Classical elements in popular culture

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Classical elements have been frequently used in pop culture in genres such as fantasy, literature,^[1] film, humor,^[2] television, video games, comic books, toys and even music.^[3][4] Typically a character or characters are linked to one or more of the four classical elements (fire, air, water and earth) common to most ancient philosophies (particularly the Greek, Hindu, Buddhist and Japanese traditions), either through special powers granted, ability to mimic the element, or other means. In some cases a fifth element is included, such as aether (also known as quintessence), void, or flora—or, as was the case in the movie The Fifth Element, something else altogether.

Receptions

The classical elements and their use in literary history have served as the subject of various published books. In The Elements: Earth Air Fire Water (How Artists See), Colleen Carroll examines "how the four elements have been depicted in works of art from different time periods and places."^[5] In Legends of Earth, Air, Fire and Water, Eric Hadley and Tessa Hadley provide a "collection of myths and legends from different parts of the world about the four basic elements without which life would not be possible."^[6] According to Publishers Weekly, in Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Mary Hoffman and Jane Ray collect "snippets of factual information, myths, stories, poems and musings in this fascinating volume about the four classic elements."^[7]

The reception of the classical elements by scholars and mainstream critics varies considerably, largely depending on the medium and/or use of the classical elements. For example, the classical elements have served as significant plot elements in the various Mortal Kombat fictional universes. Blaze, a fire elemental, appears in multiple Mortal Kombat games, including as the end boss in the most recent game. The film Mortal Kombat: Annihilation features Elder Gods based on the four elements, which are mentioned chastisingly in Christian reviews.^[8]

Notable examples

AdventureQuest

In Adventurequest there are 8 elements which are Fire, Wind, Earth, Ice, Water, Energy, Light, and Darkness which are stated to be in a constant struggle and each ruled by a "elemental lord" with each element being able to do differing amounts of damage to a character or monster. A base guide to this would be that a being made from ice would be in most cases weak to fire.

Angels and Demons

In Dan Brown's thriller novel "Angels and Demons," the antagonist kidnaps four cardinals on the night of conclave and brands them with the ambigrammatic words "Earth," "Air," "Fire," and "Water." He then kills each cardinal using a method based on their respective elements; Cardinal Ebner, who was branded with the word "Earth," suffocates by having dirt shoved down his throat. Cardinal Lamasse (Air) dies from having both of his lungs punctured. Cardinal Guidera (Fire) is burned alive, and Cardinal Baggia (Water) drowns in the Fountain of the Four Rivers. Then, the Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca is branded with the Illuminati Diamond--a diamond shape made of the words for the aforementioned elements (also ambigrammatic). It is later revealed that he had done this to himself.

These brandings and murders also appear in the movie version of "Angels and Demons," except Cardinal Baggia does not die; he is instead rescued from drowning and in the end becomes the new Pope. Also, the fifth brand in the film is not the elemental Illuminati Diamond, but rather the papal symbol of two crossed keys.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

In the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, there are four mystical martial arts which allows the control and manipulation of the four elements through real-life martial arts tradition: Airbending, Earthbending, Firebending, and Waterbending. These are more based on the elemental structure of the Western and/or the Japanese elements, without a style based around Aether/Void. However, there is some overlap of elements as Ice, Lightning and Metal are all sub-aspect of the other four main elements.

Airbending is a martial arts based magic which controls and manipulates the element of Air. It is primarily based around the real martial arts of Bagua Zhang. Airbending focuses on evading and avoiding attacks.

Earthbending is a martial arts based magic which controls and manipulates the element of Earth. It is primarily based around the real martial arts of Hung Ga, however there are exceptions like Toph who uses the Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. However, it is likely different due to the fact Toph has learned her Earthbending from the Badger-moles (Natural animal benders, and mentioned in the show as the first earthbenders). Unlike Airbending, Earthbending is based around withstanding attacks and holding one's ground. At least one character, Toph, can use Earthbending to control and manipulate metal by focusing on its earthen impurities.

