History Main / BattleThemeMusic

* The themes for the [[FanNickname Mane Six]] in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fan-made game ''VideoGame/MyLittlePonyFightingIsMagic'' survive on [=YouTube=] even though Hasbro shut down their actual use in a fighting game.

** In ''4 Ultimate'', there's a unique theme for monsters that reached the powerful Apex status. This theme has maximum BackgroundMusicOverride privileges. There's a similar theme for Deviants in ''Generations'' and its ''Ultimate'' expansion (except for the Diablos deviant, which has its own theme for being the latter's joint flagship monster alongside Valstrax).

* All bosses in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' and ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'', except one in the latter game, has their own battle theme. The lone exception is Ryuji, who borrows the music of Matt Helms ("Subuta 2"). Also of note is Henry's theme ("We Are Finally Cowboys"), which is heard during his TrueFinalBoss battle against Travis at the end of the first game, and is remixed into a more dynamic version in the sequel when ''[[PromotedToPlayable he]]'' is fighting Mimmy.

** The earlier 2D games, starting from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'', give each a common theme for both the bosses ''and'' the minibosses (where present), thus leaving the corresponding FinalBoss (Wart in ''[=SMB2=]'' itself, Bowser in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'', Tatanga in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'', Wario in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'') as the only one with a unique battle theme. In contrast, [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 the very first game]] and by extension ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels The Lost Levels]]'' avert the trope even in the final duel against Bowser (the Castle course theme still plays); this is rectified in the ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioAllStars All-Stars]]'' remake for both games, which does add a battle theme for the regular Bowser encounters and another for the last ones. The trend also applies for all ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' and ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' games, though the minibosses do have a common separate theme in each of them.

** Each boss has its own battle music in ''VideoGame/WarioWorld'' and ''VideoGame/WarioLand Shake It!'', while in ''VideoGame/WarioMasterOfDisguise'' there are four battle themes: the normal boss theme, Count Cannoli's boss theme, Carpaccio's boss theme, and the final boss theme. All other ''Wario Land'' games use a common battle theme for regular bosses and another for the FinalBoss.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' series does this in fine form - each boss in each game has her own theme music which is instantly recognizable. Some get more than one theme!

** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackandWhite Black]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackandWhite White]]'' have: Wild Pokémon, Trainer, [[TheRival Rival]], Team Plasma, Gym Leader, Gym Leader's Last Pokémon (which is an arrangement of the main theme), N, Battle Trouble (a song that replaces the [[CriticalAnnoyance incessant beeping]] when your Pokémon's low on health), Elite Four, Reshiram/Zekrom, Kyurem (an arrangement of Reshiram/Zekrom's battle theme), Final Battle with N, Ghetsis (the one with the [[MemeticMutation "DENNIS"]] [[OminousLatinChanting chanting]]), Battle Subway Trainer, Legendary Pokémon, [[spoiler: Cynthia (which was imported from [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondandPearl Diamond]], [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondandPearl Pearl]], and Platinum)]], Strong Wild Pokémon (an arrangement of the normal Wild Pokémon battle theme that's used for special battles, like Zoroark), Champion, ''and'' High Ranked Battle Subway Trainer (an arrangement of the [[FinalBoss Champion]] theme from [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue RBY]]) -- bringing the grand total to ''nineteen battle themes''.

** The game has three boss themes: "Master of Shadows" for a Full Moon Shadow, "Master of Tartarus" for a Tartarus floor boss, and "Unavoidable Battle" for [[spoiler:Strega members]]. Then comes the final boss battle and the near-legendary "Battle For Everyone's Souls", a BossRemix of the Velvet Room theme "Poem For Everyone's Souls". [[spoiler:And if you get the true ending, you get a remix of the game's opening theme while fighting the true final boss]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' has "Last Surprise" for regular battles, which has the thieves giving {{Badass Boast}}s about how their enemies [[YouAreAlreadyDead are already finished]]. "Rivers in the Desert" for some of the endgame {{Boss Battle}}s, which has dueling verses by the heroes and villains about their WellIntentionedExtremist desires to change the world. There's also unique insturmental tunes for battles after characters first awaken to their Persona, the various MonsterOfTheWeek villains, and mid-boss fights against souped up mooks.

