# A Scream That's Not The Wilhelm Scream **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2006, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scream-thats-not-the-wilhelm-scream/343353 "2006-02-07T05:54:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scream-thats-not-the-wilhelm-scream/343353/1 "2006-02-07T05:54:32Z")
There’s a scream I hear on TV alot, and I think in a few movies, and _definitely_ in the game Starcraft (might have been Broodwar). I don’t know how to describe it. It starts kind of with an “r” sound, then goes to an “a”-ish sound, and ends maybe with the a, maybe closed up with a “g”-ish sound. It’s long. It’s mostly rising in pitch. The best cite I have is the Starcraft game, but unfortunately I don’t remember exactly when it happens in that game. But I keep hearing it in battle scenes on TV. If I hear it again, I’ll come back with further cites, but I was wondering if anyone could identify it already just with the info I have. (By “Identify” I just mean something like “Be able to tell me truthfully, ‘No, you’re not crazy, that’s one scream sound you keep hearing in different contexts, for example, I heard it in…’”) -Kris ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scream-thats-not-the-wilhelm-scream/343353/2 "2006-02-07T06:08:19Z")
Further information: I now recall the following: 1. It’s the screaming sound that you hear when you click on the academy in Starcraft. 2. Taken out of context, the sound reminds me more of something like a star wars TIE fighter sound effect, but whenever I hear it, its being used as a human scream. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scream-thats-not-the-wilhelm-scream/343353/3 "2006-02-07T06:11:36Z")
Okay, third and final post tonight, I think. I found a discussion about the DOOM trailer which says the same sound occurs therein as well. So in a sense my question is answered–others besides me have noticed there’s this one sound that keeps getting re-used as a scream in different productions. Wonder if anyone here has any further information about it though. Is it really a scream? Or some other sound being used as a scream? What other movies or other media contain the sound effect? And so on… -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![PetW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@PetW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PetW)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scream-thats-not-the-wilhelm-scream/343353/4 "2006-02-07T08:21:07Z")
I definitely know what scream you’re talking about, it lasts for a good two seconds or so, right? Unfortunately I don’t have any idea how to identify it. ---
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scream-thats-not-the-wilhelm-scream/343353/5 "2006-02-07T08:34:33Z")
This question seemed really familiar to me. Then I remembered that I’d actually [asked](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=174378) it before. There’s a link to a wav in post number 30 - at least, I think that’s the one you’re asking about. Here’s hoping we get this one settled, because now I’m curious again! ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scream-thats-not-the-wilhelm-scream/343353/6 "2006-02-07T08:44:48Z")
> [@BraheSilver](#): > > This question seemed really familiar to me. Then I remembered that I’d actually [asked](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=174378) it before. There’s a link to a wav in post number 30 - at least, I think that’s the one you’re asking about. Here’s hoping we get this one settled, because now I’m curious again! Yes, that’s it! I wonder where this thing originated… -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![some\_white\_dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b487fb/32.png) [@some\_white\_dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/some_white_dude)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scream-thats-not-the-wilhelm-scream/343353/7 "2006-02-07T20:46:14Z")
I’ve always wondered about that scream too. I think it’s the same one they used when Wesley is killed in the Pit of Despair in The Princess Bride, and I know for sure it’s used when some dude is thrown off a bridge in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. I don’t know why I’ve seen Under Siege 2, or how I know it’s subtitled Dark Territory. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scream-thats-not-the-wilhelm-scream/343353/8 "2006-02-07T22:00:31Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Wonder if anyone here has any further information about it though. Is it really a scream? Or some other sound being used as a scream? I’d say it’s the vocalization of a young elephant seal. That’s what was used to make some of the TIE fighter sound effects. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scream-thats-not-the-wilhelm-scream/343353/9 "2006-02-08T00:08:35Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Further information: > > I now recall the following: > > 1. It’s the screaming sound that you hear when you click on the academy in Starcraft. > -FrL- If it’s the same sound I’m thinking of, I believe X-Com had the same screeching when an alien was killed. And of course, there is my favorite, Tom’s scream from Tom & Jerry: [AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!](http://www.tomandjerryonline.com/sounds/AHHH!1.wav)