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4[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Pipe_Organ_of_the_Oude_Kerk_dark_2975.jpg]]
5[[caption-width-right:350: The [[VisualPun instrument]] of your '''[[DoomyDoomsOfDoom DOOM]]!''']]
6
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8->''"Graham watches in horrified fascination as the grotesque organ begins to magically play an eerie tune, all by itself."''
9-->-- '''Narrator''', ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder''
10
11[[AC:For added atmosphere, play the music from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho9rZjlsyYY this video]] while reading on.]]
12
13For some reason, organ music and villainy seem to go hand in hand. Perhaps this is because of the organ's powerful sound, which has led to it being dubbed "the king of instruments." Perhaps it can just sound sinister and scary. In any case, if a character has organ music for their {{Leitmotif}}, it's a sure sign said character isn't going to be [[PetTheDog petting any dogs]].
14
15Combine this with OminousLatinChanting and/or some ForDoomTheBellTolls, and he's got BigBad written all over him. It can also combine with DramaticThunder to make it more dramatic as suggested.
16
17Sometimes this analogy goes so far to show the villain sitting at a big spooky pipe organ, playing ominous tunes, as the heroes walk in on him. This iconic scene was probably inspired by ''Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', whose villain is often similarly shown with his sinister organ. The [[StandardSnippet standard music]] for this scene is the Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor by Music/JohannSebastianBach. Bonus points, however, if they are playing their own {{leitmotif}}. Even better if it contains lots of diminished 7[[superscript:th]] chords. The organ also tends to be the SignatureInstrument of [[{{Dracula}} Count Dracula]].
18
19The pipe organ is an incredibly difficult, complex, expensive, and loud instrument with several keyboards, a foot pedalboard for bass notes, thousands of metal and wood pipes, and rows and rows of pull tabs (called "stops") for turning the flow of air through the pipes on and off (thus the expression "pulling out all the stops"). It has a longstanding connections to TheChurch. It has the power of a full orchestra built into the architecture of a building, but played by a single person who has to have the [[LonelyAtTheTop privilege]] or [[InstantExpert gift]] to actually be able to play it well. The church in this situation not only stands for religious power, but also wealth and political power. The thought that it could just be one mad RichGenius wielding all that power for selfish reasons, especially if they play in in their mansion or chateau, makes it inherently sinister.
20
21The exception to the "organs = villainy" rule is if you're in a church. Think [[HolyPipeOrgan Sunday mass]] and [[LohengrinAndMendelssohn weddings]]. But the existence of the CorruptChurch, GodIsEvil, and [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe forced weddings to the villain]] help to blur that distinction. If the organ is accompanying a ''[[SaintlyChurch good]]'' religion, then the music is generally [[HolyPipeOrgan more subdued and ethereal]] rather than overtly "ominous", if not loud and joyful.
22
23Places where you might hear this type of music include:
24
25* First and foremost, the villain's lair, whether it be a SupervillainLair, an EvilTowerOfOminousness, or something else.
26* A CorruptChurch or CreepyCathedral.
27* A CircusOfFear or AmusementParkOfDoom.[[note]]Although, in these settings, the organ you hear is more likely to be a calliope than a traditional pipe organ.[[/note]]
28* BigBoosHaunt.
29* A haunted building, such as [[HauntedHouse house]] and [[HauntedCastle castle]].
30* LethalLavaLand.
31* {{Mordor}}.
32* HalloweenTown.
33* {{Uberwald}}.
34
35See also CreepyCircusMusic, OminousLatinChanting, ForDoomTheBellTolls, OrchestralBombing, and OminousMusicBoxTune.
36
37Compare 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. For a much more comical organ trope, see SoapOperaOrganScore.
38
39Sister trope to LonelyPianoPiece.
40
41While the trope name mainly refers to ''pipe'' organs, it has extended to include other (or newer) kinds of organ like pump and electric organs as long as they also sound scary.
42
43The Hammond B-3 organ played with fuzzy overdrive is more likely to suggest a smoky blues club, or if it is played with heavy swirly sound effects from the Leslie rotating speaker, it may suggest the groovy, far-out psychedelic 1960s.
44
45----
46!!Examples:
47
48[[index]]
49* OminousPipeOrgan/VideoGames
50[[/index]]
51
52[[foldercontrol]]
53
54[[folder:Advertising]]
55* [[https://youtu.be/hTzKXAEOdFc This Fruit Roll-Ups commercial]], featuring Franchise/{{Nicktoons}} characters, has [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow Ren]] as a MadScientist apparently planning to use a bunch of scary laboratory machines to make Fruit Roll-Ups out of his stinky socks. Dramatic pipe organ music plays as Ren explains his plan and fires up the machines, complete with ominous electric crackling sounds.
56* Several advertising for Nissan's Skyline GTS-R R31 model featured [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHDbXGGxUiY this song]], which begins with a remixed piece of Toccata and Fugue.
57* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSsxRPP4TaU Energizer Bunny® - Dracula - 1993 Commercial]].
58[[/folder]]
59
60[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
61* Wolfgang Krauser [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V6XnDPPonI plays one]] in the beginning of the ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' OVA and it is played at various points throughout the anime [[{{Leitmotif}} when he appears on screen or the plot concerns him.]]
62* Kagato in ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' is, well, not quite introduced, but featured, playing a series-original Bach-esque piece on a truly enormous science-fictional organ.
63* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
64** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikmSfQmtq20&t Orochimaru's theme]] is the Fugue in D Minor on a pipe organ, with some Asian flute and shamisen thrown in for good measure.
65** OminousChanting + Ominous Pipe Organ + Creepy Maniacal Shrieking + [[ForDoomTheBellTolls tolling bell]] = [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-K4c-ueWuc&t Hidan's theme]].
66** Ominous Chanting times 2 plus Ominous Pipe Organ = [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI7Jc-fSQQ8 Pain's]] [[spoiler:and Madara's]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJfNz8csSTk theme]].
67* [[spoiler: [[{{Sidekick}} Mimi]]'s]] rape at the hands of BigBad Apos in ''Anime/{{Mnemosyne}}'' combines this with OminousLatinChanting, and takes it all the way up to WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic when it's committed at a Buddhist Temple, with her chained and nailed to a stone lamp post, no less.
68* ''Literature/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.
