Street Fighter game series Akuma made his debut in
Super Street Fighter II Turbo, the fifth arcade iteration of the
Street Fighter II games, where he appears as a
hidden and unnamed character. After meeting certain requirements, Akuma appears prior to the player's final match with
M. Bison and obliterates M. Bison before challenging the player. In the Japanese arcade version of the game, Akuma would introduce himself to the player before the match, proclaiming himself to be the . He also has two endings in the game as well: one for defeating M. Bison and another against himself. While the dialogue in these endings was omitted from the international releases of the arcade game, they were edited into one ending and included in the English localization of
Super Turbo Revival for the
Game Boy Advance. Shin Akuma is, however, an unlockable playable character in the Game Boy Advance version of the game,
Super Street Fighter II Turbo Revival, as well as the Japan-only
Dreamcast version of the game,
Super Street Fighter II X for Matching Service. In the latter version, another version of Akuma referred to as
Tien Gouki can also be selected. Akuma appears in ''
Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams, where he was given his name, once again as a hidden opponent and unlockable character. His backstory remains the same as in Super Turbo
. Akuma was added to the immediate roster in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Street Fighter Alpha 3'', with a powered-up version of the character named "Shin Akuma" appearing as a hidden opponent. The character's relation with other
Street Fighter characters begins to be fleshed out, establishing rivalries with
Guy,
Adon,
Gen and
Ryu. Shin Akuma, rather than "Final Bison", is Evil Ryu's final boss in the console versions of
Street Fighter Alpha 3. Akuma and Shin Akuma are featured in
Street Fighter EX as hidden boss characters, where he is one of the few characters able to move out of the 2D playing field, during his teleport. Akuma also appears in the arcade and home video game console adaption of
Street Fighter: The Movie despite not appearing in the movie. In the game it is said that he is the brother of
Sheng Long and not Gouken. Akuma is featured in the
Street Fighter III series beginning with
Street Fighter III 2nd Impact: Giant Attack. Like in his debut in
Super Turbo, Akuma is both a secret opponent who serves as an alternate final boss and an unlockable character, with the CPU-controlled version being the "Shin Akuma" incarnation introduced in
Alpha 2. He is a regular character in
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike. Akuma reappears in
Street Fighter IV, being one of the main antagonists and once again a secret boss in the Arcade Mode as well as an unlockable character in both console versions. A new form of Akuma, known as , was confirmed in
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition by leaked videos. Akuma returns in
Street Fighter V as a downloadable character, and again appears as a downloadable character in
Street Fighter 6.
Other video games Akuma has appeared in some form or another through many Capcom games outside the
Street Fighter franchise. The first of these appearances was in the fighting game
X-Men: Children of the Atom, where Akuma (in his
Super Turbo incarnation) appears as a nameless hidden character. He would appear in the later
Marvel-licensed fighting games (see
Marvel vs. Capcom series). In
X-Men vs. Street Fighter, he is a regular character but–in a nod to his hidden character status in other games–his select box is hidden. In
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, he appears both as a selectable character and as "
Cyber Akuma" ("
Mech Gouki" in Japan), a
mechanized version enhanced by
Apocalypse acting as the
Horseman of Death and the final boss. He is absent from
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes; in his stead, Ryu has a Hyper Combo that changes his fighting style to incorporate Akuma's moveset. He reappears as a playable character in the sequels:
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes,
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds and
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. In the
SNK vs. Capcom series, Akuma appears in
SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium as an unlockable character and in
Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 as a Ratio 4 character. He also appears in
Capcom vs. SNK 2 and
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos as both regular Akuma and Shin Akuma. In
Capcom vs. SNK 2, a different form of Shin Akuma appears. This form of Akuma achieves a new level of power when a dying
Rugal Bernstein pours his Orochi power into him. His name is spelled in Japanese as , with the "Shin" character meaning "God" instead of the usual "True". Also, various version of Akuma have appeared in the
SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters series. Akuma appears as a special guest character in
Tekken 7. In the game's story, he seeks to repay a debt to
Kazumi Mishima for saving his life from an unknown critical situation, who asks him to kill her husband
Heihachi and his son
Kazuya for her if she dies. When Heihachi is finally dead for good at the hands of Kazuya, he is Akuma's only target left. Similar to his appearances in the
Street Fighter series, Akuma replaces Kazumi as a secret arcade mode final boss if certain conditions are met. He also appears in
Namco × Capcom. He appears as both a playable character and one of the final boss characters in the crossover fighting game
Street Fighter X Tekken. Akuma also appears in the fighting video game
Street Fighter X Mega Man, as a hidden boss. Akuma also appears in
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo as the final boss,
Super Gem Fighter Mini Mix (known as
Pocket Fighter in Japan) as an unlockable character, and in the Japanese console version of
Cyberbots: Full Metal Madness as a mecha named "Zero Gouki". He is featured in a DLC episode of the action video game ''
Asura's Wrath, alongside Ryu as an opponent. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', Akuma appears as a "spirit"; a type of collectible item that can be used to enhance the abilities of playable characters. Akuma also appears in Capcom's collaboration in
Monster Hunter Rise and
Monster Hunter Wilds. Akuma also appears as a "crossover" character in
Brawlhalla with mirrored abilities of Val. ==Other media==