History Main / BootstrappedTheme

** This troper once did an informal poll of his high school band on the most recognizable song of all time. There were a few arguments... until someone brought up World 1-1. Then it was unanimous.

* Not to mention that [[PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Sparrow]]'s theme became the most recognisable tune from all the series.
** Seriously. Try to find a single song that doesn't have a snippet from "[[{{Leitmotif}} He's A Pirate]]" somewhere in it.
*** Except that "He's a Pirate" is ''not'' Jack Sparrow's theme…[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRSd8faHNhE This is Jack Sparrow's theme]]. "He's A Pirate" is more likely intended to ''be'' the series theme, or else it is Will Turner's theme, based on the context of the line after which it was titled.

* "Techno Syndrome" from a ''MortalKombat'' tie-in album, immortalized in [[Film/MortalKombat The Movie]].

* The Mute City music is the ''{{F-Zero}}'' thing. It's the first course in ''F-Zero X'', so it's the one that literally everyone who's played that game knows, which is one reason it's in Smash, and is also the reason why it was resampled in ''F-Zero GX''. Big Blue's music is also instantly recognizable.

** ''Super Metroid'' used three different songs for its various boss fights. The one that played during both escape sequences, as well as the fights with Ridley, Draygon, and the Torizo, has come to be almost exclusively associated with Ridley and has been remixed for every appearance he has made in the series since. Even ''Brawl'' refers to it as "Vs. Ridley" (the name of the track in ''MetroidPrime'', BTW).

* In a weird character-focused example, in ''FinalFantasyVII'' "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C77Eaq3CDQ Those Chosen By the Planet]]" is Sephiroth's {{leitmotif}}. However, his battle tune, "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTxhh1Ins5I One Winged Angel]]", has mutated into his tune in the minds of the fandom and, as a consequence, in the compilation.
** Also, Cloud was never attributed a specific theme, so he appropriated the game's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFs8-qGaoHU Overworld theme]] and Main Theme as his own. Not only does it suit him (it roughly follows his character growth throughout the game, going from calm, to heroic and passionate, to atonal creepy lunacy, and then to a more humbly heroic feel at the end) but variations of it are used during moments of powerful emotion for Cloud (such as when leaving Midgar for the first time, the moment in the Nibelheim flashback when Cloud witnesses Sephiroth's descent into madness, and when Cloud and Tifa are in the Lifestream together) and it also coincidentally disappears from the Overworld at the same time Cloud leaves the party, to be replaced with the Meteor theme. It's no coincidence that it plays again in the Compilation over the credits of ''Crisis Core'', to indicate that [[{{Understatement}} Zack's torch has been passed to Cloud]].

* Funny that [[StarFox Fox McCloud]] never got ''his'' own theme, yet his rival Wolf has a personal theme. It is usually attributed to Fox that Area 6 in ''Star Fox 64'' is his theme, as it was used in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Star Fox Command.
** The original StarFox Corneria theme is also very popular, though it took SuperSmashBros 3 games to implement the theme into its soundtrack.

** A slowed down version was used as Ness' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcoFILRmugQ house music]] in ''Earthbound''. Not entirely recognizable at first, though. While not his official leitmotif, it's frequently associated with him.

* {{Godzilla}} has two main themes: the slow, dark "horror" theme from the original movie when he rampages through Tokyo, and also from the original movie, the up-tempo Self Defense Forces march, which become so associated with the monster that even the composer began calling it Godzilla's Theme. Nowadays, both are used relatively equally, depending on what kind of mood is being called for.

* "Hooray For Captain Spaulding" from ''Animal Crackers'' became [[MarxBrothers Groucho Marx]]'s theme song in this manner.
** Most explicitly as the theme to ''YouBetYourLife''.

* The now famous ''JamesBond'' theme was nothing but the opener of ''Dr No''. The actual James Bond theme from that movie is so much less memorable that nobody even knows it.

