Heroes Wiki

-Welcome to the Hero/Protagonist wiki! If you can help us with this wiki please sign up and help us! Thanks! -M-NUva

READ MORE

Heroes Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Stop hand

Spiderman

Click To Help !
Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: "With great power comes great responsibility."

Spider-Man has declared that this article is still under construction.
Please don't delete or edit this article yet because it may contrast with the original author's edits.
After I finish this article, the world will be saved!

Stop hand

Kirby stub

Click To Help Kirby!
This stub is making Kirby hungry with its lack of substance.
This article or section is a stub. You can help the Heroes Wiki by expanding it!

What are you waiting for? GO!

What point? That I can take a beating? I mean, every time I see those guys, they're gonna know they got the best of me. I'll never have balance that way. Not with them, not with Ali. Not with me.
~ Daniel to Mr. Miyagi.
I I know I said you have to... let go of your anger and show forgiveness, but... when the fight comes to you, you have to be ready to fight back.
~ Daniel to Robby Keene.

Daniel LaRusso is the main protagonist of The Karate Kid franchise, serving as the main protagonist of the first three films, a mentioned character in The Next Karate Kid, and one of the two main protagonists (alongside Johnny Lawrence) of Cobra Kai.

He is the founder and owner of LaRusso Auto Group, the sensei of the Miyagi-Do Karate dojo, Mr. Miyagi's former student, the husband of Amanda LaRusso, and the father of Samantha and Anthony LaRusso.

He is portrayed by Ralph Macchio, who also played Johnny Cade in the 1983 film The Outsiders.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Daniel LaRusso was born on December 18th, 1966, in New Jersey state, the only child of David and Lucille LaRusso. This happy family was shattered when David died, in 1974. At that time, Daniel was eight years old, and his father had been suffering with stomach cancer for two years. Lucille never remarried.

The Karate Kid[]

In 1984, Lucille accepted a job with a computer firm, in California, forcing her and seventeen-year-old Daniel to leave their native New Jersey for the beehive state. Mother and son settled in the South Seas apartment building in Reseda.

Daniel quickly befriended Freddy Fernandez, and through him, met his future girlfriend, Ali Mills, a beautiful and popular cheerleader. Unfortunately, Ali was the ex-girlfriend of Johnny Lawrence, who, along with his friends Bobby Brown, Tommy, Jimmy and "Dutch", were members of the notorious Cobra Kai karate dojo; through Johnny, they all bullied Daniel during the early part of his new life.

Things finally came to a head on Halloween night, when Daniel soaked Johnny in a bathroom toilet stall, where he was rolling a cannabis joint; enraged, Johnny and his gang pursued Daniel outside and nearly killed him, despite the protests of Bobby. However, Daniel's life was saved by his apartment's maintenance man, Mr. Miyagi, who made short work of the five bullies. Unable to make peace with the Cobra Kai sensei, former US Army Special Forces and Vietnam War veteran Captain John Kreese, Miyagi proposed to settle things peacefully, by having Daniel fight in the upcoming All Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament that December. Overconfident, Kreese agreed, but threatened to have the bullying continue, on a much worse scale, on both Daniel and Miyagi if they quit.

Daniel began to fear for his life, after seemingly being given chores by Miyagi to help him train for the tournament. The chores included waxing all of Miyagi's classic car collection, sanding the wooden floors of his house, painting his garden fence and painting his house's outside walls. Daniel initially tried to quit, but learned that the chores were training his arms in karate blocks, so he decided to keep it up. The training continued, and Daniel fell for Ali, passed his driving test and celebrated his eighteenth birthday, which was the night before the tournament. As presents/reward for passing his test, Miyagi bought him a karate Gi, and allowed him to pick a classic car; in the end, Daniel chose a yellow 1948 Ford Super De Luxe Convertible.

The Karate Kid Part II[]

After the events of the tournament, Daniel and Mr. Miyagi come outside to see Kreese battering his top student, Johnny Lawrence. Mr. Miyagi saves Johnny, and quietly and simply dodged Kreese's punches before putting him on his knees and honking his nose; when Daniel asked Mr. Miyagi why he didn't kill Kreese when he had the chance, Mr. Miyagi replied that for a person with no forgiveness in his or her heart, living is a worse punishment than death.

After a six month time jump, Daniel Visits Mr. Miyagi and is irate that Ali dumps him for a football player at UCLA and that his mother got a job request in Fresno. Mr. Miyagi says that he already spoke with Lucille and she decided he could stay with Mr. Miyagi. Mr. Miyagi is alerted that his father is sick and wants to return to Okinawa and brings Daniel with him. Miyagi says he fell in love with a woman named Yukie, who was going to be married to Mr. Miyagi's best friend, Sato; Sato also knew the karate that Mr. Miyagi knew.

