Warning: SPOILERS for Cobra Kai Season 3
Cobra Kai season 3 revealed the long-awaited origin of John Kreese (Martin Kove), which provided necessary context to how he became the sadistic and uncompromising sensei of Cobra Kai. Kreese has emerged as the ultimate villain of the entire Karate Kid/Cobra Kai saga and he's been feuding with Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) since they first crossed paths in 1984. LaRusso has foiled Kreese's attempts to have Cobra Kai take over the San Fernando Valley for decades, but Kreese's past contains some tragedies wherein he has more in common with Daniel and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) than they know.
John Kreese was introduced in The Karate Kid and Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki "Pat" Morita) correctly identified him as a "bad teacher" who was the true source of the problems of his Cobra Kai students. Kreese was furious when Daniel defeated Johnny in the 1984 All Valley Under 18 Karate Tournament; at the beginning of The Karate Kid Part II, Kreese assaulted Johnny until Miyagi humiliated the Cobra Kai sensei. Kreese's unhinged actions led to his students abandoning him and Cobra Kai being shut down; John was destitute for months before he sought help from his best friend, Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith), in The Karate Kid Part III. Silver was Kreese's Vietnam war buddy and a co-founder of Cobra Kai; together, they hatched an elaborate revenge scheme on Daniel and Miyagi that saw LaRusso quit on his sensei and briefly join Cobra Kai. But Daniel returned to Miyagi and defeated their handpicked karate protege, Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan); meanwhile Kreese and Silver's tactics at the 1985 All Valley Tournament were so openly despicable, they and Cobra Kai received a lifetime ban. The Cobra Kai karate brand was dead in the Valley and Kreese slithered away for decades.
Kreese made a surprise return at the end of Cobra Kai season 1 after he heard Johnny Lawrence resurrected his dojo and led Miguel Diaz (Xolo Mariduena) to win the 2018 All Valley Karate Championship. Initially preying on Johnny's sympathies, Kreese successfully executed his true master plan to steal the Cobra Kai dojo from Lawrence in season 2; although he still wanted Johnny at his side, Kreese took what he felt was his rightful place as Cobra Kai's king snake. In Cobra Kai season 3, Kreese made sure his students ran roughshod over the Valley as he sought more athletic fighters to fill the dojo's ranks - primarily, Tory Nichols (Peyton List), and Robby Keene (Tanner Buchanan), who was both Johnny's estranged son and Daniel's former Miyagi-Do pupil.
However, Cobra Kai season 3 sprinkled in flashbacks to Kreese's past, at last providing necessary context to the key events that made him the man that fans got to know from The Karate Kid into the present-day events of Netflix's series. Kreese's origin primarily plays out in Cobra Kai season 3 episode 2, "Nature Vs. Nurture," episode 6, "King Cobra," and episode 10, "December 19." The flashbacks are a fascinating glimpse into what turned John Kreese into someone who believes wholeheartedly that "mercy is for the weak." Though neither Johnny nor Daniel are privy to the facts about Kreese's past in Cobra Kai, fans get a thorough understanding of just who Kreese is, what made him into a sociopath, and why he's so difficult for LaRusso and Lawrence to defeat.
Young Kreese Was Bullied And Suffered Tragedy
Like Johnny, John Kreese grew up in the San Fernando Valley and, like Daniel, whose father was dead by the events of Karate Kid, Kreese's father was out of the picture. Kreese took care of his mother, who had a mental illness that he "didn't understand at the time," until she committed suicide. Kreese was also bullied as a youth but he fought back. In 1965, Kreese (Barrett Carnahan) was a busboy at a local diner and he found a pamphlet from an Army recruiter, which changed the course of his life. As did a violent confrontation with David (Jesse Kove), a varsity captain who harrassed Kreese and abused his girlfriend Betsy (Emily Marie Palmer). Standing up for himself, Kreese fought David and another goon behind the diner, emerging triumphant and winning the love of Betsy. But by 1968, Kreese had signed up to fight in Vietnam, leaving Betsy behind.
With his mother already dead, Betsy was the only thing Kreese was living for and wanted to come back to. Kreese was an idealist when he shipped off to war; he wanted to serve his country and be a hero. Once deployed in Southeast Asia, Kreese became known to his commanders for his willingness to take risks and lead. He also corresponded with Betsy back home and he was the envy of the friends he made among the troops, mainly a man everyone called Ponytail and a scrawny soldier everyone nicknamed Twig, who was later revealed to be Terry Silver from Karate Kid Part III (as confirmed in an interview with the show's producers).
