Also Elena's prior plot threads in Ultra Street Fighter 4 and both endings of Street Fighter 3 recapped

Endings and text for characters in the Street Fighter franchise aren't always canon. For example, in M. Bison's Champion Edition ending, his armies rise up to take over the whole world, something he hasn't officially accomplished.

Also, in Hugo's ending for Street Fighter 3: Third Strike, Ryu and Ken join his Huge Wrestling Army, along with other cast members like Gill, Yun, Yang and Alex.

While these endings can be entertaining to read, they're generally not thought of as canon in the Street Fighter franchise, and thought to only exist if that character won the Street Fighter tournament, existing in a 'what if' scenario.

Many people thought this was the case with Elena's ending in Ultra Street Fighter 4, where she snaps a photo with Akuma and is talking about the friendships she's made along the way — but as it turns out, this event is actually canon and the basis for her story in the latest game.

"In Street Fighter 6, after an intense fight with her friend Akuma, she travels the world once again in search of the meaning of a lesson that Akuma teaches her," wrote a Capcom staff member about Elena's inclusion into the latest game in the franchise.

What lesson Akuma has in store for Elena hasn't been revealed at this time, and considering Elena's main reason for joining the Street Fighter 3 tournament was to make friends, it'll be interesting to see which turns her plot takes.

Elena's prior plot threads in Street Fighter 3 and Ultra Street Fighter 4

In Elena's intro for Ultra Street Fighter 4, her father has just got done speaking with a shaman who says the trees in their village have been making strange noises.

He says a bringer of death walked among them, and he's sowing seeds of sadness across the world. Elena's father believes the person is associated with the S.I.N. tournament in that game, and enters her into the event to find more information.

Elena's father charges her with finding the truth of what's happening, and it's only followed up by a quote from Elena after she defeats Seth stating: "So you are the one who ushers in death? I'm glad I was able to defeat you."

Things don't get any clearer in Elena's ending in Ultra Street Fighter 4, as she talks about the new friends she made along the way, and wanting to travel in the future, especially to Japan, setting up the events of her story in Street Fighter 3.

Elena takes photos with various people she fought in the tournament, like El Fuerte, Blanka and Dudley, leading to her snapping the infamous photo with Akuma.

If you think you'll find more clarity in Elena's story from Street Fighter 3, you might want to look elsewhere, as the producer for that game, Tomoshi Sadamoto, noted that the development team really struggled to find relevant materials about the character back then.

"At the time we couldn't quickly look at videos on the internet, like we can do now. We got the most info from videos that were related to travel, laughs," said Sadamoto about Elena's martial art, capoeira.

"We just didn't have any info to work with. laughs That's what I remember most," Sadamoto stated.

In terms of what actually happens in Elena's Street Fighter 3 endings — it's not much. She just interacts briefly with her friends and talks about her journey to Japan and being in France.

While the Street Fighter franchise isn't known for its plot threads, a number of fans enjoy the lore of the franchise and dedicate a lot of time into unpacking obscure and difficult to find story lines.

For example, we know that Gill and The Illuminati are still active in Street Fighter 6, due to things like a billboard in World Tour, and a few lines of dialogue along with an illustration from Rashid in the same mode, along with quotes from the lead developer of Street Fighter 6.

The current developers of Street Fighter 6 weren't given a lot of material from the previous team members to work with, which means that Elena doesn't have a lot of things to base a story arc upon.

Hopefully her World Tour dialogue sheds light on what the character is up to now and how her friend making powers work, because making friends with Akuma is quite the accomplishment.