Ominous Pipe Organ: Difference between revisions

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Sometimes this analogy goes so far to show the villain sitting at a big spooky pipe organ, playing ominous tunes, as the heroes walk in on him. This iconic scene was probably inspired by ''The Phantom Of The Opera'', whose villain is often similarly shown with his sinister organ. The [[Standard Snippet|standard music]] for this scene is the [[Toccata and Fugue in D minor]] by [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]. Bonus points, however, if they are playing their own [[Leitmotif]]. Even better if it contains lots of diminished seventh chords.

The exception to the organs = villainy rule is if you're in a church, but the existence of the [[Corrupt Church]] and [[God Is Evil]] help to blur that distinction. If the organ is accompanying a ''[[Saintly Church|good]]'' religion, then the music is generally more subdued and ethereal rather than overtly "ominous".

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* Kagato in ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'' is, well, not quite introduced, but featured, playing a series-original Bach-esque piece on a truly enormous science-fictional organ.

* Orochimaru's theme in ''[[Naruto]]'' is the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on a pipe organ, with some Asian flute and shamisen thrown in for good measure.

** [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Ominous Chanting]]+ Ominous Pipe Organ + Creepy Manical Shrieking= Hidan's Theme.

** [[Ominous Latin Chanting|Ominous Chanting]] times 2 plus Ominous Pipe Organ = Pain's {{spoiler|and Madara's}} theme

* {{spoiler|[[Sidekick|Mimi's]]}} rape at the hands of [[Big Bad]] Apos in ''[[Mnemosyne]]'' combines this with [[Ominous Latin Chanting]], and takes it all the way up to [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic]] when it's committed at a Buddhist Temple, with her chained and nailed to a stone lamp post, no less.

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* In ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] StrikerS'', the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Numbers]] attack to the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ewZ9imjJ4 theme of a pipe organ]. And the [[Hard Light]] [[Magical Computer]] of their [[Voice with an Internet Connection|coordinator Uno]] has a keyboard that looks like organ keys.

* In the tenth [[Pokémon]] movie, Darkrai's Leitmotif contains organs and [[For Doom the Bell Tolls|bells]], befitting a Dark-type Pokemon that can literally cause nightmares. {{spoiler|This could be considered a subversion as Darkrai is actually the hero of this movie.}}

** In the first [[Pokémon]] movie (only the original Japanese version since the score was rewritten for the English speaking audiences) Mewtwo's theme is played on the organ. Lots of diminished chords and chromaticism; following the cliches to the letter. The opening leitmotif is D-E-F-C# (Dm -> Cdim7).

* The theme for Nakazato's GT-R in [[Initial D]] is Toccata and Fugue.

* [[The Starscream|Akechi Mitsuhide]] from ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' gets an [[Ominous Pipe Organ]] for his anime [[Leitmotif]].

* In [[Shugo Chara]], the intro to Hoshina Utau's theme song (by [[Nana Mizuki]] no less) "Meikyuu Butterfly" is this. The song itself is actually plot relevant.

* In ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'', Joshua Christopher is a boy with holy powers who's been kidnapped by the [[Big Bad]]. Guess what instrument he plays to channel his powers?

* In ''[[Princess Tutu]]'', one of Drosselmeyer's [[Leitmotif|leitmotifs]] is the Nutcracker March played in minor key on a pipe organ to an unsettling effect.

* Xanxus from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'' tends to have [[Ominous Pipe Organ]] music in the background whenever he turns up.

* ''[[Kiddy Grade]]'': the last third of the series contains two closely-linked tunes, both with ominous pipe organs, that represent the main "antagonist" of the last arc.

* In ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', Eudial challenges Haruka and Michiru to a showdown at the Marine Cathedral. When they arrive, she's playing the Bach Toccata and Fugue on the organ to help them find her.

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* The [[Read or Die]] OVA features an evil reincarnation of Ludwig Van Beethoven playing a massive pipe organ on a rocket {{spoiler|that will broadcast his lost Death Symphony worldwide, causing everyone who hears it to commit suicide}}.

* The [[Professor Layton]] ''and The Eternal Diva'' animated film tops the previous example by having a pipe organ that is also a giant clockwork orchestra, a {{spoiler|memory storage and download machine}}, and a {{spoiler|control device for a giant mecha}}. When the true [[Big Bad]] is revealed, he gets the Ominous Pipe Organ as background music.

* ''[[Rozen Maiden]]'' has this as well. "Broken World" fits this trope to a T, plenty of destruction foretold.

* ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' uses the organ at certain ominous moments. Or just as elevator music for the Student Council for extra drama.

* Nasu Veronica plays the organ in ''[[Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas]]''. While [[People Puppets|manipulating]] [[Nightmare Fuel|the corpses of children]].

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== Film ==

* Signor Forte from Disney's ''[[Beauty and The Beast The Enchanted Christmas]]'' IS an Ominous Pipe Organ.

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLryftKtFG0 Davy Jones] in ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]''. The ''only'' reason he's able to do it is that his ship is alive. He plays it with his ''beard.''

** Which is probably inspired by Captain Nemo in ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea|20,000 Leagues Under The Sea]]''.

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== Literature ==

* Professor Aronnax walks in on [[The Aloner|Captain Nemo]] playing the pipe organ in his study, but subverts this trope in that [[Not So Stoic|he's actually weeping.]]

** He also plays the organ in a somewhat unusual manner, using only the black keys (what today would be the white keys).

* Parodied in the ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''Carpe Jugulum'', in which a traditionally-minded vampire has an organ ... but it's one of Bloody Stupid Johnson's [[Clock Punk]] synthesizers, with a wide variety of screams, wolf-howls and similar [[Hammer Horror]] sound effects.

