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"So, have the man-boys filled you in about the whole "mortal enemy dojos battle for the soul of the valley" thing?"
―Amanda to Ali Mills[src]

Amanda LaRusso (née Steiner) is a main character in Cobra Kai. She is the wife of Daniel LaRusso and the mother of Samantha and Anthony LaRusso. She is a devoted wife and mother, and the voice of reason after Daniel's rivalry with Johnny Lawrence is reignited.

Biography

Amanda was born on February 27 in Columbus, Ohio to Joanne and Mr. Steiner. She clashed with her father and was close to her cousin, Jessica Andrews. Amanda and Jessica had a high school rivalry with Elizabeth-Anne Rooney.

As Amanda neared the end of high school, her parents' marriage was deteriorating, causing her to act out. This came to a boiling point when, upon discovering her math tutor was having an affair with her father, Amanda smashed up the tutor's car with a baseball bat - with the woman still inside. Amanda got into trouble with the law and was arrested for reckless endangerment. Her parents ultimately divorced and she wasn't able to walk her high school graduation. Elizabeth nicknamed her as "Babe Ruthless" for this. Amanda, frustrated with her home life, decided to leave Ohio to go to college and ultimately decided on Los Angeles.

Not wanting her cousin to be alone in a new city, Jessica made sure to put Amanda in touch with her old friend Daniel LaRusso, whom Jessica had met when she was living in LA in 1985. Amanda and Daniel hit it off, began dating and ultimately got married. However, Amanda did not tell him about her delinquent past out of shame, and Daniel did the same regarding his run-ins with Terry Silver and Mike Barnes due to the trauma.

Daniel and Amanda opened LaRusso Auto Group in 2002, only a few short months before the birth of their first child, Samantha.[2] A couple of years later, Amanda had an unplanned pregnancy that eventually led to the birth of their youngest child, Anthony in 2005.

Cobra Kai

Season 1

Daniel and Amanda attend a party together at the Encino Oaks Country Club. Where she is asked by Aisha where Sam is. Amanda lied saying that she went to visit her grandma. She notices Daniel's mood and then later learns from Daniel that the Cobra Kai Dojo has returned. Daniel invites Kyler over for family dinner. There the whole family excluding Anthony is present. When Daniel was driving to work, he saw a penis drawing on his billboard. He discusses it with Amanda there they decide to paint over the billboard. At some point when Amanda was inputting the security code at LaRusso Auto, Robby was secretly recording her and she was unaware of what happened.

Daniel's mother Lucille visits the LaRusso home. There she quarrels with Amanda over Louie's unprofessional behavior. Johnny trespasses onto the LaRusso household. There she notices Daniel and Johnny being prepared to fight. She then defuses the situation by suggesting to discuss this over breakfast. The reason Johnny did this was because he blamed Daniel's "goons" for destroying his car. When Amanda realizes Johnny's accusation was real and that Louie instigated it, she suggests giving him something from the trade-in lot and not something like an Audi. Daniel reluctantly agrees. Later, when she learned Sam was revealed to be involved in a hit and run accident which had hit Johnny's car, Amanda responds by confiscating her electronics and grounding her. While it was Yasmine behind the wheel and not Sam, Amanda feels Sam deserved to be punished as she did not tell her parents what happened.

Since LaRusso Auto Group is one of the main sponsors for the All-Valley Karate Tournament, Daniel and the rest of the LaRusso family go to watch the tournament.

Season 2

Daniel comes home one night. Amanda claims that Sam is upstairs sulking over Miguel. Amanda was also worried that Daniel is having a midlife crisis and is worried about the dealership since Daniel spends a lot of time at Miyagi-Do. At some point Amanda's wallet was stolen. Sam blamed Tory but it was actually Robby's old buddies, Cruz and Trey, who have been spending the summer stealing wallets. Since Daniel has been spending more time in Miyagi-Do, Amanda is frustrated with him for not making time for the dealership. Daniel tries everything to win her back such as buying her sushi, making his students wax the cars, but eventually they reminisced and reconciled.

Daniel and Amanda go on a date to a Mexican restaurant, which they happen to be in the same place as Johnny and Carmen. Carmen insists on putting the two tables together so they can have some kind of double date. Aisha messaged Daniel and Amanda asking if Sam was ok after being drunk. This shocked both of them. After the school brawl and Sam suffering many injuries, she demands that Daniel gives up Karate and close down Miyagi-Do for good since it has caused nothing but chaos. Daniel reluctantly agreed.

