Princess Elise the Third

"I wish to save the world. I wish to cleanse my father's sin. And I wish to talk to Sonic... once again!"

- Princess Elise the Third, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

Princess Elise the Third (ソレアナ公女エリス3世) is one of the main characters in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). She is a young human woman and the current sovereign of Soleanna, being the last surviving member of the once-great royal family that rules over the city and its kingdom. The daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Soleanna, Elise grew up with a tragic past–at an early age, she lost her mother and not long after, she was made the vessel to seal the monstrous Iblis by her father, which claimed his life too. Torn between her impetuous whims and duty, Elise rose to leadership with the mysterious heavy burden given by her father when he died: she could never let herself cry or Iblis would be released from within her.

Ten years after the loss of her father, Elise became the target of Dr. Eggman and Mephiles the Dark who separately sought her for Ibils who remained sealed within her. Coming to her rescue however was Sonic the Hedgehog who would save Elise multiple times and ultimately help free from her heavy burden.

Childhood
Elise was born to the Duke and Duchess of Soleanna. Her mother died at some point when she was a child, an event that which saddened Elise deeply. The Duke conducted experiments on the Flames of Hope (aka Solaris), known as the "Solaris Project", to allow time travel to let Elise and her father to see her mother again, as well as allowing humanity to correct its past sins.

When Elise was seven years old, however, the project became unstable, the machine they were using exploded, and the flame was split into two villainous forms; Iblis, Solaris' raw power, and Mephiles, his conscious mind. Elise was present when the machine exploded, but was protected by her father who used himself as a human shield to protect her from the worst of it, leaving himself mortally wounded in the process, though she was knocked unconscious. While unconscious, Elise was carried through the research facility by the Duke, searching for the parts of Solaris. The Duke eventually found Silver, who had time-traveled with a Chaos Control back to find out what had happened during the Solaris Project, who had paralyzed Iblis with his psychokinesis. With no other option other than allowing Iblis to run free, the Duke was forced to seal Iblis within Elise's soul, as only one of the royal family could contain this being and keep it at bay. Using his opportunity, the Duke used the silver Chaos Emerald in a ritual and succeeded in sealing Iblis within Elise. Elise, still being unconscious, was then entrusted to Silver by the Duke and told him take her to a safe place. In his dying words, Elise was told by her father to be brave and not to cry no matter what happens (as her tears and despair could release Iblis from within her) and to live happily.

Elise was then taken out of the laboratory by Silver, who left Elise nearby to wake up on her own while Shadow left the Scepter of Darkness with her. Before Silver and Shadow returned to the present day, however Elise silently called out for her father in her daze. Silver then decided to give Elise his blue Chaos Emerald as a good luck charm, before leaving. During these events Elise managed to get a glimpse of Silver, who would remain in her memories for years to come.

Attack of Eggman and Meeting Sonic
Ten years later, Elise, now seventeen years old, and the denizens of Soleanna were celebrating the Festival of the Sun. While lighting the torch which appeared to be the main focus of the festival, Elise had a hallucination of Soleanna in flames, along with Iblis. As she snapped back to reality and continued with the festival but suddenly, the festival was attacked by Dr. Eggman. As Eggman was persuading Elise to come with him, however, Sonic the Hedgehog arrived (whom Elise mistook for Silver at first) and he destroyed a few of Eggman's robots and escaped with her. As the pair made their getaway, Elise was confused and asked Sonic why he was helping her, but he merely said that he had "no special reason" for doing so. As Eggman sent a few more robots after them, Elise got captured by Eggman while Sonic was distracted fighting the robots, though Elise managed to give Sonic the Chaos Emerald that Silver had given her, before Eggman took off. As Elise was taken away, Sonic assured her that he would rescue her and Elise responded that she knew he would.

Rescued and Recaptured
After her capture, Elise was brought to Eggman's base in Dusty Desert in the Egg Carrier where she was imprisoned. While being locked in her cell, Elise felt hopeless about her situation, but she tried to stay strong by recalling her father's words. Not long after her capture, however, Elise found Sonic arriving with Tails to save her, the hedgehog staying true to his words. Elise, who was happy to see Sonic, embraced Sonic and told him that she was so happy that he came. Unfortunately, their reunion was cut short, as Eggman arrived and unleashed his Egg Cerberus on them, which Sonic defeated.

