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Leitmotif / Film

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Film — Animated

  • Aladdin is based heavily on themes. Aladdin himself is represented by "One Jump Ahead," Jafar has a set of dark, descending notes, the Sultan has his own Fanfare, Jasmine has a haunting little tune, and there is a lovely theme representing freedom. Jasmine's theme and the freedom theme were later combined to create a new song called "To Be Free."
  • For the animated Alice in Wonderland, Alice is represented by the title song, the White Rabbit by "I'm Late", the Mad Hatter by "The Unbirthday Song", the Cheshire Cat by "'Twas Brillig" and the Queen of Hearts by "March of the Cards".
  • Bambi has an repeating three-note theme for "Man" which gets louder and more ominous to symbolize that he's getting closer. It has garnered comparisons to the theme from Jaws.
  • Berserk: The Golden Age Arc: Princess Charlotte's introduction in The Egg of the King is accompanied by the track, "L'Amour Impitoyable", which first comes in as a sweet, delicate piano solo that reflects her Shrinking Violet personality and the sense of Love at First Sight between her and Griffith when they meet on the staircase. It comes back again during the hunt when Griffith teaches her how to play the leaf, signifying their growing connection. The title is an ominous bit of foreshadowing about how this ill-fated romance is going to turn out, since it means "Pitiless" or "Ruthless Love".
  • Beauty and the Beast has the "Prologue" theme, the Beast's theme (which has a Dark Reprise during his death scene), "Belle", Maurice's theme, "Gaston", and "Prince Charming" (the love theme). Some of these became the bases for new numbers in the Screen-to-Stage Adaptation.
  • The first three BIONICLE movies had recurring themes for several characters or objects. Often their tones and their instruments would shift to suit the mood of the scene, and at times multiple shorter versions of these motifs would play in succession, one leading into the other. Some of the more memorable ones are: Makuta's theme which ranges from dark and ominous to booming and overwhelming, the Matoran people's theme which ranges from triumphant to heartwarming, Lhikan's theme that goes from fast and action-packed to majestic and noble, then tragic, Vakama's theme which covers his unsure beginnings, self-doubt, the discovery of his power, then his literal downfall in the 3rd movie, the Toa Metru's motif, Keetongu's motif, the Dark Hunters' motif, the theme of the Mask of Time, and of course multiple overarching Bionicle tunes used in all three. Roodaka's own track went unused in her film, though its main cue shows up in some scenes and a variation of it can be heard on the DVD menus.
  • The Black Cauldron is built on leitmotifs. Almost every character has their own theme.
  • In The Brave Little Toaster, composer David Newman gave all five of the appliances a theme, which pops up whenever one of them does anything, but you really have to pay attention to catch it. Toaster's theme loops around itself, illustrating his reflective personality. Blanky is the little kid of the group so his theme is childlike and innocent. Lampy illuminates things and is carefree so his theme is quick and fun. Radio is an entertainer so his theme is loud and brassy. Kirby is a grumpy old guy so his theme plays in lower chords. Each theme can be heard playing for each character as they're introduced at the beginning of the film. You can also hear all of them in quick succession when each character sinks in the mud. (Though Toaster's is usually longer than just three notes.) Ironically, the only one not heard here is Radio's. The song cuts off when he's sinking. Finally, the second half of the end credits music is a medley consisting of all their themes. Some of the secondary characters such as the Master and Elmo St. Peters get themes as well.
    • A distinct motif plays when Blanky tries to snuggle with Toaster and Toaster pushes him away. The motif plays again when Toaster does the same to the flower, causing it to die and changing his attitude towards Blanky. It plays one last time when Toaster comforts the frightened Blanky in the forest.
  • The appearance of Mrs. Tweedy in the movie Chicken Run is always accompanied by what sounds like a mandolin.
  • In Coraline, the intro track "Dreaming" is used as the theme for the Other Mother. She even hums several times. If you're creeped out by Ethereal Choir, then do not listen. Seriously.
    • The leitmotif used for Coraline is "Exploration", which uses a boy solo.
    • Wybie lacks a distinctive tune, but the music associated with him has spring-like noises.
  • In Corpse Bride, Victor seems to have his own theme; notably whenever he plays the piano, he plays that tune.
  • Despicable Me:
    • Notice how the James Bond-worthy soundtrack in the initial stages of Gru's villainy turn into something out of Iron Man to mark his Heel–Face Turn.
    • In any scene involving the girls, you can hear instrumental versions of the chorus of "Prettiest Girls".
  • In Disney's The Great Mouse Detective, the three main protagonists had their own recurring leitmotif tunes. Basil's leitmotif was also the film's main title theme music, Dr. Dawson's leitmotif almost always prominently featured a bassoon, and 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 Finding Nemo, there is a generic tune that doesn't seem to have any meaning, but there's also the theme for emotional moments between Marlin and Nemo, and the turtles' theme.
  • In Frozen II, the spirit in the north is represented by its four-note call, which is worked into "Into the Unknown", which is about Elsa hearing and resisting the call. It also naturally reappears in "Show Yourself", which is about Elsa finding and addressing the spirit — and as she comes to understand the spirit's true nature and approaches union with it, she herself begins echoing the same four notes.
  • Early in Hercules, the titular character sings "Go the Distance." This becomes his leitmotif.
  • Hercules (Pure Magic):
    • Hercules has a triumphant theme with horns and strings that plays during the Olympic Games and over the end credits. A sad violin version plays when Hercules sees the destruction of Thebes, while a calm flute version plays when Hercules sets off to slay the Hydra.
