Ostercy (Guest Writer) - Out With The New

Many of the newer fans to Tomb Raider, mostly those that started playing the game around the time of Tomb Raider Legend, didn’t really seem to understand what the older fans were going on about when they say that Lara had changed. The derision from Core fans that greeted the sight of Lara staring aghast at her blood-stained hands, or greeted the theories that Lara was being driven by “Mommy and/or Daddy issues” left the new fans bemused and in some of the more fanatical cases, personally affronted.

Tomb Raider Legend's Lara after the third (and latest) major series reboot.

So what happened? How did the gulf open up?

The original Lara was created by a bunch of people in Derby, a rough and ready town in the centre of England. They’d all been brought up on Monty Python and Hitchhikers Guide and they’d all been inspired by the slightly black humour that is visible in at least the first couple of Indiana Jones films. There was a sort of anarchy still around in 1996 in the gaming industry (left over from the very early days), and not everything was “corporate”. It probably amused the Core team to make the hero into a Brit and the villain (Natla) into a Texan (in comedic contrast to normal Hollywood tropes). It probably amused them that Lara died in hideously grotesque or painful ways. It probably amused them that she shot everything in sight, even harmless rats, and that she seemed motivated not by “archaeology” but by raiding tombs for their “shiny things” with all the sympatico of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.

However … dreams change.

In 2001 - just after Core had apparently killed Lara off - disaster struck. Hollywood was persuaded to make some movies.

Angelina Jolie was great casting and she tried hard to give Lara that anarchistic edge that she herself knows so well. She even protested when her “pokes” were air-brushed out of the posters for Cradle of Life, bless her, but not even she could shrug off the dead weight of the “suits”. The Tomb Raider movies were about as edgy as Hannah Montana, and the total lack of gratuitous violence or “quips a la James Bond” left many fans feeling as they might when having ordered patatas bravas they received instead soggy fries and ketchup. Once you’ve gone down the bland path it’s very hard to turn back. The promisingly Gothic Angel Of Darkness was rushed out before completion and then blamed for the failure of the politically correct angst fest that was the second movie, and the heart of the operation – Core, Derby – were sacked. Lara might as well have had her heart cut out.

Fast forward to Tomb Raider Legend. Poor old Crystal Dynamics, an excellent firm, were lumbered with a task they didn’t quite get. May as well ask a British team to take over the running of the TV programme 30 Rock. They hired Toby Gard to try and get continuity, and then either ignored his advice or got lead astray by Toby having a senior moment about Lara’s “feelings”. I suspect the Daddy plot was salvaged from the execrable Tomb Raider movie – why do all American plots have such a big thing about “Daddy’s little girl”? – and CD probably also got told by people who ought to have known better that Tomb Raider was for kids.

All this left the TR fans with a huge culture clash. People who were entertained by Lara blowing away the helicoptor pilot at the end of TR3 were hardly going to identify with her blubbing over a well-earned bullet for American lunkhead Larson. Fans who valued the silence and loneliness of the first TR games would hardly warm to constant yammering from comedy sidekicks nor a soundtrack that droned on in the background like incessant elevator music. Even worse, from about 2006 to 2007 there seemed to be a concerted effort by various fan forum “bigwigs” to rubbish the Core legacy and to ban anybody who dared not to love the “new, improved” Lara. This Orwellian approach split the fanship into fragments and caused many old timers to leave forever.

So what now? With the “re-re-boot”, the newer fans are finding out what it feels like to have the rug pulled from under the Lara they thought they knew. At least everybody is now on an equal (lack of) footing. Square Enix seems to have found a polite way of undoing (hopefully) the damage done to Lara’s reputation as a hardass and it remains to be seen whether they can produce a game that takes hardcore gamers more then a couple of days to complete. (Who cares about the pretty parrots flying about if you can’t shoot them? Who cares about perfectly rendered landscapes if you can’t climb all over them?) Even the rumoured third movie might go the reboot route and give us a Lara that isn’t a bleeding heart liberal.

We wait with baited if slightly jaded breath …

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Guest Writer: Ostercy - "Tomb Deviants"

Ostercy is an awesome fanfiction writer who has not only created several stories featuring Lara Croft but also a parallel series focusing on Natla. Ost is also running the Sixth Village of Tokakeriby competition, so if you like writing about Lara's adventures I highly recommend entering.

deviantArt (commonly abbreviated as dA) is an online community showcasing various forms of user-made artwork, and wherever there’s a chance to strut your stuff, there you’ll find Tomb Raider fans.

First - some statistics (which I hope are at least roughly accurate).

At the time of writing there are more than 30,000 works related to Tomb Raider, of which approximately 800 show up under Nude Raider (which is less than 3%, showing that Tomb Raider fan-art has moved firmly away from its fanboy roots.) Her Royal Highness Jacqueline Natla is featured in nearly 1000 works, that well known bottle blonde Amanda Evert stars in about 800 and pretty boy Kurtis Trent glams it up in about 700. One of the larger TR fan groups is called “#Art-of-TombRaider” and was founded in 2010 by KissBite (a.k.a Keyth Sayers, a member of dA since 2005), whilst professional Lara artists who post their work at dA include Adam Hughes and Andy Parks (TR Comics). Finally there’s a chunk of TR fanfiction consisting of about 200 stories. (Or story chapters. Or poems).

