Elle Driver

"Gargantuan. Such a great word. I rarely get to use it in a sentence."

- Elle while describing the venom of the snake she uses to kill Budd

Elle Driver (portrayed by Daryl Hannah), A.K.A. California Mountain Snake, is a character from ''Kill Bill. ''She is another swordswoman loyal to Bill. She's also a member of Bill's elite group of assassins known as the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Unlike The Bride's relationship with O-Ren and Vernita, where there seemed to be a genuine friendship and professional respect, Elle and the Bride despise each other with a passion. One of the reasons for that hate is that the Bride is Bill's mistress, and Elle was jealous of her for being loved by Bill (it was implied that Elle also had some kind of sexual relations with Bill at a different time). Nonetheless, they do seem to treat each other with a grudging respect. Elle even describes The Bride as "the greatest warrior [she] had ever met" and also said that she deserved better than to have supposedly met her end at the hands of someone like Budd. (The latter claim, however, seems to be a statement of vanity in that she was declaring herself the one worthy to kill The Bride.) She was trained by Pai Mei, like Bill and The Bride, but Elle disrespected Pai Mei and he plucked out her right eye. She has worn a distinctive eye-patch ever since. In retaliation, she murdered Pai Mei by poisoning his fish heads. After the Massacre in the Two Pines Chapel Bill learns that the Bride isn't dead, but in a coma. With Bill's orders, Elle disguises herself as a nurse and visits the hospital where the Bride lies. While she is approaching to inject the Bride with a deadly poison, Bill calls her to abort the mission. Although Elle prefers killing the Bride while she's incapacitated, she obeys Bill, to wait till the Bride is out of the coma.

When the Bride is captured by Budd (Sidewinder), Budd calls Elle to offer her the Bride's Hanzo sword. Elle agrees to pay one million dollars for the sword, on the condition that Budd makes the Bride suffer till her last breath. Budd buries the Bride alive, but the Bride escapes from the grave and goes to Budd's trailer. Elle pays Budd for the sword with a suitcase full of money. But Elle puts a black Mamba (the Bride's former codename) on the bottom that bites and kills Budd when he opens the suitcase. Elle calls Bill and blames the Bride for Budd's death. She also claims that she killed the Bride by burying her alive and tells Bill the location of the grave. Elle takes the sword and the money back. When Elle is about to leave the trailer, she is attacked by the Bride. A fight between the two women ensues, and because Budd owned a Hanzo sword himself (he lied that he sold the sword) they fight with equal swords. During the fight, Elle reveals that she killed Pai Mei, who snatched her right eye out. In knowing this, the Bride decides to make Elle suffer, instead of killing her instantly. She snatches Elle's remaining left eye out and stomps on it, leaving the disfigured Elle thrashing about blindly and swearing profusely in Budd's trailer with the black mamba. Elle's fate is left unknown, although it is presumed that she may have been killed by the black Mamba.

Trivia

 * Quentin Tarantino said that he planned for a third volume franchise and he said that Vernita Greene's daughter "Niki" will receive training from Elle and Sofie Fatale to exact revenge on The Bride