"...how is this music so good? How is it possible?! It's so! Good! It feels like you've done something amazing when the music comes up, right? It's just so invigorating!"
If you're close to victory in a fight or otherwise have an advantage, sometimes you'll get a theme playing to tell you. Can happen in all games. Especially likely in boss battles.
This serves two main purposes. First, it tells the player that he is close to victory, something that may not be immediately clear from the data on the screen, particularly with Marathon Bosses. Secondly, a good dramatic near-victory theme can get a player's blood going and make the game more exciting. This potentially makes use of a Variable Mix.
See also Songs in the Key of Panic.
Examples:
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Action Adventure
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: Whenever Link starts whailing at a boss' weak point, the musical score briefly becomes an extremely triumphant arrangement of the game's main theme. This even works for Blizzeta, despite her not being attacked during a stunned moment: In her case, when she's close to being defeated, Variable Mix comes into play so her theme incorporates the upper-hand fanfare.
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: Scaldera and Tentalus share both the same boss theme, and the same fanfare that is heard when Link incapacitates them so he can inflict them damage with the sword. In the case of Bilocyte, Variable Mix is used for when the boss has little health left and all that remains is to deflect its projectiles back to it.
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild:
- The final boss battle with Hatred and Malice Incarnate, Dark Beast Ganon, in which the closer you get to victory, the more the theme changes. Compare Phase 1
to Phase 2 to Phase 3.
- Molduga battles have two themes. One when the Molduga is undergroud even partially and mostly invulnerable, and the other when it is vulnerable above ground.
- The final boss battle with Hatred and Malice Incarnate, Dark Beast Ganon, in which the closer you get to victory, the more the theme changes. Compare Phase 1
- Shadow of the Colossus tends to play "The Opened Way" when you've managed to climb up onto a Colossus and can start to kill it. Some other colossus have different themes when you're climbing the colossus, such as "Revived Power", "A Despair-Filled Farewell", among others.
- Played with in NieR, where as the final battle with the Shadowlord draws to a close, the Shadowlord's dramatic theme grows quieter until a music box version of his theme plays instead, signifying his utter despair and complete loss of hope.
Action Game
- For every world boss and Crush Bomber battle in Bomberman Generation, once the boss' life is down to around a heart and a half the boss theme is replaced with the more upbeat battle mode theme.
- In the Captain America and the Avengers arcade game, when you get a boss down to one third health, a voice shouts "OK, GO!" and the main theme starts up.
- Happens in Warriors Orochi when you eliminate most to all of the officers in a level except the last one, or a good number of the enemy mooks.
- In Bayonetta, the bosses each has their own Ominous Latin Chanting theme, but except for one, once you beat them enough, that boss theme will be replaced with a short piano piece, which is later replaced by yet another theme when you use your Finishing Move.
- The Variable Mix version is used in the later Twisted Metal games when one opponent is remaining.
- Each boss in Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has its own unique boss theme. Normally, these are pure instrumental themes, but during the final phase of each fight, or during suitably climactic moments such as slicing off one of Metal Gear Excelsus's legs, the boss theme switches to a vocal version. Played with during the second fight with Jetstream Sam, where the vocals play by default and cut out during a short interlude partway through the fight where Raiden manages to temporarily disarm him.
- The Wonderful 101, developed by the same developer as the above-mentioned Revengeance, follows similar rules. During the last phase of major boss battles, the boss's theme switches to Tables Turn, a heroic theme befitting of the Wonderful 100.
- World of Warships does that when your enemy team's score is whittled down to its last few points, coupled with your captain saying "OUR VICTORY IS IN SIGHT!".
Adventure Game
- In the fistfighting sequences in Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, the fight music changes to a more epic, upbeat theme when either Indy or his opponent's health meter reaches yellow.
Dating Sim
- Tokimeki Memorial 2 has a variation of this. When trying to win the heart of Ensemble Dark Horse Broken Bird Kaori Yae, if you manage to get her to Tokimeki State and see her mandatory Event where she confesses to the male hero her painful past, allowing her to heal her heart and turn back to the Genki Girl she was, her somber, quiet Leitmotif tune will change to a more peppy, cheerful version, meaning you're on really good tracks towards getting her Happy Ending.
