Your own Top 5 character themes and honorable mentions

General Discussion
1

Just for fun for anyone who loves listening to KI’s soundtrack (and by the way big shout out to Mick Gordon, Celldweller, and Atlas Plug, you’re all awesome), but now that all the current characters are out, which theme would you say are about your top 5 picks? And which ones are your honorable mentions? Oh, and they don’t have to be in order.

Here’s my mine own:

  1. Orchid’s theme: In general, I’m more fond of heavy metal than other genres of music, but this theme is simply a kick-■■■ electronic pop song that always gives me an eargasm every time I hear Ali Edwards vocals in the heavy (16-hit combo) theme. It’s admittedly a hell lot more better than some of the current crap pop music that’s coming out on radio (ugh, migraines), so… Touch me and I’ll break your face!

  2. Cinder’s theme: Cinder’s theme in KI 94’ isn’t really a favorite of mine (apologies to those who like it), but this version sounds a lot better thanks to the guitar riffs by LittleVMills. If you happen to have the season 2 soundtrack, listen at 2:04-2:29 and 3:12-3:37, I think you’ll know what I’m talking about. This song is just too much fun for me.

  3. Aganos’s theme: This theme is quite inspiring and dramatic to listen, it really captures the sense of war, age, and majesty associate with Aganos’s own long history. It also helps that Aganos is my own personal favorite, out of all the newcomers for this game, at least.

  4. Omen/Shadow Jago’s theme: Jago’s theme is indeed good, but Omen/Shadow Jago’s heavier theme takes it up a notch, and along with the vocals by Christopher de Leon make this one a head-banging classic.

  5. Gargos’s theme: A side note, I honestly don’t sympathize with those who say Celldweller and Atlas Plug’s tracks are inferior to Mick Gordon’s, because to me, they have done a great job for keeping up when Mick left. You can say all you want about them using guitar more, but that’s exactly what makes KI’s soundtrack more hardcore. And Gargos’s theme is the most metal track that they’ve deliver in this season, and admittedly in any video game soundtrack, I simply can’t stop head-banging to this one thanks to its slick guitar riffs throughout the track.

And now, honorable mentions: (your explanation for each is optional)

Thunder’s theme: The heavy part is quite emotionally gripping to listen that I would love to do a rain dance (crazy, I know) on a stormy day.

Spinal’s theme: The Swedish chant is quite hardcore to listen to.

Fulgore’s theme: Nice heavy guitar riffs, but I’ve found Mick’s tracks to have weak drum sounds.

Hisako’s theme: A solid heavy track, its lullaby of KI’s theme in the quiet part is quite, beautiful to listen.

Tusk’s theme: The Bulgarian (?) choir of 10 men (check Celldweller’s youtube video to see) is definitely the high mark, and it really does feel like you’re in war fighting along side with Tusk for glory and to rid evil.

Arbiter’s theme: Love the Halo franchise (well, 4 and 5 are little weak because they feel like an alternative universe to me), I think it captures the essence of the series pretty well.

General RAAM’s theme: Also love the Gears of War franchise, and it does capture the feeling of war against the Locust if the series own music was more rock-oriented.

And now its your guys and gals turn, which ones are yours?

1 Like
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Best themes, no particular order:

1-Eyedol
2-Tusk
3-Aganos
4-Hisako
5-Mira

Honorable mentions:
Gargos
Riptor (I really like it!)
Kim Wu
Thunder

3

Hehehe, its cool about Riptor’s, its really not that bad to me.

Oh and one last thing for anyone who posts, please NO fighting or belittling over who’s a better composer for whatever reason, or people’s peference, take that somewhere else.

2 Likes
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I’ve put a lot of time and effort in to this thought process (more than I should’ve honestly), so I am adamant in my answers.

  1. Cinder’s Theme: The pick for my number one spot has been troubling ever since Cinder’s theme came out. I personally like Cinder’s theme more than Spinal’s, but I think Spinal’s is the actual better theme. For me, it came down to the idle theme, and that’s where Cinder took it. Spinal’s idle theme is okay, but it’s nowhere near my favorite. Cinder’s, on the other hand, is my absolute favorite. So, the theme in general is just awesome. The fact that certain parts are Mick and others are LittleV almost make it feeling like there’s dueling guitars, which I really dig. All parts of the main theme are great, the idle theme is unbelievable, the combo part is fantastic, and the danger theme seals it all perfectly. What else can I say?

