Why Demetri Has Changed - Character Analysis/Theory

Demetri's character has started to mirror that of his best friend Hawk’s attitude during his time with Cobra Kai. This is why Demetri has changed.

0:00 Intro
0:24 Recap
1:34 Growth in Overconfidence
4:25 Rivalry with Hawk
6:55 Growth in Skill
8:28 Final Thoughts & Future

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[StryfetheWarrior]

What's in store for Demetri in Cobra Kai Season 6: Part 2?

[twes]

Demetri is back to his S1-2 roots in personality with a hint of Cobra Kai and a lot more confidence

[pepito]

Although it kinda came out of nowhere

It actually makes sense why the roles reversed on who is the more jerkier of the binary bros

Eli may have gone down a violent and aggressive road as Hawk, but Eli at his core is a shy, awkward and sensitive kid

Demetri, while also akward and sensitive, has always been more mouthier and snarky

[melodramaticalz]

I feel like his anger at Hawk/Eli is less about actual MIT, and more so that he feels like his best friend is leaving him behind again. He never let himself get mad at Hawk for everything he did to him in Seasons 2 and 3, forgiving him immediately because he just wanted his best friend back. And now that they’re going through another rough spot, a lot of old hurt is coming back to the surface (we can see that he still has some kind of hard feelings about the arm break with the arm hold and “how do you like it, huh?” line), and that’s contributing to his pettiness towards Hawk this season

[cannabishornliu]

Hawk: *Breaking Dimitri's arm*
Dimitri: "Binary bro, we're cool!" :-)

Hawk: *Doesn't want to study MIT anymore*
Dimitri: "Bro, what's wrong with you?! :-(

Definitely one of the more frustrating writing decisions of season 6 so far and even though it was a childhood dream of both of them it feels just wrong that Dimitri got a conflict with Eli because of it after everything that happened before that.

[BigBWolf]

He's confusing confidence and arrogance. It's gonna lead to some serious trouble

[rogermaddox]

I think a lot of Demitri’s problem is that he’s really hurt. He finally got his best friend back and it looked like they were doing great, then Hawk informs him that his plans may have changed. He’s sad and he’s projecting it as anger. He’s probably pretty embarrassed too.

[alexvaughan]

Before the season dropped, Jacob and Gianni talked about how there'd be tension between their characters based on going to different colleges. If they hadn't spoiled it, maybe Hawk and Demetri's rift would've been more shocking!

[lollel]

Honestly this is nowhere near as bad as how shitty Hawk was to Demetri

[josiahwillisk]

I think they’re doing a role reversal between Demetri and Hawk where each of them adopts either one’s positive/negative traits

[pendafen]

Demetri's never been defenseless nor spineless--in fact, he's arguably the toughest of the core characters **psychologically*, not just because of his IQ or his complete refusal to shut his mouth about anything, but because it's extremely hard to get in his head, talk down to him or play with his emotions. You almost have to physically wail on him to stop him, because if you try anything else he will (and this isn't a dig or a criticism) argue and gambit and intellectualise you into submission. This the kid who walked up to John Kreese, PTSD veteran, and started talking back with relatively little fear (though some of that was naivete, granted).

Demetri isn't anything close to weak.

His fatal flaw is that he's self-righteous and fixated, and his biggest vulnerability--besides Eli--is to his *own* mind and feelings, which seem to blindside him because of how he represses, ignores or sublimates them to death. Hence this problem of buried anger and grief over Eli's past & present actions rising to the surface at the worst moment. Before season six, Demetri didn't ever fully 'feel and deal' with his high-school trauma, the way Sam & Miguel & Tory and the others did, and so it's reared its ugly head at a really inopportune moment to ruin the his next chapter of life.

This is why he needs Eli in his life so much, to counterbalance him and stretch his comfort zone in a gentle manageable way. It's Eli's sensitivity, curiosity, open-mindedness, willingness to change/adapt and longing to join in with others or be accepted that coax Demetri into the human dance, because the only thing worse to Demetri than making a mistake or acting like a plastic jock is Eli leaving him behind. Demetri would never do anything but sit on the sidelines of life sniping away, if Eli (and to a lesser extent Miguel & Sam) didn't pull him along into new frontiers.

