History Main / OminousLatinChanting

Latin is probably the most familiar dead language due to its being the ancestor of modern Romance languages (even though English is a Germanic language, it still has a major proportion of Latin influence, primarily through French and science), and its prominence and impact on modern culture make it easy to fact-check. Nevertheless, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Hebrew and others are sometimes used to similar effect. If a work is set in Russia or the Soviet Union, expect Ominous ''Slavic'' Chanting.[[note]]Bonus points if it's in Church Slavonic, a highly archaic Slavic language, specifically developed for religious use, which stands in cultural, functional & linguistic relationship to the Orthodox Church and the Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian languages as Latin does to the Roman Catholic Church and the French and English languages respectively.[[/note]] Eastern-style chanting is also having a surge in popularity, possibly due to the increase in stories featuring conflicts between Eastern and Western worlds. Creators that went to the trouble of [[{{Conlang}} inventing their own language]] for a work will likely find a way to feature it in this manner too. There's also a chance that the music only reminds one of ominous Latin chanting, opting to use "ooh", "aah", "ooo", and the like. Indeed, the lyrics don't need to mean anything; for the majority of the audience, [[CanisLatinicus Ominous Latin-Sounding Gibberish]] works just as well.

Compare CherubicChoir and the OneWomanWail. Often a part of OrchestralBombing and ReligiousHorror. May involve OminousPipeOrgan. See also BlackSpeech for the ear shattering version. See also CreepyChildrenSinging, where creepy songs and nursery rhymes are played in the background to add tension and fear to a scene. Often lends itself quite well to MondegreenGag. Contrast VictoriousChorus, which has the opposite effect of this trope. When the Latin changing explicitly causes supernatural events in-universe, that's also LatinIsMagic.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' episode “Over the Top”, ''Dies Irae'' plays when Skips beats Rigby in arm wrestling and kills him.

* Ominous chanting can be heard in ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'' music tracks "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0P7LQwu2xY Divine Intervention]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0frMSjt1rc Eye to Eye]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIhAjFOHQtE Redemption]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZrvDcQ2h5k&list=UUOJFwFMcmgM8RTOIAyl5MtA Internal Confrontation]]", and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwf6M0bl1xA The End of All Things]]", courtesy of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'', ''[[VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay Conker: Live & Reloaded]]'', ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'', ''[[Music/{{Nightwish}} Imaginaerum]]'', ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', ''[[Music/ESPosthumus Unearthed]]'', ''[[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion Evangelion 2.0]]'', ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', and more.

* On two of the occasions when he broke out the [[OneWingedAngel Demon Bodypaint]] for the [[NXT NXT live specials]], [[Wrestling/FinnBalor Finn Balor's]] entrance was preceded by a distorted recording of a low demonic voice speaking in tongues that sounds like ominous Latin.

** In "Before Ever After" as Rapunzel is running and experiencing a HairReboot, this plays in the background.

* In ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' the ''heroes'' choose at one point to massacre hundreds of liberal intellectuals for the crime of "Cultural Marxism". To make sure the message isn't lost, they do so wielding short swords and wearing Crusader surplices. To make ''extra'' sure, they bring in a live choir to chant "Dies Irae" while they work, and the somewhat less ominous "Non Nobis" as they leave.

Plenty of the examples that follow have earned places on the SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic page in case you feel like listening to them.

