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Robby "major sensei issues" Keene ([personal profile] strongroots) wrote2022-08-23 03:21 pm
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Character Base


• Character Name: Robert Swayze Keene (Robby Keene)
• Age: 17
• Canon (Date/Year Released)/Canon Point: Cobra Kai (first season released in 2018, fourth season in 2021), end of season 4.
• Items Coming Along: Skateboard, bag of belongings (change of clothes mostly), 2 pairs of shoes, a sleeping bag, and a water bottle.
Content Warnings for Character: Child neglect, poverty, physical violence, homelessness, mention of hospitalisation of another kid through violence

Character Background


• History: Link!
• Core Relationships:
  • Johnny Lawrence:
      ( TL;DR: Robby's father and a large factor of why Robby holds so much self-blame, anger, difficulty in trusting in others to be there. Johnny's own guilt over being a lousy father only adds to their troubles of properly reconnecting, though there is love and care on both sides. )

      Robby's father, and the backbone to Robby's core issues. A man who wasn't there when he was born, nor for the next sixteen years of his life. There's anger towards his father, yet Robby's feelings are more conflicted than a son who never wants to see his already-absentee parent. Early on, we witness how - despite already seeing Robby pushing Johnny away multiple times - Robby appears cautiously hopeful when his mother shares that Johnny wants his son to live with him. Hearing about this leads Robby into seeking him out, though a meeting doesn't occur when Robby catches his father hugging another boy his age.

      It inspires jealousy in Robby's complicated feelings, and we see how he's willing to act on them - by going straight to where he knows it will hurt Johny the hardest.

      By getting buddy buddy with Johnny's old karate rival that he's never been able to let go of, of course.

      Robby's time with said karate rival - Daniel LaRusso - becomes more for the young man than he had anticipated; so that when his dad does found out about it, Robby's more devastated than smug. But he still has a desire to prove himself, entering the karate tournament the next day that he knows his father will be attending with his own students. Unaffliated, without anyone backing his corner, he's always watching for his father's reactions despite Daniel also being there. It's also Daniel who steps up to support Robby while Johnny doesn't, or can't, sticking by his own students.

      Students that attack Robby with his back turned, and fight dirty to take first place from him. There's animosity, and while Robby tells Johnny later he's not able to forgive him yet, there's the same cracks that have always been there of a son who wants to give his father a chance, but doesn't know how to.

      It's how much of their relationship goes - a son wanting his father to be there, giving his dad chances, but his father not always making the best choices. By the time season 4 ends, Robby goes to his father, lost and feeling like a failure, emotionally at his end. It's a tearful moment that leads to Johnny embracing his son and telling him it'll be alright.

      How things goo from there is to be seen, and things never go smoothly for the pair. But deep down, despite their issues, they do want the other in their lives.

      It's just getting around those issues, first.


  • Shannon Keene:
      Robby's mother. An addiction with drugs and drinking led her to not being as present in Robby's life as he'd like, and also to her not watching out for his best interests as she could be. Her increase in going out and bringing back men has been causing a rift to grow between them, and yet for the bitterness that Robby does feell, shown by him making a jabbing remark about her being too hungover to spend time with him, he does care greatly for his mother. He tells off his dad when he makes mention of her out drinking, and it's his mother he goes to when he's on the run. Not to stay, as by then she's in rehab and getting her life back on track (a choice that Robby respects), but to tell her that he's planning to leave town.

      She isn't around often due to rehab and not being a major character in the show, but Robby cares a lot about his mum despite her issues.


  • Miguel Diaz:
      His father's student, as well as Sam's on-and-off boyfriend. The two have never really engaged outside of relationship, family, or karate drama, and yet they have the ability to get under each other's skin because of those reasons. Robby first saw Miguel when he was hugging HIS dad, which led to Robby going to Daniel LaRusso in the first place, as a means to get back at his father.

      Yet for the part that Miguel played in this early stages, there isn't a strong animosity on Robby's part around the guy for what he saw - it ends up coming from everything else. He next sees Miguel drunk off his head and having a go at Sam for bringing him (Robby) to a party after being late, and then goes to attack Robby, punching Sam instead. Then Robby and Miguel meet at the All Valley Tournament, where Miguel and his team cause his shoulder to dislocate, and also use his wound as a means to beat him for first place. It becomes a real rivalry as Daniel opens the Miyagi-do dojo, and Cobra Kai - the dojo that Miguel is a part of - come for Miyagi-do, for a various of reasosn. Robby also starts dating Sam, which further incites the bad blood between Miguel and Robby.

