Editing Tomb Raider (section)

==Common elements==
===Lara Croft===
{{Main|Lara Croft}}
[[File:ClassicLaraCroft.jpg|alt=A computer generated image of a brown haired woman whose body faces to the right while her head is turned down towards the ground, and left hand is placed on her wounded shoulder. She wears a dirty white shirt, ripped green pants and black boots. She has several abrasions covered by cloth. The woman holds a bow in her right hand.|thumb|Various incarnations of Lara Croft in the video game series. Despite multiple revisions to her clothing and general physique, her face and hair have remained generally consistent.<ref name="GI-213"/><ref name="IGN-ManyLooks"/>]]

Lara Croft is the main protagonist and playable character of the video game series. She travels around the world in search of many forgotten artefacts and locations, frequently connected to supernatural powers.<ref name="TRLguide2"/><ref name="VirtSed-Games"/><ref name="GIstory"/> While her biography has changed throughout the series, her shared traits are her origins as the only daughter and heir of the aristocratic Croft family.<ref name="TRLguide2"/><ref name="TRIIIguide"/><ref name="TRrebootGuide"/> She is portrayed as intelligent, athletic, elegant, fluent in multiple languages, and determined to fulfil her own goals at any cost. She has brown eyes and brown hair worn in a [[braid]] or [[ponytail]]. The character's classic outfit consists of a turquoise singlet, light brown shorts, calf-high boots, and tall white socks. Recurring accessories include fingerless gloves, a backpack, a utility belt with holsters on either side, and twin pistols. Later games have multiple new outfits for her.<ref name="IGN-ManyLooks"/><ref name="PCGamer-166"/><ref name="CVG-2008"/><ref name="AnniversaryDev3"/>

Lara Croft has been voiced by five actresses in the video game series: [[Shelley Blond]], Judith Gibbins, Jonell Elliott, [[Keeley Hawes]], and [[Camilla Luddington]]. In other media, Croft was also voiced by [[Minnie Driver]] in the animated series and portrayed by [[Angelina Jolie]] and [[Alicia Vikander]] in feature films. Multiple models and body doubles have portrayed Croft in promotional material until the [[Tomb Raider (2013 video game)|reboot]] in 2013. Eight different real-life models have portrayed her at promotional events.<ref name="dvd-doc"/><ref name="IndeHawes"/>

In January 2023, ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' reported that [[Phoebe Waller-Bridge]] was set to write a TV show adaptation<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Lesley |date=27 January 2023 |title=Phoebe Waller-Bridge Prepping 'Tomb Raider' TV Series for Amazon (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/tomb-raider-tv-show-amazon-phoebe-waller-bridge-1235311582/ |access-date=29 January 2023 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> of the video game franchise for [[Amazon Studios|Amazon]]. It was also reported that this would involve a tie-in video game and film in an interconnected universe, likened to the [[Marvel Cinematic Universe]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goldberg |first=Lesley |date=27 January 2023 |title='Tomb Raider' Film in the Works as Amazon Makes Rich Rights Deal for Marvel-Like Franchise (Exclusive) |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/tomb-raider-film-series-deal-amazon-1235311847/ |access-date=29 January 2023 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref>

====Continuity====
The circumstances of her first adventures, along with the drive behind her adventures, differ depending on the continuity. In the original continuities, she is on a plane that crashes in the Himalayas: her journey back to civilization against the odds help to begin her journey towards her adult life as an adventuress and treasure hunter.<ref name="TRLguide2"/><ref name="TRIIIguide"/> In the original continuity, after her ordeal in the Himalayas, she left behind her privileged life and made a living writing about her exploits as an adventurer, mercenary, and cat burglar. Shortly after these books she was disowned by her family.<ref name="Arcade-1"/><ref name="GS-History"/> In ''The Last Revelation'', Lara was caught in a collapsing pyramid at the game's end, leaving her fate unknown: this was because the staff, exhausted from four years of non-stop development, wanted to move on from the character.<ref name="dvd-doc"/> ''Chronicles'' was told through a series of flashbacks at a wake for Lara, while ''The Angel of Darkness'' was set an unspecified time after ''The Last Revelation'', with Lara revealed to have survived. The circumstances of her survival were originally part of the game but were cut due to time constraints and the pushing of the publisher Eidos.<ref name="dvd-doc"/><ref name="OPM-93"/>

In the ''Legend'' continuity, her mother Amelia was involved in the crash, and she is partially driven by the need to discover the truth behind her mother's disappearance and vindicate her father's theories about Amelia's disappearance.<ref name="OPM-106"/> This obsession with the truth is present in ''Anniversary'', and ends up bringing the world to the brink of destruction during the events of ''Underworld''.<ref name="TRAguide"/><ref name="TRUguide"/> Her father is referred to as Lord Henshingly Croft in the original games and Lord Richard Croft in the ''Legend'' continuity.<ref name="TRLguide2"/><ref name="TRIIIguide"/> The ''Lara Croft'' subseries take place within their own separate continuity, devoting itself to adventures similar to earlier games while the main series goes in a different stylistic direction.<ref name="SQEXcroft"/>

