Howling to the Night

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What beautiful music it makes!

In many works, wolves are heard howling at dusk or at night. It is a case of Noisy Nature. Also, it is often a case of not doing the research or Artistic License: wolves don't live in all settings, and they usually howl to communicate with each other, not to establish the mood or tell time. Often overlaps with Cock-a-Doodle Dawn, which is when roosters crow at dawn.

This trope has two main types:

Type A

In type A examples, wolf howls are heard to herald the coming of the night. The wolves that do the howling are rarely seen.

Type B

In type B examples, the howls are heard late at night, to reinforce a creepy setting or establish a fearful mood. Again, the wolves are rarely seen.

See also Wolves Always Howl At the Moon and Howl of Sorrow.

Examples of Howling to the Night include:

Type A

Video Games

• Occurs in three installments of the Zelda series. Wolves howl whenever night falls.
  • The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
  • The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask
  • The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
    • Also, when unlocking the howling stones, no matter what time you do the first minigame, you are transported to another area where it is always night to do the second howling minigame.
• Happens in Okami.
• Warcraft 3 has a wolf howl to tell the player that night has fallen (and a rooster crowing to indicate daybreak).
• When you visit Garoh in Golden Sun 2 for the first time (at night), mournful wolf howls are heard (because it's a village of werewolves). Sadly, the version of the BGM with howls is not part of the soundtrack.
  • Though the version without the howls is a darned fine song in its own right.

Type B

Anime / Manga

• Holo from Spice and Wolf does this on occasion, even when in human form.
• Boma in Heat Guy J does this before battle, when he changes into wolf-man form.

Film

• "The children of the night! What beautiful music they make!"
  • "Children of the night, shut up!"
• Werewolf? There wolf. There, castle.

Video Games

• Conker's Bad Fur Day parodies the above "What beautiful music they make!" line.