Presented in 4K: Jon & Kate +8 on Block Episode 2
Street Fighter 6’s Akuma may be the most evil version of the character we’ve seen to date. This is the theory we propose on the latest episode of Jon and Kate +8 on Block on EventHubs.
One of the main reasons for this is because of the newly added Soul Jars that are shown in the teaser trailer for Akuma that were not featured in the original Gokuento stage in Street Fighter Alpha 2.
Also, Akuma is shown in the latest Street Fighter 6 footage that he’s starting to transform to more closely resemble Oni, a character who made his debut way back in 2011 in Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition. Oni is a potential outcome of what Akuma may become over time, if he continues to embrace the Satsui No Hado and leaves his humanity fully behind.
Akuma is larger, more muscular, in the latest footage, which is an indicator from the developers of Street Fighter 6 that his power has increased since we last saw him in the timeline in Street Fighter 3: Third Strike. This is likely from having the Satsui No Hado impact him further as he grows older.
This may not be a change Akuma is taking on willingly though, as long term use of the Satsui No Hado tends to corrupt its users, changing their appearances and personalities. Due to Akuma’s use of this dark power, he may have hit a point of no return now.
The developers of Street Fighter 4 specifically made note that Oni is a more muscular version of Akuma, and therefore had a higher health/stamina rating in that game. As such, it’s possible Akuma may have higher stamina in Street Fighter 6 than gamers were otherwise expecting.
Timestamps
0:00 – The most evil Akuma we’ve seen yet
3:44 – Soul Jars in Akuma’s SF6 stage
6:29 – Tekken 7’s Akuma motives
9:41 – Akuma becoming Oni
12:14 – Is Akuma’s story in Tekken 7 canon?
14:10 – Akuma’s updated appearance
20:30 – Discussing how evil Akuma is in SF6
24:59 – Akuma’s release date for Street Fighter 6 speculation
Six containers, which we’re referring to as “Soul Jars” are seen in the teaser trailer for Akuma. This is notable because we know of six main characters in the Street Fighter franchise that Akuma has hit with a Raging Demon: Gotetsu, M. Bison, Gill, Gen, Gouken and Seth.
While how effective the Raging Demon (Shun Goku Satsu) is in terms of actually murdering someone’s soul is heavily up for debate, because a number of cast members having seemingly fully recovered after being hit by it, the fact it target’s the victims soul is a big deal.
The Soul Jars on Akuma’s Gokuento stage most closely resemble Canopic Jars, which were used by Egyptians to store body parts while someone was being prepared for mummification.
The theory we present is that Akuma is storing some parts of people’s souls that he’s hit with a Raging Demon, and why he may be more evil than ever, because not only is he attempting to murder various cast members, but he’s also starting to capture and hold onto their souls, as part of that process.
If this is the case, it’s possible we’ll see other cast members and organizations trying to find Akuma’s new lair to get some of these souls back. For example, Shadaloo may need M. Bison’s soul back to properly resurrect him into a new body.
As such, Akuma may have very heavy ties to a number of prominent cast members, and these Soul Jars may be instrumental in them returning to their full powers and abilities.
In Ryu’s Street Fighter Alpha 2 ending, he confronts Akuma on Gokuento Island. After defeating him and refusing to embrace the Satsui No Hado, Akuma attacks the island and makes it disappear, leaving Ryu to swim back to the shore.
Since this island was effectively destroyed, one of the theories being put out there is that when Rose time traveled back to the Zero or Alpha days, she somehow caused this island to restore itself.
As part of Rose’s Street Fighter 5 storyline, she said she needed to travel back in time to prevent G, that game’s main boss, from destroying the earth and the universe itself.
Ryu is also very briefly, blink and you’ll miss it, shown in Akuma’s Street Fighter 6 teaser trailer, likely as a callback to their fight in Alpha 2.
Gokuento Island also features Nio statues in the background, which Akuma promptly destroys in his teaser introduction. These statues were featured in his Alpha 2 stage, but also in the Old Temple stage in Street Fighter 4.
Kazumi at some point saves Akuma’s life, in return for doing so, she asks Akuma to hunt down and kill both Heihachi and Kazuya.
Akuma waits for Heihachi to become more powerful, and then assaults him, Raging Demoning him in the process, but Heihachi, like many others, survives this process. Akuma also fights Kazuya and notes that he won’t rest until he’s killed him.
How influential Tekken 7 is on Street Fighter’s story remains a matter of debate, but Katsuhiro Harada and the team at Bandai Namco are extremely well versed in fighting game lore and knowledge, and their depiction of Akuma in that game seems to match up well with how he’s been written in mainline Street Fighter games.
Also, Capcom and Bandai Namco have a close working relationship, and it’s very likely that the developers were heavily consulted when crafting Akuma for Tekken 7.
Unlike games like X-Men vs. Street Fighter, which exist in a ‘What If’ universe, where the game’s canon and storylines take a significant backseat to over the top powers and abilities, Tekken 7 closely mirrors personalities and storylines from the main Street Fighter games.
As such, if Tekken 7 is considered canon, one could argue that Akuma isn’t as evil as you may otherwise think, because he’s trying to kill two very evil characters during the events of that game, effectively helping out the good guys.
With the 2024 Capcom Pro Tour season kicking off in June, it’s very likely we’ll see Akuma in Street Fighter 6 at least two weeks before the official tournament season starts up.
Also, a Battle Pass featuring various avatar clothing items and other related things surfaced before Ed was released, and it’s very likely we’ll see a similar situation with Akuma.
With the above in mind, we speculate that Akuma will be playable in Street Fighter 6 in April or May of 2024. However, with increased development costs and the time required to create these characters, it’s possible that Akuma won’t see the light of day until June 2024.
The footage captured in this video comes from a GeForce 4090 with max in-game graphical settings enabled at 4K (3840×2160) resolution.
