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"You know what? That's life. You win some, you lose some, but you gotta move on. You never did. You’re still pulling the same old bully act as always. Everyone you bullied has kicked your ass by now."
Eli to Kyler Park[src]

Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz is one of the main characters in the Netflix series Cobra Kai.

He is portrayed by Jacob Bertrand. Initially a quiet and bullied student, Eli joins Cobra Kai Dojo and gains confidence after learning to "flip the script".

He becomes corrupted by Cobra Kai's ruthless mentality until his conscience begins to re-emerge, as he questions the choices he's made since joining Cobra Kai. He leaves the dojo to join the now combined Miyagi-Do Karate and Eagle Fang Karate dojos. He tries to make amends for his past transgressions, but faces retribution from his former comrades when they cut off his mohawk and loses his confidence. He temporarily quits karate but eventually joins Miyagi-Do thanks to Demetri. He also rekindles his relationship with Moon, regains his confidence and he defeats Robby Keene after a lengthy fight and becomes the 2019 boys division champion in the 51st Annual Karate Championships.

During the summer, he starts to regrow back his mohawk and after finding out that Silver bribed the match between Sam and Tory, he along with Miguel, Sam, Robby, and Demetri help expose Terry Silver and stop him once and for all.

Biography

Eli was born at some point in 2002 with a cleft lip, that when surgically repaired, resulted in a scar running from his lip to nose. He was bullied due to his scar, but found an equal in fellow outcast Demetri, whom he has met since kindergarten. The pair donned themselves "binary brothers" and excelled in academia together, winning a coding competition at a computer camp. They endured the bullying and torment at the hands of older students, and tried to stick to themselves.

Cobra Kai

Season 1

"Just give it a chance. You saw the fight. Miguel kicked ass."
Eli encouraging Demetri to join Cobra Kai[src]

At first Eli is quiet, shy, and often made fun of for his scar that is the result of a cleft lip surgery. They are at lunch when the new-kid Miguel arrives, looking for a place to sit. He sits next to Demetri and Eli despite their unpopular status. The trio are soon picked on by Kyler Park and his friends. However, Miguel defends himself using the martial arts he's learned from Johnny Lawrence. This inspires Eli to join Cobra Kai Dojo, with Demetri joining to be with Eli. Johnny mocks Eli's scar, despite protests from both Eli and Demetri. Johnny uses a takedown on Demetri, flipping him, before telling Eli that he has to do the same. Flip the script on those who want to attack him. If he's tired of people mocking the scar he has to give them something else to look at or react too. Demetri storms out of the dojo, though Eli stays, inspired by Johnny's teachings. He takes the message to heart and returns to class the next day donning a large mohawk and a hawk tattoo on his back. This changes his nickname from "Lip" to "Hawk".

Hawk and Robby at the All Valley Karate Tournament

Hawk and Robby at the All Valley Karate Tournament

With his new name comes a new attitude and fresh set of friends in his fellow Cobra Kai's. He begins to bully those who used to be his friends, including Demetri. Hawk's flashier personality attracts attention from Moon, a student at West Valley High School. They begin dating and become an exclusive couple while at her lake party. When it comes time for the All Valley Karate Tournament, Hawk competes as a member of Cobra Kai. He reaches the semi-finals where he faces-off against Johnny's son Robby Keene. The pair are evenly matched, but when Robby scores a point on Hawk, the dynamic shifts. Hawk taunts Robby and in response, Robby mocks Hawk's mohawk. This infuriates Hawk and causes him to kick Robby from behind in the shoulder, thus dislocating it and causing a disqualification from the tournament. Following his disqualification, an upset Johnny questions Hawk's actions, though he defensively repeats the "strike first, no mercy" motto of Cobra Kai. After Miguel wins the tournament for Cobra Kai, Hawk and the others cheer for their fellow teammate, though Johnny isn't pleased with the events.

Season 2

Miguel and Hawk at the Cobra kai dojo

Miguel and Hawk at the Cobra kai dojo

Following Miguel's victory in the All Valley tournament, Hawk along with Miguel, Aisha, Moon and Demetri celebrate. However, the following morning Hawk and Miguel are forced by Johnny to do 50 push-ups because of their unsportsmanlike behavior against Robby in the tournament.

After some time, Miguel finds out that Robby is Johnny's son and he tells Hawk, causing them both to believe the only reason Johnny is being hard on them because they attacked his son. When they confront Johnny, an angry Johnny tells them that despite Robby being his son, his anger was not about that; he doesn't tolerate unethical behavior. He also tells them to mind their own business.

Over the course of the season, Hawk becomes more recognizably a bully, intimidating and insulting new students of the dojo and bullying Demetri after the latter writes a bad review about Cobra Kai. When Demetri is at the comic store in the mall, Hawk and some of his fellow Cobra Kai classmates corner him, and Hawk threatens Demetri, trying to force him to take down his Yelp review about Cobra Kai. When Demetri refuses, Hawk attacks him. Demetri then runs away, but Hawk and his gang corner him. Hawk is about to attack him again, but Robby and Samantha arrive. Hawk and his gang fight them, but Hawk is beaten by Robby, and the rest of the gang is bested as well. Later, Hawk's behavior has even more repercussions as Moon, his girlfriend, points out to Hawk that she likes his new attitude and style, but not his bullying, and so she dumps him. Furious over the breakup, Hawk takes his anger out on a punching bag. Johnny's sensei, Kreese, then uses Hawk's anger against him by manipulating him into behaving more aggressively.

Encouraged by Kreese and without Johnny's knowledge, Hawk leads a small group of Cobra Kai students (not including Miguel) to vandalize and destroy Daniel LaRusso's dojo, and Hawk steals the Medal of Honor which belonged to Daniel's sensei Mr. Miyagi. When Johnny finds out about this, he doesn't know who was responsible, and so he collectively punishes the dojo with endless exercises. Hawk is ready to come clean, but Kreese secretly tells him not to. Later during one of their training exercises, Miguel notices Hawk with the Medal of Honor and realizes Hawk is the one who destroyed Daniel's dojo. Miguel confronts Hawk, who then challenges Miguel to fight him for it. Despite putting up a good fight, Hawk is defeated by Miguel. Miguel then takes the Medal of Honor and later brings it to the LaRusso house. Although he wanted to give it to Sam, Robby is there, so he gives it to Robby and explains that he had no part in the destruction of Miyagi-Do. Surprisingly, Hawk is not angry at Miguel after this fight and the loss, sensing that the fight was fair.

