Terry Silver
Terrance "Terry" Silver is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists of The Karate Kid media franchise, portrayed by actor and martial artist Thomas Ian Griffith. He was created by American screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen and introduced in the 1989 film The Karate Kid Part III. Thirty-two years later, Griffith reprised the role in the sequel television series Cobra Kai, appearing as a main cast member from its fourth season to the sixth and final season.
Silver is the former best friend-turned-arch-enemy and fellow Vietnam veteran of Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese, and the co-founder of the dojo itself, as well as the arch-nemesis of Daniel LaRusso and later on Johnny Lawrence.
In The Karate Kid Part III, he is depicted as a megalomaniacal and sociopathic businessman who mentally tortures Daniel in an effort to get revenge on him for getting Kreese's dojo shut down. In Cobra Kai, he is shown to have reformed, only for Kreese's return to cause him to mentally devolve into his old state and later usurp him as the main sensei of the dojo, making him the biggest threat in the series.
Concept and creation
Writing
Franchise creator Robert Mark Kamen initially refused to return for the third The Karate Kid film, as he wanted to take the franchise in a new direction. Inspired by Hong Kong Kung Fu films, he wanted to write a prequel story that would take Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi back to 16th century China. Both the president of Columbia Pictures Guy McElwaine and producer Jerry Weintraub refused this idea. When Dawn Steel took over from McElwaine, she offered Kamen a deal to write a third film and convinced him by saying that someone else could mess up the characters.Casting
John Kreese was initially intended to have a larger role in The Karate Kid Part III. Due to Martin Kove’s schedule conflicts with Hard Time on Planet Earth, the character of Terry Silver was written into the script, replacing Kreese's role. The Karate Kid Part III was Griffith's first film role. In his youth, Griffith had studied acting and also trained in kenpo karate and tae kwon do. Prior to his casting, he had performed on and off Broadway. Griffith stated that when he was cast in the role, Silver was not written to do martial arts but to antagonize Daniel LaRusso. The narrative shifted after fight choreographer Pat Johnson learned of his background in martial arts. Griffith considered the role of Silver to be out of his reach because he was aged 26 at the time and the character was a Vietnam War veteran about two decades his senior. Ralph Macchio, who was aged 27, performed the role of LaRusso, a teenager. Griffith presumed he would be instead cast as Mike Barnes, a karate champion who fights La Russo.Characterization
Director John G. Avildsen became interested in developing Terry Silver as a martial artist after discussing it with Griffith and agreed to add some fight scenes into the role. He gave Griffith opportunities to input ideas into his character. Griffith said the role was portrayed to be larger than life, "to give the adults a laugh and be all scary for the kids". Griffith came up with ideas for antagonizing LaRusso and Avildsen attempted to incorporate them into the film. Griffith portrayed Silver as a psychotic man who enjoys torturing teenagers but he was worried by Silver's personality, considering his portrayal to be too excessive. Avildsen instead encouraged him to use his instincts and play a more over the top character.In developing the character for Cobra Kai, series creators Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg thought of Silver as a "really scary Bond villain". They took aspects of the character from the film and wrote him into a modern story. In the series, Silver is enjoying his wealthy lifestyle and shows little interest in getting involved in Cobra Kai with Kreese. He tells Kreese that in the 1980s he was addicted to cocaine and thinks it insane that he was fixated on torturing a teenager. Heald explained that they added the cocaine to his character's backstory to explain Silver's maniacal behaviour and said he had a "Charlie Sheen kind of Wall Street-like lifestyle". The creators insisted that Griffith keep his hair long so that he could wear the character's signature ponytail in the same style as his appearance in The Karate Kid Part III. Despite being uncertain about returning to the character, Griffith was swayed by the detailed backstory that the creators had devised for Silver, which explained much of the character's personality. Griffith described Silver as a "super-smart guy" who attempts to distract himself from his inner demons by his wealthy lifestyle but Kreese brings his demons back and it consumes him.
The Cobra Kai creators were keen to reinvent Silver as a more three-dimensional character rather than the archetypal villain of the 1980s. Griffith said that he was not interested in repeating the same performance, but wanted to stay true to the essence of the character. His fighting style was designed to express the character of Silver in the way that he moves, which Griffith likened to a "coiled snake". He said that much of Silver's character is affected by his time in Vietnam, explaining that he clearly suffers from addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder. He described Silver's journey as a "path of survival" but thought that he is unable to change his path for the better having lived it all his life. In the series, Silver shows moments of vulnerability by asking Daniel for forgiveness. Griffith said this is based in Silver's need of "wanting to be loved, wanting a friend, wanting forgiveness".
