Need Good Villain Music

[JRosco]

So I'm looking for a good theme song for a villain. She's not the Big Bad, but she's the head of the Big Bad's operation in the PC's home city. She's a Tiefling Assassin, whose brother was already killed by the party. Something dark, cruel, but not too powerful. Subtle and deadly, ideally.

Thanks for any suggestions you guys may have!

[Sigreid]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXpWfd1BNkQ

[EnglishKitsune]

Could we get a bit more about the character? Her motivations, brief history, how she came to be employed by the BB, how she took the death of her brother etc.

For some reason I get a feeling of Melancholy from her.

Either way from you've written I would say looking at something from the Diablo Swing Orchestra. Specific Recommendations would be:

Justice for Saint Mary (https://open.spotify.com/track/0CAzPKVzvNIWvhXDJCoASE)
New World Widows (https://open.spotify.com/track/35sLxq98ak1QgQZbvralxb)
Heroines (https://open.spotify.com/track/08tEsbr1GapVhILPGHRlQF)
D'Angelo (https://open.spotify.com/track/6lFrEOv5wCWz8cK9kJsicP)

[ShikomeKidoMi]

Female assassin?

How about Dead is the New Alive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7CHAIwDt9M
Might be more appropriate if she were a death cultist, admittedly.
"A quick twist of the knife, the obsession with death becomes a way of life.

Here's a theme already written for a villainness. "The World is Not Enough."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C5NLfYdZaE
"And if you're strong enough, together we can take the world apart."

If you really want to go melancholy, there's "Room of Angel" from Silent Hill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1c6fiCcveA
"Here's a lullaby to close your eyes. It was always you that I despised."

If you you don't mind Japanese, there's Cool Edition:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns6GqJboWCE
"I truly don't mind that my own heart is encased in a tomb of ice."

[Louro]

Do you really use songs with lyrics at your tables? Only instrumental themes here.

Try this, might be a bit too darkish but I think it's along the lines you asked for.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3kUWXTvfEdI

If it fits you can use Touhou - UN Owen was her for the BBEG

[TheTeaMustFlow]

Female assassin?
Here's a theme already written for a villainness. "The World is Not Enough."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C5NLfYdZaE
"And if you're strong enough, together we can take the world apart."


Given that the villain is motivated by revenge (at least in part), I'd say "Goldeneye" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGPBFvDz_HM) is a better fit. Though I guess it's not exactly subtle.

If you want music without lyrics, I might recommend "Root of All Evil (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WR6YSXUuV0)" or "Control (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx_jK5b8PEQ)" from the Person of Interest OST.

[JRosco]

Could we get a bit more about the character? Her motivations, brief history, how she came to be employed by the BB, how she took the death of her brother etc.

For some reason I get a feeling of Melancholy from her.

Either way from you've written I would say looking at something from the Diablo Swing Orchestra. Specific Recommendations would be:

Justice for Saint Mary (https://open.spotify.com/track/0CAzPKVzvNIWvhXDJCoASE)
New World Widows (https://open.spotify.com/track/35sLxq98ak1QgQZbvralxb)
Heroines (https://open.spotify.com/track/08tEsbr1GapVhILPGHRlQF)
D'Angelo (https://open.spotify.com/track/6lFrEOv5wCWz8cK9kJsicP)


So, she and her brother joined with the BB when they were pretty young, partly as a way of gaining wealth and power, and partly as a way of joining a "family", or at least somewhere where they were respected. The two of them were close when they were young, but as they grew older her brother began to go more and more toward the ideology of the BB, while she stayed more or less the same. They were both assigned to the PC's home city, to find these artifacts supposedly located in the nearby province, but the PC's beat them to the first two, tracked down her brother, and killed him.

She hasn't yet found out about his death, but she is NOT going to take it well, I know that.

I am thinking more instrumental, although incidental vocals are pretty cool sometimes (chant, or subtle vocalizations, etc).

Thanks again for these suggestions guys!

[MrStabby]

Hall of the Mountain King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrIYT-MrVaI


Dance of the Knights
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUmq1cpcglQ

Danse Macabre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyknBTm_YyM

[Sigreid]

If you really want to disturb your players, Happy. Nothing more frightening than an evil dude who is filled with joy.

[Thunderfist12]

Suggestions all taken from one band.

For a darker fight, "False Awakening Suite", "Dance of Eternity", or "Overture 1928" by Dream Theater.

For a more "heroic" fight, try "Enigma Machine" by Dream Theater.

Another one to try is "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence: Overture", also by Dream Theater. This is more for standard background music when I use it, but it might work for making your villain seem both overly tranquil and noticeably conflicted.

If you just want a hardcore fight, since I have a theme going here, I'll recommend "Stream of Consciousness" by - guess who - Dream Theater.

[TopCheese]

Go with something supper happy.

Donna Fargo's "Happiest Girl In The USA"

"Skippidity do da
Thank you oh Lord for making him for me
And thank you for letting life turn out the way
That I always thought it could be
There once was a time when I could not imagine
How it would feel to say
I’m happiest girl, in the whole U.S.A"

http://youtu.be/kMXAMR28nq0

This part of the song just shows how crazy this assasin really is, she thinks *insert a god* specifically made her target to make her happy.

[Hawkstar]

There's always the classic "Lux Aeterna" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLJllk-0o6c)

I'm looking through my Two Steps From Hell to see if there's anything good there. White Witch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y0eF8As2QI), Dark Harbor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rGkw4N2iPY) Fortress of Seduction (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJCIiQf9kVg), and Wind Queen (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETju6vL4FyY) are promising, but you'd want to save He Who Brings The Night (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQKWoZFe0E0)for the BBEG.

[erradin]

I know you've had a lot of suggestions already, so I may just be adding on after you've chosen. That aid, I think Akemi Homura's theme from Madoka Magica fits rather well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-35n5XGW5M

Depending on the character, Dante's Theme from Fullmetal Alchemist may serve you well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLp_wePNrZA

Possibly, again depending, a song from Gankutuo- The Count of Monte Cristo. This one's called: The end of Happiness, the Beginning of Truth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-0C_jwmO1U

[NNescio]

Septette for the Dead Princess. Pick one of the following remixes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9Zt6TRm1NU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agxlUq2REuc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M15AAsByugE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAzGynpOmIc