History Main / ElementalEmbodiment

** 5th edition introduces elder elementals, titanic and incredibly powerful elemental entities focused on ensuring the primacy of their element and capable of profoundly reshaping a world's geography and climate should they be summoned -- [[KrakenAndLeviathan leviathans]] for water, [[ThePhoenix phoenixes]] for fire, elder tempests (giant {{Feathered Serpent}}s made of stormclouds) for air and zaratans (essentially living mountains in the shape of tortoises) for earth -- as well as elemental myrmidons, elementals bound into enchanted armor to serve a mortal master.

* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'': Over the course of the game, Mario must find and defeat the four Vellumentals, powerful spirits that embody and rule over an element of nature. These are the Earth Vellumental, a turtle-like beast with power over rock and soil, the Water Vellumental, a dragon-like creature that fights with tidal waves and waterspouts, the Fire Vellumental, a phoenix-like bird constantly WreathedInFlames, and the Ice Vellumental, a towering polar bear that will try to freeze Mario solid.

In the vast majority of cases, the aforementioned four classical elements of air, water, earth, and fire will be embodied, with maybe one or two additions like "lightning elementals", "darkness elementals" and so on. In other cases, elementals may not strictly embody a single substance or force but may instead be living masses or embodiments of the natural or physical world in a broader senser.

* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'': Shendu's seven siblings which derive their powers from Earth, Water, Wind, Sky, Moon, Thunder, and Mountain.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime,'' the four elements are Fire, Ice, Candy and Slime, each of which has its own kingdom and species living in Ooo. Apparently, past ages had an Elemental ruler each controlling one quarter of the land.

In the vast majority of cases, the aforementioned four classical elements of air, water, earth, and fire will be embodied, with maybe one or two additions like "lightning elementals", "darkness elementals" and so on.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' had [[TheUndead Scarmiglione]] for earth, [[FakeKing Cagnazzo]] for water, [[EvilIsSexy Barbariccia]] for air and [[WorthyOpponent Rubicante]] for fire.

* ''VideoGame/{{Atelier}}'': ''VideoGame/{{Atelier Iris|EternalMana}}'' and the ''VideoGame/{{Mana|Khemia Alchemists of Al Revis}} [[VideoGame/ManaKhemia2FallOfAlchemy Khemia]]'' subseries have these. Although they can be found as common enemies others are key to the games' [[ItemCrafting alchemy]] systems and mythology. Elements range from the normal four to things like Creation, [[BigBad Dimension]] and [[TomatoInTheMirror Wishes]].

* ''VideoGame/TheBattleCats'': This is the motif of the Uber Rare units from the "Nature's Guardians Elemental Pixies" set. Each of them represents a cosmic phenomena in the form of a [[MoeAnthropomorphism cute little pixie]] with [[PintSizedPowerhouse power befitting their Uber Rare status]]. Among their ranks are [[PlayingWithFire Bora]], [[MakingASplash Mizli]], [[BlowYouAway Aer]], [[ShockAndAwe Voli]], [[DishingOutDirt Gravi]], [[CastingAShadow Yamii]] and [[AnIcePerson Bliza]]. [[spoiler:There's also the set's Legend Rare Lumina, who is described as having "mastery of all elements".]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'': Incarnate elementals are powerful creatures and living embodiments of one of the winds of magic, and are typically created or summoned by a wizard attuned to that wind.
** Incarnate elementals of Aqshy, the Wind of Fire, also known as Charred Ones, Black Harvestmen and Jack O'Cinders, are towering figures of flame and smoldering ash. They embody the destructive and ferocious nature of their wind, and are often summoned as engines of war.
** Incarnate elementals of Ghur, the Wind of Beasts, also known as Bloody Hidesmen, Horned Men and Faceless Hunters, are towering figures of muscle and sinew with horned or antlered skulls for heads. They are living embodiments of predatory might and the fury of the wild, and are called upon to defend the wildlands or to hunt down powerful foes.
** Incarnate elementals of Shyish, the Wind of Death, take the form of enormous serpents with two long necks topped by draconic heads, bound together by a chain and an hourglass said to contain a king's powdered bones. As living embodiments of entropy and death, any beings in their proximity begin to wither and die.

The ultimate extension of ElementalPowers, the Elemental Embodiment is when the elements that are the basic building blocks of the universe [[EverythingTryingToKillYou get up and come for you]]. (And no, we're not talking about, say, fluorine here -- though that would be a [[RuleOfCool pretty cool]] a-, in-, sub-, or perversion.) Usually called "elementals". They may be mindless {{Mooks}}, or they could be very dangerous. If they're sapient, that usually means that they have status as a type of NatureSpirit; if they're mindless but associated with nature anyway, they may serve as a midway point between [[GaiasVengeance Mother nature attacking you]] with animals and with natural disasters. They will usually be [[ElementalBaggage summoned out of thin air]] by people with ElementalPowers.

