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| “ | I'll take him on. | „ |
| ~ Tory's first lines. |
| “ | Tory. With a Y. | „ |
| ~ Tory introducing herself to Miguel. |
| “ | I wanted to win the All Valley more than anything. When they handed me that trophy… that was the best moment of my life. But then I saw Silver and that ref, and it just killed me. I felt like a fraud. I wanted to get back at Silver so bad. That's why I listened to Kreese, but then I got caught up in more lies. And now my life is a living hell. | „ |
| ~ Tory to Sam in Survivors. |
Tory Nichols is one of the two (anti-heroic) tritagonists (alongside Demetri Alexopoulos) of the YouTube Red/Netflix series Cobra Kai.
She is a troubled teenager with a dark and cruel past. She joins John Kreese's (later Terry Silver's) Cobra Kai dojo and becomes his right-hand student. She is also the former arch-nemesis of Samantha LaRusso.
But after disapproving of Silver's teaching, Tory defects from the dojo and joins forces with Sam, Miyagi-Do, and Eagle Fang to put an end to Cobra Kai.
She is portrayed by Peyton List, who also played Emma Ross in Jessie and Bunk'd, Becky Barnes as a child in The Sorcerer's Apprentice and Holly Hills in the first two sequels of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise.
Biography[]
Past[]
Tory was the daughter of a poor waitress named Grace who often struggled to make ends meet. After finishing her shift, Tory's mother would bring home leftover food for her children to eat. However, her manager eventually discovered what she was doing and fired her, despite the fact that the food would have been thrown out anyway. This helped shape Tory's view of the world as being a cruel place where you have to fight to survive.
Season 2[]
After witnessing Cobra Kai's demonstration at the Valley Fest Fair, Tory goes to the Cobra Kai dojo to sign up. When Johnny Lawrence asks if any wants to take on Miguel, "the champ", Tory volunteers and faces off against him, fighting him to a standstill.
Tory later goes with Aisha to a country club, where she meets Sam LaRusso and the two develop a dislike of each other when Sam accuses her of stealing her mom's wallet due to her having previously stolen a bottle of liquor from the country club bar. When Sam attempted to check in Tory's bag, Tory shoved her into a cart full of food.
Later, when Miguel goes to her to ask her for advice on repairing his relationship with Sam, Tory instead convinces him to go out with her culminating in them kissing and dating afterward.
After witnessing a drunk Sam kissing Miguel at Moon's party on the last day of summer, Tory decides to seek revenge on Sam the next day on the first day of school. While the school's morning announcements are being read out, Tory bursts into the announcement room and threaten Sam through the intercom. As soon as Sam gets out of class, Tory goes to confront her in the hallway, revealing to the crowd around them that she kissed Miguel before leaping at her and attacking her. Robby Keene attempts to break up the fight but Miguel sees him and believes he is trying to hurt Tory and pushes him away.
The fight then sprawls into a massive brawl between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, leading out into the lunchroom. Miguel attempts to pull Tory off of Sam but Tory shoves him away and continues going after her. When Sam manages to push her back, Tory pulls her spiked wrist collar around her hand and punches Sam with it, gashing her skin. Despite this, Sam still is able to fight Tory off and knock her down a stairway. Tory is later shown to have gotten up, only to witness Miguel being knocked off a ledge by Robby and suffering critical injuries after hitting the ground.
Tory is later shown to be among the students training under John Kreese after he takes the Cobra Kai dojo away from Johnny. When Johnny tries to confront Kreese, Tory and the other Cobra Kai students block his path. It was also told in the hospital that upon hearing about the incident, Sam's mother Amanda angrily swears to have Tory expelled for her actions before demanding Daniel to shut down Miyagi-do.
Season 3[]
In the aftermath of the fight that took place in season 2, Tory is placed onto probation after being expelled from school. Her first scene in season three shows her being the victim of sexual harassment at the hands of her landlord, Rodney. Despite showing no remorse or regrets for almost killing Sam and for her part in the school fight, Tori quits Cobra Kai due to her responsibilities to her family. Because she's being forced to work two jobs to pay for her family's rent, Rodney offers alternative methods of payment, those being sexual favors. When Tory refuses, he threatens to call her probations officer to send her to juvie if she attempts to resist. When Kreese notices that Tory is being sexually harassed by Rodney, he beats him up to waive the rent.
