Élise de la Serre is the childhood friend who becomes a Templar in Assassin's Creed Unity.
Élise is the daughter of François de la Serre, the Templar Grand Master who raises Arno Dorian after Arno's father dies. Arno and Élise grow up together, but their loyalties diverge because Arno joins the Assassins while Élise remains committed to the Templar Order.
Their relationship drives much of Unity's story. They cooperate at important moments despite belonging to rival organizations, reflecting the game's focus on the complicated boundary between personal loyalty and ideological allegiance.
Élise is not the game's main playable protagonist; that role belongs to Arno. She is also distinct from Sophie Trenet, a character associated with Assassin's Creed Liberation, and from historical women unrelated to the Unity narrative.