Akuma

This page is for the playable version of Akuma. For the stronger Boss version of Akuma see Shin Akuma.

Akuma, 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 final boss. He is an emotionless and powerful warrior fixated on mastering the Satsui no Hado, and the younger brother of Gouken.

Backstory

Appearance

Akuma usually wears a dark-colored gi with the sleeves removed (similar to Ryu and Ken); it is often blue, black, or gray, but varies depending on the series or artwork. He has red hair with a topknot, 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 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 Shun Goku Satsu 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 second 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 older Street Fighter games.

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

In Street Fighter 6, Akuma's design combines parts of his standard appearance and his Street Fighter V design. His hair retains the long lion mane look, with the topknot now moved back to its original position. His prayer beads are black like his Street Fighter V design, but return to being around his neck. His outfit bears a strong resemblance to an older Street Fighter V concept art, in which he wears a pelt as opposed to his gi top. Most notably, his hair is now entirely white to show the passage of time.^[11] His karate pants seems to have some stitched patches to keep it from being tattered even more. Akuma also no longer wears sandals.

His first alternate costume is his Street Fighter III appearance, combining the brown training gauntlets with the rope belt and streaked hair.

Concept

Akuma's creation (and, indirectly, Gouken's) was inspired by an April Fools' joke published by the gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly. Said hoax involved a "secret trick" for the original version of Street Fighter II that would allow players to fight Ryu and Ken's supposed master, Sheng Long (based on Ryu's infamously mistranslated win quote.)

Akuma's appearance resembles that of a Nio, one of a pair of guardians that symbolically protects Buddhist temples and other establishments against negative influences. Akuma's displays of power through mass destruction bear a strong resemblance to Misshaku Kongō, the Nio representative of overt power, contrasting with his brother Gouken's resemblance to Naraen Kongō, the Nio representative of latent power. Both Ibuki's and Yun's win quotes against him in Second Impact reference the Nio; Ibuki is reminded of the similarly-themed Shishi lions, while Yun jokingly attempts to recall if he saw Akuma at a temple before the match. For his guest appearance in Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, his unique stage is adorned with Nio statues in the background to reinforce his connection to them.

His design may also borrow elements from another being of Buddhist origin, the Asura; Asura are demigod-like beings known for their indulgence in violence, and are cursed to live in a world of never-ending conflict. In SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, Akuma and Shin Akuma make numerous references to the Asura in their intro battle dialogues.

The rope garments he starts wearing from Street Fighter III onwards is possibly a reference to the Japanese gods who wear rope belts to keep their powers in check. It may be a nod to the fact that he handicaps himself in combat to give his opponents a fighting chance.

Name Change

Capcom USA initially claimed Akuma was possessed by a demon, a detail that has not been reused since his first appearance; the character's name change from Gouki to Akuma for localization reflects Capcom USA's attempt to accentuate the demonic nature, as the word akuma (悪魔) means "devil" in Japanese. However, the appearance of Oni can be considered a revisiting of this, as he finally loses control of the 'demonic force' that is the Satsui no Hado in this form.

Personality

Akuma is a cold and extremely powerful warrior whose sole reason for existing is to hone his fighting skills by battling and destroying strong foes. He rarely displays any sign of emotions or humanity, aside from occasional bursts of anger, and rarely smiles. He, however, will not engage in battle towards helpless people and in some cases may even defend them, either as a righteous calling or an afterthought of conquering a major adversary. The only instance of humanity he has displayed after being drenched in the Satsui no Hado is with Kazumi Mishima, whom he respects, even in battle.

Akuma lives off the land itself and rarely, if ever, interacts with society as a whole. When not doing training in his martial arts, he primarily subsists off wild animals and plants, and takes particular pride in fishing, which Akuma himself sees as a battle between life and death. In few occasions that he needs money, he sells animals and fruit. In his character story in Street Fighter 6, Akuma is shown to be a wood artisan who makes statues to honor his opponents; he is also depicted sewing his own gi in special ending artwork.

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 fully match and kill him (which itself is not an easy task, considering his own raw power). This is further supported by his dialogue in Street Fighter 6's World Tour mode, to which Akuma admits that he is fully aware that his path of embracing the Satsui no Hado may lead him to destruction, but he accepted it as a price to pay to become the strongest.

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

Even as a Satsui no Hado wielder with seemingly amoral actions, Akuma upholds certain standards and outlook of how powers like the Satsui should be handled. It is for this reason he hold much disdain to sentient but soulless beings like Kage.

Moral Code

Akuma can be considered an anti-villain. In spite of his cold personality due to his non-stop training in the dark arts of the Satsui no Hado, most of the time, Akuma abides by the code of the warrior, similar to Ryu, Ken, and indirectly his older brother Gouken. He fights to improve his skills and defeat powerful foes - though on rare occasions, he does so to gauge the other's abilities. He also never resorts to killing defenseless or unworthy fighters in cold blood, unlike M. Bison or Evil Ryu. Although he killed his teacher and believed he did the same with Gouken, Akuma did so in combat, not actual murder, and thus can be said to have not transgressed on his principles.

In combat, Akuma, as he often fights with honor, 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 his abilities, while in 3rd Strike, he faced Oro in order to test his own strength.

Although Akuma normally prefers an even bout (as he backed out of an intense duel with Gen once he found out that the elderly assassin was fatally ill, seen in Alpha 2), it is not uncommon for him to deliver a lethal sneak attack to an unprepared opponent (as he did with M. Bison, Gill, and Adon's unnamed rival), particularly if they are less than honorable. While the evil nature of Satsui no Hado itself may have corrupted Akuma's ways, it is worth noting that he himself still upholds standards and a minimalist degree of morality and considers Bison a much more abhorrent type of evil.

His win quotes in 3rd Strike also imply Akuma has become much bloodthirstier and perhaps pays less regard to his own 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.

Relationships

Due to his single-minded quest for raw strength, he has made enemies over time, though he actively does not seek to antagonize without provocation. Surprisingly, there are a few personalities that he has a vague sense of respect for.

Enemies

Gouken

Akuma is Gouken's younger brother and archnemesis. Gouken greatly despises him for embracing the Satsui no Hado and killing their master, Goutetsu. Because of this, he does all he can to protect Ryu and Ken from him, to the point where he willingly fought Akuma in a battle to the death so that he won't come after his loyal students.

Ryu

Akuma is one of Ryu's most hated enemies, as Akuma himself was the one who tried to kill his and Ken's master, Gouken. Akuma also attempts to lure Ryu into succumbing to the Satsui no Hado, in Street Fighter Alpha 2, as he claims the young warrior possesses the same power as Akuma does, therefore casting aside his humanity to become Evil Ryu, in hopes of finally finding a truly worthy opponent for the ultimate fight to the death that Akuma always seeks. Ryu knows this is nothing but a trap of temptation planned by the dark warrior, and he has tried his best to find a way to get rid of the Satsui no Hado entirely while refusing to succumb to that kind of power. Akuma ceases tempting him (or at the least, respects his choice) after finally conquering the dark power and mastering his own Hado energy, the Power of Nothingness, in Street Fighter V.

In the events of Street Fighter III: Ryu Final, Akuma has a considerably more respectful outlook on Ryu following his denial of the Satsui no Hado, with Ken theorizing that his embracing of its demonic power serves as a challenge for Ryu to find a strength that goes beyond the seeming inevitability of the Satsui no Hado's death and destruction. Though the two fighters still clash in a brutal conflict, Akuma honors Ryu's resolve to move directly into the Shun Goku Satsu, being pierced through his torso by Akuma's fist but granting him the opportunity to blast through Akuma's body with a point-blank Hadoken. Having seen both the strength beyond the Satsui no Hado and a true fight to the death, Akuma seemingly perishes in a burst of flame caused by the energy within him, satisfied with Ryu's answer.

Ryu and Akuma's relationship by the time of Street Fighter 6 bears considerable resemblance to the events of Ryu Final. With Ryu embodying a rejection of Akuma's mindset of embracing death and discarding humanity during battles. Since both Ryu and Akuma have reached the "peak" of the opposite end of their path, they seem to no longer hold any personal grudges against one another. Rather, both fighters are now connected by their shared desire to become the strongest. While Akuma maintained his demonic and inhuman persona in front of Ryu, deep inside his heart, he seems to respect Ryu for "smiling" in the face of death, since he knows that Ryu always put "every ounce of [his] being" into every fight. As well as commitments to becoming the strongest, even though they are taking the different path from him. In fact, both Ryu and Akuma seems to enjoyed fighting against one another to see who is the better of the two, as pointed out by Ryu during their encounter in Arcade mode.

Ryu's ability to laugh in the face of death leads to the player character being spared and trained by Akuma, who sees a similar mindset to Ryu within them.

Ken

Like Ryu, Ken is aware of the threat Akuma poses to humanity. However, due to his pure lack of attunement to the Satsui no Hado, Akuma does not seek Ken out, unlike with Ryu.

Adon

Because Akuma killed a Muay Thai master that Adon was supposed to fight, Adon seeks to defeat Akuma to prove himself. In Alpha 3, Adon finds Akuma and ultimately loses to him. Akuma doesn't kill him, however, due to him deeming Adon unworthy of death.

