Elemental

The original Fantastic Four

An Elemental is a nebulous breed of monster defined by its strong connection to the power of the Elements. The most iconic depiction of the elemental is as the incarnate spirit of a given element, causing it to manifest as a (usually roughly humanoid) entity comprised solely of elemental matter - a swirling mass of wind or flame, a mobile clump of earth or a slime-like animate puddle of water. However, many different monsters have been considered "elementals" over the years.

Real-World

As a basic concept meaning "magical being that embodies or personifies a force of nature", the elemental has been around a very long time. The idea is practically universal, and has its roots in everything from gods and nymphs to more modernistic "fairy tale" beings like Jack Frost.

The most well-known real-world belief about elementals, and probably that which has had the greatest impact on fantasy gaming, is that created by the 16th century alchemist Paracelsus, who defined four main "races" of elemental - Gnomes of Earth, Salamanders of Fire, Sylphs of Air and Undines of Water - as part of his personal alchemical philosophy, because it wasn't until a few centuries ago that folks realized that just making shit up isn't good science. Other prominent alchemists with similar theories include Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa and the Comte de Gabalis, whilst elementals were integral in the belief system of the Rosicrucians.

Dungeons & Dragons

This page is in need of cleanup. Srsly. It's a fucking mess.

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In Dungeons & Dragons, elementals are Outsiders (meaning they're not native to the Prime Material) native to the Elemental Planes, and thus take the form of roughly humanoid creatures made up of elemental (or paraelemental, or quasielemental) matter. This has led to a vast and sprawling family of elementals and elemental-like creatures over the various editions, starting with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

Your standard Elementals are, well, as described; vaguely humanoid masses of elemental matter. They are the most populous of the various elemental beings. The AD&D version of the Great Wheel had somewhat more unusually shaped elementals for the Paraelemental and Quasielemental Planes, but in 3rd edition, this humanoid design was retroactively applied to those planes as well. Basically if you can think of a combination of energy types there should be an elemental for that.

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  Air 1e
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  Earth 1e
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  Fire 1e
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  Water 1e
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  Air & Earth 2e
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  Fire & Water 2e
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  Air & Earth 2e
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  Fire & Water 2e
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  Earth 3e
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  4e
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  Air 5e
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  Earth 5e
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  Fire 5e
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  Water 5e

Dread Elemental

These are standard Earth, Air, Water and Fire Elementals that were summoned into Ravenloft, and were warped into horrible versions of themselves. Grave Elementals are warped Earth Elementals that are made of grave soil and have the ability to bury people alive with a touch. Mist Elementals are corrupted air elementals who have the ability to turn people Chaotic Evil with a touch. Blood Elementals are tainted Water Elementals who can drain the blood from others to feed themselves. Pyre Elementals are distorted Fire Elementals who have the ability to either burn through armor (AD&D) or animate corpses as burning zombies or skeletons (3e).

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  Pyre and Mist
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  Blood and Grave
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  All four

Elemental Kin

AD&D introduced the concept of "Elemental Kin"; entities that were very strongly related to the elementals, but looked and functioned more like humanoid races rather than spirits possessing matter: Air was home to Aerial Servants and Sylphs; Earth was home to Chrysmals, Pech and Sandlings; Fire was home to Azers, Salamanders and Tome Guardians; Water was home to Nereids.

Fan-made Dread Elemental-Kin appeared in the Book of Shadows netbook; Myst Sylphs, Mist Servants, Crypt Gnomes (corrupted Pech), Gravelings, Heat Stalkers (corrupted Salamanders), Pyre Wyrms (corrupted "Fire Snakes" - larval Salamanders), Bloody Marys (corrupted Nereids) and Scarlet Streams (corrupted AD&D Water Weirds).

Genie

Genies in D&D are considered a breed of elemental, if very distinct from the standard masses. This is why there are four distinct breeds, one for each element; Dao of Earth, Djinn of Air, Efreet of Fire and Marid of Water. Plus the fifth "mixed elemental" Jann.

Planetouched with an elemental heritage are called Genasi, and debuted in the Complete Planeswalker's Handbook for Planescape back in the 1990s. Weirdly, they went on to become particularly associated with the Forgotten Realms afterwards, to the point their PC writeups for both 3rd and 4th edition were in Realms splatbooks.

World Axis

A Primordial Blot and an Ashfrost Elemental

4e's World Axis houses the standard elementals and genies, but also does something a little more unique: it is home to multiple kinds of "mixed" or "hybrid" elementals, rather than a small selection of paraelementals and quasielementals. These can range from things like a geode octopus to a hybrid ice/magma hulk to the Primordial Blot; a mixture of all known kinds of elemental matter/energy that is theorized to be a stillborn and/or fetal planet. It's also home to blight-born demons, a kind of fiend created from elementals corrupted into demons by exposure to the energies of the Abyss. Some of the more distinctive blight-born are dust demons, which are whole families of djinn transformed into a singular entity that takes the form of a writhing whirlwind of dirt, dust, teeth and broken bones, and ash-wrought soulburners, which are efreeti who have had the vital spark sucked out of them, turning them into fire-resistant, cold-vulnerable heat vampires.

