John "Johnny" Lawrence is a fictional character in The Karate Kid media franchise, portrayed by William Zabka. Introduced in the film The Karate Kid (1984), Johnny briefly returns at the beginning of the sequel, The Karate Kid Part II (1986). 34 years later, Zabka reprised the role in the sequel television series Cobra Kai (2018–2025), where he served as the main protagonist. He also made a cameo appearance in the film Karate Kid: Legends (2025).
In the original film, Johnny is depicted as the jealous ex-boyfriend of Ali Mills, the prize student of the Cobra Kai karate dojo, and the defending champion of the All-Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament. He becomes Daniel LaRusso's arch-rival after the latter starts dating Ali, frequently bullying him alongside his fellow Cobra Kai students, and ultimately fighting him at the All-Valley, where he loses to Daniel, and is berated and attacked by his sensei/father figure John Kreese after bravely standing up to him.
In Cobra Kai, set decades after the original film, Johnny is depicted as having become a depressed alcoholic repairman who has a strained relationship with his son Robby, in contrast to Daniel, who has become a highly successful car salesman. In the aftermath of the destruction of his car, loss of his job, and getting arrested, a disgruntled Johnny chooses to reopen the long-closed Cobra Kai and trains his neighbor Miguel Diaz, whom he comes to see as a son. When Kreese returns to the San Fernando Valley and takes back the Cobra Kai dojo, Johnny unwillingly joins forces with Daniel to take him and later Terry Silver down.
Fictional biography Johnny Lawrence was born on August 20, 1966, to Laura (née Brown) and Mr. Lawrence. He knew his father for a short while in his life, before he left the family for unknown reasons when Johnny was five years old. Johnny moved to the upscale neighborhood of Encino, California, after his mother, Laura married Sid Weinberg, an executive producer for Lorimar Television. A friendless Johnny was often verbally abused by his stepfather, especially after quitting drums, roller skating, and magic lessons. As a result, Johnny would use his Walkman to drown out Sid's heckling. One day in 1979, while riding his bicycle, a 13-year-old Johnny discovered the Cobra Kai dojo and spent the next five years learning Tang Soo Do under sensei John Kreese.
Johnny entered the All-Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament for the first time in 1981 but failed to make the finals after losing to the much more experienced Darryl Vidal in the quarter-finals. In 1982, he begins to date Ali Mills, whom he met during a showing of the movie Rocky III.
He also began to take his training more seriously and won back-to-back championships in 1982 and 1983. In the summer of 1984, Ali and Johnny broke up after Johnny got drunk while out with his Cobra Kai friends and missed her birthday, leading to a fight. Daniel LaRusso moved to the area a little while later. Johnny mistakenly believed that Ali cheated on him with Daniel, leading the two to develop a rivalry for the next thirty-four years. Johnny made the All-Valley finals for a third time in 1984, after easily avenging his defeat in the 1981 tournament over Vidal in the semi-finals, but lost to LaRusso. Despite his three appearances and two victories in the tournament finals, he never received the fame or recognition that LaRusso enjoyed after his subsequent victories in 1984 and 1985. This, paired with a violent clash with Kreese, led Johnny to abandon Cobra Kai and karate.
After leaving Cobra Kai, Johnny became aimless for decades, spending most of his time partying and drinking. He eventually developed a relationship with a fellow alcoholic, Shannon Keene. The two had a son together, Robby Keene, who was born on February 4, 2002 – though Johnny later admitted that his mother's recent death led to him being on a drinking binge at the time that caused him to miss his son's birth. Following this, Johnny broke up with Shannon and became estranged from Robby.
In 2018, after spending several years working as a handyman in Reseda, Johnny chanced upon a new neighbor (Miguel Diaz) being targeted by a group of bullies. After Johnny fought off the attackers with his karate skills, Miguel convinces Johnny to reopen the Cobra Kai dojo which renews his rivalry with LaRusso, now a successful owner of a chain of car dealerships and happily married. After losing ownership of Cobra Kai to an unrepentant Kreese, Johnny formed a new dojo named Eagle Fang Karate and teamed up with Daniel and the Miyagi-Do dojo, eventually leading to them ending their rivalry. Johnny also became romantically involved with Miguel's mother Carmen around this time, conceiving a second child — a half-sibling to both Robby and Miguel, who later became step-brothers after Johnny and Carmen’s marriage.
Appearances The Karate Kid (1984)
Johnny is the top student of the Cobra Kai dojo, and best friends with its strongest members: Bobby Brown, Tommy, Jimmy, and Dutch. Their sensei is John Kreese, a ruthless master of Tang Soo Do karate and a United States Army veteran from the Vietnam War.
