http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Leitmotif.jpg
[[caption-width:243:“And if one would listen very carefully, he could hear the duck quacking…”]]
-->'''Tom Servo:''' ''Steve's dead now. From here on in, Steve's death will be represented by the oboe.''
-->--''[[{{MST3K}} Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' episode #209, "The Hellcats"

A leitmotif is a piece of music used repeatedly to represent a character, theme or action. This is a well-established technique used in almost every medium that involves music and story. The leitmotif technique was invented (or at least perfected) by opera composer RichardWagner in the second half of the 1800s. In his operas, not only would every character have his/her own motif, but also objects, places, and even abstract ideas.

Leitmotifs are often named simply "'s Theme" or " Motif." They often make up the [[{{BGM}} bulk]] of movie and anime soundtracks, and a fair chunk of video game soundtracks as well.

Fairly common in {{anime}}, where often every major character will have a piece of theme music.

This is different from an ImageSong in that Image Songs exist only outside of the scope of the show that produced them. Compare with IAmSong.

If a character with a distinctive-sounding Leitmotif is in a production or episode that [[NoFourthWall breaks the Fourth Wall]], one of his or her fellows may come to make a comment on how loud and annoying their theme music is. (To which the character will almost always reply, "What theme music?") The character might also have their leitmotif as their own ringtone, for a subtler joke. See also SorryILeftTheBGMOn.

Can become a RecurringRiff when used throughout a long-running series.
----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime ]]

* ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'' has the song "Dear You", with quite a few different versions appearing on the soundtracks and some characters getting their own version, each named something slightly different and features a different arrangement. It doubles as both a letimotif and an ImageSong. It became so popular that fans made different versions for each of the characters who ''didn't'' get one. A mini-album was released with four different versions.
** Dear You -Cry- is Ryuugu Rena's version.
** Dear You -Feel- is Sonozaki Mion's version.
*** Thanks uses a part of Dear You's arrangement.
** Dear You -Hope- is Furude Rika's version.
** Dear You -Kind- is Houjou Satoko's version.
*** The mini album featured Otome ~You Were There In The Wind Of Summer, which uses the same arrangement.
** Maebara Keiichi also got his own version that used the same arrangement as Thanks but was called Ano Hi, Ano Basho, Subete ni, "Arigatou".
** Recently, a version featuring all the main cast was released, called With "You" -Kizuna-".
** The original letimotif that appears in the series has numerous versions arranged by various people, including You (M.Box Style) by Dai, You - Vision Im Spiegel by Yuzuki and a vocal version by Dai.
* ''SailorMoon'' has numerous bits of theme music and leit-motifs that appear repeatedly throughout the show. The first two seasons of the English dub used none of the original soundtrack, but it did retain the concept of having individual themes even though it used them more sparingly. When the show's license switched over after Sailor Moon R, the new license holder (likely out of laziness) just kept the soundtrack as is.
** The arrival of Tuxedo Mask was usually accompanied by his own tinkly romantic theme complete with castanets. The English dub changed this to a distinct Spanish-sounding guitar riff that also had a "mournful" version.
** Sailor Moon herself had the most individual theme music of any character. Each attack, transformation, and even her disguise pen had unique music themes. The transformations even had her name sung as part of the music. It was also common to hear one of these themes played as battle music when the Senshi had the upper hand in battle. The English dub gave her one transformation song and one attack song that were used regardless of what season it was, which led to some problems by the time they adapted Sailor Moon R because the songs clearly did not fit the length of the stock footage anymore.
*** Furthermore, Sailor Moon's [[InTheNameOfTheMoon requisite speeches]] also had their own theme music, though the dub gave her a different one.
** The other four Guardian Senshi, starting with Sailor Moon R and beyond, each had their own individual transformation themes. The dub, regardless of the season, gave them all one piece of music to share, but also added a second theme that played to indicate that a Sailor Senshi was attacking in general.
** [=ChibiUsa=] had a few themes exclusively for her in the Japanese version - one for whenever she used her Luna P, and one in Sailor Moon R that played whenever she was particularly upset and lonely, actually named "Chibi Usa no omoi" ([=ChibiUsa=]'s feelings). In the ''SailorMoon [=SuperS=]'' movie, she also had a full individual transformation sequence that included a song just for Chibi Moon.
** Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, first appearing in the third season, got their own theme, one for transforming and one for attacking.
** Hotaru, before actually becoming a Senshi, also had her own creepy song that played whenever she was being possessed by Mistress 9.
** So did Sailor Starlights in the fifth season. Some of the {{Big Bad}}s, for example, Queen Beryl, had special theme music as well.
** Even ''Luna'' has her own theme music that plays whenever she gives the Senshi new items.
** In the first season, the show's theme song ("Moonlight Densetsu") is used as a theme for times when Usagi and Mamoru are remembering parts of their relationship from their past lives. This is accomplished via a locket that plays the song. The dub also used the theme song, but a new recording of it. The Japanese version also occasionally used a slower instrumental version of the first ending theme "Heart Moving" to the same effect. Later seasons would occasionally slip in instrumentals of ending themes as well to punctuate more serious moments.
** Each villain group has their own individual theme. The dub, with the exception of the aliens in the first arc of R, gave them all the same theme. In the case of the aliens, they have two different flute songs that Ali will play, one whenever he's playing for fun, and one when he's summoning a Cardian. The dub alters the first theme and uses it regardless of what he's doing.
** In the dub only, almost all of the incidental music was just various instrumentals of the opening version played ad nauseam to the point of madness.
** For obvious reasons, the Sailor Moon Musicals also made heavy use of leitmotifs and designated character theme songs. For brevity's sake, they shall not be listed here.
** Even ''SailorMoonAbridged'' gives each character a leitmotif during their transformation sequence. One example is Sailor Moon's theme, which is Aqua's 'Barbie Girl'.
* Like Tuxedo Mask, ''TokyoMewMew'''s resident MysteriousProtector, the Blue Knight / Ao no Kishi, has his arrival marked by his own theme music. Each of the five girls has her own distinctive transformation music, and all of Mew Ichigo's attacks are accompanied by a special tune (except for "Reborn Aqua Drops", which is apparently so powerful that it required a ''song'' -- "Glider" -- to be accompanied with). There are leitmotifs for some other events as well, for example, the scenes with Kisshu talking to Deep Blue.
* ''ExcelSaga'' accompanied Pedro's scenes as a ghost with a sad, instrumental riff from "House of the Rising Sun".
** Il Palazzo also has his own suitably pompous and grandiose theme that plays during his big speeches. And Nabeshin has his own theme for his appearances as well.
** Excel's was really quick and had whistles and banging.
* Quite a few characters in ''LuckyStar'' have leitmotifs, such as Konata, who has a slacker-esque melody quite fitting of her goofy-slacker-{{otaku}} personality.
* ''SuperRobotWars'' gives most of the Banpresto Originals (characters created specifically for the game) and bosses their own Leitmotifs. With Original Generations even minor characters like Katina have theme songs. The [[MemeticMutation most famous of these]] is Elzam/Ratsel's theme of "Trombe!". Due to a mistaken high priority in his first game, Trombe will override even boss themes. the only way to disrupt it is to [[SorryILeftTheBGMon blast music out of a speaker.]]
* Many wrestlers from ''Kinnikuman'' have their own theme music.
* In the dub of the ''{{Kirby}}'' anime, Meta Knight is always introduced by a Mexican fanfare.
** He has a similar one in the original, but it's not quite as foreign-sounding.
* Vegeta's theme music from ''{{Dragonball}}'' It's iconic to his character, though its usage dropped considerably after the Frieza Saga.
** Leitmotifs were very common in the dub of DBZ. Piccolo had his own theme, usually played whenever he did something heroic (although it was occasionally used at other points). The various story arcs introduced new leitmotifs. Then there's the leitmotif that was first introduced when Goku shows off Super Saiyan 3. It's ostensibly the Super Saiyan 3 theme, but it tends to get played any time the heroes gain an edge during the Buu Saga
*** Piccolo had a whistling theme in the Japanese original, mostly seen in the movies when he swoops in to save Gohan.
* [[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=NatwbuRCZ_w Ryoga's Theme]] is one of the most noticable in the RanmaOneHalf series
* Also in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Note how Asuka's leitmotif sounds more American.
** Rei has like three different ones, not counting reduxes thereof in the AlternateContinuity movies. [[spoiler:[[CloningBlues Guess why.]]]]
*** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLbDNFbw10A Some of which are quite]] [[NightmareFuel creepy]]. For good reason.
* ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!'' and its spinoff ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh GX}}'' (and presumably the soon-to-be-aired 5D's) have themes for most of the major characters.
** Obviously, ''YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' makes fun of this, with all appearances of Duke Devlin being followed by Justin Timberlake's "[=SexyBack=]". At the end of the episode Yugi says he'll be friends with Duke if he stops playing that annoying theme music, to which Devlin replies "What theme music?"
* All of ''{{Clannad}}'''s main female characters had their own themes. The ending song of the anime, ''Dango Daikazoku'', even goes on to have the same tune as Nagisa's eponymous theme music.
**Worth noting that virtually all of the main female characters in KeyVisualArts' visual novels feature their own themes, and there's even one for a male character. (Natsume Kyousuke from {{Little Busters}})
* ''{{Eureka Seven}}'' has a rather frantic, chaotic leitmotif play whenever Nirvash and [=TheEnd=] fight each other.
* ''{{Naruto}}'' loves this. All the major characters have more then one that changes on how dramatic the scene is or character development. Orochimaru has 2 versions of the same song: one used for fighting and the other used for plot relevance. Even non major characters like Konohamaru and Tenten have themes.
* The anime ''Rockman.EXE'' always plays the theme song when the characters are about to win. In fact, you can reliably tell when the characters are going to turn around even the worst situation because the theme music will immediately start to play. It is quite possible that the theme music may be the only thing between life and death for the heroes.
** In the first season, the music accompanies the climactic final battle between Rockman and Blues during the InevitableTournament. Rockman ''loses'', and his hard fight is congratulated by Netto and Blues over a quiet piano version: "Kaze wo Tsukinukete ~Ballad Version~".
** This was not retained in the ''Megaman NT Warrior'' dub, to great detriment. They won without their magic theme music.
* ''TheBigO'' had theme music for whenever Roger summoned The Big O that was a suitably dramatic orchestral fanfare.
*In the {{Pokemon}} anime, Satoshi (Ash) has quite a few themes and songs (usually doubling as opening songs) with various variations. Haruka (May) has Haruka's Theme ~ Watashi Makenai and in the Diamond & Pearl series, Hikari (Dawn) has Hikari's Theme ~ Kimi no Soba de which is often played in scenes focusing on her (usually karaoke) and has many variations, including a slow version for sad scenes, a Christmas-y version used as the winter ending song, and more.
* ''{{Pretear}}'' has some examples as well. It's a MagicalGirl anime, so predictably there is a transformation theme music (actually with three slight variations), a couple of battle themes, and a theme associated with [[BigBad evil]]. What makes it weird is that main characters don't seem to have any particular tunes reserved for them, but comic relief side characters do. Tanaka the butler even has his theme named after him; there is also a leitmotif played mainly during Yayoi's crazy speeches, and a leitmotif for Mayune's shower scenes.
* TengenToppaGurrenLagann - And how! Every character has their own theme song, ranging from the silly (Yoko's 'Boing vs Boing', an ode to Gainaxing) to the unbelievably badass (Viral's 'Nikopol') to the just plain weird (Leeron's heavily electronic... whatever it is). The series also has several motifs as background music, like the very well known Fight The Powah rap, and the operatic OneWomanWail complete with piano accompaniment version of said rap, 'Libera Me From Hell' that plays to astoundingly awesome effect during the final battle.