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== Music ==

* If the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVcM6pK1RMU opening] of Vangelis Papathanassiou's ''Nucleogenesis 1'' (from the ''[[wikipedia:Albedo 0.39#Overview|Albedo 0.39]]'' album) hasn't been used for this purpose, it should.

* Siena by Turmion Katilot has a example of this at a couple of parts in this song.

* Unquestioned maestro of organ composers J. S. Bach both played this trope straight and averted it. The aforementioned Toccata and Fugue BWV 565 ([[Adaptation Distillation|probably an arrangement of a solo violin piece]]) certainly has a dark and evil feel to it, but Sebastian's other organ music (including organ parts to go with some of the cantatas) shows the entire array of characters possible in music.

* The organ solo at the climax of the third movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Sinfonia antartica".

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** Probably also an allusion to "Stalin's Organ" (that's how German soldiers nicknamed the first Soviet multiple rocket launch system).

* ''[[Knights of the Dinner Table]]'' #168 "Bait & Tackle" section (adventure seeds). In "The Pipe Organ", a vampire plays a pipe organ to lure [[PC|PCs]] to their doom.

* In the [[Call of Cthulhu]] adventure ''The Dreaming Stone'', the Dracula-like servant of Nyarlathotep plays a harpsichord in his mansion on the moon that cause some sanity loss.

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== Video Games ==

* ''[[World of Warcraft]] The Burning Crusade'': [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jUZfofhhV0 The Opera area in Karazhan].

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1EAFaro95g Ganondorf] from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'' is one of the more famous examples; as Link moves up the tower in the center of Ganon's Castle, the [[Ominous Pipe Organ]] music (which happens to be a redone and extended version of the [[Leitmotif]] of the building's owner) gets louder and louder, until he reaches the top -- [[Sorry I Left the BGM On|and finds Ganondorf playing it.]]

** And then there's Blizzeta's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Elnn__srSI theme] in ''[[Twilight Princess]]''.

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* The semi-operatic pipe organ piece "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0K_JYdpWFGk Dancing] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_VV-DiJpJQ Mad]", Kefka's [[Final Boss]] music in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''. Only slightly less famous than its [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] successor in the next game. Of course, considering the fact that the game's intro music and the music that plays on the world map before obtaining the Falcon also use an [[Ominous Pipe Organ]], it's not surprising that the final boss music contains even more [[Ominous Pipe Organ]]. (Incidentally, all three examples overlap with [[For Doom the Bell Tolls]].)

** "Dancing Mad" also shamelessly rips off ''Toccata and Fugue in D Minor'' in many parts, especially during the organ solo in the third movement.

** Ultimecia from ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' greets her visitors with "The Castle"

** Kuja in ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' also gets "Immoral Rhythm" and "Dark Messenger".

*** His [[Man Behind the Man|boss, Garland]], has "The Keeper of Time."

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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQMCAdMadMY The Grand Cathedral theme] from ''[[Serious Sam]]: The Second Encounter'' has something like this combined with [[For Doom the Bell Tolls]] as its central component.

* [[Eternal Darkness]] uses an organ to open a secret compartment. This sequence [[Chekhov's Gun|will be important later.]]

* An eerie, if not completely ominous pipe organ can be heard in church interiors in ''The Matrix Online''

* ''[[Ys|Ys I and II]]'': The 12th floor of Darm Tower features an ominous organ tune called "Devil's Wind" [[Brown Note|that drains Adol's HP]] and prevents him from progressing until he smashes one of the pillars on the outer gallery.

* The [[Perfect Run Final Boss]] battle in ''[[Ray Crisis]]''. Aptly titled [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HBY-UYmXTs "Root of all evil"]

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** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ikRb7umyu8 Devil Sunday], the opening theme of the game (extended into a sinister fugue [[Mood Motif|when you enter the cathedral]]).

* The [[Final Boss]] thene of ''[[Live a Live]]'' begins with a pipe organ, and the Bad Ending consists of nothing but a pipe organ (eventually adding [[For Doom the Bell Tolls]] and just one big, ongoing explosion).

* The ''[[Disgaea]]'' series is rather fond of pipe organs, what with its demonic bent. ''[[Disgaea 3 Absence of Justice]]'''s "Fugue of Hell", Mao's [[Leitmotif]], is particularly noticeable in this regard.

* The ''[[Disgaea]]'' series is rather fond of pipe organs, what with its demonic bent. ''[[Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice]]'''s "Fugue of Hell", Mao's [[Leitmotif]], is particularly noticeable in this regard.

* ''Perfect Cherry Blossom'', the seventh game in the [[Touhou]] series, has a very interesting example. Youmu's theme combines an organ with hard rock, and is very fast paced while still being ominous. But the thing is, not only is the character in question [[The Dragon]] rather than the [[Big Bad]], but she's not evil in any sense of the word, even by Touhou standards. The third stage in the same game also has [[Ominous Pipe Organ]] music, which the creator himself has pointed out sounds like a [[Disc One Final Dungeon]].

** On the other hand, vampire Remilia Scarlet, from the same series, plays this straight - in the fighting spinoff ''Scarlet Weather Rhapsody'', her already epic, piano-driven theme song ''Septette for the Dead Princess'' gets rearranged into a masterpiece that makes liberal use of organs, violins, piano, drums and electric guitar. Most notable is the kickass organ intro at the beginning, which follows the melody throughout the song and serves to drive the point home that you're fighting against a five hundred year old devil.