The Elements from the Ancients (franchise)

"A long, long time ago..."

- Most well-known primary and official motto and tagline of the franchise "Faster, better, stronger."

- Secondary, popular motto "Fog On A Field Acts As A Shield."

- Well-known official idiom

For its site, go to the official Elements from the Ancients site.

For its wiki, go to Elements from the Ancients Wiki.

For other usages, see Elements from the Ancients (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Elements of Harmony - or any other of its usages.

The Elements from the Ancients (also shortened to as The Elements, Ancient Elements, Elements from Ancients, Elements from the Ancients, or TEFTA (or EFTA for Elements from the Ancients) (Chinese: 远古元素 (Transliteration: Yuǎngǔ yuánsù) (Translation: Ancient Elements) (known in some countries as Light vs. Darkness (also shortened to as Light vs. Dark, LvD, LvsD, L vs. D, also known as Brightness vs. Darkness (Chinese: 光明与黑暗 (Transliteration: Guāngmíng yǔ hēi'àn) (Translation: Light and Darkness))) is an animated crossover action-adventure comedy-drama crime science fantasy space opera franchise that began on October 5, 1971. It was created by TBA, TBA, and TBA. It is very well-known for its setting combining tropes and elements of science fantasy (which combines tropes and elements of both science fiction and fantasy), film noir and comic books, its very popular quote which served as the official tagline saying "A long, long time ago...", which is also its English motto (Chinese: 很久很久以前… (Transliteration: Hěnjiǔ hěnjiǔ yǐqián...) (Translation: Long long ago...)), and also its numerous genres. Whereas many other franchises are mainly translated to Japanese (not to be confused with Javanese), The Elements from the Ancients is mainly translated to Chinese (the official language of China), which its Chinese animation (or Donghua) has that language as the main language in addition. It inspires many series such as several fantasy series because fantasy is one of the main settings, several platform game series, which are the main aspect of the games, several action video games, which are also a major game aspect, several adventure series, which are another one of those game aspects, many sci-fi series, which are a major focus of the franchise, TBA, TBA, TBA, and many others because of its numerous genres. It is now the 11th most popular series as of 2000 and to date. Its latest game was The Elements from the Ancients: Rise of the Gigantamaxes, released on May 20, 2020, which introduced the Dynamaxes and Gigantamaxes from Pokémon: Sword and Shield, the latest game in the Pokémon series, into the Elements from the Ancients series. Another one of its latest games was TBA. TBA.

Setting
"In the world of The Elements from the Ancients, many creatures can be found, such as the HeroMons, which have up to four elements instead of two like Pokémon, alien flying squirrels on UFOs, and many more to see. You can also find many Pokémon there that come from portals as well."

- Description for the Elements from the Ancients' version of Earth "Despite being ongoing, this crossover science fantasy film noir-based series is partially active due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

- Words on a letter from TBA

The setting of the franchise, like mentioned above, is a mix of crossover, action-adventure, comedy-drama, crime, science fiction, fantasy, and space opera (science fantasy is a combination of science fiction and fantasy) as well as film noir and comic book motifs. In contrast to sometimes short (An example is a clip of Crossover Nexus, one of the biggest crossovers, which only lasts three minutes and 17 seconds), one-time, temporary crossovers (The Ultimate Crossover is an example of one), this crossover series is a long-running (only partially active due to the COVID-19 pandemic, not as active as before as a result of the ongoing pandemic) ongoing crossover where the Light (those that side with Brightness) are against the Dark (those that side with Darkness, the series' main antagonist) in a never-ending battle between light and darkness and good and evil. Similarities to the worlds of Pokémon and Digimon are that there are similar creatures called "HeroMons" which can have up to 4 elements, making them more powerful, in contrast to the maximum 2 types of the Pokémon. The HeroMons also have slightly different appearances from the Pokémon of the world of Pokémon, making some people on the Elements from the AncientsWiki mistake them for Fakemon accidentally because of this. This also makes them slightly resemble Digimon of the world of Digimon. Whereas the Pokémon games are most commonly set in a region (such as Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, etc.), the games of the franchise called The Elements from the Ancients is commonly set in a country of one of the seven continents of Earth (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica), e.g. the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Japan, China, Russia, etc. Usually, a game in the franchise is set in the country's capital city, e.g. New York City, Ottawa, Beijing, Tokyo, etc. They sometimes might also be set in a time period, such as ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, or the future. Works within the franchise are set in the world of The Elements from the Ancients, which is very similar to the real universe, but the main differences are Earth has more population, and the Ancient Lands and Modern Lands (both Lands also known as just The Lands, Lands, The Elemental Lands, Elemental Lands, Lands of the Elements, The Lands of the Elements, The Lands of Elements, or Lands of Elements) exist. Those aren't the only differences; there are more differences out there.