      And still, it only goes downhill from there. Robby becomes the reason Miguel becomes temporarily paralysed due to a kick off a railing. He feels guilt over this, but different factors turns his self-blame into indinance as he feels abandoned by those he trusted around him. It's not helped when he finds Sam and Miguel in a compromising position, and any chance of reconciliation between the two will take a conversation neither of them want to indulge in.

      Teen drama, man.

  • Daniel Larusso:
      ( TL;DR: Robby's sensei who also has a rivalry with his dad. Welcomes Robby into a family life, but then carelessly hits on Robby's vulnerabilities by comparing him to his father. Also cops him into the police way too quickly, despite trying to help him. Potential for reconciliation after Robby gives away Daniel's karate techniques to the enemy (or despite it). )

      Robby's first and former sensei, and his father's longtime rival. Robby initially sought out Daniel as a means of getting back at his father after witnessing the friendly embrace between Miguel and Johnny. He joins his car dealership, working hard and trying his best to be a top-notch employee, but nearly messes it up when a prank pulled on him leads to Daniel chastising him, and he storms out with the intention of quitting his job.

      Luckily, Daniel realises what happened, and they form a relationship like Robby had been looking for. But it goes beyond his petty get-backs at his father, with a real bond actually forming with the man as Daniel takes Robby under his wing: first as an employee, and then as a student in karate. For the first time in his life, Robby is given guidance from another, a chance that he's never had. So much changes for him, and about him: his anger and knee-jerk temper easing, and he's given stability, and focus. It no longer becomes about his father solely, but about having an adult figure at all - and one that has time for him.

      Robby holds back on telling Daniel the truth of who his father is, knowing how badly it could go. And it dooes, the same night he plans to tell Daniel the truth leading to the three meeting in the same place instead, and both Johnny and Daniel becoming enraged. Daniel denouces him, throws him out from his job and from the dojo, and Robby is torn up from the event.

      Still, they manage to patch things up when Daniel backs Robby during the tournament, becoming his sensei again and affiliating him under his dojo that Daniel starts up in season 2. Daniel becomes more and more someone Robby can rely on, giving him a roof to live under when his mother leaves him in a flat with no electricity and no money for food. Robby does his best not to disturb the equilibrium, hesitant to even start a relationship with Daniel's daughter, Sam, in case it upsets him. What causes it to start stumbling is when Robby takes a drunken Sam to his father's place and Daniel finds out, and Daniel - upset from worry and frustrated due to his issues with Johnny - lashes out at Robby too, comparing the boy to his father.

      And then it spirals further when Robby ends up on the run after harming Miguel. He goes to his mother (now back in the country and in rehab) who calls up Daniel. Their conversation starts fine, but Daniel's choice to call the police who then surprise Robby with their sudden appearance causes Robby to be betrayed, and the same walls he puts up for his father come up now for Daniel, no matter Daniel's attempts to do right by Robby after.

      Because from his perspective, Daniel sees him as his father's son, someone who can't be trusted and can't change. Their distant grows for outside reasons - such as Robby catching Sam and Miguel in an comprising position when he goes to the Miyagi-do dojo for somewhere to stay - which lead Robby into joining the dojo opposing Daniel, Cobra Kai. Robby's simmering anger and need to be better leads him to teaching Cobra Kai the Miyagi-do techniques, which Daniel witnesses during the tournament that year.

      Much of what Robby does is a betrayal towards Daniel in season 4, but in contrast to his previous anger directed at Robby - an anger he realises and apologises to Robby for, if unfortunately ruined by the police showing up - Daniel speaks to Robby simply, warning him when he thinks he needs it. He still cares deeply for Robby, while Robby tries to keep the man and others at arms' length so as not to get hurt again.

  • Samantha Larusso:
      Daniel's daughter, and the girl that Robby becomes smitten with the first time he lays eyes on her. He has a fondness for her, finding her charming, and while he's dismayed when he finds out she has a boyfriend, he's respectful to her through the first season. It's during the second season, following Sam's break-up from Miguel and with them both becoming students of Daniel's karate dojo, Miyagi-go.

