Dramatic Thunder

DUN DUN DUN!

"Dramatic effects by God himself!"

— Clifford, Deathtrap

For added atmosphere, play this video while reading on.

Nothing says "This is dramatic, ominous and/or heavy foreshadowing!" like an ionic ground-to-air charge-release — in other words, lightning, and the accompanying thunder. Whether underlining the villain's apparent success, or the heroes' last-second arrival, you can just bet that the thunder is anything but a random result of the global weather-system.

There are variants of this:

1. The Thunderous Underline marks a recently-spoken sentence or word as particularly important, illuminates a recently-arrived character as particularly dangerous and/or sinister, or provide appropriate mood lightning for a villainous laugh. This is frequently lampshaded, subverted, or just plain mocked, though it still gets played straight on occasion.
2. In The Thunderous Confrontation, a fierce thunderstorm provides an appropriately chaotic background to a battle — of weapons or of wills. Usually, it will be the final, climactic confrontation between hero and villain, and you can just bet that the weather will clear up as soon as the hero's won. Frequently, the thunderstorm will play an active part in the battle, with lightning striking exposed targets, starting fires, causing trees to fall, or just making the Airborne Cavalry unable to come to the hero's aid. Almost always played straight.
3. A Storm Is Coming adds thunder as a sound effect to a dramatically brewing storm as part of the Foreshadowing. Often far off in the distance and with its lightning not visible; conversely, if lightning flashes had not had audible thunder earlier, thunder may indicate that the storm is closing in. It may also thunder with the storm clouds directly overhead but no rain yet.
4. Thunder Equals Downpour occurs when the thunder announces the torrential downpour, for which there is no other clue.
5. God Is Displeased and a well-timed thunderclap from above signals that a character's sins may merit some Divine Punishment. If they don't repent, a Bolt of Divine Retribution may be next. Say some extra prayers if there's a God of Thunder on the scene. Generally Played for Laughs.

In the past, the stock sound effect for this was "Castle Thunder", which now is only used for a retro feel. Interestingly, almost all Hollywood thunder occurs simultaneously with the lightning flash (obviously averted when said lightning is blowing up trees and power lines right in the middle of the scene). See also Lightning Reveal.

This will not overlap with Gray Rain of Depression unless the person is angry as well as sad. An example of Empathic Environment. See also Thunder Shock, Fear of Thunder. Also see It Was a Dark and Stormy Night. Compare Lightning Can Do Anything, related to Stop Motion Lighting.

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Examples of Thunderous Underline:

Advertising

• One of the Dairy Queen Lips ads about the DQ valu-menu has the Lips almost getting struck by lightning for saying that he's "master of [his] own domain! All powerful! Muahahahahaha!"

Anime & Manga

• Dragon Ball Z
  • In the original series and Z, whenever either one of the Eternal Dragons are summoned, the sky goes dark and lightning flashes.
  • When Goku goes Super Saiyan for the first time, the sky turns dark and lightning flashes across the sky.
• In Fist of the North Star, several of the major villains are first introduced amongst flashes of lightning, but none get a more thunderous introduction than Toki Actually Amiba, whose first non-flashback appearance is surrounded by repeated bolts of lightning. Nevermind that he's INDOORS. It's somewhat appropriate for his Strapped to an Operating Table Mad Pressure-Point Expert persona.
• In Flavors of Youth, a thunderclap occurs as Xiao Ming receives a call from his father that we later learn is about his dying grandmother.
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid used this for the introduction of Victoria Dahlgrun, Vivio and Einhart's tournament rival who inherited the blood of the Ancient Belkan Thunder Emperor (even if it's just a bit) and who will show them the truth of the strongest *thunder*! The effect was promptly ruined by her butler, who reminded her of her participation in last year's tournament, where she failed just short of the finals.
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny plays this straight during Shinn and Athrun's battle between the Destiny and GOUF, in which Rey's lines are often met with lightning strikes, as well as Athrun's "You're being manipulated" line to Shinn.
• In episode 20 of Noir, after the two titular assassins have just finished a running battle across the rooftops of Paris against a small army of suit-wearing killers with creepy masks, Chloe makes her appearance, standing on top of a chimney — with a flash of lightning behind her. Which is a good tipoff that something important is about to happen, considering that Chloe usually favors the Stealth Hi/Bye.
• Used in Popotan when Mea defeats Keith in episode 10. Almost, that is.
• In the second episode of the Ranma ½ anime, Tatewaki Kuno introduces himself as "The Blue Thunder of Furinkan High" with an appropriately-timed ominous thunder. This is a deliberate subversion, as Kuno is ye originale Martial Arts Butt-Monkey for the entire series.
  • A later episode (and manga chapter) shows Ryouga showing up at the Tendo Dojo for the first time, having tracked down Ranma there. Just as he declares his intention to kill Ranma, lightning illuminates his features (a bit more dramatic in the animated version, where it lights up the whole scene.)
• Occurs twice in When Marnie Was There at the silo. First a powerful thunder prevents the two maids to go through with their plan to force Marnie to enter the detested silo. Later a dramatic thunder scares Marnie big time when inside the silo with Anna.
• In the third episode of X1999, blurring the line with Thunderous Confrontation. Lightning flashes repeatedly as Kamui confronts Fuma at an abandoned basketball-court and they both have a premonition about their future battles - and at the same time, across town at the Tokagushi Shrine, Nataku attacks Kyuogo to steal the Divine Sword, again amidst the flashing lightning. It hardly counted as a confrontation, however, considering how outmatched Kyuogo was. By the time something approaching a fair fight develops - between Nataku and Kamui - the thunder has already passed…
• In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX episode 88, a single bolt of lightning, from a single cloud that came out of nowhere in a clear blue sky, punctuates Jun Manjoume "Thunder" (it's a pun on his insistence toward the use of honorifics after his name) calling out his catch phrase, signifying his return to some semblance of normalcy.

Comic Books

• In The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1992), bolts of lightning and a booming crack of thunder -loud enough to shake the walls of The Sanctuary- herald Agahnim's arrival.
• Skull Island The Birth Of Kong In this MonsterVerse graphic novel, Walter Riccio's visions of the deaths of Kong's parents (which might be real or might just be a fever dream induced by his abuse of the Iwi's medicine) depicts the two great apes fighting amid lightning which might have been caused by a volcanic eruption nearby.
• Wonder Girl Cassie Sandsmark has, semi unintentionally, conjured up electrical storms while upset and arguing with friends allowing her arguments to be punctuated with thunder claps and bright flashes of lightning.

Comic Strips

• In A Garfield Halloween, Garfield and Odie encounter a creepy abandoned house out in the woods. When a bolt of lighting flashes behind it, with the obligatory peal of thunder, Garfield lampshades it by commenting, "Nice touch!"