Firebending is a martial arts based magic control and manipulation of fire, flame and heat based on Northern Shaolin, in this case primarily the Northern Shaolin Style. A specialized form of Firebending can be used to control and manipulate lightning. This is done by dividing the yin from the yang of the electricity, like splitting positive and negative charges. The charge tries to merge together again, much like a lightning bolt moves from one charged object to another (Like a positively charged cloud to the negatively charged ground or vice-versa).

Waterbending is a martial arts based on primarily T'ai chi. Firebending opposes Waterbending, as the former prefers to attack first and hard until a weakness is found while the latter waits for the opponent to attack first and then redirects his strike. Whereas the other styles appear incapable of controlling and manipulating the phase of their element, Waterbenders can alter the phase of water, controlling and manipulating water in its solid (ice, snow, hail), liquid (pure water) and gaseous forms (mist, steam, fog,and water vapor), or even take water from the air, plants or animals. Some are even capable of controlling and manipulating others (by way of the rare ability of Bloodbending) under the light of a full moon, when Waterbenders are at their strongest and most powerful.

Beast King GoLion/Voltron

Within Beast King GoLion (and its American counterpart Voltron), the Lions are each powered by a different element of the Wu Xing:

• the Black Lion - Metal
• the Red Lion - Fire
• the Green Lion - Wood
• the Blue Lion - Water
• the Yellow Lion - Earth.

Bionicle

"Bionicle", a toy line from LEGO with a story, has as main elements, controlled by the Toa, the main warriors and protectors of the Bionicle universe, Fire, represented with red, Water, represented in blue, Air represented in green, Ice represented in white, Stone represented in brown, tan and yellow, and Earth represented in black. Throughout the later story lines, more elements have been introduced, such as Sonics , iron (meaning all metals), and more abstract elements such as Magnetism. In the 2009 and 2010 story lines, the desert world of Bara Magna also has several tribes centered around similar elements.

Captain Planet

Captain Planet and the Planeteers, an animated series from the early 1990s, is about five teenagers, each with a magic ring that controls an element. When their powers combine, they create a superhero named Captain Planet, who uses the power of all of the elements.

Each Planeteer's personality (and, in some cases, appearance) reflects their element. The level headed, brown skinned Kwame (Earth) functions as the leader, and holds the group together. Growing up in an African village, he knows much about the land and plant life. Wheeler (Fire), who has red hair and is more temperamental and impulsive, acts as the team's fighting spirit. Linka (Wind) has a passion for bird life, while Gi (Water) is a student of marine biology and has skills in water sports. The fifth element is named as "Heart", and Ma-Ti's ring controls it. Ma-Ti, very in tune with wildlife, becomes empathic with both animals and people, and can communicate telepathically with his teammates. Whereas the other Planeteers give Captain Planet his powers, Ma-Ti's ring creates his persona.

Castle Crashers

Castle Crashers is a video game on the Xbox 360 about knights and princesses. The four main characters each represent and use different elements.

The Red Knight represents Lightning. The Blue Knight represents Ice. The Green Knight represents Poison. The Orange Knight represents Fire.

Challengers of the Unknown

In the comic book series Challengers of the Unknown, each of the four original members of the team represent one of the Greek elements. Ace Morgan is a pilot (air), redheaded Red Ryan is a daredevil (fire), Prof Haley is a deep-sea explorer (water), and Rocky Davis is wrestler (earth). While the symbolic relationship between the individuals and elements can be seen, it never really played a strong role in the development of the characters' personalities, which took many twists and turns unrelated to any archetypes.

Chaotic Reign

The Chaotic Reign series^[specify] deals with not four, but eight elements, derived from classical elements and comic book powers. The elements are Psychic (Magnetism and Wood), Air (Vacuum and Weather), Water (Sea and Ice), Light (Radiation and Gravity), Sound (Vibrations and Metal), Earth (Sand and Rock), Fire (Lava and Plasma), and Dark (Shadow and Poison). The elements are compared by how compatible they are with each other (for example, the powers of Earth and Psychic blend with well each other, the former relating to soil and the latter relating to plants, which need it, but Dark and Light are opposites and cancel each other out).