* The ''DeathNote'' soundtrack has lots of tracks claiming to be Leitmotifs, but really the only one applied repeatedly and with narrative consistency is the Dies Irae, which always means a huge turning point as seen through Light's eyes.
** There's also at least one theme for L, Light and Misa. The rest of the songs aren't that much of leitmotifs, they just have titles related to their appearance in the anime For example, such songs are Ikari (anger), Himitsu (secret), etc...
** Near and Mello have their own themes together. When Near's Theme and L's Theme are played together, they actually have an almost call and response thing going on...YMMV, though.
* ''Bleach'' has [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLB2o3VYcO0 On the Precipice Of Defeat]]when someone on the side of the heroes is about to make a big comeback.
** And the fantastically [[SarcasmMode amazing]] ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4GFdlQnv6Y&feature=related Number One]]'' for when that someone is Ichigo.
** Bleach is incredibly fond of these. You also have the haunting "Nothing can be Explained" when the heroes seem to be on the precipice of total defeat.
*** Clearly, there needs to be a song called "Big Comeback" for when nothing can be explained.
*** Also, the song [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM3cZsYubKM Destiny Awaits]] might as well be named Byakuya's Theme.
**** Even the arrancar have their own theme songs -- flamenco and salsa-type tunes that go well with their overall Spanish theme.
* ''PrincessTutu'' has leitmotifs for most of the major characters, pulled from (mostly) Romantic-era classical music. Fakir's theme is [[{{LudwigVanBeethoven}} Beethoven's]] Coriolan Overture, Mytho's theme is the Dance of the Sugar Plumb Fairy from the Nutcracker (and later episodes also use Siegfried's Funeral March from RichardWagner's ''Götterdämmerung'' when he's in danger [[spoiler:which is appropriate since his true name is Siegfried]]), Princess Tutu's is Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker, Drosselmeyer's is the Nutcracker March (often arranged in a minor key and played on an ominous organ), Rue has several pieces of piano pieces by Satie for her themes, Ahiru has the Nutcracker Overture (that has several different arrangements for her changing moods), Edel's organ plays a slowed-down version of Dance of the Automatons from ''Coppelia'' ([[spoiler:can you say [[ArtificialHuman foreshadowing]]?]])...even Professor Cat gets one--the Wedding March, of course! This isn't even going into some of the ''other'' leitmotifs used to represent various themes in the anime, or the fact that every episode has its ''own'' major musical theme named in the title card.
* OnePiece doesn't have particularly prevalent Leitmotifs, but they're around. Some of the main crew have them, particularly Sanji and his jazzy theme, and some villain teams feature their own as well - [=CP9=], for example, had a strong leitmotif with strings and a mechanical-sounding beat. And then there's Sogeking... In the fighting games based on the series, each character has a short musical piece that plays during their finishing attack.
** Every crew member DOES have their own Leitmotif, though, little snippets of which play during their {{eyecatch}}. They don't show up all that often in the anime, though, except during their battles (usually at their moment of triumph.) Also notable in that they seem to each get their own primary instrument (Robin has the saxaphone, Chopper the flute, and so on) and musical style (Franky gets orchestral swing, Sanji has smooth jazz, etc.) Brook is the only one whose theme tune seems to have actual lyrics, since it's so important to his character arc.
* ''PrettyCure'' is positively drowning in Leitmotifs. Every Cure has her own theme music; these are slow and quiet for the more intellectual characters, and cheerful and upbeat for the others. Every complete team has a Leitmotif for when they're kicking some butt, distinct from the opening theme (which in turn is used as a RecurringRiff). Every evil organization has one, and every BigBad as well, including the movie villains. There's one for every Magical Land. Every [[{{Mons}} mascot creature]] has a Leitmotif--usually this is individual, though Coco and Nuts share theirs, and creatures from the movies tend to share themes as well. ''[[YesPrettyCure5 Yes! Pretty Cure 5]]'' even gave the ''school'' its own Leitmotif.
* ''CodeGeass'' has "All Hail Britannia" (for when TheEmpire does something epic), "Devil Created" (for when Lelouch uses his EvilEye), and "0" (for when Lelouch's latest bit of [[MagnificentBastard magnificent bastardry]] comes to fruition.
** Beautiful Emperor plays when Lelouch [[spoiler: creates the UFN, and becomes Britannian Emperor.]] You know, Emperor-y stuff.
*The "Jullia" music box theme from Cowboy Bebop certinally quallifies, as it harkens Spike's myth arc.
** Also, Andy would usually whistle his own generic Western theme whenever he showed up.
* One from a ''manga'', carried over into the OVA: Rip Van Winkle of ''{{Hellsing}}'' is continuously singing from the opera "The Magic Bullet" (about a huntsman who makes a deal with a devil for bullets that never miss; Tom Waits based ''The Black Rider'' on it). At one point, when Alucard attacks her, he sings the demon's part.
** This opera is actually called "Der Freischutz," although some English-Language versions of the folktale it's based on were called "The Magic Bullets" since "The Free-Shooter" doesn't make as much sense in English as it does in German.
* In the Japanese ''{{Digimon}}'' series, each of the main characters gets their own {{Leitmotif}}. Hikari and Takeru get two, as they star in two separate seasons. If you're watching ''DigimonAdventure'' in Japanese, that quirky beeping techno music that plays every time Koushirou whips out his computer or realizes something important? It's called "Digital Scratch!" Get used to it. You will hear it a ''lot.''
* In ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', if someone has an elaborate TransformationSequence, it will be accompanied by their Leitmotif. Some, like Fate's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1czXpwyVc9c Flash of Gold]]" or Teana's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H367cs3Qvo0 Meteoric Marksman]]", are action-packed enough to be used for ThemeMusicPowerUp purposes as well. Others, like Nanoha's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR-vzNA1d0Q Raising Heart, Set Up!]]", can't be used anywhere else so she has other character themes for [[DefeatMeansFriendship befriending purposes]], like "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsSjvKOdL8M Ace of Aces]]".
** Special mention goes to the name of Subaru's personal [[ThemeMusicPowerUp I'm-Going-To-Kick-Ass-Now]] Leitmotif for managing to throw in yet another ''GaoGaiGar'' ShoutOut. Its name? "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbyHPrQQO7Y The Meaning of Courage]]".
*KatekyoHitmanReborn has a number but most notable is Hibari's which is about the only piece in the show on the piano and means that you know from the beginning just how awesome he is.
**Actually, each character has an epic theme song. The editors/writers just don't want to overuse them.
* ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' has some good examples, too. Each of the girls (and Itoshiki-sensei), or to be more precise the personality quirks their entire characters are based around, has their own specific theme - stalking, trolling, being incredibly positive, being incredibly depressing, you name it, it has a theme song.
* ''MinamiKe'' does this often with Hosaka, usually resorting to a Harmonica version of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings in C major during his many rambling monologues dedicated to his unrequited love for Haruka.
* In ''TsubasaChronicle'' the main group of characters each have their own themes--most notably Kurogane, Fay, and Syaoran all have seperate themes that are often played when they're fighting, at least in the first season. Kurogane's is "break the sword of justice," Fay's is "strange names," and then Syaoran's "a song of storm and fire" is probably the best known one. Even some arcs have their own set of background music and insert songs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comics ]]
* AlanMoore wrote "This Vicious Cabaret" (complete with musical notation in the graphic novel) as the prologue to one of ''VForVendetta'''s chapters, using its dark and nihilistic verses in several later panels to set their tone. Interestingly, he then passed it on to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_J David J]] to make it into a real song[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TIImrcAaJI]] that was released on an EP.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]
*The King of the Leitmotif: ''{{Jaws}}''. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvCI-gNK_y4 Here comes the shark]]!
*The ''StarWars'' series has instantly recognizable leitmotifs for many of its characters, all of them [[CrowningMusicOfAwesomeFilm awesome]]. Particularly notable are the ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bzWSJG93P8 Imperial March]]'', which goes with both Darth Vader and shows of Imperial power, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXcoM_AHuk8&feature=PlayList&p=EBD6497622AB3C3C&index=9 Luke's Theme]] (also the main theme of Star Wars). Williams got to have some fun with his leitmotifs when scoring the prequel trilogy: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiAUAx1etbM&feature=channel_page Anakin's Theme]] has weaving through it Luke's Theme, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy7A-z8mlOs&feature=related Leia's Theme]], and the Imperial March, thus telling us musically what we already know; this little kid is going to create some very big things before he's through. Likewise, when at the end of ''Attack of the Clones'' we see the Clone Army mobilizing, the fanfare morphs into the Imperial March played in a triumphant major key, telling us that while this is a good development for now, it's going to lead to much, much worse things. This troper's favorite, however, is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7hj6qP167k&feature=related Augie's Great Municipal Band]], at the end of Episode I; the melody of the song is ''the Emperor's Theme, switched from minor to major and sung at fast pace by an exuberant children's choir''. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6W6Agqujpw&feature=related The Emperor's Theme]] is also used as the motif for [[spoiler:Darth Sidious]].
** This is notable to a lesser extent in Williams' other works; he has often been quoted as saying that [[RichardWagner Wagner]] was a great influence on his work.
** ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' uses many of the leitmotifs of the films along with at least two original ones. Most notably, Revan's Theme is played [[spoiler:during character creation]].
* [[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=AuULcVaMTf0 Rocky]]'s Theme.
* [[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=QxiZ0aXVJE8&feature=related Christopher Reeves]]...I mean, {{Superman}}
* [[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=EFxe-U36-k4&feature=related Dr. Jones Jr.]] aka Indiana Jones, always plays when he pulls off an IndyPloy... enough so that sometimes other shows will play this them when their hero pulls an IndyPloy.
* ''ManosTheHandsOfFate'' always played a generic four-note synthesized tune anytime Torgo came on screen, which Crow of ''MysteryScienceTheater3000'' called "The Haunting Torgo Theme". In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0s9OC6rzAA one instance]], it played went he went to get luggage, stopped when he was picking it up, and then ''[[MickeyMousing started up again]]'' once he continued walking.
** On ''{{Mystery Science Theater 3000}}'' this plays every time Mike Nelson enters Deep 13 as Torgo.
**The ''Master Ninja'' episodes featured character Leitmotifs (including stereotypical Japanese flute music that played whenever the title character's recurring enemy appeared). The idea of Leitmotifs is explored during a skit where Joel and the bots -- dressed up and acting like characters from the movies -- "battle" each other with their theme music.
*** Not to mention the end of the episode, where Joel cheered up the bots by leading them in a loud, acapella version of the Master Ninja theme while reading viewer mail (occasionally pausing to loudly add "Master Ninja Theme Song!" to the music).
**FugitiveAlien had a recurring horn-heavy piece of orchestra go on whenever something actiony happened. Thanks to Joel and the Bots, it will forever be known as the "He Tried To Kill Me With A Forklift!" theme.
* Davy Jones of ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' fame goes so far as to play his own leitmotif on a gigantic OminousPipeOrgan, in the bowels of his cursed ship, during a thunderstorm, ''with his beard'', in case we'd forgotten he was a {{badass}} demon squid pirate who had the time and money to put a pipe organ in a ship that frequently ''went under water''. He also possesses a locket that plays a music box version of the same, though it's not one-of-a-kind. This inevitably forms a plot point of the third film.
** And of course, Captain Jack Sparrow also has his own one. It usually starts with a violin motif, sounding like it's supposed to represent an almost 'drunk' mood.
** Jones also has an organ theme for his pet Kraken.
** The character Cutler Beckett and the East India Trading Company (pure eeeeevil, in real life and in fiction) had a creepy single string melody that played every time a character affiliated with him/them, or even every time their logo appeared on screen. In the third movie, this melody evolved into a full fledged theme. It was based on the melody of Ennio Morricone's "Man With a Harmonica", which gets a full, electric guitar-led homage in the third film.
