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Lara Croft & her history
the following article is from
wikipedia |
| 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 honoured with a star on the Walk of Game, and was
awarded a Guinness World Record recognizing her as the "most successful human
video game heroine. |
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| Lara
is generally presented as an intelligent and athletic English woman of noble
birth who travels the world in pursuit of priceless artefacts. 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. |
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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 Virtual
Fighter. The redesigned character was initially a South American woman named
Lara Cruz. She eventually evolved into an English woman named Lara Croft. Her
name was picked from a phone book for sounding "UK friendly |
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Actor
portrayal |
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
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. |
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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 Artefact)
- Lucy Clarkson 2000-2002
- Jill de Jong 2002-2004
- Karima Adebibe 2006-Present
On
14th
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.
Many of the models were united by FHM in May 2007
to celebrate the release of Tomb Raider: Anniversary |
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Back-story |
| 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 favour of travelling around the world alone. This lead
to her being disowned by her family. Tomb Raider:
The Last Revelation expanded Lara's back-story 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 artefacts.
The second continuity presents a different back-story.
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 Abingdon. 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 |
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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 cold-blooded at times. In Legend, she
is shown as a more light-hearted 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. |
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Costume and
equipment |
| Lara's
trademark costume consists of a light blue sleeveless shirt, light brown shorts,
calf-high boots, 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 cut scenes
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. |
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Discovered
artefacts |
Games
- 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)
Movies
- Triangle of Light (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)
- Pandora's Box (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of
Life)
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