Terry Silver Is Cobra Kai's Best Fighter | Screen Rant
Terry Silver (Ian Thomas Griffith) is the best martial artist in Netflix’s Cobra Kai show. In The Karate Kid franchise as a whole, there’s no question that the most skilled fighter is Pat Morita’s Mr. Miyagi, but when it comes to the sequel series, it’s the Cobra Kai co-founder who deserves this title. It shouldn’t belong to Johnny (William Zabka), Kreese (Martin Kove), or even the original trilogy’s protagonist, Daniel (Ralph Macchio).
Silver has been making waves in the Valley ever since Daniel found out he was back. Now, The Karate Kid Part III villain is teaching his skills to Cobra Kai students like Kenny (Dallas Dupree Young), Tory (Peyton List), and Robby (Tanner Buchanan). His lessons have proven instructive, but also extremely toxic to those under his influence. Also, Silver’s devious actions show that he’s the most dangerous character in Cobra Kai – even more so than Kreese. The lengths he’s gone to get what he wants could even force Johnny and Daniel to put aside their differences with Kreese.
His wealth isn’t the only thing that makes him such a big threat in the show. Silver's role in Cobra Kai season 4 revealed that he's the show’s best fighter. Before his arrival, there was some question over who was the best, with the strongest candidates being Johnny, Kreese, and Daniel. Each has battled one another, but their fights have been largely inconclusive. However, the same can’t be said for Johnny’s battle with Silver in Cobra Kai season 4, episode 8. During their fight, Silver toyed with Johnny and beat him without much difficulty. Using the principles of Cobra Kai, Silver delivered some devastating blows, including a shot to the throat.
Silver breezed through his fight with Johnny so impressively that Kreese nor Daniel would be expected to fare much better. Daniel’s multiple fights with Johnny have demonstrated that the two are evenly matched, which indicates that he too would fall to Silver. As for Kreese, his aging has stood in the way of him beating both Johnny and Daniel in one-on-one battles, so he wouldn’t be able to defeat Silver either. Plus, the villain lasting longer than Kreese against Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid Part III is a sign that he was better of the two even in the 1980s. The only character who may be capable of truly pushing Silver in a fight is Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), who has progressed tremendously since his defeat in the second movie.
As Cobra Kai’s best martial artist, it’s fitting that Silver is emerging as the show’s ultimate villain. Based on the season 4 finale’s teases, Daniel, Johnny, Kreese, and even Chozen will be enemies of Silver in Cobra Kai season 5. It will take a character like Silver to pose a threat to so many talented fighters.