Shin Akuma



Shin Akuma (真・悪魔, "True Demon" or "True Devil") or in Japan, Shin Gouki (真・豪鬼, Shin Gōki, meaning "True Great Demon", "True Great Ogre" or "True Great Devil") or (神人・豪鬼, "God Great Devil") is a secret fighter and a boss in the Street Fighter series based on Akuma.

Appearance
In his debut in Super Street Fighter II Turbo he had white hair and a black gi, the same one he wears as normal Akuma. Later incarnations have him wearing a purple gi and retaining red hair. He also has a slightly darker shade of skin.

Personality
His personality remains more or less the same as the original; essentially, he is Akuma using the fullest extent of his power.

Gameplay
The two versions operate very similarly, but Shin Akuma is faster, deals more damage and can throw two Zankū Hadoken at once. His special moves also tend to have more priority, negligible startup and recovery compared to the playable version. Also, his Raging Demon is much faster and travels farther (making it harder to evade), and in some instances, inflicts more damage (e.g. Capcom vs. SNK 2). In some instances, Shin Akuma also has more life-threatening specials as well (e.g. Misogi).

Super Street Fighter II Turbo
Shin Akuma is a version of Akuma the players confront as a CPU opponent in Super Street Fighter II Turbo. To face Shin Akuma, the player must reach M. Bison without losing any rounds or using any continues (including having the second player join in) and achieving at least three perfect victories. He will then interrupt the final match by performing a Raging Demon on Bison, before challenging the player's character.

Just like regular Akuma, his name is not displayed below the life bar and he does not have a Super Meter. In his later incarnations, he has a purple gi instead of Akuma's standard black gi, is faster, uses two Zankū Hadokens at once, and inflicts more damage. Shin Akuma is, however, an unlockable playable character in the Dreamcast version, and in the Game Boy Advance version of the game, Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival.

Street Fighter Alpha series
Shin Akuma reappears in Street Fighter Alpha 2, but only as a hidden boss. He was made into a selectable hidden character in the console ports of Alpha 2; the code to unlock Shin Akuma forces the player to move their character select cursor in a "Z" pattern in the PlayStation version, and an "X" pattern in the Saturn version. Shin Akuma reappears in the console ports of Street Fighter Alpha 3 (and Zero 3 Upper), where his name is displayed as "Shin Akuma" on-screen.

Story-wise, Shin Akuma is merely Akuma using the full extent of his power as well and is almost one with the Satsui no Hadou, compared to the "in-game" version which is Akuma voluntarily holding back his power to avoid ending fights prematurely. Shin Akuma, not Final Bison, is Evil Ryu's final boss in Street Fighter Alpha 3.

Gameplaywise, Shin Akuma has all the above mentioned benefits. Additionally he can release two Zanku Hadokens, one at impacting at half screen and the other travelling the full length, covering the entire screen, compared to much lesser range of his playable counterpart. Shin Akuma's stage in Alpha 3 is a blue recoloration of Akuma's regular stage.

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter as "Cyber Akuma"
In Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Shin Akuma is replaced by Cyber Akuma (Mech Gouki メカ豪鬼  Meka Gouki in Japan), a version of Akuma mechanically enhanced by Apocalypse. As such, his personality is vastly different from that of Akuma's, being more servile (as reflected in his win quotes). Gameplaywise, however, Cyber Akuma fills the same role as Shin Akuma.

Cyber Akuma is fought after the player defeats Apocalypse, in a 2 on 1 match. He has the highest stun and stamina rating in the game with a high speed rating to compliment. Cyber Akuma has his own variation of the Raging Demon dubbed Shining Gou Shock that has 24 hit and is more damaging than the original. He can also perform an aerial variation of the Shining Gou Shock. The kanji associated with Cyber Akuma is Metsu (滅 "Destruction"). However, unlike the usual denotations it has no hidden spiritual meaning and are simply the orders of his master, Apocalypse. Cyber Akuma is playable using cheats, but cannot have a partner.

