Line #9 Main/CyberPunkIsTechno


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5	[[caption-width-right:350:Most Uprisers [[{{Transhuman}} augment their bodies]] for speed, strength, or protection, but a few just want to be one with the music.]]
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8	If the future consists of [[EverythingIsOnline massive computer networks]], [[MegaCorp corrupt corporations]] / [[CorruptPolitician governments]] and [[{{Cyborg}} augmented humans]], and is [[UsedFuture dirty and grim]] (i.e. CyberPunk), you can bet that the music of choice will be {{Techno}}, Electronica, and/or {{Industrial}} music. All three are forms of ElectronicMusic. {{Ambient}} music of choice? Techno. Hanging out at the CoolestClubEver? No HipHop, {{Pop}}, or any other dance music here, just techno.
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10	Ironically, PunkRock itself, despite the obvious assumption, seems to be absent in many cyberpunk offerings. It may be due to its dated style in many ways. Many feel that punk rock was at its peak in TheSeventies and stopped being relevant after the [[TheEighties mid 80s]], which is about when cyberpunk actually took off.
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12	Since techno, industrial music, and electronica require electronics (hence the name) to work, the use of such can bring a futuristic feel to it. The music is usually played to give a dystopian mood. Since cyberpunk is usually set in a {{Dystopia}}, and in a technological world, this kind of music is perfect for that setting.
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14	Compare and contrast HeavyMithril for the music common for fantasy settings.
15	----
16
17	!! Examples:
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19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22	* ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain'': While the opening and ending themes don't fall under this trope, all the in-show music is dark electronica.
23	* Its SpiritualSuccessor ''Anime/{{Texhnolyze}}'' also puts techno on the opening theme. But not, in turn, in the series universe itself, which is mostly modelled after old-school Yakuza films, stylistically speaking.
24	* ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis: Tokyo 2040'' uses techno for its BackgroundMusic. The original series was more varied in its soundtrack.
25	* Notably {{averted\|Trope}} in the film version of ''Manga/{{Akira}}'' and in ''Anime/GhostInTheShell1995'', where the soundtrack instead consists of a combination of synthesizers and traditional Asian chanting and instrumentation.
26	* ''Anime/CyberpunkEdgerunners'' is as varied as the game in that regard, but plays in rock whenever there's a big showdown.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Comic Books]]
30	* '90s-era ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' comics frequently had posters up on the walls for Music/NineInchNails, [[Music/RobZombie White Zombie]] and other IndustrialMetal acts. The tendency of the [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian future setting]] to use this kind of music was lampshaded during the ''Doomsday for Megacity 1'' arc across ''2000AD'' and the Judge Dredd Megazine: Anderson meets a contact at a nightclub and comments that the music is giving her a headache and she can't understand why it's so popular.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
34	* The [[https://youtu.be/pgwouC--5Cs?si=pc9xi9ZS6KN4rLD_ "Hero's Duty" song]] by Music/{{Skrillex}} in ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' plays while Ralph is masquerading as a SpaceMarine {{NPC}} in a FirstPersonShooter LightGunGame with a much DarkerAndEdgier aesthetic than he's used to.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
38	* ''Film/{{Hackers}}''. Mid-'90s techno music is almost constant throughout this film.
39	* ''Film/TheMatrix'': Seeing that the movie is {{Cyberpunk}}, techno is, of course, found here, as is some actual punk. Industrial metal is also represented with Music/RobZombie and Music/MarilynManson.
40	* ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic''
41	* Played with in the Tech Noir nightclub in ''Film/TheTerminator'': The music is initially normal '80s pop, until the electric/metallic {{Leitmotif}} of the Terminator kicks in.
42	* ''Film/TheGeneGeneration'' soundtrack. Most of the music is EBM/Industrial (several songs from EBM/Industrial/Electro act Combichrist are used), and even the non-Industrial music is written by Ronan Harris from Music/VNVNation (a popular Futurepop act). Add the fact that the director and all the characters constantly dress as futuristic goths and you have a film that basically is one giant advertisement for the entire catalogue of Metropolis Records.