69* Played straight during the first appearance of Isaak Fernand von Kämpfer in ''Literature/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]].
70* Lady Debonair from the second season of ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth''.
71* In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'', the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Numbers]] attack to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ewZ9imjJ4 theme of a pipe organ]]. And the HardLight MagicalComputer of their [[VoiceWithAnInternetConnection coordinator Uno]] has a keyboard that looks like organ keys.
72* Back on the Rocks, the theme for Nakazato's GT-R in ''Manga/InitialD'', starts with an organ piece from Toccata and Fugue.
73* [[TheStarscream Akechi Mitsuhide]] from ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' gets an OminousPipeOrgan for his anime {{leitmotif}}.
74* In ''Manga/ShugoChara'', the intro to Hoshina Utau's theme song (by Creator/NanaMizuki no less) "Meikyuu Butterfly" is this. The song itself is actually plot-relevant.
75* In ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'', Joshua Christopher is a boy with holy powers who's been kidnapped by the BigBad. Guess what instrument he plays to channel his powers?
76* In ''Anime/PrincessTutu'', one of Drosselmeyer's {{leitmotif}}s is the Nutcracker March played in minor [[{{Tonality}} key]] on a pipe organ to an unsettling effect.
77* Xanxus from ''Manga/Reborn2004'' tends to have OminousPipeOrgan music in the background whenever he turns up.
78* ''Anime/KiddyGrade'': the last third of the series contains two closely-linked tunes, both with ominous pipe organs, that represent the main "antagonist" of the last arc.
79* ''Anime/SailorMoon'':
80** In episode 110, Eudial challenges Haruka and Michiru to a showdown at the Marine Cathedral. When they arrive, she's playing Bach's Toccata and Fugue on the organ to help them find her, which turns out to be a recording on a tape.
81** Galaxia's image song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5dBFJXbky0 Golden Queen Galaxia]]" opens with pipe organ music for the first 25 seconds, though after the first 10 it's relegated to the background melody.
82* ''Literature/{{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.
83* In the second season of ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' (a.k.a. "Anime/StarBlazers"), the theme of the antagonist White Comet Empire is a dark and imposing Pipe Organ track - as if the sound the comet produces while moving (the screeching of many souls crying out in terror) wasn't enough to clue you in.
84* The ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' OVA features an evil reincarnation of Music/LudwigVanBeethoven playing a massive pipe organ on a rocket [[spoiler:that will broadcast his lost Death Symphony worldwide, causing everyone who hears it to commit suicide]].
85* The ''VideoGame/ProfessorLayton and The Eternal Diva'' animated film tops the previous example by having a pipe organ that is also a giant clockwork orchestra, a [[spoiler:memory storage and download machine]], and a [[spoiler:control device for a giant mecha]]. When the true BigBad is revealed, he gets the Ominous Pipe Organ as background music.
86* ''Manga/RozenMaiden'' has this as well. "Broken World" fits this trope to a T, plenty of destruction foretold.
87* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' uses the organ at certain ominous moments. Or just as elevator music for the Student Council for extra drama.
88* The TV version of the Demon Sisters' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS9GSxLtypk theme]] from ''Anime/PantyAndStockingWithGarterbelt'' combines this with (of course) stripper music, no doubt to emphasize their LawfulEvil (and infernal) natures. (The version from the show's first OST replaces the organ with synth sounds.)
89* [[DiabolicalMastermind Jellal]] from ''Manga/FairyTail'' has this as his theme music.
90** [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Deliora ]] has this music plus OminousLatinChanting.
91* Played with Rias's ImageSong in ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD''. It starts off with one, but she's one of the heroines of the series.
92* In the dub of ''Anime/YuGiOh'', [[OlympusMons the Winged Dragon of Ra]] has this in its theme.
93* ''Manga/SaintSeiyaTheLostCanvas'' has Nasu 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 [[PeoplePuppets 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.
94* ''Manga/HunterXHunter'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8L1nrsycHE The theme]] of the [[TheFamilyThatSlaysTogether Zoldyck family]] in the 1999 anime.
95* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamTheWitchFromMercury'' features this, combined with Main/OminousChanting and a Main/OneWomanWail, when [[spoiler: the Main/BigBad's final weapon is activated.]]
96[[/folder]]
97
98[[folder:Comic Books]]
99* One of ComicBook/YokoTsuno's adventures involves an instrument called the Devil's Organ, whose sound can drive listeners to insanity or death. [[spoiler:The SmugSnake uses it to brainwash his uncle and try framing him for his plans. He also kills the organist who built it and discovered his intentions... but his daughter Ingrid escapes from him and reaches for the titular ActionGirl and her friends.]]
100* ''Comicbook/SuskeEnWiske'': Bofor, an enemy who appears in 2 stories, has a supernatural Omnious Pipe Organ located inside a cloud, with which he can create massive storms.
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[folder:Fan Works]]
104* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': Chapter 6 of the second sequel, ''Diplomacy Through Schooling'', discusses the usage of this trope during the events of the episode ''Castle Mane-ia'' and how subsonic vibrations from the pipe organ resonated deep in their bones to cause an intense feeling of terror.
105[[/folder]]
106
107[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
108* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'': A powerful organ tunes are heard just before the beginning and during the final melody of BigBad [[UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk Grigori Rasputin]]'s VillainSong, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_k6hAVmn8Q In The Dark of The Night]]".
109* Taken to the LogicalExtreme with Maestro Forte from Disney's ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeastTheEnchantedChristmas'', a composer BigBad who ''is'' an Ominous Pipe Organ.
110* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBraveLittleToaster'', the phonograph in Elmo St. Peter's junk shop kicks off the song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOeK0Ig-H9g It's a B-movie]]" with a pipe organ intro.
111* ''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance'': The DarkReprise of "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDeY7RVaw8k Big and Loud]]" is dominated by scary pipe organ and OminousLatinChanting music as Darla reveals her true colors, singing about how she'll do whatever it takes to destroy Danny and keep him out of her spotlight.
112* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney'' 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.]]
113* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
114** 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.
115** 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.]]
116* [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuers''. BigBad Madame Medusa has a pipe organ in her hideout, but the instrument produces a calliope sound. While she is never seen playing it, her crocodile pets Brutus and Nero must keep playing the organ in order to catch Bernard and Miss Bianca who are taking cover inside an organ pipes. The crocodiles chasing the heroes then eventually destroy it.
