History Main / EarthWindJuxtaposition

Expect wind to be the [[ForceAndFinesse the finesse to earth's force]]. It can also potentially crossover with LifeDeathJuxtaposition with earth representing death in reference to people being buried or cremated while air represents life as a reference to people needing oxygen to live. In some cases, earth will be viewed as a masculine element while wind is viewed as a feminine element.

[[DishingOutDirt Earth]] and [[BlowYouAway air/wind]] are two of the [[FourElementEnsemble four classical elements]]. While not used as a contrast to each other as often as fire and water, earth and air do have a history of [[ElementalRivalry being juxtaposed.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Airbending and earthbening are contrasted in their respective approaches to combat. Airbening favors flexibility and finding the path of least resistance while earthbending focuses on direct and decisive action. In "The King of Omashu", King Bumi mocks Aang for favoring evasion in battle and Aang is shown to have the most difficulty mastering earth when trained by Toph due to it being the opposite of his native element of air.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': The show is a sequel series to ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and contains more examples of characters with Earth/Wind juxtapositions:

** In the second and third games, summons can use multiple elements together, including opposites. One of the most powerful summons is Charon, [[YinYangBomb who uses Venus and Jupiter]], and can potentially take out enemies in a OneHitKill. It's awkward to set up and usually not worth using against enemies, which is likely why the Dullahan BonusBoss uses it against the party.

** The first two archons one meets are the [[BlowYouAway Anemo]] and [[DishingOutDirt Geo]] archons, Barbatos and Rex Lapis. Barbatos calls Lapis an old blockhead and Lapis calls Barbatos a drunkard.

** The first two archons one meets are the [[BlowYouAway Anemo]] and [[DishingOutDirt Geo]] archons, Barbatos and Rex Lapis. Barbatos calls Lapis an old blockhead and Lapis calls Barbatos a drunkard. In the Anemo archon's nation of Mondstadt, the defacto ruling group is the Knights of Favonius; their maid, Noelle, desperately wants to become a full knight but is distressed when the elemental vision she gained was Geo and not Anemo.

* ''Videogame/LordsOfMagic'': Of the eight ElementalNations, The Earth nation consists of an alliance of [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]], [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnomes]] and [[{{Hobbits}} halflings]], and its units generally have [[MightyGlacier high attack and defence but slow movement]], while the Air nation consists of a mix of [[FragileSpeedster faeries]] and [[LightningBruiser storm giants]]. They naturally begin the game with poor relations with each other. Overlapping with LifeDeathJuxtaposition, the Air nation has above-average relations with the elves of the Life nation, and the Earth nation begins the game with cordial relations with the dark elves of the Death nation (though this relationship will degrade and turn sour eventually).

* ''Videogame/LordsOfMagic'': Of the eight ElementalNations, The Earth nation consists of an alliance of [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]], [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnomes]] and [[{{Hobbits}} halflings]], and its units generally have [[MightyGlacier high attack and defence slow movement]], while the Air nation consists of a mix of [[FragileSpeedster faeries]] and [[LightningBruiser storm giants]]. They naturally begin the game with poor relations with each other. Overlapping with LifeDeathJuxtaposition, the Air nation has above-average relations with the elves of the Life nation, and the Earth nation begins the game with cordial relations with the dark elves of the Death nation (though this relationship will degrade and turn sour eventually).

* ''Series/NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'': Yousuke Shiina/Hurricane Red is a HotBlooded IdiotHero with the power of air. Kouta Bitou/Hurricane Yellow is the team's strategist who prefers to plan rather than rush into battle like Yousuke.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'': Terra is more into [[DishingOutDirt Earth]] and [[CastingAShadow Darkness]], while Ven uses Wind and Light. Their differences are also reflected in their gameplay: Terra has strong physical stats and dishes out heavy, powerful attacks against the Unversed, whereas Ven's gameplay focuses on swift, fast attacks, quick maneuvering, and dodging. Even their D-Links highlight the differences in gameplay: D-linking with Terra allows the character to perform hard-hitting combos; D-linking with Ven nets the player Aero and Aerora, the wind-aligned magic.

** [[AllThereInTheManual The 5th edition Monster Manual mentions a rivalry between the Wind Dukes of Aaqa, and Ogremoch, Prince of Elemental Earth.]] It is said that Ogremoch's footsteps splinter the rocks he walks on, and his hatred infuses into the rock fragments and transforms them into [[OurGargoylesRock gargoyles]], creatures that mock the elemental air by [[OxymoronicBeing being capable of flight in spite of being made of stone]]. He sometimes hurls motes of gargoyles into Aaqa, where they take pleasure in fighting the Aaracokra, a race of BirdPeople whom the Wind Dukes employ as servants.

* ''VideoGame/JadeCocoon 2'': Each of the 4 classical elements is associated with a strategy in battle. Air [[{{Mons}} minions]] tend to be fragile but aggressive and rely on enemy weakening attacks, inflicting StandardStatusEffects such as Sleep, Blind, Poison or Confuse or reducing their enemies' defense stats. Earth minions have a focus on {{Status Buff}}s and defense, and have abilities like boosting their allies' defenses, summoning a stone wall to prevent enemy attacks, and attacks that get stronger if used on consecutive turns.

