Games - Akuma

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	Games - Akuma

Akuma (demon in Japanese), known in Japan as Gouki (豪鬼, powerful spirit), is a video game character created by Capcom.

He originally appeared in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a secret character and hidden boss. He has red hair, wears prayer beads around his neck, and wears a black gi with the Japanese character 'ten' (天) - meaning heaven - on his back. There is some controversy as to whether it is painted or whether it simply glows (though many in-game animations show the symbol magically appearing on his back). He is voiced by Tomomichi Nishimura in many of the games in which he has appeared.

Origins of Akuma

The name Sheng Long means "mystical dragon." It is closely related to the Mandarin pronunciation of 昇龍 (shôryû in Japanese) which means "rising dragon." One of Ryu's win quotes in the English version of the Street Fighter II said, "You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance." At the time, many fans thought that Sheng Long had referred to a person (the supposed master of Ryu and Ken), and not one of Ryu's moves (the Shôryûken). Some later versions of the game offered a variant quote, "You must defeat my Dragon Punch to stand a chance!"

The creation of Akuma is reportedly inspired by an April Fools joke in the video game magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly
, where the editors claimed that the player could find Sheng Long in the game by not touching M. Bison, the final boss of the Street Fighter II series, for ten rounds. Sheng Long would then come out of nowhere and kill Bison, and the player would fight him. Sheng Long was supposed to have the moves of Ryu and Ken, but did much more damage and was also faster, and his Dragon Punch was 'revealed' to consume his fist in flames to show his greater power. To make this joke more believable, fake screenshots were made. Soon after, many fans, believing that the joke was true, flocked to Street Fighter II machines, hoping that they could fight a nonexistent character. When asked about whether the joke were true, Capcom neither confirmed nor denied it as the sudden infusion of money into their machines was driving up business; Capcom USA was taken in by the gag, and actually contacted Capcom of Japan and asked whether the Sheng Long account were legitimate. Only much later was this joke revealed as a hoax, by EGM itself.

Ironically, in Super Street Fighter II Turbo, parts of this story became true. Like the joke, Akuma would appear from out of nowhere and kill Bison, and the player would fight him, and similarly, Akuma had the moves of Ryu and Ken, and was much faster and dealt much more damage. Akuma can do the Hadôken (his is called either the Gou Hadouken--Strong Surge Fist or the Zankuu Hadouken--Air-Cutting Surge Fist) on the ground and in the air, his Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku (but is actually called Tatsumaki Zankuukyaku, roughly translated to Thousand Cutting Feet) knocks the opponent down instantly and can also juggle, his Shôryûken (Akuma's is called the Gou Shouryuuken, a.k.a. Strong Rising Dragon Fist) knocks down his opponent at the first hit and does 3 hits up close and personal, no matter the punch strength being used, and he can also juggle with a single Shôryûken in certain instances. Akuma also had the annoying ability to warp to different places in the screen (the Ashura Senkuu technique), and had the ability to not be dizzied at all. Akuma's super moves consist of the Messatsu Gou Hadouken (Destructive Strong Surge Fist), which is simply a Shinkuu Hadouken with higher power, a Tenma Gou Zankuu, which is literally a midair version of the Shinkuu Hadoken, a Messatsu Gou Shouryuuken (Destructive Strong Rising Dragon Fist), which is generally a parody of Ken's Shoryu Reppa without the scorching effect, and the Messatsu Gou Rasen, an upward spiraling hurricane kick attack. His trademark moves are the Shun Goku Satsu
and the Kongou Kokuretsu Zan. As his name did not appear in the game, some mistakenly thought he was called Akuma Long. The move that was used to kill Bison (the Shun Goku Satsu) was also erroneously called the Bison Killer. Furthermore, Ken inherited the false Sheng Long's Flaming Dragon Punch when used with the Fierce Punch.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Akuma (Street Fighter) ]

Games - Akuma

Origins of Akuma

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