History Main / Theremin

* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonII''(arcade version only) has a theremin in its FinalBoss [[https://youtu.be/6DnARPUYxhQ theme]].

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' has [[spoiler: Zadornov]] playing one on one of MSF old pictures.
* ''[[VideoGame/MontyMole Impossamole]]'' has this at the beginning of its [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia0PHxN_fao title theme]].
* Heard in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'''s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltW-emNP3YE opening and main menu theme]], as well as the individual title themes for the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfGsArRQjKE Gamecube]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLOkc9MwFHs games]].
* ''VideoGame/UltimateChickenHorse'' has a theremin as part of the Mansion level's music. It sounds spooky, even though the mansion isn't actually haunted.
* ''VideoGame/{{Celeste}}'' uses a theremin for the {{leitmotif}} of Mr. Oshiro, [[BigBoosHaunt the ghostly hotel caretaker]], and later in [[BonusDungeon Chapter 8]], The Core.
* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonII''(arcade version only) has a theremin in its FinalBoss [[https://youtu.be/6DnARPUYxhQ theme]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3IM_9DE3WQ&feature=relmfu Welcome to the Machine]] from ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin''.
* ''VideoGame/PN03'' uses one in its first {{final boss}} [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4cNuow1rIg theme]].

* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark Zero'' uses a theremin in several soundtrack pieces, such as the main menu, Game Over and River Extraction themes.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has it during [[SillinessSwitch Wild Wasteland]] [[RandomEncounters encounters]].
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 its sequel]] feature the theremin occasionally to match the space themes of the games, for example in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z29bt-wjS88 Buoy Base Galaxy]] theme (starting around 0:46).
** ''VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach'' has this in the Shriek Mansion level, complementing the BigBoosHaunt theme.
** Another BigBoosHaunt stage with theremin music is Twisted Mansion from ''VideoGame/MarioKart8''.
* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing: New Leaf'' adds a theremin to the vast number of musical instruments players can collect.
* ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdAdventures'' has an 8-bit theremin-type sound in the [[BigBoosHaunt "Boo! Haunted House"]] BGM.

* ''VideoGame/AxiomVerge'''s soundtrack features theremin in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL68Sp-4Dqs "Trace Rising"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppwKN3IoJsw "Amnesia"]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icxs5VejuJc "Primordial Shores"]]

* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' uses this as the recurring {{Leitmotif}} for [[MadScientist Dr. Nefarious]]. It also shows up prominently in the iconic [[CityPlanet Metropolis]] theme from the first game, which helps sell the city's retro ArtDeco aesthetic (only in the first game, though; for the third game, the theremin section was replaced with a ''James Bond''-esque guitar riff).

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' has a theremin playing all the way through Dr. Grout's (a batshit insane leader of an equally insane vampiric clan) mansion.
* In episode 3 of ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople'', Homsar plays the theremin in Strong Bad's band D-Ö-I. A ''giant'' theremin, that he plays by levitating and moving his whole body up and down.
-->'''Larry Palaroncini:''' Weird instruments are the new four-necked guitar!

* Liberally used in the soundtrack for ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' and its sequels. The levels where it shows up are meant to evoke the feeling of a classic horror BMovie, {{Atlantis}} and an alien terrarium.
* A pocket theremin is a usable weapon in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Descent}} 3'' uses a theremin-style synth for its [[RecurringRiff main theme]], as well as for the pentatonic Asian riff heard in Level 4.

* ''[[VideoGame/RaySeries RayStorm]]'' uses it along with PsychoStrings in the [[NightmareFuel infamously nightmarish]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHBHltNIDss "Molecular Clock"]] boss music. Also used in the Special Mode theme from the PSX version of ''VideoGame/RayCrisis''.
* Used in one of the songs in ''VideoGame/GitarooMan'', "'Nuff Respect".

* The last part of the Chapter 3 music in ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' uses one. Appropriate for the horror setting.

* The last level of ''VideoGame/DeBlob 2'', set in space, features a theremin-heavy melody.

* Sheldon Cooper from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' plays the theremin. Badly.

