Elena Fisher is one of the two deuteragonists of the Uncharted series. She is an American former journalist, TV personality, and foreign correspondent, who as of A Thief's End, is married to Nathan Drake, with whom she has a daughter named Cassie.
Elena is voiced and motion-captured by Emily Rose.
History[]
Early history[]
Elena was a bright and self-reliant investigator of historical mysteries. While in high school, Elena used to work at a Macho Nacho, having a manager who was a paranoid psychopath. After coming in second on a popular survival reality show, Elena parlayed her fifteen minutes of fame into hosting a cable adventure/archaeology show, Discovered.[1] Later, Elena attended Rockport University and received a prize for an outstanding achievement before graduating and receiving an official degree in journalism.
Drake's Fortune[]
Elena was filming the discovery of Sir Francis Drake's coffin with Nathan Drake when their boat was attacked by a band of pirates, who had been tracking Nate for a while. As the two worked together to combat them, they were soon rescued by Sully in his seaplane and the three escaped the area.
Back on shore, Elena contacted her executives, requesting a camera crew so that they could continue to film the story. Sully believed that having Elena come with him and Nathan broadcasting their mission to discover El Dorado would jeopardize their goal, and Nathan reluctantly agreed. They then went ahead and abandoned her while she was still on the phone.
Elena managed to follow them, eventually running into Nathan, who was on the run from Atoq Navarro's mercenaries. After hearing about Sully's "death", she helped him escape to a jeep and they soon flew to the island where El Dorado was located. Upon nearing the island, however, their plane was attacked by anti-aircraft fire, forcing them to parachute out. They were subsequently separated, with Nate landing in the jungle, and Elena landing in the old Spanish fortress.
Upon crashing and fighting through several groups of pirates, Nate discovered Elena's parachute. Once he reached it, he saw Elena herself, making footage while inside the fortress. Once he found her again, a group of pirates captured and imprisoned him, after he prevented them from killing her. Elena broke him out while he was talking to Eddy Raja, and the two fled from Eddy's pirates in a jeep. Eddy caught up with them once she almost drove the car off a cliff, but Nate managed to save them by reversing the car into the water below after he started making threats.
They traveled through the Drowned City, sharing a moment of intimacy once they discovered El Dorado was truly on the island, and she noticed Nate's ring necklace. Later on, in the customs house, she showed Nate footage she recorded of an alive Sullivan, accompanied by Roman and Navarro. Shortly after, she was forced to drop her camera after she almost fell through a wooden bridge.
Joining with Nate in an attempt to rescue Sully, they traveled to the monastery, where they reunited with Sullivan. After discovering the treasure vault, Nate and Elena were separated from Sullivan after entering it, where they again faced Eddy and his pirates, as well as the Spanish descendants. They escaped but found themselves trapped in a Nazi bunker, where they found a map of the new location of El Dorado. Nate traveled to the other side alone in search of the power generator that would restore power to the elevator, but Roman and Navarro captured Elena while Nate was gone.
Nate escaped the bunker and helped Sully fend off more of Navarro's soldiers. Together, they entered the hidden cave where El Dorado was found. Navarro was still holding Elena hostage, while he killed Roman after he convinced him to open the El Dorado sarcophagus. As the cave filled with descendants, Navarro took Elena onto a helicopter while Nate leaped onto the attached statue as it was being airlifted. Dillon, one of Navarro's men, attempted to shoot him off the net, but Elena acted quickly, kicking the man out of the helicopter, causing him to shoot his gun at Javier, the pilot. The helicopter crashed aboard Navarro's tanker, leaving Elena unconscious.
After defeating Navarro, Nate pulled Elena out of the wreckage, though as Navarro regained consciousness, Elena warned him, allowing Nate to save them both by finishing off Navarro for good. With the threat of El Dorado resolved, Nate and Elena leaned in to kiss but were interrupted by Sully, who managed to acquire a boat and some treasure from a group of dead pirates. As they sailed off into the sunset, Elena reminded Nate that he still owed her a story, after her camera was destroyed earlier. Nate assured her that he was "good for it."