How Vietnam Taught Kreese That Mercy Is For The Weak
Cobra Kai season 3 revealed that Kreese was recruited for a Special Forces team by Captain Turner (Terry Serpico), a sadistic man who would become a prime influence in John's life, but in all the wrong ways. Turner, who trained in Tang Soo Do karate under master Kim Sun-Yung of South Korea, taught Kreese how to fight but berated him for showing humanity to his opponents. The basic tenets of Cobra Kai originated from the cruel lessons Turner taught Kreese. Crucially, Turner also learned that Betsy was killed in a car accident, news he withheld from Kreese so as not to "distract" him from his missions. Turner, Kreese, Ponytail, and Twig formed the crux of a black ops team operating against the Viet Cong, but in 1969, Kreese made a serious (although human) error when he refused to detonate a bomb Ponytail took too long to plant because his friend was still in the blast range. This led to Kreese's unit being captured as prisoners of war. Ponytail was also executed by the Viet Cong in front of their eyes, which traumatized Twig (and likely led to Terry Silver adopting Ponytail's look later in life to honor his fallen comrade).
While Kreese and his unit were held as POWs, the Viet Cong viciously forced their American captives to fight each other to the death over a pit of deadly snakes - iconography that would later influence Kreese when he founded Cobra Kai. Captain Turner and Twig were selected to fight each other but Kreese offered to take his terrified friend's place; it was at that moment that Turner chose to reveal that Betsy was dead and that he withheld the information from Kreese. Turner hoped learning his girl back home was dead would break Kreese's resolve but it only motivated him against his commanding officer. American forces began bombing the Viet Cong camp as Kreese defeated Turner in their fight, and John showed no mercy when he (unnecessarily) sent Turner falling to his death in the pit of snakes. However, Terry pledged his eternal loyalty to Kreese for saving his life.
After the incident at the POW camp, Kreese was a changed man who learned the value of not showing mercy to his opponents. Betsy's death scarred Kreese, who came to feel that life was cruel and the only answer was to meet it with equal cruelty and always strike first. Kreese lost the heroic idealism he brought with him to Vietnam and he channeled his rage to become a Captain and the US Army's karate champion from 1970-1972. When the war was over, Kreese and Silver returned to the San Fernando Valley and they founded the Cobra Kai dojo so Kreese could teach his "strike first, strike hard, no mercy" philosophy to others.
Does Cobra Kai's Origin Story Humanize Kreese?
Kreese often comes across as a one-dimensional villain, especially in the context of Cobra Kai, which has ingeniously explored the shades of grey in Johnny, Daniel, and their teenage pupils. Instead, Kreese is a gleefully malevolent force who has no qualms about exploiting his students and urging them towards violence, and he has proven himself to be manipulative and uncontrollable. Kreese also uses his status as a veteran as a weapon, preying on the patriotism of the police and local officials to look the other way when he and Cobra Kai are clearly guilty of numerous crimes. Indeed, Kreese is a man from a very different era; he thinks the kids of today are "snowflakes" and Daniel's wife, Amanda LaRusso (Courtney Henggeler), rightfully loathes him as a sociopath.
Kreese's origin story in Cobra Kai season 3 explains how he became the man he is, and there's definitely tragedy in his past, but while it's now easier to understand what made Kreese into a sadist who believes "weakness is unacceptable," it's still hard to sympathize with Cobra Kai's sensei. Nor would Kreese court such sympathy. Even when Kreese does occasionally show a seemingly benevolent side, like when he brutalized Tory's abusive landlord so that she could return to training at his dojo, his "good" acts involve violence and ultimately serve his own ends.
What Kreese's origin does convey is that he quietly sees the similarities between himself, Johnny, and Daniel, but he is disappointed by how Lawrence won't allow himself to follow Kreese's example. Meanwhile, Kreese just outright hates the LaRussos, especially since Kreese will never forgive or forget how Mr. Miyagi humbled him "more than once," as Daniel reminded him. Like many great villains, John Kreese was molded by tragedy but he chose to shed his humanity, which he believes to be a source of weakness. The ultimate question is what will it eventually take to stop Kreese once and for all in Cobra Kai season 4.