- "Look. I know these last couple of years weren't easy for you. But you came out of it stronger than ever. Don't get me wrong, I'm always gonna be a little neurotic because it's me being me. Okay? But I'm... I'm so proud of the person you've become. And I'm... just gonna miss you so much."
- ―Daniel LaRusso to Samantha[src]
Samantha "Sam" LaRusso is one of the three deuteragonists (alongside Hawk and Tory Nichols) of the Netflix series Cobra Kai. She is portrayed by Mary Mouser.
Sam initially struggles with the pressure of living up to her father’s legacy and the influence of his past as a karate champion. Her personal life is complicated by her tumultuous relationship with her friends and her own moral dilemmas. Throughout the series, Sam faces various conflicts, including her involvement in the rivalry between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai. These conflicts challenge her beliefs and force her to confront her own values and insecurities. Her journey is a blend of personal growth, self-discovery, and the quest for balance between past legacies and future aspirations.
She becomes the second student in the newly reopened Miyagi-Do Karate. However, following the West Valley High School karate war and her fight with Tory Nichols, Sam struggles with PTSD and is left conflicted over martial arts. She is able to overcome her fear and rebuild her confidence. After gaining experience in Eagle Fang Karate from Johnny Lawrence, she manages to balance the two styles, becoming a proficient fighter. Her skills and association with Daniel and Miyagi-Do earn her the karate alias, Bonsai Badass. She even manages to make it to the All-Valley 2019 girls' finals, where she ultimately loses to Tory.
During the summer, Daniel closes the dojo since they lost the All-Valley, upsetting Sam and causing her to blame herself for her loss. She also ends things with Miguel and explains to him that she needs to quit karate so she could prioritize herself and her mental well-being, but after their breakup, she realizes that she made a mistake by doing so. She returns to karate and qualifies for the world karate tournament, the Sekai Taikai with her Miyagi-Fang classmates. To celebrate, Miguel throws a party at his house and when Sam shows up, she finds the former making out with a girl and she leaves upset and heartbroken. She later finds out that Silver paid off the ref at the All-Valley and assaulted Stingray so her, Tory and the Miyagi-Fangs devise a plan to expose Silver's actions but it results in a fight between the three dojos. Eventually, Silver gets exposed and arrested for his crimes. After, Sam and Miguel tell each other they love each other and reconcile their relationship.
Following Silver's arrest and Cobra Kai's shutdown, she trains for the upcoming Sekai Taikai tournament with her classmates. However, during her fight against Tory for female captain, their match is called off after the passing of Tory's mother. When Tory quits Miyagi-Do after not being allowed to finish their fight, Sam goes on to become female captain by default, and the dojo travels to Barcelona for the Sekai Taikai. Miyagi-Do initially performs horribly at the start of the tournament with everyone being on bad terms with each other, but after a heartfelt conversation prior to their elimination match against Cobra Kai, the team resolves their issues and makes amends. Miyagi-Do ultimately advances to the semifinals after defeating Cobra Kai. However, during Robby and Axel's fight, an all-out brawl commences between all dojos but the fight is ceased when Kwon unfortunately dies after he accidentally stabbed himself with Kreese's eunjangdo.
A month following the disastrous brawl, the Sekai Taikai is reinstated and it will continue in the Valley instead. After Sam is informed of this, she enlists Tory's help to train her for their semi-final fight but the latter tells her that she has quit the tournament. Sam and Tory train at the All Valley Sports Arena where the former tries to persuade the latter to re-enter but it falls on deaf ears. She apologizes to Tory and Tory decides to re-enter. In the arena, the tournament continues with Robby and Axel's match but Robby's leg gets broken by Axel and he is forced to forfeit. Sam decides to forfeit the tournament after the incident, therefore, Miyagi-Do forfeits as well. However, Johnny and Miguel join Tory in Cobra Kai with Miguel serving as Kwon's replacement for male captain and Johnny serving as their sensei. Sam and the rest of Miyagi-Do help Miguel and Tory train for their respective final matches against Axel and Zara in the old Cobra Kai dojo. She watches the matches and celebrates after Miguel and Tory win their matches and become the champions of the boys' and girls' divisions. She, along with the rest of her classmates support Johnny during his tiebreaker fight with Feng and they also wear the black Cobra Kai gi. Johnny defeats Feng and Cobra Kai is named the champion of the Sekai Taikai. Sam and everyone else celebrate with Johnny and following the conclusion of the tournament, Sam has an emotional goodbye with her family when she gets ready to head to Okinawa to attend a year-long program for an exchange program and Miguel decides to come along to help her explore and get settled into the prefecture.
Roles
She serves as a major character in Season 1, the deuteragonist in Season 2, one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Daniel LaRusso) in Season 3, one of the three deuteragonists (alongside Hawk and Miguel Diaz) in Season 4, the deuteragonist in Season 5, and one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Tory Nichols) in Season 6.
Biography
Samantha trains with her father at a young age
Born October 14, Samantha is the daughter of Daniel and Amanda LaRusso, and the older sister of Anthony. Until the age of 8, Sam was taught karate by her father, and was close to Mr. Miyagi who was a grandfather figure in her life. As Sam got older, she lost interest in karate and quit. However, she retained her knowledge and skill.
Cobra Kai
Season 1
Hanging out with her friends Yasmine and Moon, Yasmine was using her phone when her SUV collided with a Pontiac Firebird owned by Johnny Lawrence. Sam tells Yasmine that she told her to not use her phone while driving. Johnny banged on the window of the SUV, demanding Yasmine furnish her driver's license and name of her insurance agency to him. Sam, who was in the backseat, had a face of shock and fear. Yasmine, not knowing the protocol for handling a car accident, drove off from the scene. When Johnny went in to get his car the following day after it was towed to LaRusso Auto Group, he recognized Daniel's daughter as one of the girls he shouted at.
Samantha resumes her training
Her relationship with her father is strained by his meddling in her potential romance with a fellow student named Kyler, but they reconcile after Samantha sees Kyler bully Miguel's friend group and subsequently ends their relationship. When Kyler begins spreading lies about her, Samantha is briefly friendless. Miguel eventually defends her and defeats Kyler's clique in a lunch room fight, after which he and Samantha begin dating. Samantha really likes Miguel but hides their relationship from her parents because her father disapproves of Cobra Kai, the dojo Miguel is a student of. A series of assumptions and misunderstandings lead Miguel to believe that Samantha is ashamed of him and involved with Robby Keene. Between that and Robby's resentment over his father's karate tutelage of Miguel, antagonism sparks between the two boys when they meet at a beach party. Samantha is upset with Miguel's behavior and breaks up with him. After a second confrontation with Miguel at the All-Valley Tournament, Samantha returns home and resumes her own karate training.
Season 2
Sam, upset over her breakup with Miguel blocks him on social media. At first she decides not to join Daniel's Miyagi-Do Karate training because she does not want to fight her Cobra Kai friends, but soon changes her mind.
Sam as part of the new Miyagi-Do Karate
She tries to patch things up with Aisha but the latter is upset with her when Daniel insults Cobra Kai in his commercial. She develops a dislike to new Cobra Kai student Tory. When her mom's wallet is missing during a pool party she immediately accuses Tory who angrily denies having it. She then grabs Tory's hand but Tory knocks her down. This incident starts their rivalry.
After struggling to get more students at Miyagi-Do for several days Sam's Daniel's and Robby's luck changes when Cobra Kai's ruthless teaching cause several students to join Miyagi-Do. Overtime she and Robby develop feelings for each other. While Robby at first thinks it is a bad idea for them to date, he soon eventually changes his mind and the two start dating but don't tell Daniel.
When Sam and Robby go to a skating party together they run into Miguel and Tory who are a couple. While she and Miguel wait in line to get more skates Sam asks him why he is dating Tory which offends him and the two have a brief argument. When Tory intentionally knocks her down, Sam, fed up with her behavior, knocks her down, but this angers Miguel and causes both she and Robby to get kicked out despite Miguel and the security guard being unaware that Tory started it.
Sam and Miyagi-Do at Moon's house party
When Sam and Robby go to Moon's house for a party she gets revenge on Tory by beating her in a drinking contest, but she gets too drunk which makes her woozy. After finding out from Aisha that Miguel returned Miyagi's medal of honor which Hawk stole a while ago she goes outside to get some fresh air. When Miguel checks up on her she thanks him for returning the badge and the two share a kiss but immediately regret it. However, they are unaware that Tory saw them kiss.
After the cops arrive everyone leaves the party and Sam tells Robby not to take her home because she does not want her parents to see her drunk. So, Robby takes her to Johnny's house and the two spend the night there. The following morning however Daniel arrives at Johnny's door, and both he and Johnny have a brief fight until Sam and Robby stop them Daniel then angrily takes her home.