      They don't jump into the relationship despite an obvious growing attraction, with Robby worried about upsetting her father with his connection to Johnny Lawrence; but they become drawn to each other, and Robby comes to care deeply about Sam. He's also willing to give her the benefit of the doubt when he finds out that Sam kissed Miguel, not knowing the full details and wanting to know her side. Unfortunately, Robby's time in juvie turning him bitter and his reunion with her catching her in a compromising situation with Miguel leads to their relationship splintering apart.

      Sam tries to reach out to Robby again to get him to join with a partnering Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso. But with Robby spending time with Kreese and Tory, who mocks Robby for still being deluded by Sam, he turns her down, still too bitter at her cheating on him and with everything surrounding Daniel and Johnny.

  • Tory Nichols:
      Robby's girlfriend in season 4, a firecracker of a personality. While their initial meetings are negative, being on opposing teams and getting mixed up in relationship drama, Tory provides support after Robby comes out from juvie and they find each other in the probation office. Robby is heated to see her, but Tory has been involved long enough with the system to warn him about causing trouble, and get him to calm down. Tory sees a connection in their circumstances, the ones to be punished while others don't. It takes a while for Robby to come around to her view of the situation, of how to deal with their anger and injustices, but Tory becomes part of the reason he sticks with Cobra Kai.

      While she's bitter that he doesn't join in on a house fight she initiates, and Robby flares her temper with some light ribbing on the dojo floor, they do come to warm up to each other, with Robby willing to listen to Tory's troubles. A fun night out leads to more, and they get together, forming a bond made from their similar situations and their desire to win.

  • John Kreese:
      His father's old sensei, and Robby's for season 4; he takes over Cobra Kai from Johnny Lawrence (forcibly). Kreese visits Robby while he's in juvie, and while Robby is disinterested to get involved with him - knowing that Kreese is likely trying to get under his father's skin by recruiting him - Kreese does offer him advice that helps him during his stay, and becomes someone he can turn to when he needs a place to sleep.

      He knows he can be a pawn for Kreese given Daniel and Johnny's histories with the man, but Robby tells him (and himself) that he only wants to become stronger, and doesn't care about anything else, while starting to fall in with the mindset of Cobra Kai that allows no room for weakness. However, it's witnessing someone he brought into Cobra Kai turning into the heartless person he was letting himself become that leads to Robby being unable to stick with Cobra Kai and its senseis.

  • Kenny Payne:
      The kid brother of an inmate of the juvie Robby was in that he has a mutual respect for. Kenny comes to him for help learning karate, and while Robby is initially reluctant due to needing to train for an upcoming tournament, he gives in and takes him under his wing when he learns he's being bullied. He watches Kenny's back when he can, going to his father to tell his students to back off Kenny when he finds out they're harassing him, and then taking matters into his own hands when it continues.

      Kenny Payne ends up joining Cobra Kai because of him, and it's witnessing as Kenny becomes vengeful thanks to the dojo - just as Robby himself was - makes his resolve crumble, and leads to him losing the tournament.

Character Personality Through Key Moments


(2+) Positive Experiences:

  • Driven, goal-oriented: For a kid growing up around absentee adult figures that's spiralling him down a path of crime, we see how well Robby Keene can do when given a chance - even when that chance comes via wanting to get back at your dad for daring to hug another kid. (yes, i'm being serious). With the right opportunity, Robby can be driven and hard-working, shining at his new job at a car dealership by going beyond what's required or asked. He's the same when he becomes a student under Daniel LaRusso, learning karate and showing natural skill at it as Daniel teaches him what he knows. He does have a hot-head, finding the initial training demeaning and having nothing to do with the sport; but once he knows that Daniel is honest and not taking advantage of him, a real trust builds up in Robby for the man.

    He respects him, as well. For a boy we're introduced to carrying drugs, skipping school, and swiping laptops from unsuspecting "customers", Robby is polite with Daniel, always referring to him as Mister LaRusso. Part of what drives Robby is a desire to get back at his father, but the jealousy he hoped to inspire by going to his father's rival doesn't burn the same in him as at the start.


  • Stability: Robby longs for stability, and doesn't often go looking for trouble. We see this at the start with LaRussos, who not only provide it in karate, but also in having a place to stay when his mother disappears (then later, when she goes into rehab). He's made a part of the family, called as much by Daniel, and he does his best to keep this good thing in his life, saying so to Sam when they nearly share a kiss.