43	* ''Film/{{Tron}}'':
44	** The original film score was composed by Music/WendyCarlos, a pioneer in electronic music. It was not so much techno as (much like her score for ''Film/AClockworkOrange'') a symphonic score with electronic sound effects and instrumentation.
45	** The score to the sequel ''Film/TronLegacy'', however, was done by French house duo Music/DaftPunk, mixing straight orchestral violins and pumping electronic beats.
46	** It's a franchise staple. ''WesternAnimation/TronUprising'' uses a cross of a stripped-down Legacy theme and incidental music that wouldn't be out of place in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''. ''VideoGame/TronEvolution'' has a soundtrack very close to ''Legacy''[='=]s, and the [[CanonDiscontinuity discredited]] ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'' has a soundtrack that plays like a love letter to Wendy Carlos -- orchestreal arrangements on synthesizer.
47	* One scene from ''Film/RoboCop1987'' takes place in a club, where Robocop arrests one of Clarence Boddicker's minions. Industrial techno plays in the background. The track is "Show Me Your Spine," by Music/{{Ministry}} side-project PTP.
48	* The music in ''Film/BladeRunner'' (by Music/{{Vangelis}}) is not quite techno, but makes heavy use of synthesizers (except for the famous [[LoveTheme "love theme"]], [[{{Sexophone}} played on a saxophone]]).
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Literature]]
52	* The self-styled "present-day cyberpunk" novel ''Literature/{{Dopamine}}'' intentionally invokes this trope early in the story. When Jason Tuttle meets Danny at Noc Noc to give him his mission assignment, the chapter opens on Noc Noc's techno/dubstep background noise filling the club.
53	* Lynn, the main protagonist of ''The Bones of Time'' trains herself to play synth sets, in a future-set world, where she yearns to live by it, played to tourists at a Waikiki bar's rooftop.
54	* Literature/EncryptionStraffe features a fictional tribute band to German bitpop techno band Welle Erdball called Partikal Erdball. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmb9ZTSx80U A synthpop theme song written for the novel is available on YouTube]].
55	* The Creator/WilliamGibson short story "Johnny Mnemonic," upon which [[Film/JohnnyMnemonic the film]] was based, has a sequence where Molly fights a Yakuza on a dance floor that is programmed to create techno music based on the movements of the people dancing (or fighting) on it.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
59	* The Glen Larson-produced shows ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica\|1978}}'' (the original) and ''{{Series/Buck Rogers\|InTheTwentyFifthCentury}}'' only had techno synthesizer music.
60	* ''Series/{{Caprica}}'', despite having fashions inspired by the 1950s, used a lot of techno.
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Music]]
64	* Perhaps some justification for the trope; {{Industrial}} music act Music/FrontLineAssembly deliberately aimed for a CyberPunk sound with their albums ''Tactical Neural Implant'' and ''Hard Wired''.
65	* JustifiedTrope: "Techno" differentiated itself from other electronically produced music in 1980's Detroit, which pretty much _was_ an industrially driven dystopia. Explicit themes of futurism, technological advancement, corruption, industrial dehumanization and consequently dark mood are all over techno from the beginning. See 1983's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_dgScFHHGo Industrial Lies]]" and 1985's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E2eg3URv6M Future]]"
66	* Apart from the chiptune-laden ''R.E.T.R.O'', the Futurepop act [[Music/MindInABox Mind.in.a.Box]] explores cyberpunk and dystopian themes in their music, particularly with the Dreamweb {{story arc}} across their [[ConceptAlbum first three albums]].
67	* Platform/{{MOD}} artist Skaven produced a cyberpunk-themed techno tune titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThmznU1W47w "Data Jack"]], later featured in Creator/PopCapGames's ''VideoGame/{{Bejeweled}}''.
68	* [[DefiedTrope Defied]] and [[AvertedTrope Averted]] by Music/BattleBeast with a few of their songs, they're raw power metal.
69	* English electro-industrial duo, '''Nanotech Ltd.''' envision a later-date world in their ''Warp Industry'' EP, with even a title as suggestive as Future Police State.
70	* DarkerAndEdgier leaning UsefulNotes/{{synthwave}} tracks are specifically devoted to recreating the old techno soundtracks of 80's cyberpunk. For example, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLPoZGX0qZk this hour-length mix of nothing but songs that would fit a cyberpunk movie]].