Among Thieves[]
Since the events of the first Uncharted, Elena has become an investigative journalist and has been tracking Zoran Lazarević's movements for some time. She is determined to reveal to the world that Lazarević survived a bombing raid and is active again. Her search has brought her and her cameraman Jeff Wynis to the war-torn streets of a Nepalese city.
While trailing Lazarević, Nathan Drake and Chloe Frazer run into Elena and Jeff in Nepal. Nate insists on bringing Elena and Jeff with them despite Chloe's protests. The four of them head to a temple that will reveal the location of Shambhala. At the temple, Nate orders Elena and Jeff to wait at the entrance while he and Chloe explore the temple. However, while they're gone, Elena and Jeff are spotted by Lazarević's soldiers and get pinned down.
Nate and Chloe return and save Elena and Jeff from the soldiers, though Jeff is hit. Nate decides to carry the injured Jeff while Elena and Chloe cover them as they navigate their way through the streets being pursued by Lazarević's soldiers. They enter an apartment building to let Jeff rest, though Lazarević and Harry Flynn catch up to them and Chloe is forced to switch sides to protect herself from Lazarević, who believes she is working for Flynn.
Lazarević coldly executes the wounded Jeff and then threatens to kill Elena while forcing Nate to reveal the location of Shambhala. Flynn searches Nate and retrieves the map revealing where Shambhala is. Lazarević and his troops exit the room and order Flynn to execute Nate and Elena. Elena, however, punches Flynn in the nose, allowing her and Nate to escape.
Once they reach safety, Nate decides to go and rescue Chloe, and Elena agrees to help. The two of them head to a train depot and scout the perimeter. Nate's plan suggests she steal a nearby jeep to use as a getaway car while he sneaks onto the train to grab Chloe. However, this plan does not go accordingly and Nate is pinned down by Lazarević's soldiers while the train departs.
Elena arrives with the jeep and saves Nate, before chasing after the train. Elena brings the jeep side-by-side with the speeding train while Nate hops aboard at the last second. He looks back to see Elena stop the jeep for she can not continue on.
With Nate and the train gone, Elena follows the tracks, which eventually leads her to the wreckage that Nate had caused. She makes her way to the village where she finds Nate passed out after being shot by Flynn. Over the next few days, Nate remains unconscious, and Elena befriends the village residents Karl Schäfer, Tenzin, and his daughter, Pema.
When Nate comes to, Tenzin brings him to Karl Schäfer's home, where Elena is sitting with Pema. Nate and Elena are overjoyed to see each other again and embrace. Elena brings Nate to meet Schäfer, who, like Nate, once went on an expedition to find the Cintamani Stone and was also brought to the village near-death. Schäfer explains that the Stone isn't merely a gemstone, but it grants its owner immeasurable power. Nate assumes that this is only a myth, but Elena isn't so sure, citing Lazarević's actions to get the Stone. Schäfer offers Nate more evidence, so he sends him and Tenzin into the mountains to find the remains of his expedition. As Nate prepares to leave, Elena kisses him on the cheek, telling him to come back safely.
While Nate is away, Lazarević ambushes the village. Elena manages to gather the children into a secluded area, but by the time Nate and Tenzin return, she is shaken and upset, blaming herself and Nate for bringing such trouble to the innocent villagers. She informs Tenzin that Pema and Schäfer are in the middle of the warzone. Nate tells Elena to stay with the children and to keep them safe while he and Tenzin fight Lazarević's forces.
After the attack, Elena and Nate commandeer one of Lazarević's convoy trucks and begin to pursue Schäfer who is taken hostage. However, the two are eventually gunned down and thrown over a cliff. The two survive, and Nate deduces that Lazarević and Schäfer are somewhere inside a monastery. Nate and Elena begin to quietly make their way to the monastery to rescue him.
