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John Kreese is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists in The Karate Kid franchise created by Robert Mark Kamen. Portrayed by Martin Kove, he appears in the films The Karate Kid (1984), The Karate Kid Part II (1986), and The Karate Kid Part III (1989), as well as the sequel television series Cobra Kai (2018–present).
Seasons 1 and 2: Though he does not reappear until the season 1 finale, Kreese's actions in the original films are shown to have a profound effect on the main characters. Johnny harbors resentment towards Daniel for beating him in the 1984 tournament due to being assaulted by Kreese as punishment for the loss against Daniel, and also has difficulty signing Cobra Kai up for the 2018 All-Valley tournament because Kreese, Silver, and Barnes's unsportsmanlike conduct during the 1985 tournament got the dojo banned from tournament participation. Johnny is able to successfully convince the committee to lift the ban and allow Cobra Kai to compete again by denying any affiliation with Silver or Barnes and claiming Kreese has died.
When Johnny's reestablished Cobra Kai wins the 2018 All-Valley Karate Championship with Miguel Diaz's victory over Daniel's student and Johnny's estranged son Robby Keene, Kreese returns to the dojo. He ostensibly asks Johnny for forgiveness for attacking him after the 1984 tournament, in which Johnny placed second. He states that after Barnes's loss to Daniel in 1985, he re-enlisted in the Army to train Special Forces soldiers and run strikes during the Gulf War and the War in Afghanistan, though he now feels lost as the world has changed around him. Though Johnny rebuffs him for this apology, Kreese maintains that he never tried to kill Johnny and has repaired his second-place trophy to make amends which cools down the animosity between them; Johnny allows Kreese to attend Cobra Kai classes. Johnny and Kreese encounter Daniel, who realizes that Kreese has faked his death once again.
As Kreese regales the Cobra Kai students with stories of his military past, Miguel notices inconsistencies in his tales, and voices his concerns to Johnny. Johnny follows Kreese to a homeless shelter, where he admits that he flunked a psychological test when he attempted to re-enlist in the Army, and that his stories about wars after his Vietnam experience were lies. Taking pity on Kreese, Johnny decides to put his full trust in him, believing that he wants to change for the better. However, Kreese abuses his influence, even going so far as to encourage some of them, particularly a vengeful Hawk, to vandalize the Miyagi-Do dojo in retaliation for losing a fight to them. This costs Cobra Kai some of its students after Daniel confronts Johnny about the matter in the middle of a class. After seeing the abusive tactics used by his students during a training exercise at Coyote Creek, particularly when Miguel delivers an aggressive beatdown on Hawk over Hawk's vandalism of Miyagi-Do, Johnny discovers that Kreese has been teaching the old ways of Cobra Kai behind his back and expels him from the dojo.
Kreese has convinced strip-mall landlord Armand Zakarian to sign the dojo over to him while Johnny was visiting his dying friend Tommy and keeps in touch with the students loyal to him behind Johnny's back. After Miguel is severely injured and accidentally crippled during his fight with Johnny's son Robby Keene at the end of the school brawl due to Miguel letting his guard down while showing mercy and apologizing to Robby, most of the Cobra Kai students lose faith in Johnny while Kreese makes his move and takes complete ownership of the dojo. Now as its sole sensei, Kreese schemes to return Cobra Kai to the merciless organization it once was, using the remnants of Johnny's most disaffected students as his core.
Season 3: Kreese suffers the least fallout in the aftermath of the high school brawl, only losing a couple students, including Tory after being placed on probation for instigating the fight. Needing to bolster his ranks, Kreese convinces Tory to return to the dojo by offering free tuition and intimidating her seedy and unscrupulous landlord. His management of Cobra Kai sows seeds of division within his students' ranks, most notably with Hawk, who disapproves of Kreese's recruitment of Kyler and Brucks (who used to bully him, Miguel and Demetri) and Robby Keene (who crippled Miguel at the end of the school brawl). Kreese proceeds to expel most of Johnny's remaining students who objected to feeding a live hamster to a snake. Most of the expelled students get recruited by Miguel into Johnny's new dojo Eagle Fang Karate. Hawk's loyalty to Cobra Kai is put to question as he is cast aside, while Kreese views Tory and Robby as his star pupils.
Kreese's machinations land him squarely in the sights of the LaRussos and Johnny. When Demetri's right arm is broken by Hawk in a fight with the Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai students at the laser tag arena, a furious Amanda storms into the dojo and slaps Kreese, who retaliates by issuing a restraining order against her. Amanda and Daniel convince Armand to evict Kreese despite consistently paying his rent on time, but Kreese beats up Armand and his nephews when they confront him. As revenge, Kreese plants a live cobra in a car on the showroom floor of the LaRusso dealership. During a town hall meeting to discuss whether or not to let the All Valley tournament continue, Kreese manages to ingratiate himself to the council members by claiming to promote strength and discipline through karate, all while painting Miyagi-Do as the aggressors, a position that is backed up by the vocal protests of Amanda, Daniel and Johnny. Due to the outburst, the council are inclined to cancel the tournament, though reconsider after Miguel gives the assembled audience an impromptu speech advocating for the tournament, with the help of Daniel's daughter Samantha.