Gen

Gen saw Akuma as a skilled opponent who could finally kill him, a morbid desire amplified by his own terminal sickness. However, their skills often clash, giving each other challenges. Akuma was ultimately defeated by Gen, but would engage him again after seeing he can still fight. Akuma emerges victorious and is implied to have killed him for good in Street Fighter V in their last fight to the death.

M. Bison

Akuma, despite having no direct grudge, holds major contempt towards M. Bison, the latter being an even more abhorrent kind of evil using shortcuts to power. Because of this, Akuma has no problem killing the villain on a whim. Bison, on the other hand, wants Akuma's Satsui no Hado as a sole means to increase his own power. His disdain for Bison persists even when he becomes Oni, and perhaps is even greater.

Oro

Oro is among one of the only men who have legitimately matched Akuma in combat. The two have fought each other to a draw, as the fight was called off due to the two fighters sensing that if they fought each other seriously, it would result in a mutual kill. Both have earned each other's respect and contempt on a personal basis. ^[12]

Gill

Upon hearing about his powers, Akuma desired to fight Gill. Akuma killed Gill with the Raging Demon, but left without realizing that Gill could resurrect himself from death.

Kazuya Mishima

In Tekken 7, Kazumi Mishima's son, Kazuya, corrupted by his own Devil Gene inherited from her, has become a concern. Akuma, under Kazumi's orders, is tasked with destroying him should he succumb to power like his equally powerful and vile father, Heihachi. Akuma confronts Kazuya at G Corporation's Millennium Tower, pushing him to unleash his Devil form. However, their battle is abruptly halted when Heihachi attempts to eliminate both Akuma and his son Kazuya by utilizing a satellite laser to destroy the tower. Surprisingly, both survived the explosion. Akuma, determined to finish Kazuya, returns after Kazuya's fatal victory against Heihachi in a bonus chapter. Upon encountering Kazuya again, he transforms into his Devil form, prompting Akuma to answer him by unleashing his full power as Shin Akuma. The confrontation escalates into a fierce battle, culminating in a climactic exchange of devastating projectiles. The outcome of their conflict remains uncertain as the volcano erupts, signaling the end of their duel with no apparent victor. Nevertheless, subsequent dialogue and Tekken 8 hints and eventually confirms Kazuya's survival, suggesting that Akuma abandoned him and he remains a menacing threat to the world.

Heihachi Mishima

Heihachi is Kazumi's elderly husband and the father of Kazuya, whose ambition has caused a plethora of problems. Akuma is also tasked by Kazumi to destroy him. Although Akuma intends to duel him, he and Heihachi were forced to fight alongside one another momentarily, against Kazuya's Jack-6s. Akuma reveals that he waited for Heihachi to establish his own strength before engaging him, one of many instances of his moral code being followed. Heihachi, a powerful warrior in his own right, proved to be a challenge for Akuma, but was ultimately defeated as Akuma blew up the Mishima Dojo. Later, it is revealed that Heihachi actually survived, buried under his own dojo. This allowed him to fake his death and reveal Kazuya's Devil form to the world. He attempted to kill both Kazuya and Akuma by targetting G Corporation's Millennium Tower with a satellite laser. Despite successfully destroying the tower, both fighters are revealed to have survived the blast. Kazuya used his Devil Blaster on Zaibatsu's satellite, prompting Heihachi to vindictively tell their family's story from his perspective, before the two meet for a final fight to death. Akuma is present, however, apparently watching both Heihachi and Kazuya fight, until Kazuya finally kills his father, and Akuma then prepares to take out the victor.

Akuma is currently unaware that Heihachi survived, as seen in Tekken 8.

Asura

Asura is perhaps Akuma's greatest rival. After Asura defeated Ryu, he then fought Akuma for over 500 years.

Necalli

Necalli is an ancient spirit that seeks to devour Akuma's soul. When Necalli successfully absorbs it, Akuma escapes his stomach using the Mudo Tensho.

Luke Sullivan

Luke heard about Akuma's legend at some point, referring to the latter as a "Big Bad", due to his villainous appearance. Following Akuma's encounter with Luke's student, the player Avatar, Luke helps the student to overcome their fear in a rematch against Akuma.

Neutral-to-Friendly

Elena

This individual, thus far, is the only person that has given Akuma the first-ever smiling face, though whether it is a genuine smile remains debatable.

Goutetsu

Akuma's master, who taught both him and his brother Gouken the arts of Ansatsuken. Departing the dojo to fully master the Satsui no Hado, he rejected the idea of balance between light and dark, preferring the art's original intent of killing, therefore the latter. This led to Akuma challenging Goutetsu to a mortal duel, briefly transforming into Shin Akuma. Despite the intensity, their fight lacked animosity, akin to Guy and Zeku's. Akuma emerged victorious, using the Shun Goku Satsu to fatally defeat his master, claiming his signature prayer beads as a valuable token. Notably, Akuma sought to demonstrate his mastery to Goutetsu, who passed away content, proud of his student's achievement.

Kazumi Mishima

Kazumi once rescued Akuma from an unspecified predicament before the events of the Tekken series' storyline unfolded. In gratitude, Akuma vowed to fulfill Kazumi's wish of eliminating her son Kazuya and her husband Heihachi, recognizing their similar corruption by their own power (ironically like Akuma himself). However, it remains unclear whether Akuma was aware of Kazumi's own Devil Gene or the malevolent tendencies within her maiden family. It seems unlikely, given his genuine surprise at Kazuya's vile transformation. Nevertheless, Akuma's interaction with Kazumi stands as the sole objective instance revealing his humanity amidst his otherwise ruthless demeanor from the Satsui no Hado.

Story

Martial arts career and killing his master and brother

Pre-Alpha

Akuma and his brother Gouken were students of Goutetsu. Goutetsu taught the two men a nameless life-threatening martial art, which incorporates elements of Karate, Judo, and Kempo. He also taught the notorious Shun Goku Satsu (literally "Instant Hell Murder"), a lethal technique which, although incredibly powerful, also puts the user in considerable danger.

As the brothers progressed under Goutetsu's tutelage, a dispute arose on the true nature of their fighting style and the path to master it. Gouken, unable to accept the violent nature and the Satsui no Hado of his fighting style, left Goutetsu to begin his own dojo, which Goutetsu himself did not oppose. Akuma continued under Goutetsu's teachings, and vowed to use their fighting style as it was originally intended.

In order to learn Shun Goku Satsu, Akuma embraced the principle of the Satsui no Hado, and was forced to give up any compassion he held towards other human beings. In addition, Akuma realized his limits as a martial artist could be expanded, and left Goutetsu's guidance of enlightenment to train alone to gain more power. However, due to embracing the Satsui no Hado to its fullest extent, he developed a lust to fight to the death, unlike Goutetsu, who had been carefully able to use the Satsui no Hado without giving in to its dark side.

After coming back from his island, Akuma went back to Goutetsu, and fought him in a death match to prove that he had surpassed him. Akuma ultimately killed his master with the Shun Goku Satsu, who himself died happily to see his student surpass him, and Akuma, believing that he was the true master of the Art, took the prayer beads of the now-dead Goutetsu and placed them on his neck as an important reward. Gouken came to visit his former master to see how he was doing, only to find his lifeless body and his brother, now no longer human. Gouken, utterly shocked to see that his younger brother took the life of their master, berated Akuma, who said nothing and left for the woods alone.

Many years later, Akuma fought Gouken one-on-one, while the then-young duo of Ryu and Ken watched.^[13][14] Akuma told Gouken that he was not strong enough to face him without giving into the killing intent; Gouken retorted that the art was much more than just death and destruction, accusing Akuma of dishonoring their master's name. Akuma then told his older brother that Goutetsu did not truly understand the art, and that he was a fool for not using the Satsui no Hado to its fullest extent. The fight continued, and Gouken soon won. Akuma told his brother to kill him, but Gouken had no intention of murdering his own blood, prompting Akuma to call him weak for sparing the life of a strong opponent and declare that he would return and get his revenge.

A couple of years later, Akuma came back to Gouken's dojo and fought him in battle once again, this time using the Shun Goku Satsu on him. Akuma believed him dead, not knowing that Gouken had somehow lived through the attack by emptying his soul, and was only in a coma. Ken saw the flash of the attack while running to the dojo, but arrived only to find Gouken on the floor and in a pool of blood. Knowing who was behind this, Ken confronted Akuma in the woods and fought him, only to be easily defeated. After defeating Ken, Akuma disappeared without a trace.

First World Warrior Tournament and fighting Gen, Ryu and M. Bison

Main Articles: Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3

Akuma only appears as a secret character only playable via random fighter at the character selection screen (except Alpha 2, where he is selectable).^[15] He shares his moveset with Ryu and Ken. An artwork interestingly shows that, at some point, he helps a child who got lost in his cave. In his retconned ending, he defeats M. Bison, claiming his quest was complete, though he feels empty. Gouken is seen in the background of his ending, as one of the people who fear and oppose him.