    • Chaotic jazz music plays during both Hydra fights.
  • How to Train Your Dragon takes an interesting approach, using at least three recognizable "melody" leitmotifs as well as assigning particular instruments to particular characters. The Vikings are represented by thundering warpipes, the dragons by noisy brass instruments, a violin comes into play when Astrid is on the scene, and our stalwart hero, Hiccup, is represented by...a piping tinwhistle and/or flute. These instruments weave in and out of major themes such as:
    • The flying theme, a bright and swelling melody which plays softly over the opening DreamWorks Animation logo as the first music heard in the movie, resurges whenever Hiccup and Toothless are at their most badass, is repeated when the pair are rescued by Stoick from drowning and the pair take flight together to face down the Red Death, and triumphantly finishes off the film with the rousing addition of a parade-ground drumbeat. Along with the drums, the instruments of every group participate: the Viking warpipes and dragon brass harmonize, supported by Astrid's violin, and Hiccup's tinwhistle happily skirls around, leading the melody. It's... pretty good.
    • The dragons' theme, an almost swashbuckling/piratical melody which blasts into play the minute Hiccup says "Dragons!" and comes back in nearly every major scene involving them, including most of Hiccup and Toothless' flying scenes and several of the training sessions.
    • The romantic theme, a gently swirling violin-heavy melody which makes a brief cameo during Astrid's epic walk away from the fireball at the beginning, reaches full bloom during her flight through the sunset clouds with Hiccup and Toothless and briefly reappears when she kisses Hiccup at the end.
    • The Green/Red Death's theme, an ear-blasting melody which first appears in the dragons' den and again during the final battle, involving horror-movie-style frantic strings over booming brass and a deep, steady drumbeat reminiscent of heavy footsteps.
    • In How to Train Your Dragon 2, Drago Bludvist has one, a suitably menacing theme that makes up most of the track "Meet Drago".
  • Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame had the villain, Frollo, followed by an ominous Greek choir singing "Kyrie Eleison", which translates into "Lord have Mercy."
    • Also notice that the song "Hellfire" is essentially "The Bells of Notre Dame" tune, but in a ''minor'' key.
    • Phoebus has a little 5-note phrase that often plays when he is onscreen. This melody was turned into the song "Rest and Recreation" in the stage show.
  • The Incredibles has two action themes: one for when Mr. Incredible is doing action things alone and another for when the whole family is doing action things.
  • The Jungle Book has Baloo represented by "The Bare Necessities" and Kaa represented by "Trust in Me". In addition, an instrumental of "My Own Home" is heard a number of times to represent the man-village before it actually appears, being heard during more emotional moments.
  • Kung Fu Panda:
    • The first movie and the sequel have a few subtle ones, but they're there. At least Po, Tai Lung and Lord Shen have themes that usually accompany their appearances. Po's is called "Panda Po" (Remixed as "Dumpling Warrior" and its remix in the sequel's OST), Lord Shen has "Ancient China/Lord Shen" and Tai Lung's, while not named in the OST, first appears as the music Shifu plays on his flute/staff, and is featured prominently in their battle as well as, naturally, his escape from Chorh-Gom. The movie's main theme also appears to be Oogway's, since it plays during his Ascent to a Higher Plane of Existence scene.
    • Kai, the villain of the third film has a theme based off of I’m So Sorry by Imagine Dragons, but remixed using Chinese instruments.
  • The LEGO Movie:
    • Wyldstyle has a slow theme most prominently featured in the track "Emmet Falls In Love".
    • Vitruvius shares a leitmotif with the Prophecy that's sometimes sung by a choir.
    • Bad Cop is often accompanied by a repeating and intense electronic sting.
  • The LEGO Batman Movie:
    • The Bat-Family has a slow, reflective theme that often comes up when Batman is thinking about his family.
    • Robin's leitmotif is an instrumental of "I Found You".
  • Disney's The Lion King. 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, you know Hans Zimmer is truly a genius. What is most disappointing, however, is that one of the most awesome versions of this theme ever, which plays during Simba and Scar's Battle Amongst the Flames, does not appear on the official soundtrack and is in fact not available anywhere.
    • Part of it is actually on the Spanish-version soundtrack. Good luck finding it, though; it may only be available on cassette tape.
    • The battle version of the theme is actually included on the Legacy Collection soundtrack as a part of the almost twelve minutes long track "The Rightful King".
    • There are also separate themes for the hyenas, along with Timon and Pumbaa.
    • "This Land" is actually a suite of themes. The leitmotif that is introduced during the rainstorm scene and when Rafiki is in his Tree is Simba's theme. The reoccurring Busa motif is also a secondary theme of his. The theme that mostly plays during Mufasa-related scenes (such as his death and the Ghost sequence) doubles as both a leitmotif for Mufasa and Kingship in general. All three themes play in succession during the film's climax, where we get one final rendition of Mufasa/The King's material as the rains begin to wash away the flames, followed by a grand choral rendition of Simba's theme, and concluding with the Busa theme and a quick reprisal of The Circle of Life.