In Okinawa, Mr. Miyagi and Daniel are greeted by Chozen Toguchi, who takes them to meet Sato and then says that he is Sato's nephew. Sato demands to fight Mr. Miyagi, who is then declined. Arriving at the village, Mr. Miyagi and Daniel are welcomed by Yukie and her niece Kumiko. They Find that Sato has become a rich man whose father's supertrawlers have destroyed the fish population, making the other villagers in poverty. Mr. Miyagi's father had found a way to save the village economy by farming vegetables. Yukie reveals that she never married Sato because of her love for Mr. Miyagi. After Mr. Miyagi's father dies, Sato gives him three days to mourn out of respect before their fight. Miyagi shows Daniel the secret to his family's karate, a handheld drum that twists back and forth illustrating the "drum technique", a block-defense karate move that Daniel begins to practice. Mr. Miyagi grieves for his father, with Daniel consoling him and telling him about his own father's death.

Some time later, Daniel accidentally exposes corruption in Chozen's grocery business; Chozen accuses Daniel of insulting his honor and they have a series of angry meetings. Their feud comes to a head when Chozen and his cronies attack Daniel and vandalize Miyagi's family property; the group is quickly defeated and runs off after Miyagi arrives. Miyagi and Daniel plan to return to Los Angeles before the situation gets worse. However, Sato shows up with bulldozers and threatens to destroy the village if Miyagi refuses to fight. Forced to comply, Miyagi gives in on the condition that Sato signs the village's land title permanently over to the villagers regardless of the fight's outcome. Sato begrudgingly agrees after Miyagi describes the condition as a small price to pay for his honor.

On the day of the fight, a typhoon arrives. Villagers take cover at a nearby shelter, but Sato is trapped when his family's dojo is leveled by the storm. Miyagi and Daniel rush to rescue him. After carrying Sato to safety, Daniel attempts to rescue a child on top of a nearby bell tower. Sato orders Chozen to help, but when he refuses, Sato rushes to assist Daniel himself. He then disowns his nephew for refusing to assist, and an enraged Chozen runs off into the storm in disgrace. The next morning, as the villagers are rebuilding, Sato returns with his bulldozers — only this time to help rebuild the village. Sato hands over the land title to the village and asks for Miyagi's forgiveness, which he accepts. Daniel and Kumiko approach Sato about hosting the upcoming O-bon festival in a nearby ceremonial castle, to which he agrees and invites Daniel to join in the celebration.

While Kumiko is performing a dance at the festival, a now-vengeful Chozen ziplines into the presentation, taking her hostage and demanding to fight Daniel to the death. After a ferocious fight, Daniel is eventually overwhelmed by Chozen. Miyagi, Sato and the crowd respond by twisting handheld drums they brought to the celebration, giving Daniel the inspiration he's looking for. Seemingly confused, Chozen closes in for the kill, but Daniel is able to deflect Chozen's attacks and lands counter-attacks using the drum technique. Daniel grabs the vanquished Chozen, raising his hand and threatening to end Chozen's life saying, "Live or die, man?!". Chozen chooses death, but Daniel recalls the way Miyagi handled Kreese earlier and honks Chozen's nose before dropping him to the ground. Daniel then embraces Kumiko, while Miyagi looks on proudly.

The Karate Kid Part III[]

In September 1985, John Kreese, who is now broke and destitute after the loss of his students, visits his Vietnam War comrade, Terry Silver, a wealthy businessman who founded Cobra Kai and now owns a toxic-waste disposal business. Silver vows to personally help him get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi and re-establish Cobra Kai, sending Kreese on vacation to Tahiti to rest and recuperate.

Upon returning to Los Angeles from Okinawa, Daniel and Miyagi discover that the South Seas apartment complex is being demolished, leaving Miyagi unemployed and Daniel homeless. They also learn that Daniel's mother, Lucille, is currently in New Jersey taking care of Daniel’s ill Uncle Louie. Miyagi invites Daniel to stay at his house, and Daniel uses his college funds to help finance Miyagi's dream of opening a bonsai shop. As thanks, Miyagi makes him a partner at the business. When Daniel visits a pottery store across the street, he meets Jessica Andrews; though Daniel has a brief crush on her, she tells him that she has a boyfriend back home in Columbus, Ohio but they broke up before she came to L.A., but they still remain friends. Jessica decided to get back together with her boyfriend and go back to Ohio in a few weeks.