Akuma begins to search the globe looking for worthy fighters to challenge. Secluding himself in the shadows, he watches small tournaments and street fights, desperately seeking someone who might be able to match his strength. He is eventually challenged by an elderly man named Gen. Gen fights a vicious battle, even surviving the Shun Goku Satsu by emptying his soul in time. The outcome of the battle varies based on the arcade route by the player. In Akuma's non-canon ending, just as he begins to wonder whether Gen is the worthy opponent he's searching for, he begins to sense not all is as it seems. When Gen's mouth begins to bleed, Akuma's suspicions are confirmed: his opponent is sick, and the fight is not fair. After being knocked to the ground, Gen tells Akuma to kill him. Not wanting to carry the fight on any longer, Akuma leaves, infuriating Gen.^[16] In Gen's canon ending, he narrowly defeats Akuma. However, in spite of Akuma's demands to end his life, Gen enjoyed the fight so much he couldn't bring himself to land the killing blow. He spares Akuma, hoping to one day battle him again.^[17] After the fight, Akuma becomes obsessed with Ryu, hoping to awaken the Satsui no Hado within his prey.

Ryu eventually finds Akuma's island (known as Onigami Isle or the Gokuentou) and challenges him to a duel. The intense battle ended with Ryu gaining the upper hand; in truth, Akuma was only testing him and therefore wasn't fighting at his full extent. Akuma regains composure and tells Ryu to find him again when he has embraced the Satsui no Hado, before striking the ground with a single, powerful blow and immediately disappearing. The island falls apart around Ryu, who is left in the ocean to contemplate Akuma's words.^[18] Leaving his destroyed abode, Akuma thinks about all the fighters he has encountered, specifically strong ones, and wonders with excitement if one day he will fight someone strong enough to kill him in battle. This thought drives him on; finding a desolate cavern (also known as Kiga Cave), he begins to train anew and await the day when he will fight Ryu again. At some point, Akuma defeats and kills a Muay Thai fighter who was about to challenge the champion, Adon. Adon sees this as a challenge and sets out to find Akuma, to fight him and prove that he is stronger.^[19]

In his ending, he comes to the realization that worthy opponents have challenged him during his journey. He decides that he could stay on Earth to perfect his killing power, knowing that there are opponents that Akuma can consider worthy. While thinking about the opponents he challenged, there are visions of Gen, M. Bison and Ryu on the moon. He then comments that he will be the next to die.^[20]

"Akuma. The supreme master of the fist. This lone warrior is a wanderer shrouded with "evil intent". He searches for the challengers with enough potential to kill."

—Akuma's profile in Street Fighter Alpha 3

While waiting for Ryu to embrace the Satsui no Hado, Akuma wanders the globe in search of worthy opposition. He is confronted by Adon again, who wishes to establish his fighting style as supreme. Akuma easily wins but, instead of killing Adon, he just leaves, apparently deeming his defeated foe as unworthy.

Sometime later, Akuma is intercepted by Guy, who refuses to allow him to see M. Bison; Akuma ignores Guy's pleas and engages him in combat, the two then decide to end the fight after they realized their primary objective was the same: defeat M. Bison.

He then confronts Bison, who tells Akuma that he won't be able to defeat him as long as the Psycho Drive exists. Akuma berates the evil dictator for not relying solely upon his fists, and they fight. As Akuma emerges victorious, he completely terminates Bison with the Shun Goku Satsu, causing him to suffer horribly as the attack kills him.

In his ending, Akuma is then challenged by Gen once more and they fight a second battle, the results of which are unknown. Unbeknownst to Akuma, Ryu rejected the Satsui no Hado during his own battle with the Shadaloo leader, M. Bison, declaring that a true warrior does not rely on violent intent.

Second World Warrior Tournament and waiting for a worthy opponent

Main Article: Super Street Fighter II Turbo

Akuma did not officially enter the second World Warrior tournament, but did monitor the events that took place during it in hope of finding an adequate challenge. He also challenged^[2][21] and defeated Bison.^[22] Akuma then left as multiple participants engage Bison.^[23]

In a retconned and non-canon event, he ambushed the host, M. Bison, and made short work of him with the Shun Goku Satsu. Bison is obliterated in an instant. Akuma then engages in combat with the second finalist, but the identity of this warrior, as well as the outcome of the bout, remains unknown.

In both the original Super Street Fighter II Turbo and its HD remake, Akuma has two different endings, depending on who the final opponent is. If it is M. Bison, Akuma will muse on the fact that he did not master the Psycho Power and let it control him. If it is his full power counterpart, Shin Akuma, he will reflect on his victory over his own darkness, and consider death beneath him. Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival combines both endings into one, while Ultra removes the second ending, thus causing the first ending to always play regardless if Akuma beats M. Bison or the Shin version of himself.

Street Fighter IV: The Ties That Bind

Akuma appears in the beginning of the movie, where he enters Ryu's mind and torments him. He inquires about why and how long Ryu intends to resist the Satsui no Hado to which he responds "Until my last breath!" and that he aims for something higher than power. But Akuma dismisses this as foolishness of the highest order, given that Ryu doesn't know exactly what he seeks. Akuma goes on by saying that Ryu's blood is calling out to him and that he must answer it with his life. But Ryu keeps refusing sternly, prompting Akuma to tell him that he will murder him himself and states that this mundane world is of no concern to them as they grow stronger by consuming human life. Having had enough, Ryu tells him off by unconsciously using the Satsui no Hado, causing Akuma to burst in laughter before vanishing.

Street Fighter IV series

Sometime before the third World Warrior Tournament, Ryu and Akuma would duel, with Akuma dominating the fight, as he rebukes Ryu about his rejection of the Dark Hado, Ryu finds the strength to recover and fight back. However, Ken would interrupt the fight, forcing Akuma to leave.

During the events of Seth's tournament, he continues his training, and senses the Satsui no Hado reemerging within Ryu. Immediately, he sets off to find Ryu and help him realize this power so he can try to kill him in battle. Like the other tournaments, Akuma does not officially enter, but stays in the shadows. Later, he finds an unconscious Ryu in the care of his brother Gouken. Akuma noticed that his brother has perfected the Power of Nothingness. The two brothers fought, with Ryu being the prize. Both survived their fight, and Ryu was saved by Gouken. Akuma then continued his training and his search for a worthy opponent to match his own, razing an entire forest with his power. In Elena's ending in Ultra Street Fighter IV, she is shown to have befriended him in one of her flashbacks.

Street Fighter V

Akuma is revealed to be the first of the second wave of the DLC characters and his teaser has revealed on the Capcom Cup 2016 trailer on November 7, 2016 where he was briefly seen performing the Raging Demon and the kanji burned mark "heaven" on his back has been replaced with a "godlike person" mark.

Akuma's reveal trailer has been released on December 4, 2016 where he was seen fighting against Ryu and later became playable in December 20, 2016. His hair is now longer, and more like a lion's mane.

Prologue - 'Mudo Tensho'

In Akuma's story, he and Gen fight once again. Akuma becomes victorious in the battle, but was criticized by Gen for leading to the path of discarding humanity. He then finishes and seemingly kills Gen off for good. He then sees a vision of Ryu rejecting the Satsui no Hado, much to his frustration. Necalli appears and challenges Akuma for his soul. Not only did Necalli lose to Akuma, but he attempts to devour Akuma and Akuma does the Mudo Tensho to escape Necalli's stomach. He then seeks Ryu and battles him, in a Satsui no Hado Vs. Mu no Ken clash. Akuma defeats Ryu in battle, but does not kill him. Instead, he questions if there is no one that can match him. Ryu, smiling while laying on the ground, asks questions to Akuma, claiming that his fists will continue to communicate with Akuma on opposite ends. Akuma then flees, letting fate determine when those two will meet again.

Other character story appearances

Akuma appears in Kage’s character story, which took place prior encountering Necalli after realizing Ryu’s rejection from the Satsui during A Shadow Falls Episode. After Kage went after Sagat, Akuma is the said shadow demon’s next target, to prove his former host Ryu is nothing without him. Akuma considers Kage as nothing more than soulless silhouette of his former host. Just as Kage mockingly claims he kept part of him at bay because of his believes in laws of heaven, a nearly beaten Akuma mocks Kage back for not understanding anything aside from only strength and fighting endlessly. Akuma then uses a Houten Seikengeki punch to make Kage disappear from him, and wonders if Kage is the path which Ryu has truly chosen.

Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact

As with the third World Warrior tournament, Akuma did not enter the fourth World Warrior tournament, but once more lurked in the shadows. He was challenged by Sean who mistook him for Ryu, only for Akuma to beat him easily. He successfully pulled off a Shun Goku Satsu on the tournament sponsor Gill, although he left without realizing that Gill had resurrected himself. He then faces Ryu, asking him to show him his full power, but Ryu replies that malicious intent is not the way of the warrior. In this game, he appears as a secret boss. Using the Raging Demon on whoever the player is facing, he battles the player afterwards. If Akuma is felled, the scenery will darken, the ground will shake and he will get back up and unleash his true power for a second fight.

Over this time-span, Akuma had trained relentlessly, harnessing his power and learning several new techniques; some were meant to create tidal waves, others were described as strong enough to split Uluru (Ayers Rock) in half, and one could kill an opponent with a single strike. One such self-taught technique is called the Kongou Kokuretsuzan, in which Akuma channels all his power into one hand and smashes it into the ground, creating a vortex of energy upward around him. It is supposedly this technique that was used to destroy his original training ground, the Onigami Isle Gokuentou. The same technique is also said to have the power to make the Earth itself crumble beneath him.

Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike

Akuma continued to develop his now-incredible fighting skill, and even fought with Oro in a simple, inconclusive battle, with each other sensing the other's massive chi and testing their powers. Though mutually impressed by each other's power, both men expressed some contempt for the other on a personal basis.

