While partially playable for short sections of the first game, Elena also acts as both a sidekick and love interest for Nathan Drake.

[6] 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.

[7] 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.

[8] In the first game, Elena wears a dirty purple tank-top and cargo shorts, with a white tank top underneath.

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.

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.

After leaving Elena in Chloe's care, Drake confronts Lazaravic at the Tree of Life, the sap of which comprises the Cintamani stone.

[13] Drake wounds Lazaravic, leaving the guardians to kill him, and returns to the village, where he and Elena kiss and begin a relationship.

She assists Nate and Sully in entering Yemen and helps locate a cistern leading to catacombs that contains the coordinates to Iram of the Pillars.

In Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, five years after the events of Drake's Deception, Elena and Nate are living as a married couple in New Orleans.

Nate lies to Elena by claiming he has taken on a new salvaging job after his long-lost brother Sam returns to coax him back into uncovering the treasure of pirate Henry Avery.

After some consideration, Elena later goes to Libertalia with Sully and rescues Nate, hoping that his dishonesty will help to make them more trusting of each other in the future, and in the end they reconcile with a kiss.

13–15 years after the events of Uncharted 4 the two are still happily married and have settled down at a beach house with a daughter named Cassie and a dog called Vicky.

Elena also appears in the prequel comic Eye of Indra, agreeing to fund Nate's expedition to find Sir Francis Drake's coffin.

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.

[21] 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.