At best he is an honorable loner.
At worst he is a relentless murderer.
Here’s a look at the history of Street Fighter’s boogeyman.
One of the great things about theStreet Fightercast is that it features a really eclectic group of villains.
Thats what makes Akuma so awesome.
Hes a very different kind of villain.
Hes the Incredible Hulk, but without the underlying morality and with a sense of drive to be something.
Akuma (or Gouki in Japan) first showed up in 1994, but the story begins before that.
After all, people loved it.
Its just that everyone had jokes about Capcoms stubborn inability to count to three.
Playable boss characters, faster gameplay, extra characters, and so on.
Hed then kick the everloving shit out of you, all while Bisons corpse remained motionless in the background.
Dont look now, but…this place shall become your grave!
At least that boss battle was easy enough for players to find.
But hey, the reward was worth it, allowing you to play as an overpowered Ryu clone.
Im not sure if Capcom had Akumas backstory sorted out back then.
We just got the credits sequence, redone so that it was filled with the entire casts loss portraits.
Just a parade of bruised and bleeding faces because thats what Akuma was about.
He was an unstoppable force of violence and that was all we needed to know.
And why the hell not!
Once again, Akumas ending didnt give us any answers.
With Akuma being such a mystery, its interesting to see how different media played with him.
There was no explanation for any of it.
I guess you’re able to really get around if you have no job and can teleport.
In a game that apedMortal Kombats graphical style, Akuma was portrayed by Ernie Reyes, Sr.
Looking it up, Reyes apparently helped choreographThe Last Dragon, so thats rad.
At least his ending sort of gave us an idea of what hes about.
Yeah, the guys making the game were still pretending that Sheng Long was a thing.
He was even supposed to be in the game before time constraints kicked in.
The same month of that games release, Japan saw the release ofStreet Fighter Alpha: Warriors Dreamsin arcades.
TheAlphagames took place before the events ofStreet Fighter II,and once again, Akuma was a secret character.
They at least made his backstory a bit more known this time around.
Akuma is the younger brother of Gouken.
Together, they studied Ansatsuken (Assassins Fist) under their master Goutetsu.
Hes powered by his own negative emotions, and its physically transformed him into a demon.
Ryu can find ultimate power and Akuma can get that ultimate opponent.
Akuma just doesnt understand Ryus desire to cling to his own humanity and not be a psychotic murder machine.
He doesnt understand and he doesnt care to understand.
Also, the killing intent affects them rather differently.
Akuma is always in control of his actions and is more of a pissed-off martial arts master.
Around the time ofAlphas release, Akuma showed up on theStreet Fighteranimated series in the U.S.
He returned in the second season to vex Ryu, Ken, and Gouken.
Itsalmostgood, albeit with some really unfortunate animation.
In the late 90s, Capcom releasedStreet Fighter Alpha 2andAlpha 3.
The games crammed in a lot of story stuff and expanded more on Akuma.
We got to see his relationships with characters other than Ryu.
Akuma, despite his drawbacks, still fights based on a twisted sense of honor.
It may not be as pure as Ryus, but its something.
Hes a killer, but only under three situations.
You accept fighting him on his terms, which even Gouken did.
You outright make a run at kill him or plot against him.
Youre in the area while hes blowing up a mountain with his fist or something.
He isnt 100% heartless and has no interest in slaughtering the innocent.
Its a distinction that will become relevant when we get toStreet Fighter IV.
Except for Ryu and Ken, every other fighter was new.
His endings simply showed him training and coming up with some new, logic-defying super attacks.
As a little boy, Ryu goes to Gouken and asks for training.
Gouken realizes too late that, oh shit, that kids really going to go fight a bear!
Ryu gets mauled and is saved in the coolest way.
At the last second, a fist busts through the bears face from behind.
Its Akumas fist, stopping an inch from Ryus face.
It rules so much.
Id be remiss if I didnt mention Akumas appearances in the various Marvel crossovers.
Like I said, he got the ball rolling by punching Juggernaut in the face back in 1994.
Akuma appeared inX-Men vs. Street Fighter, albeit with no X-Men counterpart.
Hence, we got Cyber Akuma.
