There is one character that stands out to me over all platforms. I love her to death, I have watched every movie, read every book, read every comic, and played every game. Her name is the famous Lara Croft, the Tomb Raider. She is so amazing and sometimes I wish I could have the same occupation as her. She explores the world searching for the mysteries that we can only dream of and she does it for fun! Just imagine doing what she does for her reason. Of course there is a lot of character progression all throughout the entire franchise. There are a lot of things that define her as well as items that are integral to her development.
She doesn’t just start on one expedition and turn out to be this crazy awesome woman (for lack of another term) and start raiding temples and fighting off corrupt agencies. No, she starts off as a kid basically in all sense of the word. She’s young, inexperienced, scared, unsure of herself, and surrounded by friends. The story begins when her boat crashes and she’s stranded on an island where, from what she sees, the inhabitants are violent. So she has to try to survive on her own. Well, of course she survives. But she learns a valuable lesson. Not to be too trusting. She learns how it feels to actually kill someone. She is also introduced to intense physical, mental, and emotional pain. These are some reasons why she develops into the strong, unflinching Lara Croft in the movies. After she deals with all of that and sees things she never thought ever existed in her world, she decides to continue her father’s work deeply. She now has a passion. She believes that her father was killed rather than what was originally told to her. So she sets out on trying to complete what her ather started. She heads on another adventure, but this time more exclusively alone than the last time. She has only one other person with her. She is no longer scared of things that used to be and she is willing to do almost whatever it takes to get the job done. Her ability to do her jobs is extremely better and she is not afraid to stare death in death in the eye (for the most part). She still flinches here and there. Her desire to save as many as possible is still very tangible. She grows up to be more strong, confident, witty, cold-blooded, single-minded, and very calculated. She uses her body to get what she wants and doesn’t even think twice about it. By that time, she has reached her peak as the famous Tomb Raider. The character that I know and love.
There are a few things that define her. These things are her attire, hair, pistols, acrobatics, and intelligence. Her attire is very iconic. Most of the time we see her in short shorts, boots, a tight shirt (sometimes sleeveless), and she has a small backpack on her back (usually before she gets involved in her mission).
Her pistols are just as important as anything else. These pistols are insanely good looking and get the job done very quickly and efficiently. Probably due to the fact that Lara is an amazing shot anyways. The design of these pistols are very memorable. After watching the movies, I go and play the game and get very excited when the developers get her pistols right. (See below.)
Next is her backpack. Some comics and some games portray her backpack differently, but the movies generally stick close to a single design. Her backpack is very unique and has a special effect. When she runs out of ammo for her pistols she pulls a string or something and two clips for her pistols slide out of the bottom on a rack (see below). She then reloads her pistols without wasting too much time (this happened in the first Lara Croft Movie).
She is very acrobatic. She runs up walls, does flips, scales cliffs, jumps gaps, and avoids traps like no other person that I have ever seen before. There is a scene in the first movie where she is fighting a bunch of bad guys while on the chandelier in her mansion. There are many other examples of her athleticism and her ability to do crazy awesome things (see below).
Her intelligence almost very clearly defines her. The only issue is that she knows that she’s intelligent and clever. This picture (see below) really personifies her confidence. She’s like, “You tried to leave me out, but now I got what you want and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
You can’t do something without her finding out especially when it involves historical artifacts. She very often figures out what and why and she very often puts a monkey wrench into the bad guy’s plans. Whenever she is behind, she usually catches up pretty quick because she anticipates your next few moves before you even decide to make them
She usually gets her job done. There are times when she doesn’t get it done because there is a sequel, but that very rarely happens. The one thing that has kept her looking was the issue with her mom and dad. She took a few years before she figured out the situation. Even at this point, I don’t think that she has all the answers. By the time that she grows up, she pretty much has no fear of anything that could happen. As I stated before, she stares death in the eyes and on multiple occasions (see below).
As you see, she is not afraid at all. She doesn’t even think twice that she could possibly die. She just wants to get her job done and that is everything that matters to her. She usually goes alone because she doesn’t want anyone to slow her down.