Sam fights Tory at school
While Sam is in class on the first day of school she is threatened by Tory over the intercom for kissing Miguel. When she and Tory meet in the hallway Tory exposes Sam for kissing Miguel, which makes everyone to be shocked and also includes her own boyfriend Robby, and the rest of Cobra Kai's and Miyagi-Do's. Then, Tory viciously attacks her and Robby attempts to stop the fight, but Miguel, unaware of Robby's intention, attacks Robby. Sam and Tory resume the fight and a huge brawl between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai soon breaks out. Sam tries to get Tory to stop fighting but the latter won't listen. Despite struggling for a while, Sam is eventually able to get the upper hand. However, Tory then attacks Sam with her spiked bracelet and manages to injure Sam's wrist with it. Tory is about to stab her with the bracelet but Sam blocks the spike, kicks Tory off her and then kicks her down the stairs, defeating her. However, after Robby kicks Miguel off the railing, Miguel is badly injured, Sam screams "Robby what did you do?"
Sam is rushed to the hospital. When Daniel and her mom Amanda LaRusso visit her in the hospital, they are appalled at Sam's condition and vow to get Tory expelled from school. Sam starts crying and blaming herself for what happened, saying she is not concerned about that; all she wants is for Miguel to get better. When Daniel returns to the hospital and notices Sam isn't in the room, Amanda tells him the doctor prescribed X-rays for her, believing her injuries more serious than originally thought; possibly a broken rib.
Season 3
Sam is comforted by her father after the school brawl
Sam is left traumatized by the events of the school fight. Her arm now dons three scars from the impact of Tory Nichols' brass knuckles. Sam's consequence for fighting is a two-week suspension from school. Her parents attempt to protest the suspension but fail to change the principal's mind. She struggles to regain a sense of normalcy after the event but is determined to help Miguel with his surgery. In the meantime, she writes emails to Robby who is serving time in a juvenile detention center for his role in Miguel's accident. As she waits for his replies, Sam organizes a car washing fundraiser in the hopes of contributing to Diaz's medical fund. When the students from Cobra Kai Dojo attack Nathaniel and steal the fundraising money to donate in the name of Cobra Kai, Sam steps up to train the Miyagi-Do Karate students properly and becomes their leader while Daniel is away at Okinawa, Japan to save the dealership which is at hands of collapsing by Tom Cole. Her escapades are cut short by her mother, who is upset over Sam's returns to karate. Sam brushes her mother's concerns off, claiming that she doesn't know what is going on with the rivaling dojos.
Sam has a panic attack
Sam cries and is comforted by her mother after Demetri’s arm is broken
Things gradually worsen between the dojos as the Cobra Kai's seek revenge for Miguel's accident. Sam refuses to be bullied and decides to show the Cobra Kai students they aren't doormats. The Miyagi-Do students take a stand during what escalates into an intense soccer game. To retaliate, the Cobra Kai students head to Golf N' Stuff Arcade and attack Chris at work, leading the Miyagi-Do students to help their friend and confront Cobra Kai. The confrontation leads to a fight in the laser tag section of the arcade. When Tory Nichols arrives and calls Sam's name, she suffers a panic attack during the fight as her body shuts down and stops her from defending Chris, who gets beaten up by Doug and Mitch or the rest of the Miyagi-Do students. She is forced to witness Hawk break Demetri's arm while Tory taunts Sam to show herself before vowing its not over. Sam blames herself for Demetri having his arm broken and breaks down in her mother's arms at the hospital while waiting with the Miyagi-Do's for Demetri's arm checks.
Sam decides to continue her training
Left with more trauma, Sam decides to quit karate for good and distances herself from everyone. Upon returning from Okinawa, Daniel learns the severity of Sam's trauma. He reconnects with her over a father-daughter fishing trip, though she isn't keen on the idea. She makes it known that she doesn't want to learn karate anymore and just wants her friends to be safe. The trip helps her remember why she loves karate, and Daniel reminds her that only she can help herself when she's down and no one else. He sympathizes with her and assures her that he wants what is best for her. She decides to continue her training and learns how to fight with a bo staff.
When Miguel returns to school now fully recovered, Sam reconnects with him as he slowly realizes how bad things became after his accident. He refuses to train under Kreese or be friends with Cobra Kai students after everything they did to Sam and the others. She and Miguel deliver a speech together to save the All Valley Karate Tournament when the council deems it "harmful to the community." They convince the city council to hold the tournament, which brings Miguel and Sam closer. They share a moment in the Miyagi-Do dojo that is unfortunately witnessed by a now released Robby. He believes Sam and Miguel were dating the entire time he was in juvie. He also thinks they were having an affair before Miguel's accident. Robby attempts to fight with Miguel until Sam pushes him away. The pair end their relationship, and Robby leaves. In the days that follow, she and Miguel share a kiss and playful banter. They work together to unite the students from Eagle Fang Karate and Miyagi-Do Karate. Over the week of Christmas, they convince the two dojos to work together by "parent trapping" them at the LaRusso family home, explaining that Cobra Kai is the real enemy. Their efforts at peace are derailed by a surprise attack from the Cobra Kai dojo.
Sam and Miguel during the LaRusso house fight
The brawl leads to a battle between Tory and Sam, in which Sam initially attempts to run away from as she still hasn't recovered emotionally from their last encounters. As Tory pummels Sam and begins to attack her with nunchaku, Sam remembers what her father said - only she can help herself when she's down. She regains her strength and is able to disarm Tory with her bo staff, until they are interrupted by a bloodied Miguel, Hawk, who has now joined the side of Eagle Fang Karate, and Demetri. Hawk warns Tory that the fight is over. She eerily tells Sam that the war between them will never end. Daniel learns of the attack and confronts Kreese, and the three rivaling sensei's - Daniel, Johnny, and Kreese, agree to a tournament to determine if Kreese will leave the valley or if Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang will. Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do merge for the sake of training, bringing Daniel and Johnny together as joint senseis. Sam stands by Miguel as they resume their training, preparing for the the tournament against Cobra Kai Dojo.
Season 4
Sam and the students after the merging of the dojos
With her father's alliance with Johnny slowly unraveling, and the dojos ability to function along with it, Sam works up a plan with Miguel to help bring the dojos together. While he works with Johnny, she hopes she can convince Robby to return, unbeknownst to Miguel. Robby, however, has no interest in giving Johnny or Daniel a second chance. She admits she didn't stop caring about him, but he knows she didn't stop caring about Miguel either. Robby points out that she made her choice, and has to live with that. She just wants him to come back as it would help unite everyone. He is pleased to be the first person to tell her she isn't getting what she wants. She accepts his choice, but reminds him that he made it, not her.
While she is training with Johnny, they argue over jumping from building to building and tells him that Daniel wouldn't allow her to jump buildings. They talk about their previous encounters including the hit-and-run incident and Daniel rescuing her by breaking Johnny's door. She then rebuttals and explains to him about his current lifestyle but Johnny explains that if he listens to his parents, he'd have a decent job. Johnny then fails Miyagi-Do for not jumping but after her father texts him not to do things he wouldn't do, Sam then takes the risk and finally jumps to the next building, impressing Johnny and her classmates.
Sam and her mother see Tory working at the party place
Sam and her mother are at a party place for one of their worker's kids. Unbeknownst to her, Tory also works at the party place. She enjoys the performance but Tory is upset that she was watching. When Tory was telling a story to the kids, Sam interrupts the story by comparing it to their recent experiences, in order to aggravate Tory. Now fed up, she tells the kids to throw glitter at Sam. When Miguel arrives, Sam intentionally kisses him in front of Tory to get back at her, which aggravates the latter who storms out.
During school, she and Miguel tell Hawk and Demetri that both Daniel and Johnny are having a rematch at Miyagi-Do. When she gets home, she and her father argue about Johnny's teachings. She explains to Daniel that she wants to learn Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang in order to stand a chance in the tournament. Sam and Miguel referee Daniel and Johnny's fight. When both senseis fall, they are unaware who won the fight but it turned out that the merge didn't work and Johnny leaves.
After her recent experiences, Sam visits her old friend Aisha and talks to her about what's been going on. Aisha reveals that they moved to Santa Barbara not only because of the school fight, but her father had a job offer at UCSB. Sam then explains that Tory is going back to school and she has to get used to it. Aisha tells her that Sam will still be her original friend and brought back Johnny's teachings. She ends saying that Sam needs to confront her problems. During a class session, Eli decides to join Miyagi-Do while Sam trains alone. When Daniel sees her, Sam and her father reconcile telling her how proud he is and tells her it's never easy being the bigger person.
