raycevick

Lara Croft WAS Iconic

Added 2022-11-18 14:00:11 +0000 UTC

Imagine having an iconic female lead character of one of gaming's biggest franchises, where her backstory is about a young girl born into royalty, with her entire life already mapped out by her elders, setting up an arranged marriage that's just around the corner, when suddenly, the family private jet she's on crashed in the Himalayas.

She's alone. She's freezing. She's barely alive.

And yet, through the horror, the trauma, and the pain, she not only rises above the challenges to survive, it's during this journey where she discovers what her passion really is, what she loves. She loves exploring unknown worlds, meeting people of a completely different culture to her own, learning and studying all the forgotten history that's been erased over hundreds of years.

She spends the next eight years travelling alone, riding, gliding, flipping, and leaping whenever she wants to go, acquiring an intimate knowledge of ancient civilizations added on-top of her high-class British education.

She's completely disowned by her family, and it doesn't matter.

Lara makes ends meet, publishing travel books and detailed journals of her experiences that've made her a household name. She even gets gifted the Croft Manor by her Aunt who was the one person in the family to respect and encourage Lara's free spirit.

…And then!

Overwriting that for a story about a woman whose goal is destroying a secret evil organization that killed her father to stop them ending the world…

And I know for a fact this version of Lara Croft, this "relatable" and "vulnerable" Lara that I'll want to "protect" hasn't stuck with culture the way this character used to when gaming was infinitely smaller and more sexist, is which Lara is used in every appearance since the Reboot Trilogy wrapped up.

In Fortnite, what's advertised?

In Siege, what's advertised?

In Tomb Raider Reloaded?

In Brawlhalla?

In Ready Player One?

In Epic Rap Battles of History?

Yeah.

If this reboot is more relatable, vulnerable, and believable, why is "survivor" Lara always playing second fiddle, or not appearing at all in everything else?