Latin is probably the most familiar dead language due to its being the ancestor of modern Romance languages (even though English is a Germanic language, it still has a major proportion of Latin influence, primarily through French and science), and its prominence and impact on modern culture make it easy to fact-check. Nevertheless, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Hebrew and others are sometimes used to similar effect. If a work is set in Russia or the Soviet Union, expect Ominous ''Slavic'' Chanting.[[note]]Bonus points if it's in Church Slavonic, an extinct, highly archaic Slavic language which stands in cultural, functional & linguistic relationship to the Orthodox Church and the Bulgarian and Russian languages as Latin does to the Roman Catholic Church and the French and English languages respectively.[[/note]] Eastern-style chanting is also having a surge in popularity, possibly due to the increase in stories featuring conflicts between Eastern and Western worlds. Creators that went to the trouble of [[{{Conlang}} inventing their own language]] for a work will likely find a way to feature it in this manner too. There's also a chance that the music only reminds one of ominous Latin chanting, opting to use "ooh", "aah", "ooo", and the like. Indeed, the lyrics don't need to mean anything; for the majority of the audience, [[CanisLatinicus Ominous Latin-Sounding Gibberish]] works just as well.

Compare CherubicChoir and the OneWomanWail. Often a part of OrchestralBombing and ReligiousHorror. May involve OminousPipeOrgan. See also BlackSpeech for the ear shattering version. See also CreepyChildrenSinging, where creepy songs and nursery rhymes are played in the background to add tension and fear to a scene. Often lends itself quite well to MondegreenGag. Contrast VictoriousChorus, which has the opposite effect of this trope.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' uses this one, too, but in dramatically different circumstances. The Imperium of Man is a theocratic fascist state, whose official language is High Gothic, usually [[TranslationConvention rendered as Latin in the books]]. Anytime an Imperial choir strikes up, whether it be members of the [[TheChurch Ministorum]] trying to bolster the morale of the [[BadassNormal Imperial]] [[RedshirtArmy Guardsmen]] defending against an enemy onslaught, or the [[ChurchMilitant Adepta]] [[AmazonBrigade Sororitas]] singing their battle-hymn the ''Fede Imperialis'', this trope is in effect.

Compare CherubicChoir and the OneWomanWail. Often a part of OrchestralBombing and ReligiousHorror. May involve OminousPipeOrgan. See also BlackSpeech for the ear shattering version. See also CreepyChildrenSinging, where creepy songs and nursery rhymes are played in the background to add tension and fear to a scene. Often lends itself quite well to {{Mondegreen}}s. Contrast VictoriousChorus, which has the opposite effect of this trope.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''. Considering the setting, it's unsurprising that a lot of the background score is based on Old-World church music, but the Latin vocals only make an appearance when someone's about to find themselves in serious trouble. Some awesome BilingualBonus within:

* Ominous chanting can be heard in ''Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG'' music tracks "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0P7LQwu2xY Divine Intervention]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0frMSjt1rc Eye to Eye]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIhAjFOHQtE Redemption]]", "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZrvDcQ2h5k&list=UUOJFwFMcmgM8RTOIAyl5MtA Internal Confrontation]]", and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwf6M0bl1xA The End of All Things]]", courtesy of ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', ''[[VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay Conker: Live & Reloaded]]'', ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'', ''[[Music/{{Nightwish}} Imaginaerum]]'', ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', ''[[Music/ESPosthumus Unearthed]]'', ''[[Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion Evangelion 2.0]]'', ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie'', and more.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'': In "[[Recap/TotalDramaNoPainNoGame No Pain, No Game]]", Eva makes a surprise return to the show. Strong as ever and incredibly angry about getting voted off in the first place, her return is accentuated by an InfernalBackground and ominous latin chanting.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' uses this one, too, but in dramatically different circumstances. The Imperium of Man is a theocratic fascist state, whose official language is High Gothic, usually rendered as Latin in the books. Anytime an Imperial choir strikes up, whether it be members of the Ministerium trying to bolster the morale of the [[BadassNormal Imperial]] [[RedshirtArmy Guardsmen]] defending against an enemy onslaught, or the [[ChurchMilitant Adepta]] [[AmazonBrigade Sororitas]] singing their battle-hymn the ''Fede Imperialis'', this trope is in effect.

