Lara Croft

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Lara Croft
Image:Lara-TRA-Render-005-small.jpg Lara Croft, as she appears in a promotional image from Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Game series	Tomb Raider series
First game	Tomb Raider (1996)
Created by	Toby Gard
Voiced by	Video Games Shelley Blond (1996) Judith Gibbins (1997-1998) Jonell Elliott (1999-2003) Keeley Hawes (2006-present) Animated Series Minnie Driver
Live action actor(s)	Films Angelina Jolie

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This article is about the character. For the video game series, see Tomb Raider series

Lara Croft is the protagonist of Eidos' Tomb Raider series. Designed by Toby Gard, the heroine of the video game series has also been featured in movies, comic books, novels, and a series of animated shorts. In the two movies, she is portrayed by Angelina Jolie. In 2006, Lara was honored with a star on the Walk of Game,^[1] and was awarded a Guinness World Record recognizing her as the "most successful human video game heroine."^[2]

Lara is generally presented as an intelligent, athletic, and somewhat reckless English woman of noble birth who travels the world in pursuit of priceless artifacts. Known as both an archaeologist and an adventurer, she frequently ventures into ancient, and often very dangerous, tombs and ruins. In addition to traps and puzzles, Lara encounters a variety of enemies including rivals, gangsters, dangerous animals (including dinosaurs), legendary creatures, and supernatural beings. The fantastic nature of her archaeology related adventures have drawn comparisons to Indiana Jones.

Contents 1 Character creation 2 Actor portrayal 2.1 Voice actresses (video games) 2.2 Film and animation 2.3 Models 3 Characteristics 3.1 Continuities 3.2 Backstory 3.3 Personality 3.4 Costume and equipment 3.5 Discovered artifacts 3.5.1 In-game 3.5.2 Other media 4 Controversy 5 In popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Character creation

Initially, designer Toby Gard focused on creating the settings for Tomb Raider and the main character was essentially an Indiana Jones clone. When this character was deemed unacceptable, Gard placed his attention on designing a new one. One factor that influenced Gard to use a female character was that he noticed his male co-workers often preferred using female characters in Virtua Fighter. The redesigned character was initially a South American woman named Laura Cruz. She eventually evolved into an English woman named Lara Croft. Her name was picked from a phone book for sounding "UK friendly."^[3]

[edit] Actor portrayal

[edit] Voice actresses (video games)

Lara has been voiced by four actresses throughout the video game series:

• Shelley Blond in Tomb Raider
• Judith Gibbins in Tomb Raider II and Tomb Raider III
• Jonell Elliott in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider Chronicles, and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
• Keeley Hawes in Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary

[edit] Film and animation

Lara was brought to life by actress Angelina Jolie for the movies Tomb Raider (2001) and Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life (2003).

In the 2007 Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider Animated Series, Lara was voiced by Minnie Driver.^[4]

[edit] Models

Lara has also been portrayed by the following models for public appearances and promotions:

• Nathalie Cook 1996-1997 (the first model although unknown before Tomb Raider became famous)
• Rhona Mitra 1997-1998
• Vanessa Demouy 1997 (hired by a French video game magazine for a photoshoot)
• Nell McAndrew 1998-1999
• Lara Weller 1999-2000
• Ellen Rocche 2000 (hired by Brazilian distributor of Eidos' games to promote The Lost Artifact)
• Lucy Clarkson 2000-2002
• Jill de Jong 2002-2004
• Karima Adebibe 2006-Present

Nell McAndrew was immediately axed from her stint as Lara in 1999 after posing nude in an issue of Playboy. This was partly due to the fact Playboy printed references to Lara Croft and Tomb Raider on the cover (which were quickly removed when Eidos threatened with a lawsuit).^[3]

On 14 February 2006, it was announced that a previously unknown 20-year-old sales assistant from London, Karima Adebibe, would star as the new Lara Croft model and would shortly begin a training program to play the role.^[5]

Many of the models were united by FHM in May 2007 to celebrate the release of Tomb Raider: Anniversary.^[3]

