 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
| “ | It's payback time, Rhea. | „ |
| ~ Kyler to Miguel Diaz at the house fight. |
Kyler Park is a major antagonist of the YouTube Red/Netflix series Cobra Kai. He serves as the main antagonist of Season 1, a major antagonist of Season 3-5 and a supporting character in Season 6.
He was a rude bully who harasses Miguel Diaz, Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, and Demetri Alexopoulos, before the former two join Cobra Kai. He was quickly defeated and humiliated by Diaz after his training with Johnny Lawrence and stops bullying him. However, after Diaz was hospitalized in a school brawl, Kyler was invited to join Cobra Kai by John Kreese, the dojo's original and ruthless founder, and later under the leadership of Terry Silver. Kyler remains at Cobra Kai until he, along with the rest of the students, discovers that Silver had bribed the referee of the All Valley tournament to ensure Cobra Kai's victory, leading Kyler and the others to leave the dojo, disappointed and angry at learning Silver's true colors. He was also the former archenemy of Miguel, Hawk and Demetri.
He is portrayed by Joe Seo, and by Joe Passaro in the video game adaptation of Cobra Kai.
History[]
Season 1[]
Kyler is first seen with Brucks and his other two friends trying to buy beer from a mini-mart. When Miguel Diaz unintentionally tells the store owner that Kyler and his friends are underage to buy it, Kyler and his gang begin bullying Miguel, taking the Pepto Bismal he bought for his grandma and dumping it on his head, as well as nicknaming him "rhea" (short for "diarrhea") for buying it.
After shoving Miguel up against Johnny Lawrence's car, Johnny decides to step in, telling them to back off. When Kyler makes fun of Johnny, Johnny fights off the gang, using his karate moves to easily beat all of them down. However, the fight is soon broken up when the police arrive and arrest Johnny.
Kyler later begins dating Sam LaRusso and ends up being invited to have dinner with her family by her father, Daniel LaRusso. At dinner, Kyler tells Daniel about what happened at the mini-mart after Daniel asks him about his black eye, but spins it to make Johnny seem like the aggressor, leading Daniel to go confront Johnny about the incident at the latter's Cobra Kai dojo. However, after Daniel learns the truth about the fight, he begins to suspect Kyler isn't as innocent as he seemed. It is also revealed Kyler only has lustful desires for Samantha, being only interested in having sex with her.
Sam eventually breaks up with Kyler when she discovers he has been bullying Miguel, Demetri and Eli, and after he tries to touch her in the theater where they went to see a movie. To get back at her, Kyler spreads rumors about her, telling that she had given him a blowjob after the two saw the movie, causing her friends to isolate her. After Kyler makes fun of Sam at lunch, Miguel gets up to go and confront him. Kyler and his gang challenge Miguel to another fight, but with the training he received from Johnny at the Cobra Kai dojo, Miguel is able to beat down Kyler and his three cronies in front of the entire cafeteria. This serves as classical conditioning, and now Kyler and his gang stay away from Miguel.
Kyler later appears again accompanying Yasmine and her friends when they go down to a canyon to set up for her birthday, only to discover that Cobra Kai had gotten there first and thrown a party. Yasmine tells Kyler to go down and force the kids to leave, but after sighting Miguel and Hawk, Kyler loses his nerve and suggests they go somewhere else, for fear of suffering another beatdown by Miguel or Hawk. Kyler and Brucks then leave.
Season 2[]
Kyler doesn't make any appearance nor is mentioned on Season 2. It can be assumed that he and his gang no longer harass Miguel and his friends due their karate skills. That said, it's unknown if Kyler even witnessed the fight between Tory Nichols and Samantha which escalates into a full fight against Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do students which ultimately results in Miguel's hospitalization.
Season 3[]
Kyler and Brucks are shown being recruited by Kreese to join Cobra Kai. Upon seeing Hawk (formerly Eli), they realize they bullied him in the past, and immediately mock him (with Kyler remarking he thought Hawk had moved). When tryouts take place, Kyler is chosen to take on Mitch. He passes his tryout beating Mitch in his test fight through his wrestling training, and subsequently replaces Mitch's position in the dojo. However, after beating Mitch, he is shown to be frightened of Hawk, when the latter brutally beats up Brucks. He also continues to bully students at school, most notably drawing a penis on Demetri's cast at lunch, showing he learned nothing from Miguel's beating to him.