Season 3

Amanda hears that Tory is expelled. While Daniel is glad to hear it, she states that she belongs in Shawshank. She also says everyone is against them and that since the school brawl, the dealership has been a ghost town. Amanda and Daniel apologised. She also thought it was unfair that Sam got a 2 week suspension when it was Tory that instigated the fight. Louie found out that a 1993 Dodge Caravan was stolen from the dealership and let Daniel and Amanda know. They believe Robby is the one who stole it. So they try to track the car using a GPS. While Daniel and Johnny were looking for Robby, Amanda was horrified after hearing what happened during the trip.

Daniel and Amanda meet with Tom Cole telling them that they will never be selling the dealership to him because they know Cole would never start them off or promote them to being co-owners or partners and they have heard about Cole’s crass Doyona deal. Daniel insists on meeting them in Tokyo and tells Amanda that he is "not coming back without a yes". While Daniel is in Tokyo and Okinawa, Amanda is very displeased to see Sam and her friends training in karate. Sam retorts that she needs to pay more attention if she thinks karate is the problem. Later on, Amanda finds Sam at the hospital after Demetri’s arm is broken by Hawk at a laser tag arena, comforts her when she cries as her PTSD - caused by Tory Nichols - kept her from saving her friend. A furious Amanda goes to the Cobra Kai dojo to confront John Kreese where he defends Hawk breaking Demetri’s arm and insults Daniel. When Kreese invades her personal bubble and appears as if he is about to assault Amanda, she slaps him and vows to shut him down forever.

Now fully appreciating what Daniel and his students have been up against, she fills her husband in on what transpired when he returns from Okinawa, having securing a new lifetime deal with Doyona. She also sent their kids with Lucille due to what happened at the laser tag arena. They both know Cobra Kai has to go, but her plan involves going to the police. They’re surprised to learn that Kreese filed a restraining order against her after she slapped him. What’s worse is that Kreese came off as more sympathetic due to his war record, with Amanda filing a restraining order against Kreese. Then, Amanda goes with a “nuclear option” to her displeasure.

Amanda later makes a deal over dinner at the LaRusso house with Armand Zarkarian in attempts to evict Kreese but Armand claims that Kreese is a good tenant, better than Johnny, but Amanda claims he is a danger to the community. She asked that he doubles the rent and rent the dojo’s space out to a future tenant. Armand requests that the triple be tripled and Amanda explains that she and Daniel are desperate. After giving the deal some thought, Armand agrees to the deal and vows to evict Kreese from the strip mall. The next day, the couple are at work, happy that they won. To their mutual shock, Kreese calls them, their plan failed and now Kreese declares “open season” on them, having planted a live snake at the dealership in response.

She then supports Daniel resuming his teachings. They tell Sam who’s not willing to train anymore. Amanda suggests they play hooky to help her through her pain. Daniel helps Sam get her confidence back. Amanda goes with Daniel and Sam to a city council meeting to convince the council to allow the All-Valley Tournament to continue after it was cancelled. Unfortunately, Kreese was at the meeting too and had to be escorted out due to her interrupting Kreese’s statement. Daniel, Johnny and Kreese's arguments proved to the council that the tournament should be cancelled but Sam and Miguel explain the true importance of martial arts and convince the council to agree to bring back the tournament.

Daniel and Amanda attend a Christmas party at the Encino Oaks Country Club. There she meets Ali Mills who she finds out dated Daniel in the past back in high school. Amanda learns about Daniel's and Ali's high school life and Johnny's as well.

Season 4

Amanda and Anthony hear their new alarm go off and rush to the door only to find that it was only Daniel and Samantha. She calls the alarm company to clarify that it was a false alarm. Daniel and Amanda are drinking wine where Amanda explains that the new alarm made them feel safer. She explains that they want Cobra Kai including Tory to get arrested for invading their house. Daniel says they can go the police again but Amanda says no. Amanda is also shocked that their family's safety is dependent on the upcoming All-Valley tournament.

Later on, Amanda visits Tory at her job to remind her to stay away from Samantha. She also threatens to put Tory in jail if she hurts Sam again. Tory wants her to leave only if she got her message to leave Sam alone. Amanda tells Tory it would be a mistake to not get her message. After, she watched Tory leave after getting fired. While shopping for groceries, Amanda is then confronted by John Kreese. He tells her that she is in violation of their restraining order. Amanda then tells him about the deal made between Miyagi-Do, Eagle Fang and Cobra Kai. She tells Kreese that hopes that Cobra Kai will lose. He praises her for defending Sam but tells her about Tory's problems and has her leave her alone. While at work, Tory confronts Amanda and gives her back her groceries and tells her that she will humiliate Sam in the All-Valley. Amanda reminds Anoush not to tell Daniel about the confrontation.

