HAWK
NAME
Eli Moskowitz
RELATIVES
Mrs. Moskowitz (mother) (I call her "Lea" in my theory)
Unnamed (father) (In my theory his daddy is Mike Barnes)
Unnamed (Younger Brother) (In my theory his name is Jacob, like Hawk's actor)
FRIENDS
Demetri (best friend; brother figure)
Miguel Diaz (best friend; brother figure)
Johnny Lawrence
Mitch (close friend)
Eagle Fang students
Miyagi-Do students
ENEMIES
Kyler (bully)
Brucks (bully)
Rory (bully)
A.J. (bully)
Robby Keene
John Kreese
Cobra Kai students
LOVE INTEREST(S)
Moon (ex-girlfriend)
Piper (former crush)
Stacy (former crush)
AFFILIATION
Cobra Kai Dojo (formerly)
Eagle Fang Karate
Miyagi-Do Karate
FIRST APPEARANCE
"Strike First"
LATEST APPEARANCE
"December 19"
PORTRAYED BY
Jacob Bertrand
Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz is a main character in Cobra Kai.
Initially a quiet and bullied victim, Eli gains confidence after joining the Cobra Kai Dojo and becoming a star student alongside Miguel. However, he is quickly corrupted by Cobra Kai's ruthless mentality, which makes him aggressive, merciless, and a flat out bully. He arguably becomes worse than the people that bullied him.
Despite taking a turn for the worst, Hawk's conscience eventually begins to re-emerge, which causes him to question his and Cobra Kai's antics, especially when he is still loyal to Miguel. During the fight at the LaRusso household, Hawk finally notices the errors in his conduct, with this along with his unwillingness to be on Cobra Kai with his two biggest enemies prompts him to turn against Cobra Kai and side with Miyagi-Do Karate and Eagle Fang Karate, as well as reconcile with his former friends he lost during his time at Cobra Kai.
Biography
Eli was born on June 2002. Eli was born with a cleft lip that when surgically repaired resulted in a scar running from lip to nose. He was often bullied because of his surgical scar, and it is assumed that because of this he avoids confrontation and is quiet and shy. At some point prior to the events of Cobra Kai, he meets Demetri and the two become best friends. Eli was a fan of Harry Potter and Doctor Who, which Demetri similarly enjoyed.
Cobra Kai
Season 1
At first Eli is quiet and shy, and he is often made fun of for his scar--the result of the repair of a cleft lip. Miguel first meets Demetri and Eli during lunchtime on his first day at school when he was looking for a place to sit. He finds a seat with them due to them also being unpopular. The three are picked on by Kyler and his friends.
After Miguel beats up Kyler and his friends, both Demetri and Eli join the Cobra Kai Dojo. At the dojo, Sensei Johnny Lawrence mocks Eli's lip even when Demetri, and then Eli, tells him to stop. Johnny then tells Eli to flip the script in order to stop the others from making fun of him. After this Eli leaves, possibly quitting, which visibly disconcerts Johnny, but he uses Eli's leaving as an example of weakness. However, the next day Eli returns with a new style and a mohawk and says he has flipped the script, which impresses Johnny. From then on, Eli goes by Hawk. He even has a hawk tattoo on his back that his parents aren't supposed to know about. The change in looks reflects a change in personality, as he goes from being shy, scared and insecure to overconfident, over-the-top, aggressive, and hot headed. In a way he turns into Mike Barnes (KK3; Karate’s Bad Boy), Dutch and Bobby Brown, Johnny's 2 friends at Cobra Kai when they were students at the old Cobra Kai dojo run by Kreese. He turns a little bit into Bobby as he becomes the second best Cobra Kai student, inferior only to Miguel; Bobby was inferior only to Johnny. However, he is not "too" much like Bobby as Bobby does know a lot about his "limits" and even shows sympathy and is not reckless. Hawk's personality, on the other hand, is almost the exact opposite; he is reckless, can be extremely harsh and severe, and often tends to show no remorse after fights that he has won (until season 3, when he broke Demetri's arm).
His new look and personality causes Moon, who used to bully him with the other popular students for his scar, to become attracted to him. The two kiss and supposedly become a couple at the lake party the Cobra Kais set up to mess with Yasmine and Kyler. At the All Valley tournament, Hawk/Eli reaches the semifinals where he faces Johnny's son Robby Keene. He wins the first point against Robby, but loses the second. After losing the second point, Hawk taunts Robby and in response Robby mocks Hawk's mohawk, which infuriates Hawk and causes him to kick Robby from behind in the shoulder, thus dislocating it and causing Hawk to get disqualified from the tournament. Following Hawk's disqualification, an upset Johnny asks him why he did what he did, but Hawk angrily defends his action and shows no remorse. After Miguel wins the tournament for Cobra Kai, Hawk and the others cheer for him, but Johnny does not see it as something to be celebrated.
Season 2
Following Miguel's victory in the All Valley tournament, Hawk along with Miguel, Aisha, Moon and Demetri celebrate. However, the following morning Hawk and Miguel are forced by Johnny to do 50 push-ups because of their unsportsmanlike behavior against Robby in the tournament.
After some time, Miguel finds out that Robby is Johnny's son and he tells Hawk, causing them both to believe the only reason Johnny is being hard on them because they attacked his son. When they confront Johnny, an angry Johnny tells them that despite Robby being his son, his anger was not about that; he doesn't tolerate unethical behavior. He also tells them to mind their own business.
Over the course of the season, Hawk becomes more recognizably a bully, intimidating and insulting new students of the dojo and bullying Demetri after the latter writes a bad review about Cobra Kai. When Demetri is at the comic store in the mall, Hawk and some of his fellow Cobra Kai classmates corner him, and Hawk threatens Demetri, trying to force him to take down his Yelp review about Cobra Kai. When Demetri refuses, Hawk attacks him. Demetri then runs away, but Hawk and his gang corner him. Hawk is about to attack him again, but Robby and Samantha arrive. Hawk and his gang fight them, but Hawk is beaten by Robby, and the rest of the gang is bested as well. Later, Hawk's behavior has even more repercussions as Moon, his girlfriend, points out to Hawk that she likes his new attitude and style, but not his bullying, and so she dumps him. Furious over the breakup, Hawk takes his anger out on a punching bag. Johnny's sensei, Kreese, then uses Hawk's anger against him by manipulating him into behaving more aggressively.