On the last day of summer, Hawk is at the party at Moon's house, where he tries to win her back by flirting with another girl. Moon interrupts their flirting and kisses the girl, revealing that they are dating. This upsets Hawk, of which Demetri gets the effects. Demetri comes and they manage to briefly bond over Doctor Who, but after Demetri suggests he have inner peace, Hawk responds by pouring beer on Demetri's head. Later at the party, Demetri gets revenge by telling a large group of the party-goers embarrassing stories about Hawk. An enraged Hawk tries to attack him alongside the rest of Cobra Kai, but they're stopped by the rest of Miyagi-Dos. Just as a fight is about to break out, the cops arrive. Before leaving the scene, Hawk runs into Demetri and threateningly reminds him they'll see each other the next day at school.

During the fight that breaks out as a result of Tory attacking Sam, Hawk gladly participates in the school brawl. He fights and beats several Miyagi-Do students before chasing Demetri. Eventually he catches Demetri and starts attacking him, but Demetri defends himself with Daniel's Miyagi-Do Karate teachings and manages to beat Hawk but apologizes to him in the end. Hawk is there in the aftermath when Miguel is lying unconscious on the steps.

In one of the last scenes back at the Cobra Kai dojo, Hawk, along with Tory, Raymond, Mitch and some other students, are training with Kreese. When Johnny comes to the dojo, Kreese reveals that he now owns it. Johnny accuses the students of abandoning him, only for Hawk to blame him for Miguel's injuries.

Season 3

After the school brawl, Hawk returns and asks a student to be her bodyguard. However, he is rejected when she brings up his sleep enuresis and his loss to Demetri. In one of the first training exercises with the new dojo master, Kreese, the students are supposed to say whether they are uncomfortable feeding a mouse to a snake. Hawk is among the handful that don't raise their hands, but he is surprised and uncomfortable when Kreese dismisses the students who objected, kicking them out of Cobra Kai, including Bert. Hawk asks Kreese if this is the right time to make cuts, since they already lost a few students as a result of the school fight, but Kreese sees this display of possible compassion as a weakness, which Hawk is quick to deny. Kreese then says that Cobra Kai needs a new champion due to Miguel's injury. This causes Hawk to smile, realizing that Kreese is talking about him.

After finding out that the Miyagi-Do students are hosting a fundraiser for Miguel's surgery, Hawk sees this as an affront against Cobra Kai and vows they won't get away with this. At the end of the day and Miyagi-Do's successful fundraiser, Hawk, Mitch and two other Cobra Kai students corner Nathaniel, who was responsible for the transporting the donations for Miguel's surgery, beat him up and take the money. Mitch does say they plan on giving it to Miguel's family themselves.

The rivalry between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, largely sustained by Hawk, continues at school. Hawk destroys Demetri's science project, but Demetri cannot retaliate due to the new anti-fighting policies at the school. Hawk gets his friends out of trouble by acting as Eli. Recognizing this, the two dojos find other ways of acting out their rivalry. During a gym class soccer game, the Miyagi-Dos and Cobra Kais get physical, with Demetri pushing and leg sweeping Hawk as revenge, and Hawk getting back by headbutting Demetri. Hawk also kicks the soccer ball at a Miyagi-Do student's face. When the game is interrupted and both sides are sent to the counselor's office for disciplining, Hawk (who was allowed to tell their side first) gets himself and his friends off without punishment by turning into Eli with a (fake) docile and apologetic demeanor, while Sam, Demetri, and the other Miyagi-Dos involved get detention.

This isn't the end, as shortly thereafter, Hawk, Mitch and some other Cobra Kais cause havoc in the arcade and harass Chris at work. He texts Sam, who then recruits some of the Miyagi-Do students to stop them, resulting in a fight. Initially, Hawk is losing to Sam, and the Miyagi-Do students have the edge. However, when Tory arrives with Big Red and Edwin, Cobra Kai gains the edge. After pinning Demetri to the ground, the other Cobra Kais pressure Hawk to break his arm, while Demetri pleads with him not to. After momentarily hesitating, Hawk breaks Demetri's arm, but shows some discomfort as Demetri screams in pain, showing remorse for taking this out of hand with his former best friend.

The following morning before class at the Cobra Kai dojo, Hawk shows some uneasiness when Mitch brags about Hawk breaking Demetri's arm, but to not show this, he claims that Miyagi-Do got what they deserved. He is unhappy and nervous after noticing his former bullies Kyler and Brucks joining Cobra Kai. He tries to convince Kreese that they aren't Cobra Kai material. Kreese deflects this by pointing out how they are natural athletes. When Kyler and Bruck's encounter Hawk, they make fun of him, much like old times, which visibly causes Hawk to shrink into himself a bit and his two selves, former Eli and present Hawk, are conflicted. When Mitch loses to Kyler in the sparing match that Kreese has arranged to determine who belongs in Cobra Kai, Kreese kicks him out of the dojo. Hawk objects, pointing out how loyal Mitch has been, but Kreese says that Mitch isn't Cobra Kai material despite his loyalty. This visibly saddens Hawk. When it is Brucks' turn to fight, Hawk says he will fight him, and Kreese, seeing Hawk's taste for revenge, indicates the match won't run by the normal, fair rules of competition. Brucks mockingly says he will fix Hawk's lip, but Hawk lets him see his hawk tattoo and shows he is unbothered, as Brucks and Kyler become uneasy. Hawk then aggressively, easily beats Brucks in competition and doesn't stop even when Bruck's is already on the ground and begs him to. It seems that Hawk uses the opportunity to let out the pent-up emotions of his past bullying. In the end of the fight, Brucks is groaning in pain, while Hawk gets up with a satisfied look, and blood on his hands. Hawk glares at Kyler after beating Brucks, with the latter looking away, proving that Kyler is scared of Hawk from this moment. Hawk also indicates that this is what could also happen to Kyler if he messes with Hawk.

