Axel Kovačević is the main anti-hero in Season 6 of the Netflix series Cobra Kai. He served as one of the two main anti-heroes (alongside Kim Da-Eun) in Part 2 and as the main anti-hero in Part 3 of Season 6, before redeeming. He is portrayed by Patrick Luwis.
He participates in the Sekai Taikai as the male captain of the Iron Dragons alongside his fellow teammate and friend, Zara Malik, who is the female captain. He also starts three rivalries with Miguel Diaz, Kwon Jae-Sung, and Robby Keene, including a crush on Samantha LaRusso.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Not much is known about Axel, other than the fact that, due to his surname, he notably comes from some Balkan country. Although given that Feng Xiao stated Axel has been training in karate since he learned how to walk, it’s possible Axel was either orphaned or abandoned by his parents right after his birth, and he was shipped overseas as an infant to Hong Kong, China; where Feng found him and took him in. Axel then proceeded to be raised by Feng and trained directly under him. He later becomes the Iron Dragons’ star male student and participates in the Sekai Taikai tournament along with the other competing dojos, alongside his female partner and co-captain Zara Malik, who’m he might have also known since he was a kid as there is a chance Zara has been trained by Feng since she was a child as well. Axel became the strongest teen fighter until he got surpassed by Miguel Diaz in Strike Last.
Cobra Kai[]
Season 6[]
Part 2[]
Axel is part of the Iron Dragons dojo led by Feng Xiao, where they compete in the Sekai Taikai tournament and try to come out as the most powerful dojo in the world. He is revealed alongside his partner, Zara Malik, after four other students of that dojo feign an attempt to fight three fighters of the Cobra Kai dojo students, where he manages to take down Cobra Kai students Kwon and Yoon effortlessly despite being outnumbered two to one.
Later – unknowingly witnessed by Sam – he gets hit in the back of the head by Sensei Wolf after making a mistake. After he makes the mistake again, Wolf hits him multiple times, angrily berating Axel, causing Sam to walk away in disgust. Sensei Wolf then harshly reprimands him to focus.
During the first elimination round, he and Zara easily defeat and clear the dojo West End Warriors. When the last fighter comes in, he holds him and Zara kicks him off, allowing the Iron Dragons to advance. He then embraces the crowd, causing Demetri and Hawk to comment on his physique.
At the beach while training alone, he meets Samantha LaRusso and ends up falling for her, against the rules of talking to other competitors. They form a close relationship with each other after Sam notices scars on Axel's back and ends up meeting on the beach after the participants in the Sekai Taikai tournament leave to blow off some steam. Axel walks Sam back to her hotel, only to be stopped by Kwon and his friends, where they both defeat them. After escaping to the beach, he attempts to kiss her until Sam reminds him that she is in a relationship with Miguel, causing an embarrassed Axel to walk off.
When facing Robby in the semi-finals, he takes a 5-0 lead with his superior defense and offense. However, their fight would come to a standstill when Kwon landed a cheap shot on Robby who was knocked out of the circle. The match came to a halt when the disqualified Tiger Strike led by Sensei Ivanov instigated a huge brawl to break out, with every dojo fighting each other. Axel gains the upper hand on Miguel fairly easily. Later, he attacks Kwon after seeing Sam struggle with him and pushes him against a camera. Kwon then grabs Kreese's eunjangdo and attempts to stab him. However, Axel manages to defeat Kwon by kicking his foot, leading to Kwon falling on the knife, which fatally stabs him, ultimately putting the brawl to a stop. The Sekai Taikai is then canceled, and Axel goes back to China along with Sensei Wolf, Zara and the rest of the Iron Dragons.
Part 3[]
Following the return of the Sekai Taikai, located in the All Valley arena, Axel comes back for his rematch against Robby in the boys semifinals. Despite reeling from his part in Kwon's death, Wolf continues to fuel Axel before his match with Robby.
