Samantha LaRusso

Samantha "Sam" LaRusso is one of the three deuteragonists (alongside Miguel Diaz and Robby Keene) of the YouTube Red/Netflix series .
She is portrayed by Mary Mouser. 
== History ==
=== Early life ===
Samantha LaRusso is the daughter of Daniel and Amanda LaRusso and the older sister of Anthony. While she was young, Sam was taught karate by her father, and was close to Mr. Miyagi, who was a grandfather figure in her life. At a young age, Sam was best friends with Aisha Robinson. At some point, their friendship was strained when Sam befriended the popular crowd, though the two are still on good terms. At an older age, Sam quits karate after losing interest.
=== Season 1 ===
One night, Sam was hanging out with her friends Yasmine and Moon. They were riding in Yasmine's SUV and when Yasmine was on her phone while driving, the car crashed into a Pontiac Firebird owned by Johnny Lawrence. She and the girls panicked when a furious Johnny demanded the girls exit the car and they drove off. The next day, Sam visits her father at LaRusso Auto as Johnny watches and realizes that one of the girls he shouted at was Daniel's daughter.
Sam, Moon, and Yasmine hosts a pool party at the LaRusso house on the last day of summer until Sam's family arrives and demands everyone to leave. Sam is also in a relationship with Kyler. That evening, Sam video chats with Yasmine and Moon, about arriving to school the next day and briefly recalled the hit-and-run incident. Later, Daniel invites Kyler over to dinner with Sam and her family present.
She later attends the halloween dance with Yasmine and Moon dressed as Laker girls instead of going with Aisha, dressed as Sodium. She agrees to let Daniel volunteers to chaperone the dance to keep an eye on her as long as he doesn't embarrass her. Later that night, Sam and Kyler sneaks into an empty classroom since he as something big to show her. Daniel, peaky about their relationship, interrupts them but completely misinterprets an innocent interaction as sexual in nature, making Sam furious. She is ready is to leave, but she silently watches as Aisha has been humiliated by Yasmine who tags her in a post and names her a cruel pig as a meme for her eating Cheetos during the Halloween dance that caused her to leave while the other students laugh.
The next day, Sam is still angry at her father and ignores them when he makes breakfast. She meets with Kyler at school and agrees for a movie date. While she is in the library, she is disturbed when she sees Kyler and his gang bullying Miguel and his friends, Eli and Demetri. During their movie date, she questions Kyler about his actions in the library, but he dismisses her concerns by stating that he was just messing with them before attempting to grope her. Sam easily fends him off and storms out of the theater, ending their relationship. She then reconciles with her father.
Sam eats dinner with her family and the Zarkarians at the Oaks Country Club. She originally planned to go to a concert with Yasmine and Moon only to find out through a video that they went without her and they haven't been retuning her texts. Amanda states that she's better off without them. In a parking lot, Sam confronts Yasmine and Moon to find out why they have been avoiding her. She then learns that her breakup with Kyler has led him into spreading lies about her as retaliation. Perturbed, Sam breaks off their friendship and leaves. At school, Sam finds that her association with Yasmine's group has caused a rift between her and Aisha. Fed up with her classmates' teasing, Sam confronts Kyler about the rumors, but he openly mocks her by using her father's vandalized billboard as a reference throughout the school, making her an embarrassment to everyone. Miguel defends her and defeats Kyler and his gang in a fight with his new karate skills from Cobra Kai impressing everyone including Sam.
At home, Sam relaxes near the swimming pool and is dejected by having become a target of Yasmine's cyberbullying. She is approached by Daniel who wants her to join him in his Miyagi-Do training routine and she declines. At school, Sam finds herself without a partner in science lab, but Miguel volunteers to take her into his group with Demetri. Sam thanks Miguel for standing up for her in the lunch room, but playfully points out a flaw in his fighting technique and the two begin to bond.
Miguel eventually asks Sam out, but after her experience with Kyler, she is not interested in dating anyone, but eventually agrees to a friendly outing. They go to Golf N' Stuff and spend time together. After a night of fun, Miguel demonstrates some of his karate skills on Sam, who easily turns the tables on him and pins him to the ground, where they kiss. They begin dating.
Samantha really likes Miguel but hides their relationship from her parents because her father disapproves of Cobra Kai, the dojo Miguel is a student of. She has dinner with her family including Daniel's mother, Lucille and cousin, Louie. They talk about Cobra Kai where Sam says that all of them are bad (due to some of her friends from school being there) but Daniel tells her to stay away from them. She and Miguel talk on the phone while taking a break from their families during their dinner time. Eager to keep their relationship going, she suggests that he join another dojo in the valley, but Miguel declines out of loyalty to Johnny and his friends including Aisha, Eli, now going by "Hawk."
While tanning near the swimming pool, Sam meets Robby Keene, who is Daniel's employee at the dealership and has been doing karate lessons with him. Daniel invites her to come and train with them, but she has already agreed to go to the mall with her mother and grandmother. Later that day, the family has another dinner together with Robby joining them. Unbeknownst to them, Miguel arrives unannounced and sees Sam talking with Robby. Heartbroken and angry, Miguel walks away.
The next day, Sam waits for Miguel at school, they meet in the hallway and he expresses his desire to meet her family, but Sam tells him it is not the right time. Back at the LaRusso house, Sam is confronted by her mother after learning from Johnny of her involvement in the hit-and-run incident. Even though Sam was not the one driving, she gets grounded and Amanda confiscates all of her electronic devices. She gets a call from Miguel, who wants to invite her to a party, and wants her mother to answer it only for her to decline it.
Later, Robby arrives at the house. He apparently sprained his ankle while training alone. With no other option, Amanda instructs Sam to drive Robby home and then come right back. As they get outside, Robby reveals that he faked the injury to get her out of the house, and they hurry to the party. While heading there, they briefly talk about Daniel and Johnny, who is Miguel's sensei and how it could affect her and Miguel's relationship. When they arrive at the party, Miguel shoves Robby down in a jealous rage and then lashes out at him, accidentally hitting Sam. Furious, Sam tells him her father was right about Cobra Kai and leaves the party with Robby also dumping Miguel in the process.
