Akuma

**Akuma** (悪魔 *Akuma*?, "Devil"), known in Japan as **Gouki** (ゴウキ(豪鬼) *Gōki*?, "Fortitude", "Great Demon", "Great Devil" or "Great Ogre"), is a video game character and recurring antagonist of the *Street Fighter* series, first appearing in *Super Street Fighter II Turbo* as a hidden boss. He is an emotionless and powerful warrior fixated on mastering the Satsui no Hado.

## Backstory

### Appearance

Akuma usually wears a dark-colored gi with the sleeves removed (similar to Ken and Ryu); it is often black or gray, but varies depending on the series or artwork. He has red hair, sharp, pointed teeth, and is often bare-footed, though some games have him wearing brown sandals. Depending on the game or piece of art, he either wears a black belt at his waist or a length of rope. Over his hands he either wears brown training gauntlets or wraps his hands with rope as well (again, depending on the source). He has tanned skin and crimson eyes, and wears his deceased master Goutetsu's prayer beads around his neck, with a visible black "heaven" (天, *ten*) kanji on the center bead in some video games. In *Street Fighter Alpha: Generations*, he was seen having eyebrows when he was young.

This kanji is featured frequently in Akuma's appearances, most often at the end of a Raging Demon attack, where it burns itself onto the back of Akuma's gi top. It takes on a slightly different shape between the original *Street Fighter IV* and *Super Street Fighter IV*; the top stroke of the kanji is more narrow in *Super Street Fighter IV* than in the original, and may have taken this shape due to Akuma's 2nd alternate costume using exactly the same new shape on the back.

In his artwork for his *Street Fighter V* profile, Akuma's hair is completely white, and has grown out; he wears a dark yellow loincloth with a white sash on each side, going shirtless while retaining his gray karate pants. This is designed as a contrast to his older brother Gouken's outfit.

In his full appearance in *Street Fighter V*, his hair has grown out considerably, resembling a lion's mane, though he retains his familiar clothing. He also has the hair on top of his head tied into a pigtail. He also wears his prayer beads like a sash. The 神人 "shin" kanji used by Shin Akuma in *Capcom vs. SNK 2* is seen on his back when performing the Shun Goku Satsu.

His first alternate costume is similar to Ryu's alternate costume in *Super Street Fighter IV*; where his tattered karate gi is hanging loose on his waist and his karate pants are also in tatters. His second alternate costume is his outfit in *Street Fighter V* artwork and his third and last outfit is his classic appearance in the *Street Fighter*games.

In the *Street Fighter III* series his hair is slightly grayed, hinting that Akuma, while seemingly inhuman, is still physically aging.

### Personality

Akuma is a cold and extremely powerful warrior whose sole reason for being is to hone his fighting skills by battling and destroying strong foes. He rarely displays any sign of emotions, aside from occasional bursts of anger, and rarely smiles. He takes his training very seriously and deals brutally with those who dare interrupt him, as seen in his *Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike* ending. Occasionally, he likes to test himself against worthy rivals (e.g. Gen, Oro). In later games, Akuma often refers to himself as a "denizen of hell" and "evil incarnate", and is seen as such by many. This may be a result of the Satsui no Hado ("Surge of Murderous Intent") taking a toll on his mind.

In line with his martial arts philosophy, Akuma also believes in a certain principle of self-worth. Specifically, Akuma despises hubris (i.e. a perceived excess of self-worth), foolish behavior, and those who rely on means other than their fists to fight or gain power (both of which would indicate a lack of the same), as his various win quotes in the *Street Fighter IV* games indicate. He is also somewhat nihilistic by principle, as his search for worthy opponents often includes someone who would be able to kill him.

Akuma detests his brother Gouken for not giving in to the dark side of their arts which is, according to Akuma, the way they were intended to be used. He also blames Gouken for sealing off the darkness within Ryu, thus preventing Ryu from reaching his true potential. This forces Akuma to give up on his planned duel with Ryu, as he believes that only a fellow practitioner of Satsui no Hado can one day hope to defeat him.

#### Moral Code

Most of the time, Akuma abides by the code of the warrior. He fights to improve his skills and defeat powerful foes - though on rare occasion, he does so to gauge the other's abilities. Although he killed his teacher and believed he did the same with his brother (Gouken), Akuma did so in combat, and thus can be said to have not transgressed on his principles.