At the start of their fight, Robby lands a point on him, making him the first-ever contestant to score a point against Axel; shocking Wolf, Silver, Zara and Axel himself. However, Axel then changes his style, allowing him to gain a quick six-to-one lead. However, Robby then receives a pep talk from Daniel, which enables him to fight on equal terms with him. The two trade points until the next break, where Axel is up 11 to 6. Despite still having a good lead, it is apparent that he is losing his edge while Robby is gaining ground. However, during the break, Axel is ordered by Wolf to do something which shocks him, but he agrees to do so. After the break, he brutally injures Robby in the leg. Due to the severe injury, Robby is unable to continue the fight, causing Axel to head to the finals automatically.
After Miyagi-Do's forfeit and no Cobra Kai male fighters available, Axel was going to be crowned the boys champion. However, Johnny brings back his Cobra Kai along with Miguel and Tory participating as the captains. This meant that Axel would face Miguel for the championship title. Before their fight, Axel struggles to train and is off guard. But through Wolf's manipulation, Axel is fired up once again and ready to claim victory.
After witnessing Zara's loss to Tory in the girls finals, Axel's fight against Miguel began. Despite easily beating him in the brawl, Miguel takes a 5-0 lead early in the fight. However, Axel then fights more aggressively, leading to overwhelming Miguel and tying the score. Eventually, Axel lands a kick so hard on Miguel it knocks him down, but the round horn goes off before Axel can knock Miguel out completely. With Axel taking an impressive lead 15-5, his match with Miguel continues. However, Miguel then fights with everything he has, causing him to turn the tables on Axel and land point after point, while Axel cannot counter Miguel's strikes or land any hits on him. As a result, Feng instructs Axel to target Miguel's back injury to eliminate him. When an opportunity presents itself, Axel looks over at Sam and realizes he's tired of being pushed around by Feng, so he continues the fight fair, much to Feng and Silver's frustration. Miguel continues to dominate their fight, eventually tying the score. As their fight comes to an end, Miguel ultimately knocks down Axel, causing him to win the boys' finals and become the Sekai Taikai champion.
Axel then walks off after his defeat, with Miguel being the only person to defeat him. After the fight, Feng tells Axel that he is ashamed to be his sensei, but Axel, having finally had enough of his sensei's abuse and dirty tactics, retorts by saying he is ashamed to be his student after being asked to fight in such a manner. He then says he never has to feel that shame again and walks away, presumably leaving the Iron Dragons for good, as he is not seen supporting Wolf during his tiebreaking fight against Johnny Lawrence.
Fighting Style[]
Axel is not only one of the strongest opponents seen in the series but also one of the most dangerous. Axel showcases an impressive fighting style characterized by immense physical strength and exceptional martial arts skills. His style is a seamless fusion of raw power, precision, and strength, allowing him to control the pace of a fight with calculated aggression. Axel’s ability to break down his enemies mid-fight, exploit their weaknesses, and overwhelm them with relentless efficiency makes him one of the most well-rounded martial artists in Cobra Kai. Trained by Feng Xiao at the Iron Dragons dojo, he excels in both offense and defense. During the Sekai Taikai tournament, he demonstrates his ability to seamlessly evade attacks and capitalize on openings, as seen when he effortlessly dodges strikes from Kwon and Yoon before defeating them. He was also able to block strikes from Robby during their first fight, countering with a blow to his face, striking him so hard that he started bleeding and also leaving a cut on his face in the process.
In season 6 part 2, his skills and strength casually eclipsed all other teen fighters in the Sekai Taikai. No one was able to land a single direct hit or score a point on him, other than Yoon being the only one to land a hit outside of the tournament, which Axel casually took. He casually defeats and fights top-level teen fighters like Yoon, Kwon, Robby, and even Miguel, who was showing to be the second most impressive male fighter in the tournament, showing that no teen up to that point had a chance. His skills were so remarkable that it shocked Hawk and Demetri, with Demetri even calling him Axel the Invincible.
In season 6 part 3, Robby used the most advanced Karate simulation called Fight to practice for his rematch against Axel. The simulation had all the data on Axel's fights and predicted that Robby only had a slight 12% chance of defeating Axel, which decreased as Robby got hit, illustrating how much better Axel was. However, Robby managed to improve and respond to Axel's style, leading to his winning percentage gradually increasing and Axel's decreasing. Unfortunately, the simulation didn't take into account that Axel could adapt and change his style, which is what he did in the rematch, ultimately gaining the advantage.