Encouraged by Kreese and without Johnny's knowledge, Hawk leads a small group of Cobra Kai students (not including Miguel) to vandalize and destroy Daniel LaRusso's dojo, and Hawk steals the Medal of Honor which belonged to Daniel's sensei Mr. Miyagi. When Johnny finds out about this, he doesn't know who was responsible, and so he collectively punishes the dojo with endless exercises. Hawk is ready to come clean, but Kreese secretly tells him not to. Later during one of their training exercises, Miguel notices Hawk with the Medal of Honor and realizes Hawk is the one who destroyed Daniel's dojo. Miguel confronts Hawk, who then challenges Miguel to fight him for it. Despite putting up a good fight, Hawk is defeated by Miguel. Miguel then takes the Medal of Honor and later brings it to the LaRusso house. Although he wanted to give it to Sam, Robby is there, so he gives it to Robby and explains that he had no part in the destruction of Miyagi-Do. Surprisingly, Hawk is not angry at Miguel after this fight and the loss, sensing that the fight was fair.
On the last day of summer, Hawk is at the party at Moon's house, where he tries to win her back by flirting with another girl. Moon interrupts their flirting and kisses the girl, revealing that they are dating. This upsets Hawk, of which Demetri gets the effects. Demetri comes and they manage to briefly bond over Doctor Who, but after Demetri suggests he have inner peace, Hawk responds by pouring beer on Demetri's head. Later at the party, Demetri gets revenge by telling a large group of the party-goers embarrassing stories about Hawk. An enraged Hawk tries to attack him alongside the rest of Cobra Kai, but they're stopped by the rest of Miyagi-Dos. Just as a fight is about to break out, the cops arrive. Before leaving the scene, Hawk runs into Demetri and threateningly reminds him they'll see each other the next day at school.
During the fight that breaks out as a result of Tory attacking Sam, Hawk gladly participates in the school brawl. He fights and beats several Miyagi-Do students before chasing Demetri. Eventually he catches Demetri and starts attacking him, but Demetri defends himself with Daniel's Miyagi-Do Karate teachings and manages to beat Hawk but apologizes to him in the end. Hawk is there in the aftermath when Miguel is lying unconscious on the steps.
In one of the last scenes back at the Cobra Kai dojo, Hawk, along with Tory, Raymond, Mitch and some other students, are training with Kreese. When Johnny comes to the dojo, Kreese reveals that he now owns it. Johnny accuses the students of abandoning him, only for Hawk to blame him for Miguel's injuries.
Season 3
In one of the first training exercises with the new dojo master, Kreese, the students are supposed to say whether they are uncomfortable feeding a mouse to a snake. Hawk is among the handful that don't raise their hands, but he is surprised and uncomfortable when Kreese dismisses the students who objected, kicking them out of Cobra Kai, including Bert. Hawk asks Kreese if this is the right time to make cuts, since they already lost a few students as a result of the school fight, but Kreese sees this display of possible compassion as a weakness, which Hawk is quick to deny. Kreese then says that Cobra Kai needs a new champion due to Miguel's injury. This causes Hawk to smile, realizing that Kreese is talking about him.
After finding out that the Miyagi-Do students are hosting a fundraiser for Miguel's surgery, Hawk sees this as an affront against Cobra Kai and vows they won't get away with this. At the end of the day and Miyagi-Do's successful fundraiser, Hawk, Mitch and two other Cobra Kai students corner Nathaniel, who was responsible for the transporting the donations for Miguel's surgery, beat him up and take the money. Mitch does say they plan on giving it to Miguel's family themselves.
The rivalry between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, largely sustained by Hawk, continues at school. Hawk destroys Demetri's science project, but Demetri cannot retaliate due to the new anti-fighting policies at the school. Hawk gets his friends out of trouble by acting as Eli. Recognizing this, the two dojos find other ways of acting out their rivalry. During a gym class soccer game, the Miyagi-Dos and Cobra Kais get physical, with Demetri pushing and leg sweeping Hawk as revenge, and Hawk getting back by headbutting Demetri. Hawk also kicks the soccer ball at a Miyagi-Do student's face. When the game is interrupted and both sides are sent to the counselor's office for disciplining, Hawk (who was allowed to tell their side first) gets himself and his friends off without punishment by turning into Eli with a (fake) docile and apologetic demeanor, while Sam, Demetri, and the other Miyagi Dos involved get detention.
This isn't the end, as shortly thereafter, Hawk, Mitch and some other Cobra Kais cause havoc in the arcade and harass Chris at work. He texts Sam, who then recruits some of the Miyagi-Do students to stop them, resulting in a fight. Initially, Hawk is losing to Sam, and the Miyagi-Do students have the edge. However, when Tory arrives with Big Red and Edwin, Cobra Kai gains the edge. After pinning Demetri to the ground, the other Cobra Kais pressure Hawk to break his arm, while Demetri pleads with him not to. After momentarily hesitating, Hawk breaks Demetri's arm, but shows some discomfort as Demetri screams in pain, showing remorse for taking this out of hand with his former best friend.