Sam and Miguel after the prom night fight
Sam is getting ready for the high school prom and Miguel compliments her and tell each other that they put karate aside to enjoy the night. The Diaz's and LaRusso's take pictures with one another to cherish their moment. She and Miguel share a dance but get distracted with Robby and Tory dancing. During Stingray's afterparty, Sam insults Tory but when Tory retaliates, Sam attacks her and tackles her to the ground. Miguel tries to stop her but then tackles Tory when the latter tries to attack Sam. Robby arrives and attacks Miguel, believing he is attacking Tory. Tory then kicks Sam to the ground. Sam and Miguel then fight Tory and Robby, but Sam, Tory and Miguel are pushed into the pool by Robby.
Sam bows to her two senseis during the tournament
On the day of the All-Valley Tournament, Sam is showing her skills using sai during the skills demonstration. During the one-on-one matches begin, she faces Cobra Kai rookie Piper in the Quarterfinals. Despite Piper getting the first point, Sam goes back on offense and wins the match. She wins her next matches, setting up the final match between her and Tory. Miguel congratulates her for reaching the final round and before she goes back to the arena, she and Miguel reconcile. During the final round, she incorporates Miyagi-Do teachings and Eagle Fang's teachings. At one point during the fight, Sam hits Tory who then stumbles out of bounds, but the referee does not give Sam point and incorrectly states that Tory was already out of bounds. When tied 2-2, Tory hits Sam in the eye, but does not even get a penalty. Unfortunately, Tory beats her and wins the girls division, also leading Cobra Kai to becoming grand champion but after Tory is declared the third point, she asks if Sam is physically okay. While Cobra Kai celebrates their victory, Sam then goes back to Daniel, telling him that they still didn't win despite doing the right thing. But Daniel gives Sam advice that it wasn't her fault. The LaRusso's then come home disappointed for their loss. Unbeknownst to Sam, Kreese's friend and one of the original owners of Cobra Kai, Terry Silver, who is co-teaching with Kreese at Cobra Kai, had apparently paid the referee to help Tory and Cobra Kai win, ultimately implying that the referee was intentionally biased towards Tory during the finals, as well as that Sam would have been the winner had he been fair.
Season 5
In the aftermath of the All Valley Tournament, Sam grapples with her guilt over losing the tournament to Tory. She replays and reenacts their fight over and over again, trying to find a way in which she could have won. She finally hears from Miguel, who left to find his long-lost father. She feels like he abandoned her during the tournament, as she thought he would be in her corner. He asks about his corner as there are more important things in the world than karate. His leaving and subsequent missing of the tournament puts a strain on their already fragile relationship.
Sam had a deep experience in a sensory deprivation tank
When Miguel comes back from Mexico, they exchange messages: Miguel feels guilt for leaving, but Sam understands that he had problems that he needed to figure out, so she hesitates at berating him. She asks Yasmine and Moon for help and, wanting to figure out her own problems as well, she accepts to use a sensory deprivation tank. Inside of it, Sam has a vision of all the people in her life asking her to listen to them, until she sees a blurred figure that she initially thinks to be Tory, but then it turns out to be herself. Thanks to the experience, she decides that she needs to stop and to think to herself, and to do so she must distance herself from karate and, with much sadness, end her relationship with Miguel who, unbeknownst to her, was going to gift her with a jewel similar to the first present he gave to her, to asks her forgiveness.
Days later, she goes to a water park with her friends. Since Moon invited Eli, Miguel as well is present. The two try to go through the day without scenes, but the embarrassment is still high. When Miyagi-Do, Eagle Fang and Cobra Kai students start to argue, Sam is quick to having had enough of it and leaves with Anthony.
Sam and her family in Ohio
When her parents argue over Daniel’s feud with Terry Silver, Amanda takes Sam and Anthony to Ohio, to visits her cousin Jessica. At a bar, Sam finds out about Anthony’s problems with Kenny and Cobra Kai, and questions her brother why he didn’t ask for her help, to which the boy claims that on one hand his sister beating his bully would not have help his situation and on the other he feels he deserves it after what he did to Kenny. She demands to know exactly what happened, which Anthony complies recalling everything up to when Robby saved him from Kenny’s beating, surprising her over finding out what their former friend did. After, she saves Amanda and Jessica from a fight and they all flee. At home, Anthony nicknames her “Jean Claude Van Sam” for what she did at the bar, to which she offers to teach him, having realized that she can’t go back to before the feud between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai, as there will always be bullies and that it’s a good thing to be able to defend herself. She then concedes that the fact that cleaning cars doesn’t suit to Anthony doesn’t mean that he can’t learn from Miyagi-Do so if he wants, she can try to teach him without forcing him to do that part, as long as he doesn’t tell their dad about it. Anthony happily reassures her that he has lied to their father for years so it’s not a big deal.
Sam, Amanda and Chozen discuss how to stop Silver
A week after Daniel got beat up by Silver, he has recovered physically, but his spirit is broken despite his family (in the meantime returned), and Johnny’s efforts to push him to get over his loss. When Daniel goes to work determined to not fight Silver anymore, Sam, Amanda and Johnny discuss what to do: they know that Silver is up to something, which Sam discover about when she finds on the internet a live about how Cobra Kai just conquered Topanga Karate dojo. To investigate, Johnny and Chozen go to search for what Silver is up to, and then come back revealing about how he allied himself with sensei Kim-Da-Eun, a Korean Tang Soo Doo master. The group understands that Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang need to merge once and for all, but they need Daniel to guide them, so they bring him to Mr. Miyagi’s household where Sam brought all the students of the two dojos along with Robby, to whom Daniel makes up with. Sam and everyone are ready to fight Cobra Kai once again.
With Miyagi-Fang back, the students are ready for their first lesson. While they wait for their masters to arrive, Sam listens to Anthony’s fears, as Kenny, Kyler and others from Cobra Kai bullied him again, but she reassures him he’s not alone anymore. Their first lesson is taken by Chozen, who reveals how their job will be protecting an egg from him. Sam puts her egg in a backpack in order to be able to defend it with both hands, discovering also how Anthony cheated when Daniel attempted to make him clean the cars to which Sam retorts that in a certain sense he succeeded as what used his mind to outwit the obstacle which Robby as well agrees that is what Miyagi-Do teaches. During the training, Sam and Miguel are among the last ones to still have their egg intact and then the two find each other inside Mr. Miyagi’s house, where they congratulate to each other for having overcome the problems they lived in the last weeks. This, however, leads them to lose focus and both of their eggs are smashed by Chozen. The sensei chastises the students for not having understood the meaning of the training and leaves them to think before starting it again. Thanks to Anthony, they realize that to win they need to protect the eggs all together. By putting all the eggs in a single bag and protecting it, they manage to stop the sensei, who forfeits and congratulates them for having learned what he was trying to teach: by fighting united, the Miyagi-Fang will manage to stop Cobra Kai.
Sam and Miyagi-Fang start to train with Chozen
With the arrival of the Sekai Taikai admission committee, Sam, being one of the tops, and only female, students at Miyagi-Fang, is shown while she trains both at Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang dojos. When she trains with Johnny, she displays her kicking abilities on a watermelon, spraying accidentally its insides on a committee member, who however doesn’t get angry as Johnny tries to defend their training style quoting his own hero Rocky, who happens to be the committee member’s hero as well. At the end, is decided that Miyagi-Fang and Cobra Kai’s best male and female students will have to face against each other: Sam and Tory are going to fight again. The evening before the fight, Sam is more determined than ever and has one last training session with Daniel and Chozen. Thanks to what she went through after she returned to practice karate, now she knows what she has to fight for: not for stopping Cobra Kai, nor Silver, nor Tory, but for herself, her sensei and for all those she cares for. Before going to bed, she finds the jewel Miguel was going to give her as a gift before she chose to break up with him and picks it up, realizing that it belongs to him. The day of the fight, she witnesses how Cobra Kai is fighting dirty again, thanks also to a (unbeknownst to anyone) bribed referee, so much that Eli is beaten by Kenny, despite being a stronger and more experienced fighter. When it comes the female’s fight, however, Tory is nowhere to be found, and against Sam is Devon Lee. Even though her opponent as well is favored by the bribed referee, Sam manages to win when, listening to Daniel, she fights so to hit Devon in a so surely fairly that the referee cannot refuse to declare her winner, and because of this, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are admitted to Sekai Taikai along with Cobra Kai. That night, while her parents, Johnny, Carmen and Chozen enjoy a wild night together, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang celebrate their admission at Miguel’s house. She arrives with Miguel’s gift, but when she finally finds him, he’s kissing another girl. Disheartened and disgusted, Sam leaves, but when she arrives outside, she’s approached by Tory, who tells her the truth about All Valley.
