Why Hawk is STILL an AWESOME Character - Character Analysis/Theory 

Remember to treat others with respect in the comments. What's next for Hawk?

As he said “the guy who’s gonna win this whole f*ckin thing”. He really deserved to win it all at the end.

Hawk is genuinely one of the best written characters in any media his character arc from bullied to bully to redemption to understanding wow

Turning Eli into The Hawk and then back to Eli is what makes this so good, we see so many characters become someone completely new. It's rare we see them go back to their roots

Jacob Bertrand is a terrific young actor. He transitioned from Disney Channel shows to Cobra Kai and made Hawk a very memorable "Karate Kid" character. The same could be said for Peyton List, Tanner Buchanan, and Aedin Mincks.

I think his fight against Robby in the finals is probably the best fight so far in the series, the high stakes, the soundtrack and choreography were on point.

dang, from a shy bullied insecure kid, to a energetic tough confident guy, to a merciless brutally ferocious bully, and then to a balanced badass. All in 4 seasons, un-rushed.. legit one of the best written character in history of Cobra Kai.

From a shy kid, to a ruthless bully, to a badass that find his balance. Best character on the show with Johnny.

eli pulled off a faint sweep followed by a back roundhouse and at that moment i realized he was a far better fighter than previous seasons.

He finally defeated Robby after countless times of losing to him as Robby is honestly a prodigy but Hawk’s focus, determination and newly found confidence allowed him to win.

Hawk’s redemption ark reminds me of Zuko’s in The Last Airbender. That for me is the golden standard, and Hawk’s may just contend with it! I really like the overarching message in Cobra Kai that not only one way is the right way, and that taking inspiration from several different sources is a good thing. Awesome video man!

I absolutely hated him in season 3. But I love his redemption arc. He’s proof that you can be a complete badass without being cruel. I’m glad he and Demetri patched things up, I love them!

Exactly one year ago, I said Eli had a long way to go for redemption. And I have to say, Season 4 has fully redeemed him in my opinion. His arc was incredibly written and it has combined both the badassery of Hawk and the kindness of Eli, and it works perfectly. Him winning was very good to see, and it wasn’t 100% predictable either. I enjoyed this season and am looking forward to season 5. Very good video too.

Hawk's development from shy nerdy Eli to aggressive, confident but bully Hawk to a mixture of both combined was really a wonderful character arc ! I'm so happy he reunite with Moon and had kiss her before the Tournament !

Imagine what Chosen could do with Hawk, man I am so excited for s5

Honestly the drawback and issue he had to face as Hawk coming back to eagle fang with Johnny and members being harder on him. Had Daniel throw out the harsh truth that bullying other students and trashing the dojo would have punishment. Admittedly As Hawk he is still a jerk other cobra Kai members and a bully like Moon said . When he returns as Eli without the mohawk and fully embarrassed, the script got flipped one more time . zero confidence and a lot of self control of his anger

Ever since the second season, I've always said that if anyone needed balance more than anyone, it was definitely Eli Hawk Moskowitz. His lack of balance cost him his 2 best friends, his girlfriend and his reputation and from the last episode of season 3 and throughout season 4, he regained all he lost by being himself and still being a badass. He even earned Robby's respect

I love how you can see a physical shift in how he acts when he switches styles. He looks more intense when he is fighting aggressively in the Eagle Fang style, but in contrast looks very calm when defending.

Objectively, Hawk may be the best written character on the show. Watching his journey was pretty damn incredible.

I Hope Robbie trains under Johnny, and Miguel under Daniel, I can't really see Miguel going to Cobra Kai because of his character unless his Dad has a weird sudden influence on him.. Maybe Hawk Will trains with both schools and be a figure in both dojo's.

Hawk wasn't my favourite character earlier but I definitely like him in S4. Now eli have become one of my fav character.

It is funny that Kreese was looking for a champ in his dojo in Season 3. He thought that Robby was the only one capable of being a champion. Hawk was just a pawn in his plan. And then, season 4 happend. Kreese biggest mistake: underestimating the power of the Hawk.