The following morning before class at the Cobra Kai dojo, Hawk shows some uneasiness when Mitch brags about Hawk breaking Demetri's arm, but to not show this, he claims that Miyagi-Do got what they deserved. He is unhappy and nervous after noticing his former bullies Kyler and Brucks joining Cobra Kai. He tries to convince Kreese that they aren't Cobra Kai material. Kreese deflects this by pointing out how they are natural athletes. When Kyler and Brucks encounter Hawk, they make fun of him, much like old times, which visibly causes Hawk to shrink into himself a bit and his two selves, former Eli and present Hawk, are conflicted. When Mitch loses to Kyler in the sparing match that Kreese has arranged to determine who belongs in Cobra Kai, Kreese kicks him out of the dojo. Hawk objects, pointing out how loyal Mitch has been, but Kreese says that Mitch isn't Cobra Kai material despite his loyalty. This visibly saddens Hawk. When it is Brucks' turn to fight, Hawk says he will fight him, and Kreese, seeing Hawk's taste for revenge, indicates the match won't run by the normal, fair rules of competition. Brucks mockingly says he will fix Hawk's lip, but Hawk lets him see his hawk tattoo and shows he is unbothered, as Brucks and Kyler become uneasy. Hawk then aggressively, easily beats Bruck in competition and doesn't stop even when Brucks is already on the ground and begs him to. It seems that Hawk uses the opportunity to let out the pent-up emotions of his past bullying. In the end of the fight, Brucks is groaning in pain, while Hawk gets up with a satisfied look, and blood on his hands. Hawk glares at Kyler after beating Brucks, with the latter looking away, proving that Kyler is scared of Hawk from this moment. Hawk also indicates that this is what could also happen to Kyler if he messes with Hawk.
After Miguel returns to school, Hawk greets him and things seem to continue like before. However, their friend group dynamics are changed as Hawk is quick to mock Mitch when they meet in the cafeteria, and tells him to sit at the loser's table. Then, Hawk is confronted by Miguel for breaking Demetri's arm and going against their sensei. Hawk argues that Johnny is the one who betrayed them, and that he is no longer their sensei. This upsets Miguel, who tells Hawk he is letting Kreese take over his mind. Hawk is then shocked to learn from Miguel that Johnny has started a new dojo, which Miguel tries to persuade Hawk to join. When Johnny shows up at school later that day, he approaches Hawk and some of the Cobra Kais, and he acknowledges his mistakes. However, Hawk criticizes Johnny for quitting and going soft on them, which causes an angry Johnny to remind Hawk that he, not Kreese, is the reason that Hawk went from being a weakling to a tough guy. He then tells them that Kreese doesn't care about them, and that they should come to his dojo tomorrow.
The following morning, when Johnny's students are training, Hawk shows up with the other Cobra Kais. After initially thinking they are going to join Johnny's new dojo, Kreese also appears and Hawk reminds Johnny that he is Cobra Kai for life. Things are tense for a moment until the Cobra Kais leave, but this is where it becomes clear that Hawk's and Miguel's friendship is over for the time being. However, Hawk still seems to care about Miguel, since he is upset to find out that Robby has joined Cobra Kai, which is problematic because of what he did to Miguel. He then tells Kreese to not allow Robby a place in Cobra Kai after the incident with Miguel at the high school and that Robby is “the enemy”. Rather than kick Robby out of Cobra Kai, Kreese responds by telling Hawk that during his time in the military, “it was hard to tell who was the enemy” but that he figured out that, “The enemy of your enemy is your friend”. By this statement, Kreese means to say that Hawk can be Robby's friend since both are enemies of Miguel. However, since Hawk does not really feel that Miguel is his enemy, it actually means that they are still friends in both being Robby's enemy.
Despite their disagreements, Hawk wants to please Kreese as the new sensei, and so he, along with some of the Cobra Kais, sets up a plan to sneak into the zoo and steal a snake for Kreese. When Robby arrives, Hawk is angry that he was invited by Tory, but Tory challenges Hawk having a problem with Robby being on the mission. When Hawk aborts the mission because Kyler forgot the snake pole, Robby ends up getting the snake with his bare hands. Despite the mission being successful, Hawk is still not pleased about Robby being on their team. That night after bringing the snake, Kreese reveals to them all that Miguel and Sam are now working together. He then orders the members to go and attack the Eagle Fangs/Miyagi-Dos, causing Hawk to be reluctant about joining the mission with Kyler.
Then, on that same night, when the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students had just agreed to work together at Sam's house, Hawk and seven other Cobra Kais show up and attack them. Hawk spends a lot of time fighting Miyagi-Do student Stiven. While Stiven puts up a fight and gets some hits, Hawk has the upper-hand overall and beats him. Cobra Kai is winning the fight but after noticing Miguel, Mitch and the other Miyagi Do students being beaten up by the other Cobra Kai students, he is visibly conflicted, remembering what Johnny and Miguel said at school, and also remembering what Kreese said about enemies. After this, he sees Doug holding Demetri's arm in a deja vu moment. Doug encourages him to break his arm a second time. Hawk runs up, but knocks down both Doug and the other Cobra Kai, switches sides during the fight and saves Demetri. After helping him up, he apologizes to Demetri for everything, resulting in their friendship being rekindled. The two then work together to defeat several Cobra Kais. Hawk's defection proves to be the turning point in the fight, as the Miyagi Do's and Eagle Fang's gain momentum and the edge, and ultimately defeat the Cobra Kai's.
After defeating the Cobra Kais in Sam's house, Hawk heads to Daniel's home dojo by the pool along with Miguel and Demetri, where they see Tory, who was just disarmed by Sam. Hawk tells Tory the fight is over, but she refuses to believe it's over. She leaves, but not before telling Hawk to watch his back. Demetri promises that Hawk's friends will watch it for him. The following morning, the last scene of this season shows Hawk going with some of the other former Cobra Kai's to Miyagi-Do, where he high-fives Demetri, and trains with the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students under Johnny and Daniel's leadership.
Season 4
Hawk appears in scene of the trailer. The first three scenes he appears in are during training. In the fourth scene, he is seen holding someone against the wall.
Personality
Eli is initially portrayed as a very quiet and introverted individual due to the intense bullying he's endured his entire life for a medical condition that he can't control. He was made to feel less than others and, as such, had a low self-worth. Despite mocking the popular kids at school, Eli desired to be one of them. He wanted to be respected by his peers, but coupled respect with having to exude fear and intimidation. Searching for a way to protect himself against the intense bullying, and also searching for a sense of comradery with Miguel, Eli joins Cobra Kai Dojo. His first lesson from Johnny is to minimize the significance of the facial difference by "flipping the script" so people have notice something else first. Knowing this will allow him to control the narrative for once, Eli adopts a new hairstyle in the form of a mowhawk. He takes it to the next level by getting a giant hawk tattoo on his back. This, coupled with his new attitude of cockiness, gives him the new name "Hawk".
