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In modern times, Jazz is typically known for being fun and catchy or artsy and highbrow. In fiction,jazz soundtracks, often slowed down or played in a minor key, can add an air of creepiness that often comes through association with a villain.
Like Rotten Rock & Roll and Freaky Electronic Music, Jazz music is (or at least, used to be) rebellious in nature. One of the many genres that adopted the title of "Devil's Music", Jazz was considered counter-culture at its height. Paranoid parents and the critical establishment disparaged it as "evil" and "vulgar", perhaps due to its initial popularity among African-Americans and its association with gangsters and drug use. Non-traditional musical elements such as syncopation, dissonance, and unusual time signatures and chord progressions can make Jazz seem chaotic (many detractors described as "just noise") and thus menacing.
In fiction, jazz can be used to characterize the Deep South in its more ethnic areas, be it in the swinging streets of New Orleans or other hot-spots. When played for creepiness, it may be heard in Southern Gothic and City Noir settings.
Some possible Trope Codifiers are old black-and-white cartoons from the early days of The Golden Age of Animation. Cartoons like these often paired catchy jazz music with Disney Acid Sequences, Rotoscoping (which, to some people, falls into the Uncanny Valley), and other types of Deranged Animation.
It's often associated with The Gambler types and other Wicked Cultured villains.
May overlap with Sexophone when Evil Is Sexy. Compare Creepy Circus Music, which may have a similar, "broken down" mood.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Baccano! gets in on the action whenever the Rail Tracer makes an appearance by using dissonant, frenetic solo jazz piano parts. This is by no means its only use of it, however.
Film - Animated
- In The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, Brom Bones sings a jazzy song about the Headless Horseman to scare Ichabod.
- Aladdin: The Return of Jafar: Jafar gets a swingy Villain Song called "You're Only Second Rate", where he beats Genie in a Curb-Stomp Battle, all while gloating about his power.
- Cats Don't Dance: The Dark Reprise of "Big and Loud" mainly consists of Ominous Pipe Organ and choir, but there are a few parts where the brass parts from the first part of the song returns, only in a minor key.
- Corpse Bride's "Remains of the Day" is a jazz song performed by Skeletal Musicians, and naturally contains creepy xylophone parts. While the skeletons are not villainous, the song provides the backstory for the titular Corpse Bride, and tells of how she was murdered by The Bluebeard.
- Heidi's Song: "Ode to a Rat" is the big-band-style Villain Song sung by the evil rats.
- Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare Before Christmas has loud, swingy music for both his Leitmotif and his Villain Song! This signifies quite a few things about him, such as his love of gambling and his Boisterous Bruiser Scary Black Man personality. But most importantly, the contrast between his jazz music and the rather somber orchestral music associated with the other citizens of Halloween Town highlights how different he is from them - namely, how much more violent he is.
- 101 Dalmatians: Roger sings a jazzy "The Villain Sucks" Song about Cruella de Vil, which describes how wicked and heartless she is.
- Dr. Facilier's Villain Song "Friends on the Other Side" from The Princess and the Frog. While it being jazz isn't notable in itself (the film has a jazz-influenced soundtrack), the tempo, minor key, and call-and-response elements make the song much creepier than other songs from the film. What's more, the song seems to be bit of a tribute to Minnie the Moocher, another case of this trope. Facilier looks a bit like Cab Calloway, and the weird dancing and Disney Acid Sequence aspects are reminiscent of some of the old cartoons.
Film - Live-Action
- In The Jungle Book (2016), King Louie's jazzy song "I Wanna Be Like You" from the original movie makes a return. However, as Louie goes through Adaptational Villainy, the song has new lyrics that are more villainous in nature. Despite this, the music itself is still very upbeat.
Theater
- In Me and My Dick, the somewhat criminal Lost Dicks perform the jazzy "Land of the Dicks" number, helping convey the Land of the Dicks' status as a bizarre Acid-Trip Dimension City Noir.
Video Games
- In Ace Attorney, Shelly De Killer's theme, "Whim of a Murderous Gentleman" is a very smooth and slow tune befitting his classy, sinister nature.
- Final Fantasy VII: Cait Sith's leitmotif is a catchy, yet somewhat sinister tune played on a jazz organ and flute. Fittingly, not only is he The Gambler, but a bit of a Jerkass.