117* The Duke of Owls in ''WesternAnimation/RockADoodle'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NDcv0s5aV0 played an organ]] for his VillainSong.
118* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'': 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]].
119* In one scene of ''WesternAnimation/TintinAndTheLakeOfSharks'', the BigBad shows Tintin, who he has taken hostage, his gallery of stolen, priceless artwork. He gloats about his new plan to exploit one of Professor Calculus' machines to make counterfeit clones of the artwork, and [[{{Greed}} sell them to make gobs of money]]. The scene is accompanied by a powerful organ tune and, fittingly, the first things we see in the scene are stained glass windows with the BigBad's insignia.
120* In ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', a few organ notes of BigBad [[spoiler:King Candy/Turbo]]'s {{Leitmotif}} play twice during the film's climax: once before a final showdown with Ralph, and again when [[spoiler:he's entranced by the light of a volcanic eruption and drawn towards it to his doom]].
121[[/folder]]
122
123[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
124* The classic horror film adaptation ''[[Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera1925 The Phantom of the Opera]]'' just might be the {{Trope Maker|s}}. Taken to a whole new level in a [[Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004 2004 musical drama film adaptation]], which its overture and song of the same name have a powerful organ music in them, although the Phantom himself didn't play his organ in the film. Organ music is also featured during the sword fight scene.
125* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0JbaZtoKAs Davy Jones]] in ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest''. The ''only'' reason he's able to do it is that his ship is alive. He plays it with his ''beard''. He is probably inspired by Captain Nemo in ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea''. Pipe organ music also features in his {{Leitmotif}} and that of his pet, [[KrakenAndLeviathan the Kraken]].
126* Both the ride and [[Film/TheHauntedMansion2003 2003 film]] version of ''Ride/TheHauntedMansion'' have a big giant organ. The Disneyland version's organ comes from ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'', and in the film, someone plays that famous Bach piece on the mansion's organ.
127* Sir August De Wynter in ''Film/TheAvengers1998'' plays one, given he's a CardCarryingVillain.
128%%* Professor Fate in the movie ''Film/TheGreatRace''.
129* Former Chief Inspector Dreyfus in ''Film/ThePinkPantherStrikesAgain'' plays a version of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" instead of the usual Bach's Toccata.
130* Subverted in ''Film/TheGhostAndMrChicken'', as the villain turns out to be [[spoiler:a good guy trying to expose a murderer]].
131* In ''Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes'', Dr. Phibes plays Music/FelixMendelssohn's "War March of the Priests" on his theatre organ. The theatrical and VHS versions have the theatre organ sound, while more recent home video releases have replaced it with a church organ's sound.
132* Max, from ''Film/SunsetBoulevard'', plays the pipe organ rather ominously (if not very well) in the background in several scenes. This is [[LampshadeHanging commented on]] by Joe.
133* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0RKpmjjpLQ "Pruit Igoe and Prophecies"]] during Dr. Manhattan's backstory in ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' combined with OminousLatinChanting.
134** The original tracks that form this one, from Music/PhilipGlass's soundtrack to the film ''Koyaanisqatsi''.
135* ''Film/TheThing1982'': Midway through the unused (but later re-purposed by ''Film/TheHatefulEight'') track "[[https://youtu.be/c2u4ySmm2Fw?feature=shared Eternity]]" an organ ominously blares to fully cement the isolation horror.
136* In ''Film/Gremlins2TheNewBatch'', one of the gremlins is shown playing Toccata and Fugue on an organ, complete with [[Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera Phantom]]-style mask.
137* In ''Film/BeneathThePlanetOfTheApes'', the mutants sing hymns praising their god - a nuclear missile with a cobalt bomb warhead.
138* In ''Film/{{Barbarella}}'', Durand-Durand tortures Barbarella by playing an organ-like device called the Excessive Machine with her in it. It kills people by orgasming them to death. And [[TooKinkyToTorture Barbarella overloads it.]]
139* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8MXcP5BMNg opening theme]] of ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''.
140* The iTunes exclusive track "Outlands part II" for ''Film/TronLegacy'' uses an Ominous Electric Organ. This plays in the film [[spoiler: just before Flynn decides to find his son, Sam, at the End of Line club.]]
141* The original ''Film/CarnivalOfSouls'' is full of ominous pipe organ music.
142%%* ''WesternAnimation/TheCatPiano'': There's an ominous pipe organ made of cats.
143* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmEtMKnKOAg "The Final Conflict"]], which plays in the final showdown between Creator/ChuckNorris and David Carradine in ''Film/LoneWolfMcQuade''.
144* Professor Petrie in ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera1962'' plays Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor with his pipe organ as his assistant kidnaps Christine and brings her to him.
145* Parodied at the beginning of ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII''. After Doc faints in shock after seeing Marty at the end of ''Part II'' (having just sent the Marty from ''Part I'' back to 1985), Marty takes him back to Doc's house. When the latter wakes up, he recalls that event as having just been his imagination - until Marty also wakes up and Doc notices him. His response? Screaming his head off, tripping over Marty's hoverboard and backing into an organ's keyboard, which carries on wailing as Marty tries to explain what happened.
146* ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'' has a version employing an existing song: just as tensions start to rise in a church, the organ intro to Music/LynyrdSkynyrd' "Free Bird" starts playing and getting louder. [[spoiler: The HatePlague-induced [[BloodStainedGlassWindows massacre]] that follows [[AutobotsRockOut cuts straight to the solo-heavy final minutes]].]]
147* ''Film/MissionToMars'' makes an extensive use of the ominous pipe organ throughout "[[https://youtu.be/2w7PWcRMlHY?feature=shared Towards the Unknown]]" to create a sense of tension/unease while the crew is struggling with the decompression caused by micro-meteorites while also properly approaching to Mars.
148* Much of the soundtrack of ''Film/{{Interstellar}}'' makes heavy use of pipe organs, particularly during the more intense moments such as the docking scene.
149* A re-election rally for Henry Shaw Jr. in ''Film/FantasticBeastsAndWhereToFindThem'' is interrupted by what appears to be an ominous wind and sound emitting from the pipe organ in the balcony of the event space. What comes out of the pipe organ is much worse than ominous music.