Now in control of his life and getting the spotlight for the first time due to his natural talent in karate, Hawk develops an inflated ego. He becomes more self-assured, willing to take risks, but he also becomes overconfident, over-the-top, aggressive, and hot headed. His sense of right and wrong is blurred as he devotes a sense of blind loyalty to Johnny, following his rules and creed to the letter. He fails to adapt when Johnny tries to teach his students morals, as Hawk now views any diversion from the initial Cobra Kai mantra as weakness. When Demetri leaves Cobra Kai, Hawk calls him pathetic and begins to bully his former friend, all to maintain the so-called brotherhood he had obtained with Cobra Kai..
Hawk adopts a thuggish, cruel, and vengeful approach toward life. He goes from being the abused to the abuser. He forgets the cruelty that used to be inflicted onto him, turning that pain into anger at every turn. He is given chances to redeem himself or see the error of his ways, but consistently chooses to "strike first, strike hard, no mercy" regardless of the situation. He develops a sexist attitude towards women and a cockiness in his relationship that causes Moon to leave him. Hawk bullies Demetri for simply leaving a negative Yelp review about Cobra Kai Dojo. However, his loyalty lies with whomever is in control of the dojo. He turns on Johnny as he blames him for Miguel's hospitalization and the events leading up to it. He devotes his loyalty to Kreese, his new sensei.
As time passes, Hawk begins to reconnect with is conscience as he realizes that Kreese's cruel methods aren't healthy. However, his weakened sense of self and ability to make his own choices leads to him breaking Demetri's arm during a fight, as his peers pressured him into doing it. Eventually, his conscience peaks after witnessing the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students getting beat up by Cobra Kai during the LaRusso house fight. Something in his mind clicks into place as he realizes the ramifications of his actions and the merciless mindset of the kids around him. He, for the first time in over a year, does the right thing by freeing Demetri from an arm lock and helping his former enemies. This allows him to break away from Cobra Kai and enter a healthier mindset.
Fighting Style
Once he enters training in season 1, Hawk develops into an aggressive fighter with a penchant for high-risk techniques. Light and wiry, he is something of a natural athlete. He does demonstrate a solid defense when pressed, weathering an intense combination from Robby only to counter with a well-timed take-down. However, when Robby starts focusing, he counters Hawk's strikes and knocks him down with perfect timing.
In season 2, Hawk's style becomes even flashier and more reckless, incorporating aerial kicks and other high risk moves. However, over-reliance on offense is of limited utility when he is facing opponents with solid defensive technique. Robby, Miguel and Demetri are all able to defeat him with superior timing and defense. Hawk also had a tendency to underestimate everyone except Miguel. Despite losing in multiple fights, he is still able to defeat many people, such as most of his Cobra Kai peers at Coyote Creek, as well as several Miyagi-Do students during the school brawl.
In season 3, Hawk's fighting style is improving after being advised by Kreese to fight smart. Hawk tempers his aggression and fights smarter and less impulsively, which visibly improve his fighting style. His timing has improved. While he still uses his high risk techniques, he relies less on them and implements them more intelligently. He also stops underestimating his opponents, which makes his fighting style even more effective. After teaming up with Demetri during the fight at Sam's house, the two manage to combine their skills to defeat several Cobra Kai's, making them a complimentary duo.
When fighting Demetri in the school brawl at the end of season 2, Hawk initially gained the upper hand with his aggressive style, but then proceeded to lose when Demetri used his defensive tactics he learned at Miyagi Do to counter all of Hawk's strikes, before kicking him into the trophy case. Their fight can indicate that Hawk's over reliance of offense isn't effective, when facing opponents who have superior defense and technique, even if they are physically weaker and have less experience. However, it is also possible that Hawk was caught off-guard with Demetri's sudden improvement. In the arcade fight in season 3, however, Hawk successfully and easily pinned Demetri to the ground without fighting too aggressive and being more focused.
Hawk's physical strength has also improved a long way since season 1. In Season 3, he is able to easily pin a much larger and bigger Brucks to the ground. He killed two birds with one stone when he kicked another Cobra Kai and threw a larger Doug into a glass table with little effort, with the latter being a powerful Cobra Kai fighter; however, Doug was caught off-guard by Hawk switching sides, as he thought Hawk was going to break Demetri's arm a second time.
Now a student of Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang, he can blend Johnny's aggressive offense and Kreese's tactics with Daniel's effective technique and defense, all of which should improve his fighting style and skill significantly, making him a three-way package. Amongst the Eagle Fang's and former Cobra Kai's, Miguel and Hawk are the two most powerful fighters in the dojo.
Trivia
Eli suffered from Kyler's bullying, as it in turn, made him into a bully.
Eli is arguably the most focused Cobra Kai student.
He has fought Robby twice, but did not emerge victorious either times. He was disqualified during the All Valley Tournament, and lost (along with several of his Cobra Kai teammates) to Robby and Samantha in the mall fight.
Hawk is a fan of the British singer Yungblud.
Hawk's audio-cue in the television series is a hawk screech.
Notably, his lip scar becomes less red and visible over the course of the series, indicating a continuity error in makeup.
Hawk was the most loyal Cobra Kai member until his defection.
Hawk, Miguel, Mitch, Bert, Johnny, Daniel, and three other unnamed Eagle Fang students were the only ones to be affiliated with all three dojos mentioned in the movies and series: Cobra Kai, Miyagi Do and Eagle Fang.
The last name "Moskowitz" indicates possible Eastern Ashkenazic Jewish descent. The name "Eli" can also be a masculine given name of Hebrew origin, from the Biblical עֵלִי "ascent", a possible clue to his alter-ego as a high-flying creature, the hawk.
Eli claims that his doctor said that he "could be on the spectrum", after asked by Johnny if he is a special needs kid. This implies that Eli likely has some degree of autism.