Amanda and Sam then go to a party place for their worker's child. Unbeknownst to Amanda, Tory works at the place. After Tory convinces the kids to pull a prank on Sam, Sam gets back at her by kissing Miguel. This causes Tory to quit her job in anger and sadness. Amanda stops Tory, saying she now sees that part of this rivalry is Tory's doing, but that she saw of Sam instigating the fracas red-handed and promises Sam will be disciplined for that. Tory says to be left alone and that she will handle everything by herself.

While Amanda is getting ready to work out, Tory comes over to her house. She has a change of heart and tells Amanda that she can go back to school because of her family situation. Amanda then promises to sign off on it if she stays away from Sam. She also wants Tory to talk to someone because of her current situations. However, this anger Samantha in the process. She gets angry at Amanda about how she originally wanted Tory behind bars but now she is supportive of Tory being re-enrolled in school. Daniel also considers this questionable, but starts to agree with his wife's course of action. Amanda admits that as a teenager she had gotten in trouble with the law. Her math tutor had been having an affair with her father, causing Amanda to take a baseball bat to her tutor’s car and get arrested. She explains that it was hard to overcome and can relate to Tory.

Amanda and Daniel are then called to West Valley Middle School where they learn that Anthony is being bullied. However, it turned out that Anthony lied to Daniel when the principal tells them that Anthony is also being suspended. They learn that Anthony has been a bully and he and his friends have been bullying a boy named Kenny Payne. Daniel and Amanda then ground him by taking away his video game privileges.

Amanda and the rest of the LaRusso's take pictures with Samantha with Miguel and the Diaz's before she gets ready for the prom. Vanessa, Louie's sister, puts Daniel and Amanda through therapy where they talk about Anthony. She then learns about Anthony's love for electronics and how they've not been involved with Anthony's life. After Amanda gets angry, Vanessa concludes that Amanda and Daniel are the problem with Anthony.

On the day of the All-Valley tournament, Amanda watches the skills competition and is also excited when she sees grammy award winning artist Carrie Underwood. After the final round of the boys division, Amanda praises Tory for going to therapy. Amanda says that Tory can show her appreciation by not being ruthless in the forthcoming girls' division fight. Amanda is not demanding Tory take a dive, just that she fights clean against Sam. During Sam and Tory's fight, Amanda gets shocked when Sam kicks Tory to get the first point and when Tory accidentally elbows her eye. Nonetheless, Tory fights clean and defeats Samantha in the girls' finals, which Amanda doesn't mind. Although Sam lost, Amanda hopes the hatchet is buried. She then comes home with her family disappointed over their loss to Cobra Kai.

Season 5

With summer officially arriving and Miyagi-Do closed, Amanda's life continues to be riddled with karate messes. Her new house guest, Chozen Toguchi, swims naked in her pool. She confronts Daniel about Chozen's presence, as she thought Chozen would only be there for a few days, not living with them. With Kreese in jail, they've won in her eyes. She wants to enjoy her summer as a family sipping mai-tai's by the pool. Daniel promises that things will return to normal soon, but presses his concerns that Cobra Kai will affect every kid in the valley. After a hectic day, Amanda goes outside to the pool to find Daniel lounging with a drink ready for her.

The couple takes time to attend a charity auction by a foundation Amanda strives to be part of, Dreams for Teens. They arrive at a beachside mansion that strikes Daniel as familiar. Amanda greets the charity founder and they discuss helping underprivileged kids. The founder, Eva, believes the event could be a stepping stone for the LaRusso family. The house belongs to one of their donors, Terry Silver. After a tense discussion between Daniel and Silver, Daniel's paranoia about Silver heightens. Amanda tries to calm him by offering him a drink to calm down. She needs this event to go well, as it's important to her, and he understands.

Silver approaches Amanda, handing her a glass of wine and admitting he doesn't want to fight Daniel. He knows his behavior in the past was unforgivable, but he isn’t that man anymore. He confides in her about Kreese's ruthlessness, how he felt lost when he returned from Vietnam, and how he wants to make the world a better place through Cobra Kai. He "accidentally" tells Amanda about Chozen attacking his senseis, conveniently leaving out components that make himself look bad. As Silver's antics begin to cause a divide in the couple, Daniel mistakes him talking to Eva for more foul play. He confronts Silver who insults Amanda, spinning tales of the horrific things he told Eva. Daniel lashes out and causes a scene, with Silver dramatizing the event to shine a bad light on LaRusso's once again.