-->-- '''{{Troper}} Glazed'''

** ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' amd ''[[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission Zero Mission]]'' spare themselves the music sharing conundrum from their predecessors by giving each boss its own theme (the former makes an exception with Serris and Yakuza, as both of them do share one theme).

** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 Black 2 and White 2]]'' certainly deliver on that. In addition to the standard Unova Wild Pokemon/Trainer/Rival/Gym Leader/Elite Four/Champion themes and their variants from ''Black and White'', it also contains remixes of every previous generation's Gym Leader and Champion theme, remixes of the Regi quartet and Uxie/Azelf/Mespirt themes, an additional theme for the World Tournament, and remixes for [[spoiler:N, Ghetsis,]] and Team Plasma. Finally, there're new themes for Black and White Kyurem, Colress, and [[spoiler:the new Champion Iris]], for a whopping grand total of ''[[UpToEleven 33]]'' themes.

** The final bosses of most of the games even use different themes for different phases of their battle (this being a series fond of [[MarathonBoss marathon-length]] [[SequentialBoss sequential final bosses.]]) Marluxia takes this UpToEleven with ''three'' unique themes for his three-stage fight in [[UpdatedRerelease Re:CoM.]]

* Games in the ''Xeno'' metaseries:
** ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has Knight of Fire as the standard boss music, and "Awakening" as the FinalBoss music.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Episode I'', every boss has the same battle theme; in fact, every battle of the game, with the exception of the last battle, uses the exact same music. ''Episode II'' adds a Minor Boss theme to the mix. Conversely, in ''Episode III'', almost every boss has his personal battle theme.
** The majority of the story bosses in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' use the same theme, though the songs from the cutscenes preceding them sometimes carry on into the fight, then are replaced by the usual boss theme once they finish. Another boss theme is used for all of the [[BossInMookClothing unique monsters]] and some of the story bosses as well, usually in situations where the party is making a comeback after getting roughed up by the boss in the previous cutscene.
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' has a lot of boss themes. Most of the [[BossInMookClothing Tyrants]] use 'Uncontrollable', the first few story bosses as well as most of the Sidequest bosses use 'z37b20a13t01t08le'[[note]]z37 battle[[/note]], several later story bosses use [='NO.EX01'=], the boss of Chapter 11 uses the first half of 'aBOreSSs'[[labelnote:note (spoilers)]]Ares Boss[[/labelnote]], the boss of Chapter 10 uses the second half of 'aBOreSSs' in the first phase before switching to [='NO.EX01'=], the penultimate boss uses the first half of 'raTEoREkiSImeAra'[[labelnote:note (major spoilers)]]Lao Chimera/Telethia[[/labelnote]], the Final Boss uses the first half of 'The key we've lost', several of the [[BonusBoss Bonus Bosses]] use the last third of [=CR17S19S8=][[note]]Crisis[[/note]], Yggralith Zero uses 'In the forest <X→Z ver.>', some of the Time Attack bosses use an instrumental version of 'Uncontrollable', while [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Telethia, the Endbringer]], the strongest BonusBoss in the game, uses the second half of 'raTEoREkiSImeAra'. Finally, both the final fight against Rexoskell (from the infamous Definian Downfall sidequest) and the fight against Interfearence (from Murderess's last affinity mission, Serial Thriller) use 'z30huri2ba0tt12le1110'.[[note]]z30 free battle[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' series: The later games and remakes tend to have multiple boss themes, eg, the dungeon end boss musics are different from the mid-bosses("Beasts as Black as Night" and "Shock of the Death God" in ''III''), major or {{Climax Boss}}es have a special theme (eg "The Ordeal Becomes Great" in ''IV''), and TheDragon (e.g. Dalles in ''II Eternal''), QuirkyMinibossSquad(e.g. the Mages in ''V''), and the BigBad usually have their own unique theme, with variations for multiple forms.

