 |
This Article Contains Spoilers -
WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all. |
|
| “ | We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, on the street, in competition, a man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy. What is the problem, Mr. Lawrence? | „ |
| ~ John Kreese explaining his "philosophy" to his students. |
| “ | Cobra Kai is not a hobby. It's not a club. Cobra Kai is your brothers... and your sisters. You are all Cobra Kai for life because Cobra Kai… never dies. | „ |
| ~ John Kreese to Johnny Lawrence's Cobra Kai students. |
| “ | I founded Cobra Kai. It belongs to me. It always has and it always will. I will never let my students lose. Even if they have to learn the hard way. One day you will thank me for this Johnny. | „ |
| ~ John Kreese to Johnny Lawrence after taking the Cobra Kai dojo from him. |
| “ | Terry: NOOOO...! Kreese: Mercy. |
„ |
| ~ Kreese's last word in the franchise; before killing Terry Silver and sacrificing himself by blowing up the yacht. |
John Kreese is the secondary antagonist of The Karate Kid franchise.
He is Terry Silver's arch-nemesis and former best friend, Kim Da-Eun's mentor and superior, the arch-nemesis of Mr. Miyagi, and the mentor and father figure of Johnny Lawrence, as well as his former arch-nemesis.
He as a veteran of the Vietnam War and the founder of the Cobra Kai dojo, where he taught an aggressive style of karate under the philosophy of "no mercy," inadvertently encouraging generations of bullies such as Johnny himself. Though Kreese's intentions stem from a traumatized past and a genuine desire to teach his students what he said as necessary lessons for life, his war-like approach lead him to openly torture and wage war against people like Miyagi and Daniel LaRusso.
He is portrayed by Martin Kove, who also played Ericson in Rambo: First Blood Part II. He is also portrayed by Barrett Carnahan (who also played Sebastian in Best Friends Whenever) during Kreese's flashback scenes.
Quick Answers
What is the philosophy that John Kreese teaches his students?
Who founded the Cobra Kai dojo according to John Kreese?
What does John Kreese consider Cobra Kai to be, a hobby, a club, or something else?
What does John Kreese believe about mercy?
Who does John Kreese address his philosophy to in the Cobra Kai dojo?
Biogprahy[]
| “ | We do not train to be merciful here. Mercy is for the weak. Here, on the streets, in competition, a man confronts you, he is the enemy. An enemy deserves no mercy. | „ |
| ~ John Kreese's philosophy. |
Original Trilogy[]
John Kreese was a vicious and ruthless teacher who taught his students to be ruthless and merciless against their opponents, most importantly to Daniel LaRusso. During the All-Valley Tournament, he showed how low he was willing to stoop in order to win by instructing Bobby to put Daniel out of commission during the semifinals and Johnny to sweep his leg in the finals.
Despite being a soldier like Mr. Miyagi, but unlike him, Kreese sees his students are more like soldiers than martial artists, which caused him to be unforgiving towards his teaching. For him, life is a battlefield, and one must fight for it by any means necessary, much like a soldier willing to do anything to survive in the battlefield.
Cobra Kai[]
Despite initially claiming to have redeemed himself, Kreese truly had not changed over the 30 years spent in exile. He uses his anger, bitterness, past teachings and experiences to manipulate several of Johnny's students into becoming more vicious and aggressive people under Johnny's nose. He once threatens Daniel with war between the two dojos and claims he wants revenge against Daniel for ruining him. If anything, his methods are even more ruthless this time around given that he is preying on the dojo members' resentment towards being bullied and turning them against Johnny for trying to get them to stop using under-handed tactics.
After retaking Cobra Kai, Kreese begins using even harsher methods such as making his students watch him feed a mouse (that some of his students showed affection to) to a snake as way of "routing out weakness." When a handful of students feel that this is wrong, he kicks them out.