Elise, Sonic and Tails eventually managed to escape Eggman's base, but are then chased by a massive army of robots. To escape, Tails created a diversion, allowing Sonic and Elise to escape unnoticed. As the duo got some distance from the robots, they arrived at some grassy plains where they stopped. With the danger passed, Elise thanked Sonic for his help, but then noticed a wound on his arm. Sonic told her that was nothing serious, but Elise was not convinced and used a handkerchief to bandage Sonic's arm. After treating him, Elise apologized to Sonic for his injury, blaming herself for it, but Sonic merely told her to smile, which was all he needed. As they walked through the plains, Elise told Sonic more about the Flames of Disaster and Solaris, the deity that Soleanna worshipped, which was the primary reason that Eggman was after her. Elise then worried about what she could do to stop Eggman from unleashing Solaris' furious power, but suddenly found Sonic dragging her through the fields. Elise told Sonic that she could not run that fast, but Sonic told her not to worry and keep running, and Elise started to cheer up. After running through the field together with Sonic, Elise felt much better and Sonic gave her some advice to go by: "Nothing starts until you take action. If you have time to worry, then run." Afterwards, Elise was escorted back to the city by Sonic.

Upon their return to the city, they were attacked by Silver. Elise was captured by Eggman again in the confusion and was eventually brought to White Acropolis. When Sonic, accompanied by Tails and Knuckles, reaches Eggman's base, Eggman and Sonic negotiated a deal; if Sonic gave Eggman the Chaos Emerald that Elise had given him earlier, then Eggman would let Elise go. Sonic willingly (and somewhat reluctantly) did so, but, Eggman proved not to live up to his end of the bargain. and propels Sonic, Tails and Knuckles into the distant future with his prototype time machine, much to Elise's horror and despair. Eggman assured her that Sonic and the gang were still alive as they had merely been transported to another time period, though he has no idea where or when they ended up. After Eggman finished gloating to Elise about his plans and left Elise to herself, she silently prayed for Sonic and his friends to be okay. Later, Elise took Sonic's earlier advice to heart and attempted to escape from Eggman's snowy mountain base on her own, and, with help from Amy, succeeded. When they return to the city, Amy gave Elise some advice on love, but Elise is captured by Eggman again when she returns to the castle.

Return of Sonic
Fortunately, Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails returned to the present via Chaos Control, and Sonic chased Eggman down again and saved Elise from an exploding train. As Sonic brought Elise to safety, she told Sonic with great joy that she knew he would be back.

Soon afterwards, Silver attacked them again, and Eggman captured Elise again while Sonic was preoccupied. Sonic managed to escape due to the timely arrival of Shadow, and caught up to them. Elise, stating that she would rather die than be Eggman's prisoner again, fell off of Eggman's airship in a desperate attempt to get away from him, but Sonic caught her just before she hit the ground, and ran with Sonic off into the jungle in order to escape Eggman. On their way Sonic told Elise to return to the castle, where she would be safe. When Elise showed visible depression at being told this, Sonic took a shortcut to a lake in the middle of the jungle, where Elise was fascinated by the area's beauty. Elise asked Sonic if he plans on leaving Soleanna once he defeated Eggman; he told her that he does, but assured her that he would remember the city. Desperately fighting back tears in remembrance of her late father's warnings, Elise hugged Sonic in an emotional scene, who told her to smile once more as words of comfort.

Soon afterwards, however, Eggman returned, threatening to destroy the city unless Elise agreed to negotiate with him by four o'clock. Elise willingly surrendered to his demands in order to protect the city, and Eggman revealed his plans for the Flames of Disaster; he plans on using them to control time itself.

Elise is later seemingly killed when the Egg Carrier exploded due to an unstable engine, as well as Eggman (it's also implied that her death as well as the unstable engine is what resulted in Iblis' released in Silver's timeline), but Sonic and Silver used Chaos Control to go back in time and saved them both. Sonic and Elise jump across the exploding pieces of the Egg Carrier, but fall short of solid ground and began to fall back towards the ocean; fortunately, the remains of the Egg Carrier then explode and propel them upwards. Elise and Sonic made it out unharmed, and then suddenly crack up laughing. Sonic then congratulated her for her smile.

