, known in Japan as , is a fictional character from the Street Fighter series of fighting games created by Capcom. Akuma made his debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a secret character and an alternative boss to the villain M. Bison. In the storyline, he is the younger brother of Gouken, Ryu's and Ken's master. After defeating his brother, Akuma gains interest in several fighters, most notably Ryu as he senses that the protagonist has a similar power to him known as the Satsui no Hadou. In some games, he also has an alternate version named Shin Akuma or in Japanese and Oni Akuma in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition.
Born out of a request between developers from the franchise, Akuma was developed to contrast both M. Bison and Ryu. He often appeared as a guest character in other franchises, most notably as a guest in the Namco Bandai Games' Tekken 7. Akuma has also appeared in printed and animated adaptations of the Street Fighter series which explore his relationship with Ryu. Since his debut, Akuma has appeared in several subsequent titles and has been praised by both fans and critics. The character has often been praised for his dark personality contrasting the recurring M. Bison as well as how overpowered he is.
Creation and design
Akuma was created by request of Noritaka Funamizu to Akiman when creating a new Street Fighter character. Akuma was designed in order to please fans who were victims of April's Fools in the claims from journalists that there was a hidden character named Sheng Long. Funamizu wanted the character, Akuma, to be based on Ryu's design. While still being an evil character, Yasuda still wanted to create a major contrast between the regular boss, M. Bison, and Akuma. Akuma was created in a single hour when the designer was asked by his superiors to make something similar to the Super Saiyan transformation from the Dragon Ball franchise, based on Yoshiki Okamoto's directions. Akiman, who was in charge of the design, explained that "the face is based on a Buddha statue or a Kongo Rikishi statue". The Japanese kanji "ten" (天) — meaning "Heaven" —, was added by the staff at the time in a fit of impulse.
Akuma first appears in Super Street Fighter II Turbo defeating the final boss with his (despite this, the move cannot be used ingame outside of the cutscene) technique which acts in fast fashion. The same move has been shown in other games like in Street Fighter IV where Akuma is seen defeating Gouken in the intro whereas Ryu's evil alter egos have performed it influenced by the Satsui no Hadou that Akuma controls and masters like Oni. Akuma's introduction in Super Street Fighter II Turbo stemmed from the development team's desire to introduce a "mysterious and really powerful" character, with his status as a hidden character within the game resulting from later discussions. When asked regarding the presence of Akuma as a secret character in several of Capcom's fighting games, Capcom's Noritaka Funamizu stated that, while he did not personally support the concept, he said, "Akuma is a character that can fit in any game design nicely".
Starting Street Fighter Alpha 2, Capcom created a stronger alter-ego of Akuma called Shin Akuma in order to challenge the player. Because he wears a purple gi, he was called "Blue Shin Gouki" by developers. Shin Akuma's appearance is very similar to Akuma's; for example, in the Street Fighter Alpha series, Shin Akuma had a purple karate gi instead of a dark gray one and marginally darker skin tone. Similar to Shin Akuma, Capcom created another alterego of Akuma: Oni was created to be beyond Shin Akuma. Despite being based on Akuma from the Street Fighter IV games, his body type, skill composition, and skill performance are all different. Akuma's appearance remained consistent until Street Fighter V where his hair reaches far longer and has grown around his face, like a lion's mane. Takayuki Nakayama explained that the staff considered multiple designs that were scrapped such as a shirtless look, multiple scars within the body, one with a broken shirt and one where he carried a baby. Scrapped designs involve Akuma taking care of a baby which went through several trials and errors when developing the game. Street Fighter 6 also uses Shin Akuma but under the label of "SiN Akuma" or "SiN Gouki" starting with a fanevent made in Japan in 2024.
Akuma appears as a character in Namco's Tekken 7. He was specifically chosen by staff member Katsuhiro Harada who believed he would easily fit into the Tekken world. In regards to his transition from Street Fighter character to Tekken, Namco worked properly to balance him with the rest. There was no model from Capcom so Akuma's entire character in Tekken 7 was completely created by Namco. However, they were careful with not making him authentic to his original persona. Kazuya Mishima fights Akuma during the end of story mode; explained that the outcome of the fight was intentionally ambiguous, saying: "It's still a work in progress." He joked that a scene with Akuma being killed could negatively affect Namco's relationship with Capcom, particularly Capcom COO Kenzo Tsujimoto who would get back at Harada and Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono, after the latter had struck a close friendship with Harada leading to the collaboration of the two franchises.
