Coped From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lara_Croft
Personality
Lara is consistently depicted as a highly confident, independent, and headstrong person.[13] She is also very brave, rarely showing any sign of fear in very dangerous or lethal situations. In Legend, she is also shown to have a love for dizzying heights and dangerous ancient traps, much to the dismay of Zip and Alister.[14] In Anniversary (a remake of the first game), what is implied to be her first human kill is portrayed, and she is visibly disturbed by the incident throughout the rest of the game.[15] In Tomb Raider: Legend, human beings are the most common enemies Lara encounters, and it is necessary to fight many of them to progress. Lara's current voice actor described the character as "strong and powerful" but as having an "edge" to her.[16]
Physical Appearance
Lara Croft is depicted as a young, athletic woman of white British descent. She has brown eyes and long brown hair that is often in a plait[17] and sometimes in a ponytail.[18] The timeline given in the Angel of Darkness companion book lists Lara's birthday as February 14, 1968.[19] However, Eric Lindstrom stated in a BBC interview that Lara is "6 months younger than James Bond", she "transcends time [and] space", and "has her own world".[20]
Lara's classic costume consists of a blue/green sleeveless shirt, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, long white socks, fingerless gloves, a small backpack, and a utility belt with two holsters.[21] 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[22][23] or trousers and a jacket for a colder area.[24][25] In Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness, Lara wears a black sleeveless shirt and camouflage cargo pants or shorts. In Tomb Raider: Legend, her original shirt is replaced with a light-brown short sleeved shirt[26] (though the original is still unlockable and appears in a flashback).[27] Her costume is shown to have changed again in Tomb Raider: Underworld, as she now wears a brown and black halter top with green and black shorts.[28]
Weapons and equipment
Lara's typical armament consists of matching handguns.[29] Lara's most recent equipment in terms of handguns seem to be the Heckler and Koch .45 USP Match.[30] In every game, her handguns have unlimited ammunition (the only exception being The Angel of Darkness) but starting with Tomb Raider: Legend, they must be reloaded when the magazines empty. Lara has handled many other weapons throughout the series as well, such as shotguns[31], uzis[32] and often more powerful pistols, such as magnums. Lara has also used explosives. In earlier games Lara had an unlockable grenade launcher, while in Tomb Raider: Legend she simply throws grenades. In Tomb Raider: Underworld her grenades are replaced with sticky bombs. Additional equipment she has used includes several types of grapple hooks, a shoulder mounted utility light, a digital video camera, and a PDA, which has sonar mapping technology in Underworld.
Video games
1996-1999
Lara Croft first appeared in the 1996 video game Tomb Raider, in which she was voiced by Shelley Blond.[33] The game manual introduces Lara as the daughter of Lord Henshingly Croft. At the age of 21, Lara was the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Himalayas. The incident inspired her to travel around the world alone, in search of ancient civilisations and artefacts. This led to her being disowned by her parents and she became a writer to fund her trips, although this back story has never been mentioned in games.[34] The game itself follows Lara's search for an artefact known as the Atlantean Scion, and her encounter Jacqueline Natla, an ancient ruler of Atlantis whose use of the Scion would put the world in danger.[35]
Following the success of Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II was released in 1997 and featured Judith Gibbins as the voice of Lara.[36] Tomb Raider II centres around Lara's search for the Dagger of Xian, an artefact loosely based on Chinese mythology. During her search, Lara is faced with a cult who are obsessed with using the artefact's power to their own ends. Lara's in-game model was updated as Lara now had a visible ponytail.[37][38]
Judith Gibbins reprised the role of Lara in 1998's Tomb Raider III. In Tomb Raider III Lara searches for fragments of a meteorite which struck the earth millions of years ago. The fragments offer their possessor strange powers, and became artefacts associated with various cultures' myths.[39][40]
In 1998 and 1999, three expansion packs were released that expanded the gameplay of Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II, and Tomb Raider III. The first, entitled Tomb Raider: Unfinished Business (Tomb Raider Gold in North America), continued the story of Tomb Raider, showing Lara escaping the Great Pyramid and then returning to Egypt. Tomb Raider II: The Golden Mask featured Lara searching for an artefact with the power to resurrect its wearer. The third expansion pack, The Lost Artefact continues the story of Tomb Raider III, as Lara learns of and searches for a fifth meteor artefact called the Hand of Rathmore.
