Daniel LaRusso

Daniel LaRusso is a fictional character and the main protagonist of The Karate Kid media franchise portrayed by Ralph Macchio. He was created by American screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen. Daniel is introduced as the titular protagonist of The Karate Kid (1984) and its sequels, The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989). Nearly three decades later, Macchio reprised the role in the sequel television series Cobra Kai (2018–2025), which concluded with its sixth season. Additionally, Macchio stars in Karate Kid: Legends (2025), marking his first return as Daniel in a film from the franchise since the third installment. In the first film, Daniel is depicted as an Italian-American 17-year-old who moves from New Jersey to the San Fernando Valley with his widowed mother Lucille. After becoming attracted to Ali Mills, Daniel becomes the target of bullying at the hands of Ali's arrogant ex-boyfriend and local karate champion Johnny Lawrence. To overcome the harassment, Daniel seeks tutelage in karate at the hands of his apartment's maintenance man Mr. Miyagi and is ultimately able to defeat Johnny at the All-Valley Under-18 Karate Tournament. In the sequels, Daniel continues to train under Miyagi and accompanies him to Okinawa, while also continuing to come into conflict with Johnny's karate dojo, Cobra Kai. In Cobra Kai, set decades after the original film, Daniel has become the owner of LaRusso Auto, the most profitable car dealership in the Valley, and has two children, Samantha and Anthony, with his wife Amanda. Whilst Daniel is generally content, despite the death of Miyagi, he becomes paranoid when Cobra Kai is reopened at the hands of Johnny and opens a new dojo called Miyagi-Do. After Johnny's old sensei John Kreese returns to the Valley to usurp Johnny as the sensei of the Cobra Kai dojo,...