The next day, Amanda tries to comfort Sam (still upset at Miguel for hitting her and attacking Robby) and Daniel (who found out that Robby is Johnny's son and lied to him). She convinces them to attend the All Valley Karate Tournament since LaRusso Auto Group is one of the tournament's major sponsors and must be represented. They attend the tournament and watch the matches with Sam supporting Robby. Following Aisha's loss in her quarterfinal match, Sam congratulates her. While Aisha is hostile with her at first, she seemingly forgives Samantha after she apologizes to her and tells her, her revenge against Yasmine was great. The two then laugh about Aisha's revenge against Yasmine. Aisha encourages her to get back into karate. Miguel tries to apologize to Sam for hitting her, but she rejects him and his Cobra Kai philosophy. Rather than watch the final match between him and Robby, she tells Amanda she wants to leave and offers to take an Uber home. Amanda says she'll go with her and Anthony leaves with them, too. Daniel remains at the tournament. After returning home, she decides to resume her karate training.
=== Season 2 ===
Sam, upset over her breakup with Miguel, blocks him on social media before viewing Aisha's live Instagram story. Sam heads to the Cobra Kai dojo to see Aisha, asking if she wants to hang out. Aisha turns her down as she has to go to Hawk's house for their Cobra Kai homework, however invites Samantha to come with them, which she turns down, and leaves after seeing Miguel. Back at the house, Daniel sees that Sam has resumed her training, and has a brief conversation with her about her grief over the breakup with Miguel. Daniel invites her to join his Miyagi-Do training, but she refused because she does not want to fight her Cobra Kai friends, but soon changes her mind.
Sam and Robby begins training at Miyagi-Do with Daniel as their sensei. They perform a demonstration at the All Valley Fest only for it be crashed by Cobra Kai, who does their own demo. Sam, Robby, Daniel, and Amanda head to a local beach club. She runs into Aisha, who is upset at her because of Daniel insulting Cobra Kai in his commercial, and tries to make amends with her. She clashes with her new friend and Cobra Kai's new student, Tory Nichols. When her mom's wallet is missing during a pool party she immediately accuses Tory who angrily denies having it. She then grabs Tory's hand but Tory knocks her down. 
After struggling to get more students at Miyagi-Do, Demetri joins the dojo after deciding that Cobra Kai's not the right dojo for him. He left a negative review of Cobra Kai on Yelp. While he was hanging out in the mall with Sam and Robby, he was confronted by Hawk, who is enraged of his review. He and his 4 Cobra Kai classmates, including Mitch and Chris, chase him down to the cafeteria. Sam and Robby arrives to defend Demetri with their perfectly-choreographed double-team assault and takes down Hawk and his friends. Back at home, Daniel praises them. 
The next day, Sam, Robby, and Daniel sees that Miyagi-Do's been vandalized by Cobra Kai. Their luck of recruiting students changed when Cobra Kai's ruthless teaching cause several students, including Chris and Nathaniel, to join Miyagi-Do. Sam and Robby were unhappy at first because they recognized Chris, who was one of the Cobra Kai's who tried to beat up Demetri. When things aren't going well with the new students, Daniel decides to tell them the time he joined Cobra Kai in order to show how everyone Cobra Kai can corrupt people, and people can change. Eventually, Sam, Robby, and Demetri are able to work together with Chris and the former Cobra Kai's. Overtime, Sam and Robby develop feelings for each other, but Robby states that it is bad idea for them to date.
Sam somehow rekindled her friendship with Moon, who visits her at home. They talk about what clothes Sam can wear and her relationship with Robby and Moon asks if Miguel knows about it. After a day of Miyagi-Do training, Sam and Robby start dating but doesn't tell Daniel. Later, Demetri finds Mr. Miyagi's Medal of Honor, which was stolen by Hawk when he trashed the dojo, in the garden and Sam thinks that it was discovered by accident.
When Sam and Robby go to a skating party together, they run into Miguel and Tory who are a couple. While she and Miguel wait in line to get more skates, Sam asks him why he is dating Tory which offends him and the two have a brief argument. Later, Tory knocks down Sam after seeing her and Miguel talk in line. Sam, fed up with her behavior, knocks her down in return, but this angers Miguel. Sam tries to explain what happened but she and Robby are kicked out despite Miguel and the security guard being unaware that Tory started it.
On the last day of summer, Sam video chats with Moon and they talk about Miguel and Tory's relationship and the events at the roller rink. Moon invites Sam over for a party at her house while her parents are away and encourages her to bring her Miyagi-Do friends. When Sam, Robby, and Miyagi-Do arrive, they are surprised to see the Cobra Kai's there. Moon reveals to Sam that she's trying to bring peace between the dojo's before school starts, but Sam doesn't think that it'll work. During the party, she faces Tory in a drinking contest which results in Sam's victory against her. She gets too drunk and woozy. After finding out from Aisha that Miguel returned Miyagi's Medal of Honor and gave it to Robby, who lied to her about it, Sam goes outside to get some fresh air. When Miguel checks up on her she thanks him for returning the badge and the two share a kiss but immediately regret it. However, they are unaware that Tory saw them kiss. 
After the cops arrive everyone leaves the party and Sam tells Robby not to take her home because she does not want her parents to see her drunk. They head to the only place where they will not be judged for being so irresponsible: Johnny’s apartment. He allows them to spend the night there. The following morning, Daniel, after seeing Aisha's text to Sam through her laptop, tracks her location to Johnny's place. He arrives and both he and Johnny have a brief fight until Sam and Robby stop them Daniel then angrily takes her home.
On the first day of school, Daniel has taken Sam's car away and he drives her to school. They argue a bit, and Sam gets out of Daniel's car without saying a goodbye, still unhappy with Daniel. Sam meets with Robby and he tells her that Miguel gave him the Medal of Honor. Sam, who already knew, asks why he did not tell her before, to which Robby replies he was scared their relationship would be put at risk if he did. They kiss and then go to class.