Elise's Tears
As Sonic and Elise returned to the city after the events, Mephiles emerged from the ground, blinded them with a flash of light, and impaled Sonic through the back with a beam of energy, killing him instantly. Elise frantically attempted to revive him, but, upon realizing that he was dead, was unable to control her grief and cried, inadvertently breaking the seal on Iblis and allowing Mephiles to merge with him. After the game's cast is transported to a bizarre dimension, they discover Elise, cradling Sonic's head in her lap, and all mourned his passing. As everything seemed lost, however, Elise sensed Sonic's presence around them, signifying that he was not quite dead yet, and that they could use the Chaos Emeralds to resurrect him. While Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Omega, and Silver all split up to gather the Chaos Emeralds, Elise looked after Sonic's body. Once they managed to gather them as reality itself fell apart around them, Elise resurrected Sonic with a kiss and the Chaos Emerald's power, which also transformed him into Super Sonic. Exhausted from performing this miracle, Elise fell into Sonic's arms, who thanked her for saving him. Super Sonic, with Super Shadow and Super Silver then when into battle against Solaris, while Elise provided support from the sidelines. After Solaris is destroyed, Sonic and Elise were suddenly transported through another time vortex.

Just Smile
The pair eventually arrived in the Soleanna ten years ago, before the Solaris Project, where the Duke of Soleanna and a young Elise were observing Solaris, then only a tiny flame. After the Duke explained his plans for the flame and as they leave, Sonic and the present-day Elise arrive. Elise took the flame and told Sonic that if the flame was extinguished, it would result in her and Sonic never meeting. Overcome with despair, Elise began to cry and shouted that she did not care what happened to the rest of the world, only that she and Sonic would never meet. Sonic told Elise to just smile, meaning to accept life's ways for what they are and to go with the flow, even when things were not going satisfactorily. Elise considered this and, with tears in her eyes and a small smile, gently blew Solaris out from existence, thus erasing the whole game's events and happenings.

With this being done, time is reversed back to where the Festival of the Sun is taking place in Soleanna, except that Eggman did not come to abduct Elise since there was no so-called "Flames of Disaster" secret, though Sonic was still visiting the city. As the ceremony is taking place, Sonic rushes past the boat that Elise is on, and the "wind" of his rapid pace caused one of the feathers in Elise's hair to detach. After staring in wonder at the floating detached feather for a while, one of her maids comments that it was probably just the wind that gushed by. Elise acknowledges this, but stated that this "wind" felt familiar somehow, and smiled. Elise then returned to the festival, unaware that Sonic kept a close eye on her the whole time.

Personality
Elise is very kind-hearted, sweet, and genuinely cares about her country and its citizens, being willing to give herself up to Eggman in order to protect them from the doctor. She is well aware of her role as a monarch and does her best to stand as a worthy and exemplary princess. Behind her formal facade, however, Elise is like any typical confused and anxious young woman. The loss of her parents left Elise with much grief and sorrow, but she always tried to stay strong due to her father's words. When Iblis was later sealed inside her, Elise forced herself to never cry, as her tears would free Iblis from within her. This trapped her in a perpetual state of fake optimism where she would try to make light of her fate, but in reality, she always carried sadness that she could never let go of, leaving her trapped in her own feelings.

During her adventures with Sonic, she becomes quite attached to the heroic hedgehog, the latter is hinted at in her first conversation with Amy, where she is visibly flustered and embarrassed when Amy asked her if he (not knowing that it was Sonic) had asked her out on a date and later where she desperately fights back tears when Sonic reveals that he plans of departing the city once he thwarted Eggman's plans. It is eventually Sonic's presence that makes Elise truly happy for the first time since her father's death, allowing her to get out of her own captivity.

Despite her genuine love for her people, Elise wishes to be able to make herself happy with her own desires coming first as she hesitates to blow out the flame of Solaris since it would mean she would never meet Sonic, who gave her so much happiness. However Sonic's words of encouragement and her own knowledge of what is right win out in the end and she blows out the flame.

Possibly as a side effect of the ritual that was used to seal Iblis within her body, Elise, at times, seems to possess a small degree of mental instability, as shown when she hallucinates Soleanna in flames during the Festival of the Sun and sees a vision of Silver surrounded by flames upon meeting Sonic for the first time.

