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Elise was born in a farm on in Ragako. She was the youngest, and only girl, of three siblings, and ultimately received the least attention of her parents. Both her brothers were tall and able-bodied, and thus her parents had high expectations for their ability in the work field. At the dinner table, they would fantasize about one of the brothers receiving an apprenticeship with a blacksmith, and getting to live in the city in a life of glamor. Or, at least, glamor compared to shoveling pig dung on a farm in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, there was little hope for Elise ever moving into the city: after all, as a woman her only real hope would be to find a nice man to marry and live in a slightly larger farm than was her current residence. For the most part, this did not bother Elise. She spent her time farming, reveling in natural beauties such a flowers and animals that could be found throughout the farmlands. The majority of her childhood was spent independent of her parents and family, trying to make the most of the life that she was born with, and that she would apparently never be able to escape from. After all, it was the life that she was given, and nothing would ever be able to change that. Right?

However, everything changed when Elise hit puberty. Suddenly, her baby fat seemingly melted away and, with both her brothers having moved out, her parents began to see how beautiful Elise was. Seeing their beautiful daughter also began to give the parents more ambitious goals for her. One of her brothers was a servant in a nobleman's manor, and through pulling some strings, Elise's parents arranged for her to meet this wealthy widower and they hoped that her natural beauty and charms would be enough to get the two married, and thereby secure Elise with a happy lifestyle as well as give her parents new found status as a nobleman's parents-in-law. Upon hearing about this, Elise was ultimately not sure what to think. Being trained as an obedient daughter, she would follow her parents orders, but the idea of marrying a man she hardly knew seemed less than desirable. Not to mention the fact that, in the decade and a half that she had lived in the country, Elise had grown to love all of the simple pleasures, and had little desire for the extravagant lifestyle that the city would entail. Regardless, she agreed and was sent at the soonest opportunity to meet this man.

On her trip to the Stohess district, Elise was even further seduced by the natural world around her. In traveling there, she saw countless different environments, with different plants and animals and people everywhere. She watched in awe as a troop garbed in military uniform with blue and white wings on their back left for a mysterious world beyond the wall, and suddenly had a new desire for exploration and adventure beyond marrying a noble. As these thoughts entered her head, she carefully reminded herself of her mission, and the faith that her parents had placed in her. Leaving would be irresponsible, and would achieve nothing but angering her parents and endangering herself. Thus, Elise sat out the rest of the trip, and eventually arrived in the sprawling city. By comparison, the flashing lights and well-dressed people walking the streets was a bore, and Elise's already dwindling interest in marrying this nobleman had grown to be even less than before. Looking at these soldiers as they left for beyond the wall had a certain appeal to Elise.

Once she entered the district, it suddenly didn't seem appealing at all. After being dropped off outside the front of the mansion, Elise paused. Considering all of her options, Elise weighed the possibilities. She could either be the wife of some nobleman, or she could finally taste adventure and see the world that she had grown to love. Her heart was set, though her mind hadn't caught up. When her brother came out of the door to meet her, Elise did not speak or move. Instead, she slowly backed up, turned, and ran. It was a bizarre decision for her to make, though her legs almost moved on their own. At the first opportunity, she boarded a ferry to leave Stohess, and headed for another district. More than anything else, she wanted to find those soldiers. More than anything else, she wanted to join them. To taste fresh air, and to see things that she hadn't even dreamed of. The possibility, or rather guarantee, or danger did not change her mind. Maybe, even, this pushed her over the edge in her decision to become a soldier rather than a housewife.

Within a few weeks, Elise was enrolled as a cadet. She was among many others, all of different upbringings, and it was not difficult for her to make friends with most of her comrades. Not only that, but Elise soon found that she was rather skilled in almost all of the arts that were tested in training. Though for many this might provoke jealousy, Elise's kindhearted nature made it difficult for anyone to really dislike her. She flew through the weeks of training, and eventually ended up graduating at the top of her training group. Upon graduating at the top, she was pulled aside and personally asked to be a founding member of a somewhat new branch of the military: the military police. This opportunity would allow Elise to live the life of luxury that her parents had sought for her, however after experiencing Stohess district for what little time she had, Elise knew that this was not the path for her. Much to the surprise of the military officers, Elise declined this opportunity, choosing instead to join the scouting legion for the sake of finally being able to see the world as well as make much more of a difference.

Joining the scouting legion, Elise was assigned to a squad with a few of her peers from her days in the cadets, as well as a handful of others and a charming squad leader. They explored outside the walls together, and ultimately worked extremely well together. However, on one particular expedition, the squad was attacked by a few titans. Two-thirds of her comrades were eliminated, and the last of them were forced to hide out in a dank cave, where they hoped the titans would not be able to get to them. They were correct in this regard, however their experience in the cave was far from a walk in the park, either. Barely, the remaining soldiers were able to gather enough food to last the six days that they were stranded. In that time, half of those who remained died of coldness of the cave as well as the lack of nutrition. By the time another scouting legion squad came to take out the titans surrounding the cave, those within were already scarred both emotionally and physically from the incident. None of them could do anything, and all - especially Elise - were left with a feeling of regret and guilt that would plague them forever.

A few of her comrades were given an honorable discharge after this incident, including the squad leader. Elise, though ridden with guilt, refused to leave the military service. However, nightmares kept her up and slowly began to wear on her physical health. As this became apparent, the military leaders knew that she would not be a good soldier for continuing to fight. Regardless, she was among the best of the best, thus they approached her with a proposition: instead of resigning completely, she could help with commanding and training cadets. This would be out of immediate danger, however would still be an opportunity for her to help make a difference and train others in the fight against the titans. Though phrased like a suggestion, Elise knew that this was an ultimatum; they were giving her the choice to either help to train the cadets, or leave the military entirely. Thus, Elise had little choice but to accept, and to find herself training cadets as she is now.