| “ | You know, all those years you were gone, I blamed myself. But Sensei Kreese is right. I can't be my own worst enemy. But you can be. | „ |
| ~ Robby betraying his father. |
| “ | It's not that, um, it's this kid Kenny. I thought I could take him under my wing, be the mentor I wish I had when I was younger, But when I saw him today, it was like looking in the mirror. I realized I screwed everything up. I had all this hate inside of me for you and for Miguel and I thought I could use Cobra Kai to control that, but it just made things worse, and now it's never going to get better. | „ |
| ~ Robby forgiving his father. |
Robert Swayze "Robby" Keene is one of the four main protagonists, (Alongside Miguel Diaz, Daniel Larusso, Johnny Lawrence) of the Netflix series, Cobra Kai.
Robby is the son of Johnny Lawrence and Shannon Keene, the former rival-turned-stepbrother of Miguel Diaz, and the boyfriend of Tory Nichols. Initially a troublemaker that breaks the rules, Robby begins to change his ways after working with Daniel LaRusso. He becomes the first disciple of the new generation of Miyagi-Do Karate, as well as one of the best.
But unfortunately, a fight with Miguel, in which he severely and gravely injures him by accident, lead Robby to serve in juvie, becoming resentful to Daniel and Johnny. Following his release from juvie, he is left conflicted over where his alliances lay, leaving him susceptible to the smooth-talking John Kreese. He is then recruited into the new Cobra Kai Dojo as its top student, to take seek revenge against his father and Miguel.
But Robby eventually realizes after his fellow student Kenny Payne becomes corrupted by Cobra Kai, the true evil of the dojo and rejoins Daniel to take it down.
Robby is portrayed by Tanner Buchanan.
Biography[]
Past[]
Robby is Johnny's estranged son from a failed relationship with Shannon Keene.
Johnny was absent for much of Robby's childhood which made Robby to resent him deeply and causes a strained relationship between the two. With his mother frequently behind bars and his father absent since his birth, Robby has no role models in his life. Robby falls in with drugs, stealing, and dropping out of school.
Season 1[]
Robby drops out of school when he gets in trouble for drugs, after which he and his friends Trey & Cruz spend their days engaged in petty theft as seen when they are stealing laptops from Tech Town. Johnny tries to reconcile with him at the apartment he lives at with his single mother, but he rebuffs him.
To spite his father for neglecting him in favor of Miguel Diaz, Robby begins working at LaRusso Auto Group. Despite his original ulterior motive, Robby grows to appreciate Daniel's faith in him and turns against Cruz and Trey when they try to rob the dealership. Robby becomes Daniel's Miyagi-Do karate student and flourishes under this tutelage. However, when Daniel finds out that Johnny and Robby are father and son after Johnny shoves Daniel and breaks one of his All-Valley trophies, Daniel furiously banishes Robby from his home and business as punishment for his deception.
Undaunted by this rejection, Robby enters the All-Valley tournament with no affiliation and advances towards the finals, impressing Daniel. This, combined with Daniel's wife Amanda's encouragement to forgive Robby and Robby's apology for hiding the fact that he is Johnny's son, convinces Daniel to reconcile with Robby, officially become Robby's sensei again and allow Robby to fight under the Miyagi-Do name during the final match against Miguel. Robby sustains a shoulder injury from Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz's illegal attack during the semi-finals and ultimately finishes second to Miguel, who exploits Robby's shoulder injury to win a close match. Impressed with Robby's performance and disgusted with his students' increasingly thuggish behavior, Johnny apologizes to Robby, who politely accepts it, implying that Robby still cares about Johnny somewhat despite their strained relationship. Regardless of this loss, Daniel praises Robby's performance and takes him to Mr. Miyagi's old rest house to explain his plans to restart the Miyagi-Do dojo with Robby as his senior protege.