Elemental Weird

Introduced in AD&D, these were originally portrayed as serpentine Elemental Kin, with only Earth Weirds and Water Weirds existing, but in 3rd edition these were changed into their own unique Nymph-like elemental Oracles, with one for each plane. The original Elemental Weird became the Lesser Elemental Weird, a larval state, and didn't get acknowledged until Dragon Magazine #347.

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  1e
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  2e
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  Earth Weird
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  Now in Color!
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  3e Air & Water
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  3e Earth & Fire
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  5e

Dark Sun

Dark Sun added a bunch of elemental variants, since Athas has no gods so clerics are recast as elemental mages in that setting. It also used the alternative paraelementals of rain, silt, and sun instead of ice, ooze, and ash, respectively. Greater/Lesser Elementals

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  Greater Air
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  Greater Earth
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  Greater Fire
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  Greater Water
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  Lesser Air and Earth
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  Lesser Fire and Water

Elemental Beasts

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  Air
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  Earth
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  Fire
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  Water
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  Magma
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  Rain
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  Silt
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  Sun

Animental

A creature from AD&D that was updated to 3.5e as a template in Dragon Magazine #347. An animental is an animal or monster (including monstrous humanoids, like medusas) who died and whose spirit was drawn into an Elemental Plane, where it was reincarnated as an elemental version of its former self. This idea probably inspired the Elemental Template in 3rd edition.

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  A lightning medusa and fire unicorn]]
• Ice giant squid
  Ice giant squid
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  Magma rhinoceros
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  Ooze behir
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  Smoke dragonne

Grue

Small, malevolent, elemental spirits, with one for each of the four Elemental Planes.

Elemental Vermin

Al-Qadim introduced the Elemental Vermin; small animals native to the four Elemental Planes and which basically serve as their home environment's form of pest. They consist of the armadillo-like Duster (Air), koboldish rat-dog-lizard Crawler (earth), alligator hatchling-like Flameling (fire) and tailed toad-like Spitter (water). Theoretically, they could serve as familiars.

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  Duster (Air)
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  Crawler (Earth)
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  Flameling (Fire)
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  Spitter (Water)

Elemental of Chaos & Law

Mystara has Elementals of Chaos and Elementals of Law, who seek to further the cause of their respective alignments on the elemental planes.

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  Eolian (Air Chaos) and Erdeen (Earth Chaos)
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  Pyrophor (Fire Chaos) and Undine (Water Chaos)
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  Anemo (Air Law) and Kryst (Earth Law)
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  Helion (Fire Law) and Hydrax (Water Law)

Elemental Archon/Myrmidon

Introduced in 4e, the Elemental Archons were the soldiers in the armies of the Primordials. They are more than just Elementals: what others lack in regards to self-awareness and initiative the Archons do have. While being highly militaristic and strictly adhere to their superiors they are almost always Chaotic Evil because they want to return the world to its shapeless and fluctuating form prior to the arrival of the gods. They of course do not like this, which was the entire reason the Primordial War even started.

After the gods defeated the Primordials the Archons fell to the service of various elemental lords, both petty and great. They still retain their desire to return their masters to their rightful place in the world and would potentially betray everyone they work for to see this done.

Archons exist out of one element (fire, ice, earth, water, lightning etc.) like normal Elementals do, but instead, they wear armor over parts of their body. They almost always armor their torsos, shoulders and heads, though the exact nature of the armor varies per type. They are human-sized, with everything above the waist being the same shape as humans but instead are made out of one element. Some of them wield weapons made in the style that fits the Archons, but some use weapons made out of fire, ice and so on. If an Archon would be slain it dissipates, possibly alongside its weapon(s), but leaves behind its armor: while a PC can wear it, its light construction makes sure it does not offer a lot of protection.

Before 4e ended, the following Elemental Archon types had been provided with stats:

• Fire
• Water
• Earth
• Air
• Ice
• Storm
• Iron
• Mud
• Magma

5e renamed the Elemental Archons into the more generic Elemental Myrmidons, making them a neutral allied creature, that can be made by conjuring an elemental into a suit of armor. this will mindwipe the sentient mass of its past free life.

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  Earth
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  Fire
• Ice
  Ice
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  Water
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  Lightning
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  5e Air
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  5e Earth
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  5e Fire
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  5e Water

Elder Elemental

Intruduced in 5e's Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes and composed entirely of retconned monsters from previous editions. These elementals become more powerful by consuming other elementals on their native planes, and can be summoned into the Prime Material as apocalyptic forces of nature capable of razing entire cities to dust.

