Terry Silver

Terrance "Terry" Silver is a fictional character in The Karate Kid media franchise, portrayed by actor and martial artist Thomas Ian Griffith. He is introduced in The Karate Kid Part III (1989), serving as the main antagonist. Thirty-two years later, he reprised the role in the fourth season of the sequel television series Cobra Kai, and returned for its fifth and sixth seasons as well.

Terry Silver
The Karate Kid character
Terry Silver as he appears in The Karate Kid Part III (left) and Cobra Kai (right).
First appearance	The Karate Kid Part III (1989)
Created by	Robert Mark Kamen
Portrayed by	Thomas Ian Griffith Nick Marini (young, Cobra Kai)
In-universe information
Full name	Terrence Silver
Occupation	Karate instructor (sensei) U.S. Army Special Forces soldier (formerly) Head of Dynatox Industries (formerly)
Affiliation	Cobra Kai Karate (1975-1985; 2019-2020) Iron Dragons (2020-present)
Fighting style	Tang Soo Do
Family	Unnamed father
Significant other	Cheyenne Hamidi (formerly)
Nationality	American
Teacher	Captain Turner Kim Sun-Yung
Students	Mike Barnes Daniel LaRusso Robby Keene Kenny Payne Tory Nichols

Roles

He is an unseen antagonist in The Karate Kid (1984), the main antagonist of The Karate Kid Part III (1989), and one of the two main antagonists (alongside John Kreese) of the sequel television series Cobra Kai. Specifically, he serves as a mentioned antagonist in the first three seasons, one of the two main antagonists (alongside John Kreese) of season 4, the main antagonist of season 5, and one of the three main antagonists (alongside John Kreese and Sensei Wolf) of the final season.

Backstory

Main articles: Cobra Kai (season 3) and Cobra Kai (season 5)

Born into a wealthy family, Terry Silver joined the US Army sometime before 1968 and was deployed to Vietnam. During this time, he met John Kreese and the duo became best friends. Silver was given the nickname "Twig" by fellow squadmate Ponytail, because of his skinny stature. Kreese, Ponytail, and Silver were handpicked by Special Forces Captain Turner to take part in covert missions and are trained in the art of Tang Soo Do karate. During one such mission to attack a North Vietnamese Army base, the unit is captured when Silver's radio crackles, leading to Ponytail being executed by their captors. While in captivity, an NVA officer chose Silver to participate in a forced hand-to-hand fight to the death with Turner, only for Kreese to volunteer himself instead. After being saved by an airstrike by the US Air Force, Kreese kills Turner and frees the remaining prisoners. Grateful to Kreese for saving his life, Silver pledged a lifetime debt to him. Silver's experiences in Vietnam left him struggling with posttraumatic stress disorder, and found his return to civilian life difficult. In honor of Ponytail, Silver grows a ponytail after leaving the military.

In 1975 Kreese and Silver return back to the Valley after the war. However they were met by hippies who berated them for fighting in the war. Kreese and Silver decided that they needed to teach people to learn some respect and decided to do this by teaching karate. Silver helps Kreese establish the Cobra Kai dojo. However, Silver was forced to help run his family's business at the insistence of his father, who threatened to cut him out of the family inheritance. Though he left Cobra Kai to Kreese, Silver continued to provide financial support and promised to help run the dojo one day. In 1980, Silver was able to fully purchase Cobra Kai and proposed the dojo compete in a global tournament known as the Sekai Taikai, so that it would get worldwide recognition. Kreese declined the offer, hoping to focus on his students, specifically Johnny Lawrence.

The Karate Kid Part III

Main article: The Karate Kid Part III

By 1985, Silver is the head of a toxic waste disposal company called Dynatox Industries which he inherited from his father in the 70s. The company illegally dumps waste in the environment. He has become a master of karate, even surpassing Kreese in skill. He has also become extremely erratic, owing to a cocaine addiction and now wanted to conquer the world.