Fan Works

• Contraptionology!: Invoked. Professor Stranger von Danger likes to have a few unoccupied pegasi around to buck a quick lightning bolt and peal of thunder out of a stormcloud when he is introduced or says something dramatic.
• Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality: Harry wishes that there was dramatic thunder, but there never is.
  Harry: I'm wondering if there's a spell to make lightning flash in the background whenever I make an ominous resolution.
• It Gets Worse: After being affected by pure luck, anytime L33t says something dramatic thunder booms. Later he gets this back when Alexandra breaks the sound barrier nearby.
• In The New Adventures of Invader Zim, lightning cracks when Zim first sees Norlock's castle, despite the fact that there's not a cloud in the sky.
• In a Zootopia fan comic, "Night Terrors", Nick is relating to Judy about a nightmare he keeps having that sounds a lot like one of the early drafts of the film. It happens during a thunderstorm, and lightning strikes right when he says he was arrested.
  Nick: Thank you for your timely input, ominous thunder.
• Queen of All Oni: In this Jackie Chan Adventures fanfiction, the Queen evokes some when she tells Father that she now controls Jade's mind completely. He's not impressed.
• Invoked in The Techno Queen, where the titular Large Ham villain has created a device (the Thunderinator) that causes this trope when someone mentions her name.

Film — Animated

• Played for Laughs in The Emperor's New Groove when thunder and lightning decides to strike as Yzma triumphantly declares it to be dinnertime. Granted, she was planning to poison Kuzco during the dinner, but still.
• Played with in Encanto. Mirabel has found the last prophecy made by her missing Uncle Bruno, an image of which is etched into a shattered glass tile. As she starts to piece the broken glass back together and sees that she might be responsible for her family's magical powers starting to fade, there is an ominous clap of thunder and flash of lighting... but it's just her Aunt Pepa, whose emotions manifest as weather, coming into the room trailed by a tiny thundercloud.
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame: During "The Bells of Notre Dame", thunderstorm rolls in after the statues that adorn Notre Dame Cathedral gave Death Glare to Judge Claude Frollo.
  Frollo: What must I do?
• The Iron Giant: Employed in the opening scene when the giant robot arrives on Earth as a meteorite and he appears in the floodwaters during the storm, ominously silhouetted.
• Kung Fu Panda uses this form of the trope to punctuate Tai Lung's escape: as he stands on the precipice outside the exploded doors, he sends Zeng flying back to the temple to "tell them the real Dragon Warrior is coming home." Later, he arrives at said temple, appearing in the time it took Shifu to blink from the accompanying lightning.
• The Phantom Tollbooth: Dramatic Thunder occurs whenever Milo announces that he's going to the Castle in the Air.
• Space Jam: While the Looney Tunes are on the practice court, the day is bright and sunny. Once they cede the court to the Nerdlucks, however, storm clouds roll in and thunder is heard. Under an overcast sky, the five Nerdlucks go One-Winged Angel, and transform into the five hulking Monstars. And there's suddenly an oversize full moon overhead, too.
• In Toy Story 3, when Lotso, Chuckles and Big Baby first arrive at Sunnyside during a rainy night, the facility's logo flashes up when a lightning strikes and thunder rolls.
• In Turning Red, Mei's nightmare is interspersed with shots showing lightning outside her window.
• Spoofed in Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. Lord Victor Quartermaine has come to ask Reverend Hedges how to kill the were-rabbit. Loud thunder accentuates every dramatic sentence until Victor gets annoyed and closes the shutters so they can talk normally.

Film — Live-Action

• Airplane! parodies this mercilessly, using "Castle Thunder" to underline every minutely dramatic sentence.
  • Airplane II: The Sequel takes it even further by having the ominous thunder in space.
• In the 1945 film adaptation of And Then There Were None, there's a dramatic clap of thunder sounds after the doctor confirms that the third victim was in fact murdered. Later there's another instance of dramatic thunder right after the Judge says that the murderer must be one of them.
• The Art of War (2000). Happens during the Alone With The Big Bad reveal, during the Motive Rant. It's raining for the rest of the movie, with thunder sounding at suitably dramatic moments (usually pre-battle). It's used again for The End... Or Is It? ending; the protagonists have faked their deaths and meet up again in a beautiful French village, only to hear thunder and be Caught in the Rain. As they walk away under an Umbrella of Togetherness, an unknown man takes their picture.
• Black Lightning (2009): The death of Dima's dad is followed by a lightning.
• In a rare not-even-the-least-bit-funny example, thunder can be heard during Roy Batty's death speech in Blade Runner. Somewhat subverted in that most people hear it as thunder rolling away.
• In many Bollywood musicals, father figures get one of these when laying down the law (frequently Arranged Marriage).
  • Bollywood loves to play this one straight. At the beginning of Kabhi Kushi Kabhie Gham , two characters argue about telling X that his brother was adopted. Cue reveal that X is in the room and heard everything. CUE LIGHTNING.
• When Cropsy kills the prostitute in The Burning, thunder can be heard.
• In the Child's Play films, every time Chucky transfers his soul or is revived, a sudden lightning storm appears. Beginning with Bride, it becomes less dramatic (from a large bolt directly striking the area where he performs the transfer in the first film down to low rumbling in the fourth) until by the fifth entry it's completely non-existent.
• The Ghost Goes West: Once Murdoch finds a McLAggen descendant to humiliate, cue the thunder and lightning.
• The film version of Godspell: "And from that moment, he began to look out for an opportunity *booooom* to betray him."
• Godzilla (1954): When Shinkichi, his brother, and mother were suddenly awakened by Godzilla, Shinkichi immediately leaves the house, realizing something was up. When Masaji goes to get his brother, there's a very excellent timing as he had a very horrified expression as thunder strikes.
• The Goonies. Right after the line "If we don't do something now there's going to be a golf course right where we're standing." when Chunk, Mikey, Mouth, and Data are looking at the Treasure Map.
• In the Stanley Kubrick adaptation of Lolita, Humbert's wife reveals her plan to send Lolita away to a strict boarding school, not seeing Humbert's shocked expression.
  Charlotte: Darling, you've gone away.
  Humbert: Just a minute, I'm following a train of thought. (distant thunder)
  • The thunder continues to sound at suitably dramatic moments; when they start squabbling, when Humbert finds Charlotte reading his diary in which he's confided his lust for her daughter, and when Humbert realises she's been killed in a car accident.
• Used in The Matrix when Morpheus first addresses Neo as The One, and again when Neo takes the red pill.
• In Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears, Miss Fisher has just explaining to Inspector Robinson about the curse on the eponymous crypt when there is a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder and all of the lights in the warehouse go out.
• All the time in Mortal Kombat: The Movie. For example, when Raiden explains to Liu Kang that Shang Tsung has stolen the souls of thousands of opponents. Raiden is the God of Thunder with a penchant for theatrics, so he's probably doing it on purpose.
• In A Muppet Family Christmas, Count von Count counts "two worried frogs" looking out the window as Miss Piggy is lost in a blizzard. Kermit and Robin react as if the thunder is just more of the bad weather they're looking at.
• In Next of Kin (1982), thunder accompanies Kelvin and Mrs. Ryan AKA Rita's initial arrival at the Montclare retirement home, during which a lightning bolt also strikes and knocks down a nearby tree.
• In the movie Night of the Demon, Dr. Holden is skeptical about a deadly curse that's been placed on him. As he compares notes with the niece of his associate who had died after a similar curse, he realizes he may have been passed an essential slip of parchment. As he rushes for his briefcase to look for it, thunder booms. That can't be good...
• Night of the Living Dead (1968): The appearance of the first zombie in the film in the opening cemetery scene is heralded by this.
• Twice during the "Liars' Dice" scene in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, first when Davy Jones accepts Will's challenge and second when he informs Will he's free to go ashore once the Dutchman makes port (which it never does.)
• Happens in Pleasantville when George announces, "Honey, I'm home!" before he discovers that his wife — and his dinner — are not there, signaling the effective destruction of his "pleasant" home life. It is especially significant because Pleasantville had never before experienced rain.
• Early in The President's Analyst, a patient of the eponymous psychiatrist reveals he's a government agent concluding a background check on him. He suggests taking the conversation outside as the office could be bugged. The doctor scoffs at the thought, until the agent casually points out the bug he'd planted. As the doctor ponders what he's been unaware of, thunder rumbles in the background.
• WheneverPumpkinhead is stalking victims, thunderstorms pop up in the area. Lampshaded in one of the sequels, when a character knows that he's coming, because there's thunder and lightning but no rain.
• Qivitoq: Played with in a way appropriate to the Greenland setting. There's dramatic thunder throughout the climactic scene where Jens chases a suicidal Pavia across the glacier, except it isn't thunder, it's the continual sound of huge hunks of ice cleaving off the glacier and plunging into the ocean.
• One of the posters in The Return of Hanuman uses Dramatic Thunder to indicate the antagonists of the movie.
• Shortcut to Happiness: When, during a fit of pique, Jabez Stone declares that he would sell his soul to trade places with Julius Jensen, there is a single bolt of lightning from a clear sky and a dramatic crack of thunder.
• Justified in Thor: The Dark World, due to Thor's powers.
  Policeman: Place your hands on your head, step back!
  Thor: This woman is unwell.
  Police officer: She's dangerous!
  Thor: So am I.
  [distant thunder sounds — policeman backs off and calls for an armed response team]
• Venom: Let There Be Carnage: There is a flash of lightning at the end of Carnage's Title Drop during the final showdown.
• In Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?, a thunderclap plays between the first scene and the opening credits.
• In the 1999 film version of With Fire and Sword lighting and thunder occurs when Bohdan Khmelnytsky introduces himself. Khmelnytsky is Anti-Villain at worst, but the trope is played completely straight.
• A more subtle version occurs in Withnail and I, where the ominous thunder happens right before the messenger comes with a message that means their friendship is bound to be over very soon.
• In Young Frankenstein. Three words: IT-COULD-WORK! *Boooom*
  • And every single time someone utters Frau Blucher's name.
  **WHINNY!!**
  • "Could be worse.. could be raining."

