The 10 Strongest Martial Artists By The End Of Season 4, Ranked
The fourth season of Cobra Kai has ended, and this season had plenty of fights for viewers to endlessly debate about. Certain fighters have shown a lot of growth over the past four seasons, while some have inner demons holding them back from their full potential.
Miyagi-do, Eagle Fang, and Cobra Kai have trained their fighters in their unique ways, and all proved their merit on the mat. Only one character, however, has reigned supreme at the end of season 4 due to a combination of relentless training and confronting their personal failings to emerge a stronger fighter for it.
10 Miguel Diaz
Miguel has been one of the strongest martial artists in the series who wasn’t a dojo master. He has never actually lost a fair fight in the entire series since the end of the first season. However, his back injury, tumultuous relationship with Johnny and Sam, and a lack of confidence throughout the entire season have affected his karate.
When his back gives out during the semi-finals, he fears that his back injury had resurfaced. Feeling that he was not in the right physical or mental state to fight, Miguel forfeits the match against Eli. Miguel’s burning questions about himself lead him to go out and find his father.
9 Samantha LaRusso
Sam has grown into her own this season as a very skilled martial artist. Though she never truly changes allegiances from Miyagi-do like a lot of the other characters, she does start taking some lessons from Johnny Lawrence to round out her defensive fighting style with some aggressive flair.
However, Sam’s attitude in the fourth season has made her far more reckless than she should be. Sam acts on emotions first and strikes without thinking of the consequences. This hot-headed attitude leads to Sam losing in the All Valley finals against Tory, regardless of the referee being a plant by Terry Silver.
8 Tory Nichols
Ever since Tory’s second season debut, she has proven time and time again why she’s one of the best fighters in the series. Her natural strength and speed make her a perfect host for the philosophy of “No Mercy”, and makes her a force to be reckoned with in any fight.
Ever since Tory’s defeat to Sam at the end of season 3, she has worked tirelessly to close the skill gap between the two of them. Her interactions with Amanda LaRusso have also wisened her up to her faults. Her newfound peace and martial skill make Tory’s win over Sam a satisfying end to their rivalry.
7 Robby Keene
Robby has proven himself to be among the greatest pupils any of the masters have ever trained. Spending significant time under three different masters has given him a plethora of techniques. Along with his natural athleticism, this makes Robby a very well-rounded fighter.
Unfortunately, he has never truly been at his 100{99d7ae7a5c00217be62b3db137681dcc1ccd464bfc98e9018458a9e2362afbc0} potential. His allegiance to dojos has never been primarily about bettering himself. Instead, it has always been about lashing out at Johnny and Daniel. His doubts about how ruthless he has become lead to him losing against Eli in the All-Valley finals.
6 Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz
Eli has led a very interesting character arc across the four seasons of Cobra Kai. Like Robby, he has trained under three different masters. While he wasn’t an athletic prodigy like Robby, Eli trains the hardest out of any martial artist in the series.
The embarrassment he suffers from the new Cobra Kai puts him in a bit of a funk for a while, but some pep talk from his closest friends finally lets Eli become at one with himself. He’s not just Hawk, nor is he just Eli but both. That peace gives us one of the all-time best fights in Cobra Kai, with Eli being the victor.
5 John Kreese
John Kreese continues to show the cast why his way has its merits, at least as far as fighting goes. He is partially responsible for molding two of the strongest students in the series, Hawk and Robbie, with both showing their best feats while under his tutelage.
Kreese being a legitimate veteran of a brutal war also gives him experience that a lot of the other fighters simply do not have. Although his advanced age has slowed him down a bit, he remains one of the most intimidating forces in the series. It takes a beating from both Johnny and Daniel to finally put him down.
4 Johnny Lawrence
Johnny has had a rough time across all four seasons of the show, but the toll hasn’t made him any less strong. If anything, it encourages him to become even stronger. He gets into the most fights out of any of the other masters in the series, and usually against multiple opponents.
Although he hadn’t practiced karate in years, his natural skills in it came back to him pretty fast. However, his self-doubt and reckless attitude have landed him in hot water more times than Hawk has changed dojos. Although he manages to fight Daniel to a draw in a contact match, he loses hard against Terry Silver, despite using Daniel’s techniques.
3 Daniel LaRusso
Daniel LaRusso has aged slightly better than Johnny did due to having a much nicer life. It also helps that he has been doing some light karate training and generally staying fit for the past few decades. His fighting style is also very defensive and focuses on punishing mistakes.
It’s a style that has helped him win against physically superior opponents both in his youth and in his adult years. However, Daniel is also incredibly stubborn, refusing to admit that his way may have some flaws because of his worship of Miyagi. While he is certainly very good at his style of karate, it does make him rather susceptible to smarter opponents such as Chozen.
2 Terry Silver
Terry Silver is by far one of the strongest fighters the series has seen so far, and he hasn’t even been around for the past three seasons. Although he also follows the “No Mercy” philosophy of Kreese, he takes it a step further. Where Kreese epitomizes “No Mercy” through violent rage, Terry Silver’s ruthlessness is more methodical and sinister.
Terry gets into people’s heads and exploits their weaknesses. His mind games lead him to be one of the few people to cleanly defeat Johnny Lawrence. His natural physique, despite his age, also lends him some nasty kicks with a long reach. Thanks to all that, Terry Silver is the shocking winner of season 4, thanks to his intelligence and cruelty.
1 Chozen Toguchi
Although he has only made a few appearances in the series so far, Chozen is by far the strongest martial artist in the series. After his loss to Daniel, Chozen has dedicated his life to learning martial arts for self-betterment, not violence. That means, unlike every other fighter, Chozen has been training non-stop for decades.
His experience plus knowledge of secret techniques means Chozen is far above all the other fighters when it comes to raw martial arts skills. In many ways, he has become the new Miyagi, which is a pretty funny way for a former villain like Chozen to end up. It’s pretty exciting to know what he’ll be teaching the Miyagi-do students in season 5.
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