By this time, the future of Cobra Kai is in doubt when all of Kreese's students leave after he attacked his star student Johnny Lawrence in retaliation for losing to Daniel LaRusso. When Kreese tells Silver he wants to shut down Cobra Kai, Silver vows to help him get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi and make Cobra Kai successful again. Silver sends Kreese to Tahiti to rest while he hires karate fighter Mike Barnes to defeat Daniel in the next All Valley Under-18 Karate Championships. Silver breaks into Mr. Miyagi's house to gather information on him and Daniel. He's nearly discovered but he hides inside the fireplace. He introduces himself to Daniel and Mr. Miyagi on a later day, claiming that he was sent to help Kreese regain balance. He lies to them saying that Kreese died of a cardiac arrest brought on by a broken heart and sadness at losing all of his karate students. He also blames Kreese's erratic behavior as a result of his years fighting in the Vietnam War. Silver "apologizes" to both Daniel and Mr. Miyagi on behalf of Kreese.

When Silver finds out that Daniel will not fight at the tournament this year, he orders Barnes and his two thugs, Snake and Dennis, to harass Daniel and coerce him into entering the tournament. After Daniel signs up for the tournament, he turns to Silver for guidance after Mr. Miyagi refuses to train him. Silver, acting on a request from Kreese to make Daniel's knuckles bleed, forces Daniel to destroy a wooden dummy using a self developed method he refers to as the Quicksilver Method which is intended both to inflict physical pain on Daniel but also give him an inflated sense of his abilities and progression.

After Daniel finally destroys the dummy and injures himself at the same time, Silver tells him that he is ready for the tournament. When Daniel and his friend Jessica Andrews are at a nightclub, Silver bribes a man into provoking a fight with Daniel, who punches the man and breaks his nose. Realizing that he has become a different man and has alienated himself from his friends, Daniel informs Silver that he will not fight at the tournament, causing Silver to reveal his true agenda and alliance with Barnes. As Daniel attempts to flee the dojo, Kreese and Barnes attack him. Mr. Miyagi then appears at the dojo to rescue Daniel, engaging Barnes, Kreese, and Silver in one-on-one fights. Though he puts up the strongest fight of the three, Silver is defeated by Miyagi, but continues to taunt him afterwards.

At the tournament, the committee organizers allow Silver to give a speech before the final match. Silver tells the audience that he will open a chain of Cobra Kai dojos where young people can learn "honesty, compassion, and fair play". When the fight begins, Silver and Kreese instruct Barnes to inflict pain on Daniel, by winning a point and subsequently losing a point to keep the score tied, leading to a sudden death round. The plan appears to work until Daniel unleashes his kata on Barnes during the sudden death round, defeating Barnes. After the final point is scored, Silver walks away in disgust as Cobra Kai shirts are discarded around him.

After the tournament, Silver hit rock bottom, his company went bankrupt from his illegal business deals in the 1980s, and lost communication with Kreese. He questioned his past actions and realized that his and Kreese’s views were wrong. He decided to change himself and got therapy to work through his psychological issues. He invested in some start-up companies which helped rebuild his empire and put the world of Cobra Kai to rest.

Cobra Kai

Main article: Cobra Kai

After the 1985 All-Valley Tournament, Silver lost his business and went into rehab and therapy to turn his life around. He begins a relationship with Cheyenne Hamidi, and makes a living investing in firms. He removes all traces of his association with Cobra Kai, including his Cobra tattoo.

Season 1

While not seen directly, Silver is shown to have had a massive influence, as his, Kreese's, and Barnes's ruthless and unethical actions during the 1985 All-Valley Tournament led to the tournament committee issuing a lifetime ban on Cobra Kai from participating in the All-Valley. As he never met Silver or Barnes during his time as a student under Kreese, Johnny appeals the ban by acknowledging the problems of the previous Cobra Kai, promising that his new version of Cobra Kai is nothing like it and is dedicated to helping change kids' lives for the better. The committee agrees to reverse the ban, much to the chagrin of Daniel, who is also a member.

Season 2

Silver is seen in archival footage, when Daniel tells his students a brief synopsis of his time reluctantly training with Silver due to Mike Barnes forcing him to compete in the 1985 All-Valley Tournament to defend his championship title (from The Karate Kid Part III).

Season 3

A young Silver is seen in flashbacks during the time when he and Kreese were soldiers in the Vietnam War. After coming to an agreement with Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso to settle the fate of their dojos at the upcoming All-Valley Tournament, Kreese makes a phone call to Silver to enlist his help.