Driving Game
- Need for Speed: Carbon plays a more dramatic variation of the Variable Mix when you're approaching the finish line.
Edutainment Game
- In Super Solvers: Gizmos & Gadgets, the background music for each race will turn into a triumphant theme if the player's vehicle is ahead of Morty's. The opposite occurs if Morty is ahead.
First-Person Shooter
- During the finale of each Left 4 Dead campaign, the "Skin on our Teeth" theme will play when the rescue vehicle arrives, and the Survivors are only a short sprint from completing the campaign. (Left 4 Dead 1 version, Left 4 Dead 2 version)
- In Battlefield 3, when your team has whittled the opponent down to the last 10 tickets, you will hear this in the background.
- In The Finals, a prelude to the end-of-round theme starts playing once a match approaches its completion, either by the timer counting down to zero or the winning team coming close to reaching the cash goal.
Platform Game
- Once you get Dracula below half his health in Super Castlevania IV, Simon Belmont's theme replaces Dracula's on the soundtrack.
- During the second halves of the final bosses in Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors, an awesome orchestral remix of the games' main themes starts to play. Also counts as Dark Reprise or Triumphant Reprise.
- In the fights against Bowser in Super Mario Galaxy, the already-kickass battle theme gains an extra layer of Ominous Latin Chanting whenever you successfully counter his attack and are set up to deal damage.
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps uses variations of the Escape Sequence leitmotif "Restoring The Light, Facing The Dark" from its predecessor for the climaxes of the battles with Mora and Shriek.
Puzzle Game
- Tetris DS has its Push Mode based on Donkey Kong. As you come closer to victory, the 25m music gains an upbeat drum beat, adds a melody and then becomes the hammer theme from the same game.
- The music in Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (and probably Puyo Puyo as well) gradually changes depending on whether you're winning or your opponent is.
- Similar to the above, Panel de Pon has the music shift when either yours or your opponent's well is almost full.
- The Taisen Puzzle Dama series also use this, as well as an "about-to-lose" tune, depending on whether you're winning or losing. The tunes are different depending on the version of the game.
- In Tetris 99, when there are only 10 players remaining, the music changes depending on the theme you're using. These songs are usually either frantic, upbeat, or both.
Real Time Strategy
- Some games play this trope straight whenever a large battle happens, i.e. in Dawn of War and Age of Empires III. Of course, it's not necessarily your victory.
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 does it with Rock Music.
- Age of Mythology plays one of three epic orchestral themes when you unleash a God Power (particularly fitting if you just ravaged the enemy base with an Earthquake, tore through attackers with a Tornado, or just blew up everything with a Meteor Strike)
- Lord Monarch plays music with their own theme when you have a big advantage and guaranteed victory.
Role-Playing Game
- ''Reversal!'' and ''Turn the Tide'' in The Last Remnant, which play when your team have the advantage of high morale. Reversal! also plays when you're on the brink of defeating the final boss.
- The first three Boktai games all have the Pile Driver music, which gets steadily more epic as you get closer to purifying the boss.
- Ultima Underworld II has three battle themes: one when you're close to victory, the standard one, and one when you're close to defeat.
- Pokémon:
- Pokémon Black and White plays a remix of the Pokemon theme when a Gym Leader is down to his/her last Pokemon. Also a Theme Music Power-Up.
- Both Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet switch up the gym battle music at the Gym Leader's last Pokemon. Both are punctuated by crowd chanting, which is more fitting for Sword and Shield since Gym Battles take place in a giant sports stadium.
- Pokémon Black and White plays a remix of the Pokemon theme
- Skies of Arcadia has this for the boss battles. The one for the final boss battle is particularly epic.
- Played with in Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica during the last part of Final Battle versus (the spirit of) Infel and Nenesha. The music is all glorious in contrast to the previous two parts that are full of hatred and rage... but it's only because they are about to execute the last part of SUBLIMATION. And the kicker? It's actually a love song in which they both declare how much they love each other, and Nenesha pushing on Infel by telling her that what they're doing isn't wrong and that she'll fight against anyone who says otherwise. It's actually heartwarming, if you don't take in account what the song's final effect does.
