- "Let me tell you about your dad. He was always a scrapper. But the moment I knew he was the real deal was his first All Valley. He made the quarters, but he drew a kid named Vidal. Now Vidal was a third-generation black belt. Very skilled. Way beyond Johnny, at the time. Your old man lost. But he didn't make it easy. And I saw that look in his eye that he would never let that happen again."
- ―John Kreese to Robby Keene[src]
Darryl Vidal is a skilled karate student that is defeated by Johnny Lawrence during the semifinal round of the 1984 All Valley Tournament. He fought for Locust Valley Karate.
Biography[]
Darryl, at some point joined Locust Valley Karate. He competed in the All Valley Tournament in 1981-1983. In 1981, he defeated first time competitor Johnny in the quarterfinals, and ultimately won the tournament. It is unknown if Vidal or Locust competed in the All valley Tournament in 1982. In the 1983 All Valley, he was upset by Tommy in the quarterfinals/semifinals and beaten by Cobra Kai's Bobby Brown in the third place match.
Film series[]
The Karate Kid[]
Darryl vs Johnny at the 1984 tournament
He returns to the All Valley tournament in 1984. He successfully defeats two Cobra Kai students and manages to make it to the semifinals along with Cobra Kai students Johnny and Bobby Brown, and newcomer Daniel LaRusso. The first semifinals tournament is held with Johnny versus Darryl. Although Darryl Vidal was a skilled fighter, he is still defeated by Johnny. Darryl managed to put up a strong fight that Johnny would remember years later, second only in nature against the climatic final round.
At the end of the tournament, Darryl is seen congratulating Daniel LaRusso on his victory. He was a skilled fighter and honorable karateka that likely felt Daniel deserved to become champion. As Darryl made it to the semifinals and did not lose by disqualification, unlike Bobby, he presumably took home the third-place trophy.
Cobra Kai[]
Season 1[]
He isn't seen in the present day, but appears in a flashback during the 1984 All Valley Karate Tournament when Johnny is telling Miguel about his rivalry with Daniel.
Season 2[]
He does not appear, but is mentioned. When Johnny is visiting Tommy in the hospital, he reminds Tommy about the time he defeated Vidal to make it to the semifinals in the 1983 All Valley tournament.
Season 3[]
When Kreese visits Robby Keene in juvie, he tells him about the time Johnny lost to Vidal in the quarterfinals of the tournament in 1981. Later, when Robby does some research on Kreese, he sees an article that says Vidal lost to Tommy in the semifinals and Bobby Brown in the third place match during the 1983 tournament.
Fighting Style[]
In season three of Cobra Kai Kreese describes Vidal as "...a third-generation black belt. Very skilled." Vidal is a flashy, acrobatic fighter with a penchant for high risk spinning and aerial techniques. However, Vidal's over-reliance on high risk moves frequently leaves him open; Johnny easily defeats Vidal in the 1984 All Valley by exploiting this weakness.
It can be assumed that Vidal was a competitive fighter between 1981 and 1984, due to him having a victory in the All Valley in 1981, and having no worse than a quarterfinals/semifinals finish in the All Valley between 1981 and 1984.
Trivia[]
- Darryl Vidal is the actor's name in real life. In the credits for The Karate Kid he is listed only as "Karate Semi-Finalist." However, it now appears to be canon that the character's last name was also Vidal, and that he was a formidable presence in the early 80's All Valley tournaments.
- Darryl Vidal, the actor, doubled for Mr. Miyagi in the scene where Daniel sees Miyagi standing on a post practicing the crane kick. Vidal wore a bald cap to simulate looking like Pat Morita and was silhouetted by the sunset. He also stood in for Pat Morita during the fight at the fence Mr. Miyagi took on Johnny and his friends.
- It isn't clear when Tommy beat Vidal in the 1983 All Valley. In the second season of Cobra Kai, Johnny reminds Tommy he beat Vidal to make it to the semifinals in 1983. However, in an article about the 1983 tournament during the third season of Cobra Kai, it stated that Vidal was upset by Tommy in the semifinals, and that Vidal lost to Bobby in the third place match. Should the article be correct, then Johnny misspoke.
- In real life, Darryl Vidal was a first degree black belt in karate during the filming of the first movie. As of 2012, he is a tenth degree black belt, a grandmaster. He runs his own kenpo karate school in Murrieta, California and he also trains in and teaches Filipino stick-fighting and wing chun kung fu.
- His counterpart in the remake of 2010 is Wu Ping.
- Kreese's comment about Vidal being a third-generation black belt suggests that Darryl's father and grandfather were also skilled karate fighters, and may have taught him lessons.