Elza Forte

"It is us that are perfect!"

- Elza before her performance

Elza Forte (エルザ フォルテ) is one of the main characters of the Aikatsu Stars! series second season and is a top idol and owner of the idol academy Neo Venus Ark (formerly known as Venus Ark). She is a sexy type idol whose preferred brand is her self-created brand, Perfect Queen.

Appearance
Elza has dual-colored eyes of fiery red and gold. She has curly thigh length, raspberry pink-colored hair. Her hair is tied up into a wide ponytail, held up with a braided section of her hair, pinned with a light pink flower on the left side. Her chest-length lilac bangs part on her right side. Elza also has lilac highlights at the ends of her hair.

Personality
Elza has been a perfectionist ever since she was a child. She is the type of person who will do whatever it takes to achieve her goal, and because of that, ever since she obtained the Sun Premium Dress, Elza became quite self-centered and vain, ignoring others around her if she deems them no longer useful, looking down upon all others.

Background
Elza is the heiress to Monaco, making her a princess.

Her great talent was compared to holding the ability to radiate the world.

The founding of her brand, Perfect Queen, as well as her idol academy, Venus Ark, shares the same purpose: to become the top and the best in the world among all brands, all schools, and all idols. For the sake of gathering all idols and brands of excellence, Elza has a vast knowledge on the topic.

Elza’s true purpose behind starting Venus Ark was so that she could gather students to draw out all Star Premium Dresses in order to combine them into the Sun Premium Dress for her to obtain. Elza believes that when she obtains the Sun Premium Dress, only then will she be completely perfect and that her mother will acknowledge her ability and love her.

Relationships

 * Yume Nijino
 * In order to claim Hime for herself, Elza first targets to take Yume away to join Venus Ark. As the story progresses, however, she realises that Yume is a strong opponent with potential.


 * Rei Kizaki
 * Rei is Elza's right-hand woman.


 * Hime Shiratori
 * Elza strongly desires to have Hime join Venus Ark.


 * Laura Sakuraba
 * Elza initially paid no attention to Laura, as she had no brand of her own, and defines her aura as little to none. However, after seeing Laura's performance with Yume, Elza begins to express an interest in her, stating that apart from Hime, there just might be other idols at Four Star Academy with potential.


 * Kirara Hanazono
 * Kirara admires Elza and is constantly following her around, even addressing her as Elza-sama (エルザさま). Sama is a Japanese honorific used when holding high respect and admiration towards someone.


 * Koharu Nanakura
 * Koharu admires Elza, even addressing her as Elza-sama (エルザさま). Sama is a Japanese honorific used when holding high respect and admiration towards someone. Elza values Koharu for her designing skills and treats her with respect. Elza also has high hopes for her.


 * Yukie Grace Forte
 * Elza adores her mother, describing her radiance like that of the sun, and chases after Yukie to become just like her. As a child, Elza and always wished for her companionship and acknowledgement, however, due to Yukie's busy schedule, Elza is often left alone, leading her to believe that her mother will fully embrace her once she reaches perfection. During her childhood, when Yukie shared her photo of herself with the Sun Wings, it was then that Elza began her ambition to obtain it.

Etymology
Elza (エルザ) originates from the name Elizabeth and means God of satisfaction, God of plenty or noble maid.

Forte (フォルテ) means a person's strongest suit, or it can refer to "forte" from the dynamics of music, meaning "loud".

Quotes
"Wait for me, idols of the world. I, Elza Forte... will plunder you all!"

- Elza Forte, upon her arrival in Japan

"To become the first in my perfect world. And in order to do so, I will obtain all excellent idols and brands. And my brand, Perfect Queen will be the best in the world."

- Elza Forte

"She who controls the dresses controls Aikatsu."

- Elza to Hime

"These are raw gemstones. All potential idols begin like one of these pebbles. They polish through their Aikatsu until they eventually become beautiful gemstones. And if we idols are gemstones, then rings and crowns are dresses. An idol and her dress must be as one. It is a dress's duty to draw out the apex of our brilliance."