It is also revealed that Akuma has now demonstrated the ability to remain underwater under massive pressure for extended periods of time, and has even managed to make his Tenshou Kaireki Jin technique powerful enough to destroy the massive sunken ruins of a modern liner ship.

Street Fighter 6

A demon of combat that has welcomed the Satsui no Hado into his being in his quest to become the ultimate master of the fist.

Arcade Mode

Akuma: The Sound of Chiseling

Deep within the Enma's Hollow, Akuma is seen meditating by carving a wooden idol. The narrator then describe how Akuma's very being was shaped by each battle he has went through, not dissimilar to how each stroke of chisel gradually carved a wood into the idol. Then, Akuma recalls his recent encounter and a "fight to the death" with Ryu a few moments ago.

In a flashback, Ryu visits Akuma within Enma's Hollow. Akuma recalls his past bout with Ryu by asking if he's still "revel(ling)" about it, to which Ryu silently replied with a smile. Akuma is angered that Ryu seems to not take his wish for a "fight to the death" seriously and called out on Ryu for smiling at him. Ryu however countered, saying that he has put "every ounce of [his] being" into his fist during the fight. After a brief silence, Ryu say that he has sensed that Akuma, too, has enjoyed fighting with him, suggesting that the two fighters has something in common despite taking opposite path. Akuma is enraged as he perceived Ryu's word as a "mockery" and challenged him to a fight.

Back to the present, Akuma returns to his wood carving work and reflects on his past fight. As the story ended, it is revealed that the wooden idol he has carved has a smile on its face, suggesting that Ryu's words about Akuma might turned out to be true.

World Tour

Master of the Fist. Unforgiving Destruction. Fighting God Incarnate. (拳を極めし者、無容赦粉砕、鬼神権化, Ken o kiwameshi-mono. Muyo-sha funsai. Kishin gonge.^?)

"Strength can only be achieved by pushing past your limits! (強さは限界を超えることによってのみ達成されます!, Tsuyo-sa wa genkai o koeru koto ni yotte nomi tassei sa remasu!^?)"

—Akuma's advice after completing training & achieving Mastery

Akuma can found at Enma's Hollow, where he is first seen training his fists before destroying a falling ceiling rock and beheaded the giant ogre statue's head with a Goshoryuken. A beheaded statue which Akuma punched almost killed the the player Avatar when they recently arrived at the hallow where Akuma is. As Akuma spots the Avatar's presence, the Avatar is at first afraid of Akuma because of his overwhelming presence during their first encounters before Akuma disappears within the fog.

In order to train under Akuma, the Avatar must first discard their fears by sparring with Ryu and Luke, who tell them of their shortcomings. Only after fighting Akuma a few times does he end the fight decisively with a powerful Metsu Shoryuken that defeats the Avatar, who laughs even in the face of death. Seeing their similarities to Ryu, Akuma punches the ground and allows them to become his pupil.

Crossover appearances

Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness

In Cyberbots Fullmetal Madness releashed only in Japan, Akuma is a playable character but as giant mecha Z-Akuma or Z-Gouki (Zero-Akuma or Zero Gouki for short). This incarnation is significant in that its Raging Demon is fully visible to the player.

SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos

Akuma's ending in the storyline depends on his final opponent; if Akuma faced Athena, his ending shows him ascending to the Heavens. As he has not found a worthy foe on the mortal plane of existence, he proceeds to challenge God himself, although he is surprised to find him in the form of an old man, drinking tea in his living room.

If Akuma's final opponent was Red Arremer, his ending shows him using a variation of the Kongou Kokuretsuzan to create a massive fissure on the earth, and leaps in to the depths of Hell, defeating all of the denizens and eventually reaching and defeating Astaroth from the Ghosts n' Goblins series.

SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium

He appears in this game as a secret character, and rival to Iori Yagami. A supposed clone of him appears as one of Geese Howard and M. Bison's guards along with clones of Morrigan and Zangief.

In his ending, after Billy Kane is defeated by Iori, he says to Akuma he will take care of him once he kills Kyo Kusanagi before leaving. Akuma replies he'll be waiting; confident that Iori's Riot of the Blood is no match for his Satsui no Hado.

Capcom vs. SNK

He appears as a secret final boss. On the Capcom Groove, if the player as accumulated enough points, the player will first think they are fighting M. Bison, only for Akuma to kill Bison in a surprise attack. He then challenges the player to an intense duel. Even when defeated, Akuma vows continue fighting until the bitter end.

Capcom vs. SNK 2

Akuma appears as a boss. He is shown on a roof in Osaka fighting Rugal if the player has a high enough score, and defeated the Last Stage's opponent(s) with a Super Combo Finish

If it is normal Akuma, he will appear by himself, wondering who emitted a great war cry. Akuma then deducts that it was the player's character/team, and proceeds to challenge them directly. When he is defeated, he states that he will never give up, and then says that a real challenger has appeared at last, which is none other than Rugal himself, and the two proceed to battle at once.

If he is the one speaking to Rugal on the roof, he states that he will remember Rugal's name, and performs the Shun Goku Satsu on Rugal. However, Rugal then grabs Akuma by the chest, commenting on how much the Satsui no Hado impressed him, and forcibly gives the Orochi power to Akuma before his death. He will then transform into Shin Akuma, also known as God Akuma in this game, due to the different kanji that appears on his back. If defeated, he is left clinging to life, until black entities revive him and take him away, ordering him to go on and become stronger.

However, if Rugal is the one speaking to Akuma, he states that he enjoyed the Satsui no Hado, and comments that Akuma is not worthy of it. Deciding that it requires a new possessor, he then kills Akuma outright, and absorbs his Satsui no Hado to become Ultimate Rugal. However, Akuma takes possession of Rugal's body, as his mind isn't strong enough to contain his power. He then disappears after Rugal's defeat, stating he has no name, and is 'nothing and everything'.

If the game is cleared with Akuma, the following text scrolls:

"Though he has beat the Evil Powers, Akuma isn't satisfied. He is not satisfied by power, energy, or victories. Nobody can realize what Akuma longs for..."

Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix

In his prologue, Akuma leaves his island, Gokuentou, because it is overrun by tourists, and the place is becoming an exclusive leisure resort. Traveling by boat with his belongings, he searches for a new training ground.

In his ending, he defeated Hsien-ko after she had promised to lead him to the perfect place to train. After Hsien-ko berates Akuma if anyone ever taught him to hold back his punches, she keeps her promise, leading him deep within a forest to an area where zombies dwell at night. Akuma accepts this as his new training ground, seeing them as the perfect targets to brush up his killing techniques, and engages the zombies as he continues his quest to become the world's mightiest warrior.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds

Akuma appears as one of the four characters working alongside Galactus as his Heralds, though his motivation is the same as in most appearances. In his ending, he is shown to have defeated Galactus as well as many others from the "other dimension" that stood in his path. Seeing as how the "Planet Eater" himself could not defeat him, Akuma decides not to wait for strong opponents to appear, but rather to seek them out.

in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, he also appears in Dormammu's ending, as one of the Capcom villains opposing the dimensional overlord's advances on the Capcom universe. He also shows up in Ryu's ending where Ryu, who has recently been appointed as Iron Fist's successor, defeats him.

Street Fighter X Tekken

He appears in one of the trailers of the game, where he confronts Ogre while the meteorite falls, calling him a "pathetic whelp". The places they are standing on elevates in the air during the crash. At the end, they both charge at each other. Akuma appears in Street Fighter X Tekken as a playable character and as one of the final bosses, with his Tekken counterpart being Ogre. In his story, he senses the meteorite before it actually comes crashing into the Antarctic. When it finally impacts, he reappears at the Antarctic, seeing the Pandora as a "new era of chaos" as fighters from all over the world are gathering together to find it. His Swap Costume is Heihachi Mishima's infamous outfit from Tekken 4.

In his boss cutscene, Pandora is seen for a few seconds, and then the camera pans out, showing Akuma descending to the ground from the sky from an unknown location. He then lands while punching the ground in the process, creating huge pillars of snow. Akuma then walks towards the player's characters menacingly, declaring that he will bring a new era of chaos with his fists, and then the fight begins.

In his rival cutscene, Ogre appears before him and Akuma calls him "pitiful creature" and tells him to prove his worth. Ogre launches a wave scream that Akuma completely shrugs off before taking his fighting stance. The fight then begins. In Ogre's rival cutscene, before he gets to the box, Akuma sends him a Zanku Hadoken that he stops but gets pushed back in the process. The fight then begins.

In his ending, Akuma approaches Pandora, but when it opens, it manifests a Pandora version of Oni before him. Recognizing this form as a raging shadow of himself, he moves in to attack. He also appears in Steve and Hwoarang's ending, where Pandora spawns 100 Akumas (1 Akuma and 99 Shin Akumas) in response to Hwoarang's overconfidence, all of them attacking at once with the Raging Demon.

In his epilogue, Akuma engaging Pandora Oni causes a storm that lasts several days. All organizations seeking the box are forced to return home due to the storm. But as they leave, a huge crack running along the ground swallows the box. Eyewitness claim to have seen a human-like creature in the middle of the storm but it was dismissed as an ephemeral mass of energy. To the outside, those events still remain a mystery.