* The ''LordOfTheRings'' movies are chock-full of themes:
** The "Fellowship theme", a traditional balls-to-the-wall triumphant brass theme as heard over the montage of the fellowship traveling out of Rivendell towards Caradhras. Later used for the Three Hunters, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. Notable in that, according to the composer Howard Shore, it never quite makes a full reappearance after the events in Moria; at least one note is off, or the rhythm is changed.
** The "Hobbit theme", a sort of jaunty flute piece with bassoons and oboes evoking pastoral countryside. Plays over the "Concerning Hobbits" narration. Gets more and more wistful the more the hobbits, especially Frodo, go through BreakTheCutie - only to be restored to full brass-filled glory when everyone bows to the hobbits during Aragorn's coronation.
** The "Rohan Theme". Wistful when we first hear it on the Norwegian fiddle when the heroes arrive at Edoras, it later appears in full-on brass mode for Helm's Deep. Plays over the charge of the Rohirrim at the Battle of Pelennor Fields, with Norwegian fiddle and brass sections working together.
** The "Gondor Theme". Majestic, soaring theme that wouldn't sound entirely out of place in a pirate movie. Heard as Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith and gallop up the city to see Denethor, as well as over the lighting of the beacons. An early version of this theme is played on solo French horn as Boromir speaks at the Council of Elrond.
** The "Mordor Theme". Dark and dramatic with lots of brass and ominous chanting when needed. Heard as Gandalf witnesses the arrival of the Nazgul. Used to excellent effect first as a threatening sound when Sauron first appears before the Allied Army, single-handedly stopping their attack with his very presence, and then blasting into angry brass and choir as he sweeps away scores of soldiers with casual swings of his mace.
** "Gollum's Theme", appears all the way through the second film whenever Gollum is around, but most notably as a song in the end credits sung by Emiliana Torrini.
** The "Isengard Theme," played with heavy brass and percussion in the Caverns of Isengard or when the Uruk-hai are on the move. Unlike other themes, which are in more conventional timing, Isengard's theme is done in 5/4 time, which sounds a little bit off or unnatural (as most music these days is done in 4/4 or 2/4 time), to reflect the twisting of nature and industrial methods of Saruman.
** The theme for the elves, or at least Galadriel's elves, is first heard as an ethereal, dreamy piece with generous amounts of CherubicChoir and OneWomanWail. In the second movie, though, it gets transformed into a {{badass}} military march during the scene where the elven army comes to the rescue at Helm's Deep.
** "The History of the Ring", representing the power of the One Ring, especially when it changes hands or when someone tries to take it -- plays under the title card of each movie, so easily mistaken for the theme to the trilogy itself -- or perhaps it is, in a way.
* The appearance of Mrs. Tweedy in the movie ''ChickenRun'' is always accompanied by what sounds like a mandolin.
* In ''KillBill'' the same eerie, whining siren-like riff plays in several scenes when The Bride lays eyes on her targets of vengeance.
** That tune they play when the Bride spots a target and remembers what they in particular did to her, is the first few seconds of the ThemeTune from the series ''Ironside''.
* Fritz Lang's 1927 movie classic ''{{Metropolis}}'' featured specific tunes for nearly every major character. In addition, many recurring events (such as the worker's monotonous march into the factory) also had their own distinct tunes.
* ''Hedwig's Theme (Lumos)'' from the HarryPotter movies grew to prominence over the entire rest of the score. It essentially became the theme for Harry Potter and, more interestingly, a musical cue representing good magic. It has been retained through all five films thus far, even as the original composer, John Williams, left after the third.
** Notable in that it is played over the sight of the innumerable other owls trying to deliver Harry's letter of acceptance - long before Hedwig herself has even been introduced.
* Similar to Hedwig's Theme above, the JamesBond theme is another. When taken by itself or as accompaniment to the BondGunBarrel sequence it stands for the franchise as a whole, but within the movie it stands for "Bond being Bond". It plays in fragments and licks woven into the score when he's preparing to be awesome, and rocks out in brassy belligerence when it comes time to give him an awesome ThemeMusicPowerUp.
** Bond's theme was notable in ContinuityReboot ''Casino Royale'' by its absence -- set up in several subtle moments across the duration of the film, it didn't play in full until the very last seconds, when he snipes a man and comes up to him looking dangerously dapper in a suit.
*** Bond's theme through the rest of the film was an instrumental version of the movie's theme song, up until the moment when the iconic Bond Theme appeared in full force.
* The 2007 {{Transformers}} movie has a few notable leitmotifs, particularly the {{Ominous Latin Chanting}} of the Decepticons - No one has been able to determine exactly what's being sung, but by gum if it doesn't make you afraid of giant evil robots.
**According to the composer, he based the "Decepticons" theme on the Catholic prayer, Dies Irae.
** This is used to particularly great effect whenever Megatron shows up; given that he is the BigBad of the film, this is somewhat appropriate.
** As compared with the Decepticons, the Autobots also get their own leitmotif, which compared to the deep, chanting, build-up present for the Decepticons, sounds far more uplifting and angelic.
** Optimus, Bumblebee, Scorponok, Sam, The All Spark and Sector 7 all get their own. Even the freaky little Frenzy, whose theme was never heard in the actual film had one arranged for him.
** The new Big Bad, The Fallen, also gets one for the sequel.
*** Optimus Prime also has his own theme that is different to what was used in the first film. Moreover the theme first used for the government group, NEST, also makes a number of reprisals in the film. Most notably the 'main' part of the theme plays when anything especially 'heroic' happens.
* Pretty much every Toho monster has a leitmotif. {{Godzilla}} himself has several of them depending on the composer.
* Disney's ''TheLionKing''. The first time the theme "This Land" appears is during the rainstorm immediately following the confrontation between Mufasa, Scar, and Zazu, and it is as grand and choral as you could possibly imagine...that is, until it takes things a step higher during the scene where Simba speaks to his father's ghost. There's also a heartbreaking rendition which occurs in the gorge after cub Simba finds Mufasa's body. By the time the finale arrives, and Simba is ascending Pride Rock to the most powerful, stirring, and uplifting version yet, this troper was in tears for many, many reasons. Hans Zimmer is truly a genius.
* In Disney's ''TheGreatMouseDetective'', the three main protagonists had their own recurring leitmotif tunes. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDaHLkF0d0k&feature=related Basil's leitmotif]] was also the film's main title theme music, Dr. Dawson's leitmotif almost always prominently featured a bassoon, and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTSNwl_RON4 Olivia Flaversham's leitmotif]] was also used for the tune the musical dancing doll her father made would play. Professor Ratigan also had his own little leitmotif played on a clarinet.
* In ''TheBraveLittleToaster'', composer David Newman gave all five the appliences a theme, which pops up whenever one of them does anything. You really have to pay attention. There are also themes for some secondary characters, the Master and Elmo St. Peters.
** There are similar tunes during when Blanky tries to snuggle with Toaster and he/she pushes him away and when Toaster similarly does the same to the flower later on, causing it to die and changing the Toaster's attitude to Blanky later.
*** That music actually IS Blanky's theme. He and Kirby probably have the least-heard music in the movie. Kirby's theme is heard primarily when he rescues Blanky from the tree and when he's first shown at the beginning. The Toaster's is most easily heard when he's looking at his reflection after the waterfall scene, Radio's plays pretty much any time he talks, and Lampy's can be heard in near the very end of the credits played on a xylophone.
* The Batman franchise has spawned this a few times. Most notably, the famous title theme from the 1989 ''Batman'' movie became the initial leitmotif for ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', but was phased out as the show came into its own and replaced with the animated Batman's true leitmotif for every show in the rest of the [[DCAU]] - [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOPWTjPa--0 Shirley Walker's Batman theme]], which eventually got its own cinematic treatment as a gigantic orchestra/choir version in the opening credits of the animated movie ''Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm''. When the film franchise was [[ContinuityReboot rebooted]] for ''BatmanBegins'', so was Batman's leitmotif -- he got a sort of dark plucking of stings accompanied by strong percussion, reminiscent of the 1989 Batman theme but not identical to it. (Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard deliberately left the theme incomplete until the very last scene of the film, much like James Bond in ''Casino Royale'', mentioend above). In ''TheDarkKnight'', the Joker got a leitmotif of his own... of a sorts. Rather than any traditional sort of motif, the Joker is represented by a single sustained violin chord followed by discordant strings growing in crescendo as he pulls off his big badness (appropriately based on the notes [[DCComics D and C]]). Also in ''The Dark Knight'', the pre-existing Batman themes become more complex as the character does, climaxing in the leadup to the final fight scene with the Joker when [[spoiler:Batman is taking down ''police''--nonlethally--to keep them from accidentally killing hostages, and only setting up his further fall from favor at the end of the film]] to a frantic and complicated treatment of the main them.
** This use of villain themes began with the campy 1960s ''Batman'' t.v. series. In the 1960s film, the four primary villains (The Catwoman, The Penguin, The Joker, and The Riddler) are all introduced accompanied by their individual themes. The leitmotif for Burgess Meredith's Penguin became particularly well-known, even making an appearance in a then-popular rock song in the 1980s.
* The Witch's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4kiXh8YOzk&feature=related theme]] in ''TheWizardOfOz'' is also used for Miss Gulch, to demonstrate the [[AndYouWereThere connection between the two characters]].
*''[=~2001: A Space Odyssey~=]'', used "AlsoSprachZarathustra" for two key scenes, both times when humanity (or its forebears) made some kind of evolutionary/spiritual leap.
* M created the cinematic Leitmotif. Everytime Hans Beckert is about to attack, hewhistles "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edward Grieg.
* ''GoneWithTheWind'' has "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikVeY0brtXU&feature=related Tara's Theme]]".
* 'Dr Zhivago'. So many times that it gets annoying!
* ''IronMan'' combined a Leitmotif with a shout-out to the original Marvel animated shows by using a jazz version of the cartoon theme as background music when Tony Stark is being crass and selfish in Vegas, then later by using the tune as his ringtone on a friend's phone.
* RepoTheGeneticOpera is chock full of these, of course. They can be as subtle as Blind Mag's indiscernible vocals in songs she's not even part of (Things You See In A Graveyard) to the hilariously blatant "REEEEPO MAN!" that follows Nathan's alter-ego.
* Calm but eerie music was used every time the title character in {{Mikey}} was scheming or about to do something evil.
* Each of the main characters in ''Once Upon a Time in the West'' has a theme song, ranging from the sparse, minimalist and haunting "Man with a Harmonica" to the lush, operatic and choral "Jill's America." Later, director SergioLeone and composer Ennio Morricone would give Deborah her own leitmotif in ''OnceUponATimeInAmerica''.
* Every major character in ''MaryPoppins'' is accompanied by a signature tune. This is most obvious with Mary Poppins herself (Spoonful of Sugar), Bert (Chim Chim Cher-ee), Mr. Banks (A British Bank), and Mrs. Banks (Votes For Women).
* ''{{Snatch}}'' uses Leitmoffs occasionally by sampling bits of songs from its soundtrack when it shifts focus to another group of characters. Perhaps most noticeable is the use of "Dreadlock Holiday" several times when focus switches to the pawn shop gang. Just as conspicuous is the Russian folk tune "Korobushka", which tends to follow Boris wherever he goes.
* ''{{M}}'' makes good use of this with diagetic music. Whistling has never sounded so harrowing.
* ''The Third Man''. The Harry Lime theme underscores the menace and charisma of Harry's presence in the film.
* The music of ''TheMatrix'' (composed by Don Davis) uses a staggering series of horns as the primary series leitmotif. While it doesn't seem that Neo himself has a specific leitmotif, he shares a love leifmotif with Trinity in all three movies (you first hear it after Neo saves Trinity after jumping from the helicopter). Agent Smith shared the original foreboding agent leitmotif in movie #1 with the other agents, but later gained not only one, but two pieces of musical flair for "Reloaded" and "Revolutions." The first is a nasty chant (listen to it just as Neo begins wailing with the metal pole in "Reloaded's" 'burly brawl') and the second is a buzzing viral sound as he replicates relentlessly in the last films.
