Elena

Elena is a member of the Turks in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. A new member to the organization, she is still inexperienced but takes her job seriously compared to Reno and Rude. She has a crush on Tseng. Originally appearing in Final Fantasy VII, Elena has also made appearances in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII- and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

Appearance
Elena is a young woman with a small stature, brown eyes, and neck-length blond hair that is longer on one side. In most of her appearances, she wears the standard Turks' uniform of a dark blue or black suit over a white shirt and black tie. During her school years in Before Crisis, Elena's long hair is tied into pigtails and she wears a red school uniform and a black miniskirt.

Personality
Elena has a clumsy and chatty personality, but is loyal and serious about her job. As the new recruit, her talkativeness often gets her into trouble, such as when she accidentally gives away their orders to AVALANCHE, or gets herself kidnapped while on vacation. Despite this, Elena shows an understanding attitude toward others and is determined to succeed and surpass her sister. She attained the highest grades in school and specializes in both firearms and martial arts.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Elena was a high school student whose father was a teacher in the Shinra Military Academy. Furthermore, her older sister was a member of the Turks. She resented her sister for outperforming her, and vowed she would never join the Turks as long as her sister was a member. Elena worked as a bartender in Wall Market during her high school years, and trained at the Military Academy.

At first, she followed in her sister's footsteps and trained with firearms; however, she eventually dropped the weapon classes to remove herself from her sister, and began practicing martial arts instead. She achieved five "Elite Emblems" at the Shinra Military Academy, emblems only given to students who hold the highest scores for their exams, obtaining the most Elite Emblems in the school and solidifying her status as a prodigy.

Despite her clumsy nature, she is highly skilled with both weapons and martial arts. When Elena observes three Ravens dispose of SOLDIER members and steal their uniforms, she considers telling the Turks, but instead takes on the responsibility herself, following them until she loses track. She is later kidnapped for being a witness and is held hostage on a train. Elena drops one of her Elite Emblems on the train, alerting the infiltrating Player Turk that she is on board. Elena tasks herself with attacking a Raven as the player arrives, but the Player Turk trades the Support Materia for Elena. After being saved, Elena vows to become a Turk and surpass her sister. Afterward, the Player Turk uses Elena's private training area as a hideout from AVALANCHE for a short time.

Final Fantasy VII
Elena is the newest recruit, being appointed to the Turks after Reno sustained injuries battling AVALANCHE in Midgar. She introduces herself to the party in the Mythril Mine, where she slips and accidentally reveals their orders. She and Tseng—the leader of the Turks—explore the Temple of the Ancients before Tseng is attacked by Sephiroth when Elena leaves. She later blames the attack on Cloud, a member of AVALANCHE whom they are also pursuing.

Elena and Yuffie are kidnapped by Don Corneo in Wutai while the Turks are there on vacation. Reno and Rude cooperate with AVALANCHE save them. Elena, Reno and Rude confront the party for a final battle in the Midgar subway, but it is possible to talk them out of fighting, if the party worked with them in Wutai. Disillusioned with Shinra, the Turks disperse.

Although not shown in Final Fantasy VII, it is revealed that during Meteorfall, Elena helped evacuate Sector 3 of Midgar while Reno cleared Sector 4 and Rude cleared Sector 2. Moving to clear Sector 5 together with Tseng, the four were met and assisted by the previous Turks from Before Crisis and former leader Veld.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Elena is recovering from being tortured by Kadaj, Loz, and Yazoo after she and Tseng retrieved Jenova's head from the Northern Cave. Elena and Tseng save Rufus Shinra from falling to his death after he launches himself off a building edge to destroy Jenova's head. When Rufus's Geostigma is cured, Elena is by his side with the other Turks.

In Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, Elena has a slightly larger role in assisting Tseng with saving Rufus from falling off the abandoned building, and assisting the other Turks with Cloud fighting Yazoo and Loz on the highway. Elena tosses a ladder down to Reno and Rude during the chase after Yazoo destroys their helicopter and has them board the one she is on with Tseng. Elena has a small band-aid on her right cheek and her left hand wrapped up from the injuries sustained from the hands of Kadaj and his gang.

Gameplay
As a member of the Turks, Elena fights along with her partners, Turks:Reno and Turks:Rude. Although Reno and Rude are fought at least once in mandatory battles, the battle at Sector 8 of Midgar can be optional if the player has completed the Wutai sidequest. This will give Elena a sense of attachment to the party, which will let the player opt out of the battle, and thus the player does not ever have to fight her.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper


"The newest member of the Turks, appointed after Reno was injured fighting AVALANCHE in Midgar. Elena has a bad habit of spilling important secrets, but she makes up for it with unrivaled dedication to her task, often in stark contrast to her less disciplined "superiors.""

- Character profile.

Elena is a playable character who could be initially recruited during the Challenge Event Masters of the Planet as a First Time Reward for completing the event's Wutai - Da-chao Statue stage on Classic difficulty. She also occasionally appears in dedicated Final Fantasy VII stages as a boss.

Behind the scenes
In the beginning of the second trailer, and one of the newly done scenes for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete, the view of a bloody Tseng and Kadaj's gang firing at them is from Elena's point of view.

Voice
Elena is voiced by Megumi Toyoguchi in Japanese. She shares her Japanese voice actress with her older sister in Last Order -Final Fantasy VII-, Paine from Final Fantasy X-2, Qun'mi Tru'e from Final Fantasy Type-0, and from the  series.

She was voiced by Bettina Bush in the English version.

Etymology
Her name was initially translated as Yrena as depicted in few official data books releases, such as Final Fantasy VII Official Establishment File, which include names romanization.