| “ | You hear that? Get ready for high school next year because you're going to be in a world of pain. | „ |
| ~ Kenny to Anthony LaRusso. |
Kenny Payne is one of the tritagonists in the Netflix series Cobra Kai.
He is Shawn Payne's younger sibling. After being the victim of intense bullying by Anthony LaRusso, Kenny seeks help from Shawn's former rival, Robby Keene, who becomes a mentor to Kenny. He turns to karate as a way to defend himself, but he is quickly corrupted by Cobra Kai's teachings, going from being bullied to a bully himself.
He was portrayed by Dallas Dupree Young.
Biography[]
Season 4[]
He is the son of a U.S. Army soldier stationed in Qatar, and the younger brother of Shawn Payne.
He enrolls at West Valley Middle School, where he is a target of bullying by Daniel's son, Anthony LaRusso and his friends. After being catfished and cyberbullied by Anthony LaRusso and his friends, Kenny visits Shawn in juvenile hall and reveals that Anthony knows karate, where he suggests that Kenny look for Robby Keene. Kenny, despite his timid nature, arrives at Cobra Kai. After he is rejected by Kreese, Robby visits Kenny at his house, returning his backpack and trains Kenny on his own time after learning of his bullying. Kenny later tells Robby that Shawn is sentenced to an extra month in juvenile hall for spitting in a guard's face. With Robby's tutelage, Kenny goes after Kyler, who has taunted him, earning his spot at the dojo.
When Anthony steals Kenny’s clothes to embarrass him during gym class at one point, Kenny furiously tells Robby that he’s had enough of the bullying from Anthony and his friends and vows to use his training to get back at them once and for all. Despite the latter's disapproval, Kenny uses his training to lure Anthony and his friends into a trap at the middle school library to attack them and exposes them for their bullying of him, getting them all suspended from school.
Later during the All-Valley tournament, he loses to Robby in the quarter finals. Anthony approaches Kenny in the locker room afterwards and attempts to apologize for tormenting him. A vengeful Kenny, furious with Anthony's past actions against him and losing the quarter finals match to Robby with a broken nose, furiously rejects his apology and viciously beats him in retaliation for his past actions against him before Robby intervenes and breaks off the fight. Kenny threatens Anthony by telling him he will torment him when they begin high school the next year. Robby is horrified by Kenny’s vengeful actions against Anthony and later reprimands Kenny for his aggressive behavior, telling him this isn't how he trained him to fight, but Kenny, having been corrupted by Cobra Kai's influence, asserts "no mercy" before leaving. Kenny is later shown celebrating when Tory Nichols wins the All Valley Karate Tournament girls' division against Samantha LaRusso, which gives Cobra Kai the title of grand champion, and then goes off to celebrate with the rest of the students when Kyler throws an afterparty at his house to celebrate.
Season 5[]
Kenny attacks Anthony at the waterpark, kicking him into the pool. Hawk later intervenes and challenges Tory to a race on a waterpark slide. Kenny cheats by putting a hole in his floatie; he tries to fight Hawk, and Hawk dodges all his attacks until Kenny punches Hawk and before Hawk can fight he is thrown into the pool by Robby. Kenny continues to bully Anthony, including giving him a swirlie in an unflushed toilet as retaliation for Anthony rejecting a Cobra Kai shirt by throwing it on the ground.
Kenny, a follower by nature, follows Kyler's poor leadership during a training exercise and loses as a result. Terry Silver takes him aside and plays to his ego by telling him that he needs to lead from now on. Kenny proceeds to attack Kyler in the next exercise, and ultimately wins as a result. Kenny is then taught an illegal move called the "Silver Bullet" to cut off an opponent's airway and win the match as quickly as possible. Terry picks Kenny to represent Cobra Kai's males in the tryouts for the Sekai Taikai, the largest karate tournament in the world.
Terry had paid off the referee to ensure that they won no matter what, and Kenny uses the Silver Bullet on Hawk, which results in him winning. Kenny is ecstatic at this. Robby tries to appeal to Kenny's good nature by continuously telling him that he needs to leave Cobra Kai, but he refuses to listen. Kenny arrives at the Cobra Kai dojo to attack Miyagi-Do students when they break in to try and get surveillance footage of Terry beating up Stingray to expose Cobra Kai for good. The video had been deleted, but they are able to find a video of Terry confessing that he rigged the All-Valley.