NAME
Eli Moskowitz
RELATIVES
Mrs. Moskowitz (mother) (I call her "Lea" in my theory)
Unnamed (father) (In my theory his daddy is Mike Barnes)
Unnamed (Younger Brother) (In my theory his name is Jacob, like Hawk's actor)
FRIENDS
Demetri (best friend; brother figure)
Miguel Diaz (best friend; brother figure)
Johnny Lawrence
Mitch (close friend)
Eagle Fang students
Miyagi-Do students
ENEMIES
Kyler (bully)
Brucks (bully)
Rory (bully)
A.J. (bully)
Robby Keene
John Kreese
Cobra Kai students
LOVE INTEREST(S)
Moon (ex-girlfriend)
Piper (former crush)
Stacy (former crush)
AFFILIATION
Cobra Kai Dojo (formerly)
Eagle Fang Karate
Miyagi-Do Karate
FIRST APPEARANCE
"Strike First"
LATEST APPEARANCE
"December 19"
PORTRAYED BY
Jacob Bertrand
Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz is a main character in Cobra Kai.
Initially a quiet and bullied victim, Eli gains confidence after joining the Cobra Kai Dojo and becoming a star student alongside Miguel. However, he is quickly corrupted by Cobra Kai's ruthless mentality, which makes him aggressive, merciless, and a flat out bully. He arguably becomes worse than the people that bullied him.
Despite taking a turn for the worst, Hawk's conscience eventually begins to re-emerge, which causes him to question his and Cobra Kai's antics, especially when he is still loyal to Miguel. During the fight at the LaRusso household, Hawk finally notices the errors in his conduct, with this along with his unwillingness to be on Cobra Kai with his two biggest enemies prompts him to turn against Cobra Kai and side with Miyagi-Do Karate and Eagle Fang Karate, as well as reconcile with his former friends he lost during his time at Cobra Kai.
Biography
Eli was born on June 2002. Eli was born with a cleft lip that when surgically repaired resulted in a scar running from lip to nose. He was often bullied because of his surgical scar, and it is assumed that because of this he avoids confrontation and is quiet and shy. At some point prior to the events of Cobra Kai, he meets Demetri and the two become best friends. Eli was a fan of Harry Potter and Doctor Who, which Demetri similarly enjoyed.
Cobra Kai
Season 1
At first Eli is quiet and shy, and he is often made fun of for his scar--the result of the repair of a cleft lip. Miguel first meets Demetri and Eli during lunchtime on his first day at school when he was looking for a place to sit. He finds a seat with them due to them also being unpopular. The three are picked on by Kyler and his friends.
After Miguel beats up Kyler and his friends, both Demetri and Eli join the Cobra Kai Dojo. At the dojo, Sensei Johnny Lawrence mocks Eli's lip even when Demetri, and then Eli, tells him to stop. Johnny then tells Eli to flip the script in order to stop the others from making fun of him. After this Eli leaves, possibly quitting, which visibly disconcerts Johnny, but he uses Eli's leaving as an example of weakness. However, the next day Eli returns with a new style and a mohawk and says he has flipped the script, which impresses Johnny. From then on, Eli goes by Hawk. He even has a hawk tattoo on his back that his parents aren't supposed to know about. The change in looks reflects a change in personality, as he goes from being shy, scared and insecure to overconfident, over-the-top, aggressive, and hot headed. In a way he turns into Mike Barnes (KK3; Karate’s Bad Boy), Dutch and Bobby Brown, Johnny's 2 friends at Cobra Kai when they were students at the old Cobra Kai dojo run by Kreese. He turns a little bit into Bobby as he becomes the second best Cobra Kai student, inferior only to Miguel; Bobby was inferior only to Johnny. However, he is not "too" much like Bobby as Bobby does know a lot about his "limits" and even shows sympathy and is not reckless. Hawk's personality, on the other hand, is almost the exact opposite; he is reckless, can be extremely harsh and severe, and often tends to show no remorse after fights that he has won (until season 3, when he broke Demetri's arm).
His new look and personality causes Moon, who used to bully him with the other popular students for his scar, to become attracted to him. The two kiss and supposedly become a couple at the lake party the Cobra Kais set up to mess with Yasmine and Kyler. At the All Valley tournament, Hawk/Eli reaches the semifinals where he faces Johnny's son Robby Keene. He wins the first point against Robby, but loses the second. After losing the second point, Hawk taunts Robby and in response Robby mocks Hawk's mohawk, which infuriates Hawk and causes him to kick Robby from behind in the shoulder, thus dislocating it and causing Hawk to get disqualified from the tournament. Following Hawk's disqualification, an upset Johnny asks him why he did what he did, but Hawk angrily defends his action and shows no remorse. After Miguel wins the tournament for Cobra Kai, Hawk and the others cheer for him, but Johnny does not see it as something to be celebrated.
Season 2
Following Miguel's victory in the All Valley tournament, Hawk along with Miguel, Aisha, Moon and Demetri celebrate. However, the following morning Hawk and Miguel are forced by Johnny to do 50 push-ups because of their unsportsmanlike behavior against Robby in the tournament.
After some time, Miguel finds out that Robby is Johnny's son and he tells Hawk, causing them both to believe the only reason Johnny is being hard on them because they attacked his son. When they confront Johnny, an angry Johnny tells them that despite Robby being his son, his anger was not about that; he doesn't tolerate unethical behavior. He also tells them to mind their own business.
Over the course of the season, Hawk becomes more recognizably a bully, intimidating and insulting new students of the dojo and bullying Demetri after the latter writes a bad review about Cobra Kai. When Demetri is at the comic store in the mall, Hawk and some of his fellow Cobra Kai classmates corner him, and Hawk threatens Demetri, trying to force him to take down his Yelp review about Cobra Kai. When Demetri refuses, Hawk attacks him. Demetri then runs away, but Hawk and his gang corner him. Hawk is about to attack him again, but Robby and Samantha arrive. Hawk and his gang fight them, but Hawk is beaten by Robby, and the rest of the gang is bested as well. Later, Hawk's behavior has even more repercussions as Moon, his girlfriend, points out to Hawk that she likes his new attitude and style, but not his bullying, and so she dumps him. Furious over the breakup, Hawk takes his anger out on a punching bag. Johnny's sensei, Kreese, then uses Hawk's anger against him by manipulating him into behaving more aggressively.
