History Main / InHarmonyWithNature

* Definitely the Wolfriders and Sun Folk in ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'', but subverted by the Gliders, who've cut themselves off from nature. As for the Go-Backs, they're too busy fighting the trolls to care one way or another.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Partly by virtue of the quasi-medieval setting, many of the societies and individuals included are depicted In Harmony With Nature in one way or another:
** The hobbits, especially Sam, in that farmerly-wisdom, son-of-the-soil sort of way. This is also given as one of the reasons (the other being they spend their lives honing this inborn skill paired with, well, their smaller statures being of advantage) why hobbits are so quiet of feet and why they can hide so easily that it seems like magic despite lacking the least ounce of magical talent.
** The elves in the spiritual "the trees are talking to me" way. After Tolkien's depiction of elves as this, pretty much [[OurElvesAreDifferent all elves]] [[FollowTheLeader in any fantasy work ever]] are like this.
** Aragorn in the "I can tell you the entire life story of who walked through that hedge and bent that twig" way.
** Given Tolkien's quasi-Biblical creation myth for the setting, a case can be made that "harmony with nature" directly correlates to "goodness", period. So "good" people and races do live in accord with nature as Eru intended it (without actually going to tree-hugging extremes), morally more ambiguous ones allow themselves to grow out of touch, and "evil" ones just plain can't be bothered to care or actively want to despoil it.
%%%** ** Radagast the Brown
* The elves in ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' are even more In Harmony With Nature than even Tolkien's elves, to the point that they are almost universally vegetarian and use magic to bend nature to their will.

* Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre: Done subtly-not-subtly with Howard. He's the only one who knows at all what he's doing out in the desert with his fellow prospectors, seems to have a better sense of human nature than them as well, and is so spry that Dobbs complains he must be part mountain goat and reveals that he considers the mountain a living place to be respected when he insists on dismantling the played-out mine.

See also HarmonyVersusDiscipline, this trope being Harmony. See {{Transflormation}} for when a character is necessarily in harmony with nature because they're biologically part of it.

* In ''LightNovel/CookingWithWildGame'', the tribe of Forest's Edge is valued ('''not''' respected) by their urban overlords because they're the only people badass enough to live in the local HungryJungle, alongside the bloodthirsty Kiba that would ravage farms if the tribe's hunters didn't keep their population in check. The tribe literally isn't allowed anything but what they can buy from the city or gather from a small section of the wilderness, yet they have survived and thrived, because, as mentioned: badass. Naturally, their belief system centers around thanking the forest for its blessings, and they are very angry when it's confirmed that [[spoiler:the Suun clan aren't doing their duty to the food chain or the farmers]].

* ''Film/RRR2022'': The indigenous Gond people are portrayed as living peacefully in the forests of India. A pivotal scene sees Lacchu goad a snake into attacking Ram, gloating that only his tribesmen know the cure. Bheem is Ram's {{Bash Brother|s}}, but claims that Ram's [[spoiler:lofty revolutionary ideals]] are a bit beyond him.

* In ''Adiamante'', a science fiction novel by Creator/LEModesittJr, the future people of Earth are In Harmony With Nature because they ''have'' to be. The environmental damage of the past has so damaged the planet that even the most "minor" disruptions would have big consequences.

* This trope is almost the point of Creator/{{Disney}}'s ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', although it's not really historically accurate (see below under '''RealLife''') She can paint with the colors of the wind!

* The Na'vi in ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' live in the midst of a jungle, and actually communicate with other animals directly. Which makes it really easy to accomplish, compared to humans but humans are shown doing it too.
* Film/TheTreasureOfTheSierraMadre: Done subtly-not-subtly with Howard. He's the only one who knows at all what he's doing out in the desert with his fellow prospectors, seems to have a better sense of human nature than them as well, is so spry that Dobbs complains he must be part mountain goat, and reveals that he considers the mountain a living place to be respected, when he insists on dismantling the played-out mine.

