly clear when Robby attacks his father in the finale of Season 3, that there is a vast divide between students and teachers. Kreese has had his ass beat by both Johnny and Daniel with relative ease, but it’s clear that he could take out any of the students, even Robby, without much competition if needed. Unfortunately for Kreese though, he’s getting a bit long in the tooth and is unable to match his former student or the new master of Miyagi-Do. What I wouldn’t give to have seen a young, in-his-prime Kreese go up against the two of them...
#3 Johnny
This is a tough one. I’m sure many of you are already disagreeing with me, but let me explain why I put Daniel above Johnny. Johnny has clearly been shown to be Daniel’s equal through most of the series so far, and I think this would be the closest match of them all of it were to really happen. But Daniel received some new abilities in Season 3, while Johnny hasn’t really improved. Nonetheless, Johnny is easily one of the top fighters in the show, period. I can only imagine how good he’d be if he could’ve learned from Mr. Miyagi like Daniel did.
#2 Daniel
Yep, that’s right. Daniel is in the number 2 spot. As explained above, Daniel edges out Johnny thanks to some fancy new techniques he learned on his trip to Okinawa. Perhaps now he might even be able to learn the cool hand rubbing technique Mr. Miyagi used to heal him way back in the day. But either way, we’ve only seen Daniel lose to one other person in a fight during this entire show, and that person is...
#1 Chozen
Daniel’s old rival and the villain of Karate Kid II, Chozen is all grown up and let me tell you, he kicks a whole lotta ass. Having continued his training under Mr. Sato and been given access to all the teachings of Okinawan karate, he is now a master of them all, and probably the only character we’ve seen so far who could possibly match the late and great Mr. Miyagi himself. His sparring match with Daniel clearly shows he is head and shoulders above Mr. Miyagi’s favourite student now.