- “The world shows no mercy. So why should we? Some people have it good, but the rest of us, we have to fight for every inch of what's ours. Not just to score a point - for everything.”
- ―Tory Nichols to Miguel Diaz
Tory Nichols is a major character in the YouTube Red/Netflix original series Cobra Kai. She is the arch-enemy/rival turned friend of Sam LaRusso. Her Sensei is John Kreese and the ex-girlfriend of Miguel Diaz. Following her expulsion for starting the school karate war, she forms a bond with Kreese. Through this bond, she becomes more ruthless and vengeful. She goes on to be one of Kreese's most corrupted students, with her karate skills earning her the nickname "Queen Cobra".
She is portrayed by Peyton List, who also portrayed Emma Ross from the Disney Channel series Jessie.
History
Past
Tory was born in 2002. She grew up in a poor family, where her father abandoned her and his mother worked in a restaurant and would bring home leftovers so that Tory and her younger brother Brandon had enough to eat. When the restaurant owner caught her one day, he fired Tory's mom. This experience made Tory believe that the world is a cruel place that shows no mercy and that people have to fight for what they want.
Season 2
When she arrives at the Cobra Kai dojo, she impresses both Johnny and Kreese with her kickboxing abilities. She becomes friends with Aisha and enters a relationship with Miguel, but develops a heated rivalry with Sam LaRusso after an incident at the beach club where Sam suspects Tory of stealing her mother's wallet. Her animosity towards Sam is further deepened when she finds out that Sam is Miguel's ex-girlfriend, and her insecurity over the fact that Miguel still has feelings for Sam leads her to strike out at Sam any time she sees them together. After seeing Miguel cheat on her with Sam, a vengeful Tory decides to furiously challenge Sam to a fight in school. Amidst the confusion, the students of the two dojos fight each other in an all-out brawl that ends with Robby accidentally kicking Miguel over a balcony railing and sending him falling off the second floor. Despite using dirty tactics and a spiked bracelet wrapped around her fist, Tory loses to Sam in the fight, but not before cutting Sam's right arm and traumatizing her. She eventually turns against Johnny and sides with Kreese following the coup at Cobra Kai after Miguel is accidentally crippled by Robby at the end of the school fight.
Season 3
Tory is expeled from the school for instigating the brawl and maiming Sam. placed on unsupervised probation, and is forced to take on a day job waitressing at a sushi restaurant to make ends meet for her struggling family as her mother is undergoing dialysis, and is constantly harassed by her perverted landlord Rodney, who makes sexual advances at her, and uses the threat of reporting her to her probation officer to prevent her from retaliating and intimidate her into backing off. Kreese approaches Tory, needing her back at the dojo, and secures her loyalty by threatening her landlord. As Kreese's star student, Tory stops at nothing to exact her revenge on Sam. Later in the season,
Tory also befriends Robby after he joins Cobra Kai when they find common ground in their broken home lives and their own betrayals from Miguel, Johnny and Sam as well as their resentment towards their probation and expulsion from school for their roles in the school brawl. Upon finding out that Sam has gotten back together with Miguel and helped him save the All-Valley Tournament from being cancelled due to the aftermath of the school brawl, Tory leads the Cobra Kais in an attack on the LaRusso household, engaging the students of Miyagi-Do and Johnny's new dojo Eagle Fang Karate. She singles out Sam, chasing her into the Miyagi-Do dojo and attacking her with nunchucks. When Tory breaks a portrait of Mr. Miyagi, however, Sam regains her resolve and fights back with a bo staff, disarming Tory. She attempts to escalate the situation, only to be cornered by Hawk, Demetri and Miguel in the process. Tory retreats, but not before vowing revenge on Hawk, Miguel, and Sam.
Season 4
During the Season, Tory remains at Cobra Kai and then is befriended by Amanda LaRusso, Sam's mother, who helps Tory find another job and with her mother. She later turns to Amanda for help with her home situation after being confronted by her aunt Kandace and is later able to return to school after Amanda gives her permission, revealing that she has come to sympathize with Tory due to her sharing a similar past. Sam later reluctantly agrees as well to satisfy her parents, but she remains suspicious of Tory's motivations.
During the finals at the Tournament, she faces off against Sam again, but Amanda asks Tory to fight within the rules and expresses hope that the match will finally end the rivalry between the two girls. With Sam combining Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang techniques, she proves to be a match for Tory who accidentally elbows her in the eye. Despite Terry Silver encouraging Tory to illegally hit Sam in the other eye to win, Tory, recalling their previous fights, fights clean and wins. Much to Sam's surprise, Tory expresses genuine concern for Sam's injuries once the fight is over, showing that she has agreed to honor Amanda's request to end her rivalry with Sam once and for all. Tory's win gives Cobra Kai the All-Valley championship, but Tory is devastated and conflicted when she catches Silver bribing the referee for rigging the final match between her and Sam in Cobra Kai's favor which is why he hadn't deducted a point from Tory after her hit to Sam's eye and had earlier refused to give Sam a point saying Tory was out of bounds even though she stepped out of bounds after Sam scored.
Relationships
Romances
Tori used to date Miguel Diaz and seeing him kiss Sam in public. She later broke up with him.
Her current boyfriend is Robby Keane
Friendships
She strikes something off a friendship with Amanda LaRusso in Season 4. Tory turns to Amanda for help.
Rivalry
Tori has an extreme rivalry with Sam LaRusso, resembling Johnny Lawrence and Sam's father, Daniel's rivalry when they were younger. It has been an ever growing hatred between the two girls when Tory found Sam and Miguel kissing, enough to challenge her into a fight. However, in Season 5, Tory begins to see the error of her ways and tries making peace with Sam due to Amanda LaRusso asking her to end her rivalry with her daughter.
Gallery
| The Karate Kid | ||
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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 | ||