* ''Literature/BrotherEagleSisterSky'' tells that we must live as best we can in harmony with nature, so that it supports us and we it. Asks that those who buy land from natives preserve it for their own children as natives have for theirs.
* ''Literature/{{Evolution}}'': Subverted with early human hunter-gatherers, who believed they were living in harmony with nature by hunting animals lightly. In other words, they were driving their prey to extinction by killing the animals at a time when they were vulnerable, by selectively killing off the young, by disrupting habitats and by taking out key components of the food web.

** The hobbits, especially Sam, in that farmerly-wisdom, son-of-the-soil sort of way. This is also given as one of the reasons (the other being they spend their lives honing this inborn skill paired with, well, their smaller statures being of advantage) why hobbits are so quiet of feet and why they can hide themselves so easily that it seems like magic despite lacking the least ounce of magical talent.

* In the ''Literature/StarTrekNovelVerse'', the Kazarites and Irriol are two races like this. The Kazarites have telepathic and empathic links with animals, and accordingly have a culture greatly concerned with preserving natural eco-systems. This empathy extends to animals beyond Kazar itself, allowing them to aid in the restoration of other, more damaged planets. In ''Literature/StarTrekMereAnarchy'', their "ecopaths" play a role in the terraforming of central planet Mestiko, which has been heavily damaged by a pulsar. The Irriol are even more In Harmony With Nature, to the point where they are willing to sacrifice their lives to predators if they sense that the ecosphere is better served by their deaths.

* In ''LightNovel/CookingWithWildGame'', the tribe of Forest's Edge is valued ('''not''' respected) by their urban overlords because they're the only people badass enough to live in the local HungryJungle, alongside the bloodthirsty kiba that would ravage farms if the tribe's hunters didn't keep their population in check. The tribe literally aren't allowed anything but what they can buy from the city or gather from a small section of the wilderness, yet they have survived and thrived, because, as mentioned: badass. Naturally, their belief system centers around thanking the forest for its blessings, and they are very very angry when it's confirmed that [[spoiler:the Suun clan aren't doing their duty to the food chain or the farmers]].
* In Creator/JamesHerbert's ''Literature/{{Once}}'', the ''[[OurFairiesAreDifferent faerefolkis]]'', by nurture of nature, enable Earth to support life. They long for a time when abandonment of materialism will reacquaint humanity with "the grand consciousness," and with their elemental forebears.

* ''Music/TheSongsOfTheHumpbackWhale'', which was the first album to feature nothing but sounds of whales singing. The sounds are wonderful, soft and peaceful, though sometimes they can be melancholic and haunting too. Either way, the listener will feel great admiration and wonder toward these animals in their natural environment. It inspired both the NewAge movement and the "Save The Whales" campaign.

** In 5th edition, forest elves have a racial feat called "Mask of the Wild" that enables them to hide in natural areas with ease.
* In ''TabletopGame/InNomine'', this is especially common for angels of Flowers, whose gifts relate to plants, nature, joy, and peace. But even [[NatureIsNotNice roses have thorns,]] and the Archangel of Flowers does have a few warrior Malakim for those times when trying kindness first simply does not work.

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'''s Night Elves are so in harmony their lumber gatherer doesn't even harm the trees (though it gathers it five units at a time, when the other factions get ten or twenty).

