DISCUSSION: Theme Songs for Your Characters

[canisaries]

Alone I sat in my living room by my computer eating ramen noodles, trying to think of topics for threads as I felt like contributing something. Then @unrepentantAuthor suggested me this meme of a topic on Discord and well, it's better than nothing.

We've had a thread like "what do you listen to when writing", but that was more about background music or whether you can even have any on while writing. This thread is about music you think best describes your characters. And no, there is no limit on the amount of edge. Link Cannibal Corpse if you have to (but maybe keep the album art hidden).

Anyway, I'll go first:

Spoiler: in spoilers to save space

Now as my readers and probably a bunch of non-readers too know, I write about Red Akai, a proud and pretentious cultist involved in all kinds of fun stuff like ritualistic human sacrifice, cannibalism and even organ trading. So naturally a good bunch of Lordi tracks overlap with his interests. The only downside is that they sound badass when he's actually kind of a shut-in loser. I'll leave Blood Red Sandman here to give you an image - other fitting ones are Candy for the Cannibal and Nonstop Nite.



However, despite his arrogance, he fears death more than anything. It's why he's part of that cult - it promises him immortality and eternal happiness. At his more panicky moments when he loses control, The Fear by none other than Death Grips is what I'll go with.



Red does still have a playful nature. While his hunts turn out deadly for others, to him it's great fun. To stand for this playfulness, here's a song probably most of you know. Which, fun fact, I first heard in Shrek 2's extra content.



Might add some more later if I think of anything.

 

[lucarioknight56]

I hold no shame in saying that the theme for Arthus Zoroark from PMD: Unequivocant is:

Spoiler

Infinite's theme from Sonic Forces

In my mind it fits perfectly.

 

[Ambyssin]

@lucarioknight56 Not gonna lie, that made me laugh a bit. Arthus is not nearly enough of an edgelord for a song like that (though I could totally see him being voiced by Liam O'Brien). I was imagining he'd have something with a lot of ominous Latin chanting, given the tone of the story.

Anyway, I mostly listen to video game music so any themes attached to characters are likely going to be from other games. And I'm just going to link them instead of putting in the YouTube embeds to prevent lag or whatever.

Spoiler

Shane: Athena Cykes ~ Let's do this! (sad version here)
Tessa: Holy Land (Physis Ver.)
Null: Interference
Braviary: Jake Marshall ~ Wandering Detective From the Wild West
Magearna: Ema Skye ~ Scientific Detective
Gallian: Kraft's Theme (Physis Ver.)
Sticky: Ultra Recon Squad Theme
Team Fang (Sneasel & Jangmo-o): Mr. L, Green Thunder
Team Captivate (Milotic, Dragonair, & Serperior): Station Intruders
Midnight Lycanroc: Grubba's the Name

Spoiler: Spoiler characters, view at your own risk!

Prism Virus (Espeon & Umbreon): Neo Bowser Sunrise
Zero: Orchestra of Justice
"Lunala": Return to Zero (Telos Ver.)

 

[diamondpearl876]

I don't attach theme songs to characters; I just have playlists for each story I sometimes listen to when writing, which indeed there's another thread for so I wouldn't derail here. Though I do have songs that portray situations they go through, if that counts?

Obligatory "omg look at all those Ace Attorney theme songs" @Ambyssin, I love it. xD

@canisaries That Duran Duran song is such a throwback. I can't unsee it.

 

[Ambyssin]

@diamondpearl876 What can I say? Capcom knows how to make good character themes.

 

[Misfit Angel]

Over time, I've picked up a few themes I would pick out for my characters. Most are from video game soundtracks, since they rarely have lyrics that would complicate the themes associated with both the track and the character. At present, most of my characters are represented by tracks from The Witcher 3 and its associated expansions, though I do also have other themes for these same characters in mind as well.

Andrea Dennison, the scientifically minded goth

Spoiler

The Fields of Ard Skellig from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I chose this one because it sounds both mysterious and sad, traits I would ascribe to Andrea. Despite her recent change of luck and string of successes, she has trouble escaping from the demons of her past that have shaped her into who she is today. She hides her troubles, however, as she believes they're both too personal and too big to discuss, so very few people really know who she is.

