Element
In Weyard, the four Elements are the Alchemical building blocks of everything in the world: Mars (representing Fire), Venus (Earth), Mercury (Water), and Jupiter (Wind). The many forms of Psynergy nearly all fall into one of the four elemental categories, and each Adept is innately attuned to one of them, being able to naturally use Psynergy of that element. Additionally, there are four types of Djinn, each associated with one of the elements. Because the elements form the backbone of Alchemy and the central prominence of the Elemental Stars and an Elemental Lighthouses in the story, the elements are a major central element in the Golden Sun games, especially the GBA duology.
In Dark Dawn, Light and Dark Psynergy are suggested to exist, associated with Sol and Luna respectively. As such, Sol and Luna may be considered to be additional elements, but their exact nature and their relationship to the other elements is as of yet not clearly established.
Overview
Traits and Abilities
Each element is associated with various attributes and abilities, many of which are shown off by Psynergy spells of their element.
- Mars is the element of Fire, and can manipulate both flames and heat, as well as related phenomena like magma. Spells that raise and lower defense also typically belong to the Mars element. Mars-aligned healing spells are unusual, but can be potent when they are available. However, on the whole, Mars is known for being an offensive powerhouse. Many Mars Djinn are able to revive Adepts, and some fire-based monsters like the Phoenix and its relatives are also capable of resurrecting the dead.
- Venus is the element of Earth, and as such can manipulate soil and rocks. It is also tied heavily to plants and life, being able to bring forth plants, heal allies, and even Revive those who have fallen. On the flip side, Venus also has deep ties to death and mortality, with several abilities capable of causing instant death, and the Venus-aligned summons include demons and other residents of the underworld. As a result, most undead creatures and demonic enemies are aligned with Venus. Venus may also be associated with metal, although this is less commonly seen.
- Mercury is the element of Water, and can manipulate all of water's forms, including both water and ice as well as more unusual forms like bubbles or steam. Due to its control over ice, it is also associated with coldness. Additionally, Mercury is closely associated with healing and life, with the most potent healing abilities nearly always being Mercury-aligned; it is also the only element with Psynergy which can remove status effects.
- Jupiter is the element of Wind, capable of manipulating the air, storms, lightning, and weather in general. In addition to this, it has many abilities relating to the mind and spirit, including the ability to read minds, reveal hidden secrets, and even see into the future. Jupiter-aligned healing spells are rare, but occasionally appear, and Jupiter's repertoire includes various status changes such as the power to affect attack power and elemental resistances.
Element Relationships
The four elements have various paired relationships with one another.
Two pairs of elements are known to oppose one another: Mars and Mercury are said to be opposing, as are Venus and Jupiter. Enemies who are closely associated with one element are usually weakest against the opposing element - for instance, all Djinn will take the most damage from spells of the opposing element - though this is not guaranteed to be true for all enemies. The effects of opposing elements also have bearing on the story; when the player's party defeats Saturos on Mercury Lighthouse, it is explained that he was weakened by Mercury's beacon, allowing the party to have an easier time defeating him.
Additionally, two pairs of elements have symbiotic relationships. Venus and Mars are said to be symbiotic with one another, as are Jupiter and Mercury. As with opposing elements, the symbiosis between elements also has effects on the plot. For instance, in the first Golden Sun, Saturos and Menardi are revitalized when the Venus Beacon is lit, due to being Mars Adepts who are symbiotic with Venus. Additionally, the lighting of both the Mercury and Jupiter Lighthouse together was stated by Hama to have accelerated the cooling of the world, making Prox more difficult to reach, since their symbiotic pair is associated with the cold.
Combining elements
It has been debated that combining elements to create new Psynergy is the best way to create a powerful team, but others believe keeping each element pure will bring the most powerful Psynergy. Both can be true, depending on one's strategy. You can combine elements using the elemental Djinn found around Weyard to change a character's class. By combining elements, you can create new Psynergy that otherwise would not be available to your characters. For example, by giving Mia a Mars Djinni, her Mercury Psynergy changes to a "warmer" theme and water-based attacks replace her ice-based ones. While there's not much of a difference here, by adding more Mars Djinn, her attacks will continue to change and become more fire-like. Some of the most interesting Psynergy can only be found by combining all four elements in certain combinations (although these classes in particular require assistance from special items). For example, by setting 3 Djinn of each element onto an Adept equipped with the Tomegathericon will create the powerful Necromage class. Note that you can only set a maximum of 9 Djinn to one Adept, so the 3 missing Djinn are replaced by the Adept themselves. For example, Isaac or Felix (being Venus Adepts) would need 3 Jupiter Djinn, 3 Mars Djinn, and 3 Mercury Djinn.
Combining elements to make new Psynergy plays a small role in progressing through the game too. There are a few places where the Psynergy Growth is needed to pass certain areas, but, prior to Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, this ability is not learned by any character without mixing elements. To learn Growth, Mars Adepts can equip a Venus Djinni and Venus Adepts (except Himi) can equip a Mars Djinni. There are other combinations that will create Growth, but all of them include some level of the Venus element. Another example: Mia will not learn Douse unless she has a Mars Djinni equiped, but she loses Frost in the process. (Later in Golden Sun players obtain equippable items that allow any Adept to cast Frost or Douse.)
Other information
All elements have access to some healing Psynergy, but Venus and Mercury Adepts are more skilled at healing than others. Although Mercury's healing is easily the most powerful, Venus has the ability to revive those that have been downed in battle. While Mars and Jupiter are not as good at healing, they do have other specialties: As Mars is the element of power, it can also help to boost the offensive abilities of allies; most Jupiter Adepts tend to possess psychic powers ranging from reading minds or predicting the future to seeing things that are invisible.
Adepts can share the effects of some Psynergy by making physical contact while it is being cast. This is demonstrated in Vault when Ivan holds Isaac's hand and allows him to read Garet's mind.
It is also said that non-Adepts cannot see the casting of Psynergy, only the effects, which is why most people can't tell when someone is reading their mind, why Isaac and Garet were surprised that Mia could see their Psynergy when they used Move to move the statue in front of Mercury Lighthouse, and why no one notices the Psynergy being used during Colosso to make shortcuts for Isaac.