- Elza to Koharu

"All the talent in the world means nothing if you lack the will to make it shine."

- Elza to Rei

"The world is created from fashion. It is what brings passion, happiness, and joy to people."

- Elza at the Kōkadō's Campaign Girl Audition

"Behold this starry sky. Only a handful of stars are able to outshine the rest. Become the world's brightest star and shine more brilliantly than all the rest."

- Elza to Yume

"There is none who can stop me now."

- Elza to herself before her Aikatsu Ranking Final Tournament Stage

"I may have lost, but I am glad that you were here to see me sing my heart out."

- Elza to Yukie

"A ship without a destination is far too dangerous. One wrong turn, and it may even capsize."

- Elza to Hime

Trivia

 * Her zodiac sign is Leo.
 * Interestingly, the ruling planet of Leo is the Sun, possibly alluding to Elza's ultimate goal of obtaining the Sun Wings.
 * Her favorite foods are steak and cheese.
 * Her specialties are singing and horse riding.
 * As a result of her background, she uses the Western order when referring to other characters by their full name.
 * She is the first headmistress of an idol academy who at the same time is also an active idol.
 * She is the first character to start an idol school for personal benefits instead of nurturing idols.
 * She is the first main character in the entire Aikatsu! franchise to have an entirely non-Japanese name.
 * She shares her voice actress with Mio Akiyama from the anime K-On!.
 * Coincidentally, another main character of K-On!, Tsumugi Kotobuki, shares her voice actress with Mizuki Kanzaki from the original Aikatsu! series.
 * She shares her singing voice with Orihime Mitsuishi from the original Aikatsu! series.
 * Coincidentally, both characters are headmistresses of an idol academy and are (former or otherwise) top idols.
 * Orihime and Elza are also both sexy-type idols.
 * They also have similar hairstyles featuring ringlets over the shoulders and wavy hair cascading down the back.
 * This also makes her the first main character in the entire Aikatsu! franchise whose singing voice is not provided by a regular member of AIKATSU☆STARS! or STAR☆ANIS, a converse to Shion Kamiya.
 * She is also the fourth character in the entire Aikatsu! franchise whose singing voice is from the music group Dempagumi.inc, following Ringo Hoshimiya and Guppy.
 * Elza has a similar eye color palette to Yume Nijino, with both having a fire themed palette of red, orange and yellow.
 * She is the ninth character overall in the Aikatsu! franchise to have dual colored hair, following Sora Kazesawa, Mikuru Natsuki, Rin Kurosawa, Nina Dōjima, Yume Nijino, Tsubasa Kisaragi, Yozora Kasumi, Lilie Shirogane, and followed by Kirara Hanazono.
 * She is the fifth idol in the Aikatsu! franchise to have created her own brand, following Mizuki Kanzaki, Sora Kazesawa, Hime Shiratori, and Lilie Shirogane, followed by Yume Nijino, and Rei Kizaki.
 * She is the sixth teenager overall to have a brand, following Mizuki Kanzaki, Sora Kazesawa, Tsubasa Sena, Hime Shiratori, and Lilie Shirogane, followed by Yume Nijino, and Rei Kizaki.
 * She is the only known sexy type idol whose name is written entirely in katakana rather than kanji.
 * She is the third character in the entire Aikatsu! franchise to be born outside of Japan, preceded by Kaede Ichinose, and Mikuru Natsuki from the original Aikatsu! series, followed by Kirara Hanazono, Rei Kizaki, and Aria Futaba.
 * She shares some similarities with Bell Renjouji from the anime Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live.
 * Both of them are sexy type idols.
 * Both also have red hair.
 * She is the first character to have a royal background.
 * She is the first character in Aikatsu Stars! to have more than one quote before the performance.
 * She shares her birthday with Chika Takami from the anime Love Live! Sunshine!!.
 * Her least favorite foods include vegetables.
 * She is the second idol in the Aikatsu! franchise to have planned to stop being an idol, following Mizuki Kanzaki from the original Aikatsu! franchise.