Cyber Akuma's movelist featured most of Shin Akuma's attacks in the Capcom vs. series style, as well as attacks involving the launching of his mechanical right arm (dubbed Booster Rocket). All of his moves are renamed to more 'Mecha' sounding ones, as shown below:

Capcom vs. SNK series and Capcom Fighting Evolution as "God Akuma"
In the Capcom vs. SNK series, a different form of Shin Akuma appears. His appearance is based on his Street Fighter III incarnation. This form of Akuma achieves a new level of power when a dying Rugal Bernstein pours his Orochi Power into him, driving Akuma insane, whitening his hair and turning his skin much darker than usual as a result of all the dark power flowing within him. As a wordplay, the 'Shin' in his name denotes 'Divine' instead of the usual 'True'. The unique kanji seen on his back during certain animations is composed of 'Kami' (神, "God") superimposed over 'Hito' (人, "Person"), expressing the idea of a person who has become a god and much beyond that of an ordinary human.

God Akuma has showed some feats of incredible power, among them were destroying a USA sized asteroid with a single Shoryuken, and causing the seas to split in two with a single punch, it's likely he can also have access to the powers Rugal Bernstein had with Orochi, like: Gathering energy from Gaia, sensing chi, reflecting projectiles, creating a slashing aura around his legs, and destroying a foe out of pure negative energy and hatred, producing a dim light with a skull inside. It's likely that the combination of Satsui No Hadou with Orochi caused all of these powers plus Akuma's own powers to expand, it's possible that his teleporting power expanded and he can move at lighting speeds.

Akuma in this form possesses some of his most brutal moves ever seen. Akuma gains the Tenma Shuretto, which can be used as a high or a low counter move depending on the input. His Level 3 Super Combos are the Misogi and the Raging Demon, both of which are capable of outright killing characters with a low stamina rating. God Akuma can be unlocked in Capcom vs. SNK 2 by defeating him once at any difficulty. However the unlocked version lacks the high priority and damage of the CPU controlled version and has the lowest stamina of any character on the roster. God Akuma is one of the fastest characters in-game, rivalled only by God Rugal and Orochi Iori.

This form of Akuma also makes a return in Capcom Fighting Evolution. His personality is however depicted as his normal self; implying just like the Satsui No Hado, he has mastered the Orochi Power as well. In a particularly memorable ending (aforementioned), Akuma jumps into space and obliterates an asteroid threating to destroy the Earth with a single Shoryuken.

God Akuma has a cameo in Steve and Hwoarang's ending in Street Fighter X Tekken when the Pandora summons a gauntlet of hundred God Akumas in response to the latter bragging about being able to take to a hundred fighters all by himself. The gauntlet then proceeds to unleash the Raging Demon on Steve and Hwoarang.

Street Fighter III series
Shin Akuma makes his only appearance in this series in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, as a hidden final boss. His introduction is similar to the one in Street Fighter II where he performs the Raging Demon on Gill and challenges the player. He's not playable in the Arcade version by regular means, but in the Dreamcast version (named Street Fighter III: W Impact) he's a secret playable character. He is the last fighter to be unlocked as the player requires to first unlock Gill by defeating him using all the characters on the roster in the arcade mode and then clearing the arcade mode using Gill with a high grade.

Leftovers of Shin Akuma can be found in the CPS3 based arcade ports of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, which can be accessed using unconventional methods. However the character is incomplete and lacks few animations. Additionally there is also a hidden Shin Akuma stage which consists of Akuma's Kousyu Street stage but with a red "killing" moon casting a eerie glow instead. Despite rumours, Shin Akuma isn't unlockable in the console ports of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, a misconception caused due to the console versions of Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, cheats on emulaters running the arcade versions and trolling on popular social media using M.U.G.E.N images and videos.

Super Street Fighter IV
In Super Street Fighter IV, Shin Akuma is presented as a new boss. He is faster, uses Akuma's 7th color scheme (purple gi, red hair and darker skin tone) and can input two Zanku Hadokens without using any EX bar, which is similar to Shin Akuma in Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact. Compared to the playable version, the true form of Akuma has higher stamina and stun. His Ashura Senku has no startup and recovery, allowing him to dictate the pace of the match.

By closely inspecting his frame data, the greater priorty, faster startup and recovery of his specials becomes obvious. His Super and Ultra Raging Demons both travel farther and much faster (although they can still be jumped over) and as a first have priority over attacks, including other Ultra Combos, that would normally cancel out the Raging Demon. Compared to the playable version his second Ultra Combo, the Demon Armageddon requires about half the frames to activate, making it much easier to connect with.