[edit] Characteristics

[edit] Continuities

There are two different continuities within the Tomb Raider video games. The first continuity was created by Core Design, and encompasses the first six Tomb Raider games. The second and current continuity was introduced by Crystal Dynamics for the series' reinvention in Tomb Raider: Legend. Both continuities were created with the participation of Toby Gard.^[3]

[edit] Backstory

In the first continuity, the Tomb Raider game manual tells of Lara's birth to Lord Henshingly Croft and how she was raised as an aristocrat surrounded by wealth and luxury. It also tells how, at the age of 21, she was the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Himalayas and was forced to rely on her wits to stay alive. The incident changed her, and inspired her to forsake her life of comfort and security in favor of traveling around the world alone. This lead to her being disowned by her family.^[6]

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation expanded Lara's backstory by describing how, at the age of 16, she accompanied a famous archaeologist named Werner Von Croy on an expedition to Cambodia. The events there created a rift between them, but also fostered Lara's interest in ancient civilizations and artifacts.^[7]

The second continuity presents a different backstory. Several flashback sequences in Legend show how Lara, at the age of 9, survived a plane crash in Himalayas which led to the mysterious disappearance (and presumed death) of her mother, Amelia Croft. Lara then somehow managed to survive a ten day journey to Kathmandu where she was able to contact her father, Richard Croft. Lara spent the remainder of her childhood under the watchful eye of her father, an archaeologist who allowed Lara to accompany him on archaeological expeditions. Legend and Anniversary both strongly imply most, if not all, of these expeditions were conducted to discover what happened to Lara's mother. At the age of 18, when her father died under unknown circumstances, Lara inherited the Croft estates along with the title "Countess of Abbingdon."^[8] According to the Tomb Raider: Anniversary game manual, Lara's pursuits are motivated by the hope that she will learn the truth about her parents' deaths.^[9]

[edit] Personality

Lara is consistently depicted as a highly confident, independent, and headstrong person. She is also depicted as being very brave, rarely showing any sign of fear in dangerous situations. Beyond this, there are a number of significant personality differences between the continuities. In the first continuity, Lara is shown as dark, enigmatic, sardonic, and even coldblooded at times (see controversy below). In Legend, she is shown as a more lighthearted and respectful person who is more open emotionally. This is due in part to her higher level of interaction with people, such as her assistants, Zip and Alister, as well as people from her past.

[edit] Costume and equipment

Lara's trademark costume consists of a light blue sleeveless shirt, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, white socks, fingerless gloves, a small backpack, and a utility belt with two holsters. This outfit (or a close variation) has appeared in nearly every Tomb Raider game to date. Lara may also wear different outfits through the course of the games, such as a wet suit for a watery environment or trousers and a jacket for a colder area.

In most games, Lara's default weapon is a pair of dual pistols. These are typically not identified in-game, though they often resemble real life firearms such as the Desert Eagle and the Heckler & Koch USP. Lara is usually able to acquire more powerful weapons, such as a shotgun or assault rifle, throughout the course of the games. Lara can also be seen using a grappling hook in one of the original cutscenes in Tomb Raider. However, this was not a part of her standard in-game equipment until Legend, when it was a magnetic grapple attached to a belt as opposed to a traditional grappling hook. In Anniversary, the hook was more traditional, in that it wasn't magnetic, but it was still attached to Lara's belt. In Legend, Lara also employs a waterproof PDA that displays mission information.

[edit] Discovered artifacts

[edit] In-game

• Atlantean Scion (Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider: Anniversary)
• Dagger of Xian (Tomb Raider II)
• The Golden Mask (Tomb Raider II Gold)
• Meteorite Artifacts: The Infada Stone, Eye of Isis, Element 115, Ora Dagger, The Hand of Rathmoore (Tomb Raider III, Tomb Raider III: The Lost Artifact)
• Amulet and Armour of Horus (Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation)
• Philosopher's Stone, Spear of Destiny, "The Iris" (Tomb Raider: Chronicles)
• Periapt Shards and Obscura Paintings (Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness)
• Excalibur (Tomb Raider: Legend)

[edit] Other media

• Triangle of Light (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)
• Pandora's Box (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life)