- Similarly in Parasite Eve, the Final Battle versus Ultimate Being. The music change to upbeat as they evolve to adult form.
- "The Genesis" in Persona 4 is an oppressive, somber True Final Boss theme with bombastic brass and ominous drums. As the battle rages, however, a heroic reprise of "I'll Face Myself"'s main melody breaks in; eventually, the music becomes an all-out, triumphant version of "Reach Out To The Truth."
- About half the final fight of Mass Effect 3 will be without music, with the screams and sounds of battle being the only things you'll hear. But then, when things get the most hairier this theme will start playing. It could be considered a Near-Victory Fanfare for each side, since both armies could win at any moment (especially the enemy), and the one who wins the fight will accomplish their objectives.
- The battle against Titan in Final Fantasy XIV has multiple stages, each one with its own progressively dramatic boss theme. How many stages there are depend on which version of the fight you're playing, but the final round of the fight features "Under the Weight," an intense vocal theme that nicely signposts the hardest part of the fight. Leviathan, introduced in the 2.2 patch, also has a vocal theme kick in around the halfway point of the fight.
- Monster Hunter:
- During Hold the Line fights with really big monsters like Lao-Shan Lung (original), Jhen Mohran (Tri), Gogmazios (4 Ultimate), and Zorah Magdaros (World), hitting these monsters with the Dragonator causes the series' theme "Proof of a Hero" to play for the rest of the fight as the monster takes a ton of damage and staggers back.
- In Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, a different remix of "Proof of a Hero" kicks in once the final boss Ahtal-Ka's contraption is destroyed and it enters the final phase of the fight.
- In Monster Hunter: World, the music that plays in the last part of the Kulve Taroth siege, when the dragon's gold armor plating comes off and its horns can be broken to complete the siege, is the most energetic and triumphant.
- In Monster Hunter: Rise, a thematic mix of "Proof of a Hero" plays when Wind Serpent Ibushi, and later, Narwa the Allmother are on their last legs or, in the former's case, you've almost succeeded in holding the line against the Rampage. Sunbreak follows the trend with its own thematic mix of "Proof of a Hero" when Gaismagorm is on its last legs.
- The major raid bosses of Phantasy Star Online 2 each use their own variation of the game's main theme, "The whole new world", for their final phase.
- In Trials of Mana the first two parts of the final boss theme "Sacrifice" are very dark and ominous, but the third part, which kicks in once the boss is at 50% health, is upbeat and energetic.
- In Xenoblade Chronicles the theme "Visions of the Future" is a triumphant song that occurs when the player defies the future and stops an enemy from using a foretold move, which usually heralds a turn in the battle.
Sports Game
- Mario Golf plays a special tune during a Dormie Hole in VS. matches. In golf, a Dormie hole means that the player who is currently leading only needs to tie the hole with their competitor in order to win the match.
- Mario Tennis has different songs that play during Game, Set, Match, and Championship points, overriding the current court music.
Turn-Based Strategy
- Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire had both near-victory and near-defeat themes for the attacking army during battles.
- Fire Emblem:
- Nearly all of the games have a tune that plays when you've cleared out most of the enemies (in the GBA/DS games, its when there's only one enemy left on the map - and its often the Boss, but not always), which can get annoying if you grind for Supports.
- Thracia 776 also has a near losing tune for when your units are getting killed off or when you are caught in a very bad situation in the chapter.
Other Games
- In Alina of the Arena, when a boss Turns Red (usually after its HP are brought down to a certain level or you deplete its Armor Points for the first time in the battle), its accompanying theme music gets additional instrumentation.
- Progressbar 95: Done with hard drive whirrs, of all things. Once the progress bar is 80% full, it'll start making noise, which only intensifies as you get closer to completion.
Visual Novel
- The Ace Attorney games all have a "Pursuit" theme, which plays when you're closing in on the truth. The Cross-Examination music also speeds up when you're about to corner a witness. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth adds a "Presto" variant that plays when you're cross-examining a killer who's on their last line of defense.