Later in season 3, when Sam and the Miyagi-Dos attempt to fight back against when they harass Chris at his job, Tory appears and challenges Sam to a fight. Having Demetri pinned down, Tory psychologically abuses Sam before she, along with Mitch and the Cobra Kai's, encourages Hawk to break Demitri's arm. Afterwards, Tory befriends Robby after he joins Cobra Kai when they find common ground in their broken home lives and their own betrayals from Miguel, Johnny and Sam as well as their resentment towards their probation and expulsion from school for their roles in the school brawl. Upon finding out that Sam has gotten back together with Miguel and helped him save the All-Valley Tournament from being cancelled due to the aftermath of the school brawl, Tory chooses to lead her Cobra Kai gang in an attack on the LaRusso household, engaging the students of Miyagi-Do and Johnny's new dojo Eagle Fang Karate. She singles out Sam, chasing her into the Miyagi-Do dojo and attacking her with nunchucks. When Tory breaks a portrait of Mr. Miyagi, however, Sam regains her resolve and fights back with a bo staff, disarming Tory with Sam defeating Tory a second consecutive time. She attempts to escalate the situation, only to be betrayed by Hawk in the process as well as vowing that her feud with Sam will never end, in which Sam says that she knows where to find her. Tory leaves, but not before vowing revenge on Hawk, Miguel, Demetri and Sam.
Season 4[]
On this season, Tory is befriended by Amanda LaRusso who helps Tory find another job and with her mother. Tory is later able to return to school after Amanda gives her permission, revealing that she has come to sympathize with Tory because of her sharing a similar past; Sam later reluctantly agrees as well to satisfy her parents, but she remains suspicious of Tory's motivations. This resulted clashes between them escalating still, especially when Tory was mocked by her at a birthday party and during a fight at the after-party Prom hosted by Stingray. During the All Valley Karate Tournament, she defeats several students from other rivaling dojos including Eagle Fang rookie Devon Lee. At the finals, she faces off against Sam, but Amanda asks Tory to fight within the rules and expresses hope that the match will finally end the rivalry between the two girls.
With Sam combining Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang techniques, she proves to be a match for Tory, who accidentally elbows her in the eye. Despite Terry Silver encouraging Tory to illegally hit Sam in the other eye to win, Tory, recalling their previous fights, fights clean and wins under the advise of John Kreese. Much to Sam's surprise, Tory expresses genuine concern for Sam's injuries once the fight is over, showing that she has agreed to honor Amanda's request to end her rivalry with Sam once and for all.
Tory's win gives Cobra Kai the All-Valley championship, along with the bet that the losing dojo must close their doors and leave town forever. But Tory is devastated when she subsequently discovers that Silver had bribed the referee to rig the final match between her and Sam in Cobra Kai's favor. This is why he hadn't deducted a point from Tory after her hit to Sam's eye, and had earlier refused to give Sam a point saying Tory was out of bounds even though she stepped out of bounds after Sam scored.
Season 5[]
Tory remains at the Cobra Kai dojo despite knowing her All Valley win wasn’t legitimate. During a training session, she is introduced to new Sensei Joe, who was actually Daniel's ally and fellow Miyagi-Do sensei Chozen Toguchi. Chozen tells Tory that maintaining his honor is his most important reason to fight and demonstrates some moves of Tang Soo Do that surprises both Tory and Silver. After the other students and Chozen leave, Tory confronts Silver for shattering her dreams by bribing the referee but Silver insists that Cobra Kai's survival depended on that tournament and gives her the choice to either quit or stay. She ultimately picks the latter.
In the waterpark, she reunites with Robby, who had just returned from his trip to Mexico. Robby announces his plan to quit Cobra Kai and begs Tory to follow him because Silver is an even greater threat than Kreese but Tory refuses and insists she can make her own choices. Unfortunately, the constant arguments between Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang end up getting all three dojos kicked out of the waterpark. Robby gives Tory another chance to abandon Cobra Kai but she refuses yet again, causing Robby to put an end in their relationship.