Season 4

Silver rejects Kreese's initial request for him to rejoin Cobra Kai and hangs up his phone call. When Kreese crashes a party at Silver's beach house, he tells him that Johnny and Daniel have joined forces. However, Silver still refuses to help, saying his cocaine addiction in the 1980s clouded his judgment and admits to the absurdity of his plan to seek revenge against Daniel in 1985. Silver tells Kreese that his life fell apart after Cobra Kai's loss at the 1985 All-Valley Tournament. After going into therapy, Silver rebuilt his fortune and developed a calmer demeanor and outlook on life. Having sworn off Cobra Kai and his past life, Silver is now in a relationship with Cheyenne Hamidi and is helping her to release a mindfulness app.

However, Kreese's unexpected reappearance into Silver's life eventually causes him to regress back to his old ways. Remembering his promise to Kreese and convinced that he cannot escape his past, Silver abandons Cheyenne and agrees to return to Cobra Kai. However, Silver states that he wants to do things differently to avoid repeating their previous failure. Following a confrontation between Cobra Kai and Miyagi-do/Eagle Fang, Kreese and Silver visit Miyagi-do so that Silver can reintroduce himself to Daniel and Johnny and to reaffirm their agreement to halt hostilities before the tournament. Although Silver tries to manipulate Daniel when he apologizes for his past actions, Daniel forces the duo to leave as he remembers the ways in which Silver had deceived him. Insulted by Daniel's dismissiveness, Silver becomes more determined to win.

After a period of time training together at Cobra Kai, Kreese comes to believe that Silver is attempting to undermine him with conflicting lessons and by suggesting Kreese has a weakness during a lesson. When Kreese reprimands Silver, he attempts to prove his loyalty by purchasing numerous properties for Cobra Kai dojos for expansion, including their original dojo. Convinced Kreese wants revenge against Johnny, he uses his son and Cobra Kai student Robby Keene to lure Johnny into a trap to brutalize him and demoralize Johnny's students. Kreese orders Silver to stop beating Johnny, causing a bewildered Silver to get drunk. In his rage he assaults Raymond "Stingray" Porter, a former adult Cobra Kai student desperate to rejoin after Kreese rejected him earlier. He then coerces Stingray to frame Kreese for his beating under the condition he will be able to rejoin Cobra Kai

During the tournament, Silver and Kreese give conflicting instructions to their students, straining their relationship further, though they eventually win the tournament after Tory Nichols defeats Samantha LaRusso in the female division. He later announces that Cobra Kai will expand as a franchise all across the Valley. However, after the tournament, Tory overhears that Silver had paid off the referees to call the matches in Cobra Kai's favor. Later, while Silver and Kreese celebrate their victory at Silver's beach house, Silver proceeds to tell Kreese that his weakness is Johnny. Accusing Kreese of caring more about Johnny than restoring their friendship, Silver admits his own weakness for Kreese by pledging a life debt to him. Silver declares he is no longer in debt to Kreese and ends their friendship by having him framed for the attack on Stingray. As Kreese is apprehended by the police, he swears revenge on Silver, who tauntingly promises to recruit some "old friends" to teach at the new Cobra Kai dojos and to defeat Daniel and Johnny once and for all. With Kreese behind bars, Silver takes complete control of Cobra Kai for himself.

Season 5

Now in complete control of Cobra Kai, and with Kreese incarcerated, Silver begins expanding the dojo across the Valley. He buys out several local dojos while recruiting a group of new senseis from South Korea, including Kim Da-Eun, the granddaughter of Kim Sun-Yung who had created the style that had influenced Cobra Kai. Tory confronts Silver for bribing the referee at the All-Valley Tournament, but he maintains it was necessary to ensure Cobra Kai's success. Upon discovering that Daniel has recruited Chozen Toguchi and plots to take down Cobra Kai, Silver vows to retaliate. First, he has Mike Barnes' furniture store burned down after he attempts to help Daniel and Chozen find incriminating evidence against him. He then proceeds to form a rift between Daniel and Amanda by hosting a charity auction and manipulating Daniel into attacking him, straining their marriage. When Daniel tries to get Stingray (who was bribed by Silver) to turn against him, Silver gets into a fight with Daniel, in which he seriously injures and demoralizes the latter. Amanda eventually reconciles with Daniel after learning more of his history with Silver from her cousin Jessica Andrews. When Daniel and Johnny visit Kreese in prison, he reveals Silver's plan to get Cobra Kai into the Sekai Taikai, the most elite karate tournament in the world as part of his endgame for Cobra Kai to expand on a global scale. During the tournament round of the Sekai Taikai tryouts, Silver once again bribes the referee in Cobra Kai's favor and secretly teaches Kenny a lethally effective move to gain an advantage. Despite Cobra Kai winning the boys' round, Cobra Kai loses the girls' round after Tory abandons her match. Cobra Kai ultimately is let in, but Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang also qualify.