  • The Little Mermaid has a theme for almost every character. Ariel is represented by "Part of Your World," Ursula has "Poor Unfortunate Souls", whose melody was also used in the intro of "I Want the Good Times Back" from the Broadway version of the stage musical, Scuttle's theme was lyricized as "Beyond My Wildest Dreams" in the Screen-to-Stage Adaptation ; similarly, Flotsam and Jetsam's theme was written into "Sweet Child"; Triton is given a royal Fanfare, which can also be heard in "Human Stuff" from the Broadway production; Eric has a wistful, longing tune, heard at the beginnings of "Bedtime" and "Eric To the Rescue"; and the human society is represented in a more upbeat manner, with variations appearing in "Jig", which in turn is the basis for "One Step Closer" in the stage adaptation, and "Tour Of the Kingdom, elements of which are used in the musical's "Her Voice".
  • Lucky Luke:
  • Monsters, Inc.:
  • The Crocodile from Peter Pan has a leitmotif based on the Cut Song "Never Smile at a Crocodile."
    • There's also Peter's theme, which is heard in a fanfare at the very beginning of the film. It is often played on the flutes.
  • Pinocchio has his own theme based on the Cut Song "Turn on the Old Music Box," and there is a jaunty little ditty for Jiminy.
    • And meanwhile, Geppetto and the Blue Fairy had "Little Wooden Head" and "When You Wish Upon A Star" as their themes respectively.
    • Whenever Pinocchio makes a wrong choice that seems right at first, like going to see Stromboli or when he lands on Pleasure Island, "An Actors Life for Me" will play.
  • The Prince of Egypt 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 Cherubic Choir also appears several times to signify a miracle occurring. The choral part becomes a lushly orchestrated theme right after Moses encounters the burning bush.
  • Wilbur's theme from The Rescuers Down Under was the guitar riff to "Wipe Out" whenever he was about to take off for flight.
  • Sleeping Beauty gives Maleficent a wonderfully ominous theme.
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs has a themes for Dopey, the Magic Mirror, and the Queen/Witch called "Theme Sinister."
  • In South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Wendy is represented by "Wendy's Song". In some scenes, the Mothers Against Canada have "Blame Canada" as an accompaniment.
  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Noir, Peni, and Spider-Ham are always accompanied by cues that reflect their characters; Noir's is booming dramatic trumpets, Peni's is J-pop and Spider-Ham's is a Looney Tunes-esque score. The Prowler also has one, but his is less music and more...electronic animalistic growls.
    • The "destiny" motif represents miles journey to become a hero and usually plays whenever he's struggling with that journey. The "only one spiderman" motif represents the "spider people" and plays pretty much whenever they're on screen. These two play together when miles properly becomes spiderman. For a more detailed analysis see this video by youtuber Sideways
  • Tarzan:
    • Tarzan himself has a short triumphant theme that plays after he kills Sabor and once he replaces Kerchak as the head of his gorilla family.
    • Kerchak is often accompanied by a distinctive slow theme that displays his intimidating nature mixed with a hint of somberness.
  • Toy Story characters have their own leitmotif. Woody, the cowboy, has a theme that resembles old western movies. Buzz Lightyear, on the other hand, has a leitmotif of epic blaring horns which are taken from "I Will Go Sailing No More".[1]
  • If one were to listen to the soundtrack of Treasure Planet, there are several distinct leitmotifs throughout; there's a soft and tender melody for some of the more heartwarming scenes between Jim and Silver, an energizing and exciting one for Jim's solar surfing, and a triumphant one for the moments you want to cheer. All of which can be heard in the order mentioned here.
  • In Pixar's 25th film Turning Red, there are three noticeable leitmotifs:
    • Mei's theme is the most prominent and frequent involving the flute and the dizi (Chinese bamboo flute).
    • The panda theme involves the erhu (a Chinese fiddle), synthesizers, and bianzhong (Chinese bells).
    • Ming's theme involves the guzheng (a Chinese plucked string).
    • There are also several smaller themes, including a fast-paced theme which often plays during an Oh, Crap! moment, a five-note theme that is used to represent Sun Yee, A short synth theme for Tyler, as well as an etherial theme that represents the Astral Plane.
  • In Pixar's 10th film Up, a leitmotif figures prominently, representing Carl's late wife Ellie.
  • In The Wind in the Willows (1983), Mole has a ragtime piano leitmotif that is carried over to the series, Ratty has the clarinet motif "On The River", and Toad has "Toad The Motorist", which is reprised With Lyrics as "A Hero's Song".
  • In the original Winnie-the-Pooh featurettes, composer Buddy Baker took some inspiration from Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and had different instruments represent each character: baritone horn for Pooh, a sad bass clarinet for Eeyore, flute for Kanga, piccolo for Roo, a fussy sounding clarinet for Rabbit, oboe for Piglet, French horn and ocarina for Owl, and staccato bass harmonica with electric bass for Gopher's walks.
  • Yellow Submarine has one for the sub itself when it is on its way to Pepperland with the Beatles and Old Fred in tow. It is featured on the 1969 soundtrack album on the cuts "Sea of Time" and "Sea of Monsters." In the film it is also used when the sub leaves the Sea of Nowhere and at the end when the Chief Blue Meanie reforms.
    • Another piece, "March of the Meanies," is used during the Meanies' initial attack and later when the Beatles infiltrate their compound and accidentally awaken them.
  • In Zootopia there are three melodic themes that appear repeatedly throughout the movie. note 
    • One is a jazzy, funky theme that plays when characters are being crafty or clever. It's first heard when Nick is carrying out his Jumbo Pop hustle.
    • One is a lighter more hopeful theme that plays when dreams or idealism is involved. One time it's heard is when Judy graduates from the police academy and receives her ZPD badge.