It was eventually revealed that Tory was working with Kreese, who had been incriminated and put in jail for the attempted murder of Stingray, to bring Silver and the rest of Cobra Kai down. Under his orders, Tory leaves in the LaRusso Family mailbox a piece of paper containing the address to Stingray's new appartment and his lie of Kreese assaulting him. Unfortunately, this action ultimately led to a confrontation between Silver and Daniel, in which the former brutally beat up the latter.
Displeased with the local senseis, Silver hires the granddaughter of his former sensei, Kim Da-Eun, and some of her fellow senseis from Korea to assist him in expanding Cobra Kai. While Silver occupied other dojos such as Topanga Karate, Tory finds a kindred spirit in her former rival Devon Lee and becomes something of a mentor to her. Both eventually team up to fight sensei Kim but all of their fights end with Kim emerging victorious over both.
Determined to spread Cobra Kai's name and lessons worldwide, Silver enrolls the dojo in the Sekai Taikai Tournament and chooses Tory to represent the females whereas Kenny would be the one to represent the male fighters. During Hawk and Kenny's fight in the tryout matches, Tory realizes Silver is resorting to bribing the referee once more and discreetly leaves the dojo, forcing sensei Kim to choose Devon as a replacement. However, Devon is easily beaten by Sam, who ensures Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang's participation in the tournament. During their celebration party, Tory shows up and informs Sam of Silver's role in her loss of the All-Valley.
This news enrages Sam beyond belief and blames Tory for the pain her family is going through at the hands of Silver, calling her a coward. This makes Tory realize it was a mistake coming to speak to LaRusso and leaves. The next day, Robby comes into the Cobra Kai Dojo and attempts to reason with the students, particularly Kenny, that Silver and Cobra Kai are turning them into people they do not want to become. Unfortunately, nobody except a silent Tory listens to his words and sensei Kim notices Tory's lingering connection to Robby.
After the training, she, Silver and their fellow senseis force Tory to break a stone dummy with her bare hand and when she groans from the pain of her efforts, sensei Kim confronts her for her feelings for Robby. An enraged Tory argues that she had dumped him because of the dojo and finally succeeds in shattering the stone, nearly breaking her hand in the process. This act leaves her even more physically and emotionally broken.
In her home, she is placing some ice on her hand until she receives a visitor, who is none other than Sam, who wishes to hear Tory's predicament. Sam finally realizes how hard her rival has to work to feed her brother and ill mother, the latter of whom is in her hospital bed, and also learning why Amanda was helping Tory with her situation. Tory confesses that winning the All-Valley was her only goal but Silver ruined it by rigging their match, which led to Tory joining forces with Kreese, who eventually gave up on her. Sympathetic, Sam proposes an alliance between them and mentions Stingray, with Tory expressing her belief they may find evidence of his assault.
Ready to put things to an end once and for all, Tory joins the Miyagi-Fangs and uses her keycard to gain access to the flagship dojo, saving Robby from breaking his probation. Hawk and Demetri discover that the video of Stingray being attacked by Silver had been almost entirely deleted, but Tory suggests taking the footage of Silver admitting his bribing the judge in the All-Valley.
Unfortunately, Mitch had rejoined Cobra Kai and ratted them out to Kenny, Kyler and the others, which leads to a massive brawl. Tory dispatches several of her former teammates until Sensei Kim shows up and beats Tory to a pulp for her betrayal. Sam comes to aid her former rival but neither of them can land a hit on the ruthless sensei. Devon takes Sam's place and sends her back to defend her brother Anthony, disowning Cobra Kai and Sensei Kim.
The Miyagi-Fangs and Tory succeed in their plan, and the Cobra Kais finally learn of their sensei's true self as a liar and a cheater when they see the video of him confessing to Tory about bribing the judge to make sure Cobra Kai won the All-Valley Tournament, and realize their accomplishments were nothing but shams. An exhausted and bloodied Silver arrives and tries to convince his students that he and Cobra Kai build winners, but they’re no longer listening to him.