A meta commentary, this video clearly shows the difference in budgets between seasons. Look how DARK the first All Valley was, compared to season 4's.

Hawk is my favorite character, Though the season redeemed itself for me when he won the All-Valley, I felt like he was ignored too much during a lot of it. His switch to Miyagi Do, though just what he needed, deserved more. Johnny did a lot for him, so I would have liked a conversation between them on him leaving, or Johnny fighting to keep him. I worry about these new characters taking away time from others we've grown to love. I enjoyed Kenny, but yikes, was there too much Anthony. I get that he's Daniel's son, but lord is that kid unbearable.

Though expedited, Eli's redemption arch was the best aspect of Season 4, except for Terry Silver being Terry Silver and his psychological deceleration. I know he doesn't need the mohawk, but I do hope he grows it back. Moon said she dug it, so that should be enough motivation.

When I saw Miguel get hurt, I immediately knew that Hawk was going to win it. This show really demonstrates what it means to have a champion mentality which is: Accepting yourself by embracing your fears. When Miguel was introduced, it was clear that he is afraid of conflict. By the time he wins the tournament, Miguel has embraced that desire of pursuit on what he believes is right and fight for it. He now faces conflict head on instead of running for safety as soon as they appear to be close. When Eli is introduced, he is afraid of being rejected for who he is. He learns how to use his strength, but he uses it to compensate for his lack of self-steem, thinking that people will accept him if he rejects his old self by embracing his new self: Hawk. Sadly, this only results on him lashing out onto everyone, even those close to him. He is left to determine who he really is, Eli or Hawk? And even at the tournament he hasn't figured it out yet. It's after being shown forgiveness by Demitri (someone that knew him as Eli) and Moon's kiss (someone that knew him as Hawk) that he finally realizes that Hawk and Eli are not opposites but both are part of himself and who he is. Even when Robby has incredible skills, he hasn't won it because he is yet to confront his biggest fear: Ending up as his father. A lot of the decisions he makes are based solely on doing the opposite of his father, as he believes that by going against Johnny he will prevent ending up like him. He has certainly learned a lot, but that has given him a false sense of wisdom. He truly believes he knows best since he has grown by learning from the mistakes of others (including Kreese, Daniel, and Johnny), yet he hasn't learned from his own. That's why after losing, the first thing he does is looking for his father. Johnny recognizes the position he was in, and he doesn't want anyone to end up in that same place, let alone his own son. Robby needs to realize that the best way to avoid ending up like his dad is to understand and forgive him as well as learning from him. I really hope Robby grows and gets to win a tournament, because that wouldn't be just a closure for him, but for Johnny as well.

The character development really took shape in Season 3 and 4. It's what will make this series successful after 4 seasons. It's not about the plot anymore its the characters.

I love how hawk fights because it reminds me on my kick boxing fighting style. Always looking at the opponent, expecting then to strike and moving a lot so they don't touch you.

Loved Hawk since the beginning, definitely best story arc out of everyone in the show! (Can’t wait for Kenny’s arc)

Not gonna lie, the cut mohawk gave him a double mohawk, he looked kinda like Keith Flint (from The Prodigy - RIP) I thought he was going to keep it, it looked pretty badass imo

Chozen will definitely enjoy training Hawk next season. Next up I hope you upload a video on Robby.

12:53 It's very important to know though that during that scene with Hawk looking Kyler in the eyes and Kyler bowing his head. Hawk (and everyone else) needs to keep that. Kyler bowed his head in shame because he knew that he was the one that instigated the bullying of Eli. If Kyler had never bullied Hawk and was just some rando.. Hawk's confidence, strength and ability would basically prevent Kyler from ever even trying to bully him.. And this is one of the best ways to avoid fights.. "The best way to not fight is to be good at it."