Kyler later is sent by Kreese with Robby, Hawk, Tory and other Cobra Kai members to steal a cobra from the zoo. The mission is nearly scuttled when Kyler, stressed out about his trigonometry grades, forgets to bring a snake pole along, much to the anger of Hawk, who berates him. But Robby manages to get the cobra while they aren't looking, winning Cobra Kai's respect. Upon invasion at the LaRusso house, he fights Miguel seeking revenge. Kyler had the upper hand on Miguel for most of their fight, due to Miguel recently coming off a major injury which occurred in the season 2 finale, but Miguel eventually defeats and knocks out Kyler after regaining his confidence. Afterwards, Miguel thanks Kyler for the motivation.
Season 4[]
Kyler remains at Cobra Kai after the showdown with Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang during Season 3. During a training session, Kyler tells his teammates his future plans to go to college, stating he wants to go to ASU rather than Harvard.
Tory then lashes out at him for losing the house fight because he didn't handle his own business, but he brushes her off while stating that Hawk still switched sides; when she reminds him of his loss to Miguel (who'd been in a wheelchair weeks prior), Kyler replies that he's still there, whereas half the squad (including Doug Rickenberger and Mikey Miller) quit, since the dojo is shown to be half-empty.
Kyler was also defeated with ease by Robby during training, earlier in the season. Although Kyler isn't on the level of several others, like Tory, Robby or even Kreese, he is a very capable fighter and one of the best in the Cobra Kai dojo.
Sometime later, Kyler and fellow student target Hawk before the tournament, due to him betraying their trust and ditching Cobra Kai during the LaRusso house fight; the Cobra's get their revenge by cutting Hawk's mohawk, resulting in his confidence being dented. Also, the class meets its second sensei Terry Silver. Kyler also attends the Junior Prom with his friends.
During the All-Valley, Kyler narrowly defeats Miyagi-Do student Chris in a even match to reach the Quarter-Finals, where he faces off with Hawk, now going by Eli once again. Kyler is effortlessly defeated by Eli each round without being able to throw a punch, providing evidence of there being a major skill gap between them.
Despite his loss, Cobra Kai wins the All Valley Karate Tournament when Tory defeats Sam in the girls' finals. Following the tournament, Kyler and his teammates celebrate outside and decides to schedule a victory afterparty at his house. Kyler then tells Tory if she's coming and she agrees before he and his teammates continue to celebrate, but unbeknownst to him and his teammates, Terry Silver bribed the referee to ensure Cobra Kai would win the tournament, which is overheard by Tory.
Season 5[]
Kyler is seen in training sessions at the Cobra Kai dojo, now expanded by Terry Silver. Later, he, Kenny, and his teammates are at a waterpark, and Kyler says that he'll become the King Cobra after Robby left the dojo. Initially, Kyler is surprised when he sees Anthony LaRusso, and asks Kenny if Anthony was the person who'd been bullying him; in front of Kenny, Anthony replies that Kyler's been to his house before and dated his sister, and Kyler replies he dates a lot of sisters. With that, Cobra Kai begins bullying Anthony, with Kenny even kicking him into the pool. Later, Kyler and the others have a confrontation with Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do, to the point where they're all kicked out of the place.
Kenny represents the male students of the dojo, and Kyler is his leader, although he isn't so good. After, Kyler and Kenny have a test fight with sensei Odell, who is associated with Silver, but Kenny fails the round, and Kyler teases him for not "following in his footsteps". His lack of leadership causes Kenny to get fed up and walk away. Kenny is then influenced by Silver to confront Kyler, fight him and eventually land a blow on Sensei Odell, pleasing Silver. Kyler later appears when Cobra Kai is qualified for the Sekai Taikai, an international tournament, and congratulates Kenny after he beats Eli/Hawk with the Silver Bullet. Cobra Kai wins and enters the Sekai Taikai, but Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are also chosen for their variety of fighting styles.
Not long after, when Eagle Fang and Miyagi Do infiltrate the dojo to unmask Silver for his assault on Stingray and bribe the referee at the tournament, they are discovered by Cobra Kai thanks to Mitch ratting them out in favor of Cobra Kai, having rejoined to them after feeling disrespected by Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang. Robby and Tory try to explain to the Cobra Kai that Silver is a criminal, but Kyler and the others refuse to listen, thus sparking a fight between all students. In the confrontation, Kyler and his teammates run into Hawk and Demetri (who was trying to post the video of Silver beating up Stingray), and starts making fun of both of them as he used to; Hawk tells him at least Hawk had learned from his loss to Kenny and moved on, whereas Kyler never did. When Hawk says that Kyler is still the same bully he always was and is too "stupid" to learn his lesson, Kyler brutally attacks him. He lands a blow on Hawk during their fight, before Hawk punches him and Demetri knocks him out (which Demetri enjoys doing).