In combat, Akuma almost never resorts to his true strength, especially if testing another fighter; he only fights warriors that he deems worthy, or the ones he believes have the potential to become such. During the events of *Street Fighter Alpha 2*, Akuma fought Ryu only to gain insight on Ryu's abilities, while in *3rd Strike*, he faced Oro in order to test his own strength.

Although Akuma usually prefers an even bout (as he backed out of a duel with Gen once he found out that Gen was fatally ill), it is not uncommon for him to deliver a lethal sneak attack to an unprepared opponent (as he did with Bison, Gill, and Adon's unnamed rival). While the evil nature of Satsui no Hado itself may have corrupted Akuma's ways, it is worth noting that Akuma considers Bison a much more abhorrent type of evil.

His win quotes in *3rd Strike* also imply Akuma has become much bloodthirstier and perhaps may have discarded his moral code, very much like Evil Ryu; it is possible that at this point, the Satsui no Hado's hold on Akuma has strengthened, being close to completely overtaking his mind and body, and that said win quotes reflect this state.

## Gameplay and fighting style

Having mastered the original form of the unnamed "Shotokan" art, Akuma's fighting style is based in the same vein as the all-around characters, with a much more offense-oriented design. Akuma's overall style focuses on completely dominating the opponent and preventing counterattacks.

His mix of raw attack power, combined with moves that can control the air and keep him mobile, allow him to maintain a fierce onslaught offensive that can end matches quickly. However, Akuma's power is offset by very low stamina and stun, meaning that any whiffed attack or defensive opening could irreversibly tip the scales against him and lead to a massive punishing; as a result, heavy investment on the player's part is required to properly utilize his full potential.

Akuma's hard-to-match combo ability via his various command attacks or special attacks (e.g. Zanku Hadoken or Hyakkishu) can easily create pressure, especially against a downed opponent, and take advantage of wake-up based and/or cross-up based setups that often lead to some of the more high-damage combos in the series.

In titles prior to *Street Fighter III* and prior to his 3d appearances, Akuma like Ryu and Ken, is also somewhat hindered by subpar physical range, making his footsies game rather difficult to manage in the neutral game, and often forces him to zone more with his projectiles (though he unlike the two of them can take more risks getting in due to more tools and damage on hand to do so). However, his poor range comes back to hurt him like so in *Marvel vs. Capcom 3*, where out of his chosen normal attacks to be used in the game, most of them are somewhat short in nature compared to Ryu's.

### Techniques

Akuma's Gohadoken can be used in midair as well, while his Tatsumaki Zankukyaku can floor the opponent and can also juggle, and his Goshoryuken can floor his opponent with one hit; it can lands up to 3 hits up close, and can also juggle with a single use in certain instances. Due to embracing the Satsui no Hado, Akuma has other special moves that Ryu and Ken normally lack.

The Ashura Senku is a fast teleport move that allows him to escape or position himself almost at will. The Tenmakujinkyaku is a fast downwards-angled kick that he can use at the peak of his jumps. The Hyakkishu is a flip attack, similar to Cammy's Hooligan Combination, that allows Akuma to either attack or grab an opponent while moving forward. He also has the Zenpou Tenshin in the *Alpha* games, which makes him hop and roll forward a short distance.

In *Street Fighter V*, Akuma maintains his moves and gains additional moves to his arsenal. His battle style changes to become more brutal fighting when he pulls off his combo to his opponent or seriously damaging his opponent with his moves. Akuma has a V-Skill callled Rakan where he strikes a defensive stance similar to Ryu’s Mind’s Eye that can parry an incoming attack. He can follow-up the move with an upward kick or a long reaching palm strike. His V-Trigger is the Dohatsu Shoten where he can unleashes his Gohadoken in two hits even mid-air. He can also make a deadly combo to his opponent with an ability similar to Messatsu Goshoryu and his Misogi. While using this ability, Akuma is able to unleash his Raging Demon during his Critical Art.

