Dutch is a major antagonist in the original The Karate Kid. He was one of John Kreese's students at the Cobra Kai Dojo and a member of Johnny Lawrence's gang, as well as a prison inmate in adulthood.
He was portrayed by Chad McQueen.
Early life
Dutch joined the Cobra Kai Dojo at some point and became friends with Johnny, Bobby, Tommy, and Jimmy. When Rocky III came out in the summer of 1982, he and Johnny went to check it out at the theater. While at the theater, Dutch threw milk duds at some girls sitting in front of him, causing one of the girls named Ali Mills to stand up and angrily yell at him. On one day or night, Dutch, along with Johnny, Bobby, Tommy, and Jimmy, went to a bar where Dutch broke a dartboard, which resulted in him going to juvie (shirt for juvenile hall) for the first time.
The Karate Kid
Dutch is first shown coming to the beach on a motorcycle along with his Cobra Kai friends. When Johnny notices his ex-girlfriend Ali Mills talking to Daniel LaRusso, Johnny goes to the beach to talk to her and Dutch along with the others follow him. When Johnny beats up Daniel, Dutch is shown restraining Ali and laughing.
While Daniel is riding his bike on one night, Dutch, along with the gang, surround him with their motorcycles and knock Daniel down the hill.
On Halloween night, Dutch, along with the gang, corners Daniel on the South Seas Apartment Complex and beats him up. When Bobby Brown tells the gang to leave him alone, Dutch rebuffs him and is bent on beating Daniel up. However, Mr. Miyagi swoops in and beats up the gang.
Prior to the start of the All-Valley Tournament, Dutch, along with the gang, come into Daniel's locker room, where Dutch begins taunting Daniel. When Daniel ignores him, an angry Dutch pushes Daniel and tries to goad him into attacking him, which nearly results in a fight. Unknown to Daniel or the Cobra Kai's, the referee, who was standing nearby, orders Dutch and the other Cobra Kai's to leave the locker room or they will be disqualified. While Dutch is leaving, he threatens Daniel, and then starts laughing. He faces Daniel in the quarterfinals round. At first, he gains the upper hand by kicking Daniel in the face. However, Daniel recovers and beats Dutch.
When his instructor John Kreese orders Bobby to put Daniel out of commission, Dutch is shown smiling.
The Karate Kid Part II
Following Johnny's loss to Daniel at the tournament, Johnny argues with Kreese after his sensei berates him for losing. After Johnny insults Kreese, the sensei chokes him. Despite being present, Dutch's back is turned the other side and does not even attempt to stop Kreese.
The Karate Kid Part III
Despite not making an appearance, it can be implied that Kreese's actions following the tournament resulted in Dutch leaving the dojo along with the other Cobra Kai members.
Interim Years
Dutch would continue to hang out with Johnny and his friends throughout the 1980s and at least into the mid 1990s. Johnny has alluded to wild parties and events with his friends into the 1990s. In his original Facebook message to Ali, Johnny tells her that in 1993, Dutch hot-wired a golf cart and drove it into the Encino Oaks Country Club pool and got arrested for it as well as banned from the club.
Sometime after that, Dutch was arrested for committing an unknown crime and sent to Lompoc Federal Prison. While it is unknown when exactly he was sent to prison, it can be implied he was sent there 5 to 10 years before the episode "Take a Right". Comments were made that implied that this term became 10 to 20 years in prison, indicating that some serious crimes were involved.
Cobra Kai
Season 1
Despite not appearing, he is shown in a few flashbacks, and Johnny tells his student Miguel Diaz about the time when Dutch threw milk duds at Ali while at the theater.
Season 2
In "Take a Right," his Cobra Kai friends Johnny, Bobby, Tommy, and Jimmy talk about the time Dutch smashed the dartboard which resulted in him being sent to juvenile hall, and one of the others remarked that that was not his only time. Johnny remarks how Dutch's criminal career continued into adulthood, as he is currently in Lompoc Federal Prison. Bobby, now a pastor, has frequently written letters to Dutch to show that he is not forgotten and hopes that he can minister to him inside the prison. The four men then toast to Dutch's memory in a seedy bar.
Season 3
In Johnny's original Facebook message to Ali, he mentions that Dutch got arrested in 1993 for hot wiring a golf cart and driving it into a pool at the country club.
While Johnny is having lunch with Ali, Johnny reminds her that Dutch ran over her radio during their encounter at the beach in 1984, even though it was actually Johnny who ran over her radio, because Dutch wore a gray jacket instead of a red jacket.
Personality
Dutch was a vicious bully. However, he was a lot more cruel than the other Cobra Kai members among his batch. Some instances of his cruelty include unwilling to show mercy to Daniel while beating him up on Halloween, taking pleasure in taunting and intimidating Daniel prior to the All-Valley Tournament, and approving of Kreese telling Bobby to put Daniel out of commission. The fact that he was the only Cobra Kai student that approved of Kreese instructing Bobby to put Daniel out of commission shows how cruel and vicious he is (even Johnny disapproved Kreese's actions).
Not only was Dutch a bully, he was a troublemaker as well. When he was a teenager, he broke a dartboard at a bar which resulted in him going to juvie for the first time. During his adulthood, he committed a serious an unknown crime which resulted in him being sentenced to anywhere between 5 and 20 years in prison.
Dutch can be considered one of the most aggressive Cobra Kai students due to his hot headed attitude. Dutch could be considered the stupidest member as well, unlike the other four who heeded Kreese's orders to stop harassing Daniel; Dutch was willing to attack Daniel in the locker room of the All-Valley Sports Arena, even in plain sight of a referee, which nearly risked his disqualification until the referee forced him to back away. However, it is possible that he was not planning to fight Daniel in the locker room, and was instead just trying to intimidate him. He could also be considered the meanest Cobra Kai student due to his vicious behavior and him being one of the few Cobra Kai students to not have any redeemable qualities.
Trivia
- Dutch, although being his display name, is the character's last name.
- While Johnny was the leader of the gang, Dutch is by the way the meanest Cobra Kai member among Johnny's friends, as he showed no redeemable qualities, whereas Johnny knew when things were going too far.
- He is the only member of the original students of Cobra Kai to turn for the worse in adulthood.
- Dutch so far is the only member in Johnny's gang to not make an appearance in the Cobra Kai series.
- Some future characters that can be compared to him are:
- Mike Barnes: Both are aggressive, hot-headed, and intimidating
- Eli Moskowitz: Both are aggressive and hot-headed, as well as being the most corrupted by Kreese's unethical teachings
- Doug: Both are aggressive and intimidating
The Karate Kid | ||
Ali Mills • Amanda LaRusso • Anthony LaRusso • Bobby Brown • Brucks • Daniel LaRusso • Demetri Alexopoulos • Dutch (The Karate Kid) • Jimmy (The Karate Kid) • John Kreese • Johnny Lawrence • Kyler Park • Miguel Diaz • Mike Barnes • Mr. Miyagi • Robby Keene • Sam LaRusso • Terry Silver • Tommy (The Karate Kid) • Tory Nichols • Kenny Payne |