His resilience stands out; he barely flinches from powerful kicks, highlighting his toughness. In his first semi-final match against Robby, Axel counters strikes with ease, quickly building a lead. His dominance is further evident during a brawl where he outmatches Miguel and Kwon, showcasing his ability to handle multiple opponents.
For a guy his size, Axel possesses remarkable speed and agility. In the finals, he dodged multiple attacks from Miguel and executed an aerial cartwheel, which sent Miguel crashing to the ground.
He is adept at adapting his style, as demonstrated during his second fight against Robby, which contributed to his 6-1 lead.
Axel’s skills are also superior enough to allow him to perform an illegal move by breaking Robby’s leg without even trying to hide it, while also being able to disguise it in an accidental “tangle up” which allowed him to win rather than get disqualified.
Axel's size, immense physical strength, skill, adaptability, and extensive training make him a formidable presence on the mat—one that instills both fear and respect in his opponents.
Despite this, Axel appears to have a weakness in protecting his left side. Wolf scorns and abuses him even after scoffing at what he thinks he did wrong as Axel fails twice to keep his guard up on his left side. This is further evidenced by how a lot of the shots Miguel and Robby landed on Axel were on his left side.
During his second fight with Robby, he takes a six-to-one lead after changing his style to one with a longer stance, more use of open-hand palm strikes, and acrobatic kicks. However, after Robby receives a pep talk from Daniel, the two engage in a heated and equal exchange, and Axel begins to lose his edge despite still maintaining the lead.
During his second fight against Miguel, the latter, who could not land a single strike against him in the brawl, takes an early lead before Axel takes control by fighting more aggressively. However, after Miguel recalls everything he has learned, Axel finds himself unable to counter most of Miguel's strikes and also cannot land any hits on him, ultimately leading to his defeat.
In terms of physical strength, Axel has surpassed the likes of Robby Keene, Kwon Jae-Sung, Eli Moskowitz, Yoon Do-Jin, Min-Seok, Chung-Hee, Vlad, Draga, Shawn Payne, Demetri Alexopoulos, Kenny Payne, Diego Aguilar, Maria Alvarez, Kyler Park, Brucks, Chris, Anthony LaRusso, Mitch, Bert, Nathaniel, Tory Nichols, Samantha LaRusso, Xander Stone, Devon Lee, Aisha Robinson, Piper Elswith, Wing, Zara Malik, Dre Parker, Cheng, Liang, Wu Ping, Connor Day, Li Fong, and Ned Randall.
Axel is considered to be the second greatest teenage fighter in the whole Karate Kid franchise, with Miguel Diaz being the only one superior to him.
Personality[]
Axel carries an air of quiet confidence that can be mistaken for arrogance, but his true strength lies in his calm and intimidating presence. He is highly disciplined, possibly even more so than Zara, yet unlike her, he prefers solitude over socializing. While Zara enjoys unwinding at a bar after training, Axel dedicates himself to honing his skills alone on the beach. This preference highlights his independent nature and his relentless commitment to improvement. In combat, he rarely shows emotion, maintaining focus and efficiency. However, when he wins, he allows himself a brief display of passion, letting out a battle cry—one of the few times he expresses anything openly.
Despite his usual composure, Axel struggles with jealousy when he learns that Sam is dating Miguel. He reacts in subtle but noticeable ways, such as glaring at Miguel or bumping into him, leaving Miguel confused until Sam explains the situation. Axel's inability to move on stems from his strict and emotionally repressive upbringing under Sensei Wolf, who never allowed him to experience personal attachments or even enjoy himself. Because of this, Axel doesn’t know how to handle his feelings for Sam, making it difficult for him to let go. His emotions also fuel his protective nature—when Kwon and Yoon mock Sam in an alleyway, he immediately becomes defensive, and his anger escalates when Kwon kicks her during the dojo brawl. These moments show that, despite his controlled demeanor, he deeply cares about those close to him. This is a noticeable difference between him and Zara, as with Zara having a crush on Robby to the point that she only wanted to sleep with him and had no interest in losing the competition for him, Axel was willing to sacrifice his championship status because he wants Sam to think of him as a good man. Axel also cares for his classmates. He was seen visibly feeling sorry for Wing after he got his arm broken by Sensei Wolf.