Appearances Street Fighter game series Akuma made his debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, the fifth arcade iteration of the Street Fighter II games, where he appears as a hidden and unnamed character. After meeting certain requirements, Akuma appears prior to the player's final match with M. Bison and obliterates M. Bison before challenging the player. In the Japanese arcade version of the game, Akuma would introduce himself to the player before the match, proclaiming himself to be the . He also has two endings in the game as well: one for defeating M. Bison and another against himself. While the dialogue in these endings was omitted from the international releases of the arcade game, they were edited into one ending and included in the English localization of Super Turbo Revival for the Game Boy Advance. Shin Akuma is, however, an unlockable playable character in the Game Boy Advance version of the game, Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival, as well as the Japan-only Dreamcast version of the game, Super Street Fighter II X for Matching Service. In the latter version, another version of Akuma referred to as Tien Gouki can also be selected.
Akuma appears in Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams, where he was given his name, once again as a hidden opponent and unlockable character. His backstory remains the same as in Super Turbo. Akuma was added to the immediate roster in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3, with a powered-up version of the character named "Shin Akuma" appearing as a hidden opponent. The character's relation with other Street Fighter characters begins to be fleshed out, establishing rivalries with Guy, Adon, Gen and Ryu. Shin Akuma, rather than "Final Bison", is Evil Ryu's final boss in the console versions of Street Fighter Alpha 3.
Akuma and Shin Akuma are featured in Street Fighter EX as hidden boss characters, where he is one of the few characters able to move out of the 2D playing field, during his teleport. Akuma also appears in the arcade and home video game console adaption of Street Fighter: The Movie despite not appearing in the movie. In the game it is said that he is the brother of Sheng Long and not Gouken.
Akuma is featured in the Street Fighter III series beginning with Street Fighter III 2nd Impact: Giant Attack. Like in his debut in Super Turbo, Akuma is both a secret opponent who serves as an alternate final boss and an unlockable character, with the CPU-controlled version being the "Shin Akuma" incarnation introduced in Alpha 2. He is a regular character in Street Fighter III 3rd Strike.Official Street Fighter 3 3rd Strike Akuma character biography (in Japanese): "The one who has mastered the fist"... Gouki. A savage yet pure obsession with "fighting". Carrying tens of thousands of dead on his back, he wanders between the underworld and this world in search of the next strong opponent. "No one will break my fist!" Tonight, too, the demons shiver sadly. Akuma reappears in Street Fighter IV, being one of the main antagonists and once again a secret boss in the Arcade Mode as well as an unlockable character in both console versions. A new form of Akuma, known as , was confirmed in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition by leaked videos.Shoryuken: Clear Video and Ultras of Oni and Evil Ryu in Super Street Fighter 4 Akuma returns in Street Fighter V as a downloadable character, and again appears as a downloadable character in Street Fighter 6.
Other video games Akuma has appeared in some form or another through many Capcom games outside the Street Fighter franchise. The first of these appearances was in the fighting game X-Men: Children of the Atom, where Akuma (in his Super Turbo incarnation) appears as a nameless hidden character. He would appear in the later Marvel-licensed fighting games (see Marvel vs. Capcom series). In X-Men vs. Street Fighter, he is a regular character but–in a nod to his hidden character status in other games–his select box is hidden. In Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, he appears both as a selectable character and as "Cyber Akuma" ("Mech Gouki" in Japan), a mechanized version enhanced by Apocalypse acting as the Horseman of Death and the final boss. He is absent from Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes; in his stead, Ryu has a Hyper Combo that changes his fighting style to incorporate Akuma's moveset. He reappears as a playable character in the sequels: Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
In the SNK vs. Capcom series, Akuma appears in SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium as an unlockable character and in Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 as a Ratio 4 character. He also appears in Capcom vs. SNK 2 and SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos as both regular Akuma and Shin Akuma. In Capcom vs. SNK 2, a different form of Shin Akuma appears. This form of Akuma achieves a new level of power when a dying Rugal Bernstein pours his Orochi power into him. His name is spelled in Japanese as , with the "Shin" character meaning "God" instead of the usual "True". Also, various version of Akuma have appeared in the SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters series.
Akuma appears as a special guest character in Tekken 7. In the game's story, he seeks to repay a debt to Kazumi Mishima for saving his life from an unknown critical situation, who asks him to kill her husband Heihachi and his son Kazuya for her if she dies. When Heihachi is finally dead for good at the hands of Kazuya, he is Akuma's only target left. Similar to his appearances in the Street Fighter series, Akuma replaces Kazumi as a secret arcade mode final boss if certain conditions are met.