Digimon

The eponymous creatures in Digimon often have attacks and characteristics that relate to an element. This theme was perhaps most emphasized in the fourth season, when the ten Legendary Warriors were based on elements of flame, light, ice, wind, thunder, earth, water, steel, wood and darkness.

The second and third seasons introduced the Digimon Sovereigns, which are based on the Wu Xing animals. For unknown reasons, Qinglongmon's element was water and Xuanwumon's was wood, whereas in Wu Xing tradition, the reverse is true.

Dungeons & Dragons

In the Dungeons & Dragons family of role-playing games, the idea of the Greek elements are used as the symbolic building blocks of reality; the four Elemental Planes form a metaphorical ring around the "Prime Material Plane" that contains all the "everyday" game settings (Faerun, Greyhawk, et cetera). In all editions of the game there is the addition of a Positive (Creative/Constructive) Energy Plane "above" the Elemental and Prime planes, as well as a Negative (Destructive/Necromantic) Energy Plane "below" them. In the more complex cosmos of the 2nd Edition and beyond there are other planes where the six major elemental planes adjoin each other. The Paraelemental Planes manifested where the elemental planes overlap - Fire and Earth become Magma, Earth and Water form Ooze, Water and Air are joined as Ice, and Air and Fire unite as Smoke (the opposing pairs of Fire/Water and Earth/Air do not touch). The Quasielemental Planes were formed where the Positive or Negative Planes bordered the elemental planes; they express either the abundance or intensification of the element's nature, or its destruction or absence. The positive Quasielemental expressions of Earth, Water, Air and Fire are Minerals, Steam, Lightning and Radiance, respectively; their negative counterparts are Dust, Salt, Vacuum and Ash.

Earth, Wind & Fire

The popular R&B musical group Earth, Wind & Fire is so named because founder Maurice White's sign was Sagittarius, whose primary elemental quality is Fire (hot & dry), but whose north and south seasonal qualities are Earth (cold & dry), and Air (hot & wet);^[9] (hence, the omission of water).

Fantastic Four

In the comic book series Fantastic Four, each of the four characters have powers which relate to the Greek elements. The two most obvious links are the Human Torch (whose fire control power is best expressed through the image of him as a burning man) and the Thing (who resembles a living being of rock and stone). Mister Fantastic, while not having water-based powers, does have a fluid form. The Invisible Woman's powers of invisibility and force fields evoke the unseen forces of wind and air. This is especially true in Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602, where the Invisible Woman is both permanently invisible and weightless.^[10][11]

It should also be mentioned the two obvious elemental personalities (the Human Torch and the Thing) tend to have personality traits people tend to associate with their own elements. Johnny the human Torch is impulsive, quick to anger with a brash personality, contrast this to Ben the Thing who is more sullen, dependable and strong.

Perhaps the closest character to embodying Water in the Fantastic Four is their companion (and sometimes rival) Namor the Sub-Mariner, who becomes invincible when underwater, can breathe both above and below the surface, and rules Atlantis.

Harry Potter

In the Harry Potter series, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where most of the books' plots are set, is divided into four houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Each of the four houses corresponds roughly to one of the classical Greek elements. Ravenclaw's high tower and representative symbol of the eagle correspond to the element of air. Hufflepuff, whose symbol is the badger, corresponds to earth, and their common room is located under the school. The fluid snake symbol of Slytherin corresponds to water, and their common room is located directly under the lake. The symbol of Gryffindor is the lion, exemplifying bravery, quick temper, and boldness, symbolized by fire.

