Cobra Kai, the YouTube original series, continues the story of The Karate Kid by reintroducing old favorites 34 years after the events of the original film. Following Johnny Lawrence's attempts to reestablish the titular dojo and Daniel LaRusso's opposition, the series introduces a new set of characters to represent the new generation of students under both the reformed Cobra Kai and the newly-established Miyagi-Do dojos. With two seasons under its belt and a third on the way, Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues serves to keep fans of the long-running franchise invested in their favorite characters.
As the series introduced new characters such as Johnny's first new student Miguel Diaz and Robby Keene, Johnny's son and LaRusso's student, the dynamics between the cast began to grow. One such dynamic is the former friendship shared between the characters Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz and Demetri, brought to life by Jacob Bertrand and Gianni Decenzo respectively. The video game opts to tell an original story separate from the series, using these two characters as the catalyst for the main story of the video game.
Eli and Demetri's friendship has taken more than its fair share of twists through the course of the series, with Demetri and Eli both suffering from bullying early in the series before making the decision to join Cobra Kai. After being humiliated by Johnny, Demetri leaves the dojo while remaining supportive of his friends. As he returns to Cobra Kai, a run-in with John Kreese and Eli's unsympathetic response sends Demetri into the arms of the Miyagi-do Dojo. The video game plays off of their dynamic to kick-start the plot at West Valley High School.
The Plot of the Cobra Kai Video Game
As players begin the game, Eli and Demetri are in the middle of an argument, fighting in the principal's office as he steps in to calm the ruckus, with Demetri quick to blame Cobra Kai while Eli throws it back at Miyagi-Do. The principal quells the disruption before asking either one of them to explain what had been happening, claiming to have heard rumors of "flaming kicks and freezing fists." It is at this point that players get to choose which dojo they wish to play the game as, with the game's story being played in the perspective of Eli (Cobra Kai) or Demetri (Miyagi-Do) as the main narrator.
Playing through the story as one dojo only leads players through the story told as that particular dojo, however, and only by playing through as both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do will fans uncover the truth behind the disruptions around West Valley High School and its students. After both sides have shared their perspective, fans of the series are greeted with the truth with the revelation that it was a plot by John Kreese to pit both dojos against each other in an effort to destroy both Johnny and Daniel's reputations.
With the story being told by both Eli and Demetri, it gives a lot of room for the game's artistic liberties regarding the characters and their abilities, with Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do implementing the aforementioned fire and ice elements in their movesets. This narrative choice also allows fans of the series to see more of the ongoing dynamic of Eli and Demetri's broken friendship that had played out through the series. With Cobra Kai Season 3 on the horizon, fans will be able to go into the new season with a refresher of an ongoing plot thread that shapes two of its main characters.