History Main / VaderBreath

** By the events of ''Film/RogueOne'', Saw Guerrera relies on a breathing mask which makes this sound, though he doesn't need to use it constantly. Similar to Grievous, Saw's case is to reflect on how his radical tactics [[NotSoDifferentRemark make him no different from the Empire.]] [[spoiler: Also used by the trope namer himself in the climax, to the [[HellIsThatNoise most terrifying possible effect.]]]]

* The intro and ending of Juno Reactor's "Mars", the former [[FadingIntoTheNextSong starting during the fade-out]] of "Rotorblade" on the album's CD and digital editions.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** The Ice Warriors.
** So does the Astronaut in "The Impossible Astronaut".
** And older Amy in "The Girl Who Waited".

* William Raines in ''Series/ThePretender''.
* In ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', "[[Recap/SherlockS02E02TheHoundsOfBaskerville The Hounds of Baskerville]]" features [[spoiler: the true killer]] doing this through [[spoiler: his red-eyed gas mask.]]

* Tony Soprano from ''Series/TheSopranos'' had one of these when he got particularly worked up.

** The creepy mutant hibernating liver-eating serial killer from episodes "[[Recap/TheXFilesS01E03Squeeze Squeeze]]" and "[[Recap/TheXFilesS01E21Tooms Tooms]]".

** Darth Vader. Weirdly, the breathing never stops, even when he's talking. This is most apparent at the very end of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', when Vader's yelling "[[BigNo Noooo...]]" According to ''Literature/DarkLordTheRiseOfDarthVader'', his vocal cords and lungs are both only barely usable and he [[WeCanRebuildHim relies on an artificial life support system built in his suit]], and the constant asthmatic breathing is a constant mechanical pump supplying oxygen, while his speech is really severely amplified to make it louder than a whisper. In ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' we see that he can use TheDarkSide of the Force to briefly heal and breathe on his own, but only for a moment, and then his sudden joy at being able to do that breaks his Dark Side focus. There were plans to give Vader a [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Vader%27s_armor#cite_ref-DSn_43-0 new suit]] that would remove several of the problems mentioned above. Too bad the procedure put his life at serious risk -- specifically, the previous suit would have to be removed, including the oxygen pump. ''Revenge of the Sith'' shows Vader getting his suit, allowing us to hear his first iconic breaths. In fact, due to the smoke in front of the mask, we also get to ''see'' them.

''[[SelfDemonstratingArticle SSSHHH HOHHHHHH...]]'' There is something particularly creepy about wheezy or labored breathing. ''...SSSSHHHHH'' Unnatural breathing can characterize someone as being''...HOHHHHHHH'' unnatural, or less than human. As a result, ''...SSSSHHSH'' this sort of breathing is often given to ''...HOHHHHHHHHHHHHH'' evil characters. This has been particularly true since 1977, when the TropeNamer Darth Vader first appeared in [[Film/ANewHope film]]. Ideally, the creepy breathing is combined with some sort of ''...HOHHHHHHH'' creepy voice, and an EvilLaugh ''cough''. Sometimes the creepy breathing is justified by some sort of disfiguring accident, which gives the evil character a [[RedRightHand creepy appearance]] as well.

* In ''Film/PhantomOfTheParadise'', Winslow Leach has a freak accident with a record press, severely deforming his face and damaging his vocal cords. He later sneaks into the Paradise, with his own labored breathing imposed over the soundtrack- predating the Trope Namer, by the way.

* In the 2022 version of ''Film/{{All Quiet on the Western Front|2022}}'', this effect is produced when the soldier have to put on their gas masks. It is unsettling and underlines the horror of war.

* In Blake Edwards' suspense-thriller ''Experiment in Terror,'' the psycho stalking Lee Remick has an asthmatic rasp for a voice.

* ''Film/HarryPotter'': In the film version, [[Characters/HarryPotterDeathEaters the Dementors]] breathe quite heavily, as a sign of them inhaling people's happy feelings. This is consistent with the books, where in Harry's first encounter with one, it is described as "[drawing] slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings."
* Kroenen from ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}''.
** After Hellboy resurrects a long-dead Russian man named Ivan, the guy has to breathe in to speak and does so with a large wheeze.

