When Cobra Kai first debuted in 2018, many fans naturally assumed Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) would be positioned as Mr. Miyagi’s successor. After all, he was the Karate Kid, the devoted student of Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), and the one preserving the legacy of Miyagi-do karate. On the surface, it makes sense - Daniel runs a dojo dedicated to Miyagi’s teachings, quotes his mentor constantly, and tries to live by his philosophy. However, as Cobra Kai progressed, it became increasingly clear that upholding tradition doesn't necessarily mean embodying it.

What Daniel preserves is the shell of Miyagi-do, not its spirit. Cobra Kai doesn’t just revisit the past, it interrogates it. In doing so, it reveals the true heir to Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi’s true successor in Cobra Kai is the man Miyagi trained Daniel to overcome - Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). The former Cobra Kai bully turned reluctant sensei grows into the very kind of mentor that Mr. Miyagi was. Through his journey of redemption and redefinition, Johnny becomes the one who truly channels Miyagi’s essence: not in form, but in function, and examining why reveals just how incredible the storytelling in The Karate Kid sequel series truly is.

Johnny Lawrence Was The Real Mr. Miyagi In Cobra Kai

Johnny Embodies The Adaptable Spirit Of Mr. Miyagi More Than Daniel Ever Could

From the very beginning of Cobra Kai, Johnny Lawrence’s life is a mess. He’s estranged from his son, unemployed, and haunted by his past. Unlike Daniel, who starts the show in a position of wealth and comfort, Johnny is forced to rebuild from the ground up. In doing so, he finds a path not only to self-improvement but to helping others, just as Mr. Miyagi once helped him and Daniel. Mr. Miyagi’s successor isn’t the one who teaches his kata with the most precision, but the one who understands why the karate exists in the first place.

Daniel is stuck in the past, worshiping Miyagi’s words without understanding their flexibility.

Mr. Miyagi’s greatest strength wasn’t his technique - it was his wisdom. He wasn’t interested in tournaments or trophies. He used karate as a tool to guide lost souls, to instill balance and purpose. Johnny, despite his rough edges and outdated slang, gradually begins to do the same. Through his own version of Cobra Kai, Johnny teaches kids who are bullied, overlooked, and angry, because he once was, too. His style is aggressive, yes, but it evolves. He adapts. He listens. He changes. In contrast, Daniel is stuck in the past, worshiping Miyagi’s words without understanding their flexibility.

Mr. Miyagi created Miyagi-do by adapting his father’s Okinawan karate to a new world. He made it personal and practical, tailored to Daniel’s needs and struggles. Johnny, though initially reactive and emotionally volatile, shows the same capacity for growth. By blending old-school toughness with new-school comion, he builds a karate that suits a new generation. Johnny doesn’t cling to tradition in Cobra Kai, he reinvents it, just like Miyagi did. That’s why Mr. Miyagi’s successor isn’t the student who memorized the lesson, but the one who learned how to teach it all over again.

Cobra Kai Season 1 Flipped The Premise Of The Karate Kid

Johnny Takes On The Role Of Underdog While Daniel Becomes The Antagonist

Cobra Kai’s very first season set the tone for the show’s bold reinterpretation of The Karate Kid. Rather than simply glorifying the past, it complicated it. The story began not with Daniel LaRusso riding high as a lifelong hero, but with Johnny Lawrence hitting rock bottom. Johnny is the one who needs saving, and in seeking it, he turns to the very thing that once destroyed him - karate. This role reversal flips the original movie’s dynamic on its head, recasting Johnny as the sympathetic figure and Daniel as the obstacle in his way.

It’s a bold narrative move, and it works. Mr. Miyagi’s successor, by nature, would have to walk the path Miyagi walked, a path of redemption, peace, and humility. In Cobra Kai season 1, Daniel comes across as arrogant, dismissive, and overly protective of what he thinks Miyagi-do stands for. Meanwhile, Johnny starts to mentor Miguel (Xolo Maridueña), a kid with no direction, much like Daniel once was. As Johnny trains Miguel, he begins to reconnect with his own sense of purpose and discovers a new identity beyond the Cobra Kai bully he once was.

The contrast is striking. Daniel, despite his history with Mr. Miyagi, clings to an idealized memory. He’s so caught up in protecting Miyagi-do that he forgets what made it meaningful in the first place. Johnny, by contrast, is creating something new. He’s raw and imperfect, but he’s trying. In doing so, he mirrors Mr. Miyagi’s legacy more than Daniel does. The first season of Cobra Kai is more than a sequel, it’s a reexamination of the events of The Karate Kid. In that reexamination, Mr. Miyagi’s successor emerges not from his dojo, but from the ashes of his old rival’s regrets.

Daniel Spent Too Much Time Trying To Copy Mr. Miyagi's Lessons

Daniel Tried To Preserve The Past Instead Of Evolving Like Mr. Miyagi Once Did

Daniel LaRusso was sincere in his efforts to honor Mr. Miyagi, but sincerity doesn’t equal success. Throughout Cobra Kai, Daniel consistently approaches karate as something to be preserved rather than lived. He treats Miyagi-do like a museum - sacred, untouchable, and frozen in time. However, Mr. Miyagi didn’t inherit a perfect system; he built one that fit Daniel’s unique circumstances. Daniel misses this vital truth. Instead of adapting Miyagi’s teachings to suit a new era and new students, he recycles them, assuming what worked for him will work for everyone.

While Daniel quotes his sensei and replays old lessons verbatim, Johnny is doing the harder work of evolving.

This blind devotion creates a major flaw in Daniel’s approach. Mr. Miyagi’s successor wouldn’t replicate the past, they’d reinterpret it. While Daniel quotes his sensei and replays old lessons verbatim, Johnny is doing the harder work of evolving. He builds Eagle Fang Karate not just as a dojo, but as a philosophy - a mix of strength and sensitivity forged from his own lived experience. Johnny might not have a bonsai tree in the corner, but he understands what Mr. Miyagi was really doing: helping someone find balance by giving them a reason to believe in themselves.

Daniel’s failure to evolve costs him. His students often struggle under the rigidity of Miyagi-do’s traditional methods. Plus, Daniel himself frequently clashes with others because he believes his way is the only correct one. Johnny, though flawed, is open to collaboration and compromise. He questions himself, learns from his failures, and adjusts. That’s the essence of Mr. Miyagi’s teachings - growth, humility, and the ability to change course. In the end, Mr. Miyagi’s successor in Cobra Kai isn’t the one who idolizes the past. It’s the one who moves forward - and that’s exactly what Johnny Lawrence does.