Kimberly Fairbrooke, the all around gentle soul

Spoiler

The Banks of the Sansretour from The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine

This one personifies peace and serenity to me, as does Kimberly herself. She's such a free spirit and good natured person, full of wonder and appreciation for the world around her, personality quirks that I feel come out well in this track. I don't know if anyone else will pick it up, but I also feel a sense of self-determination in the music, in some ways, another key aspect of her character: she wants to figure her life out on her own, with no one telling her how to do it.

Maphesia Candlefire, the blood witch of the Spritewood

Spoiler

Whatsoever A Man Soweth from The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone

Creepy and unsettling! The blood witch of the Spritewood is a newly introduced character so we haven't gotten to see what she's really like yet, but anyone who preys on people to gain power through sacrificing their lives deserves a track like this as a theme. As the story goes on, we'll see what she's really like.

I do have other characters with themes picked out, but I won't list them now for a variety of reasons (mostly spoilers and some of them aren't introduced yet). I'll try to come back to this thread. Though I do feel comfortable including this unreleased character. I'll mark for spoilers, just in case:

Spoiler: Princess Greybell

Tania Greybell, Crown Princess of Lanark

Where No Man Has Gone Before from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Doesn't it sound royal? A fitting theme for the future Queen of Lanark, a region based around the Celtic fringes of the British Isles, most specifically Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In this track, there's tones of softness and compassion, but also strength and determination; she is both fit to be a wise and compassionate leader of both country and men, as well as a skilled defender of her homeland and the people important to her.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Great stuff, everyone. @canisaries, I like that you've included music for different 'moods' for Red, as a way to show different sides of him. @lucarioknight56, that's 2edgy4me but I admit I have a soft spot for that kind of antagonist. Looking forward to reading about Arthus when I'm freed up offline. @Ambyssin thanks for validating the use of lyricless VG tracks by including so many, there's some great stuff there — did you have all those prepared beforehand? @Misfit Angel those tracks you chose are beautiful, and the vibes they're giving me are doing a lot to shift me over to reading your LotR (ha, nice initialism there) if that's the 'mood' you've got going.

I have a complicated relationship with music pretty much due to auditory processing and sensory difficulties I have, and due to never fully developing a broad taste due to social pressure from other kids at school. I think the last time I assigned songs to characters seriously was a decade ago, and the songs were mostly Linkin Park songs because I was an angsty little fucker at that age. It's pretty embarrassing now, but I have to laugh about it, a person can't be hung up on the music they listened to as a kid. I'm sure I'll end up finding tracks I want to assign to my current stock of characters, but for now I'm not sure I have much to offer!

However, a friend of mine found a couple songs which facetiously fit a pair of characters from my novel.

Spoiler: The Workaholic

One of my central protagonists is pretty much killing herself with lack of sleep and by drinking too much coffee. She doesn't come off as highly strung at first but if she doesn't change the way she lives, it's not going to end in a pretty way. My friend was joking about how the neurotic, obsessive, workaholic song "Stress" fit her perfectly.

Spoiler: The Renegade

That protagonist's opponent of sorts in the plot is her former mentor, an ambitious and ruthless woman who now perceives herself as a defector from decadence working towards the common good of humanity. She's probably the most utterly self-assured human being on the planet, which makes the arrogant, self-aggrandising yet strangely miserable lyrics of "Born Depressed" quite suited to her character. And yes, she really was born better than you.

I love both these characters, and I accidentally made them pine horribly for eachother in a definitely romantic way. Whoops!

I wouldn't mind suggestions from helpful and lovely forum members for my other characters, incidentally! Most prominently, Salem from Different Eyes is a cat aspiring to be human — she's thoughtful, curious, rash, emotional, selfish and manipulative, although not all of those traits have had much chance to show up this early on. I feel like any song to fit her would be wistful due to the sense of longing that most defines her character, perhaps mercurial due to the major theme of personal change and inconstancy, and probably a little wild — she is a cat, after all.