Literature

• In Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian story "Iron Shadows in the Moon", in Olivia's dream, the advent of a Physical God;
  As if in answer to that desperate cry, there was a rolling thunder as of celestial chariot-wheels, and a figure stood before the slayers, as if materialized out of empty air.
• In Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, lightning flashes and thunder sounds as Doc announces that his father was murdered.
• Discworld:
  • In Wyrd Sisters, the playwright Hwel uses a lot of thundrous underlining in his plays. The play that's performed at the climax of the novel is no exception, and when someone breaks the thunder sound effect just before the final act, he's provoked into raging at the heavens. At which point a real thunderstorm rolls in and provides appropriate underlining for the rest of the performance.
  • The country of Uberwald provides this as a basic service to the Mad Scientist and Vampire Lord types that inhabit it. At least one vampire, newly arrived in Ankh Morpork, is slightly discouraged when, upon making dramatic declarations, thunder fails to oblige. Later in the novel, when it finally comes around, he indulges, repeating, "Vot...a big...castle!" as the thunder rolls.
  • In Guards! Guards!, Vimes is looking at the aftermath of the "battle" with the dragon, says "Do you know what? I think it went somewhere". When the thunder rolls on cue, he mutters "All right all right, it wasn't that dramatic."
• In Gene Stratton-Porter's Freckles, 'an ominous growl of thunder' rouses Freckles from miserable thoughts.
• Thunder punctuates one of Druss's Badass Boasts in Legend.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers novel, Book 4 Section VIII "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol". As Frodo and Sam pass by Minas Morgul, lightning and thunder crash inside Mordor and Minas Morgul answers in kind. It's a prelude to the departure of the Witch-king's army.
• In Old Scores, Christine conjures up the Thunderous Underline variant to demonstrate the extent of her new vampiric powers.
• Septimus Heap: The battle between The Vengeance and the Dragon Boat occurs during a thunderstorm that was engineered by DomDaniel.
• The Stormlight Archive:
  • In Words of Radiance we have not one, but two highstorms from different directions that clash with each other - underscoring the need for Shallan to open the Oathgate now.
  • In Edgedancer, Nale's Villainous BSoD is preceded by a strike of red lightning and the following thunder.
• In A Wolf in the Soul, Jack Crowe makes a dramatic statement and is very disappointed when this doesn't happen. He tries a few more times. Still doesn't happen.