* Scut Farkus, the bully in ''AChristmasStory'', is always accompanied by the Wolf's theme from Prokofiev's ''Peter and the Wolf''.
* The Shredder from the first TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles movie had a particularly memorable theme which started with an ominous drum bass before working it's way up the something decidedly more 'metal'. It then becomes a very unique sounding theme (most notably played when he fights the Turtles for the first time) that feels so thematically conflicting.
** In the 2007 CGI movie, Raphael's alter-ego, The Nightwatcher has one.
* In the [[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Nostalgia Critic]] review of ''{{Twister}}'', [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_march The Imperial March]] plays whenever Jonas the "bad" stormchaser appears.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

*In TheMightyBoosh, whenever a shaman (mainly Naboo) turns his back on someone their leitmotif plays.
*On ''ClarissaExplainsItAll'', whenever Clarissa's friend Sam put his ladder up to her window, he would be introduced by a drawn-out guitar "twang."
* The new ''DoctorWho'' series has several, including:
** "The Doctor's Theme", also known as "The Bad Wolf Theme", used as the character's "mystery theme" and later joined by the heroic "The Doctor Forever". The original theme finally got its heroic moment [[spoiler:at the climax of ''Forest of the Dead'']].
** Themes for the companions: "Rose's Theme", "Martha's Theme" (which [[spoiler:crossed shows, appearing with her on ''{{Torchwood}}'']]), "Astrid's Theme" and "Donna's Theme".
** Several Dalek themes, generally including choirs: "The Daleks" and "The Dark and Endless Dalek Night" in particular.
** The Cyberman theme.
** "UNIT", beefed up for "UNIT Rocks" in Series Four ([[spoiler:and joined by a B-theme in ''Planet of the Dead'']]).
** The Torchwood Theme, used in season 2, and as the theme tune for {{Torchwood}}. Later crops up when [[spoiler:Captain Jack comes back in season 3]].
*** Most of the Torchwood cast have themes to themselves: Jack's barnstorming (literally) action theme; Owen, Toshiko, Gwen and Rhys, as well as Gray.
** Then there's the complicated issue of the Master, who [[spoiler:hears the drums, using the primary four notes of the ''Doctor Who'' theme tune]].
** "All The Strange, Strange Creatures" is a common leitmotif for big action scenes, most notably [[spoiler: Professor Yana reverting to the Master]].
** And the Old Doctor Who had quite a few, having just watched the final appearance of Adric, I noticed that the same music plays over his departure as does over his introduction the season prior.
* In ''TwinPeaks'' you usually heard the ThemeTune ''Falling'' whenever a situation or character demonstrated or expressed sincere love, in whatever ordinary, strange or abstract form it manifested itself.
* In ''TopGear'', a variation on [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdhz5DeQEX0 the theme]] from ''For A Few Dollars More'' was a RecurringRiff until it was used extensively in the destruct test of the Toyota Hilux pickup. When the truck proved to be MadeOfIron, the theme was associated entirely with the Toyota Hilux, in its honor.
* ''{{Alias}}'' used these frequently.
* Bear [=McCreary=], the composer of all the music for the rebooted ''BattlestarGalactica'', uses leitmotifs for the Cylons (Number Six in particular), Adama and Roslin (both a "love" theme and a "conflict" theme), the space battles (the oft-mocked "poundy drums"), and even [[spoiler: "All Along the Watchtower" for the Final Five Cylons; the sitar-strains of that treatment were present in the ''first episode'' of the third season]].
** And let's not forget "Wander My Friends", the Celtic-flavored theme that has accompanied the Adama boys through four seasons and has been used to express pretty much the entire emotional spectrum...
** Gaius Baltar changes personal identities and allegiances throughout the series, and gets a new leitmotif every time. His latest motif, to represent Religious Leader Baltar, is a prayer written in Anglo-Saxon and praising Gaius Baltar, divine savior of mankind. Yes, really.
* Every ''PowerRangers'' BigBad (and at least one [[TheDragon Dragon]]) is recognizable by music, Lord Zedd's being the most well-known. A few rare good guys have a song (early in the series) or their own little tune, and there was one instance of a mystery Ranger's identity having a nicely sneaky [[TheReveal Reveal]]: He mentioned that they'd met him before, at which point [[spoiler:the intro to the music that always accompanied a certain little boy from an earlier episode is played. Sure enough, it turns out the mystery Ranger is that child's adult self, sent back in time]].
** When PowerRangers crossover episodes happen, the previous Ranger theme will be used during that team's part of the final climactic fight. In the Operation Overdrive two parter this lead to the final fight having SIX themes playing based on who was on screen (Operation Overdrive theme played for Mercury Ranger. Mystic Force theme played for the Green Mystic Ranger, Blue Overdrive Ranger, and Black Overdrive Ranger. SPD Emergency played for the Red Rangers, Dino Thunder played for Yellow Rangers. Ninja Storm played for the Blue Ninja Ranger and Pink Overdrive Ranger. Finally while Rita and Zedd's son fought the original Black Ranger, Adam's theme (written for the episode) played. However it was kinda absurd since they did this for THREE fight scenes (the first two didn't have the Overdrive theme as they were powerless).
**Although, the most recognizable music from Power Rangers after the main theme has to be Bulk and Skulls theme, which is kind of silly and complimented with gag noises. Possibly due to the fact that the pair remain the longest running recurring characters of the series.
*''StarTrek'' has several memorable motifs: The ''Enterprise'' fanfare, the Klingon theme, the fight music [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom of doom]] from the Original Series...
** The fight music was used in ''The Cable Guy'' in a clever ShoutOut to the Spock vs. Kirk fight: Jim Carrey's character actually sings along to the music while it plays in the background. It also highlights just how unbalanced he is, as he takes the fight as seriously as Spock does and almost winds up killing Matt Broderick several times.
** Also used on ''{{Futurama}}'', in an episode more or less directly parodying the Original Series' ''Amok Time'' - when Fry hears the iconic fight music, he knows he's ''really'' in trouble.
* In ''{{Smallville}}'', everytime some dramatic something hints at Clark's future as Superman, a few bars of the theme music from ''Superman: The Motion Picture'' can be heard.
* Bridget, from ''EightSimpleRules'' hears a short guitar chord every time the cool new guy, Damian appears. She is the only character to notice the music, which stops when she falls for a nerd instead.
* Numerous ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' characters have leitmotifs.
** Claude's theme involves wind and voices to create the feeling of a ghost-like presence in reference to his {{invisibility}}.
** Sylar's involves marimbas and bassoons with staccato to re-create the sound of clocks ticking in reference to the character's ability to see how things work.
** Matt Parkman's theme involves voices being played backwards when he uses his power of [[PsychicPowers telepathy]].
** Peter Petrelli's theme involves marcato strings.
** Niki Sanders' theme was based on her character's alter-ego named Jessica and involved winds and Indian voices chanting in an underscore to give a feeling that she was possessed.
** Mohinder Suresh's theme is the piano composition that plays at the end of some episodes.
* ''PushingDaisies'' is crawling with them. Emerson's and Oscar's are the most obvious, while the Ned And Chuck music is sufficiently prevalent to double as the show's ThemeTune. And in the episode [...]... [[spoiler:Ned and Chuck's bed scene wasn't accompanied by the usual music, which was the most immediate clue that it was actually a DreamSequence. Of course, Chuck pulling her skin off to reveal Olive underneath was also a bit of a giveaway.]]
* Lester's Theme in ''BeakmansWorld'' played whenever he gave a wrong answer or was generally super annoying. Which was most of the time he was on screen.
* ''{{Supernatural}}'' has "Dean's Family Dedication Theme", a slightly mournful tune played when that love for his Dad and brother gets a ''little'' too obsessive.
** There's also a much rockier "Brothers' Theme", played during the lighter brotherly moments and distorted a little when the relationship is being strained.
* The first three seasons of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had a tendency to play Buffy and Angel's love theme every time there was a moment related to their relationship on screen. It's a semi-mournful tune most often played on a piano. Apparently the score for season 2 won awards, though that doesn't stop some people from mocking the {{Wangst}} factor every time it appeared. Listen [[http://www.hamienet.com/midi21136.html here]].
** Starting in Season Three, the Buffy/Angel theme changes, and undergoes a slow metamorphosis that parallels their relationship coming apart. During the Mayor's advice for them in "Choices" we can hear several of the different themes played back to back, indicating that this is a pivotal scene, at least for Angel
** Played with in ''TheZeppo'', where it's playing floridly over a massively emotional scene with Buffy and Angel - it grinds to a stop when Xander appears at the door, hesitantly starting to ask for help, then offering help...then when he walks off, the music and the scene crank up again at full tilt.
** Similarly Willow/Oz and Willow/Tara both had prominent themes, which are played together at the end of "New Moon Rising" as she decides who she wants.
** There's also the dramatic music that plays every time Xander and Cordelia make out, played quite clearly for laughs.
* ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'' has 'Sam and Jack's Theme'' and the ''Goa'uld Theme'' among others.
* Used frequently in ''ArrestedDevelopment'', but ''especially'' with Gob. It's to the point that he, in-character, ''must'' consider Europe's "The Final Countdown" to be his own personal theme song.
* Every character on ''{{Lost}}'' has a theme, and several characters have multiple themes for different types of situations. The most frequently used is probably Ben's theme, Dharmacide.
*In the series starring David Suchet, Hercule Poirot has his woodwinds heavy theme that is also used in the credits.
*In''{{Scrubs}}'', a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXyuLN4TcRc&feature=related certain piano melody]] plays during emotional moments or when the main character J.D. learns a lesson.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEL_MI2M_Do&feature=related Lampshaded]] once.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music ]]

*Prokofiev's ''Peter and the Wolf'' is composed solely of {{leitmotif}}s and narration, and is frequently used to introduce the concept to children.
** The page quote is a reference to ''Peter and the Wolf''. For the record, the oboe actually represented the duck.
** {{Les Luthiers}}' ''Teresa y el Oso'', which directly parodies ''Peter and the Wolf'', does this to the extreme. The characters also have [[ParodyNames silly rhyming names]] in Spanish: "El Pajarillo Amarillo" (The Yellow Birdie), "La Mariposa Golosa" (The Sweet-toothed Butterfly), "El Molusco Pardusco" (The Brownish Molusk) and, most notably, "El Oso Libidinoso" (The Libidinous Bear).
** [[WeirdAlYankovic And of course, as always, the part of Bob the Janitor is played by the accordion.]] (He also tried to get Don Ameche to play the grandfather, but was stuck with a bassoon instead.)
* As numerous references on this page make clear, RichardWagner may be considered the KING of the leitmofif; though he was ''not'' its inventor, he certainly made the most extensive, elaborate, and probably the most intelligent use of it throughout the canon of his works. His great ''Ring'' Cycle, for instance, consists almost entirely of a symphonic/dramatic development and interweaving of motives and themes and had a good 30 or 40 different ones in it!

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling ]]

* Professional Wrestling's entrance themes could be considered a [[NoFourthWall Fourth Wall breaking]] version of this. Even when wrestlers change entrance music, the new music generally has a lot of similarities to the old, unless the wrestler has undergone a massive character change:
** The Rock went through ''eleven'' different theme songs during his time with the WWE, all built around the same melody.
** Triple H has used two different theme songs in recent years, both of them by the band Motorhead. The group Evolution, which was led by him, used yet another Motorhead song.
** Some wrestlers have specific sounds at the beginning of their theme that announce their arrival, such as glass shattering for Steve Austin, [[ForDoomTheBellTolls the tolling of a bell]] for The Undertaker (even during his "Bikertaker" phase), and the phrase "You think you know me" spoken in a woman's voice for Edge. These often get removed after a FaceHeelTurn, since they're an obvious cue for the crowd to cheer.