After Miguel returns to school, Hawk greets him and things seem to continue like before. However, their friend group dynamics are changed as Hawk is quick to mock Mitch when they meet in the cafeteria, and tells him to sit at the loser's table. Then, Hawk is confronted by Miguel for breaking Demetri's arm and going against their sensei. Hawk argues that Johnny is the one who betrayed them, and that he is no longer their sensei. This upsets Miguel, who tells Hawk he is letting Kreese take over his mind. Hawk is then shocked to learn from Miguel that Johnny has started a new dojo, which Miguel tries to persuade Hawk to join. When Johnny shows up at school later that day, he approaches Hawk and some of the Cobra Kais, and he acknowledges his mistakes. However, Hawk criticizes Johnny for quitting and going soft on them, which causes an angry Johnny to remind Hawk that he, not Kreese, is the reason that Hawk went from being a weakling to a tough guy. He then tells them that Kreese doesn't care about them, and that they should come to his dojo tomorrow.

The following morning, when Johnny's students are training, Hawk shows up with the other Cobra Kais. After initially thinking they are going to join Johnny's new dojo, Kreese also appears and Hawk reminds Johnny that he is Cobra Kai for life. Things are tense for a moment until the Cobra Kais leave, but this is where it becomes clear that Hawk's and Miguel's friendship is over for the time being. However, Hawk still seems to care about Miguel, since he is upset to find out that Robby has joined Cobra Kai, which is problematic because of what he did to Miguel. He then tells Kreese to not allow Robby a place in Cobra Kai after the incident with Miguel at the high school and that Robby is “the enemy”. Rather than kick Robby out of Cobra Kai, Kreese responds by telling Hawk that during his time in the military, “it was hard to tell who was the enemy” but that he figured out that, “The enemy of your enemy is your friend”. By this statement, Kreese means to say that Hawk can be Robby's friend since both are enemies of Miguel. However, since Hawk does not really feel that Miguel is his enemy, it actually means that they are still friends in both being Robby's enemy.

Despite their disagreements, Hawk wants to please Kreese as the new sensei, and so he, along with some of the Cobra Kais, sets up a plan to sneak into the zoo and steal a snake for Kreese. When Robby arrives, Hawk is angry that he was invited by Tory, but Tory challenges Hawk having a problem with Robby being on the mission. When Hawk aborts the mission because Kyler forgot the snake pole, Robby ends up getting the snake with his bare hands. Despite the mission being successful, Hawk is still not pleased about Robby being on their team. That night after bringing the snake, Kreese reveals to them all that Miguel and Sam are now working together. He then orders the members to go and attack the Eagle Fangs/Miyagi-Dos, causing Hawk to be reluctant about joining the mission with Kyler.

Then, on that same night, when the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students had just agreed to work together at Sam's house, Hawk and seven other Cobra Kais show up and attack them. Hawk spends a lot of time fighting Miyagi-Do student Stiven. While Stiven puts up a fight and gets some hits, Hawk has the upper-hand overall and beats him. Cobra Kai is winning the fight, but after noticing Miguel, Mitch and the other Miyagi Do students being beaten up by the other Cobra Kai students, he is visibly conflicted, remembering what Johnny and Miguel said at school, and also remembering what Kreese said about enemies. After this, he sees Doug holding Demetri's arm in a Deja vu moment. Doug encourages him to break his arm a second time. Hawk runs up, but kicks the other Cobra Kai off to the side before grabbing a shocked Doug around the neck and flipping him onto a glass table, thus switching sides during the fight, and saves Demetri.

After saving him, Demetri is reluctant to trust Hawk, but he apologizes to him for everything, resulting in their friendship being rekindled. The two then work together to defeat several Cobra Kais. Hawk's defection proves to be the turning point in the fight, as the Miyagi-Do's and Eagle Fang's gain momentum and the edge, and ultimately defeat the Cobra Kai's.

After defeating the Cobra Kais in Sam's house, Hawk heads to Daniel's home dojo by the pool along with Miguel and Demetri, where they see Tory, who was just disarmed by Sam. Hawk tells Tory the fight is over, but she refuses to believe it's over. She leaves, but not before warningly telling Hawk to watch his back. Demetri promises that Hawk's friends will watch it for him. The following morning, the last scene of this season shows Hawk going with some of the other former Cobra Kai's to Miyagi-Do, where he high-fives Demetri, and trains with the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students under Johnny and Daniel's leadership.

Season 4

Hawk has rekindled friendship with Demetri and hopes to atone for the mistakes he's made while at Cobra Kai. However, he struggles to find his place in the combined dojos. The Eagle Fang's see him as a traitor while the Miyagi-Do's seek to punish him for the torment he put them through. He confides in Daniel about his problems, unaware that Daniel is already angered from an argument with Johnny. Daniel snaps that he doesn't have time for Hawk, causing the boy to walk away. He returns to the dojo with a sledgehammer and an idea to build an Okinawan sparring deck. His idea allows the dojos to train together outside and work together. Hawk knows that talk is cheap so he's taking action for once. Demetri supports the choice as the physics of the deck are correct. The dojos put aside their differences to build the deck.

While at school, Hawk stops Kenny from punching Bert after he and Nathaniel insult him for his affiliation with Cobra Kai, adding that he should leave Cobra Kai and that they're going to lose the tournament. He again encounters the boy at a drive-in where he knocks over his food. This causes a confrontation between Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang. Miguel tells them to meet at the baseball diamond but they don't show up. After drenching Cobra Kai with sprinklers, Hawk is happy that they fought them without throwing a punch and he drives away with Sam, Miguel and Demetri.