He then continues with his plan to make his students more ruthless by recruiting physically-abled yet more aggressive and violent students like Kyler and Brucks, in spite of the fact that they bullied Miguel and Hawk in the past. After finding out that Daniel and Amanda tried to get them evicted, he places a snake in their dealership, frightening the employees. He manages to corrupt the mind of Johnny's son, Robby Keene, to the point that the latter joins Cobra Kai after being released from juvenile hall.
Despite still being aggressive, ruthless and manipulative, he does show his softer sides and also signs of morality. When Tory vents about losing her job because of Amanda, he goes to Amanda and tells her about Tory's home life, in order to convince Amanda to leave her alone. When Terry lures Johnny into the old Cobra Kai Dojo and beats him up, a horrified Kreese, who was unaware of Terry's plan, tells Terry to let Johnny go. After Miguel's injury at the All Valley Tournament, he asks Johnny how Miguel is doing, and explains he didn't know that Terry was going to beat him up.
When Johnny accuses him of not caring about him, Kreese claims he cared about him more than anyone and he really wanted him to win the All Valley in 1984 to stop him from going down a downward spiral, and also tells Johnny that Robby is the only one to bring Cobra Kai the glory. After Tory accidentally hits Sam in the eye in the finals, Terry encourages her to fight that way. When she replies she doesn't need to cheat to win, Kreese realizes this is exactly what he put Johnny through; after remembering what he did to Johnny, he encourages Tory to fight how she feels is right. Following Cobra Kai's victory in the tournament, he joins Silver as they celebrate in the latter's mansion. However, their conversation turns darker as Silver admonishes Kreese for still having a soft spot for Johnny Lawrence, which has always been his "weakness." Silver then announces that his own weakness has always been Kreese for manipulating him and treating like a pawn rather than an equal. Before Kreese could protest, police cars arrive to Silver's mansion and arrest Kreese for the aggravated assault and attempted murder of a person, who was none other than Raymond "Stingray" Porter, who had actually been beaten by Silver, who promised Raymond a spot in Cobra Kai if he blamed Kreese for the attack. Silver insists that he is only shedding his weakness and voices his plans to recruit some old friends to assist him in expanding Cobra Kai throughout the Valley. As he is taken to a police car, an infuriated Kreese vows to destroy Silver for his betrayal, claiming, "I am Cobra Kai!".
Having been sentenced to two years of prison for Stingray's near-fatal assault, for which he was incriminated, Kreese tries to get an early release by playing good soldier and avoiding trouble with his fellow inmates but his efforts are in vain, causing him to eventually assert territory and instill fear upon his fellow inmates, who start calling him "sensei" out of fear and respect. Desperate to stop Silver and bring down Cobra Kai for good, Daniel and Johnny visit Kreese, who confesses that Silver might be having ideas of getting Cobra Kai qualified into the Sekai Taikai international karate tournament, as the winning dojo of such elite competition would have its lessons spread worldwide. After Daniel refuses to honor his end of the bargain by revealing he has no intentions in helping free Kreese from prison, the latter wishes good luck to Daniel and Johnny good luck to take down Silver because without him, they won't stand a chance. Shortly afterwards, Kreese fakes his death and escapes prison in the attire of the doctor treating his supposedly fatal wound before fleeing to Korea, where he reunites with Kim Da-Eun and her own students of Cobra Kai to compete in the Sekai Taikai.
Months after Silver's downfall, Kreese risks his chances and returns to America to recruit his former top student Tory to his new Cobra Kai dojo. However, the girl has no interest in anything to do with Kreese after he abandoned her and left her at the mercy of Silver and his extreme ways. Noticing her new gi, Kreese realizes she had joined Miyagi-Do and tries to tell her that her friends would always put her in second place after Samantha and she would always be his champion. Tory agrees that she is a champion, but not Kreese's. Despite Tory initially rejecting him, she ultimately returns to his side for the Sekai Taikai taking place in Barcelona to honour her mother Grace, who had recently died from a pulmonary embolism.