Sam wins her Sekai Taikai exhibition fight
The revelation is the last straw for Sam who, still angry for what she witnessed a minute earlier, attacks Tory, accuses her of being a coward and blames her for everything the LaRusso had to suffer. Tory, even more angry and desperate, leaves. The next day, Sam meets with, Miguel, Eli, Demetri and Bert and they decide to go to Stingray’s house to convince him to say the truth. Sadly, they only manage to make him indirectly do so by using D&D, admitting also of being too scared of Silver to go to police. Sam, having had enough, angrily leaves and is followed by Miguel. Alone with him, she admits that because they broke up, he can kiss whoever he wants, but he retorts that Sam is confusing him: she decided she wanted to quit karate and wanted the two of them to be just friends, but now she is about to participate in the world's most challenging karate tournament and suffers from seeing him with someone else. She answers that she wanted things to go back to before the Cobra Kai feud, but now it turned out that her loss at All Valley, for which she blamed herself as it led to Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang’s temporary closure, and for which she indirectly chose to break up with Miguel, was due to a lie. She again blames Tory for what happened, but Miguel encourages her to try to understand her rival, as he is able to do, having been a Cobra Kai himself: Tory hesitated to ask for help because, when you are a Cobra Kai, you are taught to believe that you cannot trust anyone, outside of it. Of course it would have been better if Tory had confessed earlier, but what matters is that she did it, and it must have been very difficult for her to do so.
Sam, on the other hand, has every right to be angry at Tory, but now the latter has asked for a help that only Sam can provide, so it’s up to her to choose what is the right thing to do. She decides to listen what Tory has to say. She arrives at Nichols’ house, seeing how Tory has just been punished by Kim, who forced her to injure her hand against a rock dummy. Coming inside, Sam is dismayed by what she sees: everything is a mess, food and garbage are everywhere in the kitchen and, in a room, she sees Tory’s bedridden mother. Just then, Sam realizes why her own mother wanted to help her rival so much. The two finally speak on civil terms and share what they know, for which Tory realizes that if Silver beat up Stingray at the old dojo, he must have been recorded by the security cameras. This means that they can find the proofs to send Silver to prison, but they will have to work together.
Sam and Miguel reconcile
Ready to put things to an end, Sam gathers the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students and, together with Tory, reveals their plan to access the mainframe of the Cobra Kai dojo and obtain the recording of Silver's beating of Stingray and it will ensure Cobra Kai will be closed forever. Thanks to Tory, they manage to get in without burglarizing anything, but when they manage to access the mainframe, they find that the recording has been erased. Tory proposes to take the recording of Silver admitting his corruption to the All Valley, but while Eli and Demetri deal with it, the Cobra Kai students arrive, warned by Mitch who wanted to become one of them again, foolishly expecting that they would have gave him the respect he feels he lacked from Miyagi-Fang. A fight ensues between the three dojos.
During the brawl, Sensei Kim intervenes and starts beating up Tory for her betrayal, so Sam comes to her former rival's aid. The two girls are extraordinary fighters, but this is not enough against the woman's experience and aggressiveness. Luckily, they are backed up by Devon Lee who, after seeing Kim attacking Tory and Sam, also realizes how wrong Cobra Kai's ways are and sends the Bonsai Badass back to protect Anthony. Thanks to Chozen's teachings, the Miyagi-Fangs manage to hold off their opponents long enough to succeed in their plan. The video of Silver admitting the bribing is uploaded, shocking most of the Cobra Kai students. Just then Daniel, Amanda, Carmen, and Stingray arrive, followed shortly by Silver who, after trying unsuccessfully to convince his students that he has done what he was supposed to do for them, challenges Daniel to one last fight.
At first, the Miyagi-Do sensei is initially frightened, but Amanda and Sam encourage him and after incorporating Miyagi-Do, Eagle Fang, Cobra Kai and the Quick Silver method, the two-time All-Valley champion wins, humiliating Silver, who is then abandoned by his students. Later, Sam is resting outside when she is joined by Miguel who asks if he can sit beside her. She shows him the piece of jewelry she retrieved and he confirms it was a gift for her but when she expressed her need to take a break from everything he decided to support her and respect her request to which she expresses her appreciation. He replies that this is what you do when you love someone. Miguel also his feelings for the first time. Moved, she answers that she loves him as well and they kiss.
Season 6
Part 1
Sam and her brother Anthony leave their house and arrive at West Valley High School for the first day of school with Miguel. She and Tory go on a double date with Miguel and Robby but are awkward around each other. The two aid their respective boyfriends while they are fighting Kenny and his brother Shawn.
While training, Devon watches the two and notices that she and Tory have been very sloppy and Johnny Lawrence has them go to a sleepover at Devon's house. The two arrive and are getting along well but things start to go weird. While the two are talking, Sam gets a call from Robby and Tory gets a text from Miguel. The two learn of Johnny's plan and decide to leave the Lee residence. The two argue about their past actions but they became regretful and apologize to each other. Thanks to the sleepover, the two are back on track with training.
During the Sekai Taikai qualifiers, Sam is one of the twelve chosen to advance to the next round. After the next round, she, Miguel, Robby and Tory are chosen to go to Barcelona, Spain for the tournament. She and Tory fight for the female captain spot. Sam takes the lead but when she learns about Tory's mother's death, Tory bails out and Sam is appointed female captain by default. She, Miguel, Robby, Hawk (who was chosen to take Tory's spot after she left Miyagi-Do), Demetri and Devon are the six students who will represent Miyagi-Do. When Miyagi-Do arrives in Barcelona, Sam gets shocked when she sees Tory re-join Cobra Kai.
Part 2
In the Barcelona aquarium, Sam tells Tory that she respected her decision and reminds her that they would've remained friends if she stayed at Miyagi-Do. After one of the events, she encounters Iron Dragons' student, Zara Malik, who reminds her of her vlogs. Later, she meets another Iron Dragons' student, Axel, where they begin talking to each other. They come across Kwon, Yoon and another Cobra Kai student. When Yoon kicks Axel, a fight breaks out, but it ends after the fight starts to escalate. Sam and Axel go back to the beach where they compliment one another on the moves they executed in the fight; Axel tries to kiss Sam, but she dismisses him by telling him that she has a boyfriend. In the locker room, she also reminds her classmates this would be the last time they would team up with each other and as a result, they share a group hug and would go on to defeat Cobra Kai. During the all-dojo brawl, she fights Dublin Thunder captain Cara and wins, before dashing to aid Robby and Tory. She, along with everyone else, horribly witness Kwon's death when the latter tried to kill Axel with Kreese's eunjangdo.
Part 3
Around a month after the brawl, Sam's life is back to normal. However, she isn't keen on going to UCLA and wants to go further away from home to get more experience, much to the shock of her parents, while Miguel isn't aware of this at the time.
The Sekai Taikai is soon reinstated, with the location being moved to the Valley instead. While Tory does not want to return to the Sekai Taikai, Sam convinces her to train with her to prepare. While training with her, Sam convinces Tory to return while telling her that no matter what has transpired, her friends will support her. When Robby is forced to forfeit after Axel breaks his leg, Sam decides to forfeit shortly after as well, knowing that it is not possible for Miyagi Do to catch Iron Dragons in points and the belief that that Tory needs this more. When she tells Daniel she is forfeiting, he says he is proud of her.
When Johnny retakes Cobra Kai, Sam and Miyagi-Do help train Miguel and Tory at the old dojo. She later witnesses them defeat Axel and Zara, respectively. While having dinner afterwards, Lucille gifts Sam a necklace from Mr. Miyagi. Later, she and her brother wear the black Cobra Kai gi for the first time and watch Johnny defeat Wolf, winning the Sekai Taikai for Cobra Kai.
A few months after the Sekai Taikai, Sam has an emotional goodbye with her family when she gets ready to head to Okinawa to attend a year-long program for an exchange program. Miguel surprises her at the airport by deciding to come along to help her explore and get settled into the prefecture.
Personality
- "Maybe my right way is different than your. Don't I get a choice?"
- ―Samantha LaRusso to Daniel LaRusso[src]
Sam is a nice, polite and smart person. She has great morals and is able to maintain her true self. After noticing her boyfriend Kyler bullying Miguel, Demetri and Eli, she dumps Kyler, showing she is against bullying. After dumping Kyler, he ruins her reputation with her friends by making up lies about her, which causes her to lose her friends. Fortunately, she develops a relationship with Miguel and even becomes friendly with Robby. She forms a friendship with Robby. Unfortunately, a misunderstanding makes Miguel angry and he accidentally hits Sam, causing her to dump him because she was holding Robby's hand. At the All Valley Tournament, she seemingly makes up with Aisha after apologizing to her. She ultimately leaves the tournament after Miguel angrily tells her that he will hurt Robby, showing that she cares for Robby and fears Miguel then she knows that she made a mistake for starting the extended rivalry between. Despite her humbleness, Sam has her flaws, being quite naive and a little immature. At times, she refuses to comprehend the point of view of other characters (like every character does at some point) due to her wealthy upbringing by her parents. Sam always followed her father's footsteps making her nice and kind but flawed in some ways, until she decided to follow Johnny's footsteps and find her own way.