Concept
The creator of the series TBA. TBA.

Cast
The entire cast for The Elements from the Ancients. The majority of the characters (non-crossover) are animals (majority are reptiles, mythical creatures, and mammals). TBA.

Italics are characters that crossover in the series. If it isn't italic, they don't crossover.
 * TBA as Myrtle (full name unknown) (the Legend), an Aldabra giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea) and the main protagonist of the franchise since its release. He is currently 40 years old (402 human years), but was 3 years old (32) human years during the his debut. He was born to TBA, the original main protagonist, and TBA, TBA.
 * TBA as Gavyn (full name unknown) (the Legend-in-Training), an Alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii), the best friend of Myrtle, and the main deuteragonist of the franchise. He is currently 30 years old (302 human years), but was 4 years old (22 human years) when he was first introduced. He was introduced in 2005 after TBA. TBA.
 * TBA as Golbat (full name unknown), an Abo bat (Glauconycteris poensis) and the main tritagonist of the franchise. Currently 33 years old as of 2020, but was 5 when he was introduced. He was the main deuteragonist until Gavyn was introduced into the series. He is not to be confused with the Pokémon of the same name, which he is named after. TBA. Was originally named "Shadow" during the making of the franchise's characters and concept art, but was later renamed to "Golbat" during development. The name Shadow is not to be confused with Shadow from the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
 * See HeroMons (Voice actor: Various) for more.
 * TBA as Aggro (secret identity: Darkness) (full name unknown), a yacare caiman (Camian yacare) and the main antagonist of the franchise. He is 50 years old, but when the franchise began, he was 2 years old, with TBA as the main antagonist. He has TBA.
 * TBA as Zapdos (full name unknown), a saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) with the powers of the Electric element, and a member of the C.R.O.C.O.D.I.L.E (Crocodile Resurrection Order Circuits Diamond Internet Light Ensemble). He is named after the Pokémon of the name same, who he is not to be confused with. Originally called "Zapper" during character development in 2000, later renamed to "Zapdos". TBA.
 * TBA as Darkfang (full name: TBA), a nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) from Egypt that can put curses on people, most specifically ancient Egyptian curses that only the most powerful users of the Magic element can diagnose and cure. TBA. During character development in 1994, he was originally called "Cursecrodile", but later renamed to "Darkfang".
 * TBA as Thunder (full name unknown), a semi-anthropomorphic talking black widow spider (Latrodectus) with the powers of the Electric element, and is the pet and best friend of Zapdos, who is a member of the C.R.O.C.O.D.I.L.E (Crocodile Resurrection Order Circuits Diamond Internet Light Ensemble). TBA.
 * TBA as Azure, an Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) with the ability to time travel without the use of a time machine. He has the powers of the Psychic and Time elements. TBA.
 * TBA as Dazzle, a legendary phoenix from Athens, Greece with the powers of the Fire element. TBA.
 * TBA as Anker (full name unknown), a Doberman Pinscher from the United States that has TBA. Although his name sounds like the word "anchor", he isn't related to anchors, boats, or ships in any way or form. TBA.
 * TBA as Miracle, a black currawong (Strepera fuliginosa) from Tasmania that doesn't like scary creatures that don't come from Australia, such as an evil dragon. TBA.
 * TBA as Snowy, a snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) from the Arctic that has the powers of the Ice element. TBA.
 * TBA as Putt-Putt, a fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) from the United States that TBA. He is not to be confused with the anthropomorphic car of the same name. TBA.

Development
Throughout the years, there was development throughout the franchise. What was originally the length of a normal crossover became an ongoing series (partially active due to the COVID-19 pandemic) TBA.

Through the years
Throughout the years, the franchise TBA.

Controversies
See The Elements from the Ancients (franchise)/Controversies.

Trivia

 * This is the first franchise to have 7 genres, rather than the usual 2 or 3.
 * It's also:
 * The first sci-fi and fantasy (science fantasy) and space opera series to have film noir motifs.
 * The first TBA.
 * TBA.
 * TBA.