** As Shawn Michaels said on a recent Raw, while listing his various accomplishments: "I don't know if I've mentioned this lately, but I sing my own theme music!"
** Commonly, when a new wrestler debuts, they're given their own generic music written by someone in-house. If they make it big, the core theme is then featured--usually as a guitar riff--when the theme is redone by a famous artist. This has happened with Chris Benoit, Kane, and Batista, among others.
*** Often subverted, particularly in regards to Diva Search winners. Also, WWE has a habit of recycling themes, as ECW wrestler Jack Swagger debuted on TV using Jamie Noble's old theme, then switched to "On Your Knees" by RATM tribute band Age Against The Machine once Lance Cade (who had used that theme prior) departed from the company. Another noteable re-debut, Christian, received a version of the theme he used just before departing ("Just Close Your Eyes" by Waterproof Blonde) redone by Story Of The Year.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Theater ]]

* The Phantom of the Opera. That is all.
*RichardWagner's ''Ring of the Nibelung'' is packed full of leitmotifs which represent each character or plot element. That makes this OlderThanRadio. In fact, Wagner is regarded by many as the original creator of the Leitmotiv technique in composition, and though this is not absolutely accurate, he was certainly its popularizer and its most devoted and thorough practitioner.
* Jekyll, in Frank Wildhorn's ''Jekyll and Hyde'' musical, has a dark piano and violin theme that plays when he sings in group songs, from the dramatic Board of Governers to the light-hearted Engagement Party.
* Rapunzel shares a {{Leitmotif}} with the magic beans in StephenSondheim's ''IntoTheWoods''. The witch took Rapunzel as payment for the magic beans, so her story is tied to them in that way.
** In fact, Sondheim employs leitmotif in most of his major scores, but the technique is most evident in its truest sense in his ''SweeneyTodd''; melodies, accompaniment figures, rhythmic patterns and chords are introduced, fragmented, developed, reprised and interwoven throughout the entire score, each of them representing a different character, mood or aspect of the story. Perhaps the most awesome example is also the most spoiler-y: [[spoiler: The Beggar Woman's Jig motif ("How'd you like to fish me squiff, dear?") is actually the minuet waltz heard at the Judge's ball in the song "Poor Thing" when the Judge prepares to rape Lucy, Sweeney's wife, which clues us in to the fact that the Beggar Woman is actually Lucy. Likewise, the Beggar Woman's "Alms, Alms" motif - based upon a falling second - is derived directly from the "Eleison" motif used to represent Sweeney's keening for his lost wife ("And my Lucy lies in ashes"). The two motifs pointedly merge together in the underscore at the very end of the play, when Sweeney finally makes the connection too late.]]
* In ''Show Boat'', non-singers Captain Andy and Parthy have characteristic themes, though Andy's is sung by the chorus a couple of times. Though Magnolia is a singing character, she also has an instrumental motif first heard when she plays it awkwardly on a piano.
* You might not expect to find Wagnerian {{Leitmotif}}s in a fairy-tale opera for children. But Humperdinck's ''Hänsel und Gretel'' has quite a few.
* The Lord Chancellor's distinctive entrance music in ''[[GilbertAndSullivan Iolanthe]]''.
*LesMiserables has a ton of them. The Thenardiers' songs are almost entirely repeats of the melodies of "The Waltz of Treachery" and "Master of the House", and then "One Day More" is Valjean's main theme ("Who Am I?") combined with a transposed version of "I Dreamed a Dream", "Master of the House", and Javert's little leitmotif that's featured in "Fantine's Arrest" and "The Robbery" put into a major key. Oh, and not to mention "Look Down" is repeated 3 times in the show, and the song "Turning" is "Lovely Ladies" at a slower tempo.
** For that matter, "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" - Marius's song of mourning for his lost comrades - is the same piece of music that the Bishop of Digne sings in Act 1 when showing generosity to Valjean. Since true leitmotifs are meant to be associated with a specific character, mood or idea, it's uncertain to what extent the repetition of music in ''LesMiserables'' is actually leitmotif in action or just practical frugality on the part of the composer.
* Not to mention "What Have I Done" and "Javert's Suicide" have the exact same tune too (but not in the same key), even some of the lines are the same or similar. Just, you know, the ''outcome'' is different.
* In Bernstein's ''Candide'', Cunegonde's theme first appears as the melody of "Candide's Lament" (originally a CutSong but included in most later productions). The theme is subsequently transformed into the "Paris Waltz," an instrumental valse brilliante which is echoed at the climax of "You Were Dead, You Know." The first act finale has the theme sung in counterpoint with the melody of "My Love," and the theme plays a decisive role in the finale ultimo, "Make My Garden Grow."


[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* When you're being chased by a prefect or a cop in {{Bully}} you hear some music that lets you know some shit is going down.
*Video game example: Nobuo Uematsu, the composer for the ''FinalFantasy'' series, is known for creating memorable leitmotifs for characters, locations, and events. In ''FinalFantasyVI'', for example, almost all of the playable characters (and some of the villains) have their own leitmotif (with the exception of the twin brothers Edgar and Sabin/Mashe, who share one). Terra's leitmotif, which is also the Overworld Map theme, is effectively the ThemeTune for that entire game. Even more well-known, though, are the {{Recurring Riff}}s for concepts that span more than one game, such as the Crystal Theme/Prelude, the Final Fantasy Theme/Prologue, the (much-remixed) Chocobo Theme, the Moogle Theme, and the Victory Theme.
** Terra's true character theme is actually called "Awakening". Celes's character theme is the famous opera song "Aria Di Mezzo Carattere" played slower and more sad in tone.
** The ending music for that game is often cited as Uematsu's magnum opus, as it takes new versions of every character theme, plus the main Final Fantasy theme (a total of fourteen pieces) and blends them together into a single 20 minute piece. It's impressive enough to make you forget you're listening to video game music.
** Likewise Yasunori Mitsuda, composer for some of Square's other games, including ''Xenogears''. In a great case of combining forces, Mitsuda and Uematsu co-composed ''ChronoTrigger'', which has some of the most memorable {{Leitmotif}}s.
*** In said game, "[[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=v1YKC8cNXR8 Lucca's Theme]]" probably got played the most, as it starts up whenever anything science/awesome/awesome science-related happens. In fact, the track name is simply "Fanfare", and is adapted, in two separate versions, as the victory theme in the sequel, ''ChronoCross''. This doesn't mean it ''isn't'' Lucca's theme, though - it plays when you talk to her in the End of Time, the same way everyone else's theme does.
** Contrary to common misunderstanding, [[FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]]'s leitmotif is '[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C77Eaq3CDQ Those Chosen By the Planet]]', which is played during his slaughter of [[DoomedHomeTown Nibleheim]], not the immensely popular '[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTxhh1Ins5I&feature=related One Winged Angel]]'.
*** Well that was the case in 7, but due to its popularity, One Winged Angel has become Sepiroth's leitmotif in all of his future appearances.
** Gilgamesh of ''FinalFantasyV'', from his second appearance on, is one of only two enemies in the game to get his own theme, "Battle on The Big Bridge". This one was so memorable that when Gilgamesh made a cameo in ''FinalFantasyXII'', his theme came with him (in a well-done orchestration, at that).
*** On top of that, [[spoiler: The fight against Necrophobe, when the boss just doesn't seem to die, then suddenly you hear the theme. CrowningMomentOfAwesome for Gilgamesh.]]
** Tidus's theme in ''FinalFantasyX'' is remixed into a more upbeat and generic Blitzball theme.
** ''Final Fantasy XII'', on top of having the usual leit-motifs for the main characters, also had a short melody that appears in every track of the game at some point (besides tracks that are borrowed from other ''FinalFantasy'' soundtracks of course). The FinalBattle actually [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome becomes a small war between the Imperial and Heroic leitmotifs]], with the latter eventually overwhelming the former.
*** In Final Fantasy 12, the themes are actually remixes of each place special(s) to the characters. Example, Ashe's theme is really the theme song of the creepy dungeon Girvegin, and the pharos, because thats where her father placed magacite. You can also here the theme of the area "The Tomb of Raithwell".
** FinalFantasyMysticQuest subtly pokes fun at the idea with the character of Tristam, whose leitmotif begins playing just before he appears on screen. The main character, Benjamin, apparently hears this music and begins looking around for him whenever it begins playing.
** Strangely, "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCHVYnThKG0 Aerith's Theme (Pure Heart)]]" from ''FinalFantasyVII'' sounds remarkably similar at some points to "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMO_rZr--FA Celes' Theme (Aria di Mezzo Caraterre)]]" from ''FinalFantasyVI''.
* ''HouseOfTheDead'' 1 and 2 feature the Magician boss leitmotif. The series also has the recurring "Game Over" and "Chapter Clear" ditties.
* {{Xenogears}} has leitmotifs for Bart (Bonds of Sea and Fire) and Chu-Chu (The Sky, the Clouds, and You) among others.
* KingdomHearts also uses leitmotifs extensively, particularly in the sequels. Kairi has 4 different variations on her leitmotif, while Sora only has one. Bosses also have their own leitmotifs. If a character is fought as a boss at some point in the game, their battle music will be a remix of their theme. Nearly all of Organization XIII's battle themes use the piano. "The Other Promise" and "Rage Awakened" are also remixes of [[spoiler: Roxas and Terra's themes, respectively.]]
** How could we forget "Dearly Beloved"? That's the series' opening theme. Now to name all the leitmotifs in the series: [[spoiler:Roxas]] has a slower theme simply named his own name. Namine has her own theme. Riku has his own, though I think it was introduced in KHII simply titled "Riku". "Another Side" seems to be linked to the Organization Cloak. [[spoiler:Xion has her own theme, though as an official OST for 358/2 days has yet to come out, we can only assume it'll be named "Xion". Plus a sped up battle version to boot.]] The Nobodies from Castle Oblivion and Luxord (Because he also has cards) also use "The 13th Struggle". Then there's Ansem's theme ([[spoiler:Or should I say Xenahort's Heartless?]]) which was remixed numerous times for battles in the original Kingdom Hearts and in Chain of Memories. Wow, Yoko Shimomura certainly didn't want anyone in this series feeling left out, did she?
**Actually, Sora, Kairi, Riku, Namine, and Roxas, and Xion have themes. and Kairi doesn't really have 4 themes. You can just here her theme in Namine's and Xion's theme. Also said as above, if you fight a character that has a theme, it's a remix of their original theme. Examples are when you fight Riku, Roxas, and Xion. AND for organization 13, there's 3 battle themes: The 13th Struggle, The 13th Dilemma, and The 13th Reflection. The 13th Struggle is only used for battles against members if you are alone (Axel and Luxord), The 13th Dilemma is for any member that didn't die in chain of memories(Xaldin, Xigbar,Saix, and Demyx) The 13 reflection is used for any member that was killed in chain of memories except marluxia(Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Larxene). "Lord of the Castle" is used for the Marluxia battle, "A Fight to the Death" and "Darkness of the Unknown" are used for the Xemnas battle, and "The other Promise" is used for the Roxas battle. Damn, that's alot!!!!
*** As said said above, if you fight a character that has their own theme (Riku, Xion, Roxas, Terra), their battle theme is a epic remix of their theme. HOWEVAR, in Riku's and Xion's battle theme, you can here various pieces from the series played/other peoples theme inside the battle theme. Example: in Riku's battle song in KingdomHearts 358/2 Days, it begins as an echoey mix of his normal theme. Then at about 20 seconds, the drums start beating, and it gets epic. Inside, you can here: His theme (duh), Hand in Hand (the battle theme of Traverse Town and Destiny Islands(his home world), and "Another Side Another Story". In Xion's battle theme, you can here Dearly Beloved (music for start menu in all so far games), her own theme, Kairi's theme, Roxas theme, and if one listens VERY carefully, they can find bits and snippets of Namine's and Sora's theme. However, for all the other character's theme, they don't sound much like their how their theme was first played sounded like. HOT DAMN!!!!! Yoko really did out do herself this time!