In the 2013 reboot continuity, Lara's mother vanished at an early age, and her father became obsessed with finding the secrets of immortality, eventually resulting in an apparent suicide. Lara distanced herself from her father's memory, believing like many others that his obsession had caused him to go mad. After studying at university, Lara gets an opportunity to work on an archaeology program, in the search for the mythic kingdom of [[Yamatai]]. The voyage to find the kingdom results in a shipwreck on an island, which is later discovered to be Yamatai, but the island is also home to savage bandits, who were victims of previous wrecks. Lara's attempts to find a way off the island lead her to discover that the island itself is stopping them from leaving, which she discovered is linked to the still-living soul of the Sun Queen [[Himiko]]. Lara tries to find a way to banish the spirit of the sun queen in order to get home. The aftermath of the events of the game causes Lara to see that her father was right, and that she had needlessly distanced herself from him. She decides to finish his work, and uncover the mysteries of the world. The game's sequels portray Lara Croft in conflict with an ancient organization Trinity, in their quest to obtain supernatural items for their world domination.

===Gameplay===
[[File:TR Anniversary gameplay.jpg|left|thumb|250px|A gameplay screenshot from ''Tomb Raider: Anniversary'', showing Lara jumping for a ledge below a door switch. While many mechanics within the ''Tomb Raider'' series have undergone changes, platforming and puzzle solving linked to this are recurring, standard elements within the series.]]
The gameplay of ''Tomb Raider'' is primarily based around an [[Action-adventure game|action-adventure]] framework, with Lara navigating environments and solving mechanical and environmental puzzles, in addition to fighting enemies and avoiding traps. These puzzles, primarily set within ancient tombs and temples, can extend across multiple rooms and areas within a level. Lara can swim through water, a rarity in games at the time that has continued through the series.<ref name="GDMpostmortem"/><ref name="dvd-doc"/><ref name="GamaGameplay"/><ref name="DigiHistory"/> According to original software engineer and later studio manager Gavin Rummery, the original set-up of interlinking rooms was inspired by Egyptian multi-roomed tombs, particularly the [[KV62|tomb of Tutankhamun]].<ref name="dvd-doc"/> The feel of the gameplay was intended to evoke that of the 1989 video game ''[[Prince of Persia (1989 video game)|Prince of Persia]]''.<ref name="TRsecrets"/> In the original games, Lara utilised a "bulldozer" steering set-up, with two buttons pushing her forward and back and two buttons steering her left and right, and in combat Lara automatically locked onto enemies when they came within range. The camera automatically adjusts depending on Lara's action, but defaults to a third-person perspective in most instances. This basic formula remained unchanged through the first series of games. ''Angel of Darkness'' added stealth elements.<ref name="GamaGameplay"/><ref name="DigiHistory"/><ref name="TRAODguide"/><ref name="EGMtr2"/>

For ''Legend'', the control scheme and character movement was redesigned to provide a smooth and fluid experience. One of the key elements present was how buttons for different actions cleanly transitioned into different actions, along with these moves being incorporated into combat to create effects such as stunning or knocking down enemies. Quick-time events were added into certain segments within each level, and many of the puzzles were based around sophisticated in-game physics.<ref name="GDMpostmortem"/><ref name="dvd-doc"/><ref name="1UPlegend"/><ref name="TRLguide3"/> ''Anniversary'', while going through the same locales of the original game, was rebuilt using the gameplay and environmental puzzles of ''Legend''.<ref name="GRanniversary"/> For ''Underworld'', the gameplay was redesigned around a phrase the staff had put to themselves: "What Could Lara Do?". Using this set-up, they created a greater variety of moves and greater interaction with the environment, along with expanding and improving combat.<ref name="Under-dvd-doc"/>

The gameplay underwent another major change for the 2013 reboot. Gameplay altered from progression through linear levels to navigating an open world, with hunting for supplies and upgrading equipment and weapons becoming a key part of gameplay, yet tombs were mostly optional, and platforming was less present in comparison to combat. The combat was redesigned to be similar to the ''[[Uncharted]]'' series: the previous reticle-based lock-on mechanics were replaced by a free-roaming aim.<ref name="TombUncharted" /> ''Rise of the Tomb Raider'' built on the 2013 reboot's foundation, adding dynamic weather systems, reintroducing swimming, and increasing the prevalence of non-optional tombs with more platforming elements.<ref name="RoTgameplay" />