Elemental Embodiment: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
The ultimate extension of [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]], the '''Elemental Embodiment''' is when the elements that are the basic building blocks of the universe [[Everything Trying to Kill You|get up and come for you]]. Usually called "elementals". They are usually mindless [[Mooks]], but might well be very dangerous or smart or both. If they're sentient, that usually means that they have status as a type of [[Nature Spirit]]; if they're mindless but associated with nature anyway, they may serve as a midway point between [[
The [[Trope Maker]] is the occultist [[wikipedia:Elemental|Paracelsus's]] description of the four elemental creatures: Undines (water), Sylphs (wind), Salamanders (fire), and Gnomes (earth). [[wikipedia:Ondine (mythology)|Undines]] are essentially [[wikipedia:Nymph|naked women (usually robed in fantasy) that live in rivers and streams]], Sylphs are usually represented as small winged [[Our Fairies Are Different|fairies]], Salamanders are generally quite a bit larger than the real-life variety, live in hot places like volcanoes, and breathe fire, and Gnomes are [[Our Gnomes Are Weirder|pretty much what you'd expect]] although they usually don't get much social interaction if they're relegated to being elementals, so any quirkiness they may have is usually lost.
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In the vast majority of cases, the aforementioned four classical western elements will be embodied, with maybe one or two additions like "Darkness Elementals".
Variations include [[Golem
Compare with [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] and [[Elemental Shapeshifter]]. See also [[Made of Evil]], for when the element is... well, ''Evil,'' and their [[Super
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* The world of ''[[Berserk]]'' has the original four embodiments by Paracelcus. Isidro's [[Flaming Sword|Salamander Dagger]] for example gets its power from spirits shaped like... well, [[Exactly What It Says
* [[Mahou Sensei Negima|Rakan]] mentions fighting The Ultimate Spirit of Lighting.
* All the Logia type Devil Fruit users in ''[[One Piece]]'' can become this.
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* [http://www.elementeo.com Elementeo] is an educational card game where the cards illustrate personifications of chemical elements and compounds - i.e. the Helium Genie, Lithium Leprechaun or Sodium Dragon.
* Elementals are a creature type in ''[[Magic:
== Comic Books ==
* In the ''[[
** Incidentally, the earth elemental took the form of ''Mount frigging Rushmore''.
* Also in [[The DCU]], the elemental forces of the world sometimes choose humans as their champions, said mortals becoming living embodiments of their respective element. [[Swamp Thing]] is the best known of these, being the plant elemental; the idea that the hero [[Firestorm]] is the fire elemental has been used during the character's history. The [[Red Tornado]] is also a wind elemental that is simply embodied in a robot.
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* ''[[Big Trouble in Little China]]'' has the Three Storms: Thunder, Rain, and Lightning, personified as buff martial artists with magical powers and [[Cool Hat|awesome hats]].
* [[Hellboy (
* The Titans in [[Disney Animated Canon|Disney's]] version of [[Hercules (
== Literature ==
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* ''[[Codex Alera]]'' has wild furies. They usually just cause mindless destruction based on their particular element and can be destroyed with the opposite element. They can be a very large threat if furies of all six elements are present, since trying to counter one type of fury just increases the power of another type. However, a furycrafter working in an area where the wild furies know him can have his power boosted significantly, while those same furies might actively interfere with a stranger.
** Then there's the Great Furies, which are extremely powerful entities controlling elemental powers in a general area. One, for example, is a volcano powerful enough to bury an entire province in lava is it erupts. Another, when angry (and the mere presence of humans annoys her to no end) can send tornados and thunderstorms after human settlements. And at the climax of ''First Lord's Fury'', an earth fury named Garados gets pissed off and decides to get up and kick some ass. {{spoiler|Garados is a ''mountain''. Yes, ''the mountain'' stands up to about twice its height and starts on a rampage.}}
* Starbreeze from the ''[[
* These creatures have their own world, Zoomenon, in the ''[[Quantum Gravity]]'' series. There are the basic ones of earth, wind, water, fire, and then ones for things like wood, metal, etc., up to and including {{spoiler|numbers, which give off some type of pulse to mark whether they're 1, 2, 3, or whatever else}}. In addition, in Zoomenon, any element can be found in abundance in its pure state, regardless of how reactive it is.
* In [[Poul Anderson]]'s ''[[Operation Chaos]]'', [[Youth Is Wasted
* In [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Magic, Inc.]]'', the narrator's business is destroyed by earth, water, and fire elementals, and a witch deals with them to bring it back.
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[
* In Alexander Pope's ''[[The Rape of the Lock]]'', sylphs form the machinery of the action:
{{quote|
To their first Elements the Souls retire:
The Sprights of fiery Termagants in Flame
Mount up, and take a Salamander's Name.
Soft yielding Minds to Water glide away,
And sip with Nymphs, their Elemental Tea.
The graver Prude sinks downward to a Gnome,
In search of Mischief still on Earth to roam.
