Signature Laugh

There are some unique laughs that, when imitated by anyone, immediately bring to mind a single person. It may be an Annoying Laugh (even a Most Annoying Sound) or an Evil Laugh, it may be the sounds/words used, or the fact that it's at a terribly inappropriate time, but everyone knows who it's connected to. When this happens, this person has a Signature Laugh.

It doesn't count if it reminds you of a type of person (like the Noblewoman's Laugh), nor just a type of laugh (like The Hyena). It must be an individual who springs immediately to mind when it's heard. Can overlap somewhat with Verbal Tic.

Some of these sounds are difficult to translate onto a page, but when you hear them, you know.

Compare Annoying Laugh, Evil Laugh, Laughing Mad.

Advertising

 * The Jolly Green Giant's musical "Ho ho ho!" Spelled the same as Santa's but very different.

Anime And Manga

 * Dragon Ball: Master Roshi.
 * Almost every major character in One Piece has a unique laugh. Villains especially.
 * Ryuk from Death Note: "Hyuk hyuk hyuk!" Light Yagami's typical Evil Laugh even became a Memetic Mutation.
 * Tsuruya from Suzumiya Haruhi.
 * Kinnikuman: Ashuraman's "Ka ka ka ka ka" laugh is so deeply associated with him that it's featured in his Villain Song.
 * Prussia from Axis Powers Hetalia has the rather unique "Kesesesesese".
 * Also, Russia has his "Kolkolkolkolkol", France has "Ohonhonhonhon" and Spain has "Fusososososo".
 * Kururu in Keroro Gunsou.
 * Hell, all of the Keronians do (At least in the manga, seeing as This Troper has never watched the anime): Keroro= "Kerokerokero!", Giroro= "Girogirogiro!", Tamama= "Tamatamatama!", and I don't think I ever heard Dororo/Zeroro ever laugh.
 * Ranma ½: Kodachi Kuno's (high pitched in the anime) "ohohohohohohohoho". Her appearance is always accompanied or heralded with that laugh.
 * Yu-Gi-Oh!: Weevil Underwood/Insector Haga's laugh is written as "Hyo hyo hyo!" in the manga and the video games.
 * Bleach has Don Kanonji, whose signature is striking a pose and going, "BO-HA-HA-HA-HA!"
 * In Strike Witches, Sakamoto Mio had a signature laugh in the first season, when she was played by Chiba Saeko (Ha! Ha! Ha!). In the second season, Chiba was unavailable to play the character, so she was played by Seto Saori, who didn't use the laugh.
 * In Samurai 7 everytime Okara The Deadpan Snarker makes a snide comment she follows it with a SHSHSHSHSH hissing laugh
 * Kaname Madoka has a "Weheeheehee" laugh.'
 * Kusukusu of Shugo Chara has a distinctive laugh that sounds much like her Meaningful Name.

Comic Books

 * The second Blue Beetle Ted Kord always has his laughter written as "BWAH-HA-HA-HA"
 * This laugh is so memorable that the entire Justice League International era is often referred to as the "Bwah-Ha-Ha Era".
 * "Fnarr, Fnarr, Fnarr!" will forever be associated with the Viz character Finbarr Saunders. Usually it was unleashed whenever he noticed a Double Entendre, however convoluted.
 * Some versions of The Creeper have their own unique laugh. Some of them can drive a man mad.

Film

 * Louis from Revenge of the Nerds.
 * Tommy's signature "haha" from The Room. Often used at inappropriate times.
 * Sid James's dirty laugh was a staple of the Carry On films.
 * John Wayne, in many of his roles. "Dah-Haa, dah-haaa, da-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
 * Pee-wee Herman had a very distinctive laugh.
 * Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley has a distinctive laugh, to the point where it was featured in the promos.
 * Christopher Lambert seems to have a signature laugh across multiple characters. As Connor Macleod (of clan Macleod) from Highlander, he frequently used a creepy "heheheh" sort of laugh, and then later used the same laugh as Lord Rayden in Mortal Kombat.
 * French site nanarland proudly presents the Christopher Lambert laugh machine.
 * Dr. Evil from Austin Powers.
 * Mozart's Annoying Laugh in Amadeus announces his presence whenever he's in the area.

Literature

 * Terry Pratchett seems to love these:
 * "Hat. Hat. Hat." from Mr. Cletes
 * Dragon-King-of-Arms and his "ah-ha".
 * The Death of Rats and his.