    • One is a slow, melancholy theme that plays when dreams have been shaken or broken. For example it appears as the "depressing music" that plays on Judy's radio after her horrible first day of work to indicate her depressed mood and when Judy resigns from the ZPD.
      • This particular theme has a Triumphant Reprise that plays when broken dreams are given a second chance. It appears when Judy is returning to Zootopia after her "Eureka!" Moment, and when Nick is awarded his ZPD badge by Judy.

Film — Live-Action

  • In Atonement, while Briony schemes against Robbie (albeit unknowingly), we are introduced to a sinister tune as she walks around the estate. The song returns whenever Briony does.
  • The Batman franchise has spawned this a few times.
  • Various recurring themes are heard in the movie version of Battle Royale. Most recognizable are Kiriyama's theme (rising strings and a repeated blast of low choir humming) and the eerie choir music that plays whenever Noriko and Kitano are together.
  • Beverly Hills Cop has "Axel F". This tune was also remixed in Beverly Hills Cop III.
  • Black Dynamite has the phrase DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE! played pretty much every single time the titular character appears.
  • In Blade Runner 2049, whenever K's holographic AI girlfriend Joi manifests, the first notes of Peter's leitmotif from Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf play.
  • In Hal Hartley's The Book of Life, Lucifer has a brief 70's riff that plays for a moment when he appears on screen.
  • Brassed Off has brass band music throughout the film, which often matches the mood of what is happening on the screen. At one point, people who are not in a scene with the band are almost waving their hands in time to the music.
  • Brief Encounter has Rachmaninov's Second Piano concerto, over and over again. The second movement is mainly used for love scenes, with the darker outer movements used to more dramatic effect.
  • Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain America March.
  • Since it was used again in the Catching Fire teaser trailer, it looks like Rue's 4-note tune will be one for the The Hunger Games movies', or at least its advertising anyway.
  • Scut Farkus, the bully in A Christmas Story, is always accompanied by the Wolf's theme from Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. It's particularly fitting, seeing that "Farkus" is the Hungarian word for "wolf'.
  • Several songs were used as leitmotifs in Ken Burn's documentary The Civil War, mostly from the American Civil War era, and often played either when a quote from a specific person was spoken, or in a section devoted to them. "Marching Through Georgia" represented General William Tecumseh Sherman, while a piano rendition of "Kingdom Coming" represented Ulysses S. Grant. There were also specific songs played for parts involving Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas, as well. "Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier" was often used during tragic events, and after the conclusion of battles.
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind had themes for the aliens, the Devil's Tower, and the government.
  • Cloud Atlas: The film gives one to Cavendish; the other stories utilize Recurring Riff to the fullest as opposed to using character-specific motifs.
  • Confessionsofa Teenage Drama Queen has "I'll Never Leave You (Uh -Oh)" as Carla's leitmotif.
  • DC Extended Universe:
  • Doctor Zhivago and "Lara's Theme". So many times that it gets annoying!
  • In the direct-to-video sequel to Dragonheart titled Dragonheart: A New Beginning, Lian's leitmotif is the credits song, "My Heart Goes With You". She even hums it at one point in the movie.
  • Ennio Morricone liked to use instruments to represent characters in The Dollars Trilogy, rather than particular melodies, which is a tendency which gets more pronounced as the series goes on. In A Fistful of Dollars, Joe is accompanied by a swift descending scale on a recorder whenever he does something impressive/we see his face/he happens to blink. In For a Few Dollars More, Manco was represented by a different recorder riff, and Mortimer was accompanied by a single twang on a Jew's harp. In The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, everyone has the same melodic motif, probably because everyone is an equally shitty human being in it, but it's played on different instruments for each character (recorder followed by a wah-wah voice for Blondie, screams followed by a wah-wah voice for Tuco, and a bass ocarina followed by an electric guitar for Angel Eyes). Which instrument goes with which character is drummed into our heads right from the very beginning of the opening credits when the rotoscoped characters appear in quick succession, accompanied by their themes. And they each get Boss Subtitles, which play their themes as they come up. Twice. You will not forget who's who.
  • In Enchanted, an instrumental version of the True Love's Kiss song seems to be Giselle's theme: it's played in a different key when she's in danger, and Pip hums the song to try and communicate that he's talking about her when he can't speak.
  • The The Fast and the Furious franchise, starting from Fast Five has a few leitmotifs going for it
    • Letty has an emotional sounding theme that represents both her character as well as the relationship between herself and Dom
    • Brian and Mia's theme, which represents the two characters' relationship. It is also used as a theme for the family as a whole, at times.
    • Roman Pierce has a comedic theme that features a few times in the film
    • Deckard Shaw gets a slighlty more menacing motif that plays in almost every scene in which he appears
    • Hobbs's motif, which has a very military-esque style to it
    • Cipher's motif, which consists mostly of three notes (although a for note motif is often mixed into the them in some tracks), which sounds both sinister and mysterious.
    • And, of course, there's the main theme for the series, which plays in most action sequences in the series.
  • In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Cameron is the only character to get a leitmotif — a minor-key synth dirge accompanied by a pulsing and fading high note when he is introduced. In his final scene, when he resolves to stop being afraid of life, the theme is reinstated, but in a major key.
  • Some of the more iconic horror films have instantly recognizable leitmotifs. For example, the "ki ki ki, ma, ma, ma" music that accompanies Jason in the Friday the 13th films. Also, the simple piano melody played in the Halloween franchise when Michael goes on the hunt.