Heroes of Might and Magic III

In Heroes of Might and Magic III, magic spells and skills were divided into schools of magic with each school corresponding to a classical element. Representative spells include

• Implosion, Meteor Shower and Slow from the school of Earth Magic
• Armageddon, Inferno and Curse from the school of Fire Magic
• Frost Ring, Clone and Heal from the school of Water Magic
• Chain Lightning, Counter Strike and Haste from the school of Air Magic

Progression in proficiency (Basic -> Advanced -> Expert) in magic skill increases some aspect of the spells cast in the corresponding school of magic (e.g. higher damage, increased effect, longer duration, lower mana cost etc.).

Jackie Chan Adventures

In the KidsWB series, Jackie Chan Adventures, eight of Jackie's enemies foes were Chinese demons who derived their powers from eight forces of nature: Wind, Water, Moon, Earth, Thunder, Mountain, Sky, and Fire.

Kingdom Hearts

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Naruto

In the manga and anime series Naruto, ninjas use the power of Chakra (mixing of mental energy and physical energy to create a supernatural force such as mana, chakra, or chi) to perform jutsu (ninja techniques which allow the use of superpowers or martial arts). As depicted in the series, Chakra has elemental aspects, with the elements' comparative strengths resembling the creative/destructive cycle of the Chinese elements. The cycle goes from Wind to Lightning to Earth to Water to Fire before returning to Wind again, which each element stronger than the one after it.

In the world of Naruto, there are certain people who can mix elemental aspect into new elemental jutsu. So far, expressions of this shown are ice, wood, lava, storm, boil, dust, heat, explosion and magnetism. The ice mixes water and wind, wood mixes water and earth, lava mixes earth and fire, storm mixes water and lightning, boil mixes fire and water, dust mixes earth, wind and fire. There are also elements unique to the anime and movie medium, among them crystal, darkness, steel and swift. This is similar to the building block idea of Dungeons and Dragons, which also links with ideas of primitive man that all things are made up of classical element.

Within the series, some countries are named after the elements (like the "Land of Fire" where Naruto lives). There are also five strong and powerful ninja villages who exhibit dominance over the smaller villages, each of which is based on the five elements above. Each holds a leader ninja who is the only one to take the name of shadow (Kage).

Ronin Warriors

In the anime series Ronin Warriors, all of the heroes and villains are representative of different concepts of virtue as well as the classical elements (in the case of the series' heroes) or seasons (in the case of the villains).

Sailor Moon

Most of the Sailor Senshi characters in the Sailor Moon anime metaseries have elemental powers, some being inspired by Chinese elements (the Wu Xing) and some by Roman mythology. These are derived from the Japanese names given to their planets; even in civilian form, each heroine has a surname which reflects her planet and her powers.

Four of the Sailor Senshi (Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus) have elemental powers based directly on their planets: Mercury for water, Mars for fire, Jupiter for lightning, thunder, and plants , and Venus for metal and light. They also take inspiration from Greek mythology, especially Jupiter (lightning) and Venus (love). The other set of four (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn) also have powers based on their planet names, but since the first three were not known from antiquity, their names derive from the Western names and therefore from Roman myth (resulting in "sky king," "sea king," and "dark king" respectively). Sailor Uranus uses the forces of air and wind, Sailor Neptune uses the forces of the ocean, and Sailor Pluto is the Guardian of Space-Time and the Underworld. Sailor Saturn's element is given as earth, which corresponds to mythological harvest symbolism and to her powers over destruction and death. The main character, Sailor Moon, along with the younger Sailor Chibi Moon, use elemental powers of pure light.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Thine Own Self", Data is stranded on a pre-industrial planet where the inhabitants are still taught that the elements consist of sky, fire, rock, water, and lightning.

Super Sentai/Power Rangers

Several teams of Super Sentai and Power Rangers have used the classical elements thematically, with each Ranger having powers related to one element.

