The Karate Kid is an American martial arts drama franchise created by Robert Mark Kamen. The series follows the journey of various coming-of-age teenagers who are taught in the ways of martial arts by an experienced mentor in order to stand up for themselves after being bullied or assert their dominance towards others.

The original film series began as a trilogy, starting with the release of The Karate Kid (1984), after the success of which two direct sequels were produced: The Karate Kid Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid Part III (1989). In 1994, a standalone sequel with a new protagonist, The Next Karate Kid, was released. In 2010, a remake with a similar storyline but with a different set of characters, was released. Despite maintaining the original title, the film focused on kung fu, being set in China. A sixth film, Karate Kid: Legends, with Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio reprising their original roles from the previous films, was released in 2025. This release retconned the 2010 film, placing it in the same fictional universe of the original films.

Cobra Kai (2018–2025) offers a continuation of the story that begins in the original films three decades later. While directly based on Kamen's characters, Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg created this series.

An animated series, as well as tie-in video games among other pieces of merchandise, have also been released alongside the films.

Films

Film U.S. release date Director Screenwriter Story by Producer(s) The Karate Kid John G. Avildsen Robert Mark Kamen Jerry Weintraub The Karate Kid Part II The Karate Kid Part III The Next Karate Kid Christopher Cain Mark Lee The Karate Kid Harald Zwart Christopher Murphey Robert Mark Kamen Will Smith, Ken Stovitz, James Lassiter, Jerry Weintraub & Jada Pinkett Smith Karate Kid: Legends Jonathan Entwistle Rob Lieber Karen Rosenfelt

The Karate Kid (1984)

Daniel LaRusso and his mother have just moved to Reseda, Los Angeles from Newark, New Jersey at the start of the school year. Befriending classmate Ali Mills, he comes into conflict with Ali's ex-boyfriend and star pupil of the "Cobra Kai" dojo Johnny Lawrence and his gang. After being beaten up by the Cobra Kai gang in an after-school fight, Daniel finds an unlikely friend and karate sensei in his apartment complex's handyman, Mr. Miyagi, a proficient karate master. Making a deal with Johnny's merciless sensei, John Kreese, to end the fighting, Miyagi trains Daniel to compete at the All-Valley Karate Tournament.

The Karate Kid Part II (1986)

Immediately following the All-Valley Karate Tournament, Johnny is attacked by his furious sensei, John Kreese, in the parking lot. Mr. Miyagi intervenes, rescuing Johnny and passively humiliating Kreese in the process. Six months later, Miyagi receives a letter about his ailing father and plans to return to his home village on Okinawa Island. With Daniel in tow, Miyagi's past catches up with him as an old rivalry with a former friend is reignited.

The Karate Kid Part III (1989)

Six months after the 1984 All-Valley Karate Tournament, a down-and-out John Kreese visits his Vietnam War comrade, rich businessman Terry Silver. Silver sends Kreese on vacation to Tahiti, promising to re-establish the Cobra Kai dojo and get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi. Meanwhile, Daniel and Miyagi have returned home from Okinawa to find Daniel's apartment building being demolished and his mother back in New Jersey taking care of a sick relative; Miyagi invites Daniel to stay with him. When Miyagi refuses to train Daniel to defend his title at the tournament, Daniel happens across Silver who offers to train him Cobra Kai-style.

The Next Karate Kid (1994)

Mr. Miyagi (the only character from the previous films to return) travels to Boston, Massachusetts in order to attend a commemorative service for the Japanese-American soldiers who fought in the 442nd Infantry Regiment in World War II. While there, he reacquaints with Louisa Pierce, the widow of his commanding officer. Louisa introduces him to his rebellious teenage granddaughter Julie, whose anger issues – resulting from her parents' deaths – make life difficult for Louisa. Offering to help, Miyagi sends Louisa to his home in Los Angeles for respite while he works to mentor Julie. Julie initially rebuffs Miyagi's help, but warms to him after coming into conflict with the leader of her school's shady security fraternity, Ned.

The Karate Kid (2010)

In this remake of the 1984 film (later retconned, placing it in the same fictional universe of the original films), Dre Parker and his mother move from Detroit to Beijing after she transfers jobs from a car factory in the city. He befriends Meiying, a young musician who goes to his school, but draws the unwanted attention of Cheng, a kung fu prodigy whose family is close to Meiying's. Cheng and his friends relentlessly bully Dre at school to keep him away from Meiying, resulting in a fight on a school field trip where Dre is beaten up before being saved by his apartment building's maintenance man, Mr. Han. After failing to end the bullying by talking with Cheng and students's ruthless kung fu teacher Li, Mr. Han agrees to train Dre to compete at the upcoming open kung fu Tournament and defeat Cheng.

The film was originally said to be a Karate Kid film that the characters in the original films and in the Cobra Kai series would have watched, essentially a film made inside the Karate Kid universe instead of made about the said universe. The subsequent film Karate Kid Legends retconned this idea and tied it back into the main Karate Kid film series.

Karate Kid: Legends (2025)

A sequel to both the 2010 film and the original films, Mr. Han’s great-nephew and student Li Fong moves from Beijing to New York City with his mother after the death of his brother in a kung fu-related attack. Li befriends Mia Lipani, daughter of pizza shop owner and former local boxing champion Victor Lipani, bringing him into conflict with Mia’s ex-boyfriend Conor Day, a local karate champion. Li trains Victor in kung fu to aid him in a boxing match to pay off his debts, but following Victor's illegal defeat he decides to enter the Five Boroughs Karate Tournament with Mr. Han's encouragement. Mr. Han visits Daniel LaRusso and invites him to New York to train Li in both karate and kung fu for the Five Boroughs.

Television series

The Karate Kid (1989)

In this animated children's television series, a miniature shrine with mystical properties has been stolen from its resting place in Okinawa. Joined by Taki Tamurai, Daniel and Mr. Miyagi are tasked with locating it and returning it home, traveling the globe on a series of adventures. The characters were not voiced by the original film actors, although Pat Morita voiced the opening narration.

With regard to Cobra Kai, executive producer and co-creator Jon Hurwitz revealed the animated series is not canon, however the shrine from the series appeared as an easter egg in Chozen Toguchi's Okinawa dojo during the third season of Cobra Kai.

Cobra Kai (2018–2025)

34 years after the 1984 All-Valley Karate Tournament, a down-and-out Johnny Lawrence, now in his 50s, has just lost his job. After getting arrested for rescuing his teenage neighbor Miguel Diaz from a group of bullies, then getting cut-loose and disowned by his stepfather, Johnny agrees to teach Miguel karate and reopens the Cobra Kai dojo, attracting social outcasts who build their self-confidence under his unorthodox tutelage. Meanwhile, Daniel LaRusso owns a successful chain of car dealerships and is happily married to his wife Amanda but struggles to keep a balanced life without the guidance of his now-deceased mentor, Mr. Miyagi. Johnny's estranged and troubled son, Robby Keene, hoping to get back at his father, comes under Daniel's wing – initially not knowing Robby's parentage – giving Robby a job at his car dealership and teaching him Miyagi-Do karate. Daniel and Johnny come into conflict after Cobra Kai's return is made public, while Daniel's daughter Samantha gets caught in the middle.

According to Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, the only characters that they would explore in the series were ones who featured in the first four films. The creatives stated that they internally reference these characters as a part of the "Miyagi-verse", and explained that they are those who interacted directly with Mr. Miyagi.

Cast and characters