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"Spoiler Content Warning!" |
| “ | Welcome to Barcelona, b-tch. | „ |
| ~ Zara to Tory, her most famous quote. |
| “ | What's up everyone, it's your queen of karate here! Just finished our second Sekai Takai event where the Dragons absolutely slayed! Although, it was awesome to see other badass girls of karate fighting out there. Anyway, let's see if any of these other dojos there try to dethrone us. And to all my fans, I'm here to win for you! So stay tuned, I'll post again after our next event! Zara out. | „ |
| ~ Zara Malik. |
Zara Malik is a major antagonist of Season 6 of the YouTube Red/Netflix series Cobra Kai.
She is the female champion of Iron Dragons Karate and a famous influencer that developed a rivalry with Tory Nichols during her time at the Sekai Taikai.
She is portrayed by real life multi-time Taekwondo champion and actress Rayna Vallandingham.
Her Evil Ranking[]
Her Villainous Deeds[]
In General[]
- While Zara is loyal to the Iron Dragons, her association with the dojo is still professional—tied to her status as a social media influencer, her position as their top female student/girl captain and defending Sekai Taikai girls' champion prior to her defeat by Tory.
- She is not influenced by Sensei Wolf; although she does not question or disobey him and remains under his authority, Wolf does not abuse or manipulate her as he does with Axel. his may be due to her social media influence, as she could potentially expose him, which likely motivates him to maintain her loyalty. Zara retains her own agency, and her actions are not carried out on his orders. While Wolf gives her a nod after being impressed with her winning the bo-staff event in the sudden death match, this moment is brief.
- Her connection to Terry Silver is purely transactional and indirect. Silver manages and funds her dojo through his partnership with Wolf, using their team to pursue his own goals in the Sekai Taikai. While there is mutual respect, their alliance remains strategic.
- Despite both undefeated for most of the Sekai Taikai and co-captaining the dojo , she has minimal interaction with Axel and they can hardly be considered friends. In the lobby, Axel ignores her complaints about losing sponsors, focusing instead on Sam and Miguel. In the Iron Dragons training scene, Zara is unnerved by Wolf's abuse of Axel but does not intervene and shares a brief glance with him which distracts him until Wolf snaps him out of it. She is also absent when Axel faces Miguel in the boys' final. This contrasts with Kwon, Yoon and Tory, who also had a strategic alliance but maintained some camaraderie.
- While the show's previous teenage antagonists were tragic, redeemed and mostly bullies or delinquents, Zara stands out as a two-faced, egotistical social media influencer and world karate champion who lacks redeeming qualities. Alongside Kwon Jae-Sung (despite his tragedy) and Yoon Do-Jin (who, despite his redeeming traits, still learned a deadly technique), Zara is notably more ruthless.
- Though she has comedic moments, such as her sexy poses, her conversation with Sam and Devon in the elevator, her snarky exchanges with Tory, and how she mocks one of her opponents' clapping, these do not undermine her threat or heinousness. She is still taken seriously, due to her combat skills, undefeated streak, and cruel sadism.
- Her attraction to Robby was superficial and mainly a means to one-up Tory. This is subverted during the Sekai Taikai brawl and in her final two appearances when Robby chooses Tory over her.
- Zara fights cleanly in the Sekai Taikai to maintain a positive image, not out of honor. She is still willing to use psychological tactics and manipulation—her politeness is merely a facade.
- While she fears losing her popularity and status, this doesn't make her insecure and it isn't played for sympathy.
Season 6[]
- Frequently blows kisses to her fans, waves to the audience, calls herself the "Queen of Karate", and livestreams during the Sekai Taikai. These behaviors are unsportsmanlike and attention-seeking, though not outright malicious.
- Initially appears friendly to Tory at the captain photo-shoot, but after defeating Tory, Kwon, and Yoon in the Captain's War, mockingly welcomes Tory to Barcelona and insults her.
- Livestreams herself as "Queen of Karate" in the hotel elevator, praises her dojo, and is condescending to Sam and Devon, sarcastically apologizing for their losing streak and dismissing them as “not winners.”