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Video Games]]
74	* Most of the ''VideoGame/JudgeDreddDreddVsDeath'' soundtrack are techno songs.
75	* ''VideoGame/DeusEx:'' The night clubs are all techno. The music has a very dark feel to it.
76	* ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney'' has a lot of technoheads in the cyberpunk metropolis of Newport.
77	* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'': Although ''Battle Network'' is more of a PostCyberPunk, because of its more positive view of massive networks, electronica and techno are the music of choice during the game.
78	** On the other hand, given that the games appear on the Platform/GameBoyAdvance system, it could very well just be {{Retraux}} 8-bit style music (a la the 8-bit Platform/GameBoy).
79	* ''{{VideoGame/Hardwar}}'' had a soundtrack comprised of artists from the British Warp Records label, which was an eclectic mix of techno, ambient, and drum n' bass.
80	* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': Sometimes averted, Hair metal is the music of choice at times.
81	** The ''Cyberpunk'' RPG sometimes averts this as well: the music of choice is "chromatic rock", which is hair metal set to techno beats (so basically industrial?), but supplements imply that hip-hop, spoken word and more stripped-down forms of rock still exist.
82	* The soundtrack to ''VideoGame/SanFranciscoRush 2049'' is almost entirely techno.
83	* ''VideoGame/{{Descent}} I'' and ''II'' had {{industrial}} and IndustrialMetal soundtracks. The third game also has many techno and industrial tunes, along with liberal use of a {{Theremin}} and ethnic/tribal instruments.
84	* The ''VideoGame/{{Wipeout}}'' series is noted for its all-star techno soundtracks. The soundtrack to the third game was produced by well-known DJ/producer Sasha, and included his single "Xpander".
85	* The adventure game ''VideoGame/BurnCycle'' is packed with a diverse techno soundtrack, ranging between hard dance tracks to atmospheric ambient music, though the game itself is mostly limited to short loops. Helps that it was composed by Simon Boswell of ''Film/{{Hackers}}'' fame.
86	* ''VideoGame/FZeroGX'' has tons of techno tunes. A little polarizing since ''VideoGame/FZeroX'' had nothing but rock music.
87	* ''Film/DieHard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas'' has a techno soundtrack produced by Brian "Music/{{BT}}" Transeau. Excluding the credits theme, which is hip-hop.
88	* ''VideoGame/PN03'', with some of it reused for ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'''s mercenaries mode (as well as the game engine). Ditto for ''VideoGame/{{Vanquish}}'', its SpiritualSuccessor produced by the same developers.
89	* In ''VideoGame/{{Dystopia}}'', all music packaged with the game is techno, and a muffled techno track can be heard near a club.
90	* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' has several levels with electronica soundtracks, since the game's genre is a [[GenreRoulette combination]] of {{Cyberpunk}} and ScienceFiction.
91	** Subverted in ''Perfect Dark Zero'', where the Nightclub Stakeout music starts with a banging techno track, then changes to the disco-house tune "Limelight" (a real song by Kepi & Kat). Much of the other in-game music is rock/metal. Played straight with the intro and ending themes.
92	* The soundtrack for ''VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon'' by Power Glove was made as one long homage to Eighties cyberpunk and action movies with scores drawing from ''The Terminator'', ''Robocop'', and synthesizer scores to help invoke the tone of both while you tear up the Tron-line and cyborg filled island.
93	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has an undeniably cyberpunk theme to go along with its purely sci-fi setting, so naturally there are quite a few ambient trance and techno tracks within the soundtrack.
94	* The ''VideoGame/RaySeries''.
95	* ''VideoGame/{{Rez}}'' revolves around the player traversing through a futuristic computer network with visuals inspired by Creator/WassilyKandinsky. Being a RhythmGame, the soundtrack is comprised of techno and club music.
96	* ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'': The original ''VideoGame/QuakeI'' was scored by [[Music/NineInchNails Trent Reznor]]'', although that's more dark ambient. ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' has an IndustrialMetal soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem and they co-produced ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena''s soundtrack with the {{Industrial}} band Music/FrontLineAssembly.
