Akuma


 * "The true fighter can stare death in the face and lash out in rage against it!"
 * —Akuma

Akuma known in Japan as Gouki, is a popular fighter in the Street Fighter series.

Originally appearing in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a secret character and hidden boss, He is Gouken's younger brother and Ryu's adoptive uncle. He has red hair, wears prayer beads around his neck, and wears a black gi (occasionally displayed as blue in artwork). The kanji 'Ten' (天) - meaning "sky", "heaven", or "providence" - can be seen on his back when it appears during certain winposes. He is voiced by Tomomichi Nishimura in many of the games in which he has appeared.

Story
Akuma and his brother Gouken were students of Goutetsu. Goutetsu taught a nameless life-threatening martial art, which incorporates elements of Karate, Judo, and Kempo. He also taught the Shun Goku Satsu (literally Instant Hell Murder), a death technique which, although incredibly powerful, 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 of his fighting style, left Goutetsu to begin his own dojo. Akuma continued Goutetsu's teachings and vowed to use their fighting style as it was intended.

In order to learn Shun Goku Satsu, Akuma embraced the principle of Satsui no Hadōor (The Surge of the Intent to Kill/Killing Intent). Through Satsui no Hadō, Akuma 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 to train alone.

His return marked the end for Goutetsu. Akuma demonstrated his strength by killing his former master with Shun Goku Satsu. Goutetsu fell with an inner joy, realizing his pupil was attempting to master the nameless art. Akuma removed the beaded necklace from Goutetsu's neck and placed it around his own. Sometime later, Akuma challenged and fought his brother. With Gouken gaining the upper hand, Akuma was eventually struck down. Akuma requested death in defeat, however his brother had no intention of killing him. Akuma, vowing to return, left Gouken. Years later, he returned; they fought again, and this time Gouken was supposedly killed (or so Akuma thought). Ken saw the battle as he was returning from the U.S. Martial Arts tournament. Rushing to the dojo to find it in shambles and his master apparently dead, an enraged Ken ran into the surrounding woods searching for the killer. Ken found Akuma and tried to beat him but proved to be a challenge, Akuma easily knocked down Ken with a single blow and disappeared. Gouken's other student Ryu soon learned of his master's apparent death and began to search for Akuma.

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 a man named Gen. Gen fights a vicious battle, even surviving the Shun Goku Satsu by emptying his soul in time. Just as Akuma begins to wonder whether this man 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.[1] After the fight, Akuma becomes obsessed with Ryu, hoping to awaken the Satsui No Hadou within his prey.

Ryu eventually finds Akuma's island (known as Onigami Isle or the Gokuentou) and challenges him. The intense battle that ended in Ryu gaining the upper hand; in truth Akuma was only testing him. Akuma regains composure and tells Ryu to find him again when he has embraced the Satsui no Hadō, Akuma strikes the ground with a powerful blow and disappears. The island falls apart around Ryu, who is left in the ocean to contemplate Akuma's words. Leaving his destroyed abode, Akuma thinks about all the fighters he has encountered 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, he defeats 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.

In his ending, he comes to the realisation 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 were visions of Gen, M. Bison and Ryu on the moon. He then makes a comment, saying he will be the next to die.

Two years later, Akuma begins to search once more for worthy fighters whilst awaiting Ryu to embrace the Satsui no Hadō. Akuma encounters Gen once more and fights a second battle (the results of the fight are unknown). However, unbeknownst to Akuma, Ryu rejects the Satsui no Hadō while battling the Shadaloo leader, M. Bison, declaring that a true warrior does not rely on violent intent.

Akuma does not officially enter the second World Warrior tournament, although he does perform the Shun Goku Satsu on Bison. Akuma stated that Bison was pathetic for letting dark energy control him rather than him controlling such power. Bison's body is eventually regenerated by Shadaloo scientists. In Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, if Akuma beats Shin Akuma, the ending is different: Akuma declares that his own greatest battle was within, and that he has mastered his own darkness. He then "fades into the shadows" to await a fighter worthy of him. It's possible that both of these endings are canon; since Akuma is largely concerned with becoming stronger, "conquering himself" is in character for him.

During the events of Seth's tournament, he continues his training, and senses the Satsui no Hadou reemerging within Ryu. Immediately, he sets off to find Ryu and help him realize this power. Like the other tournaments, Akuma does not officially enter, but stays in the shadows. Eventually, he finds an unconscious Ryu in the care of his brother Gouken. Akuma, noticing that his brother has perfected the Mu no Ken (Power of Nothingness), is excited. The two brothers then proceed to fight; Ryu, being the prize. Super Street Fighter IV reveals that both he and Gouken survive their fight and Ryu was saved by Gouken. So Akuma continued his training and still searches for a worthy opponent to match his own.

As with the second World Warrior tournament, Akuma did not enter the third World Warrior tournament, but once more lurked in the shadows. He even successfully pulled off a Shun Goku Satsu on the tournament sponsor Gill, although he left without realizing that Gill had resurrected himself. Over this time-span, Akuma had trained relentlessly until finally harnessing his power and learning several new techniques, some that were meant to create tidal waves, some described as strong enough to split Ayers Rock in half, and one that could kill an opponent with a single strike. Akuma's self-taught technique is called the Kongō Kokuretsu Zan, 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.

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 others power, both men expressed some contempt for the other on a personal basis. Akuma has now demonstrated the ability to remain underwater under massive pressure for extended periods of time, and has even managed to destroy a naval submarine with a technique that he has dubbed Tenshō Kaireki Jin.

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