History Creator / NobuoUematsu

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Nobuo_Uematsu.jpg]]
[floatboxright:Influences:Music/{{Carpenters}}, Music/DeepPurple, Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer, Music/EltonJohn, Music/KingCrimson, Music/LedZeppelin, Music/PaulMcCartney, Music/PinkFloyd, Music/StevieWonder, Music/{{Yes}}
]

Nobuo Uematsu (born March 21, 1959) is one of the most important composers of VideoGame music to date. Ever since starting his career at 1985, he has worked on the soundtracks of over forty games. His best known work is with the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, whose main installments all had completely Uematsu-made songs up until the tenth part. However, he returned to the series to compose for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''.

Since leaving Creator/SquareEnix in 2004, Uematsu has worked as a freelancer, composing for such projects as ''VideoGame/BlueDragon'', ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl''. He also had a rock band, called ''The Black Mages'', which played heavy rock covers of his ''Final Fantasy'' songs, as well as another band called ''Earthbound Papas'' ([[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant no relation to]] [[Videogame/EarthBound the game]]). For the past decade, Uematsu has also been arranging his work for orchestras. He personally travels with the ''Distant Worlds'' concert tour, directed and conducted by fellow game-composer ArnieRoth.

He reunited with Hironobu Sakaguchi for ''VideoGame/TheLastStory''. He also teamed up with fellow FF alumni Hideo Minaba in ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy''.

Has [[AwesomeMusic/NobuoUematsu his own Awesome Music page]].

Currently, he and his band have lent their music score to Compile Heart's game called ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaVictory''. He is also the primary composer for ''VideoGame/TerraBattle''.

He considers the soundtrack of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' to be his favorite.
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!! Major works where he contributed more than one original song include:

* ''VideoGame/RadRacer'' (1987)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' (1987)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' (1988)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' (1990)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' (1991)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV ''(1992)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' (1994)
* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' (1995; contributed nine songs[[note]]"Silent Light", "Mystery of the Past", "People Who Threw Away the Will to Live", "Bike Chase", "Creeping Through the Sewers", "Primeval Mountain", "Burn! Bobonga!", "Tyrano Castle", "Sealed Door". Admittedly, "Mystery of the Past" is more of a snippet than a song.[[/note]] after main composer Creator/YasunoriMitsuda overworked himself to the point of stomach ulcers; also contributed an arrangement for the boss battle theme, which was written by Noriko Matsueda)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' (1997)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' (1999)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' (2000)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' (2001; with Creator/MasashiHamauzu and Junya Nakano; first game in the series where he didn't write all the music)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' (2002; with Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka)
* ''VideoGame/BlueDragon'' (2006)
* ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' (2007)
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' (2010; later editions of the game added other composers' works, but Uematsu was the only composer for the initial launch)
* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'' (2011)
* ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'' (2014; with Tsutomu Narita)
* ''VideoGame/{{Fantasian}}'' (2021)
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!! TropeNamer for (alongside the games where these songs appeared):
* LaughingMad (variant of his ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' song title "Dancing Mad", though, as mentioned below under TitleConfusion, the original Japanese title is a bit more complex)
* OneWingedAngel (''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'')
* YouAreNotAlone (''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'')
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!! Tropes present in his work include:
* AudioAdaptation: "OneWingedAngel" qualifies in a way, since apart from the insertion of its eponymous villain's name, most of its lyrics are taken directly from the Music/CarminaBurana (AKA the same text that provides the words for Carl Orff's "O Fortuna" - i.e., the stock dramatic film trailer music). Later arrangements have sometimes added new lyrics (also usually in Latin), sometimes original.
* BilingualBonus: When his work gets adapted for vocal arrangements, they are frequently in many different languages. Languages used have included Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Saami. Song titles sometimes qualify as well. In addition to the expected Japanese titles, a few other songs are generally officially translated in foreign languages. "Waltz suomi" on ''Final Fantasy V: Dear Friends'', perhaps unsurprisingly, means "Finnish Waltz" or "Finland Waltz" (the album was performed by a group of mostly Finnish musicians). "Aria di mezzo carattere" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' translates literally from Italian as "Air of Medium Character". "Liberi fatali" is Latin for "Fated Children".
* DarkReprise: It's extremely common for character themes to get darker arrangements to highlight tragic events in the characters' past. For a few examples from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', "Locke's Theme" gets a minor-key rearrangement as "Forever, Rachel"; "Setzer's Theme" gets the more subdued "Epitaph" to highlight his tragic past; "Coin of Fate" is a slower and sadder rearrangement of "Edgar and Sabin's Theme"; "Awakening" is a more subdued version of "Terra's Theme" (which also has a subdued version in the game opening); "Celes' Theme" is a tempestuous version of "Aria di mezzo carattere" that plays during [[spoiler:Celes' AttemptedSuicide]]; Shadow's spaghetti western-styled theme gets a dramatic, tragic orchestral rearrangement when he is [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]] in the finale; and, of course, the entire final movement of "Dancing Mad" is made of re-arrangements of Kefka's theme, not to mention the re-used leitmotif in the rest of the song (see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbeXHTDVX8c 8-Bit Music Theory]]'s analysis for details). From ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', "Flowers Blooming in the Church" gets rearranged as "Aerith's Theme" for [[ItWasHisSled that scene]]; "Cid's Theme" gets a slower, sadder rearrangement as "Launching a Dream into Space"; "Red XIII's Theme" gets a more dramatic rearrangement as "The Great Warrior" (and is also worked into "Cosmo Canyon"). Nearly every game contains multiple examples of this.
* EpicRocking: With "Dancing Mad" (at around seventeen minutes on the OST) and the ending theme of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' (at around twenty-one) standing out as the top examples. The opera from the same game could be considered even longer, but it's usually divided up into multiple tracks; however, one arrangement had the entire opera included as a single track that lasted for over twenty-three minutes.
* GenreRoulette: His soundtracks frequently flit from genre to genre at the drop of a hat. For example, "Otherworld" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is basically straight-up DeathMetal (although the Black Mages' remake turns it into more or less PowerMetal).
* {{Instrumentals}}: Most of his stuff. Starting from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', there is usually at least one song that contains lyrics (although the limitations of the technology at the time meant that the SNES couldn't actually produce vocal sounds, which made their first appearance in his soundtracks with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''[='=]s "One-Winged Angel"), but the majority of his work is still instrumental. However, some of the songs also have vocals added in their arranged versions ("Dancing Mad" and "My Home Sweet Home" are two good recurring examples of this), and Earthbound Papas' albums actually contain more tracks with vocals than without.
* {{Leitmotif}}: His soundtracks make liberal uses of this. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' gives every permanent playable character at least two versions of his or her own theme (with the exception of twins Edgar and Sabin, who share the same theme): the main version of the theme, plus a reprise in the finale. Several character themes, including Terra's, Edgar/Sabin's, Locke's, Celes's, and Setzer's, get three or more arrangements. Most other soundtracks he's composed don't go to quite this extent, but it's still uncommon starting from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' for a major character not to receive at least one version of his or her own theme.
* LoudnessWar: His game soundtracks don't get this for the most part, but most of the Black Mages' material was badly brickwalled. It got less severe on each of their releases, though, to the point where only a couple of songs on the third album were noticeably affected, and doesn't affect Earthbound Papas' material too badly (''Dancing Dad'' even comes out to a highly respectable [=DR10=]). Songs that were streamed from live audio within the games themselves (as opposed to being put together from instrument samples) may sometimes fall under this trope as well; "Otherworld", from the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' soundtrack, particularly stands out for this (but then, it's metal, and ubiquitous clipping distortion had already been par for the course in the genre since years before the game's release, so this may not be terribly surprising).
* OminousLatinChanting: "One-Winged Angel" is probably the TropeCodifier for video game soundtracks, and it's far from the only time he used the trope.
* RearrangeTheSong: His work has frequently been rearranged for various formats, usually orchestral or ProgressiveMetal adaptations. Uematsu himself plays keyboards in the Black Mages and Earthbound Papas, and is partially responsible for the arrangements. Nearly every one of his ''Final Fantasy'' soundtracks also was given an arrangement album, sometimes in wildly different genres like Celtic folk music.
* RecurringRiff: There are several throughout his work on the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series:
** For example, most of the battle themes contain the same bass line (''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' leaves the bass line out... [[DoubleSubversion until the final battle theme, "The Extreme"]]), and almost all of them open with the same sequence of notes.
** The eponymous "Final Fantasy" theme appears in almost every game he composed as well (it's absent from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', and also doesn't appear until the ending of a couple others).
** The "Prelude" also appears in every game he composed, although the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' arrangement is strikingly different from any of the earlier ones (still the same melody, though).
** The "Victory Fanfare" had identical melodies in all games until ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', and even in that game it made a cameo as the chocobo racing victory theme (as well as a minor-key DarkReprise for chocobo racing losses), and also reappeared with the same melody in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Moreover, even ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''[='=]s fanfares open with the same notes as the others.
** The chocobo theme appears in countless variants throughout the games he's worked on (and some he hasn't).
** The moogles also have the same theme in most of the games they appear in.
** Most of the time, individual games will have recurring themes as well. Some are described above under DarkReprise, but nearly every major character has his or her own leitmotif.
* RockMeAmadeus: He's quite fond of quoting Music/JohannSebastianBach's Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor in particular. Examples appear in "Golbeza, Clad in Darkness" and "Dancing Mad" amongst other songs.
