Elle Bishop

Elle Bishop is a fictional character on the NBC series Heroes, a science fiction drama which tells the stories of ordinary individuals who discover that they have superhuman abilities. Elle is portrayed by former Veronica Mars star Kristen Bell, who had been a fan of the series and friends with Heroes co-stars Zachary Quinto and Hayden Panettiere prior to attaining the role. The concept of the Elle character, however, had been conceived by Heroes writers prior to August 2007 when Bell was announced to portray her. Elle appeared as one of the new character's introduced in season two and according to contract, would continue on the series for at least thirteen episodes into season three.

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 genetically derived special abilities. The daughter of Company head Robert Bishop, she possesses the power to generate and manipulate electricity. Elle is shown to be mentally unstable, which is attributed to extensive testing condoned by her father to research her abilities when she was young.



Powers and abilities

Elle has the ability to generate and manipulate electricity, discharging and directing it as electrical arcs. She has been shown being able to weld a lock, blast objects, knock people unconscious, and even kill a man. She is not entirely immune to the electricity she produces, however, as shown when she is drenched in water and attempts to create electricity — she gives herself an electric shock, causing great pain. Elle has endured a series of testing by the Company during her childhood that measured the extent of her power. Bob had stated that Elle was in a "different league" when comparing her to Claire.When inquiring about her abilities, Elle was able to learn from Noah Bennet that the Company had wanted to record the extent of her abilities (whether she could power a flashlight, a street lamp, or an entire city block) and Bob had often prompted to continue the tests further, even after Elle had passed out.