Introduction
Akuma(or Gouki) is an extremely powerful warrior obsessed with mastery of the Satsui no Hado, a dark energy-based force, the antithesis of the Kyosui no Hado(Power of Nothingness) that Ryu employs. He believes only another practitioner of the Satsui no Hado will ever be able to contest his power. His first appearance was in Super Street Fighter II Turbo as a secret boss.
When playing Akuma, the basic goal is either to use his zoning ability to control your opponent’s options, minimizing the risk of getting hit yourself, or to simply go on total offense and decimate the opponent as quickly as possible, as they can take him out just about as quickly. It is very important to note that Akuma has the absolute worst defense rating of all the characters in 3S, and is tied with Remy for having the smallest stun bar. One should also note that Akuma's supers are all the same length, and that he has no EX moves. All this was done to counter balance his incredible offense and mixups.
Super Arts
SA1: Messatsu Gouhadou
Akuma's fireball super, and his super art of choice, for a variety of reasons. It's easily the safest of his supers, which makes it hard to punish unless it's blocked at close range. It can be confirmed or cancelled out of a variety of moves, including cr. short x 2, cr. forward, any of his uppercuts, etc. It also does good chip damage, especially when preceded by a fireball or red fireball. The main thing going against it is its fairly low damage, but it's still respectable, especially against the weaker characters.
SA2: Messatsu Goushoryu
Akuma's uppercut super, similar to Ken's SAI. Does better damage than SAI, and has many of the same confirms and cancels as SAI. On the other hand, this super is much more than SAI unsafe if missed, and basically gives the opponent a free combo. Also has less chip potential, since the last 3 hits are easily parried. Not a bad super, but SAI is preferrable.
SA3: Messatsu Gourasen
Akuma's hurricane kick super, goes straight up. Does the most damage out of all of his supers, but has the worst recovery and chip damage by far. Also lacks range and lead-in combos, making it hard to easily integrate into his ground pressure/offensive. Probably his worst super.
Shun Goku Satsu/Raging Demon (any SA)
Akuma's signature special art, requires 2 full meters (all of his super arts are the same length.) Does loads of damage and is a grab super (therefore, unblockable), but is ordinarily hard to connect with since the jabs usually give the super away, and it's fairly easy to jump after the super flash if it's not kara'ed. Techniques such as kara-ing it with towardMp.png or hiding the jabs by dashing eliminate these problems and make it a much more lethal super, however. And a final word, if you cannot kara-demon, buffer this move from a dash (and landing at point blank) or to counter an air attack, or combo into far Hk.png, the Shun Goku Satsu will be useless for you, and you will waste all your gauge. The throw range its completely ridiculous, and you will be only able to connect it in random situation like when the opponent is trying some hit-confirm something or some other thing. Also note that you will be doing more damage if you connect any SA twice than with Shun Goku Satsu.
Kongou Kokuretsu Zan (Any SA)
Akuma's new special art, channels his energy into a shockwave, requires 2 full meters again. Even more damaging than the raging demon and is the more damaging Super Art in the game (provided all of the hits connect), and has potential for extra with taunt and/or crouching damage. Good for countering early jump-ins and cross-ups, but is somewhat slow to come out and does severely reduced damage if the first hit misses. His most common combo with this super involves a jab reset into the KKZ (after a Lk.png Tatsumaki Zankuukyaku) This is also the ultimate chip out super - if you get a knockdown with 2 full stocks and your opponent having only a few pixels of life, this super guarantees the win, provided you time it right. This is since the first hit is unparriable; therefore, it must be blocked, and does good chip on its own. If, by some ridiculous chance, your opponent survives the first hit and starts red-parrying out of it, you still have a good 6 or 7 parries worth of time to screw them up (about the same as his SAI).
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
|
|