Live-Action TV

• Blake's 7: In "Sand", Soolin is trying to convince the others that the bad weather they're experiencing is not a coincidence, as the planet is sentient and trying to trap them there.
  Dayna: Oh, and thunder right on cue! This is silly.
  Soolin: Is it?
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer:
  • Used to accentuate a Not so Dire moment in "Hell's Bells" when Buffy and Willow appear to be looking out the window at a hideous monster in the storm, but they're actually looking in the mirror at their ghastly bridesmaids' dresses. Played straight when a roll of thunder accompanies Anya saying this is the happiest day of her life.
  • Also played straight in "Surprise". Angel wakes up in pain to the accompaniment of a crash of thunder, and has time to stumble outside to invert Redemption in the Rain as he loses his soul (again) and becomes the evil Angelus.
• Doctor Who:
  • In the non-canon BBC-produced Affectionate Parody "The Curse of Fatal Death", the Master somehow produces Dramatic Thunder inside his TARDIS to accompany his Evil Laugh.
  • The series combines this with Stock Sound Effects in "Hide", which takes place in a Haunted House.
  • There's a thunderstorm on the night that Bill and her housemates move in in "Knock Knock".
• Drake & Josh:
  • In the episode "The Bet", the boys are told to bring an umbrella to Megan, who is at a friend's house. They don't and she comes in the front door soaking wet with thunder announcing her entrance.
  • Happens twice in "Number One Fan". The first is Lampshaded when Josh tells the kids he is upset they won't brave a gentle rain shower to go camping. Cue the thunder. Josh, showing a slight fear, then continues. The second happens a few minutes later when Drake comes in angry at one of Megan's friends with thunder crashing as soon as he enters.
• In the episode "Ham Radio" of Frasier, Noel shakes a sheet of metal to create the thunder for Frasier's play.
• Lampshaded/parodied in Friends. Phoebe's part time navy boyfriend has just returned on shore leave and she is hoping for some fun, but she has just contracted chicken pox. When he meets her she has covered her face with a shawl and won't show it to him. He convinces her to and she reveals her chicken pox scarred face to him with a lightning flash in the background. He jumps in fright and she gets upset. He responds by saying "No no no, you look fine it's just, the lightning, it was a very unfortunate coincidence."
• Interview with the Vampire (2022): The Climax of "In Throes of Increasing Wonder..." takes place inside a church while a thunderstorm rages outside. The thunderclaps imbue the scene with a foreboding ambience, which is an apt setting for Lestat de Lioncourt to murder the three people present (two priests and Louis de Pointe du Lac, although the latter is revived as an undead vampire).
• Used to the point of parody in the "Ten Little Grifters Job" episode of Leverage. Dramatic events and statements are often underlined by a thundercrack, and the lighting flickering on and off due to the house running off of its own, fairly old, generator.
• The final scene of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power first season is a transition from the Three Elven Rings being created to the Mount Doom and the thunders created by its pyroclastic flow reflecting in Sauron's green eyes as an element of drama.
• In Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, thunder and lightning heralds the Transformation Sequence of — what else? — the Thunder Megazord.
• Murdoch Mysteries: Late in "Murdoch and the Temple of Death", Murdoch pursues and corners a killer (who is carrying an artifact thought to be the Holy Grail) atop a cliff. Murdoch tells the man not to jump, but the guy asserts the power of God in the Grail will protect him, then turns and jumps to his death. Murdoch looks over the edge at the corpse and hears a clap of thunder, despite the rather light sky above him. This one overlaps with A Storm Is Coming, since the next shot is of the city of Toronto in a thunderstorm.
• NCIS: A roll of thunder is heard right after Ziva and Abby's slapfest in "Hiatus", much to McGee's alarm. However Ziva does not kill Abby.
• Sesame Street:
  • Until recently, Count von Count had Dramatic Thunder accompanying the final result as he finished his counts. A few years ago, it was discontinued since it might scare children, so now only appears on special occasions.
  • A trilogy of animated segments featured a character called the Bridgekeeper, and every time he announced his name, there was a sound of thunder.
• In the Star Trek classic episode "Spectre of the Gun": as the Earps and Doc Holliday walk to the O.K. Corral for the final gunfight, lightning flashes overhead and thunder rolls. Partial overlap with Thunderous Confrontation.
• Invoked Trope in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Muse". B'Elanna Torres has crash-landed on a primitive planet and is being helped by Kelis the Poet, who mistakes her for a powerful mythical being called an Eternal. B'Elanna wants Kelis to get dilithium from a local warlord's hunting grounds, but Kelis doesn't want to as he'd face execution if caught. At that moment a coincidental roll of thunder sounds. Kelis' eyes widen as he says, "Did you...?" B'Elanna plays it beautifully, leaning forward and saying with menace, "Don't get caught."
• Supernatural:
  • In "What Is and What Should Never Be", the rumble of thunder is heard as Dean finishes his speech at his father's grave.
  • A rumble of thunder is heard when Castiel is first introduced, at the moment we see the shadow of his angel wings unfurling.
  • Archangel Raphael and Lucifer use this trope for dramatic emphasis; it's implied they're directly affecting the weather with their powers.
  • When Dean first meets Death he's about to create a storm to destroy Chicago, so a thunderous undercurrent is heard throughout their conversation in the contrastingly-quiet restaurant (because everyone there has died from Death's mere presence).
  • In "Reading is Fundamental", thunder rumbles ominously as the Winchesters try to break open a block of clay to find out what's inside.
    Dean: That sound like somebody saying "No, wait—stop!" to you?
    Sam: Uh, yeah... yeah.
    Dean: Yeah. (shrugs) Oh, well. (strikes clay again)
• Tales from the Darkside: In "I'll Give You a Million", Jack agrees to Oliver's offer to buy his soul. As they clink glasses to seal the deal, there is a dramatic peal of thunder from outside.
• In an episode of Twin Peaks, Cooper has gathered everyone related to the Laura Palmer murder at the roadhouse for what appears to be a Summation Gathering; instead, he states he plans to use magic to solve the murder, and has brought them there for help with this. A second later, there's a clap of thunder and Cooper's face is illuminated with lightning.
• Parodied in Ugly Betty, when Big Bad Wilhelmina meet Betty on the roof dramatically, while her assistant Marc created thunder sounds with a sheet of metal around the corner.
• Played for Laughs in the The X-Files episode "The Post-Modern Prometheus", when Mulder and Scully are having an expository conversation with the resident Mad Scientist, dramatic thunder punctuates every sentence.

Music

• Thunder, lightning and heavy rain also open Black Sabbath's self-titled Black Sabbath.
• Thunder opens the song "Override of the Overture" (and by extension, their album Like an Ever Flowing Stream) by Dismember.
• A musical example in the Disturbed song "Haunted", used at the beginning of the song along with a bell.
• Used to good effect to open The Doors' Riders on the Storm.
• The extended version of the Vocaloid song "SLASH/ER" by CircusP has literal thunderous noises in the background as the singer proclaims that she'll become the titular slasher, leading to the final chorus.

Pinball

• Godzilla (Sega): The animation that plays upon making a Skill Shot times shows Godzilla roaring immediately after a massive lightning strike in the distance, which hammers home just how dangerous he is.

Professional Wrestling

• Part of The Undertaker's "Dead man" entrance theme, though sometimes he could make it thunder on cue, due to his vaguely defined power over electricity.
• El Mesías's IWA Puerto Rico theme has a thunderclap before the Ominous Latin Chanting beings in earnest.

Theatre

• In Noah Smith's stage version of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, lightning and thunder accompany the scene where Jekyll first transforms into Hyde.

Theme Parks

• At Universal Studios:
  • Occurs in The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera during the transition after the Flintstones scene, as a means of foreshadowing the Scooby-Doo scene ahead.
  • Occurs on the Hogwarts Express when the trains pass by the ominous Malfoy Manor.
  • Briefly used in Shrek 4D when Thelonius first appears out of the forest.
  • Occurs in the horror section of Special Effects Show when the volunteer screams for a photo.