- Shows jealousy when the crowd cheers for Tory after her victory over the Swedish dojo in the second platform event.
- At the tapas bar, grows more jealous of Tory's compliments, pays for Tory's drink but casually brags about her sponsors, and threatens Tory with a taunt about her "one trip to the big time".
- Her hookup with Robby constitutes sexual assault, as Robby was intoxicated and has little memory of the event. Zara taunts Tory by kissing Robby in front of her and later blows a kiss at Tory, using the incident to emotionally manipulate both Robby and Tory.
- In a subsequent livestream, makes a veiled reference to her hookup with Robby and taunts Tory. Tory exposes her as a two-faced liar who steals boyfriends.
- Loses sponsors after Tory exposes her, but this is portrayed as deserved. Reacts vengefully when Cobra Kai is initially eliminated, expressing a desire to attack Tory, though Cobra Kai is reinstated after Tiger Strike (the Russian dojo) is disqualified for using PEDs.
- During the semifinals between Robby and Axel, when Axel is unable to counter Robby's defense, he shoves Robby into the Cobra Kai area—leading to a cheap shot by Kwon and Miguel intervening to protect Robby—Miyagi Do confronts Axel after he shoves Miguel to the mat (out of envy for Miguel being with Sam). In response, Zara and her Iron Dragons teammates stand with Axel and confront Miyagi-Do, further increasing the hostility in the arena. Although she doesn't physically attack Miyagi-Do, she is complicit in supporting Axel's actions and contributing to the volatile situation.
- While Tiger Strike started the Sekai Taikai brawl, due to their male sensei Ivanov knocking out Gunther (the tournament host)and out of anger for their disqualification for doping, she still chooses to participate in it.
- When Tory tries to save Robby from being attacked by Kwon and Yoon (her Korean Cobra Kai teammates), Zara ambushes Tory, declaring she's her's stating "You're mine Nichols!"
- After Tory knocks her down and fights two of her teammates, Zara exploits this, sneak attacks Tory and pummels her. She even calls her "weak" while assaulting her before Robby intervenes.
- Attempts to guilt trip Robby by asking if he would really choose Tory over her, which is entitled and hypocritical given what she did to him prior. When Robby confirms this, she immediately attacks and fights him.
- She and two of her teammates take on Sam, Robby, and Tory after Sam saves Robby when he is attacked by two Iron Dragons members.
- In the Valley, is falsely described as a "great role model" for young followers. In her interview, portrays herself as a victim and claims to be heartbroken when "women attack other women".
- After Miyagi-Do withdraws because of Robby’s injury and Sam’s refusal to fight Tory, Zara asks Silver if she can still face Tory—hoping to humiliate her. This move almost gives the Iron Dragons a win by default.
- When Johnny, Miguel, and Tory suddenly reclaim Cobra Kai and rejoin the Sekai Taikai, Zara, Silver, Wolf, and Axel are shocked and outraged. Though she was unaware of Johnny and Miguel’s former Cobra Kai connections which give them legitimate re-entry,it’s still hypocritical for her to be upset, since her own team nearly won the tournament by cheating and technicality.
- Overpowers her female teammate in a sparring session before the finals.
- Shows no concern when Wolf breaks a teammate's arm and, though unnerved by Wolf's abuse of Axel, does not intervene. This shows she isn't close with her teammates and her not defending Axel is pragmatic given how brutal and strict Wolf is.
- Follows Silver’s advice to never let Tory forget how much “real estate” she owns in Tory’s head.
- She employs insincere praise—such as sarcastically thanking Tory for the social media stunt in Spain, which allowed Zara to exploit the situation, play the “slut-shaming card,” and double her follower count.
- Before the girls’ final at the Sekai Taikai, Zara attempts to break Tory emotionally by declaring, “Everyone loves me, and they’ll never love you,” while mocking Tory’s hometown and supporters. She cruelly remarks that Tory should enjoy her “last fifteen minutes of fame,” as all she’ll gain after their fight is “another notch on her black belt. Kind of like Robby”—a vicious reference to her hookup with Robby while he was drunk, and the resulting emotional fallout for both Robby and Tory.
