- "Everybody has these amazing memories of Mr. Miyagi, and, you know, I never really knew the guy...or learned any of his cool moves."
- ―Anthony LaRusso to Daniel LaRusso[src]
Anthony LaRusso is a major supporting character in the Netflix series, Cobra Kai. He is portrayed by Griffin Santopietro. Anthony is the son of Daniel and Amanda LaRusso, and the younger brother of Samantha LaRusso.
Unlike his sister, Anthony never had karate training and grew up as a spoiled kid. Anthony began bullying a boy named Kenny in Middle School, prompting Kenny to become a Cobra Kai student in order to get revenge on him. Anthony later joins Miyagi-Do Karate, with Robby Keene as his mentor.
Biography[]
He was born on July 8, 2005. According to Daniel, after Anthony was brought from the hospital, Mr. Miyagi picked him up and the newborn kicked him in the face. Although Mr. Miyagi spent time with Anthony, he died in 2011, when Anthony was six years old.
Cobra Kai[]
Season 1[]
Anthony spends a lot of his free time playing video games, and pays no attention to karate. He has no problem reminding Roland Zarkarian that while his father, Armand Zarkarian, may make more money than Daniel LaRusso, that Daniel could beat Armand in a karate fight. While cheering for his father at the All Valley Karate Tournament, Anthony seems to take a mild interest.
Season 2[]
In the months since the tournament, Daniel asks Anthony if he wants to join Miyagi-Do Karate instead of going to summer camp, but he refuses as he doesn't want to do the chores associated with training. The morning after the party at Moon's house, Daniel goes to Samantha's room and notices she is not there. When Anthony walks by, Daniel asks if he has seen Sam, to which Anthony says not since he only got back from camp yesterday. However, Anthony looks unconcerned, and asks Daniel to make him waffles.
Season 3[]
Anthony arrives at Miyagi-Do Karate alongside his mother, when they walk in on Sam teaching karate. While Amanda is confronting Sam, Anthony is shown eating a popsicle. He repeats little things that his mother says, almost enjoying the reprimand that Sam is getting. When his mother finishes speaking, he tells Sam that he is disappointed in her, mocking her.
Season 4[]
Anthony is a freshman student at West Valley Middle School, and his unsupervised lifestyle has led him to become friends with a group of bullies. They watch the new kid, Kenny Payne, dancing as he waits for the bus stop. They make fun of him with Anthony calling it the "trying-not-to-shit-in-my-pants dance". Their attempts to humiliate the kid further during gym class backfires, as Kenny is a decent basketball player. He accidentally checks the ball into Anthony's face. Though Kenny apologizes, Anthony doesn't believe it was an accident and tries to intimidate the student. Lia intervenes and stops Anthony, telling him to take it easy on the new kid. He obliges but watches her be friendly with Kenny and he gets jealous. His friends urge him to use karate on Kenny, but Anthony lies that the moves cause "brain damage". He is agitated when Zack slurs his name as 'LaPusso'.
That night, Anthony and his friends catfish Kenny into believing that Lia wants to meet him at Balboa Park in his Dungeon Lord cosplay. They record Kenny in the park. He tries to stop Anthony from recording and accidentally breaks his phone, apologizes, but calls them assholes. Anthony's friends restrain Kenny and beat him up, encouraging Anthony to use his karate moves. Anthony hesitates, but Anthony readies himself to attack when he is called 'LaPusso'. It is then that Kenny escapes. They chase him to no avail as he hides from them in a dumpster. The bullying doesn't stop there, as they continue to chase the kid, beat him up, and fill his locker with milk in the coming school days. The cyberbullying and harassment continues, with Anthony stealing Kenny's clothes from the locker room so he'll be embarrassed in front of the entire class.
