American actor who got famous for his portrayal of Robby Keene in the Netflix series Cobra Kai. The 22-year-old actor has spent most of his life in the spotlight, thanks to TV shows The Goldbergs, Designated Survivor, and movies Anything and He’s All That.
Tanner Buchanan portrays Robby Keene, Johnny Lawrence’s son, on Cobra Kai and the character also has a good balance of similarities to both Johnny and Daniel. Buchanan is on the shorter side of the main actors and the height difference is clear when he stands against his rivals like Miguel and even his father, Johnny.
Season three was especially turbulent for Robby Keene, who is portrayed by actor Tanner Buchanan. If you want to learn more about Buchanan, then you’ve come to the right place.
Tanner plays Robby Keene who is the estranged son of Johnny Lawrence (played by William Zabka). According to The Karate Kid fandom, here’s how the show left things on season 3.
Who is Robby Keene?
Robby Keene is the estranged son of former Karate champion-turned-deadbeat Johnny Lawrence, and a distant alcoholic mother named Shannon Keene. Due to Robby’s estrangement with his father and his mothers perpetual absence, Robby falls into the wrong crowds and quickly becomes a delinquent. He drops out of school in favor of a life of crime, which results in Johnny being pulled back into his life. Johnny attempts to convince Robby to return to school and clean up his life, but the teen harbors resentment and refuses to listen to his father. Their relationship is further strained when Robby sees Johnny hugging his new disciple Miguel Diaz. Johnny later reopened Cobra Kai Dojo with Miguel as his prime student. Wanting revenge for the years of neglect and absence, Robby launches a plan to befriend Johnny’s rival, Daniel LaRusso .
Robby was raised by Shannon for most of his childhood as Johnny repeatedly neglected him which eventually caused Robby to resent him. At some point Shannon began spending more time at bars and with men than with Robby, while Robby became a troublemaker and even a rebellious kid.
Sam and Robby went went to a party together, where Miguel picks a fight with Robby for arriving with Sam. When Miguel swings at Robby, Sam blocks the punch and is struck by Miguel. The pair breaks up that night with Robby and Sam retreating to the LaRusso residence.
Johnny attempts to convince Robby to return to school and clean up his life, but the teen harbors resentment and refuses to listen to his father. Their relationship is further strained when Robby sees Johnny hugging his new disciple Miguel Diaz. Johnny later reopened Cobra Kai Dojo with Miguel as his prime student.
Robby begins working at Daniel’s dealership halfway into season 1, in order to get revenge on his father Johnny for spending more time with Miguel then him . However, Robby thrives in his job and gets along with Daniel. After seeing Daniel practice karate, Robby gets interested, and Daniel starts training him. With Robby training with Daniel, he begins to bond him with him. However, after learning that he is Johnny’s son, Robby is banned from Daniel’s house and dealership. Despite his anger, he roots for Robby in the All Valley Tournament, most likely because of his anger towards Johnny. After Robby is injured by Hawk in the semifinals, he forgives Robby, and becomes his coach for the finals. Despite Robby losing the finals to Miguel, Daniel is proud of him for fighting honorably. Robby then becomes Daniel’s first student at Miyagi Do Karate.
With the All Valley Karate Tournament fast-approaching, Robby is left without a sensei or a dojo to represent. He decides to use the talent he procured from Daniel to enter alone, and earns a spot in the semi-finals. He is paired with Cobra Kai Dojo student and bully Hawk. During the fight, Hawk and Robby exchange belittle one another. When Robby disparages Hawk’s mohawk, Hawk attacks him with an illegal kick and dislocates Robby’s left shoulder. Hawk is disqualified while Robby advances to the finals despite his injury. He is nearly forced to resign from the competition, until Daniel emerges backstage. Daniel had been encouraged by his wife Amanda to help Robby, as she believes Robby had changed. Daniel forgives Robby for his transgressions and decides to help Robby in the tournament, even finding a doctor for his injured shoulder. Miguel, who held a grudge for the incident with Sam, viciously attacks Robby’s injured shoulder. Robby shows positive sportsmanship and tries to help Miguel to his feet, only for Miguel to further injure Robby’s shoulder. Robby ultimately loses the tournament, but upholds his dignity, focus, and fairness during the fight, as pointed out by Daniel. With Robby now having reached a positive mental state, Daniel re-opens his dojo with Robby and Sam as his students.
Daniel takes Robby under his wing in an attempt to teach the misguided teen control. He teaches him Miyagi-Do Karate as a way to instill discipline. He finds a role model and healthy example of an adult in Daniel. Robby also grows close to Daniel’s daughter Samantha, and the pair become friends.
How tall is William Zabka?
9 William Zabka – 6-Feet. William Zabka stars in Cobra Kai as Johnny Lawrence, over 30 years after portraying the character in the first Karate Kid movie and the beginning scenes of the second movie. The movies portrayed Johnny as an antagonist to Daniel, but he was never as villainous as Kreese or Terry Silver in the third movie.
Zabka does a fantastic job getting back into the role and building on the character in the series and as the second tallest actor in the series, he tends to tower over the other characters on the show.
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Some actors in Cobra Kai are over 6 feet tall and some are just over 5 feet, which makes for a wide range of height in the main cast.
Bertrand is 5-foot-6-inches without the mohawk hairstyle, but the mohawk gives Hawk more than just a new persona, as it also makes him appear taller on the show.
