Elk

"I’m not very good at telling people how I feel… and I'm always worried about how other people perceived me… I didn’t like that, and wanted to change and came to “The World”, but I was unable to change."

- Elk

Elk (エルク, Eruku) is a young Wavemaster with a similar character design as Tsukasa from .hack//SIGN. He follows the cat player, Mia, around all the time and is close friends with her.

Appearance
Elk's PC is a young, blue-haired boy wearing dark blue robes. He almost always has a gloomy expression on his face. In terms of appearance, he is an almost identical twin of Tsukasa, the only difference being minute changes in their robes, gloves, and hat, and a change in color scheme. Tsukasa is mostly gray and brown while Elk is blue and gray. Elk's face tattoos are also slightly different.

Personality
Elk is a rather insecure person online. He seems to have a lot of trouble trusting other players, and is always shocked when somebody is nice to him. The only person he seems to trust is Mia (although he eventually warms up to Kite), who he is rarely separated from. He can be downright mean to people if he feels they are trying to draw Mia's attention away from him.

Basic Info
Offline, Elk's player is Kaoru Ichinose (一ノ瀬薫), a thirteen-year-old middle school student who joined The World to make friends and attempt to change his shy and passive personality. He's the player behind Endrance in the G.U. series (which takes place 7 years later).

.hack//Games
Elk is first introduced to Kite through Mia. Intrigued by the bracelet wielded by the Twin Blade, Mia takes it upon herself to teach Kite some of the various uses of the bracelet - namely, the power of Gate Hacking - at Δ Closed Oblivious Twin Hills. Jealous of the attention Kite was getting, Elk tries to convince Kite to give up his bracelet at Δ Plenteous Smiling Hypha. Although Kite refuses to give up his bracelet, Elk is cheered up when they meet up with Mia at the bottom of the dungeon and she calls out to Elk for help.

Complications arise when Mia's speech starts to get jumbled; a problem that Elk and Kite figure are caused by lag or the recent server problems. Despite Mia's speech problems, the three party together at Λ Dolorous Evil Eyed Widow to look for Aromatic Grass. Elk is happy to point out that Mia's speech returns to normal after receiving the item, but it soon reverts. As time goes on, Mia begins exhibiting strange behavior and reveals gaps in her memory. After a while, Elk finds himself unable to contact Mia. Desperate, he spends hours searching The World for any trace of her to no avail, ignoring his other friends in favor of his search. At one point in his search, he and Kite encounter Bear, who is surprised at his uncanny resemblance to the player Tsukasa.

Concerned for Elk, Kite suggests that Elk join the rest of his friends in Helba's operation. Elk agrees, since Mia is usually interested in strange activities. Elk is given part of a vaccine program designed to herd the Cursed Wave.

During the operation, the Wave fails to appear at Ω Cruel Vindictive Scars, instead changing direction towards Σ Graceful Tempting Fallen Angel, where Elk finally finds Mia. There, Mia reveals that she exists only inside The World and has no memories of the real world. Elk attempts to console her, but is instead driven away before Mia transforms into her true form, Macha the Temptress, the Sixth Phase of the Cursed Wave

Elk rushes back inside the dungeon, arriving in time to see a defeated and dying Mia. Elk's healing spells have no effect on Mia, who dissolves into data in Kite's arms. Elk blames Kite for Mia's death and runs away. It is later revealed by Lios that Elk took part of the vaccine entrusted to him. The Wave is later able to completely devour the vaccine program and send Lios's team into comas.

Elk watched from a distance as Kite's team prepares for the final battle at Net Slum. After Corbenik's apparent defeat, Kite's team is attacked by Drain Heart. One by one, Kite's comrades are taken out by the attack, and just as Kite himself is about to be drained, Elk rushes in and uses his body to block the attack. Before he falls into a coma, Elk apologizes to Kite for his selfishness. Elk's sacrifice gives Kite the opportunity and the motivation to make his final charge.

After the battle and Aura's birth, Elk and Kite both receive an e-mail from Aura informing them of a rebirth at Ω Hidden Darkside Holy Ground. This and a BBS rumor about a cat NPC encountered in the same area lead them to believe that they might find Mia there. They travel together to the bottom of the dungeon where they are confronted by Macha, who fights against them using a powerful version of the Twilight Guardian, the Dawn Wanderer, which, when defeated, upgrades itself into the more powerful Temptress Lover. Victorious after two long battles, Elk and Kite watch as Macha transforms into Mia. The reunion is slightly dampened by the fact that Mia has no memories of anything prior to her encounter with Kite, but Elk is cheered up by the fact that this is an opportunity to create new memories.

.hack//XXXX
Elk first appears in XXXX, holding a batch of Aromatic Grass, shortly after Kite first encounters Mia. Mia abruptly gates out, leaving Elk alone with Kite and unwilling to answer his questions about Mia.

Kite and Elk cross paths again shortly after Kite is warned by Lios about the Data Drain ability. Elk witnesses Kite taking out his frustration by pounding the ground, crushing some Aromatic Grass. This angers Elk, who thinks Kite came to the area to collect Aromatic Grass for Mia. Before Kite can sort out Elk's misunderstanding, Magus appears behind the two. Kite orders Elk to retreat, but Elk positions himself in front of the Phase, determined to protect the area where he first met Mia. Elk's spells have no effect on Magus and is about to get Data Drained when Balmung comes in and saves him. After Magus is defeated by Cubia, Cubia heals Elk. Balmung admonishes Elk for his recklessness, and Elk apologizes, lamenting that he was unable to protect the field of Aromatic Grass he had been maintaining. However, Kite hands Elk one blade of Aromatic Grass that he managed to save, and the two form a bond of friendship.