Daniel finds the stolen Cobra Kai sweatshirt and confronts Anthony over the attire. He explains that a kid from Cobra Kai is bullying him at school so he stole it. Daniel decides it's time to begin Anthony's training in Miyagi-Do. He shows him the dojo and explains the rich history behind everything. He tasks Anthony with cleaning Mr. Miyagi's old cars. When he returns, he's shocked that Anthony actually cleaned them. His excitement turns into annoyance when he learns Anthony hired a man to clean the cars for him. Daniel decides Anthony isn't mature enough to handle karate after all. Despite this, Anthony discovers a karate scroll inside that he finds interesting. Daniel merely calls it an extreme measure he hopes no one has to use. After that, his interest in karate seems to grow from that moment. At one point, Anthony and Lia have a conversation, where they reflect that they used to be close in kindergarten, but have grown apart over the years. Lia invites Anthony to an upcoming carnival and Anthony is excited about this, but this sours when Lia announces she is going with Kenny primarily. This seems to be the reason why Anthony has been bullying Kenny.
Back at school, Anthony tries to apologize and reconcile with Kenny but Kenny doesn't forgive him. After he calls Anthony "LaPusso", his friends chase Kenny through the halls of WVMS until they reach the library. Their confidence in cornering the boy evaporates when the lights in the room go out. They split up to find him but one-by-one, Kenny picks off the students using the techniques he's learned from Cobra Kai dojo. He leaves Anthony for last and easily takes his bully down. He is about to beat him up when the lights suddenly turn on and a teacher appears. The students are taken to the principal's office where the LaRusso's arrive, expecting swift action against Kenny for the bullying being done to their son. However, it turns out that Anthony lied when the principal calmly explains that Anthony is also being suspended, as he and his friends have been bullying Kenny for quite some time. They show the Instagram video of Kenny's locker being filled with milk, followed by security footage of Anthony and his friends chasing Kenny into the library. He then reveals that Anthony has become a bully. From outside, Anthony is suspended but Kenny is off the hook. He whispers "got ya" to Anthony, knowing that he's won this battle.
Now grounded, Anthony loses his electronic privileges and is sent to his bedroom as a result. While his sister Samantha LaRusso goes to the West Valley High School Junior Prom with Miguel Diaz, Daniel goes to Anthony's bedroom and tries to make amends with his son for his actions by banning him from playing video games. Anthony then later wishes Daniel good luck at the All Valley Karate Tournament in which he agrees. Unbeknownst to Daniel, Anthony had been secretly hiding an iPad all along in his room, in which he hears due to a notification chime while playing Dungeon Lord. Daniel begins to get angry at him for not taking it seriously and demands Anthony to give his iPad to him. Anthony protests to Daniel that it isn't an iPad even though it is one but Daniel breaks it using karate techniques with his knee regardless. Daniel warns Anthony to follow and listen to his rules or face a much worse punishment since he is "done playing games with him", which Anthony reluctantly agrees.
Anthony and the rest of his family went to the All Valley Karate Tournament to cheer for Sam and Miyagi-Do. He then saw how Kenny was brutally beaten by Robby in the quarterfinals of the tournament. Realizing his mistakes, Anthony followed Kenny to the locker room to try and cheer him up with his loss by saying that Robby was one of the best and also tried to apologize again to Kenny for everything he did to him. Unfortunately, Kenny at this point was convinced that he doesn't know how it feels to be bullied as he never experienced it so he started brutally punching him until he was stopped by Robby. Kenny then grabbed Anthony and told him that next year he would be in a world of pain. Robby then tried to talk to Anthony but he left while claiming that he should leave him alone. After the All Valley, Anthony and the rest of his family returned to their home in disappointment that Cobra Kai won.
Season 5[]
Anthony officially joins Miyagi-Do Karate, though he continues to be bullied by Kenny and the other Cobra Kai's. They harass him at the water park by covering him in pool tubes, and then kicking him into the pool, but not before Anthony reprimands Kenny for being mean to him and not accepting his apology.
Anthony tries to continue his life, but the expansion of Cobra Kai interferes as the members hand out t-shirts. Anthony turns down the t-shirt, but throws it on the ground, which is noticed by Kenny and his friends; Kenny picks up the shirt and tells him he dropped something. The Cobra Kais give him a swirlie in an un-flushed toilet as retaliation, which earns him a cruel nickname and new trauma.