97	* ''VideoGame/SensoryOverload'' for the Macintosh, with its mind control technology-based plot, had an EBM soundtrack.
98	* ''VideoGame/{{Sidewinder}}'' uses mostly techno, {{industrial}}, and IndustrialMetal.
99	* ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier'' features techno and industrial metal produced by [[Music/{{Bemani}} Sota Fujimori]] and [[Franchise/SilentHill Akira Yamaoka]].
100	* ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}} III'' is somewhat of a musical [[OddballInTheSeries odd man out]] in the series, as much of the soundtrack is techno, except for the Stage 1, 2, and 3 themes, which are the usual J-synthpop.
101	* ''Vegas Stakes'', a casino game by Creator/HALLaboratory for the {{Platform/SNES}}, has the [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture "2020"]], a futuristic, CyberPunk-themed casino complete with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuygAAVZ7wY repetitive techno music]] blaring in the background.
102	* Played with in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', which is undeniably cyberpunk, but accompanied mostly by a sort of techno/light jazz fusion. The straight-up techno elements are also heavier in Snake's chapter; Raiden's has more of a jungle slant, until returning to techno right at the very end when [[Recap/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty everything goes to hell]].
103	* Averted with ''VideoGame/BeneathASteelSky''--despite being cyberpunk-themed, it has mostly traditional-sounding tunes, the one nightclub plays jazz, and the cyberspace level's theme has a surreal NewAge-y feel.
104	* ''VideoGame/{{Spectre\|1991}} VR'', being set in {{Cyberspace}}, has the obligatory techno and industrial tunes, but also New Age and neo-classical music.
105	* ''VideoGame/{{Syndicate}}'', although the 2012 reboot uses {{Dubstep}} as well.
106	* The ''VideoGame/{{X}}'' series uses an electronic music score and has several aspects of the {{Cyberpunk}} setting.
107	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
108	** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'''s Scrap Brain Zone, which has a cyberpunk theme, uses a sped-up SuspiciouslySimilarSong to the credits music from ''Film/BladeRunner''.
109	** In ''VideoGame/SonicCD'', the BadFuture stages have techno music, as does the Metallic Madness Present zone.
110	** In the US version of ''Sonic CD'', the BadFuture stages music consists of [[Main/HardRock dirty hard rock]] and [[Main/HeavyMetal heavy metal]].
111	* Aside from being DarkerAndEdgier, ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' gave us a dose of this trope with the [[CoolestClubEver Afterlife nightclub]] on [[WretchedHive Omega]], an [[UsedFuture old and rickety space station]] that's practically the capital of the galactic underworld. The upper section plays a slow electronic piece (''Callista'' from Saki Kaskas) while the lower section has [[DrumAndBass drum and bass]] (''Techno Madness'' from Jesse Allen). Too bad you don't get to start a fight here...
112	* Club 32 in ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter 2'' plays disco music during the cutscene preceding the mission, but the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLSiA6wpf2k action music]] is drum & bass. The first two games also have many other [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_uNB3PnKOc techno]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDPRgW0mMGk tunes]].
113	* The ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' clone ''Endgame'' had a pumping techno soundtrack to compliment its virtual reality world domination plot.
114	* ''VideoGame/WinBack: Covert Operations'' uses techno for its opening sequence and boss battles.
115	* ''VideoGame/BionicCommando Rearmed'' uses techno remixes of the original NES soundtrack. By contrast, the soundtrack to the DarkerAndEdgier 2009 sequel is mostly [[OrchestralVersion orchestra]], although there are still a few electronica pieces.
116	* ''Videogame/BlacklightRetribution'': The game's soundtrack is a mix of Techno and dubstep music.
117	%%* ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}''.
118	* ''VideoGame/SimCity'' expansion pack Cities of Tomorrow toys with this trope. Most of the default music tracks are fairly atmospheric and minimalistic to begin with, but once futurization occurs, a lot of of the instrumentation is replaced with synthesizers... Which in a way, make the music sound more akin to ''Film/BladeRunner''... Even using some of the same synthesizer sounds!
