Some unfortunate news has recently caught our attention. Dave Mallow passed away on March 11, 2025 at the age of 76.
For those that don’t know him, Dave Mallow was the English voice actor for Akuma in Ultra Street Fighter 4, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Street Fighter X Tekken. This also meant that he did the English voice lines for Oni (Akuma after he fully embraces the Satsui no Hado) in Ultra Street Fighter 4.
Though Mallow’s role as Akuma would ultimately be replaced by Richard Epcar and Christopher Guerrero in Street Fighter 5 and Street Fighter 6 respectively, the voice work he did for previous games is still memorable to this day.
“Die one thousand deaths!” Even without playing Street Fighter 4 for so long, I can still perfectly hear the energy that Mallow put into his voice lines as Akuma. When I think of Akuma, that’s always the first thing about the character that pops into my mind, and it’s all because of Dave Mallow’s stellar voice work.
Outside of videos games, Dave Mallow also acted as the voice in the Street Fighter 4: The Ties That Bind. Funnily enough, he would also become the voice of Gouken in Street Fighter Alpha: Generations.
According to TMZ, Dave Mallow spent his final days at MonteCedro Senior Living Community in California in hospice care as he had been struggling with health issues.
Dave Mallow and his iconic take on Akuma will be sorely missed by fans.
To us Street Fighter fans, he was Akuma and Oni in the PS3/360 Era. So that means Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter X Tekken, and even Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3.
When you imagine Akuma screaming “DIE ONE THOUSAND DEATHS”, thats HIS voice you are hearing.
RIP Dave Mallow pic.twitter.com/CmHmfxvVOW
— C0MMS OPEN! The Spriter Punnysher (@Punnyshment) March 12, 2025
Source: Event Hubs