All this said: I still don't think that even now Demetri is particularly vulnerable to Cobra Kai philosophies, because Demetri is the type who is so very rigid in his thinking and sure in his conclusions whether they're sound or not, and once he's made up his mind something is not for him, not the smartest move or doesn't fit his worldview, he dismisses it forever, and that's that. He's even more inflexible than Daniel & Johnny combined. This is why it's more likely that he'll go renegade on his own, or perhaps go dark the way Mr. Miyagi did in his criminal/villain era.

[augustinensang]

Shout out to Gianni DeCenzo for his amazing performance this season.

[sava]

I understand why Demetri was upset given how friendships don't always last. Potentially going to different schools and never seeing the person you thought of as family again hurts. Having said that, I'm more so in Hawk's corner on this one. Demetri was being annoying about it, and Hawk's perspective is fair. Plans change over time. That's just part of life. It's easier said than done to accept that, but still. Hopefully, Demetri does talk it out with Hawk (I think he will) and settles this. They've already been through enough to not let this come in between them permanently.

[marcosandoval]

People are disappointed with his change because they feel better about themselves by looking down on him. Good for Demitri to take control of his life and get the best for himself

[marcusrimson]

Honestly him kinda being an asshole works, he's been getting picked on and beaten but now that's he's stronger his confidence makes sense, I just hope he doesn't stay that way for the rest of the season, but I don't think he will

[demonbadger]

In any other show, Demetri is the kid that eventually wins the tournament. He's been my favourite of the students throughout the entire show. I don't think he'll win the tournament, but hopefully he gets a good moment.

[pendafen]

Demetri's anger stems from repressed trauma that was never properly resolved, and also a place of fear--that Eli will ditch their friendship forever this time, or even revert back to his old Hawkish ways. More than wanting revenge or balanced scales, Demetri is terrified to lose his favourite person again, and he doesn't have the most emotional intelligence to deal with it despite his high IQ, so of course he's acting out. Remember, Demetri is a dramatic hormonal teen like any other, who's naturally very attached to and protective of Eli despite how much they've changed. I see this as good character writing and progression.

[cheetah]

What we're seeing is a demitri with confidence and it's the first time he's ever had it. It's a very fine balance between confidence and arrogance and hes leaning towards arrogance. People forget, demitri season 1 was somewhat similar to what we see in season 6. We're seeing a neurotic kid who literally said "I'm at peace with my depression" and " I would kill you guys to have Yasmine spit in my face".

Now, demetri has his dream girl, actually getting good at karate (good enough to impress Barnes) and still got into MIT, his dream school and now for the first time he actually beat hawk and somewhat embraced his inner cobra kai/eagle fang. And now the one thing he always wanted since he was a kid - his best friend and him going to MIT together is over and he doesn't know how to handle it.

He's riding the momentum of personal wins and we saw similar journeys from miguel, robby, hawk - those guys were obviously much more physical since that was their strengths...demetris strength has ways with his mind and words. I'm sure why people keep saying demetri has always been forgiving and all that. Yes, he forgave hawk for breaking his arm...which was a big moment between them to, but he's always made comments downplaying himself or others...and now that he has skills and the mind to back it all up, he thinks he's unstoppable.

I think Kwon or one of those cobra kais isgoing to humble him real quick. I swear if they're setting up demitri to win the tournament that would be terrible.

I think there is too much foreshadowing for robby to take the win while either hawk or demitri will get seriously injured mending their relationship together.

I wonder if the writers made some last minute changes since way back in season 2 they suggested anthony will be a very important character and he's done nothing except for being an ass to Kenny after getting embarrassed and not learning a thing about not being a bully...I think the time skip st the end of part 1 hurt the story and character development. By showing we are skilling months and going straight to the tournament we miss out on the character development that is still missing. It's just weird

[TheCynicalOne_]

If he can forgive Hawk for breaking his arm and ruining his experiment, he can forgive Hawk for not wanting to go to MIT

[jwilliams]

I appreciate Demetris character growth because he has his eyes focused on the future which is college and is one of the few characters that doesn’t need karate as his only option to succeed. Yeah he is very cocky but I’m glad that he explains that he worked hard to get into MIT and it unapologetic despite Hawk not even applying