Silver challenges Daniel to a final fight but the Miyagi-Do sensei finally beats his former mentor. Upset and disgusted with Silver and seeing Cobra Kai for what it really is, Kenny, Kyler, Mitch and the others toss their wardrobe at a barely-conscious Silver, who is arrested for his crimes, including Stingray's near-fatal assault.
After recovering from the fight, Robby apologizes to Tory for not doing anything to prevent her suffering at the hands of Silver and Kim but Tory does not want to hear. Instead, she wants him to kiss her and they do just that, rekindling their relationship.
Season 6[]
Part 1[]
Tory begins training at Miyagi-Do in the aftermath of Cobra Kai's defeat, but remains somewhat estranged from Sam. Because of this, Robby and Miguel take the two to the Golf N' Stuff to work out their beef, to seemingly no avail. When Robby encounters Kenny and his older brother, Shawn, at the arcade, he ends up fighting the two, alongside Miguel, Sam, and Tory. After defeating the two, Sam and Tory compliment each other, and make up, with Tory admitting Sam’s Miyagi-Do moves had rubbed off on her from all those times when they’d fought each other.
Later, Tory attends Carmen's gender reveal at the LaRusso house. While setting up, Miguel and Robby are impressed with Sam and Tory working together and being friends. Tory and everyone cheers when Johnny and Carmen reveals that they are having a girl. At Miyagi-Do, due to Tory and Sam's newfound friendship, it causes them to lose their competitive edge in Johnny's eyes, so he invites the two to a sleepover at Devon’s house, which he intentionally rigs to try to pit the two against each other, down to stealing Miguel and Robby's phones to send misleading text messages. When Tory and Sam find out, they leave the house; while waiting for an Uber, Sam and Tory get into another argument. Sam finally apologizes to Tory after Tory reminded her of how their rivalry started over Sam accusing her of stealing Amanda's wallet and not apologizing when the culprit turned out to be someone else; Tory does the same for Sam, and the two tearfully hug, much to Johnny's dismay. The next day at Miyagi-Do, Sam and Tory's fighting skills are back on track. Hawk shows a video of Gunther revealing that the tournament will take place is in Barcelona, Spain. However, he explains the selection process and that each dojo would need to pick six fighters, much to the disappointment of the students.
At West Valley High School, Miguel, Robby, Sam and Tory talk about the tournament and Robby explains that they have champions and runner ups who have a guaranteed selection. Eventually, Tory becomes one of the 6 dojo members sent to fight in the Sekai-Taikai after completing Mike Barnes' challenges.
When Kreese returns from South Korea while still being wanted by the law for breaking out of prison, he asks Tory to join Cobra Kai again, to which she refuses, feeling betrayed by Kreese and having found new friends in Miyagi-Do. At the dojo, she tells Robby about Kreese. He praises her for rejecting him and promises not to tell anyone for their safety. He also tells her that they are in this together and aim to share the champions podium together as girlfriend and boyfriend as the two share a heart warming moment. For the captains of Miyagi-Do, Miguel, Robby, Sam, and Tory are chosen for the position, unfortunately there can only be 2 captains, the 2 captains chosen will be the people who fight in the finals of the tournament. Sam and Tory must face each other to determine who will lead Miyagi-Do. Robby and Tory plan to train each other and meet at the park. However, when Tory returns home, she finds her mother, whom she had thought had been doing well, has died from a blood cot. She was unable to meet with Robby for their training session causing him to worry. Later, she reminisces about a memory from her youth, where her mother told Tory that the two were fighters.
Tory arrives at Miyagi-Do during Robby and Miguel's fight with Daniel as their referee and Devon catches her up. With Tory's arrival, Robby beats Miguel and becomes male captain for Miyagi-Do. Tory then faces off against Sam in a match refereed by Johnny to determine who will be the female team captain at the Sekai Taikai. The two are evenly matched, with Tory becoming incredibly wrathful towards Sam. Just as Tory is about to deliver the winning blow, Daniel stops the match much to Johnny’s dismay, having been told about her mother's death after Amanda receives a call from the hospital and finds out about it. Tory, believing she has to be team captain to honor her now-dead mother, leaves the team in a fit of rage. She later decides to reluctantly rejoin Cobra Kai, under Kreese and Kim Da-Eun, shocking Robby, Sam, and Miyagi-Do when they arrived in Barcelona.