Asura's Wrath

Akuma, along with Ryu, both made appearances in Capcom and CyberConnect2's collaborative beat-'em-up title, Asura's Wrath. Akuma appears as a DLC-only character with his own fleshed out episode, titled The Strongest vs. The Angriest. Much like Ryu's episode, it uses the Super Street Fighter IV engine while shifting to the traditional battle system for the second half.

The story picks up after Ryu's episode, where Akuma suddenly appears. To prevent distractions, Akuma immediately executes the Demon Armageddon on Ryu, but instead of piercing him, he launches him so hard it forces Ryu through a wormhole back to his original timeline. When Akuma learns of Asura's name, he reveals himself to be familiar with the deity's background as a being of wrath and challenges him.

Akuma retains his moves from Super Street Fighter IV, and switches Ultras between matches. The Wrath of the Raging Demon can be countered through a Quick Time Event. At the end of the first half, he transforms into Oni, starting the second half.

At the end of the battle, Asura and Akuma (reverting from Oni somehow) continue to fight, with the fight apparently lasting for 500 years. In the timeskip, both combatants are still facing each other in a standstill and have turned to stone with developing moss. Eventually, both statues begin to move at last to finally finish the fight, ending in a cliffhanger.

Street Fighter × Mega Man

Akuma is one of two hidden bosses of Street Fighter × Mega Man. To face him, the player must have 4 or more perfect wins over the previous eight bosses. When the player faces M. Bison, Akuma will appear, performing a Misogi on him and sending Mega Man to his stage for the final boss fight.

Rockman X DiVE

Akuma is the playable character and as boss released on the event Rockman X DiVE × Street Fighter V.

Tekken 7

At the 2015 "King of Iron Fist" Tekken 7 tournament, Tekken series executive producer Katsuhiro Harada announced that Akuma is officially included in Tekken 7's "Fated Retribution" update. ^[24] In the game's debut trailer, he is called upon by Heihachi Mishima's estranged wife, Kazumi, to kill Heihachi, and also her son Kazuya, after he's gone too far on his ambition for absolute power. This later reveals in Story Mode that she was talking to him after recovering from a "fever" and attacking her husband, Heihachi in her devil form while trying to tend her sickness. Akuma has standing debt between him and Kazumi and she was responsible for saving him for unexplained reasons. Sometime after Heihachi reclaimed the Mishima Zaibatsu, Akuma confronted him at the Mishima dojo, but their battle was interrupted by a Jack-6 army sent by Kazuya. The two of them temporarily joined forces to defeat the onslaught of robots. Afterwards, Akuma introduced himself to Heihachi and explained that he was sent by the late Kazumi to kill both her husband and son. Upon asked by Heihachi about why he waited so long to fulfill the promise, Akuma replied that he was waiting until Heihachi had become stronger. Emerging victorious, Akuma seemingly killed Heihachi and destroyed the Mishima dojo.

He later goes to the top of G Corporation tower to fight and kill Kazuya. Gaining the upper hand in the fight, Akuma forced Kazuya into a corner, prompting him to transform into Devil. However, before there was a victor, their fight was interrupted by Heihachi, who had survived and faked his death. The Mishima Zaibatsu CEO fired a power laser from a space satellite, destroying G Corporation tower.

Akuma survived the attack, and confronted Kazuya once more in the volcanic pit after Kazuya killed Heihachi. With his opponent quickly transforms to his devil form, Akuma found himself locked in an intense fight. The battle reached its climax when Akuma fired a Hadoken at Kazuya's laser attack, destroying the volcanic surroundings. The final outcome of the fight is unknown.

Akuma retains the core elements of his fighting style in Tekken 7: Fated Retribution (Gohadoken, Shakunetsu Hadoken, Zanku Hadoken, Gou Shoryuken, Tatsumaki Zankukyaku, and Ashura Senku). The Shin Shun Goku Satsu also appears as his Rage Art. During his victory sequence, he slams his palm into the ground similar to the Kongou Kokuretsuzan. Unlike other characters in the Tekken franchise, some of Akuma's moves like his special moves are governed by an EX/Super meter similar to his native series (although it is separated into two segments as opposed to four) and the Messatsu Gou Hadou is his Super move in place on Rage Attack. His Power Crush attack mimics the animation of his Focus Attack from Street Fighter IV, as they serve similar functions in each game.

In Arcade Mode of Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, Akuma serves as the secret final boss of the game instead of Kazumi. When the player defeats him, Akuma glows in purple miasma due to the power of the Satsui no Hado is getting out of control and he unleashes his massive power in a flash of light before the start of the credits.

In the Kiwami Campaign event when all of the Tekken characters gain their costumes for their customization, Akuma's own costume from one of his customizations is one of his disguised forms in Pocket Fighter. He also gains his Swap Costume in Street Fighter X Tekken as part of his customization but without his footwraps and the white streaks on his hair.

Tekken (Mobile)

Akuma became a playable guest character in the update in Tekken (Mobile) on May 1, 2018 as his teaser trailer showcasing Akuma to demonstrate his fighting techniques against Jin Kazama as the last scene of the trailer shows both of them clashed with their Rage Arts in whoever gets hit first.

His main appearance is from his crossover appearances in the games as both his 1-Star up to his 4-Star appearances is a reference to the color pallete change when the player would choose any characters in the Street Fighter main games. His featured act is the Demon's Path is a reference to his role in the main games for taking a path of a demon. His demon path was later shared by Street Fighter EX series and Fighting EX Layer character, Kairi who also utilizes his moveset (excluding his Shinki Hatsudo). In every modes, this will gain some bronze, silver, gold and crystal Akuma tokens to gain 1 to 3 pieces of 1-Star to 4-Star fragments in order to unlock him.

Power Rangers Legacy Wars

Akuma is a playable character in this game. As Rita Repulsa's hold on the Morphin Grid stretches across multiverses, Akuma is among the warriors who are sucked into the Grid, pitted against those from the Power Rangers multiverse.

Monster Hunter Rise

Akuma appears part of the event “SF: Ultimate Promotion Exam", where he is unlockable as a set of layered armor. While equipped, the player's voice and animations are replaced with Akuma's, Throwing Kunai are replaced with Gohadoken and Zanku Hadoken, and if the player wields a Sword and Shield, they are made invisible to appear as if he is punching them.

The King of Fighters All Star

Before becoming playable in Street Fighter crossover event, Akuma appears briefly as an NPC cameo during Orochi Saga Boss Syndrome's Rush Event titled "Out of Control".

Animation and movies

Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation

Akuma first appears in Ryu's mind when Ryu is suddenly overcome by the energy of the Satsui no Hado for a short time with Akuma telling him to "open his eyes to the Evil Hado". He reappears later when Ryu and Chun-Li visit his island, in the middle of a field of wooden statues. He says that "the true fighter must walk into the arena with all his powers at the ready" and if Ryu is a pupil of Gouken, he must walk the same path as him and fight him with his true power or leave. His own Dark Hado influences Ryu's, the latter struggling against it. However Ryu only asks a question: If he has a family or a son, to which Akuma responds "When I walk, I walk alone, when I fight, I fight alone" before walking away. In the movie's ending, he reappears to fight Ryu who seeks to prove he is nothing like him, much to Akuma's dismay. The movie ends with them both charging at each other.

Street Fighter Alpha: Generations

This movie gives Akuma a more personal backstory; he is also called Gouki (his Japanese name). He is lying against a tree and is woken up by Sayaka, Goutetsu's daughter. Gouken tells him that he had no choice since Gouki used the Dark Hado when his master forbid it while Sayaka tends to his wounds. During sunset, he has an argument with Goutetsu at the dojo which Sayaka eavesdrop, asking why he forbids the Dark Hado and his master answering that he cannot use it. Gouki responds by saying that he does not want to follow a laid out path like his predecessors' teachings are absolute. He also says that a true martial arts master will have the courage to follow a thorny trail to which Goutetsu responds that what Gouki is describing is not courage but arrogance. He then leaves the room, followed angrily by his pupil who finds Sayaka eavesdropping. She tells him that although it's hard to believe, her father wants what's best for him. Gouki replies that he knows that but wanted his master to understand that he had his own path to follow. But as he leaves, he start to cramp up again but tells Sayaka to stay away when she tries to help him before walking away. He is seen again in the evening, in the process of transforming into a demon while Goutetsu confronts him, saying that seeing him like this was a great dissapointment. Then starts a battle of cataclysmic proportions between the two. During that time, Gouken and Sayaka rush to the scene but Sayaka stops and shows nausea, implying that Gouki impregnated her. When Gouken gets there, Gouki defeated Goutetsu with the Shun Goku Satsu. Gouken then berates his brother for this act and tells him that his happiness was right there within his reach and yells for an answer. But Gouki just takes his master's prayer beads and walks away without saying anything.

He appears again in the present day in Ryu's memories. In their first meeting, and the day where he came to the dojo to kill Gouken, causing Ryu's Satsui no Hado to awaken.