**** HEY, in May, 2009, they released cd's and sheet music for Sora's, Kairi's, Riku's, Roxas's, and Namine's theme on piana. They sound really nice! In the cd, they also have MUCH more. Damn, thats ALOT OF THEMES!!!!!!
*** Actually the three battle themes for the Organization Members like mentioned above only fit for the [[NoExportForYou Final Mix]] of Kingdom Hearts II when fighting their Data. There, Marluxia too gets thrown into the pool of fights using The 13th Reflection. In Re:Chain of Memories, a remix of The 13th Struggle is used for all the Organization fights except Marluxias (who has his own three battle themes there).
* Until some of the more recent games, every character in ''GuiltyGear'' has had their own theme, which plays during battles against them. Certain storyline rivalries have their own themes as well; the theme for battles between Sol and Ky, "Noontide", is practically a theme for the game as a whole.
* Whenever Proto Man showed up in the ''MegaMan'' games, his appearance was accompanied by a mysterious whistle. In ''MegaMan 5'' his doppelganger Dark Man has a off-key version of the whistle, an early hint that he isn't who he says he is.
** Bass's battle theme in ''MegaMan 7'', 8 and maybe ''MegaMan & Bass''.
** The ''MegaManBattleNetwork'' spin-offs often play a version of each game's theme song whenever a dramatic speech is being made by the main character. Many people were quite disappointed when the theme music changed in the fourth game because it wasn't nearly as suited to those scenes.
* Done to death by fighting games, except for the ones that only have stage music as opposed to individual character themes.
** By far the most famous examples are the original character themes from ''StreetFighterII'', with Ryu's, Guile's, Ken's, and Akuma's themes quite possibly being the most awesome and prolific music of all. When ''FinalFight'' characters showed up in ''StreetFighterAlpha'', they got remixed versions of stage music from the original ''FinalFight'' as theme tunes.
** SNK has done this as well. Geese Howard's theme names always involve something "for Geese", but all of them are rearrangements of his FatalFury 1 theme, which was titled "A Kiss for Geese". Afterwards came "A Kiss For Geese -Cyber Dub Edit-" (ArtOfFighting 2), "Soy Sauce for Geese" (FatalFury Special), "One More Kiss for Geese" (Real Bout FatalFury), "A Stiff Neck for Geese" (TheKingOfFighters '96), "Soy Sauce for Geese -End of The First Nightmare-" (FatalFury Wild Ambition), and finally concluding with...[[PlayedForLaughs "Mustard for Geese"]] (TheKingOfFighters 2002 Unlimited Match). The only exception to the name rule thus far is "Kiss Geese Once More", from ''TheKingOfFighters Maximum Impact''. Most games after '96 in which Geese is present have used remixes of "Soy Sauce For Geese", the most recognizable thanks to its flute.
*** Subverted with Iori Yagami, who had a new theme every game up 'till TheKingOfFighters 2000, but they all had a kickass saxophone solo.
** MeltyBlood has used the same character themes since its debut. The most prolific ones are "The End of 1000 Years", used for Red Arcueid, and "For Crimson Air", used for Wallachia.
** GuiltyGear easily trumps everything else though. Some characters have had the same theme, only differently arranged, from the first game, and every character has had the same theme since 'X', and every [[UpdatedRerelease]] of 'XX' uses the rearrangements from the original 'XX'.
*** Characters with special relationships often get VS. theme music, as mentioned previously. ''GuiltyGear XX Accent Core'' even gave new VS. music to Order Sol and Ky, "Keep The Flag Flying". ''TheKingOfFighters '97'' gave two different VS. themes to the same fight: "Cool Jam" plays if the player character is Kyo Kusanagi vs. Iori Yagami, and "Esaka Forever" plays if it's Iori vs. Kyo.
*** The above two traditions continue in the SpiritualSuccessor to GuiltyGear, BlazBlue: each character has their own unique theme, in addition to "relationship" themes, such as "Under Heaven Destruction" for Ragna vs. Jin and "Imperial Code" for Noel vs. Jin(which doubles as the theme of the organization they both work for). Should come as no surprise: Daisuke Ishiwatari is responsible for the music in both GuiltyGear and BlazBlue.
** ''BloodyRoar 1'' and ''2'' on PlayStation. You could choose whether the games played stage-specific songs from the arcade versions, or new character themes created for the console ports.
* The ''{{Sonic}} Adventure'' games used leitmotif liberally, having a theme for every playable character or character important to the plot. SA 2's themes for Sonic, Tails and Knuckles used the same lyrics as their themes from SA 1, but used different melodies.
** And on occasion, their leitmotifs are changed to a completely different theme. Shadow's has changed several times in particular. At first, he had "Throw it All Away", then he had "This Machine", followed by Sonic Team's attempt to give him six in one game depending on the path you took. Most agree the song "I Am All of Me" was the theme of that game, but the next game he's in decides to say it was the song from the good story of that game, "All Hail Shadow."
** Sonic has had to deal with the theme from the original series, then two versions of "It Doesn't Matter", and finally a hojillion (seven) versions of "His World."'
*** "It Doesn't Matter" has resurfaced triumphantly in Sonic and the Black Knight with two different renditions. Less so, Tails' theme from Sonic Adventures 1 and 2, "Believe in Myself" has been arranged as the theme of the Blacksmith(Who is 'played' by Tails.)
** In the original ''Sonic'', in addition to the several versions of Sonic's theme (title screen, game over, continue, ending), Robotnik had two versions of his theme, one during the regular boss battles, the other, more intense version was played during the cutscene at the end of Scrap Brain Act 2, as well as the final battle.
** ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'''s mid-boss and main boss themes were variations on a common riff. In addition, there were two different versions of each stage theme for each act, sometimes, as in the case of Lava Reef Zone, sounding almost totally different. And the first half of the main boss theme was a [[MusicalPastiche pastiche]] or TheJimmyHartVersion of Robotnik's original theme(the games had a different composer than the first two).
*** This was topped by ''Sonic Advance 3'', where each stage theme had no fewer than four variations - one for its map screen plus one for each of the three acts. Somehow it never seemed repetitive, either - the map's theme was more low-key and served to introduce the melodic material, and then each act was a progressively more intense version of the same theme. One of these themes, in fact, was the Green Hill Zone music from the original Sonic; all too appropriate for a stage (Sunset Hill) which was itself a sort of [[NostalgiaLevel re-imagined and remixed version]] of that place.
**''SonicUnleashed'' reuses Eggman's instrumental leitmotif from ''Sonic [[SoBadItsHorrible 2006]]'' and manages to build a new boss music out of it. Speaking of ''2006'', each villain had his own leitmotif, each with several arrangements for cutscenes and boss battles.
*The ''FireEmblem'' series actually had a soundtrack release made up of character themes.
** Absurd use, in ''FireEmblem 9'' (''Path of Radiance'') there's a trio of pirates with their own Leitmotif. Despite them being completely unimportant, to the point that they have less then half a dozen lines among them.
* Lampshaded in ''MetalGearSolid'', when Snake actually hears Psycho Mantis's leitmotif play. [[spoiler:It's a manifestation of his mind control abilities.]]
** Played straight however with Big Boss's leitmotif. It first plays when he's descending into Russia for Operation Snake Eater. It also plays for [[spoiler: his reappearance in [=MGS4=].]]
** In ''MetalGearSolid 4'', the characters's leitmotifs change in order to reflect their changing personalities. Therefore, it's really alarming when we first see Snake (leitmotif "Old Snake") in his "young" mask, and the music that plays is "Opening Infiltration", his leitmotif from ''MetalGearSolid 2'' When Raiden reminisces about Rose, his theme tune changes from "White Blood" to "Who Am I Really?", ''his'' theme from ''MetalGearSolid 2''. Naomi borrows her theme from ''MetalGearSolid: The Twin Snakes'' on her first encounter with Old Snake, and later she is accompanied by "Enclosure", Sniper Wolf's theme, when she is in a situation very similar to Wolf's.
** In ''MetalGearSolid 2'', Snake's Theme from ''MetalGearSolid 1'' plays when [[spoiler: the S3 tells Raiden about how putting him through [[RecycledScript Shadow Moses]] has turned him into a soldier with all of Snake's gifts.]] Footage on the screen from the trailers, where Snake was placed into Raiden's shoes during key boss fights, play on the screen.
* Ridley in ''{{Metroid}}'' has had his own fight music ever since ''Super Metroid''. Though it was not exclusively his music in Super Metroid, it has since become identified with his character, much in the same way that the ''Star Wars'' Imperial March theme was not intended for Darth Vader himself, yet became his de-facto music nevertheless.
** Although not quite so heavily linked to character, the area preceding a boss, (Particularly Kraid) have very memorable themes. This is a given, considering they made the same game three times (Metroid, Zero Mission and Super Metroid).
** Samus also got her own theme tune in Super. Notable occurrences have included Prime 3 and ''SuperSmashBros Brawl''.
** A truer example would be the little riff that plays whenever Samus emerges from her spaceship/a save station when you start up the game in the ''Prime'' series.
* The ''{{Myst}}'' games are ''very'' fond of doing this, usually having themes for each villain (and for each age, in the later games). Also, Sirrus and Achenar, the evil brothers from the first game, have their themes return in ''Myst IV: Revelation'', if only briefly.
** Don't forget the oft-interwoven Saavedro's Theme from the third Myst game and the use of the oboe to represent Gehn in ''Riven''!
* In the ''StarFox'' series, the titular heroes and Star Wolf both get their own leitmotifs. Star Wolf's gets a little...[[SoBadItsGood over the top]] in later entries in the series, what with the vaguely flamenco beat and the blaring brass section.
** Secondary characters Bill Grey and Katt Monroe both get their own leitmotifs whenever they show up in a level.
** In the original, a common leitmotif is used in several of the planet musics, particularly Meteor, Titania, and Fortuna. Several themes are used for different types of boss battles, for example Corneria/Meteor, Outer Space, Venom, and the Atomic Cores(which is a rehash of the opening sequence music), as well as unique BGMs used by the planet bosses.
** Hey, come on. The ''Assault'' version is really quite epic. Panther joined the group at that point, so maybe they had to Spanish it up a bit?
** In ''Star Fox Command'', each character has his/her own background music.
** During Star Fox Adventures, Krystal and Fox had their own theme whenever they were on screen together. Given the nature of the two characters, it could be interpreted as a 'love theme'. A longer and more 'tribal' variation of the same theme was used in the Cape Claw location of the game.
* Every party member in ''TalesOfSymphonia'' has their own theme music, and some have more than one. Zelos, for example, has an upbeat, samba-style tune that shows up when you first meet him, but if you take a certain plot path you'll hear an extremely sombre version of that exact same tune at one point. The BigBad's theme music is also used for TheReveal at one point.
* Quite a number of music in TalesOfEternia that runs different version of the same motif for Van Eltia and Shileska. Add in all the FMVs one can probably find 20+ of them.
* ''{{Castlevania}}'' tends to use "Vampire Killer" to represent Simon Belmont (from the very first game), although in ''Super {{Castlevania}} 4'' he got his own theme music, called "Theme of Simon". {{Dracula}} had to wait until ''Rondo of Blood'' to get his theme music, "Dance of Illusions". When you fight the original ''{{Castlevania}}'' bosses before Shaft in ''Rondo of Blood'', the boss music from the first game, "Poison Mind", plays.
** And ''Bloodlines'', which first appeared as the music for the first level of ''Dracula X'', seems these days to be affiliated specifically with Richter Belmont's frequent appearances in the games.
