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Tomb Raider: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"If there's one thing I've learned, it's that ''nothing'' is lost forever."''|'''Lara Croft''', ''Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light''}}
'''''Tomb Raider''''' is a media franchise (mostly video game based) starring an [[Adventurer Archaeologist]] named Lara Croft. In most of the games, she travels around the world looking for highly prized treasures while avoiding rival hunters, wildlife, and various death traps.
Since its debut in 1996, the video games have sold millions of copies around the world, and have spawned a series of comic books, a pair of movies, and an animated series.
The first six games were created by British developer Core Design, but when the series began to decline and an attempt to give it a [[Darker and Edgier]] makeover [[Your Mileage May Vary|failed]], the publisher handed it over to an American development studio, Crystal Dynamics (who were largely responsible for the ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' series).
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'''The Core Design era'''
* ''[[Tomb Raider (video game)|Tomb Raider]]'' (1996) - Lara Croft is hired by a wealthy businesswoman, Jacqueline Natla, to recover a piece of an artifact called the Scion, from the lost city of Vilcabamba. After Lara is inevitably betrayed by her employer, she races across the world to find the two other pieces of the Scion and prevent it from falling into Natla's hands. Along the way, Lara visits Peru, Greece, Egypt and a remnant of Atlantis.
** The game got much critical acclaim (including a couple of "game of the year" awards), and established many of the tropes of the [[Action Adventure]] genre. As a result of the amount of genre conventions it established, it is frequently cited as one of the most influential games of all time.
* ''Tomb Raider II'' (1997) - Lara is after the legendary Dagger of Xian, which is said to give its owner "[[Literal Genie|the power of a dragon]]". She finds herself in conflict with Italian mob boss/cult leader Marco Bartoli, who is after the same item. Locations in the game include Venice, an offshore oil rig, the sunken ocean liner Maria Doria, Tibet and the Great Wall of China.
** The game was generally considered as an [[Even Better Sequel]], although many considered it to have too much combat.
*** Creator Toby Gard left Core Design during the development of this game, due to "[[Creative Differences]]" (he was unhappy with Lara's oversexualisation), and [[Start My Own|co-founded Confounding Factor]]. Their first game was ''Galleon'', a [[Spiritual Successor]] to ''Tomb Raider'' that took about ten years to make. It was actually pretty damn good, but bombed on release. Confounding Factor closed down shortly afterward.
* ''Tomb Raider III'' (1998) is actually five, loosely connected stories. Lara is gathering four crystal artifacts, with mystical (and [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|insanity-inducing]]) powers. The first is found in India and then the player can then choose in which order to seek out the remaining three, visiting Area 51, London and an unspecified island in the South Pacific. Finally, she travels to the impact site in Antarctica, fighting through an excavation filled with creatures mutated by the meteorite.
** ''Tomb Raider III'' was mostly well received, but is [[Nintendo Hard|extremely merciless in difficulty]] and has a punishing save system on the [[PlayStation]] version, but is also very ambitious in other areas; this resulted in it becoming a [[Love It or Hate It]] game with people generally either considering it one of the (or the) best games in the series or hating it. This was also the start of a general split in the overall reception of the series.
* ''Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation'' (1999) - Lara unwittingly releases the Egyptian god Set from his sarcophagus and must travel across Egypt to gather the pieces of [[Plot Coupon|Horus's armor]] and re-seal him before he brings about the apocalypse. Lara's former mentor, Werner Von Croy resurfaces and becomes the host for the evil god.
** While the first three games are relatively similar, ''The Last Revelation'' made various attempts to change things up, with many new items and puzzle ideas, along with the brave move of setting the whole game in one location. However, this was the point where the series began to lose its luster among reviewers, not helped by the fact the graphics engine was becoming dated at this point (despite minor improvements). While not to the degree of ''Tomb Raider III'', this is also a [[Your Mileage May Vary]] game, with it either being considered the sequel most faithful to the original format and with many interesting advancements, or a game with a theme that starts to get repetitive and several unnecessary interface changes.