During class, Tory hijacks the school PA system and announces she's going to hunt Sam down after she saw her kissing Miguel. When she and Tory meet in the hallway, Tory exposes Sam for kissing Miguel, which makes everyone to be shocked including Robby and the rest of Cobra Kai's and Miyagi-Do's. A fight between Sam and Tory begins. Robby tries to stop the fight, but Miguel, unaware of Robby's intention, attacks him. A huge brawl between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai soon breaks out. Sam tries to get Tory to stop fighting but the she won't listen. Despite struggling for a while, Sam is eventually able to get the upper hand. However, Tory then attacks Sam with her spiked bracelet and manages to injure Sam's wrist with it. Tory is about to finish her with the bracelet but Sam blocks the spike, kicks Tory off her and then kicks her down the stairs, defeating her. However, after Robby kicks Miguel off the railing, Miguel is badly injured, Sam screams "Robby what did you do?" which he runs off while Sam, Hawk and a cop go to an unconscious Miguel.
Sam has serious injuries and is rushed into the hospital. When her parents came by after getting a call from the school and discovers her injuries, they vowed to have Tory expelled. Sam blames herself for what happened. All she wants is for Miguel to get better. When Daniel returns to the hospital and notices Sam isn't in the room, Amanda tells him the doctor prescribed X-rays for her, believing her injuries more serious than originally thought; possibly a broken rib.
=== Season 3 ===
Sam is left traumatized by the events of the school fight. Her arm now dons three scars from Tory's bracelets. Due to her fighting, she was on a two-week suspension from school. Her parents attempt to protest the suspension but fail to change the principal's mind. Sam gets ready is to go back to school and she looks at her wounds and puts on a cardigan to hide the bandage. She is clearly distraught as she walks into school, and as she goes to walk on the stairs Miguel fell on, she has a flashback of the fall. Demetri snaps her out of it and she runs out of the school. She realizes that she's not ready for it and decides to leave school. After having lunch at N' Out, she heads to Miyagi-Do. Daniel later arrives while looking for Robby, who is on the run, only to see Sam there. She asks if Daniel found him yet which he replies "no." They have a heart to heart conversation. Sam returns to school and people are staring at her. She confronts them and tells them to say something to her face.
In the meantime, she writes emails to Robby, who is serving time in a juvenile detention center for his role in Miguel's accident. Sometime later, she visits an awakened Miguel and checks on his well being, informing her he is having surgery and she gives him a card with an octopus alluding to the prize they won at Golf N Stuff, before Hawk arrives and briefly resents her for Robby's actions before he and Miguel catch up while Sam leaves. Sam, Demetri, Chris, Nathaniel, and Miyagi-Do holds a car wash fundraiser to pay for Miguel's surgery with the help of Moon and the cheerleading team. Sam is later interviewed on the news, stating what Robby did to Miguel was just an accident. She also makes a speech about charity and says Miguel is lovely. When Hawk, Mitch, and Cobra Kai attacks Nathaniel and steal the fundraising money to donate in the name of Cobra Kai, Sam sees that Cobra Kai's getting stronger as they want revenge on Miyagi-Do for Miguel's injuries. She decides to reopen Miyagi-Do and train the students while Daniel is away at Okinawa, Japan to save the dealership.
Things start to escalate between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai, when Sam arrives to have lunch with Moon and Yasmine, she sees the intentions between Hawk and Demetri and tells Hawk to back off. Counselor Blatt intervenes and thinks that Sam and Demetri were instigating an argument, making her look unfair as a result. The Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai students faces off into an intense soccer game with both sides playing dirty. This resulted in Hawk and the rest of the Cobra Kai's getting off scot-free and Miyagi-Do receiving Saturday detention which angers Sam. They skip detention and continue training in Miyagi-Do until Amanda and Anthony unexpectedly arrives there. She is upset Sam and her Miyagi-Do friends for doing karate again. Sam assure karate is not the problem, stating that Amanda doesn't know what is going on with the rivaling dojos.
When Hawk, Mitch, and 2 other Cobra Kai's went to Golf N' Stuff and harass Chris, who works there, he texts Sam for help. Sam, Demetri, and two other Miyagi-Do students arrive to help Chris, resulting in a fight to break out between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai in the abandoned laser tag. Miyagi-Do gains the upper hand during the fight until more Tory and more Cobra's arrive. When she calls Sam's name, she suffers a panic attack during the fight as her body shuts down and fears that she'll get injured again. This stops her from defending Chris, who gets beaten up by Doug Rickenberger and Mitch or the rest of the Miyagi-Do students while Tory asks her show herself. She is forced to helplessly watch Hawk break Demetri's arm. Sam cries out of horror before calling for and traveling by ambulance with her friends to the nearby hospital. Tory vows that her conflict with Sam is not over as she and the rest of Cobra Kai leave victorious. While she, Chris, and the Miyagi-Do students are at the hospital waiting on Demetri's arm checks, Amanda arrives and comforts her when she cries as her PTSD kept her from saving her friend. Following the fight, Amanda sends Sam and Anthony to Lucille's.
Left with more trauma, Sam decides to quit karate for good. After Daniel returns from Okinawa, he learns the severity of Sam's trauma. He reconnects with her over a father-daughter fishing trip. She's unsure if she'll defend her again and only wants her friends to be safe. On the way home, Sam and Daniel stop by on the All Valley Karate Tournament location, where Daniel shares with Sam his traumatic experience in the final match of 1985 All Valley Tournament of where he almost lost to fear until Mr. Miyagi help him overcome it and win his match. Daniel reminds her that only she can help herself when she's down and no one else. She decides to continue her training and learns how to fight with a bo staff. Later, Daniel reopens Miyagi-Do and continues training Sam and the students.
When Miguel returns to school now fully recovered, Sam reconnects with him as he slowly discovers the events that happened after his accident. He defected Cobra Kai after refusing to train there anymore, started a new dojo with Johnny (named Eagle Fang Karate), and disapproving Hawk and Cobra Kai's actions and vicious behavior to Sam, Demetri, and the others. They decide to get back together and rekindle their relationship. Shortly, they are shocked to see that Demetri and Yasmine are a couple despite them denying it. 
