History Main / OminousPipeOrgan

* In "The Music Lovers", ''Series/TheGoodies'' the [[VillainOfTheWeek Music Master]] does his BigEntrance seated on a mobile pipe organ, which he then uses to play dramatic chords while laying out his EvilPlan. Later the organ pipes convert into a [[InstrumentOfMurder multi-barreled artillery piece]] to bombard our heroes. When the same villain returns in "For Those in Peril on the Sea", he has his henchman play an electric organ while giving his MotiveRant.

* In "The Music Lovers", ''Series/TheGoodies'' the Music Miester does his BigEntrance in a mobile pipe organ, which he then uses to play dramatic chords while laying out his EvilPlan. Later the organ pipes convert into a [[InstrumentOfMurder multi-barreled artillery piece]] used to bombard out heroes. When the same villain returns in "For Those in Peril on the Sea", he has his henchman play an electric organ while giving his MotiveRant.

* In "The Music Lovers", ''Series/TheGoodies'' have driven off the minions of the Music Master, only to have their leader turn up driving a mobile organ whose pipes convert into a [[InstrumentOfMurder multi-barreled artillery piece]]. When the same villain returns in "For Those in Peril on the Sea", he has his henchman play an electric organ while giving his MotiveRant.

-->--'''Narrator''', ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder''

* Music/KlausSchulze used ominous electric organ [[DroneOfDread drones]] on several tracks of his first few albums, notably "Ebene" and "Gewitter" from ''Irrlicht'', "Wahnfried 1883" from ''Timewind'', and "Mindphaser" from ''Moondawn''.

* In ''Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes'', Dr. Phibes plays Music/FelixMendelssohn's "War March of the Priests" on his theatre organ.

* For a Few Dollars More has has La Resa Dei Conti which also crosses over with OminousMusicBoxTune for an equally ominous scene within that film. Accordingly, the OminousPipeOrgan sections resemble Toccata and Fugue.

* ''Film/TheThing1982'': Midway through the unused (but then re-purposed by ''Film/TheHatefulEight'') track "[[https://youtu.be/c2u4ySmm2Fw?feature=shared Eternity]]" an organ ominously blares to fully cement the isolation horror.

** The original tracks that form this one, from Music/PhilipGlass's soundtrack to the film ''Koyaanisqatsi''.

* In ''Anime/PrincessTutu'', one of Drosselmeyer's {{leitmotif}}s is the Nutcracker March played in minor key on a pipe organ to an unsettling effect.

* ''Film/{{Pokemon}}'':

* Lawrence from ''Literature/{{nCryptonomicon}}'' began playing his local church's organ because the previous performer was kicked for being "too dramatic".

* "I Am A Heaven And A Controversial Authority On One World", the first track on ''[[LongTitle The Groping Shadows Of A Parasite God Soaking In Distant Watermarks]]'' by Music/WingsOfAnAngel features it pretty prominently.

* In "The Music Lovers", ''Series/TheGoodies'' have driven off the minions of the Music Master, only to have their leader turn up driving a mobile organ whose pipes convert into a [[InstrumentOfMurder multi-barreled artillery piece]].

* Nasu Veronica plays the organ in ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'' while [[PeoplePuppets manipulating the corpses of children]].

* ''Anime/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'' has Veronica. He is the spectre who is in charge of the Forest Of Death that the heroes enter on their way to the home of [[EveryoneHatesHades Hades]]. He brings Tenma's friends and several other deceased people back from the underworld and controls them via music from a giant Pipe Organ that is heavily implied to cause them immense pain when played. As a result, all of the children from the Orphanage where Tenma grew up attack him relentlessly while Veronica plays. He even puts an ominous chanting spin on Psalms 23.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'': A short, but scary pipe organ tune plays in the background during BigBad Lord Farquaad's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcdzosnal0k first scene]].

%%* ''Western/Animation/TheCatPiano'': There's an ominous pipe organ made of cats.

* In ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', a pipe organ song plays when you descend to Lynx's hiding place.

* In the Heaven's Feel route of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', the BGM for much of the final battle (against [[spoiler:the Angra Mainyu possessed Dark Sakura]]) is "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MF1AAwZEbk All the Evils of the World]]", a very ominous remix of the (itself rather spooky) "Little Church on the Hill" which acts as the theme song for Kotomine Kirei. This further plays with the trope: Kotomine is a priest who works at a church, so having the pipe organs is appropriate and doesn't seem to suggest anything further. [[spoiler:Turns out Kotomine's evil, and is TheManBehindTheMan in two out of three routes.]]
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' absolutely loves this trope, beginning with Beatrice's theme "Organ Opusculum #600 million in C minor", which has a tendency to start up in the middle of other themes as she teleports into the scene out of nowhere. The series has both [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dORf0tLaSn8 deliciously]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggn8riHTDqw evil]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svHEX-buS9k themes]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sIcCKuA8ns upbeat]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ksK1dudxDw cheerful]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aDk-Kxen9E themes]]. [[SoundtrackDissonance Of course, said upbeat themes occasionally play during horrible murders and darkest hours.]]

Compare HolyPipeOrgan. The Holy Pipe Organ is generally used for the SaintlyChurch while the Ominous Pipe Organ is more closely associated with darkness and villainy. However, they are not mutually exclusive; there can certainly be overlap between the two tropes, especially when HolyIsNotSafe, [[CorruptChurch the church is evil]], or GodIsEvil.

-->--'''Narrator''', ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder''.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' - The theme for Stiyl's Innocentius spell, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ArZVKo7EcA Witch Hunt King]] combines organ music in the spirit of Bach's Toccata and Fugue with intense electro beats and sinister choirs to great effect. It plays for instance during [[KillItWithFire Innocentius' summons]], during the Roman Knights' [[KillSat Gregorio's Choir]] and during the scene were Touma went insane and petrified a RealityWarper with fear.
* Played straight during the first appearance of Isaak Fernand von Kämpfer in ''LightNovel/TrinityBlood'': when Abel finds him, he plays Sagrada Familia's pipe organ which he equipped with the Silent Noise system that [[spoiler:destroys half of Barcelona in a matter of minutes, along the way killing a major character for the first time in the series]].

* The ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' [[Film/{{Pokemon}} movies]]:
** In the original Japanese version of [[Anime/PokemonTheFirstMovie the first movie]], [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Mewtwo]]'s theme is played on the organ. Lots of diminished chords and chromaticism; following the cliches to the letter. The opening leitmotif is D-E-F-C# (Dm -> [=Cdim7=]). The score was rewritten for English-speaking audiences, removing the trope.
** In [[Anime/PokemonTheRiseOfDarkrai the tenth movie]], Darkrai's leitmotif contains organs and [[ForDoomTheBellTolls bells]], befitting a Dark-type Pokémon that can [[NightmareFuel literally cause nightmares]]. [[spoiler:This could be considered a subversion as Darkrai is actually the hero of this movie.]]

* ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}} Next'' has a guitar tune used for exposition sequences. When it's not just "everyday" exposition but Lina learning that the Lord of Nightmares, the source of her strongest spell, [[spoiler: is not a Mazoku but the primordial chaos itself]] we get the same tune, but upgraded to this trope.

* Played with Rias's ImageSong in ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD''. It starts off with one, but she's one of the heroines of the series.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' has plenty of organ music, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MafReqKomQ this track]] during [[HangingJudge Judge]] [[SinisterMinister Claude Frollo]]'s [[VillainousBreakdown final moments.]]

* In Music/MichaelJackson's "Music/Thriller", during Vincent Price's ending monologue, an organ playing four chords over and over that slowly develop can be heard.