Stingray

"You know, the thing about stingrays is, they lie in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike!"

―Raymond to Miguel Diaz^[src]

Raymond better known by his nickname Stingray and formerly Chubs, is a supporting character in season 2 of Cobra Kai. He is one of the newest members of the Cobra Kai Dojo who joined in season 2. He is also the oldest student.

Biography

Raymond said he lives alone with his mother. It is unknown what kind of relationship he has with his dad, or that his father is deceased. His mother appears to be overly worried about her son, not allowing him to do activities or demanding he pay his share of housing. He seems to have stood up to his mother's overprotectiveness to some extent, finally deciding to enroll in a dojo against her wishes. When he was approaching Johnny about enrolling in Cobra Kai, he says that he can afford tuition as he saved money from living rent free. This shows Raymond has some sense of thriftiness. Johnny does not seem excited about this kind of agreement; agreeing to allow Raymond to enroll mainly because he is a paying customer.

Cobra Kai

Season 2

Raymond first appears in the first episode of Season 2 as an employee of a hardware store where Johnny, Daniel, Robby come to buy tools. He is a fan of LaRusso Auto, Karate and 80's heavy metal like Metallica.

He later joins Cobra Kai and adopts John Kreese's ruthless teaching. He ends up winning the Coyote Creek event, as well. Stingray one of the many Cobra Kai Students who appear at Moon's Party. He tags along with his friends and girlfriend Fawn. He is also seen encouraging a fight between Hawk, Chris, Mitch and Robby up until the police arrive and everyone tries to get away. Stingray later decides to quit his job to work as a security guard in West Valley High School in the season finale and demonstrates his competency to the principal by dispatching several members of Miyagi-Do from fighting during the school brawl in the season 2 finale.

Following the school brawl he joins Hawk, Tory, Mitch and some other Cobra Kai students in turning against Johnny and becoming loyal to Kreese in the episode "No Mercy".

Season 3

Although he does not appear in this season, he is mentioned during the PTA meeting, when of the parents asks about Raymond. One school board member answers that while Raymond made application to be a school employee and was interviewed by Principal Lopez, his application was ultimately disapproved. As such, Stingray was never on school payroll. It is also said he was arrested while participating in the brawl. The charges are never specified, but is likely for assault or assault of a minor. Raymond was sentenced to a unspecified term of probation, as well as being bound to a restraining order that he is not to have contact with minors. As a result, Raymond was forced to resign his membership in Cobra Kai.

Fighting Style

After adopting Kreese's ruthless teachings, Raymond becomes an aggressive fighter which is evidenced in the school brawl where he aggressively attacks several Miyagi-Do students he even uses his stomach to attack the students to protect Hawk.

Personality

Raymond tries to present himself as happy-go-lucky and a joker, but others, namely Daniel and Johnny, tend to see him as boorish and irritating. The only known adult who seems to tolerate Raymond to some degree is Kreese, who was seen looking at him in approval when he was the winner in a "red vs. black" combat class.

His general manner could be considered a more pronounced version of Johnny's fate. Like Johnny, Raymond seems to be living in the past and focus more on enjoying life than earning a living. However, whereas Johnny at certain points gives self-reflection on how far he has fallen, Raymond has never seem to come to grips with his own issue. He seems to prefer blue-collar jobs, but has not shown much desire to excel in those (likely to avoid too much responsibility that would come with a promotion).

He ends up joining Cobra Kai because he is a big fan of karate, he can come across as overexcited and even immature, ultimately, this may come across as annoying or funny.

Raymond's cluelessness as an adult and great incompetence as a man in general becomes very apparent in the last two episodes of season 2, as was seen at Moon's party where he idiotically taped bottles to his hands and then tried to run from the police. He did have sufficient self-confidence to woo a girlfriend, however she did remark to Raymond when being invited to Moon's party why the guests were considerably younger than them.

While it seemed that Raymond was able to be competent to some degree in a blue-collar job as he worked at the hardware superstore, he lacked the ability to handle himself in a professional setting when he was being interviewed by Principal Lopez at the high school, although this may have been due to a first attempt at trying for a professional, white-collar job.

"You know, the thing about stingrays is, they lie in wait for the perfect opportunity to strike!"

―Raymond to Miguel Diaz^[src]

By the end of the season it is revealed that he is one of the handful of Cobra Kai students that is corrupted by Kreese's teachings as he is training with Kreese and has betrayed Johnny.