Later, Sam and her parents attend a city council meeting to convince the council to allow the All-Valley Tournament to continue after it was cancelled due to the school brawl. Due to Amanda's interference along with Daniel, Johnny and John Kreese's arguments, this proved to the council that the tournament should be banned but Sam and Miguel were able to deliver a speech together and convinced the council to let the tournament continue. Sam and Miguel celebrated their victory at the Miyagi-Do dojo which is Miguel's first time in the area. They chat and share a moment, but this was witnessed by a now released Robby, who wanted to rekindle their relationship despite him resenting her father for putting him in juvie. He believes Sam and Miguel were dating the entire time he was in juvie and believed why she didn't send him anymore emails. She stopped writing because he didn't respond to any of them it was due to Robby being harassed during his time there. Robby attempts to fight with Miguel until Sam pushes him away. The pair end their relationship, and Robby leaves, stating that Sam and Miguel deserve each other.
The next day, Sam shows Miguel the inside of Miyagi-Do dojo. They do a quick spar while she teaches him of the Miyagi-Do drum technique and share a kiss on the ground, but they were interrupted by Daniel when he walked in. Sam apologizes to Daniel for not telling him about inviting Miguel over. He told her that she's adding more drama to her life by dating. Sam says that Miguel changed and that he's not in Cobra Kai anymore. Daniel agrees. She watches as Daniel and Miguel have a conversation outside and get to know each other.
That evening, Sam and Miguel invites the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students over at the LaRusso house. They convince the two dojos to work together, explaining that Cobra Kai is the real enemy despite their reluctance until Demetri was able to make a speech and they agree with it. Later, the house was broken in by Cobra Kai, after throwing Bert through the window. The brawl leads to a battle between Sam and Tory, in which Sam initially attempts to run away as she's still scared and hasn't recovered from her trauma. As Tory pummels Sam and begins to attack her with nunchaku smashing Mr. Miyagi's photo in the process, Sam remembers what her father said - only she can help herself when she's down. She regains her strength and is able to disarm Tory with her bo staff, until they are interrupted by a bloodied Miguel, Hawk, who has now defected Cobra Kai after a change of heart, and Demetri. Hawk tells Tory that the fight is over. She tells Sam that war between them will never end. When Daniel and Amanda arrives at the house later and finds out the attack, he and Johnny confront Kreese. Sam and Miguel arrives at the Cobra Kai dojo where they see Daniel nearly finishing Kreese. The three rivaling sensei's - Daniel, Johnny, and Kreese, agree to a tournament to determine if Kreese will leave the valley or if Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang will. Robby, who is now a Cobra Kai student under Kreese, tells Sam, Daniel, Johnny, and Miguel to leave.
Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do merge for the sake of training, bringing Daniel and Johnny together as joint senseis at Miyagi-Do dojo. Sam stands by with Miguel as they resume their training, preparing for the the tournament against Cobra Kai Dojo.
=== Season 4 ===
When Johnny and Daniel's combined dojo begins with a rocky start by their different styles feuding with their beliefs. Sam and Miguel decide to try to persuade them to work together. While he works with Johnny, she hopes she can convince Robby to return. She goes to the skatepark to talk to him. It is reveled that she came there everyday after he ran away hoping to find him. Robby, however, has no interest in giving Johnny or Daniel a second chance. She admits she didn't stop caring about him, but he knows she didn't stop caring about Miguel either. Robby points out that she made her choice, and has to live with that. She just wants him to come back to as it will bring everyone together. He is pleased to be the first person to tell her she isn't getting what she wants. She accepts his choice, but reminds him that he made it, not her. The next day, the students of both Eagle Fang Karate and Miyagi-Do decide to work on building an Okinawan sparring deck, in which it impresses Johnny and Daniel and decide to work their flaws together. 
With Miguel and Sam dating again, Daniel invites Miguel's family over to learn more about each other and their goals. Sam meets Miguel's mother, Carmen Diaz. As Daniel and Johnny agreed to train their dojos with a different style, Sam and the Miyagi-Do students would train with Johnny. This includes jumping from building to building much to the student's dismay. She tells Johnny that Daniel would not want them to do that. Johnny rebuttals that he's just trying to help them survive the All Valley, though she points out his track record of bad judgement. They talk about their previous encounters including the hit-and-run incident and Sam going to his apartment drunk which resulted with Daniel kicking Johnny's door. She angrily points out that she's a teenager who made mistakes, while he's a grown man living alone and drinking all day. He knows he wouldn't be where he is if he followed his parents advice, as he gets to do what he loves everyday, which includes teaching students to find their way. Johnny then fails Miyagi-Do for not jumping while accepting that everyone wants to stay in the nest but after her father texts her not to do things he wouldn't do, Sam then takes the risk and finally jumps to the next building, impressing Johnny and her classmates. The next day, Johnny tells the Miyagi-Do's that if they find themselves in a scary situation they can't back down. Sam calls him sensei as they get ready for practice.
Sam and Amanda are at a party place for one of their worker's kids. Unbeknownst to her, Tory also works at the party place. She is upset at first spending her Saturday at the place. Unbeknownst to the two, Tory also works at the party place. After seeing the mermaid performance, Sam has a change of heart and enjoys the party but Tory gets upset when she sees her. When Tory was telling a story to the kids, mocks her by comparing the story to their recent experiences and makes fun of her singing. Now fed up, Tory has the kids throw glitter at Sam. When Miguel arrives with Daniel, Sam intentionally kisses him in front of Tory to get back at her, which aggravates the latter who storms out. Later that day, she, Miguel, and their Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang friends runs into Cobra Kai at the drive-in theater and ends up in a confrontation. This results in Miguel pranking the Cobra's with sprinklers while he, Hawk, Demetri, and Sam, upset that she didn't get to fight them, watches before driving off. 
At school, she and Miguel tell Hawk and Demetri that both Daniel and Johnny are having a rematch at Miyagi-Do as things start to escalate even further between both sensei’s. When she gets home from school during the day, she and her father argue about Johnny's teachings. She explains to Daniel that she wants to learn Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang in order to stand a chance in the tournament. However, Daniel denies the idea stating how Johnny methods are too aggressive and also reminding Sam of her treatment towards Tory at the kids party with Sam doing the instigating. She ends the conversation saying she can make her own decisions. Sam and Miguel referee Daniel and Johnny's fight. The fight ends with the sensei's knocking each other out and no winner is declared. After an argument between the sensei's, the plan for both dojos to work together comes to an end and Johnny and Eagle Fang leaves.