Before a class session, Hawk and his classmates watch Daniel and Terry Silver's conversation. Later on, Hawk and Demetri learn about the co-Cobra Kai sensei Terry Silver where they encounter Moon and Yasmine. Yasmine and Demetri share a kiss while Moon compliments Hawk's new hair color. He learns that Moon and Piper broke up when Miguel and Sam tell him and Demetri about Daniel and Johnny's rematch. While waiting for Rico, Hawk attempts to ask Moon to prom. However, he ends up being ambushed by Cobra Kai in revenge for betraying them, drenching them in the baseball diamond and bullying their classmate Kenny Payne. Hawk returns to Miyagi-Do where he reveals that his mohawk was nearly shaved off right in front of Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students. He leaves with Johnny after Miygai-Do and Eagle Fang split up.

Demetri goes to Hawk's house where he reveals the new updates for the upcoming tournament. He tells him that he's not sure if he can defeat his former classmate Robby Keene. Hawk reveals he removed the remains of his mohawk, reverting back to Eli, and reveals everyone knew about the incident and tells him that his time as Hawk made him ruthless to Demetri, Moon and Miguel. He then tells Demetri that he quit karate but Demetri tells him that he helped him get into karate. Demetri explains that his time in Miyagi-Do helped him gain confidence, strength and win the heart of Yasmine. He also shows his excitement for the tournament but it won't be exciting if Eli doesn't participate. He shows him their old binary brother video and tells him that regardless of his name and mohawk, they are still binary brothers, while also saying that his mohawk never defined who he was. Inspired, Eli goes back into karate and joins Miyagi-Do.

Eli and Demetri both go to prom where he tells him that going to prom without a date is embarrassing. He watches Demetri and Yasmine dance with Moon, but he doesn’t approach her due to his lack of confidence. The two go to Stingray's house for his afterparty where he watches Demetri and Yasmine make out.

During the All-Valley Tournament, Eli participates in skills competition. He demonstrates his board breaking skills but doesn't break the last board. The one-on-one matches begin and Eli initially struggles against his first opponent, but recovers and beats him. His opponent in the quarterfinals is Kyler, his former bully. Kyler mocks him but Moon tells him to ignore him. She tells him that he's not defined by his mohawk even though she admired it. Moon tells Eli that she liked him more for his energy and confidence and the two kiss, rekindling their relationship. Inspired, he then easily defeats Kyler and advances. In the semifinals, Eli is matched up with his former Cobra Kai and Eagle Fang classmate and friend Miguel Diaz. The fight is even, until Eli is knocked down by Miguel, though no point is awarded due to this being considered a block. Miguel attempts to deliver a flying kick, but ends up injuring himself, putting their fight to a pause.

Eli then advances to the final by default after Miguel chooses not to continue. His opponent is none other than Robby Keene. In the first round, Robby wins the first point by utilizing Miyagi-Do, which prompts Eli to call a timeout. He goes to Daniel and tells him that Robby has way more experience in Miyagi-Do, but Daniel tells him that he has more experience in Cobra Kai. Eli follows his advice and wins the second round. After a long and even fight in the third round, Eli gains the upper hand by pinning Robby down, but the time runs out, leading to sudden death, the first since the 1985 All-Valley Tournament. Their fight becomes very intense when Robby and Eli both take off their gi; Robby because of his gi falling off, and Eli matches him and shows off his hawk tattoo. During the fight, Robby gains the upper hand and is about to win, but after being distracted by Kenny, Eli takes advantage of this and kicks him off. They resume their fight, which ends with Eli defeating Robby to win the tournament for the boys division. In the end, Eli and Miyagi-Do celebrate. Despite his win, Cobra Kai would still be the grand champion when Tory beats Sam 3-2 in the girls' finals, but unbeknownst to Eli and the others, Terry Silver had bribed the referee to ensure that Cobra Kai would win the tournament.

Season 5

Eli and Miyagi-Do meet up where Daniel explains that he is adhering to his bet with Cobra Kai and is shutting the dojo down. Daniel says that Miyagi-Do will still remain inside of them regardless of what happens.

At a tattoo shop, he goes with Demetri and Miguel to get a new tattoo. The binary brothers get nervous for Miguel after he reveals Sam's messages to him. After her last reply, the two tell Miguel that he is screwed. Demetri and Eli take Miguel to a jewelry store, where he buys an octopus necklace for Sam.

The next day, Eli and Miguel go to a water park where he kisses Moon. When he sees Kenny bullying Anthony, he confronts the group but Tory breaks it up. Later, the two race but Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang get mad when Eli reveals that there was a hole in his floatie. Kenny asks him what he would do about it, to which Eli smirks and says he wouldn't strike first. Kenny seems to back off but then attacks Hawk, who dodges and mocks him. Kenny attacks him again, with Hawk countering his strikes, before being punched. Kenny then tries to kick him but Hawk grabs his foot and hits it, but is then pushed in the pool by Robby. Afterwards, all of the students are then kicked out.

Back at Miyagi-Do, Eli and the other students are training with Chozen Toguchi. The students are hiding eggs but are picked off one by one. Inspired by Anthony's Dungeon Lord analogy, they hide the eggs and protect it as a group. After Chozen runs out of options, he surrenders.

While having dinner at the LaRusso house, Johnny, Robby and Miguel decide that Eli should represent the boys for the boys portion of the Sekai Taikai demonstration. Robby asks Eli to go easy on him. In the first round, Eli loses to Kenny. In the second round, Eli kicks Kenny out of bounds, but the referee says no point because he was out of bounds, much to his and Miyagi-Do's annoyance because he made contact with Kenny in bounds. In the third round, Kenny punches Eli's leg and despite that being an illegal strike, he only gets a warning. After the round, Eli decides to bring out the Hawk. In the fourth round, Kenny uses the "Silver Bullet" method he learned from Silver, to take the breath out of Eli. Eli falls to the ground and struggles to breathe, much to the concern of Miyagi-Do. Eli is unable to compete anymore, which makes Kenny the automatic winner. Despite his loss to Kenny, Sam wins her match against Devon Lee and Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang nonetheless qualify for the tournament. Later on, both dojos celebrate at Miguel's apartment, where Eli tries to match Miguel with a new girl, while simultaneously dismissing Mitch's attempt to flirt with her as well.

