Shun Goku Satsu

"The Raging Demon... It's power is unequaled... It is not my fist but your past sins that will kill you... The more evil your past doings, the more painful your death..."

- Akuma to M. Bison in Street Fighter Alpha 3

The Raging Demon (瞬獄殺, Shun Goku Satsu, "Instant Hell Murder") is a special attack commonly seen in the Street Fighter games. Super Street Fighter II Turbo featured the first appearance of this attack, though it was not its first usable appearance; Akuma's introduction has him perform the attack on Bison just as he is about to face the player (it becomes Akuma's Super Combo in later versions of the game ).

The Raging Demon first became Akuma's trademark Super Combo in the Street Fighter Alpha series.

Description
Executed often by pressing light punch twice, forward, light kick and heavy punch separately and rhythmically, the user glides towards the opponent and grabs them. Before anything else can be seen, the screen blacks out (or turns completely blank white in some game incarnations) as the character is relentlessly beaten, as showcased by a series of flashes.

The move often appears as Akuma's most powerful, and sometimes 'secret', Super Combo. In Street Fighter III: 2nd Impact, it appears as his secret Super Art, and one of two secret Super Arts in Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. He could use it in a match no matter what Super Art had been selected, thus giving him access to more than one Super Art at any given time.

Though the move is normally associated with Akuma and his various forms (e.g. Shin Akuma), Ryu has been able to use it as well when he is fully under the influence of the Satsui no Hado. Several other users have emerged over the years, and the move's popularity has caused it to be referenced in several other forms of media within and outside the series.

Street Fighter IV series
The Street Fighter IV games introduce another, more powerful variant of the Raging Demon as Akuma's first Ultra Combo. It has been "given" most of the original attack's properties: the Wrath of the Raging Demon possesses startup invincibility that is also common with Ultra Combos, and deals several more hits and extremely high damage in comparison.

Tactics
In earlier installments, the Raging Demon usually can be combo'd into via a standing jab right into the move itself. However, a well-placed Gou Zankuu that connects can give the user enough time to input it so the opponent cannot counter it right away. But it can be countered if the opponent jabs the user and the move comes to an end. It is more useful if the opponent is stunned, since they need to recover before the move connects. In Street Fighter III and IV, more complex tactics for the Raging Demon can involve doing a standing roundhouse right into it, parrying, canceling a slower move onto a guarding opponent, or using well -placed Focus Attacks.

Storyline Info
In the storyline, the Raging Demon is a very powerful, but fatally dangerous technique taught in the original principles of the martial art taught by Goutetsu. When performed, the user of the Satsui no Hado would rage out of control, turning them into a bloodthirsty berserker that rampages until their foe's death.

As this move usually defeats the opponent instantly or kills them, the basis of the attack is said to be linked to karmic forces, channeling an infernal punishment in which the weight of sins and evil the victim has committed destroys their soul. While immensely powerful, this attack cannot work on artificial life forms or people who lack souls, and it is often through the latter method that some characters have survived its wrath.

Gen managed to withstand the attack by emptying his soul in time before it could consume him, but it took a lot of power to do so. M. Bison was able to survive the move in Street Fighter Alpha 3 due to his immense power at the time; however, he perished when he was ambushed with it at the end of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, though he kept a portion of his life force and soul within Rose, which allowed him to come back in Street Fighter IV.

Gouken, Akuma's brother, has also been confirmed to have survived, due to his embrace to "emptiness" within his fighting style. It was most likely that Gouken performed a soul evacuation much like Gen. but did not completely succeed, resulting in him lapsing into a comatose state.

Another way to survive the Raging Demon has been shown in Evil Ryu's Street Fighter Alpha 3 storyline. He countered Shin Akuma's Raging Demon with his own, cancelling both attacks. It was also displayed in his fight against Asura in his game's DLC episode: "At last, someone angrier than me."

In the Street Fighter III series, Gill faced a Raging Demon head on, but because of his Resurrection ability, he survived the encounter.

Concept
In the religion of Buddhism, there are said to be sixteen hells - eight of fire and eight of ice - where the depraved and damned are said to be punished in. As the Shun Goku Satsu has the tendency to inflict up to 16 hits upon its execution in its appearances, it is likely that the Shun Goku Satsu channels these very hells.

In addition, the appearance of the Heaven kanji, characteristically associated with its user Akuma, and how the move's style is that of assassination, is likely a reference to the Japanese word tenchu, meaning divine retribution, and was a popular memento written on paper by assassins to their victims and associates in Feudal and turbulent eras of Japan.

Visual Depictions
In Gouken's ending in Street Fighter IV, the Raging Demon is shown as a mighty punch enveloped in crimson energy. The Street Fighter US animated series predated and used this exact depiction, though the energy was violet-colored.

It makes its first ever CG appearance as well in Steve Fox and Hwoarang's ending of Street Fighter X Tekken; the latter wishes to fight a hundred fighters at once, and Pandora grants this by summoning a gauntlet of Akumas, all of whom perform the Raging Demon attack at once.

The move made its second CG appearance in Asura's Wrath DLC, Lost Episode 1: At Last, Someone Angrier Than Me; Evil Ryu and Asura used it on each other, but both are seen standing after the successful quick-time event, inferring the conclusion that the moves canceled each other blow for blow. In Lost Episode 2: The Strongest vs. The Angriest, Oni attempts to use the Raging Demon, but is interrupted and countered, resulting in Oni flying into the air.

Trivia

 * In Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix, during his Raging Demon Mighty Combo, Akuma can be seen striking the opponent in different places as the screen flashes. Also, if one looks carefully, Akuma can be seen posing at the "camera" while wearing swimming trunks and goggles at certain points.
 * In the original Street Fighter RPG game, the Raging Demon and its user, Akuma, don't exist. But the fans of the game developed a version of the attack at "Street Fighter RPG Brasil".