Video Games

• ANNO: Mutationem: In the bad ending, following Amok's release and subsequent destruction of the world, lightning strikes occur over the sky as an infernal fireball is formed above.
• In The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure, lightning flashes with sounds of thunder after Randy tells the team that Sigmund and Shirley from Red Constellation, are his uncle and cousin.
• Every scene involving Sigma in Mega Man X4 is shot on a dark and stormy night, most notably his meeting with the General of Repliforce in the opening and when he later watches the General's speech.
• The thunder bolts outside of Big Bad Gargamel's hovel in the Game Over screen in The Smurfs Licensed Game, though the thunder was removed in the 8-bit versions of the game.
• In Super Mario All-Stars, booming thunder was added to the final castles in the remakes of Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. You can see and hear the loud lightning strikes through the windows in the level background.
• In the "Subspace Emissary" of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Dramatic Thunder appears behind Wario, after he has captured Ness and Lucas runs away.

Visual Novels

• In Daughter for Dessert, this is Heard in the protagonist's flashback for how he met Lainie. Fresh from his disappointment that he wouldn’t get the job he’d been promised, the protagonist went to work at his hot dog stand...and then the rain starts falling, heralded by thunder.

Webcomics

• In Beyond the Canopy, thunder and lightning mark the first on-page appearance of the Baron. The Rant below the comic notes that "Lightning is nature's strobe light!"
• In one strip of Catana Comics, when Catana refers to the time before she and Jon got together as "the before time", lightning and thunder appear in the background.
• Chasing the Sunset lampshades this, but subverts it by the wizard not being evil. He explains that he was young at the time, but it became an annoyance.
• Abel's Story, a side-story for the webcomic DMFA, invokes this rather sadly in this strip. It's difficult to calm down someone whose mother you nearly killed when a mage provides dramatic lightning to underscore your statements.
• El Goonish Shive really likes a good KRAK-A-THOOM. Usually accompanies Mrs.Kitsune, though recently cute eight years old Akiko demonstrated she inherited this quality.
  • Ashley has also demonstrated a propensity for this, while talking about Serious Business such as Tom Eating Your Sandwich, Not Funsies, and (gasps in horror) Overdue Library Books.
• In Everyday Heroes, superhero Mr. Mighty introduces himself to the neighbors with dramatic lighting and thunder. Lampshaded in this episode, where you can see the pull-chain Mr. Mighty uses to trigger the lighting flash. Also has Professor Odious and his Scary Shiny Glasses.
• In Godslave, a thunder strikes just as Anpu's jar breaks, freeing him.
• Lampshaded in GPF, in these two strips. At that point, the characters are already getting tired of it.
• Invoked and lampshaded in Grrl Power. The Corrupt Corporate Executive, Deus, has a projection-wall and sound-system installed in his office for the specific purpose of creating thunder and background lightning for his Evil Laugh. Unfortunately, the remote is a bit flaky.
• The Last Days of FOXHOUND:
  • In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, The Sorrow is established to have limited weather-control abilities. In the webcomic, he's occasionally seen applying this ability to provide appropriate emphasis for either his own words or a dramatic confrontation — which does, incidentally, border on Thunderous Confrontation territory.
  Liquid: Was that necessary?
  The Sorrow: No, but very appropriate.
  • The Boss. "He's after..." *thunder* "THE PHILOSOPHER'S LEGACY". The Sorrow might've even provided it for her just so she'd look cooler...
• The webcomic A Miracle of Science has the Mad Scientist Dr. Haas living on a partially-terraformed Venus, where it rains almost all the time — providing plentiful Dramatic Thunder for his Mwa-Ha-Ha's and declarations of "I'll show them ALL!". Even if he's indoors without any windows around.
• In No Need for Bushido, Yori has lightning flash and thunder boom whenever he gets into a fight. Some fans have theorized that he actually gets his power from it.
• No Rest for the Wicked has this in the background of the panel in Chapter 1 where November reveals what the curse given to her was (for humorous effect).
• Sluggy Freelance has also used this a few times, either with actual thunder, or merely a footnote saying *Insert Dramatic Thunder Here*.
  Insert Dramatic Music Here. Or the sound of Thunder. Or, hell, just say 'WHOA!' like Keanu Reeves would. That'd be fine.
• Straightforward mocking from Star Something: Dark Lord Pony wants you to fix that short in the electrical system, already...

Web Original

• Parodied in Britanick's "The Mystery", in which thunder strikes both times the detective's client seemingly reveals the culprit of his wife's murder after the detective asks him to Repeat What He Just Said.
• Critical Role: In Campaign 2, Episode 98, the party is introduced to a strange figure. After Matthew Mercer finishes his description of the character, thunder rumbles ominously in the background, punctuating the very next thing he says: "Let's go ahead and roll for initiative," — starting an unexpected fight.
• Spoofed in the Flash comic The Decline of Video Gaming 2; the villain (the CEO of Capcom) laughs evilly and hears thunder, startling him since he's indoors. Turns out he left on the Dolby Surround Sound: Evil Edition on.
• Also spoofed in Farce of the Three Kingdoms, when Cao Cao attempts to make a speech from a mountaintop over the field of battle. The thunder interrupts him so often that he gets exasperated and gives up.
• Life SMP: From the fourth season, Limited Life, and onward, whenever a player is Killed Off for Real, thunder can be heard in the background as lightning strikes the site of their death.
• Mocked in The Nostalgia Chick's review of Hocus Pocus. It happened everytime she said the word "virgin" and by the end, she was saying it to hear the thunder.
• This was also mocked in The Nostalgia Critic's review of Judge Dredd, when during Fargo's death scene, lighting struck after every sentence spoken by Fargo and Dredd.
  Critic as Fargo: "Rico's your brother." *thunder*
  Critic as Dredd: "Rico's my brother?" *thunder*
  Critic as Fargo: "What?" *thunder*
  Critic as Dredd: "I said Rico's my brother?" *thunder*
  Critic as Fargo: "Yes, I know. I said that." *thunder*
  Critic as Dredd: "No, I was just repeating what you just said so I could clarify the facts." *thunder*
  Critic as Fargo: "Oh." *thunder*
• Played for Laughs in Potter Puppet Pals after Harry insults Neville's grandmother in "Wizard Swears".
  Harry: I mean every word I ever say. Ever. Because I'm. Harry. Potter. *thunder*

Western Animation

• The intro of The Addams Family (1992) starts with this and an accompanying, brief organ music.
• All Hail King Julien has Doctor S, the Large Ham Mad Doctor who's catch phrase "...IN A CAAAAVE!" often manages to summon lightning even when it's otherwise a sunny day out. Even his assistant Rob gets in on it, albeit by literally calling "Lightning Strike!"
• In the Avatar: The Last Airbender episode aptly titled "The Storm", the terrible weather is point and counterpoint to the reasons Aang ended up a Human Popsicle.
• In Batman: The Animated Series, a lightning during the Cold Open illuminates Batman in a heroic pose.
• In Garfield's Halloween Adventure, Garfield and Odie approach that haunted house. Cue the thunder and lightning.

