John Kreese

"We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, in the streets, in competition: A man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy."

- Sensei John Kreese's philosophy

John Kreese is the main antagonist of the karate kid trilogy, but was a minor antagonist in karate kid 2.

History
He is a founder of the Cobra Kai dojo and a ex-special forces Vietnam veteran. Kreese instructs his students that mercy is for the weak, and an enemy deserves no mercy. He also order his students to use illegal strikes to there opponent at the All Vally Tournament. However his best student, Johnny Lawrence lost by Daniel in the tournament. Getting angry at Johnny for winning second place and for calling him sick and sadistic loser, he violently chokes Johnny with his arms, ordering his students to stay back, even hit one of his students. However he was stopped by Miyagi and all his students depart from his dojo, and lost his Dojo. In Part III he plots revenge against both Daniel and Miyagi, with the help of his old Vietnam buddy Terry Silver, after listening to his story. So Silver hires Mike Barnes to harass and defeat Daniel at the All Valley Tournament. However Daniel defeats Mike Barnes while a disappointed Kreese throws something at the audience for cheering for Daniel. He doesn't appear in the "Next Karate Kid", however a character named Master Li, mirrors John Kreese in a 2010 Remake.