#### Super Combos

Akuma's Super Combos, introduced in the *Alpha* series (for reasons explained below) consist of a high-powered Gohadoken, a powered-up Zanku Hadoken, a Shoryuken-based move similar to Ken's Shoryureppawithout the scorching effect, and an upward-spiraling Tatsumaki that can also be used in midair. Akuma's most well known Super Combo is the Shun Goku Satsu, also known as the Raging Demon; it is traditionally one of the strongest attacks in any game Akuma appears in.

Two more moves are introduced in *Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike* and the *Capcom vs. SNK* series: the Kongou Kokuretsuzan has Akuma strike the ground hard, generating lightning and waves of energy, and the Misogi has him perform a homing teleport directly above the opponent and deliver a fierce descending strike.

In *3rd Strike*, Akuma is the only other character to possess more than 3 Super Arts AND have 3 of them usable during a match. Ibuki has four Super Arts in total, due only to having two of them swapped between *Second Impact* and *Third Strike*; Gill can also use his three Arts in a single match, though the other two are rendered unusable after Resurrection. Akuma is also one of two characters without any EX Specials in the series, with the other being Gill.

In *Street Fighter IV*, he has the Wrath of the Raging Demon as his Ultra Combo. In *Super Street Fighter IV*, Akuma's second Ultra Combo is an extremely powerful Tatsumaki-based move known as Demon Armageddon. Its Japanese name, Tenshou Kaireki Jin, reveals it to be the attack that Akuma would perfect into the literal sea-splitting and explosively ascending technique shown in *3rd Strike*.

In his appearance in *Street Fighter X Tekken*, unlike other characters, he has two Super Arts; his signature 'hidden' Raging Demon and the Misogi, which returns from the *Capcom vs. SNK* games. His Cross Art also uses the Tenma Shurettou, also making its return from the *Capcom vs. SNK* games.

In *Street Fighter V*, Akuma gains a new move called Sekia Kuretsuha as his Critical Art where he creates a glowing red orb on his hand, and then slams on the ground, creating a huge blast of fire in front of him. If Dohatsu Shoten is active, performing the well known sequence of buttons activates the Raging Demon, a barrage of punch which ends with the opponent downed, and with Akuma with the kanji 神人 glowing on the back of his gi and in the screen.

### As a Boss

As a computer-controlled boss in most games (e.g. *Super Street Fighter II Turbo*), Akuma is even more powerful, faster, and more durable in comparison, usually only appearing as a final or hidden boss. This reflects his personality, as Akuma often holds back his power so as to give his opponents a fighting chance; when fought as a secret boss, Akuma effectively deems the player's character worthy, and 'powers up' accordingly.

In *Super Street Fighter IV*, Akuma is presented once again as a new boss. He is faster, uses Akuma's 7th color scheme (purple gi, red hair and darker skin tone) and can input two Zanku Hadokens without using any of the Super Combo Gauge, which is similar to Shin Akuma in *Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact*. Compared to the playable version, the true form of Akuma has higher stamina and stun. His Ashura Senku barely has any startup and recovery, allowing him to dictate the pace of the match.

By closely inspecting his frame data, the greater priority, faster startup and recovery of his specials becomes obvious. His Super and Ultra Raging Demons both travel farther and much faster (although they can still be jumped over) and are under most circumstances invulnerable to attacks, including other Ultra Combos that would normally cancel out the Raging Demon. Compared to the playable version, his second Ultra Combo, the Demon Armageddon, requires about half the frames to activate, making it much easier to connect with.

In contrast to the other secret bosses (Gouken, Oni and Evil Ryu), who have an extremely aggressive but predictable AI, Shin Akuma relies on the player to make mistakes, reacting just a split second after the player's move(s). Although this version of Akuma was confirmed to be the new boss version fought in Arcade Mode, he is indeed Akuma using the full extent of his abilities.

### Balance Issues

In *Super Street Fighter II Turbo*, Akuma is banned in U.S. tournaments,[14] and soft-banned (i.e. not used on 'principle' as opposed to being officially unusable) in Japanese tournaments. This is a result of the fact that Akuma was initially designed to be extremely powerful; such power is potentially reflected in his lack of a Super Combo at that point.

As explained previously, *Turbo HD Remix* attempted to make this version of Akuma more playable by lowering his stamina, giving the Zanku Hadoken a 'blowback' effect, and adding a much weaker Shun Goku Satsu as his Super Combo. Despite these efforts, Akuma has remained banned in *HD Remix* for the large majority of tournaments, as the changes made to his character did not offset his overreaching power compared to the rest of the cast, and in some cases made it worse.

