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NOTE: This page is a disambiguation of Lara Croft. For her individual versions, see Original Timeline, Legend Timeline, Survivor Timeline, 2001 Film Timeline, and 2018 Film Timeline.
Heroine Overview

A famous explorer once said, that the extraordinary is in what we do, not who we are. I'd finally set out to make my mark; to find adventure. But instead adventure found me. In our darkest moments, when life flashes before us, we find something; Something that keeps us going. Something that pushes us.
~ Lara Croft
I'm sorry. I only play for sport.
~ Lara Croft

Lara Croft is the titular main protagonist of the Tomb Raider franchise. She is an English adventurer and skilled archaeologist and goes around the world's most dangerous places to find lost treasures. She has found many artifacts in the past and carries two pistols along with other guns.

Overview[]

Lara Croft is an English archaeologist, treasure hunter and tomb raider. Born to an aristocratic family, Lara is generally disinterested in upper class society, finding it stifling and boring. She takes far more interest in delving into the secrets of the past and finding what is believed to not even exist. Lara's expeditions have led her to search for some of the most powerful and dangerous artifacts in the world as well as uncovering some of the most mysterious places in Earth's history. Lara's exploits are legendary, even garnering a reputation, though occasionally that reputation is less than flattering.

Lara is often in race against time with those who seek the same relics she does for nefarious intentions. Lara has thwarted many groups and individuals who are incredibly well equipped or powerful, including crazed religious cults, mad scientists and even gods. Lara will often lock up some of the more powerful relics in her manor, in order to keep them out of anyone's hands but her own and if the situation requires it, she may even destroy the artifact if need be.

Although Lara is very serious about her job, it doesn't stop her from being quite sarcastic and quick with witty remarks. Lara is also quite reckless, often and intentionally "forgetting" safety equipment for mountain climbing. Initially, Lara does not wish to kill anyone, and is saddened by the loss of human life, especially after killing Larson Conway, Her first Human kill. However as the timeline progressed, she becomes much more willing to kill in order to defend herself, and even takes on some vengeful tendencies.

Despite these traits, Lara has a vulnerable side of her where she's kind and compassionate but she's also stubborn, headstrong, determined, and fearless. Lara is also extremely intelligent and level headed, usually remained calm, even in the most dangerous situations. However, Lara is not without blood on her hands, having done many heinous things and broken many serious laws.

Lara has obliterated Atlantis, murdered soldiers (and released prisoners) in her invasion of Area 51, murdered museum guards just to steal embalming fluid, broken into the Louvre (potentially murdering guards rather than knocking them out), and killed endangered animals (sharks, monkeys, tigers, jaguars, snow leopards, cougars, and dinosaurs).

Lara has also broken many gun laws (since guns are prohibited in Britain, Polynesia, Japan, China, India, and Antarctica). Like Joan Howard, Lara has also broken the UNESCO 1970 Convention - an international treaty - by stealing many priceless artefacts from around the world.

All these crimes that Lara has committed have taken place in the Original timeline alone. Moreover, in Rise of the Tomb Raider, she kills over 570 people (more than in the whole Original timeline) and causes a Mayan apocalypse by taking the sacred dagger, causing a flood to kill the entire local Mexican village.

Appearance[]

Lara is a Caucasian woman with auburn hair and brown eyes. She has a slender figure and an athletic build, weighing roughly 50-60kg. She is 5'9" in Original, 5'10" in Legend, and 5'6" in Survivor. Her shoe size is a UK 7 (which is a USA 9.5 or a EUR 41). Lara almost always wears her hair in a ponytail or braid, though she always styles her fringe differently. Lara's default attire usually consists of an aqua vest, brown hotpants, a small rucksack, and combat boots.