Nate and Elena find Schäfer almost dead from being beaten. Schäfer urges Nate to recover the Phurba, find the entrance to Shambhala, and destroy the Stone before Lazarević gets it. Schäfer dies, and Nate decides that whether the Stone has mythical powers or not, Lazarević must be stopped. Elena decides it would be better for the two of them to split up to find the entrance.
Elena finds it, and Nate manages to recover the dagger from Chloe. However, once they reach the doorway to Shambhala, they're cornered by Lazarević. After a tense standoff where Lazarević threatens to kill both Elena and Chloe if Nate doesn't cooperate, he complies and leads Lazarević, Flynn, and their men into the city. Once inside Shambhala, Lazarević prepares to execute all three, though the Guardians attack everyone allowing the trio to escape. They pursue Lazarević into the city in an attempt to destroy the Cintamani Stone before Lazarević can use it.
Upon finding it, Nate quickly realizes that the Cintamani Stone isn't actually a gemstone, but the sap from the tree of life. A fatally wounded Flynn then emerges, and despite Elena offering to help, Flynn rebuffs her request and drops a live grenade; the blast kills himself and seriously wounds Elena. Elena grudgingly tells Nate and Chloe to leave her and stop Lazarević, but Chloe insists that they take care of her first. Nate eventually leads them to a path that will take them back to the main entrance and orders Chloe to escape with Elena while he takes care of Lazarević.
After battling Lazarević, Nate makes it back to the entrance where Chloe and Elena are waiting. As the city falls to ruin, the three make it out just in time, though Elena has lost consciousness. Returning to the village, Elena recovers from her injuries in the care of Sullivan.
Chloe asks if Nate loves Elena, which he doesn't deny, and Chloe urges him to tell her. While Sullivan follows Chloe, Nate and Elena finally kiss as they wonder what will happen next following their adventure.
Post-Among Thieves[]
Following Among Thieves, Nate and Elena marry in unknown circumstances. However, Nate's phobia of commitment and lust for adventure places great strain on the marriage, and the two separate, becoming estranged. Elena keeps her wedding ring, and Victor Sullivan looks after Nate's without his knowledge.
Drake's Deception[]
A few years later, Elena Fisher has become an international news correspondent and has been stationed in Yemen for some time. Nate and Sully discover that Sir Francis Drake had made a stop in Yemen on his quest to find the Atlantis of the Sands. Since the two needed to get into Yemen quietly and without opposition, Sullivan calls Elena to ask for her help, as Nate was reluctant to speak to her. When they arrive, Elena gives them permits.
Elena takes Nate and Sully on a walking tour through Yemen, with the Old Quarter as their final stop. In order to dodge the city's guards, the trio climbs up to the rooftops. From there, Sully spots Talbot walking through the town. Nate pursues him, and is eventually cornered by Katherine Marlowe's guards, but evades capture and enters a courtyard.
Coincidentally, the courtyard contains a well with the coordinates to Iram. While in the catacombs, the three discover a hidden chamber with messages written on the walls, warning about the dangers of Iram and the desert. Nate deduces that these messages were written by Sir Francis Drake, as they're in English. Elena is concerned as to why Sir Francis Drake, despite knowing how to find Iram, chose to drop the search and sail home, hiding all evidence. She wishes for Nate to forget about Iram and Marlowe, urging he has beaten her, though Nate is unrelenting.
Once the three make it out of the catacombs, Nate is drugged by Talbot, and he runs off. Nate is eventually captured by Marlowe, while her guards track down and take Sullivan soon thereafter. During Nate's abduction, Elena, having evaded Marlowe, organized a rescue mission in order to save Sully.