* The appropriately-named Wheezy Joe in ''Film/IntolerableCruelty''.
* Film/JamesBond:

* In ''Film/PhantomOfTheParadise,'' Winslow Leach has a freak accident with a record press, severely deforming his face and damaging his vocal chords. He later sneaks into the Paradise, with his own labored breathing imposed over the soundtrack- predating the Trope Namer, by the way.
* In ''Film/{{Quarantine}}'', when the CDC guys enter the building, their gas masks make this noise; it's a little over-the-top.
* [[Creator/CillianMurphy Rippner]] in ''Film/RedEye'' gets a distinctly wheezy breath after he [[spoiler:gets stabbed through the windpipe with a pen,]] which would do that to you. Especially if your idea of [[spoiler:medical attention for it is ripping it out with your bare hands and using somebody's silk scarf as a bandage/cravat to buy you some time for the climax of the film.]]

* The opening scene of the Ian [=McKellen=] version of ''Film/RichardIII'' has the title character leading gasmasked commandos in a raid on the previous King's headquarters. Once the tank smashes through the wall the gun battle is muffled, with the main sound being Richard's breathing through his gas mask up until the moment when he shoots King Henry VI. The script notes that Richard is breathing in iambic pantameter.

* [[spoiler:Porky Minch]] in ''VideoGame/MOTHER3''. It is explained that [[spoiler:[[TimeAbyss his extensive abuse of time travel has left him immortal, but still with an aging body,]]]] resulting in oft-childish banter and insults being peppered with the coughs and wheezes of an old man.

** General Grievous has a rather nasty sounding hacking cough, which George Lucas has stated is deliberate {{Foreshadowing}} that [[spoiler:Anakin will turn into Darth Vader, with Obi-Wan fighting both]]. In the Canon continuity, he always had it, while in the ''Legends'' continuity, he only gained it shortly before ''Revenge of the Sith'' from when Mace Windu made his chest implode.

* ''VideoGame/{{inFAMOUS 2}}'': Ice Heavies
-->'''Ice Heavy:''' We don't want...your thanks....We want...your blast core.
* Agent 5, Gage Blackwood in ''VideoGame/TheJourneymanProject'' Turbo gradually descends to this if you take too long in the maze below the Mars Colony. Once the music dies down, you can hear him struggling for air through an oxygen mask he's wearing.
** You can also hear him breathing heavily if he doesn't have the mask on at all in the maze or the NORAD VI time zone, which has [[spoiler: sleeping gas]] in the vents.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Penumbra}} Black Plague'', the music for the Chemical Laboratory has what sounds like heavy breathing in the background. Philip also does this when wearing a gas mask.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCE3DIRtqlw This ambient track]] from ''VideoGame/{{FEAR}}'', first heard in Interval 3-1.

* The second dream world of ''VideoGame/{{Obsidian}}'' does this in one of its four elemental puzzles, where the goal is to provide the [[GiantSpider Mechanical Spider]] with air. The ''landscape'' breathes when it's solved, and the spider visibly breathes in and out for a few seconds, as you return to the hub.

* The Doctor from ''VideoGame/LittleNightmaresII'' is heard making a heavy breathing which only enhance his creepiness.
* Tim and Tom Weaver from ''VideoGame/{{Wick}}.'' Tim from having caught polio as a living child, and Tom from having all his bones broken.

* Featured in ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' when players finally catch up with [[PatientZero Joe Slater]]; the first indication that something is very wrong with him is his hoarse, labored breathing. [[spoiler: He's partially transformed into one of the aquatic Draug, and his lungs aren't coping well with dry land.]]

* In ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'', Martian breathing is described as "tumultuous," and it's assumed that it's because they're not used to Earth's atmosphere and gravity. Although it might also be [[spoiler: pneumonoa, as they got rip-roaring sick the instant they breathed Earth's air according to the epilouge]].

-->-- '''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 Tom Servo]]''' on a scene from [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S04E05BeingFromAnotherPlanet ''Being From Another Planet''.]]