Live Action TV

 * The Three Stooges: Curly's "Nyuk-Nyuk-Nyuk"
 * The Muppets have plenty:
 * Stadler and Waldorf use "DOH-ho-ho-ho-hoh!"
 * Ernie's hissing "hee-hee-hee"
 * And don't forget Bert's bleating "ahahahahahahahahahah!"
 * The Count's "ONE! Ah... ah...ah!"
 * Elmo has one of the most distinctive laughs in children's television, as anyone who has ever owned a Tickle-Me-Elmo doll can attest to.
 * Arnold Horshack from Welcome Back, Kotter had two signature lines: "Oooh, Oooh, Mr. Kotter," and his Signature Laugh.
 * Tim Allen's grunting laugh from Home Improvement, which came from his standup routine).
 * The Nanny: Fran Drescher's nasal, snorting laugh.
 * Kitty on That '70s Show. Both how she laughs, and how often she laughs.
 * Fawlty Towers: Sybil Fawlty
 * Janice from Friends, with her nasally "nghanghanghangha"
 * In an episode of Sister, Sister, Tia has a boyfriend whose laugh is very hard to miss, and it ends up being the way she finds out that he is on a date with another girl.
 * Moss uses this trope in The IT Crowd when acting as dungeon master for a game of Dungeons & Dragons. He announces that the players see a familiar face emerge from a crowd, then, as the character, gives a distinctive "Ho ho ho!" The players all recognize the laugh and shout the character's name.
 * Rik Mayall's characters all share the same over-the-top nervous laugh.
 * Steve Urkel in Family Matters snorted whenever he laughed.

Music

 * French singer Henri Salvador had a very unique and amusing laugh. He even worked it into many of his musical singles.
 * Louie the Turkey on Frank Zappa's album "Lumpy Gravy" has a very eccentric laugh. Let us put it this way: there is a reason they called him "the turkey".
 * Flemish singer, TV presenter and politician Margriet Hermans has a very loud and instantly recognizable laugh.

Professional Wrestling

 * "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase has such an iconic Evil Laugh that it's been incorporated into his theme music.

Radio

 * Difficult to type, but the radio version of The Shadow had a very distinctive laugh, at least when Orson Welles was in the role.
 * Carolina Bermudez (of Elvis Duran and the Morning Zoo) has a quite a distinctive laugh, a "Ha ha ha ha!" that is almost like a fusion of an evil cackle and Elmo's laugh.
 * The Great Gildersleeve... Again, impossible to spell out. Also crosses over to Live Action TV.

Real Life

 * Drew Carey, mostly in Whose Line Is It Anyway?, whenever the laughs got out of hand.
 * Tom Hiddleston's laugh. Ehehehehe!
 * Ed McMahon from The Tonight Show had a distinctive, deep belly laugh.
 * Peter Lorre's "A-henh" laugh is a standard part of any impression done of him.

Video Games
"Skuntank: "Chaw haw haw haw!" Koffing: "Whoa ho ho ho!" Zubat: "Heheheheheheheheh!" The Sableyes: "Weh heh heh heh!"
 * Amagami: Miya's "Nishishishi"
 * Final Fantasy VI: Kefka' "Uwehehehe!"
 * Final Fantasy VII: Heidigger and Scarlet are at one point referred to as "Gya-Ha-Ha" and "Kya-Ha-Ha" by one of the party members.
 * Resident Evil Code: Veronica: Alfred Ashford is known for his hideous laugh.
 * Fassad's "Nwehehehehehe!" in Mother3
 * The dog in Duck Hunt, as well as the pose he makes.
 * The Pokémon Croagunk and its evolution, Toxicroak, both have distinctive high-pitched, cackling cries.
 * In Gold/Silver/Crystal and the remakes, there's one particular rocket grunt who has a distinctive laugh of 'hyuk hyuk hyuk'. In fact it's practically the only way he is differentiated from the other grunts.
 * And all of the villains from the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games.
 * "Ooh hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo!"
 * "MuhehehehehehehehahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!!!""


