Fundamental-Elements

The Fundamental-Elements are the elements that compose all things, from the most singular and basic elements to the most advanced and complex combinations. All elements exist as part of natural pairs, known as the Basic-Aspect and the Evolved-Aspect.
 * The Central-Elements are the elements that form the foundation of all others: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Yin, and Yang (Basic), and Flame, Liquid, Ground, Breeze, Electricity, Order, and Chaos (Evolved)
 * The Advanced-Elements are any elements from from the combination of two elements up to all seven elements. These elements manifest and/or fuse the aspects of their components in new intense or exotic manners.

=Central-Elements=

Yang (Basic-Aspect)->Chaos (Evolved-Aspect)
=Elemental-Classification=

Overview
Their are several main ways that elements are most commonly grouped: Element-Levels, Quartet-Groupings, Basic-Aspect/Evolved-Aspect, and Compositional-Arrangement. There are several other possible categories for classifying the Fundamental-Elements, such as according to elements sharing a single or multiple common parent elements, whether an element exists more as matter or energy, or properties and effects that elements share in common.

Element-Levels
Element-Levels classify elements according the number of Central-Elements that compose them. The Central-Elements themselves are classified as Level-One Elements, and the Level-Two Elements are the lowest classification for the Advanced-Elements and goes all the way up to the singular Level-Seven Element.

Examples of Element-Levels
 * All Central-Elements are Level-One Elements because each element exists individually
 * The Advanced-Elements are classified at Level-Two at a minimum and goes all the way up to Level-Seven
 * There is a single Advanced-Element at Level-Seven because there is only one mixture of all seven

Basic-Aspects and Evolved-Aspects
The Basic-Aspects are the foundational state of the Fundamental-Elements and represent the base qualities of the element and it's properties. The Evolved-Aspects are the ascended state of the Fundamental-Elements and represent the elements in their most massively influential or concentrated and enhanced forms.

Examples of Basic-Aspects and Evolved-Aspects
 * The Basic-Aspects of the Central-Elements are Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Yin, and Yang
 * The Evolved-Aspects of the Central-Elements are Flame, Liquid, Ground, Breeze, Electricity, Order, and Chaos

Quartet-Grouping
Quartet-Grouping arranges the elements into groups of 4 by pairing a "pure element" (Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and/or Lightning) with its' closest elemental siblings (Yin, Yang, and Yin/Yang) with the "pure element(s)" being called a "Non".

Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Lightning (and their Evolved-Aspects) are referred to as "pure elements" because of their defined qualities and properties, while Yin and Yang (and their Evolved-Aspects) are called "non-elemental" because of how they alter, enhance, and/or modify the aspects of the "pure elements" when they are combined together.

Examples of Quartet-Grouping
 * Fire-Quartet: Fire (Non), Wisp (Fire/Yin), Torch (Fire/Yang), and Friction (Fire/Yin/Yang)
 * Water-Quartet: Water (Non), Brine (Water/Yin), Wave (Water/Yang), and Moisture (Water/Yin/Yang)
 * Earth-Quartet: Earth (Non), Wax (Earth/Yin), Quake (Earth/Yang), and Mineral (Earth/Yin/Yang)
 * Wind-Quartet: Wind (Non), Gas (Wind/Yin), Vacuum (Wind/Yang), and Sky (Wind/Yin/Yang)
 * Lightning-Quartet: Lightning (Non), Static (Lightning/Yin), Shock (Lightning/Yang), and Charge (Lightning/Yin/Yang)
 * Element-Levels in Quartet-Groupings will always follow this formula: Non=X, Yin or Yang=X+1, and Yin/Yang=X+2
 * The sole exception to the quartet rules is the Yin/Yang Trio which consists of Yin, Yang, and Cycle (Yin/Yang).

Compositional-Arrangement
Compositional-Arrangement arranges the Fundamental-Elements according to their elemental sorting (elements are always sorted Fire/Water/Earth/Wind/Lightning/Yin/Yang) having Yin, Yang, Yin/Yang, or neither (referred to as a "Non").

Examples of Compositional-Arrangement
 * Non elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and Lightning
 * Yin elements: Wisp (F/Yin), Brine (Wa/Yin), Wax (E/Yin), Gas (Wi/Yin), and Static (L/Yin)
 * Yang elements: Torch (F/Yang), Wave (Wa/Yang), Quake (E/Yang), Vacuum (Wi/Yang), and Shock (L/Yang)
 * Yin/Yang elements: Friction (F/Yi/Ya), Moisture (Wa/Yi/Ya), Mineral (E/Yi/Ya), Sky (Wi/Yi/Ya), and Charge (L/Yi/Ya)

=Advanced-Elements [one element-base]=

Fire->Flame
In the Fire-Quartet and the Flame-Quartet, Fire and Flame are the "Non" elements of their groups.

