3. Terry Silver (Karate Kid III)
Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) is the primary antagonist in the third instalment of the
Karate Kid movies. He was an acquaintance of John Kreese from his military days (they served together in Vietnam). He is also the head of Dynatox Industries, a large organisation which dumps nuclear waste in the third world and which is the sponsor of the All Valley Karate Tournament, and the polar opposite of series protagonist Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio). When his best friend John Kreese (Martin Kove) is financially ruined, due to the Cobra Kais defeat at the hands of Daniel and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita), Silver makes it his primary objective to help Kreese recover and avenge his losses. He does this, initially, by having his thugs force Daniel to enter the All Valley Karate Tournament once again and recruits Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan), 'Karate's Bad Boy', to compete against Daniel. He also supposedly trains Daniel for the tournament, after Miyagi refuses to do so. In reality, Silver is actually trying to break Daniel and set him up for a painful defeat by Barnes. Ultimately, his intentions are found out and he is taught an embarrassing lesson by Mr. Miyagi (ending up covered in paint after an effortless beating), but still continues with his smug grins and annoying laughs. At the tournament, he instructs Barnes to deliberately drag the fight out in an attempt to torture Daniel. His efforts thankfully fail in the end though, as Daniel triumphs and Silver walks away with his tail between his legs, pleasing audiences worldwide.