Powers and abilities
Elise has some sort of unspecified supernatural ability which is manifested as a hidden power, though it is unknown if it is a side effect from having Iblis sealed inside her or it is a power of her own. When she and Sonic are together, Elise can join her hidden power with Sonic's to form protective barrier around them. She also possesses a degree of spiritual awareness (even after Iblis was released from her) as demonstrated when she was able to sense the presence of Sonic's spirit around them and later Solaris' consciousness.

After Solaris was erased from existence, it is unknown if Elise has retained any of her supernatural powers.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Elise's most prominent relationship is with Sonic. She forms a close friendship to him, which progresses to her developing romantic feelings for him. Mephiles uses this as an advantage, and kills Sonic, making Elise cry and freeing Iblis. Elise revives Sonic with the Chaos Emeralds, kissing him as he awakens as Super Sonic. After the defeat of Solaris, Elise and Sonic find the Flames of Disaster in its frail, core form. She theorizes that by putting out the flame now, Solaris will have never existed, which will make it so that she will never have met Sonic in this adventure. Elise nearly breaks down and declares that she does not care what happens to the world, but Sonic simply reminds her to smile, convincing her to be brave and blow out the Flames of Disaster. This event instantly results in a time reboot. At the end of the game, Sonic watches the Festival of the Sun in the distance as Elise senses something familiar about his presence.

Amy Rose
Elise is also close friends with Amy Rose. Amy rescues her from Eggman's base then escorts and saves her from the robots that are chasing her, and they become friends. Amy gives Elise some advice on love and tells her that she has a good chance with Sonic (though she doesn't know that the guy that Elise has feelings for is Sonic), saying, "You're a Princess and you're super-cute. This guy's the lucky one." Amy also comforts her in the Last Story of the game, and they can be seen together.

Silver the Hedgehog
Elise also met Silver the Hedgehog when he traveled to the past to investigate the Solaris Project. Silver watched how Solaris was separated into Mephiles and Iblis, and was also the only witness of the Duke of Soleanna, Elise's father, sealing Iblis into her body. Silver promises to the dying Duke that he would take his daughter to a safer place. Silver then returned to the present, but not before giving Elise the blue Chaos Emerald he had, telling her to keep it as a lucky charm. While their interaction in the present day is brief, it is still important, as it is through Silver's words that Elise is convinced to use the Chaos Emeralds to bring Sonic back to life.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series published by Archie Comics, much like in the game, Princess Elise is the ruler of Soleanna, a settlement for humans and Overlanders, though she has yet to appear in the comics in person. Ten years prior to the current storyline, Elise had Iblis sealed inside her. In the present, Elise had Iblis freed from her by Mephiles after he killed Sonic the Hedgehog. Following Solaris' defeat, Elise and a revived Sonic went back in time, and the princess ensured that Solaris never came to exist.

Trivia

 * The apparent romance between Sonic and Elise was one of the criticisms against the game, some even accusing Sonic Team of supporting bestiality (when a person is in a romantic relationship with an animal). When asked about this in an interview with GameSpy, Lacey Chabert stated, "Ha! No, you're just being silly. It's not an inappropriate relationship. Let's just say Sonic and Princess Elise have an attraction for each other."
 * Elise's English voice actor was originally Veronica Taylor, until she was replaced by Lacey Chabert.
 * Despite the fact that both of her parents were dead during the events of Sonic '06, she is still referred to as the princess, and not the queen. This may be due to the fact that Elise, at 17 years old, is not of age in her culture yet and therefore unable to receive the title of queen yet.
 * According to a script of the game, her name in early development was "Oliga The Third".
 * In Sega's internal spreadsheet for the game, there are character profiles written in corresponding English and Japanese that talk about their personalities and some of their origins. In the end of Elise's English profile emphasizing her role in the story it says, "On one side, she is a prim and proper princess, but on the other, she is a typical confused and anxious young woman. She tries to make light of her fate, but her encounter with Sonic is what shall truly set her soul free." The leaked script also occasionally refers to her as "Oliga", likely as an early or placeholder name.
 * Elise is carried by Sonic through the levels of Tropical Jungle and Dusty Desert in Sonic's story. However, Dusty Desert is played without her on Very Hard Mode for Sonic. young woman