As if Daniel, Johnny and their students were not enough issues for Kreese, he discovers to his rage and shock that Silver had avoided prison and become partners with Sensei Wolf and his Iron Dragons dojo, which is also competing in the tournament. Kreese is determined to kill Silver in retaliation for putting him behind bars for crimes that he did not commit (though they were posthumously accurate since he tried to murder Johnny and Daniel before), which forces Kim Da-Eun to keep his anger in check to avoid trouble with the chiefs of the tournament. A fight between all dojos breaks out, during which Kreese pursues Silver with the eunjangdo dagger he acquired in a test from Kim Sun-Yung. After realizing he lost the blade during the chaos, Kreese fights his former best friend in hand-to-hand combat. Initially overwhelmed, Silver uses the environment of curtains to his advantage and succeeds in taking Kreese down by surprise, telling the latter he should be rotting in prison where he belonged. Before SIlver could attack further, Johnny emerges to defend Kreese and beats up Silver. The brawl comes to an end when Kreese and Kim Da-Eun's top student Kwon accidentally and fatally stabs himself with the eunjangdo, leaving everyone in the stadium shell-shocked and Kreese guilt-ridden.
After Kwon’s funeral, Kreese comes to terms for his past actions and decides to use what’s left to finally make amends, expressing remorse for his actions and wanting to reconcile with Johnny. Kreese tells Da-Eun that while the Way of the Fist gave him the power to overcome difficult things and there are times in life and war where you can’t show mercy, it would eventually lead her to a darker path just like it did with Kreese. As a result, he began feeling remorseful for his past actions when he reconciled with Johnny Lawrence and forgave him for his actions that he did in 1984. As a result, he hands Cobra Kai over to Johnny so much that they can defeat the Iron Dragons once and for all. He finally redeems himself once more when he gave his life to kill Terry Silver for good when he planned on abducting Carmen and Laura-Diaz Lawrence.
Personality[]
John Kreese was raised by a single, but mentally unstable, mother. His mother killed herself, when John was a teenager, which subjected him to tormenting and bullying in his teen years. He was labelled a freak and an outcast. He had hardened to the cruel and unfair circumstances of his life, but still kept hope for the future.
Relationships[]
Family[]
Friends/Allies[]
|
Enemies[]Currently:[]
Formerly:[]
|
Victims[]
- Captain Turner - Kicked into a snake pit by Kreese.
- Dennis de Guzman - Neck snapped by Kreese.
- Terry Silver - Killed in an explosion caused by Kreese.
Quotes[]
| “ | This is a karate dojo! Not a knitting class! | „ |
| ~ Kreese talking to Miyagi and Daniel. |
| “ | Johnny: Hey, come on. That's not fair. I got second place. Kreese: Second place? Second place is no place! You're off the team. Johnny: That sucks. I did my best. Kreese: What did you say?! Johnny: I said I did my best! Kreese: You're nothing, you lost, you're a loser! Johnny: No, you're the loser, man. Kreese: Oh, I'm the loser, huh? Johnny: Yeah. Kreese: (breaks Johnny's 2nd place trophy) Now who's the loser? Johnny: You know, you're really sick, man? |
„ |
| ~ Kreese berating Johnny for losing at the All-Valley. |
| “ | You're telegraphing that wheel kick. | „ |
| ~ Kreese meeting with Silver after losing all his money. |
| “ | Yeah. Make his knuckles bleed. | „ |
| ~ Kreese telling Silver to make Daniel's knuckles bleed in revenge for what Miyagi did to him. |
| “ | Congratulations. You did what I always thought you could do. You won. Cobra Kai is back where it belongs. Back on top. Everyone closed the book on us, they thought we were done, but now they see that the real story's only just begun. | „ |
| ~ John Kreese congratulating Johnny Lawrence for winning the All Valley Karate Tournament at the end of Season 1 of Cobra Kai. |
| “ | Are you familiar with brumation? In winter, some animals bury themselves in a hole and sleep there for months. The snake buries himself in a hole... the only difference is the snake doesn't sleep. He stays awake all winter... waiting for the right moment to emerge... and that moment is now. | „ |