Amanda, finally reaching her breaking point with the karate tensions, takes the kids to Ohio to see her mom and cousin, Jessica. Sam and Anthony have some time together as he struggles to play a classic video game. She sees the video of him being kicked into the pool, asking if that was him; he admits it is, so she asks why he didn't come get her as she would have helped. Anthony says he doesn't think his sister standing up for him would leave a good impression and admits he's a bully; she's surprised by the reveal, though she decides to help him learn to defend himself now that he's no longer a bully. He joins Sam and the rest of the Miyagi-Do's in training, as the family stays united. Later, he and his classmates train under Chozen. During the exercise, he uses his Dungeon Lord knowledge and suggests they "protect the egg" by working together as a team instead of as individuals. In the end, Chozen surrenders, and the plan is successful.
Later, Anthony goes to the Cobra Kai dojo to fight against them in order to qualify for the Sekai Taikai tournament. During the girls match, Sam wins her match and because the organizers are impressed with the dojo, Miyagi-Do qualifies.
Anthony meets with his sister at the Cobra Kai dojo. She explains to her classmates and the Eagle Fangs that they are taking down Cobra Kai. With the help of Tory Nichols, the Miyagi-Do students enter the dojo and hack into the computer to find evidence. Later, the Cobra Kai students arrive and Anthony gets into a brief confrontation with Kenny, who kicks him onto the ground. Much to Anthony and the rest of the Miyagi-Fang's surprise, they were betrayed by Mitch, who switched back to Cobra Kai as their mole and warned Kyler and the others of the group's plan to break into the dojo. After, the Cobra Kais fight the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students. When Anthony recovers Demetri's tablet, he checks the upload progress, while the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students protect him from the Cobra Kais. After the video uploads, Anthony plays it on the TV to show to the entire dojo, successfully ending the fight and making all the Cobra Kais see the truth. After the video, he, his family, his classmates, the Cobra Kais, Eagle Fangs and his fellow students witnessed Daniel defeating Terry Silver, and he and his family embraced his dad afterwards. Thanks to Anthony, Kenny and the rest of the Cobra Kai students quit the dojo when they throw their gear at Silver. Later, he is seen sitting between Hawk and Demetri on a firetruck, resting from a long fought battle.
Personality[]
Anthony is the classic rich kid with a spoiled attitude who takes the luxuries he has in his life for granted. His obsession with electronics distanced him from his family, which often made him overlooked in comparison to the public dramas of his father and sister. Anthony is used to getting his way, and his lack of discipline shows in various aspects of his life. From his weight to his inability to separate himself from the online world. He often missed out on opportunities to have fun because of his gaming, including while attending a high-end country club party. He often demands things from his parents, expecting them to give him what he wants when he asks. Anthony is proud of his LaRusso bloodline, much like his uncle, and acts in a condescending manner to anyone whom he believes are not on par in respect to wealth and success as his parents, which included Johnny and Miguel. While spoiled and often overlooked by his parents due to his sister's immense drama, there are moments where he does care about his family.
Now in middle school, Anthony briefly becomes a condescending bully who picks on students smaller and of a lesser status than himself. Though he does show signs of regret and conscience for his actions later, his hesitance isn't enough to make him stop; this also doesn't prompt him to admit his actions as he never revealed to his father that he was a bully and instead lied by saying that he was being bullied. According to Vanessa LaRusso, Anthony may have disruptive mood dysregulation disorder or DMDD possibly due to a his addiction to electronics since an early age, learning key lessons from the internet rather than from his parents due to their lack of involvement in his life.
During a talk with his father, Anthony expresses his discomfort about all the memories the rest of his family had with Mr. Miyagi as he doesn't really have any memories of his own with him and always feels out of the loop about it. After his father warns him to follow the rules or else he would face a worse punishment, Anthony seems to show more regret for his actions and even goes to apologize to Kenny after the tournament, although he still seems to lack a full understanding of what his actions really caused. His remorse appears to be genuine with Anthony visibly wincing when he sees Kenny get brutally beaten in the tournament and seeking out Kenny to make amends on his own afterwards.