* RunningGag: Very nearly every rendition of the Chocobo theme, particularly since ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', has been titled with some form of either GratuitousSpanish or GratuitousFrench,[[note]]The root word for "of" is identical in both languages, though both languages sometimes abbreviate it, albeit in different ways[[/note]] to the point where one rendition manages to subvert expectations by making a multilingual pun out of the expected convention instead ("Odeka ke Chocobo" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', which replaces the expected phrase with a Japanese phrase ["おでかけ" in kana] that literally means "go out"). In most cases, the title provides some indication of the arrangement's musical style, though some of the references may require some music knowledge to comprehend.[[note]]For instance, "Mods de Chocobo" is performed in the "mod" style most familiar to modern audiences from Music/TheWho's early work, but many contemporary listeners probably don't know that their style was actually ''called'' that - if they're able to identify it as anything, they probably just know it as [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion British Invasion]][[/note]] Others describe other aspects of the song ("Cinco de Chocobo" refers to the song's meter signature of 5/4, which is a very transparent ShoutOut to Dave Brubeck's "Take Five", while "Brass de Chocobo", obviously, refers to the track's dominant instrument family rather than its musical genre). Even arrangement albums get in on the fun, often using differing titles from their respective game versions ("Milan de Chocobo" on ''Final Fantasy VI: Grand Finale'', for instance).
* SincerestFormOfFlattery: He's admitted the intro of "One-Winged Angel" was stolen from Music/JimiHendrix' "Purple Haze", and has said the song as a whole is a fusion of Hendrix' style with that of Music/IgorStravinsky.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
** The use of katakana for some of his song titles has resulted in occasional title confusion in English. The theme for Zozo from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is usually translated as "Slam Shuffle" (including in official releases), but there is good reason to suspect that it may have been intended to be translated as "Slum Shuffle", since Zozo is a slum. The katakana for the two words is the same (スラム, ''suramu''). Additionally, the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' song "Rose of May" is frequently mistranslated as "Loss of Me".
* SpiritualSuccessor: Earthbound Papas to the Black Mages. The reason the latter was disbanded is because Square Enix owned the trademark, which prevented the band from performing material Uematsu had written for games not related to the Final Fantasy series (as well as from performing much original material). Earthbound Papas' lineup also does not contain any current Square Enix employees for this reason.
* [[SpoiledByTheManual Spoiled by the Song Title]]: His titles are usually good about avoiding this (even the most notorious ItWasHisSled twist from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' isn't spoiled by any of the official titles of its corresponding song), but the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' track title "[[spoiler:My Father's Murderer]]" gives away a fairly significant plot point if one connects the title with the {{leitmotif}} that appears in it.
* TitleConfusion: This is probably bound to happen with a composer as prolific as Uematsu. This is likely worsened by the fact that the Japanese titles of Uematsu's songs, where they exist, are usually considered more official; they have also been translated in multiple ways, which means some songs can be known by several different titles in English. (For some reason, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII''[='s=] soundtrack only has official titles in [usually] English; all the others have official titles for most songs in both Japanese and English.)
** Some official English titles don't correspond to their Japanese titles at all, which is sometimes for the better ("Devil's Lab" was "Magitek Research Facility"; "Tenderness in the Air" was "Town Theme"; "Fate in Haze" was "Dungeon"; "Another World of Beasts" and "Illusionary World" were both "Phantom Beast World"; "Ahead on Our Way" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' was just "Main Theme of Final Fantasy V", although see directly below for confusion that has resulted from this) and sometimes not ("Mad Dance of the Ominous Star" is arguably an even cooler title than "Dancing Mad", and "Tower of an Evil God" is definitely cooler than "Kefka's Tower" or "Last Dungeon". Also, sometimes the ending theme of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is given the bland English-language title of "Ending Theme", while the Japanese title means something like "Resurrecting Green" or "Restoring Green" [in the sense of plant life]; on the plus side, some other releases of the soundtrack have given it the more evocative title of "Balance Is Restored").
** Another potential source of confusion is that sometimes two or more different songs are given the same title. For instance, the main theme of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' is known as "Ahead on Our Way" in English; so is one of the town themes from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Similarly, a character theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is, quite naturally, often referred to as "Terra" (or "Terra's Theme") in English; there's also a map theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' known as "Terra".[[note]]In both cases, the Japanese titles of these SimilarlyNamedWorks are different; the character Terra is actually known as Tina in Japan, but translator [[{{Woolseyism}} Ted Woolsey]] changed it because "Tina" is considered an exotic name in Japan, but not so much in the West. The exact translation of the Japanese title for the FFVI piece is "Tina's Theme", while the FFIX piece actually is called just "Terra". Similarly, the main theme of Final Fantasy V is called just "[[ShapedLikeItself Main Theme of Final Fantasy V]]" in the Japanese title; "Ahead on Our Way" is a reasonable translation of the Japanese title for the FFVII map piece, however (it could also be translated as something like "Midway Through the Journey").[[/note]] There are also, quite naturally, several different songs named "Ending Theme", "Battle Theme", and so forth.
** Finally, of course, is the matter of one title simply getting multiple translations, which wreaks particular havoc with music databases such as last.fm that attempt to track users' listening habits. It might be intuitive to human listeners that "Prelude to the Void" and "The Prelude of Empty Skies" are the same song (though not so much to a database), but others make no sense at all - "As I Feel, You Feel" can also be known as "Legend of the Great Forest" (which is, in fact, a more accurate translation of its Japanese title). There really isn't any way to keep track of this except by making note of the different titles these songs have been given on their many different releases throughout the years - and if you don't possess at least rudimentary knowledge of the Japanese language (or at least access to online resources about it; [[https://translate.google.com/ Google Translate]] and [[http://nihongo.j-talk.com/ J-Talk's Kanji Converter]] may be helpful, though it should be noted that neither are anywhere close to infallible), it's probably a hopeless task.
* TriumphantReprise: There have been quite a few of them. For example, Beatrix' subdued theme, "Rose of May", gets a much more upbeat reprise as "Protecting My Devotion" (or "Someone to Protect") towards the climax of the game. More notably, the finale of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' contains of examples of this for nearly every character theme (Shadow's gets a DarkReprise instead, and Setzer's is reprised in both forms to highlight the danger the party faces at certain points in the narrative), with Celes and Locke's standing out as perhaps the best example of this, as the two themes, which had been played separately throughout the game to that point, finally interlock with one another to commemorate the characters' romance. And then the series' main theme gets a triumphant reprise to top the whole thing off. It is an unquestionable example of SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic.
* UncommonTime: Most of his soundtracks will have several examples of this, and sometimes they get really complicated. Details can be found on the trope page.
* WordPureeTitle: "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec", obtained by throwing the words "Succession of Witches" and "Love" into a blender.

