Zara Malik is a major antagonist of Season 6 of the YouTube Red/Netflix series Cobra Kai. She is the female champion of the Iron Dragons 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.
Biography[]
Zara trained at the Iron Dragons for an unknown period of time before meeting Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do. Her inflated ego that spawned as a result of her mass social media platform made her think she was superior to other fighters, so when Tory started to gain popularity, she saw her as a threat. During the first event, she and Axel are able to defeat Tory Nichols, Kwon Jae-Sung, and Yoon Do-Jin easily. She also defeats a Polarslaget student from Sweden easily during the bo-staff competition, winning over the crowd as they chant Zara’s name. Following the matches, she vlogs her experiences, dubbing herself to be the "Queen of Karate", and mocks Sam and Devon Lee for their struggles in the first matches.
Sleeping with Robby to annoy and distract Tory, her plan proved to be successful.
Tory eventually got fed up with Zara and stole her phone to announce Zara's true side as a lying schemer to the world, which as a result made Zara lose a few sponsors. This made Zara target Tory during the Sekai Taikai brawl, though Robby proved that he loved Tory instead of Zara by choosing to side with her to fight against Zara.
Zara appeared to be shocked by Kwon's death, as she, liked everyone else, stopped fighting upon the accidental suicide of the Cobra Kai fighter.
But in Part 3, Zara was seen looking impressed with the announcement of Axel's victory over Robby, which put Miyagi-Do out of the competition. However, Gunther Braun announced a twist in the tournament by revealing Johnny Lawrence to sensei Cobra Kai for the rest of the tournament. Miguel Diaz would take the replacement of Kwon after his passing in the all-dojo brawl and Tory was announced to face Zara Malik in the female final after Samantha LaRusso withdrew.
While both female fighters were standing on the mat, Zara played some mind games, placing doubt about Robby actually loving her. During the first round, Zara scored an easy 5–0 lead. Before the second round, Robby reassured Tory that he loved her and gave her a kiss, leaving Zara feeling jealous. During the second round, Zara's baiting did not work against Tory, leaving Tory to land the first point on Zara during the tournament. Looking panicked that her quick-paced attacks weren't working, Tory managed to land two knockdowns in the same round before knocking her out (along with Zara's teeth) to secure a 43–5 point victory over Zara, thus giving her first defeat of her career. It was unknown what happened to her since she wasn’t seen supporting Axel in the boys final against Miguel or during the tie breaking match between Johnny Lawrence and Sensei Wolf. However, given how she wasn’t in these events, it is heavily implied she may have lost her popularity as the "Queen of Karate" following her defeat to Tory Nichols and possibly may have left the Iron Dragons for good.
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