Apparently giving Akuma jet thrusters and rocket punches was in style back then.
In the early-to-mid 00s, twoStreet Fighteranimated movies were released.
and hes all, Nope!
Cant say that I have!
You and that kid aint mine!
I mean, its more ominous and stuff when he says it, but yeah.
For several years, Capcom and SNK made a series of fighting games.
Naturally, Akuma showed up in all of them.
Coincidentally, each one had a different answer for who Akumas SNK counterpart/rival was.
First cameSNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millenniumfor the Neo-Geo Pocket Color.
That one played up Akuma vs. Iori Yagami, which made plenty of sense.
Next up was CapcomsCapcom vs. SNK.
In it, Akumas rival was…no one.
I wish they kept that for other games.
Its bloodless, but brutal as hell.
- Dude was amassive choreto unlock.
The game had a store where you could spend the currency you earned through gameplay.
Unlockable characters Morrigan and Nakoruru were bad enough, but Akumas price was astronomical.
Capcom vs. SNK 2gave him a rival and did it with absolute style.
After the fight, the other appears, the two fight, and the whole city explodes.
After that, theres a cutscene based on which one randomly won.
If Akuma wins, Rugal dies while shoving his hand into Akumas torso and forcing Orochi power into Akuma.
If Rugal wins, its all waaay cooler.
Rugal holds Akumas lifeless hide over his head and absorbs all of his power.
He becomes God Rugal (Ultimate Rugal in the U.S.) and becomes this awesome, insane force.
SNK then didSNK vs. Capcom: Chaos.
This time, Akumas opponent is Mr. Karate/Takuma Sakazaki.
Its a choice that works, but is still a bit out of left field.
After a drought of games,Street Fighterfinally made a comeback withStreet Fighter IVand its various upgrades.
As a character, Akumas brutal rap sheet took a huge hit.
Adon and Gen were around, meaning he never did kill them after all.
M. Bisons soul was still intact, meaning Akuma didnt finish the job.
Then, in the insult to end insults, Gouken showed up alive and well!
The game featured Oni, who was like Shin Shin Akuma.
Akumas simply an intense dude whos way too serious about fighting.
Yet he isnt cruel for crueltys sake.
Hell,Ultra Street Fighter IVeven shows that even Akuma can get along with the ever-so-optimistic Elena.
And he can figure out selfies pretty well!
UDONsStreet Fightercomic has kept Akuma as a side villain, in a way.
UDON also released a hardcover graphic novel calledStreet Fighter Origins: Akumaby Chris Sarracini and Joe Ng.
Its really damn good and does a great job explaining his character.
it’s crucial that you explain this ominous monster, but without ruining him.
The graphic novel totally pulls it off, making Akuma sympathetic, but no less threatening and terrifying.
Akuma is one of the two bosses inStreet Fighter X Tekken, alongside his rival Ogre.
Makes sense, since Ogre is this supernatural deity who exists to fight strong opponents.
Akuma goes at it alone, I guess because his BFF Elena is too busy hanging out with Dudley.
Akuma writes it off as a lame shadow of himself and starts the fight.
Also of note is the ending for the team of Hwoarang and Steve Fox.
Steve laughingly says hed like to see that and Pandora obliges by summoning a hundred Akumas.
He also crosses over withAsuras Wrath, appearing in a DLC adventure.
More specifically, a standstill that lasts500 years.
Not sure if bathroom breaks are involved, but thats really impressive.
Gaku Space plays Gouki, the pre-corruption version of Akuma, while Ansah portrays Akuma after undergoing his transformation.
As time passed, a bigger cinematic trailer was released and the game came out in Japan.
The whole mystery listener was just glossed over.
Surely, it was just going to be someTekkenpersonality.
Perhaps Jinpache, Heihachis father?
In the trailer, Kazumi asked this person to annihilate Heihachi and Kazuya if she failed.
Akuma, standing in the doorway, then spoke up.
When the time comes, I will repay my debt to you.
That is absolutely insane.
Really, whats this debt?
How does Akuma owe a debt to anyone?!
Even when the games story mode happened, they barely gave any detail.
But thats Akuma in a nutshell.
Hes the goddamn Master of Fist and he will teach you the meaning of pain.