Due to the steep angle of the Zanku Hadoken (inherited from his later appearances), it is possible to perform cross-up combos that could not be done originally, and with the 'blowback' effect, he can gain extra air time to avoid a projectile the opponent throws at him. In addition, due to a bug and the move's speed, the Raging Demon cannot be interrupted at close range, making it near impossible to avoid when cornered.

## TMNT X Pokemon

Akuma is one of the many villains you will face throughout the game. He's one of the strongest and the most difficult on the difficulty scale.

## Trivia

* In the animation *Street Fighter Alpha: Generations*, it is implied that Akuma could be Ryu's biological father.
* Akuma is the only user of Ansatsuken (excluding Sakura) to wear any kind of footwear.
	+ He loses his sandals upon becoming Oni.
* Akuma has many cameo appearances in the anime series *Street Fighter II V*. See all appearances in this link.
* In the *Street Fighter IV* games, he is the only character to possess an Ultra Combo that doesn't require all three kicks or punches.
* Akuma's quote ''Prepare to meet your maker...'' was previously used by Scorp from *Saturday Night Slam Masters* before being used by Akuma.
* Akuma and Fei Long are the only characters not to appear in the live action movie. Akuma did, however, make it into the game based on the movie.
* *Asura's Wrath* character Augus shares his particular code of combat with Akuma, as both fight for the sake of fighting, and they never hold back when in a good fight.
* In *Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation*, Akuma at one point is seen visually as gigantic in stature, even though officially he is just slightly taller than Ryu.
* Akuma's second alternate costume color 10 resembles Shin Akuma from *Capcom vs. SNK 2*.
* As an April Fool's Day joke, Akuma was once rumored to appear in *Resident Evil 2* as a playable character. The supposed requirements varied, with one being to complete the game no less than six times using only a handgun and the knife while obtaining only A-Ranks.
* Akuma's main battle music appears to resemble *Biddu Orchestra*'s "Dance of Shiva" (1985).
* It can be implied through various bits of dialogue in *Street Fighter X Tekken* that Akuma detests imitators, and those who take a shortcut to achieve great power, as noted in his battle with M. Bison in *Street Fighter Alpha 3*.
* In *Street Fighter Origins: Akuma*, Akuma's father is named Gyūki ("Ox Oni") because of the similar sound and meaning to Akuma's original Japanese name.
* In the original *Super Street Fighter II Turbo*, Akuma had four different winquotes, the most out of all the other characters. Also when he is about to be fought, his music is already playing, and he introduces himself to the player character; in *Hyper Street Fighter II*, a bit of M. Bison's theme plays, and then Akuma's theme plays when he appears and then the fight begins from there, as if to create a surprise to the players. Why Akuma's winquotes were removed from the overseas versions is unknown.
* For some reason, in the *Street Fighter* TV series, Akuma has a deep and manly voice, as if he was still human. However, in the *Street Fighter IV* series, Akuma has a raspy demonic voice.
* There seems to be a tradition of introducing Akuma's new super moves for future games in his endings:
	+ He uses the Kongou Kokuretsuzan in his *Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact* ending, and it first becomes usable in *Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike*.
	+ In his *3rd Strike* ending, he is shown using a technique called "Tenshou Kaireki Jin". The technique later appeared in *Super Street Fighter IV* as the Demon Armageddon, his second Ultra Combo.
	+ His *Super Street Fighter IV* ending has him using Sekia Kuretsuha, which later became his super move in *Street Fighter V*.
* His voice actor in *Street Fighter V*, Richard Epcar, is known for voicing Azazel in *Tekken 6*, Raiden in the *Mortal Kombat* series, and the Joker in *Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe* and *Injustice: Gods Among Us*.
	+ Epcar previously voiced E. Honda in *Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie*.
* Akuma's appearance in *Street Fighter V* is said to resemble that of a lion; because of this, some *Street Fighter* fans who are also Disney fans have jokingly called him "Lion King Akuma" and "Akuma Matata," referencing "Hakuna Matata" a song from the film. There is even a fan-made trailer for Akuma's introduction to *Street Fighter V*, set to "Hakuna Matata" on YouTube.