Backstory
Born into a wealthy family, Terry Silver joined the US Army sometime before 1968 and was deployed to Vietnam. During this time, he met John Kreese and the duo became best friends. Silver was given the nickname "Twig" by fellow squadmate Ponytail, because of his skinny stature. Kreese, Ponytail, and Silver were handpicked by Special Forces Captain Turner to take part in covert missions and are trained in the art of Tang Soo Do karate. During one such mission to attack a North Vietnamese Army base, the unit is captured when Silver's radio crackles, leading to Ponytail being executed by their captors. While in captivity, an NVA officer chose Silver to participate in a forced hand-to-hand fight to the death with Turner, only for Kreese to volunteer himself instead. After being saved by an airstrike by the US Air Force, Kreese kills Turner and frees the remaining prisoners. Grateful to Kreese for saving his life, Silver pledged a lifetime debt to him. Silver's experiences in Vietnam left him struggling with posttraumatic stress disorder, and found his return to civilian life difficult. In honor of Ponytail, Silver grows a ponytail after leaving the military.In 1975 Kreese and Silver return to the Valley after the war. However they were met by hippies who berated them for fighting in the war. Kreese and Silver decided that they needed to teach people to learn some respect and decided to do this by teaching karate. Silver helps Kreese establish the Cobra Kai dojo. However, Silver was forced to help run his family's business at the insistence of his father, who threatened to cut him out of the family inheritance. Though he left Cobra Kai to Kreese, Silver continued to provide financial support and promised to help run the dojo one day. In 1980, Silver was able to fully purchase Cobra Kai and proposed the dojo compete in a global tournament known as the Sekai Taikai, so that it would get worldwide recognition. Kreese declined the offer, hoping to focus on his students, specifically Johnny Lawrence.
''The Karate Kid Part III''
By 1985, Silver with his wealth founded a toxic waste disposal company called Dynatox Industries where he is the head of the company. The company illegally dumps waste in the environment. He has become a master of karate, even surpassing Kreese in skill. He has also become extremely erratic, owing to a cocaine addiction and now wants to conquer the world.By this time, the future of Cobra Kai is in doubt when all of Kreese's students leave after he attacked his star student Johnny Lawrence in retaliation for losing to Daniel LaRusso. When Kreese tells Silver he wants to shut down Cobra Kai, Silver vows to help him get revenge on Daniel and Mr. Miyagi and make Cobra Kai successful again. Silver sends Kreese to Tahiti to rest while he hires karate fighter Mike Barnes to defeat Daniel in the next All Valley Under-18 Karate Championships. Silver breaks into Mr. Miyagi's house to gather information on him and Daniel. He's nearly discovered but he hides inside the fireplace. He introduces himself to Daniel and Mr. Miyagi on a later day, claiming that he was sent to help Kreese regain balance. He lies to them saying that Kreese died of a cardiac arrest brought on by a broken heart and sadness at losing all of his karate students. He also blames Kreese's erratic behavior as a result of his years fighting in the Vietnam War. Silver "apologizes" to both Daniel and Mr. Miyagi on behalf of Kreese.
When Silver finds out that Daniel will not fight at the tournament this year, he orders Barnes and his two thugs, Snake and Dennis, to harass Daniel and coerce him into entering the tournament. After Daniel signs up for the tournament, he turns to Silver for guidance after Mr. Miyagi refuses to train him. Silver, acting on a request from Kreese to make Daniel's knuckles bleed, forces Daniel to destroy a wooden dummy using a self developed method he refers to as the Quicksilver Method which is intended both to inflict physical pain on Daniel but also give him an inflated sense of his abilities and progression.
After Daniel finally destroys the dummy and injures himself at the same time, Silver tells him that he is ready for the tournament. When Daniel and his friend Jessica Andrews are at a nightclub, Silver bribes a man into provoking a fight with Daniel, who punches the man and breaks his nose. Realizing that he has become a different man and has alienated himself from his friends, Daniel informs Silver that he will not fight at the tournament, causing Silver to reveal his true agenda and alliance with Barnes. As Daniel attempts to flee the dojo, Kreese and Barnes attack him. Mr. Miyagi then appears at the dojo to rescue Daniel, engaging Barnes, Kreese, and Silver in one-on-one fights. Though he puts up the strongest fight of the three, Silver is defeated by Miyagi, but continues to taunt him afterwards.
At the tournament, the committee organizers allow Silver to give a speech before the final match. Silver tells the audience that he will open a chain of Cobra Kai dojos where young people can learn "honesty, compassion, and fair play". When the fight begins, Silver and Kreese instruct Barnes to inflict pain on Daniel, by winning a point and subsequently losing a point to keep the score tied, leading to a sudden death round. The plan appears to work until Daniel unleashes his kata on Barnes during the sudden death round, defeating Barnes. After the final point is scored, Silver walks away in disgust as Cobra Kai shirts are discarded around him.
After the tournament, Silver hit rock bottom, his company went bankrupt from his illegal business deals in the 1980s, and he lost all his wealth. He also lost communication with Kreese. He questioned his past actions and realized that his and Kreese’s views were wrong. He decided to change himself and received therapy to resolve his psychological issues. He invested in some start-up companies which helped rebuild his empire and put the world of Cobra Kai to rest. He moved to a gated beach community, became vegan, drank expensive wine and got a young girlfriend.