I think when Robby looked back at his fellow teammates cheering on him , he didn't take the point on hawk allowing him to break away. I think that's a reference to when Miguel had Robby in a lock in the final episode of S2 and Robby broke away

Something I've noticed is that the lower Eli's confidence is, the more noticeable his scar is

Hawk's character arc is probably the most interesting one in the show, which is saying something. I think many believe this is Hawk/Eli coming full circle, but I think it's not quite there yet. I do hope we get to see the mohawk again. For one, it was simply a much too great visual to just cast aside forever, and for two, obviously he liked it. Eli *enjoyed* being "Hawk", and he doesn't have to throw that away just because he's cast off the influence of Kreese and that version of Cobra Kai. What I think would be a great development, maybe a bit on the nose but it would fit perfectly, is to have him combine his two monikers into one and go by "Hawk-I". Not only as a portmanteau, but also because we know from his talk with Demetri that he's a *Marvel guy* ( the portmanteau "Hawk-I" referencing Hawkeye, the marvel character)

Cobra Kai had sort of been the Eli Moskowitz show ever since S2, but the S4 finale really cemented it - as well as the fact that neither Miguel nor Robby are the main character anymore. In fact, for my money, the real storyarc of S4 was Eli and Demetri's rekindling bromance - and might I add, having a friendship like theirs (and a friend like Demetri) should be goals for everyone. From a purely karate standpoint, Robby is still the best practitioner, but Hawk is a very close second, as well. Both showcase the real-life benefits of cross-training across different styles. Fun fact: Hawk is the only fighter on the show to have been a member of all three dojos, as Robby was never in Eagle Fang, Chris was never in Eagle Fang, Demetri was never in Eagle Fang, Sam was never in Cobra Kai, and Mitch was never in Miyagi-Do. The rest just followed Sensei Lawrence across dojos (Bert, Nate) or stayed behind in Cobra Kai (Kyler, Tori). This is shown to have had a huge impact on his karate, and if Robby hadn't been a more naturally skilled practitioner (and therefore a more technically skilled one), Hawk would have easily been the best fighter out of all three dojos - a fact which the show acknowledges by having him put on a five-star , 'any given Sunday' main event bout against the only male practitioner in his age category that is truly at his level (a hot take, I know, but it feels like Miguel has been stalling in his development after coming back from injury - understandably so, but still - and Kyler is way too cocky to ever want to develop beyond what he already knows.)

My most favorite character in whole of cobra kai Loved him since season 1 and love him even more in season but I want his Mohawk back that's it

The best part about him using the same takedown technique as Johnny did to win the championship is that Hawk/Eli didn't actually see it. They both just improvised it.

Your break down on Eli/Hawk character was spot on. I never seen your channel until today. I subscribed and have liked your videos. Your breakdowns/insights are awesome!!

I would say that Eli/Hawk is due having the strongest foundation. Whereas Sam embraced both fighting styles, Eli embraced the fighting styles AND the philosophies from each teacher. From Johnny, "don't let people walk over you". From Daniel, "patience keeps you from making mistakes". From Kreese, "channeling". Imagine if Eli was taught the "Quick Silver method".

Cobra Kai Season 5 in June!

Always love your character analyses!

Hawk's turn to the good side was so epic, it apparently made his lip-scar seemingly vanish without a trace.

Jacob Bertrand is an amazing actor. You can tell a big difference on Hawk and confident Eli just by subtle body movements, facial expressions, and tone of his voice.

Love this channel too much! ❤

I can definitely see a spin off series with Hawk, Demetri and maybe Miguel running their own Dojo.

Your the man!! Love these vids keep up the good work my friend 👏

hawk just reminds me akashi seijuro a lot. eli becoming himself with hawks strength and confidence is badass

Eli‘s achievement of balance reminds me of the Professor Hulk persona, being able to blend intellect and awareness with strength and assertiveness. So Eli is Professor Hawk.

Fun Fact: His purple mohawk looks similar to his blue mohawk in season 2

Great video!

