Elemental Personalities

"Fire is the element of power. The people of the Fire Nation have desire and will and the energy and drive to achieve what they want. Earth is the element of substance. The people of the Earth Kingdom are diverse and strong. They are persistent and enduring. Air is the element of freedom. The Air Nomads detached themselves from worldly concerns and found peace and freedom. Also, they apparently had pretty good senses of humor. Water is the element of change. The people of the Water Tribe are capable and adapting to many things. They have a deep sense of community and love that holds them together through anything."

— Iroh, Avatar: The Last Airbender

In fiction, different types of Elemental Powers and Elemental Motifs are often linked to specific personalities. These associations are often derived from perceived qualities in the element or substance, which are then mirrored in a character's personality. In some cases, this is done in a fairly literal or straightforward manner — for instance, air is constantly in motion and easily stirred up, so air-themed characters are flighty, fickly and wanderers. In others, this is done more metaphorically — for example, fire and ice and literally hot and cold, so fire- and ice-aligned characters are metaphorically heated and cold in personality.

This association is very old, and tends to occur as early as actual elemental systems. The Ancient Greeks, for example, believed that human personalities are divided into four basic types, and that each is caused by a surfeit of one of the four classical elements in the body — air produces extroversion and cheerfulness, fire produces passion, determination and a short temper, earth produces analytical, dogmatic and depressive personalities, and water produces calm, flexibility and passivity.

While variation can occur in different cases, most elements are associated with specific personality types:

• Air is vivacious, flighty and prone to change. Air-themed characters are often mercurial, prone to being pulled hither and yon by passing fancies and interests. They may be depicted as lively, talkative, and gregarious people, or else as all-but-literal airheads unable or unwilling to concentrate on important matters. Alternatively, air is sometimes associated with pacifism, non-aggression, and diplomacy. Traditionally associated with the Sanguine temperament.
• Darkness is reclusive, secretive and amoral. Good characters associated with darkness are usually brooding, pragmatic and solitary, concealing their good hearts beneath layers of metaphorical shadows. Evil darkness users tend to be schemers and manipulators, and may be outright inhuman in mentality.
• Earth is typically portrayed as calm, stable and enduring. Positive earth-aligned characters are often reliable, patient and unlikely to let their emotions get the best of them. More negative portrayals can have them as reactionary, stuck in their ways, and difficult to motivate. Traditionally associated with the Melancholic temperament.
• Electricity is active, filled with energy, and often a little loopy. On the one hand, characters associated with this element may be vivacious, energetic and unwilling to sit idle when there's work to be done. On the other, they may also be annoying and difficult to keep up with when they aren't simply a Psycho Electro. Sometimes juxtaposed with fire.
• Fire is associated with passion and emotion. Fiery characters and beings can be found almost everywhere on the emotional spectrum, as long as whatever they feel is felt strongly. They are also prone to rocketing to extremes of feeling on a dime, and are often Mood Swingers. More positive portrayals make such characters vivacious, passionate and genuine in their expressions. More negative ones are prone to being violent, unstable, and difficult to deal with or predict — and heaven help you if they're also a Pyromaniac. When paired with Elemental Hair Colors, this often results in Fiery Redheads. This is often associated with Fire Is Masculine. Traditionally associated with the Choleric temperament.
• Ice is often associated with a lack or dampening of emotions. Sympathetic ice-aligned characters, much like their earthen counterparts, may be depicted as rational sorts who don't let emotion and bias cloud their judgements, and are often keenly intelligent. More negative portrayals have them as unfeeling, cold and cruel. Often contrasted with fire's emotional nature, as in Fire/Ice Duo.
• Light is usually upright and moralistic. Good light-themed characters are usually wise, innocent, or relentlessly cheerful, but always very morally focused. Evil ones are usually prideful, arrogant, and judgmental. Frequently contrasted with darkness, sometimes with fire.
• Metal is often similar to earth and ice in being associated with stubbornness and restrained emotions, as well as having literal iron willpower. More than being calm, however, metal is more likely to be simply emotionless. On the one hand, this may lead metal-wielding characters to be rational and reflective; on the other, they may just as easily be robotic, inflexible and passionless.
• Water is yielding and adaptable. The adaptable aspect of water can also be depicted as mercurial, with such characters being Mood Swingers, with a heavier focus on moody and somber moods in contrast to fire's tempestuous passions. Mirroring their element's ability to take on the shape of the vessels it is given, water-aligned characters are often diplomatic and adaptable, and willing to put their own passions aside for the sake of greater causes. Such characters can often be the glue holding all the other emotional extremes together, or they may simply be spineless and with little moral fiber. Often associated with women and contrasted with fire. Traditionally associated with the Phlegmatic temperament.
• Wood is caring, calm, and nurturing due to being associated with growth and with a very passive form of life. Plant-wielding characters are typically benevolent sorts, and often healers. On the other hand, pacifism and meekness easily become cowardice in excess.

Some works posit direct causal relationships between powers and temperaments, instead of these simply happening to occur together. In most such cases, specific emotional states are necessary to fully harness and control an associated element. As such, a pyrokineticist might need to work themselves up into a rage to stoke their flames to their greatest strength, while a cryokineticist might instead need to enter a state of dispassionate calm to properly control ice.

