John Kreese

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==Summary==
John Kreese, known mononymously as Kreese, is an antagonist in The Karate Kid film franchise and Cobra Kai.
Kreese is a vicious Vietnam War veteran and sensei of the 1980s karate dojo, Cobra Kai. He instilled a dangerous philosophy of "no mercy" in his students and encouraged generations of bullies. Most notably, Kreese taught karate to a teenaged Johnny Lawrence and feuded with his karate rival Mr Miyagi. After repeated losses at the hands of Daniel LaRusso and Mr Miyagi, Kreese fled the valley and lost contact with his students.
Over thirty years later, Johnny Lawrence reopened Cobra Kai, triggering Kreese to make a surprise return to the valley. He eventually acquires the dojo through nefarious means, becoming the Sensei to an entirely new generation of students.
==Powers and Stats==
Tier: At least | 
Key: Pre-Timeskip | Post-Timeskip
Name: John Kreese
Origin: The Karate Kid
Gender: Male
Age: 38 | Around 72
Classification: Human, Martial Arts Master, Veteran, Founder of the Cobra Kai Dojo, Two-Time US Military Karate Champion, US Military Captain, Green Beret, Sliver Star Recipient, Inmate (formerly), Fugitive (currently)
Powers and Abilities: 
*Superhuman Physical Characteristics 
*Martial Arts (Kreese is one of the most skilled characters in Cobra Kai and is an expert in developing his own style)
*Weapon Mastery (As the founder and master of Cobra Kai, he should have efficient skill, if not mastery of the weapons in his dojo. In the Vietnam war, Kreese trained extensively in guerilla tactics, demolition. Being praised in this department by Turner who had fought and survived the Korean War)
*Social Influencing (An effective manipulator that uses his philosophy and mindset from war that tugs on the worst traits of others that are in person either beneficially or something Kreese can use against them. Quickly tugging on the worst traits of others like Eli and Tory, making them into merciless fighters that previously had no motives or harsh intent of doing so. He is an effective karate teacher, as shown by his ability to convince Miguel (with Tory), motivate students, convince Robby, and make multiple students fall under his philosophy that Daniel remarks as Kreese getting into their heads. Shown to be an effective public speaker as he almost convinced a system to unban the All-Valley on his own until Daniel and Johnny interfered)
Attack Potency: 
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At least Street level (Due to Kreese's training from his Vietnam days to Karate Kid lasting about 15 years while simultaneously being in his physical prime, he should be superior to his Post-Timeskip part, who is in his elder years and only got back into training for one year. Suggests that Kreese would've choked out and killed Pre-Timeskip Johnny despite not intentionally trying to kill him. WOG states that Kreese and Terry are more skilled than Pre-Time Skip Johnny and Mike; Mike being strong enough to smash bricks to dusthttps://twitter.com/McSchlossberg/status/1294904158835732480. Can break car windows in a single strike)
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Street level (He was able to counter, quickly match and overwhelm Post-Timeskip Johnny; However, Kreese notably lost once Kreese triggered Johnny's anger. Fought and could briefly hold the upper hand with Post-Timeskip Johnny while emotionally conflicted when the latter was bloodlusted; however, Kreese ultimately lost. Johnny was able to shatter the middle portion of two concrete cylinder blocks. Pressed Post-Timeskip Daniel and even seemed to be on the winning edge until Daniel resorted to pressure points. Smashed Daniel through a large window panelCobra Kai Season 3, Episode 10: December 19)
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Speed: Athletic Human, Peak Human combat speed with Superhuman attack speed and reactions (Dodged and got up before a serious Miyagi could land a strike on him. Superior to his Post-Timeskip counterpart) | Athletic Human, Peak Human combat speed with Superhuman attack speed and reactions (Capable of keeping up with the likes of Post-Timeskip Johnny who can keep up with a reowned MMA fighter. Managed to grab a knife nearing an Albino Cobra guarding it, and slicing off its head in one swoopCobra Kai Season 6 Episode 2: The Prize)
Lifting Strength: Peak Human (Superior to his Post-Timeskip counterpart. Pre-Timeskip Johnny was incapable of breaking his chokehold) | Peak Human (Grappled with Post-Timeskip Johnny, and restrained a punch from the former. Superior to his students, a few of whom physically pushed and rotated a cement mixer around. A weakened Johnny was incapable of breaking Kreese's chokehold)
Striking Strength: At least Street level (Superior to his Post-Timeskip counterpart. Threatened to harm Mr. Miyagi) | Street level (Traded blows with Post-Timeskips Johnny and Daniel. Incapacitated Johnny in two strikes when he was off-guard)
Durability: At least Street level (Took blows from Mr. Miyagi although Miyagi took him down in a concise manner. Around a similar time period he took blows from a merciless Kim Sun Yung who is on similar level to Mr. Miyagi. Superior to Post-Timeskip counterpart as he is physically in his prime) | Street level (Took numerous blows from Post-Timeskip Johnny while the latter was bloodlusted and easily shrugged off blows in their first fight when he was only mildily angry. Quickly recovered from blows dealt by Post-Timeskip Daniel when the latter was angry. Johnny can break the middle portion of two concrete cylinder blocks in a single strike)