Finally, Silver is exposed by the students through the dojo's cameras, talking to Tory about how he bribed the referee to make sure she won. Seeing this, Kyler shakes his head in disappointment as he and the Cobra Kai students realize the truth about Silver. When Daniel ends up defeating Silver with the crane kick, all of the students (including Kyler) take off their Cobra Kai shirts and hoodies, and throw them at Silver in disgust, implying they'd quit Cobra Kai after seeing the kind of person Terry really is. Nevertheless, Terry is arrested by the authorities for not only beating up Stingray, but also cheating, unsportsmanlike conduct, and bribery due to his actions at the All Valley, which was finally exposed for good. During Silver's arrest, Kyler tries to take credit for himself while talking to the cops, to no avail.
Season 6[]
During a college tour at College of the Valley, Demetri explains that University of Phoenix would be a small school if they weren't online. Just then, the tour guide is tackled by Brucks, who was trying to catch a small red Frisbee. He and Kyler are surprised to see Miguel and the binary brothers there. Eli apologizes to Brucks for brutally beating him and admits he was brainwashed, but Brucks gracefully accepts his apology, saying it changed him for the better. Kyler also explains that Brucks goes to MIT and Demetri gets surprised. He then asks his former bully victims if he is still hanging out with him.
Later, Miguel, Eli and Demetri are at a fraternity house where Kyler is being hazed by Zenker, the leader of the fraternity Theta Omega. Hawk, on the other hand, chugs beer and puts the finished cups on his Mohawk, earning him the nickname "Spikes" by the other college students and Zenker. Later, Miguel and Demetri overhear the students planning to disqualify Kyler from their process. The binary brothers are curious about how Brucks got into MIT by asking about his SAT score. Meanwhile, Zenker tries to haze Kyler again, but Miguel makes him tell the truth about why Kyler can't be in the fraternity. Kyler then pours beer on Zenker's head, and when Zenker tries to beat up Kyler, Kyler stops him, and a fight begins at the fraternity house. Miguel defends Kyler and then Brucks takes down other students as well. Eli and Demetri fight the others and after they win, they flee the house. He then gives some genuine advices to Miguel about pursuing his dreams while he can, commenting that he may have had the chance to go to a good party college, but he didn't stick to his own goals. Kyler and Miguel are then found by another frat group who offer Kyler to join them without any hazing after they find out that he was the one who knocked out Zenker.
Personality[]
Kyler is a sadistic, mean, selfish and cruel bully who takes pleasure in tormenting others, often laughing and chuckling while bullying somebody, which was displayed during his encounters with Miguel, Demetri, and Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz. He can be considered to somewhat be a sociopath as he displays little to no qualms or remorse over harassing others. Kyler even hides his abusive attitude when it's convenient to him, and also pretended to be innocent when he lied to Daniel that Johnny attacked him and his friends, which played a role in rekindling Daniel and Johnny's rivalry.
While he appears to love Samantha LaRusso at first, he actually only has sexual desires for her, which Sam was unaware of. This likely goes for other girlfriends he’s had, as he says he's dated a lot of girls (which he mentioned to Sam's little brother Anthony in front of Kenny at the water park) and likely had sex with them too (although it's also possible that Kyler is exaggerating). However in regards to Samantha, after she dumps him because of his trying to harass her on a date, and because he was bullying Miguel, Demetri, and Eli, Kyler ruins her popular reputation out of revenge, proving that as well as a bully, he is a bad person. However, his bullying comes to an end when Miguel beats him and his friends up.
Beneath the bully demeanor, Kyler is unsurprisingly pathetically cowardly and hypocritical. A long time school bully, Kyler completely lives in the past about his former “power” over other kids — especially with it literally having been taken away from him by Hawk. After Miguel beat him and his gang up, he began hesitating to come near him, which was shown when he walked away after noticing Miguel one time. He displayed this again when after Hawk beat up Brucks, he was shown to be frightened, looking down to the ground with fear when the latter gave him an intimidating glare after doing so.
In Season 3, however, it is revealed that he hasn't changed at all, clearly joining Cobra Kai so he can continue to torment others, most notably Demetri. He is brave enough to fight Miguel who just relearned to walk during the invasion at LaRusso's house, but ultimately loses again. It's implied, though not confirmed, that Kyler's bullying stems from insecurity, as his father is supposedly abusive, threatening physical harm if Kyler doesn't pass trigonometry.
