John Kreese

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Kreese was born on October 2, 1947. When he was young, he was troubled, as his father left him and his mentally unstable mother committed suicide and he was picked on by other kids. He started working as a busboy at a diner in the San Fernando Valley. In 1965, after intervening when he saw a college football star hitting his girlfriend, Kreese began a romantic relationship with the woman, Betsy, and soon enlisted in the US Marine Corps. During the Vietnam War in 1968, Kreese was selected by Captain George Turner to form a special forces team. He received training from Turner in various martial art forms, including Tang Soo Do. He was joined by a young Terry Silver, nicknamed Twig, and a soldier nicknamed Ponytail. During a mission, Kreese refused to detonate explosives that would kill Ponytail, leading to the squad's capture. The prisoners were forced into death matches over a cobra and venomous snake pit. Kreese volunteered to fight Turner instead of Silver. Turner revealed that Betsy had died in a car accident. Kreese defeated Turner by stabbing him with bamboo and kicking him into the snake pit. After rescue, Kreese was recruited into a special forces unit under Captain Turner, earned a field commission, rose to captain, and served with the 5th Special Forces Group. After his military career, Kreese returned to the Valley. He and Silver formed the Cobra Kai dojo in 1975, named after the snake pit. Silver was forced to help run his family's business but continued financial support. At an unspecified time, Silver funded a trip to Korea for them to train under Master Kim Sun-Yung. Silver proposed competing in the Sekai Taikai, but Kreese declined, focusing on his students, particularly Johnny Lawrence. Kreese survives the yacht explosion and later dies by suicide in season 6, part 3, after being defeated by Johnny Lawrence.

In Their Own Story

In 1984, Johnny Lawrence has a conflict with Daniel LaRusso. Mr. Miyagi teaches Daniel karate and proposes that Daniel enter the All Valley Under-18 Karate Championships tournament. Kreese agrees but threatens harassment if they don't show. At the tournament, Daniel reaches the finals against Johnny. Kreese instructs Bobby Brown to disable Daniel with an illegal attack on the knee, and later instructs Johnny to sweep the leg. Daniel defeats Johnny. After the tournament, Kreese berates Johnny and begins choking him. Mr. Miyagi humiliates Kreese, dodging his punches and honking his nose. The Cobra Kai students abandon him. Nine months later, Kreese has lost all his students. He visits Terry Silver, who has become a wealthy owner of a toxic waste disposal business. In Cobra Kai, Kreese is revealed to have become homeless and unmotivated after Daniel's second victory. He returns after Johnny reopens the dojo and wins the All-Valley. Johnny initially forgives Kreese but exiles him after seeing him corrupt students. Kreese regains control of the dojo and fires Johnny. He recruits Terry Silver, but Terry frames him for assault. Kreese escapes from jail and retakes Cobra Kai after Terry is defeated. He brings the dojo to the Sekai Taikai and takes on a new protege, Kwon Jae-Sung. After Kwon's death, Kreese reconciles with Johnny and Tory, handing control back to Johnny. After overhearing Terry's plans to kidnap Johnny's wife and child, Kreese fights him, resulting in both of their deaths due to Terry's yacht exploding.

Reader's Guide

John Kreese serves as the main antagonist of The Karate Kid (1984), the opening antagonist of The Karate Kid Part II (1986), the overarching antagonist of The Karate Kid Part III (1989), and one of the two main antagonists (alongside Terry Silver) of the sequel television series Cobra Kai. Specifically, he serves as the overarching antagonist in season 1, the main antagonist of seasons 2 and 3, one of the two main antagonists of season 4, a major antagonist in season 5, and one of the three main antagonists of season 6. His philosophy, taught in the original film, is to be aggressive and show no mercy to opponents. This leads his star student Johnny Lawrence into conflict with Daniel LaRusso. In the third movie, Kreese turns to Terry Silver to get revenge on Daniel and relaunch Cobra Kai. In the show, Kreese's growing sympathy for Johnny and Tory leads to conflict with Terry, who frames him for assault. Kreese's backstory includes his time in Vietnam, his training in Tang Soo Do, and his killing of Captain Turner over a snake pit, which inspired the dojo's name.

Did You Know?

• Kreese was born on October 2, 1947.
• The Cobra Kai dojo was named after the snake pit in which Kreese killed Captain Turner.
• Kreese and Terry Silver trained under Master Kim Sun-Yung in Korea, though the exact year is not canonically stated.
• Kreese does not die in a yacht explosion; he survives the explosion and later dies by suicide in season 6, part 3, after being defeated by Johnny Lawrence.