Elk rushes to Mia, offering the blade of Aromatic Grass that Kite gave him, but Mia flatly refuses and tells Elk to leave her alone. Mia mysteriously disappears soon afterward, and a confused Elk wanders around Mac Anu, asking other players if anyone has seen her.

Elk later receives an email from Mia, instructing him to go to &Sigma; Graceful Tempting Fallen Angel. Overjoyed, he sets off, unaware that the message has really been sent by Cubia. When Elk approaches Mia at the field, she loses control over herself and kills Elk. Kite, led by Cubia, arrive at the same field, following the signal of the sixth Phase. A terrified Mia denies attacking Elk, but Cubia pushes her into revealing her true form as Macha.

The ensuing battle takes its toll on Kite, and it is up to Cubia to finish Macha off. Elk holds Cubia back, and an angry Cubia questions why Elk wants to protect a monster like Macha. Elk replies that it doesn't matter what Mia is because she is his friend. When Elk's actions appear to reach Mia, Cubia thanks Elk: for as long as Elk is near him, Macha will not attack. Cubia takes the opportunity to Data Drain Macha.

Shortly after Aura's rebirth, Elk is seen clutching a new batch of Aromatic Grass when Mia arrives behind him.

.hack//Another Birth
Elk's first appears in Another Birth when he approaches Kite, BlackRose, and Natsume while they prepare to go adventuring, and drags Kite away to talk about Mia.

Elk ventures with Kite and Blackrose to fight Innis at Λ Resurrecting Confused Judgment. BlackRose is surprised at how calm Elk is after the battle, speculating that he's more worried about Mia.

BlackRose meets up with Mia and Elk at the Fort Ouph, and Mia tells Elk to invite her to the party before they head out to &Sigma; Outpouring Vengeful Sipping Bug. In the dungeon, Mia quotes the Epitaph of Twilight, telling the story of Plaird. She disappears before she can tell something to Elk, leaving BlackRose to lead Elk out of the dungeon. When they next meet, Elk and Mia invite BlackRose to look for Aromatic Grass at Σ Scattered Her Footstep, where Mia talks about her dreams of being named "Macha," and being given Aromatic Grass by a boy that looks like Elk. Elk is saddened by the revelation, thinking that Mia is only around him because he reminds her of that boy, but BlackRose cheers him up by suggesting that the reverse is true. Elk soon finds some Aromatic Grass from a chest and trades it to Mia. BlackRose backs away so they can spend more time together.

BlackRose later meets with Elk at Fort Ouph. Elk has been looking for Mia, who is nowhere to be found and can't be contacted. BlackRose suggest to Elk that he should help them out with investigating unusual areas, and Elk agrees since Mia is attracted to such things. BlackRose later regrets this decision, knowing that Mia is Macha and that she could very well be their next opponent. When Wiseman announces the next operation, Elk is determined to go with Kite. The party finds Mia in the dungeon of &Sigma; Graceful Tempting Fallen Angel. She explains that she only exists in The World and has no memory of the real world. Mia apologizes to Elk before transforming into Macha. She releases an energy that sends Elk back to the dungeon entrance, leaving Kite and BlackRose to fight the Phase. During the battle, Elk is unable to re-enter the dungeon due to a protection created by Macha. Elk doesn't return until after the battle is finished. He sees the fallen Mia and tries to heal her, but his spells have no effect, and she disintegrates. Later, Lios reports to the team that Elk left his post with the vaccine.

After the battle with Corbenik, BlackRose learns that Elk protected Kite from the Drain Heart attack.

Months after Morganna's defeat, Elk receives an e-mail from Aura telling him about someone's rebirth at &Omega; Hidden Darkside Holy Ground. They agree that they might find Mia there. In the dungeon, they encounter Macha, whom Elk chases throughout the Data Bug-filled dungeon. When they finally reach the bottom of the dungeon, they fight the Dawn Wanderer and the Temptress Lover. Even though Macha had fused with the Temptress Lover, Elk is the one to deliver the final blow to it. After its defeat, Mia is reborn, but without her memories from before the Cursed Wave became active. Elk is concerned, but Kite tells him not to worry because he will be there for Mia.

.hack//Unison
In Unison, Elk and Mia both travel to a bar located in Carmina Gadelica. There, Elk is introduced to Tsukasa for the first time, and watches as he reunites with Mia (who he knew as Macha the cat). Later, the pair travel to Net Slum where they join a party hosted by Helba. Elk and Mia dance with each other as fireworks light up the sky.

.hack//GIFT
Elk appears briefly in GIFT, where Mia forces him to make out with her in a field of flowers.

.hack//G.U.

 * See Endrance

.hack//Link

 * See Elk (LINK) and Endrance (LINK)

Trivia

 * Elk first joins Kite right after the Δ Boundless Corrupted Fort Walls mission at level 3 with a level 1 weapon called Nautilus Wand.
 * According to .hack//Archives_03 LIGHT EDITION his character model stands at 158 CM, or 5'2" on the smaller side
 * Elk's Japanese voice actor Mitsuki Saiga also does the voices of Tsukasa and Endrance.
 * His English voice actor Brianne Siddall also voiced Tsukasa.
 * Elk has a fixation with the item Aromatic Grass, stemming off of his friendship with Mia.