Silver hires Mike Barnes, a vicious karate prospect nicknamed "Karate's Badboy", to challenge Daniel at the upcoming All-Valley Karate Tournament. Silver sneaks into Miyagi's house to gather information and overhears Daniel telling Miyagi that he will not defend his title at the tournament. Barnes and his henchmen Snake and Dennis harass Daniel in an attempt to force him to enter the tournament, but Daniel still refuses, and Barnes departs in a rage.

The next morning, as Daniel and Miyagi are practicing kata, Silver interrupts their training and lies about John Kreese suffering a fatal heart attack after losing his students, and begs forgiveness for Kreese's behavior. Barnes, Snake and Dennis return to make Daniel sign up for the tournament; when Daniel again refuses, a fight ensues until Miyagi arrives and fends off the three men. After driving Jessica home, Daniel and Miyagi return to find their stock of bonsai trees missing and a tournament application hanging in place. Daniel was going to report the theft to the police, but there is nothing they could do.

To replace the missing trees, Daniel and Jessica decide to dig up and sell a valuable bonsai tree that Miyagi brought from Okinawa, and planted halfway down a cliff. As they retrieve it, Barnes and his henchmen appear and retract their climbing ropes, leaving Daniel no choice but to sign up for the tournament. After pulling them back up, Barnes breaks the tree after Snake forces Daniel to hand it over by threatening to drop Jessica. Daniel returns to the shop with Miyagi's damaged bonsai, which Miyagi attempts to mend. Miyagi tells Daniel that he sold his truck to buy a new stock of trees, and refuses to train him for the tournament.

Silver offers to "train" Daniel for the tournament at the Cobra Kai dojo with a series of brutal, violent, and offensive techniques. He derides Miyagi's kata forms and pressures Daniel to destroy a wooden practice dummy, causing him several injuries in the process. Throughout his training, Daniel's frustration alienates him from Miyagi. While Daniel and Jessica are at a nightclub, Silver bribes a random man into provoking a fight with Daniel, who responds by punching the man and breaking his nose. Shocked by his aggressive behavior, Daniel apologizes and makes amends with Jessica and Miyagi.

Daniel visits Silver to inform him that he will not compete at the tournament, but Silver reveals his true agenda to Daniel as Barnes enters the dojo. Daniel attempts to leave, but Kreese appears to intercept him, revealing himself to have been alive all along. After Barnes viciously attacks Daniel, Miyagi intervenes and easily defeats Kreese, Silver, and Barnes. Miyagi finally agrees to train Daniel after learning of their plot (while also wanting to make amends with Daniel for refusing in the first place after not realising what was going on with him). They replant the healed bonsai and begin training.

At the tournament, Barnes reaches the final round to challenge Daniel. Silver and Kreese instruct Barnes to inflict serious damage on Daniel, keep the score a tie, and finally beat him in the sudden death round. Barnes gains the upper hand during the fight while taunting Daniel relentlessly. When the initial round concludes, Daniel wants to quit, but Mr. Miyagi urges him to continue. In the sudden death round, Daniel performs the kata, initially confusing Barnes; when Barnes lunges towards him, Daniel flips him to the ground and strikes him to win the tournament. Silver leaves in disgust while the crowd throws their Cobra Kai merchandise back at Kreese, as Daniel and Miyagi celebrate their victory with a hug.

The Next Karate Kid/The Karate Part IV[]

Daniel does not appear in The Next Karate Kid but he is mentioned by Mr. Miyagi. His central role is replaced by Julie Pierce.

The Karate Kid (2010 remake)[]

For the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid, Daniel's counterpart is Dre Parker.

Cobra Kai[]

In Cobra Kai, Daniel has moved on with his life. He is happily married to his wife, Amanda, and they have two children together, a daughter named Samantha and a son named Anthony. He also runs his own car dealership, the LaRusso Auto Group; as a continuation of the influence of Mr. Miyagi, Daniel gives each client a bonsai tree of their own.

Aside from his work and family, Daniel regularly takes time to visit Mr. Miyagi's grave, to ask for guidance and also to tend to the bonsai tree that grows in front of the headstone. Despite Mr. Miyagi's death, Daniel carried on his legacy and became a skilled karate sensei.

Season 1[]

Daniel meets his old frenemy, Johnny Lawrence, after the latter's Pontiac Firebird is impounded following a hit-and-run incident caused by the friends of Samantha, who herself was a passenger in the car. Daniel learns that Johnny has decided to reopen the former Cobra Kai dojo in Reseda, thirty-three years after it was closed down.

Relationships[]

Robby Keene[]

TBA

Miguel Diaz[]

A lot of fans consider Miguel as a "Modern Daniel LaRusso" because they do share a lot of similarities between one another. Though they haven't interacted for the first two seasons of Cobra Kai, but they have seen each other about numerous times until season 3 they have finally met. Daniel and Miguel have heard about each other and put their positive and negative reviews about what themselves.