  2. Spinal’s Theme: So, like I said, I think Spinal’s theme is the better theme objectively, but it’s hard to remove subjectivity from music since it’s and art, but this thread really isn’t the place for that discussion. Anyway, Spinal’s theme is just so well-made and does a better job of characterizing than any other theme. The Swedish chanting strikes a chord with me especially because I’m a sucker for viking stuff and it really gives off that feeling. As for the content of the chanting, it paints a picture of struggling soldiers trying to summon Spinal to aid them in battle. They call him a “krigarguden”, or warrior god, meaning they have some sort of reverence for the boney-man, but the tone of the music gives off a feeling that they’re only calling Spinal because they’re desperate, almost like they fear summoning him, but they’re left with no choice. I don’t know, when I can get all that just from listening to the song, that to me means it really nailed what it was going for.

  3. Fulgore’s Theme: What a metal theme for such a metal character. This theme never lets off. It’s always coming full force with sick guitar licks and kicking drums. One of the biggest reasons I really dig this track, aside from the fact that I just really like listening to it, is that it feels like that most Mick Gordon-y theme in the game. Every time I hear his stuff in other games (especially Doom), I just hear some many similarities to Fulgore’s theme. The thing that really pushes it to #3 for me is the combo part. Not only is it a great reference to his KI2 theme, it’s just the most epic thing. Starts unbelievably intense and somehow raises the stakes beyond that. Fulgore’s combo part is, without a doubt, my favorite part of any song in this game. It’s just too good.

  4. Aganos’ Theme: Aganos’ theme is special when it comes to my Top 5, since his theme is the only one from a brand-new character. I think this is really important, since this means that Aganos had no previous iterations to build off and had to stand tall on its own, which is pretty impressive. Why does it do that? The amount of energy in the theme is just fantastic. The theme has just enough Mediterranean flare to it without it consuming the theme, keeping it unique and catchy. The theme has a sort of drive to it, similar to Thunder’s, where the theme really conveys Aganos’ determination in his ancient mission to defeat Kan-Ra. And, as with any good KI theme in my opinion, it all leads to the climax with the combo part. It escalate the tone of the previous parts takes it to something more to the point where I just can’t get enough of it. Aganos’ theme is something special, there’s no doubt about that.

  5. TJ Combo’s Theme: Unlike the other themes in my top 5, this one isn’t a bombastic rock or metal theme, but instead a story of redemption with a sense of flow. TJ Combo’s theme, like all the themes in my top 5, has no dull moment. Every part of the theme fits together really well and it shows. In fact, that one of the main reasons I really love this theme. I think it works outside of the game better than almost any theme. And, much like Spinal’s theme, it tells a story. Combo messed up in the past, but he’s back and he’s gonna wreck some face. Blunt and to the point, much like Mr. Garrett himself. It’s just so much fun to listen to, from the start all the way to the fade-out of “C TO THE O TO THE MBO!”.

Well, I’ve taken a lot time already, so I’ll do honorable mentions real quick:

  1. Gargos: I see people also talking mess about this track but I don’t really get it. It’s a nice, loud, banging metal track, like it was in KI2, though they’re quite different. Sure, it’s not the most original theme in the game, but the pure aggression of the theme makes it special in my opinion.

  2. Kan-Ra: There’s this kind of hypnotic quality to Kan-Ra’s theme I find. It’s got this ancient evil sound to it, but it’s also extremely charismatic, much like our not-a-mummy friend.

  3. Tusk: I already told you I’m a sucker for viking stuff, so this one also hits right in my sweet spot.

  4. Arbiter: Best combo part of Season 3. That alone did it for me.

  5. Eyedol: Eyedol’s theme’s got this unique 80’s synth kinda thing going on, which I am also a sucker for.

Wall of text has concluded.

3 Likes
5

I like alot of them almost all of them. But my fav is ARIA’s. That tech.

6

I enjoy each and every character’s theme songs from all of the current KI seasons with the exceptions of Riptor’s and General Raam’s themes :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

1 Like
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Top 5, in no particular order:
-Cinder
-Thunder
-Jago/Shago/Omen (kinda cheating, but the 2 themes are so similar I decided to combine them)
-Maya
-Fulgore

Honorable mentions:
-TJ Combo
-Gargos
-Mira
-ARIA
-Sadira
-Spinal

8
  1. Sabrewulf
  2. Tusk
  3. Sadira
  4. Tj Combo
  5. Spinal

Honorable mention to tj combo theme even though its already on the list. Its so 90s and is number 1 in terms of the technical knowhow of the piece imho.

9

1.) Omen/Shadow Jago
2.) Thunder
3.) Fulgore
4.) Spinal
5.) Cinder

Honorable Mentions: Eyedol, Aganos, TJ Combo, and ARIA

10
  1. Thunder (best by far)
  2. Jago
  3. Combo
  4. Orchid
  5. Wu
11

  1. Raam

  2. Spinal

  3. Aganos

  4. Kan-Ra

  5. Tusk

Honorable mentions

Thunder
Riptor
Omen
Orchid
Kim wu

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1°) Definitively Orchid’ Theme.
2°) Thunder (This song makes me so smooth)
3°) Kim Wu (Ah-liah han, ah-liah nananinanaouhnéééeee <3)
4°) Combo (Hip Hop beat is always a good one)
5°) Maya.

