Trivia for Akuma

General

• Akuma's English name originates from the Japanese word Akuma (悪魔^?), 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.

• In Street Fighter Alpha: Generations and Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist it is implied that Ryu may be Akuma's biological son. Both works are non-canonical however.

• 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.
• Akuma is currently one of two DLC characters who does not feature the Avatar in their World Tour teaser trailer, the other being M. Bison.
• Akuma is currently one of five characters in Street Fighter 6 who interact with the opponent that interact with their opponent in their victory screen (with Akuma lifting up their head and dropping it before walking away), along with Marisa, JP, Juri, and A.K.I.
• Akuma appears in The King of Fighters: All Star, under his Street Fighter V variant.

Tekken Series

• Akuma is the only character with 2 Super Arts, probably to compensate for him having low health.

• Akuma is the second licensed character to appear in the Tekken franchise after Gon in Tekken 3. He was followed by Geese Howard from SNK franchises as the third licensed character, Noctis Lucis Caelum from Final Fantasy XV as the fourth, and Negan Smith from The Walking Dead series as the fifth.
  • His and Geese's appearance mark the third time Capcom and SNK characters have clashed, with the Capcom vs SNK series being the first.
• Akuma is a secret final boss in the Arcade Mode. He replaces Kazumi as the final boss and Abandoned Temple becomes the final stage if certain conditions are met during the arcade run, which are: getting a perfect round in the first four fights in three minutes, and not using a continue. This is similar to how secret bosses have often appeared in the Street Fighter series, including Akuma's first-ever appearance in the form of a secret unplayable boss in Street Fighter II Turbo.
• His current voice actor, Taketora, is also the voice actor of Panda in the movie, Tekken: Blood Vengeance. Taketora is the voice for Akuma in every Street Fighter game since Street Fighter IV.
• In his main appearance in Street Fighter V, Akuma's English voice actor is Richard Epcar who also voices Azazel in Tekken 6 and Geese Howard in Tekken 7.
• In Tekken 7, as he is a character from the Street Fighter series, Akuma is the only character to have a special move cancel, a Focus Attack, and an EX/Super Gauge (in place of a Rage Attack). He was later followed by the original Tekken character Eliza, with the exception of her not having a Focus Attack, and later also by another guest character Geese Howard, but with his meter system being a bit different due to it being based on the one from the King of Fighters series.
• Akuma’s character, gameplay mechanics and traits in Tekken 7 are based on his Street Fighter IV series incarnation. Not long after his appearance in Tekken 7, he also returned for Street Fighter V as a DLC character in its Season 2, now also with a revamped appearance and gameplay. He later represents Street Fighter V in The King of Fighters: All Star.
• The Abandoned Temple stage has a pair of Nio statues overlooking the stage. These fare guardians in Buddhist mythology who watch over sacred Buddhist sites. Akuma's design as a character is heavily inspired by these, hence their appearance on "his" stage.
• In the Kiwami Campaign, where all the characters received new costumes for their customizations, Akuma received an outfit that is very similar to one of his disguise forms in Pocket Fighter.
• His Shin Shun Goku Satsu (Raging Demon) quote is not a direct translation; in Japanese, it is meant to say, "One blink, a thousand strikes" (一瞬千撃 isshun sengeki) while the English version rewrites this to a more appropriate and murderous "Die one thousand deaths", emphasizing Akuma's bloodthirsty disposition.
• The way the heaven-kanji (天 ten) appears at the end of the Shin Shun Goku Satsu is different based on whether the attack was used without it knocking out the opponent, knocking out the opponent before the final round and knocking out the opponent in the final round.
  • If the attack did not knock the opponent out, the kanji will simply appear in Akuma's back. Akuma will utter "metsu".
  • If the attack knocked the opponent out but it was not the final round, the kanji will appear in the background in addition to Akuma's back. Akuma will utter "messatsu".
  • If the attack knocked the opponent out in the final round, the kanji will appear in Akuma's back while in a black background, the horizontal strokes of the kanji will appear one at a time in lightning, followed by the strokes of the 人, after which the background will turn blue and the now complete kanji will turn red. Akuma will utter "messatsu". This was originally only played when fighting Shin Akuma in either Story Mode, Arcade Mode, or Treasure Battle.
• He is the only guest character to be part of the main storyline.
  • This concept of guest characters being part of the main storyline was also later used in another fighting game made by Bandai Namco, Soulcalibur VI, in the form of Geralt of Rivia (as his CD Projekt video game incarnation) from Andrzej Sapkowski’s Polish series The Witcher, although he is more of a supporting character rather than a main character like Akuma.
• The Baseball Bat Item Move can be used to send Akuma's fireballs flying away. Certain very specific moves, like the Electric Wind Godfist or Heihachi's perfect Omen God Fist, can also be used to destroy the fireballs.
• Even though the Street Fighter series is known for having personalized theme music for all their characters (also in later games, unlike in Tekken where only Tekken 2 and Tekken 3 featured character-specific themes), Akuma's iconic theme seems to not be featured in any shape or form in Tekken 7.
• Akuma's Item "Move" is a car on his head that gets more damaged as he takes damage, a reference to the Car Crusher bonus stages from the Street Fighter series.
• Before Akuma was announced to be in Tekken 7, it was revealed by Harada that Capcom’s guest representative was originally meant to be Darkstalkers character Morrigan Aensland, until he and his team chose Akuma instead.
  • This is a similar situation to how Square-Enix’s Cloud Strife was originally meant to be a PlayStation 2 exclusive for SoulCalibur II, before being debunked as Heihachi Mishima instead served as the guest character.
• Akuma refers to Kazumi with the archaic "tono" (殿 honorific meaning "lord" or "master".
• There is a rare chance that Akuma in his true form can fire 6 or 1 Shakunetsu Hadoken rather than 3.
• It is possible to have the player version of Shin Akuma in the Treasure Battle, however, the game thinks that Shin Akuma is still the opponent and the announcer will say, "Final Round" despite having two rounds in that mode.
• In Tekken (Mobile), all of Akuma's 1 to 4-Star appearances reference his color palette swaps in the Street Fighter series.