Season 2[]
Robby moves in with the LaRussos after his mother Shannon abandons him and leaves with her boyfriend Rick to go on vacation to Mexico and is evicted from their apartment due to unpaid bills. He and Sam bond closely while training and enter a short relationship, however the relationship is short-lived as she cheats on him with Miguel while they are attending Moon's party due to Sam finding out from Aisha Robinson that Miguel returned Miyagi's Medal of Honor to Robby, which had been stolen by Hawk. After Robby takes Sam to Johnny's apartment after getting drunk at a party, Daniel accuses Robby of following the footsteps of his father and cuts ties with Johnny and Robby.
With his mother in rehab and his relationship with Daniel tarnished, Robby is forced to live with Johnny and the pair slowly start to reconcile. During the karate war between the Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do students at school, Robby once again gets into a fight with Miguel, who taunts him by mocking his relationship problems with Johnny and Sam.
After a lengthy fight caused by Tory Nichols, who was furious by Sam and Miguel's drunken kiss at Moon's party, Miguel eventually traps Robby in an arm lock and nearly decides to break his arm to end the school brawl once and for all, but decides to let go of him after remembering Johnny's advice of showing mercy. However, Robby, furious with Miguel for taunting him about his relationship problems with Johnny and Sam and taking advantage of Sam at Moon's party, furiously retaliates by kicking Miguel over the balcony railing, accidentally sending him falling off the second floor, and crashing spine-first on a stair handrail, paralyzing him and rendering him unconscious. Shocked and horrified at the fact that he accidentally crippled Miguel, Robby flees the scene while Sam, Hawk, and a police officer check on an unconscious Miguel.
Season 3[]
Robby is subsequently expelled from West Valley High School for crippling Miguel, and goes into hiding as a wanted fugitive for several weeks, stealing a used Dodge Grand Caravan from the LaRusso dealership and living out of a homeless camp. After chasing down several leads, Daniel discovers that a devastated Robby is visiting his mother Shannon in rehab to seek comfort and support and arranges to have the police arrest him, believing that Robby will get a lighter sentence if he surrenders. However, as the police arrive and interrupt Daniel while he is trying to convince Robby to agree to the plan for a lighter sentence, Robby angrily accuses Daniel of betraying him and ends their friendship by coldly ordering Daniel not to visit him in juvenile hall.
During his incarceration at Sylmar Juvenile Detention Center, Robby feels abandoned when Johnny misses a scheduled visit to provide moral support to Miguel's family during his surgery and subsequently cuts ties with Johnny. Kreese takes advantage of Johnny's neglect to visit Robby, and upon finding out that Robby is being bullied by a group of inmates, suggests that he adapt to the Cobra Kai mentality of striking first. Taking Kreese's lessons to heart, Robby gains the upper hand on the bullies, winning their respect. Around mid-December, Robby is released from juvie, but rebuffs both Daniel and Johnny when they arrive to pick him up due to his resentment towards them. After discovering Sam and Miguel are together again at the Miyagi-Do dojo, Robby furiously accuses Sam of dumping him for Miguel after he was sentenced to juvenile hall. With nowhere else to go, Robby furiously ends his relationship with Samantha and goes to Cobra Kai, where Kreese agrees to take him in. Robby is initially reluctant to join Cobra Kai due to Hawk's resentment towards him for his actions against Miguel at the end of the school brawl but Tory convinces him to stay with Cobra Kai, the two soon befriend each other and find common ground in each other's broken home lives as well as their own betrayals from Johnny, Sam and Miguel. As the newest member of Cobra Kai, Robby proves himself to Kreese and the rest of the Cobra Kai students (except for Hawk) after stealing a snake from the zoo.
While Tory leads the Cobra Kais that night in an attack on the LaRusso house, Kreese keeps Robby behind at the dojo to train him. When Johnny shows up at the dojo to confront Kreese over the attack on Miguel, he is horrified to see Robby wearing a Cobra Kai gi. Robby offers Johnny to re-join Kreese in Cobra Kai, but Johnny rejects, and attacks Kreese. Robby steps in and defends Kreese and engages in a fight against Johnny after angrily dwelling on the past about how Johnny was never there for Robby we he needed him. Robby is then unintentionally knocked out by Johnny who reluctantly pushes him into a set of lockers after trying to reason with him to no avail. Daniel joins the fray, and he and Johnny defeat Kreese before Miguel and Sam intervene to talk them out of killing him. When Robby regains consciousness, he coldly orders Daniel, Johnny, Miguel, and Sam to leave before continuing his training with Kreese.