See also Burning with Anger. When such personalities clash, it's often along the typical lines of Elemental Rivalry. Elemental based groups like Classical Elements Ensemble, Land, Sea, Sky, Fire, Water, Wind, and Fire, Ice, Lightning make liberal use of these characterizations. Subtrope of Personality Powers. Compare Four-Temperament Ensemble with the historical associations of classical elements and temperaments. Contrast Power Stereotype Flip if the personalities are opposite of their associated element.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• Bleach:
  • Toshiro Hitsugaya and Rukia Kuchiki both have ice powers and cool, stoic demeanors. Though Hitsugaya is a bit more prone to comedic outbursts than Rukia, especially when dealing with his lazy lieutenant Rangiku.
  • Bazz-B is a Sternritter with pyrokinetic abilities and a vicious temper.
  • Candice Catnipp is a volatile Sternritter with lightning powers.
  • Jin Kariya is the main antagonist of the Bount Filler arc. He has a calm, relaxed demeanor that rarely breaks and can control wind.
• Digimon: With the exception of the third and ninth series, the lead character from each series is associated with the element of fire, typically by being partnered with a Digimon with fire-based powers, and has a quick temper to go with it.
• El-Hazard: The Magnificent World: Shayla Shayla, the Fire Priestess of Mt. Moldune, has fire-based powers that intensify to match her disposition — as she becomes angrier or more excited, her flames also become brighter and hotter.
• I Got My Wish and Reincarnated as the Villainess (Last Boss)!: Reus is a Hot-Blooded fire-elemental mage in this timeline.
• K: Misaki Yata, a fire-wielding Red Clansman, is hot-headed to the point of reckless foolhardiness.
• My Hero Academia:
  • Shoto Todoroki's Quirk lets him produce vast streams of ice and fire. At the start of the story, he exclusively uses his ice powers to spite his father, resulting him being cold, stoic, and fixated on becoming a hero without using his fire powers. But once Midoriya forces Todoroki to realize that his fire powers are his own, Todoroki begins to defrost, showcasing far more warmth and empathy while retaining his burning passion to become a hero.
  • Denki Kaminari possesses an electricity Quirk and is constantly the life of the party. Goofy, a Casanova Wannabe, and constantly energetic, he doesn't always think things through but manages to make fast friends with his classmates because of that same energy.
  • Fumikage Tokoyami's Quirk, Dark Shadow, is a Living Shadow with a mind of its own. Tokoyami himself is rather brooding and seems to suffer from Chuunibyou, to the point that his room is extremely dark and he keeps occult items lying around it.
  • Inasa Yoarashi is a Shiketsu student with a powerful air manipulation Quirk. He's extremely lively and gregarious along with being a little airheaded, apologizing for transgressions by bowing his head so low that he bashes it against the pavement. His name is also associated with wind storms, and he showcases a bitter and vengeful side to him regarding his distaste for Todoroki's and Endeavor's attitudes.
  • Dabi possesses an extremely powerful and self-destructive fire Quirk with flames even hotter than Todoroki's or Endeavor's. Whereas Todoroki's acceptance of his fire powers is reflective of his growing warmth and empathy, Dabi's flames burn him and are illustrative of his obsession with destroying Endeavor and everything he holds dear. Dabi uses them carelessly to torch his enemies and actively tries to cause as much mayhem as he can. As Todoroki's lost older brother, Toya, his obsession began when he was tossed aside as a failure in his father's eyes, with Toya's ambitions and frustrations resulting in him lashing out against the "perfect" Shoto.
• The Red Ranger Becomes an Adventurer in Another World: The titular Red is "the Warrior of Flame" and an extremely Hot-Blooded Stock Shōnen Hero able to make stuff explode by punching it. As someone whose powers are literally fueled by The Power of Friendship, Red is loud, outgoing, and relentlessly passionate about the bonds between people and protecting the bonds of others. His passion is later revealed to be a fixation born of his Dark and Troubled Past, as he has deep-seated abandonment issues from losing his parents at an early age, with any and all family friends refusing to take him in on account of the expenses of raising a child.
• Sekirei: Many of the Sekirei's personalities are tied to their elemental powers (at least the ones that actually use/have elemental capabilities):
  • Kusano has the power to grow plants. Appropriately, her personality is sweet, caring and peaceful.
  • Tsukiumi has control over water. Interestingly she's a Defrosting Ice Queen, being very cold, harsh, arrogant, and at first, believing she could remain "unwinged" and win the Sekirei Plan all by herself without an ashikabi, but gradually becomes more of a Tsundere as time goes on showing more of her noble and honorable traits, emphasizing a "Holy Water" aspect. Of all of Minato's Sekirei, she is the most feminine.
  • Kazehana, as her name implies, controls the wind. On the surface, she can be very flighty and carefree, especially when drunk and often does things on a whim. She is also highly perceptive and is prone to take matters into her own hands without much help nor effort.
  • Homura/Kagari has power over fire. He's an Aloof Ally who prefers to act like a "Sacred Flame" and help from the shadows, keeping people at a distance. He can be quite abrasive and hostile in the more dire situations and is arguably the most ruthless and violent out of all of Minato's group and won't shy away from using force or even murder to reach a solution (especially with Minaka).
  • Akitsu is a sekirei that controls ice. She's a Tragic Ice Character who's calm, emotionless, and the most stoic character in the series. She evokes her element by being clad in all white and surrounded by a supernatural chill. Beneath that cool exterior, she's actually kind and gentle. These glimpses primarily show when interacting with her companions.
  • Hikari and Hibiki are twin sekirei who have the power to generate electricity. Separately, Hikari is the more violent and bad-tempered of the two. If she's not zapping their ashikabi, Seo, over his perverted habits, sometimes to extremely perverted degrees herself, she's usually the one to start zapping anyone and anything indiscriminately. Hibiki is the calmer one, usually coming behind Seo and/or her sister to apologize for their actions, hence her name meaning "sound" implying she's the "thunder" to her sister's "lightning". Together, they're both viewed as "prickly", often shocking Seo (Hikari extremely) over just about anything he does and impatient as they were hunting unemerged sekirei.

