Cobra Kai
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Cobra Kai |
| Abbreviation(s): | CK |
| Creator: | Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg |
| Date(s): | May 2, 2018 - ongoing |
| Medium: | YouTube Red (S1), YouTube Premium (S2), Netflix (S3+) |
| Country of Origin: | United States |
| External Links: | at Netflix at Wikipedia at IMDb |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Cobra Kai fandom formed after the show was announced in January 2018 and the first episode premiering on YouTube later that year. The show is an American martial arts comedy-drama series and a sequel to the original Karate Kid. Taking place 34 years later, the series brings back Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso and William Zabka as Johnny Lawrence, examining the films' events from Johnny's perspective. As such, fans of the original series make up a chunk of the online fanbase alongside newer fans, introduced to the films through the show.
Viewers were able to watch the first two episodes for free on YouTube, which made a lasting effect, enough for people to get YouTube subscriptions. For many, Cobra Kai was the only reason why people paid for a subscription to YouTube (MissViolet). After production of season three was completed, YouTube decided to stop producing scripted original programming, leaving the show without a home until it was picked up by Netflix. This was a point at which the fans feared the show would be cancelled, but the jump to Netflix was a blessing in multiple ways, both keeping the show streaming and also bringing in a new wave of fans.
The fans that have been around since the show premiered on YouTube refer to themselves as the "Day Oners", based on Shannon telling Johnny in S1E4 ("You gave up on day one."). Despite this, there are no tensions between new or old fans of the series.
Most of the early excitement about the series was on Twitter, however this had an issue with male fans who "really didn't understand that you weren't supposed to cheer on the Johnny of the early episodes" (DreamBeyondTheFantasy). These fans cheered on the misogynistic and racist comments, and those on Tumblr used the term "Cobros" to refer to these.
Fan Events & Campaigns
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The full trailer for the first season was posted to Tumblr on March 21st 2018 by DreamBeyondTheFantasy
There are fanfiction awards held every spring.
Fanworks
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Within a few days of premiering, fanfic started to be written and posted both on fanfiction.net and AO3.
Fanfic
Fan art
Fan vids
- We Will Rock You | Cobra Kai by Music Videos // Tributes - A vid focusing on the rivalry between Tori Nichols and Samantha LaRusso.
- Cobra Kai | till i collapse by kavitha - A vid exploring the journeys and rivalries between the students of Cobra Kai along with the damage it leaves.
Popular ships
- Lawrusso (Johnny Lawrence/Daniel Larusso) is the big ship for this spin-off series.
As the show has continued there has been a rise in other ships:
Achillean (M/M)
- Daniel LaRusso/Terry Silver
- John Kreese/Terry Silver
- Miguel Diaz/Robby Keene
- Miguel Diaz/Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz
- Demetri Alexopoulos/Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz
Duaric (F/M)
- Samantha LaRusso/Miguel Diaz
- Samantha LaRusso/Robby Keene
- Tory Nichols/Robby Keene
- Carmen Diaz/Johnny Lawrence
- Ali Mills/Johnny Lawrence
- Amanda LaRusso/Daniel LaRusso
Sapphic (F/F)
Poly
Popular tropes & AUs
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Popular tropes include:
- Whump
- Romance
- Angst
- Fluff
Popular AUs include:
- A/B/O
Examples of communities
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Other Fannish Resources
Podcasts
- Cobra Kai Kompanion - Podcast focused on the series, running from 2018 to present. Includes episode discussions, fannish commentary and meta, and interviews with many cast and crew involved in the show.
- Talkin' Fanfic podcast - Season One (2020) focuses primarily on the Cobra Kai fandom and interviews multiple fan authors.[1]
- The Fanfic Maverick podcast interview with Storyshark2005 about Cobra Kai and the fandom[2].