Elementalism

Elementalism is a somewhat old-fashioned term from various fantasy games and settings used to refer to a form of magic that focuses on the manipulation of the Elements. Exactly what defines an "element" depends on the setting -- in addition to more iconic forms like fire, earth, air and water, some settings also cover more abstract forms, such as lightning, ice, metal, or wood. Some settings even go so far as to add in "esoteric/conceptual" elements -- things like Spirit, Death, Life, Gravity, Sun, Moon, etc.

This form of magic is most associated with videogame RPGs, as it readily translates into a handy array of attacking, buffing and debuffing spells, but it has made appearances in traditional /tg/ media as well.

Although elementalism refers to the practice of elemental magic as a whole, elementalists usually only practice one specific kind of elemental magic -- for example, a caster who uses nothing but fire -- or else a small group of "related" magics, such as a "wood elementalist" who uses plant-manipulating spells (the literal interpretation of wood), air-manipulating spells (because of wind's association with the wood element in the Wu Xing) and lightning spells (because of lightning's connection to air).

In Dungeons & Dragons, Elementalism was an alternate form of specialization for the Wizard in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, though it never really caught on, and also created the Wu Jen as an attempt at an "Oriental Elementalist" spell-caster that is supposed to draw its powers from the Wu Xing elemental setup of Earth, Fire, Water, Wood and Metal.

In Pathfinder, there are no fewer than six seperate Wizard Archetypes for each of the six "classical" (the four Greek - Fire, Earth, Air, Water - and Wu Xing's Metal & Wood) elements.

In Warhammer Fantasy, the conventional schools of magic are based in elementalism, though of the "esoteric" approach -- for example, there's a school of Fire Magic, but there's also a school of Life Magic (manipulation of earth, water and plants, plus healing), a school of Heavens Magic (manipulation of stars, wind and lightning, plus divination and blessing/cursing), and so on.

Elementalism usually involves a form of Rock-paper-scissors, which furthers the tendency for elementalists to only use a specific kind of elemental magic.