After finding out about Terry Silver bribing the referee after the 51st All-Valley, Eli goes with Sam, Demetri, Bert and Miguel to confront Stingray, where he demonstrates the crime through Dungeons and Dragons and how Terry beat him up and framed Kreese.

Now ready to finish Cobra Kai, Eli and the rest of the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students head to the dojo with the help of Tory Nichols. While Demetri is finding evidence, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are confronted by Cobra Kai. Everyone gets surprised where they learned that Mitch betrays the merged dojos and tipped off the Cobra Kai students. When Miguel stops Kenny, a huge fight occurs.

Kyler checks out the office and insults the binary brothers, especially mocking Eli for his defeat against Kenny; Eli replies that winning and losing are a part of life, and so he accepted it and moved on, like every mature person should, while Kyler never did so and instead keeps playing his bully act despite having been beaten by all the people he bullied. While Demetri states he has not yet beaten Kyler, Eli quickly reassures him he will beat Kyler as well, and then states Kyler is too stupid to learn his lesson; an angry Kyler attacks Eli, who at first gains the upper hand on him and his friends, but eventually, since it's a 3-against-1, Kyler and the other two manage to briefly turns the tables until Demetri intervenes, and the binary brothers defeat their opponents once again.

While Anthony checks the upload progress, the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students protect him until the video is loaded and played on the dojo's TV. This stops the brawl, and then, after a lengthy fight, Daniel defeats Terry Silver, who is then abandoned by his students.

Personality

Eli is initially portrayed as a very quiet and introverted individual due to the intense bullying he's endured his entire life for a medical condition that he can't control. He was made to feel less than others and, as such, had a low self-worth. He was first seen with only one friend, Demetri, and later Miguel. Despite mocking the popular kids at school, Eli desired to be one of them. He wanted to be respected by his peers, but coupled respect with having to exude fear and intimidation. Searching for a way to protect himself against the intense bullying, and also searching for a sense of camaraderie with Miguel, Eli joins Cobra Kai Dojo. His first lesson from Johnny is to minimize the significance of the facial difference by "flipping the script" so people have notice something else first. Knowing this will allow him to control the narrative for once, Eli adopts a new hairstyle in the form of a mohawk. He takes it to the next level by getting a giant hawk tattoo on his back. This, coupled with his new attitude of cockiness, gives him the new name "Hawk".

Now in control of his life and getting the spotlight for the first time, Hawk develops an inflated ego. He becomes more self-assured, and willing to take risks. With this comes and overconfidence, aggressive, and hot headed nature. His sense of right and wrong is blurred as he devotes blind loyalty to Johnny, and later Kreese, following their rules and creed to the letter. He fails to adapt when Johnny tries to teach his students morals, as Hawk now views any diversion from the initial Cobra Kai mantra as weakness.

Hawk begins to bully Demetri to maintain the identity he found in Cobra Kai. He becomes thuggish, cruel, and vengeful in his approach toward life. He goes from being the abused to the abuser, turns his pain into anger at every turn, and develops a sexist attitude towards women and a cockiness in his relationship, which results in Moon breaking up with him. Hawk's loyalties shift from Johnny to Kreese when the latter takes over the dojo. He blames Johnny for Miguel's accident, but also views Cobra Kai as his identity and sense of self. He is desperate to maintain that at any cost.

As time passes, Hawk begins to reconnect with his conscience as he realizes that Kreese's cruel methods are unhealthy. However, his weakened sense of self and inability to stand up to Cobra Kai results in the dojo peer-pressuring Hawk into breaking Demetri's arm during a fight. Eventually, Hawk's conscience peaks and he realizes the error of his ways during the heated LaRusso house brawl, as well as the ramifications of his actions and the merciless mindset of the kids around him. He, for the first time in over a year, does the right thing by freeing Demetri from an arm lock and helping him, which allows him to break away from Cobra Kai and enter a healthier mindset; he does his best to make things right with those he hurt, and is a main factor in "building bridges" between Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do.

When Robby Keene and the Cobra Kai's shave his mohawk, Hawk loses his sense of self and pride; he is embarrassed over the event and reverts to "Lip", the rattled teenager with weakened confidence, because he believes his sense of self is connected to his looks. With Demetri's encouragement, Hawk returns to Miyagi-Do karate where he also embraces his true name - "Eli". Though reconnected with his old friends, Eli struggles to gain his confidence and inner-strength back. Ultimately, a pep talk from Moon and his success at the All Valley Karate Tournament re-energizes him.

Fighting Style

"Prepare to face the fury of the Hawk."
―Hawk to Robby Keene[src]

Once he entered training, Hawk developed into an aggressive fighter with a penchant for high-risk techniques. Light and wiry, he discovered he was something of a natural athlete. He did demonstrate a solid defense when pressed, weathering an intense combination from Robby only to counter with a well-timed take-down. However, when Robby started focusing, he countered Hawk's attacks and knocked him down with perfect timing. After the tournament, Hawk's style became even flashier and more reckless, incorporating aerial kicks and other high risk moves. He began to show a tendency to underestimate his opponents, except for Miguel. His overconfidence and over-reliance on aggression allowed Robby, Miguel and Demetri to defeat him with superior timing and defense. Despite losing multiple fights, he was still able to defeat many people, such as most of his Cobra Kai peers at Coyote Creek, as well as several Miyagi-Do students during the school brawl.

Under Kreese's tutelage Hawk's fighting style improved. Kreese encouraged him to fight smarter, to temper his aggression, and be less impulsive. While Hawk still used high risk techniques, he relied less on them and implemented them more intelligently. He also stopped underestimating his opponents. After teaming up with Demetri during the fight at the LaRusso house, the two managed to combine their skills to defeat several Cobra Kais.

After Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do merge, Hawk's defensive game improves greatly. This gives him even more depth and flexibility as a fighter, as he now uses a powerful and balanced combination of offense and defense. However, after his Mohawk is cut off, a despondent Hawk becomes weaker. This is shown as he is not able to break his last board and struggles to beat his first opponent in the All-Valley. However, after his talk with Moon, he finally regains his confidence and proceeds to easily beat Kyler. He puts up a good fight against Miguel using Miyagi-Do in the tournament before the latter is injured and unable to fight. In his final fight against Robby Keene, both fighters utilized Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do. Eli had the upper hand against Robby before the timer rang. In sudden death, Robby initially has the upper hand, but Eli kicks him off after the latter is distracted by Kenny. After a long and even fight, Eli was finally able to defeat Robby — an opponent who beat him soundly in the mall brawl (even he had assistance for Sam) — cementing his place in the top tier of the younger generation of fighters.

At the fight in the waterpark, he initially fights defensively against Kenny. However, after Kenny punches him and then tries to kick him, Eli grabs his foot and elbows it but is unable to win the fight, due to Robby intervening by pushing him in the pool. In his fight with Kenny for the Sekai Taikai, he loses due to Silver bribing the referee and Kenny using the "Silver Bullet" method on him. It is also implied that he lost due to agreeing with Robby on going easy on him. During the Cobra Kai dojo fight, Eli initially gains the upper-hand on Kyler and while he got a hit on him during the fight, Eli receives assistance from Demetri, which allows them to effortless defeat Kyler and his friends. When the Miyagi-Fangs tried to protect Anthony by forming a circle around him, Hawk was one of the five remaining fighters standing in the circle as the rest were being pulled away from the group by the Cobras.

Currently, Hawk is one of the top tier fighters of the show only inferior to Miguel as one of the few characters to train under all sensei's Johnny Lawrence, John Kreese, Daniel LaRusso, Chozen and his mixed style of Cobra Kai, Eagle-Fang, and Miyagi-Do. Hawk is the now to the 2nd best fighter in the dojo only behind Miguel.

Relationships

Demetri Alexopoulos

"You're my binary brother, whether you're a number one or zero."
―Demetri to Hawk[src]

Demetri is Hawk's brother figure and childhood best friend, sharing nearly everything. They become friends with Miguel and join Cobra Kai together, though Demetri quits after being embarrassed by Johnny. Demetri vocalize his disapproval for some of Hawk's new behaviors, such as his cruel mannerisms and brute attitude. He also refuses to call Eli "Hawk", making him the only person that Eli doesn't abuse for the misstep. At the All Valley Tournament, Demetri cheers for Eli, but also sees firsthand how far Hawk is willing to go to win. Their friendship becomes strained when John Kreese begins teaching Hawk. Hawk begins to insult Demetri and verbally abuse him, seeing Demetri as the culmination of everything he's being trained to hate - a weaker nerd. When Demetri joins Miyagi-Do, their friendship officially ends. He writes a bad review about Cobra Kai and refuses to take it down. As a result, Hawk attacks him in the mall along with some of his Cobra Kai friends. Their anger comes to a head during school brawl.

Things worsen, with each taking cheap shots at one another in the name of revenge. During an arcade fight, Hawk succumbs to peer pressure and breaks Demetri's arm, causing him immeasurable pain. Afterward, Hawk begins to question his actions and tactics. During the LaRusso house fight, two Cobra Kai's have Demetri in an arm lock, offering a free shot to Hawk, who shocks everyone by saving Demetri. He apologizes to Demetri for the past and offers to help him win the fight. Tory threatens that Hawk should watch his back, but Demetri stands up for Hawk, saying he has friends watching his back for him. Demetri helped Eli earn the trust of the two dojos again by looking over the design he created for an Okinawan sparring deck. When Eli's confidence is depleted after the loss of his mohawk at the hands of Cobra Kai, Demetri is there to not only comfort Hawk, but help him regain some of his confidence. He states that his mohawk didn't define who he was. He assures Hawk that they are still "binary brothers" and always will be regardless of whether he calls himself "Hawk", "Eli", or something else entirely. Whether he's a zero or a one, they're binary brothers. Hawk takes this to heart and joins Miyagi-Do as a result. During the All-Valley Tournament, they both cheered for each other and Eli tried to help Demetri in his fight against Robby. The two celebrate after Eli wins the boys division.

The binary brothers get nervous for Miguel after he vents about Sam. Later, the two bring Miguel to a jewelry store to buy a necklace. They also go to Stingray's apartment in order to learn about his assault. Stingray demonstrates the crime with Dungeons and Dragons. Later that day, the binary brothers go with Miguel and Robby and the rest of the Miyagi-Fang's and Tory to the Cobra Kai dojo where they defend Anthony from the Cobra Kai's attacking them while latter uses Demetri's tablet to upload the footage of Silver confessing Tory about the ref.

Miguel Diaz

Miguel is another best friend and Hawk is his right-hand man. They immediately connect over being bullied by Kyler and his gang. Eli joins Cobra Kai after witnessing Miguel using his skills to defend himself from Kyler and his gang. Despite Hawk's abrasive personality and actions, as well as the two getting into a fight over Mr. Miyagi's Medal of Honor that Hawk stole, they remain close friends. When Miguel is injured in the school brawl, Hawk is one of the first to try and awaken Miguel, but a cop tells him to back away. He is also one of Miguel's regular visitors in the hospital. He becomes intent on getting revenge for what he feels Miyagi-Do did to Miguel, and steals the fundraiser money for Miguel's surgery to make it look as thought it came from Cobra Kai's efforts.