He reappears in the flesh at the climax of the movie where he fights Ryu. Gouki completely dominates the bout, while saying to Gouken that he was right to walk down this path and the fact that Ryu is here proves it. Cornered, Ryu gives in to the Satsui no Hado and manages to actually hurt Gouki, much to the latter's excitement. Their fight calls the spirits of former Satsui users from Ryu and Gouki's bloodline. But as they trade punches, Ryu sees a vision of Fuuka which causes him to stop using the Dark Hado. Gouki scolds Ryu, saying to him that his path to a great warrior had been clouded and that through his teachings, he has forsaken his natural thirst to be strong to which Ryu replies that on the contrary, it made him strong, angering Gouki. Ryu tries to attack from above while Gouki sends a Messatsu Gou Hadou. Gouki's attack connects but Ryu strikes his chest with his Hado which results in purifying the entire forest along with the spirits in a light blue explosion. Gouki's chest becomes clearer due to this and he walks away with visions of Gouken and Sayaka treating his wounds. After this, Gouki gets back up saying "My name is Gouki! The one who became strong! Someday, someday I intend to fight you again" to Ryu. As he says this, his eyes and appearance returned to human-looking, probably due to Ryu's attack making him momentarily regain part of his humanity. During this time, the monk's speech to Ken implies that Gouki is Ryu's father. However, this entire movie is non-canon.

Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist

Akuma starts off in the past as Gouki, when he and his brother Gouken were children taken in by Goutetsu, with his niece Sayaka looking after them, in their training. Gouki secretly looks into the scrolls of the Satsui no Hadou behind Goutetsu & Gouken's backs, in hopes of becoming a stronger fighter and being better than Gouken. During a match between brothers, Gouki was defeated. But the line was crossed, when Gouki lashes out at him through a Shoryuken. Just as Gouken was about to end him with a Hadouken, Sayaka intervenes to stop and Goutetsu scolds Gouki for what he's done and banishes him from the dojo. Gouki kisses Sayaka goodbye as he continues his own training of the Satsui no Hadou in the forest. A year passed, as Gouki slowly becomes a demon day after day due to the Dark Hadou's side effects. Becoming successful in mastering it, he appears before his former master & father to prove his power to him. Ending with a Shun Goku Satsu, Gouki takes the beads and ties his hair to a ponytail in blood and leaves as Gouken tries to stop him.

Years later, Gouki, now renamed Akuma reunites with Gouken, demanding a fight and finding him training new students. As Ryu and Ken left the dojo, Gouken prepares to battle Akuma alone.

Other Appearances

Street Fighter (UDON)

In the UDON comics, Akuma's storyline is alternate universe story then in the video games; however, it does provide a few interesting twists.

Akuma is still presented as one of the mightiest characters in the Street Fighter, though a few fighters were shown being capable of taking him out or at least able to stand their ground against him. Gouken has managed to defeat Akuma the first time he appeared to challenge his brother. However, the second time around, he was not so lucky, as the Satsui no Hado-fueled Akuma proved to be too powerful.

Gen is also one of the selected few that managed to repeat Gouken's feat; in a duel where fighters both powered by the Satsui no Hado, Gen's experience proved to be a deciding factor as he struck down Akuma with one of his deadliest techniques. Akuma survives, but is badly injured and at Gen's mercy. Intrigued by the level of skill displayed by his opponent, Gen spares his life and agrees to a rematch once Akuma has fully mastered the Dark Hado. This event causes Akuma to grow an utmost respect for Gen's fighting abilities.

Their second bout, however, is in the shadow of Gen's illness, and after a single, deadly clash, Akuma and Gen forever part their ways while paying respect to each other. Soon afterwards, as a result of this brief encounter, Gen collapses and dies.

In the World Warrior tournament's finals, Akuma faces M. Bison, but neither is able to gain the upper hand until the Psycho Drive, the device that powers Bison, is destroyed by other street fighters. In the true final battle, Akuma is defeated by a Satsui no Hado-consumed Ryu, who manages to regain his senses in time to spare Akuma's life, refusing to dishonor the memory of his late master by giving in to the darkness. Enraged, Akuma is then apparently stopped by Gouken; however, Gouken's appearance can be attributed to Ryu having hallucinations caused by the smoke and toxic vapors, courtesy of Shadaloo's island disappearing in the eruption of a volcano.

Later, in Super Street Fighter, Akuma manipulates Sakura into embracing the Satsui no Hado, stating that Ryu's teachings only held her back and this is what led to the Illuminati kidnapping him. When she sets out to rescue Ryu, he absorbs the Satsui no Hado from her and asks her and Dan to kill him to prevent the Satsui no Hado from taking over him, but Akuma intervenes, triggering the awakening of Evil Ryu. Seeing him unrestrained, Akuma also unleashes his full power, turning into Oni, and they fight until Gill arrives and effortlessly keeps both fighters at bay, managing to depower them forcibly.

In Street Fighter Unlimited, at the conclusion of the new World Warrior Tournament, once Ryu manages to find the balance between the good and evil within himself thanks to Oro's tutelage and finish Gill for good, he goes after Akuma to finish their duel. While the bout starts off intense and even, Ryu manages to eventually overpower Oni and deal him a humiliating defeat.

Street Fighter Origins: Akuma

Created by UDON, this comic is another interpretation of his backstory. In this iteration, Akuma does not use the Raging Demon on Goutetsu as he did in the games' canon, but instead uses the Demon Armageddon from Super Streeet Fighter IV. His motivation for killing Goutetsu is different from what his actual story establishes, with the reason being that Akuma learned from a thug who survived his onslaught on a remote cottage that Goutetsu was the one who revealed his father's location to some thugs that destroyed his home years prior, causing Akuma to attack with extreme fury.

Street Fighter EX series

Background

Akuma, rather surprisingly, appears only in the first Street Fighter EX tournament. It is unknown exactly what transpired during the tournament, but two events are rumored.

Already aware of Ryu's capacity to tap into the Satsui no Hado (or "Surge of Killing Intent"), he may have been drawn to the tournament to witness Ryu's progress in either accepting the murderous intent, or rejecting it. However, once he arrived, another fighter may have intrigued Akuma more than Ryu. Kairi was another martial artist who showed the same level of capacity for Satsui no Hado as Ryu, but with the potential to twist it for the purposes of life instead of death. Before finding Kairi, Akuma stalked Ryu until he was alone. He approached Ryu and examined him who demanded to know what he wanted. Akuma, a little disgusted with what he sensed, simply stated that he was the man who killed Ryu's master, and Ryu was not ready to fight him. Ryu's eyes opened wide, but Akuma did not remain, just as he left, M. Bison approached Ryu and prevented him from following Akuma.

Akuma finally tracked down Kairi. A man with a sword was rushing towards him. Not wanting to be interupted, he warped to the location in front of the swordsman and instantly knocked him out with one blow. When Akuma initiated a battle with Kairi, Kairi was beaten within an inch of his life, and lost the use of one eye when Akuma grazed his face with a Shoryuken. Just as Akuma was about to finish Kairi off, Kairi retaliated with a burst of power that was beyond his control, which actually succeeding in stunning Akuma, before Kairi disappeared from the fight.

It is these events that may have had a hand in attracting the demon Garuda to the Street Fighter EX tournament. Garuda tracked down Akuma, believing that he was the source of power that Garuda had noticed, and attacked him. As the living embodiment of Satsui no Hado, the more that Akuma tapped into his murderous intent, the stronger Garuda became until Garuda succeeding in defeating Akuma, nearly killing him. Garuda then realized that Akuma was not the source of the power, and immediately left in search of the true source, leaving Akuma to suffer his fate alone. Knowing that he could never win against such a demon, Akuma remained hidden until Garuda could be wiped off the face of the earth by another...

Endings

Street Fighter EX

"At that precise moment, I walked away! For my name is Akuma! Master of the Fist!"

Street Fighter EX Plus α

"My name is Akuma! Master of the Fist!" When the Satsui no Hadou strucks the earth, a mountain of corpses is left behind. Goutetsu, Gouken, Bison and now... Can a man become a fierce god by abandoning his humanity...?

Cameos

Akuma appears in the Marvel-licensed Capcom fighting game, X-Men: Children of the Atom as a secret character, as well as Marvel Super Heroes as a cameo in one of Anita's (of Darkstalkers series) special moves. An original variation called Cyber-Akuma (Mech Gouki in Japan) appears in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter as the game's Final Boss. Like the Shin Akuma version of the character, Cyber-Akuma is more powerful than the regular Akuma, possesses the greatest attack and defense of any character in the game, and is extremely fast. He can legitimately be used after beating the game without using continues on the home console releases, but a cheat is available to unlock him right away; Highlight Akuma on the Character Select screen, press the Select button six times, and then press the high punch button, and Cyber-Akuma will now be playable. He can't use a partner, but is so powerful that he can easily win without one. All of Cyber-Akuma's super moves are Level 1, including the Shining Gou Shock.