!! Major works where he contributed more than one original song include (feel free to add examples to make this more complete):

* SincerestFormOfFlattery: He's admitted the intro of "One-Winged Angel" was stolen from Music/JimiHendrix' "Purple Haze".

* VideoGame/RadRacer (1987)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyI (1987)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyII (1988)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII (1990)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV (1991)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyV (1992)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI (1994)
* VideoGame/ChronoTrigger (1995; contributed nine songs[[note]]"Silent Light", "Mystery of the Past", "People Who Threw Away the Will to Live", "Bike Chase", "Creeping Through the Sewers", "Primeval Mountain", "Burn! Bobonga!", "Tyrano Castle", "Sealed Door". Admittedly, "Mystery of the Past" is more of a snippet than a song.[[/note]] after main composer Creator/YasunoriMitsuda overworked himself to the point of stomach ulcers; also contributed an arrangement for the boss battle theme, which was written by Noriko Matsueda)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII (1997)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII (1999)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX (2000)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyX (2001; with Creator/MasashiHamauzu and Junya Nakano; first game in the series where he didn't write all the music)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI (2002; with Naoshi Mizuta and Kumi Tanioka)
* VideoGame/BlueDragon (2006)
* VideoGame/LostOdyssey (2007)
* VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV (2010; later editions of the game added other composers' works, but Uematsu was the only composer for the initial launch)
* VideoGame/TheLastStory (2011)