Throughout the summer after the 51st Annual Karate Championships, Anthony is turning his life around to become a better person, now having realized how being bullied by members of Cobra Kai feels, like his father before him. After that, he decided to join Miyagi-Do to fend himself from the Cobra Kai students. During Chozen Toguchi's lesson, he and his fellow students failed to protect their own egg. He makes use of his video game knowledge by using a Dungeon Lord analogy and Demetri and Hawk agree. The students successfully pass Chozen's lesson by protecting the eggs together. This proves that Anthony is capable of using his video game experiences to incorporate into his real-life experiences and share it with others.
During the final fight against Cobra Kai while uploading Silver's crime via YouTube, Anthony realized that the only way to end the fight before it escalates further is by playing the video on one of the dojo's TVs so Cobra Kai will see the truth; doing so has not only successfully ended the fight, but also made Silver's students see the truth and lose their faith in him.
Fighting Style[]
In the early seasons, Anthony showed no interest in karate like his father, so he didn't have any fighting style. In the fourth season, when his friends force him to hit Kenny, Anthony feels nervous because he doesn't know any moves since he preferred playing video games over practicing karate all these years. When Anthony lies to his father, saying he was being bullied at school, Daniel tries to teach him the Miyagi-Do method by waxing cars, but Anthony pays someone to wax them, which later is seen as a sign of intelligence from Sam's perspective. After being beaten up by Kenny in the locker room, Anthony finally decides to join Miyagi-Do to defend himself from Kenny and Cobra Kai. When Chozen passes on the lesson of protecting their eggs, Anthony uses his intelligence and video game knowledge to devise a strategy where everyone should stick together and protect all the eggs. During the students' fight against Chozen, Anthony shows some speed by grabbing the basket before Chozen. In the fight at the Cobra Kai Dojo, Anthony can be seen in the background several times, seeming to evade and block more than attack. When Kyler knocks down Hawk, we can see Anthony in the background kicking a Cobra Kai student. Once again, Anthony uses his intelligence to end the fight when he broadcasts the video of Silver confessing his cheating to Tory on the dojo's screen. Overall, Anthony's current skills are limited, where he tends much more to evade than attack, but he seems to have an easier time with kicks than punches, as seen in the final fight of the fifth season.
Relationships[]
Daniel LaRusso[]
- "We're trying to help you to grow into the person we know you are, Anthony."
- ―Daniel to Anthony[src]
Daniel is Anthony's father and he loves his son very much despite his attitude. Daniel advises Anthony to let go of his video game and join the other kids during the country club party but it had no success, much to Daniel's chagrin. Daniel also convinces Anthony to do karate, which he also finds it boring. However, Anthony takes an interest in karate during the 2018 All Valley Karate Tournament. It is also shown in a deleted scene that Anthony does love his father when he finds out that he's a former karate champion.
A few years later, Anthony explained to his dad that there was a bully in school and Daniel decided to begin training his son in Miyagi-Do Karate, only to give up when Anthony demonstrated to be too lazy to perform chores associated with the training, such as washing some old cars. Anthony ultimately confessed to his dad that he felt left out of the loop because not only he did not have any good memories with Mr. Miyagi apart from when he was an infant, but also because Sam had been receiving more attention and support lately.
Eventually, Daniel and Amanda discovered that Anthony lied and that he and some of his friends had been bullying their new classmate Kenny Payne for several weeks, prompting Daniel and Amanda to confiscate all of Anthony's electronic devices. When he proved to be not taking his punishment seriously when Daniel finds an iPad in his bed, Daniel threatens to give Anthony an even worse punishment unless he agrees to behave, which appeared to put Anthony back in line.
The next day, Anthony, having realized his errors, began apologizing to Daniel for his actions and wanting to turn into a new leaf, decides to make amends with his father by helping him at the dealership and at the dojo, which Daniel agreed on. Although Daniel bans Anthony from doing technology, he still does care for him, as shown when he embraces him after he defeats Terry Silver for good.