| ~ Kreese after his return. |
| “ | Our society has gotten weak. Kids today are coddled. They get trophies for just showing up. Something's gotta be done. Someone's gotta step in and stop the ass-kissing, and start the ass-kicking. That's why we're here. The world needs Cobra Kai. | „ |
| ~ John Kreese explaining his plans to Johnny. |
| “ | A true cobra feels no sympathy for its meals. | „ |
| ~ Kreese to Hawk. |
| “ | War never ends. Peace is just the lull between battles. | „ |
| ~ Kreese sharing his psychotic worldview to Daniel. |
| “ | The fight is only over when you say it is. | „ |
| ~ John Kreese manipulating Hawk. |
| “ | When one of you makes a move, you all make a move. You live and you die by the consequences and the spoils, because you are all Cobra Kai. | „ |
| ~ John Kreese to Johnny's students while teaching them. |
| “ | Sometimes the world can be cruel. And that's why you have to learn to be cruel yourselves. Weakness is unacceptable. The fight at the school was an embarrassment. You lost soldiers and you lost the battle. But you will not lose again. Diaz was one of our own. What they did to him, they did to all of us. And it will not go unanswered. We will show no mercy. We will show no weakness. We will strike back we will strike hard! | „ |
| ~ John Kreese to the Cobra Kai students after the school fight. |
| “ | Your whole life, you're told to be good. But good is only a matter of perspective. Always remember your enemies think they're doing what's right. They think they're the hero and you're the villain. But now you know the truth. There is no good. There is no bad. Only weak... or strong. And now that we've shed our weakness, it's time to show our strength. If you do that, I promise you... you will be unstoppable. | „ |
| ~ John Kreese explaining his philosophy to his students. |
| “ | Hello Danny boy, nice try but you can't end a war with diplomacy. So I suggest you prepare your students for battle, because now is open season...on them and you. | „ |
| ~ Kreese threatening Daniel. |
| “ | You're in a bad place. And I probably put you there. But you gotta believe it was for your own good. I never wanted to hurt you. I always wanted just to help. You did the impossible. You brought Cobra Kai back to life. You brought me back to life! But then you started leading those kids down the wrong path. And I had to step in. I kept trying to warn you, but you didn't listen. So I had to act. But now it's time for you to come home. You may hate my guts, but I will always be your teacher. I know you more than you know yourself. And there's only one way to get you out of this funk: The Way of the Fist. You were the best, Johnny, and you can teach that to these kids. You've done it before. And when our boy comes back, well, we'll help him get up on his feet. | „ |
| ~ Kreese's attempt to justify himself to Johnny, and convince him to return to Cobra Kai. |
| “ | All that Miyagi-Do mumbo jumbo, that might score you points in a tournament, but now you're in the real world, kid, you might want to learn to strike first. | „ |
| ~ Kreese manipulating Robby. |
| “ | Joining Cobra Kai is a privilege, not a gift. Which is why our recruits must earn their position in this dojo. Prepare yourselves for combat. Only the strong will survive. | „ |
| ~ Kreese pitting new recruits against old Cobra Kai students. |
| “ | I have to disagree with you there. I care about my students. They're strong, and they're true fighters. And they wouldn't make the mistake of showing mercy and ending up in a coma! This is it, Johnny. There's not gonna be another chance. | „ |
| ~ Kreese confronting Johnny. |
| “ | You made your choice. And you are gonna regret it. | „ |
| ~ Kreese after Johnny refuses to join him. |
| “ | Well done. I'm impressed. You showed fearlessness, leadership. Now those are the qualities you need to be a champion. Good job. You're what Cobra Kai's been looking for. | „ |
| ~ Kreese congratulating his students for stealing a snake from the zoo. |
| “ | He's right where he belongs, as are you. Three generations of Cobra Kai working together. We won't just dominate the tournament: We'll melt this whole snowflake generation. This is really your last chance Johnny. Are you in, or are ya out? | „ |
