The Spirit of Earth, Gaia, is woken from a century-long sleep at Hope Island to discover that Earth is dying because of humans' carelessness in deforestation, pollution, over-hunting, and especially now by oil-driller Hoggish Greedly and his henchman Rigger, who threaten all life on a sea coast with their work. She sends a quintet of rings out to five youths around the world - Kwame, an African who tries to preserve plants, is given the Power of Earth to create mountains and earthquakes. Gi, a Malaysian with an affinity for sea life, is given the Power of Water to control any source of it nearby. Wheeler, a wild but compassionate American, is given the Power of Fire to create flame and control dangerous blazes. Linka, a Soviet bird-lover, is given the Power of Wind to create twisters and move objects. And Ma-Ti, a Kayapo-Spaniard animal-lover, is given the Power of Heart to bring out kindness in others and communicate mentally with any human or animal. The newly-appointed Planeteers learn of these powers at Hope Island before setting out to do battle with Greedly. Once there, they need help, so join their powers, which brings them a strong superhero who can transform to anything natural and whose sole weakness is too much direct pollution: Captain Planet.