The four elder elementals are:Leviathans, massive serpents made of water capable of creating tidal waves; Phoenixes, birds of fire that explode upon death and actively seek to spread fire and destruction; Elder Tempests, feathered winged serpents with the power of a thunderstorm; and Zaratans, turtles of earth that will probably crush your entire village underfoot without even realizing it.

In previous editions, Tempests in previous editions looked like living stormclouds and were considered "composite elementals" made of multiple elements. Zaratans also appeared in previous editions but were not elemental monsters. They were originally giant aquatic turtles whose shells served as giant moving islands, but 5e designers considered this too similar to Dragon Turtles.

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  Elder Tempest
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  Zaratan
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  Phoenix
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  Leviathan

Archomental

The powerful demigod-like rulers of the Elemental Planes.

Mephit

Small, weak, obnoxious, prank-playing elemental imps.

Fundamental

Weird elemental creatures from AD&D that look like a pair of bat wings with no body between them.

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  Air and Earth
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  Fire and Water
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  All four

Pathfinder

All OGL elementals are maintained from 3.5. The elemental type no longer exists, instead being a subtype of Outsider that carries most of the rules baggage of the original type. Mostly this just frees the writers from having to saying "outsiders and elementals" a bunch since most effects that worked on one worked on both. Pathfinder has since added further elemental types.

Aether Elementals are beings made of translucent, multicolor threads that embody Aether, the "element" that contains magical force and telekinesis. They can be invisible whenever they want. Small ones make for some of the best familiars in the game since they're invisible and their telekinetic abilities scale based on their master's hit die.

Paraelementals were eventually stolen from D&D, with new statistics since they weren't OGL. Since they weren't OGL they're also never actually referred to as "paraelemental" in published material, but no alternate name has been printed, so everyone outside of Paizo still calls them that. While Ice (Water+Air) and Magma (Earth+Fire) were natural enough combos to copy outright, Mud (earth+water) replaced ooze. Smoke elementals, oddly enough, don't exist even though an Elementalist Wizard sub-school for the combination does. Pathfinder also has the oddball of Lightning Elementals. Formed of giant thunderstorms on the elemental plane of air. Even more simple minded and aggressive than typical elementals. None of these are particularly exceptional as a familiar.

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  Water
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  Fire
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  Earth
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  Air
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  Ice
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  Lightning
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  Magma
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  Mud
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  Sandstorm

Battletech

See Power Armor.

Monstergirls

As with every other kind of monster, elementals sometimes get the monstergirls treatment too. It helps that because of how generic the term is, any woman with the right elementalism powers and coloration could easily be passed off as an elemental monstergirl. It doesn't hurt that Dungeons & Dragons also introduced the Genasi race, who're supposed to descend from unions of humans and elementals, so technically a monstrous woman version of an elemental is canon in D&D.

It helps that it literally comes with the standard portrayal of an elemental - a creature influenced by its elemental symbolism - and all it's really doing is putty a sexy skin over a standard concept.

In the Monster Girl Encyclopedia, the term "Elemental" is used to cover various elemental spirits - some with a rather tenuous connection. For example, the Kitsune-bi is considered an elemental.

Naturally, the core four are well represented. Gnomes are earth elementals who take the form of curvaceous women made out of living earth and stone. They are calm, gentle creatures whose presence enriches the land around them, making it healthy and strong, and giving them an affinity for plant mamono. Sylphs are playful, free-spirited, green-skinned & haired sylvan spirits who serve the setting as air elementals. Undines are water elementals whose bodies are technically slime-like, being comprised of animated water, but which can assume a solid human-like thickness to better interact with humans; calm-natured and devoted, they are a gentle race. Finally, the role of fire elementals is filled not by Salamanders - in this setting a kind of lizardfolk - but by creatures called Ignises, hotheaded, fiery-tempered and passionate spirits who appear as naked human women with flame swirling around their bodies and preserving their modesty.

Then... there are the other elementals. Dark Elementals are embodiments of the dark, demonic energies that the Demon Queen is using to transform the world into her infernal paradise; their very presence can transform whole villages into dens of monstergirls. For reasons known only to the author, whilst the other elementals have more inhuman forms, Dark Elementals appear as naked lolis floating atop a ball of inky-black slime. Yuki-Onnas are considered "Ice Elementals", but that role is more directly filled by Glacies and their Ice Queen rulers; crystaline-aspected and coldly beautiful women of pale-blue flesh and icy shells who seek to steal the metaphysical warmth from humans for themselves. Finally, the Dorome is a dopey lustful slime-like elemental of living mud, apparently created by accident when too much demonic energy and wet soul goes into the process of embodying a gnome - the wording is highly awkward and difficult to understand.

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  Earth
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  Wind
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  Fire
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  Water
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  Ice
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  More Ice
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  Mud