Elle Bishop is a fictional character who appeared on the American psychological thriller superhero series Heroes, which aired on NBC from 2006 to 2010.

Elle is introduced in the episode "Fight or Flight" as an agent of the Company, an organization whose primary purpose is to identify, monitor and study those individuals with special abilities.

Elle is portrayed as mentally unstable, which is attributed to extensive "testing" condoned by her father to research her abilities when she was young.

[2] Announced in August 2007, Bell was to portray Elle, a "mysterious young lady" with an "awesome power"[2] for a total of thirteen episodes.

"[3] Elle was only meant to be Bob's stepdaughter and Meredith Gordon's daughter, making her Claire Bennet's sister, however this idea was dropped due to "lack of storyline and plot holes".

[2] In "Four Months Ago...", Elle admits to being diagnosed as a sociopath and previous to that, she had displayed sadistic behavior as a result of testing done to her as a child.

During this time, the Company made Peter Petrelli their willing prisoner and in those months he was held, Elle seems to have developed a cute crush on him.

Later on, during a telephone conversation with Bob Bishop, her father and Company head, she dismisses the murder as trivial and insists she can find Peter.

During this time, Noah tells Elle that Bob allowed the Company to perform tests on her which had begun as early as the age of seven.

She comes out somewhat defeated, but is informed by Mohinder that if not for her arrival, Sylar would have killed him, Maya Herrera and Molly Walker.

[11] The episode marked Bell's previously expressed interest in performing in scenes with the character Sylar, as she and Zachary Quinto had been good friends for almost ten years.

[1] In November 2007, Bell and Quinto filmed scenes at a restaurant in Los Angeles, which was set as a "New Jersey Diner" and had involved police and paramedics.

Returning in the episode, "The Butterfly Effect", following her failure to stop Sylar, Elle seeks assistance from Noah Bennet.

He attempts to take her ability, but the pain of being scalped causes her to involuntarily release a massive electrical surge.

In the episode "Eris Quod Sum", Elle makes her way to Claire's house to seek help from Noah, having lost control of her ability.

In the episode "Villains", Elle's life a year earlier is explored, revealing that she had been partnered with Noah Bennet at one point.

In the following episode, "It's Coming", set in the present, Arthur Petrelli, head of Pinehearst, arranges for Sylar to speak with Elle.

On assignment, Elle challenges Sylar and he shows her that he can still be a killer, and not just a "daddy's boy" by killing a rental car assistant.

She tells him that they can't just take what they want anymore, then Sylar retorts and grabs Elle, kissing her passionately.

Suddenly, Hiro teleports in and takes both Sylar and Elle to Costa Verde beach, leaving them there before disappearing.

In the episode "Tabula Rasa", Elle is seen in flashbacks as Sylar witnesses his real memories reflecting in the Hall of Mirrors.

[13] Elle also appears in "The Man With Too Much Brains" to recruit the original webcomic character Matt Neuenberg to the Company.

Claude and his friends, Abigail and Lee, carry her to his place and he begins to show Elle the source of her problem.

Although Claude asks her to stay, she prefers to look for the help of Noah, so she goes to Costa Verde and attacks Lyle while waiting for his father.

In "From the Files of Primatech: 1991", the childhood's background of Elle is further explained: how she started a blackout in Athens, Ohio that took out three other counties.

Angela brought a young Haitian to mind-wipe Elle to forget what just happened and enjoy her 9th birthday cake.

[16] Matt Roush of TV Guide reported on Bell becoming a series regular on Heroes, and stated he "like[s] her more and more, especially as we see the tragic dimension of how Elle has been so cruelly used by her 'daddy,' Bob, and is much more than the flirty assassin we first met.

"[17] Bruce Fretts, also of TV Guide, said that Bell's portrayal of Elle was responsible for "sparking Heroes to life.

"[18] He explains that "[i]n just a few scenes... [Bell is able to] juice up the slumping sophomore drama" and her "live-wire performance turned Chapter 5 into this season's strongest episode yet.

"[18] However, because of the large ensemble cast, Matthew Gilbert of Slate.com commented that Season Two of Heroes was "even more overpopulated than the last, expanding from a rabble to a veritable global riot of Dubiously Gifted Ones.