At first, she is heartbroken over her relationship with Miguel ending. However, after joining Miyagi-Do Karate where she spends time training and hanging out with Robby whom she develops feelings for, she seems to forget about Miguel. She tries to fix her friendship with Aisha, but the latter, who is angry at Daniel for insulting Cobra Kai in order to promote Miyagi-Do, takes her anger out on her, as well as has already befriended a new Cobra Kai student Tory. Believing that Tory has stolen her mom's wallet, she accuses her, but the latter denies without proofs. The two then get into a brief scuffle. Following this the two are rivals, though it's mostly on Tory's part as she frequently bullies and insults Sam. She and Robby eventually become a couple. However, she still has feelings for Miguel, and on the night before the first day of school a drunken Sam and Miguel share a kiss. Despite Miguel regretting the kiss as they are both in relationships, Tory, who is dating Miguel sees them kiss, but they are unaware that she caught them. It is the kiss that leads to the school brawl the following day.
After Miguel is rendered unconscious during the school brawl as a result of Robby kicking him off the railing, Sam screams. "Robby, what did you do?". At the hospital, Sam tearfully says she hopes Miguel's okay, showing she feels guilty about what happened. Sam even blames herself for the school fight. Her fight with Tory leaves Sam traumatized to the point that she freezes and has a look of fear on her face when Tory calls out her name, leading to her quitting karate. However, after getting encouragement from Daniel, she re-joins karate and eventually gets over her fear during her fight with Tory, allowing her to gain the upper hand over the latter. After Miguel is released from the hospital, the two rekindle their friendship. However, her relationship with Robby ends when he attacks Miguel for believing they had a thing going on. Shortly after the break up, she and Miguel rekindle their relationship.
In the fallout of the house fight and during the merge between the two dojos, Sam began to grow tired of the ideas her father placed on her as she was visibly uncomfortable when Daniel called her LaRusso 2.0 as well as when he jokes about her taking over the dealership in the future. While she was hesitant at first to train under sensei Johnny Lawrence due to his extreme methods, she started to follow Johnny's ideas after realizing that she didn't have to follow the same path her father followed. Unfortunately, Sam's Eagle Fang training also made her acquire a more impulsive nature about her problems, choosing to immediately attack anyone that threatened her instead of defusing the situation. Her new behavior was directly focused on Tory, whom already tried to kill her twice, leaving Sam to start instigating her at every chance she got, claiming that she was tired of the attacks she previously took from Tory. During the tournament Sam initially followed her father styles and ideas, but when the Miyagi-Do teachings proved to be useless as Cobra Kai had already learned them through Robby, she resorted to using the style that Johnny taught her by saying that she is the one that gets to decide which style should use. Sam eventually gets closure when her father finally accepts his ways and motivates her to use everything she learned to fight her own way. Despite this, she ends up losing the tournament to Tory which leaves her feeling very guilty.
After her father decided to stay true to their deal to close Miyagi-Do following their defeat at their All Valley, Sam felt even more guilty, begging her father to think of another plan as she wanted to make things right. Sam went to believe that everything that happened was her fault for losing the tournament, becoming obsessive over her fight with Tory to the point where she started watching videos of her match an reenact it multiple times. While on a sensory deprivation pod, Sam had a deep experience with various dark reflections of the people on her life including herself, this made her break up with Miguel, needing a break so that she could figure herself out. Sam soon decided to take charge and help her father when he needed his confidence back to stand up against Terry Silver. She also used the return of Miyagi-Do to mend her relationship with her brother, encouraging him whenever he wasn't sure of himself. For the Sekai Taikai exhibition fight, Sam trained extensively and was ready to fight even if her opponent fought dirty. When revealed that the ref was bribed during her fight with Devon, Sam was able to gain her confident back by winning anyways as she made every point against Devon undeniable. After Tory revealed to Sam that Terry also bribed the ref during their fight at the All Valley, Sam is initially upset and acts violently against Tory for all the pain she caused, however, she soon realizes that Tory was as much a victim of Cobra Kai as her family was. With all of her demons beaten, Sam was able to forgive Tory and even reconcile with Miguel, rekindling their relationship.
Her relationship with Tory improves after the supposed shutdown of Cobra Kai, as they work good as a team and are getting along. They even apologize to each other for the pain they caused each other.
Fighting Style
- "You don't have to worry about me, Dad. I can handle myself. I'm a LaRusso."
- ―Samantha LaRusso to Daniel LaRusso[src]
Samantha taking down Miguel.
Sam trained in martial arts with her father as a child and had retained that; knowledge; when she fights off Kyler's advances and performs a takedown on Miguel. After resuming her training, Sam shows that she is a quick, acrobatic, and elusive hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist with sound technique. Due to to their tandem training, she fights extremely well alongside Robby; due to all the training the two had shared, holding off several Cobra Kai students; during the brawl at the mall with the wheel technique she and Robby practiced. During their training with Shochu-Geiko exercise, Sam was the only one that; managed to attack Robby with success, she also had managed to defend Robby's attacks; during the Kangeiko variant by anticipating his strikes in the extreme cold. But Sam had more trouble in her single fight against Tory; during the school brawl, as she struggled with Tory's aggressive combat style. But Sam did temporarily manage to defeat her after a protracted fight.
During the arcade fight, Sam is shown to easily defeat most of Cobra Kai's students, but unfortunately she was unable to keep fighting after Tory shows up as she started to froze due to her trauma from the school fight. Daniel later trains Sam with the bo-staff in order to heal her trauma. After Tory broke into the LaRusso household with a bunch of Cobra Kai students to fight, Sam had managed to keep up with most of her rivals, but her PTSD briefly stopped her from taking on Tory once again. But Sam quickly overcame her trauma and used a bo-staff to disarm and corner Tory, but still not enough to actually best Tory.
Sam using a combination of both Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang Karate styles against Tory at the All Valley Tournament Finals.
During Daniel's and Johnny's brief alliance, Sam got to train under sensei Johnny Lawrence, who taught her a more offensive style of karate that diverged from the Miyagi-Do teaching she knew. Sam's Eagle Fang training made her add more aggressive moves to her repertoire, like the flying tornado kick, which she had later used in the All Valley Tournament Finals.
During the fight in the prom after party, Sam strikes first against Tory and briefly gains the upper hand until Miguel stops her. When they fight again shortly after, Tory has the upper hand but then they appear to be even, until Robby pushes Miguel and Sam into the pool.
During the new skills competition at the All Valley Tournament, Sam shows her proficiency with Sai. In the quarterfinals of the All Valley Tournament, well initially down 1-0 to Piper, she regains her bearings and sweeps through the fight almost flawlessly by using Eagle Fang karate moves. In the finals, she combines both the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang styles to put up a strong fight against Tory.
During Sam's tournament fight against Tory, Sam was able to escape her rival's grip and eventually pin her to the ground, where she had evaded one of her kicks and finally caught Tory on a leg lock that had her briefly immovable. Sam does eventually lose after a tough, long and close fight.
Sam defeating Devon Lee with little to no effort.
But the All Valley Tournament would prove to be an outlier for Sam, as following the fifth season, her overall consistency and karate skill improved dramatically. Her improved combat skills was shown during the Sekai Taikai exhibition fights, where she was not only able to defeat Cobra Kai's rising female star Devon Lee, as she was able to leave Devon completely open and vulnerable to her strikes.
In the Cobra Kai Dojo Fight, Sam had proved once again that her momentum showed no signs of slowing down, as she not only handled several of the Cobra Kai students with little to no difficulty at all, but alongside Tory was able to hold off Cobra Kai's ruthless sensei, Kim Da-Eun. When the Miyagi-Fangs tried to protect Anthony by forming a circle around him, Sam was one of the five remaining combatants standing in the circle as the rest were being pulled away from the group by the Cobra Kai's.
Sam and Tory become a good team after the latter joins Miyagi-Do, as the two use Miyagi-Do to stop Kenny without putting in a lot of effort. When training for the Sekai Taikai, Sam makes it to the final round, allowing her to compete in the tournament and giving her a chance to become a captain. When fighting Tory to be the captain, Sam gets up to a 2-1 lead by using her superior defense to counter Tory's aggressive offense, and using well timed offensive strikes. When she finds herself in danger of being severely hurt by Tory in the fourth round, Daniel stops the fight.