  • Forrest Gump has a theme for running.
  • In the infamously horrible The Garbage Pail Kids Movie, the Garbage Pail Kids had their own piece of theme music. Near the end of the movie, Captain Manzini even tries to get the Kids back into their garbage pail prison by playing their leitmotif backward. It doesn't work.
  • Fury (2014) uses Teufelslied (SS Marschiert im Feindesland) as Leitmotif to the Waffen-SS. Doubles as Shown Their Work, as it was a historical Waffen-SS march song.
  • Gladiator has a choir crescendo every time Maximus does something... well.... awesome.
  • The Godfather
    • The main theme is a mournful waltz.
    • There's also a tragic theme for Michael Corleone.
    • A love theme that plays when Michael is in Sicily and meets Apollonia. It is heard in Part II when Vito and his family return to Sicily.
    • In Part II there is a theme for when young Vito Corleone arrives in America and his early days as an immigrant in Little Italy.
  • In the Godzilla films, nearly every monster in the franchise gets its own leitmotif. The most famous ones probably are Godzilla's, Mothra's (which gets performed in-story by her priestesses as a Theme Music Powerup), King Ghidorah's and Rodan's. And that's only four of them!
  • Gone with the Wind has "Tara's Theme".
  • Gravity has a synthesized two-note leitmotif for the primary antagonist of the film; the orbiting debris that shreds anything in its path. It is heard shortly before each of the three times the debris cloud makes an appearance.
  • In The Great Race, the Great Leslie has an upbeat and patriotic (and sometimes diegetic) leitmotif, incorporating parts of "Hail to the Chief" and "America the Beautiful." Contrast this with Professor Fate, who gets a comedic, plodding theme. Maggie gets an instrumental version of "The Sweetheart Tree," which she sings aloud near the end.
  • "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)" from A Hard Day's Night. It's actually just an instrumental version of the song "This Boy," but it nicely captures the melancholy of Ringo's 10-Minute Retirement in the film.
  • Harry Potter:
    • "Hedwig's Theme" 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 eight films, 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.
    • Gilderoy Lockhart has a very noticeable, ostentatious theme which perfectly reflects his personality.
    • Dolores Umbridge's leitmotif in the fifth film is cloyingly jaunty with a hint of poison behind it.
    • Dobby has a leitmotif which is played only partially when he confesses to stopping Harry's mail, but which is included on the soundtrack.
    • Fawkes' Theme, a heart-lifting, memorable melody, is one of the most successful adaptations from book to film: phoenix song builds courage in those who hear it.
    • In the final film Deathly Hallows Part II Alexander Desplat wrote a theme for Harry's mother Lily.
    • Due to the composers changing, Voldemort has a leitmotif that is only used in the first two films.
    • Hogwarts has a noble theme played in the first movie, Hogwarts Forever, which is later turned into a quirky marching band tune representing Hogwarts in the Triwizard Tournament.
  • Home Alone gives us a silly theme for the wet bandits to match their incompetence.
    • Old Man Marley gets one in the form of a Deathly Dies Irae during the first three times we see him. Downplayed in that it's not heard in the latter half of the film after we (and Kevin) learn he's not as menacing as he seems.
  • Hold-up: Lasky, a Fat Bastard truck driver and Expy of Bud Spencer's trademark roles who chases the bank-robbing protagonists to steal them the money they just robbed in a Montreal bank, has a Country Music song, "Running Wild", accompanying each of his appearances.
  • In-universe in Hong Kil Dong. The mentor who teaches Kil Dong to be a badass martial artist also teaches him to play the flute. So after Kil Dong goes into business as a Korean Robin Hood, he gets into the habit of playing his own Leitmotif on the flute before jumping in and kicking ass. It gets to the point where bad guys recognize the music and scurry for cover.
  • Hook has themes representing childhood and Tinkberbell. Hook and pirates have multiple themes.
  • John Slade from the movie I'm gonna git you sucka has a band that follows him playing his theme music. Stating that "Every good hero should have one", Jack Spade then gets his own band at the end of the film.
  • Indiana Jones
  • Inglourious Basterds: Hugo Stiglitz has a deep, rock-ish, two-note leitmotif taken from Billy Preston's Slaughter theme that shows up twice right before the film features his flashbacks. These are both accompanied by his awesome bitchface.
  • Interstellar: In the movie, a ticking clock is used as a Leitmotif to represent the passage of time, since the astronauts have a literal Race Against the Clock before humanity dies off.
  • During Donnie Yen's tenure as the eponymous Ip Man, the song Maestro in all its versions is used to not only score the opening of the movie, but in certain moments with Ip Man.
  • James Bond.
    • The main theme, when taken by itself or as an accompaniment to the Bond Gun Barrel sequence, stands for the franchise as a whole, but within the movies, 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 Theme Music Power-Up. Bond's theme was notable in Continuity Reboot Casino Royale (2006) 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. Uncoincidentally, it's accompanied by another heretofore absent Bond staple, "The Name Is Bond, James Bond."
    • Vesper also had a theme in Casino Royale, conveniently titled "Vesper". The main motif that's repeated are the four piano notes played at the very beginning.
  • The King of the Leitmotif: Jaws. Here comes the shark!
  • Jurassic Park: The tune that plays whenever the Velociraptors are even mentioned could be considered the Jaws theme of the franchise.