 

[Ambyssin]

@unrepentantAuthor Uh, I'm not entirely sure what you mean by prepared beforehand. When I write I usually have a VG track in the background. Those were the songs I had wound up picking and playing for scenes focused on each of those characters. Some of them also have battle themes which I guess I could post too if anyone was actually interested. Also, is this IRL friend of yours a fan of online personality Jim Sterling, by chance? Because both of those songs are used as theme tunes for the Jimquisition and I really don't think he coincidentally found both songs and showed them to you as good themes.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

@Ambyssin hi there, mate. By prepared beforehand, I mean that you already had them from your writing experience and didn't pick them out specifically for this thread! You've answered "yes" it seems. :3

I don't know that my friend likes Jim or not, nah. I watched some Jim videos years and years ago myself, but I don't follow him at all. My friend found "Stress" somehow and "Born Depressed" was, quite unsurprisingly, in the suggested videos sidebar.

 

[Misfit Angel]

@Misfit Angel those tracks you chose are beautiful, and the vibes they're giving me are doing a lot to shift me over to reading your LotR (ha, nice initialism there) if that's the 'mood' you've got going.

I can say that it's the mood I want to establish... unfortunately establishing the mood present within the music is more difficult than I imagined. I don't think I'm quite there yet, especially with some of the recent chapters.

 

[Ambyssin]

Decided to post more themes because I was bored... and include some battle themes. curse you canis for making this thread, this is all your fault

Spoiler

Team Specter (Haunter, Misdreavus, & Drifloon): Theme of the Shadow Sirens
Metagross: Grodus' Office
Team Captivate's client: Investigation ~ Examination
The Legendaries of Horizon: The Holy Mother ~ The Teachings of Khura'in

Spoiler: And for battles...

Team Fang: Brobot L-Type
Yungoos & Trapinch: Ordeal! (Orchestral)
Solrock: Heartless Minions
Ultra Munchlax: The Blargian Snagglebeast
Golisopod: Captain Slag
Feraligatr: Nimbus Arena Showdown
Ultra Parasect: The Voltanoid
Marshadow: Ride the Robot Train
Ultra Bewear: The Dam Battle

 

[lucarioknight56]

Reviving a dead thread, I know, but while listening to a band someone suggested to me a while back, I found the themes for two of my characters in an upcoming work--which, after numerous delays because life, will hopefully be ready by the end of the week--PMD: Twilit Destinies.

Spoiler: Arthus

Spoiler: Matheus

Note: I don't believe the instrumentation necessarily fits the tone of the story--I imagine more gentle violins--but the lyrics of these songs match them well.

EDIT: Actually, both songs apply to both of them, albeit at different times of their life.

 

[diamondpearl876]

Reviving threads is a-okay. I quite like the "Seasons" song.

I've been listening to "Wake Me" by The Bleachers a lot when writing Flying in the Dark. It portrays the kinda desperate and lonely feeling that's been building up throughout the fic... the feeling of two people who want to help each other but don't know how, and may just be damaging each other further trying. There's some romantic implications of the song, though, which don't apply.

 

[LightningTopaz]

I've always felt the song "Reach" just fits Ash so perfectly, especially if you really listen to the lyrics:

(the song)

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Came across a song the other day which rather fits a character of mine, but I'm more than a little self conscious of the chosen artist, since they're associated with an early 2000s subculture I had nothing to do with. Oof!

 

[Misfit Angel]

Came across a song the other day which rather fits a character of mine, but I'm more than a little self conscious of the chosen artist, since they're associated with an early 2000s subculture I had nothing to do with. Oof!

C'mon, you're among nerds here, we won't bite

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

Aight!

I don't care what you think
As long as it's about me
The best of us can find happiness in misery

The chorus is a decent fit for an upcoming character. The song has this egotistical, self assured, yet somehow upbeat negativity to it. Fuck you, but I should matter to you, even if it's because you resent me.

She's a sneasel-morph, and she's made of ambition, spite and threatening charisma.

 

[lucarioknight56]

Found another theme, this time for Cassia from PMD: Unequivocant!

Spoiler: Theme

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

"Are we not good enough?
Are we not brave enough?
Is the violence in our nature
Just the image of our maker?"