Encouraged by Kreese and without Johnny's knowledge, Hawk leads a small group of Cobra Kai students (not including Miguel) to vandalize and destroy Daniel LaRusso's dojo, and Hawk steals the Medal of Honor which belonged to Daniel's sensei Mr. Miyagi. When Johnny finds out about this, he doesn't know who was responsible, and so he collectively punishes the dojo with endless exercises. Hawk is ready to come clean, but Kreese secretly tells him not to. Later during one of their training exercises, Miguel notices Hawk with the Medal of Honor and realizes Hawk is the one who destroyed Daniel's dojo. Miguel confronts Hawk, who then challenges Miguel to fight him for it. Despite putting up a good fight, Hawk is defeated by Miguel. Miguel then takes the Medal of Honor and later brings it to the LaRusso house. Although he wanted to give it to Sam, Robby is there, so he gives it to Robby and explains that he had no part in the destruction of Miyagi-Do. Surprisingly, Hawk is not angry at Miguel after this fight and the loss, sensing that the fight was fair.
On the last day of summer, Hawk is at the party at Moon's house, where he tries to win her back by flirting with another girl. Moon interrupts their flirting and kisses the girl, revealing that they are dating. This upsets Hawk, of which Demetri gets the effects. Demetri comes and they manage to briefly bond over Doctor Who, but after Demetri suggests he have inner peace, Hawk responds by pouring beer on Demetri's head. Later at the party, Demetri gets revenge by telling a large group of the party-goers embarrassing stories about Hawk. An enraged Hawk tries to attack him alongside the rest of Cobra Kai, but they're stopped by the rest of Miyagi-Dos. Just as a fight is about to break out, the cops arrive. Before leaving the scene, Hawk runs into Demetri and threateningly reminds him they'll see each other the next day at school.
During the fight that breaks out as a result of Tory attacking Sam, Hawk gladly participates in the school brawl. He fights and beats several Miyagi-Do students before chasing Demetri. Eventually he catches Demetri and starts attacking him, but Demetri defends himself with Daniel's Miyagi-Do Karate teachings and manages to beat Hawk but apologizes to him in the end. Hawk is there in the aftermath when Miguel is lying unconscious on the steps.
In one of the last scenes back at the Cobra Kai dojo, Hawk, along with Tory, Raymond, Mitch and some other students, are training with Kreese. When Johnny comes to the dojo, Kreese reveals that he now owns it. Johnny accuses the students of abandoning him, only for Hawk to blame him for Miguel's injuries.
Season 3
In one of the first training exercises with the new dojo master, Kreese, the students are supposed to say whether they are uncomfortable feeding a mouse to a snake. Hawk is among the handful that don't raise their hands, but he is surprised and uncomfortable when Kreese dismisses the students who objected, kicking them out of Cobra Kai, including Bert. Hawk asks Kreese if this is the right time to make cuts, since they already lost a few students as a result of the school fight, but Kreese sees this display of possible compassion as a weakness, which Hawk is quick to deny. Kreese then says that Cobra Kai needs a new champion due to Miguel's injury. This causes Hawk to smile, realizing that Kreese is talking about him.
After finding out that the Miyagi-Do students are hosting a fundraiser for Miguel's surgery, Hawk sees this as an affront against Cobra Kai and vows they won't get away with this. At the end of the day and Miyagi-Do's successful fundraiser, Hawk, Mitch and two other Cobra Kai students corner Nathaniel, who was responsible for the transporting the donations for Miguel's surgery, beat him up and take the money. Mitch does say they plan on giving it to Miguel's family themselves.
The rivalry between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do, largely sustained by Hawk, continues at school. Hawk destroys Demetri's science project, but Demetri cannot retaliate due to the new anti-fighting policies at the school. Hawk gets his friends out of trouble by acting as Eli. Recognizing this, the two dojos find other ways of acting out their rivalry. During a gym class soccer game, the Miyagi-Dos and Cobra Kais get physical, with Demetri pushing and leg sweeping Hawk as revenge, and Hawk getting back by headbutting Demetri. Hawk also kicks the soccer ball at a Miyagi-Do student's face. When the game is interrupted and both sides are sent to the counselor's office for disciplining, Hawk (who was allowed to tell their side first) gets himself and his friends off without punishment by turning into Eli with a (fake) docile and apologetic demeanor, while Sam, Demetri, and the other Miyagi Dos involved get detention.
This isn't the end, as shortly thereafter, Hawk, Mitch and some other Cobra Kais cause havoc in the arcade and harass Chris at work. He texts Sam, who then recruits some of the Miyagi-Do students to stop them, resulting in a fight. Initially, Hawk is losing to Sam, and the Miyagi-Do students have the edge. However, when Tory arrives with Big Red and Edwin, Cobra Kai gains the edge. After pinning Demetri to the ground, the other Cobra Kais pressure Hawk to break his arm, while Demetri pleads with him not to. After momentarily hesitating, Hawk breaks Demetri's arm, but shows some discomfort as Demetri screams in pain, showing remorse for taking this out of hand with his former best friend.