Nate escapes his captors and returns to Elena who is overjoyed to see him, believing him to be dead. She updates him on Sullivan's situation, and the two of them plan to rescue him at dawn; their best chance to infiltrate the airstrip where Marlowe's convoy supplies are being loaded. Nate apologizes for his actions as he rests. The next day, Nate and Elena make their way through the airstrip to the cargo plane. Eventually, they find the plane but Nate jumps over a fence that Elena cannot pass and refuses to help her over, arguing that after Elena almost died in Shambhala, he doesn't want to risk her life. Elena flees the area via a nearby jeep.
However, Nate is spotted by Marlowe's men, and the plane begins to take off. Elena, having decided to return and help, uses the jeep to catch up to Nate to drive him close enough to the plane for him to jump on board, in a situation very reminiscent of when she drove him to jump onto a speeding train. Elena isn't seen again until Nate returns from the rescue mission.
After escaping the now-ruined Iram, Sully returns Nate's wedding ring, having held onto it until the right time. Nate goes to Elena and shows her he is now wearing the ring and the two embrace. Sully surprises them with a new seaplane, following the one Nate and Elena crashed four years ago, which they use to depart from Yemen.
A Thief's End[]
Three years after the events of Drake's Deception, Elena and Nate are trying to lead normal lives in New Orleans. She continues to work as a journalist and often travels abroad writing articles. After Nate receives an offer from his boss Jameson about an illegal Malaysian salvage job, Elena encourages him to go as she hopes it will help to satisfy his longing for adventure. However, Nate continues to rebuff her efforts as he is trying to leave his old life behind. When Nate's forgotten brother, Sam, returns with the proposition of uncovering the ancient pirate treasure of Henry Avery, Nate lies to Elena and tells her he's decided to take the job in Malaysia as cover. Elena believes him and stays in contact to assure his well being. After a few days away, Nate rings Elena to tell her that his trip has been delayed due to bad weather and that he will not be home for a few more days. Knowing how dangerous the monsoon season can be, she offers to travel over and keep him company, but he persistently tells her to stay at home, which gives Elena doubts about his whereabouts.
The look on your face when you walked into this room. If you're done lying to me, then you stop lying to yourself. I got a plane to catch. You do what you got to do.
Elena to Nate after dismissing his claims of not wanting to treasure.
After escaping Shoreline forces in Madagascar, Nate returns to his hotel only to find Elena going over his documents relating to Henry Avery's treasure. She confronts Nate about his lies, in which he tells her that he was only trying to protect her and that his sole purpose for finding the treasure was to save his brother and nothing else. Elena dismisses the claims, telling him he's only lying to himself. Upset, confused, and angry, she returns home on her own.
After some consideration, Elena decides to return to Nate with the help of Sully, who takes her to Libertalia via plane. She finds an injured Nate and nurses him back to health while he explains his and Sam's history. After setting off to find Sam, Nate questions Elena on why she came back. She simply replies "there's the whole marriage vow thing" as well as hoping that Nate's dishonesty will help to make them more trusting of each other in the future. As they traverse New Devon, Elena begins to understand Nate's need for adventure and they reconcile with a kiss. The couple eventually finds Sam, who insists that they go after the treasure before Rafe and Nadine find it. Nate, Elena, and Sully decline his request, citing that they only came to rescue him, not to find the treasure. However, Nate is forced to leave Elena with Sully after Sam eventually decides to go after the treasure alone. The four then reunite on Sully's plane, having escaped Libertalia alive but with seemingly no treasure.
Once back at King's Bay, Elena comes to terms with accepting Nate's decision for helping his brother and jokes around with Sam before saying goodbye. Back in New Orleans, Elena tells Nate that they might have oversteered in their attempt to live a normal life. Knowing that she can't control Nate's longing for adventure, Elena decides to buy Jameson's Marine salvage company which will help them in their funding for future adventures. Nate is initially reluctant to the idea, knowing that they cannot afford to do it but soon comes around after she reveals that Sam left Libertalian coins in her pocket while at King's Bay. Elena also shows Nate permits for the Malaysian job and states that she hopes to revive her TV show. The two then joke around about who is going to complete the necessary paperwork.