When Miguel returns to school, things sour when he learns that Demetri's arm was broken by Hawk. Miguel immediately confronts Hawk about this, but Hawk tells him that he should be thankful to Cobra Kai for avenging what Miyagi-Do did to him. He can't understand Hawk's motivations and corrects him that it isn't Johnny's fault. Miguel warns Hawk about Kreese's manipulations and tries to recruit his friend to join Eagle Fang, which ends their friendship. During the LaRusso house fight, Hawk witnesses Miguel being attacked by the Cobra Kais. He recalls Miguel's warnings about Kreese, and defects from Cobra Kai. Because of Hawk's betrayal and their reconciliation, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang win the fight. The pair went on to rebuild their friendship, grow closer throughout their joint training, and continued to support one another's endeavors. Miguel and Eli train together in Eagle Fang despite Eli trying to fit in. He and Miguel leave Miyagi-Do after realizing that the merge didn't work. Despite quitting karate, the two are still friends. During the tournament, the two face off against each other but after Miguel withdraws, Eli wins and advances to the finals.

When Miguel comes back from Mexico, Eli, along with Demetri advises their friend over his issues with Sam, suggesting him to buy her jewelry. Despite their advise, Sam breaks up with Miguel before he can give her the present. To cheer him up, he brings Miguel to a water park where he will be there with Moon, not thinking that this mean Sam will be there as well. When Miguel and Robby make amends, at first Eli is still angry with the latter, not having forgotten about the haircut, but thanks to Miguel and Demetri they make peace as well. At the Sekai Taikai the two friends, along with Robby, display their knowledge of both Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang to the commission, amazing them. Eli is then chosen by Miguel and Robby to fight against Kenny, much to Eli's flattery over his friends' trust. The two aid Sam and Bert to talk to Stingray. At his apartment, he demonstrates the crime through Dungeons and Dragons. During the fight at the Cobra Kai dojo, the two protect Anthony while he holds Demetri's tablet.

Moon

"I liked you for your energy. Your confidence"
Moon to Hawk[src]

Moon is Hawk's former bully and current girlfriend. Moon and Yasmine, along with Kyler and Brucks, made fun of Eli's lip for years. When Eli turned into "Hawk", their relationship changed to become romantic. However, Moon dumps Hawk for beating up Demetri, as she, too, has changed and rejects bullying of all forms. At Moon's party later that year, Hawk attempts to flirt with a new girl to make his ex jealous. To his surprise, Moon then kisses the new girl, Piper, revealing that they are together. Hawk tells her that this is "awesome", covering his jealousy. During the soccer game, Hawk attempts to wink at Moon but she rolls her eyes at him. He covers the tattoo of her name and shape of the moon that he got for her with a grim reaper tattoo. When he returns to his "Eli" persona, his confidence wanes during the All Valley before his fight with Kyler. Moon gives him an uplifting talk and then kisses him. Inspired, he easily defeats Kyler. After defeating Robby Keene, Eli becomes the boys champion. She's ecstatic to see him win the tournament, and the two continue dating after it.

Johnny Lawrence

"When you came into my dojo you were softer than a baby's ass. I made you what you are, not Kreese!"
Johnny Lawrence to Hawk[src]

Johnny was Hawk's former sensei at the Cobra Kai Dojo. When Eli first joins Cobra Kai halfway into season 1, Johnny mocks his lip scar and tells him to push back against how others will see him if he "flips the script". Eli takes his message to heart and shows up the next day with a mohawk, impressing Johnny. From then on, Eli is Hawk. However, when Hawk is disqualified in the semifinals at the All Valley tournament for kicking Robby when his back was turned, an angry Johnny confronts him, but Hawk shows no remorse. Hawk seemingly starts losing faith in Johnny, and is being more obedient to Johnny's sensei Kreese. When Johnny confronts Hawk and the students, Hawk angrily blames Johnny for all of Miguel's injuries. When he tries to apologize to them, Hawk tells Johnny that they, the students, paid the price for Johnny going soft on them. However, Johnny rebuttals and tells him that Kreese doesn't actually care about Hawk and that he helped him flipped the script, not Kreese. During the fight at Sam's house, Hawk realizes that his former sensei is right and defects to help defeat Cobra Kai, later joining Johnny's new Eagle Fang Karate and training with them and Miyagi-Do against Cobra Kai. He ultimately transfers, respectfully this time, to Miyagi-Do.

Robby Keene

410 Robby Hawk Promo

Robby is Hawk's (former) enemy. They first meet in the semifinals of the All Valley Tournament, when Hawk attempts to intimidate him before the fight starts. After Robby mocks his mohawk, an enraged Hawk kicks him when his back is turned, resulting in Robby's shoulder being injured and Hawk being disqualified. When Hawk and his Cobra Kai friends corner Demetri in the mall, Robby and Sam jump in and tell them to leave. Then a fight breaks out between both groups, with Hawk being bested by Robby. When seeing Robby joining Cobra Kai, Hawk shows his disgust and claims that Robby isn't Cobra Kai material. His hatred for Robby stems from his loyalty to Miguel, who Robby had severely hurt during a school fight. Hawk was once envious of Robby's skills and the way he made fast friends with the Cobra Kai's, especially when Kreese says Robby is exactly what Cobra Kai is looking for.

When Eagle Fang pranks Cobra Kai with sprinklers in a baseball diamond, as opposed to fighting them as previously stated, Robby and the Cobra Kai's sought revenge. They deliberately planned an attack against Hawk, by unexpectedly arriving at his tattoo appointment. While Kyler and the others restrained Hawk, Robby used a barber knife to cut-off Eli's mohawk. The act was incredibly damaging to Eli's identity, though it ultimately helped him find his way back to himself again. The two faced-off against one another at the 51st Annual Karate Championships. The fight ended in sudden death when Hawk beat Robby and won the boys division trophy for Miyagi-Do. To the surprise and anger of Terry Silver, Robby bowed to Hawk in respect during their fight.

Even after Robby left Cobra Kai, Hawk still harbored a dislike towards him. During the "egg" training, both Hawk and Robby were bested by Chozen and forced to sit out with the other disqualified members of the group. Hawk refused to talk to Robby, and in retaliation Robby listed the ways in which Hawk had acted back when he was in Cobra Kai. They would have nearly fought, had it not been for the interruption of their mutual friend Demetri, who told them off by implying they both had done wrong things. After the success of the lesson, Robby and Hawk seemed to work together as equal partners. Robby and Miguel both agreed that Hawk should represent them in the Sekai Taikai tryouts, and Hawk offered to "shut Kenny up" after the young Cobra Kai student was rude to Robby.