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'''The Crystal Dynamics era''' Lara, for these games, is voiced by British actress [[Keeley Hawes]]. [[Hey, It's That Voice!|That]] [[Ashes to Ashes|Keeley Hawes]].
* ''Tomb Raider: Legend'' (2006) - A [[Continuity Reboot]] of the franchise, ''Legend'' delves into Lara's [[Backstory]] and motivations. She seeks the fragments of an ancient sword that is connected to a traumatic event from her own past. The main antagonist is Lara's college friend, Amanda Evert, who returns after being believed dead for years and wants the sword for her own reasons. The locations in the game include Bolivia, Peru, a Yakuza-infested skyscraper in Tokyo, Ghana, an old paranormal research facility in Kazakhstan, the ruins of cheesy King Arthur museum in Cornwall and Nepal.
** ''Legend'' showed that the series was still very salvageable despite the state ''The Angel of Darkness'' had left it in; it was the fastest selling (note, not highest selling) game in the series so far and got very good reviews. However, many of the changes from earlier games caused controversy, such as the [[No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom|much more straightforward level design]] and [[Stop Helping Me!]] sidekicks. It was a [[Surprisingly Improved Sequel]] to many. [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|The change in canon also caused ire amongst some fans]].
*** Also marks the point where Toby Gard came back into the picture after Confounding Factor shut down, though as a creative consultant this time.
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** ''Anniversary'' pleased many irritated by the changes in ''Legend'', with the level design more complex and the sidekicks gone. Its reviews were about the same as ''Legend'' (namely depending on whether the reviewer preferred the original style or the new ''Legend'' style). Some of the changes as a remake came under heavy scrutiny though, especially Atlantis and the T-Rex encounter, which were both generally regarded as being very lacking even by those with no particular memory of their original incarnation. Also a [[Surprisingly Improved Sequel]] to many let down by the changes in ''Legend''.
* ''Tomb Raider: Underworld'' (2008) - Another attempt to be [[Darker and Edgier]], this time succeeding. Lara is searching for Thor's hammer and the Norse underworld, believing it to have a relation to Avalon, where her mother is (apparently) trapped.
** ''Underworld'' attempts a sort of combination of ''Legend'' and ''Anniversary'', with the narrative integration of the former and the level design style, isolation and other aspects from the latter. [[Your Mileage May Vary|Although its success is arguable]]. The game has received quite mixed reviews, partially due to being obviously rushed out for Christmas and let down by various bugs and issues (along with a [[Camera Screw|camera from hell]]) for many people. Some overlooked those issues, or got lucky, and considered it one of the best in the series, others were completely put off by them or ended up with an overall impression more along the lines of [[So Okay It's Average]]. It seems the series is back in heavy [[Your Mileage May Vary]] territory (and, as a result, yet another [[Surprisingly Improved Sequel]] for many)...
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* [[Action Dress Rip]]: Happens in ''Legend''.
* [[Action Girl]]: Lara Croft, an absolute [[Badass]].
* [[Action Survivor]]: The younger Lara seen in the 2012 reboot seems to be this.
* [[Advancing Wall of Doom]]: Usually with [[Spikes of Doom]].
* [[Adventurer Archaeologist]]: Which makes her kicking open old vases looking for treasure all the more cringing.
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** She ''does'' sport a braid in the first game's FMVs, but not during gameplay or non-FMV cutscenes.
* [[British Accents]]: Lara has one because, well, she is British. Where she hails from exactly in the UK is apparently Surrey, but no [[Word of God]] has been verified.
* [[Break the Cutie]]: Crystal Dynamics have stated their aim to do this to Lara in the 2012 reboot.
* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: The ending of ''Tomb Raider II''.
* [[Broken Bird]]: Lara, by the time of ''The Angel of Darkness''.