Phew!

Lara faces off against her Doppelganger. Illustration by Agnes Heyer from 2000 for Ostercy's story "Olympus Mons

The beauty of dA is that there is little to no moderation, there’s no canon of obscure rules to protect the “power” of the site administrators and you don’t have to be in hock to any particular clique to get noticed. This means, of course, that TR Deviant Art can range from the moderately artistic to the utterly dreadful – hurrah! You can get Lara as Otherkin, Lara inflated like a balloon, Japanese manga Lara … there is no indignity to which(One of my particular bete-noirs is the recent flood of ugly pictures made with “art” software XNA Lara – all awkwardly angled limbs and boggle-eyed faces – which make Lara about as attractive as Lady Penelope from "Thunderbirds") “Lady Croft” has not been subjected. However, balancing these visions of the unbalanced (which are in the minority) you'll also find “real” artwork, originating with a pencil and paper (probably). There are a number of TR comics, at least one of which has a plot, and several cartoonists, at least one of whom is funny. There’s roughly 3000 photos posted by various brave cosplayers (I have to namedrop one of my personal favourites, misslarisacroft, who appears to have no qualms about standing in a freezing Ukrainian pond in a bikini to get that memorable shot), as well as the works of many gifted graphic artists (who manage to create great Lara pictures without tracing Top Cow comics or re-colouring Eidos marketing ”goodness”.)

One of misslarisacroft's photos inspired by Tomb Raider 2

So if you are an "artiste", and whether your “canvas” is literal, conceptual or personal, try out dA. It contains a living, breathing Tomb Raider community which has room for everybody (however deranged).

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Guest Writer: Melonie McElhannon - "Lara Croft- one of the world's favourite chameleons"

Melonie is a former Frag Doll Cadet, video game journalist and gamer. When she's not playing games she writes for her site www.meloniemac.com and also draws her own comics at DeviantArt. She also posts on the Tomb Raider Forums, and also she recorded the E3 LCGOL preview for TRF. Make sure to check out her site and also her twitter page. 

Lara Croft, as we all know, is an iconic character loved by millions all over the world. Continuing a legacy started over 14 years ago, Miss Croft is still impacting gamers with every game that is released. Having that said, each of these games showcase a different side of Lara, which is part of the excitement of the Tomb Raider franchise.

Looking back to where it all began, Lara Croft was portrayed as a tough-as-nails, take no garbage from anyone kind of girl. A rebel of her high class, aristocratic upbringing, Lara was a grave robber of sorts, and was motivated to carry on her adventures purely for the sport of it. Sarcastic remarks, and an almost heartless attitude, was normal behavior for Lara, and fans loved that. Perhaps she was the type of person everyone would hate in the real world, yet oddly love and even look at as a role model in the gaming world. As time progressed, and Tomb Raider shifted direction, Lara changed with it.

Lara Croft in Tomb Raider One in all her glory

Introduced in Tomb Raider Legend was a side to Lara Croft we have never seen before. This change in personality was a pleasant surprise for some, and a disgrace to others. Lara Croft traded her rebellious and adrenaline-junkie attitude for a softer, more emotional outlook on life. Rather than pursuing adventure for the mere fun of it, Lara was fueled by a concrete motive of finding her long lost mother. Not to say that Lara Croft lost her sense of strength and attitude, because it remained to some degree, but significantly toned down. Still, she remained strong, but wasn't afraid to express her emotions almost intensely. However, after another change of direction in the Tomb Raider franchise, Lara once again has also made changes.

Lara Croft in Tomb Raider Legend.

After Square-Enix acquired Eidos Interactive, and Crystal Dynamics with it, the Tomb Raider franchise is changing more than ever. While we still have a significant wait before actually playing the game, much of Lara's personality has already been revealed. As a method of rebooting the series, the new Tomb Raider game serves as Lara's first journey, and will set the path for future adventures. As previously illustrated, Lara has been portrayed as almost heartlessly tough in the past, and later openly emotional. The future, however, portrays Lara in a completely different light, while still taking hold of some of the same characteristics we have all known and loved. Yet again, Lara rebels against her aristocratic upbringing, but in a different way. In this instance, Lara's rebellious ways are more so an act of humbleness. Despite the fact that she has lived a privileged life, Lara is still noted as an ordinary woman. Her journey is no longer for sport or to locate a long lost relative, but rather, a situation she happened upon in which she must fight to survive. For once, Lara will be portrayed as endearing, and players will have a sense of care for her. Most fans appear to be very receptive and excited about this change.

The newly rebooted version of Lara for the upcoming game

While Lara Croft is a character adored by so many, she has changed dramatically and continues to do so. The fact that so many fans stand by her throughout these changes is a testament to how much of an impact Lara has made as a character, and will continue to do so. The future looks bright for the Tomb Raider franchise, and the current changes are reflections of progression in not only the games she stars in, but in Lara Croft as a character herself. Part of the excitement of anticipating the newest Tomb Raider title is seeing Lara evolve with it. Undoubtedly, we have much to look forward to as Lara Croft makes her presence known in a more personable we've ever seen.

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