She loves to explore ancient ruins and uncover age old mysteries (see above). Often times, the end goal is very treacherous and almost impossible to get to.
Her desire to find the ancient mysteries of the world are based upon her father’s desire to find them. So she is continuing his research. What makes her unique to every other character out there? Well her personality does. She works hard and is single minded. Her drive and passion for success is unrivaled and she will not stop until she gets what she wants.
After the movies are the later comics and games where she is a fully developed character (for the most part). A few new aspects of her are introduced as in her connection to her mother, the fine line between woman and monster, and as well as how far is she willing to go. Her connection to her mother is bad. In all of this, the Queen of Atlantis, Natla, involves herself. Yeah, I said the Queen of Atlantis.
She decides that she wants to end Lara Croft, but fails horribly. In the end though, Lara is the one to rescue Natla, but if I remember correctly, she also dies at the hands of Lara Croft. Spoiler alert, Lara ends up killing her mother because she was corrupted and said a bunch of lies about Lara’s father, Lord Richard Croft. Before Lara kills her mother, she is trying to find her father. She runs into a deranged German that is seeking eternal life. Lo and behold, Lara’s mother is fatally ill and she thinks the German is going to save her. But he isn’t, because he has his own agenda. The crazy part is that Lara’s mother is helping him get eternal life by getting him this ancient artifact. Of course, Lara Croft finds a way to spoil his plan and ends up killing both him and her mother. The artifact is then destroyed by Lara because she feels that no one should be allowed to obtain this power.
The next adventure deals with her finding a bunch of artifacts related to the Viking gods as well as Valhalla. She sets out on this expedition that covers the entire planet. The amount of money that she spends on these expeditions are insane! It’s almost as if she never runs out of money! I’m very sure that her father made all of it and then passed it on to her. Because I don’t see how she could be making a profit, but then again she does collect a lot of ancient relics on her travels. You see her develop into a better climber and wiser thinker. She starts to plan ahead rather than being naïve. You see her demeanor change from someone who is having fun and enjoying herself to someone who is dead set on getting answers. As gets deeper into her expedition she finds out secrets little by little. Before you know it, Natla decides that she wants destroy everything and tries to awaken Jormungandr, which in Nord mythology is a snake that encompassed the entire planet. When Jormungandr is awoken, the end of days will begin. Well, Lara Croft has to stop Natla. For Lara to defeat Natla, she gets a hold of Thor’s Hammer, Mjolnir. But during the adventure to obtain Mjolnir, Croft Manor is attacked and a good friend of Lara’s is killed. So, in a sense, Lara gets revenge on Natla. After all of this, Lara Croft still doesn’t give up on her goal. Because she still hasn’t completed her father’s wishes. She lost a lot of friends and made new ones (sort of).
Lara Croft discovers the fine line between woman and monster all throughout her expeditions. She just doesn’t realize it. She is confronted with opportunities to end her competition very early on. Often times I wonder why she doesn’t take the opportunities, but I guess she knows when is the right time to act. I’m like, “Lara! There is the bad guy right there! You know and I know it! Just take him out!” But no, she decides to have a conversation with them. Maybe she is figuring them out. Really, if she killed them on the spot, then who would be the true villain? Who would be the true monster? I feel that she usually has a plan for everything. Most of the time she has a plan. There are a couple of times where she is lost and you can tell.
The real question is how far is the illustrious Lara Croft willing to go? What measures is she willing to take to get the results that she so ever craves? Well, for one, she killed a god to save the world, another time was when she killed her mother to keep the power of immortality out of reach for every mortal, and another point was during the second movie when she had sex with guy to get the answers that she wanted. Of course she was gone by the morning. So, that begs the question. How far is Lara Croft willing to go? I believe that she will do anything to get the answers that she wants.
All in all, Lara Croft is an amazing character and I love her so much. She’s awesome, smart, courageous, and never gives up no matter what she’s up against. Everything about her is iconic and she will stay forever in my heart as my favourite movie character of all time.