Asian Animation

• BoBoiBoy: The titular hero with elemental powers can split into counterparts that wield a respective element, and each of them has their own distinct personality.
  • Earth/Quake: The most sensible and responsible out of all the elements, often ending up as their leader. It's noted that Earth/Quake is closest to BoBoiBoy's original personality.
  • Lightning/Thunderstorm: Serious and a bit of a lone wolf. He has a slight temper, but he isn't as explosive as Fire/Blaze.
  • Wind/Cyclone: Cheerful and playful, always ready to have a bit of fun.
  • Fire/Blaze: Prone to mood swings and has a huge temper. Also prone to exploding out of anger when the right buttons are pushed. Was formerly riddled with anxiety before becoming more hot-headed.
  • Water/Ice: A chill personality who is calm and relaxed, though he did tend to be a bit lazy.
  • Leaf/Thorn: A childish, naive, Cloud Cuckoo Lander who sporadically does random things for the fun of it. He's less brave than the other forms and is prone to being a bit of a crybaby.
  • Light/Solar: The Ace personality who is notoriously intelligent and powerful, though tends to get too cocky because of this.'

Comic Books

• Empowered: Willy Pete is a wild and destructive villain whose body is covered in fire hotter than the surface of the sun.
• Marvel Universe:
  • Fantastic Four: The Human Torch is an impulsive, arrogant hothead to match his pyrokinetic powers.
  • X-Men: Emma Frost can transform her skin into a diamond and is known for her icy, aloof nature.
• Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Surge and Kit have command over electricity and water, respectively. Surge is wild and vicious, while Kit is soft-spoken and meek on the surface yet shows hints of being more ruthless, reflecting the shifting nature of water.
• W.I.T.C.H.: The Cloud Cuckoolander Hay Lin controls air, the grounded, skeptical Deadpan Snarker Cornelia controls earth, and Taranee is a reversal of the usual Playing with Fire type, being very shy and gentle and thus reliable enough to be entrusted with the most easily destructive element. Irma, who controls water, is kindhearted and laid-back, but also impulsive. Will, who controls energy and electricity, is emotional and volatile, but also determined.

Fan Works

• Abraxas (Hrodvitnon):
  • As in canon, Godzilla is an aquatic monsters who seeks to maintain the world's balance, Mothra's ability to create blinding flashes of light matches her protective nature, Methuselah is a rocky monster with a peaceful and passive disposition, and Rodan is a highly aggressive pyrokinetic beast.
  • Monster X is a positive Electricity when they manage to activate their bio-electrical powers, with the Vivienne Graham half of them being a Reluctant Psycho who's unwilling to sit on the sidelines but is prone to Berserker rages for most of the story, while the San half of them is actively inquisitive; in contrast to Ghidorah's negative Electricity.
  • Camazotz, though only appearing as a Continuity Cameo in the main story and on the Timeline, gets extra Darkness points beyond his MonsterVerse portrayal for apparently having gone into seclusion following the events of Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), unlike the other awakened Titans.
• Destiny Intertwined:
  • Earth is associated with peacefulness. Earth dragons tend to be calm and slow to anger, but are often perceived as stubborn, dumb, or stone-hearted.
  • Electric dragons tend to be quick-witted, hyperactive and impatient. Their element usually awakens in response to intense surprise, fear, or emotional shock, or sometimes just at random.
  • Fire is associated with passion and strong emotion. Fire dragons usually discover their element during a bout of strong feelings, often anger.
  • Ice dragons tend to conceal their feelings, giving an impression of being cold and calculating, and tend to aloof and stubborn. Ice is usually discovered by its users as a result of grief or turmoil.
  • Hayze the Shadow dragon is taciturn and reclusive, preferring to stay by himself rather than to interact with others of his own accord.
• I Woke Up As a Dungeon, Now What?: Evocation magic is aligned to seven personality traits, each of which is associated with certain elements and types of evocation. It's technically possible for anyone to cast any evocation with any spell crystal, but it's harder to perform an evocation which doesn't match your dominant personality traits or the alignment of the spell crystal you're using, and it's much harder if both are mismatched (i.e. someone whose dominant trait is justice trying to cast a calmness spell using a determination crystal).
  • Kindness is associated with growth, healing, and the element of wood.
  • Passion is associated with the element of fire, and with forging or creation magics.
  • Knowledge is associated with the element of water, and with divination and information magics.
  • Calmness is associated with the element of ice.
  • Determination is associated with the element of stone.
  • Justice is associated with the element of lightning.
  • Courage is associated with the element of air.
• A Posse Ad Esse contains an unusual variation with Dolly. She unconsciously calls upon elemental magic depending on her current emotional state; anger creates fire, sadness creates rain, pain creates cold and ice, etc. As Dolly has a severe mood disorder, running over a vast emotional gamut but mostly anger and depression, her elemental emanations are liable to change at any time.

Films — Animation

• Frozen (2013): The association between ice and emotional inhibition is deconstructed with Elsa, who's actively forced to "conceal, don't feel" after accidentally injuring her sister Anna with her ice powers as a child. This practice ultimately causes her to snap and flee into solitude, fearing the risk of Power Incontinence.
• Ne Zha: Ne Zha, whose magic mostly manifests in the form of fire and flames, is aggressive, short-tempered, and impulsive. Ao Bing, who instead creates and manipulates ice, is focused, deliberate, and restrained in his actions.