I subbed to your gaming channel to show my appreciation for this amazing video

2:27 Actually Hawk was trying to pick on Kenny. Hawk is still a bully and I think it took the humiliation of getting his mohawk cut off by Robby to lose his entire identity. In a way Robby put him in his place. The Cobra Kais had bad intentions and did it for the wrong reasons but Hawk needed to be put in his place. Getting his ass kicked by his sensei wasn't enough, he was still a bully. He had to lose everything tangibly that made him Hawk and struggle to regain his identity. See, it was too easy for him to flip the script like that and just change his hair and he got massive confidence but it was fake confidence. It was not earned, and the kind of person he became was not deserving of confidence. In the end he got that confidence back, but let's see if he is actually a better person in season 5. If he takes what Moon told him to heart. Not about not needing the mohawk but what she said "He was always a bully. That's not who you are." He seems to already have shed the shield he keeps up to avoid other people seeing vulnerability such as him being friends with "nerds." That's what all that was in seasons 1 and 2 when he kept saying "cut out the nerd shit" he was defending his fragile new identity because if his peers saw he was friends with nerds they would question whether his new identity is real. which of course, it's not real, because he's not a bully. He's a nerd, and being a nerd is not necessarily a bad thing. I mean we're all nerds here because we're talking about Cobra Kai lol. A nerd can still be a badass. And those are words I hope everyone seeing this really heeds. You can still be a fucking badass, so no matter what you think you are. If you want to be a badass you can be one. You just have to be one. That's literally all it takes for you to become what you want to be is to ACTUALLY BE. Find out how that person acts, and then act like that. That's the way you become what you want to become. But I think Hawk did fully redeem himself by the end of this season even though there weren't opportunities to show it. That first situation with Hawk and Kenny where he stopped Kenny from striking first, that was the mentor that kids like Kenny need. But bullying him shouldn't be the way, and Hawk should have led the charge saying it was an accident. At this point Hawk is not yet a man. He is still a boy. He's afraid of siding with Cobra Kai on this one issue. Things aren't black and white. Had Hawk actually taken Kenny under his wing I think Kenny would not end up the bully he became at the end of the season. Robby was great to Kenny but the fact that Kenny is in Cobra Kai is why he ended up becoming a bully. It's even worse than Hawk because Hawk turned into an asshole but he was only an asshole because of Demetri was a threat to his identity. With Kenny, he's set up to become a force that terrorizes the school in season 5. Dude is bent on revenge and going to be drunk on power.

I absolutely love the scene in the All-Valley when Eli kisses Moon and gets his confidence back; when "Quiver" kicked in I was so hype to see Eli kick Kyler's ass

8:22 LIKE THE INCREDIBLE HULK!!! Mind blown 🤣🤣🤣... thanks mate, I needed that!

He really deserves that win at the end

Hawks Hair color (In my opinion) is soposed to represent his change in heart, like a Jedi. With blue being good, Red being sorta evil, and purple being the balance between the two.

I love Eli, one of the best characters in TV at the moment, kudo to the actor, he is doing so fucking well... he has a BRIGHT future... and I look forward to seeing it!

That "Boink" had me laughing 😂🤣😂 Great vid btw

Good video liked it a lot

i like how they used colour theory for his Mohawks (didn't notice until Moon brought it up but after looking into it, it shows his feelings and arcs a lot more visually than others)

Great job

Absolutely love this character glad you guys love him too

Great video. What character videos do you have coming up next?

Always been my fave now even more

Yessir my boy hawk. Been my favorite character since season 1. He's definitely not a perfect character but that's why I love him. Seeing his growth and development each season has been a pleasure to watch. W video bro🔥

There’s something I realized about hawk’s character. I feel like his character served as a silent tribune to Julie’s pet hawk, angel from the next karate kid. How they are similar: His back tattoo was a subtle reference to angel. His season 4 arc was similar to angel’s role in nkk: Losing his Mohawk broke his spirit, similar to how angel broke her wing. Demetri, Moon, and the rest of miyagi do helping him restore his confidence is a parallel to how Julie helped nurse angel back to health and miyagi healing angel’s broken wing. So in other words: thanks to mr miyagi, Angel could fly again and Eli(indirectly)’s spirit was restored.