• Akuma also makes a semi-appearance in Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness as Zero-Gouki.
• Akuma appears in the arcade versions of Street Fighter: The Movie as a regular character. He also appears in the console versions of Street Fighter: The Movie as an secret boss who can be selected via a cheat code.
• Akuma appears in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, sitting against a wall in Calcutta.
• Akuma also makes cameo appearances in many of the episodes of Street Fighter II V, often in the background interacting with the population.
• Akuma appears in Street Fighter Alpha: The Animation and Street Fighter Alpha: Generations.
• Joey Ansah played Akuma in Street Fighter: Legacy, which he co-directed with Owen Trevor.
• Akuma appears in Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, with Ansah reprising the role, while a young Gouki will be portrayed by Gaku Space.
• Akuma can be created in Mortal Kombat Armageddon's Kreate-A-Fighter mode. His hair is listed as "Demon" in the game.
• Akuma also made an appearance in South Park "Imaginationland, Episode II" on the evil side of Imaginationland.
• Hsien-Ko from Darkstalkers can throw an Akuma statue with her Anki Hou.
• Cut Man can throw an Akuma toy in Mega Man 2: The Power Fighters.
• Akuma appears as a boss in Super Ultra Dead Rising 3' Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX + α.
• Akuma appears in Monster Hunter Rise with his Street Fighter V design as a set of layered armor. While worn, the hunter's voice is changed to Akuma's voice for both English and Japanese, and various animations are changed to match his special moves.

Street Fighter vs. Darkstalkers

Akuma and his evolved form Oni appears in UDON's comic book crossover Street Fighter vs. Darkstalkers.

Continuing from his previous encounter with Gill, Akuma loses his power as a result and loses his form as Oni. He desperately seeks a way to restore his demon form. Just then, Donovan appears and seeks to end his existence due to wielding powers comparable to a Darkstalker, but when he sends Dhylec to finish him, Akuma intercepts the great sword and restores his power, becoming Oni again. Before Oni could finish Donovan off, Anita intervenes and threatened Oni. Impressed by the duo's power, Oni tells Donovan to heal himself and seek him out again when he is ready.

After Morrigan and Lilith convinces Donovan to help them fight Jedah, Donovan suggests seeing Akuma to gather the necessary power to open a portal to the Makai Realm. Akuma is ready to engage Donovan in a fight to the death, but only Morrigan's intervention convinces Akuma to cooperate with them.

Akuma's plays an important role in fighting Jedah and the Fetus of God. After the abomination and the Darkstalker is defeated, Akuma stays behind in Makai to further his skills, stating he will find his way back to the human realm on his own.

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. Though he shares very similar moves as Ryu and Ken, 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. In-story, it was often claimed that Akuma's low durability a representation of him holding back his power in order to enjoy his fights, which handicaps himself.

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 Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, Akuma retains all of his moves as both his Gohadoken and Tatsumaki Zankukyaku are embedded with poison and his Shakunetsu Hadoken can petrify his opponents when they get hit. He has a special attack that can headbutt his opponent similar to E. Honda's Sumo Headbutt. His Shun Goku Satsu, Tenma Gozanku, Messatsu Go Hadou and his Messatsu-Goshoryu serve as his Mighty Combos and has the most Mighty Combos with the total of four. He has four disguises serve as his special attacks. (Eg. a swimmer, a Japanese construction worker wields both a hammer and a long lumber, a fortune teller and a warlock gladiator) During the Tenma Gozanku, Akuma sometimes disguises as a swimmer to dive into the ground similar to Nagare's Plunge after executing the move.

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.

In his appearance in Tekken (Mobile), Akuma's primary basic combo launcher is his Tenmakujinkyaku as his Gohadoken, Goshoryuken, Shakunetsu Hadoken, Zanku Hadoken, Tatsumaki Zankukyaku, Messatsu Gohado and Messatsu Goshoryu appear as his Special Waza Cards which shows an exclamation point in front of its cards as other of his basic techniques serving as his Strike, Stun and Combo Starter Waza Cards. In both 3-Star and 4-Star appearances, he will gain his Wrath of the Raging Demon Ultra Combo in Street Fighter IV series as his Rage Art. Both his Messatsu Gohado and Messatsu Goshoryu were labeled as both Gohadoken and Goshoryuken respectively in his 4-Star moves as Akuma immediately defeats his/her opponent in a single move, dealing massive damage.

In Street Fighter 6, Akuma sees some modifications with the addition of Adamant Flame and Oboro Throw to his repetoire, though at the cost of Shakunetsu Hadoken now being a part of Gou Hadoken and Ashura Senku losing invulnerability.

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 Shoryureppa without the scorching effect, and an upward-spiraling Tatsumaki that can also be used in midair. Akuma's most well known Super Combo is the infamous 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.

In Street Fighter 6, Akuma's Level 1 Super Art is his Messatsu Gohado. His Level 2 is Empyrean’s End, blasting the opponent with a flaming strike that wall splats his opponent for a further combo. His Level 3 Super Art Sip of Calamity has Akuma throw the opponent onto the ground before stomping on their chest and striking their face with a powerful punch. The Shun Goku Satsu appears as his second Critical Art, assaulting the opponent with an array of Akuma apparitions before slamming their face beneath him.

As a Boss

As a computer-controlled Boss in most games (e.g. Super Street Fighter II Turbo), Akuma, though not in his Shin form, is even more powerful, faster, and more durable in comparison to his "player" version, 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), making himself incredibly difficult to defeat for all but the most skillful of players. Although this version of Akuma was confirmed to be the new Boss version fought in Arcade Mode, he is indeed himself using the full extent of his abilities.

Balance Issues

Akuma is notoriously known for being one of, if not the most overpowered characters in the Street Fighter franchise, and this issue makes him a popular pick among expert players. As early as his first game, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Akuma is banned in U.S. tournaments,^[25] 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 real-world 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 Shun Goku Satsu cannot be interrupted at close range, making it near impossible to avoid when cornered.

Stage Theme

Videos

Trivia

• Akuma's English name originates from the Japanese word Akuma (悪魔, Akuma^?), meaning "devil".
• In the animation Street Fighter Alpha: Generations and live action Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist, it is implied that Akuma could be Ryu's biological father.
• In most of his appearances, Akuma is the only user of Ansatsuken (excluding Sakura) to wear any kind of footwear. Ironically, his Street Fighter 6 design removes the sandals while Ryu and Ken wear footwear in theirs.
• 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.
• Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike and the Alpha series are the only games where he can be encountered in the Arcade mode not as a Boss/secret Boss encounter.
• Akuma and Fei Long are the only Street Fighter II characters not to appear in the live action Street Fighter movie. Akuma did, however, make it into the video game adaptation, played by Ernie Reyes Sr.
• 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 gigantic in stature, even though officially he is just slightly taller than Ryu.
• A few artworks of Street Fighter: Alpha depicts Akuma helping a child lost in a cave and another even giving another some fruit, which shows he has some bit of moral standards.
• 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.
  • This appears to mirror the infamous Sheng Long hoax in April 1992.
• Akuma's main battle music appears to resemble Biddu Orchestra's "Dance of Shiva" (1985).
• 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.
  • Also in the comic it's implied that he may have killed Ryu's family when he destroyed the village of the men who killed his father.
• In the original Super Street Fighter II Turbo, Akuma had four different win quotes, 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.
• In many of Akuma's endings, he utilizes a new technique that is then later introduced in his playable appearances:
  • 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 Critical Art in Street Fighter V.
  • He also has yet to use the Mudo Tensho in a game, which he used to escape Necalli's stomach in his character story, and Houten Seikengeki in Kage's character story.
  • Capcom Fighting Evolution introduces the Daisekien, which he uses to destroy an asteroid, while SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos has Shin Akuma use the Tenha Tousaizan (referred to as the Heaven-Earth Slice Destroyer in the translation) to split the ocean.
• His voice actor in Street Fighter V, Richard Epcar, previously voiced E. Honda in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.
  • Additionally, Akuma is the only returning character in Street Fighter V to not have their English voice actor from Street Fighter IV reprise their role, as Richard Epcar replaces Dave Mallow.
  • Akuma is currently the only character to go from Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter V, and Street Fighter 6 with different English voice actors in all three appearances, with Christopher Guerrero replacing Richard Epcar.
• 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 critically acclaimed 1994 animated film. There is even a fan-made trailer for Akuma's introduction to Street Fighter V, set to "Hakuna Matata" on YouTube.
  • Also, Akuma's lion-styled hair gives him a strong resemblance to both Ganondorf and his demon form, Ganon from The Legend of Zelda franchise (who also has red hair) and to Nosferatu Zodd from the manga/anime series Berserk.
    • The mane as well as the face also gave him a resemblance to Demise, the main antagonist of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, who incidentally was also strongly implied to have been responsible for Ganondorf's existence.
• Akuma seems to bear a similarity with Baki the Grappler character Yujiro Hanma. Both have wild red hair, wears black clothing, has tanned skin, a fearsome complexion, and harbor strength that is considered superior to most of the fighters in their respective universes. They also provoke their younger rivals to become stronger by embracing their violent nature. On top of that, both fighters were frequently compared to that of a demon in their respective universes (with Yujiro being known as "the Ogre", while Akuma often compared himself to a demon), and seem to have dark personalities and frequently desire battle to test their own strength. The difference is that Akuma, though ruthless and callous, is less sadistic and arrogant than Yujiro.
• In the CPS II Street Fighter II games, it is highly implied Akuma is the "Ancient One" M. Bison was referring to in his ending. It is rather odd that Akuma would be the "Ancient One" as he is younger than Gouken.
• One of Akuma's concept arts in Street Fighter V bears a striking resemblance to Necalli but wasn't chosen. This was likely to avoid confusion from fans.
• Akuma's leaked character art from Street Fighter 6 showed him with red hair streaked with white stripes similar to his design in Street Fighter III, along with a reddish-brown pelt as opposed to a white one. The design would later be used as his Color 2.
• Akuma (as Gouki) was planned to be a playable character in the Capcom-produced, MMA-themed PlayStation 2 video game Pride GP 2003. However, he was cut from the final release for unknown reasons, but by the amount of Akuma-related unused files remaining in the game, it seems that his removal might have been a last-minute change.^[26]

