- "Kung fu's not about fighting, mom. It's about making peace with your enemies."
- ―Dre Parker to Sherry Parker[src]
Andre ''Dre'' Parker is the main protagonist of the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid. He is the equivalent of Daniel LaRusso.
Biography[]
Dre was born on July 8, 1997, in Detroit, Michigan. He had been living there with his mother and father, until his father died when Dre was just 10. Dre's mother had been working at a local car factory at the time, trying to support just her and Dre.
The Karate Kid (2010)[]
Dre was an average 12-year-old boy, who was enjoying life in Detroit, Michigan, about to start middle school as the following school year soon approached.
His mother's car factory, where she worked, gave her a job transfer, so she and Dre had to move to China (mirroring Daniel and Lucille LaRusso moving to California for Lucille's job transfer to a computer lab). Dismayed, Dre observed his friends and relatives in Detroit waving goodbye to him while he drove off in a taxi taking him and his mother to the airport. There, with his mother, he got on a plane that was headed for China, their new home. During the flight, Dre spent the time sleeping, talking, learning to speak Mandarin Chinese (中文), and reading books in Chinese. During the flight, under his mom's urges, Dre attempted to say “你好吗？” (Chinese for: "How are you?") and “你叫什么名字？” (Chinese for: "What is your name?") to a Chinese man sitting in a seat opposite to him, but failed to say it with the right pronunciation. The man then responds that he is from Detroit. Dre, relating to the man, then says "What's up?" to him.
After Dre and and his mother arrive at their new apartment and move in, Dre tries to get Mr. Han for some repairs, but he is not really responding. Dre checks out the park by playing basketball and ping pong. He then meets a pretty young girl he develops a crush for named Meiying, much to the dismay of Cheng. Seeing this, Cheng proceeds to beat Dre up.
Dre then starts school the next day, something he was not found of at first. Dre wears makeup over his black eye, hiding the injury he sustained in the fight from his mother. Once his mother finds out, Dre claims that he ran into a pole, but in reality, he was beaten by Cheng.
At school, Dre meets Meiying again and learns about Cheng. He spots her practicing violin and was impressed by her abilities. Dre later went to the Forbidden City for a school field trip. After he dumps water on Cheng and his gang of friends, Dre gets chased and beaten up once again, with Cheng's gang with him. Suddenly, Mr. Han, the maintenance man, saved Dre and beat Cheng and his friends with ease. Mr. Han healed him later on using fire-cupping.
The following day, Dre and Mr. Han go to the Fighting Dragons studio, the place where Cheng and his friends practice Kung-Fu. There, Mr. Han made a deal with their teacher, Master Li, which meant that Cheng and his friends will not bother Dre. The conditions are that Dre will fight in an upcoming kung-fu tournament and must show, or else it would be open season on both him and Mr. Han.
Dre meets with Meiying at the Shi-Shi festival. At the theatre, she tells him an old Chinese love story. Dre shows her what a pinky swear is and they share a kiss.
Dre starts training. He gets disappointed by the lesson's where he has to hang up his jacket, unhang his jacket, pick up his jacket, drop his jacket, put on his jacket, take off his jacket and more. Mr. Han later states that Kung Fu is everywhere, even in daily tasks and shows it too him. They train in other places such as a Shaolin temple which is on a mountain.
When Mr. Han gives Dre a day off from training, Dre convinces Meiying to skip school for a date. She rushes to her audition that she did not know was re-scheduled to a day earlier and Dre follows and watches. He then learns Meiying cannot see him anymore. Dre meets Mr. Han and learns that his wife and son died in a car accident many years ago. Dre then learns the Cobra Pose with Mr. Han. With Mr. Han's help he apologizes to Meiying's parents in Mandarin Chinese, Dre continues his training.
Dre competes in the tournament. He is unaware of the rules but later proves himself to be a worthy competitor. Dre beats a majority of Master Li's skilled students, including Zhuang. Dre faces Liang in the semi-finals, where he gets injured and Liang gets disqualified. Dre was eager to return and Mr. Han reluctantly healed him. Dre later faces off with Cheng, who easily wins the first round, knocking Dre off the mat. But reluctant to give up, Dre gets right back up to face off with his rival. The second round theb takes place with Cheng fighting on the offensive, much to Dre's advantage he defends well and uses his flexibility to sleep the latter's leg and strike him in the face, with Dre winning the round and making the score 1-1. The two go at it again but this time Dre takes an a lot more aggressive approach to things and puts Cheng in a scissor headlock before bringing him down and striking him the face to win the round, making the overall score 2-1. Master Li then calls time out and orders Cheng to 'break' Dre. With that being said, Cheng aims for Dre's leg throughout the fourth round and does so more aggressively each time resulting in Dre being dropped to the ground in immense pain.
Dre finally manages to fight through the pain and gets back on his feet. He uses the technique he saw when traveling to the 'spiritual mountain.' He does so, leaving Cheng to be distracted by his methods. The official's flags are drawn and the two fight it out in the final round which ends in Dre kocking Cheng to the ground with an audacious kick to the face. Much to his surprise, Dre wins the tournament as well as winning his former bully's respect.
Fighting Style[]
Dre was trained by Mr. Han in kung fu through muscle memory techniques. At a Taoist temple, Dre observed a woman make a cobra copy her movements, and duplicated her stance in the final round of the kung fu tournament to flip and kick Cheng in the face to win the tournament.
Dre's style of fighting is very flexible and fast paced. He can kick a bell over his head while standing on his other foot. He can defend and attack with alot of speed, this allowed him to make easy work of his opponents during the tournament, including skilled fighters lile Zhuang.
Overall Dre's pace can get him out of trouble and when in good condition physically, he's a very capable fighter.
Trivia[]
- His story mirrors Daniel LaRusso's.
- Both of them moved from their homes with their moms in order to get a better life.
- Both of them met guys who would become their senseis.
- Both of them were bullied by someone that knows karate/kung fu.