    ( Robby: 'I'm sorry.'
    Sam: 'No, no, it's okay.'
    Robby: 'I mean, you've got to understand, I've been in a bad situation for a long time, and now finally something good is happening, and - I can't mess it up.' )


    He worries about anything disturbing the status quo could cause his life to go back downhill; for Daniel to disagree about him having a relationship with his daughter, or some other factor coming along. He nearly lost it once, when the truth about his connection to Johnny Lawrence came out. While he does eventually give in to his feelings and start a relationship with Sam, we see a much brighter and happier side to Robby than who he was before the LaRussos, and then after he cuts them out of his life.

    But for the bad decisions that Robby does and can make, he's never one quick to anatgonise people, or to go after them. He tries to cut off conflict, willing to leave when the LaRussos invite him to a beach house that he used to steal from and he's called out by a staff worker there; and in the school fight that leads to his fatally injuring another student, he was the one trying to de-escalate it at the start, only to be caught up in it and riled to a point he couldn't back down from.

    Even later, with his relationship with his father at its worst, he approaches him to ask that he make his students back off from a kid in Cobra Kai in season 4, that Robby's then a part of. It's only with Johnny's refusal to listen to him and Johnny and Daniel's students intentionally humiliating the Cobra Kai students that Robby goes in for payback, during a time when he's carrying his anger close to his heart.


  • Supportive: For as downhill as life goes for Robby, we see how being a mentor and supporting Kenny Payne brings something positive him, even if it isn't distilled in an exact scene. Initially rejecting the idea of being a teacher to the young boy with the karate tournament soon, it's hearing about Kenny's self-blame for his brother being in juvie and seeing a video of the extreme bullying he's facing that has Robby concede, and giving him some basics so he can be accepted into Cobra Kai.

    He takes on a brotherly role for the youngster, watching out for him when he catches members of Miyagi-do harassing him during a movie. Before this, he also encourages the boy while the members of Cobra Kai put him through the hazing period of a new recruit (by making him get them food and drink).

    It's witnessing Kenny become more vicious as a result of being a part of Cobra Kai that leads Robby to give up on the dojo, as well as what makes him lose his focus during his last fight. It also helps him to reconciliate with his father, feeling as if he had let the kid down, and losing steam for the anger in his life that Cobra Kai's teachings were fuelled by.


  • (2+) Negative Experiences:

  • Parental abandonment: If there's anything that's dictated how Robby acts and responds the most, it's his issues around absent parental figures. With an absentee father he resents and a mother who prefers going out dating, drinking and doing drugs, life led Robby into thievery to get some extra cash quick and easy, spending time at skateparks and handling drugs with friends he would steal with. He taunts and ridicules his father in the times they do speak, using their non-existent relationship and even Johnny's own hang-ups over his old rival to take digs at him during a time Johnny visits Robby at his home; and looking to really twist in the knife, he turns to petty means just to get a response out of him - such as finding a way to get close to said old rival, just to make him feel worthless.

    ( Johnny: 'I'm not talking about me, alright? You can still make something of yourself.'
    Robby: 'Like your old pal Daniel LaRusso? Must be nice to be a winner.' )


    But we see just as easily that Robby's hostility is a defence. Not long after Johnny's visit to Robby's flat, we witness him caught off-guard as his mother complains about Johnny saying he should take Robby to his place to stay than with her, calling it a scam. Instead of reacting negatively, he asks how she can be so sure, looking tentative at hearing about his father's concern.

    ( Shannon: 'Oh, did I mention that deadbeat came by to see me?'
    Robby: 'No. What'd he say?'
    Shannon: 'Mm, just some BS about you moving in with him as if he suddenly gives a shit. I'm sure it's just a scam to get out of paying for child support.'
    Robby: 'Well, I mean, how do you know that?' )


    He's the same with his mother, if not as harsh. In the same scene, walking into the flat with her favourite food and asking if she wanted to sit and watch a movie together, he becomes disappointed when she has plans to go flirting that night at bars for men. It's as she promises to hang out another night that in his agreement Robby adds, '--if you're not hungover', a jab lacking the same bite reserved for his father. It drops completely as she reassures him and asks him to be supportive, showing that for the bad habits his mother has (to the point where the rent doesn't get always paid, and his flat later loses electricity due to the bills not getting paid), he cares about her, and looks for her affection despite their situation.