119	* ''VideoGame/GhostReconFutureSoldier'' has a symphonic electronica soundtrack by Music/{{Hybrid}} and Tom Salta.
120	* ''VideoGame/AceCombat3Electrosphere'' has a decidedly electro, techno, synth and ambience bent to its soundtrack. It is also the only entry that takes place in a cyberpunk future world. Later entries would return to the relatively "real" era of mid 90s to late 2010s.
121	* In ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdIIAssimilation'', the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06mTY-C5XNQ music]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLfvQsouej4 tracks]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1U7gCnrghE for]] the Area 52 levels sound like a fusion of EBM and spacesynth.
122	* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' and ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdgeCatalyst'', both set in {{dystopia}}n cyberpunk {{police state}}s, feature ambient electronica and techno composed by Swedish artist Solar Fields.
123	* While ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' is more of a SpaceOpera, Terrans have an industrial theme to their music. However, in ''II,'' one song has a fiddle solo to accentuate their "[[FantasyCounterpartCulture Space Hillbillies]]'' vibe.
124	* The ''VideoGame/JetMoto'' trilogy used mainly SurfRock and HeavyMetal for the first two installments, but went full-on techno with the third, which featured three songs licensed from Juno Reactor.
125	* ''VideoGame/{{Kinetica}}'', like ''Wipeout'' before it, features a plethora of licensed techno songs from renowned artists such as Amoeba Assassin, Hybrid, Juno Reactor, and Way Out West.
126	* All three installments of Creator/VectorUnit's ''Riptide GP'' trilogy have techno soundtracks.
127	* Llamasoft's ''Myth/{{Polybius}}'', a psychedelic VR shooter inspired by the arcade urban legend, has an electronica soundtrack by an ensemble of artists in various sub-genres, including techno, industrial, trance, house, big beat, D&B, and synthwave.
128	* Every trailer for ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' has utilized ElectronicMusic of some kind, the most famous one being the hard glitchy track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G70S5fumHso "Spoiler" by Hyper]]. The game itself, however, has a more varied soundtrack of {{rock}}, {{hyperpop}}, and HipHop alongside electronic music, with Johnny Silverhand's band Samurai playing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igq3d6XA75Y straight-up hard rock]] rather than electronic music.
129	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FV02Hs41aI The soundtrack]] of ''VideoGame/{{Ghostrunner}}'' follows the same path as ''VideoGame/{{Cyberpunk 2077}}'' above, courtesy of Daniel Deluxe.
130	* ''VideoGame/{{Furi}}'''s score likewise features techno, EBM, and synthwave produced by a lineup of renowned artists including Music/CarpenterBrut, Danger, The Toxic Avenger and Waveshaper.
131	[[/folder]]
132
133	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
134	* A recurring trope in Creator/{{Nitroplus}} cyberpunk-themed visual novels
135	** ''VisualNovel/KikokugaiTheCyberSlayer'' had techno soundtrack mixed with Traditional Chinese sounds
136	** Save from some ending songs, ''VisualNovel/DramaticalMurder'' had ElectronicMusic soundtrack. In the Anime, the soundtrack is techno with film-scorey sounds, a la Film/TronLegacy.
137	** The BackgroundMusic in ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'' are mostly techno.
138	* ''VisualNovel/{{Synergia}}'' has a separate soundtrack from its main game that is a bunch of techno songs and synthesized music in order to underscore the digital world that has been created within the game.
139	[[/folder]]
140
141	[[folder:Webcomics]]
142	* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''Webcomic/AquaRegia'', in which the heroes [[SeinfeldianConversation talk about the music]] they listen, Daniel states that he [[LargeHam loves]] Thrash Metal while Nimsi states that she likes industrial, in a... much more [[TheStoic quiet tone]].
143	** The flashback also mentions their music taste, but between [[TheQuincyPunk Anahí]] and Daniel, and it's implied they hit off after talking about Punk rock and metal.
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Western Animation]]
147	* Almost the entire soundtrack of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' is dirty industrial rock.
148	* The [[WesternAnimation/MenInBlackTheSeries MIB cartoon]] theme is sort of a techno/hip hop hybrid.
149	[[/folder]]

Context Main / CyberPunkIsTechno