  • In Kill Bill the same eerie, whining siren-like riff plays in several scenes when The Bride lays eyes on her targets of vengeance. It's taken from the first few seconds of the Theme Tune from the series Ironside (1967).
  • Laurel and Hardy: "Dance of the Cuckoos"
  • The Lethal Weapon series: Saxophone riffs (some consider them saucy enough to be Sexophone), which often play when Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) is in a "feeling too old for this shit" mood.
  • The Lord of the Rings 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 the Gap of Rohan. 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, since this is the last time the full fellowship are ever together; at least one note is off, or the rhythm is changed.
    • The "Shire/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 Break the Cutie - only to be restored to full orchestral 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.
      • A bit of Fridge Brilliance: 2nd half of this clip. Those blasting trumpets? The Gondor Theme. The soaring violins? That's the Númenor Theme.
    • The "Mordor Theme". Dark and dramatic with lots of brass and ominous chanting when needed. Heard as Gandalf witnesses the arrival of the Nazgûl. 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," (no, not this one) 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 Lothlórien theme (for Galadriel's Elves) is first heard as an ethereal, dreamy piece with generous amounts of Cherubic Choir and One-Woman Wail. 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. For additional fun, in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", the battle version of the theme shows up just for a moment when the dwarven company is being rescued from the wargs by a then-unknown savior, hinting at the fact that the saviors are elves.
    • "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. It also plays in The Hobbit at several key moments associated with the Ring, such as when Bilbo sees it for the first time.
    • The "Nature's Reclamation" theme (perhaps best known as "The Last March of the Ents") does a double duty of representing nature in Tolkien's nature versus industry conflict (for example, as the Rohirrim prepare to charge against the Orcs in the Battle of the Pelennor fields), as well as representing beings that are nature personified such as the Ents or the Eagles (especially as the latter come down on the Nazgûl at the Battle of the Black Gate). This theme also comes back for the appearances of the Eagles in The Hobbit.
    • "The Revelation of the Ringwraiths", containing lyrics from a poem written by Phillipa Boyens and translated from Engish into Adûnaic, the ancient language of Númenor, represents the Nazgûl.
  • Am I Not Pretty Enough for Lola in The Loved Ones.
  • M has one of the earliest and most iconic cinematic Leitmotifs: Every time Hans Beckert is about to attack, he whistles "In the Hall of the Mountain King" by Edward Grieg.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
    • Iron Man 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.
    • The Incredible Hulk does something similar to "The Lonely Man" theme from the 70s TV show plays as Bruce makes his way back to America.
    • Captain America: The First Avenger: Alan Silvestri's score contained a leitmotif not only for Cap and Hydra but also for the Tesseract, which can be heard when Red Skull is preparing to leave the Evil Lair to bomb the world.
    • The Avengers: Alan Silvestri's leitmotif for the above-mentioned (and lost) Tesseract form the first few notes of the score to this film (also composed by Silvestri) during the opening monologue. Three leitmotifs introduced in this score include that of The Avengers, which backs most of the main score, one for Black Widow, and one for the Helicarrier.
    • Iron Man 3: Brian Tyler's notable leitmotifs here include the Phase 2 theme for Iron Man as well as ones for the main heroes, Tony Stark, James Rhodes, War Machine, and Pepper Potts, as well as Aldrich Killian and The Mandarin.
    • Thor: The Dark World: Brian Tyler includes leitmotifs for Asgard and Midgard which are blended and expanded to cross all nine of the realms, having specific parts of the complete melody serve as leitmotifs for Thor, Loki, and Odin when played separately.
    • Avengers: Age of Ultron: Brian Tyler and Danny Elfman fashion this score, using a combination Alan Silvestri leitmotifs for important items such as the Tesseract and Helicarrier. The score is supported by a rendition of Silvestri's original leitmotif for the Avengers from The Avengers. In combination with Brian Tyler's own leitmotifs from Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World for the main characters from those films, the score for Avengers: Age of Ultron is as much an driver and indicator of the action and character moments as the visual elements of the film are.
  • Every major character in Mary Poppins 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), Mrs. Banks (Sister Sufragette), and the Banks children ("The Perfect Nanny"). Admiral Boom also gets his own theme, an instrumental version of a song that was cut from the film called "Admiral Boom".
  • The music of The Matrix (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 leitmotif 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 The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix 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.
  • 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.
  • Calm but eerie music was used every time the title character in Mikey was scheming or about to do something evil.
  • Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation uses "Nessun Dorma" as a leitmotif for Ilsa Faust, played by Rebecca Ferguson.
  • Mystery Science Theater 3000 films:
    • Manos: The Hands of Fate always played a generic four-note synthesized tune anytime Torgo came on screen, which Crow of Mystery Science Theater 3000 called "The Haunting Torgo Theme". In one instance, it played went he went to get luggage, stopped when he was picking it up, and then started up again once he continued walking.
    • 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).
    • Fugitive Alien 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.
    • "Gamera is really neat! / Gamera is full of meat! / We are eating Gamera!"
    • They also poked fun at the theme for The Pumaman.
    "Poo. Ma-Man. He flies like a moron!"
  • Every character in Oldboy (2003) has his/her own theme. Oh Dae-Su has the low techno beat and trumpets of "In A Lonely Place"; Mido has the flutes and strings of "The Last Waltz". The theme most thoroughly worked into the movie, however, is Lee Woo-Jin's theme. This waltz is recurrent with some variations even on the soundtrack album, as "Cries and Whispers", "Breathless" and "Farewell My Lovely". Apart from reinforcing many scenes as a part of the soundtrack, it is also heard as the little midi tune accompanying the release of the gas in Oh Dae-Su's prison, and it is the ringtone on the phone Oh Dae-Su given when he is released.