In the vast majority of cases, the aforementioned four classical western elements will be embodied, with maybe one or two additions like "lightning elementals", "darkness elementals" and so on.

** The ''Shadows of Change'' DLC gives Kislev and the Beastmen access to Incarnate Elementals of Beasts, living avatars of the magic of the Lore of Beasts resemlbling bestial giants with eagle talons for hands and fanged deer skulls for heads.

The TropeMaker is the occultist [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elemental Paracelsus's]] description of the four elemental creatures: Undines (water), Sylphs (wind), Salamanders (fire), and Gnomes (earth). [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondine_(mythology) Undines]] [[OurNymphsAreDifferent are naked women (usually robed in fantasy) that live in rivers and streams,]] Sylphs are usually represented as small winged [[OurFairiesAreDifferent fairies]], [[FierySalamander Salamanders]] are generally quite a bit larger than the real-life variety, live in hot places like volcanoes, and breathe fire, and Gnomes are [[OurGnomesAreWeirder 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. Paracelsian elemental mythos is described by the trope AlchemicElementals.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': Elementals of the five in-universe elements -- water, fire, wood, air and earth -- have a prominent presence in Creation; 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. They originated from the essence of the five immense, primordial elementals shattered during the between the gods and the Primordials, and can embody an element's qualities as much as its nature -- a water elemental may be formed from or control water, or it may instead embody water's tendency to be formless and take the shapes given to it by the world, while a fire elemental may embody fire's power to purify and transform.

** Creatures fundamentally similar to elementals, but not actually part of their number, exist as well. Metodies are demons created to be regulators and elementals of vitriol, a hideously corrosive acid that was originally rejected as a base element of Creation, and resemble humanoid masses of acidic liquid. Autochthon, when he fled Creation, likewise fashioned elementals to oversee the workings of his world-body, but these were spirits of his own internal elements of crystal, metal, smoke, steam, oil and lightning. Unlike metodies, these are true elementals in their own right, and can mature into elemental dragons.
* ''TabletopGame/{{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. In fact, ''GURPS: Magic'' has a bunch of spells that turn you into the elemental embodiments of everything from Fire to ''Plastic''.

* ''Upright Magic'' by Vadim Korostylyov has EvilLivingFlames, the Underground Fire, and a gentle personification of the underground waters, PluckyGirl Clear Trickle – constantly at odds with each other and aiding the villains and the heroes, respectively, on their way.

* ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome'' has Spider-Man teaming up with Mysterio to battle the Elementals, ancient inter-dimensional beings from another universe who embody [[FourElementEnsemble the ancient four elements of earth, air, water and fire]]. [[spoiler:However, [[ScoobyDooHoax they're nothing more than combat drones masked by holograms]].]]

--> What I didn’t expect, however, was to witness massive vortexes of fire spontaneously bursting forth from thin air. If that wasn’t bad enough, they seemed to move with a will of their own and actively seek out anything living. Needless to say, this didn’t bode well for the local wildlife.\\
I’ll refer to them as fire elementals, I’m so good at names.

** Incarnate elementals of Aqshy, the Wind of Fire, also known as Charred Ones, Black Harvestmen and Jack O’Cinders, are towering figures of flame and smoldering ash. They embody the destructive and ferocious nature of their wind, and are often summoned as engines of war.

* ''VideoGame/FellSealArbitersMark'': Pektites are floating, jellyfish-like creatures that embody the elements. They’re healed and empowered by attacks matching their element, so they’ll often position themselves to be hit by their own spells when attacking other units.

* ''VideoGame/TheBattleCats'': This is the motif of the Uber Rare units from the "Nature's Guardians Elemental Pixies" event. Each of them represents a cosmic phenomena in the form of a [[MoeAnthropomorphism cute little pixie]] with [[PintSizedPowerhouse power befitting their Uber Rare status]]. Among their ranks are [[PlayingWithFire Bora]], [[MakingASplash Mizli]], [[BlowYouAway Aer]], [[ShockAndAwe Voli]], [[DishingOutDirt Gravi]], [[CastingAShadow Yamii]] and [[AnIcePerson Bliza]]. [[spoiler:There's also the set's Legend Rare Lumina, who is described as having "mastery of all elements".]]