History Main / NaturalElements

* "VideoGame/OpusMagnum" revolves around the creation of alchemical compounds. The atoms used to create the compounds correspond to classical elements (Salt, Fire, Air, Earth, Wind, and 7 metals from lead to gold.

[[folder:Fanworks]]
* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/16378289/chapters/38331902 Moving House]]'' describes the [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} Cybertronian]] equivalent of the four classical elements being Metal, Smoke, Lightning, and Oil. Every Cybertronian or creature is aspected towards one of the four elements, with Jazz being Lightning aspected.
[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** The Disc, being a nearly-unreal world, uses the classical Elements, but adds a fifth. According to the History Monks, the world is made of Fire, Water, Air, and Earth, and the fifth element, Surprise, allows everything to keep happening.
** ''Literature/TheLightFantastic'': It's stated that the druids believe the world consists of four elements: magic, uncertainty, charm and bloody-mindedness.
* An InUniverse folk song in ''Literature/TheGraceOfKings'' describes the nation-states of Dara as such: the martial Cocru and the agricultural Faça are associated with land, the miners of Rima are associated with fire, the naval powers of Amu, Haan, and Gan are associated with water, and Xana, once it mastered air "the empty realm", was able to conquer the other six.

* ''Webcomic/PlanetaAbsurdo'': According to Flowder, the natural elements are water, fire, propane, butane and Bill Murray.

* ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'' has the Elements of Waters, Winds, and Warmth, plus the [[WorldTree Spirit Tree]] serving as the Earth element.

[[folder:Music]]
* Video game remix musician named [[http://djthes.com/ DJ the S]] has the Disciple series. A series of compilation remixes made from various elemental themes from video games but all share one common song as their foundation: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25-BEGZCc0U Fighting of the Spirit]]" from VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia. Two songs in particular known as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3oDdPUwXwc Lord of the Elements]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J4hdam0KIo Master of the Elements]]" are mash-ups of previous elemental remixes he has done, and concludes the entire Disciple series to give one the sense of the true nature of the elements. And apparently, he's still going at it. Now he has a new entry in the series dubbed "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km6tLP6KKgM Disciple Month Aftermath -- VS The 4 Elemental Fiends]]".
[[/folder]]

* ElementalPowers: The natural elements as super powers or magical abilities. (''This page has its own list of elemental related tropes.'')

See also AlchemyIsMagic, {{Transmutation}}, EasternZodiac, WesternZodiac, TheFourGods, and FourTemperamentEnsemble for tropes that typically incorporate some of the natural elements without necessarily being a direct subtrope.

* ElementalAbsorption
* ElementalArmor
* ElementalBarrier

* ElementalNation
* ElementalRockPaperScissors
* ElementalSpeed

* ElementalShapeshifter
* ElementalWeapon

Before people discovered the atomic elements, past thinkers hypothesized the existence of ''other elements'' that were the [[CreationMyth building blocks of life]] and the physical world. These elements were the different forces of nature that humans encountered: water, fire, earth, air, lightning, thunder, dark, light, metal, sound, smoke, even space and cosmic energy, among several others. Though disproven, believing these forces of nature to be the base components of all matter has influenced several real world belief systems and practices and shows up in many fictional works, particularly those concerned with the mystical and magical. In fact, channeling these forces as [[ElementalPowers a magical ability or power]] or using them as the basis of a FunctionalMagic system are some of the most popular ways this concept gets applied in modern works.

In addition, amongst these foundational elements were those considered the ''most'' basic, from which all others were derived. These are known as the '''classical''' or '''great elements'''. The elements that make up this group are, broadly speaking, '''water''', '''fire''', '''earth''', and '''air''', though this does change slightly depending on which philosophical tradition you're referring to:

See also AlchemyIsMagic, {{Transmutation}}, EasternZodiac, WesternZodiac, and FourTemperamentEnsemble for tropes that typically incorporate the idea of the nautral or classical elements without necessarily being a direct subtrope.

Regardless of whether or not a work closely follows a particular school of thought or presents an original system using a different grouping, making use of the notion that the forces of nature are actually discrete "elements" falls under this trope, as do most references and allusions to the "classical elements" if it's not covered by one of the subtropes listed below. Bonus points if the elements' function in the work is connected to being a primordial substance or to the creation of life itself.

* ElementalPowers: The natural elements as super powers or magical abilities.

* ClassicalElementsEnsemble: A grouping of four (sometimes five) superpowered or magical characters based on the classical elements

* AlchemicElementals: {{Elemental Embodiment}}s of the alchemic classic elements, often as a FourElementEnsemble.

* FourElementEnsemble: A grouping of four (sometimes five) superpowered or magical characters based on the classical elements