Stamina: Athletic (As someone in his prime, he should be superior to his Cobra Kai counterpart. Kept up with his training and should be even better than his time as a proficient soldier in Vietnam) | Athletic (Despite his advanced age; he could keep up for periods with Johnny and take blows that illustrated Kreese with blood on his face, and after receiving a beating he refers if that's all Johnny got. Then despite getting knocked out, he recovered after only a minute and fought Daniel Larusso while functioning at the same fighting pace. Kreese was capable of going on a journey from day to night rowing through a river, hiking through fields, forests; then suffer a bite from an albino snake and head back)
Range: Standard Melee Range via physically, Sai & Nunchucks
Standard Equipment: None notable | Cigar cutter
*Optional Equipment: Sai, Nunchucks
Intelligence: Gifted 
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Naturally gifted, fending for himself at 19 despite growing up in a place of fighting bullies all his life and coming from an unstable homelife with a dead mother. Expert in Guerilla tactics and demolition in the Vietnam war and had fought for 6 years without any everlasting scars. Had the role of Green Beret during his timeframe in the war earning Captain and gaining the Silver medal. Crafted his own way of life for himself and others out of his Martial Art and war time experienced based on real-life examples like Cobra Kai. In his 70s, he should have decades of experience. In Season 3 of Cobra Kai, he is usually a step ahead of people like Johnny and Daniel in Cobra Kai, being a naturally gifted speaker and manipulator and quickly corrupting the minds of his students across generations with his teachings alone. His instructions made Johnny one of the strongest fighters in the Cobra Kai cast and his fellow Cobra Kai friends solid and skilled fighters. The same goes for Modern day Cobra Kai cast, which will compete in the All-Valley after not even a year and eventually contribute to even having them on the international world stage. Even Mike Barnes, a 10th Degree Black-Belt Upcoming National Champion, considered being trained by him and Terry. Created a scheme to manipulate a therapist and steal their keycard then influence one of the prisoners to pretend to stab him, which ended with Kreese dispatching of medic personnel and escaping while disguised. After his prison break he was able to escape from California to Korea undetected by authorities, although through unknown means. Managed to sort out Kim Da-Eun's students better than herself through his methods, reading her troubling Kwon's students attitude effectively. This is shown with Kwon who was previously rebellious; Kreese setting up a scheme disguised as a punishment to make the students turn on Kwon, successfully predicting that Kwon releasing his anger on their top student to gain reputation as best student would convince Kwon to fall in line. Portrayed as one of the most intelligent characters in the series in terms of deception, manipulation, and social skills
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Naturally gifted fighter having fought his teacher despite being unbalanced and even utilizing his surroundings to best him in combat. Two time military karate champion across the USA. Kreese remains the only person in verse to have dodged or countered a hit from Mr. Miyagi and is a part of the few Mr. Miyagi took seriously. Terry Silver describes Kreese as Kim Sun-Yung's number one student in 1985. Which is further reiterated by Kim Da-Eun who described Kreese as one of the strongest sensei's to ever train under Kim Sun-Yung even by 2019. Which makes him potentially superior to any of The Fist. A 10th-degree black-belt national champion like Mike Barnes regarded Kreese and Terry Silver's methods as he agreed to be trained by them. Sparred with Terry Silver many times under Kim Sun Yung and was shown to defeat Terry Silver. Despite being out of practice for most of his years in Cobra Kai, the latter still proves to be up with some of the best fighters by time. Easily outdoing Post Timeskip Johnny the first time around, although Kreese lost the second time around when Johnny was enrage. This extends to Johnny's relative fighter Daniel, whom Kreese was able to press hard and have the advantage over till he utilized pressure points. Kreese shows his ability to thwart people regularly when Armand's nephews illustrate themselves twice the size of Kreese, being beaten with ease casually. Kreese also shows his ability to fight multiple people at the same time when he beat up five prisoners at the same time despite one being armed
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Standard Tactics: Kreese utilizes his main philosophy of attacking first, doing it with a hard strike, and showing them no mercy. He will do anything, no matter how underhanded, to win. His style consists of powerful strikes, punches, blocks and practical stances to counter-strike an opponent. He is a highly offensive fighter, preferring to back-pedal an opponent till he outpaces them, where Kreese can open up a decisive blow he can deal to them. If they are down, he prefers to use choke maneuvers and grappling and will even charge an opponent by slamming them into a wall. In situations where the opponent is overwhelming in offense, he will resort to back-pedaling, himself, and using solid counters such as throwing them to the ground or pressing them. Kreese also applies his "dirty" but necessary methods, which are blows to the Adam's apple and dirty tricks to kill an opponent. In addition to his solid counters are more harsh counters, such as slamming his head into someone's fist to make them ache in pain, using his surroundings by banging their head into an obstacle, or breaking their arm by slamming it against a wall.
