Akira Yuki

Akira Yuki (結城 晶, Yūki Akira) is the main character and mascot of Sega's versus-fighting series Virtua Fighter.

A hot-blooded Ba Ji Quan practitioner, due to a new partnership between Tecmo Koei and Sega for Dead or Alive 5, Akira made an appearance as a guest playable character alongside Sarah Bryant and Pai Chan (later accompanied by Jacky Bryant in Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate).

Background
In the original Virtua Fighter, Akira serves as the assistant instructor at Yuki Budokan. 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 first World Fighting Tournament, he decided to enter and test his abilities.

Role in Dead or Alive
Akira's only involvement in the Dead or Alive storyline is when he fights his fellow Ba Ji Quan practitioner Kokoro. Kokoro wins against Akira and it is unknown what happens to him after that, although it can be speculated that Akira joins the tournament to rectify his loss.

Appearance
Akira is a muscular man with a tanned complexion, brown eyes, and black hair that has been spiked-up and tied back with a long piece of white fabric. He appears to be average height and has quite wide shoulders and an oval-shaped face with a strong jawline and a squared-off chin.

His trademark outfit is a form of sleeveless Gi - a traditional uniform used for martial arts practice - which has frayed around the ends of the trouser legs and shirt holes. The Gi is slightly open to reveal his bare chest underneath. The outfit is complete with a black belt, a white headband, and black wristbands and feet covers. Overall, he bears a striking resemblance to Ryu, the main character of Capcom's Street Fighter series.

Personality
Akira strives for perfection and will drive himself relentlessly to master his techniques. He seeks worthy opponents to fight in order to find flaws in his skills to further attain mastery. While hot-blooded and impulsive, he can also be naive and intemperate. Akira is also quite passionate when fighting, often telling his opponents give him their best and always expressing his enthusiasm for a bout.

Etymology
Akira is a unisex name with Japanese origin, which means "bright" or "clear." The name Yuki is also Japanese and can be used as a given name (usually for females) or a surname. As a surname, the kanji used mean "binding castle."

Kokoro
They are shown in a cut scene demonstrating their powers in Ba Ji Quan. It is unknown if Akira knew her prior to their meeting in the game's story, but it can be safely assumed that he happened upon her while travelling for the sake of training and recognized her form as a variation of his own. Always eager to test out another fighter's worth, he presented her with a series of kata and a challenge to fight.

Gameplay
Details on how Akira plays have yet to be sorted, although it has been said that his commands are basically unchanged from Virtua Fighter. In the Virtua Fighter series, he is considered to be an extremely advanced character to master. This could be the case in Dead or Alive 5, as Kokoro's version of Baji Quan is made for beginners.

Akira in general is extremely powerful with a healthy amount of combos and deadly single strikes. He's one of the most powerful characters in the game with his combos able to do an insane amount of damage and possibly more with his famed shoulder strike (Tetsuzanko). His side step game is also very good allowing him to play a decent amount of mind games with his opponent making Akira a strong overall contender. However, due to Dead or Alive 5's game engine, Akira is a bit more reliant on his sidestep mindgames due to most of his attacks being unsafe on block. In addition he still suffers from a linear attack pattern. Another thing is that his commands require a heavy amount of execution, making Akira a fighter only for the dedicated. Akira when mastered however can easily turn the tide of any fight with his lethal counters, mindgames and his overall damage output making him once again a potential top or high tier fighter in competitive play.

Dead or Alive Series

 * Dead or Alive 5 - (Unlockable character, 2012)

Virtua Fighter
Akira first appeared in the 1993 arcade title Virtua Fighter and was part of the series' original fighter line-up, which at the time only included eight characters. Since then, Akira has appeared in every installment of Virtua Fighter and became the series mascot.

He also appeared in the Virtua Fighter anime series but his personality was changed greatly from how he acts in the video games. Although Akira can be hot-blooded and serious when need be, his anime counterpart enjoys eating lots of food and slacking off. Akira fights only when he sees people getting into trouble but often gets into minor problems, which usually involve accidentally touching female fighters inappropriately and results in beatings.

Fighters Megamix
Akira appears with the entire Virtua Fighter 2 cast in the Sega Saturn game, Fighters Megamix. A younger version of him, from Virtua Fighter Kids, is also an unlockable playable character.

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
Along with fellow Virtua Fighter combatant Jacky Bryant, Akira appeared as an unlockable character in the 2010 racing game, Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing. Akira and Jacky race together as a team in the OutRun-inspired "Red Lightning", representing the Virtua Fighter series. He serves as a powerful boost to the car, quietly sitting beside Jacky until he is needed.

Project X Zone
Akira appears alongside Pai in the crossover game, Project X Zone, a Nintendo 3DS RPG featuring characters from Capcom, Namco Bandai, and SEGA.

Trivia

 * Akira was partly inspiraton for Kokoro. Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki commented that Ba Ji Quan was first used in Virtua Fighter by Akira, which he called the "origin of 3D fighting games." Itagaki hoped to reproduce the martial art more realistically with Kokoro in Dead or Alive 4. In the E3 2012 trailer for Dead or Alive 5, Akira challenges Kokoro to a duel, which Kokoro accepts.
 * Akira is the fifth character from an outside series to appear in a Dead or Alive title, following on from Nicole-458 in Dead or Alive 4, Rio in Dead or Alive Paradise, and Samus Aran and Ridley in Dead or Alive: Dimensions.
 * Akira is unlocked after playing Kokoro's chapter in Dead or Alive 5.
 * In his reveal trailer, his Virtua Fighter 5 theme can be heard when he enters the battle.