** ''Judgment'' was praised for its music, if not other things, and it took advantage of its fighting game setup to associate its characters with various themes from the series. It may not last, especially as each game introduces new heroes, but there's little reason not to think of "Iron Blue Intention" as Eric Lecarde's theme. Or give "Mad Forest" to Sypha Belnades.
* Approach a trainer (or have them see you) in the ''[[{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]]'' games and their Leitmotif will play, indicating what kind of trainer they are. In normal gameplay, they only go on for a couple of seconds, but if you pause the dialog to listen to the music you'll be surprised how long they go on for (and how they're arguably better composed than the BGM).
** Another prime example specifically from Pokemon RBY is Green's theme, which plays whenever he comes on-screen and talks, usually challenging you to a match.
*** That would be the rival theme. They appear in every game. In fact, Heart-Gold and Soul-Silver (the remakes of Gold and Silver) Kotone (the female playable character) and Gold (the male playable character) get seperate themes as NPCs.
** Several other NPCs have these as well, such as your rival, the Champion, and basically every character who shows up at more than one point in the story.
* ''[[TheLegendOfZelda The Legend of Zelda]]'' series has leitmotifs for most major characters, most notably Zelda's Lullaby and Ganon's theme (which Ganondorf himself plays on an OminousPipeOrgan in Ocarina of Time). In ''Twilight Princess'', Zelda's and Ganondorf's themes are ''combined'' when [[spoiler: Ganondorf possesses [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tYf6w2kBPA Zelda]] for a boss battle.]]
** There's also [[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=eV4JJPqoMfE Midna's haunting theme]] from ''Twilight Princess'', which she is [[http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=H_8SobLzsZE&feature=related aware of]], because she's just that awesome.
** And Majora's theme, from the titular game, variations of which are used in each of the four provinces of Termina. And remixes of it are used for each of Majora's boss forms.
** The original Overworld theme of the first Zelda is generally considered to be Link's theme. Remixed versions of it play when the Links of ''Wind Waker'' and ''Twilight Princess'' awaken to their destinies as heroes. Also, Ilia (Link's BFF in ''TP'') and Aryll (Link's lil' sis in ''WW'') have their own melodies, as well as Tetra and her Pirates (though it's replaced as her theme by [[spoiler: Zelda's Lullaby]] once her destiny is revealed.)
** The Master Sword has one that plays in some form or another when it is climactically drawn from its pedestal in each game it appears in. You know the one: "Dadadada dadadada dadadada dadadada daaaaah DAAAAAH ''DAAAAAH'' '''DAAAAAH!'''"
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yc7kp_ETGU Sheik]] also gets one in OoT, as well as [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8R0biN_OWk Kaepora Gaebora]].
** Linebeck of ''Phantom Hourglass'' has his own [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcBp_s9kDos&feature=related rather awesome]] theme, as do [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnRmYVyPfTI Oshus]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNo1QvrhGvU Bellum]].
* In the ''SuperSmashBros.'' series (specifically ''Brawl'') each series has victory fanfare, however Meta Knight has his own unique fanfare (which is a metalish remix of the standard {{Kirby}} fanfare). Due to the music numbering it appeared that pretty much every character would have their own fanfare, but most of them were cut before release.
* Every character in the [[NintendoWars Advance Wars]] series has his or her own theme music which plays during their turn. There's also (in Dual Strike) no less than six different power-up themes; which one plays depends on the power level (Normal, Super, or Tag) and which faction is using it (Allied Nations or Black Hole). If you use a Tag Power with an Allied CO and a Black Hole CO in Vs. or War Room mode, the theme will even change when they switch places.
* In the video game Def Jam: Icon one of your character's weapons is the power to change the soundtrack to his own theme music which alters the world around you.
* ''RomancingSaGa'' 1 and 3, ''SaGaFrontier'' and UnlimitedSaGa did this; each character having their own theme.
* ''Super PaperMario'' has theme music for certain villains (Mr L, Count Bleck and Dimentio).
** Super Paper Mario also features a remix of pretty much every song in it. Most notably, the music for the fight against the BigBad is remixed [[spoiler:during the fight against the TRUE final boss]]. Bonus points also go to [[spoiler:Count Bleck's]] leitmotif for being a MusicalSpoiler: It is a remix of the "Memory" theme.
** In ''PaperMario: The Thousand Year Door'', [[ClassyCatBurglar Ms Mowz]] has her own theme music.
** Numerous characters in ''PaperMario'' have themes, including Peach, Bowser, Twink, [[GoldfishPoopGang Jr Troopa]], and the Star Spirits.
** It should be noted that ''every'' boss in the entire PaperMario series has their own theme.
* ''SuperMario64'' has Bowser's theme, which receives an OminousPipeOrgan remix for the final battle.
* Several characters in ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' have their own leitmotifs; for example, Godot's "Fragrance of Dark Coffee", which was used [[ThemeSongReveal quite cleverly]] later on...
** Godot also earns extra points by having his ''own'' theme music as his ''personal cellphone ringtone''.
** Klavier's theme music, "Guilty Love", is actually heard by other characters, although it's justified: it's the no. 1 hit of his band, the Gavinners.
** Also, Pearl's theme is simply a more upbeat remix of Maya's theme.
** In the early games, only important characters have their own theme, but in later ones, almost every witness has one.
* Every boss in ''LaMulana'' has their own boss battle music.
* Several characters in ''Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune'':
** Akio Asakura: "Blue Blazes" (WMMT 1 and 2), "Phantom of Blue" (WMMT 3)
** Tatsuya Shima: "Destination Blackout" (1 and 2), "Black Pressure" (3)
** Reina Akikawa: "Nothing Can Live Forever" (1 and 2), "Feel the Moment" (3)
** [=R200=] Club: "Decoration for the Dement" (1 and 2), "Evil Association" (3). The latter has the distinction of being played in only one stage of Story Mode.
* And in the original ''Wangan Midnight'' game, more characters have their own theme music.
* RPG ''Baten Kaitos'' features Leitmotifs for many characters. The CosmicHorror Malpercio has the impressive Ruler Of The Nine Skies. Recurring boss Giacomo uses the very catchy theme Chaotic Dance, which has electric and acoustic versions. In the prequel, a young Giacomo has the remixed Chaotic Dance 2.
** Spiriters (or maybe it is the Guardian Spirit itself?) also get their own theme, as implied by Baten Kaitos Origins: The True Mirror, aka the fancy battle theme music from Baten Kaitos.
* ''DawnOfWar'' features Leitmotif for each of the factions, ranging from heavy drumbeating for the Orks, militaristic marching music for [[TheEvilArmy The Imperial Guard]] to the Asian orchestral of the Tau Empire.
* In ''TimeCrisis'', we have Wild Dog's theme music and its arrangements in subsequent installments. It itself is a [[MusicalPastiche pastiche]] of the main [[RecurringRiff series theme]].
** ''Time Crisis 2'' also has General Diaz's theme, which appears in the musics for stage 2-1 and 3-3, the FinalBoss battle, and the ending.
** Time Crisis 3 has a different theme tune than the other games, but it still uses elements from the original theme, MusicalPastiche style.
* Valve Software's new shooter ''Left4Dead'' utilises an AI system that spawns enemies, places items, displays visual effects and plays audio depending on players' actions and performance. Three of the five "boss zombies" have unqiue themes that play when they are attacking the survivors, but the Tank and the Witch (being the most deadly enemies) have motifs that play when they are in proximity, meaning that you will not want to hear them. Ever.
** There are also quick little riffs that play when one of the three spawn. This builds subconscious associations among casual players and gives hardcore players (the ones who will poke around the games sound files to find these) something to listen for.
* Unusually for a western RPG, ''[[PlanescapeTorment Planescape: Torment]]'' gave leitmotivs to all the principal characters, including The Nameless One, all [=NPCs=] and all of the principal villains; all being variants on the same underlying theme used for every piece of music on the soundtrack.
* ''{{Halo}}'' features "Brothers In Arms"(mainly a battle theme, returns in part 3), "Shadows"(terror or suspense), "On A Pale Horse"(in scenes where Banshees attack, reprised as "Leonidas" in subsequent games), and "Devils, Monsters"(the Flood leitmotif, "Ancient Machine" in part 2 is a variation of it), among others.
** ''Halo 2'': "The Last Spartan"(the Chief's leitmotif for this game), "Falling Up"(the Arbiter's theme, also a spinoff of the main game riff), the Delta Halo theme, which becomes a {{recurring riff}} in the third game, despite Delta Halo not being part of its story, "Earth City"(the Scarab walker's theme) and "Respite"(the High Charity/Prophet's theme).
* ''ChronoTrigger'' has a few of these, namely Frog's Theme, Magus's Theme, and Robo's Theme, which sounds strangely similar to [[MemeticMutation a certain song by Rick Astley]].
** Holy crap, you're ''right''! [[YourHeadAsplode *pop*]]
* ''WingCommander II'' has a number of prominent leitmotifs, most notably the grim, minor-key brass fanfare accompanying [[BigBad Prince Thrakhath]], the syncopated piano motif for [[FaceHeelTurn Jazz]], and the theme that plays during the love scenes between Blair and Angel.
* Nearly every character of the large cast of the TouhouProject has their own leitmotif. This large influx of [[CrowningMusic/TouhouProject awesome music]] fuels not so much the fandom than it ''[[AdaptationDisplacement displaces]]'' it.
* ''{{Persona3}}'' and ''{{Persona4}}'' both used this incredibly strategically. No specific character leitmotifs, however...
** ''Persona 3'' specifically used about seven different versions of the Tartarus background music, representing the different blocks of the tower. The 'ground floor' rendition ends up more as the main soundtrack to the Dark Hour itself though. More notable, however, is the credits track, Memories of You, wherein musical segments from Your Memories (one of the saddest-sounding songs in the game) and Joy (playing during some of the happiest scenes in the game) are both used.
** ''Persona 4'' is a little lighter on this. Two different versions of the regular battle theme are used depending on the strength of the enemy. I'll Fight Myself has two versions - one used during major boss fights, and one used for the scenes afterwards.
** Both used the 'Poem for the Soul' for the Velvet Room, however 3 is notable for turning it into an [[CrowningMusic/VideoGames insanely rocking boss theme]].
*** Actually, since Revelations: Persona, all games use the Poem of Everybody's Souls as the theme of Velvet Room
* Every party member in ManaKhemia and its sequel have a distinctive theme. That way you have an idea of what kind of crazy stuff's about to go down.
* Alma gets her own leitmotif in the second ''{{FEAR}}'' game, which also serves as the game's main theme.
* ''WildARMs'' games naturally jump on the bandwagon. There's the series main theme, ''Into the Wilderness'', which plays once or twice at key moments in each game, usually the ending or introduction. In ''WildARMs1'', Boomerang has his own theme, which is slowed down for a "funeral dirge" late in the game. In ''WildARMs3'', Virginia has "Ready! Lady Gunner!" while the Schroedingers have "There's Only One Family Named Schrodinger". There are special boss themes for Janus and the Prophets.
** This is brought to a head for the remake of ''WildArms1'', where each major antagonist has their own theme, and they're all ''[[CrowningMusicOfAwesome awesome]]''. (Though Zed's new theme is a bit less awesome then his old one)
* MMORPG [[MabinogiFantasyLife Mabinogi]] has thematic music for each city, most dungeons, and nearly every NPC, as well as the main game theme; variations of which are used in certain cutscenes from the mainstream storyline quests. The soundtrack recordings include about 120 different pieces of music.
* In ''CliveBarkersJericho'', the same haunting piece of music (a lone choirboy, backed by a deeper-voiced choir) plays whenever the mysterious child (who later turns out to be [[spoiler:the Firstborn]]) appears during gameplay (with the exception of [[spoiler:the boss fight against it]]).
* In ''ResidentEvil 3: Nemesis'', the titular monster has many pieces of theme music, but the two most memorable ones are "Feel the Tense...", which plays whenever he is skulking around in the immediate area and is just ''made'' to make the player feel incredibly nervous, and "Nemesis' Theme", a much louder and more dramatic piece of music that plays whenever he enters the same room as Jill.