Later, Terry and Kim have Tory punished for fleeing by making her use the 'Quicksilver' method on a stone dummy, making her right hand bleed (in a grim call-back to Silver training Daniel with a wooden dummy). Deciding Silver finally needs to be taken down, Barnes, Chozen, and Johnny eventually decide to attack Silver by themselves, while the Eagle Fang and Miyagi-Do students, with help from Tory, hope to expose Silver to the Cobra Kai students by finding security footage of his assault on Stingray at the dojo, which Silver had covered his tracks by erasing. However, they manage to discover footage of Silver confessing to Tory about bribing the referee and upload it to the dojo's YouTube channel. In the ensuing fight at Silver's house, Barnes is knocked unconscious, with Johnny fighting off his henchmen, resulting in being pulverized until he rallies and defeats them with the help of a recovered Barnes, while Chozen defeats Silver in a fight to the death. However, while Chozen has his back turned, Silver heavily wounds him with a katana. Silver then makes his way to the dojo, but is too late to stop the footage of him and Tory's conversation being shown to his students. The revelation of the truth shakes Silver's students (and possibly Kim's) faith in him, causing him to go a manic spiral in front of everyone about how life is a competitive sport. Silver, still exhausted from his bout with Chozen, engages in a fight with Daniel who calls upon Silver's own training and finishes him off with a crane kick. Led by Kenny, the Cobra Kai students and Kim completely abandon Silver, throwing their Cobra Kai shirts on him while Stingray reverses his previous testimony to the police as he is taken away. With the evidence provided by both the students and Stingray, Silver faces a litany of criminal charges, while Cobra Kai faces an uncertain future.

Season 6

Three months before the Sekai Taikai, Silver gets the charges dropped and at a karate club in Bangkok, he discovers Sensei Wolf, who has had his dojo taken away from him. Wanting to humiliate his enemies as revenge, Silver proposes that he participate in the Sekai Taikai and will return his dojo to him in exchange. In Barcelona, he recovers Dennis de Guzman, a former Cobra Kai student, and has him kidnap Daniel, and when he escapes, he, Chozen, Kreese and Kim Da-Eun find Silver with Sensei Wolf, discovering that they are working together. When Kenny enters the Sekai Taikai, he offers him the chance to join his dojo, Iron Dragons, telling him that he owes nothing to his fellow Miyagi-do members, but he turns it down. When Cobra Kai is eliminated, Silver gives Daniel a file confirming that Mr. Miyagi killed his opponent when he entered the competition. At the hotel, Kreese, before leaving with Cobra Kai after being eliminated, attempts to confront Silver as he overhears him plotting a fight to humiliate Miyagi-do, regretting not being able to do so with Cobra Kai as well, though Cobra Kai is eventually reintroduced after the Russian dojo's expulsion. In the semi-finals, a fight breaks out between all the dojos and separately Kreese, with the intent of killing Silver, and Silver begins a fight in which Silver nearly kills Kreese when Johnny arrives and defeats Silver. The fight ends when Kwon accidentally stabs himself in the chest and dies, leaving everyone watching in horror, including Silver.

Commentary

John Kreese was initially intended to have a larger role in The Karate Kid III. However, due to Martin Kove’s schedule conflicts with Hard Time on Planet Earth, the character of Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) was written into the script. The Karate Kid III was Griffith's first film. As a child, Griffith studied both acting and martial arts (kenpo karate and tai kwon do) and, prior to the film, he had performed on and off Broadway. Griffith states that when he was "cast for the Karate Kid role, my character wasn't supposed to do any martial arts at all...I just tortured Ralph, basically, and plotted his demise with Martin Kove". The narrative shifted after the fight choreographer learned of his background in martial arts. At the time he was cast, Griffith "figured the Terry Silver role was out of reach because he was 28 at the time and the character was a Vietnam War veteran about two decades his senior. And since Macchio, then 28, had to somehow play a convincing teenager, casting someone younger than him as Daniel's older antagonist seemed simply insane. Griffith presumed he had a better shot of being cast as "Bad Boy" Mike Barnes, a karate champion who fights La Russo in the climactic scene".