Several characters from The Karate Kid trilogy returned in Cobra Kai, and each character displayed new levels of strength. The Karate Kid films centered around Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) learning karate from Mr. Miyagi and increasing his skills in each movie. He beat Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and Cobra Kai in the first film, and faced increasingly more difficult foes, forcing him to acquire new abilities that boosted his strength as a fighter. LaRusso proved himself one of the best fighters in the world, but he still had more to learn.