Ultimate Fantastic Four
It actually took me years to realize that the Fantastic Four were based on the four elements. In my defense, I was into Spider-Man and the X-Men, so I barely paid attention to the FF unless they made a cameo. This got me thinking long ago about elements being used as a power base. I do it a lot with some characters (Nyx/fire) more obvious than others (Timoran/earth). There are various elemental systems too like the Godai (5 elements of Japan) and the Wu Xing (5 elements of China). I’m going to pay more attention to the 4 element system that I tend to use. Feel free to tell more about the others or mention different groups in the comments.
One issue with using elements is that it’s been done a lot. Fantastic Four, Captain Planet, Avatar: The Last Airbender, mythological beings, etc. It’s a tradition/cliche/trope in fantasy and this typically makes up the basis of most magic systems. You’ll notice that the majority of spells are fire, lightning, ice, and wind. I think part of the reason for this is because pure energy blasts can only be so varied. Nyx fires a blue beam and Trinity fires a purple beam? Doesn’t really make a big difference or an exciting fight. Nyx coming in with giant fists of fire while Trinity kicks to unleash a wave of tornado-level winds is a lot more exciting. So you have the elements as a power base, which still has plenty of variation. After all, Mr. Fantastic is ‘water’ in the way that he moves and shifts. The connection is more for the author to get a handle of a character’s abilities than for the reader to know exactly what the connection is.
Even if you don’t go with exact powers, you can use elements to help explain or plan a character’s personality. Flighty or easygoing can be air-based. Defiant or temperamental could be fire-based. Stubborn for earth and fluid-minded for water. That’s just a base to be used, so I wouldn’t recommend sticking solely to that trait. Jump off that to evolve your character into a more well-rounded person. Take in a little stoic earth to temper the fiery hero or have them become easygoing water in certain situations. It’s a lot of mind and term stretching here. Again this is more for the author side of the coin. Readers may jump to their own conclusions or simply not care if their favorite character is connected to wind or water. Most people start singing the Captain Planet theme anyway.
I’ve heard a lot of people call the use of elements as cliche and they try to avoid it. Yet I’m sure they factor in such things without thinking. Going beyond the characters, you have environments that assimilate the elements to come to life. You might not be paying attention specifically to that aspect of the world, but you it is there. Each area has a different balance of the elements even in the real world. Why do you think they’ve been acknowledged and used since ancient times? This goes for monsters too, but not every genre has those.
Maybe I’ll put together a list post for Monday since this is a fun topic. For now, I’ll simply open the floor to the audience. What do you think of using elements in stories? Have you ever done it before? Do you think you’ve done it unintentionally?
Legends of Windemere 
What a great topic. Sometimes these things are right in front of us and we are still blind. Thanks for the possibilities!
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You’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed it. Very true about it being right in front of us.
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I didn’t realize the Fantastic Four represented the elements. In my defense I don’t read fantasy. But I did love Iron Man and Avatar movies. Does that count?
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More science fiction I think. Though comic books/superheroes seem to be their own genre these days. I’d always put them more in a sci-fi realm anyway. Curious if Iron Man has any elemental connection.
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No idea. I just like Robert Downey, Jr. 🙂
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Nothing wrong with that. Though I’m actually thinking I like Captain America more than Iron Man right now. Probably because of the 2nd movie though.
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Admittedly the second wasn’t as good as the first. But I don’t hold that against him. 🙂
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I think my issue with the second one is that the main villain seemed to be Stark himself and the other 2 were just there for a battle. It felt like Whiplash was interrupting something. 3rd one was just odd to me.
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I don’t think I saw the third. Good to know.
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It’s worth seeing for closure and I think it sets up for Avengers 2. Also the post-finale scene is funny.
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Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the tip. It’s off my list.
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I would say Iron Man uses elements, but not just one. Using this post as inspiration:
The palms project beams of energy, which could be the use of Fire. Same for the blasts used to propel him through the sky, thus using Air. He can function underwater ( a touch of Aquaman or Neptune?), thus the use of the Water element. The only reference I can think of for Earth is his ability to carve out pieces of the ground to upend his opponent, but I have a feeling that is more towards Stark’s understanding of Physics and the Theory of Relativity than creative use of the Elements. He IS a genius, you know…
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Earth would probably be the armor being made of metal. Flight and energy beams could definitely cover air and fire. Iron Man is definitely able to cover all of them due to the multiple suits. Though I think Marvel goes a bit too far with him at times.
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I think it’s great, and have done it to a slight degree. The Southern Dwarves are very much an Earth based people. I glanced off the possibilities contained in the elements in Will O’ the Wisp. I come right out and talk about it in Panama. There is nothing wrong with it in my mind. I’ll probably do it again too.