In Season 4, Kyler is still a part of Cobra Kai and one of the best students at the Dojo. However, he is still a bully and takes pleasure in teasing others, such as making fun of Kenny for running away from their match tryout after the latter enters Cobra Kai. He is also very arrogant; when he was confronted by Tory for losing to an injured Miguel during the showdown at the LaRusso house, he just replied that at least he's still in Cobra Kai, whereas half the other students quit.
Kyler also aids Robby, Tory, and other Cobra Kai in their attack on Hawk as revenge for betraying Cobra Kai, bullying Kenny and drenching them on the baseball field, cutting off his Mohawk with a razor, stripping him of his confidence. Kyler also becomes more confident when it comes to fighting his opponents, as shown in his fight with Hawk, who goes by Eli once again, in the All Valley tournament, but eventually loses to him.
Despite this, Kyler has shown he does have standards, as he and the other Cobra Kai students were shown to be disgusted after finding out about Silver's true nature (and in Kyler's case, showing he doesn't like cheating in sport). However, it's unclear whether Kyler quit because of feeling disgraced that he was training under the watch of a cheater or if he just left because he saw how the other Cobras renounced Cobra Kai and didn't want to be cast out by his teammates. Still, Kyler attempts to take credit for Silver's downfall while being interviewed by cops, reinforcing the latter possibility.
However, by Season 6, Kyler seems to have changed his ways after having left Cobra Kai, and even acts kindly towards Miguel, Demetri, and Eli/Hawk upon meeting them again at Valley College, much to the trio's confusion. In addition, in his desperate attempt to enter at a college, Kyler becomes subject to hazing and humiliation by the Theta Omega fraternity (similar to how Kyler bullied the students at high school), who secretly had no intention of admitting him. Kyler even helps Miguel, Brucks, Hawk, and Demetri fight off Zenker and his gang upon discovering that they never actually wanted to admit him. At this point, Kyler expresses some remorse for his past actions, acknowledging that his bullying behavior and bad grades sttoped him from getting into a college, and he must now attend a community college. He regrets not holding on to his dreams and genuinely advises Miguel to go after his dreams and that safety will always be there.
Abilities[]
- Wrestling: Even before entering Cobra Kai, Kyler has shown to have great fighting ability due to his wrestling training. He fought alongside his gang of bullies, and attacked only the weakest kids at his school. As shown in his fight with Johnny, Kyler was apparently strong enough to throw his opponents. However, due to his lack of experience in karate at the time, he would be easily defeated by Miguel in the cafeteria fight.
- Intelligence: Despite Kyler being a typical high school bully, he does possess a decent amount of brains to match his brawn. Kyler has been hinted to taking advanced math classes such as trigonometry. However, his intelligence is also limited as he prefers using brute force and is easily tricked by smarter fighters such as Demetri, Hawk and Miguel. He also failed his final semester of high school due to slacking off, and was forced to go to a party school for college where good grades aren’t really required to stay.
- Karate: When Kyler joined Cobra Kai, he earned his place in the dojo after defeating Mitch with a wrestling hold. Now training karate under the tutelage of Kreese (and later Silver), Kyler's fighting skills have improved. He even managed to maintain the advantage over Miguel in the LaRusso home fight, due to Miguel having come back from a back injury, only to be defeated by him again. Despite not being at the level of other fighters like Robby or Tory, Kyler is one of the best students of Cobra Kai. His karate skill allowed him to break a few layers of bricks with his head in the All Valley Karate Tournament. However, Kyler continues to be defeated by more skilled opponents, such as Hawk or Demetri.
- Intimidation: Being a school bully, Kyler bullied weak students or those he considered inferior to him, with the help of his gang. However, when his enemies prove to be stronger, Kyler is shown to be a dirty coward on the inside, as he only fights backed by his peers and attacks weaker opponents or those who cannot defend themselves. Kyler still manages to continue acting intimidating even though everyone he's bullied has beaten him up.
