Lara Croft

Lore & Background

Lara Croft was created by a team at British developer Core Design, including Toby Gard, and first appeared in the 1996 video game Tomb Raider. Gard initially envisioned a male lead but decided a female character would work better, inspired by strong female icons to counter stereotypical female characters. Her original name was Laura Cruz, later changed to Lara Croft. The character's classic costume includes a turquoise leotard, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, tall white socks, fingerless gloves, a backpack, a utility belt with holsters, and two pistols. She is depicted as an athletic woman with brown eyes and dark auburn hair, frequently kept in a plait or ponytail, and is fluent in several languages.

Lara's backstory has changed dramatically over the series. In the first era, she was the Wimbledon-born daughter of Lord Henshingly Croft, raised as a British aristocrat, and survived a plane crash at age twenty-one that spurred her to seek adventures. In the second era, beginning with Tomb Raider: Legend (2006), she became the daughter of archaeologist Lord Richard Croft, and the plane crash occurred when she was nine, with her mother vanishing. The third era, established in Tomb Raider (2013), deviates considerably: her mother vanished on an expedition, her father presumably took his own life, and she studied at University College London, later becoming stranded on an island where she developed from an untested young woman to a survivor.

Core Design handled initial development, modifying the character for subsequent titles with graphical improvements and gameplay additions. American developer Crystal Dynamics took over after the 2003 sequel Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness was received poorly, rebooting the character by altering her physical proportions and giving her additional ways of interacting with game environments.

Reader's Guide

Lara Croft is a significant figure in popular culture, recognized as one of the earliest video game characters to achieve widespread attention as a sex symbol. Her influence has been a point of contention among critics, with viewpoints ranging from a positive agent of change in video games to a negative role model for young girls. She holds six Guinness World Records and has a strong fan following. The character has appeared in video game spin-offs, printed adaptations, animated short films, feature films, and merchandise, including a brand of apparel and accessories, action figures, and model portrayals. She has been licensed for third-party promotion, such as television and print advertisements, music-related appearances, and as a spokesmodel. The character's design and backstory evolved across three distinct eras, reflecting changes in developer priorities and cultural attitudes. Her creation by Toby Gard was intended to counter stereotypical female characters, and her dual-wielding pistols were inspired by the film Hard Boiled and an Æon Flux short. The character's braid was removed from the original 3D model but added back for subsequent iterations.

Did You Know?

• Lara Croft's original name was Laura Cruz, changed later in development to Lara Croft.
• In the first Tomb Raider, her 3D character model is made of around 230 polygons.