The actual meaning of the words is unimportant. They could be singing Latin nursery rhymes or reading from a Roman phone book for all we know, or even [[CanisLatinicus Dog Latin]] or complete gibberish; it's the ''sound'' that matters, but there are bonus points if the chanting is reminiscent of, or outright stolen from Carl Orff's ''Music/CarminaBurana'', [[StandardSnippet especially]] "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Orff%27s_O_Fortuna_in_popular_culture O Fortuna]]", [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Fortuna which is a lament about how]] YouCantFightFate. Another famous one is "[[https://youtu.be/Dlr90NLDp-0 Dies Irae]]", [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dies_Irae#Text whose lyrics]] are genuinely [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt ominous]]. (If for any reason, such as parodying the trope, [[http://www.4shared.com/mp3/n-jrk-3B/carl_orff_-_o_fortuna.htm 4shared]] has an mp3 download link for O Fortuna.)

* ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'' has Ominous Japanese Chanting in the tune "The World of the Dead", which plays when the Forest Spirit's death goop is covering everything.
* The ''Anime/GhostInTheShell'' films make heavy use of Ominous Japanese Chanting -- an antequated form of Japanese, no less.
* In the trailer of the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' movie, "O Fortuna" plays as the boys see Cartman's mom on the cover of "Crack Whore Magazine."

* In ''WesternAnimation/MadagascarEscape2Africa'', animals chant in Swahili/distorted English as they try to coax Melman into killing himself to appease the gods.
* The Creator/RalphBakshi cartoon version of ''WesternAnimation/TheLordOfTheRings'' strangely uses ominous gibberish with the words "Isengard" and "{{Mordor}}" peppered in, rather than actually use any Tolkien language.

* The Tank Gang in ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' attempt to do this with fake Hawaiian for Nemo's initiation, but it mostly comes off as hilarious.
-->'''Tank Gang''': SHARK BAIT, ''OOH-HA-HA!''

* The opening credits of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' are accompanied by Ominous Chanting to the tune of Shirley Walker's memorable ''B:TAS'' theme. The chorus, once again, is actually chanting the last names of production team members backwards.
* An even more intense version of Mozart's "Mass in C Minor -- Kyrie" plays during the impressive storm at sea scene in ''WesternAnimation/TheTripletsOfBelleville''.

* ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear'' has the equally ominous, joyful (yes, you can be ominous and joyful at the same time) and awesome "Transformation." Not Latin -- accurate Inuktitut! Sang by the Bulgarian's Women's Choir, no less.
* You know what goes well with chanting? ''[[{{Fictionary}} Conlang!]]'' So ''WesternAnimation/AtlantisTheLostEmpire'' naturally had some ominous chanting in Atlantean.
-->''Naseithi basathos...\\
Nasani batha\\
Harutani strata\\
Nasetani kataan\\
Haanathaa Atland\\
Naseitha sethos\\
Haretana sanaalan!''
* ''WesternAnimation/LegendOfTheGuardiansTheOwlsOfGaHoole'' has a few "aah's" that are heard during scenes with the Pure Ones and sometimes with Soren. Chanting can be heard when Metalbeak tries to kill Soren.
* The 2009 animated ''WesternAnimation/FantasticMrFox'' featured a chorus in the final action scenes, chanting a ''limerick'' about the villains:
-->'''Chorus:''' Boggis, Bunce, and Bean / One fat, one short, one lean / These horrible crooks / So different in looks / Were nonetheless equally mean.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie'' satirizes this trope while playing it straight. Listen closely in the underwater sequence to find that the choir are simply chanting, "under the sea" or even "Lego." Even operatic "yo ho." In addition, during Lord Business's fight with Vitruvius at the start of the film, you can hear them sing, "See all the Lego."
** ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoBatmanMovie'' uses a similar satirical approach to its predecessor. [[spoiler:When the Joker is sent to the PhantomZone, you can actually hear the choir literally saying "The Phantom Zone".]]
* The first half of "Armageddon" in ''[[Animation/TheMindsEye The Gate to the Mind's Eye]]'' features a sinister-sounding man singing in Latin. In translation, featured in the CD booklet, he's singing about the horrors of Armageddon. Some segments of the song also feature the more traditional background chanting.