150* In ''Film/Frankenstein1970'', MadScientist Victor plays creepy music on the pipe organ to relax between his unholy experiments, which tends to freak out his guests.
151* In ''Film/WhatACarveUp'', There is an ominous pipe organ in the music room. Malcolm is playing it the first time Ernie sees him. Malcolm is later murdered while playing it seated next to Ernie.
152* In ''Film/BlackZoo'', Conrad plays the pipe organ to his big cats while lecturing them in his living room.
153* ''Film/TheCorpseVanishes'': When Patricia and Dr. Foster arrive at Dr. Lorez's mansion, he is playing a dirge-like rendition of "Ave Maria" on a pipe organ to his very peculiar household.
154* Organ music plays at times in ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'' while the ''Enterprise'' is flying inside the mysterious, destructive entity V'Ger.
155* Parodied in ''Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife'', where Bach's Toccata And Fugue In D Minor plays during a [[CurbStompBattle rather one sided]] rugby match between students and their masters.
156* ''Film/TheGodfather'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Pf8BkFLBRw In the first baptism scene]], a HolyPipeOrgan music is playing. But as the movie begins switching between Michael Corleone standing at an altar and a mass murder scenes, the organ music slowly becomes much more sinister.
157* In ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'', [[LeftTheBackgroundMusicOn the creepy organ music being played as Harold and Kumar enter Freakshow's home is actually being played by Freakshow's wife]].
158* ''Film/ForAFewDollarsMore'' 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".
159* The fight between [[spoiler: Julian and Chang]] in ''Film/OnlyGodForgives'' is scored to organ music.
160[[/folder]]
161
162[[folder:Literature]]
163* Professor Aronnax walks in on [[TheAloner Captain Nemo]] playing the pipe organ in his study, but subverts this trope in that [[NotSoStoic he's actually weeping.]] He also plays the organ in a somewhat unusual manner, using only the black keys (which today would be the white keys).
164* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' has parodied this twice:
165** ''Literature/CarpeJugulum'': A traditionally-minded vampire has an organ... but it's one of Bloody Stupid Johnson's ClockPunk synthesizers, with a wide variety of screams, wolf-howls and similar Film/HammerHorror sound effects.
166** The Unseen University's organ (connected to the ''indoor plumbing'' by its [[BunglingInventor creative inventor, Bloody Stupid Johnson]]), especially when it's played by an ape or by a Professor of Post-Mortem Communications who would have ''wanted'' Ominous Pipe Organ music but can't get it quite right. That Ridcully won't stop calling it "[[DoubleEntendre our mighty organ]]" and pointing out "it's a Johnson" doesn't help.
167* Lawrence from ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'' began playing his local church's organ because the previous performer was kicked for being "too dramatic".
168* ''Literature/TheThreeInvestigators'': Terror Castle has one that supposedly is played by the Blue Phantom. Justified by Stephen Terrill having been an actor who not only liked to play his films for guests but came from the silent era when pipe organs were actually used in theaters to provide incidental music. It also contains pipes which [[ShownTheirWork play notes so low as to be subsonic and affect the human nervous system]], thus instilling instinctive terror.
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
172* ''Series/AdventuresInWonderland'': The final episode, "A Wonderland Howl-oween", features a spoof of the classic horror movie ''The Phantom of The Opera''. One night, the Queen and the White Rabbit explore a catacomb to find out where strange, spooky, unearthly noises are coming from. They find a masked figure (the Mad Hatter) playing Toccata and Fugue on a pipe organ.
173* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
174** In "Pyramids of Mars", Ibrahim Namin, a sinister worshiper of Sutekh (ancient Egyptian devil-like figure) plays the organ. [[spoiler: He's not the Big Bad, though; he gets killed at the end of Episode 1.]] Sutekh summons him by telekinetically playing the organ, and when Sutekh sends his [[TheDragon Dragon]] to take command, Namin apparently activates the time corridor by playing the organ, thus giving the impression that [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens Osiran]] technology is powered by organ music.
175** In "The Seeds of Doom", Chase plays an atonal electronic instrument instead, but that's [[TalkingToPlants mainly for his plants' benefit.]]
176* ''Series/TheChroniclesOfNarniaBBC'': Used briefly in ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' when Edmund first enters the Witch's forbidding house.
177* ''Series/CountdownWithKeithOlbermann'' uses a pipe organ playing Toccata and Fugue for its "Worst Person in the World" segment.
178* Toccata and Fugue is played in ''Series/BoardwalkEmpire'' after [[TwoFaced Richard Harrow]] does his first assassination, which is kind of a visual joke in that Harrow looks a lot like the ([[Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera1925 post-Lon Chaney]]) Phantom of the Opera. Then, there's sort of a DiegeticSwitch and the music is shown to be playing at a silent movie elsewhere.
179* ''Series/TheGoodies''. In "The Music Lovers", 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.
180* ''{{Series/Supernatural}}''. Spoofed in "Monster Movie". Sam enters an old movie theatre (currently showing ''Phantom of the Opera'') and sees the sinister shadow of someone pounding away on a pipe organ. The man then presses a button and starts playing light music instead, as the 'organ' is just a digital keyboard resting on an old dresser.
181* The Jack Narz/Gene Wood era of ''Series/BeatTheClock'' featured one of these, which also provided the theme and other music cues; it was all done by an organist, Dick Hyman, live in-studio.
182* In the ''Series/HartOfDixie'' episode "Help Me Make It Through the Night", a short, ominous organ music is played during the "It's Alive" scene, an obvious ShoutOut to ''[[Film/Frankenstein1931 Frankenstein]]''.
183[[/folder]]
184
185[[folder:Music]]
186* Music/DeepPurple's ''Child In Time'' follows the classical form of a toccata and fugue, driven by Jon Lord's organ playing. The slow fugue passage that opens the track certainly has overtones of ominousness about it.
187* The backing track to the diabolical "Upward Infection" by Music/{{Futret}} uses a organ.
188* If the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OATjGpycllU opening]] of Vangelis Papathanassiou's ''Nucleogenesis 1'' (from the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albedo_0.39#Overview Albedo 0.39]]'' album) hasn't been used for this purpose, it should.
189* Siena by Turmion Katilot has a example of this at a couple of parts in this song.