* ''Videogame/LordsOfMagic'': The Earth nation consists of an alliance of [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame dwarves]], [[OurGnomesAreWeirder gnomes]] and [[{{Hobbits}} halflings]], and its units generally have [[MightyGlacier high attack and defence slow movement]], while the Air nation consists of a mix of [[FragileSpeedster faeries]] and [[LightningBruiser storm giants]]. They naturally begin the game with poor relations with each other. Overlapping with LifeDeathJuxtaposition, the Air nation has above-average relations with the elves of the Life nation, and the Earth nation begins the game with cordial relations with the dark elves of the Death nation (though this relationship will degrade and turn sour eventually).

** ''Heroes Of Might And Magic III'': Air Elementals and Earth Elementals both deal 2x damage to each other as part of the Conflux's internal ElementalRockPaperScissors. They're also complete opposites tactically: Air Elementals are low-health, fast, and have a ranged attack when upgraded while Earth Elementals are sturdy {{Mighty Glacier}}s.
** In Ashan, the religion of the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]] venerates two great spirits known as Mother Earth and Father Sky. Mother Earth is seen as a protector and healer and grants a sense of community in times of peace, while Father Sky is seen as a source of elemental power, and of the strength and rage that orcs channel when it is time for them to wage war.

Earth is an element associated with strength, stamina, durability, fortitude and pride. It can also present stubbornness, filth, dirt, slowness and boorishness.
Likewise, air is associated with speed, maneuverability, freedom, grace and enlightenment. It can also be associated with detachment, flightiness and softness.

* ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'': Cornelia is the Guardian of Earth, and is the oldest and most mature of the most mature of the girls. Hay Lin is the Guardian of Air, and is the youngest and silliest of the girls.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Mulan}}'': [[BigBad Shan Yu]] holds [[BigGood the Emperor]] at swordpoint, demanding the latter bow to him. The Emperor only responds, "No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it." No points for guessing who is the mountain and who is the wind.

* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'': [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with Lewa and Onua. Lewa is the Toa Mata/Nuva of air, and is known for being high-spirited, playful, lacking attention span, and talkative nature. Ouna, Toa Mata/Nuva of earth in contrast is thoughtful, patient, one of the wisest of the team, and only speaks when he feels it's important. However despite their opposite temperaments they are pretty close, with Onua being the one to pull off an IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight on two occasions when Lewa was under mind control.

** Similar to Liyue's story between the aforementioned two archons, we have Xiao, the last living [[GuardianEntity Yaksha]] and Zhongli/Rex Lapis' protected, who received the Anemo element instead of Geo, and also having some relationship with Venti/Barbatos.

** In the case of gameplay, these elements also contrast each other, being the only 2 of the 7 elements that does nothing when you combine them against enemies.

* VideoGame/GoldenSun:

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'': Terra is more into [[DishingOutDirt Earth]] and [[CastingAShadow Darkness]], while Ven uses Wind and Light. Their differences are also reflected in their gameplay: Terra has strong physical stats and dishes out heavy, powerful attacks against the Unversed, whereas Ven's gameplay focuses on swift, fast attacks, quick maneuvering and dodging. Even their D-Links highlight the differences in gameplay: D-linking with Terra allows the character to perform hard-hitting combos; D-linking with Ven nets the player Aero and Aerora, the wind-aligned magic.

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero'': The mid-section of the game involves Sub-Zero traversing the Temple of the Elements to gain access to Shinnok's amulet deep within its walls. The second stage is "Wind Element", where Sub-Zero has to face spinning platforms and ride a hurricane to further advance in the stage and reach Fujin, the god of wind, who looks very much human. The next stage is "Earth Element", which takes place in a mine or subterranen area filled with tunnels and crevices that open and close at random. Its boss is the Earth God, a towering {{Golem}}-like creature.

** ''VideoGame/Persona2'': The above pattern holds true in this game as well, as Personas with Earth-element attacks and resistances tend to be weak to Wind-element and vice-verca. Interestingly, Ulala's first Persona Callisto is Earth-element, while her Ultimate Persona Astraea is Wind-element; and their resistances switch accordingly.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': Sonic represents the wind, being fast and carefree. His rival Knuckles is said to embody the earth, being strong, stubborn and preferring to stay rooted in one place. Some games have given Sonic and Knuckles control over air and earth respectively to match their ElementalMotifs.

* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Suwako Mariya and Kanako Yasaka are a downplayed example. Suwako is a sky goddess and Kanako is an earth goddess; they used to be enemies, but are now good friends. However, Suwako's profile says they still argue quite often.

* ''WesternAnimation/MummiesAlive'': In "Married To The Geb", Presley and the Mummies have to settle an argument between Geb, the spirit of the earth, and his wife Net, the spirit of the sky, before their fighting destroy San Francisco.

* According to the [[Main/{{FourTemperamentEnsemble}} Four-Temperament Ensemble]] philosophy, each of the four humours (Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic and Phlegmatic) can be slotted into one of the four classical elements, with Sanguine corresponding to Air and Melancholic representing Earth (rigid, inflexible).