Both dojos begin to train separately before the All-Valley and just as they do, a new set of adjustments for the tournament head their way, including a separate division for the ladies as well as a weapons display and a division for the boys. Daniel insists that this is good news. Returning home, she is angry to see Tory there and that Amanda is helping her. When she finds out that Tory is being re-enrolled into school, she is very upset of how they wanted her locked up and now Amanda is supportive of Tory returning in school. However, Amanda tells Sam that her rivalry with Tory can't dominate her life. Sam compares the experience to Daniel and Johnny and that she wanted to learn from Johnny. 
After her recent experiences, Sam visits Aisha, who is now living in Santa Barbara after the school fight. She talks to her about what's been going on. Aisha reveals that the school fight wasn't the only reason she and her family moved, it was because her father had a job offer at UCSB. Sam then explains that Tory is going back to school and she has to get used to it. Aisha tells her that Sam will still be her original friend and brought back Johnny's teachings. She ends saying that Sam needs to confront her problems. During a class session, Hawk/Eli decides to join Miyagi-Do rather than remain in Eagle Fang while Sam trains alone. When Daniel sees her, Sam and her father reconcile telling her how proud he is and tells her it's never easy being the bigger person. When Tory returns to school, Sam confronts and tells her that she is not scared of her and threatens her.
At Miyagi-Do, Demetri shows Sam a pair of sai where she tells him that they need to practice their skills to win the tournament. During school, Sam and Miguel have a talk while Johnny comes by pulls him out. She goes to Eagle Fang's new location and meets with Miguel and Johnny to learn about the flying tornado kick as she still wants both styles for the tournament even if she's doing it behind Daniel's back.
Sam is getting ready for the high school prom and Miguel compliments her and tell each other that they put karate aside to enjoy the night. The Diaz's and LaRusso's take pictures with one another to cherish their moment. She and Miguel share a dance but get distracted with Robby and Tory dancing. They later attend the afterparty at Stingray's. Later, Sam and Miguel get in a fight with Robby and Tory. Unfortunately, they lose the fight after Robby throws Miguel, Tory and Sam in the pool.
During the All Valley Tournament, Sam is showing her skills using sai during the skills demonstration. She updates Daniel that she, Hawk, and Demetri have advance to the quarterfinals. Daniel adds that they are still second and needs Chris to win his match. Unfortunately, he loses to his opponent Kyler when he uses Miyagi-Do. Daniel watches the next matches where he is upset that Cobra Kai utilized his teachings and he and Sam conclude that it was Robby who taught them all of their secrets. In the quarterfinals, she faces Cobra Kai rookie Piper. Despite Piper getting the first point, Sam goes back on offense and wins the match which praises Johnny and Daniel was unhappy about it. Sam counters with her way is different than her father's. She watches Miguel and Hawk face each other in the semi-finals which results with Miguel pulling a muscle in his back and collapses shocking his friends, family, Johnny, Sam in the process.
While Miguel recovers, Sam wins her next matches, setting up the final match between her and Tory. After Miguel forfeits because he's not fighting for himself anymore, congratulates her for reaching the final round and before she goes back to the arena, she and Miguel reconcile and share a kiss. Sam watches the finals between Hawk and Robby which results in Hawk's victory and Sam and her classmates celebrating. Daniel and Johnny reconciled and team up again to help Sam in the girls final. Before her final match against Tory, Daniel and Johnny tell Sam to win regardless of offense or defense and after Daniel tells her to beat Cobra Kai, Sam hugs her father. During the fight, Sam incorporates Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang including kicking Tory with the flying tornado kick. At one point during the fight, Sam hits Tory who then stumbles out of bounds, but the referee does not give Sam point and incorrectly states that Tory was already out of bounds. When tied 2-2, Tory hits Sam in the eye, but does not even get a penalty. Unfortunately, Tory beats her and wins the girls division, also leading Cobra Kai to becoming grand champion but after Tory is declared the third point, she asks if Sam is physically okay. Sam then goes back to Daniel, telling him that they still didn't win despite doing the right thing. But Daniel gives Sam advice that it wasn't her fault. The LaRusso's then come home disappointed for their loss. Unbeknownst to Sam and Miyagi-Do, Kreese's friend, Terry Silver, who is co-teaching with Kreese at Cobra Kai, had apparently paid the referee to ensure Cobra Kai's victory.
=== Season 5 ===
Sam and Miyagi-Do meet where Daniel says that he is adhering to the bet and is closing down the dojo. He ends the meeting saying that Miyagi-Do will remain inside of them. She talks to her father about his plan and wants to make things right. She blames herself but Daniel takes the blame and explains why he brought Chozen Toguchi for help. He ends saying that he needs to keep everyone safe and keep Sam and the others out of danger. In the aftermath of the All Valley Tournament, Sam grapples with her guilt over losing the tournament to Tory. She replays and reenacts their fight over and over again, trying to find a way in which she could have won. She finally hears from Miguel, who left during the tournament to find his long-lost father, Hector Salazar, in Mexico and hasn't found him yet. She explains to him that what he's doing is dangerous and clarifies why Carmen and Rosa Diaz left Ecuador for a very good reason. She feels like he abandoned her during the tournament, as she thought he would be in her corner. Miguel gets upset that she's talking about herself and how there are more important things in life than karate but Sam hangs up. His abandonment puts a strain on their already fragile relationship.
When Miguel comes back from Mexico, they exchange messages: Miguel feels guilt for leaving, but Sam understands that he had problems that he needed to figure out, so she hesitates at berating him. While at home, she is approached by Anthony, who talks about his former bullied victim turned bully, Kenny, and how he's getting better. Noticing how she's been, he asks about Miguel before she leaves to eat brunch with Moon and Yasmine. She asks for their help and, wanting to figure out her own problems as well, she accepts to use a sensory deprivation tank. Inside of it, Sam has a vision of all the people in her life (Daniel, Moon, Yasmine, Miguel, Hawk, and Robby) asking her to listen to them, until she sees a blurred figure which is herself. Thanks to the experience, she decides that she needs to stop and to think to herself. She decides to distance herself from karate. Sam and Miguel meet at Miyagi-Do. Miguel apologizes for leaving Sam and Sam apologizes for focusing too much on the 51st All-Valley. Sam tearfully explains that she needs a break in order to figure herself out. The two hug each other and Miguel leaves. Unbeknownst to her, Miguel was going to gift her with a jewel similar to the first present he gave to her, to asks her forgiveness and drops it when he is heartbroken of the breakup.
