Terry Silver

Born to a wealthy family, Silver joined the US Army and was deployed to Vietnam sometime before 1968, where he met John Kreese. Silver was given the nickname "Twig" by fellow squadmate Ponytail, because of his skinny arms. Kreese, Ponytail, and Silver are handpicked by Special Forces Captain Turner (Terry Serpico) to take part in covert missions. 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 Silver offers his undying loyalty to him as his personal thanks. Silver's experiences in Vietnam left him struggling with posttraumatic stress disorder and would resort to using cocaine to deal with his trauma. In honor of Ponytail, Silver grows a ponytail after leaving the military.

Indebted to Kreese for saving his life, Silver helped Kreese establish the Cobra Kai dojo as a gift of gratitude and friendship in 1975. 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 promised him that he would help run the dojo one day. Silver would relentlessly practice karate, eventually turning into an expert in the sport. Over time, Silver also developed psychopathic tendencies and would manipulate his enemies by exploiting their weaknesses against them.

By 1985, Silver is the head of a toxic waste disposal company called Dynatox Industries, which illegally dumps waste in the environment. 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 expert 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. 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. Daniel 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. Silver reveals his true agenda and alliance with Barnes. As Daniel attempts to flee the dojo, Kreese reveals himself and Barnes attacks 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.

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.[3] The Karate Kid III was Griffith's first film.[4][5][6] As a child, Griffith studied both acting and martial arts (Kenpo Karate and Tai Kwon Do),[4] 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."[4] The narrative shifted after the fight choreographer learned of his background in martial arts.[4] At the time he was cast, Griffith "figured the Terry Silver role was out of reach because he was 28 at the time and the character was a Vietnam War veteran about two decades his senior. And since Macchio, then 27, had to somehow play a convincing teenager, casting someone younger than him as Daniel’s older antagonist seemed simply insane. 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."[7]

• Karate Kid III: Doing Damage
• Karate Kid III: Miyagi Makes a Stand
• Cobra Kai: Terry Silver Returns
• Cobra Kai: Two Senseis