History Main / BootstrappedLeitmotif

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

* A unique example appears in the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' FanGame, ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2''. One of the characters, [[spoiler: Kanade Otonokoji]], is at the center of a ''very'' disturbing SignatureScene. During the scene, a track titled "[[https://youtu.be/xKvLn1gAnAc A Fearful Encounter]]" from ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'' plays. As a result, more people know the song from [=SDRA2=] and associate it with [[spoiler: Kanade]] rather than it's source material, ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''. Just one look at the comments on the linked video will tell you.

** ''Duel of the Fates'' became the leitmotif for the Prequel trilogy as a whole, even though it was primarily scored for ''[[Film/ThePhantomMenace The Phantom Menace]]''. In ''[[Film/AttackOfTheClones Attack of the Clones]]'' and ''[[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Revenge of the Sith]]'', the score is used, respectively, in the scene in which Anakin goes to rescue [[spoiler:his mother]] from the Tusken Raiders and for segments of the FinalBattle between [[spoiler:Yoda and Palpatine]]. Although Maul actually has a [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Darth_Maul%27s_Motif separate motif]] in The Phantom Menace, "Duel of the Fates" has since become his leitmotif [[spoiler:particularly with its use in ''Film/{{Solo}}'']] despite it originally serving as a battle theme.

* A unique example appears in the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' FanGame, ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2''. One of the characters, [[spoiler: Kanade Otonokoji, is at the center of a ''very'' disturbing SignatureScene]]. During the scene, a track titled "[[https://youtu.be/xKvLn1gAnAc A Fearful Encounter]]" from ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'' plays. As a result, more people know the song from [=SDRA2=] and associate it with [[spoiler: Kanade]] rather than it's source material, ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''. Just one look at the comments on the linked video will tell you.

* A unique example appears in the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' FanGame, ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2''. One of the characters, Kanade Otonokoji, [[spoiler: is at the center of a ''very'' disturbing SignatureScene]]. During the scene, a track titled "[[https://youtu.be/xKvLn1gAnAc A Fearful Encounter]]" from ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'' plays. As a result, more people know the song from [=SDRA2=] and associate it with Kanade rather than it's source material, ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''. Just one look at the comments on the linked video will tell you.

* A unique example appears in the ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' FanGame, ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2''. One of the characters, Kanade Otonokoji, [[spoiler: is at the center of a ''very'' disturbing SignatureScene]]. During the scene, a track titled "[[https://youtu.be/xKvLn1gAnAc A Fearful Encounter]]" from ''VideoGame/DigimonStoryCyberSleuth'' plays. As a result, more people know the song from SDRA2 and associate it with Kanade rather than it's source material, ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}''. Just one look at the comments on the linked video will tell you.

** The "nature" theme originally associated with the Ents in ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers The Two Towers]]'' is eventually shifted to the Rohirrim, with a TriumphantReprise as a build-up to the Charge in ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing The Return of the King]]''.
** Used purposefully in ''Film/TheHobbit'': After [[spoiler:Smaug's death]] in ''[[Film/TheHobbitTheBattleOfTheFiveArmies The Battle of the Five Armies]]'', the bulk of his thematic material now comes to be associated with [[spoiler:Thorin, who is suffering from a bad case of Dragon-sickness.]]

** The "Imperial March", as the name implies, was originally intended to represent the Empire as a whole; however, it famously came to be associated primarily with only Darth Vader.

** In ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', the Rebellion fanfare from the original trilogy is essentially used as a theme for the ''Millennium Falcon''. The score for ''Film/{{Solo}}'' uses it similarly (apparently as John Powell learned that John Williams had originally intended for it to serve as the ''Falcon's'' theme), while in ''Film/TheLastJedi'' it's used for the Resistance heroes.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' has a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3RiF2r3vTY "Theme of Samus Aran: Galactic Warrior"]] on the game's official soundtrack CD... except that tune is now better known as the music for Upper Crateria. Instead, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMvKDRCBQBM opening]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHQKEopBfN4 closing]] variants of that game's main theme have since [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo5JOpXnk5M combined and mutated]] into protagonist Samus Aran's leitmotif. In fact, this happened almost immediately, with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08LjZZTQELg 1994 Orchestral Game Music Concerts]] labeling the song as the character's theme just a few months later, and the following year's ''Galactic Pinball'' for Platform/VirtualBoy having it as the song that plays during the ''Metroid'' minigame. However, it would take until ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' in 2017 for the franchise to explicitly refer to it as "Theme of Samus".

** ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' has a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3RiF2r3vTY "Theme of Samus Aran: Galactic Warrior"]] on the game's official soundtrack CD... except that tune is now better known as the music for Upper Crateria. Instead, the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMvKDRCBQBM opening]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHQKEopBfN4 closing]] variants of that game's main theme have since [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo5JOpXnk5M combined and mutated]] into protagonist Samus Aran's leitmotif. Although this Bootstrapped Leitmotif has its roots in the 1994 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08LjZZTQELg Orchestral Game Music Concerts]], it was further cemented by the soundtracks of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'', which refer to the opening/closing theme as the "Theme of Samus", stealing the name of her intended one in the process.

* The Music/SiIvaGunner music channel does this for many characters featured in their MassiveMultiplayerCrossover story-based videos. Said characters are chosen to represent songs frequently referenced in the non-story videos, for example "We Are Number One" from ''Series/LazyTown'' has been remixed several times, with Robbie Rotten being the representing character. In that case the character choice makes sense as he sung that song, but some cases can be stranger, like "Snow halation" from ''Anime/LoveLive'' which is represented by the character Nozomi even though ''Love Live!'' canonically associates it with Honoka. The oddest one is probably "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m07z2i2FnR8 Rhythm Code]]"[[note]]also known as "Program Rhythm" or "Puzzle Room"[[/note]] from ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' being represented by WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat due to an infamous rip mixing the song with music from a ''Felix'' bootleg game that [[WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} Joel]] played.

* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'': The Mission 3-3 BGM from the NES version of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon1'' became Skullmageddon's theme in ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonNeon''.

** Averted with the handful of characters that have proper leitmotifs that predate this game, like [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]] ("King Dedede's Theme") and [[VideoGame/StarFox Wolf]] ("Star Wolf"). They keep those pre-existing leitmotifs. Those characters with Bootstrapped Leitmotifs from other games keep them in some situations, but not all. (For example, [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]] keeps it in the Subspace Emissary, but not in the credits.)

* ''VideoGame/StarFox'' defines this trope, as the theme that is known to represent his character in both the ''Super Smash Bros.'' titles and the later games in the ''Star Fox'' series was originally taken from the opening cutscene in ''VideoGame/StarFox64''.

** The original ''VideoGame/StarFox'' Corneria theme is also very popular.

* A slowed down version of the Pollyanna theme was used as Ness' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcoFILRmugQ house music]] in ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994''. Not entirely recognizable at first, though. While not his official leitmotif, it's frequently associated with him.

** Averted with the handful of characters that have proper leitmotifs that predate this game, like [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]] ("King Dedede's Theme") and [[VideoGame/StarFox Wolf]] ("Star Wolf"). They keep those pre-existing leitmotifs. Those characters with Bootstrapped Leitmotifs from other games keep them in some situations, but not all. (For example, [[VideoGame/{{Metroid}} Samus]] keeps it in the Subspace Emissary, but not in the credits.)

* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTensei'':

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The "Imperial March", as the name implies, was originally intended to represent the Empire as a whole; however, it famously came to be associated primarily with only Darth Vader.
** ''Duel of the Fates'' had become the leitmotif for the Prequel trilogy as a whole, even though it was primarly scored for ''[[Film/ThePhantomMenace The Phantom Menace]]''. In ''[[Film/AttackOfTheClones Attack of the Clones]]'' and ''[[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Revenge of the Sith]]'', the score was used, respectively, the scene in which Anakin goes to rescue [[spoiler: his mother]] from the Tusken Raiders and for segments of the FinalBattle between [[spoiler:Yoda and Palpatine]]. Although Maul actually has a [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Darth_Maul%27s_Motif separate motif]] in The Phantom Menace, "Duel of the Fates" has since become his leitmotif [[spoiler:particularly with its use in ''Film/{{Solo}}'']] despite it originally serving as a battle theme.