Part 2[]
Despite rejoining, Tory hasn't been fitting in due to her mother’s death and still holds resentment towards Kim for torturing her with the latter upset at her for her role in Silver's downfall. While unpacking her stuff at the hotel, Kim tells Tory to focus on the tournament while warning that she won't last. At the Barcelona Aquarium, Robby, Sam, and Devon to Tory with each of them respecting her decision and comforting her about her mother's death. At night, Tory tells Robby that it was better to put their relationship on pause, upsetting Robby. At the first Sekai Taikai event, after defeating Miyagi-Do, Tory, Kwon Jae-Sung, and Yoon Do-Jin loses to Zara Malik and Axel Kovacevic of the Iron Dragons dojo led by Sensei Wolf. Due to being distracted about Tory being in Cobra Kai, Robby loses his focus and this causes him to lose many matches.
Throughout the tournament, Tory is fighting better than she ever has, allowing Cobra Kai to surpass most other dojos in terms of points scored. At night, Tory, Kwon, and Yoon heads to a bar where they run into Robby, Sam, and Miyagi-Do. Zara encounters Tory where she threatens her and then thanks her for paying for her drink. Kwon attempts to make Robby jealous but Tory pushes him off. The next day, when Tory's on her way to her hotel room on the elevator, she sees Zara kissing a drunk Robby after the pair slept together.
At the next event, Tory loses focus because of Robby. This causes her to lose a couple fights from other dojos, including the Russian dojo, Tiger Strike. When Zara is doing her livestream, Tory steals her phone and exposes her of stealing Robby from her until Kim intervenes and tells her to focus. During the match between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai, Tory confronts Robby on his hookup with Zara. She reminds him of their agreement to pausing their relationship with Tory telling him that she never had a thing with Kwon as he's messing with his mind. After Robby defeats Kwon, Cobra Kai is eliminated and Miyagi-Do advances to the semi-finals. Seeing Tory walking away with Cobra Kai, Robby looks over at her. Sam tells Tory that she wished that she could be celebrating with them before walking away.
At the hotel, Robby apologizes to Tory before she leaves but Kwon approaches him and Robby tells him he is lucky to not fight him again. Tory then argues with Kwon and nearly picks a fight with him until Kim stops the two. Cobra Kai learns that they've been reinstated following Tiger Strike's disqualification. Tory and Sam are selected to face each in the semifinals. Tory and Kwon trains at the gym with Kreese telling her to focus if she wants to win. At the tournament, Tory talks to Kim if sacrificing everything in her life to uphold the karate legacy of her grandfather was worth it which Kim replies absolutely. During the semifinal match between Robby and Axel, Kwon restrains and cheap shots Robby which results in an all-out brawl between the dojos. During the fight, Tory fights Zara who wanted revenge for costing her two sponsors. When she struggles with Zara, Robby arrives to defend her, making it clear that he'd choose Tory over Zara every time. Tory and Robby are soon joined by Sam and the three team up to fight Zara and the Iron Dragons. The fight is then stopped when Kwon accidentally impaled himself with Kreese’s knife while he tried to kill Axel much to everyone’s shock.
Personality[]
Tory has a confident and outgoing demeanor. She is generally welcoming to those she considers her friends and acts flirtatious towards Miguel. But Tory also has little regard for most rules, believing in doing whatever it takes to survive including theft. Her philosophy and worldview make her very easily embrace the Cobra Kai motto of "no mercy".
Tory is very devoted to Miguel and has an intense hatred of Samantha for being privileged and an object of Miguel's affections, causing her to often antagonize Sam and even go so far as to almost tear her face off with her spiked collar after witnessing her and Miguel kissing.
Despite this, Tory seems to be very good at hiding her more vicious and sadistic nature from her friends, as she was able to convince Miguel that Sam was the aggressor in most of their encounters.