  Garfield: Nice touch.

  • The same bit also happens when Garfield comes up to the dog pound that Odie is held in on a rainy night in Here Comes Garfield, along with on at least one Garfield and Friends episode.
• The Fairly OddParents!: Lampshaded, among other things, by Timmy's friends, Chester and A.J., when their ball lands in the yard of Dr. Bender's home, a reviled and hated dentist who loves to mock the dental hygiene of other children and gave his attack dogs braces so they could have perfect teeth. Said home is revealed to be a Victorian style house surrounded by a fence with razer coil barb wire amongst completely dark scenery (it's daytime out) complete with giant moon.
  Timmy: So?
  Chester: Dude. Didn't you see the lightning and hear the weird music?
  A.J.: And all of a sudden it's night time?
  Timmy: [stares]
  A.J.: Don't you understand? He's a dentist! A mean, he's a mean dentist!
  • Lampshaded again in Abra-Catastrophe!:
  Vicky: I'm Vicky, the babysitter! (lightning flashes)
  Timmy: Anybody notice the lightning?
• In an episode of Family Guy, we see a group of tobacco executives who plot on selling cigarettes to children, who laugh evilly while thunder crashes outside.
• In the Futurama episode "Jurassic Bark", Professor Farnsworth declaring that they will clone Fry's dead dog by harnessing "the power of Nature herself!" is emphasised by a dramatic lightning bolt and roll of thunder. Then he goes down into the basement to draw upon the energy of molten lava.
• The Ghost And Molly Mcgee: Parodied in "The Best of Nin-Tentions", where there's dramatic thunder and lightning every time Molly's dad brings up "The Tensions" between Sharon and Grandma Nin. Even Scratch the ghost finds it weird.
  Scratch: As a supernatural entity, I am telling you that is odd.
• In the Hey Arnold! episode "Veterans Day", Adolf Hitler was accompanied by lightning when Grandpa Phil tells a lie about how he highhandedly ended World War II.
• In Western Animation/Inspector Gadget, a thunderstorm is often brewing outside Dr. Claw's castle. More often than not, thunder and lightning accompanies Dr. Claw's sinister laughter.
• Used on Jimmy Two-Shoes to highlight Heloise's Evil Laugh. Then it turns out the lightning was Jimmy flipping the lightswitch quickly.
• Accompanies Gogmagog's mooks in Korgoth of Barbaria when they open the door to the tavern where Korgoth is currently residing.
• In the Halloween Episode of Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, this happens every time someone says "strange apparitions". At first Po finds this rather cool, but eventually even he gets exasperated with it.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • Subverted in the episode "Bridle Gossip". After Applejack says "The Everfree Forest!", there's a clap of thunder, which turns out to actually be the clattering of pots and pans, knocked over by Spike while sneaking a snack.
  • Played straight in "The Best Night Ever", to accompany Fluttershy's Evil Laugh.
  • Used a number of times by Princess Luna in "Luna Eclipsed". Rainbow Dash also spends a good deal of time pranking ponies by invoking the trope.
  • A frequent occurrence once the ponies enter the ancient castle in "Castle Mane-ia".
• Phineas and Ferb:
  • Lampshaded in "Oh, There You Are, Perry" with the Regurgitator, who apparently uses a device for this. Prior to the reveal, Doofenshmirtz questions the thunder and lightning several times.
  • In the "Terrifying Tri-State Trilogy of Terror" Halloween special, every time Doof says the words "inexplicable giant floating baby head", he automatically triggers a flash of lightning. Of course, he has fun playing around with this.
• Subverted in Rugrats; in "When Wishes Come True", Tommy angrily wishes for the worst thing to happen to Angelica and a big flash of light illuminates the scene. It turned out to be the bug zapper outside.
  Grandpa: That mosquito must've been the size of a B-52.
• ''Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated' features this as well in some episodes, including a Thunderous Confrontation in "Escape From Mystery Manor" when Danny Darrow fights Mystery Inc. on the titular manor's roof.
• In Season 4 of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Mermista's proclamations about a Horde spy are underscored by flashes of perfectly timed lightning.
  Frosta: How are you doing that?
  Mermista: I PRACTICE AT HOME! [lightning]
  Glimmer: [Face Palm]
• Tiny Toon Adventures: A segment of the Halloween special episode starts with Buster and Plucky in a cart on a way to Plucky's newly inherited mansion. When they ask the driver why he won't get them all the way to the door, he simply replies: "things", accompanied with the ominous lightning and thunder. They play with it afterwards, since every time anyone says "things" more lightning and thunders occur. Plucky quickly figures out the trigger and tries to taunt the lightning bolt and mocks whoever missed at him. Unfortunately for him, he manages to invoke Bolt of Divine Retribution too.
• Played straight in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode "The Vampire Strikes Back"; first the Castle Thunder sound is used at the beginning of the episode (but is presented in very low-fidelity quality and sticks out like a sore thumb), but then newer, more realistic (and LOUDER) thunderclap sounds are used for the rest of the episode (driving the show more toward realism compared to the classic "campy" cartoon feel the original series had).

Examples of Thunderous Confrontation:

Anime & Manga

• Episode 25 of Death Note, where L finally winds up on the pointy end of Light's Evil Plan and dies, takes place during a nasty thunderstorm. (Also qualifies as a Thunderous Underline - recall the line spoken right before the lightning strikes...)
• Shortly before the final showdown between Cloud and Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the latter nonchalantly raises his hand to summon dark storm clouds that cover the entire battlefield. These seem to serve no other purpose than to emphasize the apparent epicness of the whole affair, which is further evidenced by the fact that a conspicuously well-timed bolt of lightning appears just as the two lunge towards each other.
• Combined with Gray Rain of Depression in the movie adaptation of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's when Vita leaps into battle against a group of sea serpents as the coda to a speech about how terrified she is at the thought of Hayate dying.
• In Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Kira's and Athrun's epic duel halfway through the series takes place in a thunderstorm.
  • Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny has Shinn and Athrun face off in a thunderstorm, complete with dramatic strike at the exact moment Shinn impales Athrun's GOUF with his BFS.
• Oda Nobunaga in Sengoku Basara's anime comes complete with a red-glowing ominous thunderstorm that follows him around wherever he goes. Needless to say, it's impossible to not have a Thunderous Confrontation with Nobunaga.
• Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie opens with Ryu and Sagat's fateful duel in a windswept grassland, thunder flashing across the skies. The two combatants' Ki Manipulation, which involve arcs of electricity as far as the movie is concerned, match the environment nicely.