Days later, she goes to a water park with Moon and Yasmine. She is disgusted when seeing Anthony starring at her friends. Shortly, Hawk and Miguel arrive since Moon invited them. The two try to go through the day without scenes, but the embarrassment is still high. When Miyagi-Do, Eagle Fang, and Cobra Kai students start to argue, Sam has had enough of it and leaves with Anthony.
When her parents argue over Daniel’s feud with Terry Silver, Amanda takes Sam and Anthony to Ohio, to visit her cousin Jessica Andrews and Amanda's mother, Joanne. At a bar, Sam finds out about Anthony’s problems with Kenny and Cobra Kai after seeing an Instagram video of him being kicked into the water. He admits it is, so she asks why he didn't just call her for help. Anthony says says that he didn’t want his sister swooping in. He also admits that he deserved it since he bullied Kenny in the first place. She demands to know exactly what happened, which Anthony complies recalling everything up to when Robby saved him from Kenny’s beating back at the All Valley arena, surprising her over finding out what their former friend did. When Amanda and Jessica are being picked on by their old high school classmates, led by Amanda's old rival, Elizabeth Anne-Rooney, which leads into a brawl, Sam saves the two and they including Anthony flees the scene. At Joanne's, Anthony nicknames his sister “Jean Claude Van Sam” for what she did at the bar, to which she offers to teach him, having realized that she can’t go back to before the feud between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai, as there will always be bullies and that it’s a good thing to be able to defend herself. Sam decides to help Anthony learn to defend himself now that he's no longer a bully.
A week after Daniel got beat up by Silver, he has recovered physically, but his spirit is broken despite his family (in the meantime returned), and Johnny’s efforts to push him to get over his loss. When Daniel goes to work determined to not fight Silver anymore, Sam, Amanda, Johnny, and Chozen discuss what to do: they know that Silver is up to something, which Sam discover about when she finds on the internet a live about how Cobra Kai just conquered Topanga Karate dojo. After Johnny and Chozen's attempt to confront Silver failed and encountered his ally, sensei Kim-Da-Eun, a Korean Tang Soo Doo master, they bring Amanda and Sam up to speed. The group understands that they need to fight, but they need Daniel to guide them, so they bring him to Mr. Miyagi’s household where Sam brought all the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students along with Robby, who has left Cobra Kai, rejoins the team, and makes up with Daniel. Sam and everyone are ready to fight Cobra Kai once again. The two dojos reopen and merges once again.
With Miyagi-Fang back, the students are ready for their first lesson. While they wait for their sensei's to arrive, Sam listens to Anthony’s fears, as Kenny, Kyler and others from Cobra Kai bullied him again, including giving him a swirly at the mall, but she reassures him he’s not alone anymore. Their first lesson is taken by Chozen, who reveals how their job will be protecting an egg from him. Sam puts her egg in a backpack in order to be able to defend it with both hands. She discovered also how Anthony cheated when Daniel attempted to make him clean the cars to which Sam retorts that in a certain sense he succeeded as what used his mind to outwit the obstacle which Robby as well agrees that is what Miyagi-Do teaches. She and Robby catch up a little. During the training, Sam and Miguel are among the last ones to still have their egg intact and then the two find each other inside Mr. Miyagi’s house, where they congratulate to each other for having overcome the problems they lived in the last weeks, with Sam praising him for making amends with Robby. This, however, leads them to lose focus and both of their eggs are smashed by Chozen. Anthony gets an idea to work together to hide all the eggs. The plan works and in the end, Chozen surrenders.
With the arrival of the Sekai Taikai admission committee, Sam, and the Miyagi-Fang students train at both Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang dojos. During the training, she displays her kicking abilities on a watermelon, spraying accidentally its insides on a committee member, Gunther. Everyone is in panic mode, but Johnny makes a Rocky 4 reference that Gunther enthusiastically understands. At the end, is decided that Miyagi-Fang and Cobra Kai’s best male and female students will have to face against each other: Sam and Tory will face each other again. The evening before the fight, Sam finishes up an extra training with Daniel and Chozen. Thanks to what she went through after she returned to practice karate, now she knows what she has to fight for: not for stopping Cobra Kai, nor Silver, nor Tory, but for herself, her sensei and for all those she cares for. Before leaving the dojo, she finds the jewel Miguel was going to give her as a gift before she chose to break up with him and picks it up, realizing that it belongs to him. Sam along with Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang, go to the Cobra Kai dojo for the Sekai Taikai qualifications. During the boys match between Hawk and Kenny, Sam sees how Cobra Kai is fighting dirty again, thanks also to a (unbeknownst to anyone) bribed referee, so much that Hawk is beaten by Kenny, despite being a stronger and more experienced fighter. Daniel warns her about Cobra Kai's unfair moves, but she still decides to fight. When it comes the female’s fight, however, Tory is nowhere to be found, and against Sam is Devon Lee. Even though her opponent as well is favored by the bribed referee, Sam manages to win after listening to Daniel, Miguel, and Chozen, she fights to hit Devon in a so surely fairly that the referee cannot refuse to declare her winner, and because of this, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang are admitted to Sekai Taikai along with Cobra Kai. That night, while her parents, Johnny, Carmen and Chozen enjoy a wild night together, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang celebrate their qualification at Miguel’s house. She arrives with Miguel’s gift, but when she finally finds him, he’s kissing another girl. Heartbroken but this, Sam leaves in tears, but when she arrives outside, she’s approached by Tory, who tells her the truth about All Valley.
