Terrance "Terry" Silver is a fictional character and the main antagonist of The Karate Kid media franchise, portrayed by actor and martial artist Thomas Ian Griffith.

The character is the best friend 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.

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 temporarily 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.

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.

Due to Martin Kove’s schedule conflicts with Hard Time on Planet Earth, the character of Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) was written into the script, replacing Kreese's role.

[5] Griffith considered the role of Silver to be out of his reach because he was aged 28 at the time and the character was a Vietnam War veteran about two decades his senior.

[6] 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.

[6] 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".

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.

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.

Silver's experiences in Vietnam left him struggling with posttraumatic stress disorder, and found his return to civilian life difficult.

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.

Silver tells the audience that he will open a chain of Cobra Kai dojos where young people can learn "honesty, compassion, and fair play".

Gene Ching writing for Den of Geek described Terry Silver in The Karate Kid Part III as a "cardboard cutout villain" and compared him to Steven Seagal’s performance as Nico Toscani in Above the Law.

[9] Brian Moylan of Men's Health described Terry Silver as a "cartoon of a rich dude" due to his luxury lifestyle and maniacal laugh, but felt that since reappearing in Cobra Kai, he had been written as less cartoonish despite continuing to use his money to get his own way.

[11] After coming to an agreement with Johnny Lawrence and Daniel LaRusso to settle the fate of their dojos at the upcoming All-Valley Tournament, Kreese makes a phone call to Silver to enlist his help.

As Kreese is apprehended by the police, he swears revenge on Silver, who promises to recruit some "old friends" to teach at the new Cobra Kai dojos and to defeat Daniel and Johnny.

During the tournament round of the Sekai Taikai tryouts, Silver once again bribes the referee in Cobra Kai's favor and secretly teaches Kenny a lethally effective move to gain an advantage.

The revelation of the truth shakes Silver's students (and possibly Kim's) faith in him, causing him to go a manic spiral in front of everyone about how life is a competitive sport.

In Barcelona, he recovers Dennis de Guzman, a former Cobra Kai student, and has him kidnap Daniel, and when he escapes, he, Chozen, Kreese and Kim Da-Eun find Silver with Sensei Wolf, discovering that they are working together.

When Kenny enters the Sekai Taikai, he offers him the chance to join his dojo, Iron Dragons, telling him that he owes nothing to his fellow Miyagi-do members, but he turns it down.

Iron Dragons lose both finals, but the tournament champion is decided in a match between senseis, to which Silver tells Wolf not to waste it.

John Kreese was initially intended to have a larger role in The Karate Kid III, but due to Martin Kove’s schedule conflicts with Hard Time on Planet Earth, the character of Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) was written into the script.

[5][13][8] As a child, Griffith studied both acting and martial arts (Kenpo Karate and Tai Kwon Do),[5] and prior to the film, he had performed on and off Broadway.

Griffith states that when he was "cast for the Karate Kid role, my character wasn't supposed to do any martial arts at all...I just tortured Ralph, basically, and plotted his demise with Martin Kove.

Griffith presumed he had a better shot of being cast as “Bad Boy” Mike Barnes, a karate champion who fights La Russo in the climactic scene.