Season 4[]
Robby aids Kreese and Terry Silver with leading the Cobra Kais, acting as the third-in-command of the dojo. When Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang's alliance starts to go off the rails, Sam tries to get Robby to leave Cobra Kai and return to Miyagi-Do believing he is the key to keeping the peace. At this point, Robby has had enough of giving everyone what they want and getting nothing; but pain and sorrow in return. He also feels like he has found his place in Cobra Kai, as he can release all his anger, and all the students and senses respect him and haven't let him down or betrayed him. Due to this, he coldly tells Sam she is not getting what she wants and he is not returning with her to Miyagi-Do. And while frustrated by this, Sam respects his decision and leaves him alone after this.
He would spend the next couple of months training them in Miyagi-Do techniques so that they can better counter Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang. He also befriends a young student named Kenny Payne, Shawn’s younger brother, whom he mentors due to him struggling to fit in at school and dealing with bullies including Daniel's son Anthony, as well as Johnny's students Hawk and Bert. Robby confronts Johnny about the bullying and tells him if the bullying doesn't stop, he will be forced to put an end to it himself.
When the high school prom came around, in an attempt to get inside Miguel and Sam's heads and get them off balance, Tory invited Robby to the prom. And while it worked, their dancing became intimate and the two began to legitimately fall for one another. At the prom after party, Robby would fight in total synchronization with Tory against Sam and Miguel, while also mocking Miguel by claiming Johnny doesn't actually care about him and is just trying to make up for his failure in raising Robby. Ultimately, all but Robby fall into the pool, before Tory pulls him as well. After the party Robby and Tory drove to the pier where Tory would take Robby's virginity in the car.
At the All Valley, Robby is confronted by Daniel, who tells him that he learned nothing from Miyagi-Do and that he has let his anger get the better of him. He then witnesses Kenny beating up Anthony in the locker room, and realizes how much he has corrupted Kenny. After Miguel chooses not to return, Robby faces off against Hawk, who is allied with Miyagi-Do. As they both know the Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do techniques, Robby and Eli fight to a draw, leading to a sudden death overtime for the first time since the 1985 All-Valley Tournament and earning him Eli's respect. After Robby hesitates to finish him off when Kenny cheers for him from the sidelines, Eli defeats Robby. Despite losing, Cobra Kai still becomes grand champion when Tory defeats Sam at the girls finals.
Later, at the now-abandoned Cobra Kai dojo, Robby encounters his father, explaining that they are relocating, and tells him that he realizes his mistakes with Kenny and that he had let his rage control him. He then breaks down and admits he is sick of blaming Johnny, causing the two to embrace.
Season 5[]
After healing old wounds with his dad, the two of them traveled to Mexico to find Miguel and bring him home much to Robby’s initial displeasure. When they returned to the valley, Robby met up with Tory at the water park. When a fight broke out between Cobra Kai and Eagle Fang, Robby and Tory tried breaking it up, but ended up getting kicked out of the park along with everyone else by the lifeguard. In the parking lot, Robby tried one last time to get Tory to quit Cobra Kai, but Tory had fallen in too deep and refused. This led to the two of them breaking up.
When Johnny got Miguel's mother Carmen pregnant, he tried everything in his power to get Miguel and Robby to become friends as they were going to be big brothers and share a little sibling. In order to force them to make up, Johnny had them fight in order to get all of their anger out. Ultimately it worked and Robby, Miguel and Johnny shared a celebratory hug when Johnny told the boys he had a bun in the oven.
When Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang reopened, Robby joined his former comrades in an attempt to defeat Cobra Kai. Meanwhile back at Cobra Kai Tory had had enough of the dojo and used her love for Robby to give her the motivation to expose Silver. Her plan backfired on her, however, when Robby appeared at the dojo and tried to get the students to turn on Silver, and sensei Kim Da-Eun saw the way Tory looked at Robby and realized he was her weakness. Kim then used this to her advantage and broke Tory down by having her repeatedly punch a stone figure as well as use Tory's feelings for Robby against her.
After Sam and Tory made up and agreed to join forces, they appeared to all the other Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students and Robby worriedly asked Tory what happened to her hand. She lied and said it was a training accident not wanting Robby to know what happened, as she feared for his safety. Robby, Tory and the others then went to the flagship dojo with a plan to take Cobra Kai down for good, and ended up fighting all of the students in the process. Right before all hell was going to break loose, Anthony played the footage of Tory and Silver talking about his bribing the referee in order to win the All Valley, much to the shock of the students, including Kenny, who then looked at Robby with a dazed look on his face and realized Robby had been right about Silver.
Silver then appeared at the dojo and Robby, along with everyone else, watched Daniel and Silver fight. After the fight, Robby attempted to comfort Kenny but he declined, saying that he needed space. Robby then saw Tory and she walked over to him. The two of them made up and shared a kiss and rekindled their relationship.
Personality[]
Originally, Robby was a juvenile delinquent who enjoyed stealing stuff and doing drugs with his hoodlum friends. When Robby started working for Daniel LaRusso, and started training with him in karate, Robby's heart started to soften and he started embracing his lighter side.
After being betrayed by his girlfriend Sam LaRusso, repeatedly attacked by Miguel Diaz and Hawk, and being turned into the police by Daniel, Robby became filled with rage and pain. This allowed John Kreese to easily manipulate him into joining Cobra Kai. When Sam, Daniel, and Robby's father Johnny all repeatedly tried getting Robby to quit Cobra Kai and join their respective dojos, Robby told all three of them to leave. During the All-Valley tournament, Robby viciously defeated Kenny Payne, which disturbed, Daniel, Sam, Johnny and Miguel; with Daniel realizing Robby had passed the point of no return, since he was willing to severely hurt a kid in order to win.
After the tournament, Robby broke down to Johnny saying he was tired of letting his anger always get the better of him, and the two started to rekindle their fractured relationship. After finally making peace with Miguel, Robby has come to his senses, and has returned to being a kind individual. He also has a deep love for his new girlfriend Tory Nichols.
Relationships[]
Family[]
- Johnny Lawrence - Father and Co-Sensei
- Shannon Keene - Mother
- Mr. Lawrence - Paternal Grandfather
- Laura Lawrence - Paternal Grandmother
- Sid Weinberg - Paternal Step-Grandfather
Friends/Allies[]
- Tory Nichols - Girlfriend
- Miyagi-Do Karate - Teammates
- Daniel LaRusso - Sensei, Father figure
- Chozen Toguchi - Co-sensei
- Samantha LaRusso - Ex-Girlfriend
- Miguel Diaz - Former Arch-Rival turned Close Friend and Brother Figure
- Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz - Former Enemy turned Close Friend
- Demetri Alexopoulos - Friend and Temporary Enemy
- Kenny Payne - Friend, Mentee, Temporary Enemy
- Anthony LaRusso
- Chris - Temporary Enemy
- Nathaniel - Temporary enemy
- Bert - Former Enemy
- Devon Lee
- Mitch - Former Enemy
- Miyagi-Do students - Temporary Enemies
- Eagle Fang students - Former Enemies
- Amanda LaRusso
- Carmen Diaz - Former Enemy
- Shawn Payne - Former Juvie Inmate and Former Enemy
- Mike Barnes
Enemies[]
- Cobra Kai Dojo
- John Kreese - Former Sensei
- Terry Silver - Former Co-sensei
- Kim Da-Eun
- Kwon Jae-Sung † - Arch-Rival
- Yoon Do-Jin
- Cobra Kai students
- Trey & Cruz - Former Friends
External Links[]
- Robby Keene at the Heroes Wiki