The following morning before class at the Cobra Kai dojo, Hawk shows some uneasiness when Mitch brags about Hawk breaking Demetri's arm, but to not show this, he claims that Miyagi-Do got what they deserved. He is unhappy and nervous after noticing his former bullies Kyler and Brucks joining Cobra Kai. He tries to convince Kreese that they aren't Cobra Kai material. Kreese deflects this by pointing out how they are natural athletes. When Kyler and Brucks encounter Hawk, they make fun of him, much like old times, which visibly causes Hawk to shrink into himself a bit and his two selves, former Eli and present Hawk, are conflicted. When Mitch loses to Kyler in the sparing match that Kreese has arranged to determine who belongs in Cobra Kai, Kreese kicks him out of the dojo. Hawk objects, pointing out how loyal Mitch has been, but Kreese says that Mitch isn't Cobra Kai material despite his loyalty. This visibly saddens Hawk. When it is Brucks' turn to fight, Hawk says he will fight him, and Kreese, seeing Hawk's taste for revenge, indicates the match won't run by the normal, fair rules of competition. Brucks mockingly says he will fix Hawk's lip, but Hawk lets him see his hawk tattoo and shows he is unbothered, as Brucks and Kyler become uneasy. Hawk then aggressively, easily beats Bruck in competition and doesn't stop even when Brucks is already on the ground and begs him to. It seems that Hawk uses the opportunity to let out the pent-up emotions of his past bullying. In the end of the fight, Brucks is groaning in pain, while Hawk gets up with a satisfied look, and blood on his hands. Hawk glares at Kyler after beating Brucks, with the latter looking away, proving that Kyler is scared of Hawk from this moment. Hawk also indicates that this is what could also happen to Kyler if he messes with Hawk.
After Miguel returns to school, Hawk greets him and things seem to continue like before. However, their friend group dynamics are changed as Hawk is quick to mock Mitch when they meet in the cafeteria, and tells him to sit at the loser's table. Then, Hawk is confronted by Miguel for breaking Demetri's arm and going against their sensei. Hawk argues that Johnny is the one who betrayed them, and that he is no longer their sensei. This upsets Miguel, who tells Hawk he is letting Kreese take over his mind. Hawk is then shocked to learn from Miguel that Johnny has started a new dojo, which Miguel tries to persuade Hawk to join. When Johnny shows up at school later that day, he approaches Hawk and some of the Cobra Kais, and he acknowledges his mistakes. However, Hawk criticizes Johnny for quitting and going soft on them, which causes an angry Johnny to remind Hawk that he, not Kreese, is the reason that Hawk went from being a weakling to a tough guy. He then tells them that Kreese doesn't care about them, and that they should come to his dojo tomorrow.
The following morning, when Johnny's students are training, Hawk shows up with the other Cobra Kais. After initially thinking they are going to join Johnny's new dojo, Kreese also appears and Hawk reminds Johnny that he is Cobra Kai for life. Things are tense for a moment until the Cobra Kais leave, but this is where it becomes clear that Hawk's and Miguel's friendship is over for the time being. However, Hawk still seems to care about Miguel, since he is upset to find out that Robby has joined Cobra Kai, which is problematic because of what he did to Miguel. He then tells Kreese to not allow Robby a place in Cobra Kai after the incident with Miguel at the high school and that Robby is “the enemy”. Rather than kick Robby out of Cobra Kai, Kreese responds by telling Hawk that during his time in the military, “it was hard to tell who was the enemy” but that he figured out that, “The enemy of your enemy is your friend”. By this statement, Kreese means to say that Hawk can be Robby's friend since both are enemies of Miguel. However, since Hawk does not really feel that Miguel is his enemy, it actually means that they are still friends in both being Robby's enemy.
Despite their disagreements, Hawk wants to please Kreese as the new sensei, and so he, along with some of the Cobra Kais, sets up a plan to sneak into the zoo and steal a snake for Kreese. When Robby arrives, Hawk is angry that he was invited by Tory, but Tory challenges Hawk having a problem with Robby being on the mission. When Hawk aborts the mission because Kyler forgot the snake pole, Robby ends up getting the snake with his bare hands. Despite the mission being successful, Hawk is still not pleased about Robby being on their team. That night after bringing the snake, Kreese reveals to them all that Miguel and Sam are now working together. He then orders the members to go and attack the Eagle Fangs/Miyagi-Dos, causing Hawk to be reluctant about joining the mission with Kyler.
Then, on that same night, when the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students had just agreed to work together at Sam's house, Hawk and seven other Cobra Kais show up and attack them. Hawk spends a lot of time fighting Miyagi-Do student Stiven. While Stiven puts up a fight and gets some hits, Hawk has the upper-hand overall and beats him. Cobra Kai is winning the fight but after noticing Miguel, Mitch and the other Miyagi Do students being beaten up by the other Cobra Kai students, he is visibly conflicted, remembering what Johnny and Miguel said at school, and also remembering what Kreese said about enemies. After this, he sees Doug holding Demetri's arm in a deja vu moment. Doug encourages him to break his arm a second time. Hawk runs up, but knocks down both Doug and the other Cobra Kai, switches sides during the fight and saves Demetri. After helping him up, he apologizes to Demetri for everything, resulting in their friendship being rekindled. The two then work together to defeat several Cobra Kais. Hawk's defection proves to be the turning point in the fight, as the Miyagi Do's and Eagle Fang's gain momentum and the edge, and ultimately defeat the Cobra Kai's.
After defeating the Cobra Kais in Sam's house, Hawk heads to Daniel's home dojo by the pool along with Miguel and Demetri, where they see Tory, who was just disarmed by Sam. Hawk tells Tory the fight is over, but she refuses to believe it's over. She leaves, but not before telling Hawk to watch his back. Demetri promises that Hawk's friends will watch it for him. The following morning, the last scene of this season shows Hawk going with some of the other former Cobra Kai's to Miyagi-Do, where he high-fives Demetri, and trains with the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students under Johnny and Daniel's leadership.
Season 4
Hawk appears in scene of the trailer. The first three scenes he appears in are during training. In the fourth scene, he is seen holding someone against the wall.
Personality
Eli is initially portrayed as a very quiet and introverted individual due to the intense bullying he's endured his entire life for a medical condition that he can't control. He was made to feel less than others and, as such, had a low self-worth. Despite mocking the popular kids at school, Eli desired to be one of them. He wanted to be respected by his peers, but coupled respect with having to exude fear and intimidation. Searching for a way to protect himself against the intense bullying, and also searching for a sense of comradery with Miguel, Eli joins Cobra Kai Dojo. His first lesson from Johnny is to minimize the significance of the facial difference by "flipping the script" so people have notice something else first. Knowing this will allow him to control the narrative for once, Eli adopts a new hairstyle in the form of a mowhawk. He takes it to the next level by getting a giant hawk tattoo on his back. This, coupled with his new attitude of cockiness, gives him the new name "Hawk".
