John Kreese is the main antagonist of the Karate Kid franchise, serving as the main antagonist of the original the Karate Kid, and the secondary antagonist of the Karate Kid Part III, as well as the main antagonist of the television series Cobra Kai, he served as a guest starring in season 1, and the main antagonist of season 2 and 3, and the secondary antagonist of season 4, and the anti-hero of season 5, and the secondary antagonist of season 6.
He is the co-founder of the original Karate dojo Cobra Kai, and the current owner and Sensei of the new Cobra Kai Dojo. Kreese is deeply disturbed and unhinged, forcing his "no mercy" philosophy of aggression and violence on his students. His star student was young Johnny Lawrence, who used to bully the protagonist, Daniel LaRusso, leading Daniel to practice Karate with his wise teacher, Mr. Miyagi. After suffering two defeats at the hands of Daniel and Miyagi, Kreese had to shut down Cobra Kai and flee All Valley, and was left for dead for a long time.
Over thirty years later, Johnny Lawrence reopened Cobra Kai, so Kreese made a surprise return to the Valley. Soon after, he once again takes control of Cobra Kai through nefarious means, becoming the Sensei of a new generation of students.
Biography[]
Beginnings[]
Kreese was born in 1946, in San Fernando Valley. He had a very tough childhood, as his mother suffered from mental illness and ended up taking her own life, leaving Kreese alone, who has always been teased by his peers due to his mother's suicide. As a teenager, Kreese worked in a restaurant as a waiter, and one day, he watched two football players (one named David), being recruited for the U.S. Army Special Forces arrive, crumpling up the recruitment brochure once the man leaves. However, Kreese picks it up off the ground and looks it, reconsidering his future. He briefly catches the eye of Betsy, the girlfriend of David, causing David to insult him and apologizes.
Later, while taking out the trash, Kreese watches David punch Betsy. Kreese intervenes and fights David and his friend to defend Betsy, defeating them. A victorious Kreese then offers to take Betsy home, and she agrees. Later, he begins a romantic relationship with Betsy. Kreese soon enlisted in the United States Army in 1968.
Military service[]
During the Vietnam War, Kreese meets Terry Silver, whose life he saved on several occasions (supposedly). The two are selected by a ruthless captain, George Turner, to form a special forces team that carries out direct action missions in North Vietnam. It was then that Kreese received instructions from Cpt. Turner in various forms of martial arts, including Tang Soo Do (a Korean martial art form), in which he later surpassed Turner. Eventually, he and his soldiers were kidnapped and subjected to torture at the hands of the Vietnamese, forced to fight to the death, watch their colleagues die, and repeat the cycle. When Silver was chosen to fight Captain Turner, Kreese, feeling empathy for him, decided to take his place and fight against Turner.
Turner, before the match, tells Kreese that Betsy died in a car accident and hid the truth from him to keep his focus, leaving Kreese devastated and broken. During the fight, the Captain gains an advantage over Kreese by being more trained in martial arts. He abuses Kreese for his vulnerability to strip his humanity from him and is about to throw him into a well, but Kreese manages to fight back by stabbing Turner with a broken piece of bamboo. Finally, Kreese follows Turner's advice to "kill or be killed" by kicking him off the bridge and causing him to fall to his death, into the pit of Cobras and venomous snakes. After this experience, Kreese earned Silver's undying loyalty and became the merciless man he is known for.
Following his escape from North Vietnamese captivity, Kreese joined the armed forces of the United States Army, earning the rank of captain and being recognized as "United States Army Karate Champion" between 1970 and 1972.
Returning to the San Fernando Valley after his military service, Kreese, with the help of Silver, founds the Cobra Kai Dojo in 1975 to train the local boys. He also developed a simple motto for Cobra Kai, which was "Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy". While Silver was busy helping run his family business, he continued to help Cobra Kai financially. The dojo was known for the ruthless tactics taught to students, who learned to be ruthless towards their enemies. Among Kreese's students was Johnny Lawrence, who quickly became his star student.
Kreese's students became skilled karate fighters, being able to enter the All Valley Karate Tournament. Its most notable champion was Johnny Lawrence between 1982 and 1983.
Karate Kid[]
As Cobra Kai's sensei, Kreese teaches his students to be ruthless and merciless against their enemies. He also instills in them that mercy is for the weak, and that the enemy does not deserve mercy. One day, Mr. Miyagi appears in the dojo, asking Kreese to control his students, who constantly harass and bully Daniel, as Kreese has been misinformed about the conflict between Johnny and Daniel. Seeing this as a challenge, Kreese is about to fight the old man. However, Miyagi proposes that the dispute between Daniel and Johnny be solved at the upcoming All Valley Tournament. Kreese agrees, but warns that if they don't show up in the tournament, both Miyagi and Daniel will be declared fair game for Cobra Kai. He then orders his students to not fight Daniel until the tournament.
The All Valley Tournament arrives, and Cobra Kai prepares to fight. However, Kreese orders his students to use illegal strikes against their opponents in order to gain victory. As the semifinals approached, Kreese ordered his student Bobby Brown to sweep Daniel's leg to stop him from fighting. Bobby reluctantly does so and is disqualified from the tournament, but not before apologizing to Daniel. After Daniel is healed by Miyagi, Kreese orders his star student, Johnny Lawrence, to use the "sweep the leg" move on Daniel, which shocked Johnny, who realized that his sensei was going too far. However, Johnny eventually loses to Daniel in the finals, where the latter wins the tournament.
Cobra Kai[]
| The Karate Kid | ||
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Ali Mills • Amanda LaRusso • Anthony LaRusso • Bobby Brown • Brucks • Daniel LaRusso • Demetri Alexopoulos • Dutch (The Karate Kid) • Jimmy (The Karate Kid) • John Kreese • Johnny Lawrence • Kyler Park • Miguel Diaz • Mike Barnes • Mr. Miyagi • Robby Keene • Sam LaRusso • Terry Silver • Tommy (The Karate Kid) • Tory Nichols • Kenny Payne | ||