Lara Croft: Intentionally flawed or just flawed?

[JaguarWong]

Couple of recent videos I've seen have both mentioned the fact the Lara Croft is a horrible person - killing and destroying at will for little-to-no reason.

Personally, I've always taken the weakness in her character as deliberate - her motivations are as twisted and dark as her methods after all.
The willingness to destroy anyone and anything in her way without question always seemed to me to be an intentional, written, flaw in her personality and this is born out many times across the various story arcs.

It seems to be the current fashion to hi-lite these flaws in opposition to the perceived feminist stance of Ms Croft - but while the games offer up the character and her flaws for you to come to your own conclusions, this 'pro feminist' nonsense is a construct of the media - nothing Croft has said or done is in any way related to feminism.

So anyway, you stopped reading after the title so I'll just ask for your views and move on, cheers.

 

[True Nero]

i honestly think its the new developers trying to make her into something that she never was so she's more "likeable" by the target audience. who that is i have no idea, but it almost seems like they are hinting at the category that i'm in. the 18-24 year old male area, but the game is honestly so dumb, the characters are so unlikeable, and the games are so flawed that it honestly doesn't appeal to me and it still wouldn't even if she went through the whole game naked.

then the image was ruined forever by casting Angelina Jolie as Lara in the movies....

 

[CLEVERSLEAZOID]

Are you talking about the Lara-that-was, or the Lara-who-got-rehashed-for-today's-market?

Cause the Lara-that-was was awesome. Back in the day when all you needed to know was that she was an archeologist/treasure hunter, her parents both died when she was young in a plane crash, and that your searching for some Atlantic relic.

I actually have the original instruction manual to Tomb Raider in front of me, and it says nothing about dark motivations.

She merely couldn't stand the 'claustrophobic suffocating atmosphere of upper-class British society, realising she was only truly alive when travelling on her own'

So she went from being on a pedestal [being the daughter of aristocrat, of which a planned marriage was expected of her for monetary/power reasons] to being a one-woman army whose only real goal in life was to bring the ancient civilisations of Earth out of the dark pages of history so the people of the world could know about them.

I'd say thats taking a stand for the females of the world, wouldn't you?

 

[drakenabarion]

Are you talking about the Lara-that-was, or the Lara-who-got-rehashed-for-today's-market?

Cause the Lara-that-was was awesome. Back in the day when all you needed to know was that she was an archeologist/treasure hunter, her parents both died when she was young in a plane crash, and that your searching for some Atlantic relic.

I actually have the original instruction manual to Tomb Raider in front of me, and it says nothing about dark motivations.

She merely couldn't stand the 'claustrophobic suffocating atmosphere of upper-class British society, realising she was only truly alive when traveling on her own'

So she went from being on a pedestal [being the daughter of aristocrat, of which a planned marriage was expected of her for monetary/power reasons] to being a one-woman army whose only real goal in life was to bring the ancient civilizations of Earth out of the dark pages of history so the people of the world could know about them.

I'd say that's taking a stand for the females of the world, wouldn't you?

To add to that, her biggest purpose in most of the early games was 1) treasure hunting (obviously), but also 2) There was always a plot to save the world.

In her older hunt for treasure, she often met people who also want the artifacts for some evil purpose.

In the newer games, she is there to be "the *****". Little other reason...

 

[josh797]

i quite like the new lara. shes a badass, but has a complex character. its nice to see game characters with more dimentionality than a road sign. if you played through tr anniversary, it was clear that she has an internal struggle about whether its worth it to do what she does just for her own gratification. i like her even though she can be a bit of a ***** sometimes. i think that the newer games definitely intended for her to be flawed, and have an internal struggle. ive never played the old ones, so i cant comment on them but if they were as single dimensional as clever describes them to be,

Are you talking about the Lara-that-was, or the Lara-who-got-rehashed-for-today's-market?

Cause the Lara-that-was was awesome. Back in the day when all you needed to know was that she was an archeologist/treasure hunter, her parents both died when she was young in a plane crash, and that your searching for some Atlantic relic.

I actually have the original instruction manual to Tomb Raider in front of me, and it says nothing about dark motivations.

