AKUMA (or Gouki, depending on whether you're playing an Asian or 'Western' version) The 'power made flesh' demon has a problem... his home isle of Gokuentou has been overrun with tourists and has been turned into a tourist attraction, complete with amusement parks. This is unacceptable to him, and the island is no longer suitable as a training ground. Intending to find something else suitable enough for his discerning tastes, he sets sail for mainland Japan. FLASH COMBOS P, P, P, P He starts with a punch. He then changes into Bermuda shorts, sunglasses, and nothing else, and does some over the head stretches that hit the opponent. He then finishes off by diving into a pool of water that has miraculously materialised in front of him. He then clambers out of the water. Funny, yes, but the recovery on the dive is absolutely horrendous, so be careful with this combo. P, K, K, K He starts with a punch, then changes to some other clothes and swings a large sword around. As usual, the final hit takes a while to come out and recover from. P, K, P, P This combo ends with a special throw. If he grabs his opponent with it - well, it's VERY bizarre. In the final throw, he seemingly makes his opponent a captive audience and delivers a short speech. The speech seemingly stuns the opponent so much they're turned into stone for about a second - during which time you can get in a free hit. GUARD CRUSHES "Beam swing" F+S Akuma faces the player with a LONG beam of timber over his shoulder for a moment as he powers the GC up, then swings the beam around. Has very long range. "Sign swing" S Akuma rears back, a sign held in his hands, then swings it up over his head and forwards. "I haven't the faintest idea what that is" swing D+S Akuma swings something upwards. It looks like some sort of stone statuary to me... MOVES Diving Kick DF+K while jumping up, jumping forwards, or superjumping and moving up or forwards Can't be powered up. Akuma dives downwards at about a sixty degree angle with his foot extended outwards and down. 'Captive audience' throw HCF+P+K Can't be powered up. Akuma does the 'captive audience' throw described above in his Flash Combos section. Thanks go to Dexter (dexngkof@mbox4.singnet.com.sg) for conifrming the motion of this move. Teleport F, D, DF+K or B, D, DB+K Can't be powered up. Akuma will teleport either half a screen's distance forwards (F, D, DF+K) or backwards (B, D, DB+K), trailing blue shadows. He's invincible during the teleport, but is vulnerable as he comes out of the teleport. I've tried changing the distance he teleports by holding the kick button down, but have had no luck with this approach. Maybe there's some other way? Red fireball HCB+P Can't be powered up. Akuma charges up for a moment, his aura flaring, and then he releases a red fireball that hits three times and sets the opponent on fire. Diving Leap D, DF, F, UF+P Can't be powered up. Akuma leaps and somersaults upwards. As he comes down he can affect the outcome of the move in a few ways: By pressing P at the top of the jump he punches downwards. By doing nothing he lands with a sliding kick. By pressing P+K at the top of the jump, he'll attempt to catch the opponent and throw them as he comes down from the leap. I think that by pressing K at the top of the jump Akuma will kick as he comes downwards. Gouhadouken QCF+P Can be powered up with red gems. Akuma throws a fireball horizontally across the screen. Level 1 - Small and slow and does only one hit. Level 2 - Medium sized, does 2 hits and gains a purple flaming effect. Level 3 - Not any larger but it now resembles a green vortex, of a sort. It does 3 hits. Akuma can also do this in the air. At all levels the fireball goes at about 45 degress downwards. Level 1 - small and does one hit. Level 2 - not much larger and does two hits (unsure about this.) Level 3 - throws one fireball, and then throws another! Goushoryuuken F, D, DF+P Can be powered up with yellow gems. Akuma rises up into the air, fist extended. At Levels 2 and 3 it does less hits against an airborne opponent than against an opponent on the ground. Level 1 - Rises a very short distance and does only one hit. Level 2 - Rises about half a screen's distance, does 2 hits, and has a purple flaming effect. Level 3 - Rises about a screen's distance, does 3 hits, and has a purple flaming effect like it does at Level 2. Goutatsumakisempuukyaku QCB+K Can be powered up with blue gems. Jumps towards his opponent and spins around, his foot extended at head height. It seems that at higher levels it can potentially do more than one hit, but only because the powered up versions last longer. Level 1 - Goes a short distance. Level 2 - Goes further and gains a purple flaming effect around his foot. Level 3 - Goes even further and the purple flaming effect is much larger. He can do this move while jumping. When he does he goes off at an angle to his jump, foot extended and spinning. The amount of time he's spinning with his foot out depends on the level he's powered the move up to. SUPER MOVES Messatsu Gou Shouryuu QCF, QCF+K OR F, D, DF+S Akuma does a small grounded dragon punch that does two hits, follows it with a grounded flaming dragon punch that also does two hits, and finishes with a flaming dragon punch that rises up into the air and does three hits. Against airborne opponents it will only do four hits. Yep, almost exactly like Ken's Shouryuureppa, except the flames are purple. Messatsu Gou Hadou QCF, QCF+P OR QCF+S Charges up for a moment and releases a very large, very powerful hadouken that does five hits. This can be easily cancelled into in combos after a crouching hit. He can also do this in the air. When he does, the name of the move changes to 'Tenma Gou Zankuu.' Shungokusatsu HCB+S This is a level 3 super only. Akuma glides forwards a short distance. All he has to do is make contact with an opponent standing on the ground - they can't block his grab. If he does connect with his opponent, the screen then whites out, you hear many hits (15) and see just as many hit sparks over the white, and then the screen returns to normal with Akuma standing over his opponent's body, back turned and a 'heaven' kanji glowing on the back of his gi. If you use this to finish off your opponent then the usual super combo finish screen will fade to the 'Heaven' kanji filling the screen. Shinshungokusatsu - finally confirmed (Having seen the move I believe the name means 'True Instant Hell Murder'.) P, P, K, tap F, S A variant of the Shungokusatsu and one of the coolest looking moves in the game. Like the Shungokusatsu, Akuma glides forwards a short distance, and all he has to do is make contact with an opponent standing on the ground. If he does connect, then you see why it's called the 'True' version of the move. Instead of the screen whiting out while Akuma hits his opponent, the screen starts flashing black as Akuma starts whirling around his opponent, and you can finally SEE what Akuma is doing during the move. Mere words don't do the appearance of the move justice. Apart from the different motion and appearance, this move is otherwise identical to the Shungokusatsu. The motion is VERY difficult to pull off. If you try it from a standing position, then you'll probably get Akuma doing a P, P, K flash combo. You have to do it VERY fast, even before Akuma's normal standing punch move can come out. Easier ways to do the move are: 1) just as you're landing from a jump 2) as you're getting up off the ground 3) just before the round finishes Thanks also go to Dexter for pointing out that this move does exist.