| ~ Kreese offering Johnny one last chance to join Cobra Kai |
| “ | Well, I told you that this was inevitable. | „ |
| ~ Kreese to Daniel. |
| “ | Time for you and Miyagi to reunite! | „ |
| ~ Kreese as he is about to kill Daniel in their fight at the end of Season 3. |
| “ | It's a free country. Why don't we settle this the old-fashioned way? The tournament. We lose, I go. If you lose... | „ |
| ~ Kreese's proposal to Daniel and Johnny. |
| “ | Do you remember when we got back from 'Nam? We went through hell watching our friends die, only to be welcomed home by a bunch of hippies, calling us killers! People needed to learn some respect. Some discipline. That's why we started Cobra Kai. Together, we made a difference. | „ |
| ~ Kreese to Silver about the formation of Cobra Kai. |
| “ | Kreese: There's a whole new generation out there that can use what we know. The only thing standing in our way is Daniel LaRusso. Silver: Danny Boy? Kreese: He's even teamed up with Johnny Lawrence. Silver: Wait, wait, your champ and LaRusso, working together? Kreese: That's why I'm here. I need a partner. And the only other person who knows how to teach Cobra Kai, is you. What do you say? |
„ |
| ~ Kreese asking Silver to help him win the All-Valley. |
| “ | You know, people expect men of our age, to pack it in, and go off into the sunset. Heh. That may work for you, but I still have some fight left in me. | „ |
| ~ Kreese leaving Silver's house, indirectly sending him spiraling into madness. |
| “ | I respect you defending your daughter. I think that's what all mothers should do. Unfortunately, Tory doesn't have a mother, or one that's healthy enough to defend her. That girl has to pay the bills, put food on the table, all by herself. | „ |
| ~ Kreese to Amanda about Tory. |
| “ | I say... we've got a victory in our future. | „ |
| ~ Kreese to Silver about their chances of winning the All-Valley. |
| “ | I'm the one who got you out of that cage then, only to find you in another one that you created for yourself. I always looked out for you, Terry. And I always will. But you need to fall back in line and follow my lead. Because there's a lot of land mines out there, and if you don't watch where you step... it's all gonna blow up. | „ |
| ~ Kreese enforcing his superiority over Silver. |
| “ | Johnny: You don't care about Robby anymore than you cared about me. Kreese: Bullshit. I cared more about you than anyone. Johnny: Yeah, you have a funny way of showing it. You forced me to fight dirty, sacrificed my soul just so Cobra Kai could stay number one? Kreese: That is not true. I wanted you to be number one. But you were down 2-0. You were about to be beaten. And I knew that would take you into a downward spiral. And I was right. Because no matter what people say, it does matter whether you win or lose. And if I can help Robby win, he'll remember this for the rest of his life. And maybe someday, he can be the one to keep Cobra Kai going. |
„ |
| ~ Kreese attempting to justify himself to Johnny, and revealing his plans for Robby. |
| “ | You're gonna regret this! I am Cobra Kai! | „ |
| ~ John Kreese as he is arrested, swearing revenge on Silver. |
| “ | From now on, you're gonna give me your jello! You got a problem with that? | „ |
| ~ Kreese after beating up a prisoner. |
| “ | Doctor: Please. I'm begging you. Kreese: For what? Mercy? |
„ |
| ~ Kreese before stealing the doctor's clothes and escaping prison. |
| “ | Kreese: Glad to see you're still training. Tory: What are you doing here? Aren't the police looking for you? Kreese: Oh, I'm not that easy to catch. I just came to check up on my champion. How are you holding up? Tory: Oh, so now you care? The last time I saw you, I needed your help, and you know what you said to me? (flashback plays of Kreese telling Tory to look after herself) I went back for you, and you left me to deal with Silver and his psycho-bitch sidekick alone. Kreese: You have every right to be angry. But I could not involve you in my plan to... liberate myself. I know it seemed cold, but I was only trying to protect you. And now that I'm out, we have an opportunity to dominate- Tory: No, there is no we. Kreese: (glances at Tory's Miyagi-Do gi) Oh, I see now. You know, I never thought I'd see the day when the Queen Cobra would join the enemy. Tory: They're my friends. Kreese: Don't be naive. They'll invite you in, but you'll never belong there. When push comes to shove, they'll always figure out a reason to keep you second fiddle to LaRusso's kid. Tory: Go crawl back under your rock. I may not be calling the police, but if my sensei's see you, they will. Kreese: I am your sensei. And you are my champion. Tory: I may be a champion, but I'm not yours. |