Elena goes on to form D&F Fortunes with her husband Nathan. 11–13 years after the events of A Thief's End, the two are still happily married and have settled down at a beach house with a daughter named Cassie and a dog called Vicky. The story then ends with Nate and Elena setting off on a sailing trip while beginning to tell Cassie about their previous adventures.
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Elena's appearance varies slightly between games, but typically she's a woman of short stature, has a slim figure, blonde hair, an angular face with grey/blue eyes (in the first three games) and green/hazel eyes in the fourth. She was originally presented as a brunette with brown eyes; some of the older Drake's Fortune trailers show her as a brunette with a different hairstyle.
In Drake's Fortune, Elena wears purple and white tank-tops, baggy cargo shorts, and sandals. In Among Thieves, she has become an investigative journalist, and as such wears a more formal white button-up shirt and dark jeans while she is in Nepal. In the mountains, she dons a ski/winter jacket and snow boots. In Drake's Deception, she wears a button-up collared shirt with a grey long sleeve shirt and khaki pants. The colors vary in the chapter.
Elena has multiple outfits throughout A Thief's End. Her street outfit consists of a buttoned shirt and jeans. The second outfit includes a tunic, jeans, and sneakers. A turquoise variant of this outfit appears in the multiplayer mode. The island outfit consists of a purple tank with jeans, a belt, and boots. Her Scotland outfit that's seen in the cutscenes features a cargo jacket, tank top, jeans, and sneakers. The fourth outfit in the cutscenes is identical to the street outfit, but with a pale blue buttoned shirt and boots. Elena's casual outfit in the Epilogue goes for a more beachy feel, mainly consisting of a bikini top, a white t-shirt, shorts, and sandals.
Personality[]
Elena is the "female version of Drake" as creator Amy Hennig describes; she is just as charming, intelligent, and tenacious as him, and can hold her own when climbing or under fire. This is pointed out by Nate himself in Drake's Fortune as he is impressed by her ability during the attack on their boat. The two have the same sense of humor and cavalier attitude toward their opponents, but she tends to be more naive and compassionate (such as when Harry Flynn is dying).
Elena is optimistic and cunning, driving Nate to keep moving forward. She doesn't always agree with Nate's decisions but helps him anyway. She becomes a much better strategist over the course of the games. She helps Nate plan ways into sneaking into restricted areas and taking out opponents.
Relationships[]
Nathan Drake[]
Nathan Drake is immediately attracted to Elena but is initially only interested in using her and her production team to fund his own exploits. After Elena tracks Nate down they are forced to cooperate. She is attracted to Nate's heroism, though between the games the dangers of his job put a strain on their on-off relationship. They eventually marry, but once again break up when Nate returns to treasure hunting. Following his confrontation with Marlowe in Drake's Deception, Nate finally settles down and the two enter a more stable relationship together in New Orleans until Sam, Nate's forgotten brother, tracks them down.
Nate then chooses to lie to Elena, while he secretly continues his hunt for Henry Avery's treasure. Elena eventually tracks them down, and all three leave the island of Libertalia alive. 13-15 years after the events of A Thief's End, Elena and Nate are living on a beach house with a daughter named Cassie and a Labrador called Vicky, having finally managed to balance a normal life with their longing for adventure.
Victor Sullivan[]
Elena and Victor Sullivan have a friendly relationship, which improves naturally as she and Nate grow closer. By Drake's Deception, Elena voices her concern that Nate is going to get Sully killed if he continues his line of work, and cites it as one of the reasons for their break up. It is believed that they remained friends after A Thief's End, with Sully regularly visiting her, Nate, and Cassie at their beach house.