She merely couldn't stand the 'claustrophobic suffocating atmosphere of upper-class British society, realising she was only truly alive when travelling on her own'

So she went from being on a pedestal [being the daughter of aristocrat, of which a planned marriage was expected of her for monetary/power reasons] to being a one-woman army whose only real goal in life was to bring the ancient civilisations of Earth out of the dark pages of history so the people of the world could know about them.

I'd say thats taking a stand for the females of the world, wouldn't you?

ill take the new lara thankee very much.

 

[Fbuh]

Don't forget that Lara Croft comes from the rich upper class. I'm not saying that all of the rich upper class are culture stomping super bitches, but she does come off as snobby and "Well I have lot's of money, so I can just do whatever." I personally never actually liked her, but the games were fun enough.

 

[drakenabarion]

I'm afraid you make the mistake of thinking that a personality for Lara Croft was anything other than an afterthought. Fans of Lara Croft are not in those games for any reason other than to watch her huge knockers and tight ass, so any perceivable personality she might have is simply tacked on to try to give some credibility to anyone who might come in contact with this game who's brain isn't literally poisoned by testosterone when she comes into view.

That is an absolutely hilarious scenario in this day and age when there are a great deal more supercilious bad-ass action girls to choose from. Most whom have better personalities, better looks and star in better games. But as has been said by so many others, Lara Croft and her developers are nothing if not oblivious to the fact that she's well overstayed her welcome. And since there are obviously people (read: 15 year olds) who are still willing to purchase this crap. I'd say it isn't going away any time soon.

I am a fan of Tomb Raider from the days where she controlled like a truck and I still am now. I am 100% certain that her tits are the last thing to make me want to play the game. I find it annoying to hear people say that people only play the game for her body...

(I am sure someone out there has made a mod for the game replacing it with a stick "person" to avoid any gender related comments like this ... Actually that would be pretty fun!)

Hmmm, I have to agree that the new personality does indeed have more personality traits. I think its more human for sure. And obviously, not all people are perfect, so its okay for her to be a *****.

I enjoy the game with the new personality too. I just sometimes wish that we could have a scenario where its less complex. e.g. "I want the...um.... Holy Grail, and I am not the only one". I mean sometimes I wish there was a "switch brain off" mode.

 

[CLEVERSLEAZOID]

I'm afraid you make the mistake of thinking that a personality for Lara Croft was anything other than an afterthought. Fans of Lara Croft are not in those games for any reason other than to watch her huge knockers and tight ass, so any perceivable personality she might have is simply tacked on to try to give some credibility to anyone who might come in contact with this game who's brain isn't literally poisoned by testosterone when she comes into view.

That is an absolutely hilarious scenario in this day and age when there are a great deal more supercilious bad-ass action girls to choose from. Most whom have better personalities, better looks and star in better games. But as has been said by so many others, Lara Croft and her developers are nothing if not oblivious to the fact that she's well overstayed her welcome. And since there are obviously people (read: 15 year olds) who are still willing to purchase this crap. I'd say it isn't going away any time soon.

You posted this hoping for flames.

I like how you added the phrase 'better looks' into your point about better female video game characters, well done for joining the '15 year olds' you generalized as the Tomb Raider fanbase.

I also liked how you described Lara, maybe the reason you chose these wordings is because of the way she 'poisoned your brain with testosterone'. When that first TR came out, I was 11 years old. So it wasn't all about the 'huge knockers and tight ass' for myself [what can I say, I was a late bloomer], it was a new exciting game world, the first '3D' world I'd had to explore. I enjoyed exploring every nook and cranny of these worlds, finding the secrets, and the general variation in the game areas. I enjoyed the fighting, the mythology and the cutscenes.

The game series and character have been ruined by the new storylines, call me old school, but I prefered how Tomb Raider was up til 3 or the Last Revelation. Then shit went downhill.

 

[Ubermetalhed]

I agree with everything Cleversleazoid has said, Tombraider was never about Lara's looks it really was about the thrill of exploring these huge labyrynths and fighting a variety of terrifying enemies. The level design was absolutely brilliant and the controls (however awkward) made the game that little bit more of a challenge, just as Resident Evil's tank controls made Resi all the better. Lara's looks were never a factor originally and the direction this stupid American developer has took the franchise is sickening; they've taken all that was fun and turned it into absolute rubbish. The Crash bandicoot styled T-rex battle in anniversary was a joke. Tombraider is officially dead.