Kenny Payne[]
- "I guess I was just trying..."
"To impress your friends by picking on the new kid who didn't have any." - ―Anthony LaRusso and Kenny Payne[src]
Anthony and his friends have bullied Kenny throughout school. They first meet when Anthony makes fun of his dancing while waiting for the bus. While originally seeming like a one time joke, after Kenny accidentally hit him during gym class and after seeing him hanging out with his crush, Anthony continues to bully him in different ways, though he avoids any type of physical encounter as he was visibly uncomfortable when his friends were beating up Kenny. Later on and after a talk with his father, Anthony tries to apologize for bullying him but Kenny, who at this point had joined Cobra Kai, doesn't forgive him and calls him "LaPusso" which prompts Anthony to chase him, though Kenny was easily able to beat him and even made his parents find out that Anthony was a bully. Anthony then watches the tournament and is shocked to see that Kenny lost his match to his classmate Robby Keene, even visibly wincing when Kenny is brutally beaten, appearing concerned for Kenny's welfare. When he goes to the locker room, he admits his mistakes and tries to apologize to him again but is then brutally beat by Kenny, who threatened him by saying that he will be in a world of pain once they go to high school.
Anthony later tries to reason with Kenny when he and the other Cobra Kais confront him at the water park. However, Kenny refuses to listen to him and instead kicks him into the pool. Kenny continues to bully him in many ways, including giving him a swirlie in the bathroom after Anthony refuses to take a Cobra Kai shirt from him. This prompts Anthony to start learning karate from Robby Keene in order to defend himself against Kenny.
Johnny Lawrence[]
Johnny and Anthony dislike each other, but aren't necessarily enemies. Their first interaction was when Johnny becomes Anthony's co-sensei in Season 5, but they weren't shown interacting.
Lia Cabrera[]
Other Relationships[]
- Amanda LaRusso (Mother)
- Samantha LaRusso (Older Sister)
- Robby Keene (Allies)
- Demetri Alexopoulos (Allies)
- Hawk (Allies)
- Slade (Friend/Ally) (Formerly)
- Marcus (Formerly)
- Zack Thompson (Formerly)
Appearances[]
Season 1[]
- "Strike First"
- "Esqueleto"
- "Cobra Kai Never Dies"
- "Counterbalance"
- "Quiver"
- "Molting"
- "Different but Same"
- "Mercy"
Season 2[]
- "Mercy Part II"
- ”Glory of Love” (mentioned)
- "No Mercy"
Season 3[]
- "Miyagi-Do"
- "King Cobra" (mentioned)
- "December 19" (mentioned)
Season 4[]
Season 5[]
- "Playing With Fire"
- "Downward Spiral"
- "Extreme Measures"
- "Ouroboros"
- "Bad Eggs"
- "Taikai"
- "Head of the Snake"
Quotes[]
- "Karate's boring."
- ―Anthony refusing to do karate with his father Daniel
- "Alexa! Order a new PS Vita!"
- ―Anthony when having his PS Vita taken away.
- "Don't forget her laptop and smartwatch."
- ―Anthony telling his mother Amanda to take away Samantha's Ipad and smartwatch after she's grounded for the hit and run accident.
Trivia[]
- Anthony likes the milk-based drink Yoo-Hoo.
- He is a talented gamer, and owns both a PlayStation Vita and a Nintendo Switch[1].
- According to a conversation between Daniel and Amanda, Anthony's conception was unplanned, with apparently him being conceived during an "incident on the mat".
- Daniel and Anthony's experiences are seen as ironic as Daniel was a bully victim while Anthony becomes a bully until he became a bully victim.
- He made the most appearances in his debut season (season 1) with eight, and appeared in seven episodes from seasons 4 and 5.
- He appeared the least in seasons 2 and 3, appearing in two for the former and one for the latter, though in addition, he is also is mentioned in two after.
- Since season 4, his appearances have sped up.
- He is one of the LaRusso members to show some antagonism. The other being Louise LaRusso.
- Ironically, even though he is younger than Sam, by season 5, he is now officially taller than her.
Gallery[]