190* Unquestioned maestro of organ composers J. S. Bach both played this trope straight and averted it. The aforementioned Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor (BWV 565, [[AdaptationDistillation probably an arrangement of a solo violin piece]]) certainly has a dark and evil feel to it, but Bach's other organ music (especially his chorale preludes) shows the entire array of characters possible in music.
191** It should also be mentioned that there are variations in the composition itself - most shows and films [[StandardSnippet only play the toccata]], the most "evil-sounding" part, since the whole work (toccata + fugue + toccata-like coda) usually runs for at least 6-7 minutes. While both the toccata and the coda after the fugue do sound quite dark, there are parts in the fugue itself that actually sound quite whimsical, even upbeat at times.
192** Other Bach organ pieces that fit this trope include the "Great" Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, and the "Little" Fugue in G minor. The Little Fugue was apparently evil-sounding enough to be used as ''final boss music'' in ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends''.
193* The organ solo at the climax of the third movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Sinfonia Antartica" - an ominous piece to begin with.
194* In Music/MichaelJackson's Thriller, during Creator/VincentPrice's ending monologue, an organ playing four chords over and over that slowly develop can be heard.
195* ''Music/OzzyOsbourne'' has Don Airey playing an organ in the introduction to Mr. Crowley, a black metal song about an English vampire and occultist called Aleister Crowley who loved drinking cats' blood as well as having sex with children and animals.
196* Music/NoxArcana prominently features a pipe organ in many of their songs. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFmUAeqXDHs Melancholia]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eczq0jLe-LI The Masque Of Red Death]] are two examples.
197* Music/MidnightSyndicate has the song ''Fallen Grandeur" which features this.
198* Used in several Music/TypeONegative songs, notably [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R11CHOLiBA "Haunted"]].
199* Music/{{Muse}}'s song "Megalomania" uses one of these. It's pretty darn ominous.
200* The beginning of Music/RobZombie's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcKxMoJB4L0 Return of the Phantom Stranger]]".
201* Music/IronButterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".
202* In Music/LimpBizkit's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDdGrlylcEU Counterfeit]]", an electric keyboard imitating an organ provides an ominous mood and feel.
203* The intro to Music/{{Rainbow}}'s "Can't Let You Go".
204* Swedish PowerMetal band ''Music/{{Sabaton}}'' features this in multiple songs, including "[[UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons Wehrmacht]]" and "Rise of Evil", songs about ThoseWackyNazis and their rise to power.
205** The intro to "[[RedBaron/RealLife The Red Baron]]", especially prominent in the soundtrack version, features a snippet of Bach's "Little Fugue in G Minor" (as mentioned above) for the titular German AcePilot meant to evoke the nickname of his unit Jagdgeschwader 1, "Richthofen's Flying Circus" so called because of the colorful planes and even more colorful, accomplished pilots that comprised it.
206* Jan Zwart's "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPflVDX8fsE Toccata on Psalm 146]]". [[OminousLatinChanting Ominous Dutch Chanting]] optional.
207* Music/VernianProcess. These guys love them some OminousPipeOrgan music. Lead singer Joshua Pfeiffer even lampshaded it at the end of a show, introducing the band then declaring "...and we like Goth music, if you can't tell!" during the one minute, eight second organ outro to their song "Vagues de Vapeur."
208* The Clotho section and the start of the Atropos section from Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer's "The Three Fates".
209* "Jane Seymour" from Rick Wakeman's ''The Six Wives Of Henry VIII''.
210* Inversion: The bridge of Music/{{Styx}}'s "I'm O.K." uses a pipe organ, but it is more stirring than it is ominous.
211* ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X59S14GX9PQ The Power And The Glory]]'' by Music/{{Horslips}} dramatises the coming of the Irish people to Ireland in the primal myth. The song opens with a stirringly ominous theme on pipe organ that recurs throughout the track and underscores the determination of the people to fight for and hold the land as their own.
212* In the [[ChangedForTheVideo interlude]] of the music video of Music/{{BTS}}'s "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmE9f-TEutc Blood, Sweat and Tears]]", as part of a WholePlotReference to Creator/{{Hermann Hesse}}'s ''Demian'', Yoongi (SUGA's character in the Music/BTSUniverse) appears playing "Passacaglia in D minor" by Buxtehude on a beautiful yet strange pipe organ with floating pipes, leading up to the video's climax of Jin [[spoiler:kissing the statue]]. The scene and the video and song as a whole have the DealWithTheDevil trope as the main theme.
213** The organ reappears again as background music to a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbSy36fu6Pk certain scene in BTS's 2016 MAMAs performance]] that also references the story.
214* Virtually every song performed by ''Music/TheDoors'' features Ray Manzarek using a Vox Continental or Gibson combo organ. And yes, partially as a result of this, even their lightest, fluffiest pieces still have a vaguely ominous undercurrent.
215* While every track on ''Starboard'' uses a pipe organ -- the last track on the album,[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwYVKii1OAQ "Song of Exaltation" by the Haven of Rest Quartet]], sounds particularly ominous with Dean [=McNichols=]' pipe organ.
216* "I Am A Heaven And A Controversial Authority On One World", the first track on ''The Groping Shadows Of A Parasite God Soaking In Distant Watermarks'' by Music/WingsOfAnAngel features it pretty prominently.
217* ''Music/ChristmasWithTheTabernacleChoir'': The organ segment in "Keep Christmas With You" has Richard Elliot performing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" with (who else) Count von Count of ''Series/SesameStreet'' narrating. When they get to day eleven, instead of recorders or clarinets they decide it means the organ pipes and begin a rendition of Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" in a manner that might make one think it's actually Halloween instead of Christmas.
218* Music/KlausSchulze used ominous electric organ [[DroneOfDread drones]] on several tracks of his first few albums, notably "Ebene" and "Gewitter" from ''Irrlicht'', "Ways of Changes" and "Voices of Syn" from ''Black Dance'', "Wahnfried 1883" from ''Timewind'', and "Mindphaser" from ''Moondawn''.
219[[/folder]]
220
221[[folder:Pinball]]
222* In ''Pinball/ThePhantomOfTheOpera,'' the Organ is prominently featured on the playfield; players shoot balls up its face to hit a set of musical targets, which makes the Organ open up to reveal a sinkhole underneath.
