When the hell did heart become an element?

It's nicer this way, don't you agree? Five planeteers is better than four and I like having Ma-Ti. He is very useful sometimes and he is the soul of Captain Planet.

I always liked this character. It seems fitting that the one who represents heart is the youngest and therefore the most innocent and pure of heart.

That is some deep stuff right there.

Not quite. Actually the ancient Greeks (which is where we get the classic Elements from) believed there were indeed five elements, not four.

The first four are an early version of what we now know about the states of matter.

Earth - solid
Water - liquid
Air/wind - gas
Fire - plasma

But as I said the ancient Greeks believed there were five elements. They believed everything that existed was made up of the first four and the fifth element (please no jokes about a certain movie) known as ether, also known as quintessence, akasha or spirit, was believed to be the unifying force that held the other four together.

The reason ether is so often ignored/forgotten is because unlike the others, it is believed to be an invisible, intangible force that doesn't have a distinct form or characteristics of its own.

That essentially is Ma-Ti's job in the series. He may not have the ability to affect the physical world like the others do because his element is an intangible force, but his power is the most important because it unites the others.

Really, the only thing the show's makers did "wrong" was calling it "Heart" instead of Spirit/Ether etc.

love is an element or else people are just greedy