The revelation shock's Sam who, still angry for what she witnessed a minute earlier, attacks Tory, accuses her of being a coward and blames her for everything the LaRusso had to suffer before Miguel and Robby intervenes. Sam reveals to them that Tory's been working with Kreese, shocking Robby. Tory, even more angry and desperate, leaves. The next day, Sam meets with, Miguel, Hawk, Demetri and Bert at Miyagi-Do and they decide to go to Stingray’s house to convince him to say the truth about framing Kreese. Stingray refuses at first, but he managed to explain Silver's plan through a Dungeons and Dragons scenario (which he names Dungeons and Dojos). When it becomes clear for the Miyagi-Fangs on what really happened and Miguel asks him on why he doesn't go the police to tell them the truth, Sam believes that Stingray does not want to lose everything Silver gave him but the man confesses his fear that Silver could beat him to death if he went to the cops and snitched on him. Sam is aggravated and leaves and Miguel follows her, where he apologizes for the party but is confused that Sam is upset because of what she said before. She explains that she just wants normalcy and blames Tory. Miguel gets that, but Sam doesn’t know what Cobra Kai is like. He agrees Tory should’ve come forward sooner, but what matters is that she did, and it must have been very difficult for her to do so. Sam, on the other hand, has every right to be angry at Tory, but now the latter has asked for a help that only Sam can provide, so it’s up to her to choose what is the right thing to do.
Later that day, Sam decides to listen what Tory has to say. She arrives at Nichols’ house, seeing how Tory has just been punished by Kim, who forced her to injure her hand against a rock dummy. Coming inside, Sam is shocked by what she sees: everything is a mess, food and garbage are everywhere in the kitchen and, in a room, she sees Tory’s bedridden mother. Just then, Sam finally realizes why her Amanda wanted to help her rival so much. The two finally speak on civil terms and share what they know, for which Tory realizes that if Silver beat up Stingray at the old dojo, it must have been recorded by the security cameras. They cooperate with a plan to expose Silver.
Ready to put things to an end, Sam gathers the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students and, together with Tory, reveals their plan to find evidence on Silver beating up Stingray. when they manage to access the mainframe, they find that the recording has been erased. Tory proposes to take the recording of Silver admitting his corruption to the All Valley, but while Hawk and Demetri deal with it, the Cobra Kai students arrive. To Sam and the Miyagi-Fang's surprise, they learn that Mitch betrayed the merged dojos, tipped off the Kenny and Kyler, and rejoined Cobra Kai. A fight ensues between the three dojos. During the brawl, sensei Kim arrives and starts beating up Tory for her betrayal, so Sam comes to her former rival's aid. The two girls fight the ruthless sensei, but this is not enough against the woman's experience and aggressiveness. Luckily, they are backed up by Devon who, after seeing Kim attacking Tory and Sam, also realizes how wrong Cobra Kai's ways are and sends the Bonsai Badass back to protect Anthony. Thanks to Chozen's teachings, the Miyagi-Fangs manage to hold off their opponents long enough to succeed in their plan. The video of Silver confessing to Tory about the All Valley referee is uploaded, shocking most of the Cobra Kai students. Just then Daniel, Amanda, Carmen, and Stingray arrive, followed shortly by Silver who, after trying unsuccessfully to convince his students that he has done what he was supposed to do for them, challenges Daniel to one last fight. Encouraged by Amanda and Sam, Daniel faces Silver using Miyagi-Do, Eagle Fang, Cobra Kai and the Quick Silver method, the two-time All-Valley champion wins, defeating Silver, who is then abandoned by his students. Sam and her family embraced Daniel afterwards. Later, Sam is resting outside and she is joined by Miguel. She shows him the piece of jewelry she retrieved and he confirms it was a gift for her but when she expressed her need to take a break from everything he decided to support her and respect her request to which she expresses her appreciation. He replies that this is what you do when you love someone. Miguel also shares his feelings for the first time. Moved, she answers that she loves him as well and they kiss, rekindling their relationship.
=== Season 6 ===
Sam and Anthony leave their house and arrive to West Valley High School for the first day of school. She and Tory, now a member of Miyagi-Do, are struggling to get along as they're training the opposite of each other. Later, she and Tory go on a double date with Miguel and Robby at Golf N' Stuff, but are awkward around each other. While Robby tries to talk to Kenny, who's playing in the arcade alone and still refuse to talk to him, Miguel tries to get Sam and Tory to bond through ice cream but to no avail. The two girls aid their respective boyfriends while they are fighting Kenny and his older brother Shawn, who Robby met in juvie. During the fight, Sam tries to convince Kenny to let go of his past and there's a spot for him Miyagi-Do, but he still refuses. After defeating the two, Sam and Tory compliment each other, and make up, with Tory admitting Sam’s Miyagi-Do moves had rubbed off on her from all those times when they’d fought each other. When she arrives at the LaRusso house, she tells her parents how the double date turned out. Eventually, Kenny, after being convinced by Shawn to let go of his anger, joins Miyagi-Do where's he's greeted by everyone. At school, Miguel, Sam, Hawk, and Demetri checks out the college fair during lunchtime. Miguel notices that Sam has a lot of brochures but she assures him that three of the colleges that she's considering applying are close to Stanford.
The LaRusso's have Carmen's gender reveal at their house with Tory attending. While setting up, Miguel and Robby are impressed with Sam and Tory working together and being friends. Sam and everyone cheers when Johnny and Carmen reveals that they are having a girl. With Sam and Tory's friendship, their training has been sloppy in Johnny's eyes. To get Sam and Tory back on track, Johnny invites them to a sleepover at Devon's house in the basement. The sleepover goes well and the chemistry between Tory, Sam and Devon are developing well. When Sam and Tory are talking, both of their phones start to act strange. Sam's phone rings and sees that Robby is calling her. After, Tory then gets a text from Miguel when it's actually Johnny, who secretly stole Miguel and Robby's phones. The two realizes they were being catfished and confronts Johnny and Devon about the whole situation and decide to leave the Lee residence. While waiting for an Uber, Sam and Tory get into another argument. Sam finally apologizes to Tory after Tory reminded her of how their rivalry started over Sam accusing her of stealing Amanda's wallet and not apologizing when the culprit turned out to be someone else; Tory does the same for Sam, and the two tearfully hug as Johnny and Devon watch the whole thing. The next day at Miyagi-Do, Sam and Tory's fighting skills are back on track and Devon reveals that their friendliness with each other was making them sloppy praises Johnny for his methods. Hawk shows a video of Gunther revealing that the tournament will take place is in Barcelona, Spain. However, he explains the selection process and that each dojo would need to pick six fighters, much to the disappointment of the students.
