Asura (Samurai Shodown)

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Asura/Shadow Asura
Game series	Samurai Shodown series
First game	Samurai Shodown 64
Designed by	Kitasenri
Voice actor(s)	Kazuya Ichijo
In-Universe Information
Birthplace	Slash Asura (Unknown) "Shadow Asura" Makai
Weapon	Slash Asura The 7 Ancient Weapons Shadow Asura" Vimukti Yuda Red Lotus Blade
Preferred soulmate/family	Shadow Asura: Shiki

Asura (アスラ) is a character from SNK Playmore's Samurai Shodown series of fighting games. He has only appeared in Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage, but has garnered a considerable fanbase in spite of that: enough to have earned an appearance in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum on the Atomiswave arcade platform. The name has also been spelled as Asra or Asuras.

1 History
2 Trivia
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Asura

Asura has a long-standing conflict with Yuga the Destroyer, an entity which wreaks havoc in order to bring about "the unification of this world and the Netherworld..." A previous meeting ended with Asura imprisoned in the Netherworld by her; he subsequently escaped when Yuga was defeated during the events of Samurai Shodown 64 and he and his clone defeat her. However, eventually, the two Asuras merge and turn into Yuda who appears in Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage.

[edit] Bust Asura or Hanmen no Asura

Hanmen no Asura was created by Yuga using a forbidden technique called Niji-Hanmen no Hijutsu to create a clone of Asura. For some time, this clone was completely loyal to Yuga, but begins to become less so after it realizes its affections for Shiki. Subsequently, he and his original band together and kill Yuga.

However, upon Yuga's defeat, he begins to deteriorate because Yuga's magic was the aspect keeping him alive. Realizing this, he and the other Asura merge together and turn into Yuda, who appears in Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage.

[edit] Yuda

Yuda

Yuda is the product of Asura merging with Shadow Asura. Their merge allowed the two to live on, but the consequence of the fusion resulted in an unstable body which caused him to lose his entire memory. This also makes him unable to utilize the "Seven Ancient Weapons" that lies dormant due to the gloves on his hands.

In the end Yuda came under the control of Clan 1, one of the three branch families of the shogunate. This clan is in fact linked to the Three Blades of Ritenkyo and Yuda has been secretly promised the position of shogun when the plans of Oboro (Jigen Taishi) succeed. If the plan fails, Yuda would be used as the fall guy to destroy evidence of Oboro's plot and keep it from being brought to light. The amnesiac Yuda now takes on his duty and complete his first mission: clearing out Ritenkyo.

In his ending, he encounters his daughter Mikoto, who has been used by Oboro for his fiendish purposes. He releases the evil within her and proceeds to return to the Demon world (Mukai).

[edit] Trivia

His sole appearance in the Samurai Shodown continuity was in Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage on the defunct Hyper Neogeo 64 arcade platform, which followed the series' recent tradition of having two different versions of each character, known as "Slash" (修羅, "Shura," meaning a "scene of carnage") and Bust (羅刹, "Rasetsu," which is the Japanese word for a rakshasa). Most incarnations were visually very similar, just with altered special moves. Asura broke this trend rather dramatically, however, with two very different designs, and different mannerisms to go with them. He has also been featured in Samurai Shodown! 2 on the Neo-Geo Pocket Color and in Neo Geo Battle Coliseum on the Atomiswave arcade hardware. Both of these games are considered "dream match" style games.

Slash Asura's look is essentially one of a thin man in extremely ornate bondage gear, and is the better known of the two. He is also interesting in that all of the names of his various special moves (and by extension, the seven forms his sword can take) are the reversed names of demons in Biblical scripture and other lore. This meaning is occasionally lost due to poor Romanization, but examples include Suedomsa, Nommam and Nahtaivel, among others.

Slash Asura's super move is the name Satan spelled backwards. This name is rarely included in any video game.

Bust Asura's (or Hanmen no Asura) appearance is no less intricate, but has more of an ancient, regal look about him. As the counterpart to his Slash form, this version's moves all have the names of angels, reversed, such as Leirbag, Leimal and Nortatem.