Elena Fisher is a fictional character in the Uncharted series, developed by Naughty Dog. Elena appears in four video games in the main series: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, and the final installment in the main series, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. While partially playable for short sections of the first game, Elena also acts as both a sidekick and love interest for Nathan Drake. Emily Rose both provided her voice and did the motion capture work for the character.
Though originally a brunette, Naughty Dog made her a blonde with a more severe chin before the first game's release. She is an independent, strong female who acts as an equal to the series' protagonist Drake. In the games, she is a reporter who accompanies Drake on his adventures. Reception of her character has been mostly positive. She has been called one of the strongest video game females and her equality with male characters has been praised; however, the character has drawn criticism for her unrealistic combat prowess.
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Creation and conception
Emily Rose, Elena's voice actor, also performed the motion capture work for the character, acting as if performing in a movie. Motion capture was done on a soundstage, and the dialog was recorded while the scenes were being performed. Elena was meant to act as both a sidekick and a romantic interest for the main series protagonist Nathan Drake.
Originally, Elena was presented as a brunette with a soft face. However, close to the release of the first game, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, her chin was further defined, and her hair made blonde. When questioned about the purpose of the change response, Sony said "they just preferred her blonde". Naughty Dog further elaborated on the reasons for the change, saying that towards the end of development the team's pixel shaders improved and when they added it to Elena's blonde hair, it looked considerably better paired than it did with brown, as it was originally. They stated that the change was purely cosmetic as she remained exactly the same character except now with blonde hair and that these changes are all part of game development.
Elena Fisher is the "female version of Drake", as creator Amy Hennig put it; she is just as charming, intelligent and tenacious as him, and can hold her own when climbing or under fire. Rose, the character's voice actor, commented that Elena matured between the first game and the sequel: "In the first game, she's a lot younger, she's a lot more naive, and she looks at things as being very possible, and in the second (game), has seen murders and adventure...the way that any person grows, you see that in her. She's a little bit more hesitant, a little more cynical".
In the first game, Elena wears a dirty purple tank-top and cargo shorts, with a white tank top underneath. For the remaining games, she wears a number of articles of clothing, including button up shirts, casual shirts, khaki pants, jeans, and a parka.
Appearances
In the 2007 game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Elena follows Drake around, videotaping his findings for her cable television show. As the game opens, she and Drake uncover the coffin of Drake's ancestor Sir Francis Drake, which Drake located from coordinates inscribed on Francis's ring he wears around his neck. The coffin contains Sir Francis Drake's diary, which gives the location of El Dorado. Pirates attack and destroy Drake's boat, but Drake's friend Victor Sullivan rescues the two. Once safe, Sully and Drake decide to ditch Elena and go after the treasure, though she manages to rendezvous with Drake after he discovers that El Dorado is a giant gold idol. On the way to the island, anti-aircraft fire forces Elena and Drake to bail out of the airplane and they are separated. Once they meet, they discover that Sully, who appeared to die of a gunshot wound, is alive. After discovering that the statue is cursed and he must stop Atoq Navarro from using its power, and save Elena in the process. After doing so, she, Drake, and Sully drive off in a boat loaded with several chests of treasure.
In Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Drake stumbles upon Elena by accident in Nepal, where she now acts as an investigative journalist. She and a cameraman are attempting to prove that war criminal Lazarevic is alive, contrary to the beliefs of NATO. Drake is trying to stop Lazarević from finding the entrance to Shambhala and the legendary Cintamani stone. After she, Drake and the party find a temple (which conceals the secret map to Shambala), Elena and her cameraman are ambushed, and the cameraman, Jeff, is eventually executed by Lazarevic. Elena and Drake escape, and she helps him catch Lazarevic's train. The pair find each other in a remote mountain village in Tibet, where the two meet Karl Schäfer, a German who had led a Schutzstaffel expedition to Shambhala, who he ended up killing in order to stop them from obtaining the Cintamani Stone. Drake and Elena track Lazaravic to a monastery, where they find the entrance to Shambhala. Once inside, they discover that the monsters Drake has been seeing in the area are guardians of the city. Drake and Elena are apprehended by Lazaravic but escape him when the guardians attack. After battling through several guardians and many henchmen left behind by Lazaveric, she, Nate, and Chloe spot the Tree of Life, upon at that moment Flynn confronts Drake and attempts to kill the party (and himself) with a grenade. He fails, although he severely wounds Elena (as well as lightly wounding Drake and Chloe). After leaving Elena in Chloe's care, Drake confronts Lazaravic at the Tree of Life, the sap of which comprises the Cintamani stone. Drake wounds Lazaravic, leaving the guardians to kill him, and returns to the village, where he and Elena kiss and begin a relationship.
Reception
Reception to the character of Elena Fisher has been mainly positive. Blaine Kyllo of The Georgia Straight praised Rose's performance as Elena, calling it some of the best work in video gaming, while Meagan VanBurkleo of Game Informer called Elena one of her "favorite leading ladies". In its 2010 cover feature, Game Informer also named Elena as one of 30 characters "who defined a decade".
Some opined that Elena is a strong, female lead uncommon to video games. Dave Meikleham of GamesRadar UK called her one of the strongest females in gaming and wrote she provides a great playoff to Drake, and a good shot to aid the players through levels. However, he also criticized her for a lack of realism, finding it hard to believe that as a reporter who had never fired a gun before could so quickly become such an accurate, fearless shot. IGN named her the fourth best video game heroine, praising Naughty Dog for creating a female protagonist equal in every way to her male counterpart: "She won't let the camera stop rolling, she won't take Drake's crap, and she's not afraid to throw a punch. When you're pinned down by enemy fire, Elena will cap the bad guys for you. When Drake's trapped in the enemy camp, Elena will rip walls down to save her friend. When you're in need of a solid, fleshed-out character, Elena's there as a prime example". Game Informer named her one of the 30 characters who defined a decade. Similarly, GamesRadar's staff placed her at number 24 in a list of the 50 best game characters of the generation, commenting that "she may be a stereotypical twenty-something journalist at face value, but she's so convincingly written (and acted by Emily Rose) that she's one of the most believable and likeable characters in all of gaming". Kevin Wong of Complex included her to his "best supporting character in video games", and stated that "Serving as a perfect foil is reporter Elena Fisher, a modern April O'Neill who's in over her head. Despite this, however, she knows how to cover and shoot – she saves Nathan's hide more than once. Dumb blonde? Hell no – this gal's got brains."
The character has also garnered attention for her attractiveness. Bret Dawson of the Toronto Star compared Elena's appearance and mannerisms to those of Jennifer Aniston.