* The song "All That's Known" from ''Theatre/SpringAwakening'' has an interesting variation on this. The chanting is in Latin--but it's the start of ''Literature/TheAeneid'', recited by students. As the singer is rebelling against this type of education, it's quite fitting.

* Subverted and parodied in ''WebAnimation/TheLazerCollection 5''. The {{leitmotif}} of Doctor Octogonapus's HumongousMecha sounds like this but is actually just "Oh shit! Holy shit!"
* ''WebAnimation/MarioBrothers'' has this sort of music as much of the score, especially in battle scenes.
* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' uses "O Fortuna" to underscore a poster of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' after Tristan predicts that [[MemeticMutation "in the future, card games will be played on motorbikes."]]

* Also toyed with in the now-defunct ''Webcomic/RPGWorld''. As the heroes infiltrate the BigBad's headquarters for the final battle, they ride an elevator that plays "creepy chanting Latin chorus" music. The lyrics are a modified version of OneWingedAngel.
* Similarly, ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'' has the villain transforming into his OneWingedAngel form, and the first thing he says is, "Cue the choir."

* As with many other tropes, ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' [[LampshadeHanging hung a lampshade]] on this one when [[spoiler: Vaarsuvius makes a [[DealWithTheDevil Deal with the Fiends]].]] In this case, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0635.html an actual choir is seen]] singing "Bunkus! Nonsuch! Gibberos! Gobbleygoos!" just to the side of the main action. According to one of the [[spoiler:fiends]], the choir consists of dead paedophiles who are "[snipped] fresh every morning so they keep that high pitch." Because it "just isn't the same without someone chanting faux Latin in the background".

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/NotQuiteDailyComic'': when [[http://www.truefork.org/Art/comic/cindex.php?361 Malène attacks]] with Ominous English Chanting (Handel's ''Hallelujah''), Amaranthe [[http://www.truefork.org/Art/comic/cindex.php?362 strikes back]] with more devastating chanting (Händel's ''Dixit Dominus''). The Ominous Greek that settles the fight has the impact of a [[NukeEm small nuke]].
* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' sees Ennesby program thousands of repairbots to [[http://schlockmercenary.com/d/20091013.html sing "O Fortuna" in unison]]. {{Lampshaded}} by Kevyn, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor who urges him to pick a less-frightening song]]. Ennesby then chooses The Macarena (or the FutureImperfect version thereof). Which nets him an even BIGGER talking to....

* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''
** Parodied in "[[Recap/SouthParkS1E10Damien Damien]]", the son of Satan's arrival in town is accompanied by a choir of voices chanting "Rectus Dominus Cheesy Poofs" -- which is obviously supposed to be CanisLatinicus for "Ass Master, Cheesy Poofs" can actually be translated as "Straight master, Cheesy Poofs".
** "[[Recap/SouthParkS11E5FantasticEasterSpecial Fantastic Easter Special]]", which spoofs both ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' and the Easter holiday, featured a [[CanisLatinicus pseudo-Latin]] version of "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" that memorably includes the phrase "Hippitus, Hoppitus".
** "[[Recap/SouthParkS12E2BritneysNewLook Britney's New Look]]" had the ''characters'' chanting ominous Latin.
* ''WesternAnimation/PinkyElmyraAndTheBrain'' has a humorous take on this with an accompanying OminousPipeOrgan music when an episode has a secret conspiracy Creator/ChristopherWalken look-alike. His appearance was preceded by chanting of an incongruous group of words, always ending in "Lactose!" I.E. "Rialto, Ontario, Gluteus Maximus, LACTOSE!".
* A ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' parody of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' set at a fast food restaurant featured Sephiroth make his entrance with the background music being a parody of One Winged Angel but with the chorus chanting "HAMBURGER! HAMBURGER!".
* In the ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' episode "Mega Muriel the Magnificent", ''Ode to Joy'' plays whenever Muriel, possessed by Courage's DeadpanSnarker computer, attempts a death-defying stunt in front of a crowd of spectators. Could also be an example of SoundtrackDissonance, considering ''Ode to Joy's'' melody is, for lack of better wording, joyous. On the other hand, since Muriel pulls off some [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome pretty awesome stuff]], it does fit a bit.
* The ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' episode "Gaz, Taster of Pork" featured cues of a chorus singing "Pork! Pork! Pork!" and later, "Piggy-piggy-piggy-piggy...". Spoofed additionally with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcIbWmO75P4 "Meats of Evil"]].
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** [[spoiler:The Lion Turtle's appearance]] is heralded by ominous Chinese chanting of the Pure Land Buddhist prayer mantra "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nianfo Nianfo".]] [[spoiler: He's not a bad guy though. Just old, wise, mysterious, a bit scary, and ''very'' big.]]
** The same chant appeared on two other occasions: once when Roku came back on the Winter Solstice to kick some Fire Nation ass, and another time when Aang fused with the Ocean Spirit to form a spectacular OneWingedAngel and kick some ''more'' Fire Nation ass.
* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' when Marge recalls that she [[OneDrinkWillKillTheBaby accidentally had a single drop of wine while pregnant with Bart]]. As the foetus acquires spiky hair and a devilish expression, the Background Music plays an Ominous Chant of "[[CatchPhrase Ay Caramba!]]"
* The title theme music to the animated ''WesternAnimation/SilverSurfer'' series had Latin-sounding singing interspersed at ominous points against the instrumental background.
* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'': "O Fortuna" plays during a suspenseful scene in which Francine nearly walks in on Stan's [[ADateWithRosiePalms date with Rosie Palms]]. Doubles as SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic.
* ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'':
** In "Before Ever After" as Rapunzel is running and experiencing a HairReboot, this plays in the background.
** This is also heard in "Cassandra's Revenge" as Cassandra is reciting the Black Rock incantation.
* In the 2003 version of ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', the Shredder has his own self-titled (as shown on the TMNT 2003 cartoon website) music that plays whenever he appears as his fully-armored alias. It uses wordless chanting of this type at both the beginning and at the end whenever it's played, unless it's shortened for some occasions. There are also other different variations of this ominous tune, and on some occasions, this tune and some of its variations also use the Japanese samurai-inspired "yoo" sound.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan''. Mysterio's spells are all Latin, however they are nonsense phrases when translated. They sure sound ominous though.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''. During the episode "Babel", Terry experiences a flashback to the death of his father. Throughout the flashback, Gregorian chant ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pange_Lingua_Gloriosi_Corporis_Mysterium the Pange Lingua]]) is interspersed with the show's usual rock background music.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' - the chanting is usually saved for the more epic moments. The most recurring occurence is in "Prime Finale", notably used during Optimus Prime and Megatron's first battle, and Starscream using the Energon Harvester on a hapless Vehicon. Another, very dramatic use of chanting occurs as [[spoiler: the ''Nemesis'' prepares to fire on the Autobot base as Optimus moves to destroy the Groundbridge inside.]] This is also used in a book end as the same piece of chanting is used [[spoiler: as a reformatted Optimus prepares to destroy Darkmount's fusion cannons a few episodes later]].
* The Inquisitor from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'' has music with this.

* The opening music for ''WebVideo/ScottTheWoz'''s "It's Awesome Baby!" episode is accompanied by chants of "Scott the Woz", as revealed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRl4xEq8oro the official upload of the track]] by composer Nick Karr.

* [[OminousLatinChanting/LiveActionFilms Film — Live-Action]]

[[folder:Film — Animation]]