** The creepy mutant hibernating liver-eating serial killer from episodes "Squeeze" and "Tooms".

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The territorial calls of groups of howler monkeys, if heard from a long way off, can sound ''exactly'' like Darth Vader's breathing.
* Bears. One of the many recognizable things about them is their heavy breathing.
* Since Darth Vader doesn't seem to be carrying an oxygen tank around with him, he is assumedly using a RealLife device known as an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_concentrator oxygen concentrator]]. As the name implies, these work by pulling concentrated oxygen out of the surrounding air, and it really does sound ''just like'' Vader Breath.
* Ben Burt found the sound for Vader's breathing by sticking a microphone into a Scuba regulator, and breathing in and out. So if you've ever been Scuba diving, the sound is quite familiar.
* If you're ever wearing a respirator, gas mask, or self-contained breathing apparatus, just go ahead and ''try'' to resist the temptation to mimic the Vader Breath and see how you sound. Especially if your mask has a vocoder, a device that amplifies your voice and sounds a bit like what Vader or a Stormtrooper's helmet does.
* The Vader "HOOOOHHHH" sound is technically called a voiceless pharyngeal fricative, and it's actually a common consonant in several world languages, particularly Semitic and Caucasian languages.
[[/folder]]

* Yashiro Chikama in ''LightNovel/AdachiAndShimamura'' breathes very loudly during her time in her space suit, especially in the anime. [[ItMakesSenseInContext When her human form is ready]], she takes off the space suit and loses the loud, labored breathing.

* Death Gun in ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline's'' second season has this going on with his skull mask.

* Playing With Fire: Jake Carson breathes like that through his gas mask.

* The opening scene of the Ian [=McKellen=] version of ''Film/RichardIII'' has the title character leading gasmasked commandos in a raid on the previous King's headquarters. Once the tank smashes through the wall the gun battle is muffled, with the main sound being Richard's breathing through his gas mask up until the moment when he shoots the king. The script notes that he is breathing in iambic pantameter.

** DarthWiki/DarthVader. Weirdly, the breathing never stops, even when he's talking. This is most apparent at the very end of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', when Vader's yelling "[[BigNo Noooo...]]" According to ''Literature/DarkLordTheRiseOfDarthVader'', his vocal cords and lungs are both only barely usable and he [[WeCanRebuildHim relies on an artificial life support system built in his suit]], and the constant asthmatic breathing is a constant mechanical pump supplying oxygen, while his speech is really severely amplified to make it louder than a whisper. In ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' we see that he can use TheDarkSide of the Force to briefly heal and breathe on his own, but only for a moment, and then his sudden joy at being able to do that breaks his Dark Side focus. There were plans to give Vader a [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Darth_Vader%27s_armor#cite_ref-DSn_43-0 new suit]] that would remove several of the problems mentioned above. Too bad the procedure put his life at serious risk -- specifically, the previous suit would have to be removed, including the oxygen pump. ''Revenge of the Sith'' shows Vader getting his suit, allowing us to hear his first iconic breaths. In fact, due to the smoke in front of the mask, we also get to ''see'' them.

* [[spoiler:Porky Minch]] in VideoGame/MOTHER3. It is explained that [[spoiler:[[TimeAbyss his extensive abuse of time travel has left him immortal, but still with an aging body,]]]] resulting in oft-childish banter and insults being peppered with the coughs and wheezes of an old man.
* VideoGame/{{inFAMOUS 2}}: Ice Heavies

** In a bit of cruel irony, this iconic sound would become HarsherInHindsight after Creator/DavidProwse, the first actor to wear the Vader suit, [[ActorExistenceFailure passed away]] on November 28th, 2020 due to UsefulNotes/COVID19 complications.

* Almost any [[Expy parody of Vader]], including the ones done by ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark,'' must include Vader Breath. Conversely, if a character on a show such as these suddenly develops Vader Breath, it ''becomes'' a parody of Vader.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': The Hero's Shade breathes like this constantly, despite being a skeletal ghost. [[spoiler:[[AllThereInTheManual As confirmed]] by ''Literature/HyruleHistoria]]'', he's actually a heroic example, being [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime a previous]] [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Link]].]]