 * Donkey Kong, in the arcade game: AAH. AAH. AAH.
 * Exit Fate's Those Two Bad Guys: Trevor's "Hohohohoho" and Sick's "Hihihihihi".
 * Larxene's laugh as well as Vexen's laugh and death cry are pretty well known around the Kingdom Hearts fandom.
 * Banjo of Banjo-Kazooie fame has a Goofy-like but still distinct "guh-hyuck".
 * In Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon's ending, The King has a rather well-known"OAHOHOHOHOHAHAHAHA!" partnered with Zelda's "Eh heh heh... Ehehehehe!"
 * Zelda II the Adventure of Link has Ganon laughing over the Game Over screen: HOAH HOAH HOAH HOAH HOAH!
 * Dr. Eggman of the Sonic the Hedgehog series has his "Ohohohoho!" laugh, originally from the Japanese version of Sonic Adventure, but starting with Sonic X, Mike Pollock began imitating the laugh in English.
 * Iori Yagami: "Mmhmhmhm... ahahahaha... AHAAHAHAHAHAHA!" It's his Victory Pose, no less.
 * Brian Fury from Tekken has a mechanical, echoing "Ahahahahaha!" when he throws an enemy.
 * Heaven smiles in Killer7 have very distinctive laugh. Possibly invoked, as variations of Heaven smiles have different laughs, allowing you to tell what exactly is about to blow your face off.
 * Many villains from the Mario RPGs have signature laughs. They may or may not be rendered as a sound effect (most are simply printed out as text, especially in the Paper Mario series).
 * Lord Crump's "Buh! Buh! Buh huh huh!"
 * Grodus's "Gack ack ack ack!"
 * This is practically an unspoken requirement to be an Overlord in the Nippon Ichi multiverse, as Laharl, Zetta and Mao all have their own Evil Laughs.
 * Katawa Shoujo: Misha: "Wahaha~!"
 * Rance of the eponymous series has the laugh "Gahahahaha!" It and his smile clue in the player to the fact that he is no traditional hero.

Webcomics

 * The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: Dr. Knickerbockers, the crazy smiling, evil laughing midget doctor: "Eeeheeeheheheheheh!". Apparently a similar being haunts artist Kent Archer's nightmares.

Web Original

 * Raocow has a distinctive laugh that crops up rather often due to his easily amused nature.
 * The Annoying Orange: Nyehhehehehehehe

Western Animation

 * Scooby Doo has his "heHeHEHeHehe" chortle, often followed by, "Rooby Roo!"
 * The Simpsons:
 * Nelson's distinctive mocking laugh is his catchphrase.
 * Also, Ms. Krabapple's single "HA!"
 * And Krusty's "HoohoohoohooHAHA!"
 * And also, Dr. Hibbert's various "Eh-HEH-HEH-HEH!"
 * In Avatar: The Last Airbender, Toph's laugh was what tipped Aang off that she was the girl from his vision.
 * The Proud Family has Papi's nigh-irreproducible laugh. It was a plot point once, when an imposter actually managed to get it down perfectly.
 * The distinctive throaty snickering of Dick Dastardly's canine sidekick, Muttley, in The Wacky Races and Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. Pioneered by a wiseguy dog in a Huckleberry Hound cartoon, then perfected later by Precious Pupp on The Atom Ant Show. Used later by Muttley expy Mumbly.
 * Several Batman villains:
 * The Penguin's "wah wah" squawking laugh
 * Riddler's high pitched giggle
 * Joker's maniacal cackle (particularly Mark Hamill's interpretation)
 * Harvey Birdman: HA-HA! Phil Ken Sebben!
 * Goofy's distinctive "Ah-Hyuk!"
 * Which has passed onto his son, Max Goof.
 * Looney Tunes: Elmer Fudd's "Hehehehe".
 * Mickey Mouse's high-pitched giggle from when Walt Disney was voicing him. Wayne Allwyne's short "He-He!" from more recent times is almost as memorable.
 * Most SpongeBob SquarePants characters have distinctive laughs:
 * SpongeBob's dolphin giggle
 * Patrick's moron laugh
 * Squidward's nasal chortle
 * Mr. Krab's pirate-accented "Ar-ar-ar-ar"
 * Plankton's Evil Laugh
 * Dishonest John's "Nya-ha-HAH!" from Beany and Cecil.
 * Popeye: "Ug-ug-ug-ug-ug!"
 * In at least one early cartoon he actually vocalizes "Arf! Arf! Arf!" as per his comic-strip self.
 * Mandark from Dexter's Laboratory has his "HA haHA! HA haHA haHA!" In fact, one episode has no dialogue apart from this, Dexter's laugh and a few other sounds.
 * Woody Woodpecker's "Ha-ha-ha-HAAAAA HA!"
 * The titular characters of Beavis and Butthead were practically defined by their signature laughs, "Ehhhehehe" and "Uhhhhuhuhu" respectively. The whole first episode is dedicated to their inability to cease this laughter.
 * Roger Klotz from Doug: "HUH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"
 * June's cute high-pitched laughter in KaBlam!.
 * Yak-Yak on The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. Laughs at everything, even if he's on the receiving end of pain. And the Hooded Claw as well.

Other

 * Santa Claus, in all his incarnations, is thought to give a jolly "Ho Ho Ho!" which often indicates his presence when he's not visible.