* In ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'', this is the main deal with the Eldrid. They believe in the natural order of the universe and prefer harmonizing with the universal laws rather than altering them as seen with their abilities and technology. For this, they've been called space hippies by other factions. Although they may come off as such, that doesn't mean they're pacifists who'll just hug it out when pushed. They'll fight to preserve the natural order of the universe against those who would disrupt it.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'': The Tree Clan Prone are a downplayed example. They are big on being in tune with the cycle of life, hunting for their food, training wild animals, etc. but they don't disdain technology, nor do they look down on the more technologically advanced people they come into contact with. The closest any of them comes is one warrior stating a preference for bow and arrow over the advanced firearms and plasma weapons available, but conversations with other Prone indicate this is more just that one guy and not representative of their whole culture. [[spoiler:Another Prone does admit some confusion and disgust upon hearing that the humans abandoned their natural bodies for robotic ones, saying that the Prone would never consider doing such a thing... but he also doesn't judge humanity for it, recognizing they only did so out of extreme need and knowing that humans are desperately trying to return to natural bodies.]]
* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', as seen in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'''s ''Bloodmoon'' expansion and ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''[='s=] ''Dragonborn'' DLC, the NobleSavage [[BadassNative Skaal]] people of the [[GrimUpNorth frozen, inhospitable]] island of Solstheim follow "The Path of the All-Maker." Whatever that is taken from the All-Maker must be repaid somehow. For example, their hunters only kill when absolutely necessary as part of the cycle of life, and never for sport. They only harvest firewood from fallen trees, never cutting down live trees for it.
* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'': Kazuha has a deep connection with nature, which gives him insight on the essence of things around him [[SuperSenses and has attuned his senses to extreme keenness]]. When the Traveler meets him for the first time, he immediately identifies traces of Anemo and Geo energy on their person, as well as the power of the stars.

* ''Literature/CanYouSpareAQuarter'': The medicine man Pony Twofeathers has told Jason that one should never take too much from naturr, which is why he takes only five fish they have angled.

* The ponies, in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', aren't so much in harmony with nature as crucial to its functioning. They clean up the winter snow, change the seasons and the weather, tend the 'wild' animals, and nurture the plants. The characters even speak of the Everfree Forest as an unnatural place because the plants grow on their own and the animals take care of themselves, and the clouds move on their own.
* The [[PaperMaster Wood Forgers]] seen in the ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'' episode "The Forest of Magi Oar" think they are this, being the Forest's self-proclaimed guardians. [[spoiler:They're not. Their desire for power is ''harming'' the forest (through a paper mill), so much so that Viragor, the ''true'' guardian of the Forest, wants to evict them.]]

[[folder: Real Life]]

* Ray Mears, a British woodsman, teaches people how to live out this trope in the wild.
* Subverted by the people of ancient Hawaii. The people had sort of a shifting schedule of taboo that made sure that they never ran out of a resource, and hence were often assumed to be like this by anthropologists and historians. In actuality, however, they ended up devastating the islands' ecology, resulting in the extinctions of over 50 species of birds, including the giant flightless ducks known as moa-nalos that were Hawaii's dominant herbivores. By the time European explorers reached Hawaii in the 1700s, they were already looking at a ruined ecosystem.
* Often assumed to be the case with Native North, Central, and South Americans, but not really. They lived in complicated societies with trade routes and urban centers, and, yes, deforestation helped make them possible. On the other hand, they did understand the North American environment far better than the white invaders did, but only because they have lived there for thousands of years before any white people came. Fundamentally, Native people are human, and not, in fact, elves. Even so, their is ''some'' truth to the trope. The Native peoples of the Americas generally considered all animals, natural phenomena, and even the land itself (especially mountains and springs) to be living beings on par with humans, and treated them as such, with a mixture of awe (at their wealth and power), respect (as individuals with their own wants and needs), and frustration (when things didn't go as expected); they were seen as both gifts (as recompense for resources taken or favors to be asked) and threats, and obtained either through trickery or bargaining (when all else failed). In some cases, though, their beliefs were destructive, such as the idea that two deer would be born for each one killed. Some Native peoples significantly altered their environments, such as by periodically cutting and burning the forest, which cleared land for farming or creating new grazing grounds for the herds they hunted.
* In a subversion, Creator/CSLewis claims in ''Reflections on the Psalms'' that a purely aesthetic appreciation of nature does not come to most people until they are capable of making artificial environments (i.e. cities), and points out that, in many works of ancient poetry, when people say that nature is beautiful, they mean it is useful. That is, under this theory, a hunter-gatherer would think an antelope beautiful because it is tasty, but a leopard definitely scary because it might think ''him'' tasty; but city folks think leopards are beautiful because they live far away from leopards. Of course, in that sense, primeval man ''is'' {{in harmony with nature}}, because he is acting just like it.
* The ideal is OlderThanRadio. In the eighteenth century, Creator/JeanJacquesRousseau spearheaded the back-to-nature fad, which was part of the overall {{Romanticism}} movement. UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette was a big fan and had a hamlet built where she could fulfill her fantasy of living the "natural life". The simple folk were assumed to be pure and close to nature, so Marie Antoinette had an artificially idealized version of their lives created for herself, where she could dress up in peasant clothes and play shepherdess with her ladies-in-waiting. The starving actual peasants of France weren't amused and viewed it as a mockery of their plight. Creator/{{Voltaire}}, an arch-rival of Rousseau's, disparaged him for this by saying he'd like people to walk again on all fours too.
* While this was believed to be true for hunter-gatherers inherently, modern anthropologists in many cases have found they frequently face the same problems (albeit of course on a lesser scale) with the destruction of their environment. The difference, however, is that they can't naturally affect this to the same degree. So, when the destruction of habitat occurs, the people responsible will suffer in the long run (e.g., starvation after they kill too many plants or animals), before bouncing back much later on. This is likely why many hunter-gatherer societies were heavily nomadic. Nearly all ancient megafauna outside Africa and Asia since have been found to be wiped out by our ancestors (e.g. woolly mammoths) doing destructive (though practical in the short term) hunting practices like perhaps running them off cliffs (though it is still heavily debated how much hunting by humans actually had to do with most of these extinctions, with actual evidence of humans hunting mammoths, for instance, being very limited).
* Living organisms themselves could reshape the planets as surely as any physical force.
* The ultimate goal of environmentalism is to bring humanity to this state, although there are many interpretations of what "in harmony with nature" would actually mean.
[[/folder]]