Films — Live-Action

• MonsterVerse: The various Kaiju (Titans) show signs of this, with Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) especially being a highlight.
  • Water: Godzilla, despite the fear the giant semi-aquatic creature inspires, is ultimately committed to defending the world's natural balance against those who would disrupt it, even being notably tolerant of humans as long as they don't make themselves a major threat to that balance, and he's survived being nuked point-blank multiple times and grown stronger for it.
  • Light: Mothra is physically characterized by her Beta-Wave Bioluminescence and for producing blinding God-Rays. She's also shown to be one of the most benevolent Titans in her interactions with humans by far, and she directly refuses to submit to King Ghidorah.
  • Fire: Rodan is portrayed in this continuity as a bio-volcanic creature that hibernated inside a volcano and has Hot Wings, and he's excessively violent towards humans when provoked to defending his territory in a fury and when serving Ghidorah.
  • Electricity: Ghidorah here has bio-electric powers which basically make him a living superstorm. He's completely Ax-Crazy to a point far beyond the instincts of other hostile Titans; he actively slaughters any humans he sees for the fun of it, and actively seeks to usurp Godzilla so he can wipe the Earth clean of life supposedly in order to xenoform it to his own liking.
  • Earth: Kong (a.k.a. the Mountain Who Thunders Death), Behemoth and Methuselah (a sloth/mammoth-like Titan with granite spines and a giant rocky Planimal respectively) are described as relatively peaceful and beneficial Protectors. Kong is shown to be explicitly protective of the human Iwi tribe to an even more explicit extent than Godzilla, and he shows an unwillingness to let his emotions get the best of him in his decisions to aid Godzilla against Mechagodzilla and to subsequently make peace with Godzilla, in Godzilla vs. Kong. Behemoth is described as benign, and Methuselah is described as a Mighty Glacier who is very resistant to attacks and even allows humans to shelter on its mountainous back, according to their respective Monarch profiles.
  • Darkness: Camazotz, "the Dark Titan", is a giant black bat which lives in darkness and cannot stand light. In the graphic novel Kingdom Kong, he's revealed to be the force responsible for drawing in Ghidorah's leftover superstorm and enveloping Skull Island in a Perpetual Storm, enabling him to emerge in the resulting darkness with the sole aim of claiming the island as his own territory and killing Kong, not caring at all how his actions spell the destruction of the island's native ecosystem.
  • Air: The male MUTO in Godzilla (2014) is a Metamorphosis Monster who becomes airborne in his adult form, and he doesn't really seem to care about anything except plundering manmade nuclear materials for food and making babies with the only other available female of his kind (and of course, like his sister-girlfriend, he couldn't care less about how their species repopulating would negatively affect humanity or the global ecosphere).

Literature

• Chivalry of a Failed Knight: Stella Vermillion is emotional, passionate and provided with a Hair-Trigger Temper, matching her pyrokinetic powers, and has red hair to match.
• Codex Alera: Some types of furycrafting are associated with a certain range of emotions:
  • Earthcraft is associated with love, lust and contentment, and can "ground" the emotions of others to make them calmer.
  • Firecraft can be used to generate anger, raise passions, and cause fear and panic.
  • Metalcraft is associated with an absence of emotions. A metalcrafter can draw on the "stillness" of metal to control their emotions, becoming dispassionate and flat.
• The Dresden Files: Harry Dresden is a passionate, bluntly honest wizard who prefers combat to the intellectual politicking of his peers, has a bit of a temper problem, and specializes in conjuring fire.
• The Lord of the Rings: Gandalf's powers usually manifest themselves in the form of fire, light, and explosions, and he is also known for his quick temper and fierceness.
• Memoirs of a Geisha: Chiyo is thought to have a great deal of water in her personality, which means she's clever, adaptable, resourceful, and able to "find a crack to spill through." Her sister Satsu is thought to have too much wood in her personality, which means she "holds fast to the earth" (more set in her ways).
• The Quest of the Unaligned: Mages in the kingdom of Cadaeren are impacted by the type of elemental magic that they use. This means that, as they use their powers, shamais (water) tend to become staunch, hidebound traditionalists; aeshes (fire) grow to be intelligent, innovative, and inconoclastic; aretzes (earth) tend to be stable, kind, and reliable; and ruahks (air) grow flighty and hyperactive.
• The Rape of the Lock: Ariel the sylph explains for the audience's benefit that, when women die, their personalities determine their roles in the afterlife: stuffy prudes become gnomes and live in the earth; soft-willed, yielding girls become watery nymphs; hot-tempered termagants become fiery salamanders, and the coquettes who stay above real emotional connection become sylphs and live in the air. They spend their afterlives perpetuating their favorite activities: Ariel, a sylph, exists to help Belinda be even more of a flirt and heartbreaker than she already is. However, when Belinda's hair is stolen and she declares war on the race of men, Ariel can no longer influence her, and she falls under the power of the gnomes.
  ''For when the Fair in all their Pride expire,
  To their first Elements the Souls retire:
  The Sprights of fiery Termagants in Flame
  Mount up, and take a Salamander's Name.
  Soft yielding Minds to Water glide away,
  And sip with Nymphs, their Elemental Tea.
  The graver Prude sinks downward to a Gnome,
  In search of Mischief still on Earth to roam.
  The light Coquettes in Sylphs aloft repair,
  And sport and flutter in the Fields of Air.''
• Temeraire: The Aerial Corps' first fire-breathing dragon, Iskierka, is Hot-Blooded and spoiling for a fight even when fresh out of the egg. As a hatchling, she needs to be bodily restrained from flying into combat against dragons hundreds of times her size.

Roleplay

• Fire Emblem on Forums: Chains of Horai: The power of a Gnosis, a blessing from the gods of the setting, is generally based on the personality of the person wielding it. For instance, Todoroki, a Hot-Blooded swordsman seeking to be one of the best swordsmen in the Five Kingdoms, wields a Flamma Gnosis, while the icy, calm but devoted ninja Setsurou uses a Glacies Gnosis.