Jacob Bertrand is a very fine actor. From a teenager so unsure of himself, frightened, bulled and then became a bully, then found his authentic self with the help of both Johnny and Daniel, and his struggles with guilt after he broke Demetri's arm, Jacob Bertrand used a lot of eye sights, micro-expressions to show the battle in Eli/Hawk. Instead of either Eli or Hawk (or Eli vs Hawk), it is now Eli the Hawk.

I appreciate that you pointed out that Hawk and Johnny both used the same move on their big fights in season 4

It's amazing how heart breaking they make the scene where he has his hair cut off and turns up feeling crushed

Not sure if this has been mentioned but I bet it was inspired by starwars. The purple light saber resembled light and dark. His hair was red when he was a bully and purple when he became good. He uses (for lack of better terms) light and dark karate.

Hawk's redemption started when he helped his Binary Brother Dimitri. Then he found his balance when he was confronted by Daniel when he tore a part of the Dojo's door. For me, he is the most awesome badass character.

Knew this was coming since I saw the last hawk video a couple days ago.

Need one on Tory, then Sam. I feel Tory will have a lot of internal conflict next season.

I want him to be a tad more aggressive and confident, I'd also like the mohawk back. He doesn't need to be the arrogant aggressor he was in seasons 2 and (part of) 3, though that was a GREAT arc for him and his development but, I'd like to see some changes from where he landed at the end of season 4. His character at the point of the story feels meek.

Hawk is definitely in my top three Cobra Kai characters! Gotta love the amazing character development this show is so good at. Very proud of how far our boy has come. Can't wait to see everyone again in Season 5!!!

Hawk is the best character as far as character progression and building goes he played the friend the villain the redemption and the winner I can't wait to see atleast another 3 seasons of this show all though a total of 10 seasons would be great and maybe even another spinoff when they're all older

Of all members of this series Hawk is definitely one of my favorite characters. Definitely a series that has been well done kudos can't wait for season 5

Hawk has a story arc that reminds me so much of Zuko, struggling to figure out who he us and where he belongs. He makes a lot of mistakes on his journey but he learns and grows from them. I can't wait to see how he keeps evolving.

The point about Johnny Lawrence as Sensei to Eli and not Robby being the crucial point to his victory was beautifully edited into the video man damn.

I am looking forward to seeing he and Moon officially being back together next season, and beyond. That and hopefully get his mohawk back, which has been implied will happen. It being either orange, or green would be a perfect fit for his conversion to Miyagi-Do too.

This video is perfect. At first, I thought Hawk was intentionally trying to bully Kenny but this video thankfully got me 100% in for Hawk, although I was rooting for him the whole season. Another reason why he's my all time favorite Cobra Kai character (at first, it was Johnny & Miguel tho).

Can't wait to see Eli/hawk progression in season 5 after learning what chozen teaches

Yeah Hawk has always been my favorite character since season one. He's just such of very interesting character who has come a long way from being the nerd who gets bullied to being a bully to just improving as a person while still being a BA.

Wow you made another video about hawk

I wonder what Hawk was actually planning to get at the tattoo parlor? Seeing as it looks like his back tattoo is already sorted, and he greets "Rico" suggesting he hasn't seen him yet that day, so isn't just waiting for the new ink to dry (his back around the hair does look slightly red so could have been part of it).

You caught most of the major points I'd been mulling over in this video! One place our thoughts differ: Narratively, I don't count Kreese/Silver under the checklist for "balance." So if a student trained extensively under both Daniel and Johnny, I was counting them as having the symbolic balance the show was advocating for. If you think about it this way, there are 3 students who trained under both Johnny and Daniel (for a prolonged period of time) - those being: Hawk - Boys' Champion, Sam - Finalist who would have been champion if the ref hadn't been bought, and Miguel - who demonstrates enlightenment by choosing to listen to his body and his heart rather than fight. All three students enlightened by the teachings of both senseis were true champions this season, even if the record books won't say it.

NGL, I hated the fact they shaved him. It hurt personally lmao.