Relations[]
Friends/Allies[]
- Brucks
- Rory and A.J
- Kenny Payne - Former Teammate/Frenemy
- Piper Elswith
- Mitch - Former Enemy
- Cobra Kai students - Former Teammates
- Miguel Diaz - Ex-Bully Victim, Rival and Former Enemy turned Friend
- Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz - Ex-Bully Victim, Former Arch-Rival, and Brief Teammate
- Demetri Alexopoulos - Ex-Bully Victim and Former Enemy
- Robby Keene - Former Teammate
- Tory Nichols - Former Teammate
Enemies[]
- Miyagi-Do Karate
- Daniel LaRusso
- Johnny Lawrence
- Samantha LaRusso - Ex-girlfriend turned Enemy
- Anthony LaRusso - Former Bully Victim
- Devon Lee - Brief Teammate
- Students of Eagle Fang Karate
- Students of Miyagi-Do Karate
- Moon
- Yasmine - Former Friend
- John Kreese - Former Sensei
- Terry Silver - Former Sensei
- Theta Omega
- Zenker - Rival and Former Bully
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Quotes[]
Season 1[]
| “ | Get the hell out of here loser! | „ |
| ~ Kyler makes fun of Johnny Lawrence |
| “ | What's the matter? Having trouble breathing? | „ |
| ~ Kyler during his fight with Johnny. |
| “ | You haven't had enough Rhea? | „ |
| ~ Kyler bullying Miguel in the school. |
| “ | Hey guys! You know that billboard with a big ass DICK on it?! I guess Sam takes after her dad! | „ |
| ~ Kyler telling his gang and the other students about the billboard of Daniel LaRusso being vandalized with a giant penis while mocking Sam. |
| “ | You want another beat down Rhea?! I'm ready for your lame-ass karate this time! | „ |
| ~ Kyler before his fight with Miguel trying to make fun of him in the cafeteria. |
| “ | Um, you know what? Let's just find another spot. Or we could go home or whatever. | „ |
| ~ Kyler cowardly suggests they go somewhere else for fear Miguel will beat him up again. |
Season 3[]
| “ | Look, it's the kid with the lip! Yo, I thought he moved. | „ |
| ~ Kyler to Brucks about Eli (now going by Hawk) when they recognize him. |
| “ | Oh, you thought I'd knock down your tray? Come on. I'm better than that. | „ |
| ~ Kyler throws Demetri's lunch. |
| “ | Check this guy out! Standing around with a dick in his hand. | „ |
| ~ Kyler as he has Demetri made fun of by the whole class after drawing a penis on his cast. |
| “ | Later, geek! | „ |
| ~ Kyler slapping Demetri when school ends. |
| “ | I forgot, okay? I've got a lot on my mind right now. If I don't pass trig this semester, my Dad's gonna shit in my mouth! | „ |
| ~ Kyler tells Hawk that he must pass Trigonometry or he'll get in trouble with his father while apologizing to him for forgetting the snake pole. |
| “ | Call that a kick?! Come on. Come on Rhea! | „ |
| ~ Kyler beating Miguel during the LaRusso house fight. |
Season 4[]
| “ | You know what? At least I’m still here. Half the squad quit! | „ |
| ~ Kyler to Tory, saying he’s still in Cobra Kai, whereas Doug Rickenberger, Mikey Miller and half the original students quit because the dojo is half-empty. |
Season 5[]
| “ | I date a lot of sisters. | „ |
| ~ Kyler to Anthony LaRusso in front of Kenny after Anthony tells him he’s been to his house and dated Sam. |
| “ | I’m the one that rescued everyone from this place. This place was, like, cultish. So I’m like, “Call me a hero and all”. But look, it’s spelled K-Y-L-E-R. | „ |
| ~ Kyler hypocritically trying to take credit for what happened at the dojo while talking to the cops. |
Trivia[]
- Despite having a small role in Season 1, Kyler's actions are bad enough to make him the main antagonist of the season. In addition, his bullying leads to Eli Moskowitz becoming Hawk, who is an even worse bully then he was.
- Despite having a small role in the second half of season 1 and no role in season 2, his bullying in the first half of season 1 indirectly leads to all the negative events that occur in the first two seasons, as he serves as the root cause of Daniel LaRusso's and Johnny Lawrence's rivalry resurfacing, Eli becoming Hawk and a huge bully, Cobra Kai being repopularized, John Kreese returning and corrupting the students, Daniel re-opening Miyagi-Do Karate, the Cobra Kai and Miyagi Do rivalry, and the major school brawl that resulted in Miguel being hospitalized, caused Kreese to take Cobra Kai and Johnny's students away from him and forced Daniel to shutdown Miyagi Do. So in a way, Kyler can be seen as the central antagonist of the show.
- Kyler can be compared to the young Johnny Lawrence during the 80s. Unlike the young Johnny, however, Kyler is way more rude, beating up lower class students much better than him despite being defeated by them always.
- Season 4 reveals Kyler's surname is Park, so it's possible that he has Korean heritage.
- Kyler is the first Korean-American to appear in the series, with Nathaniel of Miyagi-Do being the second, and with Devon of Eagle Fang being the third. He's also the first bully in not taking part of Cobra Kai before joining them.
- Kyler is one of the few reformed characters in the sixth season to not join Miyagi Do after leaving Cobra Kai.
