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Elementals are forces of nature and its elements in the lore of Dota 2.

Embodiment
All elemental characters are at one with nature, regardless of what kind of nature it is, be it natural or unnatural. Elementals are at one with nature, because in a way, they are nature itself. They are in harmony with nature, for they are merely congruent aspects and parts of the vast whole that is known as nature. For instance, an artisan will harvest a chunk of stone from the earth, before carving a golem or gargoyle out of that stone and animating it. Since the rock was sourced from nature, the resulting golem or gargoyle that was crafted from it is an elemental at one with nature, because even though they have been separated from the earth, they still have their source in nature. In other words, they are nature given form.

Their harmony and affinity to nature means that their embodiment is that of nature and its elements, depending on their nature and element/s they represent. It may come in the form of them embodying the whole element itself (e.g. the alive and sentient sands of the Scintillant Wastes) borrowing aspects of nature into their body that they form for themselves (e.g. Barathrum's bovine-simian form), or simply being sprung out of a preexisting element by themselves or some external influence (ex. Earthshaker's mortal form and Tiny.) Because of this diverse motley of geneses, common and recurring physical features between elemental species are uncommon, making them difficult to organize and classify according to their features.

The elements that compose these elementals may align to enhance an elemental's ancient strength or realign to reassemble their form.

Heroes
The, whose true name is Kaldr, is an elemental of ice. As an ice elemental, he can manipulate the cold elements of nature, such as freezing temperatures, cold caustic winds, and ice storms. , also known as Raigor Stonehoof, is the elemental earth of Nishai incarnate. He is unique among the elementals because his current body does not inherit the element that he represents, instead being made of flesh and blood. , the Tormented Soul, is an elemental of the evil core of all nature. What makes him distinct from his fellow elementals is that he wasn't one of them in the first place, but he was just a mundane philosopher, only becoming one when he saw the shocking truth of nature using the haunted Chronoptic Crystals. Compared to most elementals who usually have a single element at their disposal, Leshrac has mastery over multiple elements, such as the earth and storm elements. The is a water elemental. Not like most elementals, he did not originate from the elements of this planet. Instead, he came from outer space in a comet that crashed into our world, until he became at one with the tides of this planet's oceans, allowing him to use the unconstrained element of water. The sands of the Scintillant Waste are alive and sentient, thus it is an elemental sand. As a vast expanse of living sand, it has an unfathomable form to the eyes and minds of mortals, so it frees a fragment of itself that fills a magical carapace shaped after the scorpions of the Waste to become more discernible to them. This magic armor—filled with the sands of the Waste that animates the carapace—is known as Crixalis, meaning "Soul of the Sand", but he is also known as who is the Waste's sole guardian and ambassador. Barathrum, the is an elemental intelligence hailing from the elemental realm that is his home. His element is a lot less obvious than the other elementals, but he has a recurring Earth theme in his lore and designs. The symbol that appears when using his is the Taurus sign, one of the three signs that is associated with the Earth element in astrology. The element is well represented by his Strength attribute and his motifs of iron, magnetism, and crystals all of which belong to the earth. Although 's origins are mysterious even to himself, his status as an elemental is less mysterious but implicit. According to two reliable sources Kaolin and Elder Titan, the being known as Tiny has his origins from the earth's soil or the bedrock. In Dota Underlords, he is classified as a Primordial Hero, an alliance which includes forces of nature, such as the Fundamentals and the elementals. He could be classified as the latter with his alignment to the earth.
 * Superficially, Kaldr appears to embody the icy and cold elements. In truth, he is actually the ghost of his true form who is ubiquitous through time,--past, present, and future--who will soon bring the Great Equilibrium at the end of the cosmos' life, an apocalypse where all matter will stop in his cold grip. This may suggest that he is actually the cosmos' cold temperatures that has been dropping over time ever since its genesis.
 * Besides the material plane where we can observe his icy form and power, the real Kaldr exists outside of time in the cold infinite void that predates creation and will soon outlive it. He returns to the void beyond time when he dissipates.
 * Although he is not made of the earth element like his golem and gargoyle brethren in Nishai, his spirit is at one with the earth. Like other elementals, he is connected with his respective element, including the moon because it is a body of earth.  Following a fateful encounter, he has merged with a fragment of another earth.
 * His embodiment is composed of the Impurities at the heart of nature, as evident in his reformation process where his Impurities align and unite within him. Since the elements that constitute his being are in torment, he too is in a state of torment and anguish.
 * This elemental has a liminal existence between the material plane and the heart of nature. He returns to the latter when he dies to reincarnate unto the world once more.
 * He exists on two planes at once, the Terrene Plane and the Astral Plane. This allows him to deal damage on both levels of existence.
 * His form is a reflection of the native bovines and simians of the material plane, borrowing a bunch of their aspects into his form as outward emblems of his inner strength, agility, & cunning. This unnatural beast's form from beyond the planes of reality is a mockery to nature, according to Ursa.
 * Besides the elemental realm that is his home, and the material plane where we can observe his physical form, Barathrum oft travels between the planes, returning to this interstitial space when he dies before setting out from it once more.