Weaknesses: Human limitations. Quite arrogant and isn't considerate of his surroundings, such as when he tries attacking Mr. Miyagi but ends up striking windows, falling for it twice. | Same as his Pre-Time Skip counterpart. Holds strong fondness for Johnny and regret over his previous incident over almost killing kill, something that a strong manipulator like Terry Silver could take advantage of. Further demonstrated when he exempted Johnny from showing him no mercy, and lacked the motivation to put anger into his fists to take down Johnny, fighting more passively rather determinedly, hence he can be in mental conflict between Johnny and his own philosophy.
Feats:
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*Beat 2 men at the same time, with interferences.
*Fought with Captain Turner while lowly motivated, and beat him when he stabbed his leg
*Could elbow Bobby and make him collapse from the blow for a short while.
*swing a backfist and knock Tommy down for a short while.
*Broke two car windows unintentionally.
*Implied to have injured, and defeated Armand's Nephews without much difficulty
*Fought with Johnny for an extended amount of time, though eventually lost due to his Stamina
*Gained an upper hand on Johnny despite being injured, on even grounds.
*Fought Daniel while injured, slightly recovered, and smashed him through a window shattering it.
==Explanations==
Captain John Kreese was originally trained in the art of Tang Soo Do, a Korean style of martial arts similar to Taekwondo and Karate, under the direction of a commanding officer who previously studied under master Kim Sun-Yung of South Korea, from whom he learned not only various punches, strikes, stances and blocks, but also a variety of powerful kicking techniques, such as the roundhouse kick, which Kreese would later be noted to be particularly good at. His skills was such that he held the title of karate champion of the United States army from 1970 to 1972, before he eventually went on to continue his training under said master himself. Under his tutelage, Johnny Lawrence, Bobby Brown, Jimmy, Dutch, Tommy and Jerry would all become skilled martial artists in their own right. Trained for combat under the principles of "no mercy", Kreese have long become the epitome of ruthlessness. He will do anything, no matter how underhanded, to win. That said, he is a good all-around fighter with a solid defense and good counters. According to Johnny, Kreese's 'ultimate kick' is the roundhouse kick. However, the years have cost him some of his ability; his student Johnny Lawrence, who was once putty in his hands, fought with him on reasonably equal terms. He never approached Miyagi in terms of skill, with Miyagi defeating him effortlessly on two occasions.
Prior to joining the military, he defeated both David and his friend, despite being outnumbered. Despite initially being overpowered by Turner in Vietnam, he regained his footing after stabbing him with a bamboo stick, and proceeded to defeat and kill his captain. Even as a septuagenarian, Kreese is capable of fighting against his former pupil Johnny twice, subduing Tory's landlord, beating up Zarkarian's nephews, throwing Daniel through a glass pane, defeating a group of his inmates by himself, and incapacitating two police officers. While he does have the upper hand for the majority of his first fight with Johnny, he is eventually overpowered by the latter. However, after Johnny shows mercy, Kreese wins by exploiting Johnny's newfound merciful nature. During second fight with Johnny, the latter repeatedly gets the better of Kreese, and Kreese is only able to get the upper hand when Johnny is focused on Robby and not paying attention to the fight. During his fight against Daniel, the latter gains the upper hand by disabling Kreese through pressure point techniques. During Kreese's time in prison, he grows stronger. Being able to take out several prisoners alone, without much effort. He also found himself being able to take out two officers with three strikes split between the two. Although Kreese has slowed down in later years, he still remains a major threat to those who stand in his way.
==Notable Matchups==
Victories:
Losses:
Inconclusive:
==References==
Category:Characters
Category:The Karate Kid
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Category:Weapon Masters