Tabletop Games

• Dungeons & Dragons: It's common for genasi to share personality traits with their elemental ancestor. Air genasi are Mood Swingers; earth genasi are grounded and deliberate; fire genasi are volatile and quick-witted; and water genasi are free-spirited and independent.
• In Nomine: Most Words are associated with a variety of conceptual and thematic meanings beyond the literal one. As such, Celestial beings tied to them often have personalities heavily influenced by the nature of their Words; this can cause frictions with others, but the angels generally tolerate these idiosyncrasies because they ultimately reflect their holders' role in the Symphony.
  • David, Archangel of Stone, is stern, unyielding, and greatly concerned with duty and justice. His Word symbolizes a resilient, reactive form of strength; his servants are charged with never starting fights, teach mortals how to endure times of hardship, and usually restore essence through Rites involving long periods of quiet prayer or contemplation.
  • Gabriel, Archangel of Fire, is unstable and prone to sudden mood swings. Her servants love her with a fierce, mad passion, and she encourages them to be aggressive and to bring battle and judgement to evil wherever it may lurk.
  • Janus, Archangel of the Wind, is gregarious, passionate, and also prone to mood swings. His role is to promote change and renewal, and he commands his servants to upset static systems, disrupt normality, and generally cause as much chaos and trouble as they can without disrupting the Symphony.
• Magic: The Gathering: Red Mana is associated with both the element of fire and with strong emotions. Regardless of whether the emotion of the moment is anger, hilarity, love or grief, Red characters feel it strongly, vividly and suddenly, but will be quick to shift to another as the situation changes.
  • Chandra Nalaar, a prominent Red planeswalker, is particularly gifted at fire magic, and is a very powerful pyromancer. She's also impulsive and very openly emotive, and has a decidedly short temper.
  • Earth elementals, in a break from how Red creatures normally operate, are beings of immense patience and endurance, who prefer to analyze things from the long view and scorn the haste and impetuousness of mortals.
• Pathfinder:
  • Cloud dragons are restless wanderers at heart, and spend their long lives wandering across the planes in search of new wonders and chasing their latest fancies.
  • Magma dragons are impulsive, emotional beings with a species-wide case of Hair-Trigger Temper.
  • Umbral dragons are scheming, secretive and ambitious, hiding themselves in desolate lairs while their nurse long-running plots for influence and power.
• Promethean: The Created: If a Promethean fails a Humanity roll in certain stressful situations, they succumb to "Torment" where their personality is overwhelmed by the alchemical humour that animates them3. Frankensteins, animated by fire, become vengeful; Galateids, animated by air, fixate on an object of affection; Osirans, animated by water, become cruelly dispassionate; Golems, animated by earth, enter Unstoppable Rage; and Ulgans, animated by spirit, lose their minds to spirits.
• Warhammer Fantasy:
  • Wielders of the Lore of Fire, such as Imperial Bright Wizards, elven Dragon Mages, and ogre Firebellies, are typically characterized as impulsive, hot-headed, passionate, and prone to sudden mood swings. Thyrus Gormann, the Supreme Patriarch of the Bright Wizards, is noted to have been particularly affected by this, and to be infamous at the imperial court for his sudden outbursts of rage and tendency towards dark moods. As the Lore of Fire is the magical manifestation of passion, this is caused in part by strongly emotive people being drawn to the Lore and in part by the Lore influencing its users' minds.
  • The Ice Witches of Kislev are typically characterized as being cold, unapproachable and controlling.
  • As described in the Storm of Magic supplement, fire dragons are impatient, hot-tempered and prone to violent rages, frost dragons are patient and slow to anger, and storm dragons are excitable, flighty and whimsical.
• World Tree (RPG):
  • Flokin, god of fire, is aggressive, quick-tempered, and cheerfully destructive, and is infamous for his casual cruelty. Much like him, fire magic is difficult to control and prone to wriggling out a mage's grasp with hungry red fingers.
  • Hressh-Huu, goddess of air, is a wild and joyful trickster endlessly flitting from one amusement to the next; she used to run the weather as an ever-changing whirl of extremes, and had to be forced by the other gods to stick to a regular progression of seasons. The winds of the World Tree take after her in temperament, mischievously snatching and tossing objects to vex mortals.
  • Merklundum Harnipsundum, god of water, is a lazy, passive, and constantly-sleeping deity, much as water itself would rather pour along downhill or sit in a depression than go sloshing off on its own accord. Likewise, water magic can be difficult to "motivate" and push into doing what you want.

Toys

• BIONICLE Chronicles:
  • Tahu, the Toa of Fire, is bold, short-tempered, and aggressive to the point of recklessness.
  • Kopaka, the Toa of Ice, is cold and aloof, and prefers to work alone.
  • Gali, the Toa of Water, is wise, warm, and gentle, and serves as the group's main peacekeeper.
  • Lewa, the Toa of Air, is free-spirited, humorous, and independent.
  • Pohatu, the Toa of Stone, is reliable and dependable, although in a break from conventions he's also boisterous, cheerful, and easygoing.
  • Onua, the Toa of Earth, is wise, patient, and level-headed, and prefers to speak little.