Water->Liquid
In the Water-Quartet and the Liquid-Quartet, Water and Liquid are the "Non" elements of their groups.

Water/Yin->Liquid/Order
Brine (Water/Yin)

Sea (Liquid/Order)

Water/Yang->Liquid/Chaos
Wave (Water/Yang)

Tide (Liquid/Chaos)

Water/Yin/Yang->Liquid/Order/Chaos
Moisture (Water/Yin/Yang)

Earth->Ground
In the Earth-Quartet and the Ground-Quartet, Earth and Ground are the "Non" elements of their groups.

Wind->Breeze
In the Wind-Quartet and the Breeze-Quartet, Wind and Breeze are the "Non" elements of their groups.

Wind/Yin->Breeze/Order
Gas (Wind/Yin)

Air (Breeze/Yin/Yang)

Wind/Yang->Breeze/Chaos
Vacuum (Wind/Yang)

Lightning->Electricity
In the Lightning-Quartet and the Electricity-Quartet, Lightning and Electricity are the "Non" elements of their groups.

Lightning/Yin->Electricity/Order
Static (Lightning/Yin)

Lightning/Yang->Electricity/Chaos
Charge (Lightning/Yang)

Lightning/Yin/Yang->Electricity/Order/Chaos
Charge (Lightning/Yin/Yang)

=Advanced-Elements [two element-base]=

=Advanced-Elements [three element-base]=

=Advanced-Elements [four element-base]=

Water/Earth/Wind/Lightning->Liquid/Ground/Breeze/Electricity
=Advanced-Elements [five element-base]=

=Inspirations= My element system, at least at the foundation, is primarily inspired by the Naruto element system, specifically using Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Yin, and Yang as my Central-Elements, the seven individual elements that form all others.

As for other inspirations, the most notable element systems I used was the Avatar element system and the self-made "element recombination table" of a user named Omnibender on the Naruto Wikia.

Criticisms
There are numerous qualities about the element systems devised by others that I would have to strongly disagree with or that I try my hardest to avoid using.

Possible Combinations
The single most universal quality of other people's element systems that restricts their creative possibilities is the number of Central-Elements that can be used to compose the combined Advanced-Elements.

The Naruto element-system only uses two element combinations using Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and/or Lightning, the only exceptions to this are their "Yin/Yang" combination and the Dust element which combines Fire, Earth, and Wind. Omnibender takes the two element combinations to its' conclusion by creating combinations of the five original elements with Yin or Yang, and he expands upon the three element combinations by creating possible elements combining all seven elements together in groups of three. I feel both of these systems ultimately failed themselves by only allowing two and three element mixtures, I filled out a system using combinations of four, five, and six elements and a single combination of all seven elements.

My element-system has elemental combinations for both Mud and Wood, though I reassigned Wood and Mud to different combinations because Water and Earth do not proper, Clay is the Water/Earth combination in my system;

I find it improper that the Naruto element-system created multiple advanced elements using the same two basic elements. The Wood element was introduced during the main series, a unique elemental power combining Water and Earth and is possessed by Hashirama Senju and those who empowered by his DNA. Mud is another Water/Earth combination introduced in a later novel and was a power possessed by a now-extinct clan.

Naming
Naming is one of the things I most commonly dislike about the element tables made by other people.

A notable common example of misnaming/overly-narrow naming involves the element called Metal.
 * The Pokemon, Digimon, and Naruto systems use "Steel" to refer to the Metal element
 * Notably with Pokemon, Steel-Type Pokemon have metallic bodies or metalized flesh, but there are several prominent examples where Steel-Type Pokemon are composed of metals different from Steel
 * The Bionicle system uses the name "Iron" for its' Metal powers, despite it being explicitly said that Toa and other users of the Iron element can control most metallic substances
 * Omnibender has a elemental combination named Metal, but he also has a different combination named "Mercury"
 * Using names like "Steel" or "Iron" for the Metal element is entirely too narrow, for much the same reasons why I changed the name of "Oxygen" to the element I now call Gas (chemical gases and the gas state-of-matter)

A common improper/inappropriate practice when naming elements is adding unnecessary parts to its' name.
 * Light/Dark: One of the most common and unneeded additives to an element's name involves Dark. Many systems use "Darkness" as the name for Dark, which does not fit properly because darkness is a measure how intense the Dark is. In the same way, using the term "Lightness" would not fit the Light element because lightness (or brightness) is a measurement of the amount of Light in an area or how much Light an object is giving off.