1999-2003
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, released in 1999, featured Jonell Elliott,[41][42] who would also voice Lara Croft in Chronicles and Angel of Darkness. The Last Revelation expanded Lara's backstory by showing 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 civilisations and artefacts.[43] The game's present day events take place in Egypt, where Lara searches for artefacts associated with the god Horus so that she can defeat Set, who has possessed Von Croy. Though Lara accomplishes her goals, she appears to fall to her death in the game's surprise ending.[44]
Lara also appeared in an extra level made for Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, known as the "Times Exclusive Level". The level opens with Lara being hired by The Times newspaper to explore some new passages found under Tutankhamun's tomb. Lara eventually finds the passages lead to an altar where a Tutankhamun Golden Mask rests.[45]
In Tomb Raider Chronicles, released in 2000, Lara is presumed to be dead throughout the course of the game. Because of this, most of the game focuses on Lara's previously untold adventures prior to The Last Revelation. These adventures are presented as flashbacks, introduced by some of Lara's close friends and mentors. The chapters feature Lara finding the Philosopher's Stone in Rome, the Spear of Destiny in a Russian submarine, helping in an exorcism as a teenager, and breaking into a company building to steal an artefact known as the Iris. In the game's present, Von Croy is shown to be searching for Lara in Egypt but her fate is left unresolved.[46][47]
In the 2003 game, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Lara appears alive and well but the segment explaining her survival was cut from the final game. A novelisation of the events in between The Last Revelation and Angel of Darkness was also published by author Mike Resnik called Tomb Raider The Amulet of Power. In which Lara is rescued beneath the ruins of the collapsed pyramid.
The plot revolves around the Nephilim and an artefact created for them. Lara is drawn into the search for this artefact when she is wrongfully accused of murdering Von Croy. Angel of Darkness also introduced Kurtis Trent, the first playable character besides Lara in the series.[48][49]
2006-present
Tomb Raider: Legend, released in 2006, featured Keeley Hawes as the voice of Lara Croft.[12] Legend, like previous games in the series, does not use the backstory provided in the orginal game's instruction manual and even contradicts it.
Several flashback sequences in Legend depict a 9-year-old Lara (voiced by Charlotte Asprey) surviving the plane crash in Nepal with her mother, Amelia Croft. Amelia disappears after pulling a sword from a stone dais. 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 care of her father, an archaeologist. At the age of 18, when her father died under unknown circumstances, Lara inherited the Croft estates along with the title "Countess of Abbingdon."[50]
In Legend's present, Lara is searching for a dais similar to the one she and her mother found. Throughout the course of the game Lara finds fragments of an artefact associated with Excalibur of Arthurian legend. However she is faced by James Rutland and Amanda Evert, an old friend Lara's who was believed to be dead. She is successful in finding the entire artefact before them and opens the portal at dais. She learns that her mother may still be alive "in Avalon", and the game ends as Lara sets off to find answers about this.[51][52]
Tomb Raider: Anniversary, released in 2007, is a remake of the first game in the series with Keeley Hawes reprising the role of Lara. Anniversary makes numerous changes to the original story, making it consistent with Lara's backstory as seen in Legend. An early scene in Anniversary implies that Lara had searched for the Atlantean Scion with her father, Richard, who believed the artefact held answers about Amelia's disappearance. Lara is forced to destroy the Scion before learning if her father was right.[53][54]
Lara appeared in the 2008 game Tomb Raider: Underworld. Olympic gymnast and stunt woman, Heidi Moneymaker, provided Lara's movements through motion capture,[55] and Keeley Hawes returned to voice Lara.[56] In Underworld, Lara is searching for Thor's hammer, Mjöllnir, and the truth about her mother's disappearance. She first becomes aware of the hammer when she encounters Jacqueline Natla, an old nemesis long thought to be dead. Natla states that Lara's mother is in Helheim and Thor's hammer is needed to enter. Lara travels the world and acquires Thor's gauntlets, belt, and hammer. In Helhiem, beneath the Arctic Sea, Lara finds her mother, Amelia, has been killed but her body remains animate through the substance eitr. Natla arrives and explains that she was aware of Amelia's state, and used this knowledge to manipulate Lara's father into working for her, but killed him when he refused to cooperate. The game ends with Lara defeating Natla who has been trying to bring about "the Seventh Age" by using an ancient device in Helheim to disrupt the tectonic plates. After destroying the device, Lara escapes with the help of Amanda Evert. Underworld ends in Nepal, where Legend began, with Lara saying a final goodbye to her mother.[57]
[edit] Handheld games
In 2000, Lara made her first appearance on a handheld game console in a Game Boy Colour game simply entitled Tomb Raider. Though it shares its title with the original Tomb Raider, the story is unrelated and follows Lara's search for an artefact known as the Nightmare Stone. This would be the first of three Game Boy exclusive Tomb Raider games.[58]
In 2001, Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword was released, exclusively for the Game Boy Colour.[58] The story sees Lara facing off against a cult who plan to use her body to revive an evil witch.[58]
In 2002 the third and last Game Boy exclusive Tomb Raider game was released, named Tomb Raider: The Prophecy.[58] In this game Lara learns of an ancient prophecy which tells of three magical stones which, when found, will unleash "The Great Grey One", who will end the world. Lara fights to prevent this from happening, as the game's antagonist, Teg-du-Bhorez, searches for the stones. Lara defeats The Great Grey One in the final boss fight.[59]
Lara has also appeared in Handheld versions of Legend, Anniversary and Underworld. Her role in these games is the same as their Home Console counterparts.
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