- "Kung fu's not about fighting, mom. It's about making peace with your enemies."
- ―Dre Parker to Sherry Parker[src]
Dre Parker is the main protagonist of the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid. He is Daniel LaRusso's equivalent.
Biography
Dre was born in 1997, in Detroit, Michigan. He has been living there with his mother and father, until he passed away and later he moved to China in 2010. His mother got a job transfer at her car factory.
The Karate Kid (2010)
Dre was an average 12-year-old boy, who was enjoying life in Detroit, Michigan. He was about to start middle school.
His mom's car factory 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).
Dre, dismayed, observed his friends and relatives in Detroit waving goodbye (while taking a taxi to the airport). The, with his mother, he got on a plane that was headed for China. 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 is 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 apartment and move in, he tries to get Mr. Han but he is not really responding. He checks out the park by playing Basketball and Ping Pong. He then meets Meiying to Cheng's dismay. Cheng proceeds to beat him up.
Dre starts school the next day. He wears makeup over his black eye. Once his mother finds out he claims that he ran into a pole. He meets Meiying again and learns about Cheng. He spots her practicing violin and was impressed by her abilities. He later went to the Forbidden City for a school field trip. After he dumps water on Cheng and his gang only to be chased by him and get beaten up. Mr. Han saved him and beat up Cheng and his friends. Mr. Han healed him using fire-cupping. Mr. Han made a deal with Master Li which meant that Cheng and his friends will not bother him so that gives Dre time to train since Mr. Han finally agrees to train him.
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. 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. He beats Master Li's lesser skilled students. He faces Liang in the semi-finals where he gets injured and Liang get's disqualified. Dre was eager to return and Mr. Han reluctantly healed him. Dre came back before Cheng could win. He does well in the fight finishing him off by doing the Cobra Kai and kicking his face after doing a backflip. He beats Cheng and wins the tournament.
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 head.
Dre's style of fighting is very flexible, as he can kick a bell over his head while standing on his other foot. He can block and attack with alot of speed, his recovery after a heavy hit isn't great as seen when Cheng kicks him off the stage in their first round in the finals.