  • In Once Upon a Time in the West, Harmonica plays his own leitmotif. Usually just before he kills somebody.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean:
    • Davy Jones goes so far as to play his own leitmotif on a gigantic Ominous Pipe Organ, 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 underwater. 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.
    • Captain Jack Sparrow also has his own one. It usually starts with a cello motif, sounding like it's supposed to represent an almost 'drunk' mood. It's incredibly fun to play and listen to, as it just sounds mischievous.
    • 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.
  • Repo! The Genetic Opera 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.
  • In Requiem for a Dream, a remix of Clint Mansell's "Lux Aeterna" is used throughout the whole movie, and different portions are taken for different parts. It's also the penultimate track on the movie's soundtrack.
  • Rocky's Theme.
  • The Saw franchise has the Scare Chord-heavy "Hello, Zepp", written for the climax of the first movie and remixed for the (many) sequels. When it starts playing, you can expect some combination of Once More, with Clarity / an especially gruesome death / the villain sealing someone in a room and declaring "Game Over." It's also been used in movie trailers and, for some reason, a Brazilian gymnast's floor routines.
  • Ghostface even has his own theme in the Scream films, which is usually four whole note chords after he kills. Skip to 1:31 for the theme.
  • 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 pawnshop gang. Just as conspicuous is the Russian folk tune "Korobushka", which tends to follow Boris wherever he goes. As in, he walks into a room, the song plays, he walks out, it stops, he walks back in, it continues.
  • Spider-Man Trilogy:
    • Spidey himself gets a heroic piece that serves as the main titles theme for all three films. It also has a sense of melancholy in it, to represent his Dark and Troubled Past - the guilt that he has over letting Uncle Ben die.
    • In addition, every Big Bad has one too. Green Goblin has a menacing, swooping theme that is arguably the most intense one out of the trilogy.
    • Doctor Octopus has a similarly villainous theme with a sense of sheer hopelessness and often varies between intense and thrilling or bitter and melancholic depending on the scene.
    • New Goblin has different versions of the Goblin theme in his scenes, before finally settling on the original piece when he shows up in the climax.
    • Sandman has two of these: one menacing song when he's committing the crimes he does, and a tragic one when the film shows anything involving Penny.
    • Finally, the symbiote has a menacing, almost antagonistic theme when bonded to Spider-Man, until this is replaced with Venom's own leitmotif when he shows up - the complete antithesis of Spider-Man's theme. It's a purely villainous song which, as it goes on, has a sense of pure, utter hatred slowly building up before just exploding at the end, perfectly capturing Venom's combined hatred and anger towards Spider-Man, and how far he would go to see him suffer and die.
  • The Star Wars series has instantly recognizable leitmotifs for many of its characters, all of them awesome.
    • One of the most famous is the "Imperial March", which goes with both Darth Vader and shows of Imperial power. 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.
    • "Luke's Theme" plays during Luke's most badass jedi moments, and also in the Opening Crawl of each film. John Williams intended to replace it for The Phantom Menace, since Luke doesn't appear in the film, but kept it for the entire prequel trilogy as it had become too attached to the series as a whole.
    • "Leia's Theme" is one of the earliest to appear in A New Hope.
    • "Yoda's Theme", first heard in The Empire Strikes Back, underscores the serenity and wisdom of Yoda's 900-year life.
    • Anakin's Theme has weaving through it Luke's Theme, Leia's Theme, and the Imperial March, thus telling us musically what we already know; this little kid is going to do some very big things before he's through.
    • The Emperor's Theme, which first appears in Return of the Jedi, is used for some musical foreshadowing in ''The Phantom Menace: in 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 a fast pace by an exuberant children's choir. It is also used as the motif for Darth Sidious, who is the same person.
    • The Phantom Menace introduces "Duel of the Fates", which usually gets a reprise whenever Darth Maul shows up.
    • Attack of the Clones also uses this for musical foreshadowing. As Obi-Wan watches the clone troopers marching in formation for the first time, the Trade Federation's theme begins playing, hinting at the clone army's true origins.
    • The film also introduces us to the theme for Count Dooku. It's a lot more subtle compared to the themes of Maul and Grievous, fitting for how Dooku channels his anger and his mysterious nature in the film.
    • Revenge of the Sith features General Grievous' theme, which plays most promiently when he contacts Darth Sidious, and during his duel with Obi-Wan on Utapau.
    • Anakin's Dark Deeds is strongly associated with Anakin's fall to the dark side, and is frequently played whenever scenes relating to that are shown, particularily Order 66.
    • The sequel trilogy (also scored by John Williams) gives us some catchy ones for new characters. There's a quite beautiful one for Rey, as well as two for Kylo Ren, an aggressive military one which represents his public facade and connection to the First Order, and another that is more introspective and represents moments of his internal struggle.
    • Solo: A Star Wars Story finally gives Han his own theme.
  • Return to Oz has distinctive music for each of the main characters; notably trumpet music for Tik-Tok, and creepy mandolin music for Mombi, played by Mombi herself.
  • The killer in The Spiral Staircase has a creepy, teremin-eqsue theme that plays whenever he shows up.
  • Street Angel: "O Sole Mio" is the song Gino constantly whistles. It becomes the music theme for their love with Angela.