* DarkReprise: It's extremely common for character themes to get darker arrangements to highlight tragic events in the characters' past. For a few examples from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', "Locke's Theme" gets a minor-key rearrangement as "Forever, Rachel"; "Setzer's Theme" gets the more subdued "Epitaph" to highlight his tragic past; "Coin of Fate" is a slower and sadder rearrangement of "Edgar and Sabin's Theme"; "Awakening" is a more subdued version of "Terra's Theme" (which also has a subdued version in the game opening); "Celes' Theme" is a tempestuous version of "Aria di mezzo carattere" that plays during [[spoiler:Celes' AttemptedSuicide]]; and of course, Shadow's spaghetti western-styled theme gets a dramatic, tragic orchestral rearrangement when he is [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide]] in the finale. From ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', "Flowers Blooming in the Church" gets rearranged as "Aerith's Theme" for [[ItWasHisSled that scene]]; "Cid's Theme" gets a slower, sadder rearrangement as "Launching a Dream into Space"; "Red XIII's Theme" gets a more dramatic rearrangement as "The Great Warrior" (and is also worked into "Cosmo Canyon"). Nearly every game contains multiple examples of this.

* TriumphantReprise: There have been quite a few of them. For example, Beatrix' subdued theme, "Rose of May", gets a much more upbeat reprise as "Protecting My Devotion" (or "Someone to Protect") towards the climax of the game. More notably, the finale of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' contains of examples of this for nearly every character theme (Shadow's gets a DarkReprise instead, and Setzer's is reprised in both forms to highlight the danger the party faces at certain points in the narrative), with Celes and Locke's standing out as perhaps the best example of this, as the two themes, which had been played separately throughout the game to that point, finally interlock with one another to commemorate the characters' romance. And then the series' main theme gets a triumphant reprise to top the whole thing off. It is an unquestionable example of CrowningMusicOfAwesome.

** The use of katakana for some of his song titles has resulted in occasional title confusion in English. The theme for Zozo from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is usually translated as "Slam Shuffle" (including in official releases), but there is good reason to suspect that it may have been intended to be translated as "Slum Shuffle", since Zozo is a slum. The katakana for the two words is the same (スラム, ''suramu''). Additionally, the ''Music/FinalFantasyIX'' song "Rose of May" is frequently mistranslated as "Loss of Me".

* GenreRoulette: His soundtracks frequently flit from genre to genre at the drop of a hat. For example, "Otherworld" from ''Music/FinalFantasyX'' is basically straight-up DeathMetal (although the Black Mages' remake turns it into more or less PowerMetal).

Since leaving Creator/SquareEnix in 2004, Uematsu has worked as a freelancer, composing for such projects as ''VideoGame/BlueDragon'', ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' and ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl''. He also had a rock band, called ''The Black Mages'', which played heavy rock covers of his ''Final Fantasy'' songs, as well as another band called ''Earthbound Papas'' ([[IThoughtItMeant no relation to]] [[Videogame/EarthBound the game]]). For the past decade, Uematsu has also been arranging his work for orchestras. He personally travels with the ''Distant Worlds'' concert tour, directed and conducted by fellow game-composer ArnieRoth.

** Another potential source of confusion is that sometimes two or more different songs are given the same title. For instance, the main theme of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' is known as "Ahead on Our Way" in English; so is one of the town themes from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Similarly, a character theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is, quite naturally, often referred to as "Terra" (or "Terra's Theme") in English; there's also a map theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' known as "Terra". (In both cases, the Japanese titles of these SimilarlyNamedWorks are different; the character Terra is actually known as Tina in Japan, but translator [[{{Woolseyism}} Ted Woolsey]] changed it because "Tina" is considered an exotic name in Japan, but not so much in the West. The exact translation of the Japanese title for the FFVI piece is "Tina's Theme", while the FFIX piece actually is called just "Terra". Similarly, the main theme of Final Fantasy V is called just "[[ShapedLikeItself Main Theme of Final Fantasy V]]" in the Japanese title; "Ahead on Our Way" is a reasonable translation of the Japanese title for the FFVII map piece, however [it could also be translated as something like "In the Middle of a Journey"].) There are also, quite naturally, several different songs named "Ending Theme", "Battle Theme", and so forth.