!!Examples

** ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackandWhite Black]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackandWhite White]]'' have: Wild Pokémon, Trainer, [[TheRival Rival]], Team Plasma, Gym Leader, Gym Leader's Last Pokémon (which is an arrangement of the main theme), N, Battle Trouble (a song that replaces the [[CriticalAnnoyance incessant beeping]] when your Pokémon's low on health), Elite Four, Reshiram/Zekrom, Kyurem (an arrangement of Reshiram/Zekrom's battle theme), Final Battle with N, Ghetsis (the one with the [[{{Mondegreen}} "DENNIS"]] [[OminousLatinChanting chanting]]), Battle Subway Trainer, Legendary Pokémon, [[spoiler: Cynthia (which was imported from [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondandPearl Diamond]], [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondandPearl Pearl]], and Platinum)]], Strong Wild Pokémon (an arrangement of the normal Wild Pokémon battle theme that's used for special battles, like Zoroark), Champion, ''and'' High Ranked Battle Subway Trainer (an arrangement of the [[FinalBoss Champion]] theme from [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue RBY]]) -- bringing the grand total to ''nineteen battle themes''.

* Outside of boss battles, every battle theme in ''VideoGame/HarryPotter and the Chamber of Secrets'' is [[BossRemix a more intense remix]] of the theme for whichever area the battle was taking place in.

** The majority of the story bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' use the same theme, though the songs from the cutscenes preceding them sometimes carry on into the fight, then are replaced by the usual boss theme once they finish. Another boss theme is used for all of the [[BossInMookClothing unique monsters]] and some of the story bosses as well, usually in situations where the party is making a comeback after getting roughed up by the boss in the previous cutscene.

* The battle themes in ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' differ based on whether you or the enemy takes the initiative in the starting the battle. There's a pair of themes used for the majority of the game, a pair that's only played in the [[spoiler: Mechonis]] areas, and a theme that's used exclusively for the enemies fought past the PointOfNoReturn on the way to the final boss. Save for a few exceptions, all of the battle themes, be they boss or otherwise, can also be overridden by one of two other themes; one that plays when you change the future, and one that plays when your party is in low spirits.

'''Different BossBattle musics may play for:'''
* Normal BossBattle - The battle theme for 'normal' bosses or minibosses. Some games may have a few different 'normal' boss themes; otherwise, expect to hear it a lot at the end if there's a BossBonanza.
* Major BossBattle - A more dramatic theme for the more difficult or unique bosses. Usually used for a ClimaxBoss. May overlap with the Villain Battle Theme.
* Villain Battle - The battle theme for major story villains, which may serve as their {{Leitmotif}}, or be a BossRemix thereof. This is usually lighthearted and silly for the GoldfishPoopGang or QuirkyMinibossSquad, but more serious [[RecurringBoss bosses]] such as TheDragon or BigBad will have more tension-filled battle themes.
* FinalBoss Battle - The battle theme for the FinalBoss of the game. If the FinalBoss has [[SequentialBoss multiple forms]] ([[OneWingedAngel as they usually do]]), each form will have its own theme music. The first form may use the Major Boss or Villain Battle theme for that particular BigBad, but later forms will be unique. The very last battle music may be marked by the use of [[OrchestralBombing live orchestra]], [[OminousPipeOrgan organs]], [[OminousLatinChanting ominous choir]], or [[AutobotsRockOut extremely tense rock music]] [[OrchestraHitTechnoBattle or techno music]]. [[GenreMashup Or all of the above.]] Occasionally if the FinalBoss is a TragicMonster itself, SadBattleMusic may occur.

*** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash'' introduces two alternate versions of the regular battle theme: the chiptune-inspired one in the Green Energy Plant and the warped version in the parallel world.
*** In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'', the regular battle music depends on which streamer area you're in. Each streamer generally has one track, although blue streamer has two: one for Autumn Mountain and the other for Shogun Studios. There's also a unique "Unsettling Area" theme for Bonehead Island, Bowser's Castle, and The Princess Peach. The Vellumental areas have their own ominuous regular battle music as well.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' improves upon its predecessor ''Super Mario 64'' by having a general music theme for regular bosses, a theme for regular minibosses, a dedicated theme for ClimaxBoss Mecha Bowser, a BossRemix of the classic Underground theme of the original ''Super Mario Bros.'' for Shadow Mario, and a suspenseful drum-and-piano track in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''.