Gallery

See Akuma/Gallery

Sprites

See Akuma/Sprites

Quotes

See Akuma/Quotes

See also

• Shin Akuma
• Cyber-Akuma
• Oni

Movelists

• Akuma's moves in the Street Fighter II series
• Akuma's moves in Super Street Fighter II Turbo: HD Remix
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter: The Movie (the arcade version)
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter: The Movie (the console version)
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter Alpha 3
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
• Akuma's moves in Capcom vs. SNK 2
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter EX plus α
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter IV
• Akuma's moves in Super Street Fighter IV
• Akuma's moves in Ultra Street Fighter IV
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter X Tekken
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter V
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
• Akuma's moves in Street Fighter 6

Wikia links

• Akuma on Megaman Knowledge Base

Trailers

References

Street Fighter series Playable Characters
Main Series
		Ken · Ryu
	The World Warrior	Blanka · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Zangief
	Champion Edition	Balrog · M. Bison · Sagat · Vega
	Super	Cammy · Dee Jay · Fei Long · T. Hawk
	Super Turbo	Akuma
	Ultra	Violent Ken
	Alpha	Adon · Birdie · Charlie Nash · Dan · Guy · Rose · Sodom
	Alpha 2	Evil Ryu · Gen · Rolento · Sakura · Shin Akuma
	Alpha 3	Cody · Juli · Juni · Karin · R. Mika
	Alpha 3 Upper	Eagle · Maki
	Alpha 3 MAX	Ingrid
	New Generation	Alex · Dudley · Elena · Ibuki Necro · Oro · Sean · Yang · Yun
	2nd Impact	Gill · Hugo · Urien
	3rd Strike	Makoto · Q · Remy · Twelve
	IV	Abel · C. Viper · El Fuerte · Gouken · Rufus · Seth
	Super	Hakan · Juri
	Arcade Edition	Oni
	Ultra	Decapre · Poison
	V	F.A.N.G · Laura · Necalli · Rashid
	Season 2	Abigail · Ed · Kolin · Menat · Zeku
	Season 3	Falke · G
	Season 4	Kage · Lucia
	Season 5	Akira · Eleven · Luke
	6	Jamie · JP · Kimberly · Lily · Manon · Marisa
	Year 1	A.K.I.
	Year 2	Mai (Guest) · Terry (Guest)
Spin-offs
		Arkane · Blade · F7 · Khyber · Sawada
		Cyborg
	EX	Allen · Blair · C. Jack · Darun · D. Dark Hokuto · Kairi · Pullum · Skullomania
	EX Plus	Bloody Hokuto · Cycloid-β · Cycloid-γ · Garuda
	EX2	Hayate · Nanase · Shadowgeist · Sharon
	EX2 Plus	Area · V. Rosso
	EX3	Ace · Bison II
	MSHvSF	Cyber-Akuma · Dark Sakura · Mech-Zangief · Shadow
	MvC	Shadow Lady
		Shin

Street Fighter II Characters
The World Warrior	Blanka · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Ken · Ryu · Zangief
Champion Edition	Balrog · M. Bison · Sagat · Vega
Super	Cammy · Dee Jay · Fei Long · T. Hawk
Turbo	Akuma
Ultra	Evil Ryu · Shin Akuma · Violent Ken

Street Fighter: The Movie Characters
Core Roster	Akuma · Balrog · Cammy · Chun-Li · E. Honda · Guile · Ken M. Bison · Ryu · Sagat · Sawada · Vega · Zangief
Arcade Only	Arkane · Blade · F7 · Khyber
Console Only	Blanka · Dee Jay
CPU Only	Super Bison

Street Fighter Alpha Characters
Alpha		Adon · Akuma · Birdie · Charlie · Chun-Li · Dan · Guy Ken · M. Bison · Rose · Ryu · Sagat · Sodom
Alpha 2	Original	Dhalsim · Evil Ryu · Gen · Rolento · Sakura · Zangief
	Console	Shin Akuma
	Gold	Cammy
Alpha 3	Original	Balrog · Blanka · Cody · E. Honda · Juli · Juni · Karin · R. Mika · Vega
	Console	Dee Jay · Fei Long · Guile · T. Hawk
	Upper	Eagle · Maki · Yun
	MAX	Ingrid

Marvel vs. Capcom Characters
X-Men vs. Street Fighter	Akuma · Cammy · Charlie · Chun-Li · Dhalsim Ken · M. Bison · Ryu · Zangief
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter	Cyber-Akuma · Dan · Dark Sakura Mech-Zangief · Sakura · Shadow
Marvel vs. Capcom	Captain Commando · Shadow Lady
Marvel vs. Capcom 2	Guile
Marvel vs. Capcom 3	C. Viper · Haggar

Street Fighter EX Characters
EX	Original	Akuma · Allen · Blair · Chun-Li · C. Jack · Darun · D. Dark · Guile Hokuto · Kairi · Ken · Pullum · Ryu · Skullomania · Zangief
	Plus	Bloody Hokuto · Cycloid-β · Cycloid-γ · Evil Ryu · Garuda · M. Bison
	Plus α	Dhalsim · Sakura
EX2	Original	Blanka · Hayate · Nanase · Shadowgeist · Sharon · Vega
	Plus	Area · Sagat · V. Rosso
EX3		Ace · Bison II
CPU Only		Shin-Bison · Cycloids · Zako

Street Fighter III Characters
New Generation	Alex · Dudley · Elena · Ibuki · Ken · Necro · Oro · Ryu · Sean · Yang · Yun
2nd Impact	Akuma · Gill · Hugo · Shin Akuma · Urien
3rd Strike	Chun-Li · Makoto · Q · Remy · Twelve

Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix Characters
Akuma · Chun-Li · Dan · Ibuki · Ken · Ryu · Sakura · Zangief

SNK vs. Capcom Characters
The Match of the Millennium	Akuma · Chun-Li · Dan · Evil Ryu · Guile Ken · M. Bison · Ryu · Sakura · Zangief
Millennium Fight 2000	Balrog · Blanka · Cammy · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Sagat · Vega
Mark of the Millennium 2001	Eagle · Kyosuke · Maki · Rolento · Shin Akuma · Yun
SVC Chaos	Hugo · Violent Ken

Capcom Fighting All-Stars Characters
Returning	Akira · Akuma · Alex · Batsu · Charlie · Chun-Li · Haggar · Poison · Ryu
Original	D.D. · Death · Ingrid · Rook

Street Fighter IV Characters
Original	Abel · Akuma · Balrog · Blanka · Chun-Li · C. Viper · Dhalsim · E. Honda El Fuerte · Guile · Ken · M. Bison · Rufus · Ryu · Sagat · Vega · Zangief
Console	Cammy · Dan · Fei Long · Gen · Gouken · Rose · Seth · Sakura
Super	Adon · Cody · Dee Jay · Dudley · Guy · Hakan · Ibuki · Juri · Makoto · T. Hawk
Arcade Edition	Evil Ryu · Oni · Yang · Yun
Ultra	Decapre · Elena · Hugo · Poison · Rolento

Street Fighter X Tekken Characters
Core Roster	Abel · Akuma · Balrog · Cammy · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · Guile · Hugo · Ibuki · Juri Ken · M. Bison · Poison · Rufus · Rolento · Ryu · Sagat · Vega · Zangief
Downloadable	Blanka · Cody · Dudley · Elena · Guy · Sakura

Street Fighter V Characters
Original	Birdie · Cammy · Chun-Li · Dhalsim · F.A.N.G · Karin · Ken · Laura M. Bison · Nash · Necalli · R. Mika · Rashid · Ryu · Vega · Zangief
Season 1	Alex · Balrog · Guile · Ibuki · Juri · Urien
Season 2	Abigail · Akuma · Ed · Kolin · Menat · Zeku
Season 3	Blanka · Cody · Falke · G · Sagat · Sakura
Season 4	E. Honda · Gill · Kage · Lucia · Poison · Seth
Season 5	Akira · Dan · Eleven · Luke · Oro · Rose
CPU Only	AS · Aprile · Decapre · Enero · Février · Juli · März · Peter Phantom Bison · Santamu · Satsuki · Shadow · Shadow Lady · Two P

Street Fighter 6 Characters
Original	Blanka · Cammy · Chun-Li · Dee Jay · Dhalsim · E. Honda · Guile · Jamie · JP · Juri · Ken · Kimberly · Lily · Luke · Manon · Marisa · Ryu · Zangief
Year 1	A.K.I. · Akuma · Ed · Rashid
Year 2	Elena · M. Bison · Mai (Guest) · Terry (Guest)
CPU Only	Albert Jackson · Andore Family · Antler · Axl · Azam · Bosch · Bred · Carlos Miyamoto · Carol · Chandi · Damnd · Eliza · Eternity · F.A.N.G · Fair Libra · G. Oriber · Gerald Golby · J · Kalima · Keiko Asano · Kenichi Kakutani · Li-Fen · Max · Mel · Retsu · Rewancha · Roxy · Rudra · Sheng Long · Somsak · Yua