Abilities[]

  • Intelligence: Lara Croft is extremely intelligent, having learned several languages, and is incredibly knowledgeable about ancient and modern history. In particular, Lara displays some of her knowledge of ancient Japanese architecture and history. Lara is also knowledgeable about architecture and culture, and can spout off facts about any coin, artefact, or ruin she finds. She knows about most of the historic treasures, areas and often keeps note of them just in case she decides to visit them later. Lara has been taught by some of the greatest teachers in the world and is extremely world werely, having knowledge that far surpasses most people her age. She is also exceptionally skilled when it comes to fighting, able to read and predict foes take them down. She also appears to have some know-how in the medical department. Lara has also been able to solve ancient tomb puzzles and has extensive problem-solving skills.
  • Hand-to-hand combat: Lara has extensive training in martial arts since she was trained by the very best. While she has learned many different fighting styles over the years, her favorite is kickboxing, which is a kick-based martial art that focuses on speed and disabling your enemy before finishing them off with a quick blow. This complements Lara's acrobatic style perfectly, as she overwhelms her foes with quick kicks and acrobatic movements - Lara never wastes a move and always plans ahead. She can outmaneuver and disable pretty much any mercenary and soldier she comes across.
  • Luck: Lara is incredibly lucky but doesn't rely on it very often. Though she has escape situations through sheer luck. She survived a plane crash - in plane crashes, the death rate is extremely high, but despite that, she survived and managed to survive being in a snowy area for a fortnight in spite of the freezing conditions with little warmth.

Incarnations[]

Throughout the years, Lara has existed in nine official universes since her debut.

Media Name Actor Timeline
Game Tomb Raider I Shelley Blond Core Design's Original timeline
Tomb Raider II Judith Gibbins
Tomb Raider III
Last Revelation Jonell Elliott
Chronicles
Angel of Darkness
Game Boy Color N/A
Curse of the Sword
The Prophecy
Book Amulet of Power
Lost Cult
Man of Bronze
Game Legend Keeley Hawes Crystal Dynamics' Legend reboot & spin-offs
Anniversary
Underworld
Guardian of Light
Temple of Osiris
Relic Run Abigail Stahlschmidt
Reloaded Keeley Hawes Reloaded, where people from other timelines appear
Tomb Raider Camilla Luddington Crystal's Survivor reboot & DHC's comics
Rise
Shadow
Cartoon Legend of Lara Croft Hayley Atwell
Comic The Series N/A Top Cow's Tomb Raider: The Series
Journeys Top Cow's Tomb Raider: Journeys
Film Lara Croft Angelina Jolie 2001 film and 2003 film duology
Cradle of Life
Tomb Raider Alicia Vikander 2018 film
Webtoon Revisioned Minnie Driver Animated webtoon timeline

Homages[]

Easter eggs referencing Lara have appeared in other media.