Comic Books

• In one of the chapters of Don Rosa's classic The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Scrooge fights a duel with swords against the scion of the Whiskervilles — ancestral enemies of the McDuck clan, while a thunderstorm rolls across the Scottish Highlands. The thunderstorm, as it turns out, plays a key role in the end of the duel...
• In the Warrior Cats graphic novel Winds of Change, it's just raining for most of the battle in the WindClan camp, but it changes to a thunderstorm when Mudclaw and his supporters flee, culminating in the confrontation between Mudclaw, Brambleclaw, and Hawkfrost.

Fan Works

• Turnabout Storm uses this in the introduction of the murder in Part 1. There's an interesting twist in that the lighting isn't there just for the dramatic effect, but it's also the cause of death.

Film — Animated

• Disney absolutely loves this trope. Usually some final battle will have a thunderstorm accompany it (as it seems there was some rule that almost every animated Disney movie should have a thunderstorm in it.) Notable examples include:
  • Aladdin as Jafar generated a lightning storm as part of his rule-the-universe stint.
  • Beauty and the Beast: The battle between Gaston and the Beast near the end.
  • The Great Mouse Detective when Basil and Ratigan fight on the hands of Big Ben.
  • The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Judge Claude Frollo in his first scene during "The Bells of Notre Dame" just before he begins chasing Quasimodo's mother.
  Guard: You there! What are you hiding?
  Frollo: Stolen goods, no doubt. Take them from her. (Thunderstorm rolls in)
  • The Jungle Book: Mowgli's confrontation with Shere Kahn take place just as a thunderstorm rolls in.
  • Lady and the Tramp when the Tramp fights with an evil rat in the baby's room.
  • The Lion King: The final battle pits Simba against Scar during a thunderstorm. The brushfires that are ignited by the lightning plays its part in the battle, as per usual...
  • The Little Mermaid when Ursula, now with phenomenal ruler powers, tries to kill off Prince Eric.
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs where the lightning also helps kill off the wicked queen.
• Kim Possible's movie, "So the Drama," features an epic thunderstorm during the final battle, beginning with thunder as the villain's plan goes into action and culminating in a fistfight atop the roof in the pouring rain.
  • For a Disney production, the storm is built up to in a surprisingly subtle way — Kim's hair begins gently blowing in the wind in a previous scene, and later clouds slowly roll into view through a background window.
• Played quite straight in Kung Fu Panda: as the villagers evacuate the Valley of Peace and Shifu waits outside the Jade Palace for Tai Lung, ominous storm clouds are gathering. Thunder and lightning starts at the moment they start fighting. What makes this interesting, though, is how it plays with the trope: instead of the Thunderous Confrontation being between the hero and the villain, it's between the villain and the Old Master. The storm quickly clears out after the hero arrives at the scene — and the scene changes from dramatic, tragic and hopeless to a Final Battle powered by the Rule of Funny.
• Used in The Powerpuff Girls Movie when the trapped Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup confronted the Gangreen Gang for the first time and when Mojo Jojo saved the girls from the gang.

Film — Live-Action

• The final battle of Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem.
• Inverted in Back to the Future. Thunder foreshadows the approaching dramatic storm — but this is a Good Thing, a critical plot point, to get Marty back home. It's played straight right at the end of Back to the Future Part II.
• In Character, the long-delayed confrontation between Jacob and his illegitimate father Dreverhaven is punctuated by a clap of thunder right before Jacob launches himself and tackles his father.
• In The Crow, the final fight against Top Dollar takes place on a church roof during a thunderstorm. The storm ends as The Crow stands victorious...
• Used in Event Horizon. It's set in space.
• Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) has the final battle in Boston occur in a climactic hurricane due to King Ghidorah's storm generation powers, leading to many dynamic shots of the dragon and Godzilla duking it out amongst lightning strikes.
• The big fight in Hancock was punctuated by thundersnow, mixing the Dramatic Thunder and Snow Means Love.
• When the Kurgan battles Ramierez in Highlander there is a huge thunderstorm.
• The final fight between Riggs, Murtaugh, and Wah Sing Ku in Lethal Weapon 4.
• The final battle between Neo and Agent Smith at the end of The Matrix Revolutions.
• At the end of the first The Neverending Story film, as the Childlike Empress is calling out to Bastian from within the apocalyptic ending of the book, a violent thunderstorm is occuring in the real world.
• In Night of the Eagle, it is already raining outside when Norman arrives home and finds the letter Flora sent him. However, when he plays the tape from the envelope and triggers the spell Flora has placed upon it, the rainstorm suddenly turns into a thunderstorm, complete with dramatic thunder and lightning. The thunderstorm grows in intensity until the eagle arrives on the doorstep, which is when Tansy manages to pull the plug and cancel the spell, and the storm goes back to being an ordinary rainstorm.
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End gives us the climactic Maelstrom Battle, with thunder, lightning, and two ships lying broadside for broadside while sailing into a gigantic whirlpool.
  Pintel: And on top of everything else, it's raining!
  Ragetti: That's a bad sign, mate!
• The title character of Pumpkinhead is apparently able to summon these storms at will. One character observes that there's thunder and lightning, but no actual rain.

Literature

• Janine and Candayce's confrontation in Dinoverse starts after Janine's struck by lightning and continues as the storm rolls over them, though when it's faded to a light rain they're not quite through yet.
• In The Go-Between, the ambient temperature rises higher and higher as the passion grows between Marian and Ted, and then when they finally manage to consummate that passion there's a terrific thunderstorm. At this point Marian's mother catches them in the act and mayhem ensues.
• In Michael Flynn's The January Dancer, thunder like galloping hooves is the first sign of the storm they can actually sense.
• The climactic battle of Tom Clancy's Patriot Games also unfolds during a thunderstorm, which makes it very hard for The Cavalry to reach the scene in time.
• The book Watership Down has some working to Bigwig's advantage — he takes a stand against Woundwart during the initial escape from Efrafa, with lightning blazing down just before Keehar shows up.

Live-Action TV

• In Ace Lightning thunder is not only a portent, but also part of the power boost used in order to bring the videogame characters to life.
• In the third episode of Club der roten Bänder, as Leo refuses another chemotherapy.
• In the The Outer Limits (1963) episode "Specimen: Unknown", a thunderstorm rages overhead as deadly alien plants spread out from a spaceship crash. The humans are in despair as they believe that the rain from the storm will cause the plants to spread more quickly. Instead the plants shrivel and die when exposed to water, so the storm actually saves the human race. This is a rare case where the thunderstorm works to the good guys' advantage.
• Lampshaded on The West Wing:
  [Ominous thunderclap]
  President Bartlett: What the hell...? If this isn't a metaphor for powerlessness, I don't know what is.
• The Wild Wild West episode "Night of the Bleak Island", while the heroes are trying to deal with a deadly hound and a murderer.