[edit] Controversy

“	I just wish that when she was taken out of my hands they hadn't made her boobs so big.	”
—Toby Gard, [10]

Some fans, as well as Lara's original designer Toby Gard, considered Croft's growing status as a sex symbol in the video game fandom through each progressive game sequel—with increasingly gratuitous artwork and advertisements—detrimental to the character,^[11][12] who gained more attention from her appearance than her tough-as-nails spirit and determination. In response to this, it was stated that she would undergo a redesign and become more "demure" in Tomb Raider: Legend for the sake of becoming more appealing to female gamers.^[13] However, some of the outfits she wore in this game were far more revealing than anything seen in previous games, with almost all of them revealing cleavage or midriff. Some have still derided her form as being unrealistic (especially in regard to her BMI).

Some fans have been critical of the video games for portraying her in an increasingly bloodthirsty manner, and occasionally not giving players the option to avoid lethal force against human characters. Tomb Raider III was heavily criticized by some for showing Lara committing acts of murder against security guards, police officers and tribesmen.^[14]

Also controversial (in early games of the series) is Lara's killing of wildlife such as tigers, jaguars and other animals. In response to this, the makers of the 2006 "re-launch" game, Legend have toned down her bloodthirstiness.^[15] While Lara still confronts wildlife (limited to 8 big cats and 4 dogs in the game), it is made clear that she only kills in self defense and feels remorse when she first has to do so, as indicated in the following exchange from the first level:

Alister: Why predators attack prey larger than themselves is a mystery.

Lara: And a pity.

Later in the level she states this when she kills another jaguar:

Lara: Someone picked an unfortunate place to hunt.

Lara also expresses sadness when she witnesses the deaths of her friends during a flashback, and expresses pity upon seeing the frozen corpses of Soviet scientists in the Kazakhstan level.

[edit] In popular culture

Lara Croft is considered by critics and fans alike as one of the most significant game characters in popular culture,^[16] and the most famous female video-game character, as listed by The Guinness Book of World Records.^[17]

Lara appeared in many "Lucozade" advertisements during the late 90's, ^[18][19] and was the cover girl for popular style magazine The Face in 1997.^[16] In addition, writer Douglas Coupland dedicated a book to her, analysing the effect of her on pop culture.^[20]

Lara made a guest appearance during U2's PopMart Tour^[21] and appeared in a music video by the German punk band Die Ärzte.^[22] She has also been featured in SEAT car commercials,^[23] and three G4 commercials.^[24] In all of these appearances, Lara was represented by computer animation. Lara also appeared in a Visa commercial which featured a live-action Lara, portrayed by Sofia Vergara, interacting with her in-game counterpart.^[25]

Lara is the subject of a song, "Amami Lara" (Love me Lara) by the Italian songwriter Eugenio Finardi. The song was presented during the 1999 edition of the Festival della canzone italiana in Sanremo.^[26][27]

In an episode of Pucca, Kua, a character who appears to be a reference to Tomb Raider heroine Lara Croft visits the restaurant, and, encouraged by Pucca, ends up going on a date with the three chefs.

[edit] See also

• Girl Heroes
• List of women warriors in folklore, literature, and popular culture

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Evolution Of Lara Croft
• Official Tomb Raider Website

v • d • e Tomb Raider series
Video games	First continuity (Core Design) Tomb Raider (1996) • Unfinished Business (1998) • Tomb Raider II (1997) • The Golden Mask (1998) • Tomb Raider III (1998) • The Lost Artifact (1998) • The Last Revelation (1999) • Chronicles (2000) • The Angel of Darkness (2003) Second continuity (Crystal Dynamics) Legend (2006) • Anniversary (2007) • Underworld (TBC 2008) Handheld games Tomb Raider • Curse of the Sword • The Prophecy
Film/Animation	Lara Croft: Tomb Raider • The Cradle of Life • Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider Animated Series • The Action Adventure (interactive DVD)
Characters	Lara Croft • Jacqueline Natla • Larson • Pierre Dupont • Lord Richard Croft • Werner Von Croy • Kurtis Trent • Minor characters
Music & Scores	Games • Tomb Raider (film) • The Cradle of Life

ar:لارا كروفت

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