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', where an elven clan living in the woods is mistrustful of outsiders for all the usual elfy reasons. Then it turns out that [[spoiler: they're actually in conflict with a local nature spirit who their Keeper invoked to put a curse on the humans who raped and murdered his children. Problem is, that was ''centuries'' ago - the curse has kept spirit and Keeper alive long past their time, and is now only hurting the killers' descendants (and causing problems for the elves too).]]

When confined to cities, characters who are In Harmony With Nature will often become [[CountryMouse distressed]] and wonder how the other characters can bear to live in such choking sterile surroundings. Characters RaisedByWolves will almost inevitably be like this, as will the MagicalNativeAmerican and the NobleSavage. Often a characteristic of a MarySuetopia.

* While this was believed to be true for hunter-gatherers inherently, modern anthropologists in many cases have found they frequently face the same problems (albeit of course on a lesser scale) with the destruction of their environment. The difference, however, is that they can't naturally affect this to the same degree. So, when the destruction of habitat occurs, the people responsible will suffer in the long run (e.g., starvation after they kill too many plants or animals), before bouncing back much later on. This is likely why many hunter-gatherer societies were heavily nomadic. Nearly all ancient megafauna since have been found to be wiped out by our ancestors (e.g. woolly mammoths) doing destructive (though practical in the short term) hunting practices like running them off cliffs.

* Life itself is a geological force that shapes the Earth.

* Often assumed to be the case with Native North, Central, and South Americans, but not really. They lived in complicated societies with trade routes and urban centers, and, yes, deforestation helped make them possible. On the other hand, they did understand the North American environment far better than the white invaders did, but only because they have lived there for thousands of years before any white people came. Fundamentally, Native people are human, and not, in fact, elves. Even so, their is ''some'' truth to the trope. The Native peoples of the Americas generally considered all animals, natural phenomena, and even the land itself (especially mountains and springs) to be living beings on par with humans, and treated them as such, with a mixture of awe (at their wealth and power), respect (as individuals with their own wants and needs), and frustration (when things didn't go as expected); they were seen as both gifts (as recompense for resources taken or favors to be asked) and threats, and obtained either through trickery or bargaining (when all else failed). In some cases, though, their beliefs were destructive, such as the idea that two deer would be born for each one killed. Some Native peoples significantly altered their environments, such as by periodically cutting and burning the forest, which cleared land for farming or to create new grazing grounds for the herds they hunted.
* In a subversion, Creator/CSLewis claims in ''Reflections on the Psalms'' that a purely aesthetic appreciation of nature does not come to most peoples until they are capable of making artificial environments (i.e. cities), and points out that, in many works of ancient poetry, when people say that nature is beautiful, they mean it is useful. That is, under this theory, a hunter-gatherer would think an antelope beautiful because it is tasty, but a leopard definitely scary because it might think ''him'' tasty; but city folk think leopards beautiful because they live far away from leopards. Of course, in that sense, primeval man ''is'' {{in harmony with nature}}, because he is acting just like it.