The light Coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair,
And sport and flutter in the Fields of Air.' }}
* Spren in Brandon Sanderson's ''[[
* Discussed in [[Salamander]]. [[Common Knowledge]] is that wizards draw their power from elementals, but wizards in the series use a system of Innate Magic and [[Science Marches On|modern theory]] is that either the Elementals don't exist or there's only four of them - [[Physical God|each with total power over the element they incarnate.]]
* ''[[Iron Council]]'' has elemental summoning as something different from [[Golem]] crafting, the main difference being that elementals are invoked from outside while golems are embodiments of the willworker's power through a medium. The elementals also get pretty unconventional, with the forces of New Crobuzon at one point summoning flesh elementals who swim through enemies like fish, leaving behind ruin as they pass, and a shapeshifting, [[Informed Ability|massively powerful]] moonlight elemental. [[The Scar]] also features standard-issue lightning elementals.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons
** The Manual of the Planes expansion adds several different elemental planes, with corresponding entries for elementals of each para- and quasi- type. These could include ooze elementals, steam elementals, salt elementals, etc.
** 4th edition has mixed this up (literally) with the Elemental Chaos replacing the old ordered Elemental Planes; the Chaos is basically an infinite orgy of the four major elements (similar to Limbo, a plane of chaos with swirling elemental matter in previous editions). The elemental matter of the plane can randomly gain awareness; travelers in the Elemental Chaos risk being chased by hovering lava flows or eaten by a hungry canyon. Most elementals are 'corrupted' or mixed with other elements (creating things like an Elemental which is a tornado that is on fire). The classic, 'pure' elementals didn't appear in a 4th Edition Monster Manual until Monster Manual 3.
** For the curious, one existing description of the Elemental Chaos is thus:
{{quote|
** On the more [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] side of things, a quintet of the oldest, most powerful Elemental Beings are the five Princes of Elemental Evil; Imix (Prince of Fire), Ogremoch (Prince of Earth), Olhydra (Princess of Water), Yan-C-Bin (Prince of Air), and the oft-forgotten due to not being involved in the [[Temple of Elemental Evil]] Cryonax (Prince of Ice/Cold). They first appeared in the AD&D 1e Fiend Folio and received a 3.5 update in [[Dragon
* ''[[
** The Inanimae of ''[[Changeling: The Dreaming]]'' are fae spirits bonded to the elements - air, earth, fire, water, wood, and human constructs.
** [[
* Elementals exist in the world of ''[[Exalted]]'', too; a few are mindless, but they're generally spirits in the same vein as the gods, using a lot of the same Charms and abilities. Because they're naturally material in Creation, and come from the raw elements in the normal world, though, they're considered bumpkins by the actual gods. Except for the most powerful elementals, that is. Lesser Elemental Dragons are NOT fucked with. And Greater Elemental Dragons? [[Apocalypse How|Umm...]]
* ''[[GURPS]]: Dungeon Fantasy'' (a mash up of D&D tropes) allows Clerics and Holy Warriors to have a Divine Servitor like this. A few of the elemental choices are slightly odd, like Beauty and Deception.
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* ''[[MARDEK]]'' features elementals on the Elemental Temples. Supposedly they are created by the elemental energy emitted by the [[Mineral MacGuffin|Great Crystals]]. They appear as swirly glows with a symbol-like squiggle on them. They are mindless and don't ''attack'' so much as ''[[Non-Malicious Monster|leak energy when disrupted]]''. As of chapter 3, you only encounter Earth, Fire, Water and [[Made of Evil|Dark]] versions, but later chapters may have Air, Light, Fig, and Aether elementals as well, although Fig and Aether would probably be restricted to the Dreamrealm.
* The avatars of the four elements are recurring bosses in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series, going by the name "the Four Fiends".
** ''[[
** ''[[
** ''[[
* In the NES game ''Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II'', the first four bosses are the elementals of wind, water, fire, and earth.
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' games have both elemental automatons (called "golems" in ''[[Arena]]'' and "atronaches" in ''[[The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
** Constructed golems only existed pre-''[[Morrowind]]''. ''Arena'' included Ice, Stone, and Iron and ''Daggerfall'' introduced Fire, Flesh, and the unseen types called Air, Water, and Earth.
** Daedra have always been common to ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]'' games. ''Arena'' had only Fire Daemons, ''Daggerfall'' included both Fire and Frost Daedra, while every game past ''Morrowind'' has included a third type called the Storm Atronach.
** Pre-''Morrowind'', all atronachs were constructed, and the descriptions defined them as the standard ''[[Dungeons
* Several of the Titans in [[God of War (
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' has plenty of elementals. There's the usual fire/water/earth/air ones, but also various combinations of the types (for example lava=fire+earth) and more exotic types such as arcane elementals and voidwalkers (while technically demon- not elemental-type mobs, they can be considered elementals of shadow). Plant creatures are also elemental-type mobs.
