85 Facts About Daniel LaRusso

Daniel LaRusso is a fictional character and the main protagonist of The Karate Kid media franchise portrayed by Ralph Macchio.

Daniel LaRusso was created by American screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen.

Daniel LaRusso is introduced as the titular protagonist of The Karate Kid and returns in its sequels The Karate Kid Part II and The Karate Kid Part III.

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 LaRusso 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.

Daniel LaRusso said that producer Jerry Weintraub had seen a news article about a nine-year-old who was being repeatedly bullied and started to attend karate classes where he was trained by mentor similar to Miyagi.

Daniel LaRusso incorporated Okinawan Goju-ryu into the screenplay but fabricated certain aspects for cinematic effect based on the blocking moves that he had learned, including "paint the fence" and "wax on, wax off".

Daniel LaRusso initially named the protagonist "Daniel Webber" but decided to change it to "LaRusso" after seeing Ralph Macchio at audition.

Daniel LaRusso worked with Macchio to perform a crane kick, which involved holding out his arms and balancing on one leg.

Daniel LaRusso avoided returning to the character for 34 years, stating that he had turned down various offers to protect the character's legacy.

Shortly after moving to California, Daniel LaRusso meets and starts a rivalry with Johnny Lawrence, the two-time defending champion of the All-Valley Karate Championship when Daniel LaRusso becomes friends with his ex-girlfriend Ali Mills.

Daniel LaRusso gets into a rivalry with Chozen, who is Sato's karate student and nephew.

Daniel LaRusso's temper gets in his own way because his passion is so high, and his belief in what is right is heavy-handed at times because he has such strength in his beliefs.

Daniel LaRusso said that he shared an "East Coast bravado" with the character, which he used as a defensive strategy due to looking young for his age.

Macchio noted that despite these similarities, Daniel LaRusso is a character that would never quit a fight, whereas Macchio would have found a way to avoid it.

Daniel LaRusso described his character as a "relatable underdog" and an "everykid next door" who overcomes the odds and ends up becoming a winner.

Macchio said that Daniel LaRusso feels the presence of Mr Miyagi through the support of his loved ones despite having lost his mentor.

Widowed mother Lucille LaRusso uproots herself and her only child, Daniel, from New Jersey to the South Seas Apartments in Reseda, California.

Daniel LaRusso is invited by his neighbor, Freddy Fernandez, to a beach party, where he meets Ali Mills.

Daniel LaRusso is beaten in a fight by her ex-boyfriend Johnny Lawrence.

Daniel LaRusso is initially upset with Mr Miyagi over the arrangement, but Mr Miyagi assures him that with the proper karate training, Daniel LaRusso will no longer have to worry about Cobra Kai.

Mr Miyagi has Daniel LaRusso do mundane chores at his house such as waxing his classic cars, sanding the wood floors, painting the fence, and painting the house.

Mr Miyagi allows Daniel LaRusso to choose one of his classic cars as a gift on his 18th birthday and a reward for getting his driver's license and gifts Daniel LaRusso a Karate gi for the tournament.

Bobby reluctantly delivers an illegal kick to Daniel LaRusso's knee, getting himself disqualified while Johnny looks at Kreese in disgust.

Just before Johnny is declared the winner by default, Ali informs the tournament announcer that Daniel LaRusso will fight in the final match.

Surprised, Mr Miyagi asks what happened, and Daniel LaRusso angrily blames Ali for the damage and says that they broke up because she fell in love with "a football player from UCLA".

Later, when Daniel LaRusso learns that Mr Miyagi is going to Okinawa to visit his dying father, Daniel LaRusso uses his college fund to go with him.

Later, Daniel LaRusso meets Kumiko, a teenager who aspires to move to Tokyo and pursue a career in dancing.

Mr Miyagi invites Daniel LaRusso to stay with him for a while, and Daniel LaRusso uses the rest of his college fund to help his mentor set up a bonsai tree nursery.

Daniel LaRusso befriends Jessica Andrews, who manages the pottery shop across the street.

Daniel LaRusso receives an invitation to defend his championship title at the next All Valley Karate Championships, but Mr Miyagi advises him to ignore it, seeing no point in the competition.

Daniel LaRusso is confronted by the prodigious and undefeated karateka Mike Barnes, who threatens him into defending his title and steals the shop's bonsai trees.

Daniel LaRusso is unaware that this is an elaborate scheme devised by Kreese and Cobra Kai to exact revenge on him by physically weakening him into defeat at Barnes' hands.

Silver's methods start to corrupt Daniel LaRusso, who becomes more aggressive and short-tempered as well as alienated from Miyagi and Jessica.

Daniel LaRusso confronts Silver and tells him that he no longer wishes to defend his title, after which Silver reveals his scheme.

Daniel LaRusso uses Silver and Kreese's tactic of scoring a point, then losing it with an illegal move until they reach the sudden death round.

Thirty-three years later, Daniel LaRusso is happily married to his wife Amanda Steiner, and has two children, Samantha "Sam" and Anthony.

Daniel LaRusso, unaware that Sam was a passenger when her friends accidentally caused the wreck, offers to fix his car for free, considering Johnny an old friend.

Daniel LaRusso later discovers that Johnny has reopened the Cobra Kai dojo in Reseda.

Unaware that Robby is Johnny's son, Daniel LaRusso takes him in as his karate student.

Daniel LaRusso proves to be a positive influence on Robby, who later turns against his miscreant friends when they plot to rob the dealership.

Daniel LaRusso opens the Miyagi-Do dojo and offers his lessons for free, threatening Cobra Kai's business.

Daniel LaRusso allows Robby to move into his home when Robby is evicted from his apartment and his mother Shannon abandoning him by going on vacation to Mexico with her boyfriend.

