Akira Yuki

Akira Yuki
Akira as he appears in Virtua Fighter 5
Alternate names	The Ultimate Martial Artist
Universe	Virtua Fighter
Debut	Virtua Fighter (1993)
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown (2021)
Appears in
Console of origin	Arcade (Sega Model 1)
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Black
Homeworld	Japan
Designed by	Seiichi Ishii
Voice actor	Shin'ichirō Miki

Akira Yuki (結城 晶, Yūki Akira) is one of the playable fighters and mascot of Sega's Virtua Fighter series.

A Mii Fighter Costume modeled after his gi and hair was made available as DLC for both Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; he also appears in the latter as a summonable Assist Trophy.

Character Description

Akira as he appears in Virtua Fighter

Akira Yuki is a martial arts master who is often depicted as naive and intemperate, but hot-blooded and a bit impulsive at times. He is also a disciplined and respected fighter; his reasons for joining the World Fighting Tournament are not for victory or personal glory, but rather to serve as a reason for him to perfect his skills in Bājíquán ("Hakkyoku-ken" in Japanese), a Chinese martial art developed by Akira's grandfather during World War II.

Virtua Fighter

Akira is first introduced as primarily working as an assistant instructor at his family's dojo, the Yuki Budokan, while training under the tutelage of his grandfather; at 23, after the completion of his training, he goes on a quest to test his abilities as he is tasked to find "true strength" by his grandfather. At the age of 25, Akira hears of the formation of the 1st World Fighting Tournament organized by Judgement 6. He decides to enter to further hone his skills.

Virtua Fighter 2

Akira as he appears in Virtua Fighter 2

During the events of the first tournament, he is defeated and humiliated by the ninja Kage-Maru. Realizing that his loss was mainly in part due to his inexperience and his rather "enthusiastic" attitude, Akira goes through rigorous training for the next year in order to prepare of the next competition. He enters the 2nd World Fighting Tournament and eventually prevails as the overall victor.

Virtua Fighter 3

Akira as he appears in Virtua Fighter 3

Though Akira returns home with the trophy, his grandfather tells him "Don't flatter yourself. You haven't mastered anything yet."; this is referring to the question Akira has yet to find the answer for - "What is true strength?". Akira trains once again to join the third tournament, with the intention of showing his grandfather and himself the meaning of "true strength".

Virtua Fighter 4

Akira goes back to Japan and trains in the mountains with encouragement from his grandfather after losing the third tourney. He trains at his hardest yet, determined more than ever to find "true strength". He joins the fourth competition where he faces his rival Kage-Maru once again, but ultimately loses to him.

Virtua Fighter 5

Akira as he appears in Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown

After his crushing loss, Akira returns to the mountains and trains even harder, failing to understand why he keeps on losing. During a session, he sees a leaf floating down a river, flowing easily past a boulder, and continuing downstream. This awakens a revelation within him, as he realizes that he has been resisting the flow. He continues with his training, now with his newfound confidence, and later joins the fifth World Fighting Tournament.

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

A costume for the Mii Brawler modeled after Akira Yuki was made available as a part of the Wave 2 batch of DLC costumes. The design is modeled after his polygonal appearance from the Arcade release of the very first Virtua Fighter.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

“	From the original Virtua Fighter game, Akira joins the battle with the same graphic style as his original appearance. He has a wide variety of attacks at his disposal, but none represent him better than his Tetsuzankou. When he leaves the fight he says his signature line! By the way, Bayonetta's forward throw is also based off of Tetsuzankou.	”
—Super Smash Blog.

Assist Trophy

Akira Yuki appears as a summonable Assist Trophy. He will roam around the stage to attack opponents at random with his Bājíquán martial art skills, which includes his signature Tetsuzankou attack, which involves grabbing at an opponent and slamming into them. He can also block other opponents' attacks. Players can KO him to earn a point in a Timed match. Before leaving, Akira will say his famous catchphrase, "十年早いんだよ!" ("It's ten years too soon for you to challenge me!")

Mii Fighter Costume

The Mii Brawler costume modeled after Akira Yuki returns, this time as a part of the Round 4 batch of DLC costumes. It is once again based on his appearance from the first Virtua Fighter, which now matches with his Assist Trophy model.

Spirit

A Spirit of Akira Yuki is available in the base game. It is a Primary Attack Spirit under the Legendary class. His Spirit Battle uses Ryu with increased physical attack power and Smash attack power. He is assisted by Akira himself and the battle is a Stamina match with high gravity, which is meant to emulate the gameplay and feel of Virtua Fighter. The stage is the Omega form of Coliseum, which is meant to represent Virtua Fighter's own Coliseum stages, and the song that plays is "Cruel Smash".

No.	Spirit	Artwork Origin	Type	Rating	Effect	Slots
1294		Virtua Fighter		★★★★	Fist Attack ↑	3

Trivia

• As Akira is a frequent guest in several other games, Smash marks:
  • The fourth time he and fellow Sega character Sonic the Hedgehog have appeared together, following the Shenmue series, Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, and SEGA Heroes
  • The second time he and Banjo & Kazooie have appeared together, following Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
  • The second time he, Ryu, Ken, Heihachi Mishima, Chrom, and Lucina have appeared together, following Monolith Soft's Project X Zone series.
  • The second time he has appeared on Green Hill Zone, as it was also a stage in Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax, which Akira appears in as a guest character.
• As acknowledged in his Super Smash Blog entry, Bayonetta's Forward Throw is Akira's Tetsuzankou; this is actually a carryover from an easter egg in the first Bayonetta, where she also has a chance of saying his catchphrase ("十年早いんだよ!") when performing the attack.
• The costume being modeled after Akira's classic polygonal design from the first Virtua Fighter is most likely intentionally made to be the direct opposite of the Jacky Bryant costume, which is modeled after the most recent entry in the series, Virtua Fighter 5.
• Akira's segment of the "Mii Fighter Costumes - Round 4" trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate make several references to the Virtua Fighter series:
  • Akira can be seen fighting Bayonetta, which is another acknowledgement to the Tetsuzankou easter egg.
  • Both the Akira and Jacky costumes fight a metal Mii Brawler, who is meant to reference Dural, a female cyborg who is the main antagonist of the series.