The Great Returnee in Cobra Kai Season 4: Who is Terry Silver in the Karate Kid Universe?

• Who was Terry Silver again in the “Karate Kid” universe?
• In “The Karate Kid III,” Silver terrorized Daniel LaRusso.
• The third season of “Cobra Kai” also showed him in flashbacks from the Vietnam War.
• Read Silver’s complete bio at a glance here.

In “Cobra Kai”, the follow-up series to “The Karate Kid”, characters from the cult film series return with great regularity. After “Cobra Kai” sensei John Kreese (Martin Kove), Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) former adversary Chozen (Yuji Okumoto) from “The Karate Kid II – Decision in Okinawa” and Daniel and Johnny’s (William Zabka) love interest Ali Mills ( Elisabeth Shue) the newly released season 4 of “Cobra Kai” brings a reunion with Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith). But who was that again?

Cobra Kai viewers meet Terry Silver in season 3 in flashbacks from the Vietnam War. Here the legendary character is embodied by Nick Marini. Kreese and Silver are young US soldiers being held captive by the Viet Cong. The Vietnamese want to force the slight Silver to a fight to the death over a snake pit. That would probably have meant Silver’s death.

But John Kreese heroically takes his place – and also survives in the fight against Captain Turner (Terry Serpico). Terry Silver is now forever in debt to John Kreese.

Silver and Kreese are freed, and back in the US, the savvy businessman builds up Dynatox Industries, a company that illegally dumps toxic waste into the environment. This makes Silver wealthy. He’s also a formidable karate fighter (and his actor, Thomas Ian Griffith, conveniently has a real-life black belt in karate and is a martial arts expert).

This happens in “The Karate Kid III – The Final Decision”

Terry Silver was originally introduced in 1989’s The Karate Kid III. Thomas Ian Griffith plays the delightfully over-the-top villain.

In the third installment of “The Karate Kid,” Silver’s thug orders Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) to force Daniel LaRusso into the All Valley Karate Tournament. However, Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) refuses to train Daniel for the tournament.

Daniel therefore turns to Terry Silver and asks for help. While training in the “Cobra Kai” dojo, Silver uses psychological tricks and manipulation to draw Daniel to the “dark side” of karate.

But then Terry Silver reveals himself. He has Mike Barnes attack Daniel – and at the last moment Mr. Miyagi shows up and defeats Barnes, Silver and John Kreese.

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Cobra Kai: The Karate Kid Sequel Quiz

Who plays Daniel LaRusso on “Cobra Kai”?

In “Karate Kid III” there is a showdown at the big All Valley tournament. Daniel, again being coached by Mr. Miyagi, defeats Silver’s student, Mike Barnes. Terry Silver previously announced that his “Cobra Kai” dojo would be opening offshoots (very similar to “Cobra Kai” season 4, by the way). But Daniel’s victory makes this plan unnecessary. Silver is defeated and walks away.

At the beginning of the “Karate Kid” sequel “Cobra Kai”, it is revealed that the “Cobra Kai” dojo has been permanently banned from the All Valley Karate Tournament due to Silver’s actions. But since Johnny can assure that he never had anything to do with Silver or Barnes, his dojo is allowed back. At the end of Season 3 of the Netflix series, John Kreese picks up the phone and brings Terry Silver back into his life. After some persuasion at the beginning of Season 4, Silver then gets fully involved in “Cobra Kai” again.