Akira Yuki
| Akira Yuki | |
|---|---|
| Virtua Fighter character | |
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Akira Yuki in Virtua Fighter 5
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| First game | Virtua Fighter (1993) |
| Created by | Yu Suzuki |
| Voiced by | Takenobu Mitsuyoshi (VF), Shin-ichiro Miki (VF2–present), Jay Momet (VQ), Tony Schnur (anime) |
| Fictional profile | |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Fighting style | Bajiquan |
| Occupation | Kung Fu teacher |
Akira Yuki (結城 晶 Yūki Akira?) (born September 23, 1968) is a fictional character and the mascot of the Virtua Fighter video game series. His fighting style is Bajiquan, a Chinese martial art (pronounced "Hakkyoku-Ken" in Japanese). Canonically, he won the second World Fighting Tournament (Virtua Fighter 2).
In the original Virtua Fighter, Akira serves as the assistant instructor at Yuki Budokan, and is known to be impulsive by nature. After completing his training under his grandfather's tutelage at the age of 23, he went on a quest to test his abilities. When he got word of the 1st World Fighting Tournament, he decided to enter and test his abilities.
In the Virtua Fighter anime, Akira starts his quest to see the eight stars in heaven after he had gotten overconfident in his Bajiquan skills from his days training with his grandfather. He is often seen as a comedic glutton in the anime cartoon, as opposed to the games where he is serious and disciplined.[citation needed]
Akira Yuki and Jacky Bryant are partners in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing. He also appears in Project X Zone with Pai Chan as his partner, and returns in the sequel with Kage-Maru as his partner. He also appears as a guest character in Dead or Alive 5, becoming the second guest character in the series after Spartan-458 in the previous game in the franchise. He appears in Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax as a boss, as well as a playable fighter, with Pai as his assist, and was originally a non-playable final boss character in previous console release of arcade version. A Mii Fighter costume based on Akira's original polygonal Virtua Fighter appearance appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as downloadable content alongside a Jacky Mii Fighter costume.
Akira is also well known as one of the hardest characters to both play as and master in any fighting game (despite being the mascot of the Virtua Fighter series) due to his extremely complex and highly technical moveset. However, in the hands of an expert player, he is commonly regarded as one of the best characters in the series, as most of his moves are extremely powerful and can be very damaging if performed correctly. He is also one of the hardest characters to master in Dead or Alive 5 and its re-releases. Once again, much like in Virtua Fighter, he is a very powerful character in the hands of an expert player. Akira is recommended for expert players who use an arcade stick rather than those who use a traditional gamepad.
He was a childhood friend of Aoi Umenokoji. He was also the basis for the character Ryo Hazuki in the video game Shenmue and its sequel Shenmue II.