** Starting from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', 3D games deserve a mention for their normal battle music, which only activates gradually when an enemy is nearby. This gives it a secondary function of a sort of Spider Sense, if you will, since you'll sometimes know when an enemy is approaching even if you can't see it yet. [[VariableMix Then it seamlessly transitions back to the regular music]]. Another thing to note is that often times the battle music is less intense until you the first blow is dealt (by the player or the enemy), then the music gets more intense.

** ''[[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink The Adventure of Link]]'', ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'' have each a tense, fast-paced battle music for all standard bosses. The FinalBoss, also in each game, has a smooth-but-ominous one, and the ''A Link to the Past'' one is later used for Phantom Ganon in ''The Wind Waker''. This trend is extended to the remaining 2D and 2.5D games (except ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'', which has a bigger variety of themes), plus the 3D game ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]''.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' has five boss battle themes. Two for the final battle, one for the bosses fought on Death Mountain (dungeons 2 and 5), one for the other bosses, and one for the minibosses. Interestingly, the Death Mountain boss theme was remixed for Stallord in ''Twilight Princess''.
** From ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' onwards, every (or almost every) boss in the 3D games has a unique boss theme. ''Twilight Princess'' goes as far as having unique themes for most ''minibosses'' (though a few still adhere to a standard mini-boss battle music).
** The boss battle music in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' often gets a [[VariableMix triumphant version of the game's overworld theme]] when you're in the process of exploiting the enemy's weak spot with some well-aimed sword strikes. It uses one song for the bosses before the fourth dungeon, and another for the ones after. The switch happens right in the middle of the fourth boss's fight. Also in the game, there is also a tense 'You're Losing' mix when Ganondorf seems to get the upper hand when you've locked blades with him.
** One of the bosses in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', The Imprisoned, has a sophisticated VariableMix that comes into effect depending on the situation. There's the theme for the boss simply walking, one for when [[spoiler:the player is controlling the Groosenator]], one for when the boss is close to its destination, and one for when [[spoiler:the player is controlling the Groosenator during that dangerous proximity]].

** In the case of the 3D games, each subsequent installment gradually increases the variety of battle themes for the bosses. Bowser, meanwhile, has an OminousPipeOrgan remix of his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATKztq3a5is&feature=related theme]] for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu8N86Wq9yw final battle]] in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', a suspenseful drum-and-piano track in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', OminousLatinChanting in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', and OrchestralBombing in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'', ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey''.

** ''VideoGame/ArmedPoliceBatrider'' has [[https://youtu.be/hlYPoqOg8sc "Chop U!"]] for air bosses and [[https://youtu.be/Nn10l3b--ds "Let Ass Kick Together!"]] for ground bosses. The Stage 5 bosses get a unique theme, [[https://youtu.be/g9Hehl0PlCE "Nimbus"]], due to being the {{Final Boss}}es of the Normal course and the {{Climax Boss}}es of the Advanced Course. The final boss of the Advanced Course gets another unique theme, [[https://youtu.be/v_JhcCtytRE "Dragster"]]. In addition, returing bosses from ''VideoGame/MahouDaisauken'' have [[https://youtu.be/olZ8omRKJJA "Spiral Locus"]], one boss from ''Shippu Mahou Daisakusen'' has [[https://youtu.be/Nsv4UQoIcoo "Divided by Zero"]], and ''VideoGame/BattleGaregga'' bosses get [[https://youtu.be/yBEdnJKSUMg "Stab and Stomp!"]], even that game's final boss (which uses "Eruptor" in its own game).

* ''VideoGame/ESPRaDe'' has "Raging Deicide", a track that plays for every boss, including the FinalBoss. The UpdatedRerelease, ''ESP Ra.De. Psi'', has a remix album that, among other things, gives every boss a unique remix of "Raging Deicide".

* In ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' the local dungeon music for each area gradually shifts into a more intense theme when in combat, then shifts back once everyone is dead.

* ''VideoGame/RigidForceAlpha'' has "Versus Machines" for the bosses of Stage 1 and 4, "No Time to Rest" for Stages 2 and 5, "Don't Lose Your Head" for Stage 3 and the FinalBoss's first two phases, and "There Can Be Only One" for the final boss's [[TrueFinalBoss true final phase]].