Video Games

• Deltarune: Noelle, an anthropomorphic reindeer, is naturally associated with ice and snow, using spells related to such in the Dark World. While generally a sweet and gentle figure who excels in school, the Weird Route in Chapter 2 revolves around the player forcing her into becoming an unfeeling living weapon by psychologically abusing her and having her freeze every enemy in Cyber City, which leaves her deeply traumatized when she snaps out of it.
• Final Fantasy VI:
  • Terra automatically learns fire spells. Initially this goes with the wild and potentially destructive nature of her esper side, but later in the game it reflects her warm, caring, maternal side.
  • Celes learns ice to start with since she's a Defrosting Ice Queen.
• Fire Emblem: Characters with Ice affinities are generally standoffish and aloof (such as Marisa and Innes) while Dark implies more of a Dark and Troubled Past than actually being affiliated with Dark magic. Micaiah, for example, is a Light magic-user with a Dark affinity.
• Genshin Impact:
  • Anemo's archon is the most free-spirited of the archons as befits the god of air and freedom. Heizou and Kazuha are amongst the most free-spirits of their kind in the more stern nation of Inazuma.
  • Cryo users tend to have something about them that needs to thaw out. Diona, Eula, and Rosaria have Tsundere qualities. Kaeya likes his secrets. Ganyu, Mika, and Chongyun tend to be rather shy.
  • Dendro users definitely have a focus of healers and shielders, with 4 of the 8 playable characters as of version 3.8 having at least one of the two abilities. However, all Dendros in the game seek knowledge.
  • Electro users easily take charge of the situation, with Razor being the only one of the 11 as of 3.8 to be an exception.
  • Geo users are most determined of all vision holders, with only Itto having an outgoing personality.
  • Pyro users are highly energetic. All the female ones save Dehya can be considered a Genki Girl, even if they have professions like funeral director or legal advisor. Diluc's the only sedate, but that was due to family trauma some time ago.
• Golden Sun:
  • Fire Adepts are typically Hot-Blooded Fiery Redheads.
  • Earth Adepts are prone to laconic speech, leadership roles, and puzzle-solving.
  • Water Adepts are calm, generally keep to themselves or are outright secretive, and are intellectual, usually trained as medics. They're also frequently the resident Deadpan Snarkers, especially when it seems counterintuitive for them to be.
  • Wind Adepts tend to be mysterious and often have traditional Psychic Powers (mind-reading, clairvoyance, and precognition) in addition to wind and lightning powers.
• Infamous 2:
  • Lucy Kuo is an altruistic government agent that looks to cold hard logic. When her powers are activated, they are themed around ice.
  • Nix is a wild and passionate Pyromaniac with a particular hatred of authority (ranging from the corrupt Militia to cops generally trying to serve the people). She is a conduit that possesses power over napalm, and fire by extension.
• Kingdom Hearts: The earth-wielding Lexaeus is the strong, silent type, while the fire wielder Axel/Lea is impulsive. Donald Duck with his famous Hair-Trigger Temper has literal Firework magic. Ventus is innocent and lighthearted and has Wind and Light as his specialty.
• The Legend of Dragoon features different elemental associations for each of the main characters, allowing them different strengths and magic once they obtain their Dragoon spirits while also being the basis for their personalities.
  • Dart is associated with fire, and quickly establishes himself as being brave, passionate, determined, and heroic.
  • Lavitz is an air elementalist; however, in a subversion of standard faire, he's not flighty or excitable, but high-minded, dutiful, and idealistic. However, he's even more eager than Dart to spring into action.
  • Albert is another air elementalist, an exuberant intellectual with a passion for reading, a tendency to get distracted by matters of the mind, and the fastest fighting style in the entire game.
  • Shana's element is Light, and she's near-universally regarded as innocent, kind-hearted, gentle, and pure.
  • Miranda, another light elementalist, is also a highly moral character. Unlike Shana, however, she's known for being arrogant, aggressive, and judgmental — most of it a cover for her anxieties and trauma.
  • Rose is a Dragoon of darkness; accordingly, she's grim, isolated, humorless, secretive, mysterious, and ruthless. Also, it eventually becomes clear that she's been left traumatized by the loss of her old friends, and can't remember the last time she laughed or even smiled.
  • Haschel is a lightning elementalist, and is accordingly vivacious and active despite his advanced age. He also has a mischievous streak, and gets on well with the water-aligned Meru.
  • Meru, a water elementalist, is feisty, exuberant and very free with her emotions, though she takes great care to hide her moments of sadness. She also adapts quite readily to working alongside Dragoons, then becoming one of them; as it turns out, she's a Wingly, and has adapted well to posing as a human.
  • Kongol is associated with the element of earth; loyal, hard-working, stubborn, and resilient — to the point that he won't join the party until being defeated in combat twice. Plus, his ideals don't change much even once he leaves Emperor Doel's service and allies with Dart: he wants to create a world where all species are equal, and trusts his leader to help him find a way.
• The Legend of Spyro: Volteer, the guardian of electricity, is upbeat and vivacious, and has a notorious Motor Mouth. Cyril, the guardian of ice, is intelligent, calm and haughty. Terrador, the guardian of earth, is stoic and thoughtful. Ignitus, the guardian of fire, is the primary exception, as he's the most mild-tempered of the group.
• Pokémon: Single-Type specialists, such as gym leaders and Elite Four members, tend to have personalities matching their chosen element:
  • Pokémon Red and Blue: Lt. Surge, the gym leader of Vermillion City's gym, is a brash and vivacious war veteran who specializes in Electric-type Pokémon.
  • Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire: Flannery, Hoenn's Fire-type gym leader, is known for her brash and energetic nature.
  • Pokémon Diamond and Pearl: Flint of the Sinnoh Elite Four is a fire trainer, and is energetic and hotheaded.
• Skully have the feuding Elemental siblings:
  • Terry the earth elemental is the firm, grounded brother who wants his siblings to stop their fighting.
  • Fiona the fire elemental is as hot-tempered as she looks, threatening to incinerate Terry for intruding her lair.
  • Brent the wind elemental is the most chill of the bunch, and is the siblings' smooth talker.
  • Subverted with Wanda, the water elemental, who's anything but calm as water. She likes sending tidal waves at anything that pisses her off.
• Street Fighter:
  • Ken, who makes extensive use of fire in his attacks, is cocky, brash, and free-spirited, and has a particularly aggressive combat style.
  • F.A.N.G. uses poison to fight. He's smug and unfeeling, and likes to experiment on people.
• Suguri: Kae has fire powers and is an energetic Blood Knight, while Kyoko has ice powers and is cool emotionally, but compassionate and caring.
• Super Mario Bros.: Mario and Luigi are often depicted with fire and lightning abilities, respectively, in the RPGs. Mario is brave and consistent but also aggressive and impulsive, showing a little hotheadedness. Luigi is slightly lazy and cowardly (you could say that he's gone in a flash), but is also more expressive with his emotions than his brother and funny (one can argue that he has more of a spark of life in him). When Luigi does act, he can make all the difference, and he is as brave as his brother during events with strong enemies, hence the partnership between the two. He even calls himself the "Green Thunder" while Brainwashed and Crazy in Super Paper Mario.
• Tales Series:
  • The spirits feature personalities akin to their elements with varying degrees of differences depending on the incarnation from game to game.
    • Undine the water spirit is often portrayed as the calm and serious one. She is usually the one to understand how dire a situation is (and may relay this info to the party if they don't know it already) and is the spirit who's the most willing to work with the party, which is why she's often the first spirit the group will recruit in the games. She often comes off as the Team Mom for the group.
    • Sylph the wind spirit is often depicted as energetic and sometimes childish with a very mischievous streak. Commonly depicted to be The Trickster or a Trickster Mentor.
    • Efreet the fire spirit is very loud, boisterous, and proud, sometimes to the point of arrogance, and is usually the spirit that takes some effort to recruit. He's often portrayed as a Jerk Ass With A Heart Of Gold.
    • Gnome the earth spirit is one of few words. He will either be the most laidback and "down to earth" spirit or the most withdrawn and stubborn spirit of all.
    • The lightning spirit Volt is an orb of chaotic energy. He will either have robotic mannerisms with a speech pattern to match or a very unstable erratic personality.
    • The ice spirit Celcius is literally the Ice Queen trope: aloof, grumpy, a loner, snarky, hostile towards anyone that gets close, and of course, a Tsundere.
    • Shadow, as the name implies, is the spirit of darkness. He's a recluse who prefers to isolate himself in complete darkness, and when challenged, he will show no mercy, having some of the most devastating attacks and combos in the games.
    • Rem and Luna are the spirits of light. Rem has an angelic appearance and is seen as an authoritative figurehead for both humans and the spirits combined. Rem can be very judging of humans, either leaving the people or just directly telling them to solve their own problems since it's the humans themselves that cause them. Luna has more of an innocent personality; being more lighthearted, carefree, and whimsical compared to Rem.
  • Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World have the Centurions, servants of Ratatosk. While there is mention of as many Centurions as there are spirits, only 2 were seen:
    • Tenebrae is the centurion of darkness and proudly so. He's extremely snarky and has a dark sense of humor. To Emil, he's a Trickster Mentor, if not just screwing with him, while to everyone else, he's The Gadfly, taking pleasure in injecting conversations with mischievous comments that serve only to make bad situations worse. His antics hardly work on Colette however. If anything, it's her naive presence and Literal-Minded comments that annoys him. He's fiercely loyal to Ratatosk even if it means the destruction of the world and himself in the end.
    • Aqua, as the name implies, the centurion of water. She is highly emotional making her seem hostile to approach (with Tenebrae's constant button pushing not helping). She is nice to Emil however, though it's mainly because Richter is nice to him, so one can say her emotions are like that of waves. She had renounced her loyalty to Ratatosk in favor of Richter, since she had found her master's plan to wipe out all of humanity reprehensible, so she has general good intentions in mind.