  • Christopher Reeve ... er, Superman: The Movie.
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
    • The Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) 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 vigilante alter-ego, The Nightwatcher, has one.
  • The long, low, almost mechanical groan that can be heard in the Terminator franchise whenever there's a terminator doing something terminator-y. And also when Sarah Connor is trying to kill Miles Dyson.
  • Back to the Future
    • The theme plays whenever something epic is happening.
    • "Mr. Sandman" appears to be the theme song of 1955 Hill Valley or something. It's played when Marty first enters the 1955 town square in both Part I and Part II, something which inspired us to name a trope after it.
  • Return to Oz has musical themes for each character: most notably the trumpet tune for Tik-Tok, and the creepy mandolin for Mombi (played by Mombi herself).
  • The Third Man. The Harry Lime theme underscores the menace and charisma of Harry's presence in the film.
  • The Transformers Film Series has a few notable leitmotifs:
    • 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 it on the Catholic prayer, Dies Irae.
    • 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 Fallen also gets one for Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen.
    • Optimus Prime also has his own theme that is different from what was used in the first film, although it could apply to the previous Primes. 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.
    • The Autobots' leitmotif gets reused when Optimus goes into Unstoppable Rage/Papa Wolf during the Forest Battle (skip to 1:24). Parts of "Arrival to Earth" (considered one of the best tracks) gets reused twice: Optimus parachuting into Shanghai at the beginning, and during the search for Jetfire at the Smithsonian.
    • Interestingly, the humans have one tucked into Scorpnok's theme, which is used when the cavalry is called in. A modified version, tucked into Optimus vs Megatron (at 1:56) complements Lennox's Crowning Moment of Awesome.
    • Lockdown has a rather forboding leitmotif which plays in almost every scene that he appears in (being most prominent when he captures Optimus Prime). A more emotional version of the theme, combined with Optimus' theme from the previous films, is heard when Lockdown kills Ratchet.
  • The 1990 version of Treasure Island starring Charlton Heston as Long John Silver featured leitmotifs provided by the Chieftains for the loyals, the pirates, the island, and the ship. The only character to have his own leitmotif was Silver, however.
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey, used "''Also sprach Zarathustra" for two key scenes, both times when humanity (or its forebears) made some kind of evolutionary/spiritual leap.
  • Valentine: Jeremy Melton has a piano line in e-minor that accompanies the opening scene and the Valentines he sends to his respective targets. A second variation for his Arch-Enemy Dorothy appears later in the film after she confesses to framing him.
  • Pink Floyd's The Wall reuses Another Brick in the Wall, Part II's riff over, and over, and over.
  • The John Williams scores to War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin (2011) are so complex, they need full a full analysis!
  • In the 2011 film Warrior: Brendan's trainer Frank Campana uses Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" as his intro music, which is at odds with the rap and Russian music intros of the other fighters.
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit has themes for Roger, Jessica, Eddie Valiant, Judge Doom, and the Toon Patrol.
  • The Wizard of Oz
    • Dorothy has "Over the Rainbow" representing her in a few scenes, such as during "Merry Old Land of Oz" (you can hear it playing when she's getting her makeover) and when she's held captive at The Witch's castle.
    • The Witch's theme in is also used for Miss Gulch, to demonstrate the connection between the two characters.
  • In The Wolfman (2010), Talbot's werewolf form is always introduced by three short notes on a violin.
  • Wong Fei-hung is associated with the Real Song Theme Tune "On the General's Orders":
  • X-Men Film Series
    • X-Men: First Class:
      • Erik's guitar theme forms the core of "Not That Sort of Bank" and "Frankenstein's Monster," before finally blasting into the bombastic "Magneto" at the end of the film.
      • The X-Men: First Class theme (besides the two eponymous tracks "First Class" and "X-Men") plays heavily in "Cerebro" and "X-Training," and heartwarmingly shows up for Erik in "Sub Lift."
      • When listening to the complete score on the Blu-Ray release, Charles is associated with a simple violin melody which gradually evolves into the X-Men: First Class theme. This makes perfect sense because he's the leader of the group. "Rage and Serenity" is actually a combination of Charles' and Erik's themes.
      • Raven's piano theme shows up in "Would You Date Me?" and "To Beast or Not to Beast."
      • Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose" for Sebastian Shaw.
    • X-Men: Days of Future Past:
      • Composer John Ottman elaborates on Professor X's theme in this interview.
        Radio host: We talked about Xavier's theme which almost acts as the central theme for the film because his story is so important, and it hovers around him. Since the film is about hope, and his character is about hope and rediscovering his hope, kind of a lost soul, where did you really draw the music from [...]?
        John Ottman: [...] I knew what the character's challenge was, what the film was about, so I tried to create a piece of music or a theme that could play both sides, sort of despondent and tortured, but also be designed so that it can be hopeful as it evolves later in the movie. I started sketching on an electric piano, and it sounded so cool and vintage [...]. Early in the movie, when it's just very subtly underscoring him, it's a lot of electric piano within the strings.
      • In this featurette, Ottman brings up Magneto's theme.
        John Ottman: Magneto's theme is a very simple "baauum baaaaw." That's basically it, it's so simple you can identify with it and feel it. [...] When he does his stuff at the end and you hear that big sound, it's bigger than it ever was before, and it ties things together.
  • Zeiram has an incredibly unsettling theme, being equal parts classical Japanese instruments, spacy sci-fi music, and Ominous Latin Chanting.

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