Ali Mills (formerly Ali Mills Schwarber) is the high school love interest of Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence through The Karate Kid series. She returns to the valley as a soon-to-be divorced adult, and reconnects with her old flings.
Biography
Pre Karate Kid
Ali Mills was born in Encino Hills on September 3, 1968. She was born into riches and luxury.
In 1983, when Johnny Lawrence and his friends are watching a movie, his friend Dutch bothers a few girls in front of them, throwing Milk Duds at them, Ali being one of the girls. Ali, sick of Dutch's treatment, stands up and angrily dumps popcorn down his shirt and getting butter all over him. Johnny instantly falls for her. After flirting with her a few times Ali agrees to go out with Johnny, and they kiss on their first date on a Ferris wheel at Golf N' Stuff. The two date for two years, but their relationship ends the summer before the events of the original Karate Kid. Johnny tells his top student Miguel that they got into a fight the summer before his senior year and broke up as a result, and tells his Cobra Kai friends that she dumped him when he forgot her birthday because he was too drunk from hanging out with them. This was what caused Ali to think that whatever good qualities Johnny had didn't outweigh his bad and that he was simply a lost cause.
The Karate Kid
She seems to take an instant liking to Daniel LaRusso much to her ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence's dismay. Johnny tries to fix their relationship, but Ali tells him to leave her alone which angers him. When Daniel tries out for soccer, she shows him what she knows before practicing with the cheerleading squad, though watching with concern after Daniel is expelled from tryouts. She and Daniel eventually begin dating. She cheers for Daniel in the All Valley tournament, and is excited when Daniel wins.
The Karate Kid Part II
According to Daniel, Ali wrecked his car and left him for a football player at UCLA right after the senior prom.
Cobra Kai
Losing Ali forever greatly affected Johnny, as he viewed her as the one genuinely good thing in his life (aside from his mother). It also was one of the reasons why any relationships he had with other women never worked out.
Season 1
She appears in a few flashbacks. She is seen when Johnny is drunk driving and reminiscing about her and his Cobra Kai friends - he smiles when he thinks about her, showing he thinks of her fondly even 30 years after their breakup. Later, Johnny tells Miguel about his first meeting and relationship with Ali (and how Daniel "stole" her from him) in order to warn him that the LaRusso family is dangerous. Daniel tells Johnny she is married and living in Denver working as a pediatric surgeon, according to her Facebook profile.
Season 2
When Daniel's daughter Sam is upset over her breakup with Miguel, Daniel tries to make her feel better by talking to her about some of the girls dated with Ali being one of them. Daniel says that he was truly in love with Ali. When Sam asks why that relationship ended, Daniel refuses to disclose why, instead quickly changing the subject to his relationship with Kumiko.
At a bar, Johhny's former Cobra Kai friends talk about the time Dutch broke the dartboard and Johnny says that he got so drunk that night he missed Ali's birthday which resulted in her dumping him. Tommy, being supportive, tells Johnny that is "her loss.", which Johnny doesn't exactly agree with considering Ali became a doctor and that she married another doctor, while his own life had gone downhill. He kept the feeling to himself, considering Tommy's condition. When Johnny and his former Cobra Kai friend Tommy are talking in the woods the night before the latter's passing, Tommy tells him that he had a crush on Ali in his younger days and joined Cobra Kai in order to develop the courage to ask her out. However, he never did so as Ali was Johnny's girl, and he refused to let a woman come between him and a fellow Cobra. Johnny laughs it off, saying he has had a lot of women in his life, but Ali was "the one that got away".
After getting turned off by various women he met via an online dating app, Johnny gets on Facebook and searches for Ali. When he finds her, he contemplates a direct message for her about catching up. Despite ultimately not wanting to send the message because he did not want to look desperate, a woman at the bar accidentally bumps into him which causes him to accidentally hit the send button.
After Miguel's accident & John Kreese taking back Cobra Kai, a distraught Johnny throws away his smartphone at the beach, not noticing that Ali Mills sent him a friend request on Facebook.
Season 3
Ali messages Johnny back and they converse for a while on Facebook Messanger. We find out that Ali is in Los Angeles for the holidays, and the two meet up. Ali is divorced and has two kids.
They relive their old date at Golf N’ Stuff, but it’s cut short when she remembers she has to go to a Christmas party at the Encino Oaks Country Club, with her parents.
She brings Johnny along as her guest, and while there, the two meet up with Daniel and Amanda. Things are tense for a while between Daniel and Johnny, but Amanda and Ali click right away, and the tension is alleviated. At the end of the night, Daniel and Amanda are heading home, when Daniel says goodbye to Ali and Johnny. Johnny, in response, calls him “Daniel” for the first time, instead of “LaRusso”. When Johnny leaves, she walks him out and asks him about Carmen, and he tells her how he feels about her. Ali tells Johnny to tell Carmen how he feels about her. As Johnny leaves, Ali returns into the Country Club to meet up with her parents. This is the last time she’s seen in the season. She reconciled with Johnny and still friends with Daniel.
Appearance
In The Karate Kid, Ali has blonde curly hair, bangs, brown eyes and a pretty smile.
Personality
Ali cares a lot for Daniel, and is very supportive of him at the tournament. However, she obviously didn't care too much for their relationship, as she left him for a UCLA football player after wrecking his car (according to Daniel).
However, she will get touchy and defensive, if she or someone she cares about is antagonized. For instance, she got angry and vocal towards Johnny when the latter beat up Daniel at the beach, as well as when Johnny forced a kiss on her at the country club without her consent.
In season 3, she reconciled with Johnny and see him as a changed man. She reunites with Daniel and all three of them are friends.
Gallery
Quotes
"Don't you EVER do that to me again!"
--Ali scolding Johnny, after the latter forces a kiss on her (without her consent) at the country club (upon seeing Daniel).
Trivia
- She was usually the youngest in her class.
- ↑ She was a junior while Daniel LaRusso (born 1966) and Johnny Lawrence (born 1967) were seniors.