Now in control of his life and getting the spotlight for the first time due to his natural talent in karate, Hawk develops an inflated ego. He becomes more self-assured, willing to take risks, but he also becomes overconfident, over-the-top, aggressive, and hot headed. His sense of right and wrong is blurred as he devotes a sense of blind loyalty to Johnny, following his rules and creed to the letter. He fails to adapt when Johnny tries to teach his students morals, as Hawk now views any diversion from the initial Cobra Kai mantra as weakness. When Demetri leaves Cobra Kai, Hawk calls him pathetic and begins to bully his former friend, all to maintain the so-called brotherhood he had obtained with Cobra Kai..
Hawk adopts a thuggish, cruel, and vengeful approach toward life. He goes from being the abused to the abuser. He forgets the cruelty that used to be inflicted onto him, turning that pain into anger at every turn. He is given chances to redeem himself or see the error of his ways, but consistently chooses to "strike first, strike hard, no mercy" regardless of the situation. He develops a sexist attitude towards women and a cockiness in his relationship that causes Moon to leave him. Hawk bullies Demetri for simply leaving a negative Yelp review about Cobra Kai Dojo. However, his loyalty lies with whomever is in control of the dojo. He turns on Johnny as he blames him for Miguel's hospitalization and the events leading up to it. He devotes his loyalty to Kreese, his new sensei.
As time passes, Hawk begins to reconnect with is conscience as he realizes that Kreese's cruel methods aren't healthy. However, his weakened sense of self and ability to make his own choices leads to him breaking Demetri's arm during a fight, as his peers pressured him into doing it. Eventually, his conscience peaks after witnessing the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students getting beat up by Cobra Kai during the LaRusso house fight. Something in his mind clicks into place as he realizes the ramifications of his actions and the merciless mindset of the kids around him. He, for the first time in over a year, does the right thing by freeing Demetri from an arm lock and helping his former enemies. This allows him to break away from Cobra Kai and enter a healthier mindset.
Fighting Style
Once he enters training in season 1, Hawk develops into an aggressive fighter with a penchant for high-risk techniques. Light and wiry, he is something of a natural athlete. He does demonstrate a solid defense when pressed, weathering an intense combination from Robby only to counter with a well-timed take-down. However, when Robby starts focusing, he counters Hawk's strikes and knocks him down with perfect timing.
In season 2, Hawk's style becomes even flashier and more reckless, incorporating aerial kicks and other high risk moves. However, over-reliance on offense is of limited utility when he is facing opponents with solid defensive technique. Robby, Miguel and Demetri are all able to defeat him with superior timing and defense. Hawk also had a tendency to underestimate everyone except Miguel. Despite losing in multiple fights, he is still able to defeat many people, such as most of his Cobra Kai peers at Coyote Creek, as well as several Miyagi-Do students during the school brawl.
In season 3, Hawk's fighting style is improving after being advised by Kreese to fight smart. Hawk tempers his aggression and fights smarter and less impulsively, which visibly improve his fighting style. His timing has improved. While he still uses his high risk techniques, he relies less on them and implements them more intelligently. He also stops underestimating his opponents, which makes his fighting style even more effective. After teaming up with Demetri during the fight at Sam's house, the two manage to combine their skills to defeat several Cobra Kai's, making them a complimentary duo.
When fighting Demetri in the school brawl at the end of season 2, Hawk initially gained the upper hand with his aggressive style, but then proceeded to lose when Demetri used his defensive tactics he learned at Miyagi Do to counter all of Hawk's strikes, before kicking him into the trophy case. Their fight can indicate that Hawk's over reliance of offense isn't effective, when facing opponents who have superior defense and technique, even if they are physically weaker and have less experience. However, it is also possible that Hawk was caught off-guard with Demetri's sudden improvement. In the arcade fight in season 3, however, Hawk successfully and easily pinned Demetri to the ground without fighting too aggressive and being more focused.
Hawk's physical strength has also improved a long way since season 1. In Season 3, he is able to easily pin a much larger and bigger Brucks to the ground. He killed two birds with one stone when he kicked another Cobra Kai and threw a larger Doug into a glass table with little effort, with the latter being a powerful Cobra Kai fighter; however, Doug was caught off-guard by Hawk switching sides, as he thought Hawk was going to break Demetri's arm a second time.
Now a student of Miyagi-Do/Eagle Fang, he can blend Johnny's aggressive offense and Kreese's tactics with Daniel's effective technique and defense, all of which should improve his fighting style and skill significantly, making him a three-way package. Amongst the Eagle Fang's and former Cobra Kai's, Miguel and Hawk are the two most powerful fighters in the dojo.
Trivia
Eli suffered from Kyler's bullying, as it in turn, made him into a bully.
Eli is arguably the most focused Cobra Kai student.
He has fought Robby twice, but did not emerge victorious either times. He was disqualified during the All Valley Tournament, and lost (along with several of his Cobra Kai teammates) to Robby and Samantha in the mall fight.
Hawk is a fan of the British singer Yungblud.
Hawk's audio-cue in the television series is a hawk screech.
Notably, his lip scar becomes less red and visible over the course of the series, indicating a continuity error in makeup.
Hawk was the most loyal Cobra Kai member until his defection.
Hawk, Miguel, Mitch, Bert, Johnny, Daniel, and three other unnamed Eagle Fang students were the only ones to be affiliated with all three dojos mentioned in the movies and series: Cobra Kai, Miyagi Do and Eagle Fang.
The last name "Moskowitz" indicates possible Eastern Ashkenazic Jewish descent. The name "Eli" can also be a masculine given name of Hebrew origin, from the Biblical עֵלִי "ascent", a possible clue to his alter-ego as a high-flying creature, the hawk.
Eli claims that his doctor said that he "could be on the spectrum", after asked by Johnny if he is a special needs kid. This implies that Eli likely has some degree of autism.