Kenny participates in a brutal karate fight where he attacks Robby. Miguel kicks Kenny and defeats him. Shortly after this, Terry's cheating is exposed on video; shocked and heartbroken when he sees the video evidence, Kenny realizes Robby was right about Cobra Kai, and is the first one to leave the dojo, disillusioned with Cobra Kai's ruthless teachings and possibly remorseful for his abusive behavior. Terry then loses a fight to Daniel and is subsequently arrested for his many crimes. Robby tries to talk to Kenny, but Kenny is too ashamed of his behavior to speak, saying he needs "some time", and then leaves.
Season 6[]
Now a freshman in high school, Kenny hasn’t still talked to Robby ever since he learned the truth about Cobra Kai. He plays alone in the arcade where Robby tries to convince him to join Miyagi Do. However, his brother, Shawn Payne, who had been released from juvenile detention, stops Robby from talking to his brother and warns him there will be a problem if he doesn’t. Robby tries to talk him out of it but the Payne brothers get into a fight with Miguel and Robby. Miguel defeats Kenny by pinning him to the ground. Kenny tries to retaliate using a baseball bat but is stopped by Samantha LaRusso and Tory Nichols. Sam and Tory try to reason with Kenny but he refuses. He tries to get past them but block his way out until they push Kenny to a fence. Kenny tries to attack them once more, but Shawn intervenes, telling them that they have to leave since security is coming.
Back home, Shawn advises him to join Miyagi-Do after realizing Cobra Kai's true philosophy and thinks they should probably hear Robby and the other Miyagi-Do's out. Although Kenny initially refuses since he doesn't want anything to do with them, Shawn tells him he'll end up just like him and Robby in juvie if he continues down the dark path, and wants him to be the same person he is when their dad comes home. Realizing that Shawn is right, Kenny takes his brother's advice and joins Miyagi-Do where he is given a warm welcome by Robby and Miguel. He and Anthony even give each other a nod of approval.
During the qualifying rounds, Kenny Payne is one of the few who advance to the next round. However, he, Devon, Hawk, and Demetri have to participate in a tiebreaker to earn the final two spots. Kenny is the first to start, but while in the woods, he suddenly becomes constipated, leading to him rushing to a nearby portable toilet only to constipate himself upon arrival. With Kenny out, Devon and Demetri receive the two flags, leading to them winning the tiebreaker.
Due to Kenny believing Anthony to be responsible, the rivalry between the two is reignited, leading to a brief fight before Amanda LaRusso breaks it up and chides both boys for their behavior. Anthony finally decides to end their rivalry for good by taking laxatives to make them even, just before a remorseful Devon Lee calls Kenny to confess and apologize for her actions. Kenny is unfortunately a split second too late to stop Anthony, but this proves to be the end of their rivalry with the two boys even sitting together during the Sekai Taikai finals. Due to Devon withdrawing from the tournament, Kenny is sent to take her place, but he faces distrust from his teammates due to his past. However, Kenny remains loyal to Miyagi-Do, refusing Silver's attempts to recruit him back. Kenny also forgives Devon for her actions with no animosity, admitting that he's flattered that Devon saw him as so much of a threat.
Abilities[]
- Expert Martial Artist: When Kenny first appeared on the show, he had absolutely no idea how to fight. When he started training in the Cobra Kai dojo and was taken under the wing of Robby Keene, Kenny grew quickly in karate. By the end of season 4, he proved himself capable of making it all the way to the quarter finals of the All-Valley tournament. Near the end of season 5, Kenny had continued to grow his skills at a rapid pace, and established himself as one of the best students in the class, alongside Tory Nichols. Kenny fights fast and aggressive. When Terry Silver taught him the silver bullet technique, it made Kenny an even deadlier opponent, allowing him to defeat Hawk; although the referee called the match on a technicality.
- Speed: Kenny has always stated that his older brother Shawn had size and strength on his side, while Kenny had speed and agility on his. This is proven true as he is one of the quickest fighters in Cobra Kai. He also possesses very sharp reflexes.
- Strength: Despite his small size, since joining Cobra Kai, Kenny has gained vast strength, and is a very powerful fighter for a person like him. He can take down larger opponents, and lift heavy objects with minimum effort.
- Intelligence: Kenny has a decent amount of brains to match his skills, being able to use his timid nature to trick Robby and Kyler into letting their guard down and able to use Kyler as a ramp to kick Sensei Odell when training leadership capabilities. He is also cunning, shown by his plan to lure Anthony and his friends to the library where he could pick them off one by one.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Friends/Allies[]
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