* RunningGag: Very nearly every rendition of the Chocobo theme, particularly since ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', has been titled with some form of either GratuitousSpanish or GratuitousFrench,[[note]]The root word for "of" is identical in both languages, though both languages sometimes abbreviate it, albeit in different ways[[/note]] to the point where one rendition manages to subvert expectations by making a multilingual pun out of the expected convention instead ("Odeka ke Chocobo" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', which replaces the expected phrase with a Japanese phrase ["おでかけ" in kana] that literally means "go out"). In most cases, the title provides some indication of the arrangement's musical style, though some of the references may require some music knowledge to comprehend.[[note]]For instance, "Mods de Chocobo" is performed in the "mod" style most familiar to modern audiences from Music/TheWho's early work, but many contemporary listeners probably don't know that their style was actually ''called'' that - if they're able to identify it as anything, they probably just know it as UsefulNotes/BritishInvasion[[/note]] Others describe other aspects of the song ("Cinco de Chocobo" refers to the song's meter signature of 5/4, which is a very transparent ShoutOut to Dave Brubeck's "Take Five", while "Brass de Chocobo", obviously, refers to the track's dominant instrument family rather than its musical genre). Even arrangement albums get in on the fun, often using differing titles from their respective game versions ("Milan de Chocobo" on ''Final Fantasy VI: Grand Finale'', for instance).

* VideoGame/ChronoTrigger (1995; contributed nine songs after main composer Creator/YasunoriMitsuda overworked himself to the point of stomach ulcers; also contributed an arrangement for the boss battle theme, which was written by Noriko Matsueda)

!! TropeNamer for:
* LaughingMad (variant of his song title "Dancing Mad", though, as mentioned below under TitleConfusion, the original Japanese title is a bit more complex)
* OneWingedAngel

* RunningGag: Very nearly every rendition of the Chocobo theme, particularly since ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', has been titled with some form of either GratuitousSpanish or GratuitousFrench,[[note]]The root word for "of" is identical in both languages, though both languages sometimes abbreviate it, albeit in different ways[[/note]] to the point where one rendition manages subverts the usual condition by making a multilingual pun out of the expected convention instead ("Odeka ke Chocobo" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', which replaces the expected phrase with a Japanese phrase ["おでかけ" in kana] that literally means "go out"). In most cases, the title provides some indication of the arrangement's musical style, though some of the references may require some music knowledge to comprehend.[[note]]For instance, "Mods de Chocobo" is performed in the "mod" style most familiar to modern audiences from Music/TheWho's early work, but many contemporary listeners probably don't know that their style was actually ''called'' that - if they're able to identify it as anything, they probably just know it as UsefulNotes/BritishInvasion[[/note]] Others describe other aspects of the song ("Cinco de Chocobo" refers to the song's meter signature of 5/4, which is a very transparent ShoutOut to Dave Brubeck's "Take Five", while "Brass de Chocobo", obviously, refers to the track's dominant instrument family rather than its musical genre). Even arrangement albums get in on the fun, often using differing titles from their respective game versions ("Milan de Chocobo" on ''Final Fantasy VI: Grand Finale'', for instance).

* BilingualBonus: When his work gets adapted for vocal arrangements, they are frequently in many different languages. Languages used have included Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Saami. Song titles sometimes qualify as well. In addition to the expected Japanese titles, a few other songs are generally officially translated in foreign languages. "Waltz suomi" on ''Final Fantasy V: Dear Friends'', perhaps unsurprisingly, means "Finnish Waltz" or "Finland Waltz" (the album was performed by a group of mostly Finnish musicians). "Aria di mezzo carattere" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' translates literally from Italian as "Air of Medium Character".

* UncommonTime: Most of his soundtracks will have several examples of this, and sometimes they get really complicated. Details can be found on the trope page.

* BilingualBonus: When his work gets adapted for vocal arrangements, they are frequently in many different languages. Languages used have included Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Saami. Song titles sometimes qualify as well. "Waltz suomi" on ''Final Fantasy V: Dear Friends'', perhaps unsurprisingly, means "Finnish Waltz" or "Finland Waltz" (the album was performed by a group of mostly Finnish musicians). "Aria di mezzo carattere" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' translates literally from Italian as "Air of Medium Character".