Daniel LaRusso discovers that Kreese has returned to Cobra Kai.

Daniel LaRusso has trouble acquiring students, most of whom are not receptive to his chore-based muscle memory training style and defensive techniques.

Daniel LaRusso tries to be the bigger man after Cobra Kai upstages their demonstration at the local Valley Fest.

Daniel LaRusso takes on Demetri as a student, which proves challenging due to his persistent whining.

Daniel LaRusso finds Robby at Shannon's rehabilitation facility and has the police take Robby into custody to lessen his sentence.

Daniel LaRusso is surprised to find that Miguel's upbringing mirrors his own and agrees to let Miguel continue dating Sam.

Daniel LaRusso saves Johnny just as Kreese is trying to strangle him and takes on Kreese in a one-on-one fight.

Daniel LaRusso uses the pressure point strikes he learned from Chozen to immobilize Kreese.

Kreese, Johnny, and Daniel LaRusso agree to temporarily cease hostilities to train for the tournament and make a deal that if Cobra Kai wins the next All-Valley tournament, Daniel LaRusso and Johnny will stop teaching karate, but if Miyagi Do and Eagle Fang win, Kreese will leave and shut down Cobra Kai.

Daniel LaRusso is devastated to find that Robby has joined Cobra Kai.

Daniel LaRusso teaches the Eagle Fang students while Johnny takes the Miyagi-Do students under his wing.

Daniel LaRusso tries to teach Anthony Miyagi-Do karate but is disappointed when he goes behind his back to pay someone from TaskRabbit to wash the cars for him.

Daniel LaRusso enters his students in the All-Valley Tournament alongside Eagle Fang and Cobra Kai.

Daniel LaRusso decides to renege on his earlier deal with Kreese to stop teaching karate after losing, and decides to take Johnny's advice on going on the offense.

Daniel LaRusso begins his scheme to take down Cobra Kai, but Johnny declines to assist.

Silver attempts to dissuade Daniel LaRusso by warning him that he will retaliate.

Amanda eventually reconciles with Daniel LaRusso after learning about his negative history with Silver from her cousin Jessica Andrews.

Robby, who has rejoined Miyagi-Do, reveals how much Daniel LaRusso's teachings mean to him.

Daniel LaRusso is convinced not to give up and decides to re-open Miyagi-Do.

Johnny and Chozen agree to help Barnes, while Daniel LaRusso ends up stranded after Barnes drives the limo with Johnny and Chozen to confront Silver.

Daniel LaRusso is picked up by Stingray, who agrees to help take down Silver by giving him a ride to the Cobra Kai dojo.

Daniel LaRusso tells Amanda that after they win, he plans on retiring from being a sensei.

Daniel LaRusso helps Johnny find a job when Johnny needs income to provide for his newfound family.

When Daniel LaRusso finds out that Johnny fought Barnes to change his mind about cutting Devon Lee, and have a capture the flag challenge in the woods, this drives a wedge in his relationship with Johnny.

Daniel LaRusso later finds out through Chozen and Kim, along with Kreese that Terry Silver is sponsoring Wolf and the Iron Dragons, he reveals he orchestrated the kidnapping as a way of throwing Daniel LaRusso off balance.

The thug that kidnapped Daniel LaRusso is revealed to be Dennis, who helped torment him previously.

Daniel LaRusso informs the others of Silver's return and vows to take him down once and for all.

Daniel LaRusso has a nightmare about fighting Mr Miyagi in the past; confused by this, he asks Mr Miyagi why he never told him about this.

Mr Miyagi angrily responds that Daniel LaRusso was never strong enough to accept the truth.

Johnny and Daniel LaRusso fully rekindle and help train Robby and Sam.

When Johnny goes after Kreese, Daniel LaRusso continues to fight Wolf.

Daniel LaRusso wants nothing more to do with karate and even takes bonsai trees off the sales for customers.

Daniel LaRusso has a nightmare of fighting skeleton people before being safe by Mr Miyagi's spirit, Daniel LaRusso tearfully asked Mr Miyagi why he never told him about his past and why did he leave him when he needed him most.

Daniel LaRusso even buys Johnny back the old cobra Kai dojo and Daniel LaRusso admits that when he first saw the cobra Kai dojo, it brought up a lot of bad memories, but now he realizes that cobra Kai will always exist and that he trust and Johnny will run it the right way to restore its honorable reputation.

Daniel LaRusso learns about the true circumstances of what Mr Miyagi did back in 1947 when his mother gives Sam a graduation gift, which is a pearl necklace that actually belonged to Mr Miyagi's mother, whom he gave to his wife while they she was in the internment camp in the 1940s, and Mr Miyagi had to get it back and he ended up beating the guard that tried to attack him, this was the reason my Mr Miyagi went into hiding.

Daniel LaRusso will appear opposite Jackie Chan in events that take place three years after Cobra Kai.

In 1989, Daniel LaRusso appeared in The Karate Kid animated television series, voiced by Joey Dedio.

In 2018, Daniel LaRusso was inducted into the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame.

Daniel LaRusso appears in a side-scrolling fighting game titled Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Saga Continues, which was published by GameMill Entertainment on October, 27,2020.

Yardbarker listed The Karate Kid as one of the most inspirational sports films and praised Daniel LaRusso for using karate to promote acceptance and confidence.

Daniel LaRusso's competition winning crane kick to Johnny Lawrence's face in the finale of The Karate Kid has been the subject of longstanding media debate about whether the move was illegal and he should have been disqualified.

Macchio himself opined that it went against competition rules but disagreed that Daniel LaRusso was the real bad guy.