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It’s such an easy and common basis. Many people might not even realize they do it, but you can connect an element to just about anything.
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I do agree that the elements creep into writing fantasy, an interesting topic to explore further.
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Thanks. I think working with fantasy causes it to happen a lot with me. As I mentioned, it makes spellcaster duels a lot more fun. 🙂
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Have to admit – I never realized the Fantastic Four represented the elements either. My son and I have read a great YA series – The Elementals by Brigid Kemmerer – about four brothers, each able to control a different element. He still goes back and rereads them.
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That sounds familiar. I always think of Captain Planet or The Last Airbender. Yet I guess it’s been a theme for centuries.
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I’ve teased about the elements, and I’ve come right out and said it. I think it’s a wonderful way to explain how something foreign to us works. If it’s now considered a trope, I missed the memo.
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Technically everything is a trope if you’ve seen it enough. I think we’re at the point where using humans, writing in real languages, and the word ‘the’ is considered a trope. (By the way, Wordpess sent all of your comments to spam today for some reason. Sorry about that.)
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It wasn’t just your blog. I made the naughty list somewhere.
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Weird. Wonder what caused it.
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No idea. Maybe I’m being monitored. Maybe you are.
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Nah. That’s just the paranoia talking. At least that’s what I heard someone saying over the baby monitor.
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The way I see it, most all stories dealing with any kind of magic (or majik, for those who delve?) use the Elements for carrying out the spells. The incantations manipulate Earth, Air, Water and Fire to the specifications of the wielder. Or, am I incorrect?
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That’s the basic way to do it. The most common schools are Earth, Air, Water, Fire, Life, and Necromancy. It makes sense too because those 6 things cover everything that you would want to do with magic.
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Reblogged this on D.e.e.L's Writing and Various Nonsense.
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Thanks for the reblog.
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Since there are only those elements I think we all put them in our characters knowing so or not.
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True. Though there are other Element systems that turn up from time to time. Guess nearly everything can be boiled down to basics.
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I read the Fantastic Four comic books, but didn’t realize that Reed Richards represented water. Huh. Makes sense. Johnny Storm is obviously fire. And Ben Grimm is earth or rock? What about Sue with her boring invisible power?
I love the use of the elements. Avatar is my favorite. I love how they came up with bending!
Mercedes Lackey had that Elemental Masters series that I liked some years back.
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Sue is air. Her invisibility (boring?) includes force fields. So they’re attacks that can’t be seen like the wind. Reed is simply fluid like water. Avatar is definitely the reigning king of element-based stories.
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Oh, duh. *smacks head* Makes sense. But when I was a kid, she was kinda boring next to the guys. I thought they made her invisible so she’d escape a beat down, which seemed lame to me then, since it was not an offensive weapon like fire. They must have increased her powers lately.
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She started like that, I think. A lot of invisibility and shields. Then they evolved her over time. I’m not sure when the more offensive stuff started. All I know is a running gag for a while was the mention of her defeating the Hulk and letting it go to her head.
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In no way did i ever find her powers boring. She can repel, water, fire, and earth. So if you think about she is the most powerful of the fantastic four. And she can turn invisible like the air. 🙂 And she is very hot looking too [which can be a power over some men and women. 😉 ]
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I think they made a big deal out of her defeating the Hulk back in the 80’s or 90’s. I believe she created a forcefield in his throat to knock him out? I never read the story, but it was mentioned in some of the issues I own.
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i might have that issue and i do remember that. she knows well how to use her powers. smart lady too.
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Sue is air. Invisible and powerful. Much like tornados and hurricanes. You can’t see the wind you can only see the effects it has on the world around it.
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The main characters of my WIP mix the elements with animal themes.
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Interesting. There’s a lot of old symbolization between animals and elements. So much variety with that too.
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I think of the four elements as ancient concepts, not cliches. Hard to imagine how any epic or sword and sorcery fantasy cannot include them.
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I agree. The word ‘cliche’ gets tossed around a lot, so it doesn’t surprise me. It’s what people use simply to say they’ve seen something before. Kind of like how ‘depressed’ gets misused a lot.
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Well thought, I hadn’t considered it with much depth before. A good read as usual, Charles, thanks 🙂
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You’re welcome. Thanks for visiting. Sure you had an inkling of this stuff from your own fantasy work.
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Oh, what a great conversation! I think it can happen intentionally and by accident – especially if there are four main characters. Maybe readers subconsciously relate four to the four elements, maybe the author did.
~SAT
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Good point. Four does bring the elements to mind right away. I’m already trying to figure out the Ninja Turtles elemental divisions now. Maybe going by their personalities.
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I hadn’t thought of FF in that way — interesting!
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I thought so too. 🙂
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Neat! That is so cool.
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Thanks. 🙂
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