John Kreese

"The enemy of your enemy is your friend."
Kreese to Hawk[src]

Hawk was once deeply corrupted by Kreese's teachings, to the point of becoming a sadistic person. After Kreese begins co-teaching, he fuels Hawk's negative and violent tendencies. Encouraged by Kreese and without Johnny's knowledge, Hawk leads a small group of students to vandalize and destroy Daniel LaRusso's dojo. Hawk steals the Medal of Honor which belonged to Daniel's sensei Mr. Miyagi. The influence of Kreese and Cobra Kai's initial teachings are so great on Hawk that even after Johnny believes he has gotten rid of Kreese, and tries to instill humility and mercy in his students, Hawk reflects the concept. For Hawk, the confidence and power the initial teachings gave him are hard to reconcile with the concept of showing mercy to a world that hadn't shown him any since the day he was born. When Kreese takes back Cobra Kai from Johnny, Hawk is one of his loyal students. Hawk experiences increasing twinges of his conscience at certain decisions Kreese makes, including kicking several students out of Cobra Kai for not wanting to feed a living mouse to a snake and also kicking out Mitch for not being Cobra Kai material. Hawk also does not like to see Kreese recruiting his former bully Kyler, or "enemy" Robby. He ultimately turns away from Cobra Kai to join Eagle Fang, and later, Miyagi-Do.

Other Relationships

Quotes

Hawk to Demetri: "Alright, let me let you in on a little secret. It's not just a haircut or the back tattoo. It's a way of life, man. You just gotta feel the energy and just live in the moment, you know?"
Different but Same
Hawk to Robby: "Prepare to face the fury of the Hawk."
Mercy
Hawk to Demetri: "Look man I'm sorry. For all of it. Do you want to help me win this thing?"
December 19
Hawk: "Defeat does not exist."
Demetri: "That's the winning attitude that pushed her away in the first place. I think you need a healthy dose of inner peace."
Pulpo
Hawk to Kyler: " You know what? That's life. You win some, you lose some, but you gotta move on. You never did. You're still pulling the same bully act as always. And everyone you bullied has kicked your ass by now."
Demetri: "I haven't."
Hawk to Demetri: "You'll get your turn. Kyler's too stupid to ever learn his lesson."
Head of the Snake

Trivia

  • Eli suffered from Kyler's bullying, as it in turn, made him into a bully.
  • Hawk was arguably the most focused Cobra Kai student.
  • Hawk is a fan of the British singer Yungblud, as well as, the massive franchises Harry Potter and Doctor Who.
  • Hawk's audio-cue in the television series is a hawk screech.
  • Notably, his lip scar becomes less red and visible over the course of the series, indicating a continuity error in makeup.
  • Hawk was the most loyal Cobra Kai member until his defection.
  • Hawk is the only character to officially been a member of all three dojos in the series: Cobra Kai, Eagle Fang, and Miyagi-Do.
  • The last name "Moskowitz" indicates possible Eastern Ashkenazic Jewish descent. The name "Eli" can also be a masculine given name of Hebrew origin, from the Biblical עֵלִי "ascent", a possible clue to his alter-ego as a high-flying creature, the hawk.
  • Eli claims that his doctor said that he "could be on the spectrum", after asked by Johnny if he is a special needs kid. This implies that Eli likely has some degree of autism.
  • Eli, Miguel and Demetri have all been bullied by Kyler and have defeated him in revenge.
  • Hawk shares similarities to Dutch from the Karate Kid.
    • In "Molting", Johnny tells Miguel the story of how he met Ali. Dutch was throwing Milk-Duds at the group of girls. This is followed up one when at the movie theatre later in the episode, Hawk is throwing Milk-Duds at another group of girls, only stopping when he accidentally hits a man.
    • Hawk was the most aggressive (arguably) of Johnny's and Cobra Kai, much like how Dutch was the most aggressive of Kreese's Cobra Kai.
  • Hawk’s catchphrase “Finally a worthy opponent” could be a reference to Tai Lung from Kung Fu Panda saying “Finally, a worthy opponent.”
  • His mohawk color sequence before the Cobra Kai's shaved it off went in this order: blue, red, and purple.
    • When his hair started growing again and got the mohawk somewhat back, he chose green for a color, but then got rid of it and went back to the color he first started with: blue.
  • He shares some similarity to Marvel's Thor in that they both lose their hair (Eli mohawk and Thor long hair), which eventually grow back.
  • Hawk and Devon are the two students that betrayed Cobra Kai. Both times they defected was in the season finale. Hawk defects in Season 3 while Devon defects in Season 5.
  • His character is heavily implied to be based on Wu Ping from the 2010 Karate Kid remake.

Gallery

           Cobrakai Villains

Main
John Kreese | Terry Silver | Kim Da-Eun | Kyler Park

Season I
Kyler Park | Yasmine | Brucks | Rory | Tom Cole | Louie LaRusso, Jr. | Sid Weinberg | Trey | Cruz | John Kreese

Season II
John Kreese | Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz | Tory Nichols | Mitch | Doug Rickenberger | Trey | Cruz | Tom Cole | Armand Zakarian

Season III
John Kreese | Tory Nichols | Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz | Robby Keene | Kyler Park | Mitch | Doug Rickenberger | Brucks | Tom Cole | Trey | Cruz | Sid Weinberg | Captain George Turner | Shawn Payne | David

Season IV
Terry Silver | John Kreese | Tory Nichols | Robby Keene | Kenny Payne | Kyler Park | Anthony LaRusso | Shawn Payne

Season V
Terry Silver | Kim Da-Eun | Kenny Payne | Hyan-Woo | Kyler Park | Mitch | Hector Salazar | John Kreese | Kim Sun-Yung

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