* ''ResidentEvil 2'' had William Birkin's theme, which had a variation for each of his mutations.
*Lucasarts games in general deserve a special mention for developing a special sound engine just to allow the use of Leitmotifs dynamically.
* ResidentEvil 5 gives Wesker a leitmotif, which is heard whenever he appears on screen, and is combined with [[spoiler:Jill's battle theme]] for the song Two versus Two. Interestingly, Wesker loses his theme music [[spoiler: when he transforms into [[OneWingedAngel his final form]].]]
* In the ''BackyardSports'' series, every playable character has their own theme song.
* Characters have their own themes in the MarioAndLuigi series, such as Popple's unique boss music in the original, Bowser's Theme in some of the games, Fawful and Midbus' theme in MarioAndLuigi Bowser's Inside Story and probably quite a few more.
* ''Universe at War: Earth Assault'' has a different soundtrack for each of the three factions, each with its own theme: the Hierarchy have heavy rock tracks, Novus have a techno/electronica vibe, and Masari have an orchestral soundtrack with plenty of OminusLatinChanting. It's worth noting that all the music here was composed by FrankKlepacki.
* General example. Virtually every DatingSim game has leitmotifs for each character.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', nearly every character, and every villain, had a leitmotif that was associated with them. Nearly every leitmotif, with the exception of the Joker's, originated in the title card for their premiere episode, and thus was featured strongly in the soundtracks of the episodes they appear in.
** Batman's theme himself is quite possibly one of the most memorable ever conceived for the character, arguably moreso than Danny Elfman's from the 1989 movie (which Shirley Walker's enterpretation has many themes in common with).
** Two-Face, for example, had a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE3zCTC-Kpg short but haunting two/three tone melody motif]] that would play every time he was onscreen (whereas most had their motifs simply played in larger scenes), even if the episode had nothing to do with him (IE, if a character was passing by his cell in Arkham).
**The Joker, whose theme never played in a title card, had a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Df9RJaFQ0Y&feature=related whimsical but subtly creepy theme]] (plays at the end) that had a different version of it played (ofttimes with completely different instruments) for every episode he appeared in.
*** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8wXlnmtyfM THIS]] video even has a subtle almost fourth-wall breaking nod to the theme of the animated Joker at the end.
** This idea was used ''expertly'' in "Perchance to Dream". As Wayne races to the top of a church belltower [[spoiler:the Mad Hatter's theme is being played by heavy brass (as opposed to light, cheerful flutes as per norm)]] despite the fact he's doesn't appear to be involved in Bruce Wayne's current plight. Discerning viewers get to notice this, figure out the twist, and feel happy.
** In the origin story for Harley Quinn, the Joker is whistling her theme the first time they meet.
** ''BatmanBeyond'' mostly had its own music, but would occasionally do a callback to leitmotifs for the previous series, and in the episode "Out of the Past," when Bruce Wayne is temporarily restored to youth and vigor, he and Terry take out the trash to a rock-anthem treatment of the BTAS main theme.
*** Another notable - and very effective - callback to the original [=BtAS=] score occurs in the episode "Disappearing Inque," when the aged Bruce Wayne appears in a suit of Batman PoweredArmor to come to Terry's rescue.
*** Yet another one; in the episode "The Call", a brainwashed Superman ends up fighting Terry, and then follows him when he gets on the Batplane and goes to Mach 3. As this goes on, his theme plays in the background, but there is something ''wrong'' about it, somehow...
* In ''JusticeLeague'' and ''JusticeLeagueUnlimited'', Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern and Green Arrow all have their own musical motifs (Batman and Superman retain their melody motifs from their respective solo shows). Green Arrow even hums his own theme while swinging forth into battle at one point (and it was [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome AWESOME]] and [[CrowningMomentOfFunny hilarious]] at the same time).
* In ''InspectorGadget'', every main character had his or her own theme. Gadget's was the main theme of the show, which played in almost every scene as a recurring part of the soundtrack. Penny also had a fairly thorough theme playing in each of her scenes. Brain, Quimby and Dr. Claw each had a short motif that played when their scenes began, while Claw had a longer theme that played in the background afterwards.
* ''KimPossible'' has a few pieces of music used in specific situations, including Rufus's theme, which was put to lyrics as the "Naked Mole Rap" in a third season episode. All the major characters also had their own individual Leit Motifs which would occasionally pop up. The most frequently was Kim's theme, a high-energy guitar variation on the show's theme tune. Ron had his own (somewhat sillier) up-tempo guitar theme, although it shows up less often. Dr. Drakken is accompanied by looming strings, although it's often replaced with a flute when he's being silly. Shego receives a techno beat. Killigan is aided by the bagpipes, while Monkeyfist often appears accompanied with a monk-like male bass chant.
* ''XMenEvolution'' has these for several characters, from full-on Anime-like image songs (Toad) to sinister little villain tunes (Magneto). Magneto's piece is even based on the music playing at Auschwitz at the beginning of the first live-action film. Angel, the only character in the show to operate as a traditional superhero, gets very heroic music.
** Scott and Rogue (as a duo) get one too. It's weird, seeing as they aren't the OfficialCouple, but nonetheless beautiful music.
* ''TheBoondocks'' has Uncle Ruckus whose presence is always preceded by a trombone tune, reminiscent of Jabba the Hutt's theme. Although not heard until Season 2, it is quickly noticeable.
* Every engine in ''ThomasTheTankEngine'' had their own theme in the early years of the show.
* [[NonHumanSidekick Momo]] of ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has a distinct upbeat theme that goes with how his presence is used as an indicator of things being less serious.
** For the reverse, [[TheChessmaster Azula]] has a "[[http://www.avatarspiritmedia.net/interviews.php?id=4 meticulously malevolent]]" bell-like twinge that can be heard almost every time she's onscreen. Usually a sure sign that something bad's about to go down.
*** [[spoiler:And when she's in the middle of her VillainousBreakdown, we're treated to a disjointed amount of strings.]]
**Any time we see the Blue Spirit, we hear a "Tsungi Horn", a fictional instrument in the show made by altering the sound of a duduk. When he is engaging in stealthy moves, this changes to a vaguely bell-like sound, crescendoing and decrescendoing in time to the understated action. (This theme was even played briefly when the still-unpurchased/unstolen Blue Spirit mask went past Zuko and Iroh on a cart, before the character of the Blue Spirit emerged. You ALWAYS know when the Blue Spirit is about!)
** Apparently, [[http://soundtrack.net/features/article/?id=252 every major character has a theme]], as well as each nation, and even one for the OfficialCouple as a pair [[spoiler:which gets a particularly swelling version in the last scene of the series]]. Iroh apparently had several, and Zuko's changed over time with his CharacterDevelopment.
** Zuko and Azula share a Leitmotif because they're brother and sister. They just arrange it differently and use slightly different instruments so his sounds determined and serious, and hers sounds girlish, yet creepy.
** Sokka and Yue also have one, though it may or may not count as a leitmotif since it is essencially an instrumental version of the song Iroh sang in the episode Yue was introduced.
*''{{Thundercats}}'' uses leitmotifs extensively. Each major heroic character has one (Panthro sharing his with the Thundertank), as well as having leitmotifs for danger, warnings, certain locations, and battle.
* Sideshow Bob is one of the only characters on ''TheSimpsons'' to get a leitmotif.
**Appropriately enough, given the episode it was first used in, his theme is heavily based on the title music for Cape Fear.
* ''TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' AnimatedSeries has leitmotifs for Spidey from ''previous animated series'' starring said [[WallCrawl wallcrawler]]. The 1960s one and the 1990s one that appeared on Fox are both audible in the soundtrack music for the show.
* Megatron of ''TransformersAnimated'' has a hard, militaristic drumline. The Decepticons as a whole also seem to have a theme, consisting of severe, drawn-out strings.
** Meanwhile, [[PsychoForHire Lockdown]] has an utterly metal guitar chord.
* ''{{The Life and Times of Juniper Lee}}'' features an interesting theme for June which is a mix of {{Ominous Latin Chanting}} and a series of wind instruments.
* The 1970s British pre-school cartoon ''Bod'' had a prominent theme tune for each of its characters, all of which were short, simple and catchy so that kids would memorize them quickly.
* Several characters and situations in ''{{Ben 10}}'' have these.
** Don't forget the hoverboard music.
* In ''TheVentureBros.'' an absurdly dramatic theme song always accompanies Dr. Byron Orpheus's theatrical outbursts, which comprise a majority of his dialogue. The Monarch has similar dramatic music that plays whenever he's being particularly commanding or villainous: "MINIONS!"
** A particularly ludicrous example of the use of Orpheus' leitmotif can be seen/heard when he's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioEgPlxjDok complaining about his junk mail.]]
* In ''{{Doug}}'', several characters, including Doug's sister Judy, bully Roger Klotz and twins Al and Moo have their own leitmotif.
** There were several situation/emotion leitmotifs, e.g. love, sadness, anxiety, etc.
* [[{{Freakazoid}} Freakazoid's]] leitmotif plays virtually whenever the camera cuts to him.
** Pretty much every distinct character or situation gets it's own leitmotif. Notably, The Huntsman.
* In ''{{Animaniacs}}'', whenever the characters of one segment made a cameo appearance in another they would be accompanied by a few bars of their own segment's theme (the ''Animaniacs'' theme served as the motif for the Warner siblings).
* The Twins in ''{{Superjail}}!'' have a eurodance-esque beat whenever they appear or are about to appear on-screen.
* Several characters of ''Static Shock'' have their own leitmotif.
* Digeri Dingo has his own background music that usually when he's plotting something or saying a funny line in ''TazMania''.
* Every time Cho-Cho from ''{{Histeria}}!'' spoke, she'd be accompanied by the "Chopsticks" music.
* [[BigBad Tai Lung]] from ''KungFuPanda'' gets his own theme, [[BadAss natch]]. What is interesting is that while it plays the first time we see him (complete with Vachir's solemnly intoned "Behold Tai Lung"), and at several points throughout his [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome incredible escape sequence]], with all the gravitas, power, and chilling effectiveness you'd expect, it also appears in a subdued, pensive, even sorrowful tone when he stands before his former master just before their climactic battle, and again in a darkly tragic and heartbreaking iteration (complete with choral rendering!) as Tai Lung is attacking his father with [[IncendiaryExponent his fists on fire]]. (As if we needed any more reminders of his FreudianExcuse and WellDoneSonGuy status--this is during his "All I ever did, I did to make you proud!" speech.) And a heartwarming, sweetly playful version is heard during the flashback to his StartOfDarkness, when we see him [[EverythingsCuterWithKittens as an adorable cub]] with Shifu and learning kung fu. In a moment of [[NoFourthWall Fourth Wall breakage]], this editor even wrote a FanFic in which Tai Lung plays his own theme on a flute. (It's explained in-universe as an old song from his cubhood that's often played for the dead, since he's playing it for Oogway. ItMakesSenseInContext.)
* ''ThePrinceOfEgypt'' makes some use of leitmotif. One of the more notable uses is a snippet of the melody of "All I Ever Wanted" (the part of the song where the lyrics are "This is my home") that plays when Moses is living in Midian with Tzipporah, signifying that he has found a place where he is truly happy, but he's still hiding from the task at hand. A CherubicChoir also appears several times to signify a miracle occurring. The choral part becomes a lushly orchestrated theme right after Moses encounters the burning bush.
* As befits [[MusicalAssassin her modus operandi]], Ember McLain of ''DannyPhantom'' was the only villain with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiUkmHhYACw&feature=related her own theme]], which subsequently became her leitmotif; savvy viewers later on could tell that she was back from the fact that the new radio broadcasts were playing a New Age version of it.
[[/folder]]
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