In my opinion, using technical terms or the names of scientific fields would not properly fit my element chart.
 * Body/Machine: Some systems I have seen have used the term "Technology" for the element I named Machine (mechanical constructs) or "Biology" for the element I call Body (animal biomatter). These do not properly fit with the naming of the other elements for the same reason Earth is not called "Geology".
 * Mind: Some systems I have seen use terms like "Psychic" (like Pokemon), "Psionics" (like Bionicle), or "Mental" for the element of Mind, I disagree with the use of these terms because tend to imply the use of the Mind element as a superpower or supernatural ability and does not cover the more basic and mundane aspects of the element

Less common examples of my disagreement over element naming are more semantic in nature.
 * Lava: The One-Piece system uses "Magma" for the element most commonly called Lava, I think this is improper because Lava refers to burning liquid/molten rock after it has been blasted out of a volcano or is rock is melted by extreme heat/energy and Magma only refers to molten rock that is still underground or before it is exposed to air
 * Magnetism: I dislike the Naruto system's use of the term "Magnet" for the element of Magnetism, because a magnet is an object that gives off magnetic energy or is attracted to/repelled by magnetic fields, while Magnetism is the force of magnetic fields, magnetic energies, and magnetic materials
 * Motion: The Naruto system uses the name "Swift" for the element I call Motion, I feel Swift falls short because it only covers quick movement, but no slow movement or lack of movement
 * Shadow: The Legend of Zelda system, and others, uses the word "Twilight" to refer to Shadow, the exotic element that includes things that fall between Light and Dark, Twilight combines the word Light with an additional prefix, making it a derivative name that does not describe the full range of properties and powers governed by Shadow
 * Sound: The Bionicle system, and others, have used the name "Sonic" for the element of Sound, which I feel does not fit because Sonic tends to imply powerful noise or weaponized sound, while the name Sound more fully covers the array of the element's aspects, such as silence, music, spoken/audible language, or animal sounds
 * Wind: Easily the most common example of misnaming is using "Air" as the name of the Wind element; Wind is the motion/movement through a gaseous medium and a Central-Element, while Air is the Evolved-Aspect of the Advanced-Element of Gas, the element of Wind and Yin, Gas represents both gaseous chemical-elements and the gaseous state-of-matter and Air is the element representing a gaseous environment (like a planet's atmosphere)

Sphere of Influence
A common mistake I see in the forming of element-systems involves defining an element's "sphere of influence", which commonly involves dividing a single element into too many parts when a singular primary element would cover all of the relevant aspects.

Examples
 * Glass
 * The element of Glass refers to a number of non-crystalline, generally transparent, amorphous solids
 * Certain systems, such as Omnibender's recombination table, has an element of Glass which covers hard and non-crystalline amorphous solids and a Mirror element which refers to the shiny and reflective qualities of various materials, such as clear water, ice, and oil, cut crystal gemstones, and polished metals and glass
 * Ice
 * The element of Ice covers not only water that has been frozen solid, but it also covers coldness/cold energy, a classification of volatile chemical substances called "ices", various forms of ice (solid water), such as hail, sleet, snow, and freezing rain, and ice-related weather phenomena, such as snow-storms and blizzards
 * Certain systems, such as the One-Piece element-system, subdivide the Ice element into multiple parts, there is a Logia Devil-Fruit (a magical fruit that gives its' consumer elemental transformation power) for the element of Ice (Ice-Ice Fruit) and then another fruit possessing the power of Snow (Snow-Snow Fruit)
 * Metal
 * The element of Metal covers all of the qualities of metallic materials and all metal chemical-elements
 * Certain systems, such as Omnibender's recombination table, has a Metal element, but he also created a Rust element which covers not only rusted metals but also decay and corrosion in general, and a Mercury element which only covers the poisonous and liquid Mercury metal
 * Oil
 * The element of Oil covers organic/biological oils, synthetic oils, petrochemicals/mineral oils, the chemical classification of "oil", the nutrient category of "fats", and plant and animal fatty tissues
 * Certain systems, such as Omnibender's recombination table, has an element of Petroleum which covers petrochemicals and mineral oils which are naturally liquid and highly flammable and Coal which is a solid fossil-fuel which can be utilized in a number of ways
 * Rock
 * The element of Rock covers large and solid masses of hard earthen materials composed of various minerals
 * Certain systems, such as Omnibender's recombination table, doesn't have a singular element of Rock, but instead there is an element of Flint which can be used to strike sparks and make fire, and Coal which is a solid fossil-fuel which can be burned and produce ashes
 * Storm
 * The element of Storm covers weather systems, such as hurricanes and tornadoes, and related phenomena
 * Certain systems, such as Omnibender's recombination table, has a Storm element, based off of the Storm element of the Naruto system, and he also created a Typhoon element, related to air circulation and wind currents, while a proper Storm element should encompass all of these things, because a typhoon is simply another type of weather system