character = "Akuma (foe)"
lst_characters = ['Abel', 'Abigail', 'Adon', 'Akira', 'Akuma', 'Alex', 'Balrog', 'Birdie', 'Blanka', 'C. Viper', 'Cammy', 'Chun-Li', 'Cody', 'Dan', 'Decapre', 'Dee Jay', 'Dhalsim', 'Dudley', 'E. Honda', 'Eagle', 'Ed', 'El Fuerte', 'Elena', 'Eleven', 'Evil Ryu', 'F.A.N.G.', 'Falke', 'Fei Long', 'G', 'Geki', 'Gen', 'Gill', 'Gouken', 'Guile', 'Guy', 'Hakan', 'Hugo', 'Ibuki', 'Ingrid', 'Joe', 'Juli', 'Juni', 'Juri', 'Kage', 'Karin', 'Ken', 'Kolin', 'Laura', 'Lee', 'Lucia', 'Luke', 'M. Bison', 'Maki', 'Makoto', 'Menat', 'Mike', 'Nash', 'Necalli', 'Necro', 'Oni', 'Oro', 'Poison', 'Q', 'R. Mika', 'Rashid', 'Remy', 'Retsu', 'Rolento', 'Rose', 'Rufus', 'Ryu', 'Sagat', 'Sakura', 'Sean', 'Seth', 'Shin Akuma', 'Sodom', 'T. Hawk', 'Twelve', 'Urien', 'Vega', 'Violent Ken', 'Yang', 'Yun', 'Zangief', 'Zeku', 'Ace', 'Allen', 'Area', 'Bison II', 'Blair', 'Bloody Hokuto', 'C. Jack', 'Cycloid-β', 'Cycloid-γ', 'D. Dark', 'Darun', 'Garuda', 'Hayate', 'Hokuto', 'Kairi', 'Nanase', 'Pullum', 'Shadowgeist', 'Sharon', 'Shin-Bison', 'Skullomania', 'V. Rosso', 'Arkane', 'Blade', 'F7', 'Khyber', 'Sawada']
lst_characters = [x.lower().strip() for x in lst_characters]

if (character.lower() in lst_characters): 
    print("Character (" + character + ") is in the list")
else: 
    print("Character (" + character + ") not found in the list")