During the Captain's War round in the Sekai Taikai, despite Sam not going up against many Cobra Kai students, she successfully defeats Chung-Hee, and she also goes up against Tory, but the two don't fight for long before Miyagi-Do is eliminated. In the 2v2 platform round, she and Robby go up against two Dublin Thunder students, and while Robby gets eliminated, Sam is able to defeat one student, but, she is defeated by the female captain, Cara. In Miyagi-Do's tag team match against Redentores, Sam goes up against Diego and manages to overwhelm him, which causes him to tag in his teammate, Maria, and Sam defeats her. In their second tag team match against Cobra Kai, Sam and Tory go up against each other yet again, and as Sam gains the upper hand, Tory tags in Kwon, who easily defeats Sam.
During the all-dojo brawl, Sam fights Cara again, and this time, Sam is victorious and knocks out Cara. She also saves Tory and Robby from the Iron Dragons' students. She, however, was easily taken down by Kwon once again, leading to Axel attacking the latter.
In a final display of her karate mastery, Sam takes down Tory during a sparring session
Despite Tory refusing to fight at the Sekai Taikai once it was moved to the Valley, Sam still had a private sparring session with her, where she managed to take her down and later keep up with her, showcasing her mastery over karate.
Due to Sam's years of experience since childhood, refined technique, sharp tactical mind, her ability to combine styles from two different dojos and her proficient experience with weapons, she has firmly established herself as one of the best and most skilled female teenage fighter in Cobra Kai. She has become an exceptionally balanced martial artist. Her ability and knowledge allow her to read opponents, evade attacks with precision, and counter with calculated strikes makes her one of the most difficult fighters to defeat.
Competitive Karate Record:
| 2019 All-Valley Karate Tournament | ||||
| Event | Round | Result | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Girls | Quarter-final | Win | Piper Elswith | 3-1 |
| Semi-final | Win | Krupa | Unknown | |
| Final | Loss | Tory Nichols | 3–2 | |
| 2020 Sekai Taikai Karate Tournament | ||||
| Girls | Semi-final | Loss | Tory Nichols | WD |
Relationships
Daniel LaRusso
Daniel is Sam's father and the two have always had a close relationship. She was trained by Daniel in Karate as a kid, until she decided to stop in her teen years. Sam occasionally gets upset when Daniel is too overprotective. Their relationship significantly increases after Sam joins Miyagi-Do. When Sam goes through some rough patches, such as her break up with Miguel and fear of Tory, Daniel comforts her. He was enraged when Kreese sent Tory, Kyler and other Cobra Kai's to invade his home and attack Sam and her friends during the Season 3 finale and confronted and overpowered Kreese and perhaps would've killed him had Miguel and Sam not showed up in the nick of time. Daniel continues to provide moral support to his daughter in important moments and her upcoming battles, including the 2019 All-Valley Tournament, the exhibition matches to enter the Sekai Taikai and throughout the matches during the Sekai Taikai.
Amanda LaRusso
Amanda is Sam's mother. Sam has a close relationship with Amanda, although she does accuse her of being too strict. After the school fight, Amanda was with Sam in the hospital, even vowing to get Tory expelled. She looks after Sam and tries her best to help her through her PTSD while Daniel was absent. Amanda bans Sam for doing karate and she attempts to appeal Sam's two week suspension, but the school board decline the appeal which infuriates Amanda. She then learns of the physical contact soccer game between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do and she berates Sam for doing karate without permission and also saying she could've got suspended again, but Sam tells her that she doesn't know what is going on with the rivaling dojo's. Amanda consoles Sam in the hospital when Cobra Kai broke Demetri's arm. She then allows Sam to continue with karate as she better understands that John Kreese is responsible for fanning the flames of the rivalry between the two dojos and what Sam is experiencing.
Miguel Diaz
Miguel is Sam's boyfriend. At the first day of school Miguel develops an attraction towards Sam and tries to approach her but is interrupted by Kyler. After Sam broke up with Kyler and Miguel defeated him and his gang when they were mocking Sam in the Cafeteria, the two become close, sharing their knowledge and love of martial arts. Miguel later ask her out, but she declines after what happened with Kyler. But Miguel suggests it would just be an activity, and the two end up dating by the end. However, their relationship becomes strained when Sam does not want to bring him to her house to meet her family, due to Miguel being apart of Cobra Kai. Things get more strained when Sam does not respond to his texts. Unbeknownst to Miguel, Sam's mother took her phone away, which is why she is not responding. When Sam arrives to a party with Robby, Miguel wrongly assuming they are together, confronts Sam and attacks Robby, but accidentally hurting Sam in the progress, leading to her dumping him.
Sam is upset over their break up in the beginning of the season, and wants nothing to do with him due to his actions, even blocking him on Instagram. Sam however, would move on from Miguel and date Robby. Sam however, disapproves Miguel dating Tory because of their bad blood, and even confronts him on that, making Miguel upset. On the night before the first day of school, a drunk Sam thanks Miguel for returning Mr. Miyagi's badge of honor, and the two share a kiss, but immediately regret it due to them already being in relationships, but are unaware that Tory saw them. After Miguel is kicked off the railing by Robby the following day, Sam is horrified. At the hospital she tearfully says that she hopes Miguel is ok.
Shortly after waking up from his coma, Sam visits him and gives him a get well card, and the two apologize to each other for the whole situation. She organizes a charity for Miguel's surgery with Miyagi-Do. In the news, she makes a speech about charity and says Miguel is lovely, it is possible Miguel watched the news from the TV after waking up from his coma. After Miguel is able to walk again, he returns to school and rekindles his friendship with Sam. After finding out that the All Valley Tournament is cancelled, the both of them had a speech about karate and defending other people. Back at Miyagi-Do, Miguel and Sam celebrated and also did karate. They almost kissed until Robby caught them. Robby tried to hit Miguel again until she defends and fights him back. She told him not to hit Miguel and to get his act together. After he refuses to not kick him, he said that her and Miguel deserve each other. Over time, they rekindle their former romantic feelings for each other and end up kissing at one point. By the end of the season, Sam is training with Miguel and the other Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do students at Miyagi Do.
Miguel and Sam are dating again. They work together to try to put Daniel and Johnny's rivalry aside. The two then referee their rematch but can't come to a decision on who's the winner. Realizing that the merge didn't work, Eagle Fang splits from Miyagi-Do. Miguel and Sam both go to prom together but they get distracted by Robby and Tory. The two cross paths with them at Stingray's house and end up fighting with each other. During the All-Valley, the two reconcile as Sam gets ready for the final round.
In season 5, Miguel wanted to make up to Sam for not being at the tournament to cheer for her and for arguing with her because of it. With Eli and Demetri's help, they found an octopus necklace, being able to afford it due to a discount. Before Miguel could give the necklace to Sam, Sam sadly decided to break up with him; Sam wanted to get out of karate so she can get back into a normal life. Miguel, heartbroken by her request, accepted it and dropped the necklace at the yard. Realizing that there will always be bullies and jerks no matter where Sam goes, she decided to get back into karate, training to put an end to Silver's reign. On the night celebrating Miyagi-Fang's qualification to the Sekai Taikai, Sam arrived with Miguel's necklace she found at Miyagi-Do, only to find him kissing another girl. The next morning after learning the truth from Tory, Miguel tried to reason with Sam about his actions, Sam pushed the event aside wanting to hear out Stingray's story first. After hearing Stingray's story of him being attacked by Silver, Sam resorted that it was Tory's fault not coming clean right from the very beginning. Miguel gave Sam the push to hear out Tory for not revealing everything since he was in Cobra Kai with her. After the final fight against Cobra Kai and Daniel defeating Silver, Miguel and Sam are having a moment where she asked about the necklace. Miguel said the necklace was meant for her, but didn't get to give it to Sam when she broke up with him. Miguel stated that the break up is not what he wanted, but accepted her decision. Sam is thankful for that. Miguel stated that it's "what you do when you love someone". Sam's surprised at first, but also said she love him too, rekindling their romantic relationship with a kiss.
Throughout the sixth and final season, Miguel and Sam remain on a solid relationship and the former helps the latter and Tory in finally burying their rivalry and becoming true friends. Miguel and Sam become two of the six students, alongside Robby, Devon, Demetri and Hawk, to go to the Sekai Taikai international tournament in Spain but everyone in Miyagi-Do was shocked upon seeing Tory had decided to return to Kreese and Cobra Kai after she was denied to fight Sam for the role of female captain to honour her late mother. When Miguel temporarily leaves Spain alongside Johnny to check on his mother Carmen, Sam gets along with Axel Kovacevic, the male captain of rival dojo the Iron Dragons, and they fight off Kreese's Cobra Kai students together. During their time together, Axel starts falling for Sam and tries to kiss her, only for her to reveal she already had a boyfriend in Miguel. Though Sam was not mean to Axel by saying this, the Iron Dragons captain develops animosity towards Miguel upon his return, which establishes a rivalry between the two of them, leaving Sam uncomfortable. When the all dojo brawl is halted, Sam and Miguel stood by together when they shockingly see Kwon dead.