Chloe Frazer[]
Elena and Chloe Frazer are very much the exact opposites of each other, which serves to portray different sides of Nate's personality. Initially, the two women are at odds as both of them subtly compete over their feelings for Nate. When Chloe is taken hostage by Lazarević in Among Thieves, Elena reluctantly assists Nate in freeing her. Elena and Chloe are much less antagonistic with each other when they cooperate in Shambhala, and Chloe helps save Elena's life following her grenade injury from Harry Flynn.
Charlie Cutter[]
Despite not meeting on-screen, Elena knows about Charlie Cutter. Her reaction to his involvement suggests she's aware of his partnership with Nate. Sully assures her that he is not dead after breaking his leg in Syria.
Development[]
Amy Hennig has commented that she created Elena to be the "female version of Drake" instead of the "damsel in distress" type. Naughty Dog stated that they tried to make Elena have the 'girl-next-door' look, to give her a pretty but not overly glamorous image.
Lead character artist Sze Jones said: "Elena has gone through a lot of emotional and physical challenges on her adventures with Nathan Drake. Her eyes were made with slightly higher transparency and glossiness to let them show her inner emotions and her feelings for Nate.
Her subtle cheek blushes and slightly larger pupils give her a loving appearance and accentuate her protective nature and her willingness to sacrifice herself in order to protect others.
The biggest technical challenge with Elena was to establish her skin tone and the specularity of her hair in contrast with the other characters. Countless modifications to her skin were made against extreme lighting conditions in order to find the perfect balance of shader settings and textures to support the right look."
Elena Fisher was originally conceived to be a Spanish character, as "Elena Vargas", and writer Amy Hennig wanted Claudia Black (the voice of Chloe Frazer) to voice Elena.
In other media[]
"Through Panama by Elena Fisher"[]
A user named "efish001" uploaded a short video detailing an expedition through a Panamanian jungle by Elena Fisher (unseen but voiced by Emily Rose) and a small group of guides. The clip was uploaded to YouTube on the 7th of November 2007, nine days before the release of Drake's Fortune. It is accompanied by the brief description: "This was the start of an old documentary I made which was never completed, but saved for reference."[2]
Most of the video features Elena trekking through the jungle, with guides to help her. Near the end of the video, they discover what they have been searching for, a stone marked with several glyphs. After finding the stone, they come under fire from a man with a gun. The video ends as they flee into the jungle.
Drake's Trail[]
Elena is the only character from the games to appear in Uncharted: Drake's Trail, a now-defunct online game. She gives the detective Nate's address and once the player has Drake's location, he reports back to Elena, who thanks him and says she will get onto it.
Drake's Fortune (motion comic)[]
Elena appears in the two-episode motion comic adaptation of the prologue of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
Eye of Indra[]
Elena appears very briefly in Uncharted: Eye of Indra, a four-episode motion comic prequel to Drake's Fortune. She is in the final episode of the motion comic where Nathan and Sully are watching her show on TV at a beach resort, following Nate's ordeal with Pinkerton. Nate explains to Sully how he is meeting with Elena to discuss cost arrangements for his expedition to find Sir Francis Drake's coffin.
Uncharted (comic)[]
Elena only appears on the first cover for the Uncharted comic book, which incongruously depicts scenes based on Drake's Deception, despite the story of the comic being completely original. The author told IGN that he would use her for the next issue, as he has ideas for what he wanted to do with her but could not include it at the time.
Uncharted Live Action Fan Film[]
Elena makes an appearance in the 2018 live-action fan film, where she is played by Mircea Monroe, alongside Nathan Filion as Nathan Drake and Stephen Lang as Victor Sullivan. Although Allan Ungar's action-adventure short film doesn't consider to be canon to the Uncharted series' video game narrative, Naughty Dog vice president Neil Druckmann and the franchise's creator, Amy Hennig, both shared their support on social media along with many other gaming creators.
Citations[]
References[]
Greg Off (n.d.) . Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Signature Series Guide [Book]. Brady Games. ISBN 074400991X.