* While this was believed to be true for hunter-gatherers inherently, modern anthropologists in many cases have found they frequently face the same problems (albeit of course on a lesser scale) with destruction of their environment. The difference, however, is that they can't naturally affect this to the same degree. So, when destruction of a habitat occurs, the people responsible will suffer in the long run (e.g., starvation after they kill too many plants or animals), before bouncing back much later on. This is likely why many hunter-gatherer societies were heavily nomadic. Nearly all ancient megafauna since have been found to be wiped out by our ancestors (e.g. woolly mammoths) doing destructive (though practical in the short term) hunting practices like running them off cliffs.

[[folder: Film]]

* The Na'vi in ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' live in the midst of a jungle, and actually communicate with other animals directly. Which makes it really easy to accomplish, compared to humans but humans are shown doing it too.

* In Creator/JamesHerbert's ''Literature/{{Once}}'', the ''[[OurFairiesAreDifferent faerefolkis]]'',by nurture of nature, enable Earth to support life. They long for a time when abandonment of materialism will reacquaint humanity with "the grand consciousness," and with their elemental forebears.

* In Creator/JamesHerbert's ''Literature/{{Once}}'', the ''[[OurFairiesAreDifferent faerefolkis]]'',who live on a dimension generally beyond human senses, by nurture of nature, enable Earth to support life. They long for a time when abandonment of materialism will reacquaint humanity with "the grand consciousness," and with their elemental forebears.

* The ponies, in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', aren't so much in harmony with nature as crucial to its functioning. They clean up the winter snow, change the seasons and the weather, tend the 'wild' animals, and nurture the plants. The characters even speaks of the Everfree Forest as an unnatural place because the plants grow on their own and the animals take care of themselves, and the clouds move on their own.

* The ideal is OlderThanRadio. In the eighteenth century, Creator/JeanJacquesRousseau spearheaded the back-to-nature fad, which was part of the overall {{Romanticism}} movement. UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette was a big fan and had a hamlet built where she could fulfill her fantasy of living the "natural life". The simple folk were assumed to be pure and close to nature, so Marie Antoinette had an artificially idealized version of their lives created for herself, where she could dress up in peasant clothes and play shepherdess with her ladies-in-waiting. The starving actual peasants of France weren't amused and viewed it as a mockery of their plight.
* While this was believed to be true for hunter-gatherers inherently, modern anthropologists in many cases have found they frequently face the same problems (albeit of course on a lesser scale) with destruction of their environment. The difference, however, is that they can't naturally affect this to the same degree. So, when destruction of a habitat occurs, the people responsible will suffer in the long run (e.g., starvation after they kill too many plants or animals), before bouncing back much later on. This is likely why many hunter-gatherer societies were heavily nomadic.[[/folder]]

--> '''Howard''': We've wounded this mountain. It's our duty to close her wounds. It's the least we can do to show our gratitude for all the wealth she's given us. If you guys don't want to help me, I'll do it alone.
--> '''Curtin''': You talk about that mountain like it was a real woman.

* ''Literature/{{Evolution}}'': Subverted with early human hunter-gatherers who believed they were living in harmony with nature by hunting animals lightly. In other words, they were driving their prey to extinction by killing the animals at a time when they were vulnerable, by selectively killing off the young, by disrupting habitats and by taking out key components of the food web.