* Other occurrences:
** ''The Delicate Delinquent'', a Creator/JerryLewis film from the late 1950s, was unusual for having an actual theremin on screen instead of just using it for the score. It's mined for physical comedy, as Lewis' character stumbles upon it, slowly figures out that its sounds are corresponding to his movements, and starts dancing around it.
** It's used in Tim Burton's bio-pic ''Film/EdWood'', to recreate the theme music from ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace''.
** In the French movie ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1810864/?ref_=nv_sr_1 L'élève Ducobu]]'', the music teacher Miss Rateau is seen playing the theremin in her spare time.
** It's used to represent altered reality in ''Film/{{eXistenZ}}'' and ''Film/TheMachinist''.
** There's a quasi-Beach Boys pastiche in the middle of ''Film/GraceOfMyHeart'' that lampshades the theremin, where the band "The Riptides" features a ''real'' theremin player onscreen during a recording session (reminiscent of the one in "Good Vibrations"), with "Brian" commenting that he "liked the theremin at the end."
** An odd non-science fiction example is ''Film/ILiveInFear'', where the theme song has a theremin in it.
** Though for that matter, ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' has a theremin in its score. The instrument really was quite widely used in 1950s Hollywood, even beyond SF.

* A handful of songs by Music/{{Rammstein}} incorporate a theremin especially "En Lied" and "Tier".

** It's used in Tim Burton's bio-pic ''Film/EdWood'', to recreate the theme music from ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace''.

* ''Film/TheDayTheEarthStoodStill1951'' is one of its most famous uses.
* Used in Tim Burton's bio-pic ''Film/EdWood'', to recreate the theme music from ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace''.
* Used to represent altered reality in ''Film/{{eXistenZ}}'' and ''Film/TheMachinist''.
* And in countless horror and science fiction B-movies between 1945 and 1960. In those times, if it wailed, it was usually a theremin.
* ''Film/RocketshipXM'' was the first ScienceFiction movie to use it, with ''The Day The Earth Stood Still'' becoming the TropeCodifier.
* ''The Delicate Delinquent'', a Creator/JerryLewis film from the late 1950s, was unusual for having an actual theremin on screen instead of just using it for the score. It's mined for physical comedy, as Lewis' character stumbles upon it, slowly figures out that its sounds are corresponding to his movements, and starts dancing around it.
* There's a quasi-Beach Boys pastiche in the middle of ''Film/GraceOfMyHeart'' that lampshades the theremin, where the band "The Riptides" features a ''real'' theremin player onscreen during a recording session (reminiscent of the one in "Good Vibrations"), with "Brian" commenting that he "liked the theremin at the end."
* In the French movie ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1810864/?ref_=nv_sr_1 L'élève Ducobu]]'', the music teacher Miss Rateau is seen playing the theremin in her spare time.
* An odd non-science fiction example with ''Film/ILiveInFear'', where the theme song has a theremin in it.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks'', among the instruments Pinkie suggests Twilight should play, she brings out a theremin and plays a haunting tune.

* Music/MiklosRozsa was the first composer to incorporate the theremin in film scores:

* Used in this jazz cover by Robyn Adele Anderson of the Music/BeastieBoys song "Intergalactic".

* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' uses this as the recurring {{Leitmotif}} for [[MadScientist Dr. Nefarious]]. It also shows up prominently in the iconic [[CityPlanet Metropolis]] theme from the first game, which helps sell the city's retro Art Deco aesthetic (only in the first game, though; for the third game, the theremin section was replaced with a ''James Bond''-esque guitar riff).

-->'''Pinkie:''' So magical...

--> '''Servo:''' Yeah, really reminds you you're cutting into a once-living thing.

* [[Webcomic/ThePackrat Packrat]] [[http://www.umop.com/art/kb023.jpg meets the Beach Boys and their theremin in 1967]] during his TimeTravel StoryArc. He needs (and uses up) its sole oscillator to jump forward to 1968.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' uses this as the recurring {{Leitmotif}} for [[MadScientist Dr. Nefarious]]. It also shows up prominently in the iconic [[CityPlanet Metropolis]] theme from the first game, which helps sell the city's retro Art Deco aesthetic (only in the first game, though; for the third game, the Theremin section was replaced with a ''James Bond''-esque guitar riff).

* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' uses this as the recurring {{Leitmotif}} for [[MadScientist Dr. Nefarious]].

[[folder:Web Original]]
* A theremin makes a last-minute appearance in the ending sequence of ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'', re-doing the opening theme.

* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' uses this as the recurring {{Leitmotif}} for [[MadScientistDr. Nefarious ]].

* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' uses this as the recurring {{Leitmotif}} for [[Dr. Nefarious MadScientist]].

The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theremin theremin]] (a.k.a. termenvox) is an electronic instrument developed in the 1920s, notable for being the only musical instrument played without touching it. The player waves his hands near its antennas, using the electrical conductance of the body to alter the sound. It creates a very pure tone, and sounds like a lower-pitched version of someone tuning in an old-fashioned radio to a test signal. It's essentially a primitive analog synthesizer with an UnusualUserInterface, or a RealLife BizarreInstrument.