• Undertale:
  • Inverted by Toriel and Asgore Dreemurr. Both characters specialize in fire magic, but rather than being passionate and emotionally extreme, they're calm, gentle figures who treat the human as if they were their own child.
  • Pyrope is an anthropomorphic flaming coil of rope known for being brash and mischievous. Like Toriel and Asgore, Pyrope specializes in fire magic.
• Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider: The various Guardians all have Elemental Powers and most of them have personalities to match:
  • Flamestalker is the fire-element Guardian and has the brash, destructive personality of a bully.
  • Geocrusher is the earth-element Guardian who is stubborn in his ideals, insisting that Moonrider is a part of the Guardians and the Golden Revolution. When Moonrider refuses any part of this, Geocrusher doesn't take it well.
  • Stormdiver is the air-element Guardian who questions her choices internally and later saves Moonrider in the end after an Armor-Piercing Question by Moonrider.
  • Hydromancer is the water-element Guardian and has a cold, orderly personality associated with ice, an element often associated with water.
  • Photondrifter is the light-element Guardian who's in it for the glory.

Visual Novels

• Soranica Ele: The water-powered Honoka is calm and shy. The fire user Naki is a hot-blooded determinator. Saya, who has earth powers, is the most grounded of the cast. Kaguya, with wind powers, is flighty, eccentric and fragile. Zenobia, with darkness-based powers, is aloof but not a bad person, and Ophelia, with her power of light, is a guiding force that the rest of the cast looks up to.
• Villainous Nights: The main cast mostly have elemental powers and personalities to match them:
  • Wolf has powers of ice and cold and a standoffish, Sugar-and-Ice Personality. He also had an interest in ice skating even before his powers manifested, which prompts Bat to call him a stereotype.
  • Cat has electricity powers and is an agile, playful trickster.
  • Badger has rock and earth powers and is blunt, straightforward, and no-nonsense.
  • Falcon is mysterious and unpredictable — what could be harder to get a grip on than air?
  • Bat is secretive and never shows his face until later seasons, and has the power to manipulate light and darkness.