Games

  • In Deathtrap Dungeon, female protagonist Red Lotus bears a strong resemblance to Lara.
  • In Blood, entering "lara croft" will give all weapons with full ammo.
  • In Shadow Warrior, Lara can be found in a cell.
  • In Hidden & Dangerous, entering "laracroft" after enabling cheats in the original version (does not work in Deluxe), the current soldier will become a woman.
  • In Infernal Machine, there are very similar controls, objectives, and other features to Tomb Raider.
  • In Dragonseeds, having saved data of Tomb Raider II unlocks the special "Raider" dragon.
  • In Fighting Force, a graffito of Lara can be seen on a passing train, and Alana McKendrick resembles Lara.
  • In Druuna: Morbus Gravis, entering "DRUUNA3" will dress Druuna like Lara.
  • In Carmageddon II: Carpocalypse Now, Cara Loft has a similar outfit to Lara's.
  • In Duke Nukem: Time to Kill, Lara's uniform is in a wardrobe in the back of a strip club, and Duke Nukem confronts an aggressive woman dressed in leather, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lara.
  • In Duke Nukem: Land of the Babes, Duke can find a corpse which resembles Lara.
    • In both Duke Nukem games, an English woman named Laura will call Duke via payphone requesting sex.
  • In Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, a promo image features Croc using a toothpick near Crash's shoes, Mario's cap, and Lara's pistols, suggesting he just ate the three characters. The ad also cites three gaming magazine articles that positively compared Croc to the three franchises.
  • In Spyro: Year of the Dragon, Tara sounds and looks identical to Lara (minus being an anthro mouse).
  • In Crash Bandicoot: Warped, there is a level called Tomb Wader, which has several nods to Tomb Raider.
  • In Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Jill Valentine's outfit resembles Lara's.
  • In Jak and Daxter, the geologist has a posh English accent and similar clothes to Lara.
  • In Yuri's Revenge, in the mission Tomb Raided, Tanya is portrayed as a parody of Lara, even infiltrating Egypt's great pyramid to rescue Einstein.
  • In Barbie: Explorer, there are many things taken from Tomb Raider: animations, locations, character design, among others.
  • In Primal, a cemetery on the world Artha contains a headstone inscribed with "R.I.P. Laura Cruft 2003".
  • In Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, Nico Collard's outfit is very similar to Lara's, and Broken Sword launched the same year as Tomb Raider.
  • In Sly 2: Band of Thieves, the antagonist, Neyla, is a violet Bengal tiger who wears a blue top, brown shorts, and brown boots.
  • In Pitfall: The Lost Expedition, a running gag involves Nicole McAllister, who becomes more disheveled and scantily clad as the game progresses, until she is only in a cropped vest, short shorts, and boots, resembling Lara's Tomb Raider III South Pacific Outfit. She also wears a similar jacket to Lara's from Tomb Raider II in snowy areas.
  • In Deleted Scenes, there is a reference to the adult film Womb Raider, which appears as a movie.
  • In Asterix & Obelix XXL 2, Larry Craft wears Lara's outfit.
  • In Final Fantasy X-2, Yuna's redesign is similar to Lara.
  • In Civilization V, there is an achievement called "Tomb Raider", which is acquired when the player pillages gold from an Egyptian city with a burial tomb in it.
  • In The Simpsons Game, the second level (set in a museum) has a puzzle room of Aztec design; one of the statues is of a large breasted woman whose appearance is modelled after Lara.
  • In Tekken 6, Julia Chang is seen wearing Lara's outfit and braid while climbing a mountain.
  • In Hitman: Absolution, in the mission Birdie's Gift, there is a brand of accessories known as "Lady Croft" which includes, ammo bags, and shooting mats.
  • In Deadfall Adventures, main character James Lee Quatermain searches for a treasure linked to Atlantis which is located within Egypt.
  • In Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, "Tomb Raiders" is an optional assassination contract.
  • In Murdered: Soul Suspect, reading the minds of civilians may reveal them wondering, "What's that game, the one with the woman who raids tombs?"
  • In Yooka-Laylee, Clara Lost is a skeleton explorer, whose appearance features shorts, mittens, boots, and a ponytail (a braid in concept art).
  • In Life Is Strange, Maxine Caufield wanted to be like Lara Croft and adventure around the world when she was younger. There is also an art museum called Kroft Gallery, which is owned by a woman called Amanda Kroft.
  • In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, when searching lost tombs, Geralt of Rivia may examine certain items that have a nod to Lara.
  • In Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, during chapter 16, a teenaged Nathan Drake break into a secluded manor, filled with countless priceless artefacts, owned by an elderly English "collector" named Evelyn, who appears to be a tribute to Lara. A magazine can be found in her house with her on the cover; not only is the byline "Lost Treasure of Xi'an" (a reference to Tomb Raider II), but its title Adventure Life is a reference to the Adventurer! mag in Tomb Raider.
  • In Cat Quest, there are three quests involving character Cara Loft, an archeologist who looks for info on the history of Dragonbloods.
  • In Fortnite, the official Tomb Raider crossover features an NPC named Cara "Indiana" Loft.
  • In Agony, finding all secret rooms gives the "Lara would be proud!" achievement.
  • In Marvel's Spider-Man, there is a book shop called Tome Raider.
  • In Marvel's Avengers, Black Widow's dustwalker outfit is almost identical to Lara's leather from Rise, and Kate Bishop's journals reference her being in Sisters of Artemis, the archery club that Lara joined in Survivor.
  • In Astro's Playroom, a bot dressed like Lara will climb a platform and point its pistols.
  • In Evil Genius 2, archaeologist Clara Jones is met in the Tomb Robbery mission, and contains other nods to Lara.
  • In three Call of Duty games (MW II; MW III; Warzone 2), Lara appears as a playable SpecGru Operator in multiplayer, voiced by Keeley Hawes.
  • In Murder: FBI Confidential, after the main character returns from Peru, her boss calls her Lara Croft.
  • In Johnny Trigger, the Hunter outfit is made to look like Lara with shorts and a braid.
  • In Clive 'N' Wrench, Laura Cruz is a character dressed as Lara, appearing in a level called Tempus Tombs.