Video on Demetri , Miguel and Johnny's character

If you haven’t notice hawk hair color changes like the lightsabers in Star Wars(blue- light side , red - dark side , purple - in between)

Hawk rocks along with Burt as both characters are relatable like other characters in the Cobra Kai series, but truly awesome characters.

Eli is cobra kai's version of mace windu studies the dark and light to learn who he truly is and using techniques from both in Harmony

Lip < Hawk < Eli "the guy who's going to win this whole fucking thing" Moskowitz The White. His story arc/coming of age/evolution came full circle and will become even stronger.

Hawk is my favourite character I think the main reason is that I see myself in him before he become hawk and after he became hawk it would be like what if the little guy had all the power

That shirt with peace on the sleeve you bring up also has a Michael moorcock chaos symbol over his heart

I would love to see videos on what we can expect in S5 if the theories of both Mike Barnes and Juile Pierce returning as the co-Senseis for both Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do are true. As for Mike Sean the actor who played him in Karate Kid 3 said if the creators are willing he would be on board to come back and reprise the role of the iconic villain, and Sean actually gave us some hints on what to expect from the older Michael "Mike" Barnes first he stated that Mike will still be the same aggressive, intimidating villain who is willing to cheat that we saw in 85, and will once again ally with Terry Silver and serve as the co-Sensei of Cobra Kai and Terry's main enforcer of Cobra Kai's domination over the Valley, however Sean also stated that the older Mike will not be the same 1-dimensional money hungry villain that he was back in 85, instead his motives for once again aligning with Silver, and Cobra Kai are more nuanced and while he didn't give any specifics on Mike's new nuanced motives for once again allying with Silver, and Cobra Kai he did state these nuanced motives are the result of how Mike's life turned out after his loss to Daniel in the 85 All-Valley Tournament. As for Julie her coming back is going to be determined by 3 things those being are the creators willing to bring Hilary Swank back to reprise the role, Hilary's acting schedule, and if Hilary is willing to reprise the role. But if everything lines up and she does reprise the role Julie for Cobra Kai S5 here's what we could expect first off Julie being aware of Cobra Kai in Next Karate Kid Mr. Miyagi actually told her about him and Daniel's encounters with Cobra Kai when teaching her the lesson of "No bad student only bad master" after she mentioned how Col. Dugan the instructor of the Alpha Elite is just as bad as them, and the creators gave us hints of what she got up to after the events of Next Karate Kid via some interviews along with mentioning the events and characters of Next Karate Kid are canon within the Miyagiverse they mentioned prior to Cobra Kai S1 Julie met and befriended Daniel at Mr. Miyagi's funeral, and 2nd they mentioned that Julie took Mr. Miyagi's lesson "No fight but if must fight then fight to win" to heart and actually kept up her training even training as an adult meaning her martial arts skills, and her mastery of her fusion style of Miyagi-Do Karate/Chinese Martial Arts is just as sharp or sharper then ever. So if Julie does return in the fifth season as the co-sensei to Chozen at Miyagi-Do then the good guys have several advantages along with being able to aid Amanda in helping Tory earn redemption and getting Sam to fully forgive Tory, her fusion style that combines Miyagi-Do Karate, and Chinese Martial Arts is something that Terry and the others at Cobra Kai won't be ready for or know how to defend against since they never dealt with anyone who uses Chinese Martial Arts before, plus her fusion style means she'll be able to teach Daniel, Chozen, and the students some moves and techniques they didn't know were possible to do, along with teaching them how to fight against opponents who use dirty tactics including how to fight without sight.

He truly is the most balanced character in the series. The only one to train under Johnny, Daniel AND Kreese.

I love that you also like Hawk/Eli

The thing I love about eli, believe me there are a lot but this one stands out, is that even tho he has ‘a sob story’ like sam would put it, he still found balance and the right way to use karate. He is the only character that had the confidence to choose his own way by mixing offense and defense. I really respect that

I don't know how this show is going to end but currently it seems like the ending they're going for is Miguel finding balance outside of fighting, hopefully reconciling with everyone, and moving on, and I now want Hawk to study under Chozen and become the most badass fighter on the show balancing the styles of all sensei's seen so far.