Compared to the other secret bosses such as Gouken, Oni and Evil Ryu who have a extremely aggressive but predictable AI, Shin Akuma relies on the player to make mistakes, reacting just a split second after the player's move. Quite possibly Shin Akuma's AI relies on reading the player's inputs.

Although this version of Akuma was confirmed to be the new boss version fought in arcade mode, he is indeed Akuma using the full extent of his abilities.

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition as "Oni"
Along with Shin Akuma from Super Street Fighter IV, a new variant of Akuma is present in Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition. Known only as "Oni", this version of Akuma possesses longer white hair and darkened blue skin. The CPU controlled version of Oni serves a role largely similar to Shin Akuma, taking the form of a new secret boss in Arcade Mode, as well as being a playable character in a toned down state.

This form of Akuma is slower but stronger in terms of brute power compared to the original. However Oni lacks the technical finesse displayed by the regular Akuma. This demonic transformation allows Akuma to use an air dash, and grants him several new attacks, such as a forward slide which slashes at the opponent as he passes and a overhead ground stomp. However he loses the Ashura Senku, Tenma Kujin Kyaku and the Hyakkishu. Like Cyber Akuma, Oni too can perform the aerial Raging Demon.

In the arcade mode, the boss version of Oni has the highest requirements amongst the four secret bosses, Akuma, Gouken, Evil Ryu and Oni, in order to be fought.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 as "Cosmic Akuma"
The most powerful version of Akuma appears in Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. By becoming one of Galactus' heralds, Akuma has access to the Power Cosmic. This allows him inter-galactic space flight in order to search out planets for consumption by Galactus. He does not need to breathe, eat or rest and has the very super powers that put the Silver Surfer on the same level with some of Marvel's Universe's most powerful beings. Cosmic Akuma however retains the familiar Ten (天) kanji on his back, implying that the Power Cosmic has merged with his aura and the Satsui No Hadou infesting it and unlike the other heralds of Galactus, hasn't completely replaced it. Due to his aura merging with the Power Cosmic, his appearance changes to a light metallic shade of gray.

While Akuma retains the immense strength already granted to him by the Satsui No Hado and his own intense training, the Power Cosmic also grants him much greater abilities such as: altering his size, restructuring of matter at an atomic level, teleportation of objects of great size along great distances, creating force fields, creating inter-dimensional portals, telepathy, telekinesis, cosmic awareness of a universal scale, creating intelligent life and resurrecting the dead on a grand scale, manipulation of the soul, memory and emotion of others and energy projection.

In actual gameplay however, Cosmic Akuma plays no differently than his regular Marvel vs. Capcom 3 form, Cosmic Akuma being little more than a palette swap. To make the boss battle more difficult, the player must fight two of Galactus's heralds at the same time.

Quotes
{{Scroll_box
 * content====Street Fighter Alpha 2===
 * "I am power made flesh! Fell (sic) how weak you truly are!"

Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter

 * "I bring the chaos of death to all..."
 * "I've been remade with real power!"
 * "Kill... Destroy... That's all I know..."
 * "My creator wants you dead. It is done..."
 * "My new destiny is to serve and annihilate!"
 * "There can be only destruction with me..."
 * "There is no greater power than me..."
 * "Your destruction is all that mattered!"

SvC Chaos: SNK vs. Capcom

 * "God and devil live in the power of my fists!"
 * "May you die and be devoured by 100 demons!"
 * "My wave...destroys all!"
 * "Ye dead, off to the netherworld!"

Capcom vs. SNK 2

 * "Dark Energy is invincible!"
 * "Feel the Power!"
 * "Embrace the dark side!"
 * "I'm the strongest creation in the universe!"
 * "Nothing can damage me!"
 * "The Earth trembles in awe of my fighting prowess!"
 * "This is the end!"

Capcom Fighting Evolution

 * "Knowledge is power!"
 * "My power is eternal."
 * "My rage burns like a flame!"
 * "Only through sacrifice can you attain power!"
 * "The stronger mind will always prevail!"
 * "True strength can be attained by only those with a heart of stone."
 * "You cannot grasp the depths of my power."
 * "You lack concentration."}}

Sprites

 * For more sprite animations, see Shin Akuma/Sprites.
 * For Cyber Akuma's sprites, see Cyber-Akuma/Sprites.