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** ''Anniversary'' had a lot of things behind various waterfalls
*** In the "Lost Valley" level:
**** {{spoiler|Shotgun behind the upper waterfall in the cave.}}
**** {{spoiler|Exit from the level behind the lower waterfall in the cave.}}
*** {{spoiler|In the "Natla's Mines" level the exit from the initial room is behind the waterfall.}}
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** Such as when {{spoiler|Lara's [[Doppelganger]]}} blows up Lara's mansion, kicks her ass inside her burning mansion, and {{spoiler|kills Allister.}}
* [[Darker and Edgier]] vs. [[Lighter and Softer]]: The original series generally veered towards [[Darker and Edgier]] as it went along, but ''The Angel of Darkness'' was the only major leap towards it. After the failure of that, ''Legend'' signaled a [[Lighter and Softer]] change arguably even over the earliest games. ''Underworld'' seems to be adding elements of [[Darker and Edgier]] again, making the series currently be in somewhat of a slalom.
** The upcoming 2012 game is supposed to be even more [[Darker and Edgier]] than previous incarnations and an M rating.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Lara Croft in spades, especially when it's combined with her [[Bond One-Liner]]. Alister and Zip also have their quips in ''Legend'' and ''Underworld''.
** In ''Tomb Raider III'', after Lara winds up knocking herself out from a failed jump with her ATV, some mooks comment on how crazy she was to pull a stunt, then one of them wonders if Lara is an eco-terrorist. The other mook sarcastically replies "And they wear hot pants, huh?"
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* [[Demonic Possession]]: Von Croy is influenced and sometimes directly possessed by Set for much of ''The Last Revelation''.
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Averted most of the time; while Lara faces gods she can rarely do direct damage and tends to just [[Sealed Evil in a Can|reseal them]] and other powerful beings she beats are just that and not outright gods. Partially played straight in ''Anniversary'' {{spoiler|where while she doesn't kill Natla, she apparently at least incapacitates her for a while (the original game doesn't count as Natla was never said to be a god)}}. ''Underworld'' {{spoiler|she gets an artifact that does allow her to kill Natla)}} and ''Guardian of Light'' {{spoiler|like ''Anniversary'', Xolotl is not killed, but at least stunned enough by weaponry for him to be easily resealed, although Lara does have a god on her side too in this case}}
* [[Dirty Communists]]: Subverted, if unintentionally. In ''Legend'', Lara comes to the assistance of Russian-speaking Kazakh soldiers at a Soviet-era research facility that is being attacked by, of all things, American mercenaries hired by a West Point graduate attempting to steal a Soviet-owned relic. She saves them from a likely death, and with some reluctance, they supply her with the passcode for their command center.
* [[Dismantled MacGuffin]]: Used often enough. In ''Legend'', Lara must find the different pieces of Excalibur and reassemble them. In the first game, the Atlantean Scion is split into three parts. The second example is a variation of the trope, as the fragments were not necessarily all from the same version of Excalibur, as it is mentioned that there was more than one such sword.
* [[Distant Prologue]]: Many of the games begin this way:
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* [[The End of the World as We Know It]]: Apparently ''Underworld'' was an [[Evil Plan]] by {{spoiler|Natla}} so Lara would lead her to the [[Lost Superweapon]] she could use to destroy the world.
* [[Enemy Mine]]: At the end of ''Underworld'', Lara and {{spoiler|Amanda}} team up to stop {{spoiler|Natla}} from destroying the world.
* [[Enemy Chatter]]: In ''Legend''. Very amusing to listen to.
* [[Everything Trying to Kill You]]: Bats, bears, wolves, crocodiles, eels, tigers, monkeys, gorillas, sharks, ravens, random hobos and ''museum security guards''. Lampshaded in ''Legend'', when [[Mission Control]] wonders why predators always attack prey larger than themselves.
* [[Everything's Better with Dinosaurs]]: The first game, ''Tomb Raider II'' (but only in a secret area), ''Tomb Raider III'', ''Anniversary''.
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* [[He Knows About Timed Hits]]
* [[Heel Face Turn]]: Werner von Croy, although it's mainly down to [[Demonic Possession]].
