Street Fighter 6 A.K.I. World Tour Location
A.K.I. art by Fumio936 A.K.I. (アキ, Aki?, Simplified Chinese: 阿鬼), also known as the Maniacal Mistress of Poison (狂気の毒婦, Kyōki no dokufu?, Simplified Chinese: 疯狂的毒女主人), is a fighting game character from the Street Fighter games, appearing as one of the new characters in Street Fighter 6 & a Year 1 DLC character. She is a student of F.A.N.G. A.K.I. has pale white skin and wears a stylized, open-backed cheongsam in black and skintight black pants. Both feature red trim and appear to be made of snakeskin. She has uniquely-shaped white hair based on a traditional Japanese straw hat called a "kasa" (related to the word "umbrella" in Japanese)[1], which is seen as an assassin's symbol. Her eyes are cardinal red, as seen in her teaser trailer. She sports a pair of slim metal gauntlets with a claw on each finger, which are worn over her long, sharp nails that are coated with poison. Each finger of the gauntlet is made up of multiple sections that can extend outwards, giving her additional reach through the use of poisoned chains. These chains are wrapped around her forearm when not in use. A.K.I. initially presents herself as a calm and somewhat gleeful individual, with knowledge of Chinese medicine. However, hidden behind this facade is a sadistic and psychopathic woman - arguably even more so than Juri Han (whose cruelty is a coping mechanism for her trauma). A.K.I. has also mastered the use of poisons, displaying knowledge of their side effects, and seems to enjoy teasing her victims, as seen with the Avatar in World Tour. A.K.I. viewed her fighting technique as a form of "art" and is more than eager to display her "perfect" mastery on others, willingly or not. A peculiar aspect of A.K.I's personality is her "snake-like" behavior and mannerisms. A.K.I. can be often seen "slithering" on the ground and around others, both within and outside of the fight. This is further emphasized by her unique "shi-shi-shi-shi" laughter, which can be interpreted either as a mimicry to snakes or her saying "death" in Chinese. She also adopts her master's verbal tic of using 'desu', a sentence particle that is also a homonym for the Japanese pronunciation of the word 'death'. A.K.I's gameplay centers around long-ranged nail swipes and poison attacks combined with tricky movement. Similar to Gill's Retribution mechanic, certain poison attacks like Serpent Lash activate Toxic Blossom if they hit a poisoned opponent, causing an explosion that ends the poison effect and opens new combo opportunities. A.K.I. is the series' second playable female fighter from China, following Chun-Li. Given A.K.I.'s relationship with F.A.N.G, it is often speculated that she is Phantom, the young girl that he takes under his tutelage after she admires the writing on his dagger. Her name is written as 阿鬼, with the 阿 being a prefix attached to names to reflect familiarity, and 鬼 being the kanji for 'phantom'. A.K.I.'s relationship with F.A.N.G. is similar to that of Ed and Balrog's, being a disciple of a Shadaloo King that previously appeared as a non-playable supporting character. The way A.K.I utilizes her poison nails is nearly similar to Elder Toguro from the manga/anime series YuYu Hakusho. She shares with another psychopathic Street Fighter universe villain, Kurow Kirishima (the main antagonist of Project Justice), who also wore red and black colors as their main outfits with the exception of their hair and eye color (A.K.I's hair is pale white and cardinal red while Kurow is platinum blond and black). Both are also known to use claws from their nails within their fighting styles (Kurow used this in his ninjutsu while A.K.I used this in her Chinese Kenpo and Shequan). A.K.I. is the first and currently only character to have a different sound effect when landing a successful Drive Impact, having a slashing sound rather than the default impact effect. #streetfighter6 #aki #capcom