With her career in philanthropy ruined, Amanda angrily returns home and the couple argues. She's tired of the games and is hurt that he couldn't put aside his karate drama for one night. Chozen, wanting to help, accidentally admits that he was the one who attacked the sensei's, started the fight at the furniture store, and infiltrated the dojo, information Amanda didn't know. Daniel asks for her trust in him to handle this situation, so she snaps for him to handle it, but she won't be around to watch. She's leaving and taking the kids with her.

Amanda, Sam, and Anthony visit Amanda's mother Joanne in Ohio, taking some much needed time away from the valley. Amanda is playing cards with her mom when her cousin Jessica Andrews arrives, wanting to take them out for the afternoon. She's surprised Daniel isn't with them, but picks up on Amanda's desire to not talk in front of the kids. They head to a bar and the women talk at the countertop as the kids play an old arcade game. Jessica wants to know why Daniel is really AWOL, and Amanda admits it's all started when he got back into karate. She's tired of his old enemies popping up, with the latest being Terry Silver. Jessica chokes on her drink for a moment, recognizing the name from her friendship with Daniel in the 80s. She tells Amanda about the abuse Silver inflicted on Daniel as a kid by first pretending to be his friend, his mentor, and later terrorizing him at every opportunity. She then mentions the attack on the Bonsai shop in which she was assaulted by Silver’s goons, and it was all part of Silver’s campaign to destroy Daniel’s life including his friendship with Mr. Miyagi. A woman from across the bar continues to pick at Amanda and Jessica, eventually getting the gumption to confront them by using a cruel nickname Amanda had in high school. The bickering escalates into a fight, with the women brawling at the bar until the woman's friends subdue them. When Elizabeth readies to hit Amanda, Sam intervenes with her karate skills to save Amanda and Jessica. The four then quickly leave the bar. Once back at Joanne's, the women talk more about Daniel and Silver while Sam encourages Anthony to join Miyagi-Do. Jessica still has nightmares from the things Silver did, recommending Amanda cut Daniel some slack and reminds her that Daniel has a right to hate Terry Silver.

Now learning the truth about Terry Silver, Amanda goes home to patch things up with Daniel, only to learn he was brutally attacked by Silver. After a week, Daniel is still on bed rest with Amanda, Johnny, and Chozen brainstorming their next move. Daniel has no interest in continuing his feud with Silver, having nearly lost his family and life. He's ready to go back to the dealership. Amanda tries to convince him not to give up, as she understands the importance of defeating Silver now, but Daniel finally understands why Mr. Miyagi walked away from violence. It isn't his job to fight the monsters in the world. Nonetheless, the trio and Sam continue to learn more about Silver's expansion across the valley, understanding that a time to act is imminent.

Ultimately, Amanda brings Daniel back to the Miyagi-Do dojo so he can heal. He goes into Mr. Miyagi's old room, which hasn't changed since the man lived there. Before their wedding, Amanda visited Mr. Miyagi, where they had sake, and he told her he really cared for Daniel as a son. He knew they would be okay. Amanda reiterates what others have already said – Daniel fights for what he believes in, and the right thing to do is to stand up to Terry Silver. The Miyagi-Do sensei is understandably scared of people getting hurt and losing his family again. She promises they are all here for him, leading him outside to where the Eagle Fang's and Miyagi-Do's have all gathered. Daniel takes his place with Chozen and Johnny while Amanda joins the group, all bowing.

Chozen, Daniel, Johnny, and Amanda continue to brainstorm a way to defeat the ever-growing Silver. She suggests that beating a monster might require a monster - Kreese. However, a customer walks in and asks to buy a car. Later, Daniel and Johnny visit Kreese in prison and learn what Silver is truly after, the Sekai Taikai trophy. The quartet interrupts Silver's pitch to the Sekai board who are visiting the Cobra Kai Dojo. They want the now-combined Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang dojos to fight for a spot in the tournament. The board, intrigued by the duel styles of fighting, agrees to let them audition. With training about to begin and the male and female fighters selected, Amanda and Carmen make homemade pizza for the dojo students.

Amanda learns of Johnny having a baby and that night, she goes with Carmen and Johnny to celebrate. The group has fun but Amanda and Carmen decide to call it a night and go home while Daniel, Johnny and Chozen have more fun.

