In a setting where every race corresponds to a classical element

If you're doing classical elements, I would say fire.

If you're doing "Elements" then something like Industry.

>>54606635
Well, the traditional RPG thing to do would make them correspond to all of them, or rather each individual human has his or her own affinity.

But if you had to tie us into just one, then I'd tie humans in the Greek conception of elements into fire, on the grounds of Prometheus.

>>54606635

White Mage Viera is cute! CUTE!

>>54606696
>But if you had to tie us into just one, then I'd tie humans in the Greek conception of elements into fire, on the grounds of Prometheus.

Could also be earth on the grounds that humans were made from clay in some myths.

I'm sure you could make a case for air and water too but I would probably save that for races that can fly or live underwater naturally.

>>54606635
Earth obviously. Modern humans were born from the rocks thrown by the last two human survivors from the previous era.

>>54606635
Depends on the setting.
Or more specifically, the other races in that setting.

>>54606635
Earth is the first to come to mind.

Humans don't tend to "rise" naturally, so they're either Earth or Water. I'm thinking Fire and Air people wouldn't be earthbound.

They tend to congregate and establish stability, and although they're not adverse to change when the need arises, those changes will either be minimal (a law gets amended, a pebble rolls off the hill) or a total collapse (The Bronze Age Collapse, the Fall of Angkor, the mountain comes crashing down), and settle in a new "stable". This looks more Earth-like, whereas Water would entail change that is always ongoing.

>>54606904
But humans are totally Fire.

We constantly consume, we're always trying to spread, and if we aren't careful we can trash our surroundings.
We start small and weak, like a spark, and eventually grow into something much bigger and brighter, and inevitably fade too ashes. We're also fucking awesome.

>>54606635
A question then. Is the other races beside human is vulnerable to their own elements?

>>54606635
The four have been argue. And combination.
Made from dirt
The breath of life.
The fire of the soul.
Don't remember for water, but I'm pretty sure there is some mythologies linking men to water.

So it depends on what kind of symbolism you want to push, and maybe on what other races already fill other elements.

>>54609158
We are made of water more than anything else. Humans are bags of water.

>>54606790
This. As others have said, humans could theoretically be ANY of the elements, so they'd essentially fill the niche of whatever is left over from the races with a more defined, restrictive affinity.

>>54606635
Earth. Because we're so shit.

>>54606675
>Human's element is Industry
>Industrialization has been a disaster for the human race
Explain this.

>>54610755
When it comes to fairy tales, humans are usually associated with iron, animal husbandry, and the perversion of nature.

Seemed like it made sense.

>>54606635
Potassium

>>54609158
Metal and Wood enter where?

>>54610755
It's led to an explosive proliferation of humans. It's all those other species it's been terrible for.

>>54612000

Yo ass

If there's no subterranean race, then humans are the earth people. Those humans sure love tilling their fields! And boy, how they love to build things out of stone. It looks like an awful lot of work to the average wood nymph but it you got to admit it seems to be working out for them.

If there are dwarves or similar, but no merfolk, then humans are the water people. Wherever you find a large river you're bound to find a human settlement piled up along it. And they certainly love their ships! Every human nation of consequence has a coastline and a fleet, and if they can get away with it they'll sail the long way round rather than take a good, straight road. Though in fairness, they're so clever with boats they usually get there faster that way

But humans as air, fire or wood people? I don't see it. Those are for the feyer, more otherworldly races. It's the place of normal humans in fantasy fiction to be more grounded than the other weirdos they interact with.

>>54606635
Humans are usually associated with dust, clay and mud in most creation myths I can think of. So earth.

>>54607187
That's just life, in general. Bacteria are better at the stuff you mentioned than humans. Cyano-bacteria specially since they trashes the entire biosphere in a way that never was matched and again and kinda burned themselves out, being less relevant now.

>>54606635
Humans, Halflings = Fire
Elves, Ents, Fairies = Wood
Dwarves, Kobolds, Goblins = Metal
Drakaina, Lamia, Merfolk = Water
Orcs, Lizardfolk = Earth

>>54614172
So would Elves be Japanese and Dwarves Korean?

Did the Imjin war just become 10,000x better?

>>54606635
In tarot, the suits correspond to elements, which correspond to social classes.

Swords=Air=Nobility
Wands=Fire=Peasantry
Pentacles=Earth=Merchantry
Cups=Water=Clergy

I tend to think of humanity as largely a species of plebs, so I guess my answer is fire.

>>54606635
People have already mentioned earth or fire, both of which I would recommend depending on the other races you have.

But if you had dwarves and some shorter-lived race than humans, water. Human's are flexible, can live in any environment, adapt and spread. Honestly, when you're assigning personality to the elements you can kind of make up whatever you want, ESPECIALLY with humans.

>>54606635

Air.

We are fickle and largely the result of outside forces. Our lives are very short but we are also ruled by passions and can cause a storm of human action that creates or destroys in an incredibly short time.

Fire as it relates to entropy. Humans are certifiably the rippingest, tearingest species out there.
The last time a species competed for the throne, we fucked and fought them out of existence.

>>54610755
Progress and industry are based on the transformation (or sometimes destruction) of things, including older machines and inventions; It would make sense for teh race representing it to be a bit self-destructive.

I have a setting like this.

Humans where made by a dude called the outsider.

They are made out of Aether, as the only beings that are

>>54606635

Fire, earth or metal. Maybe it could be that we started as fire (where we burned brightly), became earth (when we began settling), then ended as metal (when we advanced).

>>54612280
If humans are Earth, I could see Dwarves being fire. Blacksmithing, volcanoes, lave and all that. Or you could have each/some races be a combination of different elements, and humans could be earth+water and dwarves earth+fire.

>>54623786
Combination is nice.
What elves would be, water+air?
Orc air+fire? Or water+fire