* BilingualBonus: When his work gets adapted for vocal arrangements, they are frequently in many different languages. Languages used have included Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Saami.

* LoudnessWar: His game soundtracks don't get this for the most part, but most of the Black Mages' material was badly brickwalled. It got less severe on each of their releases, though, to the point where only a couple of songs on the third album were noticeably affected, and doesn't affect Earthbound Papas' material too badly (''Dancing Dad'' even comes out to a highly respectable [=DR10=]).

** Some official English titles don't correspond to their Japanese titles at all, which is sometimes for the better ("Devil's Lab" was "Magitek Research Facility"; "Tenderness in the Air" was "Town Theme"; "Fate in Haze" was "Dungeon"; "Another World of Beasts" and "Illusionary World" were both "Phantom Beast World"; "Ahead on Our Way" from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' was just "Main Theme of Final Fantasy V", although see directly below for confusion that has resulted from this) and sometimes not ("Mad Dance of the Ominous Star" is arguably an even cooler title than "Dancing Mad", and "Tower of an Evil God" is definitely cooler than "Kefka's Tower" or "Last Dungeon").

** Another potential source of confusion is that sometimes two or more different songs are given the same title. For instance, the main theme of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' is known as "Ahead on Our Way" in English; so is one of the town themes from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Similarly, a character theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is, quite naturally, often referred to as "Terra" (or "Terra's Theme") in English; there's also a map theme from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' known as "Terra". (In both cases, the Japanese titles of these SimilarlyNamedWorks are different; the character Terra is actually known as Tina in Japan, but translator [[{{Woolseyism}} Ted Woolsey]] changed it because "Tina" is considered an exotic name in Japan, but not so much in the West. The exact translation of the Japanese title for the FFVI piece is "Tina's Theme", while the FFIX piece actually is called just "Terra". Similarly, the main theme of Final Fantasy V is called just "Main Theme of Final Fantasy V" in the Japanese title; "Ahead on Our Way" is a reasonable translation of the Japanese title for the FFVII map piece, however.) There are also, quite naturally, several different songs named "Ending Theme", "Battle Theme", and so forth.

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The use of katakana for some of his song titles has resulted in occasional title confusion in English. The theme for Zozo from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is usually translated as "Slam Shuffle" (including in official releases), but there is good reason to suspect that it may have been intended to be translated as "Slum Shuffle", since Zozo is a slum. The katakana for the two words is the same (スラム, ''suramu''). Additionally, the ''Music/FinalFantasyIX'' song "Rose of May" is frequently mistranslated as "Loss of Me". Other English titles don't correspond to their Japanese titles at all, which is sometimes for the better ("Devil's Lab" was "Magitek Research Facility", "Tenderness in the Air" was "Town Theme", "Fate in Haze" was "Dungeon", "Another World of Beasts" and "Illusionary World" were both "Phantom Beast World") and sometimes arguably not ("Mad Dance of the Ominous Star" is arguably an even cooler title than "Dancing Mad", and "Tower of an Evil God" is definitely cooler than "Kefka's Tower" or "Last Dungeon").

* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The use of katakana for some of his song titles has resulted in occasional title confusion in English. The theme for Zozo from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is usually translated as "Slam Shuffle" (including in official releases), but there is good reason to suspect that it may have been intended to be translated as "Slum Shuffle", since Zozo is a slum. The katakana for the two words is the same (スラム, ''suramu''). Additionally, the ''Music/FinalFantasyIX'' song "Rose of May" is frequently mistranslated as "Loss of Me". Other English titles don't correspond to their Japanese titles at all, which is sometimes for the better ("Devil's Lab" was "Magitek Research Facility", "Tenderness in the Air" was "Town Theme", "Fate in Haze" was "Cave Theme", "Another World of Beasts" and "Illusionary World" were both "Phantom Beast World") and sometimes arguably not ("Mad Dance of the Ominous Star" is arguably an even cooler title than "Dancing Mad", and "Tower of an Evil God" is definitely cooler than "Kefka's Tower" or "Last Dungeon").

Nobuo Uematsu is one of the most important composers of VideoGame music to date. Ever since starting his career at 1985, he has worked on the soundtracks of over forty games. His best known work is with the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, whose main installments all had completely Uematsu-made songs up until the tenth part. However, he returned to the series to compose for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''.