* [[Hand Cannon]]: The Desert Eagle in ''III'' and the revolver in ''The Last Revelation'' were one-shot kills for most of the baddies in the game
* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]: Sargent Aziz in ''The Last Revelation'' drives his truck filled with explosives into the dragon blocking that is blocking the Citadel, making it explode and killing the beast and himself in the process, which allows Lara to progress. Lara even gives Aziz a farewell salute after the deed is done.
* [[Hijacked by Ganon]]: In ''Underworld'' {{spoiler|Natla returns from ''Anniversary'' and plays Amanda and Lara like fiddles, and Amanda's whole revenge scheme becomes an afterthought.}}
* [[Hollywood Skydiving]]: Lara's base jump that opens the Kazhakstan level in ''Legend'', which is an "interactive cutscene". If the player doesn't press the right button as it appears on the screen, Lara won't deploy her chute and will fall to her death.
* [[Hot Mom]]: Lady Amelia Croft. Da-yum.
* [[I Can't Use These Things Together]]: Lara's curt "No."
* [[I'm a Humanitarian]]: The Polynesian tribe in ''Tomb Raider III''.
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** Let's not forget Crocodiles in Greece as well, or the fact that these animals have lived for centuries with no food in enclosed spaces.
** But the Blue Ribbon goes to the ''Velociraptors'' and ''T-Rex'' that live in, of all places, ''the frozen Peruvian mountains.'' And China. And Polynesia.
* [[Mook Horror Show]]: Lara can polish off entire armies of trained mercenaries by herself.
* [[More Dakka]]: As Lara's signature weapons are her dual Pistols the dual Uzis essentially function as this for her character (and were used almost as much as the pistols in earlier art for the series). Also, while other weapons had higher overall damage output the mix and agility and damage the Uzi's offered made them the overall best weapon of the first couple of games, although they were overshadowed by other weapons from ''Tomb Raider III'' onwards. Due to being a remake, ''Anniversary'' did give them some extra limelight again.
* [[Multi Platform]]
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* [[No-Gear Level]]: Almost every game does this where Lara gets captured and loses her guns. By ''The Angel of Darkness'', she gained the ability to punch and kick.
** On the other hand, a segment in ''Chronicles'' uses a younger Lara (introduced in the tutorial and prologue for ''The Last Revelation''), who is always unarmed.
* [[Non-Action Guy]]: Alister and Zip.
* [[Non-Indicative Name]]: Each game features levels that aren't considered "tombs" by the strictest definition. Some games even predominantly feature non tomb-based levels (''Tomb Raider Chronicles'', with half the game taking place aboard a modern submarine and in a high rise skyscraper).
* [[Noob Bridge]]: Sometimes happens. In the second major area in ''Tomb Raider: The Prophecy'' for [[Game Boy Advance]], there's one place where you just have to use the run button; if you never learned of it you'd be stuck with a door that just closes too soon. In ''Tomb Raider II'', there's an area where Lara must make a long jump into a pool of water far below. There is only a small square of space in the pool that isn't so shallow that it would lead to a lethal fall. However, even a perfectly executed running jump cannot reach it. This is the only point in the game where she absolutely must perform a dive while jumping in order to reach the small square of deep water.
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* [[Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom]]
* [[Soft Water]]: in the third game, you are forced to dive off a cliffside. Lara's scream ends and starts again three times. Until you hit the water, just fine after falling roughly 100 ft.
** The "Ghana" level in ''Legend'' opens with Lara swan-diving off a cliff into a lake about 100 feet below.
** Basically, most of the time you jump from an incredible height but land in a body of water, you'll be alright (if it isn't too shallow, that is).
* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: It's ''Lara'', not ''Laura'', ''Werner'' not ''Verner'', ''Larson'' not ''Larsen'', ''Sophia Leigh'' not ''Sophia Lee'', ''Father Dunstan'' not ''Father Duncan'', ''Alister'' not ''Alistair'', ''Allister'' or ''Alasdair'', and Amanda ''Evert'', not ''Everett''.
* [[Spy Catsuit]]: Lara dons a short-sleeved variant in the London levels of ''Tomb Raider III'', and a more traditional one in the VCI Headquarters levels of ''Chronicles''.