** Notably ''not'' mindless mooks, they were the original inhabitants of the planet before life was created (and they were banished to [[Another Dimension]]) and have had civilizations (and wars) that have lasted millions of years. The little guys tend to get enslaved rather easily, but the [[Authority Equals Asskicking|leaders]] [[Physical God|tend to cause geographical changes when summoned.]]
** In addition to the four classic elemental lords the Burning Crusade expansion also introduced Murmur, the elemental lord of ''sound''. However no lesser such entities have been encountered as of yet, making Murmur's origin something of a mystery.
*** According to the in-game hints about its origin, it verges on the [[Cosmic Horror Story|Cosmic Horror]] ''[[Too Dumb to Live|summoning]]''.
** The fourth expansion ''Mists of Pandaria'' introduces [[
* The elementals first appear in ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]] 2'' as natural creature with traditional Air/Earth/Fire/Water. In 3's ''Armageddon's Blade'' expansion pack, they are part of new ''Conflux'' town and new ''Psychic'' was added as new elemetal. They have upgrade form as Storm/Magma/Energy/Ice and Magic. While Psychic elemental was removed from later games, the tradition four remain.
* ''[[Drakengard]]'' ally characters have elemental summons: Leonard has a fairy (sylph), Arioch has Undine and Salamander, and Seere has... a golem. They do, however, mention a stonecrafting race that makes (different) golems, they [[Wild Mass Guessing|might be gnomes]].
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* The ''[[World of Mana]]'' series has the four elementals in the page description (Undine, Jinn/Sylph, Gnome, and Salamander), as well as the darkness elemental Shade, the light elemental Lumina, the wood elemental Dryad, and the [[Lunacy|moon]] elemental Luna. Legend of Mana replaced Luna with Aura the metal elemental.
* ''[[Progress Quest]]'' has Bacon, Cheese, Hair, Sand and... Porn Elementals. Talk about basic building blocks of the universe.
* The [[Golem
* The Four Elementals are summoned against you in the second ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' game. Based on some jokes made in the original series, the [[Fan Remake]] includes a Pizza Elemental as an [[Easter Egg]].
* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' includes a Grass Elemental, a Spaghetti Elemental and a BASIC Elemental. (The programming language.)
* Djinn in ''[[
* ''[[
* "[[Fun Orb|Arcanists]]" has these as minions that you can summon.
* ''[[
* The various ''[[Guild Wars]]'' campaigns have featured elementals, but there is an obvious imbalance in their populations. Earth and water/ice elementals are extremely common, while fire is rarer and only two variants of air-type exist.
* From the [[Atelier
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' has had a few elemental embodiments. Legendary Pokémon tend to be this.
* The nebulas in ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles]]'' are living clouds of ether energy that resemble their namesake. They come in six different colors, each representing one of the game's elements (Fire, water, electricity, ice, wind, and earth), and generally appear in areas and/or weather conditions related to those elements. They also make for annoying opponents, due to being highly resistant to physical attacks, applying status effects whenever they're struck, and having a tendency to self-destruct and deprive you of loot when low on HP.
* In ''[[
* The bahmi race in ''[[Rift]]'' are part air elemental. Oddly enough, they're [[Five Races|stouts]].
* ''[[Monster Girl Quest]]'' has the four Great Spirits that embody the classical elements: Sylph, Gnome, Undine and Salamander. There's also Ilias and Alice I, the embodiments of holy and dark energy respectively, who are so powerful that they are considered goddesses.
== Web Comics ==
* Elementals in ''[[What's Shakin']]'', called Eternals, embody a single element. The only eternal seen so far has been ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20131019021219/http://whatsshakincomic.com/2010/09/06/ch1-pg1/ Fred]''.
* Amusingly played with by ''[[The Order of the Stick
** In case you're wondering, the Titanium Elementals were fired out of catapults during a castle assault, and the chlorine elemental was used to kill infantry with its poison gas.
** Redcloak also takes the opportunity to point out that fire isn't even an element. They're not called "reactionals."
*** Vaarsuvius, however, is not amused, complaining that Redcloak has no appreciation for the classics.
* ''[[MSF High]]'': Rainer MAY qualify for this.
* ''[[
== Web Original ==
* In ''[[
* The ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' had a few characters who were the embodiment of the elements. Ifrit was a literal fire demon from Islamic mythology. Maelstrom was the "lord of storms" and could control wind, wave, and lightning. Indian superheroine Dhara is the [[Physical God|embodiment]] of the Vedic goddess of the earth.
* ''[[Cracked.com]]'''s #8 [https://web.archive.org/web/20140804002112/http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_388_27-science-lessons-as-taught-by-famous-video-games_p2/ Science Lesson As Taught by Famous Video Games] represents them as hot chicks.
== Western Animation ==
* The cartoon incarnations of Thunder and Lightning from ''[[Teen Titans (
* The ''[[WITCH (
* Frictor, the evil ''friction'' elemental from [[The Ripping Friends]]. Created by exposing the heroes' foot calluses to radiation. Yes, you read that correctly.
* In [[
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Video Game Characters]]
[[Category:Index of Fictional Creatures]]
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