5 Tribes, 5 Elements

The Zelda series tends to follow the classical Greek elemental system to quite a degree by creating temples around the 4 elements and associating them with races. If the Zelda series based temples around the Chinese elements, which races would dominate each element?

In my opinion they would be as follows:

Water - This is obvious, the Zoras are so closely tied to the water that it would be difficult to connect to any other race to it.

Earth - The Goron in my opinion are very earth related, they basically live on a giant rock, eat rocks and exist as beings of rock. Their connection with earth is rock-solid!

Fire - Fire represents passion in my opinion and I believe this is best embodied in the Gerudo. These flame haired maidens are passionate furies who also portray a fairly lusty nature furthuring my reasoning for their connection to fire.

Wood - Depending on which time period you are in, I would either have the Deku, Korok or Kokiri races fill this position. I feel that the Deku and Korok are the embodiment of wood and that the Kokiri are more or less spiritually connected with trees, plants and nature in general.

Metal - This is by far the most difficult to place, as it is such an abstract element. I am still very much undecided on this one, but I have 2 opinions on who it could be. I feel the Subrosians are very connected with metal, whether it is in ore or blacksmithing. But I feel they are not quite the embodiment I am looking for. My other thought is Shiekah. While it may not register automatically, they are a strong people who seek truth. When I think of all the armour and weaponry they would use I think metal. When I think of a mirror reflecting truth, I think metal. When I think of metal, I think of the overall silvery grey sheen which I can easily attribute to the Shiekah.

Anyway, these are just my opinions. Feel free to contribute your own or criticise mine!

I'd of put Gorons with fire, if earth wasn't there, as they live on a volcano and they are connected with the fire temple.

Well people don't always count the fifth element as metal. It is oftern reffered to as electricity or spirit (Which would more accuratly portray the sheikah).

Gerudo would be earth, they live in a desert, and anyway deserts are freezing at night so it's not always firey but always has sandstorms.
Also if spirt were another element i'd say hylian, but thats just me.

Well, the 4 elements of alchemy are Earth, Fire, Wind and Water.
I would say: Dekus/Kokiri=Earth(Plants belong to Earth)
Gorons=Fire(Hey, they´re Fire resistant, they live in a volcano,what more?)
Zora=Water(obvious)
Wind=...duh, I don´t know. Maybe Hylians?

Well, the 4 elements of alchemy are Earth, Fire, Wind and Water.
I would say: Dekus/Kokiri=Earth(Plants belong to Earth)
Gorons=Fire(Hey, they´re Fire resistant, they live in a volcano,what more?)
Zora=Water(obvious)
Wind=...duh, I don´t know. Maybe Hylians?

I know. Wind is the sweetest element there is in alchemy. I havn't a clue as to why therre is no wind in a Zelda game.
Anyway...
Fire-Goron; they walk through it and eat rocks(which comes from cooled lava)
Water-Zora(DUH)
Earth-Hylians;they are the main race and have the royal family.Earth is everywhere too.
Wood(should have been replaced with wind)-Kokiri/Deku; they live in the forest, the deku are made of wood
Metal?-Umm...Gerudo. They make good use of it with their spears and metal jail cells.

Hmm, yeah, you could swap hylians and Deku/kokiri. Trees are high enough to be possibly count as wind.

Wind rules *zaps lightning at school*

But I think Metal is Earth, ´coz it can be found in ore, wich definitly is Earth.
Or Fire, molten metal looks like lava, and Gorons also make good use of it.

There are seven typical elements shown throughout many Japanese shows:
-Fire
-Earth
-Wind
-Water
-Dark
-Light
-Electric

Anything else, sorta seems like it's a "sub element" of one of the seven major ones like Metal would go under Earth, and Shadow would go under Dark. As for Plant, that still could go under Earth, but most people do think of Earth as a ground/rock based element, when it is really ground and plants.

Fire: Gerudo (They live in the tough heat of the desert, and have survived for centuries (so it seems) in these conditions)
Earth: Gorons...I don't think I even need to explain why.
Wind: Rito...same as gorons, no explanation.
Water: Zora
Light: Hylians (come on, I believe it was said somewhere that they are the children of the goddesses, that's why they have pointy ears so they can listen to them one day...plus I think the ears are used for telepathy..)
Dark: Ganon and all of his minions.

Now, there's clearly no need for Electric. But if we were to put the "sub elements" I'd choose these:
Plant: Koroks (or Kokiri)
Shadow: Sheikah
Metal: Subrosians (explanation? They live deep deep in the earth, they collect ore, and they are good blacksmiths. With a civilization surrounded by volcanoes, I'm not surprized that they took the hobbie of blacksmithing)

Other "sub elements" could be, smoke, sand, mist, etc...but we don't need to go thaaaat far (no need to anyways).

C'mon like i said the desert is both hot and cold. Twinrova represent this.
I really think Gerudo are earth and Goron are fire.
I agree with you on the darkness though. I would classify all monsters as dark, i mean moblins have demonstrated intelligence worthy of a species in several games.
Also for electricity could you count those cloud people as a species, or the minish as one of the elements.