- Dominates the first round of the final against Tory, using her speed and psychological warfare, but is ultimately defeated and humiliated when Tory regains her confidence in round 2, gains the upper hand and knocks out her teeth.
- After her defeat, it is implied she loses her popularity, but her fate remains unknown as she is not seen again. She is absent when Axel faces Miguel in the boys final and Wolf faces Johnny in the sensei tiebreaker. She is also likely unaware that Silver died and it's unknown if she's still with her dojo.
- Overall she shows no remorse for her actions and her losing to Tory in the Sekai Taikai girls final by being knocked out and losing her teeth is portrayed as well-deserved and satisfying rather than for sympathy.
Why Doesn't She Stand Out?[]
- While she passes the baseline by exploiting Robby's intoxication and heartbreak to sabotage his relationship with Tory for personal gain, making her a personal villain to both, she fails the heinous standards set by Kreese and Silver, whose actions caused greater harm to and had more impact on Tory and Robby. Silver is a corrupt businessman who used his wealth and resources on a larger scale, even before his alliance with Wolf. Despite Zara's influencer status, she never used her platform for widespread harm and even if she did, she still falls below him. She also fails to Kwon Jae Sung and Sensei Wolf, who were more vicious in the Sekai Taikai.
- Kwon attempted mass murder during the all-out dojo brawl once armed with the eunjangdo, endangering multiple rival competitors, and manipulated Robby into believing Tory was hooking up with him, indirectly enabling Zara’s exploitation.
- Wolf, her sensei/mentor is a three-time Sekai Taikai champion who has an illegal/lethal technique (the Shaolin Sunset) and Silver's financial backing, was abusive towards Axel and commanded him to break Robby's leg in their semifinal rematch and exploit Miguel's previous spinal injury in the boys final .He also broke one of his students’ arms (Wing) to prove a point, and after she and Axel are defeated and Silver is dead, he becomes the show's final villain.
- She is still a team player, as shown by giving credit to her teammates on her fan page for their hard work during the Sekai Taikai. Zara and the other Iron Dragons also backed Axel when the Miyagi-Do students confronted him for attacking Miguel. She also applauds Axel’s victory over Robby, where he broke his leg in the third round of their semi-final rematch-under orders from Silver and Wolf, allowing their dojo to reach the finals and nearly win the Sekai Taikai by default. Unlike Axel, who eventually leaves after his loss to Miguel, her dojo loyalty is never subverted.
- She also has some standards and moments of empathy and caring for others, but these are only brief and minor preventions.
- She was likely saddened by Kwon's death and is also noticeably disturbed when Axel breaks Robby's leg. Whether she disapproves of cheating or was worried that Robby got hurt is unknown, but she looks uncomfortable and is seen nervously glancing around, though her previous feelings for and attraction to Robby were not genuine.
- She appears concerned for Axel when he is abused by Sensei Wolf in front of her, exchanging a nervous glance with her fellow captain during the Iron Dragons training scene before the Sekai Taikai finals. However, it is unclear whether she cares about Axel or also fears their sensei. While he doesn't intervene or fear Wolf, he likely would've turned his abuse towards her if she spoke up and she chooses to protect herself than defend Axel.
Trivia[]
- Zara is the first Villainous Benchmark in the Karate Kid franchise to female. She is also the third to be a teenager along with Kwon and Yoon
- Zara's one-night stand with Robby has faced some controversy as it can be considered sexual assault, due to Robby being drunk and not remembering anything while Zara clearly did.
- When asked about it, Hayden Schlossberg said it was not assault as "she wasn't drugging/tricking/forcing him in any way". However, Jon Hurwitz agreed with a fans' sentiment that Robby did not consent.
External links[]
- Zara Malik on the Karate Kid Wiki
- Zara Malik on the Villains Wiki
[]
 Villainous Benchmarks
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Animated Features Live-Action Features Live-Action Television See Also | ||
 Villainous Benchmarks
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