Normally, the Red Ranger represents fire, and the Blue Ranger water. For example, the Red Turbo Ranger and the Red Lightspeed Ranger have had Zords based on fire trucks, while the Blue Aquitian Ranger had a water-based attack. Gosei Sentai Dairanger drew heavily from Chinese mythology, and five of the Mythical Qi Beasts correspond to the Wu Xing. In Seijuu Sentai Gingaman and Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, the five Rangers represented fire (Red), water (Blue), wind (Green), lightning (Yellow) and flora (Pink), with earth (the Black Knight/the Magna Defender) added later.

The elements in Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger are air (Red), earth (Yellow), water (Blue), shadow (Kabuto) and forest (Kuwaga). The last two became the Thunder Rangers in Power Rangers Ninja Storm, sharing the element thunder, and the Green Ranger was given an element of his own (forest). The elemental theme was here used more extensively than in previous series, and the Rangers’ attacks and fighting styles often reflect it. In Mahou Sentai Magiranger and Power Rangers Mystic Force, MagiRed (the Red Ranger) and Wolzard (the Wolf Warrior) share the element fire. The other Rangers have powers based on thunder (Yellow), water (Blue), air (Pink), earth (Green), ice (White), and light/the sun (MagiShine/the Solaris Knight).

The use of elements is not restricted to the protagonists. In Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGo-V, the demons Zylpheeza, Drop, Cobolda and Venus (Diabolico, Impus, Loki and Vypra in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue) each represent one of the four elements. In both versions, all monsters are affiliated with one of them, and relate to the same element.

W.I.T.C.H.

The Disney cartoon series "WITCH" is centered around five girls who receive magical powers in order to fight evil in fantasy worlds parallel to their own, and each power is based on an element, with the corresponding "guardian" being able to produce said element from nothing, or communicate with it. The fifth element, in this story, is the Heart of Candracar, an immensely strong and powerful magical mystical crystal amulet that grants the girls their powers, which is worn by Will, the leader of the group. In the second season it is revealed that the fifth element is actually Quintessence which is described as "the stuff or substance of life" and is Will's elemental ability. As such Quintessence manifests as whitish blue lightning that contains the incredible power/ability to literally "make things come alive."

Xiaolin Showdown

In the KidsWB series, Xiaolin Showdown, the four main characters were warriors of the four elements: Omi (water), Raimundo (wind), Kimiko (fire), Clay (earth).

See also

• Elements in fiction

External links

• Television Tropes and Idioms—Elemental power page—This page has more details on the idea of elements used in fiction, as well as uses of elements for personality traits of character archetypes in fiction. It has a list of uses of elemental forces in fiction from multiple media. Link: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ElementalPowers

References

1. ^ Juliet Heslewood, Jane Lydbury, Hugh Marshall, Tamara Capellaro, and Alison McNeill, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water (Oxford University Press, USA, 1989).
2. ^ See the MacBook Earth, Water and Fire
3. ^ Don Dupont and Brian Hiller, Earth, Water, Fire, Air: A Suite for Voices, Narrator and Orff Instruments (Memphis Musicraft Publications, 2005).
4. ^ New Album: Francis M - Earth Wind Fire Water
5. ^ Colleen Carroll, The Elements: Earth Air Fire Water (How Artists See) (Abbeville Press, 1999).
6. ^ Eric Hadley and Tessa Hadley, Legends of Earth, Air, Fire and Water (Cambridge University Press, 1985).
7. ^ Mary Hoffman and Jane Ray, Dutton Juvenile; 1st American ed edition, 1995).
8. ^ Tyson Gibson, "Review of Mortal Kombat: Annihilation," Christian Spotlight on Entertainment.
9. ^ Elemental Qualities in Astrology
10. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=Qey0TqB3hDgC&pg=PA96&dq=%22fantastic+four%22+elements+earth+fire+water+air&sig=kBq8il0603pG0isjxR2NZfmgmFA
11. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=g9BPAAAAMAAJ&q=%22fantastic+four%22+elements+earth+fire+water+air&dq=%22fantastic+four%22+elements+earth+fire+water+air&pgis=1