- In the Monkey Island games, the Big Bad LeChuck and the ambiguously evil Voodoo Lady have creepy jazz leitmotifs. Similar music also accompanies stealth missions in The Secret of Monkey Island
- In Nefarious, Crow has a swingy tune for his theme music.
- OFF's default battle theme is "Pepper Steak", a jazzy piece with unsettling repetitions. Even the most lighthearted battles in this game are against mini-Eldritch Abominations, and the Batter himself is no less disturbing.
- Sonic Rush Adventure has a loud, jazzy tune play during the battle with Captain Whisker and his Dragon, Johnny.
- Super Mario Bros.:
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: "Fawful is There" is the jazzy leitmotif of the Mad Scientist Fawful. It's never a good sign when you hear the bass guitar intro!
- Paper Mario: Sticker Star: The evil wizard Kamek has a jazz theme called "The Blue Wizard". Its Boss Remix has a similar style.
- Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: "Fawful is There
- Undertale:
- Downplayed with "Ghost Fight". The music itself fits this trope, being a swingy, but somewhat haunting tune, and could be an homage to OFF's example. But what prevents it from being a straight example is the context in which it plays. It's the boss music for Napstablook, a Shrinking Violet ghost who is reluctant to fight - certainly not the type of character usually associated with this type of music.
- And then played straight with "Dummy!", the Boss Remix that plays while fighting Mad Dummy.
- Downplayed with "Ghost Fight
Web Original
- The Homestar Runner toon "DNA Evidence" features a slow, jazzy baseline during "suspenseful" moments. The toon is overall a pastiche of Film Noir/detective shows, and even features an homage to Twin Peaks.
- In Homestuck, Snowman's leifmotif Three in the Morning is a cool jazz motif that enhances her sophistication and ominousness as a villain.
Western Animation
- ChalkZone: The recurring villain Skrawl has a short jazz tune as his Villain Song. The song also doubles as a leitmotif for him, as he sings the tune in all of his appearances, but with different lyrics each time.
- Face Like a Frog's soundtrack was done by Oingo Boingo, and it adds to the surreal imagery throughout the short. The music is especially jazzy in the number "Don't Go in the Basement", which is sung by a creepy lizard-like creature who seems to be wearing a suit.
- Some shorts in The Golden Age of Animation, particularly those by Fleischer Studios, may have been Trope Codifiers:
- The three Betty Boop shorts that famed jazz singer Cab Calloway performed in all feature some creepy jazz songs:
- In Minnie the Moocher, Betty and Bimbo run away from home and eventually meet a ghost Wily Walrus who sings the old jazz song that the short is titled after, in order to scare them into going home.
- The Old Man Of The Mountain opens with everyone in town panicking and running as jazz music plays. One townsperson, an owl, stops when Betty asks him what's wrong, and he explains through song that everyone is running from the titular Old Man. Betty goes up to the mountain to try and stop the Old Man, and when she finally meets him, he starts flirting with her through song, and eventually starts chasing her (and apparently trying to rape her!)
- Snow White: When Snow White (Betty Boop) is killed by the witch, Calloway (as Koko the Clown) sings a haunting rendition of "Saint James Infirmary", while the witch transforms Koko into a weird ghost-like monster.
- Swing, You Sinners! features a big jazz number where a bunch of ghosts torment Bimbo the dog after he tries to steal a chicken.
- The three Betty Boop shorts that famed jazz singer Cab Calloway performed in all feature some creepy jazz songs:
- Over the Garden Wall:
- "The Beast Song" is an ominous yet jazzy song sung by the tavern keeper to warn Wirt and Greg about the Beast. For bonus points, the tavern keeper is modelled after Betty Boop!
- The highwayman's song is also based on songs from Betty Boop cartoons, and the highwayman even dances like Cab Calloway!
- "The Beast Song
- Silly Symphonies: In "The Goddess of Spring", Pluto (god of the underworld, not Mickey's dog) celebrates kidnapping Persephone by singing a jazzy Villain Song about how he'll make her "Queen of Hades". The song includes imagery such as a bunch of imps dancing around a pit of hellfire, and an imp gleefully playing an Ominous Pipe Organ.
- A milder example than most appears in the instrumental version of Darkwing Duck which fits with the detective mystery theme and the Darker and Edgier angle of this cartoon.