Noticing the visible connection between Miguel and Sam, Kreese realizes they are likely to create an alliance between their dojos and decides to take action. He exploits Tory's vendetta against Sam to get her to lead the Cobra Kais in a fight against the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students at the LaRusso home. The attack fails, as Hawk defects to the Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang students midway through the fight, and all of the Cobra Kai fighters are defeated. When Johnny finds out what happened, he storms into Cobra Kai to confront Kreese, and is horrified when he finds Kreese training Robby. Johnny viciously beats Kreese and at one point grabs a sai, but is interrupted when Robby intervenes. Refusing to fight, Johnny accidentally knocks Robby out by pushing him into a locker while evading his attacks and trying to reason with him to no avail. While Johnny is concerned with his son's well-being, Kreese uses it as an opportunity to strangle him.
Before Kreese can finish Johnny off, Daniel arrives, and has an even match with him. Even with Kreese using glass shards as an improvised weapon, Daniel immobilizes Kreese using the pressure point techniques that Chozen taught him in Okinawa. Sam and Miguel arrive just as Daniel is about to deliver the finishing blow with Johnny's approval, convincing them to spare Kreese. Kreese agrees to cease hostilities with Daniel and Johnny and settle their differences at the upcoming All-Valley tournament, with a vow to shut down Cobra Kai if he loses. He retreats into the battered dojo with Robby, and calls up Silver to enlist his help to prepare his students to take on Daniel and Johnny's students.
Season 4: Following the attack on the LaRusso residence, several Cobra Kai students quit, leading to Kreese taking in new recruits in anticipation of the tournament. In the meantime, Silver initially refuses to help Kreese, as he is now living a new life and voices regret for his actions against Daniel in 1985. Silver eventually changes his mind and agrees to rejoin Cobra Kai, but tells Kreese that they must focus on the tournament and not repeat their prior mistakes. Despite their renewed alliance, Kreese starts suspecting Silver is trying to undermine him with conflicting priorities and lessons, and is particularly angered when Silver implies to their students during a lesson that Kreese has a weakness. Kreese reprimands Silver, warning him not to challenge his authority. Silver tries to prove his loyalty by renewing his pledge to expand Cobra Kai across the Valley, including buying the original Cobra Kai dojo. However, Kreese is disturbed when he discovers that Silver has lured Johnny into an ambush to demoralize Johnny's students, particularly Miguel. As Silver attempts to finish Johnny off, Kreese steps in and demands that Silver leave Johnny alone, reminding him of their agreement that there would be no hostilities until the tournament.
At the tournament, Kreese apologizes to Johnny for Silver's actions, but Johnny rebuffs him and vows to defeat Cobra Kai. During the final match between Tory and Sam, Silver encourages Tory to fight dirty to win, but Kreese remembers strangling Johnny after he lost to Daniel and encourages Tory to fight her own way instead, much to Silver's surprise. Tory wins her match against Sam, and Cobra Kai wins the tournament with the most points overall. However, unbeknownst to Kreese, Silver secretly bribed the referee to rig the match in Cobra Kai's favor.
Celebrating at Silver's beach house, Silver thanks Kreese for pulling him out of retirement but accuses him of caring more about Johnny than restoring their old partnership. Silver tells Kreese that Johnny is his weakness before declaring Kreese as his own weakness. Kreese protests these accusations by reminding Silver he saved his life in Vietnam, but Silver says he is no longer in debt to him for saving his life and ends their friendship in retaliation for Kreese's emotional abuse and psychological manipulation against him. Kreese is arrested by the police for aggravated assault and attempted murder in relation to Silver's attack on former adult Cobra Kai student Stingray when he asked to rejoin Cobra Kai after Kreese rejected him; Silver told him that he could rejoin Cobra Kai if he blamed Kreese for the attack. As he is apprehended and taken away, Kreese furiously swears revenge on Silver, who now has full control of Cobra Kai.
Season 5: Kreese is tried and convicted of Stingray's beating and is sent to prison as punishment. In prison, Kreese is bullied by a bigger inmate, initially refusing to fight back so that he can get a parole hearing. However, after learning from his therapist that he has been denied, he fights back at the gang to intimidate them. Kreese is frequently visited by Tory, and they work together to try and undermine Silver's hold on Cobra Kai. Later, Daniel and Johnny visit Kreese to find out what Silver is planning to do with Cobra Kai. When he reveals nothing, the duo trick him into revealing that Silver was hoping to enroll Cobra Kai in a global tournament known as the Sekai Taikai decades before. Kreese turned down the offer, hoping to focus on his students, especially Johnny. With Kreese now out of the picture, Silver is left free to turn Cobra Kai into a global franchise. When Tory later visits again for advice on the Sekai Taikai tournament, he simply tells her to do what she can to win, revealing he is bailing on his revenge plan. However, at this point, Tory suspects that Kreese has been manipulating her to take down Silver, meaning he only wanted her in Cobra Kai as a means of fulfilling his revenge plan and severs ties with him.
At the end of the season, Kreese fakes his death with the help of a fellow inmate by using melted Jell-O as a substitute for blood. This allows him to escape from prison with vengeance on his mind. Unknown to Kreese, however, Silver had already been arrested with multiple charges both for bribing the All-Valley tournaments and Stingray confessing to the police about the truth behind the assault, leaving Cobra Kai with no students left.