Webcomics

• Beyond the End: Many characters have elements associated with them, some feed more into their personality than others.
  • End is light; innocent and cheerful, always wanting to do what is right even if he is uncertain what that is.
  • Michael is light and hard set on his morals. He always believes his decisions are the morally correct ones and everyone should follow them. He's quick to cast judgement.
  • Uriel is fire and is emotional, going from completely laid back to full snapping if pushed in any way he dislikes. He's frequently referred to as a Wildcard and unpredictable. He's also fun-loving and the life of parties.
  • Hal is water, both willing to listen to everyone else's story and try to make things work, but with little actual moral fibre.
  • Raphael is air and is rarely in Heaven to do any work. He prefers to wander Purgatory, talking to the people there and making friends as he travels.
  • Mortis is dark and first introduce as an intimidating antagonist. He turns out to have a heart of gold, but remains secretive.
  • Lucifer is dark and brooding, frequently going to the garden to do so.
• Daughter of the Lilies: Margot is cool and collected, even when facing a Greater Drath solo, and improvises with whatever's at hand — fitting for the comic's first water mage. On a date with Lyra, she's friendly and affectionate.
• Drowtales: Inverted with Nishi'kanta, a powerful fire sorceress whose personality seems to border on emotionlessness. Her sister, Sil'lice, starts as another inversion and turns a straight example through character growth. Before getting ejected from her clan by her sisters, she was a hotheaded warrior who is stated to have valued honor above reason — and yet, her magical affinity is for ice. However, after her clan's coup, she becomes cold, bitter and resentful, holding a deep grudge against her sisters.
• Homestuck:
  • John's Breath powers mainly take the form of control over air and its movement, and he has a mischievous, lighthearted and free-spirited personality to go along with them.
  • Hephaestus, Dave's Denizen, strongly associated with fire, as he's wreathed in flames, is a master of the forge, and lives in the depths of Dave's lava-filled land. He's described as constantly brimming with rage and always being just on the edge of flipping out.
• Panthera: Leo controls the earth element and is the group's sensible, emotionally stable leader; the critical, easily angered Tigris bears fire; the adaptable, emotional Onca wields water; and the lighthearted, spiritual Pardus is associated with air.
• Sleepless Domain: No one is exactly sure how powers are determined, but they at least have something to do with personality. As such, Team Alchemical's Elemental Powers all corresponded to their personalities — Sylvia is somewhat flighty, Sally is a Fiery Redhead, Gwen is quiet and blunt, and Undine is polite and emotional.

Web Original

• Find Out Your Dragon Name As Long As It Isn't Rugarth Because That One Is Mine:
  • Fire-breathing Kelvorax is described as having a fiery temper and an "unquenchable ego".
  • Tyndallion, the oceanic dragon, is as mercurial and potentially destructive as the winds and waves themselves.

Web Videos

• Pop Cross Studios: Zigzagged with three of the Multiverse Tales protagonists, each of whom has a different elemental power.
  • Alexis Jones, who has the power of "mineral magnetism" (basically, manipulating earth), partially fits the "stuck in their ways" depiction, given her stubbornness, but not the "unlikely to let their emotions get the best of them" depiction, seeing as she gets pretty foul-tempered in the presence of her sort-of former friend Astra.
  • Heath "Hurricane" Reynolds, the Kaiju Slayer, who manipulates the weather, is certainly active and is a Boisterous Bruiser, but he's one of the easiest members of the team to get along with.
  • Sterling Engeal, Alexis' closest friend, can create fire and secretes metal from his pores to create Instant Armour or create weapons that cover his hands. He's certainly calm for the most part, fitting the associations usually given to metal, but as a result he doesn't fit the "volatile fire-user" mindset.

Western Animation

• Avatar: The Last Airbender: Bending is strongly linked to not only one's personality, but the culture they were raised in.
  • Firebending is fueled by "emotion and rage" but lightning by a lack thereof (or, more accurately, control over it). More to the point, firebending of any kind requires an unflinching will and a forceful, disciplined personality, which tends to lead to ambition. Later episodes reveal one reason why the Fire Nation is so messed up is that their current bending style is corrupted and focuses too much on anger. Zuko experiences this firsthand in "The Firebending Masters". After he has a Heel–Face Turn, he's less angry and can't fuel his fire the way he used to. He learns that fire can also be fueled by passion, which he still has plenty of.
  • A major roadblock for Aang when it comes to Earthbending is that he has to "stop thinking like an Airbender" and learn how to "be steady and strong" like rock.
  • The Legend of Korra:
    • This issue is made explicit with the strong, brash Mighty Glacier Korra as explained by her airbending teacher:
      Tenzin: Often the element that's most difficult for the Avatar to master is the one most opposite to the Avatar's personality. For Aang, it was earthbending.
      Korra: Yeah, well, I'm about as opposite an Airbender as you can get.
    • Oddly enough, while Korra is from the Southern Water Tribe, fire tends to be her go-to element in combat. This matches her tendency to tackle most problems impulsively and with brute force, which is at odds with the evasive nature of airbending and even the adaptive qualities of her native waterbending (which would also require a water source of some kind, which she wouldn't have the patience to look for or the foresight to carry on her). Even when she learns airbending, she uses it in a manner mostly similar to the firebending style.
• Jackie Chan Adventures: Amongst the series' recurring antagonists, the eight Demon Sorcerer siblings plus their son/nephew Drago represent the elemental Taoist Eight Trigrams, and Tarakudo and his Oni/Shadowkhan army are essentially shadow demons.
  • Amongst the former group: Bai Tza (Water) is slippery, knows when to call it quits and flee, and due to these attributes lasts more than one episode (just) against the heroes; Tso Lan the Moon Demon (Ice) is very sophisticated with a cold and rational demeanor but is demonstrably just as cruel and callous as his siblings; Drago (Fire) has inherited his father's Fire Demon magic but has a notably more naked temper than his already-volatile pops; and Tchang Zu the Thunder Demon (Electricity) is a straight-up Psycho Electro who's quite vocal about his plans for destruction.
  • Amongst the latter group, only Tarakudo and one of his generals are given much characterization, but their goal is to enshroud the world in eternal darkness without caring how it affects others. Tarakudo schemes at times, but he also stand apart from the Demon Sorcerers for his pragmatism in how well he (usually) treats his minions.
• Steven Universe: Ruby is Hot-Blooded and literally burns up when she's angry, while Sapphire is emotionally detached and An Ice Person.
• Xiaolin Showdown Each Xiaolin monk's personality is tied to their own element in some way:
  • Omi's element is water; he's the most curious and naive of the monks. He can be very adaptive of most situations and has proven on occasion to be a Jack of All Stats (in parallel to how water has various phases).
  • Raimundo's is the wind; he's impulsive, will often do what he wants when he wants, and can be unpredictable at times. He's also a bit mischievous.
  • Kimiko's is fire; she's full of energy and quick to anger. She can also be overconfident, believing herself incapable of making mistakes.
  • Clay is the earth; he's strong, unmoving, and will stubbornly stick by his principles no matter how disadvantageous it is to both him and his fellow monks.

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