Films/TV

  • In Ali G Indahouse, Ali states "The great hall is exactly like the one in Lara Croft's house. Y'know, from Tomb Raider II on PlayStation."
  • In Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Kate Houghton dons similar garb to Lara whilst she and the other characters seek out a temple hidden in the middle of the jungle.
  • In The Mummy 3, English archaeologist and ex-spy Evelyn O'Connell dual-wields a pair of FN Hi-Power pistols (the Belgian version of Lara's Browning Hi-Power pistols). Also, Evy and her husband Rick O'Connell move into a large manor in the countryside, where she writes about her past adventures, much like Original Lara.
  • In Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, when Martha is transported into the game world, she picks the character Ruby Roundhouse, whose character design is heavily inspired by Lara. Martha questions why she would be wearing a cropped shirt and short shorts in the jungle.
  • In Ready Player One, Lara makes a lot of brief appearances in the film, which features a virtual reality world that is comprised of all elements of pop culture, including films and video games.
  • In Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Helga Sinclair is physically and psychologically similar to Lara. Her appearance features an athletic build, a braid, combat boots, a vest, and gloves, and she uses a pistol. Like Lara in the first game, her goal is to find the lost city of Atlantis. Her official bio states that she went through a lot of travels at an early age, as well as an exposure to a variety of cultures and customs, she exhibited exceptional athletic skill at a very young age. With her father's influence, she learned the combat arts and firearms training, and is highly skilled in many forms of martial arts and firearms use. She is shown to be very intelligent, determined, charismatic, and seductive.
  • In Wreck-It Ralph, Wreck-It Ralph sarcastically claims he is Lara Croft when he is stopped at a security checkpoint.
  • In Tad, The Lost Explorer, archaeologist Sara Lavrof dresses similarly Lara to seek out the lost city of Paititi. In the sequel, she briefly uses a climbing axe to get a jade pendant, similar to Survivor Lara
  • In Dexter (S1E4), Dexter's girlfriend Rita shows up at his apartment in a Lara Croft Halloween costume, with the intentions of seducing him.
  • In Warehouse 13 (S2E11), H. G. Wells wears a vest, short shorts, and boots, and has her hair in a ponytail. When she is looked at quizzically, she says "What? I checked, this is what fashionable British archaeologists are wearing nowadays.", which is retorted with "No, but it's what American filmmakers think fashionable British archaeologists are wearing nowadays.", so Wells replies with "Oh really. Well, it is ever so comfy."; the rest of the episode involves the team traversing a trap-filled building in Egypt. Wells uses a grapple gun similar to Lara's in Underworld.
  • In Robot Chicken, in the "Spring of the Drowned Girl" sketch, Nerd imagines himself cosplaying as Lara in a scenario in which he's transformed into a woman. The second allusion is a parody of Tomb Raider itself, where Lara traverses a tomb filled with mummies and monsters, which she promptly kills, despite the monsters being friendly and welcoming of her; however, the sketch ends with Lara shooting Tracey Ullman.
  • In X-Men: Evolution (S1E9), during a camping trip, Jean Grey wears an outfit similar to Lara's and even has her hair up in a braid.
  • In King of the Hill, Tomb Raider has several references. In "Little Horrors of Shop", when Peggy tries to teach the class about voting, some students vote for Lara Croft, which Peggy mispronounces as "Laura". In "Rodeo Days", Hank is relieved that Bobby is not playing video games as often after getting a job, citing Tomb Raider, seeming unsettled that Bobby would play a game where he was playing as a girl. In "Get Your Freak Off", Bobby plays a game that has a female character who resembles Lara.
  • In Ugly Americans (S2E10), Lara appears and dodges traps to reach an artefact, but a mummy sucks away her life, leaving her just a skeleton.
  • In American Dad! (S3E3), Steve Smith directly compares the figure of a girl in his school to that of Lara Croft.
  • In Totally Spies! (S3E3), the spies investigate in a cyber café. On one of the walls is a poster of Spy Raider, with a character reminiscent of Lara. In the French dubbing, Sam passes in front of the poster, is taken aback, turns around in front of it, and says with a bored look: "Oh no... tell them that spies don't all wear torn t-shirts. Some decorum...", probably in reference to Lara's traditional small outfits. Also, in S3E24, Lara appears as a holographic trainer for the spies. Her appearance here is based on her wetsuit from Cradle of Life.
  • In MAD, there are two allusions to Lara, the first being in the sketch "Gaming's Next Top Princess", where Lara appeared as a contestant. The second was a parody named Tomb Reader in the "Rejected Video Games" sketch.
  • In The Looney Tunes Show (S2E9), Lola Bunny dresses like Lara, with her ears even tied into a braid.
  • In Gravity Falls (S2E5), inside a video game shop, a clueless Soos Ramirez tries flirting with a cardboard cutout for a series called Pit Spelunker, which features a character who is a clear homage to Lara.
  • In Tempo Express (S1E6), a 26-episode cartoon about time-travel, protagonist Marinche is sent to the Prehistoric Era, dressed like Lara. She wears a vest, shorts, combat boots, mittens, and a backpack. She even fights raptors with a pistol.