Through Tory's friendship; with Amanda LaRusso, Tory begins improving her attitude; which was well clear; when she fought Sam in the All-Valley; by the rules and; when Silver had suggested intentionally damaging the young LaRusso's eyesight, Tory insists that; she did not need to cheat. She was glad and proud; when she became the champion; but her dreams were shattered upon realizing that; Terry had bribed the referee to ensure Cobra Kai's survival.
As per Kreese's instructions, Tory reluctantly remains at Cobra Kai; but finds it incredibly difficult to remain there; especially; when Silver had hired ruthless sensei Kim Da-Eun and her fellow senseis from Korea to torment her and her teammates not only physically; but also emotionally. When Kreese bails on the plan, Tory decides to; make amends; with Sam; who comes to realize Tory's harsh home life and join forces; with her, Miguel, Robby and their fellow Miyagi-Fangs in dismantling Cobra Kai and place Silver in jail once and for all. With her relationship with Robby rekindled, Tory gains a good amount of joy and inner peace.
Despite initially having found a new circle of friends in Miyagi-Do and made amends with everyone, particularly Samantha, Tory's world comes crashing down once more when her mother passes away from a blood clot the doctors had failed to notice. After spending several days grieving utterly alone, she makes it her mission to honor her mother by becoming female captain of Miyagi-Do for the Sekai Taikai, only for the match between her and Sam to be interrupted by Daniel and Amanda; who saw Tory was not in the right state of mind. But unfortunately, she sees this as a betrayal and quits Miyagi-Do for her friends and senseis; excluding Johnny, apparently not understanding how becoming captain was important for her. At a loss of alternatives, she accepts Kreese's earlier request to join his and Kim Da-Eun's faction of Cobra Kai for the tournament, even though Kim had brutally tortured her in the previous season.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Despite Amanda's promise to have Tory expelled from school, it is possible that; Tory is already expelled after all, given that; she had attacked a school staff member to warn Sam through the school's speakers that; they would fight. She is still shown practicing at Cobra Kai though. But as of season three, it turns out that; Tory did get expelled for her actions and is currently on probation; until mid season 4 where she re-enrolls with Amanda's approval.
- This was Peyton List's first role as an antagonist. Previously, she had portrayed Holly Hills in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series and Emma Ross in Disney Channel's Jessie and it's spin-off, Bunk'd. List even starred with Jacob Bertrand in the Disney Channel Original film, The Swap, in ;which the latter also had starred in Cobra Kai as Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz. Prior to appearing in Cobra Kai, she had portrayed Laina Michaels in the YouTube original thriller film The Thinning and it's sequel, The Thinning: New World Order, in; which the sequel was released; before the second season of Cobra Kai.
- Peyton List mostly has blonde hair; when portraying characters from other shows and films, though for her role in Cobra Kai, she first has blonde hair; but has dark red hair later on and eventually back to blonde hair in the fourth season. This was meant to symbolize her antagonistic personality.
- Peyton List has stated that; Tory has been the most fun role she has ever played on her career so far.
- Despite being an antagonist, some Karate Kid fans do root for her, as they do not like Samantha LaRusso and her bratty attitude at all.
- Despite Sam and Tory's rivalry, the actresses Mary Mouser and Peyton List remain good friends in real-life.
- As of 2022, Peyton List and Jacob Bertrand are currently dating.
- Tory is like a female Johnny Lawrence in the sense that; she jumps; into conclusions; without thinking.
- There were widely believed theories that; Tory was Mike Barnes's daughter; but they were never confirmed.
- In the aftermath of Barnes's appearance on the show, they become more unlikely, given he had never mentioned leaving behind a daughter, and seemed to have found a stable life after the All-Valley of 1985.
- Tory and Rogue from X-Men 97' share similarities in their tough exteriors, complex backstories and personal struggles. Both characters are defined; by their resilience and the challenges they face in reconciling their inner turmoil; with their desire to belong and protect those that; they care about.
- In the aftermath of Barnes's appearance on the show, they become more unlikely, given he had never mentioned leaving behind a daughter, and seemed to have found a stable life after the All-Valley of 1985.
External Links[]
- Tory Nichols on the Cobra Kai Wiki
- Tory Nichols on the Villains Wiki
- Tory Nichols on the Villainous Benchmark Wiki
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