Orchestra Hit Techno Battle

""Change the scheme, alter the mood! Electrify the boys and girls, if you'd be so kind.""

- Castor, TRON: Legacy

Rave music is generally regarded as background music to pop drugs to and dance. The songs are uplifting, entrancing and quite often promote the ideas of peace, love and happiness. People who enjoy house, techno and Speedy Techno Remakes generally dance to it to get lost in the music, like a form of well deserved escapism from Real Life.

But sometimes, said "Rave music" can go the other way, into the realm of aggression and rage. Mostly a trope confined to fiction, The Orchestra Hit Techno Battle is when high energy rave music is used as BGM for a Fight Scene or an epic battle, rather than a peaceful dance party.

Named for the orchestra hit synth that is frequently used in early 90's techno groups such as 2 Unlimited and of course The Immortals and their Mortal Kombat remix. The film adaption of Mortal Kombat is probably the most notable example of utilizing this trope as well as being the Trope Codifier.

In some cases, the song itself only has to be about fighting as in the case of the aforementioned Mortal Kombat remix.

Since the decline of rave culture, many of these songs such as 2 Unlimited's 'Get Ready For This' are frequently played at hockey games to amp the testosterone levels in the crowds Up to Eleven.

May overlap with Ballroom Blitz if the battle actually is taking place at a dance club and the music is actually playing in universe.

In video games, this is a type of Battle Theme Music, mostly reserved for Boss Battles.

Film

 * In the film adaption of Mortal Kombat, the track from The Immortals underscores the first phase of the final showdown between Liu Kang and Shang Tsung.
 * The fight scene between Liu Kang and Reptile features an instrumental remix of Traci Lords' 'Control.'
 * A particularly brutal and gritty version exists in True Romance during the fight scene between Clarence and Drexl, Nymphomania's 'I Want Your Body' is playing in the background. The music in the scene is pretty loud, which almost drowns out Gary Oldman's dialog.
 * Tron Legacy had a cameo from Daft Punk as the dj's inside a virtual club while a Ballroom Blitz broke out, thanks to Clu's forces.
 * Terminator used an electronic soundtrack with synthesized orchestra hits for many of the chase scenes. Long before the days of techno but the idea is the same. Arguably, movies like Terminator retroactively helped inspire techno's dystopian aesthetic to begin with.
 * The Matrix series was fond of this, and would often mix pumping techno from Juno Reactor and others with more orchestral fare by Don Davis and crew.
 * Scott Pilgrim vs. the World features a rave soundtrack during the fight with Roxxy. Understandable, since it takes place in a nightclub.
 * The nihilists from The Big Lebowski actually brought a ghetto blaster playing techno music to a battle with the Dude and his posse.
 * Pretty much the entirety of the soundtrack from The Raid is a pumping selection of breaks and dubstep.

Music

 * Reggae singer Frankie Paul's 'Worries In The Dance' invokes this trope.

Professional Wrestling

 * WHAT DOES EVERYBODY WANT?! Unce Unce Unce Unce. WHAT DOES EVERYBODY NEED?!
 * Too Cool was an interesting subverison. They would have a dance number to a techno / hip hop beat in a environment that is normally reserved for fighting and aggression.
 * WWE has been using electro house inspired pop songs more and more with their P Pv's such as Wrestlemania.

Video Games

 * The Shoot Em Up Recca had techno music for the entire soundtrack. Note that Recca is a NES game...
 * Bio Metal had "Get Ready For This" and "Twilight Zone" by 2 Unlimited for its boss music. Or at least in the US version.
 * The Boss music from Plok.
 * Seven Force's theme from Gunstar Heroes and Alien Soldier.
 * Ridley's music from Super Metroid sounds similar to 'Twilight Zone' from 2 Unlimited, just in a different time signature.
 * A majority of Devil May Cry's soundtrack.
 * Many tracks from the Streets of Rage series.
 * Shudder, one of the boss themes from Einhander
 * Galba-Roa's battle theme from Ys: The Ark of Napishtim.
 * In Arcana Heart's story mode, should you be defeated by Mildred Avalon's first form, her boss theme becomes one of these. It's much more intense than her normal battle theme, and because she starts with a full Super Meter when you lose the first round, it serves to underline how badly you're screwed.
 * Mortal Kombat 3, especially the title theme.
 * Laguna's theme song in Final Fantasy VIII
 * Chaotic Dance from Baten Kaitos, The Dragon and the Quirky Miniboss Squad's theme.
 * Some of the boss battle music from both Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2, especially the music played during the final boss battle with Bowser at the end of the first game.
 * When the battle really starts to heat up in the Half Life series, expect it to be underscored by some pretty awesome beats! Even more notable in that the game has no BGM except for dramatic events.
 * Space Channel 5 Part 2 has Desperate Dance Showdown for Dancing Purge's battle. It certainly fits the atmosphere of the battle at the time.