--> "She learns from the skies and the wild marsh-tiggets, not out o' books."
--> "How trying," observed Flora.

* The Sevenwaters clan in ''Literature/TheSevenwatersTrilogy''. They are also [[BarbarianTribe savage]] [[ProudWarriorRace Warlike]], and [[ForeverWar constantly feuding]] with, well, everyone.

* The Na'vi in ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' live in the midst of a jungle, and actually communicate with other animals directly. [[FantasticAesop Which makes it is really easy to accomplish, compared to humans but humans are shown doing it too]].

In more GreenAesop {{Anvilicious}} works, this overlaps with FriendToAllLivingThings. Usually, however, living In Harmony With Nature requires you to kill the occasional creature, and even if you never take more than you need and have immense respect for the little critters you're roasting over the campfire, this does tend to deter them from gathering around you adoringly while you sing.

* ''Music/TheSongsOfTheHumpbackWhale'', which was the first album to feature nothing but sounds of whales singing. The sounds are wonderful, soft and peaceful, though sometimes they can be melancholic and haunting too. Either way the listener will feel great warmth and wonder towards these animals in their natural environment. It inspired both the NewAge movement as well as the "Save The Whales" activists.

* The fairies in ''WesternAnimation/FernGullyTheLastRainforest'' are like this, as guardians of a rainforest.

* Often assumed to be the case with native North American society, but not really. These guys lived in complicated societies with trade routes, urban centers, and, yes, deforestation. On the other hand, they did understand the North American environment far better than the white settlers did, but that was because they have lived there for thousands of years before any settlers came. It turns out that Native people are human, and not, in fact, elves. Even so the trope also has a glimmer of truth to it as well. The Native peoples of the Americas generally considered all animals, natural phenomena, and even the land itself (especially mountains and springs) to be living beings on par with humans, and treated them as such, with a mixture of awe (at their wealth and power), respect (as individuals with their own wants and needs), frustration (when things didn't go as expected), gifts (as recompense for resources taken or favors to be asked), and threats, trickery, or bargaining (when all else failed). In some cases though their beliefs were destructive, such as the idea that two deer would be born for each one killed. Some of the Native peoples significantly altered their environments, such as by periodically cutting and burning the forest, which cleared land for farming or to help the deer herds they hunted in getting food.
* In a subversion Creator/CSLewis in ''Reflections on the Psalms'' claims that a purely aesthetic appreciation of nature does not come to most peoples until they are capable of making artificial environments (i.e. cities), and points out that in many works of ancient poetry when people say that nature is beautiful they mean it is useful. That is, under this theory a hunter-gatherer would think an antelope beautiful because it is tasty, but a leopard definitely scary because it might think ''him'' tasty; but city folk think leopards beautiful because they live far away from leopards. Of course in that sense primeval man ''is'' {{in harmony with nature}}, because he is acting just like it.

* While this was believed to be true for hunter-gatherers inherently, modern anthropologists in many cases have found they have the same problems (albeit of course on a lesser scale) with destruction of their environment frequently. The difference however is that naturally they can't affect this to the same degree. So, when destruction of a habitat occurs, the people responsible will suffer in the long run (e.g. starvation after they kill too many plants or animals) then have it bounce back. Which is likely why many hunter-gatherer societies were heavily nomadic.[[/folder]]

* In a subversion Creator/CSLewis in ''Reflections on the Psalms'' claims that a purely aesthetic appreciation of nature does not come to most peoples until they are capable of making artificial environments (i.e. cities), and points out that in many works of ancient poetry when people say that nature is beautiful they mean it is useful. That is, under this theory a hunter-gatherer would think an antelope beautiful because it is tasty, but a leopard definitely scary because it might think ''him'' tasty; but city folk think leopards beautiful because they live far away from leopards. Of course in that sense primeval man ''is'' {{in harmony with nature}}, because [[NotSoDifferent he is acting just like it.]]