„ |
| ~ Kreese attempting to sway Tory to rejoin Cobra Kai. |
| “ | Let the games begin. | „ |
| ~ Kreese at the Sekai Taikai |
| “ | Kreese: It's a shame. Clarity came to me so late. I made a lot of mistakes with Kwon, and with Johnny. Kim: You did help Yoon. Kreese: Too little, too late. To tell you the truth, Kim, you don't need me anymore. I don't think anybody ever did. It's time for men like me to step aside. Kim: I'm sorry it's ending this way. Kreese: It's too late for me to be a good sensei, let alone a good person. The Way of the Fist gave me the power to handle many difficult things. There are times in life and war where you can't show mercy. But if you devote your life to that concept, it consumes you. And I could never control it. |
„ |
| ~ Kreese's realization of the flaws of Cobra Kai. |
| “ | But when push comes to shove, Johnny Lawrence always does the right thing. Well now, it's my turn. [...] I'm sorry that I ruined Cobra Kai. I was so proud of you for bringing it back. Sure, it was different. But that's what it needed. For the last few months, I've been thinking a lot about my failures. And my biggest failure happened right here in this parking lot. When you lost to LaRusso back in '84, you handled it like a man. And what I did next was inexcusable. If it wasn't for me, you would have kept going. You could've ended up in the Sekai Taikai. Instead, I left all that garbage from my life on your doorstep and made you carry it for 35 years. I'm sorry for that, Johnny. | „ |
| ~ Kreese apologizes to Johnny. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- According to Martin Kove in the DVD Documentary, he had gotten a call from director John G. Avildsen stating that they wanted him to audition for Kreese but was then told to wait. Kove wanted the role so much that he turned down other prospects in order to get this part. But when the "waiting" dragged out for a few weeks, Kove became annoyed as he kept turning down parts. Finally, when Avildsen called Kove in to audition, Kove was so annoyed at Avildsen that he berated the director and channeled his anger into an intense audition. Ultimately, that intensity got him the role.
- Martin Kove was rumored to have replaced Chuck Norris, who allegedly turned down the role of Kreese because he didn't want karate trainers to be shown in an unsympathetic light. Norris has since said he was never offered the role in the first place, but if he had been, he would've declined for similar reasons.
- According to Martin Kove, the blood on his hands when he broke the windows was real and was an accident on-set. The footage was left in the final cut.
- Martin Kove does most of his own stunts during filming, whilst in his 70's.
- Martin Kove has claimed that fans of the original film would always tell him, "I love to hate you."
- Kreese and Daniel never once speak directly to each other throughout the entire trilogy. They have a brief interaction in the third film, but Kreese is just yelling gibberish at Daniel and therefore not technically speaking to him. That said, they do interact with each other several times and eventually fight in Cobra Kai.
- His counterpart in the 2010 remake is Master Li.
- Although Kreese's Cobra Kai martial art is based on Tang Soo Do, Martin Kove is not practitioner of the said art. Kove however does have a background in martial arts, having been trained in "Okinawa-te Karate" under Gordon Doversola.
- Kreese has the most kills in the Karate Kid franchise, directly killing Turner, Dennis de Guzman and Terry Silver.
External Links[]
- John Kreese on Wikipedia
- John Kreese on the The Karate Kid Wiki