223[[/folder]]
224
225[[folder:Podcasts]]
226* ''Podcast/TheMagnusArchives'' has a physical example in the episode "Strange Music", unusually a calliope rather than a church-style organ. The narrator finds it in her dead grandfather's loft. It somehow works without air being blown in. She enjoys playing it, but when she plays it to her visiting boyfriend it distresses him and he tells her to stop. A few weeks later they break up, and [[spoiler:not long after that he is found dead.]]
227[[/folder]]
228
229[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
230* Wrestling/TheUndertaker and Wrestling/{{Kane}}'s entrance themes.
231* Judas Mesias had a pipe organ intro in his entrance theme in Wrestling/{{TNA}}.
232* When Wrestling/ChrisKanyon was Mortis in Wrestling/{{WCW}}, his entrance was accompanied by an ominous pipe organ.
233[[/folder]]
234
235[[folder:Radio]]
236* ''Radio/BleakExpectations'': Pip Bin's first visit to Parliament as MP for Poverty St. Mary and Dreadfulness North is less than encouraging, not helped by the fact that he arrived right on time for Scary Organ Night, as demonstrated by organ music playing in the background.
237* Both examined and {{subverted}} regularly on the weekly NPR music program "Pipe Dreams" -- It's ''all'' pipe organ performances, but many of the performances and pieces are not ominous at all. Grand and imposing, but not ominous.
238* In a ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'' sketch in which Count Dracula is trying to trick couples into getting married at the castle, he complains that if the organ ''must'' play itself, could it at least not do ''Toccata and Fugue'', which is "practically my theme music". The organ breaks into a rather sarcastic rendition of "The Sun Has Got His Hat On".
239
240[[/folder]]
241
242[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
243* ''Advanced TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
244** Module I6 ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' has an illusion of Count Strahd von Zarovich playing an organ in his castle.
245** Module [=RA1=] ''Feast of Goblyns'' had a dopppleganger playing a pipe organ during an evil religious service.
246* Organ music is the theme of the [[AmazonBrigade Adepta]] [[ChurchMilitant Sororitas]] in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: VideoGame/DawnOfWar'', which is quite appropriate. [[CoolTank Since Adepta Sororitas field a pipe organ mounted on a tank]]. [[MacrossMissileMassacre That shoots missile barrages]]. [[InstrumentOfMurder Fired by a Sister on top of the tank with a keyboard]]. [[RunningGag Playing Imperial hymns]].
247* ''ComicStrip/KnightsOfTheDinnerTable'' #168 "Bait & Tackle" section (adventure seeds). In "The Pipe Organ", a vampire plays a pipe organ to lure {{PC}}s to their doom.
248* In the TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu adventure ''The Dreaming Stone'', the Dracula-like servant of Nyarlathotep plays a harpsichord in his mansion on the moon that cause some sanity loss.
249[[/folder]]
250
251[[folder:Theatre]]
252* Entry score of ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet''.
253* As mentioned, the trendsetter would be the opening overture of ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', as well as (of course) the phantom's VillainSong.
254* ''Theatre/{{Elisabeth}}'' uses this trope with aplomb in the Act I number "Alle Fragen sind gestellt", which also counts as MoodWhiplash from the tender love song that preceded it and SoundtrackDissonance (a compelled-sounding choral piece predicting the singers' eventual doom at the heroine's ''wedding'').
255[[/folder]]
256
257[[folder:Theme Parks]]
258* Ride/DisneyThemeParks: Aside from the above mentioned ''Ride/TheHauntedMansion'', ''Ride/JourneyIntoImagination'' used to feature [[CoolOldGuy Dreamfinder]] playing one in the Tales of Terror sequence. In keeping with this scene's literature theme, it's not actually an organ, but rather an appropriately-themed giant typewriter or computer, which releases different letters and numbers when played.
259[[/folder]]
260
261[[folder:Visual Novels]]
262* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
263** Damon Gant's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMQKGMS_Df4 theme]] in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney''. He even has an enormous pipe organ in his office, which seems to be modeled after the very one on this page image. Phoenix comments on what a massive waste of taxpayer money this is. According to Gumshoe, Gant goes so far as to use the organ for CoolAndUnusualPunishment (he sits misbehaving cops in his office and plays it for several hours; the unfortunate victim is left deaf for a week).
264** In ''Justice for All'', Richard Wellington's cellphone has the quintessential organ tune, Toccata & Fugue, as its ringtone. It's used for major effect during Phoenix's nightmare and when [[spoiler:Richard is found as the definitive culprit of the murder in the first case]].
265** TheRival of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations 2'', Justine Courtney, has one as the centerpiece of her theme. It's used to reinforce her "holy" appearance.
266** ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]'''s version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8v3DPdTbzw "Confess the Truth"]], the track typically used during TheSummation, includes this.
267* The soundtrack of ''VisualNovel/DiesIraeInterviewWithKazikluBey'', in keeping with its vampire and gothic influences, makes liberal use of the pipe organ alongside the harpsichord to set the tone with tracks like for example [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3MWUZpshI0 Albus Noctes]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO1tNZl75N8 Tenebrae]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFXgnWux-eQ Methuselah]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6DhZa4dApI Kiss in the Dark]]. Be it slow or fast, all depending on the mood.
268* [=ClockUp=]'s ''Euphoria'': If you get the Brute Ending, the most evil and sadistic ending of the game, a very ominous and organ-laden theme plays over the credits.
269* 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.]]'
270* In ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', a pipe organ song plays when you descend to Lynx's hiding place.
271* ''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.]]
272[[/folder]]
273
274[[folder:Web Animation]]
275* Parodied in ''WebAnimation/TheDementedCartoonMovie'', where Evil Blah gets sick of the pipe organ music that punctuates his evil rants, and eventually [[OffingTheAnnoyance shoots the organist]].
276* The creator of ''WebAnimation/RatboyGenius'' made a music video of Little King John playing an original composition, simply titled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzRKyaniuAo Fugue in D Minor]], on a pipe organ decorated with lightning bolts. As if this wasn't enough, while John plays, he constantly does his signature [[BodyHorror neck-stretching]], even moving his head disturbingly close to the camera at one point.
277* In Volume 3 of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'', Blake comes across Adam, her former lover and partner in the White Fang, which is punctuated by a brief organ rendition of From Shadows, the song most associated with her. Fitting, since Adam... [[PsychoExGirlfriend didn't exactly handle]] [[{{Yandere}} being rejected well]].