At West Valley High School, Miguel, Robby, Sam and Tory talk about the tournament and Robby explains that they have champions and runner ups who have a guaranteed selection. Before the tournament, Mike Barnes has the students undergo rigorous training processes. After the first session, Sam is one of the twelve students who moves on to the next round. After completing the next round, Miguel, Robby, Sam, and Tory are chosen to go to Barcelona.
While getting ready for training, Sam reveals to Miguel, Hawk, and Demetri that Aisha got into UC Santa Cruz. For the captains of Miyagi-Do, Miguel, Robby, Sam, and Tory are chosen for the position, unfortunately there can only be 2 captains, the 2 captains chosen will be the people who fight in the finals of the tournament. Sam and Tory must face each other to determine who will lead Miyagi-Do. At school, Miguel tells Sam that Stanford accepts 15% of the deferred students and that being the male captain for the tournament will improve his resume in order to be accepted. Sam and Miguel later have a training session with Daniel in the woods. Sam tells her father that she's fighting for closure and Daniel praises her.
On the day of the fight, Miguel and Robby are up first to determine who will be the male captain for Miyagi-Do, with Daniel as their referee. Sam has support in Miguel, standing in his corner. She tells him that no matter what happens, everything's going to ok. They're match beings and Miguel wins the first two points. However, after Tory arrives, Robby mounts a comeback and beats Miguel and becomes male captain. Sam and Tory are next to determine who will be the female captain for Miyagi-Do, with Johnny as their referee. Sam shares a fist bump with Tory (who's in a bad state), stating "may the best female win." The two are evenly matched, with Tory becoming very aggressive and Sam noticing something's wrong with her. Just as Tory is about to deliver the winning blow, Amanda and Daniel stops the fight where Tory reveals to everyone that her mother recently died, much to Sam and everyone's shock. A grief stricken and devastated Tory wants to continue the fight however Daniel wants it to stop while Johnny wants it to keep going. Sam, her parents, and Robby tries to help Tory but she is so angry and upset, she storms off and quits the team and presumably karate. Due to Tory not being able to compete, Sam is awarded female captain for Miyagi-Do and Hawk, who originally lost his chance to earn a spot back in the forest, replaces Tory. The daughter of Daniel LaRusso and the son of Johnny Lawrence are both gifted the captains headband from their respective parents as Sam looks up to Daniel who smiles and expresses how incredibly proud of his daughter she is, as Sam smiles back at him before she notices that something's wrong with him since Daniel recognizes the same headband from Mr. Miyagi's box of secrets he discovered.
Miyagi-Do arrives at the Sekai Taikai in Barcelona as Robby and Sam lead their teammates Miguel, Devon, Demetri, and Hawk to lineup on the mat looking over at all the other rival dojo’s. While getting ready, they see the new Cobra Kai, led by Kreese and Kim Da-Eun and their fellow students, led by Kwon Jae-Sung. Shortly, Tory appears with them, revealing that she has rejoined Cobra Kai and Kreese. Sam looks on as she stares back at her former rival turned her new close friend standing next to the Cobra Kai students, much to her, a seemly heartbroken Robby, and Miyagi-Do's shock.
==Personality==
Despite hanging out with the popular kids in Season 1, Sam has been shown to act nothing like them, instead choosing to be nice and smart. After seeing Kyler, her then boyfriend, bullying Miguel Diaz, Demitri, and Hawk, she breaks up with him because she doesn't tolerate bullying. This has, however strained her relationship with Aisha Robinson.
One of the more complicated aspects about Sam would be her relationships. After she forms a friendship with Robby near the end of season 1, Miguel accidentally hits Sam causing them to break up. Despite this, there is evidence that she still has feelings for Miguel, such as in the episode "Pulpo" where, after beating Tory in a drinking contest, she accidentally kisses Miguel at the party.
==Miscellaneous Facts==
Height: 165 cm (5”5) | Weight: 51 kg (115 lb)
Build: Average
Shoe Size: 7 (US), 38.5 (EU), 5.5 (UK), 240 (J)
Hair: Dark Brown | Eyes: BluE
Skin tone: fair skin 
Age: 15-16 (season 1), 16(Season 2), 16-17(Season 3), 17(Season 4) | Birthdate: October 14th, 2001
Education: High School
One of only two named members of Miyagi-Do (and later Eagle-Fang; the other being her brother Anthony) that has never trained within a Cobra Kai setting.
==Gallery==
Samantha Larusso 2.png|Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso
Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso in Cobra Kai 1.jpg|Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso
Peyton List as Tory Nichols vs. Mary Mouser as Samantha LaRusso.jpg|Samantha LaRusso vs. Tory Nichols
IMG 1748.gif|Samantha in the season 4 promo
File:SamS4HD.webp|Samantha's season 4 poster
IMG 1723.jpeg|Samantha with sais
==External Links==
*Sam on the Karate Kid Wiki
*Sam on Wikipedia
Category:Karate Kid Heroes
Category:Chopsocky Heroes
Category:Live Action Heroes
Category:Youtube Heroes
Category:Action Heroes
Category:Comedy Heroes
Category:Internet Heroes
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Female
Category:In Love
Category:Martial Artists
Category:Siblings
Category:Amazons
Category:Fighters
Category:Berserkers
Category:Rivals
Category:Egomaniacs
Category:Friend of a Villain
Category:Envious
Category:Honorable
Category:Thrill-Seekers
Category:Wrathful
Category:Protectors of Innocence
Category:Passionate Learners
Category:Betrayed
Category:Chaotic Neutral
Category:Insecure
Category:Loyal
Category:Berserkers
Category:Vengeful
Category:Anti-Heroes
Category:One-Man Army
Category:Egalitarian
Category:Provokers
Category:Paranoid
Category:Jerks
Category:Control Freaks
Category:Arrogant
Category:True Neutral
Category:On & Off
Category:Extremists
Category:Traitor
Category:Mischievous
Category:Obsessed
Category:Vigilantes
Category:Misguided
Category:Redeemed Villains
Category:Philanthropists
Category:Voice of Reason
Category:Famous
Category:Feminists
Category:Love Rivals