If you're wondering about the name, "bootstrapping" refers to an old story in which a man pulls himself and his horse out of a swamp by literally [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum pulling himself up by his own bootstraps]] (or his own hair, it depends on the version); this is a term that also appears elsewhere, such as in statistics. Thus, these are songs that have taken center stage through their own merits, not because any creator really wanted it to be thus.

** It should also be noted that while character themes shuffle around quite a bit, a few fighters were able to keep their [[{{Leitmotif}} iconic music]]. Most notably, there's {{Spider-Man}}, whose [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tonKOGARBIc theme]] from ''Marvel Super Heroes'' has followed him into ''every'' subsequent ''Vs.'' appearance (''[=MSHvs.SF=]'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rbqHHjjNIY ver.]], ''[=MvC=]'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGkR0UpvsUk ver.]], ''[=MvC3=]'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn5S_5k9cZg ver.]]).

Compare/contrast/see also [[Leitmotif Leitmotif]].

Compare/contrast/see also {{[[Leitmotif]]}}.

Compare/contrast/see also [[Leitmotif]].

* In {{Homestuck}}, the song Suburban Jungle was [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002037 initially]] only used for the game Suburb, but in time, it's more or less become the main theme of the comic, featuring in both the Act 3 and Act 4 closers.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsfhADiaP5E "I Wanna Take You For a Ride"]], the [[EarWorm character select screen music]] from ''[[MarvelvsCapcom Marvel vs. Capcom 2]]'', a game infamous for its SoundtrackDissonance. This song is the only piece of music that's fondly remembered among fans. It was sampled for a song called "Take U 4 Ryde" by Talib Kweli and Oh No for the ''Marvel vs. Capcom 2'' mixtape and the latest ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3'' trailer has a remix of the song playing at the end of the trailer.

* "I Wanna Take You For a Ride" the character select screen music from [[MarvelvsCapcom Marvel vs Capcom 2]], a game infamous for it's SoundtrackDissonance. This song is the only piece of music that's fondly remembered among fans. It was sampled for a song called "Take U 4 Ryde" by Talib Kweli and Oh No for the ''Marvel vs Capcom 2'' mixtape and the latest ''Marvel vs Capcom 3'' trailer has a remix of the song playing at the end of the trailer.

* The title theme from ''MegaMan 2'' has more or less become the title character's theme tune, being reused by several games in the main series & also as his theme when he appears in crossovers such as MarvelVsCapcom.
** A (barely) less popular version is the ''MegaMan 3'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVsVw7Y7SSA title theme]]. ''Mega Man Anniversary Collection'' uses both of them for its intro.
** Many of the subsequent Megamen have gotten this treatment. MegamanZero has ''Clover'', the theme song from the second MMZ game, particularily the fast-paced version that serves as the BGM for the intro stage. It's strange, because before he became a Megaman, back in the ''MegamanX'' series he actually got a completely new {{leitmotif}} for every game (except in X5 and X6) he was in, though the one from X1 reappears in Z1's intro stage.

** [[MegamanLegends Megaman Trigger]] has also gotten this treatment. The music from the Flutter vs. Gesselschaft battle in the first game has become his theme in both the NamcoXCapcom & TatsunokoVsCapcom iterations of the CapcomVsWhatever series.

* Non-media example: The Amiga is often associated with the red and white checkered ball from its first public demonstration, but its actual logo was a rainbow-colored check mark.

* The now famous ''JamesBond''-theme was nothing but the opener of ''Dr No''. The actual James Bond theme from that movie is so much less memorable that nobody even knows it.

*** There's a joke that goes "What's mario's favorite kind of pants? "Denim Denim Denim" (Say it out loud if you don't quite get it).

* In {{Homestuck}}, the song Sburban Jungle was [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=002037 intially]] only used for the game Sburb, but in time, it's more or less become the main theme of the comic, featuring in both the Act 3 and Act 4 closers.

* "Hooray For Captain Spalding" from ''Animal Crackers'' became [[MarxBrothers Groucho Marx]]'s theme song in this manner.

** The Gusty Garden Galaxy theme has become more or less the main theme for the ''SuperMarioGalaxy'' series.