I´d rather count the cloud poeple as wind.

Think we've got a little problem here. Everybody has his own idea of elements (not the chemic ones).
Gotta sort this out.

Here's what I think of as the Elements, and the races associated with them.

Fire: Gorons. The Sage of Fire was one,a nd they live in a volcano.
Water: Zoras. No further comment needed.
Lightning: Hmm... I'm going to say the Gerudos for this one, because I always thought of Spirit as quite closely conneced with lightning.
Light: Hylians. They're the dominant race in the Light World, aren't they?
Shadow: Sheikah. Shadow Temple, Sage of Shadow, Shadow Medallion... nuff said.
Earth: Deku Scrubs. As living plants, I'd say they have more of a connection to the Earth element than the other races.
Wind: Wind Tribe. The one from TMC. It's the obvious choice.

Fire=Gorons (Gorons live near volcanos, plus Dariunia was the Sage of Fire)
Water= Zoras (self explanatory)
Light= Hylians (Rauru was the Sage of Light)
Darkness= Sheikah (Shadow Folk)
Wind= Rito (Bird-wind?)
Earth= Koriki (live in a forest/ wood)
Electric= Gerudo (I dunno why I chose Gerudo)

Water = Zoras.... ofcourse.
Fire = Gorons.... ofcourse.
Earth = Dekus.... ofcourse.
Darkness = Sheikahs.... Shadow Sage ETC.
Electric = Chuchus? If you count them as a race.
Light= Probably Gerudo because spirit temple = light. PLUS MIRROR SHEILD!
Wind= Ritos.... ofcourse.

Originally Posted by link1621

I know. Wind is the sweetest element there is in alchemy. I havn't a clue as to why therre is no wind in a Zelda game.

Have you played the Wind Waker? Wind is quite a major focus of it...

Since everyone is made of a mix of the four elements, the Gorons would be largely fire but mostly earth (being made of it). Their natures seems a little watery...
The Kokiri would be mostly earth and air. Look at the way they vanish if you're too far from them... Mido's very firey, though.
The Zora are predominantly water. And since they can shoot fireballs, I suppose a little fire...
Hylians are a mixture. Probably quite earthy, these days, though purer blooded ones maybe air and fire more to account for the magic.
Subrosians are earth, living underground. And maybe a bit airy, being so secretive.
Tokay seem very firey. The thieves.
Koroks are like Kokiri.
Hyruleans are like the Hylians, but even more down to earth. Similar for Labrynnans, Terminians, Holodrumians (?), Tolemacians, Calatians, etc.
Gerudos have a very firey nature.
Ritos are very airy. But still quite down to earth. And a few are firey spirits...

Um.. okay, this isn't really the direction I meant for this topic. I am well aware that people have different opinions on what the main elelments are, and I know that the 'classical' or ancient greek elements (earth, fire, water and air) are prevelent within the Zelda games. BUT, I have seen so many of these threads done to death that I though I would put something new out there.

The Chinese elemental system frequently used in alternative therapies and medicine to relate to various ailments and parts of the body, and also used in Feng Shui is an interesting alternative to the classical system I stated. Now, what I was wondering is, using the 5 Chinese elements (fire, earth, wood, metal and water), what race you correlate each element with in this system?

Sorry I wasn't clear about that when I started the thread. Hopefully you all have some fresh ideas. Also keep in mind that the 5 elements in the Chinese system don't always have the same meaning in western society as they do in eastern society. Have a go at thinking a little outside the box!

Okay then... I will think outside the box.

Water: The fairies of the forest. They nourish your health and water helps clean wounds and quench thirst. So fairies and water heal.
Fire: Gerudos because of their passion with valuables. Passion is a bit like fire. And fire is also like rage and Gerudos are angry people.
Earth: This would be the Hyrulians because they vegitate land and sell it at the markets. They live among a large forest-like area and their feet are firmly planted to the ground.
Wood: The Kokiri because they live in the woods and have adapted their lifestyle to fit in with it. They have houses in tree stumps and they are guarded by a large tree. Their weaponry is made from wood and they use this resource the best they can.
Metal: This would be Gorons. I chose them because they are STRONG creatures. They aren't the lightest but they stand their ground and are heat resistant!

The Gorons are the 'dwarves' of Zelda, so it'd definitely make sense.

Wind=...duh, I don´t know. Maybe Hylians?

Trouble with wind? How about the Wind Tribe?

I know. Wind is the sweetest element there is in alchemy. I havn't a clue as to why therre is no wind in a Zelda game.

Ever played TWW or TMC?

Anyway, this is what I'd chose with the Chinese elements:

Earth: Hylians
Fire: Subrosians
Water: Zolas
Wood: Kokiris
Metal: Gorons

This is how I'd prefer it to be:

Earth: Kokiris
Fire: Gorons
Water: Zolas
Wind/Air: Wind Tribe
Mana: Hylians

Yeah, I like to count mana as an element.