  • Inadequacy: We get to witness how Robby's issues of a barely supportive lifestyle lead him to panic, and to feel inadequate and unwanted. In the same way that Robby wanted to use Daniel LaRusso to get back at his father early in season 1, an unfortunate incident occurs late into season 2 where Daniel uses Robby's weakness of being compared to his father. It's as Robby attempts to help Samantha - Daniel's daughter - cover up her intoxication after a party by taking her to Johnny's place, and a panicked Daniel kicks in Johnny's door to get his daughter (granted, after 5 seconds of talking with Johnny to rile him up (for daring to ask he cool off)).

    By this time in the series, we've seen Robby trying to be careful about where he's managed to get in his life now: by having stability in a place to stay with the LaRusso's, help getting back into school, and having the full support of Daniel in karate. Yet Johnny Lawrence is as much a trigger for Daniel as Daniel is for Johnny, and seeing his daughter around him, and knowing Robby took her there makes him lash out, declaring his support in Robby to be a mistake - and bringing Robby close to tears.

    ( Daniel: 'Why didn't you call or text us?'
    Robby: 'Mister LaRusso, it was my fault, I brought her here.'
    Daniel: 'Don't even start. I gave you a second chance, this whole thing was a mistake. You know, if you want to end up like him [Johnny] that's up to you.' )



    We witness further instances where Robby confesses to feeling no good, when he later agrees with Daniel's assessment that he'll never change who he is, that he can't; and when at another later point, he shares with his father that he always blamed himself for Johnny leaving.

  • Anger & Resentment: But self-blame doesn't mean there isn't anger and resentment. Robby will get defensive like most others if he's humiliated, ready to quit his job at the car dealership in season 1 when another employee tricks him into starting up a car in the showroom, despite his plans to get close to Daniel. He puts up fists too during this scene when Daniel touches him, if not very good ones.

    Anger and resentment is what leads to him pushing back his father, constantly. And this does spread to other relationships, where Robby can find it hard to trust in others once he's been hurt. He has a habit of searching for signals that he's not wanted, taking Sam's fewer e-mails during his time in juvie to mean something of how she was feeling - disregarding that he hadn't messaged her back, only trying once to contact her, and failing. There's still openings in him to let people in again, but if he feels his feelings are proved right (such as catching Sam with Miguel once he's back out), then his walls go up, and Robby makes it difficult for anyone to get past them.

    It's a response tactic that often hurts Robby more than helps, where he isolates himself from friends, or any help. He does this during season 3, where he goes to someone he had previously blown off after giving up on all his prior relationships: to John Kreese. When Kreese visits him in juvie, Robby knows off the bat the man wants to use him as Johnny's son to get back at his dad. But the man's advice then helped him on the inside, and desperation is enough to lead Robby into being susceptible.

    Because while Robby says that he knows everyone's game, we see how he's influenced by the power that Kreese promises him, and also by Tory as well. Each tell him that his anger will make him feel better, and Tory also convinces him that he's still unfairly defending Sam, who gets everything that she wants - which then influences Robby's latter conversation with Sam, who makes a point of 'being the first to tell you no'.

    It's this conflicted heart being turned towards anger at everyone else to lead to his betraying his former sensei, Daniel, and decide that all he wants is to win, turning a blind eye to the bullying company he keeps.


  • Deer Country Attributes


    • Canon Powers: While skilled in karate, Robby has no supernatural or powers beyond being a normal human teen.
    • Blood Type: Warmblood
    • Omen: Catahoula leopard dog, or similar to
    • Blessed Day: October 11th; the month to match with the patron Cloverfield, and that's about it, lol.
    • Patron Pthumerian: Cloverfield, due to a connection through longing, loneliness, and feeling lost in life. Robby will be neutral to sympathetic towards Cloverfield, the latter likely to come if he were to interact him. Otherwise, living idols/higher beings is weird and he wouldn't think to approach or learn too deeply about Cloverfield/any of the patrons.
    • Blood Power Manifestation: Warmblood, no cool powers. :(


    Writing Samples


    One: w/ Vi from Arcana
    Two: w/ Tory from Cobra Kai

    A whole toplevel here if you want to see more!

    The Player


    • Player Name: Ree
    • Player Age: 32
    • Player Contact: [plurk.com profile] blitzoff at plurk, or messaging this journal!
    Permissions: Here.