A month later, Sam and Miguel help prepare for LaRusso Auto's 18th anniversary party. Miguel assumes that Sam's going to UCLA after high school, but unbeknownst to him, she actually wants to attend a one-year program in Okinawa and she doesn't know to tell him. When she tells this to Tory during their training, she advised her to tell Miguel about her decision when she has a chance instead of keeping a secret. After Miyagi-Do forfeits due to Robby's injury, Sam cheers for her boyfriend when he replaces Kwon as Cobra Kai's captain following the reveal of Johnny reclaiming Cobra Kai. She helps train Miguel and Tory for their matches against Axel and Zara respectively. When Miguel and Sam talk before his fight against Axel, she finds out that he saw her acceptance letter to Okinawa, but he praises her for her decision before the two kiss. During the fight, Sam notices that Wolf's trying to make Axel cheat by injuring Miguel's spine. She gives Axel a look, indirectly prompting him to fight fair and not to become like his sensei. After Miguel defeats Axel, Sam celebrates with Miguel. When the Diazes have dinner at the LaRusso's house, Miguel tells everyone he was accepted to Stanford, much to Sam's elation and the two embrace each other. The two later support Johnny during his fight against Wolf by donning the black Cobra Kai gi and they would eventually witness their sensei's victory. Later, Sam leaves for Okinawa and she's joined by Miguel who will spend time with her before he leaves for Stanford. When he notices that Sam's not wearing Mr. Miyagi's necklace that Lucille gifted her, she reveals that she's wearing the octopus necklace much to his happiness and the two kiss before they catch their flight.
Robby Keene
Robby is Sam's ex-boyfriend. They first meet each other at the LaRusso's house when Robby was being trained in karate by Daniel, though she had a boyfriend at the time in Miguel Diaz. Despite being virtually strangers, Robby pitied Sam when she's grounded and unable to attend her friends party. He faked a sprained ankle so they could attend the party. When Miguel saw them together, he became jealous and picked a fight that ultimately ended his relationship with Sam. When Daniel learned that Robby lived alone, he invited the teen to stay with the family. Robby and Sam were paired together inside Miyagi-Do, which allowed them to gradually grow closer. They worked seamlessly together in karate, being the perfect partners for one another. They acted as extensions of one another in a fight. The pair progressed into a romantic relationship, but hid the truth from her parents as to avoid Robby being kicked out of the house. While he respected the decision, he always wanted to tell Daniel the truth, though he respected Sam's boundaries and choices.
They went on dates, one in particular being to the roller skating rink, with Robby acting defensively when the manager reprimanded Sam for her fight with Tory. As their relationship progressed, Sam became intoxicated at Moon's party, and to protect her, Robby took her to his father's apartment where she could sleep off her stupor. Robby took the blame for Sam's drunken nature, which made Daniel lash out at him. The next afternoon, Tory began the school fight, in which Robby learned Sam kissed Miguel at the party. He still tried to protect her from Tory's onslaught of attacks. though he later paired-off with Miguel. He kicked Miguel, albeit accidentally, over a balcony. The fall hospitalized Miguel and broke his back. Robby was eventually arrested for his role in the fight, with Sam heartbroken over the outcome. She wrote him each day but he stopped responding, as he was assaulted daily by the other inmates. She didn't know of his pain and suffering, but did see Miguel struggle. She helped him raise funds for a surgery, which was broadcast on television. Robby watched the newscast and believed she had continued to date Miguel.
After being released from juvie, Robby went to see Sam in the hopes of reconciling, but caught her and Miguel sparing together in a compromising position. He accused her of cheating and the trio got into a fight, but it ended when Sam physically defended Miguel from Robby. Robby angrily believed Sam cheated on him the whole time, snapped they deserved each other, and admitted their relationship was a mistake. Despite the bad blood between them, Sam admits to Robby she still cares for him, but he knows she still cares about Miguel too. During a fight that included both their new romantic partners, Sam reveals that he broke her heart too. Fortunately, their friendship is restored when Robby realizes the consequences of Cobra Kai's sinister philosophy and rejoins Miyagi-Do. Robby and Sam join Miguel, Hawk and Demetri in breaking into the Cobra Kai flagship dojo to expose Terry SIlver's true nature as a cheater to his students and succeed in this mission thanks to the change of heart of none other than Sam's archrival Tory before witnessing Silver being taken to jail.
In the final season, Robby and Sam are among the six students selected for the Sekai Taikai in Barcelona and become male and female captain, respectively. Though Robby is initially unfocused due to his shock towards Tory having returned to Kreese and Cobra Kai, he eventually regains focus and helps Miyagi-Do in taking out Cobra Kai from the competition, only for them to receive another chance through the expulsion of the Russian dojo Tiger Strike. Throughout the brawl between all dojos, Sam tries to come to Robby's aid and save him from a beating from Cobra Kai's top student, Kwon Jae-Sung, only to be kicked away.
Tory Nichols
Tory is Sam's former biggest rival and current best friend. It has been shown that the two girls are quite opposite, Sam comes from a wealthy home and has more of girly girl sense of fashion, while Tory's family lives in a poor lifestyle and is some what of tomboy, as well as both have different view of philosophy. Tory has a strong hatred for Sam, for having privilege life and as well for her being the ex-girlfriend of Miguel, this has lead her to bully and insult Sam.
They first met at the beach club. Were Tory sees Sam for being uptight while Sam views her as a bad influence. When Sam accuse Tory (who has stolen bottle of vodka and claims that she would steal the silverware) for stealing her mom's wallet, Tory gets furious at this accusation and calls her a "bitch", Sam tries to approach her however she accidentally pushes Sam into a table of food, making Sam mad and developing a hatred for one other. They met again at the roller skating rink, Sam and Robby realizes that Tory is dating Miguel, making her disappointed. Tory catches Sam and Miguel talking and eventually shoves Sam to the ground out of jealousy, fed up with her actions she shoves her back causing her and Robby kicked out of the rink as well of giving Sam a smirk. Meanwhile, at Moon's party, they are having a drinking contest making Sam win. At night, she thanks Miguel for returning the medal until they share a drunken kiss. Tory however witness this and stares angrily towards the pair. During the first day of school, Tory grabs the intercom from a student and threats Sam on the PA system. She reveals to everyone that she kissed Miguel while they face off. She attacks Sam through the hallway all the way to the stairs. When Sam manages to have the upper hand, Tory attempt to fight more viciously by wrapping her spiked bracelet to her knuckles and manages to rip her arm. While both on the ground, Tory attempts to tear Sam's face, however Sam quickly blocks it and kicks her down the stairs making Sam win the fight more honorably.
The school fight and the scars on her arm has left Sam to have PTSD and fear Tory. In the arcade, while Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do are fighting each other, Sam is left frozen when Tory says her name and calls out "where are you bitch?!", remembering their last fight at the school, Sam is left having a panic attack and hides from Tory when she has PTSD visions from the school fight which makes her unable to fight back and is forced to witness Hawk and Tory break Demetri's arm. In her nightmare, after Sam finishes her warm-up, she goes to the back door of Miyagi-Do, until she sees Tory appear out of nowhere. Tory kicks her in the face, and Sam has flashbacks of the school fight. She grabs Sam's hair and places her face in the pond to drown her in the nightmare. After being drowned in the pond, she realizes that it was all a dream. Back at the LaRusso's, Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do are thinking of working together and to join forces to fight back against Cobra Kai in a bigger team until Cobra Kai breaks in the LaRusso's home. Tory beats up a Miyagi-Do student and she sees Sam and chases after her into the Miyagi home dojo. Tory finally corners Sam in the LaRusso home dojo, however Sam is too frightened at first to fight against Tory. Sam remembers a quote from her father telling her she can get up when she is down. Tory says that she will need to make her own fun. Tory grabs a pair of nunchaku and attempts to attack Sam only to smash a picture of Mr. Miyagi. Sam then gets up and grabs a boa staff, and overcomes her fear. Sam and Tory have a fight and Sam lands a few hits on Tory with the boa staff. Sam eventually disarms and corners Tory, the fight is interrupted when the redeemed Hawk, Miguel and Demetri arrive and break up the fight. Hawk tells Tory that the fight is over, Tory refuses to believe the fight is over and she approaches Hawk and Miguel where she calls the two 'traitors' and threatens Hawk to watch his back but Demetri defends them and says they have friends watching it for them. Tory then leaves the home dojo.