Comparison:

  • They both have grew up without a father, but they respectively finds their sensei to be their father figure.
  • They both have moved to Reseda from somewhere else in the United States:
    • Daniel was from Newark, New Jersey
    • Miguel was from Riverside, California
  • They both have met their future senseis from their apartment complex:
  • They both stood up for their future love interest from their bullies and fought:
    • Daniel stood up for Ali Mills from young Johnny Lawrence, but ultimately Daniel gets beaten up by Johnny.
    • Miguel stood up for Samantha LaRusso from Kyler, but Miguel ultimately defeats Kyler.
  • They both get beaten up by their bullies from something they have accidentally enraged their bullies:
    • Daniel put a water hose on young Johnny Lawrence and got chased by Johnny and his gang. He was assaulted really bad by Johnny and his gang in Halloween party.
    • Miguel accidentally exposed Kyler and his friends for being underage at a liquor store. Also, Miguel enraged Kyler and friends for kicking him because of mocking Miguel's karate style and his sensei at Halloween party.
  • They both get saved by their senseis from bullying.
  • They both don't have their Halloween costume, but their sensei's would provide them a better Halloween costume:
    • Mr. Miyagi gave Daniel a shower costume
    • Johnny gave his old Halloween costume to Miguel a skeleton costume.
  • They both offers their senseis to teach them karate, but they reject the offer and later they would think as a change of heart to teach them the style of karate, taught by their former senseis respectively:
    • Mr. Miyagi would teach Daniel the art of self-defense.
    • Johnny would teach Miguel the art of self-offense.
  • They both cleaned up their dojos respectively and questions their sensei about their method of cleaning up.
  • They both takes their girlfriends to Golf N' Stuff, taking picture, and later on kissing.
  • They both performed the crane kick.
  • They both would date their second love interest respectively:
    • Daniel would date Kumiko
    • Miguel would date Tory
  • They both learned drum techniques
  • They both punched the harassers on the nose:
    • Daniel punched the drunk guy's nose from the nightclub.
    • Miguel punched Kyler in the nose in the school canteen.
  • They both wanted to compete the second All-Valley tournament to defend their titles.
  • They both break the boards
  • They both stood up for their senseis' situations
  • They have argued with senseis

Terry Silver[]

By far Terry Silver is the person Daniel harbors the most resentment of, more than Johnny Lawrence and even John Kreese. For persuading Daniel to embrace villainy in the Cobra Kai philosophy, for making Daniel corrupt and making him turn against Mr. Miyagi, Terry Silver is the most traumatizing and hateful figure to Daniel.

Upon their reunion, Terry Silver's claim that there was a bit of Cobra Kai in Daniel it affected him a lot.

Trivia[]

  • Daniel gives one of these to Mr. Miyagi in Karate Kid after having his knee taken out by Bobby, which convinces Mr. Miyagi to use the pressure point healing technique on him to get him back in the tournament.
  • Daniel was born in the 60s, just like his actor, Ralph Macchio, who was born in 1961.
  • Ralph Macchio, his actor, has never aged. Making his appearance the same in the film.
  • Ralph named his son, Daniel, after his character in real life.
  • Sean Penn, Robert Downey Jr. Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Nicolas Cage, Anthony Edwards, Tom Cruise, Eric Stoltz, Matthew Broderick, Michael J. Fox, Keanu Reeves, and John Travolta were all considered for the role of Daniel LaRusso before Ralph Macchio was cast.

Gallery[]

External Links[]

           The Karate Kids Heroes

The Karate Kid (1984)
Daniel LaRusso | Kesuke Miyagi | Lucille LaRusso | Ali Mills | Johnny Lawrence | Bobby Brown | Tommy | Jimmy | Freddy Fernandez

The Karate Kid Part II
Daniel LaRusso | Kesuke Miyagi | Kumiko | Yuki | Yuna | Sato Toguchi | Chozen Toguchi | Miyagi Chōjun

The Karate Kid Part III
Daniel LaRusso | Kesuke Miyagi | Jessica Andrews | Mike Barnes

The Next Karate Kid
Kesuke Miyagi | Julie Pierce | Louisa Pierce | Eric McGowen | Abbot Monk

The Karate Kid (2010)
Dre Parker | Mr. Han | Sherry Parker | Meiying | Harry

Cobra Kai (2018–present)
Samantha LaRusso | Miguel Diaz | Tory Nichols | Robby Keene | Kenny Payne | Demetri Alexopoulos | Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz | Devon Lee | Raymond "Stingray" Porter

Advertisement