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* [[Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome]]: {{spoiler|Von Croy}} returns in ''Angel of Darkness'', only to be brutally killed off in the game's intro.
* [[Super Drowning Skills]]: Lara has an oxygen meter when you are underwater. If it runs out, you rapidly lose health until you die.
* [[Super Not-Drowning Skills]]: In ''Tomb Raider Underworld'' depleting the oxygen meter takes longer than in the previous two games, in the instances where she's not using scuba gear.
* [[Super Strength]]: Lara is able to push around blocks measuring 2 meters per side. That's about 20 metric tonnes.
* [[Suspicious Videogame Generosity]]: Most noticeable with flares; there's rarely a reason to hoard them, since the games will usually give you more right before you enter a dark area.
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** Made even more fun in the second and third games with the grenade launcher and the rocket launcher.
* [[These Hands Have Killed]]: Lara does this in Anniversary. ''[[Anvilicious|Repeatedly]]''.
* [[Third
* [[This Is Sparta]]: Lara has an admirable and frightening go at this where thanks to punctuating each word with a gunshot right by Amanda's face is even more powerful than [[300|Leonidas.]]
{{quote|'''''"WHERE"''''' '''bang''' '''''"IS"''''' '''bang''' '''''"MY"''''' '''bang''' '''''"MOTHER"''''' '''bang'''}}
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* [[Took a Level In Dumbass]]: Larson and Pierre go from mildly incompetent in the first game to extremely incompetent in ''Chronicles''. This is played with, however, as this particular ''Chronicles'' segment chronologically takes place before the first game.
* [[Took a Level in Jerkass]]: Lara in ''Angel of Darkness'', [[Justified Trope|justified]] [[Character Development|given what she had to go through]] at the end of ''The Last Revelation''.
* [[Training Dummy]]: In ''Legend'', there is a dummy in the first Peru level which you can practice your hand-to-hand combat moves on.
* [[Trophy Room]]
** In ''III'', you can unlock one that has all of the artifacts that Lara got in all the previous games and sidequests, plus a ''T. Rex'' skull.
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* [[Wet Sari Scene]]: In ''Tomb Raider: Legend'', Lara has a costume, "Classic, Gray," with a white shirt and plaid shorts. In the remastered version for the [[PlayStation 3]], the shirt becomes see-through when wet. (She wears a bra, of course.)
* [[Wham! Episode]]: The ending of ''The Last Revelation''. {{spoiler|Lara is apparently killed in a cave-in.}}
* [[What Happened to Mommy?]]: When Lara finally manages to find her mother at the end of ''Tomb Raider: Underworld'' {{spoiler|she discovers she's already an undead Underworld zombie, and apparently has been so for the past twenty years or so. Sadly, it's not like a human being could survive in the hellish zombie-filled Underworld for 20 years anyway.}}
* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: In ''Angel of Darkness'', Gunderson, the big brute, is sent to contain the situation involving the proto-Nephilim. He is never seen or mentioned again. This is quite jarring, because he was one of the members of Eckhardt's Cabal.
** Jean-Yves, a close friend of Lara's, completely disappears between ''The Last Revelation'' and ''Chronicles''. This was due to legal trouble between Eidos and an archaeologist of the same name, who complained that Jean-Yves resembled him in both profession and name. [[What Could Have Been|Because of this, the decision was made to remove Jean-Yves]] from ''Chronicles'' and replace him with a different friend of Lara's, Charles Kane.
* [[White Male Lead]]: Inverted. Maybe one of the reasons the series gained so much popularity is because it portrayed an attractive white female as protagonist, which garnered a substantial female [[Periphery Demographic]] to the franchise.
** Nearly played straight; originally, the series' protagonist was going to be a white male, but the development team dropped that for fear of being sued due to too many similarities with Indiana Jones.
* [[Why Won't You Die?]]: {{spoiler|Natla}}. Oh my God, {{spoiler|Natla}} (from the Crystal Dynamics continuity). Lampshaded in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o28cGVLKLFw this fan-made video].
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