 

[JaguarWong]

Are you talking about the Lara-that-was, or the Lara-who-got-rehashed-for-today's-market?

I never saw a 're-hash' just a series of sequels. Some were bad, some were good. The most recent is as good as the series has ever been.

I actually have the original instruction manual to Tomb Raider in front of me, and it says nothing about dark motivations.

Do you think it would have been a good thing if her story was never explored further than that through the course of the subsequent games?

So she went from being on a pede [...] I'd say thats taking a stand for the females of the world, wouldn't you?

No, I'd say it's making a stand against the aristocracy - biting the hand that fed her.

 

[CLEVERSLEAZOID]

I agree with everything Cleversleazoid has said, Tombraider was never about Lara's looks it really was about the thrill of exploring these huge labyrynths and fighting a variety of terrifying enemies. The level design was absolutely brilliant and the controls (however awkward) made the game that little bit more of a challenge, just as Resident Evil's tank controls made Resi all the better. Lara's looks were never a factor originally and the direction this stupid American developer has took the franchise is sickening; they've taken all that was fun and turned it into absolute rubbish. The Crash bandicoot styled T-rex battle in anniversary was a joke. Tombraider is officially dead.

Wow, I think I love you aha. That's pretty much my feelings on TR's new direction, and Resi's tank controls were what made it amazing haha.

 

[FallenJellyDoughnut]

She is a psychotic ***** who goes out of her way killing hundreds to get artifacts that she never shows to the scientific community and hides them in her basement. I'd say she is the most flawed game character ever, the only way she could be worse would be if she did it all totally naked, snorted cocaine and raped small children with strap-ons...

 

[Galletea]

I'm not sure. Originally, I think it was just a simple product of the era, there was no complex morality, it was simple "bad guys there, kick ass, save the world, get a sweet trophy" I think now they're trying to fit this character into a world where we expect more moral issues to be brought up all the time, what with games boasting "moral choices" all the time now.
Which would explain her crazy "lady Macbeth" thing after coldly murdering Larson in Anniversary.

She is bonkers though.

 

[Starke]

Having missed everything after 3 (I think), I don't think Lara was originally intended to be a complete sociopath, though, once it moved from over the top pulp save the world stuff into more personal territory that became a pretty valid read on the way she was written.

For what it was worth, the comic oscillated pretty wildly between generic action adventure and some really sharp writing near the end, and it did a pretty good job of fleshing out Lara into a full character without making her seem like a gold digging sociopath. (I think I'm going to hell for all those terrible puns.)

She did kind of come across as a sociopath in the CCG from Precedence, but I'm not sure if that was intentional or not.

EDIT:

Which would explain her crazy "lady Macbeth" thing after coldly murdering Larson in Anniversary.

 

[Blanks]

Well, maybe square enix can fix the old girl to be a functioning member of videogame society

OR, let her loose into a GTA-type game

 

[Starke]

let her loose into a GTA-type game

I think that is quite possibly the first time I've heard an interesting concept for a Tomb Raider title that I'd actually want to play since I turned 18...

(The CCG doesn't count, it was brilliant.)

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I got the impression that she was a slightly amoral character. A rich and privileged person who is out seeking thrills and "victories" who doesn't care about doing things the right way or being compassionate. A person who is not too bothered about shooting endangered species if they get in her way but does not want to kill people.

I think that this has somehow evolved into her becoming a character who will leave a mountain of corpses behind her in a sacred quest to save the world from supernatural perils.

 

[drakenabarion]

I got the impression that she was a slightly amoral character. A rich and privileged person who is out seeking thrills and "victories" who doesn't care about doing things the right way or being compassionate. A person who is not too bothered about shooting endangered species if they get in her way but does not want to kill people.

I think that this has somehow evolved into her becoming a character who will leave a mountain of corpses behind her in a sacred quest to save the world from supernatural perils.

Hmmm, In TR1, Lara didn't directly kill any person. In TR2, there was a trail of human corpses from china to the bottom of the ocean. Still, was supposed to be for the better good I think...

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

I think that the game devs. are just tring to portray her as a bad-ass (albeit badly), not as a brutal blood bathing monstrous killer.