Tabletop Games

• Tabletop RPG example: The Dungeons & Dragons module I10, The House on Gryphon Hill, ends with a climactic chase of the Big Bad Creature through a violent thunderstorm. But it takes place in Ravenloft, where such things are to be expected...

Video Games

• Animal Crossing: If you make Resetti scream at you, be prepared for thunderous booms to accompany his loud outbursts.
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla: Eivor's fight to the death with Dag takes place during a roaring thunderstorm. Despite this, the two are able to back and forth over the weather.
• Even Bully couldn't escape this — the Final Confrontation, up and down the sides of the school's belltower, is accompanied by a well-timed thunderstorm. And flocks of black crows, just for good measure.
• The Battle of Ostagar in Dragon Age: Origins takes place during a thunderstorm.
• The final boss battle of Gun Frontier is a Showdown at High Noon Quick Draw duel set above a thunderstorm.
• Halo 5: Guardians: This occurs when John-117 and the rest of Blue Team enters the gateway to the Domain to confront Cortana about her plans for taking control of the galaxy.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: All over the place in the final battle against Ganon. The sky was already cloudy and foreboding to begin with, but the lightning only comes when Ganon prepares to face Link.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: Though not the final boss, the fight of the final "regular" dungeon has Link Colossus Climbing a giant flying dragon atop the tallest tower of a sky castle.
• The first Wily stage in Mega Man 9 has thunder on the screens before the mini-boss area. It's not exactly the most exciting battle around (specially since it's a reappearing boss), but it works as a warmth welcome to the final area in the game.
• The first fight with Sigma's head in Mega Man X5 takes place in a thunderstorm.
• Metal Slug: The fifth game's final battle takes place on top of a tower as a storm brews in the background. This doesn't last long as the sky fades to black when the Avatar of Evil approaches, though a burst of lightning reveals its silhouette shortly before the fight begins.
• Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi: This is constant when you're outside.
• Ōkami: The dramatic Ninetails battle in Oni Island, fought atop the great mansion of Oni Island. Since you've learned to control lightning at this point, and the foe enjoys flourishing her highly-conductive sword, this works to your advantage. One of the phases of the Final Battle repeats this, with lightning flashing as the boss raises its sword-shaped arms.
• Pizza Tower: The third phase of the Final Boss sees the revival of the other stage bosses to act as a Boss Rush. Peppino, already at his wits' end by this point, completely snaps and with a scream of pure fury, goes to launch a No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on the first revived boss — at which point a thunderstorm spontaneously manifests as if in response to his rage.
• Rhythm Heaven Fever: During the last stretch of Samurai Slice, where the music reaches its climax, lightning strikes with each successful slice. Yes, lightning strikes perfectly in sync with the battle and music.
• In Shadow of the Colossus, the battle with the Final Colossus is accompanied by a heavy thunderstorm. Concidentally, the Gray Rain of Depression starts right after Agro seemingly dies. After the battle is over, we see the main hero lying unconscious at the feet of the destroyed colossus while the sun shines brightly in clear sky.
• Super Mario All-Stars has two examples:
  • For Super Mario Brothers and The Lost Levels, the final Bowser Castle in both games has a thunderstorm going on outside throughout the whole stage.
  • For Super Mario Brothers 3, a lightning storm accompanies every Airship stage and subsequent boss battle, barring the rare Coin Ship.
• The final battle with Bowser in Super Mario World had thunder and lighting in the background
• The final battle with Deathshead in Wolfenstein: The New Order is this. The storm even powers up his shield during the battle.

Webcomics

• Outright invoked through the power of Steampunk science by the titular Girl Genius during the Battle of Mechanicsburg. A modified electrical superweapon is used to 'charge' the atmosphere, even while an (apparently completely coincidental) rainstorm rolls in to deliver a thematically-appropriate downpour. Finally, the lightning is climactically released to revive the sleeping Genius Loci of Heterodyne Castle...
• The Homestuck song Rex Duodecim Angelus is set during the climactic battle between the trolls and the Black King, and contains multiple thunder special effects in between character Leitmotifs. Presumably an effect of the Rule of Cool, because the only weather known to be present during that fight was a meteor shower.
• The Order of the Stick battles Miko Miyazaki during a thunderstorm. Naturally, the always Genre Savvy Elan realizes that things are about to go south as soon as the first peal of thunder resounds...
  • Much later, as the Order crosses over into the Northern Lands, the airship on which they're travelling is caught up in a thunderstorm, as a warning by the Northern God Thor. Durkon or, rather, the vampiric High Priest of Hel hijacking his body clears it up with a Control Weather spell, however.
• In No Rest for the Wicked, November plods through the Gray Rain of Depression, but this makes her desperate, and leads to her meeting Red during another one.
• Used here in Bleedman's Powerpuff Girls Doujinshi. Even Cartoon Networks characters can look pretty dramatic with some appropriately-timed lightning thrown in.
• In Yokoka's Quest, the storm that Hurricane was controlling, in the lead up to and during Yokoka's fight against her. Thunder and lightning accompanied most of Hurricane's attacks.

Web Original

• Arrogance by Apple-In on DeviantArt is built around this.
• I Love Bees (a Halo 2 ARG):
  • Used to underline Aiden's threat before he reveals he's kidding.
  • Used to underline traded threars when Herzog and Standish have their chat at the duck pond.

Western Animation

• In the Avatar: The Last Airbender episode called "The Southern Raiders", Katara's confrontation of her mother's murderer is punctuated by a storm that's a bit less than a major thunderstorm, but shows off just how powerful a waterbender she is.
• The 1980s The Berenstain Bears series' Animated Adaptation of "Get in a Fight" has Brother and Sister Bear start a verbal version on their tree house as a thunderstorm is starting, with the lightning and thunder seeming to punctuate their arguing, until Mama Bear calls for them to come inside from the rain.
• In Infinity Train, the scenes when Simon kills Tuba and seemingly Grace are both marked by shots of a thunderous background, punctuating his moral downfall.
• In Justice League, Hereafter, when Superman is apparently killed, Wonder Woman threatens to punch a hole in Toyman's head in a very iconic scene.
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic:
  • The nearly all-powerful and invincible Physical God Discord, the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony uses this twice... just before giggling the first time and laughing uproariously the second time. He's a Beware the Silly Ones kind of villain like that.
  • Nightmare Moon takes this to an entirely different level by casting thunder from her mane. Even when reverted to her good form as Princess Luna, she causes Dramatic Thunder...every third line she speaks!
• Parodied in Ninjago: When Lloyd Garmadon is about to release the Fangpyres, he laughs evilly, there is a strike of lighting, and he jumps in fear at it.
• One confrontation between Robin and Slade in the Teen Titans cartoon has a dramatic lightning strike - interesting in that they are fighting in Slade's underground base.

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