Possible Heroes
(a.k.a. Atropos) is said to be a Bane Elemental. Abaddon also calls him an elemental, but it's unknown if Bane represents something in nature. Althought not explicit, is heavily implied to be an elemental. She is akin to a golem, which is a type of elemental according to Earthshaker's bio. 'Tis no mystery that the is a Fundamental. However, with one who is known as an enigma, nothing is what it seems. When his subordinate Kaldr kills him, he will refer to him as another elemental. His potential elemental identity is supported by the fact that one of the afterlives he travels to is the "elemental force" which may or may not be the elemental realm. In Dota Underlords, he has aligned himself with the elementals for unknown reasons, going so far as to replace his Fundamental kin Ezalor with the elemental Tiny. has been called an elemental by Bristleback. While not evident at first, the Lightning Revenant might be an elemental. In Dota Underlords, he is classified as a Primordial hero, an alliance which includes forces of nature such as the Fundamentals and elementals. He could be classified as the latter with his alignment to lightning. 's lore does not explicitly classify him as an elemental, but his potential elemental status is somewhat evident in his features.
 * Nothing besides his title and Abaddon's statement considers him as an elemental. At the very least, his vaporous form comes from the ichor of Nyctasha, the goddess of fear. Since his form comes from Nyctasha's divine blood, he is also said to be the essence of fear itself. It's even possible that he is a blood elemental or vapor elemental.
 * Like all elementals, her body is sourced from nature itself since hers is forged from the core of a once young star. Because of this, she is an extension of that star's core.
 * As for what kind of elemental is Enigma, he may be a void elemental or shadow elemental given that his form (a.k.a. his pattern) is made out of void and shadow.
 * Like his fellow Fundamentals and their creator, Enigma exists across all planes at once and can draw other aspects of himself to assist him via . The ability gives rise to an eidolon or more, aspects of Enigma that may be a kind of elemental like him if he is considered one.
 * The Phoenix that we are familiar with is but a shadow of his real form. Phoenix is actually a young star that has taken a terrestrial form resembling that of a fiery bird.
 * Beyond Rigwarl's statement, nothing yet suggests that he's an elemental, besides embodying flame in the form of a star. This may also suggest that stars are elementals.
 * The Underscape is his home realm, the dark hereafter where he patrols the Narrow Maze as an usher to the afterlives of the dead.  Besides being his home, he returns to the bleak and dismal Underscape when he dies  so that he can be recharged and revived there.
 * Earthshaker's bio classifies gargoyles as an elemental since they are at one with the earth, but they're also a separate entity from it. As a gargoyle whose form is made of stone he should qualify as an elemental.
 * Like his comrade Razor, this gargoyle hails from the Underscape. In this dark and cold hereafter, Visage watches the dead cross beyond the veil of death and into the Narrow Maze where he is perched atop its ingress.

Others
The s, also known as Grief Elementals, are elementals that are conjured from "naught" by invoking the magics Quas and Exort. Golems and gargoyles are implied to be elementals, according to Earthshaker's biography.
 * Forge Spirits embody the properties of the two elemental magic that creates them. From, they embody its properties of stubbornness, tenacity, and fortitude which makes up their durability and persistence–the duration of their existence until they expire. From , they embody its properties of strength, torridity, and brutality, which makes up their damage output.
 * Anyone who can summon them are considered as their masters. Notable masters include and Culween, the latter being the creator of the spell that summons them.

Stone giants may be a type of elemental, given that their remains are now made of gravel, the result of the earth that bore them also destroying them by the shifting of the earth.

Formless wind elementals exist in the lore of the.

Wildwings may call upon the spirit of the wind to summon a hurricane or a sentient tornado, the latter of which might be a wind elemental.

Elementals versus Celestials
Due to the mention of the word "elemental" and "elements" or anything relating to those in the lore surrounding the Celestials, these entities may be mistaken for elementals. Truth be told, elementals and Celestials are quite distinct from each other, but they both share an amount of similarities between them.

Differences
The most distinct characteristic between an elemental and the Celestial is their identity. Although they are both forces of nature, only elementals are nature itself. They usually come from the material plane that provides their form and dwell there, whereas Celestials are divine spirits from a spiritual plane of existence who travel into this place with powers over nature itself.

difference is in the use of the word "elemental" when describing the two. for elementals "elemental" is noun, while celestials "elemental" is adjective

Masters
Nearly all elementals are loyal to or serve a higher power, who are usually their creators. Here is a table of elementals and their respective masters.

Worship
Elemental communion can be found in the lore surrounding the one we know as Lyralei the Windranger.

Before the fateful elemental retribution that fell upon them all, the Zaru'Kinan order of the Rising Gale learned to make ethereal connections with powerful elementals that they could scarcely comprehend. Their elemental gifts were passed on to their children, bearing a lineage of scions who could also harness the wind element. They gave offerings to the elements and in return these elements gave them gifts, such as an. Besides the wind itself, there are other clans who had connections to the other elements such as the "servants of a dancing flame" who were friends with Lyralei's ancestors.

Like Mother Nature who's both cruel and kind, these wind elementals have a dark side to them. Lyralei's paternal great grandfather, a high priest in Zaru'Kina, despised the Order of the Rising Gale and resented their influence. He found an opportunity to abolish the order when he learned that his son fell in love with Lyralei's grandmother. Having sanctioned their union and welcomed her into Zaru'Kina, he infiltrated the order through this union and learned their ways, assimilating himself so as to dismantle it from within.

Balance
In Dota Underlords, the elementals seek to restore balance to the Fundamentals.

Items
The is named after the overly-protective living flame that is bound to this cloak.

Some believe that the is proof that there are unseen forces that manipulate the happenings of the material plane.