At the bottom of it all, Axel is broken and lonely, as he has no friends, no family and no relationship. All he has is karate, which gives him a release for his anger and sadness. He is often compared to a machine by others, someone who follows orders without hesitation. Demetri even likens him to the Winter Soldier and Frankenstein’s creature—figures conditioned to act without question. However, unlike Yoon Do-Jin, who is predictable in combat due to following orders and combat routines even more strictly than Axel, Axel can adapt, making him a more dangerous opponent and proving that unlike Yoon, he can change his style and think for himself. This discipline is shaken, however, when he unintentionally kills Kwon. For someone who has continuously operated under orders, this moment forces him to confront the reality of his actions in a way he never had to before. His focus is shaken even more when Robby Keene adapts to Axel’s combat style and scores numerous points on him, which both shocks and impresses Axel.
Despite his aggressive fighting style, Axel values honor. He regrets breaking Robby’s leg in a previous fight and feels deep guilt for taking Kwon’s life in Barcelona. This causes Axel to refrain from using dirty tactics against Miguel, even when Sensei Wolf expects him to. Instead, he decides to fight fairly, demonstrating that he has enveloped himself in a newfound inner strength and can stand up to his sensei now. When he makes this choice, he looks at Sam, showing that her opinion matters to him; he knows that if Axel cripples Miguel by targeting his back as instructed, Sam will never forgive him. His decision ultimately leads to his defeat, but it also marks a turning point—his rejection of the expectations that have long controlled him. As a result, he seemingly quits being a student of Sensei Wolf and finally expresses, in anger, how he feels ashamed to be his student. When Wolf attempts to stop him from walking away by grabbing his shoulder, Axel aggressively rips his grip away. Judging by the look in his eyes, Axel would have been willing to fight back had Wolf tried to hit him again, which suggests he no longer feels constrained by Wolf.
Relationships[]
Feng Xiao[]
Feng Xiao is Axel’s sensei and possible adoptive father, seeing as how Wolf has been training him since he could walk, indicating he also raised Axel as his own son. This also caused Wolf to be way harder on Axel than on his other students. After losing the Sekai Taikai to Miguel on purpose just to spite Wolf, Axel disowns Wolf as his father and sensei and leaves the Iron Dragons for good.
Terry Silver[]
Axel and Terry Silver don’t have much interaction before part 3 of season 6 when Silver starts acting as Axel’s co-sensei. He has high expectations of Axel’s victory just like Sensei Wolf and expects him to use dirty tricks to win if necessary. After Axel’s loss, Axel leaves the Iron Dragons and disregards Silver as his sensei.
Zara Malik[]
Axel and Zara act as co-captains in the Sekai Taikai. And while the pair are often seen fighting together in perfect harmony, they have no connection off the mat. They never speak to or even look at one another. Although given the possibility that they have known each other since they were kids and have a type of sibling relationship, on top of the fact that Axel has been abused by Wolf his entire life, and Zara likely witnessed it, their lack of communication could be justified. The only time Zara tried to speak with Axel was just to whine about her struggles with her sponsorships, to which Axel ignored. When Sensei Wolf started attacking Axel due to his unwillingness to hurt an opponent, Axel looked at Zara as a cry out for help, to which Zara felt bad for Axel, but denied his request for assistance. After Zara and Axel both lose their championship matches, they never see each other again after either one or both of the leave the Iron Dragons.
Miguel Diaz[]
When Miguel left Barcelona to check on his mom, Axel formed a minor connection with Miguel’s girlfriend Samantha. When Sam informed Axel of her relationship status, Axel instantly became jealous of Miguel, which left Miguel confused at first. After being repeatedly antagonized by Axel, and then physically shoved onto the ground, Miguel got fed up with Axel and fought back. Their rivalry worsened when Axel broke Robby Keene’s leg in the semi finals and Miguel wanted to get payback for Robby. Their rivalry came to a head when Miguel defeated Axel in the finals and got justice for Robby’s injury.
