John "Johnny" Lawrence is a fictional character of the Karate Kid media franchise. Played by William Zabka, he appears as the secondary antagonist of The Karate Kid, a minor character in The Karate Kid Part II, a flashback character in The Karate Kid Part III, and one of the two protagonists (alongside Daniel LaRusso) of the sequel television series Cobra Kai.
Overview
Johnny Lawrence was born on August 20, 1967. 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, rollerskating, 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 12-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 eventually dated a fellow alcoholic, Shannon Keene. Laura died in 2002, shortly before Johnny's son and oldest child Robby Keene was born in February of that year. Johnny took his mother's death hard, and while grieving went on a drinking binge that caused him to miss his son's birth. After that, Johnny broke up with Shannon and became estranged from Robby for the next seventeen years.
In 2017, 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 successfully 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 became effectively step-brothers due to Johnny and Carmen’s relationship.
Young Johnny Lawrence
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.