278[[/folder]]
279
280[[folder:Webcomics]]
281* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', Agatha literally [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20061227 controlled]] her [[HumongousMecha clanks]] by [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20061229 playing her theme tune]] on the silverodeon she spent the prior arc repairing. Agatha IS the heroine, but she's pretty distressed at this point.
282* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':
283** [[http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/scratch-2 "Scratch"]], Doc Scratch's theme from the Felt album, most likely counts.
284** [[http://homestuck.bandcamp.com/track/awakening-2 "Awakening"]] has some portions of this.
285** In [=A6A6I4=], John finally manages to [[http://www.mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=008998 play the one in his denizen's lair]], with rather... interesting effects.
286* ''Webcomic/SketchComedy'': Parodied. Whenever there's a dramatic organ {{sting}}, the strip cuts to whoever is playing the organ...including [[http://thesketchy.com/ic/2010/12/14/voyage-of-the-dawn-treader-yo the Phantom of the Opera]], [[http://thesketchy.com/ic/2011/10/04/like-its-our-job-release-the-flashback Ludwig Van Beethoven]], and [[http://thesketchy.com/ic/2012/03/06/cerebus-dad-the-cut Albert Einstein]].
287[[/folder]]
288
289[[folder:Web Original]]
290* The ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' Harry Potter alternate timeline parody has a gag with this, Voldemort is sitting at an organ playing something vaguely sinister until it's revealed he's ''trying'' to play ''Take Me Out to the Ballgame'' and doing a horrible job.
291[[/folder]]
292
293[[folder:Web Video]]
294* ''WebVideo/TheCarpetbagger'': Invoked. In "[[https://youtu.be/id9-uAVq-p4?t=646 Evanswood Magic Mansion - Unbelievable New Attraction!]]," magician Terry Evanswood shows off a pump organ in the mansion by playing a short, sinister tune and doing an EvilLaugh.
295[[/folder]]
296
297[[folder:Western Animation]]
298* In the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' episodes "Bad Boy" and "Stop Team Go", Ron Stoppable is turned into his SuperpoweredEvilSide. While he's fighting, the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor plays as his theme music.
299* ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooShow'':
300** In the episode "The Harum Scarum Sanitarium", the music accompanies the ghost of a mad doctor.
301** The mysterious puppeteer in "The Backstage Rage" is seen playing a pipe organ as well, and Scooby plays one in "A Night Of Fright Is No Delight."
302* In the ''WesternAnimation/SushiPack'' episode "But is it Art?", the control panel for the villain's device that [[ArtInitiatesLife brings paintings to life]] is a pipe organ (that can rise from the floor, even).
303* Heard (and illustrated) in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9ZVWMPuZ2c intro]] of ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula'' with DramaticThunder.
304* One of these is played by [[MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold Mr. Ten]] in ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes''.
305* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/{{Freakazoid}}''. One episode opens with the recurring villain Armando Gutierez playing an organ with the stereotypical opening followed by the variation of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaKirLtReLc Pop Goes The Weasel]]. For more fun, this sequence is a ShoutOut to ''Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes'' opening mentioned in the Films -- Live-Action folder.
306* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' episode "Take My Siblings Please" during their take on "The Three Billy Goats Gruff". Every time someone mentioned the [gasp] ''troll'', there would be a sudden cut to Wakko playing ominous music on the organ. (Except when Wakko said it; then Dot covered for him.)
307-->'''Dot:''' Well, somebody had to do it.
308* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Something Smells", Patrick encounters Spongebob parodying the infamous [[Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera Phantom of the Opera]] scene because he believes the reason everyone is shunning him is because Patrick claims he's ugly (when actually it's just that he has rancid breath and Patrick has no nose to smell this). Made more hilarious by the fact that when confronted Spongebob is wearing gag Creator/GrouchoMarx glasses.
309* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'':
310** In the episode "Bad Hair Day", Doof plays his evil jingle on a pipe organ in a ShoutOut to Ganondorf from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''.
311** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!"; Phineas and Ferb's haunted house's animatronics are controlled by the latter playing an organ.
312* Gargamel's Ghoullliope in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' cartoon special "Smurfily Ever After".
313* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "Castle Mane-ia", the organ in the Princesses' old castle can activate various prank-traps when certain keys are pressed. The Mane Six (sans Pinkie Pie) walk in on the Pony of Shadows [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTTJFVmgszs playing it]] [[spoiler:only to find out it was actually Pinkie Pie. Here is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAlNEY5qFbs full music]].]]
314* Played for laughs in the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Phantom of the Telethon." Roger seeks to sabotage Stan's CIA telethon and dresses up as the Phantom of the Opera to do so. He orders a pipe organ in order to play while laughing maniacally down in the catacombs, but a handheld synthetic piano is sent instead. Roger is furious at first, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgamAOgNujQ but after tinkering with it, he happily accepts it.]] It can also make farts sounds.
315* When ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' and Penfold first encounter Wufgang Bach (who has stolen all the world's music in "Play It Again, Wufgang"), he is at a pipe organ playing Toccata And Fugue In D Minor before it dissolves into a daffy rendition of "O Sole Mio."
316* In the episode "Friend For Life" of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfSamAndMaxFreelancePolice'', the Mad Thespian has scary pipe organ music as his {{Leitmotif}}.
317* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfFigaroPho'':
318** Used in the "Fear of Becoming a Vampire" episode whenever Figaro acts like a vampire.
319** In the "Fear of Being Ugly" episode, Figaro plays scary music on a pipe organ in a ShoutOut to ''Franchise/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''.
320* ''WesternAnimation/TheModifyers'' has [[BigBad Baron Vain]] make an impressive entrance by [[WickedCultured playing gothic tunes in his pipe organ]] until the Rat spoils it by falling into one of the pipes and getting stuck into it.
321* Prime Evil's bonetroller organ in ''WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters'' is MUCH more than a mere ominous pipe organ. It has most of his powers and can use it to zap his minions and teleport anyone he wishes across time. It is an ominous device that broke him out of limbo and into the material plain after all.
322* ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies'': In "The Goddess of Spring", one part of the big VillainSong features a mook playing a pipe organ that floats on, and spews out, clouds of brimstone.
323* ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'': In "Sonic's Song", Robotnik is infuriated when everyone starts singing a song about Sonic, so he creates a robot to destroy all music, except for the VillainSong that he writes about himself, [[https://youtu.be/syE7Q8KcdIc which he plays on a pipe organ]].
324* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': This type of music is heard throughout "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE51TheManWhoKilledBatman The Man Who Killed Batman]]". Perhaps best exemplified in the scene where the Joker holds his own funeral for Batman (who is thought to have been killed in this episode). As [[https://youtu.be/Ld0uIhst3TA his eulogy]] shifts from talking about how he misses Batman to how much he hates Sid (the man who supposedly killed Batman, which [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou the Joker can't stand]]), the sad organ music slowly becomes much more sinister.
325* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': Used in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glT2suEwNis the leitmotif]] for [[MagnificentBastard Grand Admiral Thrawn]].
326* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'':
327** Parodied in the episode "Open Wide And Say Aaagh!". Timmy talks about going to the doctor to get his tonsils removed. At the end of every sentence describing how scary it is, there was a pipe organ making noise. Then made fun of as the angle changes and Timmy tells Cosmo to please stop playing that pipe organ that somehow ended up in his bedroom.
328** In the episode "Anti-Poof", the first thing Poof's Anti-Fairy counterpart Foop does after his birth is play an organ.
329* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'':
330** In the episode "Get Back Jojo", the scene in the past where the young Professor Utonium crazily drops red dye ("blood") and excessive chemicals into his model volcano ("monster"), which results in explosion, is accompanied by a creepy organ music.
331** [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in the episode "Mime for a Change". Rainbow the Clown's [[EvilCounterpart evil alter ego]], Mr. Mime, has a creepy ''[[CreepyCircusMusic calliope]]'' music as his [[{{Leitmotif}} leitmotif]].
332* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'':
333** The Music Meister is shown playing a pipe organ to a cardboard audience, an indication that he [[MadArtist isn't]] ''[[MadArtist quite]]'' [[MadArtist right in the head]].
334** In one episode, Green Arrow and Speedy confront Gentleman Ghost, who says they have no chance at stopping him. Speedy says "[[YouAndWhatArmy Oh, yeah? You and what army?]]". In a flash, Gentleman Ghost's army of ghostly skeletons storm out of the ground. This scene is accompanied by a powerful organ music.
335* In the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Helga vs. Big Patty", after she told him that [[HugeSchoolgirl Big Patty]] will still beat her up, even though she apologized for her behavior before, Helga walks away from Arnold having lost hope while a short, but powerful pipe organ tune plays ominously. Organ music, along with DramaticTimpani, is also played at the end of the episode after Helga walked out of the school gym [[spoiler:as if she was beaten my Big Patty]].
336* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'', whenever [[{{Goth}} Lucy]] Loud jump scares her siblings, either a [[CreepyCrows crow caws]] or a short pipe organ chord plays. She and Luna Loud also play one in the episodes "House Music" and "Tricked!" respectively.
337-->'''Luna:''' Ready to rock, oh, mistress of the dark. ''[starts playing her organ]''\
338'''Lucy:''' Drop down an octave and try it in [[Music/ToccataAndFugueInDMinor D minor]]. [[LampshadeHanging That's the spookiest key.]]
339--->-- "Tricked!"
340* ''WesternAnimation/PinkyElmyraAndTheBrain'' has a humorous take on OminousLatinChanting with an accompanying, ominous pipe organ music when an episode has a secret conspiracy Creator/ChristopherWalken look-alike.
341* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Replaceable You", a short, ominous organ music is played during the "It's Alive" scene, an obvious ShoutOut to ''[[Film/Frankenstein1931 Frankenstein]]''.
342* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IokBKvFiCvM intro]] of the 1992 animated series ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAddamsFamily1992 The Addams Family]]'' starts with the brief beginning of Toccata in D minor along with DramaticThunder. Parodied in the [[WesternAnimation/TheAddamsFamily2019 2019 series]] where [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE7PDBjxwjc Lurch is seen playing a pipe organ until being stopped by Thing.]] As the disembodied hand is requesting him to play the specific piece of music on the organ, he briefly played the following familiar pieces of music:
343** 5th Symphony by Music/LudwigVanBeethoven.
344** Toccata in D minor.
345** "Hallelujah" chorus from Music/GeorgeFredericHandel's Messiah.
346** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb19d08Lnec Charge]]", a short fanfare frequently played at sporting events.
347** He then eventually played the show's theme song, which Thing liked it and gave the famous finger snapping of it with a harpsichord accompaniment.
348* [[TheEeyore Misery]] has a spooky organ music as her {{leitmotif}} in ''WesternAnimation/RubyGloom''.
349* In the ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "Honor Thy Ed", scary organ music plays whenever the OldDarkHouse is shown.
350* Simon Bar Sinister of ''WesternAnimation/{{Underdog}}'' had one in the form of a WeatherControlMachine in "Weathering the Storm".
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353[[folder:Real Life]]
354* Website/{{YouTube}} musician [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Scallon Rob Scallon]] badly played [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeB3JnKp8To&t=892 this]] and he immediately recognized it as being associated with [[{{Dracula}} Count Dracula]] in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Presbyterian_Church_(Chicago) Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago]] while he was just learning about pipe organs, much to the amusement of the church organist John Sherer. Rob loved it!
355* [=YouTube=] music theorist [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi7l9chXMljpUft67vw78qw Sideways]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT934eTbmuY suggests that it's not the organ itself that's sinister, but the context.]] Because of the size of pipe organs, they're very costly, and they were even more so in the medieval/early-modern period, which is why typically only churches could afford them. They are also very loud, so the whole neighbourhood could hear when the organist was practicing, and they're equally complicated to operate, so the organist was seen as highly intelligent. Furthermore, due to playing them during mass, they also became associated with communal and religious events. All of these combined gave the impression that operating the pipe organ is like summoning the power of God for the benefit of the community, so being able to afford a pipe organ in their own household, knowing how to operate it and doing so for their own amusement, is essentially a musical declaration of AGodAmI.
356-->'''Sideways''': If you can hear the organ, it's because someone ''wants'' you to. [[ParanoiaFuel And everything is going]] ''[[ParanoiaFuel exactly]]'' [[ParanoiaFuel as they planned.]]
357[[/folder]]
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