Tory and Sam's rivalry continues, though it has been dealt with by Amanda who threatens Tory to face a worst punishment if she comes near Sam again. When Tory is telling kids a story during a party for a worker's child, Sam intentionally mocks her by bringing up stuff that Tory did to her in the past, while also laughing at her singing, much to Tory's annoyance. Tory gets her revenge by convincing the kids to throw glitter at her, but Sam then instigates her again by intentionally kissing Miguel while Tory is looking at them, which leads to an angry Tory storming out. She and Tory cross paths at the high school prom, where she watches Robby dance with her. At Stingray's afterparty, Sam insults Tory but after the latter retaliates, Sam attacks her resulting in a fight at the party. Shortly after, Sam and Miguel fight Robby and Tory, but both lose when Robby pushes them into Stingray's pool. The two then face off in the final match where Tory wins the girls division, causing Cobra Kai to become grand champion. Despite losing to Tory in the tournament, her rival still shows some respect, as shown when she tells Sam if she's all right. This is most likely because Amanda told Tory to end her conflict with Sam during the tournament, as well as giving her advice to fight fairly regardless.
In Season 5, Tory remains in Cobra Kai and breaks up with Robby. Despite this, she is left conflicted by Silver's cheating and is working with Kreese, who is behind bars, to undermine him. During the Sekai Taikai tryouts, Sam and Tory are meant to fight each other, but Tory realizes that Silver bribed the present ref again and so she leaves and so Sam instead fights Devon after Tory flees the dojo. Despite the referee being bribed in Cobra Kai's favor, Sam manages to beat Devon, resulting in Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang being invited in along with Cobra Kai. Sam later finds out from Tory that Silver had rigged their match in Cobra Kai's favor, leaving Sam furious. She eventually makes amends with Tory after witnessing her mother's sickness, with Tory admitting she felt like a fraud after learning Silver fixed their match. Sam and Tory, along with the students of both Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang form a plan to try and expose Silver to the Cobra Kai students after finding out that Stingray had been assaulted by him. The students end up fighting off Cobra Kai after Mitch exposes their plan. During the ensuing brawl, Sam saves Tory from Kim Da-Eun after Kim knocks flips Tory and steps on her injured hand.
In Season 6, Sam and Tory work to reconcile their old differences, something which serves as an inspiration to Daniel. Johnny, however, worries that the newfound camaraderie between them has blunted their edge and concocts a plan, only for it to backfire on him when the two of them end up apologizing to each other for their past actions and seemingly become closer than ever. However, when the fight between them for the female captaincy of the Sekai Taikai is abruptly halted after Daniel learns of the death of Tory's mother, it sends Tory into a spiral and she rejoins Cobra Kai, much to Sam's shock. Sam expresses to Tory that while she understands Tory did what she did to honour her beloeved mother, she asserts that she would not hesitate during the tournament. During the brawl between all dojos, Sam saves Tory from some students from the Iron Dragons dojo. Tory expresses her gratitude for this act, and Sam replies, "Anytime," proving that she does not despise Tory once more despite her return to Cobra Kai.
After the reveal of the Sekai Taikai continuing in the Valley and despite that they're still selected to fight each other in the semifinals, Sam goes to Tory to train together to prepare for the fight. Tory explains how going back to Cobra Kai has ruined her relationships instead of making her feel better about her mother's death while Sam brings up on her decision to go to Okinawa instead of UCLA after high school. Proving to be supportive friends to each other, Sam and Tory give each other advice on their respective dilemmas. Tory then decides to return to the tournament and they have fun training together. After seeing Robby get injured by Axel and making it clear that Miyagi-Do won't be able to catch up to the Iron Dragons, Sam decides to withdraw from the tournament rather than fighting Tory. When Johnny gets Cobra Kai back from Kreese, Sam helps Tory train for her final match against Zara, teaching her the advanced moves of Miyagi-Do. After Tory wins, Sam and Tory hug each other while celebrating.
Aisha Robinson
Aisha is Sam's best friend whom she has a strained relationship with. They became friends before Cobra Kai, but at some point before the series, Samantha became friends with the popular crowd, who often bullied Aisha. While Sam's actions strained their friendship, they were still on friendly and speaking terms.
During the early parts of the school year, Aisha and Sam are on good terms, despite Sam's association with the rude popular crowd. Halfway into the season when Sam loses her friends and becomes an outcast, Aisha shows no sympathy and is cold to her, possibly because she feels that Samantha is getting what she deserves. However, she seemingly forgives Samantha after she apologizes to her and tells her her revenge against Yasmine was great. The two then laugh about Aisha's revenge against Yasmine. Aisha encourages her to get back into karate.
Sam wants to rekindle her friendship with Aisha, but the latter still holds somewhat of a grudge against her. When Sam accuses Tory of stealing her mom's wallet, the two get into a brief fight. Aisha is dismayed at Sam for making an accusation without proof. During a party at Moon's house, Sam becomes even more irritated at Aisha because Hawk and a group of Cobra Kai students vandalized the Miyagi-Do dojo, even though Aisha told her she had nothing to do with the incident. During her talk with Aisha, Sam tells Aisha that her victory in the drinking battle between her and Tory should be considered as payback, showing that Sam still will not heal her strained relationship with Aisha. She tells Sam that Miguel returned Mr. Miyagi's Medal of Honor which shocks her. When Sam appears to be dizzy, Aisha shows concern for her, showing she still cares for her. The following morning she messages Sam, asking her if she is alright, further indicating that she still cares about her. Aisha's parents decided to transfer her to a private school in Santa Barbara after the West Valley fight.
Sam visits Aisha ever since she moved and they talk about their recent experiences. In the end, Aisha tells Sam that she will be her original best friend. In season 6, Sam is revealed to maintain contact with Aisha, announcing to her friends in Miyagi-Do that she had been accepted into UC Santa Cruz.
Axel Kovačević
Kwon Jae-Sung
Other Relationships
- Anthony LaRusso (Brother)
- Demetri Alexopoulos (Friend/Co-Student/Ally)
- Chris (Friend/Co-Student/Ally)
- Moon Taylor (Best Friend)
- Johnny Lawrence (Sensei/Friend/Ally)
- Axel Kovacevic (Acquintance/Crush on his side)
Gallery
Trivia
- Sam has been training in karate longer than any of the other teens in the series.
- Samantha is the second female karate student to learn Miyagi-Do, following only in the footsteps of Julie Pierce.
- Throughout the course of the series, Sam has quit karate at least once a season.
- She was treated as an outcast about halfway through the first season when Kyler lied about what Sam had done to him at the movies to get revenge on her.
- This lead to Miguel sticking up to her when everyone in school let her look stupid.
- She is the only Miyagi-Do Karate student to never have been trained in Cobra Kai Dojo.
- Despite breaking up with Miguel, Sam still has feelings for him as she was shown to be repeatedly bothered by him dating Tory and she kissed him during Moon's party, though she was drunk at the time. Miguel also still has feelings for her. This eventually leads to Sam and Miguel getting back together after they break up with Robby and Tory, respectively.
- However, despite getting back together, it is unknown if Sam ever unblocked Miguel on Instagram, though there is an episode from season 3 where her instagram appears in Miguel's feed while looking through stories, which may indicate that she did unblock him.
- After Robby quit Miyagi-Do Karate and joined Cobra Kai, Sam became the strongest student of Miyagi-Do.
- In the video game adaptation, she is voiced by Valerie Rose Lohman.
- Despite her rivalry with Tory, the actresses Mary Mouser and Peyton List are good friends in real-life, along with the rest of the cast from Cobra Kai which include Jacob Bertrand, Xolo Maridueña, and Tanner Buchanan.
- The reason she had grown hatred toward Tory when she first met her was due to Sam (seeing that Tory had stolen a wine bottle prior) accusing her of stealing her mother's wallet without proof. It is unknown if Robby ever told Sam that it was his former friends who stole Amanda's wallet.
- In Sleeper, Tory even brought this up to Sam, which made Sam realize that Tory was right.
- Since season 3's Nature vs. Nurture, she has been absent for a season's second episode, along with Demetri, who actually did it first in Back in Black from season 2.
- She finally appeared in a season's second episode in The Prize, though her role in that episode was rather minor while Demetri's was major.
- The only time she ever showed any antagonism in the series was indirectly beginning the rivalry between her and Tory.
- Sam was taught her first move Wax on Wax off by Mr Miyagi.
- She has had two matches that were rigged: one at the All Valley competition against Tory and the other at the Taikai qualifications against Devon. She lost in the former one (though she was the actual winner), but still won for the latter.
- She, Demetri and Anthony are the only students who never joined Cobra Kai.
- She and Miguel share their final scene together in the series finale.
References
- ↑ Sam repeatedly refers to Mr. Miyagi as meaning a lot to her, with the letters he wrote confirming he viewed her as a granddaughter, in part because of his close relationship to her father.