Samantha LaRusso[]
Sam and Axel met on the beach in Barcelona, and Axel immediately became smitten by Sam; due to Sam being the only person who has ever shown any kindness to Axel. After the pair worked together to fend off the Cobra Kai students, Axel attempted to kiss Sam, only to be rejected when she told him she was taken. Even after learning of her relationship status, Axel’s feelings for Sam never left as he didn’t want to lose that feeling of being treated with respect and kindness. He fought Kwon in the dojo brawl to defend her, and refused to break Miguel’s spine in the boy’s finals because he wants Sam to think of him as a good person.
Kwon Jae-Sung[]
Kwon and Axel immediately disliked each other the moment they first met on the mat. Due to Kwon’s cockiness, he assumed Axel would go down easily, only to quickly learn Axel was in a league of his own, which left Kwon, John Kreese and Kim Da-Eun in shock of Axel’s abilities. Even in spite of losing, Kwon showed no fear of Axel. When they fought during the all dojo brawl, Kwon couldn’t touch Axel, while Axel himself landed multiple powerful shots on Kwon, which infuriated him. Going completely over the edge, Kwon attempted to take Axel’s life using Kreese’s eunjangdo, only to have his own life taken by Axel who swept Kwon's leg as Kwon jumped & spun & that forced him to fall on the knife. However, Axel did feel very guilty for what he did.
Robby Keene[]
Robby proved to be one of Axel’s greatest opponents, as he was the first competitor to tag Axel in a fight, leaving Axel, Sensei Wolf and all the Iron Dragons students in complete shock. Robby is one of two of the only opponents to actually overpower Axel, and he and Robby’s rivalry got more heated as the pair traded blows during the match. After seeing that Robby might actually beat Axel, Sensei Wolf ordered him to take Robby out of the tournament by breaking his leg; and while Axel was hesitant, his nervousness of the possibility that Robby might win overwhelmed him and he agreed to do it.
Appearances[]
Season 5[]
- Taikai (Indirectly mentioned)
Season 6[]
- Benvinguts a Barcelona
- Dog in the Fight
- Snakes on a Plane
- Blood In Blood Out
- Eunjangdo
- Rattled (likeness only)
- Skeletons
- Strike Last
- Ex-Degenerate (indirectly mentioned)
Trivia[]
- Axel has a personality comparable to the character Ivan Drago from the Rocky franchise.
- Axel is the second known participant in the Sekai Taikai to kill an opponent albeit by accident, although it could also be considered self-defense as Kwon was trying to murder Axel at the time while the latter is probably unaware of the eunjangdo in his right hand.
- The first known participant to kill an opponent in the tournament was Mr. Miyagi, who killed his opponent, Claramunt.
- Given his personality type and role in the show, Axel cannot really been seen as a protagonist or an antagonist.
- Despite being co-captains and partners, Axel has never spoken one word to Zara during all their moments together on screen. This is likely due to Axel being closed off from people, including the other students in his dojo, and only speaks to Sensei Wolf. For example, despite Zara seemingly attempting to talk with Axel about her struggles with sponsorships due to Tory, Axel seems to ignore this due to his anger towards Miguel. When Wolf was berating Axel during training, he puts his gaze on Zara; this is implied to be a indirect call for help for which Zara has no response to.
- In part 3 of season 6, Wolf regards how Axel has been training in karate since he learned how to walk, and how if Axel lost the finals, “everything” Wolf “gave” him would have been for nothing. This could speculate that Axel was either abandoned or orphaned right after his birth, and Sensei Wolf not only trained Axel, but also practically raised him. This theory is further justified by how Axel likely comes from a country such as Bulgaria, but his dojo is stationed in Hong Kong. Meaning he may have been sent away overseas right after his birth; and he ended up on the doorstep of the Iron Dragons dojo.
- According to a Computer Program created by Demetri Alexopoulos, Axel stands at 6'5" (196 cm), the same height as Ivan Drago, and weights 215 lbs (97.5 kg). So this makes Axel the tallest teenager in Cobra Kai.
- However, the actor that plays Axel, Patrick Luwis is confirmed to be 6'3 and weigh 200 lbs.
Gallery[]
