WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Frozen 2, in theaters now.
Over the course of Frozen 2, Elsa and her allies end up encountering various elemental forces of magic that have been sealed away for decades. In the process, they fully awaken and encounter the spirits of the four elements, introducing a whole new group of natural forces onto the world.
Here are the four elemental spirits that Elsa encounters on her journey.
GALE
Gale is the first spirit that Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf encounter, shortly after entering the enchanted woods. A seemingly sentient gust of wind, the group calls her "Gale" after she calms down around them. She's shown as being playful, befitting something as airy as the literal element of air. She constantly breezes around the group, taking joy in blowing up dresses or shirts.
But Gale is also shown to become dangerous when the situation calls for it. She consumes the group in a fast-moving twister and is able to separate them from each other in the chaos. However, Elsa's ice powers are able to calm her down and slow the gusts. Gale spends most of the rest of the movie in a more passive role.
However, Gale could be said to help save the day in the end, as she's the one to help bring the truth about the dam from a frozen and incapacitated Elsa to Anna, who is then able to unleash magic and save the forest -- and her sister.
BRUNI
Bruni is the fire elemental. Instead of being a large, terrifying beast as you'd expect, it's instead just a salamander: a cute little critter that moves around the forest with sudden speed. Bruni moves like a spreading flame around the forest bed, leaving a mystically glowing flame in its wake. The fire spreads quickly and, when it feels threatened, Bruni quickly goes on the offensive and spreads it faster. It's potentially the most dangerous of the elementals, especially in a largely wooded area.
Although it's initially a threat to our heroes, as well as the mixed group of natives and soldiers they find, Elsa is able to combat it with her ice powers. She shuts down the flames and cools off the fire before it spreads, although Anna is almost killed after collapsing from the smoke. The fire is fully stopped when Elsa is able to actually use her powers on Bruni and cool him off. Enjoying the cold, he quickly becomes an ally for Elsa and helps lead her on the rest of her quest.
ROCK GIANTS
The Rock Giants are the most fearsome of the Elementals and provide the most overt threat in the film. They move around the countryside at their own will, lumbering around without any care for what ends up crushed underneath their massive feet. The natives have drills in place for when they arrive, and the only way to survive is to not be noticed by the creatures. Unlike the other elementals, Elsa never recruits the Giants to her quest. It's actually Anna who spends the most time with them.
After she encounters the Rock Giants for the first time, Anna runs into them multiple times over the rest of the film. A tense river sequence sees her and Olaf almost waking up a pack of them. But in the end, Anna is able to actually use the Rock Giants to further her own goal. She's able to get their attention, leading them on a chase to the dam that contains all the magic in the area. Making herself a target and running along the dam, Anna is able to get the giants to heave boulders at her, destroying the dam and helping unleash magic back into the world.
They do seem to have a soft side as well, as they are seen coexisting peacefully with Elsa after she moves to the north.
NOKK
Nokk is perhaps the toughest of the elements for Elsa to work with. Nokk is the water spirit and it takes the form of a massive stallion. It can run atop and through water, giving it a major advantage when you're in the Black Sea that it calls home. It comes the closest to actually killing Elsa, at one point pushing her deep into the ocean and almost drowning her in the darkest parts of the sea. But Elsa is able to fight her way back to the surface.
There, she's able to rein in the horse by literally making ice reins. This gives Elsa the chance to ride the horse, which actually helps tame it and calm its fury. Elsa is able to ride Nokk the rest of the way to the island that she's been seeking, even forming ice on the ground so it can continue to move onto the earth. When a flood threatens to destroy Arendelle, Elsa is able to call upon Nokk to race the tidal wave back to her home. There, she freezes it before it can hit the castle.
Elsa is last seen in the north, riding through the cold atop Nokk.
Disney's Frozen 2 reunites directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck and producer Del Vecho with voice actors Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad. Returning musical talents include Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.