Johnny is the two-time defending champion of the All Valley Under-18 Karate Championships tournament in both 1982 and 1983. Before the events of the film, his girlfriend Ali Mills broke up with him after a two-year relationship. One night at a beach party, Johnny confronts Ali about their breakup and starts getting violent. New Jersey native Daniel LaRusso, who recently moved to the area, tries to stick up for Ali, and Johnny beats him up with his karate skills. Over the next few weeks, Johnny and his Cobra Kai gang harass Daniel in and out of school. At a Halloween dance, Daniel soaks Johnny in the bathroom with a hose while he is rolling a joint, prompting Johnny and the other Cobras to chase him down and beat him until Mr. Miyagi, the maintenance man of Daniel's apartment building, intervenes and defeats Johnny and his gang. The next day, Mr. Miyagi confronts Kreese at the Cobra Kai dojo and proposes that Daniel and Johnny's feud be settled in the upcoming tournament. Kreese agrees, but warns that if they do not attend the tournament, both Daniel and Mr. Miyagi will be declared fair game to Cobra Kai.
At the tournament, Johnny quickly advances to the finals, scoring three unanswered points against a highly skilled opponent in his semi-final match. When Daniel reaches the semi-finals, Bobby Brown, one of the more compassionate Cobras and the least vicious of Daniel's tormentors, reluctantly (under orders from Kreese) strikes Daniel's knee with an illegal kick, getting himself disqualified while Johnny looks at Kreese in disgust. Before Johnny is declared the victor by default, Ali informs the tournament announcer that Daniel will fight in the final round. During the fight, Daniel gets the upper hand and gives Johnny a bloody nose. Kreese orders Johnny to sweep Daniel's leg, considered unethical because of Daniel's injury. Fearing his sensei, Johnny manages to land an elbow on Daniel's bad leg, receiving a warning from the referee. Upon the restart of the round, Johnny loses the match after Daniel lands a crane kick to his face. Having gained a new respect for his nemesis, Johnny personally gives Daniel the trophy.
The Karate Kid Part II (1986)
Kreese harshly reprimands Johnny for standing up to him and for losing to Daniel, breaking his second-place trophy and locking him in a chokehold. The other Cobra Kai students, except for Dutch and Jimmy plead for Kreese to let go of Johnny until Mr. Miyagi intervenes. Mr. Miyagi dodges Kreese's punches, causing Kreese to injure his hands from breaking two car windows. He further humiliates Kreese by mocking Cobra Kai's founding tenets and tweaking his nose after halting a fatal blow deathly close to its target.
The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
Kreese tells Silver at the beginning of the film that he is closing the dojo, as Johnny and his friends left Cobra Kai following the incident that occurred when Kreese assaulted him. He only appears in the opening credits flashbacks from the first two films
Cobra Kai (2018–2025)
Season 1
Cobra Kai picks up 34 years after the first film. Now in his 50s, Johnny is a down-on-his-luck alcoholic loner who is estranged from his now-teenaged son Robby who he had with his ex-girlfriend Shannon Keene when both were younger, spending most of his time eating junk food, drinking Coors Banquet and often resorting to bottles of whiskey when depressed. He struggles to make a living as a handyman in the San Fernando Valley, but is fired from this job after getting into an argument with a customer.
He appears to be oblivious to most technology released after the 1990s, as he still carries a flip phone and is unfamiliar with the Internet and social media platforms such as Facebook. In addition, Johnny cites Iron Eagle as his favorite movie and others 80's movies like First Blood, Over the Top, Bloodsport, Young Guns II, Missing in Action, Best of the Best and the Rocky saga, and continues to listen to classic 1980s rock music, like Ratt, Van Halen, Black Sabbath, Scorpions, Twisted Sister, AC/DC, Metallica, Guns N' Roses and Billy Idol. He also is jealous of Daniel, who is now the owner of a successful car dealership despite showing good sportsmanship to him by handing the trophy during the 1984 All-Valley Tournament. The duo re-encounter each other after Johnny's red Pontiac Firebird is towed to his dealership following a hit and run committed by Yasmine, a friend of Daniel's daughter Samantha. Johnny reluctantly allows Daniel to have the car repaired for free, but is enraged to find out that Sam is Daniel's daughter.
One night, Johnny intervenes after witnessing his teenage neighbor Miguel Diaz being harassed by a group of rich bullies at a convenience store. Johnny defeats Kyler and his gang, but is arrested in the process. He is bailed out by Sid, who disowns him and offers to buy him out of his life with an undisclosed sum of money. Johnny initially rejects the money out of pride, but after reuniting with Daniel, Johnny uses the money to reopen the Cobra Kai dojo, with Miguel as his first student. Johnny initially struggles to gain new students, but after Miguel beats up Kyler and his crew in the cafeteria while they are confronting Sam, dozens of new recruits flock to the dojo.
Johnny tries to enter Cobra Kai in the upcoming All-Valley Under-18 Karate Championships tournament, but he discovers that the dojo has been given a lifetime ban due to the ruthless actions of Kreese, Terry Silver, and Mike Barnes. Johnny decides to appeal the ban, telling the All-Valley Committee that his Cobra Kai is run differently than it was under Kreese, claiming that Kreese has been dead for years and he has never had any association with or even heard of Silver or Barnes. Johnny explains that he alone holds authority over the dojo and that he endeavors to make a difference in the lives of local youth who have been bullied. The board votes to lift the ban and allow Cobra Kai to enter the tournament over the objections of Daniel, who is a committee member. As the dojo gains more students, Johnny gradually earns enough money to keep it afloat and pay back Sid, vowing to never return to him again.