Learning of the Miyagi-Fangs fight with the Cobra Kai students, Amanda alongside Daniel, Carmen and Stingray arrive at the dojo where Stingray defeats the students guarding the door. Amanda supports Daniel in his rematch with Terry Silver. During the fight, Daniel incorporates Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do, Eagle Fang and the Quick Silver method he learned from Terry back in the The Karate Kid Part III. In the end, the two-time All Valley champion defeats Silver and Amanda, Sam and Anthony embrace Daniel.

Personality

"Hey, look, we all make mistakes. It's what we do next that counts, right?"
―Amanda LaRusso to Robby Keene[src]

Amanda is kind, caring, patient, understanding, and supportive of both her husband and children. She is incredibly smart as she runs the LaRusso Auto Group alongside her husband, taking a more prominent role when Daniel's antics against Johnny Lawrence comes to fruition. She tends to butt heads with Lucille LaRusso as they both have strong personalities, but differing ideologies. She is the constant voice of reason in the LaRusso household, having grown from her years as a teenage rebel. Her past gives her insight into troubled teens, striving to help kids whenever she can, including Tory Nichols.

Amanda is a very wise, grounded, and practical person. She can de-escalate conflicts with a few well-chosen words. She is protective over her children, wanting them to be safe above anything else. When Sam is injured during a school fight, Amanda finally snaps by demanding there be no more karate. This forces Daniel to realize the full ramifications of his actions, both personally and professionally. As a practical minded person, Amanda doesn't understand how far Kreese and Silver are willing to go in the name of Cobra Kai until she witnesses the brutality herself. She becomes Daniel's strongest supporter once again, ready to protect her family from anyone who threatens them. Despite her level-headed nature, Amanda is also fun, sarcastic, and witty. She keeps up with Johnny's verbal retorts and makes a fast-friend in Carmen Diaz.

Relationships

Daniel LaRusso

Daniel is Amanda's husband. They met and married at some point in the time period after The Karate Kid Part III and before Cobra Kai. When Daniel's rivalry with Johnny returns, Amanda tries to be the voice of reason. Daniel becomes so focused with Miyagi Do that he leaves Amanda to deal with the dealership herself, which upsets Amanda as she feels neglected and treated unfairly. Eventually, Daniel realizes his mistake and makes up with her. After the school karate war, Amanda tells Daniel that he need to stop Miyagi Do, which Daniel regrettably agrees to.

The school karate war combined with Tom Cole convincing Doyona International to pull out of their contract with LaRusso Auto, Amanda's and Daniel's business is suffering in early season 3. However, after Daniel travels to Okinawa and get help from ex-girlfriend Kumiko and friend Yuna, LaRusso Auto is saved. After understanding that the violence Cobra Kai is perpetrating must end, Amanda approves of Daniel reopening Miyagi-Do.

Samantha LaRusso

Sam is Amanda's daughter. Amanda has a close relationship with Sam. She does ground her and take away her electronics after finding out that Sam was revealed to be involved in a hit and run accident with Johnny's car. She was present when Sam was being treated for the bruises and scars from Tory's knuckleduster in the hospital, she even vowed to get Tory expelled. Amanda looks after Sam and tries her best to help her through her PTSD while Daniel was busy dealing with the problems. Amanda bans Sam for doing karate after finding out about the physical contact soccer game between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, she berates Sam for doing karate without permission. In the hospital, Amanda consoles Sam in the hospital when Sam was crying about Cobra Kai breaking Demetri's arm, and her being unable to save Demetri. Amanda then allows Sam to continue with karate as she better understands that John Kreese is responsible for fanning the flames of the rivalry between the two dojos and what Sam is experiencing.

John Kreese

At first, Amanda didn’t realize why Daniel’s was so worried by John Kreese’s return. After learning from Sam that Demetri’s arm had been broken as a result of Cobra Kai antagonizing Sam and her friends, she confronted Kreese herself, slapping him in anger over his callous nature. From that point she fully recognized the danger he posed. Kreese had filed a restraining order on her following the incident as a psychological tactic, so he could look more sympathetic to the authorities. At some later point, the restraining order expired, and Kreese confronted Amanda when she was food shopping, not to get nasty, but for reason. Kreese tells Amanda of Tory's backstory and that few families have the same money and privilege as the LaRussos do, which sets into motion Amanda's intent to get Tory on the right path.

Other Relationships

Gallery

Trivia

  • Amanda presumably has German heritage. Her maiden name, "Steiner", is German and means "stone" or "rock".
  • Amanda's actress, Courtney Henggeler, and Elizabeth Anne-Rooney's actress, Sunny Mabrey, both appeared in the TV movie Escaping Dad in which they play characters who are best friends instead of enemies.

References

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