Comics/Manga

  • In The Simpsons Comics, the cover art of the story "Storeroom Raider" depicts Lisa Simpson dressed as Lara. In Issue 164, Homer Simpson has a dream that Lara herself suddenly approaches him and begins flirting with him; he asks her how to defeat Takamoto in Legend, but she tells him that would be cheating.
  • In Futurama Comics (issue 38), Phillip J. Fry plays a video game while saying "Come on, you dumb hedgehog, get those rings, or you can't survive the lava pit! I don't want to lose you the same way I did Crash, Lara and Mario!"
  • In Legs Weaver, Rebecca Lawrence Weaver has as partner, Janet Blaise, based on Lara; Janet has brown hair in a ponytail, and also wears round sunglasses, a crop top, shorts, gloves and a pistol holster.
  • In Eros Comix, the publisher created Lara Jones for their mature comic books, with a reference to Lara Croft and Indiana Jones by combining their names. She is a treasure hunter who wears shorts and a tank top, and has long, blonde, braided hair.
  • In Assassination Classroom, Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft appears in one student's imagination. This scene appears in the anime adaptation, in S1E4.
  • In Gantz, Sei Sakuraoka's appearance is based on Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft. She is a martial arts expert who dresses like Lara to intimidate her enemies. In the anime, her appearance was changed for copyright reasons since she looked too much like Lara.
  • In Black Lagoon, mercenary Rebecca Lee's appearance and capabilities seem to be based on Lara's, and she has brown hair in a ponytail. She wears a crop vest, short shorts, military boots, fingerless gloves, and two pistol holsters. She is an outstanding marksman and expert in weaponry, being able to use many weapons.
  • In Natsu no Arashi!, while the other characters are wearing typical explorer costumes, Kanako Yamazaki wears an outfit reminiscent of Lara's, though with a dark green vest.

Trivia[]

  • Her favourite food is beans on toast.
  • She went on tour with U2, and their songs were featured in the film.
  • Her character model in the first game consists of 230 polygons, but now has 41,000.
  • Her first name is often mispronounced as "Laura" by Americans, similar to how "Sara" is mispronounced as "Sarah", or how "Tara" is mispronounced as "Terra".
  • Joan Howard (nicknamed Indiana Joan) has stolen many priceless artefacts from around the world; her husband was a United Nations officer, allowing her diplomatic immunity to be used to bypass much paperwork and red tape to take valuables from many countries (Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and others), which she now displays in her home.
  • The timelines have some similarities: Lara was born on Valentine's Day (all timelines), her parents are dead (all except Original), she is betrayed by a friend/colleague (except Journeys), she is stranded in the wild (except 2001), her mentor dies (except 2001), she survived a plane crash (except 2001 and 2018), she wrongly believes someone close to her dies (except 2001 and Animated), she works to support her expeditions (Original and Survivor only), and she is an archaeologist because of her father (Legend, Survivor, Animated, 2001, and 2018 only).
  • The Series is the first timeline to have Lara lose her parents, and the only one where Lara is a mother. She also finds the Fountain of Youth and lives hundreds of years.
    • The Laras from both comics are also the oldest versions (both born 1967), followed by Original (1968), 2001 film (1972), Legend (1977), Survivor (1992), and 2018 film (1995). The Laras from Reloaded and Revisioned have an unknown birth year.
    • The Series is mostly based on the Original timeline, in which Lara's plane crashes when she is 21 (rather than when she is 9, like in Legend). However, in The Series, Lara is flying with her parents and fiancé, on a trip to celebrate her engagement, whereas the flight is for Lara's skiing holiday in Original. Issue 4 reveals that the family butler, Hartford Compton, is responsible for Lara's parents dying, whereas they are alive in Original.

Licensing[]

This article contains content derived from the "Lara Croft" article on the Tomb Raider Wiki, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

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