Honorable Mentions:
-Gargos.
-Rash.
-Mira (I just love the sound when Mira ultra with her theme).

13

  1. Kim Wu. The best theme to me. It was always a great theme and I just love what they did with it, the guitar riffs suit it perfectly. One of the few songs I can just leave on and never get tired of. The chorus is absolutely amazing and I also love the “filler” beat that is just a two syllable guitar riff. It’s very catchy and fits the action well.

  2. Jago. It has gotten a bit stale over the years with repetition, but this is just such a premium song to me and I remember how much I loved it when the game first came out. I’m a huge sucker for asian-styled music.

  3. Shadow Jago. I like this one about as much as Jago’s. The Gargos theme add-on and the way the last chorus repeats and speeds up sound amazing.

  4. Thunder. A very powerful track that hardly needs explaining. It also has one of the best idle portions out of all of them (the acoustic “oh Yeah”). Again, I love the flute for its asian-like influences.

  5. Spinal. This one has absolutely amazing usage of its source material. It’s the obvious extension of where we last saw Spinal on his KI 2 stage. We still have the bone xylophone, incorporated some Viking chants, and the chorus is basically a remix of his original theme. I have this one about even with Thunder’s.

Honorable mentions: Eyedol and Aria sound really good for similar reasons, I love the electronic and synth sounds. Cinder’s is as good as it has always been. And I really love Mira’s theme as well.

14

Ah man. So many good ones.

No particular order:

  • Jago
  • Thunder
  • Mira
  • Arbiter
  • Glacius

Honorable Mention: Hisako, Kim Wu, Eyedol

I have a special attachment to the Fulgore theme, since it’s quite obviously Fear Factory inspired, and one of my best friends is Fear Factory’s drummer LOL

2 Likes
15

I enjoy most of them but these are my top 5 in no particular order:

  • Cinder
  • Jago/Omen/Shadow Jago
  • Kan-Ra
  • Thunder
  • Riptor

Dishonorable mentions:

  • General Raam
  • Sabrewulf
  • Tusk
  • Rash
  • Mira
16

Which one? Raymond Herrera?

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In no order…

Thunder
Glacius
Sabrewulf
Hisako
Rash

18

Nah, their current drummer Mike.

1 Like
19

This list was hard because I like every theme in this game a lot. Notice how 4/5s of my list are Season 3 themes.

  1. CINDERRRRRRR - I don’t need to explain this at this point. You all got it covered. It’s the theme that got me through the game really. You all forgot to mention that Cinder has the best Ultra in the game though.

  2. Arbiter - After some thought, I really really really love the Halo feel that the theme has. I felt like this really belonged in Halo and that it should be what plays for him from this point forward. I’m not even the biggest Halo fan either. I’ve only played 3 and Reach. It just shows the level of care they went into to get this character from top to bottom absolutely perfect and they did.

  3. Mira - I think this theme just works for the character. When I saw the trailer for the first time, it set the mood perfectly. I was sooo hype to play her even though I quit because I hate losing life like that lol. I consider Mira’s trailer the best one for Season 3.

  4. Tusk - I think this theme works well with the character too. While the old theme was Conan, this new theme really brings the barbarian part out that the original was missing. The choir helps.

  5. RAAM - Alright, alright I like RAAMs theme. Unlike Arbiter where I actually kinda know a bit about Halo, I have never touched Gears period so I have absolutely no idea what it’s like. But I like the tone that this theme sets. When I hear this theme, I do get that feeling of this big monster coming after you and all you can do is run.

Honorable Mentions: I can honestly give every theme in this game an honorable mention. but if I must…

  • Jago - Very underrated theme.There’s power in it and I like it.

  • Thunder - Perfect theme for the perfect indian.

  • Spinal - Spinal in his theme is shown to be a god which is really cool. Oh and it’s awesome to see that the old bone beat was kept in after all this time.

  • TJ Combo - It’s not really like the other themes in the game but it really works with the flow of it all.

  • Maya - Redeemed her theme like IG redeemed her character. In the best way possible too.

  • Aganos - There’s just a feeling you get with the slowed tempo and playing the slower and bigger character. Perfectly matches the mood of it all.

  • Kim Wu - The sound of this theme just works for me. Not sure how to describe it really. Nobody really seems to mention how Devil May Cry-ish this theme feels. She is a “demon ■■■-kicker” you know.

20

Thunder
Cinder
Orchid
Aganos
Omen/Shago
TJ Combo

Couldnt wittle it down to 5…

Honorable mentions:
Hisako
Eyedoll
Tusk
Arbiter
Mira
Kim-wu